OK, let's get the qualifiers out of the way before we jump into any analysis: St. Vincent is terrible at soccer and so are the Grenadines. You can't really learn anything from how anyone played in a game between such mismatched opposition.
We can learn, though, from who played. Because Clint Dempsey is out, USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann started Bobby Wood up top with Jozy Altidore. Both scored.
In an event that’s hardly newsworthy, Barcelona’s academy is great. They’re so great that they’ve just won the Junior Soccer World Challenge. What’s newsworthy about this match isn't the talent of Barca's U12 team, it's the reaction from their kids towards their extremely distraught opponents.
You can tell what it meant to the Japanese youth side Omiya Ardija Junior to play against Barcelona. They obviously watch a lot of the Barcelona senior side, and the chance to play and defeat their U12s was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the boys.
Dylan Prichett-Ettner del Columbine estuvo a punto de marcar uno de los más grandes goles que el mundo del fútbol haya visto jamás. Desafortunadamente para Dylan y para los fanáticos de las cosas bellas, el gol fue descartado como fuera de juego. Honestamente, es una parodia.
No todos los días se ve una voltereta perfectamente ejecutada incorporada a un gol, pero Dylan logró justamente eso con su intento. Un balón largo sobre la parte superior ve al número siete de Columbine corriendo hacia la portería.
How mad would you be if you were bounced from a major international tournament by the likes of Bahrain? Let's ask the USA men's U-19 team, which lost 3-1 to Bahrain in the COTIF tournament, ensuring their exit from the competition.
Well that escalated quickly. They appear to not be psyched about it. (The USA is in the dark-colored jerseys and Bahrain in the white, by the way.)
To say things have been a bit rocky of late for one of the giants in world soccer would be a massive understatement. After three consecutive runner-up finishes at the World Cup and two Copa Americas, Argentina find themselves in a place where few international powerhouses have ever been. They can reach their ultimate goal, come near enough to touch it but they just can’t take the final step.
For all the setbacks and empty promises of each generation of England's rising stars, the current crop of Under 21 and 19s talent is good. So good, in fact, that Gareth Southgate’s 21s took out the European Championship title in that age division – a stark contrast to the bumbling mess dished out by the first team.
It’s the kind of popular legend that is usually attributed to a “friend of a friend” and rooted in invention and fantasy, a cheap tale to explain the otherworldly. When professional football freestyler Billy Wingrove met Ronaldinho as part of Nike’s Joga Bonito advertising campaign, he said: “I’ve got two questions. One, is there a heaven? Two, how did he [Ronaldinho] get this good?”
Most amazing goals consist of incredible strikes from distance or a goalie scoring off of a corner kick to save the day, but this one is quite special. Thomas Luciano, a 14-year-old defender at club Gremio out of Brazil scored a goal for the ages off of a woodwork ricochet. After the ball came bounding off of the crossbar, quick thinking allowed Thomas to execute a perfectly time skorpion kick that put the ball over the keeper in a chaotic moment. This golazo is definitely worth a few good watchings!