A new era of the USMNT dawned on Thursday with Giovanni Reyna and Konrad de la Fuente playing in a front three that’ll soon be able to call upon Christian Pulisic and Josh Sargent for assistance. Watching the U.S. isn’t just fun again, it’s blissful.
The USMNT returned from a 285-day hiatus on Thursday. A global pandemic and the U.S. federal government’s bungled response meant the Americans hadn’t taken the pitch since a friendly on Feb. 1. Since then, young Americans abroad have staked their claims as vital figures at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, from Borussia Dortmund to Juventus to Barcelona.
Georginio Wijnaldum captained the Netherlands in a friendly against Spain on Wednesday, the day he said goodbye to his 20s. The now-30-year-old played 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw, which was in all fairness a fairly drab exhibition. In fact, the most notable moment was watching Wijnaldum left hanging by teammate Memphis Depay.
Memphis was subbed out in the 79th minute and gave fist bumps to all his teammates as he made his way to the socially distanced benched. Well, all but Wijnaldum.
A hamstring injury will prevent star forward Christian Pulisic from participating in the U.S. men's national team's friendlies against Wales and Panama.
Coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters on a video call Wednesday that the 22-year-old Pulisic was leaving the team's European camp to return to Chelsea, his professional club in the Premier League.
Let's face it: International breaks can be difficult to follow. With the Premier League, you know there will be four matches each on Saturday and Sunday, two on Monday and maybe the occasional midweek fixture. The international break though? Chaos.
Some teams are playing friendlies, others in the UEFA Nations League, some are competing in World Cup qualifying, while others are still in the European Championship playoffs. And to top it off, you still have lower-level club fixtures being played. It's a lot.
Wales forward Gareth Bale is fit for their international games against the United States, Ireland and Finland after shaking off an ankle injury, assistant manager Robert Page said.
Bale, who missed Wales' October internationals due to a knee injury, was pictured with an icepack on his right ankle after being substituted during Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown soccer schedules into immense disarray. While this is nothing compared to the tragic loss of life (more than 235,000 dead in the U.S. alone as cases continue to soar to record numbers), it has resulted in the U.S. national teams having not played in months. The women last played in March while the men’s only game in 2020 so far was in February. It makes predicting a USMNT starting 11 more difficult than ever — but also more fascinating.
With everyone in the United States ready to piss themselves due to the election, soccer fans felt a brief wave of joy with the announcement of the USMNT’s 24-man roster for two upcoming friendlies. One name that casual USMNT fans won’t recognize immediately is Yunus Musah. Who is Yunus Musah and how important might he be in the future?
It’s been almost a full year since we saw a USMNT with European-based talent defeat Cuba 4-0 to advance to the Nations League Final Round — although a largely domestic-based squad defeated Costa Rica back in February — but the U.S. is finally able to welcome its Yanks Abroad back into the fold for a pair of November friendlies against Wales in Swansea and Panama in Austria.