indiana-soccer

5/31 Champions League Sat 3 pm CBS, US Ladies vs Korea Sat 5 pm, CCC Columbus @ Pachuca Sat 9:15 pm, Challenge & State Cup @ Grand Park

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Champions League Finals Sat 3 pm CBS & CCL Finals Sat 9 pm FS1

A little Hype Video –  Don’t miss the Greatest Anthem in Sports when the teams walk out to this.  Hopefully we’ll see a version of Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall in London Sat. Excited to see if Dortmund can continue their amazing run in London in the finals of the Champion League Sat at 3 pm on CBS vs Real Madrid.  Of course The Madridistas are the favorites but Dortmund has been giant killer all season as they continue to find a way.  I sure would be excited if American Gio Reyna was actually playing.  Either way I think Madrid just has too much firepower and will win this one 2-1. Coverage starts at 1 pm on Paramount plus before moving to CBS at 2 pm. The Concacaf Finals featuring the MLS Champion Columbus Crew traveling to Mexican Powerhouse Pachuca starts at 9:15 pm on FS1.  Lots of stories below on both games.

Indy 11 Win Again

Jack Blake scored a pair of goals to lead Indy Eleven over reigning USL Champions Phoenix Rising FC, 2-1, on Saturday night at Carroll Stadium. Indy is riding a nine-match unbeaten streak including a record 7 straight wins across all competitions, including five straight in USL Championship action, and finishes the month of May 4-0-0 in league action. Indy improves to 6-4-2 on the season – good for 3rd in the East.  The Boys in Blue hit the road for at two-match road swing at Pittsburgh (June 1) and Birmingham (June 9) before returning home to host San Antonio FC on June 15. Single-game tickets are available for all matches via Ticketmaster. 

US Ladies Olympic Warm Up Games – Sat 5 pm TBS, Tues 8 pm TNT

New coach Emma Hayes takes over and will coach her first games on the sidelines for the US ladies as they take on Korea in an Olympics warm up series starting Sat night. She has named a handful of youngsters and I really have no idea who will start where in this Saturday’s game.  Will certainly be worth the watch.  American Lindsay Horan and Olympic Lyonnaise fell just short in the UEFA Champions League final loss to Barcelona (highlights) as the largest TV audience ever looked on. 

US 23 Pre-Olympic Roster is Released

Interesting that Walker Zimmerman in the only overaged player in the Olympic Pre-Camp – only 18 players can go – so this 27 man roster will have to reduce by 9 players – still surprised we aren’t bringing an over-aged forward or Pepi maybe, even Reyna is the right age – why not play both for he and Pepi?  I will be very interested to see what the final roster is.

The U23 Pre-Olympic Camp Roster:

Goalkeepers: Patrick Schulte (Columbus), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea, England).

Defenders: Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy), Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo, Belgium), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Tomkinson (Norwich, England), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville).

Midfielders: Cole Bassett (Colorado), Gianluca Busio (Venezia, Italy), Benjamin Cremaschi (Miami), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia), Aidan Morris (Columbus), Rokas Pukstas (Hajduk Split, Croatia), Tanner Tessmann (Venezia, Italy).

Forwards: Paxten Aaronson (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Esmir Bajraktarevic (New England), Taylor Booth (Utrecht, Netherlands), Cade Cowell (Guadalajara, Mexico), Damion Downs (Cologne, Germany), Johan Gomez (Eintracht Braunschweig, Germany), Duncan McGuire (Orlando), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg, Germany), Griffin Yow (Westerlo, Belgium).

Good luck to all the teams playing in State/President’s & Challenge Cup finals this weekend especially our CARMEL FC Teams below at Grand Park! I will be out there reffing a few games Sat/Sun.

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2024/2025 Tryout and Evaluation Information
Carmel FC will be hosting tryouts for new and existing players on the following dates:

  • Tuesday, June 4th @ Badger Soccer Complex (46033) @ 5:00PM – 7:00PM → Age groups: 8U, 9U & 10U (2018/2017, 2016, 2015)
  • Monday, June 10th @ Badger Soccer Complex (46033) @ 5:00PM – 7:00PM → Age groups: 11U and above (2014+)

For registration: https://system.gotsport.com/programs/1360T6715?reg_role=player

Carmel High Girls Soccer Camp July 22-25

2-4:30 pm @ Murray Stadium Register Here contact fdixon@ccs.k1.in.us for more info

Games on TV 

Sat, June 1                           

3 pm CBS                    Champ League Final Real Madrid vs Dortmund

5 pm TBS                    US Women vs Korea

7 pm ESPN+                Pittsburgh (Eric Dick) vs Indy 11

10 pm ESPN+               Sacramento vs Tampa Bay Rowdies (Jordan Farr GK)

9 pm FS1 Concacaf CL Final – Columbus Crew @ Pachuca, Mex

Tues, June 4

2 pm FS2 England vs Bosnia/Herzegovina

8 pm Tru TV, Max, PC     US Women vs Korea

Weds, June 5

2:30 pm FS2 Belgium vs Montenegro

9 pm TUDN, Univision Mexico vs Uruguay

Sat, June 8

12:45 pm FS2 Portugal vs Croatia

5:30 pm TNT, Tele            US Men vs Colombia

6 pm Fox Desportes Argentina vs Ecuador

8:30 pm Univision, TUDN Mexico vs Brazil

Sun, June 9

12:45 pm FS2 for FS+? France vs Canada

7 pm ESPN+ Birmingham vs Indy 11

Mon, June 10

2:45 pm FS2 Netherlands vs Iceland

Tues, June 11

2:45 pm FS2 Portugal vs Ireland

8 pm ???                            US Men U23 Olympic Team vs Japan

Wed, June 12

7 pm TNT, Tele US Men vs Brazil  

Fri, June 14                 Euro 2024 Begins

3 pm Fox                            Germany vs Scotland

8 pm Amazon Prime KC Current vs Chicago Red Stars NWSL

Sat, June 15

9 am                                      Hungary vs Switzerland

12 pm Fox                           Spain vs Croatia

3 pm Fox                              Italy vs Albania

7 pm TV 8 Indy 11 vs San Antonio @ the Mike

Sun, June 16

9 am  FS1                             Poland vs Netherlands Euro

12 noon FS1                        Slovenia vs Denmark

3 pm Fox                              Serbia vs England Euro

Thur, June 20                     COPA America Starts

12 noon FS1 Denmark vs England

3 pm Fox Spain vs Italy

8 pm Fox                              Argentina vs Canada COPA

Sat, June 22

6 pm Fox                              Ecuador vs Venezuela COPA

7 pm ESPN+ Indy 11 vs OC @ the Mike Pride Night

9 pm Fox                              Mexico vs Jamaica COPA

Sun, June 23

6 pm Fox, Univision   USMNT vs Bolivia  COPA America

9 pm FS1                              Uruguay vs Panama COPA

Thur, June 27

6 pm Fox                     USMNT vs Panama COPA

Mon, July 1

9 pm Fox, Univision   USMNT vs Uraguay

Sat July 13                          

3 pm TNT, Tele                  US Women vs Mexico

Tues,  July 16                    

7:30 pm TNT, Universo  US Women vs Costa Rica

July 24 starts US U23 Men & US Women In Olympics

(American’s in Parenthesis)

How to Watch Indy Eleven USL Championship Action

Copa America TV Schedule

Euro 2024 TV schedule

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(Photo: Brad Smith/Getty Images for USSF)

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Champions League Finals 3 pm CBS

Dortmund seized the moment for unlikely Champions League final
The transfer market problem that led Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final
Ancelotti’s ‘quiet leadership’ key to his Champions League success
From fan bus to team bus: Dortmund’s Terzic primed for Real Madrid

Courtois ‘ready’ to start UCL final after ACL tear

Madrid’s Bellingham: UCL final a lifelong dream

Concacaf Champs League Finals @ Pachuca MX Sat 9:15 pm FS1

Cucho Hernandez expected to be available for Columbus Crew in Champions Cup final
Columbus Crew host team send-off for fans ahead of CONCACAF Champions Cup final Thoughts on the Crew’s big night in Monterrey to advance to the CONCACAF final Crew should be celebrated win or lose on Saturday What makes Nancy’s Crew so Special?  

US Men

With Copa América near, Gregg Berhalter keeps focus on 2026 World Cup

Berhalter names 27 players for USMNT pre Copa Training camp

25-man men’s Olympic training roster named ahead of June friendly against Japan S&S By Donald Wine II

Analysis: Mitrovic names 25 to final pre-Olympic camp

US Women

Ahead of Olympics, can USWNT coach Emma Hayes avoid struggles in switch from club game? ESPN
Smith says ‘legend’ Hayes has ‘trust’ of USWNT

Horan: ‘Awesome’ that Hayes finally with USWNT ESPN Jeff Kassouf
From tactics to a wildly talented teenager: Emma Hayes’s USWNT in-

SSFC Spotlight: Hal Hershfelt vaults into the USWNT Stars & Stripes By Brendan Joseph

EPL & FA Cup Final

Manchester United beats Man City to win 2024 final Man Utd stun Man City to win FA Cup

Erik ten Hag defies odds, sees United win FA Cup
Sir Jim Ratcliffe demands end to reckless Man Utd spending
Manchester United staff given week to resign as Sir Jim Ratcliffe cracks down on working from home

Indy 11

Blake Named to USL Championship Team of the Week Recap – IND 2:1 PHX 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals to Stream on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Recap – IND 3:0 DET Indy 11 Park = Titanic Park  

Former Indy 11 star Hal Heshfelt becomes first former USL Women’s player called to the USWNT

WORLD

At last! Bayern Munich hires Vincent Kompany
Barcelona hires Hansi Flick as manager to replace Xavi
Vincent Kompany named Bayern Munich manager
Bayern appoint Kompany to end long search for new coach
Celebrations in Greece as Olympiakos beats Fiorentina 1-0 for first European title
LA-bound Giroud’s leadership will be missed, says Milan captain Breaking down Ten Hag’s FA Cup triumph, Barca’s poor Xavi treatment, more: Marcotti recaps the weekend ESPN Gabriele Marcotti

Goalkeeping

Courtois ‘ready’ to start UCL final after ACL tear

Why Courtois, Lunin dilemma is Ancelotti’s biggest Champions League headache

Best Saves of the European Season

Best Saves of Last Champions League Season 2023

DeGea vs Onana Saves

Reffing

PK Hits the Post – You Make the Call
What is VAR, how does it work and what are the biggest problems

Shane with Susie and Brett Y at Grand Park Friday night – moved inside for Weather thank goodness

CYO Final under the lights at Guerin Catholic with Mike Xanders (left) and Joe Fistrovich.

Midfield questions abound as Hayes kicks off USWNT camp – US plays Sat 5 pm TBS
andy sullivan of the uswnt on the field
The USWNT officially entered training camp ahead of their June friendlies this week, with Emma Hayes making her first in-person appearance as head coach. The camp consists of a total of 27 players (23 fully rostered plus four training players), with the training players set to depart prior to the team’s first match on June 1st. Big picture: With the addition of the training players, the midfield is becoming a particularly crowded positional area for the team. Three of the four players invited into camp to train alongside the full roster are midfielders: Portland’s Olivia Moultrie, Washington rookie Croix Bethune, and Spirit defensive midfielder Andi Sullivan. Sullivan started for the USWNT at the 2023 World Cup, but was a late inclusion to Hayes’s training camp roster after player travel from European club play was taken into consideration. In her introduction to American media, Hayes spoke to ESPN about her initial approach to managing a congested USWNT midfield.”I’ve asked to see players that weren’t in the World Cup last year,” she said. “I’ve watched Korbin [Albert] play for PSG. I was hugely impressed by Sam Coffey when Chelsea played against the Thorns in a tournament in Portland.”The US has recently favored a system featuring two defensive midfielders, which likely means a combination of Coffey, Hal Hershfelt, and Emily Sonnett in June.”I haven’t made a decision about the Olympic roster yet, so there is time,” Hayes told ESPN.

Champions League Final 2024 predicted lineups: Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid starting XI, analysis

NBC Sports Thu, May 30, 2024, 11:36 AM EDT·3 min read

The UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid is set to be an intriguing tactical encounter at Wembley on Saturday.

[ MORE: Preview, how to watch Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid ]

Real are the heavy favorites but Dortmund have shown they can frustrate the big boys and in a head-to-head scrap there are so many individual battles to look forward to.

Below are the Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid predicted lineups for the final, with analysis on how Edin Terzic and Carlo Ancelotti could cause a few surprises with their team selections.

Borussia Dortmund predicted lineup, formation, analysis

——- Kobel ——-

—- Ryerson —- Hummels —- Schlotterbeck —- Maatsen —-

—— Can —— Sabitzer ——

—— Sancho —— Brandt —— Adeyemi ——

——- Fullkrug ——

The back four is very settled for Dortmund and the experience of Hummels has been key to holding firm in this unexpected run to the final, while goalkeeper Kobel has also been exceptional amid several defensive masterclasses. Maatsen’s pace and trickery at left back could be a huge factor in shutting down Real Madrid as he will be tasked with keeping Rodrygo quiet. In midfield the experience duo of Emre Can and Marcel Sabitzer have proved their doubters wrong and keep the ball extremely well. And that is key to getting Sancho, Brandt and Adeyemi involved as much as possible as they cut inside and interchange. Having the likes of Reus, Moukoko and Malen to come off the bench also gives Dortmund plenty of options in the attacking third, with Fullkrug a brilliant focal point to their attack and his hold-up play will allow them to ease some of the considerable pressure they will be under on Saturday. Dortmund will look to sit back and not allow Real space in-behind and then spring attacks of their own quickly by hitting Fullkrug early and getting Sancho and Adeyemi high and wide up the pitch.

Real Madrid predicted lineup, formation, analysis

——- Courtois ——-

—- Carvajal —- Rudiger —- Nacho —- Mendy —-

—— Valverde —— Kroos —— Camavinga ——

—— Bellingham ——

—— Rodrygo —— Vinicius Jr ——

Ancelotti has yet to make a decision in terms of his starting goalkeeper with Lunin standing in superbly to help get them to the final but now Thibaut Courtois is back fit and given his experience and penchant for delivering in the big finals, you’d expect the Belgian to get the nod. The back four picks itself with Nacho rolling back the years and he and Rudiger will relish the challenge of trying to keep Fullkrug quiet in a similar way to how they tamed Erling Haaland. Midfield is the big issue for Real Madrid. Aurelien Tchouameni is out injured so Federico Valverde, Toni Kroos and Eduardo Camavinga are likely to start to give Real a solid defensive shield in front of their back four. But will Luka Modric start given all of his big-game experience? Jude Bellingham will start in attacking midfield, maybe drifting slightly to the left, and his driving runs forward will open up space for the duo of Rodrygo and Vinicius to peel off and cause havoc. Especially on the counter. That is how Real have been hurting teams all season long and they should have significant joy against Dortmund if they can engineer plenty of counter-attacking situations.

Paris 2024 Olympics: Messi? Pulisic? Mbappe? Could any major stars be playing at Games?

Paris 2024 Olympics: Messi? Pulisic? Mbappe? Could any major stars be playing at Games?

By Caoimhe O’Neill May 29, 2024

This summer will not be a quiet one. Not only is the men’s European Championship taking place in Germany but the Copa America is also happening in the United States at the same time.Both finals will be played on July 15. But the summer tournaments do not end there as, nine days later, the Olympic men’s football tournament will get underway in France. That does not leave a lot of time between tournaments and for those hoping to perform at two major competitions in a single summer.There are 16 nations who will do battle for Olympic gold, silver and bronze. Among them are France, Argentina and Egypt. But will we be seeing superstars Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah at the Olympic Games?Each team can name three players over the age of 23 to their 22-player squads — the rest have to be 23 or younger. So which household names will be going for gold?

France

Let’s start with host nation France. They begin their golden quest on home soil in Marseille against the United States. This will be the opening game of the tournament.The biggest question surrounding Kylian Mbappe is not about the club he will play for next season — which is surprising, given he has confirmed he is leaving Paris Saint-Germain but not his destination. However, Mbappe has long been tipped to join Real Madrid once his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires at the end of June. The more pertinent question is whether Mbappe will become an Olympian in the year his home city hosts the event.Speaking in 2021, Mbappe said every athlete wants to compete at the Olympics and referred to the tournament as the “Holy Grail”.

Giroud and Griezmann could be among the overage selections for France (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Madrid, though, will not release their players to feature in the tournament. FIFA’s rulebook states clubs must release players for the European Championship but not the Olympics. Should Mbappe join Madrid before then, it will be interesting to see whether France’s poster boy is allowed to play.Talk earlier in the year was that Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud could be the two overage players in the squad alongside Mbappe. Griezmann in March said he will do everything to be there. Meanwhile, Giroud has told L’Equipe this summer’s Euros will be his last tournament with France in order to make way for the next generation — although it is unclear whether that included playing for manager Thierry Henry at the Olympics.

The brilliance of Kylian Mbappe

Argentina

From one World Cup-winning legend to another.Lionel Messi taking part in the Olympics in Paris, where he lived for two years while at PSG, would be box office. But can he do it?Messi, who turns 37 in June, will captain Argentina earlier in the summer as they pursue what would be a record 16th Copa America title. Should they go the distance, the turnaround time would be nine days until the start of the Olympics, when Argentina take on Morocco. And let’s face it — the magical, mystical Messi is not getting younger.The Inter Miami captain has already achieved Olympic glory at the 2008 games in Beijing alongside current under-23s head coach Javier Mascherano, who also won gold as a player in 2004. Mascherano will surely be keen on linking up with his former team-mate but Inter Miami will have a decision to make if a Messi request comes their way. Both the Copa and the Olympics are happening right in the middle of the Major League Soccer season.Mascherano recently said the door is open for Messi to play in the Olympics. And while we know it would be a huge deal for him to be there, no decision has yet been made on whether he will take up any potential invitation.Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was 23 at the start of the season, so can be selected by Mascherano as part of the under-23s side. Whether or not he has the green light to play from his club is not yet known. He is a key player for Chelsea. Will they really want him to hardly have a rest this summer?

Julian Alvarez could be on show, with Manchester City open to him playing.

How to follow Euro 2024 and Copa America on The Athletic…

Spain

The big debate in Spain is whether Barcelona’s teen sensations Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi could play at the Euros and Olympics or just one. Barcelona’s sporting director Deco has stated he does not approve of players being at both tournaments. This could therefore limit the opportunity not only for Yamal and Cubarsi but Gavi and Pedri too.Gavi will not return to full fitness from the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered last year in time to play in Germany but should he be fit in time for the Olympics a month later. This will raise the question as to whether he may or may not be called up.

Yamal could be in the Spain squad (Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images)

Barcelona, though, are surely unlikely to make the same mistake as previous summers. In 2021 they allowed Pedri to play at the Olympics after he had featured six times for Spain as they reached the semi-finals of the Euros. Pedri then played every game as Spain reached the final in Tokyo, which they lost to Brazil. Shortly after, Pedri picked up a hamstring injury which kept him out of the majority of the 2021-22 season.

A fun name in the frame is Sergio Ramos. Could he captain Spain again and be the experienced figurehead in France? Now aged 38, Ramos was left out of both tournaments in 2021, and it is looking like history will repeat itself.

United States

It is looking unlikely Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams will represent the U.S. at the Olympics this summer. A home Copa America is the sole focus.Under-23s boss Marko Mitrovic named a provisional squad of 22 players for warm-up games in March. He named a young team and any overage players who do get the Olympic call are more likely to be among those senior players who missed the Copa cut.

Egypt

Mohamed Salah missed the Olympics three years ago. It has been non-stop over the last few years for the Liverpool winger. Salah has barely had a proper rest. Will his workload be upped in July by Olympic games selection or will he be on pre-season with Liverpool?It is currently unclear whether Salah will be among the Egyptian team travelling to Nantes for an opening game against the Dominican Republic.Head coach Rogerio Micale wants Salah to play at the Games. Egypt fans will surely want Salah there too. Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the U.S. will commence around the same time, though, and the club could block Salah’s participation — just as they did in 2021.This will be one of Arne Slot’s key decisions when he officially takes over from Jurgen Klopp in June. (Top photos: Getty Images)

Marko_mitrovic_-_asn_top_-_2023_-_us_soccer
Olympic analysis American Soccer Now

Analysis: Mitrovic names 25 to final pre-Olympic camp

ASN’s Brian Sciaretta breaks down the U.S. Olympic team’s final camp before departing for Paris in July. ASN will be in France this summer for the Olympics and has been covering the team in detail all cycle. Here is our report. 

BY BRIAN SCIARETTAPOSTED MAY 29, 202412:00 PM

ON WEDNESDAY, United States Olympic team manager Marko Mitrovic announced his roster for the June camp that will conclude with a friendly against Japan on June 11 in Kansas City. This is the team’s fourth and final camp before the start of Olympic preparations and is the last chance for Mitrovic to look at players before he names his final roster in July.

For this camp, Mitrovic named a big roster of 25 players. It also included the first overage call-up with Walker Zimmerman making the list, which is a huge indication he will make the final team.

But assuming two more overage players get named and the age-eligible players all come from this camp, that means up to nine players in this roster will be cut to make the final 18-player Olympic team.  With a final roster that small, there are a lot of tough decisions and this camp will be very important in deciding who makes the final team.

Here is the roster along with some key thoughts.

The Roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; St. Charles, Mo.), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG; Addison, Ill.)

DEFENDERS (7): Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; Oldsmar, Fla.), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy; Lakewood, Calif.), Bryan Reynolds (KVC Westerlo/BEL; Fort Worth, Texas), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; Chatham, N.J.), Jonathan Tomkinson (Norwich City/ENG; Plano, Texas), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; Lawrenceville, Ga.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; Greensboro, N.C.), Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF; Key Biscayne, Fla.), Jack McGlynn

(Philadelphia Union; Queens, N.Y.), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Rokas Pukstas (Hajduk Split/CRO; Stillwater, Okla.), Tanner Tessmann (Venezia/ITA; Birmingham, Ala.)

FORWARDS (9): Paxten Aaronson (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Medford, N.J.), Esmir Bajraktarevic (New England Revolution; Appleton, Wisc.), Taylor Booth (Utrecht/NED; Eden, Utah), Cade Cowell (Guadalajara/MEX; Ceres, Calif.), Damion Downs (Köln/GER; Schwebenried, Germany), Johan Gomez (Eintracht Braunschweig/GER; Keller, Texas), Duncan McGuire (Orlando City SC; Omaha, Neb.), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER; South Riding, Va.), Griffin Yow (KVC Westerlo/BEL; Clifton, Va.)

OVERAGE FOCUS

Walker Zimmerman is the first overage player to be involved with the team and his selection is obvious now that he has returned from injury. It was always obvious that Mitrovic was going to have to bolster the team’s central defense with overage picks. The age-eligible U-23 pool is very thin in central defense in MLS or first and second divisions in Europe.

When you exclude the five players who are currently in camp with the full USMNT, the options become even more limited. As most people know now, club releases for the Olympics are voluntary. Zimmerman is a player who has a lot of USMNT experience, is familiar with just about every player at this camp, and is in a situation where Nashville will let him go.

But why is Zimmerman the only overage player selected?

It wouldn’t be surprising if the remaining two options are currently with the USMNT. In Gregg Berhalter’s recent interview with the Washington Post, it was mentioned Miles Robinson and Auston Trusty as options. Zimmerman is almost certainly going after being named to this team. Robinson is probably a stronger candidate than Trusty right now given that he has chemistry with Zimmerman, and his release is more likely. If Trusty was a very strong Olympic candidate, his absence from this camp doesn’t make sense.

In terms of what is needed, look for another overage central defender and perhaps a versatile attacker.

4 OLYMPIC DEBUTS

Four age-eligible players were called up to their first camp with the Olympic team. The fact that these players are earning looks this late in the cycle probably reflects well on their part. It’s a tough barrier to break into any team this late and this is a legit opportunity for all four. If they play well at this camp, they could be Paris bound.

Here’s a look at how they got here.

Damion Downs: The FC Koln forward battled a concussion this season which saw him miss several months. But he also scored two game-winning goals during an intense Bundesliga relegation battle. In the end, Koln were relegated but Downs emerged as the team’s top forward off the bench. The 2.Bundesliga could give him a stage to contribute more, but will Koln trust him in a promotion race? He’s talented but raw. His strength is being big and physical, but his weakness is that he can drift out of games and struggles at times to get touches. Downs is a German-American and has been called up to one USYNT in the past.

 For Downs, his main competition is Duncan McGuire who is well established in this team and who is looking for a summer transfer from Orlando City. Paperwork errors saw his January move to Blackburn fall through. But Downs also faces competition from Johan Gomez who plays for Eintracht Braunschweig of the 2.Bundesliga and has been involved in every camp. There is also a high likelihood of an overage forward is also named. Downs has a lot of competition, but still has an opportunity.

Jalen Neal: Neal has long been viewed as the best of an albeit weak generation of centerbacks. Last summer, the LA Galaxy refused to release him to the U-20 World Cup. Then in late July 2023, he was sidelined due to a sports hernia and suffered setbacks in his recovery. He is now back for the Galaxy and while he has shown some rust, he is on the path to getting back to his pre-injury level. While the chances are high Mitrovic takes two overage central defenders, he will need to take at least one age-eligible centerback. With Maximillian Dietz out with an injury, Neal compares very favorably to other options like Jonathan Tomkinson or George Campbell.

Rokas Pukstas: The Hajduk Split attacking midfielder finishes his second season as a regular starter for the Croatian club. This season he had seven goals and one assist. He’s well-liked by U.S. Soccer, enough to the point where they kept a roster spot open for him at the 2023 U-20 World Cup and allowed him to arrive after the group stages of the tournament.

He’s effective but still raw as a player and doesn’t get a lot of touches. He also scores a lot of goals from headers and is a good finisher, not necessarily a great creator aside from set pieces. He deserves a look but faces tough competition from players like Paxten Aaronson, Gianluca Busio, and maybe Diego Luna (who is not at this camp). He is also very young, at 19 years old.

Gaga Slonina: This is actually his first camp but he was called up to the March camp only to withdraw because of an injury. At this point, it seems very likely that Slonina and Patrick Schulte are the top two keepers for the Olympic team. Slonina had a tough season on loan from Chelsea to Eupen. The team’s relegation wasn’t his fault, but he was part of it. Watching his confidence at this camp will be key.

LUNA AMONG TOUGH OMISSIONS

With this team having only four camps and this being the team’s final camp, this is not a camp players want to miss if they have any hope of making the Olympic team. The player pool right now is mostly healthy. Greuther Furth defender Maximillian Dietz is injured, but Neal’s return and the use of overage players made him a bubble player.

Here is a look at some notable players who are out – not including U-23 players in camp with the senior USMNT.

Diego Luna: The Real Salt Lake attacking mid/winger is by far the most notable omission. While he started off the season slowly, he has been playing very well as of late as RSL has climbed the standings of the Western Conference. He is versatile, scrappy, and a creator, and his current form make his absence surprising.

Chris Brady: The Chicago Fire goalkeeper is frankly just behind Patrick Schulte and Gaga Slonina right now.

Brian Gutierrez: The Chicago Fire attacking mid/winger just hasn’t been in the mix for Mitrovic after the first camp. Mitrovic knows Gutierrez well from his days as a Fire assistant and Gutierrez just hasn’t been part of the team’s plans.

Quinn Sullivan: The versatile Philadelphia Union attacker/midfielder has had a good start to the 2024 season and he’s made some important strides in his game. But he hasn’t been with the team at all this cycle and it just seems like Mitrovic has him behind many others. 

Obed Vargas: One of the players who is attempting to play up a cycle, Vargas has been playing well for Seattle lately but looks more like an option with the U.S. U-20 team, for now.

Bernard Kamungo: The FC Dallas winger ended 2023 in great form and had a very good start to the U.S. U-23 cycle. But his form has been off to start 2024 and the winger pool is competitive.

Dan Edelman: The 2023 U.S. U-20 World Cup captain made his U.S. U-23 debut in March but is not part of this camp. He’s competing with Aidan Morris and Tanner Tessmann, which is not easy.

Josh Atencio: Another defensive midfielder, but the Seattle Sounder has a lot of competition for a spot.

CREMASCHI & BAJRAKTAREVIC PLAYING UP

Two players are on this team who are attempting to play up a cycle. This means they are also eligible for the 2025 U-20 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. It’s a tough hurdle to make a U-23 team up a cycle, but Benja Cremaschi and Esmir Bajraktarevic have been there for most of this cycle. Unsurprisingly, Mitrovic knows both players very well from his previous job as the U.S. U-19 head coach.  

Here is a look at both players:

Esmir Bajraktarevic: The crafty winger is one of the top American teenagers in MLS but is stuck on a Revolution team that is off to a disastrous start amid with reports of player unhappiness. It’s been hard for him to stand out with the Revs. To make the Olympic team, he will have to beat out most of a long list that includes Cremaschi, Pardes, Yow, Aaronson, Booth, and Luna.

Benja Cremaschi: The Inter Miami attacking midfielder missed time with his club and the Olympic team due to a sports hernia operation. But he was part of the Olympic team for the first two camps. Playing alongside Messi, Suarez, and Busquets will help any player but Cremaschi is coming off a solid performance in an away win over Vancouver where Miami didn’t have its older stars. He is going to have to beat out tough players to make the team, but it looks like Mitrovic rates Cremaschi as well.

BASSETT AND BOOTH RETURN

Two players who return from the team after a period away are Cole Bassett and Taylor Booth. Both players are in position to fight for a roster spot on the Olympic team.

Taylor Booth was part of the team’s first two camps but was not part of the team in March due to a knee injury he suffered in February. He has returned to Utrecht the past month. His form hasn’t been as strong as it was preinjury (where he had five goals in two games before the injury) but this camp will give him an opportunity to compete. He’s not a lock, but he is a strong candidate.

Meanwhile, Cole Bassett is a player who was part of the November camp but then left off the USMNT January camp and March Olympic camps. But his form for Colorado has been outstanding to start the season (5 goals, 3 assists, 1347 minutes). You can’t ignore a player who enters camp red hot. We’ve seen this with Griffin Yow on this Olympic team as he is now a favorite to go to Paris.

The rosters for major youth tournaments are often about who is in the best form in the months leading into a major tournament. Bassett might have a chance if he can translate his form with Colorado into this camp.

LOTS OF COMPETITION, FEW LOCKS

In terms of this roster, there is a lot of competition. There just aren’t many locks. Some players seem very likely to go.

Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio, Patrick Schulte, Aidan Morris, Gaga Slonina, Kevin Paredes, and Paxten Aaronson are as close to locks as you might expect. Even then, there are strange things that can happen. For example, if Gio Reyna is allowed to play at the Olympics, then that could change things for Aaronson or Busio.

Bryan Reynolds has a very good chance of going given his consistent involvement and Nathan Harriel has been apart of every single camp – showing a useful versatility off the bench. Unless the roster gets expanded (and in 2021, the Olympic roster was increased from 18 to 22 just three weeks before the start of the tournament), then 18 players brings an entirely different dynamic. Coaches have their starting XI but then the backups must be versatile because there is not enough roster space to have a one-for-one backup at every position.  There are 25 players on this roster. There are two more overage players who will join and there are a few other age eligible players on the USMNT who might be allowed to play in the Olympics. There seems to be a lot up for grabs right now. This camp is going to decide a lot.

USWNT head coach Emma Hayes brings unique personality back to the country that ‘made’ her

BOULDER, COLORADO - MAY 28: Emma Hayes of the United States talks to her team during USWNT training at Prentup Field on May 28, 2024 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

By Meg Linehan The Athletic

Emma Hayes won her fifth consecutive Women’s Super League title with Chelsea on Saturday. On Wednesday, she arrived in Newark off her flight from Heathrow, and by Thursday morning she was awaiting a whirlwind media tour introducing her to an American audience that she, in some form, already knew.But before the car picked her up from her hotel to begin that tour, she took a walk in the morning through Central Park, early as it was.New York City is a place where anonymity and fame can happen simultaneously, where the incoming head coach of the U.S. women’s national team can take a long, meandering walk through an often-bustling park and have that moment to herself before the pressure fully sets in.In a few months, after she takes charge of the U.S. women’s national team at the Paris Olympics, Hayes might not have the leisure of taking a walk anywhere without being recognized.At her first stop on Thursday at 30 Rock to appear on the Today Show, Hayes delivered the perfect line for those watching at home, unfamiliar with her journey as a coach — a winding two decades that ended with her in the highest profile coaching role in women’s soccer.“I’m lucky to be born in England, but made in America.”For Emma Hayes, who spent many years in her early career as a coach in New York, the paths of Central Park — and the city itself — already felt like home.

Hayes previously spent time coaching in New York. (Photo by USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

Hours after her first national TV hit, and after an early summer thunderstorm blew through Manhattan, Hayes settled in at the head of a table in a conference room at the NWSL offices near Bryant Park. Behind her, a massive window showed the streets below, the sidewalks filled, sunlight filtering in between the skyscrapers.“Walking around New York, you can just imagine me getting off at Newark yesterday and thinking, ‘I remember those days,” Hayes told the small roundtable of reporters assembled for her first day on the job. Hayes lived in New York for seven years, and she remembered them well both for all of the challenges they presented a young coach, but also for the fulfillment they provide, and the lifetime friendships.She had first come to New York from England having coached a bit in some youth programs in Liverpool and London, with her playing career ended years before thanks to a skiing accident as a teenager.“(I was) fighting to stay in the country on different visas,” she recalled. “Wondering where I’m going to get enough to pay the rent in the next upcoming block. What am I going to do next?”

Those who knew Emma Hayes as a young coach in New York say she was ‘destined for greatness’

She coached teams in Syosset and Port Washington (both in suburban Long Island) and said she spent “many a time underneath the Throgs Neck” – referring to the Throgs Neck bridge that links the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx, which overlooks a soccer field at Little Bay Park.For a while, Hayes said, she had an apartment in Washington Heights, near the northern tip of Manhattan. She used to look out at the George Washington Bridge, take her walks then in Fort Tryon Park. It’s easy to imagine a 20-something Hayes wandering through that bucolic park’s numerous features: the heather garden, blooming with colors overlooking the Hudson River; the Cloisters, the Met’s medieval art collection housed in a castle; maybe through the Billings Arcade down below, a stone arch essentially created as a Gilded Age driveway.Hayes, in many ways, has contributed to the mythologizing of those early days.“I’ve got so many fond memories of turning up in Long Island with a backpack and a thousand dollars and working for clubs across the whole of Long Island and Westchester and New York City,” she said in her introductory Q&A with U.S. Soccer, published in November. “I’ve experienced everything from intramural soccer, recreational Sunday soccer, to the collegiate game, to USL, to the pro game, to state ODP, regionals.”On Thursday, she brought up many of those same organizations again, mentioning friends like Lisa Cole, a longtime coach and current technical advisor to the Zambia national team. Cole was visiting Hayes in London when she learned she got the USWNT job.“My journey has been bottom-up, so I have such an appreciation, not just of the landscape, but my journey,” Hayes said last week. “I’ve worked hard to get to this point. You can dream for something — we all have dreams — but it’s not often your dreams become reality.”It wasn’t a long leap from her own story to that of the American dream, but Hayes tied both to her future with the USWNT.“I always grew up with that notion of this whole American dream concept that you can come to the country, work in a certain way — and as a woman coming from England, trust me, I never felt more supported than I did when I worked in the U.S.,” she said. “To work my way up through the system, to now be the head coach for the USWNT, as far as I’m concerned, I will give it absolutely everything I’ve got to make sure I uphold the traditions of this team.”

Hayes won five consecutive WSL titles with Chelsea. (Photo by Clive Brunskill, Getty Images)

Hayes’s nostalgia-heavy trip to New York City only lasted about 48 hours before she was off to Denver for her first camp with the USWNT, but it provided a reminder of what’s changed in the time since.“As a parent, I know where the toy shops are now,” Hayes said, noting with a smile she had passed a few already on Thursday. The presence of her son, Harry, had played a role in her departure from Chelsea, as the long hours and grind of the club season proved incompatible with solo parenthood.“Everybody’s under pressure, everybody’s got to get headlines. Everybody’s got to grab content,” she said at the time earlier this year, after deleting her social media accounts following a loss to Liverpool that had put Chelsea’s title run into question. “For football managers, we’re in an impossible position. Because every day we’re in a place where, no matter what we say, it will be turned into something that gets you guys (the media) paid and at the same time puts us in a position where we’re just pieces of meat.”By Thursday, her accounts had been restored and she was posting a few behind-the-scenes looks of her arrival in the States, a photo with Chris Pratt while at the “Today Show” and a video the NWSL cooked up about watching games on their streaming platform.In an hour-long meeting with reporters that could have felt transactional, Hayes never shied away from being personal. She embraced it, just as she said she embraced the pressure of the role, despite going on record a few times about how she’d actually much prefer “a quiet life” out of the spotlight. She mentioned that she didn’t mind the long list of media appearances and interviews on Thursday, just as long as they didn’t happen every three days.The spotlight will shine much brighter with the USWNT, but Hayes seems ready for it. She danced around the question of what color medal the USWNT will bring back from Paris on the “Today Show,” instead providing an answer that focused on the process. She did the same later in the day when asked about how she wanted to approach external messaging on the goals of the team.

“I want to focus on the process and the performance,” she said. “For me, it’s absolutely essential.”

For a team that’s been at the sharp end of many bad-faith attacks following its early World Cup exit, “essential” feels too light a word. A focus on the process could mean that results won’t be tied to self-worth and that everyone can still claim their humanness at the end of the day.In one of the last questions she received, Hayes was asked what she’d bring to the USWNT as head coach that no one ever has before. She answered, fast as a New York minute, with a smile.“Oh, you’re never gonna get anybody with a personality like me!”(Top photo: Brad Smith/Getty Images for USSF)

For registration: https://system.gotsport.com/programs/1360T6715?reg_role=player

1/7/24 USMNT Camp Set, FA Cup continues Wrexham wins, Year in Review US teams, MLS Refs to strike?,

gatorbest , , , , , ,

Pulisic has been on fire at AC Milan Goal, the story GK Matt Turner has returned in goal for Nottingham Forest and made some mistakes but also some huge saves. Nice to see American forward Josh Sargent back on the field for Norwich as he returns from injury and scores in his 1st game back.  For Cincy I am glad to see Miles Robinson was signed but I have to admit its past time for him to go to Europe to see if he has what it takes to play at the next level – at 26 this year was really his chance to give it a go in my mind. Seem’s Jessie Marsch concurs.  

Regarding Reffing news – over the holiday break congrats to Rebecca Welsh – the first woman to ever Ref an EPL Game at Craven Cottage of Fulham. Also MLS Refs have not agreed to a new deal with MLS and may be forced to strike – see reffing section below. 

The US Men will hold their annual Jan Camp of all MLS players as they prepare to play Slovania on Sat Jan 20th in San Antonio. 17 players are uncapped on this roster, including 15 receiving their first call-up to the USMNT. 13 players are age-eligible for inclusion on the Olympic roster, and Berhalter said it was a great opportunity to get them experience with the senior team ahead of an important summer. “This is an opportunity to identify and work with the next generation of players who have the potential to make an impact on our program,” Berhalter said in a statement. “We appreciate the support from MLS and all their clubs so that we can utilize this platform. Our priority is on getting as many players as possible experience in important competitions, and this camp and the match against Slovenia will be extremely valuable in the evaluation process.” The team will convene in Orlando from January 8-16 to begin the 2 week training camp. They will then travel to San Antonio to finish preparations for the match. The match against Slovenia will take place on January 20th at Toyota Field, the home of San Antonio FC.

USMNT JAN CAMP – DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Drake Callender (Inter Miami CF; 0/0), Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 0/0)

DEFENDERS (10): Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; 0/0), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution; 7/0), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 17/1), Ian Murphy (FC Cincinnati; 0/0), Jackson Ragen (Seattle Sounders; 0/0), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 27/3), James Sands (New York City FC; 13/0), Nkosi Tafari (FC Dallas; 0/0), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; 3/0), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United; 1/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Joshua Atencio (Seattle Sounders; 0/0), Aziel Jackson (St. Louis City; 0/0), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union; 0/0), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew; 4/0), Timothy Tillman (LAFC; 0/0), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew; 0/0)

FORWARDS (6): Esmir Bajraktarevic (New England Revolution; 0/0), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes; 8/1), Bernard Kamungo (FC Dallas; 0/0), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 0/0), Duncan McGuire (Orlando City; 0/0), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 0/0)

GAMES ON TV

Mon, Jan 8

3:!5 pm ESPN+            Wigan Athletic vs Man United  FA Cup

Tues, Jan 9

3 pm ESPN+                 Middleborough bs Chelsea LEague Cup

Wed, Jan 10

2 pm ESPN2                Real Madrid vs Athletico Madrid Supercopa

3 pm ESPN+                 Liverpool vs Fulham (Jedi, Ream) League Cup

Thur, Jan 11

2 pm ESPN2                Barcelona vs Osasuna Supercopa

3 pm Para+                 Juventus (McKinney, Weah) vs Frosionone Coppa Italia  

Fri, Jan12  

2:30 pm ESPN2            Bayern Munich vs Hoffenhiem

Sat, Jan 13

7:30 am USA               Chelsea vs Fulham (Jedi)

9:30 am ESPN+            Freiburg vs Union Berlin

9 am Para+                 Napoli vs Salernitina  

12:30 pm NBC             New Castle United vs Man City  

12:30 pm ESPN+          Dortmund vs Bayer Leverkusen

2:45 pm Para+            Monza vs Inter Milan

Sun, Jan 14

9 am USA                    Everton vs Aston Villa

10 am ESPN+               Cadiz vs Valencia  

11:30 am CBSSN         Balongna vs Roma 

11:30 am Peacock      Man United  vs  Tottenham

11:30 am ESPN+          MGladbach (Scalley) vs Stuttgart

2:45 pm Para+            AC Milan (Pulisic, Musah) vs Roma  

2:45 pm beIn Sport     Lens vs PSG 

Mon, Jan 15

2:45 pm USA               Burnley vs Luton Town

3 pm ? ESPN+              Wolverhampton vs Brentford FA Cup  

Thur, Jan 18

2 pm CBSSN                Napoli vs Fiorentina  Supercoppa  

US MEN

Three talking points from the USMNT’s all-MLS January roster

Berhalter: USMNT wanted to call in Yow, Pukstas for January camp

Berhalter: Richards’ USMNT future at center back, but Palace midfield role ‘a good thing’

Marsch on Robinson joining FC Cincinnati: ‘A player like him has to be in Europe’

USMNT defender Miles Robinson signs with FC Cincinnati

Berhalter ‘really excited’ for Vazquez transfer to Monterrey

Dike will make injury return this weekend, says West Brom coach

Bournemouth owner provides update on Adams return date

Weah scores first Juventus goal, and it was worth the wait

Robinson clowns himself after being honored for performance in 2023
Musah returns to AC Milan training as he nears injury return

Marsch tells Berhalter to make exiled Brooks a USMNT ‘centerpiece’

Chris Richards, midfielder? USMNT might learn from Crystal Palace experiment

The Americans Abroad Five: McKennie continues Juventus revival

USMNT adds Vincent Cavin as assistant coach

USMNT year in review: The five stories that defined 2023

The Americans Abroad Five: The USMNT has a goalkeeper problem

Berhalter: USMNT drawing Uruguay at Copa America ‘an opportunity’

USMNT can’t face Argentina or Mexico until 2024 Copa America final

US Women

USWNT year in review: The six stories that defined 2023

The top young USWNT players and prospects in 2023

Hayes hints Macario’s 18-month injury nightmare could end soon

Crystal Dunn signs with Gotham FC: ‘New York is such a special place’

Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett latest USWNT stars to sign with Gotham FC

USWNT’s Kristie Mewis makes West Ham move official

Morgan: USWNT bench players had confidence damaged at World Cup

The USWNT Netflix series makes us want to be a Mewis sister too

Thompson opens up on ‘sad’ and ‘lonely’ World Cup experience

USWNT 2024 schedule: Results, fixtures, TV channel and streaming

REFFING

1st Woman to Ref a Premier League Game

Become a Licensed High School Ref

Become a Licensed Ref with Indiana Soccer – must be over 13

USMNT January camp roster: Why there are so many new names in the group

SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 12: Cade Cowell #11 of USA atacking during a CONCACAF Gold Cup Semi-Final game between Panama and USMNT at Snapdragon Stadium on July 12, 2023 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mike Janosz/USSF/Getty Images for USSF).

By Paul Tenorio and Tom Bogert The Athletic - Jan 5, 2024

January camps traditionally are just a chance for players to get on the national team radar. In past cycles, they’ve played an important role in identifying MLS-based players who are ready to take the next step in their careers. Nine players from the 2022 World Cup squad earned their first or second cap during a January camp match, including Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Walker Zimmerman, Tim Ream and Matt Turner. But times are changing, and so is the national team picture. With more and more players leaving MLS sooner to play in Europe, the pool is thinning out in the domestic league. While there are some veteran USMNT players who no doubt would be starters in this camp — Paul Arriola, Jordan Morris and Kellyn Acosta, among them — the purpose of this camp is more to identify players for the pool than anything else. That’s especially true this year, with the Olympics set to be played this summer and the U.S. required to bring a mostly under-23 roster for that competition.That being said, there are some names in this camp that are familiar to USMNT fans, including one who played at the 2022 World Cup (Shaq Moore) and through most of qualifying (Miles Robinson), who no doubt are trying to stay in the national team picture for the Copa America and the 2026 World Cup.

Below is the full roster and what you need to know about this year’s January camp squad.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Drake Callender (Inter Miami), Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew)

DEFENDERS (10): Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC), Ian Murphy (FC Cincinnati), Jackson Ragen (Seattle Sounders), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), James Sands (New York City FC), Nkosi Tafari (FC Dallas), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Joshua Atencio (Seattle Sounders), Aziel Jackson (St. Louis City), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew), Timmy Tillman (LAFC), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS (6): Esmir Bajraktarevic (New England Revolution), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Bernard Kamungo (FC Dallas), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Duncan McGuire (Orlando City), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN)

Is the January camp as useful as it once was for U.S. Soccer?

The point of this camp is to identify players who are on the fringes of the national team and could develop into useful pieces. For that reason, the practicality of the January camp probably won’t ever go away. That being said, it’s value to the national team is probably at an all-time low — and that’s a good thing!More U.S. men’s national team players are being identified at younger ages and moving abroad to Europe. More players in Europe are moving up to bigger clubs and competing for titles and playing in the Champions League. The relative youth of the national team pool and the increase in players moving to Europe means the U.S. has to rely much less on something like January camp to find players for the senior team. This camp can now function more as a chance to find players for the Olympic squad.Ultimately, U.S. Soccer wants MLS to continue to produce talented young American players who can eventually help the national team. The January camp has always been a way to identify those players and introduce them to the national team infrastructure. The short-term value of those camps will fluctuate, but the long-term value persists. 

Who are some players you might not know much about, and why you should know them?

By nature, the USMNT January camp is typically experimental and inexperienced. Even grading on that curve, this squad is particularly experimental and inexperienced.Seventeen of the 25 players called up are yet to debut for the senior national team. Another five have single-digit caps. Even to a devoted MLS fan there’s a lot of mystery here.The call-ups include New England Revolution winger Esmir Bajraktarevic, an 18-year-old with 613 MLS minutes. Another is Columbus Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki, a 23-year-old with less than 2,000 career MLS minutes. He was a squad player for the Crew this year as they won MLS Cup. Philadelphia Union fullback Nathan Harriel is another name that hasn’t been on the USMNT radar, ditto for Seattle Sounders midfielder Josh Atencio.

Some more well known MLSers like Brian White, Diego Luna, Duncan McGuire, Drake Callender and more will be looking for their senior USMNT debut.

The clear goal for this camp is to evaluate all options for the Olympic squad this summer. Many won’t stick — there aren’t a ton of roster spots realistically available — but every decision is framed through that lens.

Which players have the best chance to crack the Olympic roster? 

Though it’s already crowded with Gaga Slonina and Chris Brady as age-eligible options, all three goalkeepers in the January camp could play their way into contention. All three were key to their teams winning trophies — Patrick Schulte won MLS Cup, Drake Callender the Leagues Cup and Roman Celentano the Supporters’ Shield.

It will be fascinating to see which goalkeeper gets the start against Slovenia and, potentially, the inside track at a spot on the Olympic squad. McGuire is very likely to win a spot at the Olympics, if not a starting role. The breakout Orlando City forward had 15 goals in his first professional season. It’s a bit trickier for White, who would have to be one of the USMNT’s three overage exemptions to make that squad.U-20 World Cup standouts Luna, Jack McGlynn and Cade Cowell are all very likely to be part of that squad, as well.

Center back is a weak position in this Olympic pool. Jackson Ragen and Nkosi Tafari, like White, would have to be an overage exemption to be part of the squad, but each were considered among the top center backs in MLS last year. 

Center back and forward are two prime opportunities for overage call-ups, with players like Walker Zimmerman and Josh Sargent contenders for an Olympic call.

John Tolkin and Caleb Wiley are virtual locks for the Olympics, unless either gets elevated into the Copa America squad. The same goes for Aidan Morris.

Who are the players who have the most to gain in this January camp? 

The core of the senior team is basically set for Berhalter already. We know that, when healthy, the U.S. team is going to include Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Sergiño Dest, Matt Turner, Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and most likely will also include Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Joe Scally, Brenden Aaronson and Luca de la Torre. That’s 17 players out of 23 and 16 out of 20 outfield player spots. That doesn’t factor in bubble players based in Europe, including Kevin Paredes, Ethan Horvath, Auston Trusty, Tanner Tessmann, Johnny Cardoso and others.It is getting tougher and tougher for MLS-based players to break into the roster. With the competition at center back, Miles Robinson’s decision to stay in MLS is one to keep an eye on. Robinson has to impress in every national team camp in which he gets a chance to prove himself. Once considered a shoo-in starter, Robinson now has to beat out Ream, Carter-Vickers, Richards, Trusty and other European-based center backs, including Mark McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown. That he signed a one-year deal with FC Cincinnati that includes an option is intriguing because it potentially gives him wiggle room to jump to Europe if he has a strong Copa America. But first he needs to fight his way into the U.S. lineup.There are some clear areas of need for the U.S. senior team, including depth at left back, winger and at the No. 6 position. That means this is an important camp for DeJuan Jones, John Tolkin and Caleb Wiley, as well as for Cade Cowell and Aidan Morris — all players who could have a legitimate shot to break into the first-team roster if they can continue to develop and play well. Notably, many of those players have been linked with moves abroad and could be the next Americans we see jump to European sides. (Photo of Cade Cowell: Mike Janosz/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

Three talking points from the USMNT’s all-MLS January roster

Seth Vertelney  January 5, 2024 12:14 pm ET

U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter has called in 25 MLS-based players for the team’s annual January training camp.The camp, which falls outside a FIFA window, is typically a chance for inexperienced players to catch the coaching staff’s eye and this year will be no different: Of the 25 players called in, 17 are uncapped and 15 are receiving their first call-up.The USMNT will hold camp from January 8-16 in Orlando, and will then head to San Antonio for a friendly against Slovenia on January 20 at Toyota Field.“This is an opportunity to identify and work with the next generation of players who have the potential to make an impact on our program,” Berhalter said.

“We appreciate the support from MLS and all their clubs so that we can utilize this platform. Our priority is on getting as many players as possible experience in important competitions, and this camp and the match against Slovenia will be extremely valuable in the evaluation process.”

Here are three observations from the USMNT’s January roster.

Plenty of new faces

Like any January camp, there will be a host of players involved who have never been with the senior national team.

Most of the 15 new faces are in their early 20s, with FC Dallas defender Nkosi Tafari (26) and Vancouver Whitecaps striker Brian White (27) the two oldest. On the other end of the spectrum, New England Revolution attacker Esmir Bajraktarevic (18) is the youngest player in camp.

Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Aside from that trio, the other 12 players receiving their first USMNT calls are: Josh Atencio, Nathan Harriel, Aziel Jackson, Bernard Kamungo, Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, Duncan McGuire, Ian Murphy, Jackson Ragen, Patrick Schulte, Timmy Tillman, and Sean Zawadzki.

Only three players on the roster have double-digit caps: Miles Robinson, Shaq Moore, and James Sands. Nashville SC right back Moore is the only player in camp who was on the 2022 World Cup roster.

Olympics on USMNT’s mind

Though this is a senior national team camp, it’s probably useful to think of it more as a joint senior team/U-23 camp with the Olympics now on the horizon.

As the USMNT gets ready to compete in the Paris games this summer, 13 players called into camp are age-eligible for the U-23 tournament. Theoretically, any player at this camp could go to the Olympics as well, with head coach Marko Mitrović able to select three overage players for his roster.

Speaking of Mitrović, he will be on the technical staff for this camp as he looks to get an up-close look at several players he’ll likely name to his Olympic squad.

(Photo by John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

Reassuring the dual nationals

Berhalter has brought in several players who will eventually have a decision to make over their national team future. The USMNT coach will hope that this month’s call will help sway their decisions toward the country in which they play professionally.

Bajraktarevic is very much on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s radar, while Luna said in November that he was still open to representing Mexico. Like the Real Salt Lake star, Atencio is also eligible for El Tri.

Kamungo, meanwhile, was handed his first senior Tanzania call-up last summer, though he’s yet to be capped. McGlynn is also still eligible for Ireland.

(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) ORG XMIT: XNP110

We should also mention two dual nationals who somewhat surprisingly weren’t called in: Chicago Fire midfielder Brian Gutiérrez (Mexico) and Inter Miami midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi (Argentina).

Wrexham’s Hollywood owners revel in latest FA Cup win

ByESPN Updated: Jan 7, 2024, 01:19 pm

Wrexham defeated local rivals Shrewsbury at New Meadow to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the second season in a row, much to the delight of their Hollywood owners and famous friends.Ryan Reynold’s and Rob McElhenney’s side defeated Shrewsbury, who play in the division above Wrexham, in a tense affair via a 72nd-minute goal from Thomas O’Connor. The game marked the first time the teams — barely separated by the England-Wales border — have met in almost 16 years.The buzz around Wrexham and its celebrity owners reached new levels during a run un the FA Cup last year when the team beat one Championship side Coventry and then took another, Premier League-bound Sheffield United, to a replay.On Sunday, responding to a video of the goal shared by the FA Cup’s official account on X, McElhenney posted: “You should’ve seen my living room.”Co-owner Reynolds, who watched the game alongside Hugh Jackman, was pictured by the X-Men star celebrating the goal with the caption: “HUGE! ROUND 4.”

Wrexham succumbed to Sheffield United over two games in last year’s invigorating FA Cup run to the fourth round.

Shrewsbury enjoyed the better of the play in the games early stages on Sunday, with Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson noting after the game the difference in physicality between the teams “caught out” his side in the opening exchanges.Tunmise Sobowale missed the most gilt-edged chance for the home team, meeting Jordan Shipley’s cross unmarked at the back post only to blaze his close-range effort way over the bar.Wrexham grew into the game as it went on — though Shrewsbury continued to enjoy the better of the chances — and the Welsh side punished their opponent’s wastefulness as O’Connor’s deflected strike bounced past Marko Marosi in goal to spark wild scenes in the away end.Stout rearguard action from Wrexham saw out the match and the League 2 team now await Monday’s draw to see who they will play in the fourth round.”The FA Cup is a bonus for us, we know that, but we’re representing the club which has great tradition in this competition and every time we go into a game I always remind the lads of that,” Parkinson added after the game.

Ranking the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League favorites

  • Ryan O’Hanlon, ESPN.com writerDec 19, 2023, 11:34 AM ET

81That was … underwhelming, huh? With the potential for a bunch of blockbuster matchups ahead of the Champions League draw, we got almost nothing of note. According to ESPN BET’s odds, Monday’s draw didn’t shift any team’s championship probability by even a full percentage point in either direction.

However, the path toward the final has at least started to take shape — across all levels of European competition. Is Manchester City a bigger favorite to win the Champions League than Liverpool is to win the Europa League than Aston Villa is to win the Conference League? Is Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen more likely to lift a continental prize? Does David Moyes have a better chance of making the Champions League next year than Xavi does of winning it this year?

Based on the odds from ESPN BET, we’ve ranked the 20 most likely Lifters of European Hardware (LoEH): eight Champions League teams, and six apiece from the Leagues Europa and Conference. All ties have been broken by yours truly, and all stats come from Stats Perform, unless otherwise noted.

Man City logo1. Manchester City: Champions League, +200

Consider this a big ol’ bucket of cold water for all the “City are as vulnerable as ever” takes out there. Despite playing against (theoretically) all of the best clubs in the world, Pep Guardiola’s team are bigger favorites to win their competition than Liverpool or Aston Villa, both four points ahead of City in the Premier League table, are to win theirs.

In fact, according to data from the site Sports Odds History, City have only had better odds to win the Champions League ahead of the Round of 16 once in the Guardiola era: last season, when they took down the treble. While all of the dropped points make City much less likely to win the Premier League all of a sudden, these odds show that the market isn’t too concerned with City’s quality of play from here on out.

Liverpool logo2. Liverpool: Europa League, +225

Here is the expected-goal map of Liverpool’s 7-0 win against Manchester United at Anfield last season:

And here is the expected-goal map of Liverpool’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday:

That scoreless draw was sort of a microcosm of where Liverpool currently are: disjointed, unbalanced but frequently still dominant.

Aston Villa logo3. Aston Villa: Europa League, +275

On the one hand, two of England‘s four Champions League teams finished last in their groups and were dumped out of Europe. Best league in the world, huh?On the other hand, English teams are significant favorites to win all three European tournaments. That’s why, despite the Newcastle and Manchester United exits, the Premier League is still very likely to earn one of the extra Champions League places next season:

The battle for the *bonus* UCL ticket!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England fumbles and loses 2 teams (ManU, Newcastle) ➡️ a FULL point drop in the expected end-of-season coefficient points!

This means this is now a real 3 horse race with 🇮🇹 Italy and 🇩🇪 Germany (who also lost 1 team). pic.twitter.com/POcirxVor9— Nils Mackay (@NilsMackay) December 15, 2023

Best league in the world, huh? Probably!

Bayern Munich logo4. Bayern Munich: Champions League, +425

This is a tricky one. Despite easily winning the group, Bayern weren’t particularly impressive in the Champions League. They produced the 10th-best non-penalty xG differential in the group stages — even in what ultimately amounted to one of the weakest groups in the competition. Plus, they’re not even first in the Bundesliga table.

And yet, they’re currently sporting a truly absurd plus-2.13 non-penalty xG differential (per game). That’s more than twice as good as any other team in Germany, and it’s a better mark than anything produced by any team in any Big Five League in any season since 2011.

Bayer Leverkusen logo5. Bayer Leverkusen: Europa League, +500

This is one of the best teams in Europe. Like Liverpool, they should be in the Champions League right now — not the Europa League. Like Liverpool, they’re also probably not quite as good as the defending domestic champ that they’re currently ahead of in the league table.

Leverkusen’s non-penalty xG differential is fantastic, but it’s way below Bayern and even slightly below Stuttgart’s. Among all teams in the Bundesliga, Xabi Alonso’s side have overperformed their nonpenalty goal differential (when compared to their xG differential) by the biggest margin: about 14 goals. Expect some regression in the second half of the season.

Fiorentina logo6. Fiorentina: Europa Conference League, +525

What happens when you drop a league-average team from one of Europe’s biggest leagues into the third-tier continental competition? The answer is that the market will give them about a 16% chance of winning the thing.

Domestically, Fiorentina have a negative nonpenalty xG differential so far this season — and so, too, do fellow “Big Fivers” in the Europa Conference League, Real Betis and Eintracht Frankfurt. The big difference: Fiorentina have a ticket straight to the Round of 16, while the other two still have to win their qualifying-round matchups to even get there.

Arsenal logo7. Arsenal: Champions League, +575

Don’t look now, but Arsenal have the best nonpenalty xG differential in the Premier League through 17 games:

When you’re that good more than halfway through December? You can absolutely win the Champions League.

Real Madrid logo8. Real Madrid: Champions League, +600

Real Madrid‘s defense was already suspect before this weekend. Although they’ve conceded the fewest non-penalty goals in LaLiga (11), they’re only fourth in xG conceded (17.49). Both Kepa and Andriy Lunin — neither of whom would be confused with the injured Thibaut Courtois when it comes to being a world-class shot-stopper — have saved 2.5 goals more than expected, per Stats Perform’s model.

That seems unlikely to continue, and it might be paired with an even higher quality and quantity of opposition shots allowed. On Sunday, Madrid lost center-back David Alaba to a torn ACL, and they’ve already lost Courtois and center-back Éder Militão to torn ACLs, too. As of now, the center-back options are: Antonio Rüdiger and then either Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is a midfielder, or Nacho, who will be 34 come the first leg against RB Leipzig and who has only played about 500 minutes so far this season.

If Madrid somehow pull this one off, it might be their most impressive Champions League run yet.

AC Milan logo9. AC Milan: Europa League, +900

Christian Pulisic is in the form of his life with AC Milan

Herculez Gomez believes you’re seeing the best version of Christian Pulisic, after the American helped AC Milan to the Europa League knockout stages.

[whispers] Christian Pulisic is scoring and assisting an unsustainable number of goals at AC Milan.

The American has converted 2.4 xG into five goals, and his teammates have converted 1.8 xG from his passes into four goals. Among all players to feature in at least half of the available minutes in Serie A this season, Pulisic ranks sixth in nonpenalty goals+assists per 90 minutes (0.84). Flip that to expected goals and assists? He’s sitting in 31st, a 0.39. [stops whispering]

Eintracht Frankfurt logo10. Eintracht Frankfurt: Europa Conference League, +900

They did beat Bayern Munich, 5-1, just a week ago They’ve since followed that up with a pair of losses by a 5-0 combined scoreline to Aberdeen and Bayer Leverkusen. They lost three games in the Europa Conference League group stages and they have a negative nonpenalty xG differential in the Bundesliga. Even with a not-so-easy qualifying round tie against Belgium‘s Union Saint Gilloise, they’re still third-favorites to win the Europa Conference League.

LOSC Lille logo11. Lille: Europa Conference League, +1200

And so we enter the Glut of Twelve Hundred; there are eight teams stuck at +1200 odds across the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.

This is not betting advice, but I’m a little confused as to why Lille don’t have better odds — especially when compared to Frankfurt, who have to play an extra round of games. They’ve hung on to Jonathan David, they won their Europa Conference League group, and they’re a top four or five team in France. We also have close to a half-decade of this team being good enough to challenge for Champions League places.

Why can’t they win it all?

Brighton logo12. Brighton: Europa League, +1200

It’s been something of a down year for the Seagulls; it turns out not even the savviest recruitment in the world can overcome the departure of nearly $200 million of midfield transfers and injuries to a number of key young players. They’re ninth in the Premier League, and they have the ninth-best nonpenalty xG differential in the league.

That said, they’re better than West Ham, while all of the other not-yet-mentioned-non-Champions League teams at +1200 are stuck in the qualifying rounds right now. PSG and Barcelona could both win the Champions League, but they’ll be underdogs against all of the teams listed ahead of them here. Outside of Liverpool and Leverkusen, I’m not sure I’d favor anyone else in the Europa League over Brighton at this point.

PSG logo13. Paris Saint-Germain: Champions League, +1200

Laurens not confident PSG will take down Real Sociedad

Julien Laurens says he doesn’t like PSG’s chances of progressing past Real Sociedad in the Champions League.

Despite finishing second in their group, Paris Saint-Germain drew the easiest first-place team in Real Sociedad for the Round of 16. That’s after playing Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, at the same stage, in the past two seasons. And despite playing in the toughest group, they had a better nonpenalty xG differential than every team other than Arsenal, Real Madrid and Manchester City through the group stages.

At the same time, the issue with PSG is typically that they look — easily — like the most statistically dominant team in Europe. We just don’t really know how to weigh that dominance compared to the other top teams because their wage bill is four times the size of any other team in France. Except, this season they’re just barely the best team in France, by the underlying numbers, with a plus-0.8 nonpenalty xG differential slightly edging out Marseille‘s second-best mark of plus-0.76.

Maybe they’ve built a team that’s not as able to dominate Ligue 1 but that’s better equipped to manage matches against the best team in the world. Or maybe, without Lionel Messi, Neymar and Marco Verratti, they’re just not as good as they used to be.

Barcelona logo14. Barcelona: Champions League, +1200

Laurens picks Barcelona vs. Napoli as the best of the UCL draw

Gab & Juls react to the Champions League round of 16 draw, as Barcelona are handed a tough tie with Napoli.After Saturday’s draw with Valencia, Xavi said, “We have to be one of the least-effective teams in Europe, even though we’re one of the teams that create the most chances.” In other words, we stink at turning shots into goals.Is he right? Here’s a chart:

The farther above the line, the more goals you’re scoring relative to your xG — and vice versa. As you’ll see, Barca are well below the line. Only Manchester United and Koln are underperforming their nonpenalty xG by a bigger degree than Xavi’s team: 29 goals on 36.27 xG. That’s unlikely to continue, but that also doesn’t make their Round of 16 matchup with Napoli any easier.

West Ham logo15. West Ham: Europa League, +1200

This isn’t a particularly good West Ham side. They’ve scored one more nonpenalty goal than they’ve conceded this season, and they’re sporting a slightly negative xG differential through 17 games. They’re basically the definition of an average Premier League team.And well, here’s something of a level-setter for you: An average Premier League team is one of the five favorites to win the Europa League.

Real Betis logo16. Real Betis: Europa Conference League, +1200

I’m really interested in Betis’ qualifying-round tie against Dinamo Zagreb … for science. Betis, like many of the other teams mentioned, are an average LaLiga team: slightly positive goal differential, slightly negative xG differential. Although they’re currently in third, Dinamo Zagreb are the dominant team in Croatia, winning 15 of the past 16 league titles. How does Croatia’s super-club compare to a mid-tier team in Spain?

Ajax logo17. Ajax: Europa Conference League, +1200

Through 16 matches, PSV Eindhoven have a plus-50 goal differential in the Eredivisie. Ajax, meanwhile, are at plus-5 — and with a plus-6.8 xG differential, it’s not backed up by much better underlying numbers. This is the worst Ajax team we’ve seen in a while.

AS Roma logo18. Roma: Europa League, +1500

There are 14 Jose Mourinho-managed domestic seasons in the Stats Perform database. Overall, his teams have outperformed their non-penalty xG differential by 102 goals — and they’ve done it in 11 of the individual seasons.

The three years they haven’t? The disaster campaign with Chelsea in 2015-16 when he was let go midyear, just a season after winning the league, and then the past two seasons with AS Roma, where his teams have produced a plus-20 nonpenalty goal differential from a plus-41.8 xG differential.

Yes, you have permission to find this to be very funny.

Inter Milan logo19. Inter Milan: Champions League, +1800

All things considered, Inter’s draw turned out pretty well. Last season’s Champions League runners-up are clearly the best team in Italy this season, and they’re probably one of the best teams in Europe, too.

The main reason they didn’t win their group is that they only turned 10.19 nonpenalty xG into five nonpenalty goals from their six matches. Bad in the short term, yes, but also unlikely to continue in the long term.

Since they finished second to the weakest first-place team, Real Sociedad, they weren’t able to draw Sociedad in the knockouts. Coming into the draw, they had about a 70% chance of drawing one of Manchester City, Bayern, Arsenal, Real Madrid or Barcelona. Dortmund would’ve been the cushiest draw, but Atletico Madrid is the second-best outcome. Simone Inzaghi’s team is flying right now, and they’ll be favored to advance to the quarters, thanks to Monday’s draw.

Atletico Madrid logo20. Atletico Madrid: Champions League, +1900

As much as you can, Atleti lost the draw. They’ve been quite good this season — this is Diego Simeone’s best team since the one that won La Liga in 2021 — and they dominated (a relatively easy) Champions League group. Antoine Griezmann and Álvaro Morata are the latest dynamic duo that turns all that defensive solidity into just-enough goal scoring. For all their good work, they earned a pair of dates with a team that’s lost just one of the 23 matches they’ve played so far this season.

MLS referees work stoppage ‘imminent’ amid ongoing CBA negotiations: Sources

COLUMBUS, OHIO - DECEMBER 09: Referee Armando Villarreal speaks to both teams during the 2023 MLS Cup between the Columbus Crew and the Los Angeles FC at Lower.com Field on December 09, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

By Pablo Maurer and Tom Bogert Jan 5, 2024

Negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement between the Professional Referees Organization (PRO) and the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) have not resulted in a new deal and, barring changes over the next 10 days, a work stoppage feels “imminent,” said once source briefed on the negotiations. Another source characterizes the negotiations between the two sides as being “a very discouraging process so far.”If it drags on, a work stoppage could leave MLS needing to find replacement officials at the start of its season and preseason. The current CBA between the PSRA and PRO, which has been in place since early 2019, expires on Jan. 15. The MLS season begins on Feb. 21 when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosts Real Salt Lake.

The PSRA is the union that represents professional referees across Major League Soccer, the second and third-tier United Soccer Leagues and the National Women’s Soccer League. PRO, founded in 2012 by MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation, oversees the professional officiating landscape in the United States, including assigning games, assessing and educating officials, and identifying new talent. An associated organization, PRO2, oversees officiating in the NWSL, USL, and MLS Next Pro. The PSRA and PRO2 ratified a CBA of their own last year.

“We are bargaining for a contract with the same intensity, focus and dedication we bring to every game as highly trained officials who live for this sport,” PSRA president Peter Manikowski said in a statement to The Athletic. “Right now the parties remain far apart on matters of great importance to our members’ lives and livelihoods. We are frustrated, but remain committed.”

PRO will soon face an additional challenge, as the U.S. Soccer Federation will withdraw its financial support for the organization in the near future, multiple sources briefed on that decision said on Friday. The federation provided nearly $2 million in funding for PRO in 2022, according to its most recent publicly available financial statements.A PRO spokesperson declined to comment to The Athletic except to confirm that CBA conversations are ongoing. MLS and the USSF declined to comment.Multiple sources said this week that the PSRA has a work stoppage fund, with one source characterizing it as “sizable enough for an extended stoppage.” That source described PSRA’s membership as being largely aligned in their unhappiness with PRO’s current offer in CBA negotiations.“Together with others in this league, we have a large role in the gaining popularity and success of this sport,” read PSRA’s statement. “Now, it is time for the Professional Referee Organization and Major League Soccer and to show officials that they, too, value the contributions our members bring to the game.”Multiple sources familiar with the still-ongoing talks described the back-and-forth between PRO and the PSRA over the last month. In December, those sources said, PRO offered an overall 3% pay increase to its referees, while the PSRA had demanded an increase of up to 90%, said once source, with the largest of the increases reserved for its lowest-paid officials, like assistant referees and fourth officials. Earlier this week, PRO increased its offer “marginally,” said one source, offering an overall raise of 4-5%, according to another source briefed on the talks.

‘I have to set the tone’: Behind the scenes with the MLS Cup officiating crew

If the referees voted to strike, or if PRO locked them out, MLS would be forced to use replacement referees in preseason and potentially when its regular season kicks off on February 21. The crisis would be averted, obviously, if the two sides reached a permanent agreement or even arrived at a temporary extension of the current CBA, something similar to what MLS and the MLS Players Association did during negotiations for the league’s most recent labor agreement with its players.

Though PRO and PSRA deal with professional referees in multiple leagues across U.S. soccer, the pay range in MLS can be instructive on how the scale can vary widely based on experience and position. According to the previous CBA, a copy of which was obtained by The Athletic, so-called “probationary” center referees — refs with less than two years of service — make a base salary of $50,647.90 for their work in MLS, which is supplemented by a match fee of $1,350.61 per regular season match they call. More experienced referees make anywhere from $95,000-$108,000 per year based on the number of matches they’ve called in addition to that same per-match fee. Assistant referees also receive that same $1350.61 per match but their base pay is far less, falling between $16,038-$21,384 depending on experience. A sticking point in the way assistant referees are currently paid under the current CBA, though, is that they do not receive a match fee until the 10th regular season match they’ve called in a season. The per-game rates for all officials slide upwards during the playoffs and for the All-Star game. For his work in this year’s MLS Cup, for example, center referee Armando Villarreal made $6,916.57, around five times higher than the amount he’d get during a regular season match. Video Assistant Referees and Assistant VARs have their own pay range, which is even smaller than the rest of the crew.?

The previous CBA also outlines a handful of other benefits for MLS officials — standard offerings like retirement and health insurance, along with reimbursements for travel, cell phone use, a gym membership and other perks.

This is not the first time PRO and the PSRA have entered a labor dispute. In 2014, after negotiations between PRO and the PSRA soured — with both sides filing complaints against each other with the National Labor Relations Board — PRO locked the referees out, instead choosing to start the season with a collection of former MLS refs and a handful of other FIFA-certified refs. That lockout lasted three weeks, at which point the two sides agreed on a new, five-year-long CBA, the first-ever between PRO and its referees. Things also turned sour in 2019, when the two sides met to hash out the current CBA, with the PSRA again filing an unfair practices complaint with the NLRB and accusing PRO of delaying negotiations for months as the CBA deadline approached. The PSRA eventually voted to authorize a strike, though it never came to that, with the two sides eventually reaching an agreement in February of that year.(Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

‘I have to set the tone’: Behind the scenes with the MLS Cup officiating crew

‘I have to set the tone’: Behind the scenes with the MLS Cup officiating crew

Pablo Maurer Dec 21, 2023

“Two minutes!”  The call comes from a matchday assistant, letting everyone in the locker room know when they’re expected on the field. Deep inside the bowels of Lower.com field, the home of Columbus Crew, you can feel the dull thud of the public address system and hear the muffled chants and stomps from supporters above. We’re moments away from MLS Cup 2023, and the locker room denizens are pacing around, performing gameday rituals while a boombox in the corner blares. At the moment, it’s “Lose Yourself,” by Eminem.The captain offers final instructions to his teammates.“If we don’t work as a team,” he belts out, “we won’t succeed. So this is it, boys, there’s no tomorrow.”The group huddles together, arms slung over each other’s shoulders in a circle. You can almost smell the nervous energy. Or maybe it’s just the Bengay, or the Tiger Balm.You see, this isn’t the Crew’s locker room, nor does it belong to LAFC, their opponents in this edition of MLS Cup, the final match of the league’s longest-ever season. To arrive at this place, you’ll walk much further down the hall, past the kitchen, the utility room and the small changing area for Crew Cat, Columbus’ feline mascot. Swing the door open, walk past the pile of match balls, the table full of commemorative coins, and the stack of yellow and red cards and you’ll arrive at the changing area for the game’s officials.The league’s championship match is a pivotal moment for every person here. For some, it may be the apex of an often thankless career. The game’s players earned their spot in the championship match via their performances on the field and so has this crew, hand-selected to represent the best American officiating has to offer.Among them is 37-year-old Armando Villarreal, a first-generation Mexican-American who started refereeing four- and five-year-old kids in his father’s rec league in Brownsville, Texas, in the early 2000s. Two decades years later, Villarreal is among the American game’s most distinguished officials, one of the few to earn the right to call FIFA international matches and one of the tiny group to have officiated at a men’s World Cup. Villarreal refereed the very first game of the 2023 MLS season on Feb. 25. Now, nine months and 521 matches later, he will be the center referee for its last.

“Today,” Villarreal says to his crew just before they take the field, “we will have the best game of our lives.”

(Pablo Maurer)

About 24 hours before the opening kickoff, Alan Kelly walks the pitch at Lower.com Field in a peacoat and slacks. A three-time MLS referee of the year, Kelly has taken part in multiple MLS Cups and a laundry list of other important matches. In other years, he would probably be out here in athletic gear, but he retired two years ago.It’s not the easiest exercise for him. Kelly is a third-generation referee and he confesses that he’ll still call the occasional college match just to get his fix. The Irish-born 48-year-old now serves as the director of senior referees for the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) and he was largely responsible for selecting the crew who will call tomorrow’s title match.“Every single referee starts the season looking to get that phone call,” says Kelly. “The call where someone tells them they’ve been assigned to MLS Cup.”

This will be Villarreal’s second MLS Cup. He will be joined by a distinguished crew: assistant referees Cameron Blanchard and Ian McKay, fourth official Jon Freemon, video assistant referee (VAR) Kevin Stott and assistant VAR TJ Zablocki. Kelly and others at PRO used a fairly straightforward set of principles to select the crew, with a special focus on playoff form.“If you don’t have a good game in the playoffs, you will not advance to the next round,” Villarreal says. “A player misses a penalty, now they’re out. Same for referees. We have to make good decisions to keep on going, and I think I’ve gotten the big decisions right.”This year’s edition of the MLS postseason has not been without its share of referee-related controversy. There have been on-field incidents — razor-thin offside calls, debatable yellow and red cards and a missed handball that may have fundamentally changed the outcome of a conference semifinal — but also plenty of chatter about what’s transpired off the pitch.

n the playoffs’ opening round, Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini was ejected in the dying moments of his team’s matchup against LAFC for arguing with center referee Tim Ford. In his postgame remarks, Sartini said jokingly that if Ford were to be found dead in a local creek, Sartini would be the prime suspect. The coach later apologized and was eventually issued a five-match ban.Perhaps the most impactful playoff officiating moment concerned FC Cincinnati defender Matt Miazga, who entered the referee’s locker room after his side’s opening-round match against the New York Red Bulls. Accounts vary of what transpired after Miazga entered the changing area, with the Professional Soccer Referees Association suggesting that the player was “forcibly removed” and others suggesting that Miazga’s behavior was more tempered. All sides, though, seem to agree that he had no real business being there, and Miazga was issued a three-match suspension.

Earlier on MLS Cup day, MLS commissioner Don Garber offered his thoughts at his annual state of the league address, suggesting referee safety was a “massive priority” for the league. Kelly, for his part, seems exhausted by the still-ongoing discourse surrounding Miazga’s behavior.

“In-stadium security is something that we shouldn’t be overly concerned about,” Kelly says. “But we are.”

There are other concerns, as well. Like MLS players, PRO referees operate under a collective bargaining agreement. The current version of that agreement is set to expire this coming January and negotiations for a new one are ongoing. The terms of the current edition, a copy of which was obtained by The Athletic, lay bare some of the challenges faced by professional referees in addition to abuse from fans, players and coaches. Center referees in MLS make a base pay of anywhere from about $50,000 to a little over $100,000, depending on the number of matches they’ve called. Assistants and VARs have their own pay scale. This is supplemented by pay for individual matches, which varies. A fourth official can make as little as $600 for a regular-season match, whereas the center ref can make $1350. That pay scale slides upwards as the postseason progresses. The crew at MLS Cup, for example, will make nearly five times that amount.

Higher-end officials in PROs pool of about 120 referees make a comfortable enough living, but things are particularly meager for referees during their “probationary” period, in their first two-years of full-time service. They can face many of the same challenges senior referees do — the constant travel and criticism — for comparative peanuts. The advent of video review, where plays are picked apart in granular detail, has only added to the pressure.You truly have to wonder — what sort of person even wants to start doing this job?

Villarreal says that after he started calling youth matches, his sporting heroes changed from superstar players to the region’s more notable referees: Baldomero Toledo, Ricardo Salazar and Jair Marrufo among them. Meeting Toledo, Villarreal says, “was like meeting a rockstar, for me.”“Growing up, everyone wants to play,” Villarreal continues. “Everyone wants to be a professional player. But as soon as you start refereeing, you get into this passion. It is a challenge at every level, from little kids all the way up to the professionals. But I do think we are programmed differently. As referees we need a strong personality, sometimes we have to change our personality. Sometimes we have to be the good cop, other times we have to be the bad cop. We do have to have very thick skin, especially at the professional level. Because the hatred is out there.”

(Pablo Maurer)

It’s Saturday, about two hours before the opening kick of MLS Cup, Villarreal and the rest of his crew load onto a bus headed for the stadium.

Stott, tonight’s VAR, sits at the back. He’s spent the morning mentally preparing by going on a long run with his two young sons. At 56, Stott is the eldest of the group by far, and his teammates hold him in a sort of reverence. A California native, this trip out to Columbus has given Stott a bit of a break from his day job as a middle-school math teacher, something he’s done for nearly three decades. He’s also easily the longest-tenured continuously-serving pro referee in U.S. Soccer history.Stott retired from center refereeing duties last year after calling 382 MLS matches during his career. That number grows to nearly 600 games when you add in his assignments as a fourth official, VAR and AVAR, and his statistics become even more impressive when you factor in the fact that he spent much of his career calling matches during a time when assignment opportunities were limited by the tiny number of teams in MLS, sometimes as few as 10.His presence here keeps another streak alive: Stott has taken part in a playoff match in every year of the league’s existence. This is his seventh MLS Cup.“I still have the same excitement as back in my first one,” Stott says. “The excitement is still there, the nerves in the stomach are still there. I’m just looking forward to the experience. The feelings haven’t changed much over the 28 years.”

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Earlier in the day, Stott and others convened in a small meeting room at their hotel and received their match shirts and shorts, all emblazoned with commemorative lettering celebrating the occasion.Quickly, that get-together turned into a roast of Villarreal, the shortest member of the crew. “We got you some youth shorts,” said Kelly, “and your shirts are tailored just the way you like them.” Just like players, many referees have special requests when it comes to equipment. Villarreal likes his sleeves a little tighter than most, in case you’re wondering, and he seems to take special interest in his on-field appearance: hair perfectly coiffed, uniform neatly-pressed.Their bus to the match hurtles through downtown Columbus accompanied by a police escort. The sidewalks are lined with Crew fans, all decked out in the team’s iconic black-and-gold colors, and a few of them seem to have spotted the placard on the windshield of the vehicle that reads “MLS OFFICIALS.” Those fans raise their voices, and their middle fingers as well. There’s very little conversation on the ride over, and for the first time all weekend, you feel the big-game nerves creeping in.

“I’m still going to approach this game like any other game,” says Villarreal. “It’s 90 minutes, overtime if needed. But you can’t deny that it’s the championship. The focus, the concentration is maybe even a little bit higher than normal because one decision can determine the champion of the entire league.

“I know all of these players. I’ve already reffed them throughout the season, and last year and the year before, you name it. We have a reputation with them. The most important thing, for me, is that I want to let them know what they are going to get today. When they see me warming up, I want them to say ‘ok, it’s Armando, I know he’s going to call the game this particular way’ or ‘we cannot speak to him in a certain way.’ I have to set the tone.”It’s clear that the officials have done their research on both teams. Villarreal knows that Columbus midfielder Darlington Nagbe, for example, was fouled a game-high seven times during the Crew’s conference final against Cincinnati. He isn’t seeking to protect that player in particular, but knows to look for persistent infringement and to keep the game moving.“Be ready for the fans, be ready for everything,” Villarreal says to his crew as the match approaches. “If we don’t talk to each other (over our earpieces) for 10 minutes, and nothing is happening? No worries. That’s fine. But if something happens, then we communicate. We have to communicate.”Villarreal turns to Freemon, his fourth official.“Your number one priority is not the benches. It’s the field. Always have your eyes on the field, as much as you f—ing can. It could be you making that big decision tonight. One team gets a quick counterattack? Then boom, I’m out. Maybe I won’t have the best angle. So be read. You’ll talk to the benches but the priority tonight is on the field.”The crew walks down the hall and joins the players for the pregame walkout. Nagbe is at the head of Columbus’ line and he greets Villarreal warmly. LAFC captain Carlos Vela offers his own embrace. The group walks through the stadium’s field-level fan lounge, through the tunnel and out onto the field. After pre-match fireworks and a screeching flyover by a pair of fighter jets, Villarreal raises his whistle to his lips and gets things underway.

(Pablo Maurer)

The opening moments of the match feel like they almost always do when a championship is on the line: nervy and a little disjointed.

Villarreal involves himself almost immediately in the fourth minute when LAFC defender Diego Palacios commits a tactical foul against Columbus attacker Diego Rossi near the center stripe. It’s a possible yellow card, but Palacios escapes with a stern warning. The home crowd explodes six minutes later, when Crew midfielder Aiden Morris goes down at the edge of the penalty area, his teammates raising their arms and pleading for a penalty. Without hesitation, Villarreal tells Morris to get off the ground and continue playing. No call.

As he said he’d do a day earlier, Villarreal is setting the tone early on and things are moving smoothly. Half an hour into the match, though, he faces his first massive decision of the evening.

Columbus winger Yaw Yeboah swings a dangerous cross into the area, which Rossi gets his boot on. The ball deflects up and towards Palacios and seemingly hits his chest, and then his arm. Villarreal, who has himself positioned about 10 yards away, has a perfect angle on the play and immdiately calls for a penalty. Several LAFC players attempt to dissuade him but Villarreal holds firm, motioning to his arm and going to his earpiece to communicate with Stott and others in the VAR booth.Villarreal’s attention to detail in terms of his appearance comes to the forefront here. Much of his job is about projecting an image of confidence and authority and his body language and demeanor goes a long way towards doing that here. In the end, replays show that he undoubtedly made the right call, as Palacios’ arm was extended far from his body and changed the trajectory of a dangerous ball. LAFC’s protests don’t last long.

Villarreal saw a clear penalty for handball (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Columbus nets that PK and adds another goal by the halftime whistle. As they re-enter the locker room for halftime, Villarreal and his crew debrief and prepare for the second half.“Great work, boys,” says Villarreal, seated at his locker in the corner. “Things have been fast paced, let’s keep it up. I think the first couple of fouls were key, we set the tone.” Nagbe does not seem to be a target, Villarreal says, as he’s only been fouled twice in the opening 45.Quickly, the conversation turns to the pivotal moment of the half: the penalty call.“His arm was clearly extended,” Villarreal says. “It was in an unnatural position. Had I been positioned a little more to the right, it would’ve been a tougher call but I had a great view. There was just no doubt about it, it was clear.”

In most ways, the first half could not have gone better for this crew. They’re potentially 45 minutes away from success, but Villarreal knows that every second of the match that presents itself is another chance for error, another chance to be written into the history books for the wrong reasons.

“Whatever happened in the first half is in the past,” he says to his crew as they re-enter the tunnel and walk towards the field. “The second half is an entirely different game.”It does not take long for LAFC to present Villarreal with another key decision. Crew attacker Cucho Hernandez receives a pass on the far sideline and starts a counterattack. As he crosses midfield, LAFC forward Carlos Vela — likely playing in his final match ever for the club — lunges out at him desperately, his studs up on one foot. There’s contact, and Hernandez goes to ground, rolling around in an attempt to sell a red card.On the surface, it does seem like a clear red. But Villarreal, again, is well-positioned. McKay is on the same side as the action and has his own angle as he runs upfield with Columbus’ backline. Villarreal goes to his earpiece to see if the play will be recommended for review, but it isn’t.

“We did talk about it,” Villarreal will say later about the challenge. “But it was a fairly clear yellow card.”

On replay, it becomes apparent why: Vela did not make contact with his studs, instead fouling Hernandez with the laces of his other boot, which trailed behind. Villarreal’s call feels correct, if only by inches, and the match proceeds.LAFC pulls within one about 10 minutes from the final whistle and the flow of the match changes entirely. Things get frantic as full-time approaches and Villarreal is again called into action when Italian legend Giorgio Chiellini, playing in the final game of his career, clatters awkwardly into Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. There’s not much in the challenge at all, and Schulte makes a meal of it.

Chiellini, who is no stranger to simulation, taunts his opponent and motions for him to get up and get things moving again. Villarreal, a full five years younger than Chiellini and about six inches shorter, positions himself between the two players and sternly tells the Italian to walk away, pointing upfield. “When I have players like that and situations like that, I have to be smart, because of my height” Villarreal later says, laughing. “If I have two big players, and I put myself between them, I might be on the floor a few seconds later. If it’s one, two, three players, I try to manage. If it’s four, five, six seven players, I’m out of there.”

(Pablo Maurer)

Villarreal blows the final whistle and his crew assembles near midfield, forming a bit of a welcoming line. It feels obvious enough that they’ve called a fair match, one without incident, as only a smattering of LAFC players show up to complain, and they do so half-heartedly. LA manager Steve Cherundolo asks about an offside call but mostly shows up as a display of sportsmanship, greeting each official. Italian legend Chiellini, just moments after drawing Villarreal’s ire, finds him and offers him a warm embrace and a few kind words.

In the days leading up to the match, every member of the staff has been open and welcoming but also maybe a bit reserved. Now, their guard falls a bit. McKay, the AR who was participating in his first MLS Cup, grows emotional.

“This is not one game of release, now that it’s over,” he says. “For me this is 21 years of release. This is a whole career of release. All I can do is think of the 21 years of grinding that led up to this.”

McKay is holding his tears back, but as the rest of the crew stand in line to receive their post-match medals, Villarreal breaks down entirely. Tears roll down his face as he’s comforted by his teammates and by ex-referee Mark Geiger, PRO’s general manager.“I’m thinking about my family,” says Villarreal. “About everything we went through. All the ups and downs, you know? Especially my wife, you know? She has been there since day one. We had a lot of downs.”Villarreal cuts himself off, unable to complete his thought. He winds his way back through the tunnels under the stadium and arrives back at the locker room with the rest of his staff. He finds Stott, and wraps his arms around him. “You are the GOAT,” Villarreal says. Stott, who seems like a generally reserved guy, tries his hand at comforting Villarreal, who is still overcome by the gravity of the moment.The crew gets changed and unpacks the game, from the handball to Vela’s yellow. You get the feeling that the tone would’ve been very different had there been more controversy. Tonight, there is a sense of satisfaction, of a job well done.

Things are a little wilder in Columbus’ locker room, where the champagne has already been uncorked and the music is blasting. In their own way, though, the officials down the hall have also contributed to the grand nature of this match, mostly by staying out of the way.And you can very much feel that in this moment. Even at the apex of their careers, the most a referee can really hope for is to not be perceived as part of a match. When they do their job correctly, they are largely invisible. By definition, it is very much a thankless job.It does not seem to matter to Villarreal. The tears are gone now. He laughs when he thinks back to his humble origins. When he first started, he recalls, they made him wear a massive, neon-green shirt. On the back, it read “REFEREE IN TRAINING,” a student driver bumper sticker come to life. Things are a little different now.“I have a wife and two kids, a six-year-old daughter and a three-year-old boy,” says Villarreal. “We miss birthdays, anniversaries, you name it. But this job comes with perks as well, I have gotten to see all kinds of places. From where I was born at, in Brownsville? I never thought I was going to leave Brownsville. And now I’m here, and working all over the world. It’s amazing.”(Top photo: Pablo Maurer)

Pablo Maurer is a staff writer for The Athletic who covers soccer, with a particular focus on the history and culture of the game. His writing and photography have been featured in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Gothamist and a variety of other outlets. Follow Pablo on Twitter @MLSist

12/12/23 Champions League today/Wed last 5 spots, Columbus wins MLS Cup, Copa American in US dates announced, USWNT wins

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GAMES ON TV

Tues, Dec 12   – Champions League

12:45 pm Para+, TUDN   PSV (Tillman,Pepi, Dest) vs Arsenal

12:45 pm CBSSN         Lens vs Sevilla  

3 pm Para+                 Man U vs Bayern Munich

3 pm Para+                 Union Berlin (Aaronson) vs Real Madrid

3 pm CBS SN               Inter vs Real Sociedad  

Wed, Dec 13   – Champions League

12:45 pm Para+          Leipzig vs Young Boys

3 pm Para+                 Dortmund (Reyna) vs PSG

3 pm Para+                 New Castle vs AC Milan(Musah, Pulisic)

3 pm CBS SN               Atletico Madrid vs Lazio  

3 pm Para+                 Celtic (Carter-Vickers) vs Feyenord

3 pm Para+                 Antwerp vs Barcelona

Thurs Dec 14  Europa League  

12:45 pm CBSSN         Rennes vs Villareal

12:45 pm Para+          Union Saint vs Liverpool

12”45 pm Para+          Roma vs Sheriff

12:45 pm Para+          Zrinjski vs Aston Villa

3 pm CBSSN, Para       Real Betis vs Rangers ( )

3 pm Para+                 Brighton vs Olympique Marsielle

Fri, Dec 15

2:30 pm ESPN+                  Gladbach (Pefok, Scally) vs Werder Bremen

2:45 pm Para+                   Genoa vs Juventus (McKennie, Musah)

3 pm USA                            Nottingham Forest (Turner) vs Tottenham

Sat, Dec 17

10 am USA                  Man City vs Crystal Palace (Richards)  

10 am peacock           New Castle United vs Fulham (Reem, Jedi)

12 noon CBSSN            Napoli vs Caglairi

12:30 pm NBC             Burnley vs Everton  

Sun, Dec 18

9 am USA                    Arsenal vs Brighton  

9 am peacock West Ham vs Wolverhampton

11:30 am CBSSN         Balongna vs Roma  

11:30 am NBC             Liverpool vs Man United  

1:30 pm ESPN+            Bayern Munich vs Stutgart

3 pm ESPND +             Real Madrid vs Villareal

8:30 pm univsion         America vs Tigres UANL

Tues, Dec 19

2:45 pm USA               Everton vs Fulham (Reem, Jedi) (League Cup)

3 pm Peacock              Chelsea vs New Castle (league cup)

Weds, Dec 20

2:30 pm ESPN+           Frankfurt (Aaronson) vs MGladbach (Pefok, Scally)

2:45 pm USA               Liverpool vs West Ham  (League Cup)

Thurs, Dec 21

9 pm TUDN                 America vs Barcelona Friendly

Fri, Dec 22

3 pm USA                    Aston Villa vs Sheffield United

Sat, Dec 17

12:30 NBC               Liverpool vs Arsenal

2:45 pm Para+            Roma vs Napoli

Reffing

Boys Showcase at Grand Park last tourney of the season with Jimmy Jean and Jeff Perry Friday Dang Cold

Saturday Showcase with Brent Myers & Harry Rybolt not quite so cold today.

Casey Dodd & William Finch with yours truly – Sunday – Boys Showcase – dang cold again.

Champions League: Who has qualified, what all teams need

  • Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FCNov 29, 2023, 05:08 PM ET

The UEFA Champions League group stage is reaching its conclusion, with only four places in the knockout rounds still up for grabs on Matchday 6. This is the final season of the multigroup format, before it becomes a 36-team competition with all clubs in one league table. We take a look at who is through and how can still seal their places. The top two teams in each group qualify for the round of 16, the third-placed clubs drop into the Europa League knockout playoff round, and those who finish bottom are eliminated.

Qualified for round of 16 (12/16): Manchester City, RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Real Sociedad, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven

Eliminated (10/16): Union Berlin, FC Salzburg, Benfica, Celtic, Antwerp, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade, Feyenoord, Sevilla, Lens

Tiebreakers:
1) Points
2) Head-to-head points in games involving the tied teams
3) Goal difference in head-to-head matches involving the tied teams
4) Goals scored in head-to-head matches involving the tied teams
— If the above tiebreaker initially involves 3 or 4 teams, it is reapplied to resolve any remaining tiebreaker among fewer clubs
5) Goal difference in all group matches
6) Goals scored in all group matches
7) Away goals scored in all group matches
8) Wins in all group matches
9) Away wins in all group matches
10) Disciplinary points
11) UEFA club coefficient.

This page will be updated throughout the final rounds of the group stage.

Group permutations

Group A

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 12: Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen vs. Galatasaray

Group A

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Bayern5410+513
2 – Copenhagen5122-15
3 – Galatasaray5122-25
4 – Man United5113-24
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Bayern Munich have qualified as group winners.

FC Copenhagen are guaranteed to qualify in second with a win, or with a draw if Manchester United draw or lose.

Galatasaray have to beat FC Copenhagen, which will secure second place.

Manchester United have to beat Bayern and hope FC Copenhagen vs. Galatasaray is a draw. However, United are guaranteed at least a place in the Europa League if they win.

Group B

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 12: PSV Eindhoven vs. Arsenal, Lens vs. Sevilla

Group B

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Arsenal5401+1212
2 – PSV5221-28
3 – Lens5122-65
4 – Sevilla5023-42
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Arsenal went through and sealed first place in the group with a 6-0 win at home to Lens.

Arsenal’s victory also ensured PSV Eindhoven advanced, as the Eredivisie side hold the head to head over Lens.

Lens need a win or draw at home to Sevilla to move into the Europa League.

Sevilla must beat Lens to climb up to third and continue in Europe.

Reacting to Arsenal’s ‘demolishing’ 6-0 win vs. Lens

Craig Burley and the rest of the “ESPN FC” crew react to Arsenal’s 6-0 victory over Lens that sent them into the Champions League Round of 16.

Group C

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 12: Union Berlin vs. Real Madrid, Napoli vs. Braga

Group C

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Real Madrid5500+815
2 – Napoli5212-17
3 – Braga5113-44
4 – Union Berlin5023-32
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Real Madrid have qualified for the round of 16 and have topped the group.

Napoli will be through with a win, draw or one-goal defeat at home to Braga.

Braga must win by 2+ goals away to Napoli to finish in second place.

Union Berlin have been eliminated and must win at home to Real Madrid and hope Braga lose to Napoli to make the Europa League.

Can Jude Bellingham maintain his blistering to start at Real Madrid?

Craig Burley heaps yet more praise on Jude Bellingham after he scored in Real Madrid’s 4-2 win over Napoli in the Champions League.

Group D

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 12: Internazionale vs. Real Sociedad, FC Salzburg vs. Benfica

Group D

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Real Sociedad5320+511
2 – Inter5320+311
3 – Salzburg5113-24
4 – Benfica5014-61
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Real Sociedad and Inter Milan have both qualified for the round of 16.

Top spot will be decided when the two teams meet in Italy on the final night. Real Sociedad will top the group with a win or draw, Inter require a victory.

FC Salzburg hold the Europa League place, and they will secure it if they win or draw against Benfica, or if they lose by one goal.

Benfica must beat FC Salzburg by 2+ goals to make the Europa League.

Group E

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 13: Atletico Madrid vs. Lazio, Celtic vs. Feyenoord

Group E

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Atletico5320+911
2 – Lazio5311+210
3 – Feyenoord520306
4 – Celtic5014-111
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Atletico Madrid and Lazio have qualified and face each other in Spain on Matchday 6. Atletico will top the group with a win or draw, while Lazio need a victory.

Feyenoord will drop into the Europa League knockout playoff round

Celtic have been eliminated from Europe.

Group F

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 13: Newcastle United vs. AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Group F

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Dortmund5311+310
2 – PSG5212+17
3 – Newcastle512205
4 – Milan5122-45
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Borussia Dortmund have qualified and will top the group with a win or draw at home to PSG.

Paris Saint-Germain must win in Germany to be sure of going through — which will also see them top the group.

PSG can only go through with a draw if AC Milan win or draw.

PSG can only go through with a loss if Newcastle-AC Milan is a draw.

Why VAR was wrong to award PSG a penalty for handball vs. Newcastle

Dale Johnson reacts after VAR Tomasz Kwiatkowski was removed from duty by UEFA for another Champions League game.

Newcastle United must win and hope PSG draw or lose. If the two teams are level, Newcastle will finish second on head to head.

AC Milan must win and hope PSG lose. If the two teams are level, PSG will finish second on head to head.

If Newcastle and Milan draw, Newcastle will drop into the Europa League on goal difference.

How much would Champions League exit hurt Milan?

Nicky Bandini explains how much of a disappointment exiting the Champions League at the group stage would be for AC Milan.

Group G

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 13: RB Leipzig vs. Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade vs. Manchester City

Group G

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Man City5500+1015
2 – Leipzig5302+29
3 – Young Boys5113-54
4 – Red Star5014-71
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Manchester City have won the group with a 100% record.

RB Leipzig go through in second place.

Young Boys will drop into the Europa League in the New Year.

Red Star Belgrade are out of Europe.

Why Man City’s defending is a real concern

Craig Burley is not convinced by Manchester City’s defending after they conceded seven goals in the last three games.

Group H

Remaining fixtures
Dec. 13: Antwerp vs. Barcelona, FC Porto vs. Shakhtar Donetsk

Group H

GPWDLGDPTS
1 – Barcelona5401+712
2 – FC Porto5302+59
3 – Shakhtar530209
4 – Antwerp5005-120
1, 2: UCL round of 16; 3: UEL playoff round

Barcelona sit on top of the group and are through to the round of 16. They will win the group unless they lose in Antwerp, and Shakhtar beat FC Porto while overtaking Barca on goal difference. As Barca hold a goal difference advantage of seven this is unlikely.

FC Porto and Shakhtar meet in Portugal level on points.

FC Porto won the first meeting of the sides so will be through with a win or draw, though they cannot win the group. Shakhtar Donetsk must win to progress.

Antwerp have been eliminated.

USMNT midweek viewing guide: Everything to play for

This week will determine whether Pulisic and Musah advance in Champions League, Europa League, or drop out of European competition altogether. Stars and Stripes

Tuesday

  • PSV vs Arsenal, 12:45p on Paramount+, TUDN USA, UniMás, Fubo (free trial), Univision NOW, ViX: Ricardo Pepi, Sergiño Dest, Malik Tillman, and PSV have already clinched a spot in the Champions League knockout round, thanks in large part to Pepi’s game-winner against Sevilla. Arsenal have clinched the top spot in the group. PSV boss Peter Bosz has already confirmed Tillman will start.
  • Union Berlin vs Real Madrid, 3p on Paramount+, Galavision, Fubo, Univision NOW, ViX: Brenden Aaronson and Union Berlin are last in Champions League Group C, but if they somehow beat Real Madrid, they could potentially make it into Europa League. Madrid have already clinched top of the group.

Also in action:

  • Huddersfield vs Preston, 2:45p: Duane Holmes and Preston play Holmes’ old club Huddersfield away in the Championship.

Wednesday

  • Borussia Dortmund vs PSG, 3p on Paramount+, TUDN USA, Fubo, Univision USA, ViX: Gio Reyna and BVB are 3 points clear atop Champions League Group F, and a win or draw over PSG would secure first place in the group.
  • Newcastle United vs AC Milan, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, and Milan are last in a very tight Group F. A win will get them into Europa League. A win and a PSG loss would see them through to the Champions League knockout rounds.

Also in action:

  • Coventry vs Southampton, 2:45p: Haji Wright and Coventry are at home in Championship action.
  • QPR vs Plymouth Argyle, 2:45p: Reggie Cannon and QPR host Plymouth Argyle in the Championship.
  • Celtic vs Feyenoord, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic have already been eliminated, even from Europa League contention. This will be the best club opponent CCV faces for 9 months unless he leaves Celtic.
  • Antwerp vs Barcelona, 3p: Sam Vines is not eligible for Champions League due to a clerical error (he also hasn’t played for the club since September 3 due to injury).

Thursday

  • Legia Warsaw vs AZ, 12:45p on Paramount+, ViX: Djordje Mihailovic and AZ need to beat Legia on the road to advance out of Conference League Group E.
  • Aberdeen vs Eintracht Frankfurt, 12:45p on Paramount+, ViX: Paxten Aaronson and Frankfurt have already clinched second in the Conference League group (knockout round playoffs) and cannot improve their position. Dante Polvara and Aberdeen are already eliminated.
  • Tigres vs América, 4p: Alex Zendejas and Club América play in the first leg (away) in the Liga MX Apertura final. TV details not available at time of publishing.

Also in action:

  • LASK Linz vs Toulouse, 12:45p on Paramount+, ViX: George Bello and LASK Linz are last in Europa League Group E. A win and a Union St-Gilloise loss would get them into Conference League.
  • Genk vs Čukarički, 12:45p on Paramount+, ViX: Mark McKenzie and Genk need a win and a Ferencváros loss to emerge from Conference League Group F.

Friday

  • Mönchengladbach vs Werder Bremen, 2:30p on ESPN+: Jordan Pefok, Joe Scally, and Gladbach host Bremen in the Bundesliga.
  • Genoa vs Juventus, 2:45p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie and Juve travel to Genoa in Serie A.
  • Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham, 3p on USA, Universo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Fubo, Sling: Matt Turner has regained his starting spot with Forest, and will face Spurs in Premier League action.
  • Monaco vs Lyon, 3p on beIN Sports USA, beIN Sports en Español, Fubo, Sling, Fanatiz: Folarin Balogun and Monaco host Lyon in Ligue 1.

Also in action:

  • Schalke vs Greuther Fürth, 12:30p on ESPN+: Julian Green, Maxi Dietz, and Fürth go on the road vs Schalke in the 2. Bundesliga.
  • Westerlo vs Eupen, 2:45p: Bryan Reynolds, Griffin Yow, and Westerlo welcome Gaga Slonina and Eupen for this Belgium first division match.

USMNT player tracker: Matt Turner back in favour and Ricardo Pepi’s patience pays off

USMNT player tracker: Matt Turner back in favour and Ricardo Pepi’s patience pays off

By Greg O’KeeffeDec 11, 2023 The Athletic

Every Monday this season, we will be bringing you updates on the USMNT players plying their trade in various leagues around Europe, ahead of a huge summer that includes the Copa America and with a World Cup on home soil on the horizon.This week, we are covering hope for goalkeepers, patience paying off and lessons learned in Italy.

Issue of the weekend

What’s that flickering faintly in Nottingham? Is it a light at the end of the tunnel for Matt Turner?The USMNT first-choice ’keeper was back in the starting line-up for his embattled team at the weekend after being benched for Nottingham Forest’s previous five games.He may not have kept a clean sheet in the 1-1 draw with Wolves at Molineux, but Steve Cooper’s strugglers avoided defeat and that, at least, was a start.Coming after Odysseas Vlachodimos — Turner’s rival for the No 1 spot — conceded 12 goals in the last four consecutive defeats for Forest, the point on Saturday will have been a relief for both club and ’keeper.The chance to get back on the field will have provided much-needed respite for the 29-year-old, who would have been forgiven for wondering whether his summer switch to the City Ground had backfired dismally.

Matt Turner is back for Nottingham Forest (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Turner left Arsenal to seek first-team football, feeling it was important for him to be in peak condition for this summer’s Copa America. At first, it seemed to be going well as he started the first 10 Premier League games of the season, but the late arrival of Greece international Vlachodimos in the summer transfer window raised questions over Turner’s long-term job security.Those fears were clear when Cooper dropped the former New England Revolution player in October after he was adjudged to have been at fault for Mohamed Salah’s goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Anfield.Turner had two clean sheets in the league from those 10 games, but his successor has not fared much better. Vlachodimos has one from five and Cooper is desperately seeking solutions as he battles to save his job.Whether Turner can now keep his spot remains to be seen, but a scenario that looked difficult when he was dropped and raised the issue of whether a loan exit was required in January looks a bit brighter for now.

‘Like sliding into second base’: How baseball and basketball have helped Matt Turner

Graphic of the weekend

It’s worth examining the Forest goalkeeper situation in a bit more depth, as their quest to avoid a relegation battle will have an outsized impact on the USMNT goalkeeper’s readiness for the Copa América next summer. Turner has conceded 16 goals while facing 53 shots, a far better rate of prevention than Odysseas Vlachodimos’ 12 allowed from 23 shots.

In fact, only Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone has a worse goals prevented rate when comparing the goals they’ve conceded to the expected goal rate.We’ve sorted the table above by shot prevented rate, which adjusts for the volume of shots to analyse the degree to which a keeper concedes at a rate above or below expectation.In that sense, Vlachodimos has been one of the league’s poorest shot-stoppers among goalkeepers who have played at least 450 minutes to date. And while Turner’s 0.9 rate is just below what you’d hope for from a starting Premier League goalkeeper, it’s in line with positional peers who are in far less danger over losing their place atop the depth chart.Forest have plenty to stress over as Steve Cooper’s future hangs in the balance with every result. However, Turner has been, at worse, a dependable starter whose gloves should keep his team in games.Turner has also proven better than Vlachodimos in a couple of pre-shot metrics. Currently, Turner is stopping 8.4 per cent of opponents’ crosses into the mixer (1.45 stops per 90), while the Greece international is only stopping 3.3 per cent of crosses. Additionally, Turner averages 1.36 sweeper actions beyond the box per 90, well above Vlachodimos’ 0.4 per 90. In short, the U.S. international isn’t just preventing more goals than his rival — he’s doing his team a favour by cutting down on their opponents’ dangerous chances before they even get to shooting.

Jeff Rueter

Player of the weekend

Patience is a virtue for Ricardo Pepi. The USMNT forward may not have started a single Eredivisie fixture for all-conquering PSV Eindhoven yet this term, but last week he enhanced his super-sub status with his fourth goal of the campaign.Pepi faces the unenviable task of getting into the starting XI ahead of team captain Luuk De Jong, who has 10 goals and six assists in PSV’s 15 league games.

His club are flying high. They have taken maximum points from every league game so far and booked their place in the Champions League knockout stage last month when Pepi scored again in their 3-2 win at Sevilla.

Ricardo Pepi (left) has impressed for PSV (Erwin Scheriau/APA/AFP via Getty Images)

So even though the 20-year-old might be a touch frustrated at not getting more starts, he will be encouraged to be playing in what might be a special season for his team, alongside USMNT team-mates Sergino Dest and Malik Tillman. The latter pair both started in the 2-0 win over Herenveen, sealed by Pepi’s goal scored just 60 seconds after coming on last Thursday.Tillman has five goals and two assists in 11 league appearances for PSV and Dest is flourishing after his difficult spell on loan at AC Milan last season.

Quote of the weekend

“The things I’ve learned here are definitely tactical. Playing in Germany it was more back and forth, the same in England, lots of running, but here it is very tactical, all about the position. That is something I needed to improve in my game instead of running around like a headless chicken.”

This was what Weston McKennie told DAZN after he started in Juventus’ 1-0 win over Napoli, helping to keep his side’s Serie A title race alive and pressure on leaders Inter.

How did other U.S. players get on?

Name: Christian Pulisic
Club: AC Milan
Position: Forward

According to Opta, only Marcus Thuram (12) has more goal contributions among Serie A newcomers this year than Pulisic (8: 5 goals, 3 assists). Pulisic created his latest in Milan’s 3-2 defeat against Atalanta on Saturday.

Pulisic was on form against Atalanta (Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

How Christian Pulisic’s offseason training shaped his form with AC Milan, USMNT

Name: Rokas Pukstas
Club: Hajduk Split
Position: Midfielder

The Oklahoma-born U.S. under-20 international is having an impressive season for his Croatian club despite a knee-ligament injury that caused him to miss eight games. He has three goals from 10 league appearances for Hajduk and has proved very capable in a variety of roles: from defensive midfield and right-winger to a more attacking remit. Pukstas, who joined the club aged 16, will be hoping for a special season, with Hajduk top of the SuperSport HNL, seven points ahead of rivals Dinamo Zagreb.

Name: Lennard Maloney
Club: Heidenheim
Position: Midfield

It was a worrying moment for the USMNT international during his side’s game against Darmstadt on Saturday. His unfortunate 60th-minute deflected own goal left the hosts 2-1 down. Seven minutes later, he was subbed off. Fortunately, Heidenheim came back to win 3-2 and Maloney’s strong season to date will not be blemished by his slice of misfortune.

What’s coming up?

This week sees the final group games of this season’s Champions League and all eyes will be on Pulisic’s AC Milan to see if they can make it out of Group F. They will need to beat Newcastle at St James’ Park and hope Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain in Germany (Wednesday, 2pm, Paramount +).

Pulisic will be wanting international team-mate Gio Reyna, of the already qualified Dortmund, to do him a favour (and get himself some rare minutes) against PSG the same evening (Paramount +, TUDN, Univision).Brenden Aaronson has a big game too. His Union Berlin side face Real Madrid on Tuesday, although the German side cannot qualify for the knockout stages (Tuesday, 2pm, Paramount +).

Greg O’Keeffe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering US soccer players in the UK & Europe. Previously he spent a decade at the Liverpool Echo covering news and features before an eight-year stint as the paper’s Everton correspondent; giving readers the inside track on Goodison Park, a remit he later reprised at The Athletic. He has also worked as a news and sport journalist for the BBC and hosts a podcast in his spare time.

PSG’s crucial Champions League game will define their season

  • Julien Laurens, CorrespondentDec 12, 2023, 04:00 AM ET

Paris Saint-Germain forward Randal Kolo Muani maybe went a little too far. “The game against Dortmund? Our lives are at stake,” he said after Saturday’s 2-1 win against Nantes. He certainly didn’t mean it literally, but the basic idea is clear: Borussia Dortmund vs. PSG is huge for the Parisians.Their final Champions League Group F fixture on Wednesday is the game that will define their season, which is saying something considering it’s the second week of December.PSG’s German opponents have already booked their place in the round of 16 but are not guaranteed to top the group. Meanwhile, PSG need a win to make sure they are through; if they do win away from home, they would finish first instead. A draw could be enough to advance to the knockout phase next February, but only if AC Milan win or draw in Newcastle United; defeat in Germany could still see PSG go through, but only if Newcastle vs. Milan ends in a draw. Another combination of results would see PSG suffer an ignominious drop into the Europa League.

EDITOR’S PICKS

“It is like a final,” added Kolo Muani, who has just celebrated his 25th birthday with a party in the French capital. There could be no better belated present for him and his teammates than a place in the next round. Despite the clear importance of Wednesday’s game and the pressure that comes with it, the camp is pretty calm and composed. On Saturday, the players clearly had their minds on Dortmund instead of focusing on Nantes, their opponents at the Parc des Princes. It was an inspiring performance and victory — Muani scored the winner seven minutes from time in a game PSG had largely dominated — and they probably celebrated his birthday more than they did the win over the Canaries.The only thing of note, perhaps, is Luis Campos’ consistent presence around the squad. The PSG sporting director did an interview before the Nantes game to remind everyone that his team “is not scared, and that it is an exciting game to play.” He was in the tunnel at half-time to congratulate the players for leading at the break, and he was there again after the victory. He is always hands-on when it comes to his role, but has been even more visible around the team these past few days.Wednesday’s game is massive for Campos as well, because it would be his failure to share if this team didn’t make it to the round of 16. PSG have done it every year since 2011-12, and missing out would make him the first sporting director of the club’s Qatar era to oversee such a embarrassment. He would not be able to explain his way out of it, either; he built this team in the summer, adding the likes of Kolo Muani, Manuel Ugarte, Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola at great expense. If they aren’t good enough to qualify, he would be to blame.Luis Enrique would also bear responsibility should the worst-case scenario come to pass. In a group that did not appear to be that tough for PSG when the draw was made — given the uneven domestic form of Newcastle, Dortmund and Milan this season — it would be seen as a disgrace if coach Luis Enrique didn’t get his team over this hurdle. There have been a lot of positives since he joined the club this past summer, and his team plays with a clear identity, but his tactics have been baffling at times. Take the 4-2-4 formation that failed at Newcastle, or keeping Goncalo Ramos on the bench until the 85th minute at home against the Magpies in the return fixture. Despite the pressure, the Spaniard is keeping cool; he’s not showing any signs of nervousness or tension to his players or his staff. The 53-year-old is experienced at the top level and is always confident in both his abilities and his team, regardless of the opposition. On Sunday morning, he was relaxed at the training session, laughing and joking with the players, switching to full preparation mode on Monday. On Sunday, Luis Enrique spoke to Lee Kang-In, who should replace Dembélé on the right wing against Dortmund. Dembélé’s suspension is a massive blow, as a lot of PSG’s build-up depends upon his partnership with Achraf Hakimi. A lot of the passing circuits go through him, making him their main creator. We saw it against Nantes, as PSG woke up when he came on with 25 minutes to go. Before that, the pace and rhythm of every PSG attack was a lot slower. Lee is a different type of player than the France international he’s replacing. He doesn’t have the same pace, but he can be a difference-maker with his dribbling precision and technical ability. Another reason Luis Enrique might be quite relaxed at the moment is because he knows he can count on Marquinhos and Warren Zaïre-Emery in midweek, as both successfully returned from injury on Saturday. The Brazilian defender played 60 good minutes, while the Paris-born prodigy came on for the last half-hour and looked as though he’d never been out of the team. Both of them will start in Germany, and PSG will be a better team for it. Like Luis Enrique said to his players, it is time for PSG to be a real team and take control of their destiny. It is all in Paris’ hands, and they simply can’t afford to buckle under the pressure on Wednesday like they have done in European campaigns of the past. Just as Kolo Muani claimed, their lives in the Champions League are at stake.

Newcastle v Milan in the Champions League is a huge game for both struggling teams

Newcastle v Milan in the Champions League is a huge game for both struggling teams

By Chris Waugh and James Horncastle Dec 12, 2023

The so-called “Group of Death” has certainly lived up to its moniker so far — and, for Newcastle United and AC Milan, there is one last opportunity to progress to the Champions League knockout stages by claiming victory at St James’ Park on Wednesday night.For both, the ramifications of qualification would be huge, although failure to advance may have even further-reaching consequences.Neither, however, have their fate in their own hands.Both must win to have any chance of reaching the last 16 and they are also relying on already-qualified Borussia Dortmund doing them a favour at home against Paris Saint-Germain. Milan require a Dortmund victory, while Newcastle merely need the German side, who will finish as Group F winners with a draw, to avoid defeat. For Newcastle, a point will secure third place and Europa League football in 2024, while Milan must triumph to remain in continental competition beyond Christmas.

Group F standings

POSITIONTEAMPLAYEDGOAL DIFFERENCEPOINTS
1Borussia Dortmund (Q)5310
2Paris Saint-Germain517
3Newcastle United505
4AC Milan5-45

With all Champions League eventualities still possible for both clubs, The Athletic’s Newcastle United correspondent Chris Waugh and Serie A writer James Horncastle outline how the two sides are shaping up heading into an enormously significant clash on Tyneside…

Why is this a big game for Newcastle?

Chris Waugh: The obvious answer is that, for just the second time in their history and for the first time since 2002-03, Newcastle have the opportunity to advance out of the Champions League group stages.In fact, qualification would mark Newcastle’s first journey into the knockout stages of Europe’s premier competition given there was a second pool stage when they progressed out of the first group 21 years ago.But, beyond that, the financial ramifications of going deeper into the tournament would be significant. Newcastle would receive an additional £10million to £15million ($12.6m to $18.9m) in revenue, as a minimum conservative estimate, and that will help slacken their financial fair play (FFP) limitations, potentially permitting Eddie Howe greater spending power in the January market and in subsequent windows. Quality players may also be more inclined to join a Newcastle side that progresses in the Champions League rather than one who are knocked out early.What’s more, following deflating back-to-back defeats against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, when Newcastle conceded a combined seven goals, this feels like a potentially season-defining fixture in a campaign that is close to teetering.

Newcastle’s recent defeats have been concerning (Peter Powell/AFP via Getty Images)

Progress and the positive momentum could reignite Newcastle’s Premier League top-four push. Lose and exit Europe entirely and the deflation could have the opposite effect.

Why is this a big game for Milan?

James Horncastle: Milan are seven-time winners of this competition. It’s what the club built its reputation on and while Serie A has been left behind financially by the Premier League, forcing a change of model, expectations were raised last season when Milan made it to the semi-finals for the first time in 16 years.

Backing it up was always going to be tough, particularly as they entered the draw in pot four after a fourth-place finish in Serie A, which would have been fifth had Juventus not been deducted 10 points.

If Milan’s project is to maintain momentum, it needs Champions League revenue. The club made €80m from the competition last year and Sandro Tonali’s record sale to Newcastle was helped by the exposure he received by going deep in the tournament.

Dropping into the Europa League would be humbling. Finishing bottom would be humiliating.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/5GtaUS9rX04ibZW45IBpJO?utm_source=generator

Why are Newcastle struggling of late?

Waugh: There’s quite a lot of recency bias in this question given Newcastle have recorded back-to-back home wins against Chelsea and Manchester United and were only denied a famous win in Paris due to a controversial stoppage-time penalty, but the manner of the latest successive defeats was alarming.

Add to that Newcastle’s worrying away form — they have won only twice on the road all season and have not triumphed away from St James’ Park in the Champions League — and the premise is not entirely invalid.

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Essentially, the root of Newcastle’s issues has been their absentee crisis. Their injury list has been so bloated — and has been exacerbated further by Tonali’s 10-month suspension, which rules the midfielder out of facing his former side — that Howe has regularly had 10 to 12 players unavailable in recent weeks. The same 10 outfield players have started the last five matches in the past 15 days and appear mentally and physically fatigued, though Howe has been reluctant to turn to his threadbare bench to lessen the workload.

Why are Milan struggling so much of late?

Horncastle: Milan won seven of their first eight games in the league and should have been in a commanding position in the Champions League. Unfortunately, back-to-back 0-0 results against Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund meant they obtained less than their 39 shots and 3.07 expected goals (xG) deserved from the opening couple of game weeks.

Since then, an injury crisis has mounted just as the fixture list has ratcheted up in difficulty. Milan’s defence has been ravaged. Fikayo Tomori is the only fit centre-half available and Theo Hernandez, the marauding full-back, has been forced to partner him in the middle. It has disarmed Milan’s uncontainable left-hand side, which has also been without game-changer and one-man tactic Rafael Leao.

The absence of Leao has been a big loss to Milan (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Silly red cards, the likes of which forced striker Olivier Giroud to finish the match in Genoa in goal, have also put stress on coach Stefano Pioli’s ability to rotate, a weakness of his at the best of times. The crisis got so bad that the debut of wonderkid Francesco Camarda was fast-tracked and, at 15, he became the youngest player ever to make an appearance in Serie A in the lucky win over Fiorentina.

Pioli is in his fifth season at Milan. Only Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini has been longer in his job in Serie A. The 58-year-old retains the club’s gratitude for delivering the Scudetto in 2022 and a Champions League semi-final last season, but there is concern an irreversible staleness is setting in. The club sold Tonali to completely overhaul the attack and avoid an anxious fourth-place finish. Earlier in the season, it looked to have worked. Alas, Milan are currently closer to 10th than top-of-the-table Inter.

What are the reasons for Newcastle’s injury issues?

Waugh: The increased volume of matches has been a key factor, even if Howe believes many of the injuries have been “freak” incidents.

Newcastle fought last season to qualify for the Champions League and have embraced the challenge, but, ironically, the additional high-intensity matches it brings have heightened the workload and compounded their injury problems.

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Their determination to end the club’s 54-year trophy drought, which has seen Newcastle progress to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals for the second season in a row, has bloated the fixture list further. It is not something the club are complaining about as they want to be competitive on all fronts, but it means Newcastle have had midweek and weekend matches in every gameweek since the start of September and will do so until Boxing Day.

While Tonali’s absence has placed greater strain on other players — the presence of a Champions League-quality midfielder on the training field who cannot be used has been galling for Howe — so has the unfortunate nature of Newcastle’s cup draws. Alongside their so-called “Group of Death” in the Champions League, Newcastle have faced Manchester City (home) and Manchester United (away) in the Carabao Cup, with a trip to Chelsea to come in that competition, and have a first Wear-Tyne derby since 2016 at the Stadium of Light to navigate in the FA Cup. There have been no “easy” fixtures and there has been no respite.

What are the reasons for Milan’s injury issues?

Horncastle: Other coaches in Serie A, notably Lazio’s Maurizio Sarri, have complained about fixture congestion and how players are being “sent to slaughter” by playing so many games. But even within this context, Milan’s crisis is extreme.

Pioli has not changed his staff and the squad is deeper than last season, which makes the crisis even more confounding. It has led to scrutiny of recruitment. Players like Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, for instance, have a track record of spending chunks of the season on the treatment table. Pioli also picked the same XI for the first month of the campaign to settle in the Chelsea duo and fellow recruit, Tijjani Reijnders.

Since then, the player’s pre-game activation, load management and his aforementioned rotation strategy have come in for flak. It has been weird to see backup goalkeepers pick up muscle injuries in training. Pioli has been forced to use a substitution in the first half of four games, notably against Lazio, Juventus and Napoli, either to deal with one of his players tweaking a muscle or a sending-off.

Unlike Howe, who has given teenagers Lewis Miley and Lewis Hall Champions League minutes, Pioli has been reluctant to lean more on his youth team in the league. Camarda aside, it’s a mystery why talented kids like Jan-Carlo Simic and Clinton Nsiala haven’t been looked at in Serie A to help out a casualty-hit defence.

How are Newcastle supporters feeling?

Waugh: It is difficult to accurately gauge the overall mood given Newcastle are a heap of contradictions right now.

On the evidence of the last two performances, some Newcastle fans are undoubtedly feeling trepidation ahead of this massive fixture. Yet both of those defeats came on the road and the reality is that at St James’, they are a completely different outfit, particularly in the Premier League, where they have won seven of their eight fixtures. In the Champions League, Newcastle supporters can also conjure positive memories of that historic 4-1 hammering of PSG in October, even if their most recent European outing on Tyneside was a subdued 1-0 loss to Dortmund.

With Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson returning off the bench at Spurs and others such as Sven Botman and Joe Willock having an outside chance of coming back imminently, Newcastle’s injury picture is gradually improving, which is a real boost.

Undoubtedly, Newcastle supporters, led by Wor Flags’ pre-match display, will ensure a special, unforgettable atmosphere at St James’ and that should lift and inspire their fatigued players. Even if qualification is not in their own hands, Newcastle fans are determined to ensure their team delivers at their end — and then hope it is enough.

How are Milan supporters feeling?

Horncastle: The team was whistled after the 1-0 defeat to Udinese at San Siro last month and the mood wasn’t much better when Dortmund beat them in their own backyard a fortnight ago. Paolo Maldini, the club legend scorned by his dismissal as an executive in the summer, has not helped by accusing owners RedBird Capital of showing “no real respect for Milan’s identity and history”.

Maldini’s interview came in the same week Camarda broke his record as Milan’s youngest-ever player and the loss to Dortmund. For someone who claims to care about the club, it was a curious time to put the boot in.

Ordinarily, one might expect the ultras to rally behind him, but Maldini’s relationship with the Curva Sud is complicated. He was booed in his last appearance as a player for the club in 2009 because of his criticism of them. Pointedly the Sud, at the time, identified Franco Baresi as Milan’s true captain. Nevertheless, this is a critical period of the season for Milan. They are practically out of the title race and almost out of the Champions League and it’s not even 2024.If things deteriorate further, a repeat of the scenes in La Spezia in May when the ultras publicly dressed down the players probably isn’t far away.(Top image: Getty Images)

The race for five places in next season’s Champions League

  • Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FCDec 12, 2023, 04:00 AM ET

Two leagues will be rewarded with extra places in next season’s Champions League as part of the revamp to expand it to a 36-team competition — but who is likely to benefit?Four additional clubs will qualify compared to the current format. And two of those places will go to the leagues which perform best across all three European competitions this season.With the group stages of the Champions League (UCL), Europa League (UEL) and Europa Conference League (UECL) drawing to a close this week, we’ll start to get a clear picture of which leagues could get the two places.

How does it work?

It’s about the best average coefficient of all teams taking part in Europe for each country. Each win is worth two coefficient points, a draw gets you one, and you get nothing for a defeat. There are also bonus points for getting to certain stages, which helps gives extra prominence to those teams who do well in the higher-profile competitions.

Champions League bonus points
4 – Group stage participation
5 – Round of 16
1 – QF, SF, final

Europa League bonus points
4 – Group winners
2 – Group runners-up
1 – Round of 16, QF, SF, final

Europa Conference League bonus points
2 – Group winners
1 – Group runners-up
1 – SF, final

The points gained by all clubs are added together, and that total score is divided by the number of clubs a country has in Europe. That gives the coefficient average.How much would Champions League exit hurt Milan?Nicky Bandini explains how much of a disappointment exiting the Champions League at the group stage would be for AC Milan.

So wins aren’t worth more in the Champions League?

No, the coefficient system is designed to assess the overall strength of leagues. Wins are the same in all competitions, otherwise it would be impossible for those leagues with few or no teams in the UCL group stage to move up the coefficient ranking.The bonus points serve two purposes. Firstly, to give weight to the strength of the competitions on a sliding scale, and second to provide points to those teams taking part in the UCL who might get few positive results.In fact, it could be argued that it’s better for leagues to have some teams drop down into the UEL for the knockout rounds. Bonus points might be lower in the UEL, but each two-legged tie has five points up for grabs (four for the result and one for progressing to the next round.) If a team stay in the UCL, they might not get past the round of 16 and have little chance of adding to the country’s coefficient through wins.

Won’t this just turn out to be extra places for two top leagues?

If we look back at the previous five seasons, England and Spain take seven of the 10 slots, with Italy and Germany one each. Only in 2021-22 did one of the countries with fewer than four teams in the Champions League (the Netherlands) finish in the top two of average co-efficient. So yes, history tells us that it’s highly likely two of the top leagues will have five places in next season’s Champions League.

2022-23: England and Italy
2021-22: England and the Netherlands
2020-21: England, Spain
2019-20: Spain, Germany
2018-19: England, Spain

Right, so who’s in contention this season?

Going into the final round of group-stage games, and taking into account bonus points for those clubs who have already booked places in the round of 16, this is the top 10.

1. Germany, 12.64
2. England, 11.75
3. Italy, 11.71
4. Spain, 11.31
5. Belgium, 9.8
6. Czechia, 9.25
7. France, 9.08
8. Turkey, 9.00
9. Netherlands, 8.00
10. Greece, 7.00

Realistically, the race for two extra places is going to be between the top four — Germany, England, Italy and Spain … the four leagues which already get four places in the competition.

What’s the state of play?

A league needs to keep as many teams as possible still active in the knockout rounds. By then, results are harder to come by as the fixtures become more difficult. The fewer teams in European competition, the less chance there is to compete for the top two. It’s even more important for England and Spain, who started with eight teams in Europe so each win is worth slightly less to the coefficient (as it gets divided by eight rather than seven.)

– What every teams needs to progress in UCL

1. GERMANY, 12.64

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig have already secured safe passage and bonus points for progressing in the UCL. Union Berlin, meanwhile, have to beat Real Madrid to stand even a chance of playing in the UEL, so the probability is Germany will lose a team here. Bayer Leverkusen are straight through to the round of 16 of the UEL, though SC Freiburg may have to play in the knockout playoff round (another name for the round of 32) if they don’t win their group. Eintracht Frankfurt will be in the knockout playoff round of the UECL.

Advanced to round of 16: 4
Advanced, stage TBC: 2
TBC: 1

The Bundesliga is well out in front and clear favourites to get one of the extra places. It’s guaranteed to have six of its seven clubs still in European competition next year, so it could be that the other three league could be battling for one spot.

2. ENGLAND, 11.75

Arsenal and Manchester City are both through as group winners in the UCL, but the Premier League‘s other two teams are in peril. Manchester United are sure to continue in Europe if they beat Bayern Munich, but could tumble out of Europe by finishing bottom of their group. Newcastle United, meanwhile, need a point at home to AC Milan to at least be in the UEL, but all options are open — including being knocked out. Brighton, Liverpool and West Ham United are all through in the UEL, though only Jurgen Klopp’s men are certain of avoiding the playoff round. In the UECL, Aston Villa are through and must avoid defeat away to Zrinjski Mostar to be sure of topping the group.

Advanced to round of 16: 3
Advanced, stage TBC: 3
TBC: 2

The Premier League might be in second place right now, but it’s by fractions of a point. Lose two teams and the chances of that extra UCL place will be dramatically reduced.

3. ITALY, 11.71

Internazionale and Lazio have booked their place in the UCL round of 16, while Napoli are guaranteed at least the Europa League. AC Milan will have to win away to Newcastle to continue in Europe.

AS Roma and Atalanta are both through in the UEL, though the former could face the playoff round.

Fiorentina are also through in the UECL and need a point away to Ferencváros to top the group.

Advanced to round of 16: 3
Advanced, stage TBC: 3
TBC: 1

Serie A could yet have all seven clubs through, which would come at the expense of a Premier League team. The game between Newcastle and AC Milan could be very important in the race for five places.

4. SPAIN, 11.31

Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad are all through in the UCL, but Sevilla must win at Lens to drop into the UEL. In the UEL, Real Betis could win the group or drop into the UECL but are sure of continuing, while Villarreal must win away to Stade Rennais to avoid the playoff round. sasuna failed to qualify for the Europa Conference League group stage.

Advanced to round of 16: 4
Advanced, stage TBC: 2
TBC: 1
Out: 1

Even though LaLiga has four teams through in the Champions League, armed with 16 points bonus points, Osasuna’s failure in qualifying has severely affected their hopes of making the top two. That said, they are going to have a guaranteed six clubs still in action in the New Year which means they cannot be ruled out.

So what’s important this week?

The direct league head to heads could prove crucial, especially Newcastle United vs. AC Milan and Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich. England could lose two teams to the benefit of Italy and Germany … or England could keep a full house of eight teams into 2024.Watch out for those bonus points too, as final league positions are going to be important. Winning a Europa League group gets two bonus points, plus an additional one for taking part of the round of 16, and it could make a big difference — especially as group runners-up must face a team that has dropped down from the Champions League in the UEL knockout playoff round. West Ham host Freiburg with top spot at stake, both are through but the Hammers need at least a draw to claim the extra bonus points.So, if one league manages to get several teams winning their UEL and UECL groups, it could create a crucial buffer.

Anything else?

Yes! The draw for the round of 16 of the UCL and the knockout playoff rounds of the UEL and UECL take place on Monday. The draw will no doubt throw up some head-to-head ties among the top four nations which will prove crucial, and the strength of opponents will also be important going forward.

Who gets the extra place?

If we assume the extra spots will go to one of the top leagues, it means fifth place will enter the Champions League and it will have eight (rather than seven) places in Europe. Other European berths drop down a place.If the Premier League gets it, the access will be:

Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Europa Conference League: Carabao Cup winners

If the cup winners finish in the top 6, the European places could drop to 7th and 8th in the table.As Germany, Italy and Spain only have one cup competition, seventh would enter the UECL. If a team wins the UEL but doesn’t qualify for the UCL domestically, that league could have six places in the UCL — the five places to the leagues plus the UEL titleholders as an additional.

Columbus Crew stay true to their identity to win 3rd MLS Cup

  • Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff WriterDec 9, 2023, 08:20 PM ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For Columbus Crew manager Wilfried Nancy, the most important thing going into Saturday’s MLS Cup was for the team to stick to its identity. If that were to happen, he believed, the rest would take care of itself.He was right.

Columbus recorded a convincing 2-1 victory against LAFC on Saturday night, delivering the club’s third MLS Cup and second since 2020.”That’s why we had the possibility and that’s why we won,” Nancy said. “I’m really proud of that as a coach. Yes, we can talk about that tactics and talk about a lot of things, but the performance that we had tonight was spot on.”As expected, the Crew were on the front foot to begin the game and after waves of consistent pressure, they were rewarded in the 30th minute.That’s when a touch from Diego Rossi in the top of the penalty area deflected off LAFC defender Diego Palacios‘ right shoulder area, then his outstretched hand and was called for a handball. The decision held up on video assisted review, after which Cucho Hernández calmly slotted the opening goal to the lower left side, away from the diving Maxime Crépeau.The already electric atmosphere inside Lower.com Field reached a fever pitch and had not fully subsided before the Crew doubled their lead four minutes later. A brilliant through ball from center back Malte Amundsen put Yaw Yeboah in on goal and he finished with confidence.It wasn’t just a win for the Crew, but an emphatic display of Nancy’s vision for long stretches against an LAFC side that was attempting to cement its status as the preeminent power in MLS.In their first year under Nancy, the former CF Montréal manager, the Crew led MLS with 67 goals and finished the regular season in third place in the Eastern Conference standings — 12 points back of Supporters’ Shield winner FC Cincinnati. The Crew reached the final after defeating Atlanta United, two games to one, in the first round, and road victories against Orlando City (2-0) and Cincinnati (3-2).Nancy is also the first Black coach to lead a team to an MLS Cup.”Obviously, I’m happy. So proud of that because there is a lot of work behind that,” Nancy said. “There is a lot of courage for being that, but I’m also not happy at the same time because this is not normal. Simple as that.”So, I’m proud to represent, yes, to be the only Black [coach], but I’m not happy with that. So, this is something that he has to change and I know that MLS is trying to do that, but this is not only in MLS, this is everywhere.”

One of the leagues original 10 teams, Columbus won its first MLS Cup in 2008, defeating the New York Red Bulls at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Its next Cup win came at home in 2020, however only 1,500 fans were allowed in the stadium due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.As a result, Saturday’s win at Lower.com Field — the team’s $314 million stadium that opened in 2021 — will be remembered as one of the most iconic days in Columbus’ storied soccer history. The club is just five years removed from a controversial attempt to relocate to Austin, Texas, which was staved off by the fan-driven “Save The Crew” campaign that ultimately led to the Haslam Sports Group taking ownership.Speaking in the annual state of the league address Friday, MLS commissioner Don Garber reflected on that dark time for Columbus.”Going through that process is not one that I would hope to ever have to go through again, but when I look at where we are today, we have a stadium that’s one of the best soccer stadiums in our league, if not the best small soccer stadium in the world,” Garber said.”We have a team that’s performed incredibly well. We have a bunch of fans who now have more to engage with and cheer for. We have more sponsors for the team than we have before.

“We have more political and municipal support than we’ve had before. We have an ownership commitment that is at the highest level. So, if we had to go through that again and end where we are today, we’d go through it again.”Crew fans haven’t completely forgiven Garber for their team’s near exit. The commissioner’s introduction during the trophy presentation ceremony drew a rousing round of boos.Under the new ownership group, the Crew set their single-season attendance record (22,111 fans per game), operated in the top half of the league in player salaries this season and were led by an MVP-caliber player in Cucho, who was acquired from English club Watford for a club-record fee of $10 million last summer. The Colombia forward was named the MLS Cup MVP.”It was an incredible feeling, you know?” Hernández said. “I cried like a baby when the final whistle blew. But now it’s all about enjoying the moment. Enjoying the moment for the rest of the week and weekend … and just enjoying it.”In July, Columbus transferred club legend Lucas Zelarayán to the Saudi Pro League and, just before the secondary transfer window closed, replaced him with Rossi, a former MLS golden boot award winner with LAFC.LAFC’s attempt to become the fourth team in league history to win back-to-back MLS Cups fell short.”Did Columbus deserve to win tonight? Yes, they did,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “They played a fantastic game. Do I think they’re better than us? No, I think they were better than us tonight and we made a couple of errors defensively that led to their two goals. And that’s pretty much it. And that’s how these games are decided.” After being soundly outplayed in the first half, LAFC was much better after halftime. LAFC cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 74th minute on a goal from Dénis Bouanga, but — unlike last year’s MLS Cup, when Gareth Bale rescued the game late in extra time — the equalizer never came.

Biggest changes in the USWNT’s games since hiring Emma Hayes

  • Joseph Lowery Dec 6, 2023, 01:15 PM

Things are changing for the U.S. women’s national team. With new manager Emma Hayes still coaching Chelsea until the end of the WSL season in England, things might not be changing quite as fast as some would like ahead of the 2024 Olympics. But make no mistake: they are changing. Hayes hasn’t officially begun coaching the USWNT. Still, although she wasn’t on the sideline yelling out instructions or making key substitutions for either of the team’s final games of 2023 — 3-0 and 2-1 friendly wins over China — her influence is starting to show itself within team.

When it came time to choose players for the USWNT’s December camp, Hayes and interim manager Twila Kilgore “picked this roster collaboratively,” Kilgore said in a news conference. Closer to the games themselves, the English coach flew from London to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to meet U.S. players and staff ahead of Saturday’s 3-0 win. Hayes is starting to make player decisions and put faces to names. Judging by the USWNT’s tactical approach in these friendlies against China, she’s calling some of the on-field shots, too, even from afar. Here’s what has changed for the USWNT with Hayes lurking in the shadows.

A clearer, more fluid approach than the USWNT’s World Cup style

Under previous coach Vlatko Andonovski, and even under Kilgore in the post-World Cup friendlies, the USWNT lacked attacking structure.Far too often, players didn’t know where to position themselves or where their teammates would be at any given moment. It sounds basic (and it is!), but without a clear structure, the USWNT struggled to work together to move the ball upfield and create chances. Attacks turned into individual U.S. players trying to charge their way through a defense rather than 11 U.S. players combining to play their way through a defense.You can get a sense of the lack of cohesion in this screenshot from the USWNT’s 0-0 draw with Portugal at the World Cup:

In their recent games against China, the USWNT had a clear, observable, and even fluid structure. Defensively, the U.S. used a 4-4-2 shape before shifting into a 3-2-5 in possession. Here’s a look at that attacking shape:

Just so we don’t miss anything, there are a few notable things here:

  • The U.S. having any attacking structure where players know where to be and where their teammates will be.
  • The U.S. using noticeably different shapes in possession and defensive phases.
  • The U.S. consistently possessing in a back three.

Sure, there have been flashes of structure, fluidity, and three-woman backlines from the USWNT in the past. But compared with, say, the World Cup, those three things are refreshing. Players seemed to have a solid grasp of their roles in each phase of the game, which gave them the freedom to interchange off the ball and combine while on it. Clarity, then, led to creativity for the United States.

There’s still plenty of damage to be undone in the attack from the last tournament cycle — one camp isn’t enough to fix that. But for a team that already has excellent defensive bones, even small gains in possession are hugely valuable.

Sophia Smith moved from the wing to striker

For two years now, Sophia Smith has been the best striker in the NWSL. With great off-ball movement, speed and the ability to create her own shot, she scores goals for fun at the top of the Portland Thorns’ attack. With the national team, though, Smith has almost exclusively been used on the wing, with Alex Morgan eating up minutes through the middle.That wasn’t the case in this window against China. Smith played 45 minutes in both games as the USWNT’s center-forward, leading the line, breaking in behind the opposing defense and scoring in the first match. Few players in the world make this classic goal scoring run better than Smith as she latched onto the end of Trinity Rodman‘s assist over the weekend.

Smith wasn’t especially efficient in front of goal as she started the first match. “I need to put away my chances… I have to put away my chances,” she repeated on the broadcast during halftime of Saturday’s game against China. But consistently finding dangerous opportunities in the box is the mark of an elite striker. Smith checks that box with a bright neon yellow highlighter.

With Morgan heading into the final stages of her career, now is the time for the U.S. to take full advantage of Smith’s ability to be an ever-threatening scorer in her best position.

Gomez not convinced Rodman is the player to build the USWNT around

Herculez Gomez says there are better candidates than Trinity Rodman for Emma Hayes to make the linchpin of her USWNT team.

Emily Fox thrives at… center-back?

Emily Fox has never been your standard, run-of-the-mill fullback. The 25-year-old doesn’t love getting up and down the field. She’s a solid athlete, but lacks the elite speed and one-on-one dribbling chops to overlap and cause real problems for opposing backlines. Instead, Fox thrives as a simple, effective ball progresser. She’s clean in possession and makes quick decisions, creating a stable foundation for her more advanced teammates.

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She was a key part of the North Carolina Courage‘s possession approach in 2023, moving the ball upfield as a fullback/central midfielder hybrid for coach Sean Nahas. Fox finished in the 98th percentile for progressive passes per 90 minutes and the 95th percentile for progressive carries per 90 among NWSL fullbacks, per FBref.com. Even before she was traded to the possession-heavy Courage, Fox put up well-above-average progression numbers for Racing Louisville.

In the USWNT’s latest games, Fox continued her trend of doing something different from the fullback spot.In Tuesday’s 2-1 win, she was tasked with getting up and down the right side. She didn’t have a huge impact on the game before coming off at halftime as a concussion substitution. That could well be because of the potential head injury, or it could be that Fox is more comfortable playing deeper downfield (or some combination of the two).In Saturday’s 3-0 win, though, she defended as a left-back and stayed deeper in possession as a left-sided center-back, looking much more comfortable along the way. Within the solid U.S. framework, Fox even reprised part of her club role by swapping with Lindsey Horan to move into midfield.

Without a ton of obvious center-back options demanding minutes next to Naomi Girma, and with the extra flexibility Fox (or Jenna Nighswonger, who played the same role) brings to the backline, expect to see more of her flexible positioning in the future.

19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw earns a bigger role

She’s only four appearances into her national team career, but Jaedyn Shaw looks ready to take the USWNT’s creative reins. During the most recent international break back in October, Shaw played 48 minutes across two games against Colombia. In this December window, the 19-year-old earned 131 minutes. Tasked with playing in the right half-space in the USWNT’s attack, Shaw found the back of the net on Tuesday and pulled so many of the strings in the final third.She used her off-ball movement to crash China’s box and find gaps in their defense. On the ball, Shaw turned her great vision and right foot into five key passes over the two games.Now, it’s difficult to tie Shaw’s specific involvement back to Hayes — there’s every possibility that Kilgore already had plans to ease Shaw into action at the national team level during these post-World Cup friendlies. Back in September, Shaw was called into camp but didn’t see the field. In the October camp, she made her debut. In the December camp, then, maybe the plan was always to push Shaw into a larger role.Or maybe not. Maybe Hayes pushed for Shaw to see more of the action. Regardless of where the motivation to expand Shaw’s responsibilities came from, it’s paying early dividends for the USWNT. The young playmaker was more involved and more impactful against China than any of her teammates vying for minutes in those attacking midfield and half-space roles.

With Shaw stepping up and debuts for Nighswonger, Olivia Moultrie and Korbin Albert, Hayes now has more data on players who could occupy key roles for her team at next summer’s Olympics and beyond. That was surely a goal for the new manager when she helped select this December roster, even from across the Atlantic.

USMNT’s Copa America hurdles; players to watch in MLS Cup

  • Luis Miguel Echegaray, ESPNDec 8, 2023, 12:48 PM ET

Welcome to Onside/Offside! Each week, Luis Miguel Echegaray discusses the latest from the soccer world, including standout performances, games you might have missed, what to keep an eye on in the coming days and of course, certain things that probably deserved extra love and criticism.This week, a personal and professional look at Unai Emery’s incredible work with Aston Villa, Lionel Scaloni’s uncertainty and why it could be a problem for Argentina in 2024, an MLS Cup to celebrate and much more!

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Copa America 2024: Intriguing matchups for USMNT and Mexico

Hosting Copa America in the U.S comes with a wonderful conundrum because even though the USMNT is the geographical host, the support for other nations is going to be intoxicating. I witnessed this sentiment at Copa America Centenario in 2016.Mexico, for example, is the most popular team in North America. Miami, the Latin American capital of the world, will have a heavy dose of South and Central American fans, while Lionel Messi has galvanized the community that goes beyond Argentina. So unless you’re Mexico in Texas or California, throw “home” advantage out the window.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

From a matchup perspective, I think Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay is the last opponent Gregg Berhalter’s side needed in its group, and La Celeste — second in World Cup qualifiers — are favorites to top it, but that will be America’s last game. So really, Panama is the USMNT’s most important hurdle to overcome in order to advance as Bolívia, with all due respect, will bow out.The biggest issue for me, however, lies in Group B. Mexico has the support and talent, and it’s definitely the favorite on paper, but it has not looked as good as we once remembered it. Ecuador‘s ongoing project with its tremendously dynamic team will be a problem, as will Venezuela, currently fourth in World Cup qualifiers. Then there’s Jamaica, which fought hard to get here; yes, it is least favored to get out of the group, but the talent, which includes Leon Bailey, Demarai Gray, Michail Antonio and Andre Blake, might not be as easy to deal with.

As for my Peru, don’t even get me started. Not only do we have to face Argentina, but bitter rival Chile is also in the group. If Canada makes it through, then the mountain becomes that much steeper. Never mind the fact that manager Juan Reynoso is on his way out after a disastrous start to World Cup qualifiers that have seen Peru score just one goal and get zero wins after six matches.

MLS Cup: a final that exemplifies the best of the league

The Columbus Crew are the original gangsters of MLS. Their former stadium was the first soccer-specific ground built by an MLS club, which set off a benchmark for others to follow. They are the representatives of Ohio soccer culture, which is a major component inside America’s soccer fandom. Columbus has always been seen as a “small market club” because it is not a New York or LA, but make no mistake about it, the Crew are a huge reason for the sport’s growth in the United States.Columbus is making its fourth MLS Cup appearance after winning it twice before (2008 and 2020) and just like its last title, the team is at home again, which makes the club favored to win on Saturday. This is a statistical advantage, not an opinion, as the only time the visiting team has come out victorious in a final hosted by the team with the better regular-season record was in 2021, when NYCFC defeated Portland Timbers on penalties. But here comes LAFC, the present-day kings of the league, looking to win back-to-back championships for the first time since its neighbors and local rivals LA Galaxy did it in 2011 and 2012. LAFC is a tremendous story, not even 10 years old and already looking like a dynasty in the making. If the West Coast club wins on Saturday, it would be an incredible achievement, especially as more and more teams continue to bring star power to their clubs. But LAFC (like Columbus) has a strong sense of identity and its supporters are the undoubted, proverbial fire in every game.On the pitch, it will also be a fun watch as the Crew love to have the ball, while LAFC loves to let you have it before hitting you in transition. Tremendous talent everywhere. In one Columbus corner you have Cucho Hernández, Diego Rossi (formerly at LAFC) and the man everyone loves in Darlington Nagbe, while L.A. possesses MLS’ goal-scoring machine in Dénis Bouanga, the Serie A, Champions League, Euro winner Giorgio Chiellini and of course, Carlos Vela — who is literally the face of the franchise. This could be his last ever game for LAFC as his contract runs out at the end of this month, with no talks of an extension upon the writing of the article.Nagbe reflects on Columbus Crew’s journey to MLS Cup finalColumbus Crew captain Darlington Nagbe speaks about what it means to reach the MLS Cup final.

Unai Emery’s quiet revolution at Aston Villa host league-leaders Arsenal

After Aston Villa’s magnificent, overwhelming victory against Man City on Wednesday, it’s fair to say that I haven’t quite calmed down yet, nor descended from the clouds. It is not an exaggeration to state that it was the best performance I have ever seen from my club in the Premier League. Unai Emery finally defeated Pep Guardiola, but it wasn’t just a win, it was a knockout punch as the home side outclassed City in almost every department.

Villa’s 22 shots was the most Pep Guardiola’s side has conceded in the league while the treble winners only managed two shots against Villa — the fewest ever against a Guardiola team from a run of 535 matches. The biggest favor Villa did to City that night was allowing it to stay 1-0.

Numbers aside, this journey under Emery is a renaissance for Villa fans. Villa, who were relegated in 2016, nearly faced the reality of liquidation and have never truly received the respect they often ache for, are a totally different club under the Basque manager.

As someone who started following this club upon immigrating to England from Peru in the early ’90s, helping me create a bridge to acclimatize to my new home, I can’t help but romanticize the whole thing. At the final whistle on Wednesday, I cried. It means that much to me and many other Villains who share my sentiment. This sport can bring out the cynic in all of us, but at the core of it all, it’s about passion and an emotion that can only happen inside a prosperous football community.

But that was Wednesday, and make no mistake about it, Emery has forgotten all about it. In fact, it might as well not exist because Arsenal are coming to town and that is the only thing that matters now. Arsenal, the leaders of the table — also managed by a Basque man obsessed with perfection and a will to learn — are a totally different animal. Given City’s recent struggles, they are a much harder test.

For one, the battle will be in the midfield, and this is the advantage Villa had over City on Wednesday. But Arsenal have Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to worry about. It’s been 25 years since Villa fans saw their club face-to-face and win against the Gunners (two wins in 2020 and 2021 with no fans inside stadiums during COVID) at Villa Park but if this season has taught us anything, it’s that anything is possible.

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Copa America: Argentina are favorites, but Scaloni’s future is worrying

When Argentina won Copa America in 2021, it was significant for many reasons. To begin with, it was the end of their 28-year drought without a major trophy. It was also Messi’s first ever major title with the senior national team, thus generating a new relationship and sense of trust and belief with national team fans, notably after losing two prior Copa America finals against Chile in 2015 and 2016.

Most importantly, however, it was also manager Lionel Scaloni’s first commemorative chapter since he took on the role of rebirthing La Albiceleste in 2018, a move that was questioned by many, including Diego Maradona. After coming third in the 2019 tournament, there was an even bigger call to fire Scaloni, but the federation stuck with him. Two years later, they were champions, and as we look ahead to next summer’s Copa America edition, Argentina will enter it as World Cup champions and the best team in the world.

Scaloni has been completely vindicated and once again, his team will arrive in the U.S next summer as the undoubted favorites. This could also have a poetic narrative as this might just be Messi’s final one. The group (Peru, Chile and Canada or Trinidad and Tobago) is relatively easy for them, and the bracket’s format points to the fact that — if everything goes to plan — they wouldn’t even have to face Brazil or Uruguay in the final, which consequently is in Miami — Messi’s home and a cultural haven for Argentinians in the U.S.

Scaloni says he’s still considering his future with Argentina ahead of the Copa America

Lionel Scaloni talks about his future as Argentina manager and looks ahead to the 2024 Copa America.

But at this point, Argentina doesn’t even know if Scaloni will be there. After last month’s win against Brazil in World Cup qualifiers, the 45-year-old manager added doubt in the postgame presser. “Argentina needs a coach who has all the energy possible and who is well,” he said. “I have a lot of things to think about during this time.”

Then, on Thursday night after the draw, he once again stated an air of uncertainty to Tyc Sports. “I am here because I am still the coach, but I’m still thinking about my decision. I said after the Brazil game that it is a moment to think and I am still in that instance. I am calmly thinking, how everything goes, whether to restart or what,” said Scaloni.

This has to be rectified sooner rather than later because the last thing Argentin want is to enter this competition with little time to prepare. Yes, they are a formidable force, but what’s made them so electric is twofold: the talent and Scaloni’s management. It’s obviously a monumental task that comes with so much pressure, that’s why Scaloni keeps referring to “energy,” because to be Argentina’s head coach means to deal with an avalanche of expectation as well as earning the trust of the greatest player the game has ever seen.

When it comes to sexism: Don’t give this any attention, just keep rising

I read an outstandingly good quote from Taylor Swift recently, as she commented on haters and those who have criticized her throughout the years. “There’s no point in actively trying to quote-unquote defeat your enemies,” said the music icon to Time magazine, as she was named 2023 Person of the Year. “Trash takes itself out every single time.”

This line should be echoed by all of us, including supporters of women’s football. I mention this because of the words from Joey Bartom, a controversial former player and manager who recently came out with one of the most misogynistic comments I’ve read in a while.

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Since then, he has doubled and tripled down, including an appearance on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” to defend his laughable point. “You have to be there on merit, not to fit this woke agenda that is going on in society,” he said, when discussing female pundits in men’s football and going as far as comparing them to him talking about “knitting.” “You don’t have to have played the game, a lot of managers haven’t, a lot of commentators haven’t. But they’ve earned the right with hard work over a prolonged period of time to get into that space.”

Barton was saying this as images of Alex Scott MBE (Champions League, WSL, FA Cup champion, World Cup runner-up and 140 appearances for England), Karen Carney (four World Cups, four Euros, third-most appearances for England) and Eniola Aluko (Serie A, WSL champion, former sporting director) appeared on the screen.

What makes this type of person so angry at seeing a woman in the men’s game? I’ll tell you the answer: it’s jealousy. It’s fear. It’s ignorance. And sadly, women in football will never stop fighting this battle. Barton represents millions of others who think like this, not because it has any merit, but because the merit lies in their anger, it justifies their agenda. It has nothing to do with “wokeness.”

I can only imagine how devastating it must be for women all over the globe reading and seeing comments such as Barton’s and having to fight 10 times harder than men for their quality to be recognized, never mind accepted. And I’m not even talking about the football industry anymore.

So in general, there are a few ways we all can react to Barton’s comments. One of them is anger; another is frustration. While understandable, it seems like nothing will change Barton’s mind, so in the end, I think the best strategy is self-preservation. Ignorance can’t be reversed unless the person committing the act is willing to change, and this is not the case here, so comments like Barton’s need to be combated with a collective desire to grow. Collective is the operative word here, and as the fight continues, remember the words of Taylor Swift: In the end, trash takes itself out.

Final word

Congrats to Lionel Messi for winning Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year, becoming the first male soccer player to win the award. I was lucky enough to cover his arrival to South Florida, which included a one-on-one with the man himself, and this isn’t hyperbole: The summer completely changed the cultural landscape of sports in America.

In fact, the shift of sporting attention in the country is fast gearing towards soccer and Messi’s role with Inter Miami and MLS plays the biggest factor. With competitions such as Copa America, Club World Cup and the World Cup in 2026, the train keeps moving and La Pulga acts as conductor.

Copa America 2024 fixtures and schedule: Dates, draw, bracket, kick-off times and final venue

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 10: Lionel Messi of Argentina lifts the trophy with teammates after winning the final of Copa America Brazil 2021 between Brazil and Argentina at Maracana Stadium on July 10, 2021 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)

By Ben BurrowsDec 8, 2023

Argentina will kick off the 2024 Copa America against one of Canada or Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday, June 20.

The holders — and 2022 World Cup winners — will open the tournament in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta against the winner of a qualifying play-off in March.

The draw for the tournament, which will take place between June 20 and July 14, took place on Thursday.

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Lionel Messi’s side will also meet Peru and Chile in Group A.

The United States face Uruguay alongside Panama and Bolivia while Mexico were drawn with Ecuador, Venezuela and Jamaica.

Nine-time winners Brazil will take on Colombia, Paraguay and one of Costa Rica or Honduras, who meet in the other qualifying play-off, in Group D.

What are the groups?

Group A: Argentina, Peru, Chile, Canada or Trinidad & Tobago
Group B: Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica
Group C: United States, Uruguay, Panama, Bolivia
Group D: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica or Honduras

What is the tournament format?

With the 16 teams split into four groups of four, the top two sides in each group will progress to the knockout stages, starting with the quarter-finals. Each group winner will face a runner-up.

The four winners of those games will advance to the semi-finals, and the winners of the two semi-finals will meet in the final at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday, July 14.

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Copa America fixtures

Group stage

June 20

  • Argentina vs Canada or Trinidad & Tobago (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta)

June 21

  • Peru vs Chile (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, AT&T Stadium, Arlington)

June 22

  • Ecuador vs Venezuela (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara)
  • Mexico vs Jamaica (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, NRG Stadium, Houston)

June 23

  • USA vs Bolivia (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, AT&T Stadium, Arlington)
  • Uruguay vs Panama (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami)

June 24

  • Colombia vs Paraguay (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, NRG Stadium, Houston)
  • Brazil vs Costa Rica or Honduras (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood)

June 25

  • Peru vs Canada or Trinidad & Tobago (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City)
  • Chile vs Argentina (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford)

June 26

  • Ecuador vs Jamaica (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas)
  • Venezuela vs Mexico (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood)

June 27

  • Panama vs USA (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta)
  • Uruguay vs Bolivia (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford)

June 28

  • Colombia vs Costa Rica or Honduras (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, State Farm Stadium, Glendale)
  • Paraguay vs Brazil (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas)

June 29

  • Argentina vs Peru (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami)
  • Canada or Trinidad & Tobago vs Chile (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Exploria Stadium, Orlando)

June 30

  • Mexico vs Ecuador (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, State Farm Stadium, Glendale)
  • Jamaica vs Venezuela (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Q2 Stadium, Austin)

July 1

  • USA vs Uruguay (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium)
  • Bolivia vs Panama (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, Exploria Stadium, Orlando)

July 2

  • Brazil vs Colombia (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara)
  • Costa Rica or Honduras vs Paraguay (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, Q2 Stadium, Austin)

Quarter-finals

July 4

  • Match 25 1A vs 2B (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, NRG Stadium, Houston)

July 5

  • Match 26 1B vs 2A (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, AT&T Stadium, Arlington)

July 6

  • Match 28 1D vs 2C (3pm PST, 5pm CST, 6pm EST, 10pm BST, State Farm Stadium, Glendale)
  • Match 27 1C vs 2D (6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST, 1am BST, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas)

Semi-finals

July 9

  • Match 29 W25 vs W26 (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford)

July 10

  • Match 30 W27 vs W28 (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte)

3rd place play-off

July 13

  • Match 31 L29 vs L30 (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte)

Final

July 14

  • Match 32 W29 vs W30 (5pm PST, 7pm CST, 8pm EST, 12am BST, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami)