Central America

Midfielder Christian Pulisic returned to the United States men's national team after a 17-month absence in a 4-1 win against Jamaica on Thursday in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

Sergiño Dest scored his first goal in his sixth match in the 34th minute and Brenden Aaronson made it 2-0 in the 52nd before Jamaica's Jamal Lowe halved the deficit in the 70th minute. Sebastian Lletget scored in the 83rd and 90th minutes to seal the win.

Belize's football federation (FFB) expressed "disappointment and disgust" on Monday after the bus ferrying the squad to their hotel in Haiti was stopped by an armed gang on motorcycles.

The incident occurred shortly after the squad had arrived in the Caribbean nation to play a World Cup qualifier.

After grinding out a win against Costa Rica last Thursday, the United States U-23s took care of business on Sunday night by beating the Dominican Republic 4-0 in Olympic qualifying at Estadio Akron. If Mexico beats or ties Costa Rica in Sunday’s later game, the U.S. is through to the semifinals. If Costa Rica wins, Wednesday’s group finale against Mexico takes on meaning again. 

It took less than two days for the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship to go full Concacaf.

Haiti was forced to start its opener against Honduras with 10 men — including a field player at goalkeeper — after some Covid-19 testing snafus. Honduras took full advantage to score a 3-0 win over Haiti on Friday afternoon in Guadalajara, Mexico, the opening Group B match.

Only in Concacaf.  

Jesús Ferreira made his second game for the U.S. men's national team memorable with two goals and three assists in a 7-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago in Orlando, on Sunday.

The Colombia-born Ferreira, 20, debuted on Feb. 1, 2020, vs. Costa Rica — two months after gaining American citizenship. The FC Dallas striker did not get on the scoreboard in that game but more than made up for it against the Trinidadians.

We’ve reached a new level in the relationship between Nike and the young phenoms churned out at Santos FC. It began with PSG’s Neymar, who signed with the multinational corporation at the age of 13. That trend continued with Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, who, at the tender age of 11, became Nike’s youngest-ever affiliated athlete after dazzling at a youth tournament in New York.

The 2020 Concacaf Champions League resumed last night with leg two of Olimpia versus Montreal — 280 days after the Honduran side had disappointed 23,000 fans inside the Impact’s Olympic Stadium by snatching a crucial 2-1 road win. 

Despite having to play the return leg at Exploria Stadium in Orlando — where the remainder of the competition will be staged — Olimpia advanced on away goals after Montreal could only find one through Amar Sejdič. 

Thierry Henry is out; Olimpia plays Tigres in the semifinals on Saturday. 

It’s flown under the radar since it’s not within the FIFA International Match Calendar — meaning European clubs aren’t obligated to release players — but the Mexico national team returns to action on Wednesday night with a friendly against Guatemala at the Azteca. 

It’s been almost a year since we last saw El Tri (a 2-1 victory over Bermuda back on Nov. 19, 2019), but the likes of Miguel Layún, Uriel Antuna and José Juan Macías are finally back in action for the world’s 11th-ranked nation.