Feel Good

When Fulhamerica beats Liverpool at Anfield, you know that foreshadows a historic day for USMNT players in Europe. While Antonee Robinson got off the bench in that one (although Tim Ream didn’t), Sunday saw goals from a remarkable number of U.S. footballers abroad, including Josh Sargent, Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Boyd and Konrad de la Fuente.

We’ll start with Sarg in the Bundesliga. The 21-year-old striker scored Werder Bremen’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw with FC Köln. Sargent’s header was his second goal in as many games, giving him four in 22 appearances this season.  

Rangers celebrated their first league triumph since 2011 after Celtic were frustrated by Dundee United in a 0-0 Premiership draw on Sunday to hand their bitter Glasgow rivals the title.

Rangers fans had flouted COVID-19 lockdown restrictions to gather outside Ibrox before and after Saturday's 3-0 win over St Mirren which moved the team to within a point of the title and Celtic needed a win to delay their celebrations. But despite dominating possession and having more than 25 shots during the game, visitors Celtic were unable to find a way past a determined United side.

Reggie Cannon is like a lot of Americans playing soccer abroad these days. He’s young (22), talented (13 USMNT caps already) and eager to help the U.S. do things it’s never done before in international men’s soccer. But unlike many (but not all) of the young Americans playing for top European clubs right now, he’s got an accomplished family helping inspire and encourage him.

The old cliche about veteran players is that they've seen everything during their career. For 43-year-old Dungannon Swifts goalkeeper Roy Carroll, that adage holds true — but it doesn't even begin to encompass the struggles of a shot-stopper that has played professionally in four different decades.

Now, a new club in 2021 could be the fitting final act for a player who is still competing well-beyond the prescribed shelf-life of a footballer.

SAO PAULO — Former Brazilian soccer star Pele was vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday, the same day that a record 1,641 people were reported to have died in the South American nation after contracting the virus.

Pele posted a picture of him receiving the vaccination on Instagram giving a thumbs up sign.

Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones dedicated his goal in Sunday's Premier League win at Sheffield United to goalkeeper Alisson Becker whose father passed away last week.

José Becker, 57, drowned in a lake near his holiday home in southern Brazil last Wednesday, local police said.

He had been swimming at a dam on his property when the accident happened, Doroteo Machado Filho, a police inspector in the town of Lavras do Sul, told Reuters. No foul play was suspected.