England will continue to take a knee during the European Championship and ignore any "adverse reaction" to taking part in the anti-racism gesture, manager Gareth Southgate said on Saturday.
Boos could be heard from sections of the crowd at the Riverside Stadium when players took the knee before England's friendly win over Austria on Wednesday.
It’s easy to forget given the pathetic showing that followed, but the U.S. men’s national team entered the 2006 World Cup as one of the top-ranked teams in the world. The USMNT reached a No. 4 FIFA ranking in April 2006, though that fell slightly to No. 5 by the time the World Cup rolled around in Germany.
To this day, the No. 4 ranking remains the highest the USMNT has ever reached. After the 2006 World Cup, which included two defeats and a draw, the U.S. plummeted to No. 31 and has been stuck around No. 20 (plus or minus 10) in the decade-and-a-half since.
South American players should be given the chance to opt out of playing the Copa América this month, the World Leagues Forum (WLF) said in an open letter to FIFA and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) on Saturday.
The WLF, an organisation that represents more than 40 professional leagues and their clubs, said the abrupt decision to move the Copa América to Brazil after Argentina pulled out due to a surge in COVID-19 cases "directly affect(s) leagues, their member clubs and their players."
A year late and thousands of fans short, Euro 2020 is finally here, and we couldn’t have asked for a more intriguing match to kick off the competition. After a year of uncertainty, the opening match is just as unpredictable as the 16 months that preceded it. Any Italy vs Turkey preview or prediction is mere speculation, as the Euro 2020’s first match is sure to enthrall.
Neymar had a pretty good game in World Cup qualifying on Friday night, leading Brazil to a 2-0 win over Ecuador with a goal and an assist. But watching that Neymar penalty vs Ecuador, I found myself feeling like a crotchety old man, yelling at the TV for a youngster doing something stupid.
Brazil has a perfect 15 points from five matches to top CONMEBOL’s World Cup qualifying table. Neymar is a big reason why, with four goals to go with three assists. He added to both tallies on Friday and now only trails Pelé by eight as the top scorer in Seleção history.
Soccer coaches are faced with countless unenviable problems every day: How to go about training, how to set the team up for matches, how to meld personalities into a single unit. But one problem every coach would love to have is what Vlatko Andonovski is facing ahead of this summer’s Olympics: How to cut some of the best players in the world.
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%).
With no due respect to the Concacaf Nations League, meaningful international soccer returns from a Covid-induced hiatus with Euro 2020, slated for June 11 to July 11. Hosted in 11 cities across Europe, the European Championship will mark the first major international tournament since the Covid-19 pandemic struck the planet. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Euro 2020 in the U.S., from TV to streaming.
England coach Gareth Southgate said some fans do not understand the message behind players taking a knee before matches after the gesture was booed ahead of Wednesday's 1-0 friendly win over Austria.
Around 7,000 fans were at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium for the Euro 2020 warm-up and jeers could be heard from sections of the crowd before they were drowned out by applause from other supporters.
Up until France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final of the 2018 World Cup, Les Bleus were criticized for playing with the sort of pragmatic control that wins you titles but few admirers.
Half of the front four (Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi) were employed in yeoman’s work, while the left flank of Lucas Hernandez, N'Golo Kanté and Matuidi was there to destroy any fleeting moments of opposition joy.