cup Page 9 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The grunt work for Lionel Messi’s stay in South Beach is about to begin
Lionel Messi’s Major League Soccer debut is Saturday. Since signing for Inter Miami officially on July 15, he hasn’t actually played in a game for the league he intended to play in. The Leagues Cup and US Open Cup have taken his focus. All of the dazzling moments that have taken over North America h...
Elly De La Cruz and Shohei Ohtani are the same fans we are
Most baseball players, and really most pro athletes, will tell you that they stopped being fans long ago. It is a job now, and any star on another team becomes an obstacle eventually. They’ll tell you they respect other guys in the league, and that’s probably true, but they don’t see them as anythin...
USWNT captain Lindsey Horan said the quiet part out loud
It started to percolate during the latest Summer Olympics, delayed a year to 2021 because of the pandemic. The United States women’s national team — the former two-time-defending World Cup champions — not only looked vulnerable, but they also appeared average. Not average for the Stars and Stripes —...
When did the New York Knicks become a franchise worth stealing ideas from?
Is the NBA truly a copycat league? And if so, what would the Toronto Raptors want with New York Knicks intel?...
Man United prove a team can be shamed, as long as it's also incompetent
Make no mistake, Manchester United wanted to bring Mason Greenwood back. They wanted to follow the cynical path of pretty much every other sporting entity in the world, the calculation that fans will eventually forget what a player has been credibly accused of or has done as long as the totals on th...
Spanish FA President Luis Rubiales is a creep
Update Aug. 24: According to multiple reports, Luis Rubiales plans to resign....
World Cup Final: What if the managers switched brains?
There’s some lesson to be learned that Spain won the World Cup with a manager they reviled, while the USWNT faceplanted in the round of 16 with a manager who got hired mostly because all the players loved him. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it probably has to do with what really matters is the...
FIFA president: Women soccer players need to ‘convince men,' 'pick right battles' in order to gain equality
The 2023 Women’s World Cup hasn’t resonated stateside like it typically does. The USWNT never looked good, weren’t healthy, and were heavily criticized by people eagerly awaiting a stumble. Considering that, coupled with the time difference in Australia and New Zealand, one could suppose that a lack...
OK, but what if Spain winning the World Cup is actually a good thing?
If you bounce around the non-Spain or England-based internet, you may find that this World Cup Final is a Final no one wanted. Australia would have been more exciting given the noise that would have accompanied them. One of the real upstarts like Colombia would have been a real story. USWNT fans don...
Vlatko Andonovski was bad at a very tough job
If one didn’t want to kick dirt on Vlatko Andonovski as he recedes from the USWNT manager job, and kicking dirt is kind of what we do around here, it would be wise to point out the size of the task he was faced with. He took over a team that had won two World Cups on the spin, so there was really no...
To understand the RICO allegations against Team Trump, look to FIFA
After four indictments, the mental gymnastics required to equivocate for Trump requires advanced parkour skills. As of now, the former president faces 91 charges — between Miami, New York, Washington D.C., and Atlanta — which are enough to fill out an entire regional tournament bracket. It can be da...
A non-USWNT World Cup Final is still good for the game
As tough as it is not to have the U.S. Women’s National Team in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final after winning the last two tournaments, the Spain-England final on Sunday is arguably better for the overall health of the game worldwide....
Women’s World Cup Day 23: It’s (probably) coming home to England
Sam Kerr got her first start of the World Cup. Possibly the best striker on Earth still wasn’t fully fit, but the Chelsea starlet at 80 percent is better than most in prime form. The Australian juggernaut scored one of the best goals of the tournament in the 63rd minute with her club teammate, Milli...
Enes Kanter Freedom has taken up bashing trans women on FOX News
Don’t let the fact that Enes Kanter Freedom is not a woman, and has never played (or seemingly cared about) women’s sports, concern you. Like many men when it comes to issues involving women, Enes Kanter Freedom considers himself an expert....
World Cup Day 22: Spain overcome Sweden to reach their first Final
This is truly the business end of the World Cup, as we decide who will get to play for the whole Chimichanga. The first semifinal is in the books, and it was a true styles-makes-fights clash (as opposed to the staring contest England-Australia quite likely will be). Spain’s technical ability vs. Swe...
World Cup Day 21: This tournament will be remembered for how far the women’s game has come
We have our final four. When you get this deep into a tournament, anyone who’s not seen as chalk has done something grand, like Morocco’s men’s team last year and Colombia’s women’s team would’ve been this year. The South Americans entered as the lone surprise to make the quarterfinals. They benefit...
World Cup Day 20: The yappy Dutch are finally silenced
The last eight, usually the best part of any tournament if only because it’s the last time you get multiple matches in one day (or night as the case may be this time), didn’t disappoint at World Cup 2023. The darlings of everyone are out, and Spain are learning quickly. Let’s spin this right round b...
It shouldn’t be horrible for the next American to suit up with Chelsea
How American soccer players are treated in the Premier League has always been an interesting conundrum. Unless you’re a goalkeeper or somehow wind up at Fulham, heightened levels of scrutiny are at your doorstep that don’t appear in other top leagues around the world. There have been a few other saf...
Phil Mickelson has apparently been gambling with his legacy for some time, to the tune of $1 billion
Oh, Phil. Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil. How are you greasing your way out of this one? PGA fan favorite-turned-LIV wrestling heel Phil Mickelson is in the news again for his gambling habits. In an upcoming book by Billy Walters, the professional gambler alleges Lefty wagered more than $1 billion, wi...
USWNT’s treatment is the latest example of right-wing hatred for ‘nasty women’
Indigenous Americans were almost eradicated. Black people were enslaved. Asians are mistreated. Millions still want to “build a wall.” People of color have been oppressed for centuries, and each group has its own plight. But misogyny has stood the test of time. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, the re...