In the grand history of Concacaf, there's never before been a tournament where our gladiators have entered the arena and spectators have murmured amongst each other: "See them there? Them's Canada. They're going to slaughter everyone."
At least not since Craig Forrest was standing between the sticks.
The Italian Serie B season has finished and we now know the three teams returning to the top flight. From midseason managerial changes to last-second winners, this year had it all, so let's meet the three newest members of Serie A and learn how they got here.
They say defense wins championships, but Frosinone took it a step further. The club boasted the league’s best offense and defense to claim the Serie B title for the first time by six points. After a challenging but rewarding campaign, difficult days may be in store for I Canarini.
England’s Championship division is one of the most intense seasons in Europe. The 46 games played, just in the league itself, give players more opportunities to perform well but also for a team’s season to come crashing down. While there are additional games, every match means just as much in the Championship, if not more, as the teams compete for the right to move up to the ludicrously lucrative Premier League.
Angel City forward Sydney Leroux was in tears Monday night after an emotional return to the field. Leroux had been sidelined for the past 11 months and scored in her first game back during Angel City’s 2-1 defeat to the Chicago Red Stars.
Leroux joined Angel City from the Orlando Pride last June and was only able to make three appearances for the Los Angeles club before a season-ending ankle injury that required surgery.
Lionel Messi, who last week played his last game for Paris St Germain, is open to making a return to LaLiga side Barcelona, the Argentine forward's father said on Monday.
Barça were forced to let their talisman leave in 2021 because his high wages coupled with strict LaLiga financial rules could have jeopardized the club's future.
Messi, who joined Barcelona's youth set-up aged 13 and went on to become the club's all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 672 goals in 778 games in all competitions, moved to PSG as a free agent on a two-year contract.
NJ/NY Gotham FC drew a record crowd of 15,058 to Red Bull Arena on Sunday night (including Sam Kerr, Eli Manning and Roger Bennett), but they fell to the visiting San Diego Wave 1-0 after Makenzy Doniak (a halftime substitute) scored just 44 seconds into the second half.
The 29-year-old's second goal of the season helped the Wave move level on points with the Portland Thorns at the top of the NWSL table. Gotham are two points back in fourth-place after 10 games.
The inaugural edition of The Soccer Tournament (TST) ended Sunday with Newtown Pride FC — an amateur club out of Sandy Hook, Connecticut — deservedly claiming the $1 million dollar prize with a 2-0 victory over Sports Leagues Canada FC.
Newtown actually turned out to be the closest thing to a professional team at TST since the actual "big clubs" were only rag-tag collections of potbellied, middle-aged men and social media influences (Borussia Dortmund sucked farts while Wolves, West Ham and Necaxa all fell in the group stage).
A top-of-the-table clash between regional rivals Independiente Rivadavia and Deportivo Maipú in the Primera Nacional (Argentina's second tier) on Saturday night went viral for a number of reasons.
The must-see video is of Independiente supporters celebrating the approaching full-time whistle with an insane display of pyrotechnics. Incredibly, Deportivo Maipú almost scored an equalizer with the final kick of the match while all this was going on, but Independiente held on for a 2-1 win to supplant their rivals at the top of the Zone B table.
There are plenty of interesting teams to watch at The Soccer Tournament, but one of the most star-studded is certainly Team Dempsey (although USMNT legend Clint Dempsey only serves as the head coach in flip-flops).
On Thursday, they began play at the 7-on-7 tournament with a starting lineup that had Luis Robles in goal (three USMNT caps), Jermaine Jones in midfield (69 USMNT caps), Eddie Johnson out wide (63 USMNT caps) and Chris Wondolowski up top (35 USMNT caps). Jaime Lozano (34 Mexico caps) was on the bench.
The ability to choose is often taken for granted in soccer. With the increased prominence of dual nationals in recent years, fans are becoming used to seeing players pick which nationality they want to represent, like Yunus Musah and Folarin Balogun. What’s less common, however, is a player who, before turning 19, not only qualifies for four national teams but has already represented three of them.