For those of us that are old, we see a meeting between the Netherlands and Germany sans Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller and even more of our already decrepit existence goes to die.
Still, a meeting between Holland and Germany in Amsterdam remains on of the few fixtures on the international calendar that you’re innately drawn to, and today's exercise showed exactly why.
Concacaf Nations League qualifying is coming to a close this weekend with the final round of matches. Concacaf teams outside the top six in the region are attempting to qualify for the Gold Cup (including tiny Montserrat) and determine which league they start in for the Nations League.
Venezuela national team coach Rafael Dudamel pulled off an impressive 3-1 win over Argentina on Saturday in Madrid.
After the match, he said he was offering his resignation as Venezuela national team coach.
Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s last match as a coach before Friday night was Atlanta United’s MLS Cup victory in December. He picked up right where he left off as Mexico’s new coach.
Mexico scored three goals in 14 minutes to top Chile 3-1 in a friendly on Friday night at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
While this was just a friendly, this was a country that beat Mexico 7-0 in the 2016 Copa America. Not bad for Martino’s first match in charge of El Tri.
For all of his goal-scoring success in the past couple of years with Manchester City, Raheem Sterling entered this international break with just four goals in 47 international appearances.
Sterling nearly doubled that mark on Friday.
England hosted the Czech Republic in the first match of Euro 2020 qualifying for both countries. Sterling looked right at home, scoring a hat trick to lead the Three Lions to a 5-0 victory.
More remarkable than the goals, however, was the Raheem Sterling celebration after his second strike.
The reigning World Cup champions were always expected to trounce little Moldova to open Euro 2020 qualifying on Friday. But the class and beauty on display in France’s first goal was another stunning reminder of the quality of the best team in the world.
France was marvelous in its run to the World Cup title last summer and pretty much the entire roster was back for the start of Euro 2020 qualifying this week. Chief among those were Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, who combined for the opener against Moldova on Friday.
Gregg Berhalter’s first match as USMNT coach with a full (well, almost full) complement of players during a FIFA international window on Thursday against Ecuador gave Americans their first true glimpses at how the new boss is shaking things up with the national team.
If you’re wondering where the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy is now, it’s in the midst of a two-month journey around the planet before making its way to Paris by May 2. As of today, it’s actually leaving Los Angeles, California, and making its way to Seoul, South Korea, to kick off a tour of the Far East.
Many people find it hard to enjoy international breaks. Clubs don’t play during the weekend so you can’t get your fantasy team or your club football fix in general. Even with the new international competitions made to keep the breaks more entertaining and relevant, club football can leave behind a kind of withdrawal. Lucky for you, The18 has compiled a list of things you can do to survive the international break without dying.
Montserrat — a tiny Caribbean island of less than 40 square miles named by Christopher Columbus, a territory of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants that was wrecked by a volcano 24 years ago, with a team ranked No. 200 in the world — is one win away from qualifying for the 2019 Gold Cup.