Former Houston Dynamo and USMNT striker Brian Ching has plans to make one of the coolest soccer bars in America. The venue, called Pitch 25, is expected to open in March 2018 and will feature natural lighting, an outdoor biergarten and even an indoor soccer field.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has come through on his promise to make the World Cup bidding process more transparent and open to scrutiny after the fallout following the 2010 vote which saw the 2018 and 2022 World Cups handed to Russia and Qatar.
On June 13, 2018, 211 member federations and the 38-person FIFA council will decide who’ll win the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and all of those votes will be open to public viewing.
U.S. Soccer has announced the squad called in to play a friendly against Portugal in Leiria on November 14, the USMNT’s first match since the disaster in Trinidad & Tobago. The squad is highlighted by five uncapped players — goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez (22), defender Cameron Carter-Vickers (19), midfielders Tyler Adams (18) and Weston McKennie (19), and forward Josh Sargent (17).
Borussia Dortmund’s sobering 3-1 home defeat to Bayern Munich on Saturday contained only two redeeming qualities according to BVB manager Peter Bosz: the support of the club’s famous Yellow Wall and the play of 19-year-old American attacker Christian Pulisic.
It hasn’t even been a month since the USMNT failed to qualify for the World Cup and U.S. forward Jozy Altidore apparently already felt compelled to pay homage the miserable 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago in October. During Toronto FC’s Eastern Conference semifinal second leg, Altidore made a spot-on reenactment of the Americans’ performance against the Soca Warriors.
eyeroll emoji pic.twitter.com/WQpzXHpSPc
Borussia Dortmund lost to Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker Saturday, 3-1. However, that one for Dortmund was set up by intrepid American hero Christian Pulisic nutmegging Arjen Robben inside-out.
The Bartra finish was pretty, but how about that nutmeg by Pulisic?? https://t.co/LWEH30eLva
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 4, 2017
There’s certainly not a whole lot in this — it’s wild January transfer speculation two months before the window opens from dubious sources — except that it kinda makes sense.
The Seattle Sounders defense of their MLS Cup rolls on after a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Western Conference semifinals. Clint Dempsey’s brace at CenturyLink Field were the only goals of the two-legged tie with the Whitecaps landing only one shot on target over 180 minutes of play.
The Video Assistant Referee system is now extensively in use around the globe, most notably in Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and Major League Soccer. MLS’s time with the use of video replay dates back to August 5, and it’s had the likes of Kaka and Clint Dempsey sent off. It’ll be in use at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but there are still pockets of resistance.
It’s the end of an era more shocking than the United States’ failure to reach the World Cup. Kyle Beckerman’s horrific hair is no more. The Real Salt Lake and USMNT player cut off almost all of the one distinguishable aspect of his on-field displays.