A grain of salt. Perhaps the perfect idiom for MLS Matchweek 5. As teams traversed the FIFA-recognized international break, it became abundantly clear that some squads were better at handling life without their superstars than others. This imbalance made for some surprising results, but overall, a thoroughly entertaining week of games.
Jordan Morris tallied four times to put him atop Major League Soccer's goal-scoring race as the visiting Seattle Sounders overcame an early deficit and defeated 10-man Sporting Kansas City 4-1 on Saturday night.
Léo Chú had three assists and goalkeeper Stefan Frei made two saves for the Sounders (3-1-1, 10 points), who snapped a 10-match road winless streak (0-9-1), the longest in franchise history. William Agada scored and John Pulskamp made three saves for Sporting K.C. (0-3-2, 2 points).
Christian Pulisic was unstoppable on Friday night during the USMNT’s 7-1 Concacaf Nations League victory vs. Grenada as he scored one and helped set up four others.
The U.S. expectedly dominated Grenada (ranked 173rd in the world) at Kirani James Athletic Stadium in the Caribbean island’s capital. While the victory was routine and nothing to brag about, it’s good to see U.S. players playing with confidence.
PARIS — New France captain Kylian Mbappé lived up to expectations with two goals in a 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands as Les Bleus got their Euro 2024 Group B qualifying campaign started in ruthless fashion on Friday.
Mbappé, named skipper after goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ended his international career in January, set up Antoine Griezmann for the opener before scoring the third, after Dayot Upamecano had doubled the tally in a first half blitz, before wrapping the scoring up late in front of an ecstatic crowd.
MUNICH — Bayern Munich parted ways with coach Julian Nagelsmann on Friday and appointed former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel as his successor, with the German champions in second place in the Bundesliga.
Nagelsmann, 35, had taken over in 2021 and led the Bavarians to their 10th straight German league crown but failed to win any other silverware last season.
Bayern crashed out in the German Cup second round after a demolition by Borussia Moenchengladbach and were then eliminated from the Champions League in a quarter-final defeat to Spanish underdogs Villarreal last term.
NAPLES — Harry Kane became England's record international goalscorer as his side began their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign by beating reigning champions Italy 2-1 in Group C on Thursday.
England's skipper struck a penalty past Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma shortly before halftime to make it 2-0 after Declan Rice opened the scoring after 13 minutes.
HE'S DONE IT!
Cristiano Ronaldo made history on Thursday when he made his 197th appearance for Portugal’s national team in a Euro qualifier vs. Liechtenstein. CR7 passes Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa to take the honor of most capped player in men’s international soccer history.
197 times in the colours of Portugal! @Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the men's international cap record pic.twitter.com/WDq3Qt6Nv5
Interim United States men’s national team head coach Anthony Hudson excited fans with an interesting roster selection for the March international window. A mix of usual starters and fringe players has fans eager to see how the team will lineup.
The USMNT have two Concacaf Nations League games to play with a trip to Grenada on March 24 and a home game in Orlando, Florida, vs. El Salvador on March 27.
Here’s a reminder of the 24 U.S. players selected for the pair of games.
Germany's World Cup-winning midfielder Mesut Özil announced his retirement from football at the age of 34 on Wednesday.
The former Real Madrid and Arsenal player was a key member of Germany's World Cup-winning side in Brazil in 2014.
He retired from the squad in 2018 amid a political debate in Germany about an influx of migrants and after backlash over a photograph taken with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, saying he faced "racism and disrespect" over his Turkish ancestry.
Top soccer commentator Ray Hudson went on a fiery rant about Chelsea and USMNT forward Christian Pulisic on Tuesday. Hudson spent about 100 seconds spilling all his ill-feelings about the American star on SiriusXMFC.
Let’s take a listen and break down some of his points.