Win at home; draw on the road — that’s long been said to be the formula for success in Concacaf World Cup qualifying. If true, the U.S. is at least on track to book a trip to Qatar, but it wasn’t exactly the barnstorming start to World Cup qualifying many U.S. fans were hoping for after a summer full of trophies.
After two Gold Cups and one Nations League, now is when the USMNT finally gets to show where it’s at and how it’s grown over the last four years. Now is when World Cup qualifying begins. Now is when the matches really count. Now is when we try to figure out what in the heck Gregg Berhalter is going to do with this team, and for us to predict a USMNT potential starting 11 for World Cup qualifiers.
For the first time in history, Americans will play in all three of UEFA’s European tournaments. This season is also the first time there have been three tournaments, but minor details. There are tons of Americans playing in Europe, but only 22 have made it to the group stages across the three competitions.
Here are the numbers for Americans playing in European tournaments.
First, let’s look at the 11 in the Champions League.
Jesse Marsch is the best American coach in European football right now. After two wildly successful campaigns with Red Bull Salzburg, the Wisconsin native moved up to the big time with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. Ahead of his first season leading Leipzig, Marsch is already being compared to another wildly successful American coach in Europe, albeit a fictional one, Ted Lasso.
The USMNT put in a legendary performance on Sunday night to firmly stamp themselves as the kings of Concacaf with a 1-0 victory against Mexico to win the Gold Cup. I along with many critics doubted that this squad could get the job done. I have never been happier to be wrong.
U.S. soccer fans who last saw the men’s team lift the Concacaf Nations League trophy will be taken aback to see a lot of big names missing off the Gold Cup roster. Why is Pulisic not playing in Gold Cup? Where are the stars? The answer to these questions is quite simple.
Josh Sargent played his heart out for more than 120 minutes, and when it was over his compatriot Tyler Adams was there to console him. Adams was an unused substitute, but his RB Leipzig side beat Sargent’s Werder Bremen 2-1 in the DFB Pokal semifinals, with Emil Forsberg scoring the winner in the 121st minute.
Premisa 1: El Campeonato Mundial de fútbol se juega cada dos años. Premisa 2: El nombre oficial de los certámenes de fútbol que se disputan cada dos años son: la Copa Mundial de la FIFA y los Juegos Olímpicos. Conclusión: El mundo entero se paraliza cada dos años por el evento deportivo más popular del globo terráqueo, el concilio ecuménico del fútbol.
Liverpool secured a vital 2-0 away victory in Budapest against RB Leipzig on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 clash. The Reds’ goals came courtesy of two absolutely horrendous Leipzig errors that could spell the end of the Bundesliga side’s time in the Champions League.
The two bizarre mistakes fit the theme of an unusual night. Due to fears of the UK Covid-19 strain Leipzig was forced to play its “home” leg in a country in which the club has never played.