It's the first week back at pickup soccer after nearly a year off. Maybe you got some touches in at the local field or in your backyard, maybe you didn't. But whatever workouts you did (or didn't do) are no substitute for actual game play.
That first pickup session or game after the spring thaw is always painful after the lack of cardio in the winter. You come in expecting pain, but somehow the pain is always worse than you imagined.
As the world heals from the pandemic, pick-up matches are on their way back as well. Pick-up matches exemplify all the best parts of soccer: intense rivalries, healthy competition and the opportunity to sharpen your skills.
It was a foggy Saturday morning soccer match and I was defending the goal spectating the action going on the field. I had stopped a few shots earlier in the match and my confidence was quickly rising. Thoughts raced through my head, realizing that I was about to officially record my first clean sheet of the season. Then as clear as day the ball was passed to me, and as I went to stop it with my foot it slowly but surely skipped right below my outstretched foot and into the awaiting net behind me.
After four quarterfinal matches on Sunday, we’re down to the final four of the NCAA Women’s College Cup. The semifinal games will be played on Thursday, May 13, with the championship game falling on Monday, May 17, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
Here’s a quick recap of how Sunday’s quarterfinal matches played out.
NCAA D1 Women’s Soccer Tournament: Quarterfinal Results And Highlights
No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 9 Duke
After grinding out a win against Costa Rica last Thursday, the United States U-23s took care of business on Sunday night by beating the Dominican Republic 4-0 in Olympic qualifying at Estadio Akron. If Mexico beats or ties Costa Rica in Sunday’s later game, the U.S. is through to the semifinals. If Costa Rica wins, Wednesday’s group finale against Mexico takes on meaning again.
The Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament is finally happening, albeit a year late. Jalisco, Mexico, will host 15 games over two weeks to determine the region’s two berths to this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Concacaf Olympic qualifying, including Fox’s unprecedented coverage plans.
It’s been 20 years to the day since Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut at the youth level for Portugal. He was only a 16-year-old at the time, but he was also just one year away from a meteoric rise through Sporting’s system that would see him become the first to play for the club’s U-16, U-17, U-18, B team and first team all within the same season.
No one scored more for Cameroon than former Barcelona and Inter Milan superstar Samuel Eto’o. The lethal striker scored 56 times in 118 appearances for the Indomitable Lions, and now his son appears ready to pick up the mantle.
Etienne Eto’o Pineda, Samuel Eto’o’s son, scored two goals in his first start for Cameroon, leading the U-20 Indomitable Lions to a 4-1 win over Mozambique at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations on Saturday in Mauritania.
The Los Angeles Galaxy announced the signing Wednesday of 15-year-old Alex Alcala to his first pro contract.
Alcala joined the LA Galaxy Academy last year. He is scheduled to report to Galaxy II of the USL Championship for the upcoming 2021 season.
We’ve reached a new level in the relationship between Nike and the young phenoms churned out at Santos FC. It began with PSG’s Neymar, who signed with the multinational corporation at the age of 13. That trend continued with Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, who, at the tender age of 11, became Nike’s youngest-ever affiliated athlete after dazzling at a youth tournament in New York.