CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying grew in legend with another improbable incident during Thursday’s match between Ecuador and Chile.
With Ecuador holding a 3-0 advantage over Chile at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa in Quito, Ecuardorian international Enner Valencia, who plays his club football for Everton in the Premier League, allegedly faked an injury to evade police capture in the 82nd minute.
Throughout the tenure of Jurgen Klinsmann as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, American soccer fans have watched the team take steps forward, as they did by advancing out of the group of death at the 2014 World Cup, only to also watch them take steps back, as they did by losing in the semifinals of the 2015 Gold Cup.
The positive atmosphere surrounding Clint Dempsey’s return to light training on September 14th has been dashed following the devastating Seattle Sounders’ announcement that the 33-year-old forward will not return in 2016.
Sam Allardyce’s managerial record with the England National Team stands at a perfect 100 percent, and it may well end that way. A series of discussions with undercover investigative reporters from the English newspaper The Telegraph posing as Far East businessmen has shaken Allardyce’s position to the core. It remains to be seen whether the Football Association, England’s governing body, deem Allardyce’s role as untenable.
For thirty years now Canada have been searching for their elusive treasure. The 1986 World Cup in Mexico was the last time they'd qualified for a World Cup finals, finishing a glorious 24th out of 24 participants.
Their hopes of advancing to the 2014 tournament in Brazil were dashed before the final Hexagonal round, a calamitous 8-1 defeat to Honduras leaving the Canucks hurting.
Carlos Ruiz played his final match for Guatemala on Tuesday night, the 36-year-old striker hitting St. Vincent and the Grenadines for five goals in Los Chapines 9-3 victory. Unfortunately for Ruiz and Guatemala, it still wasn't enough as they were eliminated from 2018 World Cup contention, resulting in Ruiz's international retirement.
For the first time in about ten years, it must finally be relaxing to be a fan of the Brazilian national team. At the 2005 Confederations Cup, Brazil merrily captured the title with a squad containing the assurances of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Lucio and the phenomenal talents of Adriano and Robinho. That was the end of the fun.
Two goals from Jozy Altidore, one from Sacha Kljestan and another from Paul Arriola lifted the United States to a 4-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida. The United States entered the match having not mathematically guaranteed their spot in the ‘Hex’, although elimination would’ve required a failure of momentous proportions.
However, the USA were brilliant on the night — particularly in the second half. Trinidad and Tobago almost kept the match even throughout the first, but Kljestan opened the scoring in the 44th minute.
Mexico ended the group stage of World Cup qualifying undeafeated but disappointed after a listless 0-0 outing against Hondiras in Estadio Azteca.
Honduras did the thing pretty much everybody expected them to do and parked the bus basically from the beginning. Even firing on all cylinders, Mexico might have had trouble beating this defense.
As it turned out, though, Mexico weren't firing on all cylinders, and the crowd let manager Juan Carlos Osorio know they didn't like what they were seeing.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has dropped the biggest hint yet as to where he believes the 2026 World Cup should take place. Following the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar, the venue for the 2026 version of the competition is to be decided in 2020.
Originally, the process was due to be completed in May of 2017, but FIFA experienced some minor setbacks that you might’ve heard about.