American Players Abroad

BARCELONA - Ansu Fati marked his first start in almost a year by scoring one goal and creating another as Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Despite being allowed a full capacity crowd for the first time since March 2020, Barça's ground was only half full — and those in attendance were silenced after five minutes as José Gayà's long-range strike swerved into the far corner.

JOSÉ GAYÁ GOLAZO

The 2021 Golden Boy finalists list was revealed on Friday and USMNT star Gio Reyna’s name is on the list. The Golden Boy is an annual award voted on by 30 different journalists to determine the best under-21 player in Europe. 

The Golden Boy was created in 2003 and has been won by notable names like Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. An American has never won the award before.

Reyna is the third American in the last four years to make the cut as a finalist for the honor. Here are the players he will be competing with this year.

Arsenal defeated Hoffenheim 4-0 in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday to move up to second-place in Group C. The Gunners’ victory saw the first Tobin Heath Arsenal goal, along with scores from Vivianne Miedema, Leah Williamson and Kim Little.

Heath got her first Champions League start with Arsenal. She previously made an appearance as a substitute in Arsenal’s Champions League opener against Barcelona, where Heath picked up an assist.

The USMNT has another weapon in the making. Joe Scally is only 18 years old and has become a consistent and valuable starter for Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach. On Saturday Scally opened his Bundesliga scoring account against Wolfsburg in stoppage time to secure a 3-1 victory.

Joe Scally Goal Vs Wolfsburg

Gianluca Busio scored his first ever Serie A goal for Venezia on Friday with a 92nd-minute dagger to deny Cagliari its first win of the season. The Busio goal vs Cagliari wasn’t the prettiest, but hey, they all count the same.

GIANLUCA BUSIO SCORES HIS FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON TO EQUALIZE FOR VENEZIA! pic.twitter.com/lBu9P7Wpwc

Manchester City and RB Leipzig played the most thrilling game to open up the 2021-22 Champions League season with a nine-goal thriller that saw City win 6-3. American fans won’t want to talk about the Jack Grealish vs Tyler Adams moment for City’s fourth goal.

Adams was caught ball watching and far too lackadaisical tracking back to get to a ball in his final third. His slowness allowed Grealish to pick up the ball and proceed to do horrible things to the American. Close your eyes USMNT fans, Adams is about to get murdered.

Bayern Munich thrashed RB Leipzig 4-1 on Saturday to go up to second in the Bundesliga on the quest for a tenth straight league title. 

Tyler Adams, who played every minute of World Cup qualifying for the USMNT, didn’t feature in RB Leipzig’s defeat. The 22-year-old has still made headlines for his comments on Bayern’s tendency to purchase the best talent from the Bundesliga.

The USMNT injury updates include a mixed batch of good and bad news.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel gave a Christian Pulisic injury update after the American forward suffered a knock to the ankle during the USMNT’s 4-1 victory against Honduras. Good news U.S. and Chelsea fans, Pulisic will only be out for 10 days.

“For Christian, unfortunately he came yesterday on crutches and he has an ankle injury with about 10 days," Tuchel said.