USMNT

Andrea Pirlo’s first match as Juventus manager included debuts for 22-year-old American Weston McKennie and 20-year-old Swede Dejan Kulusevski, and both young talents did their manager proud in a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria at Allianz Stadium. 

It was Kulusevski, the Serie A Best Young Player award-winner last season while on loan at Parma, who opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a left-footed curler from the edge of the area.

What a beauty!

RB Leipzig eased past Mainz 3-1 in their Bundesliga opener on Sunday to enjoy a successful start to league life without striker Timo Werner.

Werner joined Chelsea in the close season and missed their run to their Champions League semifinals in August but Leipzig had little trouble finding the back of the net against Mainz, striking twice in four minutes.

Emil Forsberg converted a 17th-minute penalty for a foul on Dani Olmo and Yussuf Poulsen rose high to drill in a header for the second goal. 

I never thought I would see the day when players from the U.S. would be scattered around the top clubs in Europe. Yet here we are with Weston McKennie linking up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus, Christian Pulisic being Chelsea’s No.

DeAndre Yedlin’s future is in a state of uncertainty with the sun setting on his time with Newcastle in the Premier League. Talks of Yedlin leaving Newcastle this transfer window were floated around earlier in the summer but now a destination seems clear. A report from CBS’ Roger Gonzalez claims the return of Yedlin to MLS looks likely.

Borussia Dortmund’s 2020-21 campaign began in earnest today with a DFB-Pokal first round match against third division side MSV Duisburg. Dortmund fielded a strong starting 11, but there was also room for a pair of teenagers in Giovanni Reyna and Jude Bellingham (both 17).

Dortmund got things started in the 14th-minute with Jadon Sancho converting from the penalty spot, and then Bellingham marked his competitive Dortmund debut with a goal following an excellent backheel from Thorgan Hazard.

I will admit it — I tend to get so caught up in the Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna hype-train that I sometimes overlook the other talented members on the USMNT. Well, New Zealand-born American winger Tyler Boyd just gave me the antidote with a magnificent goal for Besiktas. I will be googling “Tyler Boyd goal vs Trabzonspor” for some time to come.

Sit back, relax and watch an American give one of Turkey’s biggest clubs something to cheer about in its season opener.

Ahead of opening its Serie A campaign next weekend, Juventus played a friendly against third division side Novara at the club’s training center on Sunday morning. As the first friendly of preseason, the match served as a debut for 22-year-old American Weston McKennie following his year-long loan to the club from Schalke.

Atlanta United technical director Carlos Bocanegra was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

The former U.S. Men's National Team captain is the lone member of the Class of 2020 and will be enshrined in 2021.

  +  

Carlos Bocanegra made his mark on American Soccer. #NSHOF20

The exodus continues.

Despite the NWSL doing just about everything in its power to remain relevant during a global pandemic, star players continue to flee for Europe. On Wednesday, it was Tobin Heath and Christen Press who ditched the NWSL for greener pastures in England, signing with Manchester United of the FA Women’s Super League. 

CONCACAF and FIFA provided an update on the 2022 World Cup qualifying process with an announcement that the First Round is being pushed back to March 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns. 

Update on the Concacaf Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 https://t.co/5OK6XtibM6