International Soccer

Tarania “Plum Plum” Clarke, a member of the Jamaica women’s national team and captain of reigning Jamaica champion Waterhouse FC, was stabbed to death on Thursday in Kingston, Jamaica, authorities confirmed Friday.

Police said Clarke, 20, was killed by another woman after a fight broke out at a bar after a dispute over a cell phone. That woman, who has not been identified, has been arrested. 

Clarke had planned on moving to the United States in 2020 to go to college.

The latest FIFA World Ranking has been released, and it comes as no surprise that the USMNT has taken a slight tumble. Any good grace that was earned with a 7-0 beatdown of Cuba was subsequently withdrawn following a nightmarishly disjointed performance against Canada, and the U.S. has fallen two places to a global ranking of 23.

We’re a little over a month away from the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Asunción, Paraguay, but the defending champion has just delivered a timely reminder of its mastery of the sand. The World Beach Games wrapped up yesterday in Doha, Qatar, and it was Brazil that captured the men’s beach soccer title following a 9-3 victory over Russia in the gold medal match.

Josh Sargent sprinted to the sideline, thinking his race had been run. Alas, even substitutions proved too difficult for the USMNT on Tuesday: The substitution board read 15, not Sargent’s No. 19; the striker was to suffer through the full 90, just like all the fans watching on TV.

On Wednesday morning, Canadian residents awoke to extensive coverage of the massive sporting news: Toronto had defeated Minnesota 4-2, the Habs lost to Tampa Bay 3-1, Winnipeg succumbed to Arizona 4-2, Calgary thumped the Flyers 3-1 and the Canucks battered the Red Wings 5-1. What’s more, Donald Trump had welcomed a heavy concentration of Canadians to the White House on Tuesday in the form of the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. 

Trump congratulated the Blues on the stock market being way up, an agriculture deal with China and a Mike Pence trip to Turkey.

A disastrous week of qualifying for the Republic of Ireland began with a 0-0 draw away to Georgia on Saturday and concluded with a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in Geneva on Tuesday, effectively handing control of Group D over to the Swiss and Denmark in Euro 2020 qualifying.

Torrential rain before Tuesday’s match had pounded the pitch at Stade de Genève, but the prospective bog figured to suit an Irish side that entered the match with an anemic attack that’d produced only six goals in six games coupled with an unforgiving defense that’d conceded only twice. 

It was historic, but amidst renewed tensions and the recent launching of some unidentified projectiles toward the Sea of Japan (as well as a forthcoming "Hog Apocalypse"), it wasn’t exactly euphoric. For the first time since a 1990 friendly, the men’s teams of North and South Korea faced off in Pyongyang. 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his professional career, but Portugal’s 13-game unbeaten streak was brought to an abrupt end by Ukraine in Kiev on Monday. The victory secured qualification to Euro 2020 for Ukraine, and it was a continuation of the country’s glorious renaissance under the direction of 43-year-old manager Andriy Shevchenko.

It was Shevhenko himself who scored Ukraine’s last goal at a major international tournament — that coming at Euro 2012 — but based on today’s display, this is a team that will certainly do more than make up the numbers next summer.