Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not play in the MLS All-Star Game last week. As a consequence, Major League Soccer suspended its biggest star for the LA Galaxy’s 2-1 loss to the lowly Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
Of course, Zlatan could not stay quiet about this suspension. Speaking with reporters on Thursday, the hulking Swede said “no comment” while also making quite a comment.
For the price of $5 per month or $50 per year, ESPN+ was already a no-brainer for those who watch MLS, the USL, the UEFA Nations League and lower league English football. However, the broadcast package has significantly upped its offerings with this bit of news: ESPN+ will now stream 340 Italian Serie A matches over the course of the season as part of an exclusive, multi-year agreement in the United States.
Penalty kick shootouts are a part of soccer that people love to hate. Rightfully so, most believe that a series of pressure-filled spot kicks to settle a game after 120 minutes of deadlocked, hard-fought play is both cruel and unusual. The drama of a penalty kick shootout is undeniable no matter the circumstance. However, tensions reached a mind-boggling level during a playoff between two Southern California high schools in February of 2012.
There was something vaguely familiar about yesterday’s Orlando Pride vs. Sky Blue match up: a handball clearance off the line in crunch time, a red card, a penalty, a penalty save. All right, it’s not exactly a World Cup knockout game and Carli Lloyd didn’t know much about the goal-saving move (it seems), but one can’t help but think of a certain Uruguayan striker by the name of Luis Suarez after seeing this.
Carli Lloyd's red card pic.twitter.com/iOnZwEiY0d
The Colorado Rapids experienced a season-high crowd of 17,837 for yesterday’s visit of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s LA Galaxy, but the big Swede wasn’t there. Ibra was serving a one-game suspension after electing to skip the MLS All-Star Game in Atlanta, and we now know what the 36-year-old has been doing with his time off.
Bastian Schweinsteiger scored the seventh goal of his MLS career last night (his fourth of the 2018 season), and it was undoubtedly the best strike of his Chicago Fire tenure. Chicago was trailing 1-0 in the 48th minute after Damir Kreilach had given Real Salt Lake the advantage, but Schweinsteiger quieted the 19,817 inside Rio Tinto Stadium with this sensational long-range bomb.
Many in the U.S. would suggest 22-year-old American midfielder Lynden Gooch should leave Sunderland, a club for which he’s appeared in the Premier League, Championship and, as of Saturday, League One, all in a three-year span. In terms of the California native’s development, they might be right. But the Lynden Gooch goal vs Charlton Athletic on Saturday showed why the Black Cats would prefer to keep him, even if the play started out poorly for Gooch.
At 18 years of age, Timothy Weah is making the most of his opportunities with Paris Saint-Germain early in the 2018-19 season. After a playing well in the International Champions Cup with a goal and an assist in three matches, the Tim Weah goal vs Monaco on Saturday was the American’s first in a competitive match for PSG.
It’s been nearly 10 months since Bruce Arena resigned in disgrace as USMNT coach after failing to guide the Americans to the World Cup for the first time since 1986. The U.S. still hasn’t named a replacement.
All-star games should be about having fun, lackadaisical defense and offensive firepower. At least the MLS All-Star Game got one of those right on a record-breaking Wednesday night in Atlanta.
ESPN gave starting MLS All-Star goalkeeper Brad Guzan a mic and earpiece, allowing him to speak with the TV commentators in the middle of the match against Juventus.
It was stupid, gimmicky, dumb — and we absolutely loved it.
We weren’t the only ones who loved it.