The United States kicks off the hexagonal round of FIFA World Cup qualifying with two of the most difficult matches they’ll face on the road to Russia. On Friday, the USA host Mexico at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Four days later, they face Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica.
An extremely eventful week for American fullback DeAndre Yedlin ended on a high note with a brilliant assist against Cardiff City on Saturday and a call-up to the USMNT on Sunday.
The Hex kicks off on November 11 in Columbus, Ohio with the big one: the United States versus Mexico. El Tri manager Juan Carlos Osorio has announced his squad for that match and their trip to Central America to play Panama four days later.
While Osorio had the luxury of naming largely experimental squads for September’s final fourth round World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Honduras, as well as their October friendlies against New Zealand and Panama, the Colombian has named his strongest possible side in an attempt to end the Dos a Cero spell.
It's easy to forget Julian Green is only 21 years old. He's earned a spot in Bayern Munich's first team, been dropped from Bayern's first team, rejected moves away from Bayern, scored in a World Cup knockout game and started in the Champions League. This season Green is trying to carve out a spot in Bayern's rotation, and his play in his first start for the senior side since 2015 will certainly help his case.
Green scored his first competitive goal for the first team against Augsburg Wednesday with a wonderful header.
Bobby Wood scored a brace for Hamburg SV and Fabian Johnson scored the goal of the day for Borussia Monchengladbach as the USMNT members helped their respective sides to the round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal.
Johnson’s Gladbach took on German second division side VfB Stuttgart, and the American winger got the home side off to a dream start in front of 40,452 at Borussia-Park. Collecting the ball off an exquisite back heel pass from Andre Hahn, Johnson scored his second goal in all competitions for the club.
The career trajectories of England’s Marcus Rashford and the USA’s Christian Pulisic have escalated quicker than Donald Trump’s various horrible statements.
Bob Bradley served Jurgen Klinsmann, who danced back, and now it's on.
Remember the South Park episode in which a dance troupe comes to town and serves the boys and then Stan's dad teaches him some line-dancing steps and the boys get served again but then Stan dances back and then it's on? That's what's happening between current USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann and former USMNT manager (and new Swansea manager) Bob Bradley.
Julian Green is yet to play a minute in the Bundesliga this season. His only appearance for the Bavarian giants was as a substitute in the DFB Pokal. For the USMNT, Green’s last start prior to this October call-up was back in 2014 — the same year he’d scored his lone, albeit unforgettable, USA goal.
Bob Bradley is quickly proving he can hang with the best managers in the Premier League, at least in terms of banter.
Bradley's first press conference as manager of Swansea City included a shot at his successor as USMNT manager, Jurgen Klinsmann.
Here's the excerpt everyone's talking about:
"From the day I got fired from the U.S., I've not said one thing publicly about that team. I don't appreciate the way it was done; I think they made a mistake," Bradley said.
With the United States preparing for a historic match against Cuba in Havana on Friday, we took a moment to speak with Brazilian photojournalist Gabriel Uchida. In 2014, he travelled to Cuba and "wasn't tough enough to drink Cuban rum the whole day for a week, so [he] decided to spend two days looking for football in the island."
The resulting images paint a picture of a beautiful, vibrant football culture that is still finding its footing in the world's game.