El Paso Locomotive FC beat out eight teams across three leagues to be crowned the best professional soccer club in Texas, winning the inaugural Copa Tejas Shield. Admittedly, that wasn’t too hard given how bad the MLS and NWSL clubs in Texas were in 2021, but we’re not here to discuss merits; we’re here to discuss ... chips and dip? No, that can’t be right.
Soccer fans have a different circadian rhythm than others. They're up early to see what's going on in Europe, they're in bed late to follow along with Liga MX, they reach an emotional peak on Wednesday afternoons and frequently block off entire month-long periods in the summer for international festivals of footie. It's a delicate balance, but the 2022 soccer tournaments calendar is a disruptive year with the Qatar World Cup falling between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18.
Here's all the major action between January and December of 2022.
Soccer fans across the U.S. have often complained about big TV networks buying up the rights to major competitions only to hide them behind the additional pay walls of streaming services. All four major networks in the country have, at some point, been guilty of this in the last few years. So let’s give credit where credit’s due as CBS announced the 2022 Champions League Round of 16 TV schedule on Monday, including matches on CBS on six of eight match days.
On Sunday afternoon, the N.C. Courage announced they had signed a one-year deal with retired fullback Jaelene Daniels, formerly known as Jaelene Hinkle. Now NWSL fans across the country — especially in North Carolina — are furious over the signing. On the other side of the continent, the Portland Thorns angered their fans for drafting a player with a history of horribly racist, homophobic and transphobic behavior on Twitter.
This is not how the NWSL wanted to end what has already been a shit year for the league.
The debate over who should be the USMNT's starting striker will continue into 2022 despite Ricardo Pepi's recent heroics in front of goal. The 18-year-old was quiet on Saturday night in the national team's 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina (a match The18's David Moore likened to "cruel and unusual punishment"), and Gregg Berhalter will be closely monitoring the FC Dallas striker's competition abroad.
The Phenom Guy/LeBron James Of Soccer/Soccer Superstar/Center Midfielder/Captain America/Teacher's Exchange Program Standout/Top Player In The Premier League/Most-Watched On Chelsea FC Team/Favorably Compared With Messi + Ronaldo/Finest Soccer — Or "Football" — Player In The World, Christian Pulisic, went 90 minutes for only the third time this season against Wolves at the Molineux on Sunday, but the 23-year-old couldn't provide the magic in a match that finished 0-0.
The 10th annual NWSL Draft was held on Saturday evening, and with the No. 1 overall pick, expansion side San Diego Wave FC selected Stanford defender Naomi Girma, who was U.S. Soccer's 2020 Young Female Player of the Year.
Girma joins a San Diego backline anchored by USWNT veteran Abby Dahlkemper and former Stanford teammate Tegan McGrady. The 21-year-old can also play in midfield, where she may be needed after the club selected a forward, German international Marleen Schimmer out of Grand Canyon University, with its ninth pick in the first round.
My apologies and condolences go out to any poor unfortunate souls who canceled their Saturday night plans to watch the USMNT play Bosnia and Herzegovina. The U.S. defeated Bosnia 1-0 in what was perhaps one of most mundane soccer games ever played.
With it not being an official international break, there was no Christian Pulisic or Weston McKennie caliber of starpower. The purpose of this friendly was a tune-up game ahead of World Cup qualifying in January. This was a chance for some youngsters and fringe players to prove themselves to head coach Gregg Berhalter.
Carli Lloyd passed the torch to Lindsey Horan this year. Lloyd, who won two Women’s World Cups wearing the vaunted No. 10 jersey, bequeathed the number to Horan after retiring. On Thursday night, it was Horan who honored the jersey by being named U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.
NBC Sports and Peacock received the ratio on Thursday as its coverage of Liverpool vs. Newcastle United on the subscription-based service, despite saying contrary on the menu, didn't start at all as planned with users getting a multitude of different errors before taking to Twitter.
+1 for coverage not working. Shows me the “starting shortly” screen for five seconds and then kicks me back to main menu.