National Teams

While Germany’s A-team takes a much-needed breather before next summer’s World Cup finals, Germany’s B-team have advanced to the final of the Confederations Cup and Germany’s C-team have just captured the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. One can only imagine what it’s like to support the German national team.

The much-heralded attacking talents of Spain, spearheaded by Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio and Atletico’s Saúl, could only manage a single shot on target against Germany in the final. 

Mexico already trailed by three when Marco Fabian lashed at the ball with all his might, catching everyone by surprise.

Fabian sliced a wonder strike past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 89th minute, but few will remember this match for that goal.

Instead, what will be remembered is El Tri surrendering two goals in the first eight minutes en route to a crushing 4-1 defeat in the Confederations Cup semifinals Thursday in Russia.

Germany will play Chile in the final on Sunday while Mexico gets a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal in the third-place game. 

Jesse Gonzalez is probably the best young goalkeeper in MLS. The 22-year-old FC Dallas goalie is tall, athletic and composed. Sounds perfect for the USMNT, right? I mean, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are getting older, and there hasn't been a heir apparent to step into their shoes.

The problem was until today, Gonzalez was actually in Mexico's player pool. However, Gonzalez filed paperwork for a one-time national team switch, and today FIFA approved the move. This is a big deal. Gonzalez has a while to go before he even hits his prime, and he's already really good.

Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah might be on board with Donald Trump’s vision for a big, beautiful wall along the Mexican border.

After Ghana lost 1-0 to Mexico on Wednesday in Houston, Appiah didn’t complain about his team’s inability to put away chances, but instead he was dismayed that a Mexican-American was allowed to referee the game.

Claudio Bravo, Chile’s goalkeeping hero during penalty shootout victories over Argentina at both the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, came up trumps again against Portugal at the 2017 Confederations Cup semifinal stage. Bravo faced penalties from Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and Nani, saving all three of them.

Bravo!

Based on the roster selections for the 2017 Gold Cup, it’s clear CONCACAF heavyweights Mexico and the United States aren’t putting too much stock into the upcoming tournament.

Mexico, which sent many of its top players to the Confederations Cup, will be devoid of most of its stars at the Gold Cup.

The U.S., despite not being in the Confederations Cup and with a partial berth to the 2021 Confederations Cup on the line, is sending a side full of inexperienced players to the Gold Cup.

Spain’s team competing at the UEFA U-21 Euros is ridiculously talented, as we’ve laid out before. 

Saúl Ñíguez is making a case to be the best of the lot.

The Atletico Madrid midfielder notched a brilliant hat trick to send Spain past 10-man Italy 3-1 in the semifinals to set up a date with Germany in the final on Friday.

Poor Gianluigi Donnarumma didn’t have a chance. 

Writing about Donnarumma is getting too easy. It’s not only hilarious, but the player, agent, and club are managing to handle events in the worst way possible. It’s also moving at a ridiculous pace.

The "will he/won’t he" saga has long since passed Ross and Rachel levels of intrigue. We have newspaper headlines, press conferences, social media posts, and social media posts that have been retracted, allegedly as the result of a hack. Honestly, it’s too hot to keep track of all of this. But it’s the summer and there’s not much else to get excited about in Italian football.

With just a year to go until the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Russian National Team finds itself in a bit of trouble. All 23 members of its 2014 World Cup squad are being investigated by FIFA for doping. A total of 34 Russian players are facing investigation, the Daily Mail reported.