Panama kept Canada in check for 44 minutes Sunday, but a seven-goal, 34-minute spell ended the Central American’s hopes of an astonishing upset at the semifinal stage of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. By advancing to the final, Canada secured automatic qualification to the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, where it’ll look to improve on a quarterfinal showing at the 2015 finals on home soil.
Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula right across the Mediterranean from Africa with a population smaller than most major soccer stadiums, has won a game of football. The Gibraltar national team defeated Armenia 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday in Yerevan, Armenia, the team’s first win in a meaningful match after 22 straight losses since joining UEFA in 2013.
And you could see what it meant to the players and coaches from the territory of just over 30,000 people as soon as the referee blew his final whistle.
When Germany won the 2014 World Cup, there was little doubt Manuel Neuer was the best goalkeeper in the world. His impressive shot-stopping ability and unparalleled foot skills made him a unique weapon for Die Mannschaft.
These days, however, Neuer looks to be a shadow of his former self.
Following a long injury layoff, Neuer couldn’t do anything to help Germany during the country’s worst-ever World Cup showing over the summer in Russia.
Olimpicos — scoring directly from a corner kick — are a rare occurrence at the top level of football. Goalkeepers are usually too astute, too tall and too athletic to allow someone to score from a corner. But this Mo Salah Olimpico on Friday showed it’s not impossible.
Michael Bradley returned to the U.S. national team one year and one day from the worst day in U.S. men’s soccer history. He returned just in time to guide his team to a 4-2 loss to Colombia on Thursday in Tampa, Florida, with the pro-Colombian crowd chanting “Olé!” with glee in the closing minutes after Colombia scored three goals in 23 minutes in the second half.
It’s hard not to like Kylian Mbappé.
Time magazine announced he would become the fourth footballer to grace its cover on Thursday and the feature story on the 19-year-old included this statement on giving his $500,000 World Cup bonus to charity.
“(It) does not change my life, but it changes theirs,” Mbappé said.
What’s not to love?
During the 2016-17 Bundesliga season, Thiago Alcântara led all players with a pass success rate of 90.2 percent. During an injury plagued 2017-18 campaign, that number climbed to 91.8. Seven matches into the new season, he again sits at a success rate of 91.8. This is all to say that Thiago is an absolute monster when it comes to his passing technique and on-the-ball quality.
On a rainy night on Thursday in Cary, North Carolina, the U.S. women’s national team blasted 59 shots toward the goal of Saundra Baron, a 24-year-old former East Carolina University goalkeeper. The Trinidad and Tobago net minder blocked a Tim Howard-esque 15 shots and was saved by the post countless other times in a heroic performance.
And the USWNT still scored seven goals and probably should have had many more.
For Mexico, how things have played out in the past week of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship has been nothing short of a disaster.
Storms clouds seemed to loom for the team right from the start in its opening Group A match against the U.S. No one really expected the Mexicans to beat the Americans, but they were certainly supposed to give them a game. They couldn’t do that.