USA

The excitement around the USMNT is warranted. The quality of our young core is evident in the roll call of clubs they play for: Barcelona, Juventus, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund among them.

But the expectations have to be tempered. These players are still developing, which is also evident in the roles they play for those teams. Gio Reyna started the highest percentage of league games with BVB at 67.6%, followed by Dest with Barça (60.5%) and then Pulisic with the Blues (47.4%) and McKennie with the Old Lady (47.4%). 

A 24-year-old defender for USL League One club Union Omaha was indicted on federal fraud charges on Wednesday. Abdul Osumanu, 24, is accused of being involved in various internet romance scams, one of nine men charged of defrauding at least 200 victims of at least $2.5 million.

Fresh off his contributions in the UEFA Champions League final, Christian Pulisic is expected to start Thursday when the United States men's national team faces Honduras in a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal in Denver.

Pulisic came on as a substitute in the 66th minute of Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester City in Porto, Portugal. In a prime scoring chance, Pulisic had a shot that went just wide of the left post with an opportunity to give Chelsea a two-goal lead.

It was only a friendly between the USMNT and Switzerland at Kybunpark in St. Gallen on Sunday evening, but the immediate implications were huge for both nations.

Schalke endured a historically bad season in 2020-21, but the rot actually began far earlier. There were clear signs about midway through the previous campaign. The Royal Blues' last win of 2019-20 was a 2-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach on January 17, 2020. Manager David Wagner was then unable to prevent Schalke ending the season on a winless streak of 16 games. 

Sporting Kansas City scored three goals within 14 minutes in the second half to earn a 3-2 victory over the visiting Houston Dynamo.

The game was played in front of 20,086 frenzied fans in the first full-capacity match since March 2020.

In the 50th minute and trailing 1-0, Gadi Kinda drew a foul to set up a free kick. Gianluca Busio drove the ball from about 28 yards out, over the wall of defenders and off the side post into the goal.

GIANLUCA BUSIO!

Christian Pulisic became the first American male to appear in a Champions League Final. Not long later, he became the first USMNT player to lift the big-eared trophy after participating in the final, helping Chelsea over the line in a 1-0 defeat of Manchester City in a tight, edgy affair on Saturday at Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal. 

An American is guaranteed to win the men’s UEFA Champions League for the first time ever on Saturday, but they won’t do it as starters. Both Christian Pulisic and Zack Steffen were left on the bench to start the match between Chelsea and Manchester City, which kicks off at 3 p.m. ET from Portugal.

Is Pulisic Starting Champions League Final?

No, he’s on the bench.