One of the greatest aspects of soccer is the ability for anyone to play anywhere, at any time — all you need is a ball and love for the game. There is but one piece of mandatory protection in official matches. So why do soccer players wear shin guards and nothing else, and are they effective?
If the EFL Championship last year was a volcanic explosion, then this year is the spreading and settling of the lava flows.
No team this year will approach the 97 points earned by Norwich or the 91-point total of Watford last year. In fact, Brentford's 87-point, third-place finish from a year ago could be enough to win the league this year.
After a 2020 that was, in many ways, a lost year for international soccer, the U.S. women’s national team went into 2021 with high hopes. The year ended with feelings of missed opportunities and the need for a rethink moving forward less than 20 months away from the next Women’s World Cup.
One year ago, Daryl Dike was just another young American striker showing promise in MLS. Then a surprise last-minute loan ended Dike's off-season and sent him across the pond to EFL Championship side Barnsley.
Dike took to the English second tier as a Minnesota ice-fisherman takes to a frozen lake.
Against all odds, Bodø/Glimt was just seconds away from a second consecutive Norwegian league title. Up 2-1 against SK Brann in the dying moments of injury time, Glimt just had to defend a desperation corner and they were league champions.
There would be no celebrations on that December day though, as an injury equalizer conceded against Brann prevented Glimt from sealing the Eliteserien championship on home turf.
Wow, what a year — so much so that it's almost impossible to really know where 2020 ended and when 2022 begins! The best way to get beyond this simultaneous feeling of being stuck in the past and hurtling violently towards the future is to stop and take stock of things with an awards gala unlike any other. You're on the guest list.
The debate over who should be the USMNT's starting striker will continue into 2022 despite Ricardo Pepi's recent heroics in front of goal. The 18-year-old was quiet on Saturday night in the national team's 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina (a match The18's David Moore likened to "cruel and unusual punishment"), and Gregg Berhalter will be closely monitoring the FC Dallas striker's competition abroad.
The 10th annual NWSL Draft was held on Saturday evening, and with the No. 1 overall pick, expansion side San Diego Wave FC selected Stanford defender Naomi Girma, who was U.S. Soccer's 2020 Young Female Player of the Year.
Girma joins a San Diego backline anchored by USWNT veteran Abby Dahlkemper and former Stanford teammate Tegan McGrady. The 21-year-old can also play in midfield, where she may be needed after the club selected a forward, German international Marleen Schimmer out of Grand Canyon University, with its ninth pick in the first round.
Barcelona’s women’s team continued its endless path of destruction on Saturday with a 4-0 defeat of Rayo Vallecano. Barcelona Femení hit a landmark number during the victory with the team’s 100th goal of the season after only 20 games. The Barcelona women goals fall like rain an overcast summer day in Oklahoma.
Jana Fernández scored the century goal in the 15th minute with a well-placed headed effort to give Barcelona a 1-0 lead.
The USMNT Goal of the Year 2021 was announced on Wednesday with the fans voting correctly and picking Sergiño Dest as the winner.
Sergino Dest’s BANGER against Costa Rica was voted best @USMNT goal of 2021