Finally, some good news surrounding the U.S. men’s national team. 18-year-old Ajax defender Sergiño Dest has committed his future to the Yanks, and he'll hopefully be on display if we can qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Some big news coming out of UEFA Youth League Group F on Wednesday — perhaps the biggest UEFA Youth League Group F news we’ve ever presented on the hallowed pages of The18: In the group’s early match, 18-year-old American winger Konrad de la Fuente scored two great goals as Barcelona thumped Slavia Prague 4-0. Later in the day, Inter Milan responded to Borussia Dortmund’s early goal with four unanswered, but that Dortmund opener was scored by Youssoufa Moukoko.
Inter Milan revived its hope of advancing to the Champions League Round of 16 with a much-needed 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at the San Siro on Wednesday. Goals from the red-hot Lautaro Martínez and Antonio Candreva catapulted Inter up to second in Group F — three points behind leaders Barcelona — while Dortmund dropped to third.
When the Seattle Sounders signed 19-year-old goalkeeper Trey Muse to a Homegrown Player contract back in January, he was widely considered the best amateur keeper in the country. He's since been sent on loan to USL Championship side Tacoma Defiance to get more consistent competitive minutes.
While he's struggled at times this season behind the league's worst defense, he's also proven that he's still the goalkeeper of the future for the Sounders.
Just take a look at this incredible quadruple-save he made against New Mexico United on Wednesday night:
The Longstaff boys might’ve just signed Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s death warrant. Paired together at the heart of Newcastle’s midfield, Sean — the older brother at the age of 21 — and Matty — making his Premier League debut at the age of 19 — bossed Manchester United’s midfield duo of Scott McTominay and Fred to lead Newcastle to a 1-0 victory at St James' Park on Sunday.
After three straight matches as an unused substitute, Christian Pulisic made his first Premier League appearance since Aug. 31 when coming on in the 80th minute of Chelsea’s 4-1 victory over Southampton on Sunday.
The bad news for Pulisic is that the players above him in the pecking order all played well: Mason Mount scored a goal; Callum Hudson-Odoi and Willian picked up assists. The good news for Pulisic is that he made the most of his 10 minutes on the pitch.
The European transfer window has been closed for 31 days now, which is just enough time for layman to speak in absolutes. Of course we’re primarily talking about 21-year-old American Christian Pulisic, who had a solid game and an assist versus Norwich back on Aug. 24 before his career was ended by not making the 18 against Lille yesterday.
It doesn’t matter that wide attacking players like…
A Dutch youth has hit the worm harder than anyone before him.
I’ll be honest, my first great hope was that this b-boy was just really into 1980s funk subculture (and maybe he is), but I had to know one thing for sure, so I typed “Is the worm in Fortnite?” into Google. It’s with some sadness that I report the answer as yes, but the worm is still a huge improvement over the floss dance and whatever the hell Antoine Griezmann does.
In time, the coaching tree that expands out from Pep Guardiola is going to be massive. Some will fail (like if Mikel Arteta had taken the job at Newcastle), but the Spanish tactician’s otherworldly training methods will almost certainly be absorbed and even expanded upon by some future coaching Übermensch that worked under Guardiola for a long period.
MLS youth academy coaching is about to get a serious revamp along with a fourth iteration of the visionary partnership between MLS and the French Football Federation (FFF).