There was something vaguely familiar about yesterday’s Orlando Pride vs. Sky Blue match up: a handball clearance off the line in crunch time, a red card, a penalty, a penalty save. All right, it’s not exactly a World Cup knockout game and Carli Lloyd didn’t know much about the goal-saving move (it seems), but one can’t help but think of a certain Uruguayan striker by the name of Luis Suarez after seeing this.
The FA Community Shield doesn’t count for much. Last season, Arsenal won it thanks to contributions from Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud. Not one of those players was even at the club come February. We can, however, surmise from the 2018 edition that Manchester City is really good.
I think they earned the right to that plaudit last season.
At 18 years of age, Timothy Weah is making the most of his opportunities with Paris Saint-Germain early in the 2018-19 season. After a playing well in the International Champions Cup with a goal and an assist in three matches, the Tim Weah goal vs Monaco on Saturday was the American’s first in a competitive match for PSG.
Down a goal in the first half, the U.S. women’s national team came back and then some on its way to winning the Tournament of Nations on Thursday night in Chicago. The team went undefeated and put away nine goals in the three-game series, lifting its first ToN trophy and continuing to build its case as 2019 World Cup favorite with a 4-1 win for the USWNT vs Brazil.
The Mexico Women's National Team won the gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games on Monday night in Barranquilla, Colombia.
With staggering goals and extraordinary performances, Mexico bounced back from an early deficit in the final vs. Costa Rica.
El Tri Femenil secured the highest prize with a final score of 3-1. Mexico trailed 1-0 after María Alvarado scored via a penalty kick for Costa Rica in the 13th minute.
Had the head of Lindsey Horan not come to the rescue in the dying seconds of the match against Australia last night, the USWNT would have been handed its first loss in over a year. Though they salvaged a draw, fans of the game have seen this before and the message is loud and clear: the rest of the world is catching up.
The USWNT hadn’t suffered a defeat since last July’s Tournament of Nations match against Australia, so with the clock striking 90 in tonight's rematch and the Matildas holding a 1-0 lead thanks to Chloe Logarzo’s 22nd minute strike, it looked like time was indeed a flat circle. But Lindsey Horan’s header at the death pushed the USWNT’s unbeaten streak to 18 games and kept the host nation in the running for the 2018 Tournament of Nations trophy.
With a squad comprised largely of players that led Portugal to glory at the 2016 European U-17 Championship, Portugal has now ridden what’s quickly becoming a golden generation to more international glory, this time at the 2018 European U-19 Championship in Finland. Portugal defeated Italy 4-3 in a madcap final that saw three goals scored in quick succession during the first period of extra time.
Joao Filipe opened the scoring just before halftime for Portugal. The Benfica youngster fired in a low drive after a brilliant piece of control at the top of the box.
The rumors were confirmed Wednesday that 17-year-old Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies would be joining Bayern Munich come January on a transfer that could rise to as high as $22 million, but for now, the Vancouver Whitecaps winger is free to continue his breakout season in MLS — Saturday night was perhaps his best performance as a professional.
Arsenal beat Paris Saint-Germain 5-1. That was the least interesting thing about the Arsenal vs PSG match.
The Gunners are in the midst of their first preseason without Arsene Wenger since before the 1996 season. With Unai Emery coaching the club now, it’s anyone’s guess as to how Arsenal fares in the upcoming Premier League season. Do they plummet precipitously as Manchester United did when David Moyes took over for Alex Ferguson? Do they stay in place as the sixth-best team in England? Do they return to the top like Chelsea whenever Roman Abramovich hires a new manager?