If you’re a fan of New York City FC you’ve had a rough past week trying to avoid being made fun. First, NYCFC held a “home” game in front of 1,000s of opposing fans. Now an embarrassing and flat out awful NYCFC championship banner reveal has all of Major League Soccer laughing at the club again.
A handful of times during the season, there are results that can only cause one reaction among neutral fans: laughter. Such matches are rare because they usually involve a larger club losing in embarrassing fashion. Arsenal's 5-0 loss to Manchester City in August certainly falls in this category, as does Manchester United's 5-0 defeat to Liverpool and 4-1 loss against Watford.
New York City FC played a home game in the Concacaf Champions League on Tuesday in front of over 15,000 fans. Too bad most fans were there for the visiting Guatemalan team and not New York.
NYCFC defeated Comunicaciones 3-1 in a solid performance, however the fan situation was a brutal reminder that Major League Soccer is not yet where it needs to be. Take a look at the crowd’s reaction when the visitors equalized in the 60th minute.
Eleven months ago, the wealthiest and most successful powers in European football broke away from their domestic leagues to form what was known as the European Super League.
The league's motto was: "The best clubs. The best players. Every week." This meant no more away trips to Burnley for Manchester City or midweek Copa del Rey fixtures in obscure provincial towns for Barcelona.
Every game would be under the lights at the Etihad or Camp Nou featuring the biggest names in the world.
No matter the sport, pregame press conferences are pretty much all the same. How has training gone this week, what about that result last week, who do you have to watch for on the other team, will that injured player be healthy, blah blah blah ad nauseum. Most of the time, it’s banal shit, only put up with by journalists who require it for their jobs and superfans who devour every bit of information about their team.
The decision by FIFA on Feb. 28, 2022, to suspend Russia from international competition — a move that could see the national team excluded from the 2022 FIFA World Cup — breaks with a tradition of inaction by soccer’s world governing body over the ethical failings of member states.
EA Sports is following FIFA and UEFA’s lead in supporting Ukraine while also punishing Russia. The governing soccer bodies announced bans on the Russian national team and clubs earlier in the week. EA Sports has announced its plans to remove the national team and clubs from FIFA 22.
The arrival of Jesse Marsch in the Premier League as Leeds United manager marks the third instance of an American guiding a soccer franchise in Britain's Major Top League (The BMTL). He'll need all his dudes on board if he wants to make the playoffs, but there's probably a Brazilian available in the draft if they tank so it's all good.
Hope Solo, one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the game, is known almost as well for her exploits on the pitch as her voice off it. This week, her voice will have a new platform via a Hope Solo podcast, which launches Wednesday, March 2, with what promises to be a must-listen first episode featuring Carli Lloyd.
“Hope Solo Speaks” is an original SiriusXM podcast available every Wednesday on the SXM App, Stitcher, Pandora, Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms. It will also air on SiriusXM FC on satellite radio. You can check out a trailer below.
At this point, you get the feeling it'll be a cold day in hell when Mexico takes to the pitch without Memo Ochoa in goal, whose appearances in the latest window of qualifying brought him to a grand total of 125 caps for El Tri — just five behind legendary keeper Jorge Campos.