For those of you who only care about sports in which one is not allowed to use one's hands, the Super Bowl was played Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles won, which is noteworthy only because the Eagles' starting tight end, Zach Ertz, is the husband of USWNT and Chicago Red Stars midfielder Julie Ertz.
You can see how hyped Julie Ertz was for the game here, as she's shown doing the "fly, Eagles, fly" motion.
The U.S. women keep accomplishing what the U.S. men cannot. On Friday in Ato Bodon Stadium, the exact same location of the USMNT’s capitulation to Trinidad and Tobago to miss out on the 2018 World Cup three months ago, the U-20 USWNT booked its trip to the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup with a win over Haiti.
On Sunday night, sporting power couple Zach and Julie Ertz were both in action — Zach with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game and Julie with the USWNT in a friendly against Denmark. With the NFL game kicking off at 6:40 p.m. ET and the women’s match beginning at 7:30, the two went about their business without knowing what was transpiring across the country.
Crystal Dunn is one of America’s brightest stars. The 2015 NWSL MVP scored 15 goals in 21 matches that season and is an entrenched member of Jill Ellis’ national team. So why did Washington trade away her rights to North Carolina when she decided to return from a year abroad in England? The Crystal Dunn trade explains a lot about how the Spirit are planning to rebuild.
In a dramatic turn of events Thursday night, USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo announced her intentions to run for U.S. Soccer president. Solo’s six-month suspension from U.S.
U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced Monday he will not seek re-election in February. Gulati made the announcement in an interview with ESPN's Sam Borden.
Sepp Blatter, the disgraced former FIFA president who once suggested female players wear tighter shorts to promote “a more female aesthetic” in the women’s game, has dismissed Hope Solo’s claims of sexual assault at the 2013 Ballon d’Or award ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland.
In the end, Netherlands and FC Barcelona attacker Lieke Martens was the deserved recipient of 2017’s The Best FIFA Women’s Player award (an accolade presumably named by a toddler or Sepp Blatter). But the three-woman shortlist for the prize continues to flip the bird at anyone who wishes to try and make sense of it all.
Julie Ertz did it again Sunday. The USWNT defender scored in a 6-0 rout of South Korea, her fifth goal of 2017. She’s now tied with Alex Morgan for most goals scored for Team USA this year. Julie Ertz’s goal-scoring ability makes her the Sergio Ramos of women’s football.
Ertz headed in the United States’ fourth goal of the first half for her 13th goal in international play, most among active American defenders. It was her second goal in four days and fourth in her last four national-team appearances.
At least the U.S. still has one national team that can kick ass. The USWNT stars came out to shine in a 3-1 victory over South Korea on Thursday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Julie Ertz, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe all found the back of the net in a comfortable win over the 15th-ranked team in the world.
While the USMNT won’t make the Men’s World Cup next summer, the reigning Women’s World Cup champions are still going strong, winning their fifth straight and moving to 10-3 in 2017.