The stadium applause was deafening and presumably thousands of kangaroos and koalas bowed their heads in respect Tuesday as Tim Cahill came on for his last international cap. The 38-year-old made his 108th and final appearance in his side’s 3-0 win over Lebanon in Sydney.
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.
Tuesday's blockbuster friendly between France and Uruguay (a World Cup quarterfinal rematch) at the Stade de France was supposed to be a chummy occasion, as evidenced by Antoine Griezmann’s half-and-half boots. However, the match was marred by a gruesome-looking, albeit totally accidental, shoulder injury to Kylian Mbappe.
The 19-year-old phenomenon came off following the injury and then attempted to resume playing, but he ultimately succumbed to a substitution in the 36th minute.
Germany’s inexplicably poor calendar year came to a close today with another bad result — Die Mannschaft drew with the Netherlands 2-2 in Gelsenkirchen after holding a two-goal lead through the 84th minute.
What’s more, although Germany already knew it’d be playing in UEFA Nations League B after suffering relegation this time around, the final match of the campaign represented an opportunity to deprive the Dutch of a spot in the Nations League Finals, however, Virgil van Dijk’s 91st-minute equalizer sends the Oranje to Portugal next summer.
Iceland and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar played to a 2-2 friendly draw on Monday in Belgium, and the match was highlighted by an exchange of exquisite free kicks between the two nations.
In the third minute, Qatar captain Hassan Al-Haydos (currently number four all-time in goals for his country), hammered a free kick from an acute angle across the face of goal and just inside the far post — a despairing, sprawling Rúnar Rúnarsson could do nothing to keep it out.
It’s been almost 180 days since Sergio Ramos put Mohamed Salah into a judo hold, fun-cussed Loris Karius and gave Roberto Firmino the flu by sweating on him, but to Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren, it still smacks of yesterday.
The Croatian defender has gone full-on Dani Alves of late, telling anyone and everyone under the sun about his every whim and desire, and we’re here for it.
Algeria secured qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with a 4-1 victory over Togo in Lomé on Sunday, and although the Sparrowhawks of Togo could still qualify for the main event by defeating Benin on the final match day, the way they fell behind against Algeria was nothing short of calamitous.