On Sunday night, sporting power couple Zach and Julie Ertz were both in action — Zach with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game and Julie with the USWNT in a friendly against Denmark. With the NFL game kicking off at 6:40 p.m. ET and the women’s match beginning at 7:30, the two went about their business without knowing what was transpiring across the country.
Mexico’s pre-World Cup exhibitions will include at least three matches in the country El Tri helped keep out of the World Cup, highlighted by the Mexico vs Iceland friendly in Santa Clara, California, in March. Coach Juan Carlos Osorio will test his team against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Croatia this spring, with all three to be played in the United States.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Mexico on Jan. 31, three days after playing the United States. The USA match is in Carson, California, while the Mexico match will be in San Antonio.
Former Chapecoense goalkeeper Jakson Follmann, one of six survivors of the LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 disaster, took part in a friendly benefit match between the “Amigos do Tite” (Brazil’s national team manager) and “Amigos do Carille” (the manager of Brazilian club Corinthians) last week.
Former USMNT player and current Fox Soccer commentator Stuart Holden will host the Kick In For Houston celebrity soccer match on Saturday to raise money for Hurricane Harvey relief funds through Dynamo Charities. The match will be at 6 p.m. (central) at the Houston Dynamo’s BBVA Compass Stadium.
Sam Kerr’s 2017 was already the stuff of legend, but that legend just grew following a brace against China on Wednesday. Kerr has now scored in five straight games for Australia, equaling a Matildas record set by Sarah Walsh.
Anthony Martial did some bad, bad things to the Germany defense on Tuesday in Cologne. Alexandre Lacazette scored two goals. But, because this was still Germany, the home side scored late to earn a 2-2 draw in a friendly between two World Cup favorites.
Both teams are looking to build a little cohesion in the buildup to the 2018 World Cup and while much of the match was played with a relaxed demeanor, France will be disappointed to have given up the lead with a 93rd-minute equalizer.
Oh sweet baby Jesus, won’t you please just make this 2017 USMNT horror show stop? Can’t we just be done with it until, say, 2019 or 2020?
At halftime in Portugal vs. U.S., it’s been a tale of two decidedly different things, although both have to do with players that pundits around the nation plugged into their “GUARANTEED 2022 World Cup Starting XI” article.
Argentina showed it can do goals without Lionel Messi on Tuesday in Russia. That defense though could use some work after Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi destroyed the rearguard of La Albiceleste, Javier Mascherano in particular.
Argentina took a two-goal lead in the opening 36 minutes in a friendly against Nigeria, but Iwobi scored twice to spearhead a 4-2 victory for the Super Eagles at Krasnodar Stadium. His second goal absolutely eviscerated Mascherano as the Arsenal attacker nutmegged the Barcelona man on his way to the final goal of the match.
Radamel Falcao is back to his brilliant best for both club and country, and he’ll surely lead the line for Colombia in Russia. Accordingly, Los Cafeteros could very well match or better their 2014 run to the quarterfinals — the country’s best-ever World Cup finish — which Falcao missed because of a knee injury.
We know — as evidenced by their march through CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and a solid showing at the 2017 Confederations Cup — that this Mexico side is capable of making a splash at next summer’s World Cup, but just what should we expect from the world’s 16th-ranked side? Based on the evidence of their November friendlies on European soil, a lot.
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