A grain of salt. Perhaps the perfect idiom for MLS Matchweek 5. As teams traversed the FIFA-recognized international break, it became abundantly clear that some squads were better at handling life without their superstars than others. This imbalance made for some surprising results, but overall, a thoroughly entertaining week of games.
The 11th season of the National Women’s Soccer League kicked off on Saturday with the N.C. Courage hosting and defeating the Kansas City Current 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Danish international Mille Gejl scored the game’s lone goal with a strike from way outside the box in the 23rd minute.
Before you play this video just be sure that your volume is down. There were some extremely apparent issues with the microphones being used by broadcasters JP Dellacamera and Lianne Sanderson.
Christian Pulisic was unstoppable on Friday night during the USMNT’s 7-1 Concacaf Nations League victory vs. Grenada as he scored one and helped set up four others.
The U.S. expectedly dominated Grenada (ranked 173rd in the world) at Kirani James Athletic Stadium in the Caribbean island’s capital. While the victory was routine and nothing to brag about, it’s good to see U.S. players playing with confidence.
PARIS — New France captain Kylian Mbappé lived up to expectations with two goals in a 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands as Les Bleus got their Euro 2024 Group B qualifying campaign started in ruthless fashion on Friday.
Mbappé, named skipper after goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ended his international career in January, set up Antoine Griezmann for the opener before scoring the third, after Dayot Upamecano had doubled the tally in a first half blitz, before wrapping the scoring up late in front of an ecstatic crowd.
Former United States men’s national team manager Jürgen Klinsmann coached his first game for South Korea on Friday as the Taeguk Warriors drew Colombia 2-2.
Klinsmann was named the new manager of South Korea on Feb. 27. Friday, he faced his first test which was a friendly match against Colombia in front of the home crowd in Ulsan, South Korea.
Diego Cocca debutó con sonrisas al mando de la Selección Mexicana. El Tri sorteó con éxito su excursión a Surinam por la Liga de Naciones de la Concacaf e inició su regreso a casa con un saludable triunfo por 2-0 en las maletas.
Sin embargo, y no por ser aguafiestas, las formas dejaron una que otra duda. México sufrió con varios problemas de funcionamiento colectivo y también con una serie de errores individuales, coronados por un penal desperdiciado, ni más ni menos, por el delantero del momento, Santiago Giménez.
NAPLES — Harry Kane became England's record international goalscorer as his side began their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign by beating reigning champions Italy 2-1 in Group C on Thursday.
England's skipper struck a penalty past Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma shortly before halftime to make it 2-0 after Declan Rice opened the scoring after 13 minutes.
HE'S DONE IT!
Qué jornada más sabrosa y jugosita fue la 12 del Clausura 2023.
América marcó terreno en Jalisco para quedarse con el Clásico Nacional y lo propio hizo Monterrey en cancha de Tigres para ganar el Clásico Regio. También disfrutamos del festival de golazos de Atlas ante Puebla y la visita de Ronaldinho Gaúcho en la reapertura al público del Estadio La Corregidora.
Pumas volvió a caer y el proceso de Rafa Puente Jr. llegó a su fin.
Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues:
BARCELONA TAKE HUGE STEP TOWARDS LALIGA TITLE
Barcelona have tightened their grip at the top of the LaLiga standings after an electric 2-1 comeback win in an El Clásico against bitter rivals Real Madrid on Sunday.
Franck Kessié's stunner in added time gave Barça a well-earned victory that left second-placed Real trailing the leaders by 12 points with only 12 games to be played.
Goalscoring has been an awfully bleak exercise for the Republic of Ireland since all-time leading scorer Robbie Keane announced his international retirement in 2016. The team only scored seven goals in nine matches during a failed qualifying cycle for Euro 2020, and things didn't get much better on the road to Qatar where Ireland only scored 11 in eight games (the majority coming against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan).