Chris Richards, an 18-year-old American center back, is officially a Bayern Munich player.
The FC Dallas Homegrown Player joined the German giant on loan in July. On Thursday, his move was completed as the Alabama native signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Bayern. According to reports, FC Dallas will be paid $1.5 million for Richards.
The U.S. men’s national team is in Phoenix this week getting ready for Sunday’s friendly against Panama. That match will be followed with another exhibition against Costa Rica the following Saturday to wrap up Gregg Berhalter’s first January camp as USMNT coach.
Meanwhile, young Americans in Europe are thriving — showing just how impotent the annual January camp for domestic players really is.
It’d been a long time since any nation treated the USWNT like Spain did in the opening 45 of today’s contest in Alicante. 2019 will mark La Roja’s second-ever World Cup appearance (the first came in 2015), but the growing European side controlled 58 percent of possession and out-passed the defending world champions 274-195 in the first half. Not bad for a first-ever meeting with the powerhouse that is the USWNT.
SportsCenter recently handed all the power of its Instagram to Major League Soccer's biggest star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the man is funnier than ever. The Galaxy forward opened with the number one rule for dealing with the media.
“Just be yourself, always, whatever happens be yourself,” Ibrahimovic said. “Answer honest and what you think. Maybe you’re not always right, maybe you’re not always wrong.”
Schalke defeated Wolfsburg 2-1 in Bundesliga action on Sunday in a match replete with Americans. 25-year-old USMNT defender John Brooks anchored Wolfsburg, and promising 20-year-old attacker Haji Wright made a late substitute appearance for Schalke. However, it was 20-year-old Weston McKennie who made the difference for the home side at Veltins-Arena.
Jill Ellis got the test she wanted for the USWNT vs France. And then some.
Kadidiatou Diani scored two goals, including an audacious second-half chip, to send third-ranked France to a 3-1 win over the U.S. in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday at Stade Oceane in Le Havre, France.
The USWNT had its 28-match unbeaten streak snapped in the first game of 2019 after having gone unbeaten in 2018. The last time the U.S. women lost was July 27, 2017, a 1-0 defeat to Australia in the Tournament of Nations.
Tim Weah, the 18-year-old American, wasn’t getting much playing time at PSG. This was no surprise, with the likes of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar ahead of him in the pecking order.
So Weah went on loan to Celtic earlier this month in search of more playing time.
That playing time has arrived and it didn’t take long for Weah to show new manager Brendan Rodgers what he can do.
The USWNT is hard at work preparing to defend its World Cup title from four years ago. The players arrived for the first camp of the year in the first week of January, and their first match is Saturday against third-ranked France. Before the World Cup kicks off in June, the U.S. women will play 10 matches in 10 different cities.
The Copa Libertadores is one of the greatest footballing competitions in the world, trailing only the UEFA Champions League for grandest club tournament. For Americans who have been unable to watch it for years, how to watch Copa Libertadores just got a lot simpler.
U.S. Soccer, in hopes of expanding and improving the youth talent pool, has launched a new talent identification program at the U-14 level. Currently, however, this American youth soccer development program is only available for boys. A similar program will be implemented for girls, but they'll have to wait until next season.