Opinion

What a meeting we had in the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday. Portuguese giant Benfica, a two-time winner of the contest, against the Dutch behemoth PSV, winner in 1988. 

How would PSV navigate a trip to the formidable Estádio da Luz in Lisbon? Would Mario Götze orchestrate a vital away goal? Or would Nicolás Otamendi inspire the all-important clean sheet?! My brain whirled and reeled with all sorts of prognostications.

With the Premier League kicking off this past weekend, soccer is almost back in full form around the world. As some top clubs had unreal losses, others shocked us with a win. There were numerous winners and losers from the first week of action back in the Premier League. 

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So good to have fans back in #PL grounds pic.twitter.com/yfnWG1nuVk

When it comes to attack-minded players, the USMNT has never been more exciting. Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson and Konrad de la Fuente are all footballers that bring you to your feet when in possession around goal, but they all share two common traits: (1) they’re not strikers and (2) they’re young.

These are important points because now we’re going to move on to talking about USMNT strikers who, for the most part, are all also fledglings.

The Premier League is almost upon us as we get ready for another great season full of soccer. After all of the transfers and signings throughout the league the landscape of the Premier League might look a bit different. Here are my five bold predictions for the upcoming 2021/22 Premier League season. 

With the USWNT’s Olympic campaign in the rear-view mirror there’s one topic that was overlooked. Catarina Macario is one of the most exciting young prospects for the USWNT, yet she only saw the field for seven minutes during the Olympics. Thanks, Vlatko.

Macario is a versatile player who can play in the midfield or as forward. Born in São Luís, the 21-year-old had the choice to represent either the USWNT or Brazil. She received her U.S. citizenship on Oct. 8, 2020, and was cleared by FIFA to play for the USWNT in January.

Nearly four years after ignominiously bowing out of 2018 World Cup qualifying, the USMNT is ready to begin qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The last four years have felt like a lifetime on and off the pitch in the U.S., but Sept. 2 marks the start of an opportunity to rewrite the script, a chance to cast off the miserable low of 2017 and show the country how much the team has improved.

Or not — we’ll see. 

Concacaf World Cup qualifying begins for the USMNT on Sept. 2 against El Salvador. After the match in El Salvador, the U.S. hosts Canada on Sept. 5 and then travels to Honduras to play on Sept. 8. The last game of this first WCQ window is the one that has me concerned.

I predict the USMNT to get seven points from these first three qualifying games in the form of victories against El Salvador and Canada, but a hard-fought draw in Honduras. Why is that? The Olímpico Metropolitano, and really anywhere in Honduras, is a fortress.

In December 2018, after more than a year without a coach, U.S. Soccer tapped Gregg Berhalter to lead the USMNT through the 2022 World Cup. Before he even took the field for his first training session, many American fans were unhappy with the hire. Now nearly three years later, is it OK to like what Berhalter is doing with the USMNT?

I’m pretty used to getting hate mail these days. When you discuss human rights in relation to soccer, people get pretty upset and are not afraid to send anonymous emails spewing hatred toward me, which ironically proves my point more often than not. 

I’ve never gotten as much hate mail as I have this week when I reported on Carli Lloyd refusing to join her teammates in kneeling to protest the ongoing racial inequalities in the U.S. and around the world.