We already knew that Alyssa Thompson was special. The 18-year-old made history when Angel City, with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, made her the first-ever selection straight out of high school.
Then, back on March 9, she scored her first goal for the club in a friendly win over América — a remarkable dribble from the center circle that left four defenders and the goalkeeper in her wake.
Opening weekend of the NWSL season continued Sunday with the Washington Spirit welcoming OL Reign to Audi Field, where Trinity Rodman brought the crowd to its feet with some sublime quality on the ball and a solo game-winner in the second half.
We had a scoreless opening 45 in the nation's capital, but Rodman established herself as the standout player with a couple brilliant moments.
One run from deep inside her own half was finished with a backheel pass and half-chance for Ashley Hatch.
LONDON - Bukayo Saka is one of the first names on England manager Gareth Southgate's teamsheet and his weekly performances for Arsenal are driving them towards the Premier League title so it's no wonder the 21-year-old cannot stop smiling.
The winger created England's opener for Harry Kane in the comfortable 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Euro 2024 qualifying Group C at Wembley on Sunday, then scored an absolute beauty himself to seal the man-of-the-match award.
Goalscoring has been an awfully bleak exercise for the Republic of Ireland since all-time leading scorer Robbie Keane announced his international retirement in 2016. The team only scored seven goals in nine matches during a failed qualifying cycle for Euro 2020, and things didn't get much better on the road to Qatar where Ireland only scored 11 in eight games (the majority coming against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan).
Despite only beginning the club's sixth season in Major League Soccer, LAFC have already begun tapping into the hot bed of talent in Southern California with exciting homegrown players like Erik Dueñas, Christian Torres, Nathan Ordaz and Tony Leone all on the roster.
There are all sorts of stats and accolades that illustrate how talented Gavi is — the Golden Boy award, Spain's youngest goalscorer, the youngest World Cup scorer since Pelé — but he's a phenomenon best experienced live.
The sky might be falling on Barcelona (littered with fake cash featuring the word "MAFIA"), but Gavi's willing to take on that duel. "Lost cause" is not in the 18-year-old's lexicon.
Alyssa Thompson made history in January when she was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NWSL draft and the first player ever drafted out of high school. The 18-year-old phenom has already appeared for the USWNT and played her first game for Angel City on Wednesday night.
Angel City defeated Club América 3-0 at BMO Stadium in a club friendly. Thompson was given her first start and immediately made an impact just five minutes into the game.
We haven't covered Gonçalo Ramos much since the 21-year-old took Cristiano Ronaldo's spot at the World Cup and promptly fired Portugal into the quarterfinals with a hat-trick, but we've got to speak about his outrageous talents again because he's just put Benfica into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with two goals and an assist on Tuesday.
High school sophomore Chloe Ricketts became the youngest player in the National Women’s Soccer League history on Thursday when she signed with the Washington Spirit. Ricketts signed a three-year contract with an option to extend for a fourth year in 2026.
The record for youngest NWSL player was previously held by Olivia Moultrie who signed with the Portland Thorns when she was 15 years and 286 days old. At the time of Ricketts’ signing, she was 15 years and 283 days old.
I've seen enough. I'm declaring 17-year-old AZ Alkmaar phenom Kees Smit the winner of the 2023 Golden Boy Award, and there's nothing some preciously talented La Masia graduate at Barcelona can do about it.
Over a month ago, the Netherlands youth international came to my attention with an incredibly inventive goal during an indoor match. It's as beautiful as a Rembrandt.