association-football Page 17 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Your 2021-2022 Champions League Guide
Despite the attempt to kill it from Europe’s leading clubs last spring (and UEFA’s eventual success in doing so in the coming years), the Champions League returns today in its usual form. While it has become the nexus point in all that’s wrong with soccer and has certainly widened the gap between th...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
At halftime last night, you could forgive any USMNT fan for thinking they had never left 1997. I know I did. Here we all were, too late on a school night, watching a US team getting paddled in Central America with the crowd going nuts and the American manager looking utterly clueless and his players...
We totally forgot that this USMNT hasn’t played very well
Perhaps I doomed them last Wednesday when I told my editor the US Men’s National Team would qualify for the World Cup easily. The power of the motherfuck grows every day. That won’t comfort anyone, especially me, as the US has certainly stubbed its toe in its first two qualifiers, even if it hasn’t ...
Mama said there’d be days like this
I kind of knew that being so jonesed about the U.S.’ first qualifier would lead to something of a dry-heave of a game last night. This is CONCACAF, after all. Winning on the road is incredibly hard. It’s even harder when you’re taking a squad full of players that haven’t been on the road in CONCACAF...
It’s hard to know who’s king twit of dumb mountain between Real Madrid, PSG, and Barcelona
The transfer window in soccer closed yesterday evening, and after Cristiano Ronaldo took his rape accusations to Manchester United, there weren’t too many surprises. Man City didn’t find the striker they were after, Chelsea added to an already ridiculous squad, blah blah blah. Perhaps everyone was j...
So is Ronaldo to United actually going to work?
You’d think if you were going to take on the burden of bringing back a twice-accused rapist to your club, the hierarchy would have to be pretty sure that it would make a huge difference on the field. But you’re not the Glazer family, who are so desperate to get Manchester United fans to stop burning...
Sporting Kansas City and the Rapids were unclear on the concept last night
As I’ve said in the past, I’m still something of an MLS novice. This is the first season I’ve truly tried to work against my “europhile” ways and really get in up to the elbow in America’s domestic league....
So what’s to be done with Alexander Zverev?
The U.S. Open has a problem. The ATP has a problem. And neither is likely to do much about it. And no, it’s not the ranks of players pulling out of the tournament. ...
With World Cup qualifying imminent, let's check in on how many rakes Berhalter is stepping on
Good God, would someone take the air out Tim Ream’s tires or barricade his apartment door for a couple days so Gregg Berhalter will stop picking him for the national team?...
Time to take the 2026 World Cup out of Mexico
It’s probably high time to strip the 2026 World Cup from Mexico. ...
Harry Kane decides to stay with Tottenham
It just might not be as violent as we thought. But maybe weirder. ...
'Red' storm rising
The Premier League might be headed for something of a row with FIFA and international teams next week. Yesterday, the league announced that teams won’t be releasing players that have to travel to countries on the U.K.’s “red list,” which is pretty much all of South America and a lot of Africa....
David Moyes must be having a midlife crisis with West Ham
Maybe it was pandemic football that blinded me. After all, it was hard to fully invest in in the same way with the canned noise and lessened verve that each game had. Everything started to look and feel the same, and hence I couldn’t see what was really going on. ...
The Malice South of Paris
There was a-doings a-transpirin’ in southern France yesterday. Perhaps in tribute to the release of the documentary “Malice At The Palace,” fans in Nice thought they would reenact it....
Yeah, this Romelu Lukaku thing is going to be a problem
Well, a problem for anyone who isn’t a Chelsea supporter at least, which the most annoying of my close friends just happens to be. So that’s great. And no, I don’t mean colleague Julie DiCaro, though I’m sure she’ll be rocketing up the list this season. Also great. (Ed. Note: - Blue is the color! Fo...
U.S. Soccer legend Carli Lloyd retiring after an outstanding career
An American legend is riding off into the sunset....
Now we may know why Richie Burke is no longer coaching the Washington Spirit
NWSL was all the buzz last night, and sadly it wasn’t for what the league will be with the returning Olympians. The Washington Spirit have a controversy on their hands. Coach Richie Burke was “kicked upstairs” earlier in the week by the team, citing health reasons. However, according to the Washingt...
Are Arsenal the team to watch in EPL this season?
It may seem like the world of soccer never stops. That’s because it doesn’t. You may be thinking it was only yesterday that England were taking penalties with both hands and a rope around their throats. It was just about a month ago, and the new Premier League season starts this weekend. So if you a...
So what does this say about Neymar?
When it comes to anything off the field in La Liga, and especially the two giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, if one of my eyebrows isn’t raised then it’s certainly in the starting blocks to be so. So when news last Thursday broke that Lionel Messi was leaving Barca due to their self-imposed, financi...
This is Josh Sargent’s big moment
Another member of the USMNT is making a big move in Europe. Josh Sargent is moving from Werder Bremen, who were relegated from the Bundesliga after last season, to newly promoted Premier League team Norwich City. The fee is reported to be around $11 million....