Ah yes, Alexi Lalas, arguably the best redhead to play for the USMNT and one of the main voices for soccer in this country. From having some of the best hair in World Cup in history to torching the USMNT before its cataclysmic failure to qualify, Lalas has had plenty of noteworthy accomplishments in the past 50 years. This list looks at the five best Alexi Lalas moments so far.
After a scoreless first half, Borussia Dortmund shifted through the gears in the second 45 to overwhelm Paderborn 6-1 on Sunday. The match featured a couple of historic firsts for Dortmund: 20-year-old English phenom Jadon Sancho notched his first professional hat-trick, and 17-year-old American prodigy Giovanni Reyna registered his first Bundesliga assist.
Fortuna Dusseldorf boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga as goals from Rouwen Hennings and Kenan Karaman helped them come from behind to beat Schalke 04 2-1 at home in a scrappy contest on Wednesday.
The result left Fortuna 16th, the relegation playoff spot, on 27 points from 28 games, one behind Mainz who stayed in the safety zone with a 1-1 draw at Union Berlin.
Schalke, who extended their winless league run to 10 matches, stayed ninth on 37 points.
USMNT player Timmy Chandler helped Eintracht Frankfurt secure a 3-3 draw against Freiburg with an 82nd-minute goal on Tuesday.
Frankfurt had gone down 3-1 before Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada struck in the 79th minute to bring Die Adler back within one. Soon after, Chandler popped up at the back post to steer home a long cross from Filip Kostic.
By now, everyone in America should have a mask or face covering of some sort. Whether it’s a bandana pulled over nose, a homemade cloth mask or a something you bought for 10 times a reasonable price off the internet, you need to be covering your face when you go out in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The sad reality of the pandemic world in which we live is that masks need to become ubiquitous to ensure public health and safety. In Alabama, American football coach Nick Saban scolded an elephant for not wearing a mask.
As American stars like Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams continue to mature and up-and-comers emerge, we’ll soon wonder how their performances compare to Americans from the past.
To help you draw these comparisons, here are the five best campaigns from Americans in Europe.
American teenager Giovanni Reyna suffered an injury Saturday while warming up for his first start in the Bundesliga.
Our Starting XI against S04
Gio Reyna will make his first official start for BVB pic.twitter.com/bKSxcSPYbq— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) May 16, 2020
Sergiño Dest, like most footballers around the world, hasn’t played a competitive match since March. At 19, Dest was enjoying a breakout season at Ajax before soccer shut down across Europe. At a time when the USMNT fullback was showing his immense potential, the campaign came to an abrupt end as the Dutch league canceled the season without a champion, despite Ajax sitting top of the table.
Fortunately for Dest, his season didn’t end without some hardware.
The U.S. Soccer Federation shuttered its Development Academy in April, citing financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic as the excuse. This week, Major League Soccer has stepped in to fill the void left by the USSF by joining forces with US Youth Soccer.
MLS and US Youth Soccer announced a groundbreaking new partnership on Friday, one the two organizations hope will transform soccer in America for the better, for both boys and girls.
When Lynden Gooch left the sleepy beaches of Santa Cruz for Sunderland at just 17, his aspirations were lofty.
He was joining a mid-table Premier League club. His first-team squadmates played internationally for nations like Belgium, Sweden and Ghana. And his first-team manager held previous stints at Celtic, Aston Villa and Leicester City.
Unfortunately, as Gooch began to rise, his club began to sink.