Women's Soccer

You probably didn’t know who the Orlando Pride coach was when you clicked on this article. Given his recent comments and his club’s appalling performance this season, you probably won’t need to know his name much longer.

Should footballers stick to soccer or should they use their platform to promote their beliefs? Would your answer be different if the footballer was trying to promote a particular religion, clothing line or political view, or if those beliefs differ from your own? How about speaking up for social issues? Where do you draw the line?

Juan Mata, for one, doesn’t think an athlete should be pigeonholed into only talking about his or her sport. 

At the age of 37, Carli Lloyd has won almost everything you can in soccer . . . twice. The USWNT forward has won two FIFA Player of the Year awards, two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals over her illustrious career.

With retirement on the horizon, speculation has swirled over what she’ll end up doing. After seeing footage of her field goal kicks at a Philadelphia Eagles practice, we’re pretty sure she’ll be spending her retirement dominating the NFL.

ESPN has just officially secured the exclusive worldwide broadcasting rights to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). The deal, which gives ESPN the rights to both the regular season and playoffs, allows ESPN Player subscribers to broadcast NWSL matches in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia.

It’s that time of year again: FIFA has announced the 10 finalists for the annual Puskás Award, the trophy given to the player, male or female, “judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or ‘most beautiful,’ goal of the calendar year.”

This most certainly wasn’t the case last year when Mohamed Salah scooped the award after Liverpool and Egypt supporters spammed the fan vote. The goal Salah scored against Everton back in December of 2018 hadn’t even won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month, so it was an awful joke to see it given the prestigious Puskás Award.

The Women’s International Champions Cup kicks off Thursday — and it’s kind of a big deal. 

While the men’s International Champions Cup is just a glorified list of preseason exhibitions, the women’s version actually means something. Aside from the UEFA Women’s Champions League, it’s rare for women’s clubs to face off against clubs from other countries, let alone continents. There is no Club World Cup for women, so the Women’s International Champions Cup fills the gaps left by FIFA’s lack of commitment to the women’s game.

The USWNT’s search for equal pay and equality looks to be heading back to the courts.

The U.S. women’s national team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination earlier this year. The two sides decided to meet for mediation to come to an agreement before going to court.

Those talks appear to have broken down on Wednesday.

Frank de Boer, manager of Atlanta United, has become the talk of the town after calling equal pay “ridiculous.” 

In an interview with the Guardian he said:

The United States Soccer Federation announced the first official USWNT general manager will be former U.S. player Kate Markgraf on Monday.

Kate Markgraf, 1999 @FIFAWWC champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist named first GM of the #USWNT » https://t.co/dRYFtKwsuV pic.twitter.com/1lh7QSe0fv