Chris Gloster, a 19-year-old American left back, started for Hannover II, Hannover 96’s U-23 squad, against VfB Lübeck on Wednesday.
It wasn’t a happy match for the teenager.
Gloster was subjected to racial abuse, including yells of “monkey” shouted at him. After the match, he was in tears, according to a statement Hannover 96 released on Thursday condemning the actions of the Lübeck fans.
Which team is the hottest in the Bundesliga right now? It’s certainly not Borussia Dortmund, despite a narrow win on Saturday, nor is it Bayern Munich, after a draw saw it lose its spot at the top of the table.
The hottest team in the Bundesliga right now is RB Leipzig. And 20-year-old American midfielder Tyler Adams is a massive reason why.
Youth soccer in America is changing. Over the past few years, U.S. soccer has moved to profoundly address the exclusivity of high-level grass roots play. Talented footballers at the high school age can get offered to play for a program known as a Development Academy (DA). Both Major League Soccer and other youth clubs all over the U.S. have Development Academy teams, from the high school age all the way down to U-12.
Swansea City was on the verge of a season-defining victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday. Then Raheem Sterling threw himself to the ground under a challenge from USMNT defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and the entire match dynamic changed.
Trend meets trend: Another U.S. national team or youth prospect makes the jump to Major League Soccer as Sporting Kansas City signs a talented, young player off the radar of most clubs. That's what we got today when Sporting officially announced that Gedion Zelalem had signed from Arsenal. The 22-year-old joins Kansas City for the 2019 season, with club options for two additional years.
Given the form of Jadon Sancho, Christian Pulisic had become something of a forgotten man at Borussia Dortmund while relegated to the role of impact sub over the last few months.
Weston McKennie can kind of do it all. He’s lined up at just about every position for Schalke, from center back to forward, but he’s best deployed as a box-to-box midfielder given his mobility and awareness.
He’s also a really good header of the ball.
While most players use their leaping and heading abilities to score (Cristiano Ronaldo) or defend (Virgil van Dijk), McKennie takes another approach. He’s becoming adept at earning assists with his noggin.
Tyler Adams has started four matches for RB Leipzig following his January move, and the Bundesliga side has won all four of those games. However, even though he registered his first assist in Leipzig’s victory over Stuttgart last time out, the 20-year-old American was forced to take a spot on the bench for today’s game against Hoffenheim.
With Rangers drawing 0-0 with St. Johnstone on Saturday, Celtic took to the pitch Sunday knowing that a victory over Kilmarnock would open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership with only seven matches remaining before the league splits into two sections for the final five games.
Accordingly, it was a furious game at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park which saw two players sent off. First, Kilmarnock’s Kirk Broadfoot was sent off in the 75th minute for a late challenge on Scott Brown.
Tyler Adams is one of those unfortunate souls to have been born on a holiday. He celebrated his 20th birthday on Thursday, Valentine’s Day, perhaps with his German-but-not-really-German girlfriend the Leipzig press is way too interested in.
Though he just turned 20, he’s quickly become an integral part of the Bundesliga’s fourth-placed team. On Saturday, he played the full 90 minutes in midfield for the fourth time since joining the club in January.