USA

The Major Indoor Soccer League, the American Indoor Soccer League, the Professional Arena Soccer League — indoor soccer has had its fair share of false dawns in the American sporting landscape. Where all of these leagues have failed, another is looking to finally succeed in the USA.

While investors and organizers have banked on the fast-paced, high-scoring nature of indoor soccer to appeal to the American psyche, the sport likened more to the NBA or NHL has never been able to capture enough media and fan attention for professional leagues to survive very long.

Frank Lampard was unstoppable for New York City FC throughout July, registering six goals, one assist and one MLS Player of the Month award.  

It was only last May that Lampard was being booed by his own supporters, but he’s transformed into the toast of New York after leading his team to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Jurgen Klopp is one of the greatest personalities in the world of soccer, and a lucky group of American youngsters had the chance to sit face to face with the Liverpool manager and get some of their burning questions answered. 

The first and arguably most important question of the event was: “Who is your favorite footballer of all time?” 

When we last reported on Charlie Davies back in April, it was to celebrate his remarkable recovery from a 2009 car accident that could’ve claimed his life. The subject of an ESPN documentary entitled “The Unrelenting Charlie Davies”, the New England Revolution forward was looking forward to a successful 2016 MLS season.

He’s been called the Chuck Norris of football. He’s referred to as a lord and “The Powerhouse”. Likened to “a blunt instrument with which to bludgeon defenses”, Emile Heskey changed the way we viewed the forward position during his playing days.

Heskey burst onto the scene with Leicester City back in 1994, and he reached his pinnacle with Liverpool during the 2000-01 season after scoring 14 Premier League goals in 36 matches.

Through the first 30 minutes of the 2016 MLS All-Star Game, there was an interesting contrast between the midfields of Arsenal and the MLS All-Stars. Andrea Pirlo anchored the setup for MLS, in tandem with Kyle Beckerman and Kaka, while Arsenal chose the strength of Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny to support Jack Wilshere.

The average age of the duel was 24 for Arsenal and 35 for MLS, but one couldn’t help but be in awe of the play of MLS’s old guard — particularly the sumptuous, metronomic style of Pirlo.

It’s been over two years since Julian Green introduced himself on the largest of international stages with that fantastic goal against Belgium in the World Cup round of 16. Now, it finally looks as though he’s ready to progress at the club level with Bayern Munich.