WTF

While play in the National Women’s Soccer League is some of the best in the world (I’d argue it’s the best league top to bottom), we have to be honest and admit one thing is clearly holding the NWSL back: officiating. The NWSL has far too many mistakes by its referees, made all the worse by the fact there is no VAR (for now).

Gotham FC was the victim of a particularly horrible piece of officiating against Angel City on Sunday, as if the New York/New Jersey club needed any more bad luck this season. 

Already the ugliest World Cup on every conceivable grounds, it seems like Puma has elected to pay homage to that fact with a horrendous new collection of away kits for its stable of competitors in Qatar — Switzerland, Uruguay, Senegal, Serbia, Ghana and Morocco.   

I feel bad for Switzerland. Here they are, qualifying for major tournament after major tournament with a population the size of Virginia, doing things like eliminating France at Euro 2020, and Puma does something like this to them. It's completely uncalled for. 

It's always a Brazilian, isn't it? 

On Sunday, with Spurs cruising to a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at City Ground, Tottenham's Richarlison had a little fun at the expense of the 30,000-strong crowd and drew a stern rebuke from the opposing team's manager for expressing himself out on the pitch. This is basically a week in the life of Neymar.

BENGALURU - India's soccer fraternity breathed a sigh of relief as FIFA lifted the suspension imposed on it after 11 days, but the decision came too late for Gokulam Kerala FC whose hopes of playing at the AFC Women's Club Championship were shattered.

FIFA suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Aug. 15 for undue third-party influence leading to Gokulam Kerala being banned from the club championship — a pilot tournament before the launch of the AFC Women's Champions League in 2024.

On Monday, Ellen White announced her retirement from football. The decision was somewhat surprising from the 33-year-old Manchester City striker who had just won the European championship with England. At least, it was surprising until she detailed to BBC a harrowing experience with a punctured lung suffered during acupuncture treatment last year. 

No country has been distancing itself from middle school putdowns as effectively as Turkey this summer.

Back in June, the United Nations agreed to officially change the country's name from Turkey to its Turkish name of Türkiye. While obviously not a big deal inside the country, NPR's Peter Kenyon reported that the move was a rebrand "to dissociate the country's name from the bird that traditionally appears on American dining tables at Thanksgiving and from the slang definition of a turkey as something that doesn't work or is foolish."

History has been made in USL League One. Just 26 seconds into their match against North Carolina FC, Union Omaha goalkeeper Kevin Piedrahita scored off a punt from his own box.

Hey, uh... #SCTop10?