I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy to go from watching the Euro and Copa América finals to blanky staring at Costa Rica fight off Guadeloupe 3-1 in the Gold Cup. Concacaf’s skill level might not be that of UEFA and CONMEBOL, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t entertainment.
Hace un par de semanas había alegría en la Federación Mexicana de Fútbol. En un amistoso ante la selección de Panamá, la afición del Tri se había portado súper bien y Guillermo Ochoa hasta felicitó a los espectadores por no recurrir al "¡eh, puuuto!" que tantas sanciones le ha significado al balompié azteca. Sin embargo, esa alegría apenas duró un par de partidos.
ROME - After 18 months of pandemic hell, Italy reveled in some soccer heaven on Monday after its national team brought back the European Championship trophy for the first time since 1968 following victory over England at Wembley.
Led by coach Roberto Mancini, the players landed shortly after dawn to find many fans were still celebrating in the early morning cool, with the smell of fireworks lingering in the streets and flags flapping out of car windows.
LONDON - The old guard, once again, came good for Italy, this time steering the Azzurri to Euro 2020 glory, but wily defensive stalwarts Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini cannot go on forever.
One experienced defensive head is guaranteed to remain, however, to guide an exciting Italy team into the future, despite still being a boy himself. The unflappable Gianluigi Donnarumma is almost certainly going to go on to break all kinds of appearance records at club and international level.
Roy Keane said England teenager Bukayo Saka should not have been given the task of taking their crucial fifth penalty in Sunday's shootout defeat by Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
Saka, 19, had to score to send the shootout to sudden death but his kick was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian goalkeeper had also saved from Jadon Sancho after Marcus Rashford had hit the post.
DONNARUMMA SAVES THE PENALTY!
LONDON - Black players in the England soccer team have been subjected to a storm of online racist abuse after their defeat in the final of Euro 2020, drawing wide condemnation from the squad's manager Gareth Southgate along with royalty and politicians.
Marcus Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, were the targets of the abuse after they missed spot-kicks in a penalty shootout with Italy which settled Sunday's final after the game finished as a 1-1 draw.
Welcome back then Gold Cup.
On Saturday night, the tournament began with Trinidad and Tobago taking a point off Mexico in front of over 41,000 in Arlington, Texas. On Sunday afternoon, the action continued with Martinique taking an early lead on Canada before John Herdman’s side replied with four unanswered.
All this to say: you never know what the hell is going on in Concacaf.
Surrounded by a reported 200,000 raucous fans in the Wembley area (and far more than the stated 60,000 inside the ground), Italy played spoiler in the Euro 2020 final at a level unseen since the Spartans pushed back the Persians at the Hot Gates.
"Inglaterra realmente juega un fútbol increíblemente asustado. Si eso es lo que hacen con el plantel que tienen, creo que es miserable". La frase la dijo el ex-futbolista neerlandés, Pierre van Hooijdonk, en la previa de la final de la Euro entre los Tres Leones e Italia y ahora vuelven a resonar, luego de que los ingleses comenzaran ganando la definición, pero terminarán con el corazón roto al caer en los penales ante la Azzurra.
Argentina está de regreso a casa, con el trofeo de la Copa América en el equipaje. Después de más de 40 días de concentración, lo primero que hicieron los jugadores de la Albiceleste fue reencontrarse con sus familias. La reunión más mediática, obviamente, se produjo en Rosario, donde Antonela Roccuzzo saltó para abrazar y besar al héroe de esta gesta, su esposo, Lionel Messi.