“Why is Pulisic not playing?” will be a question frequently asked in the coming weeks as the USMNT prepares for the second window of World Cup qualifying.
On Wednesday, head coach Gregg Berhalter released the 27-man roster that will represent the United States in October’s qualifying games against Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica. Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna’s names weren’t on the list.
BARCELONA - Goals from Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong and the returning Ansu Fati helped Barcelona claim a much-needed 3-0 home victory over Levante in LaLiga on Sunday.
The victory, Barça's first in their last four games in all competitions, moved the Catalans up to fifth in the table with 12 points from six games, five behind league leaders Real Madrid, who have played one more.
The 18-year-old Fati, who came on as an 81st-minute substitute before scoring Barça's third goal, was making his first appearance since suffering a serious knee injury last November.
Real Madrid hosted Mallorca on Wednesday night, and it was a special (and extremely rare) occasion for American fans of LaLiga as USMNT striker Matthew Hoppe earned a start at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The internet is truly the most bizarre place on the planet. If you’re out of the loop on what’s going down in pop culture, Nicki Minaj is in the media spotlight after making the claim that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad had a bad reaction to the Covid-19 vaccine that resulted in swollen testicles.
Euro 2020 finalists England pushed world champions France out of the top three in world soccer body FIFA's latest men's soccer rankings published on Thursday.
Belgium remained the top ranked side, followed by Brazil. European champions Italy, on a record unbeaten international run of 37 matches, are fifth with Argentina sixth.
Third place equals England's highest ranking since 2012. Gareth Southgate's side lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in July and were World Cup semifinalists in Russia in 2018. France went out of Euro 2020 in the Round of 16.
With the USMNT’s back very much up against the Olimpico Metropolitano Stadium walls on Sept. 8, something needed to change, quickly. The Gregg Berhalter halftime speech vs. Honduras was just what the squad needed, combining tactical tweaks with positive motivation.
The result? A 4-1 come-from-behind victory over Honduras to save the U.S. from a dismal start to World Cup qualifying and potentially save Berhalter’s job.
The United States Women's National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) on Wednesday labeled the U.S. Soccer Federation's offer of identical contract proposals for both the men's and women's teams as a nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) announced its offer on Tuesday as part of an effort it said was to align the women's and men's national teams under one collective bargaining agreement.
The USMNT injury updates include a mixed batch of good and bad news.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel gave a Christian Pulisic injury update after the American forward suffered a knock to the ankle during the USMNT’s 4-1 victory against Honduras. Good news U.S. and Chelsea fans, Pulisic will only be out for 10 days.
“For Christian, unfortunately he came yesterday on crutches and he has an ankle injury with about 10 days," Tuchel said.
Whew. That was a close one. Facing the prospect of two points from its opening three World Cup qualifiers, the USMNT rallied for a big 4-1 win on Wednesday night in Honduras, salvaging a decent showing over the September international window. It wasn’t great, but the Americans avoided disaster, which makes our USMNT player ratings (and coach rating) all the spicier.
The USMNT played one of its worst opening 45 minutes in the modern era on Wednesday night in Honduras, and then followed that up with one of the greatest second halfs we've ever seen. Both were largely down to the choices of Gregg Berhalter, and while we should ultimately value and treasure the second 45, we shouldn't immediately forget about the first half.