association-football Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Oh my god, they signed McKennie!
It’s transfer deadline day, and with the news that the USMNT will be in the Copa America (unless there’s some sort of qualifying disaster, which has never happened before, right?), what the members of the team do with their club teams takes on greater urgency. It’s not waiting three years anymore. T...

US Soccer is rebooting the USMNT…again
There’s burning the ships, and then there’s this. ...

Jose Mourinho would be a disaster as USMNT’s next coach
Gregg Berhalter’s days are numbered at the helm of the United States men’s national team. The Yanks didn’t win a knockout stage game in Qatar and Berhalter is under investigation from a domestic violence incident that occurred 31 years ago, where he admitted to kicking his now wife. US Soccer only l...

Serie A has another massive financial scandal on its hands
Maybe you were a wee lad or lass all the way back in…2006? Is that what it says here? OK. Well maybe you were just in high school or college then, and that was the last big Serie A scandal, known as “Calciopoli,” which saw Juventus punted to Serie B and other clubs docked points and money. That was ...

Brian McBride out as USMNT GM, and Gregg Berhalter should be next
Brian McBride, the general manager of the USMNT, is out, per sources. No exact reason has been given. The casual assumption is it had something to do with the drama that came to light after the U.S. was ousted from the World Cup....

There may be no saving Everton now
Perhaps the most damning thing you can say about Everton FC is that most fans probably didn’t know the Premier League had financial fair play rules. It is hard to remember any other club that has come within a mile of being in violation of these rules that no one knows, and seem pretty nebulous when...

A compilation of the most notorious con artists in sports
George Santos, Anthony Devolder, or whatever identity he’s assumed by the time this is published, pulled off one of the most daring cons in U.S. history during the midterm election cycle. In an era of con artists exploring extreme lengths to swindle their way into office, Santos faking a resume, spe...

Napoli are Showtime
While Arsenal have gobbled up most of the world’s oxygen in the “came from nowhere to lead the league” category, there’s another team in Europe that’s outside the usual cast of characters that is destroying the competition. And while Arsenal may be a joy to watch, they’ve got nothing on S.S.C. Napol...

Has Erling Haaland actually made Manchester City any better?
It’s admittedly a convenient time to ask whether or not Erling Haaland has made Manchester City a better football team or not, especially if you’re not of the Citizen persuasion. Though given my incredible motherfuck powers, maybe this is the worst time to ask. ...

Apple’s MLS channel begins to take shape, we’re just not sure what shape
The MLS season always comes out of the weeds in a surprise fashion, mostly due to its placing its start right when the business end of the European season begins (Champions League knockout rounds, closing stages of domestic seasons, etc.). It’s only 44 days until MLS starts its season, and though th...

Paul Riley done with 'political, woke' NWSL after lifetime ban
Even if the egregious quartet of Paul Riley (pictured), Richie Burke, Christy Holly, and Rory Dames never would’ve coached American professional soccer again after their despicable actions towards individual players and teams became widely known, making the official move to ban the foursome from the...

Chelsea and Liverpool have cycled out of the Premier League Big 7
There were many distasteful, if not outright disgusting, angles to the attempted creation of the European Super League two years ago. One of those lurking beneath the destruction of the entire structure of European soccer or the naked and unfathomable greed was the awkwardness of the English clubs’ ...

With Zidane news, US Soccer wags the dog — but that’s okay
We joked a couple days ago that US Soccer had become France without the success, delving into behind-the-scenes drama and parental strife. Little did we know how much like France they reportedly wanted to become. Reports started leaking out over the weekend that Zinedine Zidane had turned down an ap...

The USMNT's Gregg Berhalter saga just got weirder
As we covered this morning, yesterday a kind of strange story surrounding the USMNT’s Gregg Berhalter broke, because Berhalter got out in front of it. He released a statement claiming that someone had threatened to blackmail him over a domestic abuse situation from Berhatler’s teens, so the U.S. man...

US Soccer continues to be helplessly weird
To suggest that US Soccer is a byzantine organization would be to suggest that they have any sort of rules and protocols in place. It rarely feels like they do, and sort of just make stuff up as they go, with mostly everyone screaming about protecting their phony baloney jobs. It’s how Gregg Berhalt...

Sports world mourns the death of Pelé
After a long bout with colon cancer, Brazilian football legend Pelé died on Thursday at the age of 82. As one of the most prolific talents in the history of the “beautiful game,” Pelé is still referred to as the “king of football.” Pelé’s transcendent talent transcended the globe and generations lat...

'Salt Bae' can fuck right off
For some reason, Z-list “celebrity” chef “Salt Bae” was in Qatar for the World Cup, and he tried to get up close and personal with Lionel Messi and the rest of the Argentina squad after the final. ...

The best soccer players of all time to never win a World Cup
It’s the pinnacle of soccer. The World Cup is a spectacle unlike any other in sport. And to truly be considered the greatest to ever lace up your cleats, you need to have lifted the trophy. Why can’t Dan Marino be in the discussion for the greatest quarterback of all time? He never won a Super Bowl....

Taking a moment for Messi
It seems like something of a missed opportunity that my favorite Lionel Messi moment came 11 years ago. There’s been so much since. It just happened to be on my 30th birthday, on a day where pretty much everything went wrong (a fine introduction to one’s 30s, it could be easily argued). Barcelona th...

Lotta goals in the desert - World Cup Daily Diary: The Final
How do you chuck the trophy away twice and still walk away with it?...