Jordan Pefok’s recent form to start 2024 deserves recognition and an international call-up in March if he remains consistent.
The 26-year-old provided an assist in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday marking his third goal contribution in his last four Bundesliga games.
GLADBACH TAKE THE LEAD OVER BAYERN AT THE ALLIANZ pic.twitter.com/hEdS4HWckF
Drama in the U.S. Soccer sphere wouldn’t be complete without former player and pundit Alexi Lalas chiming in to give his opinion. Lalas has responded to USWNT captain Lindsey Horan’s quote about American soccer fans not being smart.
Horan’s chief complaint with American soccer fans was when they only listen to what the U.S. pundits and commentators say and accept that as the truth.
Christian Pulisic couldn’t help but laugh and make a face when his fellow AC Milan and USMNT teammate Yunus Musah guessed that Landon Donovan was Pulisic’s soccer hero.
The humorous moment happened during a “Teammates” video with Soccer.com where the two players quizzed each other to see how well they know one another.
Pulisic Donovan soccer hero moment
LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/n8AyAPV6Pm
United States men’s national team talent Gio Reyna has been linked to several clubs across Europe as he seeks playing time away from Borussia Dortmund. There were many reports on where he could go but, in the end, a Gio Reyna Nottingham Forest loan is the outcome.
Reyna will be loaned to Forest until the end of the 2023-24 season, however the Premier League club won’t be given the option to permanently buy. Instead, the 21-year-old has signed a new contract with Dortmund that runs through 2026.
Gio Reyna Nottingham Forest loan
Nottingham Forest nearly secured a big point at home against Arsenal however a costly Matt Turner mistake at his near post saw the Gunners win 2-1 on Tuesday.
The latest Matt Turner mistake featured the United States men’s national team goalkeeper conceding a goal between his legs. Turner’s errors are cause for concern among the USMNT faithful.
In the 65th minute with the score tied 0-0 Gabriel Jesus was in on Forest’s goal but at a tight angle. What should have been a standard save instead turned into disaster for Turner as it went right through the wickets.
If there’s one NWSL team name we weren’t the biggest fans of it was “OL Reign.” That won’t be an issue anymore as an OL Reign rebrand will see the club revert to their roots with a name change to Seattle Reign FC and a revamped crest.
OL Reign rebrand
The restoration has begun, Seattle. #ReignReturns pic.twitter.com/TtuOeAq39i
One unwritten rule of soccer that doesn’t really exist in other sports is the art of players not celebrating if they score a goal against a team they formerly played on.
Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood took that unwritten rule to heart on Boxing Day when netted a hat trick against his former club, Newcastle.
The New Zealand forward was the hero in Forest’s massive 3-1 victory but hardly celebrated as he followed the unwritten rule of not celebrating after scoring against a former team.
Chris Wood not celebrating vs. Newcastle
The United States men’s national team scored a total of 47 goals in the 2023 calendar year, and I’ve gone through all of them to find the top 10. It wasn’t easy picking the best USMNT goals of 2023, but the list has been made.
Several different factors can go into what makes a goal great including the circumstances/importance of the game. For this list the context and opponents don’t matter, we’re simply judging how nice of a goal it was.
The quality of the assist is also factored in.
Let’s watch some goals.
FIFA announced the finalists for the Puskás Award, and the goals are nothing short of amazing.
It all comes down to this.
On Thursday, Dec. 14, FIFA officially announced the players chosen to stand on the nomination podium for the lead-up of their annual Puskás Award, given to the player with the best goal of the year.
Julio Enciso (Brighton), Nuno Santos (Sporting CP) and Guilherme Madruga (Botafogo) will be in contention for the award during FIFA’s The Best ceremony held on January 15, 2024 in London.
The anticipation for Copa América 2024 continues to grow especially with the recent reveal of the group stage. In the months leading up to the tournament The18 will be doing power rankings and list our picks for the best 2024 Copa América teams.