Scotland

Goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas made a penalty and then saved one moments later to send Rangers past AS Roma at the Al Kass International Cup, a U-17 club competition growing in prestige every year, on Friday in Doha, Qatar. 

The teams were tied 1-1 through regulation, sending the match immediately to a shootout. Tied 3-3 after the first five spot kicks, both teams traded goals in the first five rounds of sudden death, including both goalkeepers converting on the 10th attempt (both teams had been reduced to 10 men through the course of the match). 

Timothy Weah notched his third goal in five appearances for Celtic on Sunday after coming on as a late substitute against St. Johnstone and turning the game on its head. The 18-year-old American has only played a total of 142 minutes for the Scottish giants, but, on average, it’s taking him only 47 minutes per goal. The teenager has probably forced himself into Brendan Rodgers’ starting 11 after today’s display.

Tim Weah, the 18-year-old American, wasn’t getting much playing time at PSG. This was no surprise, with the likes of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar ahead of him in the pecking order.

So Weah went on loan to Celtic earlier this month in search of more playing time.

That playing time has arrived and it didn’t take long for Weah to show new manager Brendan Rodgers what he can do. 

There's been a lot of news surrounding American players abroad in Europe lately.

It’s hard to get too excited about Scottish football these days. Sure, Rangers are back giving some sort of challenge to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, but neither side has done anything interesting in Europe in recent years and the national team still can’t qualify for a major tournament (though at least it got promoted from UEFA Nations League C). In a perfect encapsulation of Scottish football these days is a five-second clip from the Old Firm Derby highlights on Saturday.

The Scotland women’s national team gave the U.S. all it could handle on Tuesday at St Mirren Park, and although there was warm applause for Alex Morgan and an audible intake of breath amongst the 3,790 in attendance during the USWNT’s best passages of play, the Scots will have left their home supporters looking forward to next summer’s World Cup with keen anticipation. 

The U.S. just finished one helluva 2018. But it’s all about getting ready for 2019.

The USWNT concluded an unbeaten year with a 1-0 victory over Scotland on Tuesday in Paisley, Scotland. And a familiar face was responsible for the goal yet again for the No. 1-ranked team in the world.

Alex Morgan scored for the 18th time in 2018 to propel the U.S. to a 10th straight win and increase the USWNT’s unbeaten streak to 28 (25 of which were wins). The U.S. went 18-0-2 in 2018, with draws against Australia and France the lone blemishes. 

An assistant referee was assaulted, a coach was hit with a coin and a fan punched a goalkeeper — just another Edinburgh Derby.

The Edinburgh Derby, the name for the match between Edinburgh-based Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian, has been played since 1875. They’ve played 644 times (319 in competitive matches) with Hearts winning 282 (140). 

Wednesday’s match finished in a 0-0 draw and while no goals were scored, there was plenty of action. Sadly, most of the action was off the pitch.