Liga MX side Pachuca have landed 22-year-old winger Kekuta Manneh on a free transfer after the USMNT hopeful turned down the Columbus Crew’s contract offer, electing to continue his development abroad after five years of play in Major League Soccer.
¡Welcome @kekuta16!
Compared to the pain of missing the event entirely, the tale of the USMNT’s 2006 World Cup can now be viewed in a more favorable light. However, after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2002 competition and subsequently breezing through CONCACAF qualifying for the ’06 tournament in Germany, it was with huge belief and soaring naivety that we approached the world’s biggest stage.
In a rare win for U.S. Soccer in recent months, the organization made the correct choice and named Christian Pulisic the 2017 Male Player of the Year. Pulisic, a 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder from Hershey, Pennsylvania, became the youngest winner of the award.
Récord, a Mexican daily sports newspaper, has named 18-year-old American midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez in its Torneo Apertura Best XI following a sensational breakthrough season for the California native at Monterrey.
After signing with Monterrey in 2014, Gonzalez advanced through the youth ranks before becoming a mainstay in the heart of Los Rayados’ midfield throughout the 2017 Apertura season. Monterrey finished at the top of the table in the regular season before losing in the final to Tigres.
Bruce Arena responded to USMNT and Huddersfield Town midfielder Danny Williams’ claims that U.S. Soccer favored domestic-based players throughout qualifying in an effort to “market” MLS by calling the statements “completely false” on Tuesday.
Men's college soccer in the United States is an anomaly. No other country sends potential professional athletes to academic universities instead of athletic academies like the U.S. While this is the accepted norm in football and basketball, the two most popular sports in the country, soccer operates differently throughout the world.
In continuing the theme of 2017 being a sh*t year for U.S. soccer, the lone American at the Club World Cup was at fault for the goal that knocked Mexico’s Pachuca out of the competition on Tuesday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the UAE. Gremio’s Everton turned Omar Gonzalez inside out before curling in a wonderful shot to give the Brazilian side a 1-0 victory in extra time.
Gonzalez apparently thought he was still playing for the USMNT, perhaps against Trinidad and Tobago.
Jonathan Klinsmann, the 20-year-old son of former USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann, made his Hertha Berlin debut, starting for the German side against Ostersunds FK of Sweden in the Europa League on Thursday. The Jonathan Klinsmann debut was highlighted by a save of a late penalty kick to preserve a 1-1 draw for Hertha.
American midfielder Keaton Parks only made his competitive debut for Benfica on November 18, but the 20-year-old native of Plano, Texas, has shown enough with the reserve team to have his contract extended until 2022. Benfica have also reportedly placed a release clause of nearly $50 million on the player.
You probably don’t know who Paul Lapointe is. It’s OK. After today, you may not need to know who he is.