Kansas legend and former USMNT center back Matt Besler announced his retirement on Wednesday. Besler made a club-record 348 appearances for Sporting KC, but we’ll always remember him for one night in Manaus. And one Instagram post, but we’ll get to that later.
Besler recorded 47 caps for the USMNT, including four starts at the 2014 World Cup. He made his retirement plans official with a tweet on Wednesday morning.
The biggest quadrennial men’s soccer game in America is on Friday. Chances are, you or someone you know has no idea what’s going on. That’s fine. We’re here to explain USA vs Mexico, to either help you explain what’s going on to your filthy casual friends or so you don’t look like the dummy to your buddies on Friday night.
Historically, Columbus, Ohio, has been the premier home fortress for the USMNT, with the Americans winning four of five international matches against Mexico at the home of the Columbus Crew.
All four of these victories have come in the last two decades and all by a 2-0 scoreline, helping to cement the slogan "Dos a Cero" and signaling a new chapter in the history of the once-lopsided rivalry.
Carli Lloyd’s playing career is over. Lloyd’s Gotham FC fell to Mal Pugh and the Chicago Red Stars in the 2021 NWSL quarterfinals, marking the start of a new phase in Lloyd’s life. We thought we’d look back to the Carli Lloyd first college goal, which you know was an absolute banger.
The United States and Mexico are preparing for a massive World Cup qualifying game on Nov. 12 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The rivalry between North America’s two best national teams always produces entertainment. Some of the best USA vs Mexico goals have been scored in the last 20 years.
The soccer rivalry between Mexico and the United States is one of the fiercest and most entertaining in the world. As a USMNT supporter, I consider myself lucky to call Mexico a neighbor. If Mexico didn’t play in Concacaf, the region would be incredibly dull.
All soccer fans in North America look forward to when El Tri and the Stars and Stripes meet, whether it’s a friendly, Gold Cup match or World Cup qualifier. The atmosphere at these games is one of the best in the world, but sometimes supporters get a little out of control.
As the world’s game, soccer is an unending cycle that serves to provide its fans daily entertainment. Between club play, international play and whatever FIFA is dreaming up next (intergalactic play?), the football is officially going on forever. But the easiest answer to how many games do soccer players play in a season is 38.
"What is that white spray?" many fans wondered while watching the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Millions watched as referees used cans of aerosol foam to mark off 10 yards of space for free kicks, forcing defending players to stay behind the newly formed white line.
The spray disappeared from the turf within minutes, leading many to call it "vanishing spray."
Since its invention more than 20 years ago, the foaming serum is now ubiquitous across major soccer leagues. But how did vanishing spray come to be?
Mohamed Salah, the greatest African goal scorer in the history of the Premier League, is now a part of the curriculum for primary and secondary school children in Egypt.
Qualifying for the World Cup from Concacaf is hard, the narrative goes. Away trips are brutal experiences and every point is hard earned, we’re told. And yet, a quick glance at social media over the last month or two since the USMNT began World Cup qualifying paints a different picture, one that suggests U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter is a stinking pile of flaming diapers for failing to win every single game in qualifying. It had us thinking about USMNT World Cup qualifying history, and how past teams have fared compared to this one.