In recent years, Major League Soccer has gone up against numerous big-name European clubs in a friendly to help showcase both the talent in MLS as well as international talent of clubs vying for more market presence in the U.S. The MLS All-Star Skills Challenge is part of that ploy. So, here’s some helpful information to know before you watch it.
On Saturday night, the Houston Dash faced off against the Washington Spirit in Boyds, Maryland, where both teams had their fair share of opportunities on goal.
After an hour delay at halftime due to lightning, the Spirit came out strong and found the back of the net first. Midfielder Jordan DiBiasi received a deflected ball off a long throw-in from Sam Staab, and DiBiasi got her head on it to give the Spirit the lead in the 52nd minute.
On Wednesday, July 31, the only friendly worth watching takes place at Orlando City Stadium in Florida — it’s the 2019 MLS All-Star Game, pitting the best of MLS against Spanish giant Atlético Madrid. What’s flying under the radar is that one day before the big game, there’s going to be an All-Star Skills Challenge.
This used to be a regular feature of MLS All-Star weekend, but for some reason I’ll never understand, they put an end to it. Here’s a brief recap.
The eighth edition of Soccer Aid, which raises money for UNICEF UK, took place last night at Stamford Bridge, and the star-studded event featured the likes of Roberto Carlos, Didier Drogba, Eric Cantona, Usain Bolt, Niall Horan, John Terry, Michael Owen and Mo Farah.
The game finished 2-2 in regular time with F2 Freestylers baller Jeremy Lynch scoring two goals for the England XI while the World XI responded with goals from Bolt and Love Island’s Kem Cetinay. The World XI would eventually triumph on penalty kicks.
After denying itself the league title last week following a 2-2 draw with Strasbourg, PSG traveled to second place Lille today with another shot at securing the crown with a victory or draw. They would achieve neither result, ultimately playing for 49 minutes down a man following Juan Bernat’s red card and losing 5-1.
Which team is the hottest in the Bundesliga right now? It’s certainly not Borussia Dortmund, despite a narrow win on Saturday, nor is it Bayern Munich, after a draw saw it lose its spot at the top of the table.
The hottest team in the Bundesliga right now is RB Leipzig. And 20-year-old American midfielder Tyler Adams is a massive reason why.
The reigning World Cup champions were always expected to trounce little Moldova to open Euro 2020 qualifying on Friday. But the class and beauty on display in France’s first goal was another stunning reminder of the quality of the best team in the world.
France was marvelous in its run to the World Cup title last summer and pretty much the entire roster was back for the start of Euro 2020 qualifying this week. Chief among those were Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, who combined for the opener against Moldova on Friday.
D.C. United dropped five goals on Real Salt Lake to continue its undefeated start to the 2019 season, and the match was highlighted by Wayne Rooney’s first-ever hat-trick in MLS play.
The 33-year-old Englishman opened the scoring from the spot in the 34th minute, applied a delicate chip in the 41st for the second and then guaranteed D.C. all three points in the 65th when sliding in to provide a close-range finish.
The 2019 USL Championship season began this past weekend with the league welcoming over 90,000 fans across 17 games, including a sellout crowd of 12,896 to watch New Mexico United’s opening match at Isotopes Park (that's more than the Chicago Fire and Colorado Rapids drew to open their MLS campaigns).
In all, five clubs drew more than 8,000 spectators for their opening matches, an extremely promising sign for the health of the league as it enters its ninth season.
Barcelona made heavy work of 3-1 victory over 19th-place Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou on Saturday to maintain a seven-point lead at the top of LaLiga. Raúl de Tomás opened the scoring for the visitors in the 24th minute, but Barca found the equalizer 14 minutes later through Gerard Pique. In the second half, a Lionel Messi penalty and a Luis Suarez goal would secure three points ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League second leg against Lyon (0-0 on aggregate).