Opinion

United States men’s national team fans might have felt discouraged on Tuesday to see the Christian Pulisic benched news. For the first time this season Pulisic wasn’t in AC Milan’s starting XI as the club hosted Newcastle to a 0-0 draw in their UEFA Champions League opener.

Nigerian forward Samuel Chukwueze started in Pulisic’s usual place on the right wing for his first start with the club. Chukwueze arrived from Villarreal in the summer.

The September international break has finished, and United States men’s national team fans are concerned about a storm potentially brewing between Gregg Berhalter and new star striker Folarin Balogun.

First signs of the Berhalter Balogun tension began when a rumor started that an unnamed USMNT player wasn’t pleased about the friendlies vs. Uzbekistan and Oman.

trouble in paradise a certain player on the usmnt flew back home upset with Greg’s system and how he was used and forced to play.

The United States men’s national team comfortably defeated Oman 4-0 Tuesday night at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota, during an international friendly game.

USMNT fans will widely agree and say it was an alright performance from the team and a slight improvement from Saturday’s 3-0 win vs. Uzbekistan. 

Let’s get into the highlights and takeaways.

Spain defeated England 1-0 in the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday in Sydney, Australia, and became world champions for the first time in their history.

Olga Carmona’s strike in the 29th minute proved to be the difference. The 23-year-old fullback had a perfect low effort into the bottom corner that Golden Glove winner Mary Earps couldn’t keep out.

OLGA CARMONA HAS DONE IT!

SPAIN TAKES THE 1-0 LEAD pic.twitter.com/zqJBDRXngJ

Inter Miami and Lionel Messi advanced to the Leagues Cup Round of 16 on Tuesday after defeating Orlando City 3-1 at DRV PNK Stadium. Messi scored twice in the victory, but that’s not the big discussion this time.

Some fans are questioning calls from the referee and joking that the tournament is rigged for Messi and Miami.

The two major incidents that raised eyebrows were a soft penalty call in Miami’s favor in the second half and the lack of a foul called against Messi.

The USWNT's 0-0 draw with Portugal was a cry for help. If there's one thing we can say with 100 percent certainty, it's that Vlatko Andonovski's previous call for patience and simply more of the same is entirely without warrant. Recurrent issues have been plaguing the team for almost two years and they aren't working themselves out — there's something wrong with the system.

It's Sunday morning in the United States and every nation at the Women's World Cup has completed at least two matches. Group A, the Group of Life, went ahead and finished their third and final games in the early hours so that makes our Power Rankings a little clearer, but this is how things stand in our eyes with the knockout stages taking shape.

2023 Women's World Cup Power Rankings (Pt. II)

#32. Zambia (Change: 0)

It's Tuesday morning in the United States and every nation at the Women's World Cup has completed one match. Group A, the Group of Life, went ahead and completed their second games in the early hours so that makes our Power Rankings a little clearer, but this is how things stand in our eyes after just a taste of the tournament.  

2023 Women's World Cup Power Rankings

#32. Zambia