USA

Ulysses Llanez scored seven times in 11 appearances for the USMNT U-20 squad. The 18-year-old forward looks like he might be just as prolific for the senior national team.

In his senior USMNT debut, Llanez was a constant threat playing on the wing and scored the opening goal in a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in a friendly on Saturday in Carson, California. Llanez became the 54th American to score in his international debut, doing so not far from where he grew up in Lynwood, California. 

Despite having been torched for six goals on Tuesday playing a high line, Panama wanted to maintain its defensive style against the USWNT on Friday night. The Americans attacked it early and often and cruised to a dominating 8-0 win despite never really looking like they broke a sweat in Concacaf Olympic qualifying in Houston. 

U.S. Soccer needs to do something to spice up its post-January camp friendlies, lest it continue to embarrass itself with miniscule USMNT attendance.

According to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times, a paltry 6,500 tickets had been sold for the USMNT’s friendly against Costa Rica on Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park about 24 hours before kickoff for Gregg Berhalter’s first match of 2020.

Jill Ellis will make an appearance at her old stomping grounds on Saturday, May 16, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Memorial Stadium as the 2020 commencement speaker. 

Ellis was the USWNT head coach for five years when she won two FIFA Women’s World Cups, two FIFA World Coach of the Year honors and coached 132 USWNT games, which is the most of any coach. She also has the most wins in U.S. soccer history and is the only person to win consecutive Women’s World Cups.

The USWNT and Panama will play under Friday night lights in Houston in attempts to qualify for the Olympics. The USWNT is riding a 24-game winning streak and has scored two or more goals in 21 of those games. It will look to continue its hot streak when it faces Panama to continue Group A play on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET at BBVA Stadium in Houston. The match can be viewed on Fox Sports Plus and TUDN XTRA 4, as well as streamed on FoxSports.com with an FS1-level login. 

Michelle Akers began her career at Shorecrest High School outside of Seattle where she was a three-time All-American. It wasn’t until she attended the University of Central Florida when her career took off, where she became a four-time All-American and all-time leading goal scorer in UCF history. In 1988-89 Akers was named UCF’s Athlete of the Year and became the first woman to receive the Hermann Trophy.

This past summer, USWNT superstar Carli Lloyd went viral when she showed off her kicking skills at a Philadelphia Eagles practice. Lloyd hit a perfect field goal and rumors flew around that she would be joining the NFL in the near future.

Alex Morgan is pregnant, expecting a child in April. Her No. 13 jersey is doing just fine without her. 

Lynn Williams, wearing the lucky No. 13 jersey, had a goal and an assist to help the USWNT eventually beat a tough Haiti 4-0 in the opener of the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship on Tuesday in rainy Houston. 

The sporting world lost one of its most important figures on Sunday as Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others passed after a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

The tragedy is one where almost everyone will remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they received the text, saw the tweet or read the news.

According to a press release from FOX Sports, the network has landed an exclusive multi-year English-language rights deal with CONCACAF for coverage of the 2021 and 2023 Gold Cups as well as men’s and women’s Olympic qualifiers and the CONCACAF Champions League.