Atlanta United has announced that after cooperative negotiations between the club and manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino concerning a contract extension beyond the 2018 season, the 55-year-old Argentine coach has elected to decline the offer and move on following the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
After missing four matches due to an ankle injury caused by teammate Bruno Valdez during training, 18-year-old Club America phenom Diego Lainez made his full return on Saturday by starting his first Liga MX match since Aug. 23. Matt Miazga’s BFF certainly looked back to his best in America’s 3-0 win over Tijuana, going the full 90 minutes and scoring a golazo in the 59th minute.
A pair of former Pachuca teammates are having themselves a ball in the Netherlands right now.
Chucky Lozano had a breakout season with PSV Eindhoven a year ago, scoring 17 goals in the Eredivisie. He welcomed compatriot Érick Gutiérrez to the team in August and now the two El Tri players are becoming terrifyingly prolific.
Against FC Emmen on Saturday, the Chucky and Guti were at it again, scoring back-to-back goals for the third time this season.
For Mexico, how things have played out in the past week of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship has been nothing short of a disaster.
Storms clouds seemed to loom for the team right from the start in its opening Group A match against the U.S. No one really expected the Mexicans to beat the Americans, but they were certainly supposed to give them a game. They couldn’t do that.
After failing to make the grade at Atletico Madrid four years ago and following that up with three years of diminishing returns with Benfica — culminating in a return of only eight goals in 43 appearances last season — Raúl Jiménez’s loan move to Wolverhampton back in June had all the stink of today’s bewildering transfer market.
It appeared to be nothing more than super agent Jorge Mendes using his clout to wheel and deal the 27-year-old in a way that lined his own pockets while allowing Benfica to finally cut financial ties with the $11 million flop.
The USMNT’s first competitive match after more than 600 days will be played in Minnesota on June 18. The 2019 Gold Cup schedule, venues and dates were announced Tuesday and the U.S. is going to be setting up in the Midwest for the 15th edition of Concacaf’s championship tournament.
Since losing to Trinidad and Tobago to be knocked out of the 2018 World Cup one year ago Wednesday, the USMNT has played some meaningless friendlies with a bunch of young kids and an interim coach.
As was detailed in a recent piece by Kevin Baxter in the Los Angeles Times, Mexico’s senior side is in the midst of a massive transition after the 2018 World Cup squad featured nine players who were at least 30 years of age.
Efrain Alvarez is no stranger to this space. Earlier this year we called him the most exciting MLS prospect ever. The 16-year-old Los Angeles native has scored some absolute worldies playing for LA Galaxy II in the USL. Alvarez is now scoring golazos for the Mexico U-17 team.
In the 65th minute of tonight’s “friendly” between the USMNT and Mexico in Nashville, U.S. defender Matt Miazga triggered six minutes of absolute bedlam after finally getting the better of 18-year-old Mexican phenom Diego Lainez. The diminutive (5 ft 5.5 in) Club America winger was probably the highlight of an otherwise tame first half.
He absolutely diced U.S. captain Wil Trapp and feasted on him at one point. It was frightening.
36' ¡Dieeeeego Lainez volvió locos a todos!
The USMNT plays host to Mexico tonight at Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the 68th meeting between the CONCACAF rivals. Mexico leads the all-time series with a record of 34W-18L-15D, and while victory is always of the utmost importance in this historic matchup, there’s no getting around the fact that this is an encounter between two very young sides that are casting their first covetous glances towards the 2022 World Cup cycle.