Francis Jacobs became the youngest soccer player to sign a professional contract with a U.S. club when he joined Orange County SC, the club announced Monday. Orange County competes in the USL Championship, the second division of U.S. soccer.
Last night in Lima, Peru, Honduras upset Mexico after a penalty shootout to advance to the final of the 2019 Pan American Games. It’s a largely meaningless U-22 competition with understrength youth teams, so the Mexican Football Federation won’t be overly bothered by the result, but manager Jaime Lozano will be irked that his side couldn’t hold on to a 1-0 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Especially since that 1-0 lead was built on one of the finest goals of the summer.
The biggest story from a five-a-side charity tournament in São Paulo hosted by the Neymar Jr. Institute is that Neymar himself is there, an action that Paris Saint-Germain has decried as being taken “without the club’s prior authorization.”
According to a PSG statement, the 27-year-old was due to return to the club on Monday, July 8. According to Neymar’s father, he’ll return this Monday, July 15.
We’ve known, for a while now, that Giovanni Reyna, the son of former USMNT captain Claudio Reyna, is a special talent. Now he’s starting to show Europe how good he is.
In a rematch of the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final, Spain got revenge on Germany to capture its fifth title, moving the nation level with Italy as the most successful in the history of the Euro U-21 competition.
Spain last achieved U-21 glory when winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2013. That extremely skilled cohort included the likes of Juan Mata, David de Gea, Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Martinez, Isco, Koke and Dani Carvajal, and the 2019 group is sure to achieve just as much international success, if not more than that highly skilled generation.
The story of the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship so far has been the play of Romania, which is participating at the tournament for the first time since 1998. After finishing above Portugal in qualifying, there was a sense that this could be the finest Romanian generation in 20 years, but no one could’ve predicted the start they’d make at this U-21 Championship.
Romania began play last Tuesday with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Croatia, including goals from the highly touted Ianis Hagi and Tudor Băluță.
After pulling off one of the upsets of the tournament, the USMNT U-20 squad’s run in the 2019 U-20 World Cup came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Ecuador on Saturday in Poland.
The Concacaf champions beat France in the Round of 16 to knock one of the favorites out of the tournament, but the CONMEBOL champions proved too much for the Baby Yanks.
Scoring on your rival? Awesome.
Scoring on your rival in a knockout tournament? Awesomer.
Scoring on your rival with a goal from midfield? Awesomest.
Antonio Blanco ripped a shot from 45 yards in a 1-1 draw with Barcelona on Saturday, advancing Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate into the Copa del Rey Juvenil semifinals.
Blanco’s equalizing goal came with the match in the balance. Barcelona attempted to cross midfield only for the Madrid player to steal the ball, take one touch and blast a long-range effort over the Barça keeper.
The U.S. has advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup after shocking tournament-favorite France 3-2 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Tuesday. Trailing 2-1 with just over 15 minutes remaining, the USMNT U-20s came storming back with late goals from Sebastian Soto and Justin Rennicks.
The U.S. secured passage to the Round of 16 at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Qatar 1-0 thanks to a goal from 19-year-old PSG forward Timothy Weah on Thursday. It was, in all honesty, the American’s worst performance so far in Poland, but the result sees the team finish runners-up behind Ukraine in Group D.
The U.S. now awaits the result of tomorrow’s meeting between France and Mali — a France victory or draw will see a knockout round clash against Les Bleus, but a Mali victory would see the U.S. play against the African side.