Before handing out today’s main prize — the 2018 Ballon d’Or — France Football presented the first-ever awarding of the Kopa Trophy, the accolade given to the best performing player under the age of 21.
This weekend was full of official transfer business for two of the USMNT’s brightest stars: It’s been long-anticipated, but New York Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams, 19, will officially join Bundesliga side RB Leipzig when the January transfer window opens, and Christian Pulisic, 20, was the subject of an official transfer approach from Premier League club Chelsea.
45-year-old New Jersey native Gregg Berhalter has been named manager of the USMNT with a contract running through the 2022 World Cup, according to ESPN. Berhalter arrives from the Columbus Crew after leading the club to the MLS Playoffs in four out of his five seasons at the helm.
Jermaine Jones was a pretty stellar USMNT midfielder for a while. The sound of his strike against Portugal swooshing into the back of the net in the 2014 World Cup ranks as one of my favorite noises of all time, right up there with Fry trying to gnaw his arms off to reach super Slurm and my cat’s purring.
But Jermaine Jones has been known to have a bit of a temper, and it may have gotten him in trouble with authorities.
Weston McKennie is no longer the only 20-year-old American playing for Schalke.
Haji Wright, a Los Angeles native and a few months older than McKennie, made his Schalke debut on Saturday, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute as Die Knappen routed 10-man Nurnberg 5-2.
Following the United States' 1-0 loss to Italy on Tuesday, U.S. Soccer released its shortlist of men’s and women’s players in the running for the federation’s annual U.S. Soccer Player Of The Year award.
During a friendly against Italy on Tuesday, Christian Pulisic recorded a pretty special achievement, although it’s also something of a non-event: At the age of 20 years and 63 days, he became the youngest captain in the history of the USMNT. Pulisic eclipsed the previous mark set by Landon Donovan, who led out the side at the age of 22 years and 220 days.
Ethan Horvath hadn’t played for the U.S. in about a year. On Tuesday, he made a statement that he deserves more playing time with the USMNT.
Lost in the goalkeeping shuffle with guys like Brad Guzan, Zack Steffen, Bill Hamid, William Yarbrough, Horvath put himself right back into contention to be a starter for the U.S. with seven saves against Italy on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old was the biggest reason the U.S. was in the match throughout before succumbing to a well-worked goal in the 94th minute to lose 1-0 to the four-time world champions.