Nearly four years after ignominiously bowing out of 2018 World Cup qualifying, the USMNT is ready to begin qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The last four years have felt like a lifetime on and off the pitch in the U.S., but Sept. 2 marks the start of an opportunity to rewrite the script, a chance to cast off the miserable low of 2017 and show the country how much the team has improved.
Or not — we’ll see.
Soccer is a never-ending sport. While club seasons around the globe typically dominate the fall-to-spring time, summer is for major international tournaments. This summer we’ve witnessed four such major tournaments around the world, all of which have thrilled in their own ways.
Concacaf World Cup qualifying begins for the USMNT on Sept. 2 against El Salvador. After the match in El Salvador, the U.S. hosts Canada on Sept. 5 and then travels to Honduras to play on Sept. 8. The last game of this first WCQ window is the one that has me concerned.
I predict the USMNT to get seven points from these first three qualifying games in the form of victories against El Salvador and Canada, but a hard-fought draw in Honduras. Why is that? The Olímpico Metropolitano, and really anywhere in Honduras, is a fortress.
In December 2018, after more than a year without a coach, U.S. Soccer tapped Gregg Berhalter to lead the USMNT through the 2022 World Cup. Before he even took the field for his first training session, many American fans were unhappy with the hire. Now nearly three years later, is it OK to like what Berhalter is doing with the USMNT?
Apenas terminó la final olímpica entre Brasil y España vino la ceremonia de entrega de las medallas, incluyendo el merecido y esperado bronce para la selección de México.
Gianni Infantino, presidente de la FIFA, fue el encargado de pasar la bandeja con las preseas, pero por cuestiones de protocolo Covid-19, fueron los propios jugadores quienes se colgaron los metales entre sí.
Dani Alves es el futbolista con más títulos en la historia, pero celebra cada uno de ellos como si fuera el primero.
La muestra es el oro que consiguió junto a Brasil, luego de derrotar a España en la final de Tokio 2020. Alves, apenas terminó el encuentro, celebró llorando de rodillas y envuelto en la bandera de su país.
¡Un título más para @DaniAlvesD2 !
No one in the world has won more men’s soccer trophies than Dani Alves. You’d never know it from how he celebrated his first Olympic gold medal on Saturday.
The 38-year-old Alves helped his country to a repeat gold at the Olympics as the Seleção beat Spain 2-1 in extra time. When the final whistle blew, Alves broke down in tears of joy.
¡Un título más para @DaniAlvesD2 !
Earlier this year, I swore off FIFA Ultimate Team. I became sick with the meta of FUT and the feeling of being cheated by the game. But just when I thought I was out, they’re pulling me right back in.
On Friday, Clint Dempsey dropped this little video, announcing he’ll be a part of the FUT Heroes lineup available in FIFA 22 at launch. I will 100 percent buy a game just to play as a fisherman who moonlights as the greatest male soccer player Texas has ever produced.
Concacaf, the ragtag group of 41 soccer-playing nations and territories in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, can now definitively claim it is the best confederation in FIFA. With three medals from the 2020 Olympics, Concacaf is taking home more hardware than any other region.
No fue el oro que se soñaba, pero el Tri vuelve de su aventura en Tokio con una medalla de bronce en el equipaje.
El Tri consiguió la medalla luego de derrotar por 3-1 a Japón, la selección anfitriona, en un triunfo que además sirvió de doble revancha: se vengó de la caída 1-2 en la fase de grupos y también de aquella vez en que los nipones le arrebataron la de bronce, en las Olimpíadas de... México 1968. Yep, paradójico, el fin de un ciclo planetario, llámenlo como quieran.