Germany

After FIFA’s strangely inept trials of the Video Assistant Referee system at both the 2016 Club World Cup and 2017 Confederations Cup, it looks as though Germany will once again prove to be an ever-reliable fountainhead for efficiency and mastery, now with regards to using replay technology in football.

VAR decisions have been overly long, miscommunicated and occasionally downright baffling, but before the start of the new Bundesliga season, the German DFB made it clear that they didn't envision these issues plaguing their own use of the system.

For those of you wondering whether or not Christian Pulisic is rational and capable of completing basic mental exercises, an unnamed ESPN FC source has confirmed that in about 365 days, Pulisic will have been provided with an additional 365 days of experience from which to reminisce and reflect on, and he will do that.

Like Winston Churchill in the face of endless hordes of German bombers, Gorilla is England’s great hope against three German competitors in semifinals of the FIFA Interactive World Cup, which was apparently trying to reenact the Battle of Britain on Thursday in London. 

Despite a disconnection in the first leg of the Xbox One division final, Gorilla took a stunning 6-0 lead into Friday’s second leg against CodyDerFinisher of Germany. In the PlayStation 4 final, Deto leads TimoX 1-0 after the first leg in an all-German affair. 

The USMNT's World Cup qualification margin for error just got that much smaller, with the news that center back John Brooks would be out for the remainder of qualification. Brooks sustained a thigh injury during a friendly while playing for Wolfsburg in Germany.

Move aside Christian Pulisic. There’s a new Borussia Dortmund youngster's potential to drool over — and he’s not even a teenager yet. Youssoufa Moukoko, 12, scored two goals in his debut for the Dortmund U17 squad on Sunday.

Moukoko, a U15 Germany international, showed off speed, dribbling and finishing with two second-half goals as Dortmund defeated SG Unterrath 3-0. Highlights for the tween begin at 2:20 in the video below.

Eighteen-year-old American midfielder Weston McKennie continued his meteoric rise through the ranks at Schalke 04 by making his first competitive start in the 2017-18 DFB-Pokal on Monday. The USMNT U-20 prospect joined the German club in August of 2016, and he made a substitute appearance last May in the Bundesliga as a reward for his performances with the academy team.

McKennie has since gone on to impress over the course of the preseason, and injuries to first team regulars resulted in his first-ever competitive start for the club against BFC Dynamo in the DFB-Pokal.

Christian Pulisic’s World Cup year starts now, and the wall-to-wall coverage of the 18-year-old American’s season with Borussia Dortmund couldn’t have started with a bigger bang. In the starting lineup for DFB-Pokal winners Borussia Dortmund against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the curtain-raising DFL-Supercup, the host side raced out to an early lead behind Pulisic.

Bayern Munich fans and coach Carlo Ancelotti might be experiencing some heart palpitations right about now. The German side’s much-anticipated loan signing, James Rodriguez, has been diagnosed with a leg muscle injury that threatens to keep him out for several weeks. The injury occurred in Bayern’s 3-0 Audi Cup loss to Liverpool yesterday.

Meet Amine Harit, a French U-20 attacking midfielder who just arrived at Schalke 04 via Nantes for $9.5 million. He's not a global sponsor for Nike, Gillette, Panasonic or Beats by Dre, he's never had his own custom Air Jordan sneakers or been featured on the cover of Pro Evolution Soccer, but he remains one of the brightest attacking talents in world football today.