Italy is synonymous with soccer. They have always been one of the top-ranked teams in the world. The Italian national team has won the World Cup four times (tied with Germany for second, behind Brazil). They've been a team others have simultaneously envied and been afraid to play. A team that generated stars like Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero. A team with grace, class and a wondrous reputation.
In less than three weeks, the Trinidad and Tobago women's national team will face off against the best teams in the region at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship, which doubles as 2019 World Cup qualifying.
It’s a chance for the Soca Warriors to qualify for their first ever World Cup and they’ve got a real chance — four years ago they finished fourth and lost 1-0 to Ecuador in a two-legged playoff for the final berth to the 2015 World Cup.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was reminded the hard way that fame and fortune does not make you immune to the law.
The Frenchman, who captained his country to World Cup victory this summer, pleaded guilty to a drunk-driving charge on Wednesday. He will have to pay a $65,000 fine and is banned from getting behind the wheel for 20 months.
Roy Keane and aggression are two words that are perfect together. The tough midfielder was one of the toughest players to play the game, and he expects the same amount of toughness from his players.
The first African player to win the Ballon d’or. A successful run for the Liberian presidential candidacy. George Weah has shown time after time that he can do it all.
The Liberian legend proved yet again that he is no ordinary man when he featured for his home country in a friendly against Nigeria on Tuesday at the ripe old age of 51. Weah played a respectable 79 minutes in his side’s 2-1 loss and was honored after the game in a ceremony to retire his No. 14 jersey. He scored 22 goals in 60 appearances during his international career.
In the 65th minute of tonight’s “friendly” between the USMNT and Mexico in Nashville, U.S. defender Matt Miazga triggered six minutes of absolute bedlam after finally getting the better of 18-year-old Mexican phenom Diego Lainez. The diminutive (5 ft 5.5 in) Club America winger was probably the highlight of an otherwise tame first half.
He absolutely diced U.S. captain Wil Trapp and feasted on him at one point. It was frightening.
36' ¡Dieeeeego Lainez volvió locos a todos!
Excuse me, I have to type this so quietly because Croatia’s hungover as all hell at the moment, and I daren’t wake it. Today, Croatia opened its eyes in Elche before quickly closing them and muttering, “I think I’m going to die. I don’t think partying for 58 days straight was a good idea.”
That’s the amount of time that’s elapsed between the nation’s runners-up finish at the World Cup and today’s 6-0 beatdown at the hands of La Furia Roja — a nickname which certainly sounds like the sort of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky product that’d do your head in.
With Chile in Suwon for an international friendly against South Korea, 24-year-old midfielder Diego Valdes, who plays his club ball for Morelia in Liga MX, played the most abhorrent sort of tourist while posing for a photograph with a South Korean fan using the derogatory ‘slant-eyed’ gesture.
The USMNT plays host to Mexico tonight at Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the 68th meeting between the CONCACAF rivals. Mexico leads the all-time series with a record of 34W-18L-15D, and while victory is always of the utmost importance in this historic matchup, there’s no getting around the fact that this is an encounter between two very young sides that are casting their first covetous glances towards the 2022 World Cup cycle.
Portugal defeated Italy 1-0 Monday at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon to go top of UEFA Nations League Group 3 while Italy crashed to the bottom of the three-team group with only one point from two matches. The Azzurri’s worrisome 1-1 draw with Poland in Bologna last Friday served to foreshadow the day’s events: Italy mustered only two shots on target while creating absolutely nothing of note.