FIFA Still Has To Tell Members Not To Take Bribes
You’d think it would be obvious by now, but apparently not. FIFA still has to tell its member federations that accepting bribes in exchange for votes on 2026 World Cup hosting rights is wrong.
You’d think it would be obvious by now, but apparently not. FIFA still has to tell its member federations that accepting bribes in exchange for votes on 2026 World Cup hosting rights is wrong.
The U.S. Men’s National Team opened the 2018 season with a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, a pair of teams who failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The USMNT vs Bosnia match itself was a relatively drab 0-0 draw, but with about 15 minutes left U.S. forward Jordan Morris had his shirt ripped, by far the highlight of the match.
Morris, the Seattle Sounders product, was involved in a tussle on the left sideline when his shirt tore just enough to bare his smooth abdomen, which the cameras didn’t shy away from showing.
The U.S. women keep accomplishing what the U.S. men cannot. On Friday in Ato Bodon Stadium, the exact same location of the USMNT’s capitulation to Trinidad and Tobago to miss out on the 2018 World Cup three months ago, the U-20 USWNT booked its trip to the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup with a win over Haiti.
You could tell it by the way his teammates just kind of stood around and watched — Hugo Nunes was about to score and no one was going to stop him. During a match at the Al Kass U17 International Cup earlier this week in Qatar, there was no way the Benfica youngster was going to be denied against Guangzhou Evergrande.
Hugo Nunes, a striker for the Benfica youth team, pulled off three spectacular moves in succession to score one of the most thrilling goals of the year at any level. That he’s 16 just makes it all the more enjoyable to watch.
Jonathan Gonzalez, the 18-year-old wonderkind midfielder for Monterrey in Liga MX and the USMNT's next great midfield boss, has officially received clearance from FIFA to switch national teams and become Mexico's next great midfield boss.
The UEFA Nations League is objectively a cool idea — turn meaningless friendlies into interesting competitions, replace boring lopsided matches with enticingly even matchups, create another tournament for players and fans to enjoy. But Wednesday’s draw didn’t exactly get the pulses racing for next fall’s Nations League schedule outside of a handful of UEFA’s 55 countries.
League A, Group 1 is awesome: Germany, France and the Netherlands. Group A4 is pretty good too: Spain, England and Croatia. But the other 14 groups fail to really move the needle.
There are two rules for hiring someone for a position as a public figure that everyone should follow in 2018. Rule No. 1: make sure that person is qualified for the position. Rule No. 2: read their dang tweets.
The England FA evidently did not follow either of these rules before they announced Phil Neville as the new manager of the England Women's National Team.
Mexico’s pre-World Cup exhibitions will include at least three matches in the country El Tri helped keep out of the World Cup, highlighted by the Mexico vs Iceland friendly in Santa Clara, California, in March. Coach Juan Carlos Osorio will test his team against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Croatia this spring, with all three to be played in the United States.
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Mexico on Jan. 31, three days after playing the United States. The USA match is in Carson, California, while the Mexico match will be in San Antonio.
Less than a year after being hired by the Canadian Soccer Association, Ecuadorian manager Octavio Zambrano has been replaced by the hugely successful coach of the Canadian women’s team, 42-year-old Englishman John Herdman. Former Herdman assistant Kenneth Heiner-Møller will now take charge of the side ranked fifth in the world with the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup just 17 months away.
U.S. Soccer’s annual January Camp takes on a completely different look this World Cup year with 26 of the 30 players called into camp harboring five caps or less, including 15 uncapped players. Experience will be provided by Gyasi Zardes (37 caps), Juan Agudelo (27), Jordan Morris (24) and Paul Arriola (15).