In between showing that replay of Chile not scoring on a free kick and talking about Hope Solo, we forgot to give Alyssa Naeher her proper due. She stayed calm and alert despite Becky Sauerbrunn's error against Spain, recorded four saves and withstood France’s second-half flurry last Friday, but still we didn’t take any time to address the U.S. goalkeeper. Now nobody's gonna talk about anything besides Alyssa Naeher.
The USWNT lineup vs England was announced shortly before the gigantic Women’s World Cup semifinal match in Lyon on Tuesday and the tournament’s biggest star is on the bench.
USWNT coach Jill Ellis put Megan Rapinoe, who has scored two goals in two straight knockout-round matches, on the bench, replacing her with Christen Press at left wing.
OH WHEN THE YANKS...
Tottenham Hotspur is already trying to put it’s Champions League failure in the past. It’s been over a full calendar year since Tottenham has signed a player, and the fact that Mauricio Pochettino was able to take his squad this far without any help from new players is commendable. Though, the only thing Spurs have to show for it is a Champions League berth via a third-place finish in the Premier League and a loss in the previous season’s Champions League final.
The 2019 summer transfer window is upon us! Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who feed us horribly misinformed transfer rumor nonsense over the next three months, but also woe unto us, the fans, who masochistically love the latest juice tying our beloved club with some unknown entity from De Graafschap.
Is this it — the moment we all live to regret? Yesterday, a U.S. team administrator and her boss were apprehended whilst dozily meandering around the private rooms of England’s Fourvière hotel, which the rogue Americans could potentially use as a base of operations should they secure passage to the final at the expense of the Lionesses.
As much of a cliché as this sounds, England is very much a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
This isn’t to say England has bad players — Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze are among the best in the world at their respective positions. Yet it would be hard to say the Three Lionesses are the best in the world in any one particular area. There are better passing teams, better possession teams, better defending teams and quicker and stronger teams.
But when England puts it together, there might not be a better team.
Chelsea has made its first, and probably only, move while serving a two-window transfer ban (this summer and next January) by permanently signing the previously on-loan Mateo Kovačić from Real Madrid for a fee that could approach nearly $57 million.
The 25-year-old just completed his first season with the Blues, and with plenty of unforeseen circumstances ahead, Kovačić had to be brought back.
ROOOOONEY. The 33-year-old has done it again. The last time he scored from his own half was for Everton against West Ham back in 2017, but the D.C. United attacker has now accomplished the feat stateside. And from much, much deeper.
Someone more finely attuned with the dimensions of Audi Field probably has the answer, but I think this one arrived from the White House.
Manchester United looks to be wrapping up it’s second signing of the summer transfer window. After a poor season with an obvious lack of quality in an aging squad, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has identified younger targets with potential for long-term improvement. Recently signing 21-year-old Daniel James from Swansea City, United turned its attention to its defensive targets. While it seems pretty clear that Matthijs de Ligt will not be moving to Old Trafford any time soon, Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks primed and ready to sign a contract with the northern giants.
If you make it to a professional soccer match at least once in your life, you will see plenty of fans with scarves around their necks. Why do soccer fans wear scarves? The answer lies in soccer’s roots.