Something’s happening in Los Angeles. After losing to FC Dallas on May 30, the LA Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last seven MLS matches, including yesterday’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia at Talen Energy Stadium. A lot of that play is down to the goodness of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who now has nine goals and an assist in his last six league starts.
Wil Trapp doesn’t score often. In fact, what you’re about to see from the 25-year-old USMNT and Columbus Crew defensive midfielder is his first goal of the season and only the second of his six-year professional career. When you factor in the circumstances, it’s one of the best goals of 2018.
Wayne Rooney earned his first start for DC United in Major League Soccer on Saturday in Atlanta. Then Josef Martinez showed him a thing or two about how to score in this country, setting the record for most MLS hat tricks in an absurdly small number of games.
Is it soccer, or is it football? It is a question that has destroyed friendships, but one that needs an ultimate answer. So, what is the difference between soccer and football?
The answer is one that heavily depends on where you live. Certain parts of the world would regard soccer and football as the same thing, but for others, it is two different things entirely.
Emerson Hyndman left Texas at the age of 15 to join the Fulham youth academy in 2011, but the 22-year-old has yet to really break through with a first team in Britain, having also appeared for Rangers and his current club Bournemouth. But this Hyndman goal vs Levante in a preseason friendly makes a great case for the American to be included in the upcoming Premier League season.
The Chicago Fire defeated Louisville City 4-0 in the U.S. Open Cup yesterday, and Bastian Schweinsteiger delivered an assist that was reminiscent of his charging forth at the 2006 World Cup. Have some, Costa Rica.
Here’s Schweinsteiger dictating play in the final third before playing the easy ball. Would Germany have benefitted from convincing Schweinsteiger to come out of international retirement to play in Russia? No, but that’s a pretty good shit take to get the people riled up.
In her post-game interview on July 7 after playing former club Sky Blue, Chicago Red Stars forward Sam Kerr did not want to talk about her hat-trick or the satisfaction of clinching three points on the road. Rather, Kerr used the mic in front of her to say this: “I wish things were better here [at Sky Blue]. I’m just going to say the girls deserve better and I’m just going to leave it at that. These girls are great girls. They give everything of themselves for this club and this league and they just deserve better.
Both born in 1998, France’s Kylian Mbappé and the U.S.’ Christian Pulisic are football superstars who, if both continue being great, will be of yet another generation that redefines the beautiful game. The question is, who’s the better 19-year-old?
The 2018 Tournament of Nations is set to get under way on July 26. The competition consists of a series of friendly games between four of the world’s top women’s national teams. Like last summer, this year’s edition will feature the national teams of Australia (ranked 8th by FIFA), Brazil (7th), Japan (6th) and the hosts, the United States (1st).
Yesterday, USWNT coach Jill Ellis released her preliminary list of 25 players for the tournament.
If you say it now, you say it without a tone of mockery and without the ability to harvest likes through shit posting: The USMNT is in contention for the World Cup.
The road to Qatar begins in September with six high profile friendlies over the course of 74 days. It shouldn’t be difficult to get excited about tests against Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, England and Italy, but if you’re still having trouble buying into the new cycle, U.S. Soccer is here to help with a beautifully produced series profiling America’s new generation.