Humor

Straight from the go I should admit that I did not watch Sunday’s NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament second round match between Duke and UCLA.

By looking at the box score I can, however, deduce exactly what happened. It’s a tale as old as time.

Duke, the No. 7-ranked team in the tournament, was the favorite and hosting the match at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. But with its first and only shot on target of the match, UCLA took the lead in the ninth minute.

One of the great Thanksgiving traditions — other than your annual Turkey Derby — is watching American football teams you don’t care about. Typically, you couldn’t pay someone to watch a Detroit Lions game, but on Turkey Day it just hits different. This year the Lions are so horrendous that we at The18 recommend these soccer games on Thanksgiving instead.

Back in 2021 during World Cup qualifying there was a hilarious mix-up of flags between Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before the match there were hostile scenes as the Bosnian fans booed the Ukraine national anthem and some ultras attempted to attack the visiting Ukraine fans. This all came down to a Ukraine Bosnia flag mistake.

Seeing the two sets of fans react like this was bizarre. Bosnia and Ukraine don’t have a history of animosity like plenty of other European countries do. What could have possibly caused this vicious reaction from the home fans?

The USMNT grabbed a point in Kingston, Jamaica, on Tuesday after a tame performance and 1-1 draw in World Cup qualifying against the Reggae Boyz. The real defeat of the day happened to anyone watching the game on Paramount+ that was forced to listen to 90 minutes of horns.

The Jamaica horns from the few hundred fans in attendance were relentless. A limited number of spectators were allowed into National Stadium Independence Park due to Covid protocols. 

United States' Christian Pulisic was on target in Friday's 2-0 win over Mexico, but it was the message scrawled on his T-shirt that made headlines as the winger responded to a pre-match jibe from their North American arch rivals with one of his own.

Second-half substitute Pulisic headed home a cross within five minutes of coming on, while Weston McKennie scored another as a young U.S. team moved to the top  of the World Cup qualifying CONCACAF standings.

Canada tested out its home-field advantage in Edmonton on Friday and it worked wonders. Over 48,000 fans packed into Commonwealth Stadium to watch Canada defeat Costa Rica 1-0. They also got a bonus show of a Canada streaker getting hit sticked into the advertisement board.

England defender Harry Maguire defended his goal celebration during Friday's World Cup qualifying victory over Albania which former players described as over the top and unnecessary following his poor performances for Manchester United.

England thrashed Albania 5-0 to all but qualify for the World Cup after Maguire opened the scoring with a ninth-minute header, celebrating with a knee slide while putting his fingers to his ears as if to shut out his critics.

Reece James to Harry Maguire!