Defending

United States men’s national team defender Chris Richards had a heart-in-mouth moment on Wednesday when he was shown the first red card of his career. Thankfully for the 23-year-old the red card was immediately rescinded.

During Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea the American defender — who plays a defensive midfielder role for Palace — took one for the team and committed a foul to halt a counterattack.

In the 73rd minute Noni Madueke had successfully dribbled past Richards and the USMNT player tried to pull on the Chelsea forward’s shirt to slow him down. 

DORTMUND - Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1 at Group F winners Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday to secure second place and a spot in the Champions League knockout stage in their final group match.

Both sides squandered a bagful of golden chances in a surprisingly goalless first half.

The hosts had the early chances but PSG gradually found spaces and threatened with Lee Kang-in in the 16th minute and Kylian Mbappé's effort which was cleared by Niklas Süle at the last moment a little later.

Niklas Süle clearance vs PSG

Former Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has decided to retire from professional football, the 39-year-old announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

Chiellini, who played for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Los Angeles FC this season, retires after losing the MLS Cup final 2-1 to Columbus Crew on Saturday.

Chiellini retires

BIRMINGHAM — Aston Villa overran Manchester City with a fully-deserved 1-0 win on Wednesday thanks to a deflected shot from Leon Bailey, leaving the reigning Premier League champions in an unfamiliar fourth position and six points off the top.

Unai Emery's Villa, enjoying their best season for years, oozed with confidence and dominated the game throughout, leap-frogging City to third in the table.

Imagine telling U.S. Soccer fans that the USMNT have a player consistently starting for a team in Europe’s top five leagues, that team is in the top five of their league and the player is putting up solid performances.

That player would be called up in a heartbeat and the U.S. Soccer social media accounts should be talking about him nonstop. That isn’t the case however, and that’s because the player in question is John Brooks.

Lionel Messi did it again Saturday night with a spectacular goal vs. Nashville SC in the Leagues Cup final as Inter Miami won 10-9 on penalty kicks after drawing 1-1 after 90 minutes.

United States men’s national team fans could only watch on in horror as our beautiful defensive prince Walker Zimmerman was torn to shreds along with the rest of the Nashville defense in the 23rd minute.

Up until that point Nashville had nullified the Messi effect. The Argentine had touched the ball only a handful of times and had no impact on the game yet.

LONDON — West Ham United have agreed a deal in principle with Premier League rivals Manchester United for England defender Harry Maguire, media reported on Wednesday.

Sky Sports television and the BBC said the deal was worth around $38 million and personal terms were not expected to be a problem.

Maguire West Ham transfer

West Ham have reached an agreement in principle with Manchester United for Harry Maguire on £30m fee ⚒️

The USWNT vs. Netherlands World Cup group stage match on Wednesday night was a fascinating midfield battle that epitomized the old cliché of it being "a game of two halves."

In the opening 45, the Dutch diced the Americans apart with a precision so masterful that it resembled ease. In reality, it's very difficult to turn the USWNT's finely tuned press against themselves, but the Netherlands were a Clockwork Oranje with clever movement, one-touch play and numerical superiority.

NEW YORK - United States defender Naomi Girma completes her meteoric rise from national team debutant to the Women's World Cup stage next month and many are predicting she will be a key player for the four-times champions for many years.

The 23-year-old center back first played for the senior U.S. team last year and quickly settled in to earn a place in Vlatko Andonovski's World Cup squad.