Looking at North Macedonia's obscure warmups heading into its match against Ukraine, there is no surprise it later lost. As fun as it looked, with the players racing up the pitch and passing the ball between each other using upturned cones, it didn't seem like the appropriate warmup for the Euro 2020 Group C match on Thursday.
The USWNT brought in 20,500 fans for the grand opening of Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, and defeated Nigeria 2-0 in the final game of the Summer Series. Christen Press will go down in history as the first player to score a goal in Q2 Stadium history.
In stoppage time of the first half Carli Lloyd found Press with a quick-thinking pass which the American winger curled in for her 61st international goal.
On the mark
Former Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuaín had low expectations coming to MLS but now is learning to respect the competition. The 33-year-old exclaimed he expected to play with a cigarette in his mouth, it was going to be that easy.
Through seven matches in the 2021 MLS season, Higuaín has four goals and one assist. He was quoted on Christain Vieri's Twitch live stream a few days ago saying, "I thought I would come to MLS and play with a cigarette in my mouth and instead it is difficult."
Carli Lloyd entered the USWNT’s June training camp knowing she couldn’t risk taking it easy with just 18 roster spots available for the Tokyo Olympics in July. She didn’t help her case when over-celebrating for a goal where she was clearly offside against Portugal on Thursday.
México aplicó modo remontada en el triunfo por 3-2 sobre Australia, en el cierre de su gira europea y de preparación para los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020. El Tri tuvo un duelo áspero y debió reponerse primero a una imprudencia de José Juan Macías y un osote del portero Luis Malagón para poder quedarse con la victoria.
La selección dirigida por Jaime Lozano comenzó dominando el partido jugado en el Estadio Municipal de Marbella, España. Pronto, eso sí, el duelo se volvió físico y cortado.
La selección de Japón goleó 4-0 a Jamaica en un duelo de preparación para los Juegos Olímpicos, donde compartirá grupo con México. El triunfo fue liderado Takefusa Kubo, quien marcó el primer gol del partido, en una jugada que incluyó un cuádruple túnel.
Kubo, el mismo jugador que alguna bautizaron como el "Messi Japonés" y que hoy pertenece a los registros del Real Madrid, aunque la última temporada la pasó a préstamos entre el Villarral y el Getafe.
Carli Lloyd is a woman on a mission to prove she deserves to be on the USWNT’s flight to Japan for the Olympics. When she thought she had doubled her team’s lead against Portugal on Thursday night, she sent head coach Vlatko Andonovski a message. There was only one tiny problem with that Carli Lloyd celebration: the goal didn’t count.
If Thursday's USWNT vs. Portugal friendly was just an adventure in playing without Julie Ertz, it wasn’t the most pleasant trip. Defensively, Lindsey Horan did a great job of protecting the back four with Alyssa Naeher recording only one save.
But it was all sluggish going forward in Houston with the temp reading 86° and 69% humidity. The front three of Alex Morgan, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe failed to largely trouble Inês Pereira, while Rose Lavelle wasn’t able to make her mark over 90 minutes.
Watching the USMNT vs. Costa Rica finish 4-0 had me tingling with excitement as if it was Christmas morning and I was nine again. This team is damn fun to watch.
Three days after defeating Mexico to lift the Concacaf Nations League trophy, the USMNT traveled to Utah for a friendly against Costa Rica. The starting squad against Costa Rica only featured two players that started against Mexico. Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream were the only two returners.
Daryl Dike has arrived. Well to be fair he arrived at Barnsley a long time ago, but this Daryl Dike goal vs Costa Rica means that the man from Oklahoma has his first USMNT goal.
DARYL DIKE'S FIRST USMNT GOAL pic.twitter.com/00NAke0vNq
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 9, 2021
