USMNT

Still awake? The USMNT and Honduras did battle in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals for a grueling 90 minutes on Thursday with the U.S. claiming a 1-0 victory. The game featured at least five Honduras players being taken out on a stretcher (they magically healed and were quick to get back on the field). The fact that four Concacaf stretcher girls produced the most noise from the crowd is a testament to the overall performance.

The excitement around the USMNT is warranted. The quality of our young core is evident in the roll call of clubs they play for: Barcelona, Juventus, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund among them.

But the expectations have to be tempered. These players are still developing, which is also evident in the roles they play for those teams. Gio Reyna started the highest percentage of league games with BVB at 67.6%, followed by Dest with Barça (60.5%) and then Pulisic with the Blues (47.4%) and McKennie with the Old Lady (47.4%). 

Fresh off his contributions in the UEFA Champions League final, Christian Pulisic is expected to start Thursday when the United States men's national team faces Honduras in a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal in Denver.

Pulisic came on as a substitute in the 66th minute of Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester City in Porto, Portugal. In a prime scoring chance, Pulisic had a shot that went just wide of the left post with an opportunity to give Chelsea a two-goal lead.

It was only a friendly between the USMNT and Switzerland at Kybunpark in St. Gallen on Sunday evening, but the immediate implications were huge for both nations.

Sporting Kansas City scored three goals within 14 minutes in the second half to earn a 3-2 victory over the visiting Houston Dynamo.

The game was played in front of 20,086 frenzied fans in the first full-capacity match since March 2020.

In the 50th minute and trailing 1-0, Gadi Kinda drew a foul to set up a free kick. Gianluca Busio drove the ball from about 28 yards out, over the wall of defenders and off the side post into the goal.

GIANLUCA BUSIO!

A Clint Dempsey Nations League crossover is on the cards for viewers. The on-air talent team for the Concacaf Nations League dropped and has a plethora of familiar faces and former USMNT members.

CBS Sports Sets Concacaf Men’s Nations League Finals Announcer Lineup, Featuring Former USMNT Legendshttps://t.co/kDKJoF50VU pic.twitter.com/HrZHmiKYGx

On Monday Gregg Berhalter announced the 23 players that will represent the USMNT in Denver at the CONCACAF Nations League finals. The list comprised of four players from Major League Soccer and the other 19 scattered across Europe.

Here's the full roster.

USMNT Nations League Roster

Goalkeepers:

Zack Steffen (Manchester City)

Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge)

David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders:

John Brooks (Wolfsburg)

Tim Ream (Fulham)

Matt Miazga (Anderlecht)

Juventus claimed the 2020-21 Coppa Italia 2-1 with a commanding second-half display against Atalanta at the Mapei Stadium on Wednesday night. Dejan Kulusevski put Juve in front after receiving the ball from Weston McKennie, but Ruslan Malinovskiy answered for La Dea — seeking its first major title since the 1963 Coppa — setting the stage for Federico Chiesa’s excellent second-half winner.

4,300 fans were allowed into the stadium in northern Italy, amounting to the country’s largest attendance since the pandemic began. 

Has an American player won the Champions League? Yes. (Come May 29, 2021.)

It hadn’t happened before (although Ali Krieger, Gina Lewandowski and Alex Morgan have won the UWCL), but with Christian Pulisic’s Chelsea playing Zack Steffen’s Manchester City in the 2020-21 Champions League Final, the answer to that question is now a foregone conclusion.

There will obviously be some hotshots among us who’ll question the contributions of the USMNT stars. Steffen is Ederson’s understudy and only started City’s final group match against Marseille, keeping a clean sheet.