Thanksgiving is fast approaching, meaning it’s time to gather around the virtual zoom table with Grandma and Grandpa while also making sure everyone tests negative for COVID prior to entry into the annual Turkey Derby.
The USMNT’s future looks brighter than ever, especially after a promising 0-0 draw against Wales and a 6-2 thumping of Panama. A young squad with overflowing potential has fans ready for the new era of Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest and other American stars playing among Europe’s best clubs.
Jimmy Maurer made seven saves through regulation and a 30-minute overtime, then had the only stop in an eight-round penalty shootout as FC Dallas upset host Portland following a 1-1 draw on a rainy Sunday night in the first round of Major League Soccer's Western Conference playoffs.
Dallas advanced to the next round while the Timbers, who captured the MLS is Back Tournament earlier this summer, were eliminated. Dallas will play the winner of Tuesday's game between Los Angeles FC and Seattle.
There’s a growing feeling that the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs might represent a watershed moment in pure, uncut sporting mayhem.
What the actual fuck just happened? Orlando City beat NYCFC in a shootout in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. We already wrote a story about the first 120 minutes of the match, which included some despicable play from Orlando’s Ruan, but the shootout was such madness it deserves its own write-up.
It didn’t take long for the MLS Cup Playoffs to heat up. Leave it to Florida to get this crazy party started.
While the playoffs technically started Friday with a couple of play-in games, the first round began Saturday with an afternoon clash between Orlando City and NYCFC in Orlando.
MUNICH — Lackluster Bayern Munich had to come from behind to rescue a 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen on Saturday, slipping up for only the second time in its last 35 matches in all competitions, but still moving three points clear at the top of the table. Werder took a deserved lead on the stroke of halftime after American Josh Sargent set up Max Eggestein, who beat keeper Manuel Neuer with a well-placed left-footed effort.
That turn and assist from Josh Sargent
Randall Leal and Hany Mukhtar scored 10 minutes apart in the first half and Dax McCarty added some second-half insurance as host Nashville SC rolled to a 3-0 win over Inter Miami on Friday night in an MLS Eastern Conference postseason play-in game.
In a matchup of expansion sides, it was all Nashville, which finished seventh in the Eastern Conference during a uniquely memorable first season in the league. Miami, meanwhile, saw its special season come to an end while playing short-handed after claiming the 10th and final playoff spot in the East.
As a cultured Texan, I used to spend my Thanksgivings watching Texas A&M play football against Texas. Alas, this tradition died when the Longhorns, upset over the Aggies leaving for a new conference, refused to continue the tradition with a nonconference game nearly 10 years ago. Instead, my Thanksgiving football tradition has been replaced by watching Arsenal play in the Europa League, for better or worse.
Matthew McConaughey, minority owner of incoming MLS club Austin FC and Texan renaissance man, appeared on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert this week to drink bourbon and talk about watching Survivor. While CBS aired a lengthy interview, an unaired segment posted to YouTube the next day showed what we really wanted to see: a Matthew McConaughey Austin FC starting XI of Austinites.