The US women return to play Friday night with a mix of youngsters and veterans as the team will play for the last time this year. In the last three matches the team opened with a shocking loss to Portugal, bounced back with a determined win in a rematch, and then trounced New Zealand 6-0 in a vintage performance. Naomi Girma is back and her presence will anchor the backline while in the midfield Lilly Yohannes will join Lindsey Heaps and Rose Lavelle to give options in creating the engine for the team and on the forward line Cat Macario, Emma Sears, Olivia Moultrie, Alyssa Thompson, and Jaedyn Shaw will provide options to create and score. The question is can they start to build some chemistry?
US Women’s Roster – Friendly’s Next Friday Nov 28, Dec 1 vs Italy
Former Carmel GK Eric Dick Wins USL Championship for Pittsburgh in Shootout
Awesome to see former Carmel Dad’s Club/Carmel High/Butler GK Eric Dick win the USL title this past weekend with Pittsburgh as he pitched the shutout then won the Shootout (5-3) – to win their first championship. The 26-year wait is over as the @RiverhoundsSC take down Tulsa to win the 2025 @USLChampionship final! (full Highlights). Dick was Man of the Match. Dick’s Impact.
Most Watched NWSL Championship Gothem Wins & Lavelle is MVP
The NWSL championship match between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit on Saturday averaged 1,184,000 viewers on CBS and Paramount+ (More) marking the match as the most-viewed NWSL game of all time. The average viewership marks a 22% increase from Orlando’s win in 2024, which held the previous viewership record, and a 45% gain from 2023.
American’s Shine in Champions League & Pulisic wins Derby
The CONCACAF capital of the world was in the Arctic Circle, where Juventus won 3-2 against Norwegian kings Bodø/Glimt with the USMNT’s somewhat forgotten man, Weston McKennie, heading home Juve’s second score, before Canada’s Jonathan Davidsealed the win in stoppage time with his first goal since August. Then, 2,255 miles away in the south of France, Tim Weahassisted 36-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Marseille’s winner over visiting Newcastle. Last weekend Christian Pulisic scored the winning Goal to win the Milan Derby vs Inter Milan.
Carmel GK Eric Dick Wins USL Championship for Pittsburgh
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GAMES ON TV
Thurs, 11/27 Europa 12:45 pm Feynord vs Celtic (Trusty) Fri, Nov 28 2:30 pm B MGladbach (Reyna, Scally) vs RB Leipzig 7 pm TNT, Max USWNT vs Italy Sat, Nov 29 9:30 am ESPN+ Union Berlin vs Heidneheim 10 am USA Brentford vs Burnley (Adams) 12 noon Para+ Juventus (McKinney) vs Calgari 12:30 pm ESPN+ Bayer Leverkusen (Tilman) vs Dortmund 2:45 pm Para+ AC Milan (Pulisic) vs Lazio 3 pm USA Tottenham vs Fulham 6 pm Apple TV Inter Miami (Messi) vs NYCFC MLS East Conf Finals 9 pm Apple TV San Diego, Vancouver MLS West Conf Finals 10 pm Telemundo Tigres vs Tijuana Sun, Nov 30 7 am USA Crystal Palace (Richards) vs Man United 9 am Para+ Pisa vs Inter Milan 9 am USA Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton 9 am PEacock Nottingham Forest vs Brighton 9 am Pea West Ham vs Liverpool 11:30 am USA Chelsea vs Arsenal 3 pm ABC Girona vs Real Madrid Mon, Dec 1st 7 pm TBS, Max USWNT vs Italy
USMNT gets better idea of who it could draw in 2026 World Cup
The World Cup Draw procedures are out. by Donald Wine II Nov 25, 2025, 1:01 PM EST Stars & Stripes
Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images
The United States Men’s National Team now knows who it could potentially face in each match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage. Today, FIFA released its World Cup Draw procedures, which will take place on December 5th. While it’s complicated, the USMNT’s matches get a bit clearer.
First, FIFA has divided each of the remaining teams into Pots, including the various playoff pathways. The USMNT, as a co-host, will be in in Pot 1 and pre-drawn into Group D. Mexico and Canada will also be pre-drawn into Groups A and B, respectively. They will be placed in the 1 position for those groups.
The pots for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw (FIFA ranking in parentheses):
Pot 1 – United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27), Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9)
Pot 2 – Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26)
Pot 3 – Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (50), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61)
Pot 4 – Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaçao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Playoff A winner, UEFA Playoff B winner, UEFA Playoff C winner, UEFA Playoff D winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 1 winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 2 winner
The USMNT learned that they will face a team from Pot 3 in their World Cup opener on June 12th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. They will face a Pot 2 team at Lumen Field in Seattle on June 19th, and they will close against a Pot 4 team on June 25th back at SoFi Stadium. The United States, Canada, and Mexico will be identified by different colored ping pong balls for the draw of Pot 1: Mexico in green, Canada in red, and the U.S. with a blue ping pong ball. The rest of Pot 1 will be the same color and then automatically assigned to position 1 of the group into which they are drawn.
Pots for the 2026 World Cup DrawSource: FIFA
FIFA has also created pathways to ensure the best teams avoid each other before the semifinals and final. Spain – ranked 1 in the FIFA world rankings – will be randomly drawn into the opposite pathway as #2 Argentina. This will ensure those teams, should they win their groups, will not meet before the World Cup Final on July 19th. The same will be done for #3 France and #4 England to ensure they would be on opposite sides of the bracket.
2026 World Cup PathwaySource: FIFA
No group can have more than one team from the same confederation with the exception of UEFA, which has 16 teams. Each group will have 1, but no more than 2 UEFA teams drawn into it on December 5th. This would include the placeholders for the UEFA Playoff winners as well as the 2 inter-confederation playoff winners in Pot 4. For the USMNT, it would mean that since each inter-confederation playoff team contains a team from Concacaf, the USMNT will not see an inter-confederation winner in Group D. Likewise, if they draw a team from UEFA in Pots 2 and 3, they would not see any team from the UEFA playoff out of Pot 4.
The full match schedule for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be confirmed on December 6th after the draw has taken place. This will allow fans to set their calendars and know where each of the 104 games will be taking place. It sets up some complicated drama for everyone at the FIFA World Cup Draw, but at least for the USMNT, they are a few days away from knowing who they will face in the group stage.
Champions League Projections
Arsenal, the only side left in the Champions League with a 100% win record, have a 23% chance of winning the tournament, according to Opta’s latest prediction. This comes after Mikel Arteta’s side beat Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Emirates, with the German side now projected to have a 19% chance of winning the tournament.
Holders Paris Saint-Germain, who have overtaken Bayern in second place on goal difference (see standings), have been given an 11.2% chance of winning the tournament following their 5-3 win over Tottenham. Inter Milan (4th) and Real Madrid (5th), who are also on 12 points, are given just 4.1% and 6.2% chances of taking glory, respectively. Kylian Mbappe is now the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals, helped by his four goals in Real’s 4-3 victory over Olympiakos, including a seven-minute hat-trick.
Despite losing 2-0 at home to Leverkusen on Tuesday, Manchester City are given the fourth-best odds at 8.3%, while Chelsea are given a 6.0% chance. Liverpool, who sit 13th in the league phase table following a 4-1 loss to PSV, are projected to have a 5.7% chance. Barcelona make up the rest of the top 10 with a 4.5% chance, even though they’re currently 18th.
US Ladies Lose 2-1 to Portugal – Play them again Sunday 4 pm
Wow so even great coaches like our US National Team’s Emma Hayes are clueless when it comes to the Ole Ballcoach’s pet peeve of having a defender on the back post on Cornerkicks. Yes the US lost 2-1 Highlights to Portugal (yes a Portugal team that has lost its last 4 games) at home in Philly – as the US gave up 2 goals on corner kicks to guess where ?? the back post where there was NO DEFENDER. We did have 4 defenders zonal covering no one at the top of the 6 however. Coaches on this board – please explain to my why its ok to give up goals on Corners and not put players on the post again? I see it every weekend at least twice a week in the EPL – and now our US women’s national team has also decided to LOSE this way as well. Anyway – beyond that – the US were spanked by Portugal last night. They high pressed the US and we had no idea what to do. The loss marked only the third time that the US has lost to an opponent outside the top 20 FIFA rankings, as USWNT players struggled to find each other on the pitch when faced with Portugal’s physicality and formation. “Sometimes as a coach in this position, it feels like Whack-a-Mole,” said US manager Emma Hayes. “You try and put one thing out, and then there’s another one popping up.” Looked like we hadn’t practiced together in months – which in reality we hadn’t. Now this is not the US #1 squad – heck I am not sure this is our #2 squad in reality – but still quite shocking to be spanked for a 2nd straight game by a team that is NOT GOOD. The US returns to the field Sunday – will be interesting to see if we show up this time. It was awesome to see the Alex Morgan celebration – as the US National Team honored the retired leading scorer #13 Alex Morgan during Pre-Game. Stories below.
#2 Carmel Boys & #2 Carmel Girls Soccer Advance to Semi-States in Martinsville Sat
The Carmel Girls (18-2-1) used a 2-0 win over East Central after a 2 day rain delay to advance to Semi-states in Martinsville this Sat at 2:30 pm where they will face Center Grove (19-2) at 2:30 pm. The other bracket has #1 HSE playing Crownpoint up North in Chesterton. The winners will meet next weekend at the Mike in Indy for the State Finals. https://www.ihsaa.org/sports/girls/soccer/2025-26-tournament?round=sectionals On the boys side – (from CHS site) The IHSAA Regional Championship game saw the top two teams in the country, according to MaxPreps, the #2-ranked Greyhounds versus the #1-ranked Brownsburg Bulldogs battle to a 2-0 win by Carmel at Murray Stadium Sat. The Hounds got off to a quick start, scoring in the first ten minutes, when junior Mikey Kubek made a nice run down the wing and played the ball across to senior Curtis Droste, who slotted the ball into the back of the net to put them up 1-0. The score remained the same for the remainder of the first half. The score was 1-0 at halftime. The Greyhounds came out and struck about four minutes into the half, when Droste played a nice long ball into the channel and senior Troy Enslin chased and fought for the ball, ultimately finding the opportunity to hit a lovely shot to the far post, to make the score 2-0. The end-to-end action continued, with the final score being 2-0. Junior Gray Morgan recorded the shutout in goal. The win moves the team’s season record to 16-1-3. The Greyhounds return to action Saturday, October 25th 12 noon vs Bloomington South 17-1-3, in Martinsville. https://www.ihsaa.org/sports/boys/soccer/2025-26-tournament?round=sectionals
RIP Legendary Ref and Ref Assignor & Teacher -Bruce Carlstead
My daughter and I were taught to ref by Bruce back in 2009 in Westfield. My daughter then my son went on to ref all the way thru High school and I am still reffing today in large part because of Bruce. His dedication to our sport and compassion to our refs, kids and all around soccer were unmatched. RIP Bruce – you will be missed. ObituaryCool Story on Bruce
MLS Playoff Start tonight–Messi wins Golden Ball signs Extension
Messi finished with 29 goals and 19 assists to finish with 48 goal contributions in 2025 to finish with the Golden Ball for most goals and will be probably win the MVP. Lionel Messi has signed a contract extension with Inter Miami, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2028 MLS season. Chicago and Portland won play-in games setting up the playoffs with Miami vs tonight on FS1 8 pm. The Philadelphia Union are favored to win their first-ever MLS Cup this season after winning the 2025 Supporters’ Shield for the best regular season record. Inter Miami, Vancouver Whitecaps, and LAFC are also among the top contenders. See a snapshot of each team competing in the play-off here. On Thursday, MLS said its 30th regular season saw a 29% year-on-year rise in live viewership, averaging 3.7 million weekly viewers across streaming and linear platforms. The league also said that total matchday attendance reached 11.2 million, the second-highest figure in its history. MLS announce 2025 Awards finalists.
News & Notes
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, Sunday 26, 10:15 ET. Madrid are top of the La Liga table, two points clear of second-placed Barcelona. Despite Madrid’s strong start, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona won all four matches against Los Blancos in all competitions last season. However, both sides are hampered by injuries–see potential line-ups here. Mbappé vs. Yamal is the new Ronaldo vs. Messi — so which Clasico star is better?Brentford vs. Liverpool, Saturday 25, 3 pm ET. Liverpool have lost their last three Premier League games, as many losses as they suffered in their previous 39. Meanwhile, Brentford have lost just one of their five competitive home games under Keith Andrews. Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace, Sunday 26, 10 am League leaders Arsenal have won seven of eight matches at the Emirates when in first place, scoring 28 goals in those games. Palace & American Chris Richards could prove stubborn, having drawn eight of their last 14 Premier League matches, winning five matches in that time. See every Premier League Matchday 9 fixture here. Sad to see American Celtic Defender Carter Carter-Vickers may miss 5 months with an Achilles injury.
#2 Ranked Carmel Girls are headed to Semi-States in Martinsville after 2-0 win vs East CentralCongrats to #2 Ranked Carmel High Boys headed to Martinsville to face Bloomington South Sat
Had a blast Reffing the Indiana Christian State Semi-Finals at Colonial Christian with Mark and Mike Thurs Back on Saturday 2:30 pm for the Finals. Colonial Christian vs Suburban Christian.
TV Game Schedule
Fri, Oct 24 3 pm USA Leeds United (Aaronson) vs West Ham 3 pm Para+ AC Milan vs Pisa 8 pm FS1, Apple Miami (Messi) vs Nashville MLS Playoffs Sat, Oct 25 7:30 am CBSSN Coventry City (Haji Wright) vs Watford 9 am FS2 Ivory Coast vs Spain (U17 WWC) 9:30 am ESPN+ MGladbach (Reyna, Scally) vs Wolfsburg 10 am USA New Castle vs Fulham (Jedi) 10 am Peacock Chelsea vs Brighton 10 am CBSSN Middlesborough vs Wrexham 12 noon Para+ Napoli vs Inter Milan 12:30 pm Man City vs Brighton NBC 12:30 pm ESPN+ Dortmund vs Koln 3 pm ESPN+ Valencia vs Villarreal 8 pm Univision Leon vs Pumas (Mex) 11 pm CBSSN Cruz Azul vs Monterrey Mex Sun, Oct 26 10 am USA Aston Villa vs Man City 10 am Peacock? Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (Richards) 10:30 am ESPN+ Leverkusen (Tilman) vs Freiberg 11:15 ESPN2 am Real Madrid vs Barcelona (Derby) 3:45 pm Para+ Lazio vs Juventus (McKennie) 4 pm TNT, Max USA Women vs Portugal Hartford CT 5:30 pm FS1 Philly vs Chicago MLS 7:30 pm Apple Vancouver vs FC Dallas 9:30 pm Apple Earthquakes vs Portland Mon, Oct 27 4 pm ESPN+, Desp Real Bettis vs Atletico 6:45 pm FS1, Apple Cincy vs Columbus Crew MLS 9 pm FS1, Apple Minn vs Seattle Sounders MLS Tues, Oct 28 1:30 pm Para+ Lecce vs Napoli 1:30 pm ESPNU Frankfort vs Dortmund 3:45 pm Para+. Prime Atalanta vs AC Milan 4 pm Para+ Wrexham s Cardiff City 6:45 pm FS1, Apple Charlotte vs NYCFC MLS Wed, Oct 29 1:30 pm Para+ Juventus (McKennie) vs Udinese 3:45 pm Para+ Inter Milan vs Fiorentina 3:45 pm Para+ Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (Richards) League Cup 4 pm Para+ Newcastle vs Tottenham League Cup 8 pm TNT, Max USA Women vs New Zealand 10:30 pm Apple LAFC vs Austin FC MLS Playoffs Oct 31, Fri 3:30 pm ESPN+ Ausberg vs Dortmund 4 pm Para+ Wrexham vs Coventry City Sat ,, Nov 1 MLS Playoffs 11 am ?? Fulham vs Wolverhampton 11 am ?? Burnley (Adams) vs Arsenal 11 am ?? Nottingham Forest vs Man United 11:15 am ESPN+ Atletico Madrid (Cardosa) cs Sevilla 1:30 pm USA Tottenham vs Chelsea 1:30 pm ESPN+ Bayern Munich vs Leverkusen (Reyna, Scally) 4 pm USA Liverpool vs Aston Villa 4 pm ESPN+, D Real Madrid vs Valencia Sat, Nov 15 5 pm TNT, Max USA Men vs Paraguay Chester PA Tues, Nov 18 7 pmTNT, Max USA Men vs Uruguay Tampa, FL
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France: Goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin made several strong saves early in the game against Germany, noted in reports by Yahoo and this other Yahoo article.
USMNT weekend viewing guide: What a treat
Hoping for some tasty goodness this weekend.
Getty Images
We’re closing out October with some tasty matchups including some head to head action in Ligue 1 and an early season matchup in the Eredivise between title contenders. There are some injury concerns as well which is a nasty trick but there are still plenty of good matches to watch this weekend. Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on:
Saturday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayern Munich – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Joe Scally, Gio Reyna and Borussia Monchengladbach who are coming off a 3-1 loss to Union Berlin and sit at the bottom of the table still looking for their first win on the season won’t see things get any easier this weekend as they host Bayern Munich. Bayern already look like they are running away with the league title, they are perfect through their first seven matches and hold a five point lead over RB Leipzig who are second in the table. Bayern have scored 27 through their first seven matches, and allowed just four; they aren’t just winning, they are dominating.
Augsburg v RB Leipzig – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Noahkai Banks received his second straight start last weekend in Augsburg’s 1-1 draw with Koln. Augsburg have four points from those two matches and are currently in 13th place. On Saturday, they host second place RB Leipzig who are coming off a 2-1 win over Hamburg.
Eintracht Frankfurt v St Pauli – 9:30a on ESPN Select: James Sands and St. Pauli have lost four straight matches and currently sit in fourteenth place. Sands has started every match for St. Pauli who started their season with two wins and seven points in their first three matches but since then have scored just once across all four losses.
Newcastle United v Fulham – 10a on USA Network: Antonee Robinson remains out with his knee injury that is becoming highly concerning for a US player that has shown to be one of the most important features of the USMNT setup. Fulham have lost three straight matches and sit in 15th place.
Middlesbrough v Wrexham – 10a on CBSSN: Aidan Morris has come off the bench in two straight matches, both wins for the English Championship side that are currently in second place, a point back of Haji Wright’s Coventry City, through the first quarter of the season.
Monaco v Toulouse – 1p on beIN Sports: Folarin Balogun and Monaco host Mark McKenzie and Toulouse on Saturday afternoon in a Ligue 1 matchup. Balogun came in off the bench last weekend and ten minutes later scored the opening goal for Monaco. Unfortunately, the team would give up a tying goal in the 85th minute and settled for a draw with Angers, their second straight draw and the third straight match that they have failed to win, they have fallen from first in the standings three matches ago, down to seventh place. Mark McKenzie also came in off the bench for Toulouse as his team defeated Metz 4-0 for their second straight victory, to move into eighth place.
Cremonese v Atalanta – 2:45p on Paramount+: Yunus Musah did not appear for Atalanta last weekend as the team was held to a scoreless draw with Lazio. Musah had appeared as a substitute in the four prior matches for Atalanta who have yet to loose this season but have drawn three straight and currently sit in eighth place, though they are still just five points back of league leading AC Milan.
Lens v Olympique Marseille – 3:05p on beIN Sports: Tim Weah and Olympique Marseille defeated Le Havre 6-2 last weekend with Weah coming into the match as a substitute to play the final 20 minutes of the match. Marseille were up 2-1 when Weah came into the match, he did not score or assist on any of the subsequent four goals to be scored by Marseille but let’s just assume the correlation is causation here people.
Sunday
Feyenoord v PSV – 9:30a on ESPN Select: Ricardo Pepi and Sergino Dest both came off the bench for PSV midweek with Pepi scoring a goal and adding an assist in the team’s 6-2 trouncing of Napoli in Champions League group stage play. This weekend the team will travel to Feyenoord looking to overtake their hosts for the top of the table. PSV have won three straight, and four of their past five but are currently three points back of Feyenoord who have just one draw to blemish their record through the first nine matches of the season.
Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest – 10a on Peacock: Tyler Adams and third place Bournemouth will host a Nottingham Forest side who are in eighteenth place and fired Ange Postecoglou basically at the final whistle of last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea. The team responded midweek with a 2-0 win over Porto in Europa League play to snap a ten match winless streak across all competitions.
Arsenal v Crystal Palace – 10a on Peacock: Chris Richards and Crystal Palace will look to bounce back from a home loss to Cypriot side AEK Larnaca in Conference League play on Thursday. Richards did not appear in the match for Palace who are winless in their past two league matches as well, including last weekends come from behind 3-3 draw with Bournemouth, as they converted a penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage time to draw level and salvage the point.
Bayer Leverkusen v Freiburg – 10:30a on ESPN Select: Malik Tillman’s thigh injury is expected to keep him out another week. The midfielder picked up the injury while on international duty causing him to miss the match against Australia as well as the two matches played by his club since returning from the window, including Tuesday’s embarassing 7-2 loss to defending champions PSG.
Olympique Lyon v Strasbourg – 3:45p on beIN Sports: Tanner Tessmann played the first half of Lyon’s 2-0 win over Basel in Europa League action on Thursday, coming out with his team up 1-0 at the half. Tessmann had come off the bench last weekend for the final 13’ in his teams 3-2 loss to Nice, a loss which dropped Lyon to fifth in the Ligue 1 table. On Sunday they host a Strasbourg team that are a point ahead of them, and in third place.
Lazio v Juventus – 3:45p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie also came off the bench last weekend as Juventus fell to Como 2-0 but then started midweek and went the full ninety as Juve fell to Real Madrid at the Burnabeu in Champions League action. With last weeks defeat Juventus fell to seventh place in the league table, four points back of the league leaders.
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The USWNT just gave its worst performance under Emma Hayes. What went wrong against Portugal?
Emma Hayes was far from happy with how her team played. Brad Smith / Getty Images
Standing on the sideline of a mostly silent Subaru Park as her U.S. women’s national team lost to Portugal on Thursday, Emma Hayes felt stuck in “a game of Whac-A-Mole.”For the first time in her 17 months in charge, she watched her players try to solve problems as individuals rather than as the collective that rolled through her first 17 games unbeaten, including a gold medal run at the 2024 Olympics.As one problem after another arose, she felt “frustrated.” Not with the result, a 2-1 loss, but with the performance.“I don’t think anybody came out with flying colors,” Hayes said when asked about a few specific players. “I think as a team, we were poor, to be honest with you.”She told the players exactly that and more in an animated, minutes-long speech on the field after the game, with starters, substitutes and staff all huddled in a circle around her. She jabbed her right pointer finger and patted her chest.“I think everyone was trying to maybe fix it on their own,” said midfielder Rose Lavelle, who scored the USWNT’s only goal 33 seconds into the game.“Defensively,” Hayes said, “from front to back, we just mistimed everything.”Though full of experience and talent, the midfield three of Lavelle, Sam Coffey and Lindsey Heaps got outnumbered and overwhelmed by Portugal’s midfield diamond. The Americans were slow to adjust. “We could have solved things a bit earlier on,” Heaps said.
Lindsey Heaps and her teammates struggled.Roger Wimmer / ISI Photos via Getty Images
But their shortcomings were not tactical. They were not confined to any one area of the field or any one line. They were everywhere because everyone felt disconnected.“A lot of things did not go our way, in terms of playing together, playing as a team, doing things together,” Heaps said. “Sometimes it felt a little bit like we were on islands.”“In attack, it felt like we just hadn’t played together in a long time,” Hayes added. “I didn’t recognize us. I felt we just rushed everything. We went direct. We didn’t look like the team that we’ve been working on.”They did not look like the team they had been over the past 25 games under Hayes. Not the team that grinded to Olympic gold; nor the one that won five straight matches, by an aggregate score of 18-0, this summer; not even the team that lost to Japan or split a back-to-back with Brazil earlier this year.Those losses, to international powers, were understandable; the performances were creditable and the team, as Hayes said, was “still working on our principles.”Thursday was something else.The opponent, although praised by Hayes and U.S. players, had never reached the knockout rounds of a major tournament. They were outscored 8-2 at the 2025 Women’s European Championship, with five of those goals coming from Spain, failing to make it out of the group stage. The win on Thursday was not only Portugal’s first in 12 meetings since 1994, but the first time the team had scored against the U.S., who has 40 goals against them. Nonetheless, Portugal kept the ball while the U.S. looked disjointed.Hayes added: “Sometimes, when the panic gets in the head, or you try to do something, instead of starting to do the things we want you to do, it just felt like we didn’t get a rhythm the whole night.”Their lack of rhythm, which Hayes referenced in yells from the touchline mid-game, seemed to spiral. Problems multiplied.“When certain things go wrong, or we’re not patient, or in one mind we’re transitioning and in the other mind we want to retain the ball… It’s hard,” Heaps explained.She later continued: “I wanted to calm the game down. When it gets a very chaotic game like that, or you feel like you’re not controlling the game, it’s like, ‘How can we get that control back? How can we complete the next pass, and the next pass, and the next pass?’ But once we miss that next pass, it’s like, ‘S***. We gotta get back in. We gotta solve what they’re implementing.’“That was hard, too. We were running a lot, we were trying to figure out defensively what we needed to be in, the shape that we needed to be in, the press.”
In its first loss to Portugal, the U.S. also conceded its first goals against the team.Brad Smith / Getty Images
At times, it felt a lot like the 2023 World Cup game between the same two teams, albeit in a different setting and with a lot of different players. That time, under the leadership of former head coach Vlatko Andonovski, the U.S. settled for its first draw against Portugal, a scoreless affair capping a poor group stage performance. The U.S. lost the following knockout round game to Sweden in penalty kicks, making its earliest World Cup exit in program history. When asked about that comparison, Heaps, who co-captained that team, responded with a chuckle: “Oh, don’t bring me back to that game.”
In the more recent matchup, the U.S. ultimately conceded twice from corners, and Hayes, as she descended from the podium after her post-match news conference, assured everyone in the room: “No coach likes giving up f***ing set pieces. And neither do the players.”But it was the entire 90 minutes that frustrated her. On multiple occasions, she, her staff and the players tried to tweak their tactical approach, but “I still don’t think we got a grip of the game,” she said.Her attitude afterwards, however, was not so gloomy.“Sometimes you need a kick up the backside like that,” Hayes said.And this, of course, was a kick up the backside in an October 2025 friendly, not a June 2027 World Cup game in Brazil. Players arrived Monday, some after Sunday games; they trained Tuesday and Wednesday, and even then, “I actually felt it,” Hayes said. “There were so many misconnections. Just taking a bit of time for us to get on the same page.”Then, on Thursday, they played together for the first time in more than 100 days.“We haven’t been together in four months; we gotta remember that,” Heaps said. “We’ve had two days of training; you gotta remember that. You don’t want to be super negative right now, because you’ll just beat your head in.”Neither players nor Hayes were interested in making excuses, but they were realistic. They were, after all, without center back Naomi Girma and forward Trinity Rodman, due to injury, as well as several other key players. The back four — Avery Patterson, Tara McKeown, Emily Sonnett and Emily Fox — were starting together for the first time.And more importantly, all of them, players and coaches, are still at an experimental phase of their build toward 2027.When asked how she would assess Thursday’s game in that context, Hayes began: “As Ben Northey, the Sydney Philharmonic conductor, would say, ‘let it go.’”They will travel to Connecticut on Friday to play Portugal again on Sunday, this time at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.“We have to get better,” Hayes said. “And I promise you, we will be better. We better be.”
USWNT celebrates Alex Morgan’s ‘legendary’ career as she passes the torch to next generation
USWNT honored Alex Morgan’s career at the stadium where she scored her first goal. Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF
Alex Morgan stood on the pitch inside Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., one last time Thursday. Even though she retired last year, this moment — standing before the U.S. women’s national team as it celebrated her iconic legacy — was long overdue.The stadium roared as the announcer rattled off the 36-year-old’s many accomplishments over her 15-year career. Before the current U.S. squad took on Portugal in the first of two friendlies this international window, the younger generation of players watching as they warmed up, thousands of fans began chanting her name.But no list could measure what Morgan meant to women’s soccer.It was only fitting that a career like Morgan’s came full circle in this way, on the field where she scored her first goal for the U.S. 15 years ago.While still a senior at the University of California, a 21-year-old Morgan entered the pitch for the USWNT as a second-half sub Oct. 6, 2010. The U.S. trailed China, with an at-home unbeaten streak on the line, inside what was then PPL Park in Chester.Just shy of 13 minutes on the pitch, Morgan overlapped with teammate Abby Wambach, who flicked a header to the young striker. Morgan calmly waited for the right moment, watching the ball closely as it bounced once before her. She then struck it into the back of China’s net, recording her goal of 123 goals scored for the United States over a legendary 15-year career.
There are few players as iconic as Alex Morgan. The two-time World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist is one of the most prolific goal scorers in U.S. women’s soccer history, and one of the most recognizable faces in the women’s game. Beyond the pitch, she was a staunch advocate for gender equity and equality, having lent her voice for the betterment of the game throughout her career.Her accolades are plenty: 224 caps for the U.S., a treble winner with Lyon in France and more than a decade in the National Women’s Soccer League. Morgan was also instrumental in the fight for equal pay, better working conditions and player protections across country and club, including advocating for players during NWSL’s systemic abuse scandal.As U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes told reporters this week, Morgan “transcended’ women’s football.“There was nothing she didn’t achieve,” Hayes said. “She was a player that epitomized everything this program is about. She’s an unbelievable credit to her family, because her drive, her desire, her determination to prove herself at the highest level is second to none. You can’t go anywhere in this country without them talking about Alex Morgan.”What You Should Read NextReflecting on Alex Morgan’s career: The athlete, the fighter, the humanMorgan was more than an athlete during her nearly two-decade career in professional soccer.Morgan’s is among a string of recent retirements from the U.S. women’s national team, including those by Ali Krieger, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Alyssa Naeher, who will be honored in her home state of Connecticut on Sunday. As many from her generation, though, Morgan has not strayed far from the game.She has evolved into a strategic businesswoman, with a slew of ventures started in recent years. In 2021, she co-founded Togethxr, a women’s sports media company. The brand rose to fame with its “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” tagline, seen on shirts around the globe and the front of London City Lionesses jerseys in the Women’s Super League.Earlier this year, Morgan became a minority investor in the San Diego Wave, the last club she played for.
After her retirement, Alex Morgan invested in the San Diego Wave.Rich Graessle / Getty Images
Morgan retired over a year ago on Sept. 5, 2024, after announcing she and her husband, Servando Carrasco, were expecting their second child, Enzo. Three days after her announcement, she ended her career with a symbolic 13 minutes for the San Diego Wave, the same number as her iconic jersey.“I left everything on the field. I did everything I ever wanted to do and more,” Morgan said after that game. “I feel so at peace because I am ready to start a family. I’m ready to hang up the boots and allow the next generation to flourish and just relish in the spotlight. I’m just ready.”This week, Morgan finally received the standing ovation for the legacy she leaves behind with the U.S. On the eve of her celebration, current U.S. players reflected on her impact.For Arsenal defender Emily Fox, three words come to mind: “Consistent” and “on top.”“I feel like the entirety of her career, she’s always been improving, always wanted to get better. Both on and off the field, she embraces that,” Fox said. “Just with what she and the team have done for equal pay, also her foundation that she started, joining the San Diego Wave franchise and bringing that to life. With Alex, she’s very 360 in the sense that she is on the field and off the field in what she does.”Chelsea winger Alyssa Thompson, one of the rising stars in this new U.S. generation, has looked up to Morgan since she started playing soccer. The two were teammates at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when 18-year-old Thompson was the youngest player on that summer’s U.S. roster. That’s something Morgan could relate to, as the youngest player called up for the U.S. at the 2011 World Cup.
Alyssa Thompson looked up to Alex Morgan before she started playing alongside her.Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images
“She has meant so much to me and the game,” Thompson said. “She’s changed the game for the better. I wouldn’t be in the position I am right now if it weren’t for the players that came before me, especially Alex, fighting for equality and equal pay.”Though the U.S. suffered an early exit from that tournament, Morgan’s leadership stayed with her.“When we weren’t doing as well as we wanted to, and she gave our team a speech, I feel like it really empowered me,” she said. “It inspired me to stay together as a team and believe in our team.”For midfielder Rose Lavelle, Morgan’s goal in the 2019 World Cup semifinal match against England stands out. Lavelle was the first player to hug Morgan after her viral tea celebration, which graced the world’s front pages the next day. The goal happened on Morgan’s 30th birthday, and the U.S. went on to win their second consecutive World Cup title, with a game-winning goal from Lavelle.
“It’s always such a great opportunity to be able to honor and celebrate players like that,” Lavelle said. “They are the reason that we are the team we are. They taught us how to be excellent.”
Alex Morgan’s 2019 World Cup tea celebration became an iconic moment of the tournament.Charlotte Wilson / Getty Images
But it’s not just the players who got to play with Morgan who feel her impact on the national team’s program. Twenty-one-year-old Ally Sentnor received her first cap with the national team in November, six months after Morgan played her last U.S. game.
“Legend, goal scorer, icon are a few words to describe her,” Sentnor said. “She was this amazing, heroic, untouchable player that we watched growing up. She was one of my favorite players growing up. I had her jersey, iconic pink prewrap, we all wore it when we were younger, trying to be her.
There were 13 years, 4 months and 17 days between Morgan’s first U.S. goal and her last. Her final goal was during the Concacaf W Gold Cup, when she scored against Argentina on Feb. 23, 2024. This fittingly took place in Carson, Calif., about 40 miles from her hometown of Diamond Bar.
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But when Morgan reflects on that first goal, she makes a point to give flowers to another player.“It was an important goal,” Morgan recently told ESPN. ‘With an assist from my hero and idol, Abby (Wambach).”In that moment, Wambach set Morgan up for greatness, a ceremonious passing of the torch from one generation to the next. In many ways, Morgan’s entire career was spent preparing to pass that torch for future generations, too.
Big Five: Europe’s top games this weekend
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, left, and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal will be in action during El Clasico on Sunday. Jose Breton / Pics Action / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Athletic has hand-picked five of the most intriguing weekend fixtures from around Europe …
Lens v Marseille, Stade Bollaert-Delelis
Saturday, 25 Oct., 8:05 p.m. BST (UK: Amazon Prime Video / Ligue 1 Pass; USA: Fanatiz, beIN Sports)
Buckle up. Chaos is never far away when Marseille play these days. For a few weeks, at least, it had been peaceful in Provence. A famous win in Le Classique kick-started a run of five straight victories that sent Roberto De Zerbi’s side flying to Lisbon riding high atop Ligue 1 on the back of a 6-2 mauling of Le Havre.That put further distance from the painful memories of opening day defeat at 10 man Rennes and the changing room brawl that followed, but those ghosts came howling back as they were downed late by Sporting in an incident-packed Champions League bout on Wednesday.Such a fate seemed unlikely when club-record signing Igor Paixao sumptuously curled home his fourth goal across his first eight games inside 15 minutes, but the game turned on a frenetic exchange just before the interval.Set to go two up when Emerson was felled in the box for a penalty, Marseille were forced to play the second half with 10 men after the referee showed the former West Ham and Chelsea left back a second yellow card for diving to try and win the spot kick.Despite conceding midway through the second half, a precious point was in touching distance before Allisson Santos’ deflected effort looped agonizingly over OM goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and in.Attention must now refocus to the pursuit of a first Ligue 1 crown since Didier Deschamps masterminded success in 2010, and Lens will be a stern test as to the robustness of those title credentials.After a narrow defeat to Lyon on the opening day, Pierre Sage’s side have been formidable at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, winning three and being breached just once thanks to the league’s joint-best defence.Marseille are the only other team to have conceded seven, while two league goals apiece from a pair of one-time Premier League men — former Newcastle winger Florian Thauvin and ex-Crystal Palace frontman Odsonne Edouard — have helped ensure a threat at the other end.
Marseille’s club-record signing Igor PaixãoSathire Kelpa / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayern Munich, Borussia-Park
There are surprises, there are upsets, and then there is whatever it would be should the Bundesliga’s only winless team find a way to beat European football’s seemingly unstoppable force on Saturday.
What else is there to say about the brilliance of Bayern Munich and Harry Kane that hasn’t already been said? Wednesday’s 4-0 thrashing of Club Brugge made it 12 wins in a row to open the campaign for the Bavarians, with Kane tapping in his 20th (yes, 20th) of the season.Even at their peaks, it took Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo 17 and 13 games respectively to amass the same haul, with the Englishman adding three assists for good measure. Popping up all over the pitch, the 32-year-old looks as complete as he ever has, and believes he has manager Vincent Kompany to thank for it.“I think he has (unlocked a different level in me),” Kane said last week regarding Kompany, who signed a new two-year deal on Tuesday.“He is a fantastic coach, not just tactically but also as a person … I’m someone who likes to turn on the ball and play forward passes but that’s not always possible, so we’ve spoken a lot about opening my body, playing around the corner quickly with one-touch.“I feel like I’ve added to my game — not getting stuck on the ball as much, and a bit more fluidity.”
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Meanwhile, Monchengladbach have been forced to begin their wretched campaign without either of last season’s top scorers. Tim Kleindienst remains out after a torn meniscus in May prematurely ended a superb 16-goal Bundesliga campaign, while French striker Alassane Plea left for PSV in the summer after scoring 11 to help the Foals to 10th place.Head coach Eugen Polanski, appointed on an interim basis following Gerardo Seoane’s sacking last month, would surely snap your hand off for another midtable finish.Rock bottom with three points from seven games, Monchengladbach welcome Europe’s most in-form side having shipped six in 47 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt at Borussia-Park last month, and four against Werder Bremen before that.
A goalless draw against Freiburg marked home improvement, but Kane will be chomping at the bit to continue filling his boots against a side seemingly bereft of confidence.
It is shaping up to be a rather terrifying Halloween in Naples.A catastrophic Champions League implosion at PSV in midweek, whereby they led inside half an hour only to end the game 6-2 down with 10 men, followed on from a grueling 1-0 defeat at struggling Torino that saw the reigning champions surrender their lead atop Serie A.Though his side did edge past Sporting earlier this month, Antonio Conte’s spotty European record is a peculiar blot on his glittering managerial career.Outside of an ultimately unsuccessful run to the 2020 Europa League final with Inter, the Italian has only made it past the quarter-final of a European competition once, when his Juventus team reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2014.Yet there can be no doubting his domestic pedigree, and a victory against his old employers would be the perfect stabilizer. Conte left Inter due to purported frustrations with transfer business, and while the 56-year-old is blowing the same trumpet this week, he is playing an unexpected tune.“Last year we won the league with just a few players … Nine (signings) was too many for me but we had to do it,” Conte, who played seven of the club’s summer recruits against PSV, told Sky after the defeat.“There’s no need to despair. We’ve a lot of work to do. We have to try to recreate the chemistry that we had last year. When you bring nine new faces into a dressing room, it’s going to take time.”Only five Inter players who started May’s Champions League final lined up against Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday, but three of them — Denzel Dumfries, Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez — led the way with goals as Cristian Chivu’s side continued their perfect start in Europe.The 4-0 victory in Belgium continued a fantastic month for The Black and Blues, who have won seven on the spin in all competitions following that dizzying 4-3 loss at Juventus in early September.Having lost the Scudetto by a point to Napoli last year, Inter are within a point of league leaders and arch rivals Milan, who host bottom-place Pisa on Friday.
Perhaps that deliciously delirious triumph over Inter was too dreamy to be real after all.Juventus have not won a game since conquering The Black and Blues in that seven goal thriller in mid-September, as narrow midweek defeat at Real Madrid extended their winless stretch to seven matches and cranked up the pressure on head coach Igor Tudor. A frustrating flurry of five straight draws has slid into back-to-back losses at Como and the Bernabeu, resigning The Old Lady to their worst run since 2009 and putting a pin in any early season optimism around Turin. Tudor embarked on an impassioned six-minute rebuttal of media criticism ahead of the Madrid game, as dissected by The Athletic’s James Horncastle, but as a former Juventus player of 10 years, the Croatian should know as well as any that the knives will only sharpen should they fail to leave the capital with three points this weekend.“At Juventus, a draw is made out to be a defeat and a defeat a 10-0,” said Tudor, who bemoaned the “mad schedule” and “algorithm” that had determined his side’s fixtures to date.A trip to inconsistent Lazio marks the beginning of a kinder looking schedule for Tudor and co, with a team currently in the top eight not upcoming until a visit to reigning champions Napoli in early December.It has been a similarly strange start for Maurizio Sarri’s Eagles, who have oscillated between free scoring and utterly blunt from week to week.Comprehensive victories against Verona and Genoa have been undercut by bleak defeats to Sassuolo and rivals Roma, while a hugely entertaining 3-3 draw against Torino was followed up by a goalless affair at Atalanta last week in which they mustered just one shot on target.
Sun, Oct 26 • 11:15AMRMAvsBARDrawMoneylineSpreadTotalOdds updated1 minute ago
Depleted, distracted and (temporarily) managerless: Barcelona have their work cut out if they are to replicate their El Clasico cake walk this year.The Blaugrana swept aside Real Madrid in four meetings last year, winning by an aggregate score of 16-7 en route to a domestic treble, but head to the Bernabeu two points behind their storied rivals with a number of issues to address.First things first, and their hosts Sunday may have some empathy here, there’s the injuries. Raphina and Ferran Torres should be back in time, but their match fitness remains up in the air and there will be little to no chance for Robert Lewandowski (hamstring), Dani Olmo (calf), Gavi and Joan Garcia (knees).Then there has been the off-field drama surrounding the club that, granted, never seems to be far away, but has gathered pace following the latest player registration debacles, a Lamine Yamal painkillers feud, and the recent cancellation of the much-maligned “Miami match” in December.On the pitch, Kylian Mbappe will undoubtedly be licking his lips at the prospect of facing Barca’s now-trademark sky-high line that has been exploited to devastating effect by both Sevilla and Paris-Saint Germain in recent weeks.There is added motivation for the French superstar after he was flagged offside a league-record eight times in a nightmarish Clasico debut a year ago, when the visitors romped to a 4-0 victory.Not that Mbappe needs any further pep in his blisteringly quick step. The 26-year-old is already up to 15 goals for the season as the centre-piece of a Madrid side that — barring an implosion at Atletico Madrid — have made an excellent, albeit unspectacular, start under Xabi Alonso.Yet Alonso will be the only head coach on the sideline Sunday, with Flick set to sit in the stands following a red card received in the frantic final moments of Barca’s last gasp win at Girona last weekend.Assistant Marcus Sorg will take his place on the touchline, having lost both games in which he deputized for Flick last season.
Our subscriber’s match of the week
Leeds vs West Ham, Friday, 8pm UK/3pm ET
Andrew says: “This is a crucial game under the lights at Elland Road. Leeds’ decent start is close to unravelling — they have picked up just one point from the last nine available. What’s more, there are difficult fixtures on the horizon. However, West Ham have a quick turnaround from playing on Monday and Nuno Espirito Santo has a massive job on his hands. While questions remain over Daniel Farke, home advantage will help Leeds.”
Leeds 1-0 West Ham
Oli says: Leeds have fared reasonably well on their return to the Premier League — their average of a point per game is survival form — but the fixtures look a lot tougher over the next couple of months, so the margin for error is smaller than it might appear. West Ham’s players might be grateful that they are playing away after four consecutive home defeats to start the season, but Elland Road on a Friday night is not for the faint-hearted. And that’s precisely what West Ham have been lately.
Leeds 2-0 West Ham
Leeds manager Daniel Farke could not find the solutions against Burnley (Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport via Getty Images
The rest of Oli’s predictions
Chelsea vs Sunderland
Oli says: I say this every week, but I’ve been so impressed by Sunderland. It’s not only the four wins and two draws, it’s also how competitive they’ve been in every game. I expect the same at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea have won their last four in all competitions and, while this will be a tougher test than Nottingham Forest or Ajax in their past two, they should have enough quality to make it five victories in a row.
Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland
Newcastle vs Fulham
The initial draft of this preview, written on Tuesday afternoon, was about feeling a little frustrated watching Newcastle this season, that their football had become a little too scrappy and that they needed to get more out of their wide players, Anthony Gordon in particular. Their 3-0 win a few hours later against Benfica, with Gordon their standout performer, was a big step in the right direction and something to build on against Fulham.
Newcastle 2-0 Fulham
Manchester United vs Brighton
As encouraging as United beating Liverpool away undoubtedly was, match-winner Harry Maguire immediately said it will count for nothing if they fail to perform at home against Brighton this weekend.
It’s true. Victory over visitors Chelsea last month was followed seven days later by a grim defeat at Brentford. Derby victory at City last December was followed four days later by a chaotic Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham. Brighton fall into the category of “Can beat anyone on their day”. They can certainly beat United, having won on three straight visits to Old Trafford, but I don’t think they will.
United 2-1 Brighton
Brentford vs Liverpool
Backing Liverpool is fraught with risk at the moment — and Brentford, with their speed on the counter-attack and those long throws from Michael Kayode, Mathias Jensen and Kevin Schade, are the type of team who can make life awkward for any opponent, especially ones who have lost their last three Premier League matches.
It’s easy to imagine Liverpool having 20 shots to Brentford’s six, but less easy to predict whether that will be enough for an away win. I’ll say yes — but very cautiously. As they finally demonstrated in Frankfurt on Wednesday, they have the firepower to make life so much easier for themselves.
Brentford 1-2 Liverpool
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Arsenal are the strongest team they have faced this season and, if anyone at Liverpool or Real Madrid is minded to take offence at that, they really shouldn’t because it seems pretty obvious on current form. Arsenal are looking so strong and, more than anything, it’s hard to see them conceding goals.
Palace are the type of opponents who could disprove that theory, but after everything I said above, I feel I need to learn from last week’s lesson and go for the safe option of an Arsenal win to nil. I’ll be doing that a lot over the next few weeks.
Arsenal 2-0 Palace
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Villa have rediscovered their rhythm a bit domestically with three league wins in a row and I haven’t exactly been bowled over by City’s performances this season, but… just as it’s hard to see Arsenal conceding goals, I just can’t see Erling Haaland not scoring. The Norwegian registered 24 goals in 14 appearances for club and country this season. That is absurd. He’s a phenomenal player — not in the Lionel Messi sense, but phenomenal nonetheless.
Villa will put up a real fight, but really, it’s a question of whether they can score more goals than Haaland.
Villa 1-1 City
Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest
In isolation, I approve of Forest hiring Sean Dyche. But it’s the type of appointment you make from a position of weakness — and in Forest’s case, that is having recklessly thrown away a position of rare strength. I firmly expect him to stop the early-season rot and return to something closer to last season’s gameplan under Nuno, but a) that seems a fairly drastic downscaling of Forest’s ambitions and b) I’m not sure the Dyche effect will take hold quickly enough to stop Bournemouth and particularly the in-form Antoine Semenyo.
Bournemouth 2-1 Forest
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Burnley
I’ve somehow managed to get all Burnley’s results correct, which I would like to think reflects an appreciation of their strengths as well as their limitations. I’ve backed Wolves to win on a couple of occasions too, so it’s pretty alarming — for them rather than me — that they keep losing games that look winnable or at least drawable.
This is the last in a run of four home league games that appeared reasonably inviting (Everton, Leeds, Brighton, Burnley). I’ll go for third time lucky in predicting a Wolves win. If they don’t get a result, they really will be in trouble.
Wolves 1-0 Burnley
Everton vs Tottenham
The Tottenham fans in my life are fretting, uninspired by their early-season performances (even when results appeared encouraging) and anxious about a fixture list that now sees them face Everton (away), Newcastle (away), Chelsea (home), Copenhagen (home), Manchester United (home), Arsenal (away) and Paris Saint-Germain (away) over the next four and a half weeks.
Sunday’s game actually looks like one of the gentler matches among that lot… and it may not be very gentle at all, given that Everton are still unbeaten at Hill Dickinson Stadium. It could be a rough few weeks for Thomas Frank and his team.
Everton 1-0 Spurs
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USMNT’s Cameron Carter-Vickers out ‘three to five months’ with Achilles injury
United States defender Cameron Carter-Vickers could miss between three and five months with an Achilles injury, Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers said on Friday.
Carter-Vickers, 27, played the full 90 minutes in Celtic’s 2-1 Europa League win against Sturm Graz on Thursday, but appeared to be carrying an injury late on in Glasgow.
“He looks like he’s done his Achilles, which could be anywhere between three and five months,” Rodgers told Sky. “We just await confirmation of that. It’s not great news.
Carter-Vickers was named in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for the USMNT’s October friendlies against Ecuador and Australia, but was an unused substitute in both matches. It was his first call-up since March, when he played in the Nations League third-place play-off defeat to Canada.
The former Tottenham Hotspur defender will miss November’s friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay.
Carter-Vickers’ compatriot Auston Trusty was an unused substitute on Thursday and, alongside Dane Murray, serves as back-up for Celtic to partner Liam Scales in defence. Trusty has not played since August due to a foot injury.
Carter-Vickers has won 19 caps for the U.S. since making his senior international debut in November 2017 at 19 years old under Dave Sarachan. He was included in Gregg Berhalter’s squads for the World Cup in 2022 and the Copa America last year.
Disappointing, but Pochettino will be able to cope
Analysis by senior writer Greg O’Keefe
While the news of-Carter Vickers’ long-term injury lay-off will be disappointing for club and country, it is unlikely to spark any panic for Pochettino.
The fact that the centre-back has only appeared once under the Argentine, in that humbling defeat by Canada in March’s CONCACAF Nations League Finals third place play-Off, points to his current status in the squad.
Generally, defenders such as Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson, have been ahead of him in the pecking order, and despite his experience in the Champions League with Celtic, Carter-Vickers has spent most of his time to date under Pochettino on the bench.
Whether he might have got more minutes to prove himself in next month’s friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay is now a moot point, but his injury does serve to remove an option from a key area in the field not overburdened with experience and elite level candidates for next summer’s World Cup.
Granted, Carter-Vickers was more used to playing in a conventional back four under previous U.S. boss Gregg Berghalter (and still does at Celtic), meaning Pocettino may well have other more suitable players he can develop in his back three going forward, it never hurts to have experienced personnel available going into such a big year.
The fact he has been reluctant to use a defender he previously coached at Tottenham in his tenure with the USMNT so far is one thing, but now the option of allowing Carter-Vickers time to show what a partnership with another lesser-used defender such as club team-mate Auston Trusty is greatly diminished.
The serious nature of such an Achilles injury means that even if he returns in March, it could be a challenge to get him truly match fit and conditioned in time for the World Cup roster.
It does, at least, mean younger defenders may get more chances ahead of next summer. In the German Bundesliga with Augsburg, promising 18-year-old Noahkai Banks is already starting matches and might get an opportunity, while at 26 years old, McKenzie is coming into his prime and building consistency in Ligue 1 with Toulouse.
US Men Bring B Team Roster to Games vs Turkey on Sat 3:30 & Tues 8 pm vs Switzerland TNT
Sad to see that the US Men in their last competition before the World Cup at home next Summer – are once again bringing a B Team to the Gold Cup. Yes starters Matt Turner, Chris Richards (D) & Tyler Adams will be on hand but other than EVERYONE else is playing for the 3 or 4 spots left on what should be our World Cup team next summer. Sorry but I am still not convinced Poch is the guy to get us to the Final 4 or even Final 8 in the World Cup. It will be funny when Canada with Marsh & Asst Coach Mike Bradley finish higher/beat our pants off this summer.
USMNT GOLD CUP DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (club/country; caps/goals):
Wow the US Ladies looked dynamite in their past 2 wins last week over China and Jamaica- the kids were really impressive vs Jamaica (highlights) as youngsters 21 YO Ally Sentanor (2 Goals), 17 YO midfielder Lily Yohannes, 20 YO Alyssa Thompson, & 19 YO Claire Hutton were simply fantastic. Again coach Hayes is proving there are alot of players capable of making our next World Cup team.
Euro Nations League Final – Spain vs Portugal Sun on Fox 3 pm
Wow – the Nations League Semi-Final between Spain and France was simply spectacular the 5-4 thriller in Bayern Munich was magisterial as Spanish GK Unai Simon was the difference. (Highlights). The Finals match Portugal and the legendary Ronaldo (who scored the winner Wed vs Germany) and Spain with Ballon D’Or finalist Yamal.
Indy 11 hosts Pittsburgh Riverhounds and former Carmel High, CDC GK Eric Dick Sat, June 14 Indy 11 Summer of Soccer is a cool promo going on with tickets and a chance to win a free trip to the Indy 11 Charleston game.
Notes Indiana Pacers Pascal Siakam from Cameron & Obi Toppin show their Soccer Skills at practice before win over OKC. Can’t wait to check out the Sports Bra when they open. Messi was magisterial again last weekend with 3 assists & 2 goals vs Columbus. Loved this from CBS pre Champions League – these guys are as good as the TNT crew of Shaq, Kenny & Barkley. Vitinha (the 19 yo) was magical in the 5-0 win over Inter. Man it was awesome to see PSG finally win a Champions League title – just 2 years removed from having Mbappe, Messi & – Manager Luis Enrique brought Paris the title – loved the tifo PSG unveiled pregame regarding his daughter. I have watched a few of the TST games with Patt McAfee on ESPNU check it out its pretty cool. Nice to see Club World Cup ticket prices are coming down finally – $250+ to see these opening leg games was ridiculous (see below). Can’t wait to see former Carmel High & CDC GK Eric Dick – return to Indy to play the Indy 11 on Sat, June 14 for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds!
Congrats to the U17 Girls – coach Charles Switzer & Abby Donofrio
Carmel FC – 2025 Tryout and Evaluation Information
Carmel FC’s scheduled tryouts and player evaluations for the 2025/2026 Season will be in the following dates: Birth Years: 2015 – 2007 on June 9th. To register to tryout please click on this link: https://system.gotsport.com/programs/941103K41?reg_role=player
June 9th and 10th (11U-19U) Tryouts
2015 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 7, 10:00am to 11:15am 2015 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 5, 10:00am to 11:15am” 2014 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 7, 12:00pm to 1:15pm 2014 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 5, 12:00pm to 1:15pm 2013 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 7, 2:00pm to 3:15pm 2013 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 5, 2:00pm to 3:15pm 2012 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 5A, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2012 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 7A, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2011 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 5B, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2011 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 7B, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2010 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 9A, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2010 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 1A, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2009 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 9B, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2009 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 1B, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 008 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 10A, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2008 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 2A, 5:30pm to 6:45p 2007 BOYS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 10B, 5:30pm to 6:45pm 2007 GIRLS: Shelbourne Soccer Complex, Field 2B, 5:30pm to 6:45pm
The 2011 Girls Gold went undefeated in the U14/U15 top flight @ St Francis Siege last weekend. Congrats to the Carmel FC 2014 Boys who made the Championship Final against the top teams in the state in Presidents Cup last weekend.
2:45 pm fubo? Norway vs Italy WCC 7:30 pm Golazo Louisville City vs Utah NWSL 10 pm Prime Video San Diego vs Seattle Reign NWSL
Sat, June 7
12 noon FoxSp2 Andorra vs England WCC 1 pm CBS Gothem FC vs KC Current NWSL 3:30 pm TNT, Tele US Men vs Turkey 7 pm Ion Bay City vs Portland NWSL 9 pm Apple Free Colorado vs Austin MLS 10 pm Ion LA Angel City vs Chicago
Sun, June 8
9 am Fubo? Germany vs France 3rd place 2:45 pm Fox Portugal vs Spain Nations League Finals 4 pm Golazo, Para+ Washington vs NC Courage NWSL 7 pm Apple Free Portland Timbers vs St Louis
Mon, June 9
2:45 pm FS2 Italy vs Moldova WCC
Tues, June 10
8 pm TNT, Peacock US Men vs Switzerland Fri, June 13 10:30 pm FS1 Portland Timbers vs San Jose MLS
June 13 – 29 GOLD CUP MEN
June 14 4:30 pm Fox St. Louis City vs LA Galaxy 7 pm TV 8 & CBS Golaso Indy 11 vs Pittsburg Riverhounds (Carmel GK Eric Dick returns) 7:30 pm Apple Free Columbus vs Vancouver 8 pm Univision Al Ahly vs Inter Miami Club World Cup 9:30 pm Apple Free Colorado vs Orlando MLS
Sun, June 15
3 pm Univision PSG Vs Athletico Madrid 6 pm Fox, Uni US Men vs Trinidad Gold Cup 8:15 pm FS1 Haiti vs Saudi Arabia GC 11 pm FS1 Cost Rica vs Suriname
USMNT v. Türkiye (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, TNT/HBO Max)
USMNT v. Switzerland (Next Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET, TNT/HBO Max)
The World Cup is 370 days away. The United States Men’s National could not appear less ready. After the stinging humiliation of last summer’s Copa America, and the self-immolation of back-to-back Nation’s League losses to Panama and Canada, we head towards a Gold Cup, the last competitive games before the World Cup, with almost all our biggest names missing—some by their own choice. In their place, a squad filled with understudies that best resembles an NFL roster stuffed with replacements during the 1987 strike season. Everyone stay calm.
Sergiño Dest is the latest USMNT star to pull out of the squad as he continues to return from a torn ACL, even though he made seven club appearances totaling 375 minutes at the back half of the season. “We determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season,” Pochettino said. This sounds rational. But on top of the voluntary absences and unorthodox messaging around Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah’s omissions from the squad, it just adds to a sense of inertia around the program.
There are two schools of thought here: the rational sense that, for Pulisic, who has played 50 club games this season, “He’s too valuable long-term—let him rehab, lock in, and come back sharp for World Cup. It’s the smart move.” But there is also the context; this team has screamed into the abyss since the 2022 World Cup. The players themselves have admitted their fight and the program’s collective mentality has dropped. Pochettino has told them to leave their golf clubs behind, making it clear they have treated international duty like a vacation. This is a critical time for Poch to show he can sew his idea of Grinta—the willingness to suffer in the name of victory—into a squad whose recent displays have been the polar opposite of that. An all-hands-on-deck moment in which commitment, togetherness, and backs against the wall is the only way to go, if the squad is to spark an interest and belief, even amongst their natural diehard fanbase.
At a time when we do not know who our starting goalkeeper, central defenders, and striker could and should be at the World Cup, this current reality makes our game feel so small in the United States. Either we are not the serious program that we aspire to be, or the Gold Cup is not a serious tournament.
Having said that, as I wrote in our new United States Men’s National Team-obsessed newsletter, USMNT ONLY (subscribe here, and please share this link with your football loving friends), as Albert Einstein once said, “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” And for the young, raw squad members, including five first timers, this is an open audition for a World Cup place. A chance to force out a big, established name who has become complacent. They have been handed a chance to make the biggest tournament ever, on home turf, by training so hard they become impossible to ignore. The footballing equivalent of a golden ticket to the Wonka factory. Watch Diego Luna, Sebastian Berhalter, and Quinn Sullivan seize their moment.
Really Thoughtful Analysis of World Cup 2026 as We Hit a Year-Out
The World Cup hits the year-out mark this Wednesday. It will change football forever in this nation. We clatter towards it with the magical news Uzbekistan qualified for the first time in their nation’s history. This sits alongside the parallel narrative of geopolitics and the dark chaos of the travel ban. This Miguel Delaney piece was really a fascinating read: casting an eye on the new format FIFA has created for the tournament. I do believe the World Cup is going to make our host cities sing to the world, but the bloat of 48 teams in 12 groups of four is worth thinking about. The geographical scale, with games far, far away from teams’ bases and time zones. The 17-day group stage features 72 of the 104 matches, which will be played merely to return the field to its current size of 32 teams. Seventy percent of the competition will be spent eliminating a third of the field.
LAFC Win the $10M Match
LAFC beat Club America 2-1 in dramatic fashion on Saturday night to book the final spot in the Club World Cup later this month. They’ll join Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders as the only MLS teams in the tournament (all 8 groups here).
The game went a full 120 minutes after Igor Jesus headed home the equalizer off a Denis Bouanga corner in the 89th minute. Then, in the 115th minute, Bouanga sealed the game with a quick shot after a beautiful build-up from the Black & Gold. Here’s an up-close look at the goal celebration in front of the 3252’s with Steve Cherundolo fist pumping into the crowd. The atmosphere at this match was incredible. Club America fans came out in full force, occupying one whole grandstand. With so much at stake, it felt like a major European Cup final.
A record $1B in prize money will be distributed to the 32 clubs. Each team will receive $9.55M just for qualifying for the tournament, making that goal from Bouanga a nearly $10M goal. The players, however, aren’t happy with how that money is being distributed. Seattle Sounders players wore “World Cup Cash Grab” shirts in the warmups on Sunday. The MLSPA released a statement backing the players, saying they deserve more of the prize money. The players should always receive a sizable chunk of any money, but sigh… this is FIFA we’re talking about. Is anyone surprised? Apparently the Sounders’ owner angrily confronted the players in the locker room after the game.
LAFC kicks off their tournament against Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16th. Of course, we’ll have it all covered for you.
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On Tuesday, the Chicago Fire unveiled plans to build a brand new 22k seat soccer-specific stadium. The $650M stadium, set to open in 2028, will be privately funded and be located downtown in the South Loop. Fire fans deserve this. They finally have an owner who is willing to invest in the team. It is only right that one of America’s greatest cities has a world-renowned soccer stadium
USMNT Update
We’ve entered the offseason for our American lads playing overseas. Here are a few things you should know.
Christian Pulisic will likely renew his contract now that AC Milan has hired Max Allegri as the new head coach and Igli Tare as Sporting Director. Discussions are ongoing, and the contract is expected to be extended until 2030.
Josh Sargent is expected to leave Norwich City after being named to the English Championship Team of the Season. Premier League and Bundesliga clubs are both in the hunt for his signature after scoring 15 goals this season.
Gio Reyna will be leaving Dortmund after only playing 614 minutes all season. He’s been managing injury problems the last few years, but Dortmund don’t seem to value him even when he’s healthy. If Gio wants to be a starter next summer, he has to be playing consistently.
Atletico Madrid leads the race to sign Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis, but the $40 million asking price could be a deterrent. Tottenham are closely watching, but it appears Cardoso would prefer to stay in La Liga.
The Soccer Tournament (TST) 101: Dates, players, history
ESPN Jun 3, 2025, 02:30 PM ET
Teams around the world are taking the pitch for a third consecutive summer in Cary, North Carolina, for The Soccer Tournament. The 7-on-7 event features 48 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams in separate brackets with $1 million on the line.
Check out more key facts about the tournament below.
When is 2025 TST? How can fans watch?
The tournament runs June 4 through June 9. ESPN+ will stream 27 matches, with 20 matches available on ESPNU. Fans can catch the action in the men’s and women’s streaming hub. Who has won TST?
Newtown Pride FC won the inaugural tournament in 2023. La Bombonera and U.S. Women took home the titles in 2024, the first year with split men’s and women’s brackets.
What are notable rules?
The Soccer Tournament features target score time, which means a game finishes on a final goal as opposed to when time ends. The target score is determined by adding one to the leading team’s score after the full-time whistle. A player from each team is removed from the field of play every three minutes until the target score is reached.
Which teams and players are participating in 2025?
Teams such as Club America, AFC Bournemouth and Borussia Dortmund will be fielding squads. Select men’s players include Sergio Agüero, Diego Godín, Andy Carroll, Nani and Sebastian Giovinco, while select women’s players include Hope Solo, Ali Krieger, Carli Lloyd, Allie Long and Heather O’Reilly.
Sergiño Dest is the latest core member of the United States men’s national team who will not be playing in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. The PSV right back missed nearly a year after tearing his ACL in April 2024 but was able to make seven appearances down the stretch as his team stormed back to win the Eredivisie. Nevertheless, managing that injury remains the priority rather than throwing him into the competition despite his appearance in training over the last week.“The technical, medical and high performance staffs have done a series of evaluations this week on all the players in camp, and in the case of Sergiño we determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino said a statement.Dest joins a long list of mainstays who are missing this Gold Cup, including Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Folarin Balogun, and Antonee Robinson for injuries or personal reasons; Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna also miss out, as their clubs’ involvement in the Club World Cup precludes their international involvement. Josh Sargent was also omitted as a coach’s decision. As such, Pochettino didn’t have much work to do as he revealed the USMNT’s final squad on Thursday.Having initially called in a 27-man training squad that required a sole dismissal, Pochettino saw five players depart his camp. Goalkeepers Patrick Schulte (oblique) and Zack Steffen (knee) necessitated the late inclusion of 21-year-old Chris Brady. DeJuan Jones (lower body), Sean Zawadzki (knee) and Balogun (ankle) added to the departure list in defense and at striker.
Still, there are some mainstays of the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa América rosters to headline the survivors. Matt Turner projects to start in goal, making up for lost action as he played just four times (three FA Cup starts, one Carabao Cup start) on loan with Crystal Palace. Tim Ream, Chris Richards and Walker Zimmerman provide tournament experience at center back. Brenden Aaronson, Johnny Cardoso, Luca de la Torre and Malik Tillman had squad roles in those recent tournaments, while Haji Wright is the sole goalscorer from either preceding major tournament to be on this Gold Cup squad.With all of their games on home soil, the USMNT will face Trinidad & Tobago, Saudi Arabia — an invited guest of Concacaf who made significant financial investment in the North and Central American confederation before its participation was confirmed — and Haiti in Group D. The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to a three-round knockout bracket.The Gold Cup title has alternated between Mexico and the U.S. for every installment since 2011, when Mexico beat the U.S. in a second straight Gold Cup final, with the USMNT going on to win in 2013, 2017 and 2021. Given how the groups are configured, their rivalry could resume as soon as the quarterfinal stage if one team wins their group and the other finishes second. If both teams have an identical finish in the group, whether it’s first or second, the bracket wouldn’t put them together until a potential final.As for some of the other intriguing elements on the final squad (full roster listed below):
Alex Freeman: the next man up
Right back has remained a rotational role since Dest suffered his knee injury. Joe Scally started in his place at the Copa América, but a series of poor performances with the national team leave him off of this squad entirely. Nathan Harriel was the United States’ starter at the 2024 Olympics, but 20-year-old Alex Freeman projects to be better suited to make Pochettino’s lineup.A homegrown product of Orlando City SC, Freeman has vaulted up prospect lists with a breakout first half to the 2025 season. The son of former Green Bay Packer wide receiver Antonio Freeman, he stands 6-foot-2 and has impressive and agile mobility for his stature. Among 57 MLS fullbacks and wingbacks who already have 500 minutes this season, Freeman ranks second with 27 chances created, averaging 2.88 chances per 100 touches of the ball. Despite his athleticism and skillset, Freeman has already displayed impressive positional awareness and seldom ventured too far from his post in Orlando’s team shape.reeman is already attracting European interest despite only becoming a regular first-division starter three months ago. He could be on a fast track to become Dest’s understudy in time for the World Cup — and, depending on how Dest looks in his first full season back from injury, provide a worthy alternative at the position.
Berhalter in for USMNT
Seven players on this Gold Cup squad could stand to make their USMNT debut by the end of the group stage. Perhaps most notable is Sebastian Berhalter, with the defensive midfielder having seen his stock soar along with the entire Vancouver Whitecaps squad under first-year head coach Jesper Sørensen.The son of Pochettino’s predecessor in the role, Gregg Berhalter, the 24-year-old can play defensive midfield but sees himself as best fitting in a more advanced box-to-box role. He’s got a knack for arriving late in the box to complete team attacking sequences that often involve him in their buildup, refining his first-touch shooting from just beyond 18 yards to give Vancouver another scoring threat beyond Brian White (who is among the strikers on this roster).hile he wasn’t far enough in his development to garner consideration under his father, the work he’s done with the Whitecaps makes him a deserving inclusion on Pochettino’s squad.
“It’s been my dream since I’ve been a kid, but I think it’s something that I’m just taking one game at a time,” Berhalter told The Athletic in late April. “Being around the national team so much — I think I’ve watched every recent game more than probably anyone else has. I just worry about winning games here and performing well.”
Here is the USMNT Gold Cup squad in full:
GOALKEEPERS: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)
DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)
FORWARDS: Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Damion Downs (FC Köln), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
Pochettino likens Pulisic to USA’s Messi, addresses stars passing on Gold Cup
U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said this week he hopes to instill in his team the type of urgency and desire to play for the national team that exists in other countries. Speaking on the Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard podcast, Pochettino cited some of the biggest names he has coached — Argentine legend Lionel Messi, French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe and Brazilian star Neymar — as examples of top players who remain “desperate” to play for their respective national teams.“The people need to prioritize the national team,” Pochettino said. “We were talking about Argentine players, or Brazilian players or English players or Spanish players, they are desperate. Even Messi, even Neymar, even Mbappé for France, these guys are desperate to go to the national team. For them, when they go, they don’t see if it’s a friendly game, if it’s an official game, it’s a World Cup, it doesn’t matter, because the possibility to defend one time more your flag, your shirt. It’s about to feel proud. And that is the responsibility to us to translate.”The comments are striking after Christian Pulisic made the decision, in conjunction with U.S. Soccer, to skip this summer’s Gold Cup. Citing his heavy workload with AC Milan and the U.S. — Pulisic is one of just 10 outfield players in the top five European leagues to appear in 50 games in each of the past two seasons — Pulisic felt he needed the rest in order to be healthy for next summer’s World Cup.Donovan compared Pulisic to Messi in that he has the most eyeballs on him of any American player and asked how the staff could handle competing in the tournament this summer without Pulisic. Pochettino praised his team’s top player and said he does not question Pulisic’s commitment to the group or the country.“I think Christian in the last year showed a great quality,” Pochettino said. “He’s performing in Europe, also he’s performing with the national team. He’s a very talented player that can help us to win. You say people compare Messi with Christian Pulisic. I don’t want to be disrespectful with Messi or Pulisic, but I think in this country, Pulisic should be our Messi, because he’s an iconic player, the kids on the street for sure if you ask one soccer player in this country, it’s Pulisic.
“We have very good communication with our players. Christian is a very nice guy, is very committed to the national team and he wants to help and of course is desperate to play in the World Cup and arrive in the best condition. All these conversations that we were taking with the players, I think that was the best decision to help him because every player are in different circumstances, and even if I want Christian here or another player here – Antonee (Robinson, injured Fulham left back) or like this – I think no one or another teammate is going to see badly about if I’m saying that, because I think … sometimes you need to put the interest in the medium and long term than in the present.“Because for me after the March camp, if I say, ‘OK I don’t care about [anything], I want to win tomorrow,’ [there] is [a] consequence after, because I think we are all preparing and focused on the World Cup. And sometimes we need to be open and flexible in some decisions. When we talk about these types of decisions for us, it was a tough decision … It was our decision in the end, because if you say you need to come — you cannot force the player to come — but I think I need to be fair and say it was a collective decision to try to find the best for the national team and the best for the player.”“We are building something and always when you are building something, always there are up and downs in this period. It’s true that we are a little bit disappointed. We were really excited after January. not because of the two (games) … but how the players, how the team showed the responsibility that we wanted to translate. Then with all the circumstances in March, it didn’t help us to show that.”The Gold Cup was meant to be an important team-building month for the U.S. under Pochettino, his first extended camp with the U.S. since taking over after last summer’s Copa América failure. Now it takes on new meaning as Pochettino evaluates his wider national team pool. That being said, Pochettino insisted the goal was still to win.
Ultimately, even without Pulisic and other starters — Robinson, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Folarin Balogun and Gio Reyna are also missing the tournament via injury, FIFA Club World Cup duty, or, in Musah’s case, personal reasons — the tournament serves as a step toward next summer’s World Cup.That is true for MLS players trying to break into the squad, but also for others, including World Cup starter Matt Turner. Pochettino said on the podcast he told Turner that the goalkeeper had to start finding minutes in order to be ready for the World Cup.“We are very open,” Pochettino said. “We don’t have fears to talk with the player. Sometimes it’s painful because you need to tell some players: ‘Look, you need to play.’ At the moment OK, so far it’s good, because we are checking your character, your personality, your capacity to be a leader, the leadership that you have, but at some point to be a leader you need to compete.”Pochettino also praised players like Diego Luna, who have started to show they bring value to the squad simply with their mentality and approach. Pochettino noted that Luna didn’t want to come out of the game after being elbowed in the nose during a January-camp friendly, then bloodied and taped up, assisted on a goal.Asked about who the leaders are on the team, Pochettino alluded to giving everyone a chance to prove their role — whether as a squad player, a starter or a leader.“When we arrived in October I think the picture changed in the national team. In the way that we like to translate the message and the way that we are open to give the opportunity to all the players to step up and show the character,” Pochettino said. “Because we don’t want to assume that because four years ago someone was captain now should be the captain, because the circumstance changed. I think we are very open and giving the opportunity to the group and the players that are involved to say, ‘Come on, show me.’ For me, it’s a natural process. Sometimes some players can surprise you and can step up.“The most important thing is to see in a spontaneous way who will step up when things are wrong, when the stress is there, when the pressure is there, who is going to say ‘Hey, I am here.’”There is, of course, an enormous amount of pressure on the team to perform in next summer’s tournament. The U.S. advanced to the knockout round in the 2022 World Cup with one of the youngest squads in the tournament, behind the belief that the payoff would come in 2026. Struggles in last summer’s Copa América, where the U.S. was eliminated in the group stage, and in this spring’s Concacaf Nations League, where it lost to Panama and Canada, have upped the stakes.“I feel the responsibility. We all feel the responsibility,” Pochettino said. “Knowing that it’s soccer or football, it’s about the joy, it’s about not to put too much pressure on the players, because the players need to perform. … But yes of course it’s a massive pressure. The mentality and the culture of this country is to win.“The size of this country puts you in a position that you need to deliver. You need to show that you are brave, that you are a winner, but not talking like I am now. It’s easy to talk. The most important is go and to show. Show on the pitch when you need to defend your flag there, fighting and being a team, that is a moment to say, ‘Yes we have quality, I am a good player, but now it’s about to defend your country.’” (Top photo: John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Image
What we learned about USWNT from wins over China, Jamaica
Jeff KassoufJun 4, 2025, 01:20 PM ET
It’s June, which means United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes is staring at her self-imposed deadline of figuring out the core of players on which she will rely going forward.A pair of comfortable victories — 3-0 over China on May 31, followed by 4-0 over Jamaica on Tuesday night — didn’t offer the same kind of revealing test Brazil offered in April, but Hayes continued to dole out debuts this window in her quest to find every possible solution. Hayes said prior to the two games that “we’re very much on track for identifying that core group” that she will develop on the road to the 2027 World Cup. She offered more specifics in the days that followed, including the most revealing clue yet about who will be the USWNT’s next No. 1 goalkeeper following Tuesday’s win over Jamaica.When I watch the team, they very much molded into an Emma Hayes team,” Hayes said after Tuesday’s victory. “That’s how I feel when I watch us. I feel like there’s a lot of composure to the performances.”Drawing too definitive of conclusions from these two games in a vacuum risks hyperbole, but the victories over China and Jamaica brought further confirmation of trends that were already developing.Who continues to establish themselves as part of that core, and who among the new players looks like they will stick around? Let’s look by position.
Goalkeepers: A clear favorite emerges
This moment of uncertainty and inexperience in goal is unprecedented in the USWNT’s 40-year history, but there is now a clear favorite to take the No. 1 job — something that could not be said previously.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce started both games for the USWNT this window, earning her second and third caps after her strong debut against Brazil in April. Tullis-Joyce wasn’t busy in either game as the USWNT dominated possession (including 82% against Jamaica, who had zero shots on target and generated 0.07 expected goals, per ESPN Research). That can be the life of the goalkeeper, however — especially for the USWNT against inferior opposition.Hayes tried to pour some water on the idea that any goalkeeper will be the No. 1 by stating it is necessary to develop multiple players for the role ahead of 2027. Yet she also made it clear how Tullis-Joyce is the leader.”I think it’s fair to say Phallon’s experience at this moment in time, with the current group that I’ve got, is ahead,” Hayes said. “I still want to develop the other goalkeepers, but I get a fair sense of where their level is, one in relation to each other, but two in relation to 2027.
“There’s no easy way to answer that question, because I don’t think it’s as simple as just saying you’re my No. 1 and develop one. I think it would be foolish of me to do that in case someone falls out of form or they get injured, or those things, but Phallon is doing a tremendous job with everything that I’m asking.”
Tullis-Joyce is the most in-form American goalkeeper at the club level — although Claudia Dickey‘s NWSL “data don’t lie,” as Hayes said recently before calling up Dickey for the first time — and she’s starting to establish the necessary relationships with her defenders.
The most recent games were also the first with all-world center back Naomi Girma available this year. Hayes noted after Tuesday’s match that it was important for Girma and Tullis-Joyce to “build connections.” There should be more of that in the future.
Defenders: Another debut in the books
Girma’s return brought a calming presence and experience to the back line. “Naomi is like getting the Rolls-Royce out of the garage,” Hayes said on Tuesday. “I mean, what an unbelievable football player — just like a Rolls-Royce is an unbelievable car.”Emily Fox shone as the high-and-wide fullback in Tuesday’s game plan against Jamaica, and she was rewarded with an assist on the opening goal as she pushed up to join the forward line in the attack. The newer faces on Tuesday were Tara McKeown, whom Hayes continues to test in different partnerships at center back, and Kerry Abello, who made her international debut at fullback.McKeown completed a game-high 101 passes (on 108 attempts) as she and Girma set a faster tempo from deep areas to maneuver around Jamaica’s lower defensive block. Tuesday was also the first time the two had played together.Abello’s debut on Tuesday was the most interesting. She has been a standout fullback and winger for the NWSL champion Orlando Pride over the past year-plus, and she enters the international scene as the USWNT is trying to figure out its depth chart at fullback, a quest that’s stretched through several cycles.Hayes said before this training camp that she has begun to see Abello round out her game as someone who can be an attacking fullback or a stay-at-home defender as Orlando builds out attacks in a three-back formation. Abello played that latter role against Jamaica, allowing Fox to push high with freedom, and nearly scored in the final minutes of her debut, which was relatively unremarkable (that’s a compliment). She looked like she fits just fine, as much as any debutant could in a game the USWNT thoroughly controlled from the opening kickoff.
Avery Patterson is also a strong challenger at the fullback position and at 22, has a bright future ahead. She came off the bench against Jamaica and delivered a picture-perfect assist to Lynn Biyendolo for the fourth USWNT goal.
Midfielders: The kids are all right
Let’s lay it out there again: Lily Yohannes is the real deal at 17 years old. Yes, she has plenty to work on, but her ceiling is so obviously high that Hayes’ biggest question is not “if,” but “where” in the midfield triangle she should play Yohannes in the long-term.On Tuesday against Jamaica, Yohannes lined up as the No. 10 instead of the box-to-box midfielder, and she delivered another signature through ball to lead to the USWNT’s first goal. Her vision is exceptional, and she makes it look casual. The next development of her game will be getting accustomed to some of the more direct, physical play like she experienced vs. Brazil in April.ellow teenager Claire Hutton also started against Jamaica to earn her third cap — this time as part of a double pivot in the middle alongside Sam Coffey. Hutton once again looked like a more experienced player as she and Coffey checked into wide spaces to receive the ball and draw Jamaica out of its defensive shape.The USWNT has had a love-hate relationship with the double pivot in recent years, and the truth is that the exact setup will depend on the opponent. But it was effective again against Jamaica, and Hutton playing alongside Coffey provides balance and support. Both Hutton and Yohannes have the makings of players who can be fixtures with the USWNT for multiple cycles.
Forwards: A Cat and mouse game
Catarina Macario is the USWNT’s No. 9 for the foreseeable future, especially with Sophia Wilson out on maternity leave. The unique way in which Macario plays that position affects everything and everyone around her.Macario is more comfortable as a No. 10 and thus plays the striker role as a false nine — a role the USWNT has not consistently played with in recent memory. There’s a Catch-22 to that: It allows Macario to play freely, combining with her attacking midfielder and drawing center backs out of shape, but it also could mean there’s a void left in the strike space at times.
Hayes is savvy and has accounted for this by encouraging her wingers to take the vacant space on the inside, and nobody is doing that better right now than Alyssa Thompson. The 20-year-old Thompson oozes confidence on the ball one-on-one and likes to cut in and combine or shoot from the left flank — which is exactly what led to the USWNT’s second goal on Tuesday.
Ally Sentnor scored that goal and registered a brace, giving her four goals in eight caps. Sentnor is exceptional on the dribble; former USWNT winger Tobin Heath recently said Sentnor “has demonstrated Messi-like qualities.”Sentnor also can fire a powerful shot on a short run-up and without much space — a signature skill of another two-time World Cup champion winger, Christen Press. While she still needs to improve her shot selection and accuracy, but she is already producing for the USWNT at 21 years old. She will be part of the solution at wide forward alongside Thompson and Michelle Cooper, among others.
Lynn Biyendolo also scored a brace off the bench as she continues to fill any role that Hayes throws at her — Biyendolo’s 12 goals as a substitute are more than any other USWNT player since 2016, per Opta.
“We really wanted to be ruthless in the final third,” Hayes said on Tuesday. “I don’t think we started out like that, but I think we ended like that.”There are tougher tests to come, most imminently against Canada on July 2, but as Hayes said on Tuesday, there is a maturity to the USWNT despite its inexperience. The progress from this time last year is clear both in the depth of the player pool and the team’s patterns of play.By this time next month, Hayes will have identified her core for the 2027 World Cup. From here, that process looks right on track.
USWNT honors former captain Becky Sauerbrunn with bobbleheads, fireworks and a dominant win
ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Former U.S. women’s national team defender Becky Sauerbrunn got a hometown hero’s welcome on Tuesday at Energizer Park ahead of, during and after the USWNT defeated Jamaica 4-0 to close out a successful international window.Having retired from professional soccer last December after a 16-year career, the former U.S. captain returned not only as part of TNT’s broadcast crew covering this friendly, but also to receive a proper send-off.“I’m not used to having a lot of spotlight on me for something like this, but it’s really about celebrating the people who got you here,” Sauerbrunn told reporters Monday.For someone who’s never been entirely comfortable in the spotlight, Tuesday night must’ve been overwhelming — in a good way. Sauerbrunn was born in St. Louis and developed her game here as a budding talent until she left for the University of Virginia in 2003. Her hometown sent her off in style with a celebration that included fireworks, a very realistic bobblehead, a standing ovation and a birthday cake (she turns 40 years old on Friday — June 6) fit for a legend.“You know you’ve made it when you’ve got a bobblehead,” U.S. head coach Emma Hayes told reporters in her pre-match press conference.A commanding presence at center back, Sauerbrunn made 219 appearances for the U.S., anchoring the backline to two Women’s World Cup titles and Olympic gold in 2012. It’s quite a legacy for someone who never sought the spotlight. And it’s one the current USWNT squad deeply respects and hopes to carry forward.As the team bid farewell to Sauerbrunn off the field, the next generation made sure she had no reason to worry about the future on it. Hayes’ squad delivered a dominant win, applying relentless pressure for 90 minutes, having 82 percent possession and allowing only two shots from the opposition.Though the accomplished defender never scored for her country, she came very close two years ago at the same stadium that bid her goodbye.On Tuesday, it was rookie Ally Sentnor who scored twice in the first half and Sauerbrunn’s close friend Lynn Biyendolo who added two more after she came on early in the second half. Meanwhile, the backline, Sauerbrunn’s old territory, was anchored by captain Naomi Girma, a fitting torchbearer for the legacy she left behind.“I know I just said nobody can (fill Becky’s shoes), but I think the next obvious person would be Naomi,” Biyendolo said. “The two things that they have in common are that they didn’t want the role, but it just found them. And I think that makes the best leaders, is somebody who just doesn’t want it, but is so natural at it.”Girma, now the most expensive transfer in women’s soccer history, had a rocky start at Chelsea after joining in January, left sidelined by a string of injuries. However, she is back and delivering. With both a Women’s Super League title and the FA Cup under her belt, she is proving to be worth every penny. As former Chelsea manager Hayes put it, bringing her back “is like getting the Rolls-Royce out of the garage.”Girma told ussoccer.com, “Becky was one of the best leaders this team has ever had.”That kind of legacy doesn’t happen overnight.
Girma has taken on a lot of the leadership responsibility left behind by Sauerbrunn. (Visionhaus / Getty Images)Listening to her former teammates after the match, it was clear: the trust and respect Sauerbrunn commands were built over years of grit, consistency and quiet leadership, beginning with her debut in 2008, when she earned her first cap against Canada at the Four Nations Tournament in China, playing with a broken nose.“Becky is a legend, an icon,” Kerry Abello, who made her debut Tuesday, said after the match. “The game of women’s soccer will never be the same without her.” Abello was eight years old when Sauerbrunn debuted back in 2008. Like many of the new generation of USWNT players, she grew up admiring her.On the pitch, Sauerbrunn was a tireless, dependable center back; off it, she was a steady leader who played a key role in collective bargaining negotiations with the U.S. Soccer, representing her fellow players at the table year after year, and helping the team achieve equal pay.She was always calm and composed, even when somebody made a mistake. “Becky doesn’t get mad often, but if you mess up, like pass to the wrong player… she’ll give you this look,” Biyendolo said after Tuesday’s match. “That ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ look. That’s the Becky look.”Ask anyone who played alongside Sauerbrunn about the “Becky stare,” and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.Hayes didn’t get the chance to coach Sauerbrunn — she took over the team in May last year — but her admiration also runs deep, especially for how the defender has shaped the next generation.“It’s always nice when the people you leave behind talk about someone in such a way,” Hayes said. “I’ve got a locker room — not just the senior players, but less experienced players — that talk about her in the highest esteem, both as a leader and as a human being, and I don’t think you could want anything more than that in life.”(Top photo: Bill Barrett / Getty Images)
The USWNT basks in the return of Naomi Girma – their ‘security blanket’
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Compared to the past few windows, Saturday’s 3-0 win over China was a game where the U.S. women’s national team looked in complete control.The attack kept the pressure on China at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota, continuing to threaten their defense as it frequently adjusted the height of its line of confrontation. Catarina Macario provided a goal and an assist; Lindsey Heaps and Sam Coffey scored from their midfield roles.However, head coach Emma Hayes’ post-match press conference started with a question about the long-awaited return of Naomi Girma and how the team benefited from her 90-minute shift.“We’ve missed her, we really have,” Hayes said. “Just in terms of the way we control the game; her, in a deeper space, just making decisions when to play forward, when not to.”As the first million-dollar transfer in women’s soccer history, this year has only intensified the scrutiny that comes with being one of the world’s best players in her position. Her time at Chelsea was not as smooth as the club and player had hoped. She exited her debut in early March with a calf injury, feeling the strain having gone nearly four months without playing a club match. Her first minutes back with Chelsea came in mid-April and this international window marked her first with the U.S. in 2025.“I gave her a hug after the game,” said midfielder Coffey, who scored her second U.S. goal against China. “Having her on the field is like having a security blanket, and just like being wrapped in it.”
Girma celebrates with Coffey and Heaps (Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
After some tense and at times disjointed performances against Japan in the SheBelieves Cup and Brazil in a pair of friendlies, the USWNT dominated the entire match on Saturday. The defense played its part, with Coffey shuttling around to shield the back-line and the partnership between Girma and Emily Sonnett giving goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce ample coverage whenever China reached the final third.Those threats were few and far between. The USWNT dominated the chance-creation game, generating 3.01 expected goals (xG) while holding China to 0.18 xG.“It does feel natural now,” Girma said of returning to the national team. “I mean, I was able to watch what we did before, and I think a lot of what Emma wants to do is layer on what we had done in the past year. I think the changes are good and easy for me to kind of adapt to, with that base knowledge of how we want to play.“It was just nice to be back on the field.”As was often the case during the triumphant run to Olympic gold last summer, Girma was at the heart of the team’s build-up. She logged a staggering 138 touches, per TruMedia, 41 more than the team’s second-most involved player (Avery Patterson, with the right-back notching 97 touches). Girma completed 95.3 percent of her 129 pass attempts, helping determine how the USWNT worked to break through China’s defensive structure.She also put in a defensive shift that embodied working smarter, not harder.She was not throwing herself into many challenges, though much of that work was done well before the ball even reached the U.S. defense. Still, she was quick on mop up duty, leading the USWNT with seven ball clearances (nobody else had more than three) while winning all three ground duels and her only aerial duel.
Girma listens to instructions from Hayes (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
Having her in the back-line only helped the midfield feel more confident as they engaged defensively, with peace of mind that she was in position if they failed to win the ball.“I can’t put into words what she means to this team,” Coffey said. “I think everybody sees it on the field, but off the field as well. She’s just a joy in this environment and such a light for us. We have missed her so much. I thought she was exceptional today, as she always is.”In a year characterized by frequent rotation across Hayes’ squads and lineups, Girma’s return represents a different type of variable for the team. Throughout 2025, Hayes has called on a number of center-backs, each auditioning to be Girma’s primary partner. Sonnett represents a vital holdover from the team’s last World Cup win in 2019, having established herself as a hard-nosed veteran along the back-line. Emily Sams came off the bench against China, while Tara McKeown has earned five caps this year.The latter two in particular are emblematic of Hayes’ examination of her broader player pool, with both stepping into more important roles given positional absences. Not only has Girma been missing, but so has her partner last summer, Tierna Davidson, who tore her ACL in April.While Sams, McKeown, Sonnett and others have stepped into their roles, none can quite match the same comfortable benchmark established by Girma.
“I mean, she’s a world-class player,” Hayes said. “I thought she brought something to our performance that we’re looking for, so I’m delighted to have her back.”
Girma playing for Chelsea against Manchester United in the FA Cup final (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Once she returned to playing regular minutes for Chelsea in mid-April, she was eased back into the fold. While Chelsea kept clean sheets in each of her final four performances of the WSL season, only two of those matches saw Girma play all 90 minutes.“It was a lot of transition for me,” Girma said on Friday regarding her first months with Chelsea. “I think it was a huge learning experience for me. You always have those moments in your career where you’re up and down, up and down, up and down, so it was definitely like that.“But I think it was a good five months of getting settled, getting to know my team-mates, getting used to playing there, playing with a new team, and living in a new country. So it’s been really positive so far, and I’ve really enjoyed it.”Girma logged her 46th cap, an impressive total for a 24-year-old defender who seems destined to be the bedrock of this team for years to come. With its world class center-back in the lineup, the United States put together its most composed performance of the year. Then again, that revelation hardly comes as a surprise given Girma’s floor-raising performances since her debut in 2022.
TAFC: The start of a PSG dynasty, MLS clubs mix with the big boys, and a Neymar nightmare
Two thoughts occurred as Paris Saint-Germain went 2-0 up after 20 minutes of Saturday’s Champions League final.
Number one was that it felt like we had the most savage result incoming from this fixture since Milan dismembered Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona in 1994. European Cups aren’t won like this — and we’ve never seen a defeat as wide as Inter’s eventual 5-0 thrashing in Munich.Number two was that PSG were fresh as wet paint, in comparison to Inter’s deadweight legs, as if the Italians were going to the well once too often. You’d be forgiven for thinking PSG had been on the beach for weeks — and to a certain extent, they had.Earlier in the tournament, Luis Enrique, the PSG head coach, joked about Ligue 1 being “the league of farmers”, a slur used to criticise the perceived lack of competition in France (where, it should be said, his club have been insanely dominant for years). Beating the best that Europe had to offer in the Champions League was a neat riposte.But at the same time, PSG wrapped up their latest Ligue 1 championshiptwo months ago. That allowed them to tailor everything for Europe, while Inter toiled on numerous fronts, including a Serie A title race which went to the wire. What transpired was a total mismatch. Inter’s fabled defence was vaporised.
PSG’s domestic environment works for them. They’ve also created a phenomenally talented team, whose third goal against Inter was a coup de grace and a masterpiece. Not everybody will rejoice in their breakthrough year. There’s no getting away from the nature of the Qatari money which is fuelling them. But you have to ask: is this the start of a dynasty? Because their first European Cup won’t be their last, surely.
For Luis Enrique, for Xana
(Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
For Luis Enrique, Saturday was deeply personal. The death of his daughter, Xana, in 2019 formed a large part of the narrative in the build-up to the final. He wore a T-shirt in tribute to her after full time, and PSG’s ultras unveiled a huge tifo flag honouring them both (above).In purely coaching terms, he’s made PSG make sense. Finally crossing the Champions League rubicon is a demonstration of how a quality collective team can be greater than the sum of expensive individual parts. It’s incredibly telling that Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe haven’t been missed. And there’ll be no temptation whatsoever for PSG to return to that superstar-led model.Inter’s outlook from here is more sobering. They’re an older unit than PSG, and less sustainable. They might also lose head coach Simone Inzaghi, who is perfect for them but has Al Hilal trying to tempt him to Saudi Arabia. How much does he have left after a second Champions League final defeat in three years, this one so much more brutal than the 1-0 loss to Manchester City in 2023?
The darker side to PSG’s triumph
(Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images)
Sadly, full time in Germany was the catalyst for widespread civil disorder in France, with celebrations in Paris descending into violence. Police reported two deaths, close to 200 injuries and 500 arrests during intense rioting. Water cannon and tear gas were deployed. France’s interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, was choice with his language, saying: “Barbarians have taken to the streets of Paris.”
Tom Williams was in France for The Athletic and covered two nights of trouble on the streets. It cut a depressing denouement to an occasion PSG craved for so long — and thought might never come.
News Round-Up
There’s a whole load of transfer biz from the weekend. First up, Liverpool have made a £110million ($149m) bid for the Bayer Leverkusen midfielderFlorian Wirtz. We’re waiting to see how it landed. It would smash their transfer record (above).
The Premier League champions could recoup £18m by selling goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford. A bid has been accepted. Brentford, in turn, are allowing existing first choice Mark Flekkento join Leverkusen for £8.4m. It’s one big roundabout.
Ticket sales for the Club World Cup are more pedestrian than FIFA would like — hence why it keeps dropping prices — but Saturday night’s play-in between Los Angeles FC and Club America sold out at a canter. Perhaps an actual ante helped.It was win-at-all-costs and LAFC did, despite the game looking lost. An equaliser in the penultimate minute and an extra-time decider from Denis Bouanga mean FIFA’s 32-team mash-up is complete, with LAFC nicking the final place. They’ll be a minimum of $10m richer for it.
Three Major League Soccer sides have qualified (cough, cough) for the Club World Cup: LAFC, Seattle Sounders and FIFA charity case, Inter Miami. I’ve been thinking about which of those sides has the best chance of progressing beyond the group stage — to which the answer can only be Miami, from a section featuring Brazil’s Palmeiras, Portugal’s Porto and Egypt’s Al Ahly.The variable in the United States is going to be squad strength, and how heavily the favourites commit at the end of hard seasons. Judging by Real Madrid paying £8.3m to get Trent Alexander-Arnold there, commitment levels will be high. But LAFC are in before the lock and they’ve landed on their feet in Group D. Not a doddle, but not beyond them.
Last night, before their MLS clash with Minnesota United, the Sounders’ squad wore T-shirts protesting the collective bargaining agreement which is limiting the amount they can earn from the Club World Cup. The labour union is backing their complaints.
MLS Mix With The Big Boys
Rubbing shoulders with the great, the good and those who are neither isn’t going to dent LAFC’s status — or their value. Forbes published its football rich list over the weekend, and LAFC popped up in 15th place, with a tasty $1.25bn price tag.
MLS franchises en masse are going well. Inter Miami ($1.2bn) and LA Galaxy ($1bn) also made the top 20, and a further five teams — Atlanta United, New York City FC, Austin FC, the Sounders and D.C. United — are in a top 30 which features only two clubs from Germany and one from France (you know who).
It’s a little counter-intuitive because revenues and TV earnings in MLS are nowhere near European levels — but the competition has the appeal of salary caps, the absence of relegation and less red tape around the building of stadiums and brands. Plus, if a circus act like Manchester United are the second most valuable team in the universe ($6.6bn, by Forbes’ calculations) then it’s best if Europe doesn’t throw stones.
Around TAFC
(Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images)
You’ll enjoy Laurie Whitwell’s round-up of Manchester United’s post-season tour of the Far East. A comical bus ride, players giving fans the fingers, defeat to a line-up of footballers you’ve never heard of… all in all, a roaring success.
Retro football kits are a burgeoning industry. Now the industry is branching out into the restoration of old shirts, by repairing badges, numbers and sponsor logos. Elias Burke reports.
Quiz answer: the three clubs who have reached Champions League, or European Cup, finals without ever winning one are: Atletico Madrid (1974, 2014 and 2016), Valencia (2000 and 2001) and Reims (1956 and 1959).
The only mentions of Neymar in Europe over the weekend were in reference to how much better off PSG are without him. But you didn’t think he’d keep out of the public eye for long, did you?Down in Brazil, 24 hours later, he was sent off during Santos’ 1-0 defeat to Botafogo, his punishment for the aberration you’re seeing above. It could prove to be his last appearance for Santos — his deal is about to expire — and he was evidently hell-bent on scoring just in case.As brazen handballs go, it’s a classic of the genre. With good grace (or no alternative), he apologised for it later.(Top photo: Franck Fife/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Lamine Yamal and the curious finish that shows why he is different
Stuart James The Athletic – June 6, 2025Updated 5:40 am EDT
Lamine Yamal again. Adrien Rabiot again. Left-footed goals again.On a wild night in Stuttgart, where Spain and France played a game of basketball on a football pitch, the storyline had a familiar narrative running through it in more ways than one.It was 331 days ago when Yamal scored that goal against France in the European Championship semi-finals, his left foot sumptuously curling the ball into the top corner from 25 yards out, leaving Rabiot wishing he had not only got across quicker to try to block the shot, but that he had also chosen his words much more carefully the night before the game“If you want to play at a Euro final, you need to do more than he has done up until now,” the France midfielder said about Yamal, who was 16 years old at the time.
Eleven months later, it was Rabiot who scythed down Yamal from behind for a penalty that the 17-year-old calmly converted.
What is it with teenagers constantly wanting to have the last word, eh?
Except Yamal wasn’t quite finished. His second goal against France, 13 minutes later, put Spain 4-1 up and made him the standout candidate for the player-of-the-match award.
But it was a curious and highly unusual finish — well, unusual for anyone else, but maybe not for Yamal.
Some data first. In competitive games for club and country at senior level, Yamal has scored 31 goals and 29 of them have been with his left foot. His right foot isn’t, to borrow that old cliche, just for standing on. But it’s fair to say that he doesn’t use it much, which is why Philipp Lahm said what he did when telling The Athletic in April how he would try to mark Yamal.
“He has to be on his weaker foot at all times. He cannot have any space,” Lahm, the former Germany international, said.
One of Yamal’s two weaker-foot goals came in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory at the Bernabeu in October, after which he joked: “Real Madrid’s players didn’t know that I have a right foot too! I had to use it when needed.”
It looked like it would also be required against France in the UEFA Nations League semi-final on Thursday night, when Yamal broke into the penalty area in the second half after running onto a first-time pass from Pedro Porro. Holding off a challenge from France centre-back Clement Lenglet — Yamal’s wiry frame is deceptively strong — and with the angle against him, he somehow managed to slip the ball past goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
From a vantage point high up on the opposite side of the stadium — in other words, a long way from the goal — the first instinct was that Yamal had scored with his right foot, primarily because that was how it looked in the blink of an eye.
Indeed, that was still the assumption when a slow-motion replay started to be shown on the screen, partly because of the position of the ball, but also the fact Lenglet was on the inside of Yamal rather than the outside. By going with his left foot, Yamal surely risked the shot being blocked.
At least that was the theory.
Yamal had other ideas and instead of taking the more conventional route and shooting with his right, he prodded the ball beyond Maignan with his left.
It appeared as though the ball was almost pushed, which is why the soleplate of his boot is visible afterwards — Yamal has to work so hard to get enough purchase on the ball to send it past Maignan using this technique that his leg ends up horizontal after making contact.
It looks strange when you watch it back, but it was hugely effective and perhaps also goes some way to explaining why Maignan seemed to be caught slightly off guard and beaten in a way that you wouldn’t expect him to be in that scenario.In fact, the France goalkeeper ended up diving after the ball was already past him, which suggests that Yamal had taken him by surprise with such an unorthodox and instinctive finish.
It is also — and this is an area of his game where he is so different from his former Barcelona team-mate Ousmane Dembele, who genuinely has no idea which is his stronger foot — an example of how Yamal doesn’t suffer at all from being so dependent on his left.Why?First things first, his left foot is obviously a thing of beauty, whether passing, shooting or dribbling. There was a moment late in the France game, which Spain won 5-4, when Yamal was performing pirouettes in the centre of the pitch, the ball glued to his left foot to such an extent that the opposition left-back, Theo Hernandez, decided to change sport. Cue a rugby tackle.
The mind wanders to other predominantly one-footed players, from Diego Maradona to Arjen Robben and Ricardo Quaresma.Ultimately, though, Yamal is one of a kind or, as the former Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi recently put it, “one of those talents that appear once every 50 years”.Against France, on his 20th cap for Spain, Yamal upstaged Dembele, one of his rivals for the Ballon d’Or, and Kylian Mbappe and Desire Doue, too.Next up for him is Cristiano Ronaldo when Spain take on Portugal in the UEFA Nations League final in Munich on Sunday.Ronaldo, for context, was another six months away from playing his first international match at Yamal’s age.(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
MLS’ Whitecaps suffer teamwide illness after Champions Cup final in Mexico
The Vancouver Whitecaps say a “significant number” of players and staff members fell ill with gastrointestinal symptoms following the team’s 5-0 loss to Cruz Azul in the Concacaf Champions Cup final on Saturday.At least 33 members of the traveling party were affected, a source familiar with the situation told The Athletic. The source requested anonymity due to the medical sensitivity of the situation. Only seven out of the 26 players who traveled did not present with any symptoms.The club canceled a training session on Wednesday out of precaution and instead held a modified individual closed session on Thursday.In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the Major League Soccer team said it was working closely with its medical team, local infectious disease consultants and Vancouver Coastal Health to monitor the outbreak. The club said each affected player has been provided with an individualized program by medical and performance staff to support their recovery and continued preparation.“The health and well-being of our players and staff remain our top priority,” the club said in its statement. “We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
The situation is further complicated by the fact that nine Whitecaps players were already scheduled to miss Sunday’s game due to international duty. Canadian national team players Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe and Jayden Nelson are among those training with the men’s national team ahead of the inaugural Canadian Shield tournament, per The Canadian Press.
The teamwide illness caps a disappointing week for the Whitecaps, who saw their impressive 15-game unbeaten streak across all competitions come to a crushing end with a resounding 5-0 defeat to Cruz Azul in Saturday’s Champions Cup final. Vancouver had been hoping to capture its first major continental trophy.
Cruz Azul’s dominant victory not only denied Vancouver the Champions Cup, but the trip created additional health challenges that could impact the team’s domestic campaign.
(Top photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
Curiosity and a new challenge drew former Bayern Munich Women’s coach to Angel City
Alexander Straus, Angel City’s new head coach, didn’t arrive in Los Angeles on a whim. After turning down several chances to move to the U.S. in the past, he says this time, the stars aligned.
“Compared to other opportunities I’ve had, including the location, everything about this club, this team, which has been well documented all over the world in the media, intrigues me,” Straus told reporters on Thursday. “I think there is still a lot of work to be done, but it’s not done over 24 hours or one week or three weeks.”
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While leaving Europe wasn’t easy, Straus emphasized that curiosity and challenge played a major role.
“It’s a completely different culture. A different league. But football is a small world,” he said. “There’s this weird gap in understanding between Europe and the U.S. We don’t really know how good the best teams are on either side. I needed to find out. I’m halfway through my career, and I didn’t want to wait until I have grandchildren to take that leap.”Straus comes to Los Angeles after three years coaching German powerhouse Bayern Munich. He led the team to three consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles from 2022 to 2025. Before joining Bayern, the 49-year-old Norwegian coached SK Brann in the top flight of his native Norway, winning the league twice.The hiring marks a significant shift for the ambitious Los Angeles club, which is counting on his UEFA Champions League experience and understandingof youth development to steer an Angel City team that struggles with inconsistency.If you ask him, there’s no question Angel City will find success.“Whether it’s in one year or five, I don’t know, but it will happen. Everything around this club says it will,” Straus said. “I want to be part of that.”The move isn’t just professional for Straus. California, with its weather and culture, was a draw, but so was the promise of a project where the women’s team isn’t playing second fiddle. And Angel City worked really hard to convince him to join.“In Europe, even with clubs like Bayern or Chelsea, there’s still a men’s team getting the lion’s share. Here, at Angel City, we are the team. That’s rare,” he said. “The facilities, the focus, the fan base, it’s a powerful setup. That’s something America has ahead of Europe right now.”The team has already made a signing that feels aligned with Straus’ leadership. Last month, Angel City signed former Wolfsburg forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir, who was used to seeing Staus on the opposite touchline in the Frauen-Bundesliga.“I’d already been talking to Angel City, and I was trying to decide what I wanted to do, and then I saw that he’s gonna be the coach, and it made me more excited about Angel City, knowing how well he’s done for Bayern,” Jónsdóttir told The Athletic ahead of her signing. “I know his style of play. He can make every team look good and play well. It made my choice even easier.”
Angel City signing Sveindís Jónsdóttir saw Alex Straus’ success playing against his teams in Germany. (Martin Rose / Getty Images)
Though there may be an understanding gap between Europe and the U.S., according to Straus, the difference between domestic and international players isn’t a factor in his coaching.“It’s not about where they’re from, it’s about the environment they’re coming into,” he said. “We often overstate the difference between American and European (soccer). The structure is different. There is a wage cap. It’s a playoff league. But ultimately, it’s about creating a good environment for good players.”Still, the transition won’t be instant. Straus acknowledges that he has to build that environment in L.A.“It’s early days. I’m still the new guy in class,” he said jokingly. “We’re just starting to create the culture, the behaviors, the habits that we want.”Strauss arrived in LA last Sunday, and this weekend will mark his first with the full squad, with many players away on national team duty last week. He’s had time to get acquainted with the team during the last few months through hours of videos on Angel City’s games over the last couple of years. But he isn’t in a rush.“First of all, you need to know people, not the players,” he said. “The players I knew long before I came. I need to know the people and I need to know what makes them tick.”Backed by one of the NWSL’s most powerful ownership groups led by Willow Bay, Bob Iger, Julie Uhrman and Kara Nortman, Angel City is the league’s most valuable club and a sponsor favorite, thanks to steady attendance and good brand awareness. But despite its off-field dominance, the club now finds itself at a critical crossroads; it’s time to deliver results on the pitch.I wanted to see what we can do to get the legacy of Angel City to become like the other big sports brands in the city, to become the same here,” Straus said. “That excites me.”
US Ladies Travel to England Sat 12:20 on TNT, then face Dutch Tues Excited to see the US ladies headed to Europe to face solid competition – though this is a mighty young and inexperienced roster Hayes is carrying over. Man I would love to see at least part of the Triple Expresso trio in England – but all 3 will be missing after draining NWSL Seasons. Also with US GK Alyssa Naeher announcing her retirement from international football after this 2 game set – interesting to see 2 new keepers in the mix this time – including youngster Phallon Tullis-Joyce the Man U keeper. (nice story about her below- along with tons on the game & Naeher). I’m guessing we lose a close one at England with so many players missing – but of course I won’t question our Gold Medal winning Coach – I trust she’s doing what’s right here. Cool Behind the Crest with the US Ladies. Man we are going to miss Naeher – seriously her saves and PK saves at critical times in the 2019 World Cup and this summer’s Olympics rank her as perhaps the best overall US GK ever. Naeher’s best moments (more below under GK)
Nice to See US Players Making a Difference in Champions League this week Love the first goal for AC Milan by Pulisic – Pulisic Scores another Champ League Goal here it is in proper Spanish – much better of course Capitan Ameri’ca. Also 2 American’s helped PSV come from behind to win 3-2 as Tilman scored 2 and Pepi scored the winner in stoppage time. Champion’s League Talk on Galazo.
NWSL Ends Fantastic Season with Orlando & Marta Winning the Championship Wow what a season for the Orlando Pride and NWSL – as Orlando won the Championship in KC over the Washington Spirit as over 1 million watched on CBS on a Saturday night head to head with College Football. The skills competition pulled another 1.5 million eyeballs Sun afternoon and was the most watched sport not called NFL on Sunday. The first Women’s Soccer Specific stadium in KC hosted 20K rowdy fans as Brazilian Superstar Marta finally brought home a trophy for Orlando. NWSL Final Highlights. In my eyes the NWSL is doing everything MLS is too stupid to do. With games on CBS, ESPN, & Prime – their 240 million dollar package is putting USWNT and world stars in front of a growing female audience begging for more coverage. Unlike MLS – NWSL doesn’t have MOST of their games behind a paywall – as only Prime’s Friday night games do that. Congrats NWSL – it was great seeing your playoff games on Real TV – keep up the good work !!
USWNT roster (club; caps/goals) vs England & Netherlands
Goalkeepers (3): Mandy Haught (Utah Royals FC; 1), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, ENG; 0 -Cool story about her below), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 113)
Midfielders (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 20/1), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 26/1), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit; 2/0), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 159/36), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 108/24), Lily Yohannes (Ajax, NED; 1/1)
Forwards (6): Yazmeen Ryan (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 2/0), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC; 2/1), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals FC; 0/0), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC; 19/8), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 11/1), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 73/20)
Shane, Mike Arrington & T Ray Phillips at the Girls Showcase last weekend at Grand Park Friday- man I love reffing with these guys. And of course the chow – this time Chili was fantastic – thanks Nate !!
TV GAME SCHEDULE
Sat, 11/29 12 noon ESPN+ Dortmund vs Bayern Munich 12 pm TNT, Telemundo USWNT @ England 12 pm CBS Golazo AC Milan (Pulisic) vs Empoli 12:30 pm USA West Ham vs Arsenal 3:30 pm ESPN Des Real Valladolid vs Atletico Madrid 7:30 pm Sirius XM, apple Orlando City vs NY Red Bulls 8 pm Univision Cruz Azul vs Tijuana 10 pm Apple LA Galaxy vs Seattle Sounders Sun, 11/30 8:30 am USA Chelsea vs Aston Villa 8:30 am Peacock Tottenham vs Fulham (Jedi) 11 am USA Liverpool vs Man City 12 pm CBSSN, Para+ Fiorentina vs Inter Milan 2:45 pm Para+ Lecce vs Juventus (McKinney, Weah) Tues, 12/3 2:45 pm TNT? Netherlands vs USWNT 2:45 pm ESPN2 Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen 3 pm PAra+ AC Milan (Pulisic & Musah) vs Sassuolo 3 pm CBSSN France vs Spain (Women) Weds, 12/4 2:45 pm ESPN+ RB Leipzig vs Frankfurt 3 pm ESPN+ Athletic Club vs Real Madrid 3:15 pm Peacock Arsenal vs Man United 3:15 pm USA Aston Villa vs Brentford Thurs, 12/6 2:30 pm Peacock Fulham (Jedi) vs Brighton 3:15 pm USA AFC Bournemouth vs Tottenham Fri, 12/7 12:30 pm Para+ Inter Milan vs Parma 2:45 pm PAra+ Atalanta vs AC Milan (Pulisic & Musah)
American’s Ricardo Pepi scored the game winner for PSV after Mark Tillman scored the first 2 goals in the 87th & 90th minutes to beat Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League action.
Ricardo Pepi said his stoppage time winner against Shakhtar Donetsk was the most important goal of his career after he and USMNT team-mate Malik Tillman played instrumental roles in PSV’s “crazy” 3-2 comeback victory in the Champions League.The Dutch side had trailed 2-0 in the latter stages at the Philips Stadium on Wednesday before Tillman, 22, scored two goals in the 87th and 90th minute of the game to level proceedings. Pepi, 21, who came on at half-time, scored in the 95th minute to complete a dramatic comeback and secure all three points for PSV. Game-winner Pepi told PSV’s official club website: “I think definitely this one (is the most important goal of my career). It’s up there for sure. I think this one is important, we needed the three points and now we’re in a good spot to make it to the next round.“Emotions are all over the place, I was very happy. It was a crazy game, a lot of emotions in the game. It doesn’t feel real. I’m just very happy to help the team.
“It was crazy, to be honest, but I feel like we have something special in our group. We don’t stop until the final whistle blows. “That is something very special that we’ve worked on. At the end of the day, the result went our way and tonight was something very special.“As a striker, it is always important (to score goals) It’s a special feeling.”Tillman echoed Pepi’s sentiment, saying: “I think ‘disturbed’ is the only right word. What an amazing comeback, I’m really speechless. I’ve never seen Philips Stadium explode like this before.“I literally had goosebumps. To win a game like that, that’s just indescribable. Also all credit to Pepi. Bizarre that he scores so often at important moments.”
The victory leaves PSV 18th in the Champions League league phase.Tillman’s move to PSV from Bayern Munich was made permanent this summer while Pepi joined the club in the summer of 2023 from FC Augsburg and the pair are enjoying successful campaigns for the Dutch side.Tillman has scored eight goals and provided four assists in 19 games for PSV this season, while Pepi has scored 11 goals and provided one assist in 18 games, helping PSV to the summit of the Eredivisie.PSV, who are five points clear at the top of Eredivisie, face second-placed Utrecht on Sunday.
USWNT vs. England, 2024 Friendly: Scouting England
By Brendan Joseph Nov 28, 2024, 6:00am PST Stars and Stripes —
As the reigning Olympic gold medalists and top-ranked team in the world, the United States Women’s National Team reeled off three consecutive friendly victories over Iceland and Argentina. There are two remaining fixtures this year, against a pair of opponents that should provide a slightly sterner challenge than the previous foes. The first, England, has ascended to elite status in the footballing world and produced consistent results since claiming the 2022 UEFA European Championship, with the chance to lodge a resounding exhibition result. London’s historic Wembley Stadium, a 90,000-seat venue with a HATKO Hybridgrass Carpet surface, is set to host.
This is the 20th all-time meeting between the two nations, with the USWNT holding a 12-5-2 advantage but failing in the most-recent match-up (1-2) in October of 2022. Ranked second internationally by FIFA, England booked a ticket over the summer to the 2025 UEFA European Championship with a second-place finish during qualifying in a difficult Group 3, drawing twice with Sweden (1-1, 0-0), grabbing two wins against Ireland (2-0, 2-1), and splitting results with France (1-2, 2-1). Recent friendly results include a defeat to Germany (3-4) and a tight result against South Africa (2-1).
The “unrivaled” Sarina Wiegman was appointed to the manager position in August of 2020 and stepped into the role in September of 2021, “succeeding Phil Neville at the end of his term” after “honoring her commitment to the Netherlands FA.” The 54-year-old former midfielder from The Hague earned 104 caps and served as captain for her birth nation before embarking on a coaching career that included stops at Ter Leede, ADO Den Haag, and the Oranje (Orange). Since taking over England, she has continued to add to her career legacy that includes two UEFA Women’s Championships, a Women’s Finalissima, and two runner-up finishes at the World Cup in 2019 and 2023.Here it is!
For the friendlies against the USWNT and Switzerland, Wiegman named a 24-player roster that is missing several notable talents. The domestic Women’s Super League is home to 18 of the call-ups, while three are on the books at National Women’s Soccer League clubs. Lauren James, Ella Toone, Niamh Charles, and Lauren Hemp are out due to various injuries. Maya Le Tissier was initially included in squad but was removed due to a concussion and replaced by Lotte Wubben-Moy.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Mary Earps (Paris Saint-Germain), Hannah Hampton (Chelsea), Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride)
DEFENDERS (9): Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Jess Carter (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Esme Morgan (Washington Spirit), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal), Gabby George (Manchester United), Millie Turner (Manchester United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Fran Kirby (Brighton & Hove Albion), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Jess Park (Manchester City), Grace Clinton (Manchester United), Laura Blindkilde Brown (Manchester City), Ruby Mace (Leicester City)
Under Wiegman, England are praised as becoming “tactical chameleons” with the variations and flexibility to line up in a few different formations, notably pulling out an unexpected 3-5-2 during tournament play. She uses a “team-first” style with a “clarity of tactics” and “zonal defending with three midfielders” that also “allows players to improvise and make mistakes.” The squad has been trained to handle pressure, with practice matches featuring intentionally incorrect refereeing decisions in order to cause a heightened emotional state. According to The Mastermind Site, the high-possession attack is generated from “progression out of the back” through the centre-backs that builds with “short, sharp passes,” while the defense has struggled to handle the transition and “drops into [the] mid-block quite early.”
Projected England Starting XI (via BuildLineup.com)
Due to both injuries and the ravages of time, Mary Earps appears to be slowly losing her grip on the number-one role, replaced by relative-to-the-position youngster Hannah Hampton. The 24-year-old Chelsea goalkeeper is comfortable coming very far off of her line to claim the ball and has the athleticism to leap for crosses and beat out taller opposing strikers. Standing at five-foot-eight, she has the size and length to cover the goalmouth and displays solid reflexes on short-range opportunities, standing firm when facing an onrushing opponent. Her work in possession is beyond serviceable, playing line-drive passes at a variety of distances while under pressure, hitting deep kicks from restarts, and taking an active role to build out of the back.
The experienced Alex Greenwood is highly influential in possession with frequent distribution as “an exceptional progressor” but can also win her fair share of headers and “produces positive moments in the final third.” The 31-year-old Manchester City centre-back will often push forward into the midfield in order to serve as a safety valve for her pressured teammates and get the ball into the box. Leah Williamson was forced to miss the World Cup with an anterior cruciate ligament rupture but has regained her spot in the starting lineup, resuming her status as “the ultimate ball-playing defender” with a “delightful passing range” and “reliability under pressure.” She is reasonably strong in the air and utilizes her read of the opponent during the build-up and when blocking lanes, coming in from behind and stepping forward at the right moments. Imposing veteran Millie Bright could also feature in proceedings, describing herself as playing “on the front foot” and providing “power and a penchant for scoring spectacular volleys.” The five-foot-ten Chesterfield native “reads the game well,” is a constant danger on set pieces, dispenses “thunderous tackles,” and finds teammates with long-range efforts that will bypass multiple lines.
Artfully praised as “a stalwart of quiet calm,” Jess Carter has lined up in a variety of roles over her career due to her high level of athleticism, comfort on the ball, and ability to pick her moments for individual brilliance. The 27-year-old NJ/NY Gotham FC defender constantly presses forward and overlaps on the outside but can also move centrally in both phases of the game, best described as a somewhat reluctant fullback. One of the squad’s veterans, Chelsea’s Lucy Bronze is “a serial winner and versatile [talent]” with an attacking mindset guided by “pace, core strength, and composure in possession.” As a two-way player, she is strong in the air, plays a constant barrage of accurate passes, swarms the opponent’s lanes, and makes a crucial impact in the final third with delicate crosses.
Versatile and “brilliant” Barcelona midfielder Keira Walsh boasts excellent “passing quality, range, and vision” but is also a master manipulator of space, serving as a metronome with a high usage rate. She can find any teammate on the field and has just enough guile on the ball to avoid pressure, spinning and darting around both halves in order to buy time. One of the creative roles is occupied by Georgia Stanway of Bayern Munich, a dynamic option who racks up assists for club and country by leading the transition and “working well in tight [areas].” Her aggressive nature will produce some crushing yet sometimes dangerous challenges, but the regular highlight-reel finishing and long-distance shooting are more than enough to merit constant inclusion in the lineup. There is also Jess Park, who has been getting an extended run with the squad and made two starts during EURO qualifying, earning praise as a “skillful, creative player with an eye for goal.” Hailed as “the future for England and Manchester City,” the multi-faceted option is a pacy, offensive machine with a daring nature that challenges both centre-backs and fullbacks alike.That is a CLASSIC Beth Mead goal #BarclaysWSL@ArsenalWFCpic.twitter.com/aG0Zymo2WO— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) November 8, 2024
Beth Mead is slowly moving out of her peak years, but the Arsenal forward can still grab the spotlight with her “ability to create chances, penetrate opposing back lines, and receive between the lines,” with the utilization of intuitive timing. She is equally comfortable on the inside and the outside of the field, with darting runs that slalom toward the center or physical battles in the box. Despite wanting for playing time at Manchester City, Chloe Kelly has been a reliable option off of the bench for England and should pick up a start due to several absences, providing the potential danger for a long-range blast. The 26-year-old attacker is always looking to cut inside and hit a searching shot with either foot but can also hang on the wing and pick out teammates with accurate crosses.
Former University of North Carolina Tar Heel Alessia Russo is the main scoring threat at the top of the formation and has found the back of the net five times this season. The 25-year-old Arsenal forward “is a very good dribbler and provides dangerous passes,” while also shooting frequently and winning aerial duels with “excellent positioning inside of the box.” As expected of a player with her abilities, she is dangerous with both feet, reads the opponent quickly, and can finish at any distance when given a yard of space. Marc Lamberts praises her progression of possession, high level of distribution, and prolific nature, enabling her to slot into a variety of roles and match the manager’s tactical shifts.
After a few less taxing friendlies, the USWNT has the privilege of a true test against a program that spent the past decade ascending into the elite level. England has a talented squad and a wily, experienced manager, which should provide a compelling physical and tactical match-up. The added bonus of the fixture taking place at Wembley adds interest for both fan and neutral viewer, although crucial absences on both sides dampen proceedings.The match is scheduled for Saturday, November 30th at 12:20 p.m. Eastern, 9:20 a.m. Pacific. Viewing options include TNT, Universo, truTV, Max, Peacock, and Fubo TV (free trial).
Why USWNT coach Emma Hayes was so happy in the basement of a London pub: ‘I’ve got my mojo back’
The first time Emma Hayes introduced herself to the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) she put a photo up on the big screen.The photo showed the intersection on Camden High Street, north London, just outside a pub called the World’s End. Hayes said to the players: “This is Camden, England. This is where I’m from. This is what made me.”
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So when Hayes returned to the UK ahead of England vs USWNT at Wembley on Saturday, U.S. Soccer decided to use the pub as the setting for her pre-match press conference. A press conference in a pub — that must be a first.
So, at 11am on a Monday morning, The Athletic was weaving our way down a pub’s staircase, round the bar, past some less-than-salubrious toilets, into Underworld, a black-walled basement club where Hayes spent much of her youth dancing until 3am.“I remember many an evening we would come in here, and thankfully it still smells of fart and feet,” said Hayes, who’d been greeted with a ‘Welcome back Emma’ sign outside. “It was a big indie place for me back in the day and I definitely have not seen this place in the daylight so that’s refreshing.”Although the music blaring from the speakers remains the same, the agenda and vibe at this time in the morning were slightly different — not least the fact that tea, coffee and pastries were being served.With a table and mics set up where Hayes used to rock and roll, the head coach looked out to a bizarre mix of her mum, sisters, school friends, former and current colleagues, and the international media.Asked how she felt to be in the Underworld with those closest to her, every word captured on camera, navigating questions from coaching at Wembley to Donald Trump, from USWNT’s Thanksgiving plans to the homophobic abuse aimed at her former player Sam Kerr, from developing the national youth team strategy to Hayes’ top tourist tips, Hayes said simply: “F****** brilliant!”
(U.S. Soccer/Getty Images/Brad Smith)
Hayes may be coaching in America but she has not changed, firmly shaped by her upbringing in north London.She credits her friends and family for keeping her humble. Those in the audience had shared her journey with her since she was a child, people who continue to run projects across the London borough at Camden Sports Development or youth leagues at Regent’s Park.“My community is what I am and what I care about,” she said. “I’m so stoked to be here with people that have been massive in my life. My friends have never changed and I’m grateful for that. If you say otherwise, there’ll be about 50 of them lining up at the door for you… I’m kidding.“Are you?” one heckled.“I probably shouldn’t say this in a press conference,” said Hayes, “but one of my friends used to live up in Delancey Street and she lived in a big posh house, a nice five-storey, it was lovely, gorgeous.
“I used to go up there and pretend, maybe one day, this would be a life for me. I used to come home with a little posh accent and my mum would say, ‘Your s*** still stinks’”.That was one way to keep your daughter grounded.When it comes to her tenure as the USWNT boss, Hayes is, in her words, “fresh out of the packet”, but she is already thinking about her legacy, explaining that unifying the US talent pool under a women’s football development strategy is “going to be the biggest piece” of what she leaves behind.She described herself as a “builder” who wants to lay foundations for the long term, and importantly she wants to devise a strategy for players and staff across all departments which is centred around a “female lens”.“Everything we create, the systems, frameworks, methodology, everything is done through a male lens. I seek to challenge that. If we value women and want to keep women in the workplace, we have to be creative because raising children is the hardest job in the world and your children need you too. But you’re entitled to be able to do that and have a job in football. We have to think through a female lens. That’s at the heart of everything.”Hayes said of her own accord: “I’m not going to answer any questions on men’s football. I know exactly where I am and what I want to do with my life. That’s in the women’s game, developing everything in and around that.”On Saturday Hayes will be a visitor at what she called her “second home”, Wembley. The 48-year-old will have to go through a “weird moment” of humming the English and American anthems because she “loves them” both before coming up against former Chelsea players like her ex-captain Millie Bright.Hayes momentarily feared making the jump from club to national-team management as she was unsure how the change in rhythm would affect her. For around 25 years, she had driven to the training ground six or seven days a week.“I worried about that for about four seconds,” she said. “Then I said, ‘OK, what are the benefits?“I get to get up and breathe, take Harry to school, go to the gym, create my schedule around those things, and not sacrifice the things that make me feel healthy.”She added: “I definitely didn’t feel healthy at the end of my time at Chelsea. I don’t want to say it’s pressure. I just think it’s the stress, the toll it took on me. Doing that during menopause, I realised, was even harder.“To get on top of all of these things, I feel like I’ve got my mojo back, my smile back and joy back. I didn’t realise how much I’d lost in that. I’m loving football more than ever.”(Top photo: U.S. Soccer/Getty Images/Brad Smith)
England vs USWNT: The Lionesses who were made in America
When England face the USWNT at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, all eyes will be on Emma Hayes.
The former Chelsea manager is making her first return to English soil in a managerial capacity since leaving the seven-time Women’s Super League (WSL) champions in May to lead the U.S. women’s team.
Footballing trips across the Pond are familiar territory for Hayes, though. Her coaching career began at summer camps in Long Island, New York when she was 25, when she headed to the States with just $1,000 (£1,250 at today’s exchange rates) and a one-way ticket. After eight years coaching club and college teams (with a three-year stint as Arsenal’s assistant coach in the middle), she returned to England in 2012, building Chelsea into a domestic behemoth, before heading back to America this summer and promptly leading her new team to gold medals at the Olympics in France.
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Hayes is not an anomaly. Where MLS was historically branded a “retirement league” for august but ageing male players, English women footballers (and coaches) have found early-career moves to the States foundational.
Of England’s current 24-strong squad, forward Alessia Russo and right-back Lucy Bronze, plus head coach Sarina Wiegman, credit time spent in the U.S. as being critical in their career development, while goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse and defenders Esme Morgan and Jess Carter currently ply their trades in the top-flight National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Other England internationals with U.S. roots include Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, who attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Aston Villa defender Lucy Parker, who went to Louisiana State University (LSU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Now-retired internationals Rachel Daly, Demi Stokes, Karen Bardsley and Jodie Taylor also found value playing college and club football on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The American appeal is multi-faceted. There is the opportunity to develop within a more direct, physical style of football, and the boon of getting a university education alongside playing competitive football, as well as the chance of regular game time.
The Athletic takes a look at the England squad members “made” in America…
Alessia Russo, 2017-20, University of North Carolina
Russo was, at first, a gamble.
In 2017, North Carolina were being pipped to top American talents by rival universities, so their head coach Anson Dorrance needed to recruit from further afield. At England youth camps, a teenage Russo repeatedly caught the eye, to the point a full scholarship was offered. Russo accepted. There was anticipation — but then angst.
“I sent my assistant coach to watch her play and he calls me back in a panic and says, ‘Oh my gosh, Anson, I am so sorry. This kid can’t play, she’ll never play for us’,” Dorrance told the Press Association news agency in 2023.“I’m thinking, ‘Oh god, we’ve dumped all of our money into a player that can’t play’, and all of a sudden I’m having sleepless nights. Then I get a call a couple of days later, ‘Oh no, Anson, I’m wrong, they had the wrong (shirt) number on Alessia. She’s an a**-kicker’.”Upon Russo’s arrival, the No 19 shirt worn by USWNT legends Mia Hamm and Crystal Dunn during their time at UNC, was brought out of retirement for her — a sign of the potential they saw.
Russo in action for North Carolina in 2019 (Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
To honour the history, Russo wore a Hamm patch on one sleeve of her jersey and a Dunn patch on the other. But Russo’s greatest tribute came in the form of her performances.
In three seasons, she established herself as one of the best forwards in the college game, being named a first-team All-American (awarded annually to the most outstanding athletes in their sport) in 2018 — the first UNC player to earn that honour since Dunn — and 2019, and helping UNC twice finish as runners-up for the national championship. Russo was also a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy, an honour awarded to the top collegiate player in the country, in those two years.
Russo’s triumphs were born out of challenge. A broken leg forced her to miss the end-of-season play-offs in 2019 (she was still named Offensive Player of the Year for UNC’s regional league and a first-team All-American). She later told Manchester United’s UTD Podcast that the mental strength the recovery process built was key to handling future setbacks.
The step up in physicality and athleticism was also steep. The game in America focused on slick, direct transitional play, where athleticism and physical fitness were lionised above technical skill. While Russo’s technical skill today is laudable, one of the Arsenal forward’s most impressive assets is her strength and power in the final third.
“Moving to America helped me develop loads, on and off the pitch,” Russo told Arsenal’s media team in a 2024 documentary. “I needed to grow up physically. I’d not really set foot into the gym or pushed my body. In America, you have to step up.”
Lucy Bronze, 2009, University of North Carolina
Bronze knows how to lift silverware. The Chelsea full-back has five Champions Leagues, three WSL titles, two Division 1 Feminine winner’s medals and one from Liga F, among others. She is the first English footballer to win the Champions League with two different foreign clubs and the first England footballer and first female defender to claim the FIFA Best Women’s Player of the Year award and a spot on the FIFPRO World XI (2020).
“That comes from my time in the U.S. and how competitive it was,” Bronze told Chelsea’s website after joining them from Barcelona in the summer.
Bronze in action for North Carolina in 2009 (Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Bronze’s spell in the States was brief but impactful. Her mum, Diana Tough, persuaded Bronze to attend summer training camps in North Carolina. There she impressed head coach Dorrance, who offered her a scholarship to UNC in 2009. Across 24 appearances, Bronze helped UNC claim the 2009 national title as she won All-American honours.Key to her development on the pitch were Dorrance’s training methods. The now-retired coach (he won 21 national titles over a 45-year career but also faced a lawsuit from two former players claiming sexual harassment, which resulted in a settlement in 2008 despite him denying the allegations) was known for pitting players against each other during sessions. Bronze often found herself up against Tobin Heath, a 2008 Olympic gold medallist with the USWNT. “I realised that I need to work a lot harder and push myself if I want to compete against those kind of players,” Bronze told Forbes.
After just a year in North Carolina, Bronze returned to England to continue her sports science degree at Leeds Metropolitan University, while playing for Sunderland, then Everton and Liverpool.
“It was tough being away from home, from where I’d learned to play football, but I think that made me the player I am,” Bronze has said. “That really shaped me, more than anything else in my career at such a young age. I then knew how to be a winner and that has driven me every year since.”
Sarina Wiegman, 1989, University of North Carolina
A glance at Wiegman on the touchline is a window into the soul. On the outside, the two-time European Championship-winning head coach is calmness personified. But behind that, her mind is whirring, analysing, competing.This has always been Wiegman’s way around the football pitch.“I think the difference between her and most of the kids I was coaching back then is the Europeans come in with a greater maturity,” Dorrance told the PA news agency. “We had a wonderful culture of great kids, very talented kids, but she always seemed to be a tad more serious than anyone else. You can even see her in press conferences — you’re interviewing a serious individual.”Where Russo credits UNC for instilling in her a physical and psychological strength and ronze also says it gave her a winning mentality, for Wiegman, her time on its campus was the start of her understanding the differing standards in women’s football — and importantly, how to raise them.In 1988, while competing in the FIFA Women’s Invitation Tournament with the Netherlands, Wiegman was invited by Dorrance to study at UNC and join the school’s football team. The following year, she was playing alongside Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Carla Overbeck, lifting the national championship trophy at season’s end.
Wiegman considered her time in the U.S. “an absolute trigger for me”, describing the quality of players and working conditions as operating at the “highest level”.
Upon returning to her home country a year later, the disparity in infrastructure and quality was stark. “When I went back, I thought, ‘If I can contribute in the Netherlands, to create what is in the U.S. in the Netherlands, I would be a happy person’,” she told UK newspaper The Guardian in 2023. “It took 20 years.”
The 29-year-old goalkeeper earned her first call-up to Wiegman’s England squad in July this year. A second call-up arrived in October, and she’s now had a third. The attention arrived as Moorehouse was having one of her best seasons between the sticks, helping Orlando Pride first to the NWSL Shield (given to the club with the best regular season record each year, and the first trophy in club history) and then, this past weekend, to the NWSL championship, thanks to a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit in the final.
Moorhouse has been integral, keeping clean sheets in half of her 26 appearances this season.
Moorhouse has become an influential player for Orlando (Elsa/Getty Images)
Her recent success in the States is more notable when considered in the light of her itinerant past. In the decade prior, Moorhouse spent time at Everton, Durham, Doncaster Rover Belles, Arsenal and West Ham United in England, before two mixed seasons with Bordeaux in France’s top division.
A move to Orlando came along in 2022, but her fortunes looked destined to follow the established theme. In that debut season, Moorhouse made five appearances, conceding 13 goals without keeping a single clean sheet nor being part of a win as the Pride finished 10th in the 12-team NWSL. Not until three games into the next season did Moorhouse play in her first victory (also the Pride’s first of the 2023 campaign), a 3-1 win against the San Diego Wave. In her ninth appearance last season, she kept her first clean sheet in a 1-0 defeat of Racing Louisville.Moorhouse was not helped by the quality of defence in front of her, but the league’s relentless transitional style also posed an initial challenge.“The biggest difference between the two leagues is the (NWSL) is a lot faster pace. You have athletes in every single position,” she told women’s football website INDIVISA this year. “You have so many transitions. The players are just pure athletic. When I first got here, I was trying to play and getting caught on the ball. I was trying to get up to speed. I think I’ve grown into that and I’ve changed that side of my game.“
Esme Morgan, 2024-present, Washington Spirit
After seven years with Manchester City, England defender Morgan made the bold call to move to the NWSL’s Washington Spirit in the summer, craving a new experience. “If I’d have got to the end of my career and just stayed in England the whole time, having heard how much other people have enjoyed going abroad, maybe I would have regretted it,” she told The Washington Post.
Her struggles to break into Gareth Taylor’s starting XI and the potential impact on her place in Wiegman’s squad had been evident. The 24-year-old featured in just nine WSL matches for City last season, starting five, and she spent most of her time with England on the bench.
The move to Washington represented an opportunity to shift this and so far, has. Following a thigh injury which delayed her debut until mid-September, Morgan has become a mainstay in the Spirit’s back line, helping them to finish runners-up to Orlando in both the regular-season table and again in Saturday’s play-offs final.
Morgan has been utilised mostly in central defence but has slotted in at right-back when required, a versatility that Wiegman will welcome, given Niamh Charles’s shoulder surgery. Her adaptation to the shift in style will also be crucial in setting her apart from other defenders at Wiegman’s disposal.
After the Spirit’s semi-final win against NJ/NY Gotham — in a penalty shootout — Morgan even lamented the number of fouls called by the officials: “This league certainly, comparing it to the English league, everyone’s so physical, so fit, so fast, so much less time on the ball, and so I really enjoy the challenge of it. No one ever plays to sit out and defend for a draw for 90 minutes or just low-block the whole time.
“I feel like it’s an element of my game that is developing a lot from being over here.”
From one league champion to another — Carter swapped Chelsea for NJ/NY Gotham in July after six seasons in west London.
Carter’s transfer was eagerly anticipated by the New York club’s fans: a six-time WSL and reigning European champion, the England defender’s pedigree spoke for itself. For Carter, the opportunity to challenge herself in a different environment appealed, particularly as the arrival of England team-mate Bronze posed a threat to her in terms of getting regular club minutes.
Jess Carter, right, scored against former club Chelsea in a pre-season friendly (Ira L. Black – Corbis/Getty Images)
Carter, who has U.S. citizenship through her father, had always kept an eye on football across the Pond. But her move was also tinged with controversy after the defender said her decision was about wanting to be “surrounded by people who treat other people well”.Her off-field relationship with former Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who had moved to Gotham in April, was thrust into the spotlight after manager Hayes said in March that romances between team-mates were “inappropriate”. Carter liked a post on X condemning Hayes’ remark. Hayes later said she “let herself down” with the comment, but added, “I don’t take those things back”.lthough she did not mention Chelsea, Carter told women’s soccer website The Equaliser in an interview announcing her transfer: “Gotham shares my same values. How you treat people and how the team is treated are my biggest values. I think I can really become a better football player when I’m surrounded by people who treat other people well, and really care for one another as people before footballers.”
Carter has shown the power of confidence, instantly becoming a mainstay in the reigning champions’ defence as they progressed to the NWSL semi-finals, though they were denied a chance to play for successive titles by the Spirit.
While Carter, like her compatriots, has credited the league’s athleticism and physicality for aiding her development, she has also praised the positivity that comes with the American sporting culture.
“When I first came, I was like, well, this is a little bit much — everyone is so energetic!” Carter told football website 90 Minutes in October. “But it’s more the fact that I could probably count on one hand in WSL club football how many times my managers or coaches turn around and say, ‘You did really well. Good job. Well done’. That positive reinforcement I don’t think really happens much in the WSL, or not in my experience, anyway.”
Lotte Wubben-Moy, 2017-19, University of North Carolina
At 17 years old, Wubben-Moy was presented with a decision: say yes to a dream or choose the more difficult path to achieve it.
It is telling of the Arsenal defender’s mindset that she chose the latter, opting to leave her girlhood club Arsenal after 13 professional appearances and the offer of a professional contract to pursue higher education at UNC and further development under Dorrance.
Looking back, Wubben-Moy calls the decision “the hardest” of her life so far, but the upsides have been plentiful. After three years of starting regularly at centre-back and helping UNC to successive runner-up finishes in the NCAA College Cup, Wubben-Moy returned to England in 2020 and has established herself as one of England and Arsenal’s most aggressive and consistent defenders after two standout campaigns.
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“They definitely contributed to the player I am today, not just on the field but off the field as well,” Wubben-Moy told Arsenal’s website in 2020 of her time at UNC.
Dorrance specifically is praised by Wubben-Moy for his impact. The architect of the first U.S. World Cup win in 1991, Dorrance lionised the “winning mentality” that defines American sporting success. His tactics to develop the mental and physical side of a player’s game hinged on creating what he called a “competitive cauldron”, where players’ performances were analysed in front of peers and rankings posted on a weekly bulletin board for all to see.
As Wubben-Moy learned to adapt her game to the U.S.’s more athletic style of play in real-time, the visibility of her progression served as a catalyst.
“It doesn’t suit everyone and it is brutal, as in the numbers don’t lie,” Wubben-Moy told The Guardian in 2021. “But while so much of the game today is dictated by stats, the bottom line is still whoever scores more goals, whoever’s better on the day, whoever’s feeling more confident, that’s who wins.”
Wubben-Moy called the “competitive cauldron” a “masterpiece” due to the myriad mental components it demanded.“There are only going to be so many winners,” Wubben-Moy said. “But if as a team you can lift each other up while being competitive and go from saying, ‘Ah, I could be better there’ to looking at your mate and saying, ‘She’s gonna help me get there’, I think that’s next level.”
(Top photos: Getty Images)
USMNT Player Tracker: Pepi the hat-trick hero, Adams’ impact and Reyna returns
Ricardo Pepi’s growing dilemma at PSV Eindhoven, Paxten Aaronson’s key role in Utrecht’s remarkable progress and Gio Reyna’s much-anticipated return all play a part in this week’s USMNT tracker.
Throughout the season, we will bring you updates on the U.S. players plying their trade in various leagues around Europe. With a World Cup on home soil on the horizon and new national team boss Mauricio Pochettino monitoring from afar, we’re keeping tabs on how they perform every weekend.
Issue of the weekend
His defending champions are top of the league, remain competitive in Europe and have an attack as formidable as their defence is mean — Peter Bosz cannot have much to grumble about.But the PSV manager does have one thorny issue to resolve and, even if he is probably tired of talking about it already, it is not going away anytime soon.Bosz is wedded to playing a lone centre-forward, so how do you make two go into one? Specifically, how do you give enough game time to a striker considered a club legend while also accommodating the Eredivisie’s best young forward in the team?Captain Luuk de Jong’s muscle strain at the weekend meant Pepi made successive starts this season for the first time. The 21-year-old duly followed his goal and assist from the 3-0 win over NAC Breda before the international break with a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Groningen.
Pepi celebrates after scoring his team’s fifth against Groningen (Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
It puts Pepi on nine goals to date this term — he is joint-top scorer in the division alongside FC Twente’s Sem Steijn. But, while the latter has clocked nine goals from 11 starts for his fifth-placed team, Pepi has that many from just four starts. Other clubs across Europe are by now well aware of his prowess, and have taken note of his relative lack of opportunities.De Jong has five more starts than Pepi, and three fewer goals which would suggest that, at 34, his prolific powers are beginning to ebb. So how could Bosz perform a better balancing act between a club icon and what could be one in the making (if he stays in Eindhoven for long enough)?Could PSV go two up front, giving both men a chance to shine together? It appears not.Asked in his post-match press conference if it is an option, Bosz appeared to shut it down. “For years we have had a system that everyone thrives on and that is with one striker,” he said.When pressed further on whether Pepi’s remarkable form is making his selection task harder he was giving nothing away. ”No, I’m happy to have two good strikers,“ insisted Bosz.
The familiar sight of Pepi replacing De Jong (Photo Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Almost as taciturn after the game was Pepi himself, who was grilled by ESPN on how it feels to be in and out of the team when playing so well — not least with three goals in his last four appearances for the USMNT under new manager Pochettino.“No matter when my name is called, I am going to be ready and I have been showing that,” he said. “I’m going to keep preparing and working hard. (Whether Pepi is picked) is not my decision. That’s the coach’s decision and it’s completely out of my control so I just focus on what I can control.Advertisement“I’ve said it before, mentally it can be difficult, but sometimes you get rewarded and get a couple of starts and all of a sudden everything changes a little bit.”Whether anything changes after his latest heroics remains to be seen. The team sheets for their next two games, Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Shakhtar Donetsk and Sunday’s top-vs-second clash with FC Utrecht, will be intriguing. But if there is a succession plan in the pipeline, Bosz needs to ensure Pepi enjoys more opportunities to thrive as he has in the last two league games.
Quote of the weekend
“Right now, everything he touches turns to gold. I think it’s very nice for him.”
PSV and Netherlands midfielder Guus Til, who also scored against Groningen, was another mightily impressed by the USMNT star’s hat-trick.
Player of the weekend
One young American who is getting the game time his performances deserve in the Eredivisie is Aaronson. And no wonder, with the 21-year-old involved in yet another goal for Utrecht as the team hot on PSV’s heels won again on Sunday.
Aaronson’s assist for Yoann Cathline in the 2-1 victory at NEC Nijmegen made it three goal contributions in three games. The loanee now boasts four goals and two assists in 10 starts so far this season.
The New Jersey native has knuckled down in another loan spell away from parent club Eintracht Frankfurt (who intend on making him a first-team regular next term), and is thriving in Holland after a harder spell in a doomed relegation scrap with Vitesse Arnhem last term.
Aaronson holds off NEC’s Rober Gonzalez (Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Graphic of the weekend
Over 18 months since his previous consistent involvement at club level, Tyler Adams has logged consecutive starts for AFC Bournemouth — you’d be forgiven if you didn’t remember he plays there given how infrequently he has been fit to feature — on either side of the November window.
After a 67-minute shift against Brentford on November 9, the midfielder remained in Andoni Iraola’s lineup for Saturday’s visit from fellow south coasters Brighton, exiting after 65 minutes with a tidy performance to show for his efforts.
Iraola likely won’t conflate correlation with causation as the Cherries suffered defeat in both of Adams’ recent starts. Each was decided by a single goal, after all. Adams showed some signs of rust on Brighton’s first goal on Saturday, as Danny Welbeck and former Leeds team-mate Georginio Rutter deftly passed around him in the build-up. On both goals, Adams made recovery runs to get back into defensive position, showing he should still have the pace to be impactful at this high of a level.ow all that’s left is getting back that previously uncanny reading of sequences and more decisive defending when able.But sometimes, the most mundane of updates can provide the greatest comfort. Sometimes, just seeing a player make it through a pair of starts is its own kind of solace.Jeff Rueter
Pochettino was very complimentary about Tessmann after his performance in the second CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final win over Jamaica last week. The USMNT boss said he hoped to see him get more starts for Lyon too, but Tessmann was back on the bench for the financially troubled French club and had to be content with a nine-minute cameo in the 1-1 draw with Reims.
Name: Taylor Booth Club: FC Utrecht Position: Midfielder Games: 8
Another young American trying to make a bright impression at Utrecht is Booth, who has not had as many starts as Aaronson but features regularly for Ron Jans’ side from the bench. Booth got onto the field again on Sunday and did well, creating a chance and looking bright on the ball.
Booth replaces Miguel Rodriguez against NEC (ANP via Getty Images)
The 22-year-old scored in his Belgian side’s 4-0 win against Kortrijk, and looks fully recovered from the knee complaint that ruled him out for four games earlier in the season. Westerlo are seventh in the league.
The USMNT playmaker made his long-awaited return from injury for the Bundesliga side in their 4-0 win over Freiburg on Saturday at Signal Iduna Park. His 12 minutes off the bench were his first action for his club since August and manager Nuri Sahin was pleased.
“Gio trained brilliantly this week,” he said in the post-game press conference. “It’s important to get training minutes and, if possible, as many minutes as possible into the legs.”
The challenge for Reyna, once fully fit, is to convince Sahin he should be a regular starter — an objective that proved so difficult under previous manager Edin Terzic.
Reyna urges his team on against Freiburg (Hesham Elsherif/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
When Mauricio Pochettino was a rugged enforcer, and why he wants his USMNT to follow suit
auricio Pochettino’s goals as United States men’s coach are big and bold and complicated by both historical realities and current perceptions. Turn the national team into a competitive international power. Capitalize on the opportunity of a lifetime presented by the next World Cup. Tap into the sport’s massive, unfulfilled American potential.His first impression to the U.S. audience is one of a smart-suited tactician of global repute with a $6 million annual contract, but in 1989, Pochettino was a rough-edged, 17-year-old defender trying to earn himself a pro soccer career. Back then, the tasks were less ambitious but more direct. ‘Go soften up the opposing No. 9,’ he was told by his veteran teammates and coaches at Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys. The instruction was clear, the execution bruising.A message-sending challenge. A knee to the back of the thigh. A cleat to the ankle. No quarter given. No apology offered.Could it be that kind of mindset the USMNT needs as much as implied promises of formational focus and technical improvement? Pochettino is perceived as a savant, but his methods and motivations are founded on willpower and ferocity.
Even after the 2022 World Cup cycle and winning several regional trophies, questions continue to be asked about this team’s mentality and whether they can tap into the spicier aspects of the world’s game.
It was billed as the newly minted Pochettino’s first major test. On Oct. 15, the Americans traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, to face their eternal rivals in a prime-time friendly with nothing but pride on the line.
As he’d played 67 minutes two days earlier against Panama, Pochettino allowed star Christian Pulisic to travel back early to his club, Milan, instead of being involved, to limit the winger’s minutes. Pulisic is enjoying the best moment of his career in Serie A, and his absence that night in Guadalajara left a leadership void. Mexico won their individual battles and bullied their visitors en route to a 2-0 win.
Pochettino’s side were listless, uninspired.Soft, perhaps?U.S. central defender Tim Ream seemed to think so.“It comes down to fighting for each other and being even more aggressive. We didn’t match (Mexico’s) intensity and that’s on us,” Ream told Sirius XM last week. “Bare minimum, you have to match the opponent’s intensity throughout the 90 minutes.”
Tim Ream during the loss to Mexico last month. (Ulises Ruiz / AFP / Getty Images)
The performances improved this month during a two-leg CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal versus Jamaica. A 1-0 away win in Kingston was followed by a convincing 4-2 victory in St. Louis. But that loss to Mexico has not been completely erased.The overwhelming takeaway from it was that this U.S. team still lacks fight and grit. That it’s more naive than it is talented, and that without Pulisic, it lacks a decisive player. It’s a concern, with the next World Cup in 2026, an event largely hosted by the United States, looming ever closer.Coupled with an embarrassing Copa America on home soil over the summer, the events from Guadalajara raised doubts about this side’s ability to manage high-stakes situations. The two wins over Jamaica will have built confidence internally, but the Reggae Boyz are no world power. Pochettino likes to talk about “the other football,” the intangibles, the steeled edge, the dark arts of soccer.Gamesmanship and deception are attributes rarely associated with the game in America. Around the world, however, those characteristics come together and are ingrained in players from a young age. Soccer is played differently stateside, and that cultural disconnect has become Pochettino’s principal concern as he takes over a team that, at times, has come off as uninterested and privileged.Pochettino has sent a message early in his tenure that a squad place under him should not be taken for granted. “We have to challenge the players, because they have to feel desperate to want to be called up; that’s what other federations like Argentina do, where the players don’t choose which games they go to,” he said before the first leg against Jamaica.
“In terms of how to translate the competitive spirit to the players, we have to do it little by little and step by step. That’s something that we can’t do too quickly because in the end, the most important thing is creating a structure around the players that has that ideology and mentality, and that our priorities are all aligned.”It raises the question: Why is this an issue for this U.S. men’s national team?
As an Argentine, it’s perhaps impossible for Pochettino to grasp that an opportunity to play for the national team is anything less than a dream. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your first cap or your 78th. Argentina, a star-studded side led by Lionel Messi and the reigning world champions, have come to epitomize what that commitment looks like.“The Argentinian player is desperate to be called up, doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or a CONCACAF game, or Copa America, or a World Cup,” Pochettino said earlier this month during a video call with reporters. “The Argentinian player approaches a call-up like it’s a world final and like it’s their last chance.“I think our players have time to get into that mindset, and if we do, we’ll increase our level by 200 percent and we’ll have a chance, because we certainly have the talent to do something important.”
Mauricio Pochettino wants his players to be more cunning. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
The CONCACAF Nations League doesn’t carry much prestige, but it’s the only competitive tournament the U.S. will participate in before the 2026 World Cup. Speaking to reporters from Jamaica, Pochettino talked about putting his players in “uncomfortable zones” and raising the team’s emotional capacity to play do-or-die matches.“We need to build that expectation. We need to build that pressure,” Pochettino said. “We are USA. We need to perform and we need to win games.“If one of my players is kicked, we’re going to defend him. We have to be cunning enough to know when to kick the ball long or to stand in front of the ball. These are things that may seem like small details, but they have everything to do with playing this game. What we showed against Mexico was the opposite of what we showed against Jamaica. That’s the stamp that we want.”
Pochettino is being open about his first impressions of the players he’s inherited. It will be fascinating to watch the plan he and his staff implement as they try to turn the U.S. into a mentally hardened team — one that’s difficult to play against, as Pochettino put it. That certainly wasn’t what defined this same group under predecessor Gregg Berhalter, despite his best attempts to change their mindset.
When Pochettino was hired, his man-management skills were highlighted as a positive for this U.S. team. He had presided over the egos and personalities of Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain. He coached in the Premier League and a UEFA Champions League final. His tactics, focused on aggressive pressing and quick attacking sequences born out of possession, were also noted as a match for these U.S. players.But it’s Pochettino’s background as a rugged Argentine central defender that could be the secret to success for the men’s side.
When Gerardo “Tata” Martino met Pochettino in 1989, he saw a nervous teenager who was about to face the pressures of football in Argentina. At the time, Martino was a title-winning captain at Newell’s Old Boys. Pochettino, still raw, had been discovered by Jorge Giffa, a renowned identifier of talent for the club, and fast-tracked towards the first team.“I didn’t meet the man who would become a head coach,” Martino told The Athletic in August. “I met a player who had the typical anxiety and expectation of someone who was just starting his career. There was no way for me to even fathom that (Pochettino) would go into coaching. I met him when he was 17 years old and he had a massive responsibility ahead of him because Newell’s was in a difficult situation, facing relegation.”
Mauricio Pochettino was an old-school defender. (Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images)
Martino, who resigned as Inter Miami coach last week, knows Pochettino well. He has also coached and suffered through the idiosyncrasies of CONCACAF football as Mexico’s national team manager from 2019 to 2022.A Newell’s legend of three league titles as a player and another as the coach, Martino quickly spotted the young Pochettino’s fearless edge.“He was the prototypical central defender from that era, at a time when there was little talk about defenders making the first pass to break a line,” Martino said. “Rather, it was about how they defended, how they marked the opposition, their ability to anticipate and win balls in the air. That was Mauricio.”
In Guillem Balague’s 2017 book “Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs,” Pochettino described a run-in he had with Martino during one of his first Newell’s training sessions. “I was 17, young and hungry. Not scared of anybody, cocky even,” Pochettino said.According to Pochettino, Martino quipped, “I’m going to kill you” after receiving a tough tackle from the academy defender.“No, there’s no chance,” Martino said emphatically with a laugh when asked whether he had threatened his rookie teammate. “Surely something must’ve happened. I was a player who had been in the top flight for almost 10 years. Mauricio was a kid who was just starting. That happened often back then. Today, those types of things don’t happen as often. It was normal for an experienced player to have a word with a young player who was just starting out.”Pochettino the enforcer further thrived when Marcelo Bielsa took over as Newell’s coach in 1990. Led by Bielsa and playing alongside Martino, Pochettino would win two league titles and reach a Copa Libertadores final in 1992. That squad’s relentless, high-pressing intensity is a characteristic Pochettino later adopted as a manager. His hire as U.S. men’s national team coach comes at a time when Argentine managers are in high demand.U.S. Soccer officials didn’t pinpoint that when they announced his appointment in September, but Martino believes Pochettino’s heritage is part of a growing trend.
“I think that’s an important piece to all of this,” Martino said. “Right now, coaches from Argentina, because of everything that has happened with the national team, are well respected, and that opens doors to be considered for certain jobs. I wouldn’t simply compare Mauricio to other Argentine coaches, though.”
Pochettino has been largely molded by European footballing methodologies. He is a sophisticated student of the game who has lived and coached in Barcelona, London and Paris. His DNA, though, is from rural Argentina. His core memories as a player at Newell’s are replete with blood, sweat and massive pressure.“Argentine coaches have become accustomed to difficult situations that aren’t as common today,” Martino said. “There was a time when coaches wouldn’t get paid, or they had to deal with the club’s ultras and the hostility of difficult moments. But those negative experiences strengthen you, they give you thicker skin.”Martino, though, stressed Pochettino will have to “learn how to become a national team manager.” Regardless of Pochettino’s qualifications and his implementation of progressive tactics early on, he’s in his first-ever stint as an international coach. Although so was Lionel Scaloni when he led Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022.There were calls for the U.S. Soccer Federation to hire another American after Berhalter was fired.
Fans and pundits passionately discussed the importance of understanding the psyche of an American player. Tapping into the courage that defined previous U.S. teams was seen as a priority.Pochettino is an outsider who has read the room accurately. He knows a player’s resume and potential are secondary to their willingness to swallow their pride for the good of their country. Case in point, his response to that comfortable home win over Jamaica last week.“In the second half, we didn’t approach the game in the way we wanted,” he said. “The goal was to win the second half, and we didn’t approach it with the same intensity and mentality. It shows we still have things we need to improve.”
Internationally, the reputation of the U.S. men’s team eroded over the summer. They were humbled by opponents who were unafraid to test the limits of the sport’s rules. Their Copa America preparation, which included losing 5-1 against Colombia, and the group-stage elimination that followed, sent the wrong message to the world.he improvement Pochettino demands must come on the sport’s biggest stage in 2026. There is no other option.If the squad cannot align culturally with its new manager at a World Cup held mostly on home soil, the repercussions will lead to a renewed evaluation of the American player.
US Ladies Face Argentina tonight at 7 pm on TNT after 3-1 comeback win over Iceland
The US ladies fell behind on golazo goal to Iceland as #2 GK Murphy pulled a GKE on reading the high ball and of course with NO ONE ON THE POST – it slipped her head and into the backpost and in. The US ladies responded with 3 goals in the 2nd half however as the starters returned to set things right. One more game tonight in Louisville – Seats still available by the way – at Lynn Stadium. The good news is the youngsters are really coming thru and showing they belong. (highlights). Rose Lavelle will celebrate 100 Caps tonight! Also really cool to see our Manager Emma Hayes win the Coach of the Year Honors on the Ladies side!!
Members of Utah, Gotham, Portland, and Angel City will ride the bench, with coach Emma Hayes reporting that she wont tap anyone set to play a regular-season NWSL match on Friday — except Rose Lavelle, who will celebrate her 100th cap at tonight’s game.
Big picture: Coming off two productive wins against Iceland, fitness will be front of mind for Hayes with WSL playoffs approaching and the European season in full swing. Players currently without an October start include Spirit midfielder & former Indy 11 standout Hal Hershfelt, NC Courage midfielder Ashley Sanchez, and PSG defender Eva Gaetino. Tune in: The USWNT kicks off against Argentina in Louisville tonight at 7 PM ET, with live coverage on TNT.
Indy 11 host playoff game Sunday – Nov 3 vs Rhode Island FC Indy Eleven completed its regular season with a 3-0 setback at the Tampa Bay Rowdies and former GK on Saturday night, snapping a five-match unbeaten streak. The Boys in Blue earned the #4 seed in the USL Championship Eastern Conference playoffs by finishing with a 14-11-9 record for 51 points. The Eleven will begin the 2024 USL Championships Playoffs presented by Terminix next Sunday, November 3 at Carroll Stadium, hosting their first home playoff game since 2019 against #5 seed Rhode Island FC (12-7-15) in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. This will be the Boys in Blue’s fourth playoff appearance in six full seasons in the USLC. The last time that the Eleven recorded consecutive playoff berths was in 2018 and 2019. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster. Boys in Blue Season Ticket Members can purchase opening round playoff seats here.
High School Soccer Finals Sat at The Mike The high school finals for the ladies are set with Noblesville (18-0-2) looking for a Back to Back vs Center Grove (16-4-3) at 6:30 pm while the boys features Bloomington South (20-1) vs West Lafayette Harrison (18-0-4) at 11 am at the Mike. Tickets avail for the full schedule of all Class games all day.
Tuesday – American’s In Action this Week in Champions League
PSV vs Girona, 12:45p on Paramount+, TUDN USA, UniMas: Malik Tillman, Ricardo Pepi, Richard Ledezma and PSV host Girona in Champions League.
Real Madrid vs AC Milan, 3p on Paramount+, TUDN USA, UniMas: Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah and AC Milan face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in Champions League.
Bologna vs Monaco, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Folarin Balogun (injury?) and Monaco travel to Bologna in Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund vs Sturm Graz, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Cole Campbell and Borussia Dortmund host Sturm Graz in Champions League.
Celtic vs RB Leipzig, 3p on Paramount+, ViX, CBS Sports Golazo: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, and Celtic play host to RB Leipzig in Champions League.
Lille vs Juventus, 3p on CBSSN, Paramount+, ViX: Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, and Juventus travel, with Weah returning to Lille in Champions League.
Also in action:
Queens Park Rangers v Middlesbrough, 2:45p: Aiden Morris and Middlesbrough travel to Weston London to face QPR in the Championship
Puebla v Monterrey, 7p: Brandon Vasquez and Rayados travel to Puebla in LA MX
Wednesday
Also in action:
Millwall vs Leeds United, 2:45p: Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United travel to Millwall in the Championship.
Coventry City vs Derby County, 2:45p: Haji Wright and Coventry City host Derby County in the Championship.
America vs Pachuca, 7p, TUDNS USA, Univision: Alex Zendejas and Club America host Pachuca in Liga MX.
Thursday
Hoffenheim vs Olympique Lyon, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Tanner Tessmann and Lyon travel to Hoffenheim for this Europa League match.
Real Betis vs Celje, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Johnny Cardoso and Betis host Celje in Conference League.
Hearts vs Heidenheim, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Lennard Maloney and Heidenheim travel to the Heart of Midlothian in an epic quest to win a Conference League match
TV SCHEDULE
Wed, Oct 30
7 pm TNT US Women vs Argentina
7 pm FS1 US U17G vs Korea U17G WC Semi-Finals
Fri, Nov 1
7:30 pm Apple Charlotte vs Orlando City SC MLS Playoffs
9:30 pm Apple Colorado vs LA Galaxy
Sat, Nov 2
8:30 am USA New Castle vs Arsenal
10:30 am ESPN+ Bayern Munich vs Union Berlin
11 am USA Southhampton vs Everton
11 am Peacock Liverpool vs Brighton
11 am Para+ Leeds United vs Plymouth
1 pm Para+ Udinese vs Juventus (Mckinney/Weah)
1 pm NBC Wolverhampton vs Crystal Palace
1:30 pm EPNS+ Dortmund vs RB Leipzig
3:45 pm Para+ Monza vs AC Milan (Pulisic)
4 pm ESPN+ Valencia vs Real Madrid
5 pm Apple TV NYCFC 0 vs Cincy 1
5 pm ION Seattle Reign vs Orlando Pride NWSL
7:30 pm ION NC Courage vs Washington Spirit NWSL
Sun, Nov 3
9 am USA Tottenham vs Aston Villa
11:30 am USA Man United vs Chelsea
11:30 am ESPN+ MGladbach vs Bremen
2:$5 pm Golazo/Para Inter vs Venezia
3 pm ESPN Chicago Red Stars vs KC Current NWSL
4:30 pm Apple TV New York RB 1 vs Columbus
5:30 pm ESPN San Diego Wave vs Racing Louisville NWSL
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The US is the only country to place in all three 2024 FIFA world championships. (Buda Mendes – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The U-17 USWNT lit up the international stage on Sunday, pointing to the national team’s bright future with a U-17 World Cup bronze medal win — less than two months after their U-20 counterparts did the same.The U-17 team’s dominant 3-0 victory over England gave the US its best U-17 World Cup finish since 2008, while the U-20 USWNT’s late September third-place victory saw their best performance since lifting the trophy in 2012.With both youth World Cup medals and the senior team’s Olympic gold, the US is now the only nation to place in all three 2024 FIFA world championships.Teen pros fuel the fire: This year’s U-17 World Cup roster featured its first-ever professionals, including ACFC’s Kennedy Fuller, Seattle’s Ainsley McCammon, and San Diego’s Kimmi Ascanio and Melanie Barcenas. Add in the U-20 USWNT’s record eight NWSL players, and pro experience at the youth level appears to be paving a successful international path.
USWNT Closes Out October International Window with Argentina Friendly
Rose Lavelle will celebrate 100 caps with the USWNT on Wednesday. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
The top-ranked USWNT will play their third and final friendly of the October international break against world No. 33 Argentina in Louisville on Wednesday night — likely with few new faces in the mix.
Head coach Emma Hayes told reporters that she will not play anyone with a regular-season NWSL match scheduled for Friday except Rose Lavelle, who will celebrate her 100th USWNT cap in Wednesday’s pre-match ceremony.
“This was the game [Lavelle] chose and for that reason she’s starting,” explained Hayes. “I’ll probably only play Rose for 45 minutes just because I know how important and valuable she is for Gotham.”
Lavelle, a Cincinnati product, likely picked Wednesday’s friendly for her celebration due to Louisville’s close proximity to her hometown.
19-year-old USWNT forward Jaedyn Shaw scored twice on Argentina in February. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
Resting veterans means more minutes for USWNT newcomers
Coming off two productive 3-1 wins over No. 13 Iceland, fitness is front-of-mind for Hayes with NWSL playoffs approaching and the European season — where four of this camp’s athletes play — in full swing.
“I presented to the [club] head coaches in advance of this camp, saying that no player would play in more than two full games,” Hayes said.
Since the NWSL’s Utah Royals, Gotham FC, Portland Thorns, and Angel City FC all play on Friday, nine of the UWSNT’s 26 October camp athletes are unavailable to take Wednesday’s pitch. Four of those players are forwards, leaving Hayes only Mal Swanson, Jaedyn Shaw, and Emma Sears up top, unless the US boss rotates athletes in from another position.
In prioritizing rest, Hayes’s self-imposed roster limitations could result in more first caps. Both PSG center back Eva Gaetino and Bay FC left back Alyssa Malonson are awaiting their first USWNT minutes.
Other players who have yet to appear during this international window include NC Courage midfielder Ashley Sanchez and KC Current defender Hailie Mace.
With 85 caps, Aldana Cometti is the only player with more than 50 appearances for Argentina. (SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Young Argentina team aims for first win against USWNT
Like Hayes, Argentina head coach Germán Portanova stacked his 20-player roster with young talent, including four teenagers. The only Argentinian athlete with more than 50 caps is defender Aldana Cometti, and 14 players have less than 20 caps.
That young roster will take aim at the country’s first-ever result against the USWNT, who has won all five previous meetings by outscoring Argentina 32-1. The pair’s last meeting came on February 23rd in group play of the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup, where the US defeated Argentina 4-0.
Hoping to quiet the US attack, Portanova packed his team with nine defenders for Wednesday’s game. As a result, Hayes told the press that she anticipates a low-block from La Albiceleste and that she’ll “be curious to see how we handle that,” particularly as the team has been working on decision-making and finishing in the final third throughout this training camp.
The U-17 USWNT is eyeing their first World Cup semifinal win in 16 years. (Pedro Vilela – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
U-17 USWNT races to World Cup semis
Airing on FS1 at the same time as the senior national team’s battle with Argentina, the U-17 USWNT will take on Korea DPR in their first U-17 World Cup semifinal since 2008.
The team has battled North Korea three times in U-17 World Cup history, most notably in the 2008 final when Korea DPR staged a come-from-behind, extra-time 2-1 win to become World Cup champs.
This time out, the US will rely on their sturdy defense, which has already pulled off three straight clean sheets, setting a new U-17 USWNT World Cup record.
How to watch the USWNT vs. Argentina international friendly
The friendly between the No. 1 USWNT and No. 33 Argentina will kick off on Wednesday at 7 PM ET, with live coverage on TNT.
The US will close out the year with with a European tour, making tonight’s match their last 2024 tilt on home soil.
USWNT 3, Iceland 1: Alyssa Thompson’s first international goal helps U.S. secure victory
The U.S. women’s national team defeated Iceland 3-1 on Thursday in its first match following its gold-medal run this summer at the Paris Olympics. Alyssa Thompson and Jaedyn Shaw, both still teenagers, scored first before Sophia Smith provided a late dagger to seal the result.Thompson was the only player to start who did not play in this summer’s Olympics. The 19-year-old was widely expected to be called back into the national team following an excellent run of form with Angel City in NWSL. She did not disappoint in Austin, Texas, providing the opening goal, which was also her first international goal.“I get in those situations a lot in games, so I knew what to do: put it in with my right,” Thompson said during her halftime interview.Since the NWSL’s return from the Olympic break, Thompson has scored five goals with Angel City and noted she’s spent extra time after training working on cutting in off the wings with an eye for goal alongside her NWSL teammate Christen Press. Thursday night, she got another perfect opportunity to show what those extra reps have unlocked.Thompson last played for the U.S. in 2023, featuring in the final match of the year in Texas. Despite her inclusion in the 2023 World Cup roster, she missed out on an Olympic spot under head coach Emma Hayes.“Just coming onto the field and wearing the jersey in the beginning, I was like, ‘This is surreal,’” Thompson said during halftime. “Being able to get my first goal, I can’t describe how I feel. I’m just so happy.”Iceland equalized in the second half when Selma Magnúsdóttir scored in the 56th minute with an effort from outside the box that beat goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher in the bottom left corner. But the tie didn’t last.Shaw was a second-half substitute, but that didn’t stop her from scoring. While her Olympics went in an unexpected direction after she picked up a muscle injury in France, Shaw had no issues returning to her scoring ways with the national team having fully recovered.“It was a really tough month for me,” Shaw said of the Olympics after the match. “But it was also the best month of my life. I learned a lot from it. It just made me hungry to come back and produce the same, if not more.”Smith also picked up some USWNT minutes, after finally making her NWSL return for the Portland Thorns in a limited capacity last weekend. Smith had an ankle injury resurface in September and had missed out on multiple Thorns matches. Smith, one-third of the “Triple Espresso” forward line at the Olympics, added the exclamation point with her goal in the 88th minute.Gotham FC’s Yazmeen Ryan earned her first U.S. cap Thursday night, subbing on Mallory Swanson in the 66th minute alongside Shaw and Casey Krueger. Hal Hershfelt of the Washington Spirit also finally earned her first cap for the USWNT in this match, after traveling with the team to France this summer as an alternate.Coach Emma Hayes called up six uncapped players as part of her 26-player roster for the October window, though only 23 players can dress for each match.
“We looked a little rusty,” Hayes said in her postgame press conference. “We haven’t played together since the Olympics, and I think we look like a team with a lot of players on the back end of the season.”While she liked their short passing game, Hayes said the performance in the final third during the first half wasn’t good enough and that they weren’t switching the ball quickly enough. Both were addressed at halftime.
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“It’s up to us to inject that urgency into the game,” she said. “The players that came from the bench did that.”The USWNT still has two more matches in this international window. They play Iceland again Sunday in Nashville (5.30 p.m. ET, airing on TNT, truTV, Max, Universo and Peacock), before their final match on U.S. soil this year next Wednesday against Argentina in Louisville (7 p.m. ET, airing on TNT, truTV, Max, Universo and Peacock).
USWNT player ratings: Hayes’ super-subs Horan, Sears inspire win
Cesar Hernandez, Staff Writer, ESPN FCOct 27, 2024, 08:48 PM ET
Held at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, the game kicked off with plenty of the ball for the home side that maintained 64.2% possession during the first half. Nonetheless, it was Iceland that opened up the scoring thanks to a stunning 31st-minute goal directly off a corner from Karolina Vilhjalmsdottir.
Seeking to alter her approach by the midway point of the friendly, USWNT manager Emma Hayes responded by making a handful of impactful substitutions.
Following the half-time break, Alyssa Thompson, Emily Fox, and Horan entered the field. Shortly afterwards, Hayes then brought on Sophia Smith, Williams, and Sears. The tactical maneuvers paid off, leading to an equalizer from Williams in the 72nd minute and Horan’s goal in the 76th, as well as Sears’ goal in the 93rd.
With a win in hand and an undefeated streak under Hayes, the USWNT will play their third friendly this month when they face Argentina at Louisville, Kentucky’s Lynn Family Stadium on Oct. 30.
Manager rating (scale of 1-10)
Emma Hayes, 8 — Unafraid to throw numbers forward in the second half, Hayes was fearless with her attack-minded substitutions that earned the victory. The manager deserves credit for not only giving opportunities for young players, but for also being able to break down an Iceland XI that parked the bus throughout the 90+ minutes.
USWNT Player ratings (0-10; 10 = best; 5 = average)
GK Casey Murphy, 5 — Murphy made just one error, but it was still costly after her poor positioning allowed Vilhjalmsdottir to find the back of the net in the first half.
DF Jenna Nighswonger, 6 — Although she didn’t have too much trouble defensively, going forward, more was expected of the player who occasionally went quiet against Iceland.
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DF Emily Sams, 8 — An impressive debut For the Orlando Pride player. Sams was confident and comfortable with her interventions that made her a reliable presence in the backline.
DF Emily Sonnett, 7 — Sonnet provided important tackles and showed leadership as she barked orders in defense.
DF Casey Krueger, 6 — A decent performance. Krueger helped win back possession and showcased her speed on both flanks but could have also been more accurate with her longer passes.
MF Mallory Swanson, 8 — Swanson celebrated her 100th cap as the most dangerous player in the first half. The 26-year-old was a dynamic figure in the attack that eventually switched to a more central position in the frontline.
MF Sam Coffey, 6 — Despite buzzing around the midfield, Coffey was at times caught off-guard when needing to shut down counters.
MF Korbin Albert, 6 — Connected well with the midfield, but also wasn’t able to create enough in the final third.
MF Yazmeen Ryan, 6 — Ryan wasn’t as dangerous as Swanson on the opposite flank and struggled with effectively breaking down the Iceland defense. That said, she did well to switch the field when needed and provided a couple of shots.
FW Olivia Moultrie, 7 — Not bad for a player that just turned 19. Moultrie had a great connection with attack and dropped to the left after Swanson eventually moved up. A high ceiling for the player that has more to give.
FW Jaedyn Shaw, 6 — Shaw showed off her attacking versatility up top but couldn’t influence the game at the level she typically does in the final third. Hayes will need to figure out the best position for the 20-year-old San Diego Wave star.
Substitutes (players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
MF Alyssa Thompson, 8 — The teenager was brought on during the half-time break and thrived on the left flank. Some much-needed energy from the player that provided key passes and a shot that hit the woodwork.
DF Emily Fox, 7 — Credit to the full-back that had to step into a progressively chaotic formation that focused on the attack. Fox was an important distributor after being substituted in during the midway break.
MF Lindsey Horan, 8 — Horan was a catalyst moving forward and clinched the goal that gave the USWNT the lead. Difficult to think of a current best XI without the captain.
FW Lynn Williams, 9 — What more could you ask of the Gotham FC player that gifted her national team a goal and assist within 35 minutes of play.
MF Emma Sears, 9 — A dream USWNT debut. Like Williams, Sears was arguably the hero of the night with her goal and assist.
FW Sophia Smith, 7 — Excellent energy from the Portland Thorns marquee figure that took chances with her shots. Technically speaking, one of those shots could go down as a hockey assist for Williams’ goal.
MLS awards 2024: Our picks for MVP, coach of the year, Best XI and more
By The Athletic Soccer staff
Oct 29, 2024
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Lionel Messi played a little more than half of Inter Miami’s regular season games this year but is on the shortlist for most valuable player. Last year, The Athletic’s MLS writers questioned the Argentina captain’s nomination for newcomer of the year. This year, the MVP argument is far less contested, but contested nonetheless.
And while there is a clear winner for each of the defensive awards, Luis Suarez isn’t the only player valued as newcomer of the year. Here’s how our MLS writers voted for MVP, defender of the year, coach of the year, Best XI and more.
Pablo Maurer: Yes, I understand that Messi was injured for a long stretch of Miami’s season. I also understand that during that stretch, Miami did not miss him — not statistically, at least. And I understand that there are other players — Cucho Hernández comes to mind — that likely have a rightful claim to this award as well. Yet Messi, despite missing 15 matches, has been the most dominant attacking player in MLS by a wide margin.
MLS conspiracy theorists will claim that the league, and Miami, will ensure that Messi wins this award. In reality, Messi wins because he’s made the league itself look like child’s play. And this is to say nothing of his effect on MLS’ global perception and its business interests. He is undoubtedly the highest-profile player in league history, and he hasn’t disappointed.
Felipe Cárdenas: Inter Miami indeed learned to win without Messi, but they weren’t steam-rolling teams while he was at the Copa America with Argentina. When he was rested before the summer, Inter Miami lost games to New York Red Bulls and FC Cincinnati by a combined score of 10-1.
The data supports Messi as the MVP, too. He had better or even numbers than the other top candidates for the award after playing only 19 games. Those facts made it an easy decision for me, and I submitted my vote before his Decision Day hat-trick against New England. He’s been Messi. That’s really difficult to contend with. Sorry, Cucho.
(Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Paul Tenorio: I really just don’t get the movement to push someone else as the league MVP. I get that Messi didn’t play the whole season, but he played enough to lift Inter Miami to the Supporters’ Shield — there is no way they would have won the Shield without him — and he was the best player in MLS when he was on the field.
The guy scored 20 goals with 16 assists in 19 games, finishing second in MLS in both categories. He was dominant, his team was the best in MLS. It’s an easy one for me.
Jeff Rueter: This year, anyone who doesn’t have Messi as an MVP is going to be branded a contrarian. I guess that’s my role to play on our staff.
Ultimately, this gets into the nitty-gritty of MLS choosing to award a “most valuable player” as its top individual honor rather than a “player of the year.”
Cucho Hernández is the attacking soul of another all-time great MLS team. The Colombian also missed significant time, playing 27 of 34 possible games compared to Messi’s 19. Hernández was tied for second with 12 match-winning goal contributions; Messi’s seven match-winners were tied for 10th. While some might say it’s unfair to ding Messi for a midseason injury, ask Joel Embiid how these American sports award pageants work.
For Messi, half a year of world-class soccer is as good a case as any need to make. I just think Hernandez’s additional workload drove home his value a little bit more.
Rueter:Charlotte has had a lot to sort out on the fly during Dean Smith’s first season, but goalkeeper has been steady as they go. Kristijan Kahlina played every minute this season, helping backstop the club to a fifth-place finish in the East. Only one team, Seattle, allowed fewer goals than Charlotte.
The underlying numbers suggest this award is Kahlina’s to win — his +12.3 expected goals prevented is the second-highest output from any goalkeeper over the last six seasons. The only better performer? Djordje Petrovic in 2022 (+14.3), who somehow lost that year’s vote to Andre Blake but settled for a transfer to Chelsea and a corresponding pay raise.
Maurer: There’s little to no competition in this category, in my view.
Cárdenas: My colleagues at The Athletic know how I feel about Kahlina. In 2023, his howlers had me blowing up the group chat. I was probably too hard on the Croatian. After all, a goalkeeper’s mistakes are always magnified. Kahlina had hype last season, too, but his performances were inconsistent. That changed in 2024. His 12 clean sheets was the best in MLS.
Rueter: Reputation goes a long way in this category and playing for a top-five defense is generally mandatory. Columbus ranked fourth by conceding just 40 goals, so there’s one box checked.
Steven Moreira enjoys more fluidity in his role than any other defender in MLS. In some phases, he’s tucking into the back line to negate an onrushing attacker. In others, he’s heading wide to occupy the half-space, while he also plays a role in sustaining possession as far upfield as the far edge of the attacking third. He’s the dependable, roaming bedrock upon which Wilfried Nancy’s system is built. For a second straight year, that’s earned my vote in this category.
Cárdenas: I considered FC Cincinnati and U.S. international Miles Robinson for this award. Seattle’s Jackson Ragen, who I believe has a similar profile to Borussia Dortmund center back Niklas Süle. But a defender who isn’t really a defender? I’m always going to be a fan of a player like Moreira.
But as Jeff states very clearly, Moreira is an integral part of Nancy’s rather intricate system. Remove him from the Crew’s XI and they’re a different team, slightly more limited. Moreira can lock down a tricky winger and put pressure on an opposing attacking fullback. He’s typically calm and at ease when he’s on the ball close to the end line.
(Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
Maurer: I write this fully expecting to get roasted in the comments. To me, though, this is not a controversial take. Miami has been shaky defensively all year as they’ve cycled through options, but Jordi Alba has been defensively sound (as always). He has also put up absurd numbers on the other side of the ball, his four goals and 12 assists made up a key part of Miami’s prolific attack.
Tenorio: I think you have to give credit to a defender who brings more to a team than just pure defending, who is a part of the identity of how a team plays and what makes them special. I’m not sure there was a defender so dominant this year in MLS that it’s worth looking away from Moreira’s value to the Crew.
Rueter: While fellow new winger Joseph Paintsil was the headliner in the spring, Gabriel Pec’s brilliance shone all season long for the Galaxy. The Brazilian was tied for fifth in MLS with 30 goal contributions — all but one from the run of play. He swiftly assimilated into a multi-faceted LA attack and should continue to threaten MLS defenders for years.
Maurer: It took Pec a little to find his footing in the league, but when he finally acclimated he became a game-changer for the Galaxy and a major reason why LA is back in rarified air. I don’t think Pec will actually win this award; Inter Miami striker Luis Suarez has had an exceptional year and name recognition might push him ahead of Pec in the end. But no player in the league is more deserving than Pec.
Cárdenas: I hear you both on Pec. He has been silky for the Galaxy. I’ll be honest, though, I didn’t expect Suarez to be this good. He was great for Gremio, but after he told the world that he could barely walk or get out of bed in the morning, Suarez felt like a luxury signing that would only be good in flashes. Instead, he helped carry the burden for Inter Miami.
His 20 goals in 28 games (21 starts) made him the obvious choice for this award, one that feels odd considering Suarez is 37. He recently told reporters in Miami that he’d like to be back with Miami for one more year. Who can blame him? He’s turned back the clock. Sunshine and beach life have been good to him.
Tenorio: I am a big Pec fan even though I started the season thinking Paintsil would be the most productive of the two signings. The Galaxy absolutely nailed their two DP additions this offseason. Still, I’m going to go with the guy who I think might end up making a big difference in the playoffs. Suarez is a legend for a reason.
Rueter:Diego Luna finished second in MLS’s annual 22 Under 22 rankings, the same spot I placed him on my ballot. What edges him over Diego Gómez for this award, then? Simply, importance beyond what would be expected of someone his age.
While Gómez is an undeniably talented player in a vital midfield role, Luna has been the team’s chief playmaker since Andrés Gómez’s summer move to Rennes despite only turning 21 in September. The United States youth international has rewarded RSL for their trust, with eight goals and 12 assists across 2,218 minutes. Despite selling their creative fulcrum, Pablo Mastroeni’s side sustained a high level of play to finish third in the West — and they largely had Luna to thank. I suspect he’ll be getting a call from USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino soon.
Cárdenas: Go back and watch Gómez’s first few games with Miami. His touch was off. His decision-making was poor. He received quite a few side-eyed looks from Messi and Suarez.
He was 20 years old at the time and had never played outside of Paraguay. Gómez was managing the pressure of playing with Messi, Sergio Busquets, Suarez and Alba. It was a lot for a young player with high expectations. Now, Gómez is a Premier League talent. His move to Brighton this winter appears to be a formality. Gómez has gone from a deer in headlights to a player who has a vital role in Tata Martino’s midfield.
Tenorio: In a category like this, I simply choose the player I think is the most talented young player in the league and one that is actually making an impact on the field. Gómez has grown into his time at Inter Miami; he’s a top, top player and I think he has massive potential to mature into a special player at the next level.
Rueter: In May 2023, Robin Lod underwent surgery for a torn meniscus. The Loons sorely missed Lod, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018. By the time the Finland international returned this preseason, he was also adjusting to the departure of the coach who had brought him to MLS, Adrian Heath.
He wasted no time claiming ownership of the attack following Emanuel Reynoso’s departure, too. After years of proving his worth with clinical finishing, Lod played chief distributor and led Minnesota with 15 assists to complement seven goals of his own.
Maurer: After missing the lion’s share of 2023 with a hip injury, Lewis Morgan has bounced back in style for New York and has been arguably their most valuable piece. His fine league play has earned him his first string of national team call-ups in nearly half a decade. The Red Bulls simply are not a playoff team this year without Morgan’s influence, and he deserves this award.
Tenorio: I fully endorse everything Pablo said above. Morgan was very good in 2022, suffered a really difficult injury in 2023 and came back and showed his quality again this year. A hip injury is not easy to come back from and still have the burst and pace that wingers need to beat defenders and perform at a high level.
Credit to Morgan for not just getting back on the field, but doing it at such a high level.
Rueter: Awards like this aren’t supposed to consider other competitions. But that’s nearly impossible as auxiliary contests accumulate. Squad management is a crucial part of a coach’s job description. Despite being active in many competitions and dealing with midseason departures (most notably Aidan Morris’ sale to Middlesbrough), Wilfried Nancy kept the defending MLS Cup champion from missing a beat all season long.
To finish second in the Supporters Shield standings despite a congested schedule and a squad that earned over $25 million less in wages than the winner is no small feat. Enjoy Nancy while he’s in MLS — he shouldn’t have any shortage of suitors for the work he’s done with Montréal and Columbus.
Maurer: Nancy has done everything Jeff mentions above and he’s done it while playing the most attractive soccer in the league. There are other variables — ones that probably don’t factor into the voting but matter to fans and consumers of the game: the way Nancy speaks about his craft and the way he engages with fans, media and the like. It’s been a while since MLS had a coach whose personality and passion for the game were matched by results on the field. C’est magnifique.
Cárdenas: Tata Martino prioritized establishing a winning culture at a club that had grown accustomed to losing.
The 61-year-old Argentine, who won this award in 2018 with Atlanta United, had talent previously unseen in MLS. But he also played Noah Allen, 20, at center back. He relied on David Ruiz, 20, and Benjamin Cremaschi, 19, in midfield and has turned Yannick Bright, 23, into an unexpected gem. Martino kept a dressing room with enormous personalities focused on one goal: winning in 2024.
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This team has been riddled with injuries to starters throughout the season. They weren’t the consensus pick to win MLS Cup, either, despite their talent. Nancy may be the best coach in MLS, but Martino has been the best coach in 2024.
Tenorio: For all the people who say Messi isn’t the MVP because Miami was able to win games when he wasn’t on the field, what’s the argument for not making Tata the coach of the year despite missing his best player for 15 games this season? Tough one for me to understand.
(Note: Several players earned one vote, but Diego Gomez won on a tiebreaker having also been nominated for an individual award by two writers. Also receiving a vote apiece: Jackson Ragen, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Micael, Sergio Busquets, Adilson Malanda, Robin Lod, Albert Rusnak, Luca Orellano, and Denis Bouanga.)
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Jeff KassoufJun 4, 2025, 01:20 PM ET
Girma has taken on a lot of the leadership responsibility left behind by Sauerbrunn. (Visionhaus / Getty Images)Listening to her former teammates after the match, it was clear: the trust and respect Sauerbrunn commands were built over years of grit, consistency and quiet leadership, beginning with her debut in 2008, when she earned her first cap against Canada at the Four Nations Tournament in China, playing with a broken nose.“Becky is a legend, an icon,” Kerry Abello, who made her debut Tuesday, said after the match. “The game of women’s soccer will never be the same without her.” Abello was eight years old when Sauerbrunn debuted back in 2008. Like many of the new generation of USWNT players, she grew up admiring her.On the pitch, Sauerbrunn was a tireless, dependable center back; off it, she was a steady leader who played a key role in collective bargaining negotiations with the U.S. Soccer, representing her fellow players at the table year after year, and helping the team achieve equal pay.She was always calm and composed, even when somebody made a mistake. “Becky doesn’t get mad often, but if you mess up, like pass to the wrong player… she’ll give you this look,” Biyendolo said after Tuesday’s match. “That ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ look. That’s the Becky look.”Ask anyone who played alongside Sauerbrunn about the “Becky stare,” and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.Hayes didn’t get the chance to coach Sauerbrunn — she took over the team in May last year — but her admiration also runs deep, especially for how the defender has shaped the next generation.“It’s always nice when the people you leave behind talk about someone in such a way,” Hayes said. “I’ve got a locker room — not just the senior players, but less experienced players — that talk about her in the highest esteem, both as a leader and as a human being, and I don’t think you could want anything more than that in life.”(Top photo: Bill Barrett / Getty Images)
Girma celebrates with Coffey and Heaps (Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Girma listens to instructions from Hayes (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
Girma playing for Chelsea against Manchester United in the FA Cup final (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
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Angel City signing Sveindís Jónsdóttir saw Alex Straus’ success playing against his teams in Germany. (Martin Rose / Getty Images)
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Russo in action for North Carolina in 2019 (Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Bronze in action for North Carolina in 2009 (Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Moorhouse has become an influential player for Orlando (Elsa/Getty Images)
Jess Carter, right, scored against former club Chelsea in a pre-season friendly (Ira L. Black – Corbis/Getty Images)
Pepi celebrates after scoring his team’s fifth against Groningen (Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
The familiar sight of Pepi replacing De Jong (Photo Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Aaronson holds off NEC’s Rober Gonzalez (Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Booth replaces Miguel Rodriguez against NEC (ANP via Getty Images)
Reyna urges his team on against Freiburg (Hesham Elsherif/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Tim Ream during the loss to Mexico last month. (Ulises Ruiz / AFP / Getty Images)
Mauricio Pochettino wants his players to be more cunning. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
Mauricio Pochettino was an old-school defender. (Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images)
USMNT looked better against Jamaica. (Tim Vizer / AFP / Getty Images)
Cesar Hernandez, Staff Writer, ESPN FCOct 27, 2024, 08:48 PM ET
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The Ole BallCoach 