David Ochoa might not have been expected to be the first-choice keeper for the U.S. at the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, but Jason Kreis is sure glad he went with the Real Salt Lake goalie in the USMNT’s opener. Ochoa made nine saves and Jesús Ferreira scored on the other end as the U.S. opened the qualifying tournament with a nervy 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Thursday in in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Last year, Atlético Madrid came to England and stunned reigning champion Liverpool. On Wednesday, the same team came to England and limped out of the competition, with American Christian Pulisic setting up the dagger in a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Thomas Tuchel’s side thoroughly stifled Diego Simeone’s men for a 3-0 aggregate victory in the Champions League Round of 16, and Pulisic provided the assist on the final nail in Atleti’s coffin.
Fresh off the announcement that he’d been included in Gregg Berhalter’s 26-man squad for a pair of USMNT friendlies at the end of the month, Daryl Dike went and scored a brace for Barnsley on Wednesday, bringing his Championship total to five goals in 10 games.
Manchester City cantered into the Champions League quarterfinals at a conservational pace by putting Borussia Mönchengladbach away inside 20 minutes during their last-16 second leg in Budapest on Tuesday. Enjoyable goals from Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan made it 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate, making the final hour of the game an exercise in talking about Sergio Agüero’s future.
Real Madrid was a bit fortunate to escape its first-leg Round of 16 Champions League match with Atalanta with a win. It fully deserved its win back at home on Tuesday.
Karim Benzema capitalized on an awful mistake from Atalanta’s keeper to set Real Madrid on its way to a 3-1 win on Tuesday in Madrid. Los Blancos advanced to the quarterfinals 4-1 on aggregate.
With his 767th Barcelona appearance coming in Monday’s LaLiga match against Huesca, Lionel Messi equalled Xavi’s record for most in the legendary Blaugrana shirt.
Right before kickoff, the club released a video in which Barcelona stars past and present congratulated the 33-year-old on his remarkable feat of otherworldly consistency and longevity.
11 matches into the 2021 Guard1anes season and the table already shows a 13-point difference between América and Chivas following Sunday’s Súper Clásico in Guadalajara. América’s dominance in the 3-0 win was evident before Miguel Ponce’s straight red card allowed things to get out of control, as Chivas could never come to gripes with the threat posed by Henry Martín, Sebastián Córdova and Álvaro Fidalgo.
TURIN, Italy - Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick inside 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit by beating Cagliari 3-1 away in Serie A on Sunday.
The 36-year-old striker found the net with a header, a right-footed penalty and a left-foot shot and celebrated by pointing to his ear in an apparent response to recent criticism.
Lionel Messi. Thomas Müller. Koke. Lynden Gooch. When you think of footballers that personify the passion and commitment of one-club men, the 25-year-old American winger doesn’t instantly spring to mind, but Gooch’s fifth year as a first-team regular with the Black Cats is elevating him to mythical status on Wearside.
Born in Santa Cruz, California, Gooch joined Sunderland’s youth system as a 10-year-old. He would travel their during school holidays to train, and then he made the switch permanent when emigrating to the north-east of England at the age of 16.