When Jurgen Klinsmann was first appointed USMNT boss five years ago, people expected him to come over and shake things up. It was widely understood that he was not some kind of miracle worker, however, there was a clear expectation that his pedigree would motivate players and that he’d introduce a stylish flair into the team by nurturing the next generation — undoubtedly the most talented crop of footballers this country had ever seen.
In a little over a year, the United States has witnessed some truly awful results under the leadership of Jurgen Klinsmann, but the back-to-back defeats to Jamaica and Panama to end a poor 2015 Gold Cup, defeat to Mexico at the 2015 CONCACAF Cup and historic 2-0 loss to Guatemala in the fourth round of World Cup qualifying all pale in comparison to Tuesday night’s capitulation in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The 2016 NCAA Women’s College Cup kicked off this past weekend. Penn State, the 2015 champion, kicked off the opening round by steamrolling their opponent, Bucknell, 6-0. As always, though, it is a wide open field, with strong teams across different conferences and a few players from the Olympics looking to make a big impact.
Unlike previous MLS expansions, Los Angeles FC isn’t just looking to become an American success, but instead the club wants to make a global impact. The MLS expansion team will join the league at the start of the 2018 season, and already has 10 players targeted as they look to make the most of the league’s three designated player allowances.
After 13 years as a Chelsea stalwart of the midfield, Frank Lampard has completed his playing career with a wild two year MLS run. There are definitely elements of the move that can easily be pointed out to conclude it’s failure. However, Lampard may have actually achieved exactly what the City Football Group were hoping for.
At the end of 2013-14 season Chelsea announced that Frank would be one of the players released. For his part, and focused on the 2014 World Cup, he claimed it would be decided later that summer.
According to ESPNFC, Tim Howard's muscle injury sustained against Mexico Friday is worse than first thought, and the Rapids' goalkeeper is in danger of missing the rest of the MLS playoffs.
With the 2016 NWSL clearly in the rearview mirror, the league has turned its focus toward a fifth season for the young competition. Last season was all about being the first US professional women’s soccer league to make it to a fourth year. This upcoming needs to be about stabilization and building for smart growth in the years to come.
The USA suffered their first home World Cup qualifying defeat since 2001 on Friday night, losing 2-1 to Mexico in Columbus for the opening game of the Hex.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann made unexpected changes coming into the game. He sent out a 3-5-2 formation instead of the usual 4-4-2, causing some players to play out of their positions. The new formation had three center backs in defense with Matt Besler, John Brooks and Omar Gonzalez.
Rafa Marquez, in his 13th appearance against the United States, Rafa Marquez, the scorn of American soccer dating back to to his mid-air head butt on Cobi Jones at the 2002 World Cup, Rafa Marquez, the captain on his international swan song, Rafa Marquez. That's all you need to know: Rafa Marquez.
Mexico took the lead against the United States in the first half, but Jozy Alitdore and Bobby Wood simply weren’t having it. A clear goal scoring chance was crafted out of nothing, Jozy Altidore turning his marker with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop and sending Wood through on goal.
Wood did much of the same, simply disregarding the attentions of the Mexican defense to fire past Alfredo Talavera and equalize for the United States.