U.S. Soccer’s annual January Camp takes on a completely different look this World Cup year with 26 of the 30 players called into camp harboring five caps or less, including 15 uncapped players. Experience will be provided by Gyasi Zardes (37 caps), Juan Agudelo (27), Jordan Morris (24) and Paul Arriola (15).
Less than a month after Toronto FC took down Seattle for the MLS Cup title, the 2018 MLS schedule has been released. Major League Soccer revealed the 2018 fixture list on Thursday and there are plenty of intriguing dates to mark on your calendar.
In what is becoming a tradition, the New York Red Bulls traded away their captain for the second straight year, sending Sacha Kljestan and $150,000 in Targeted Allocation Money to Orlando City for a pair of young players. The Red Bulls, who traded captain Dax McCarty to Chicago last year, received 23-year-old attacker Carlos Rivas and defender Tommy Redding, 20, in one of the biggest trades of the MLS offseason so far.
The 2017 MLS Cup Final will be rightly remembered as the crowning achievement on a historic, record-setting season for Toronto FC, but for the second year running, Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei came agonizingly close to writing the script himself — almost literally single-handedly.
A number of Major League Soccer clubs rang in the New Year by unveiling new kits for the 2018 season and they’re definitely worth checking out. The 2018 MLS uniforms weren’t all unveiled on New Year’s Day, but three teams gave fans a glimpse of what they’ll be wearing in 2018.
The New York Red Bulls put together a cool video to debut their new kit, an all-red uniform that is quite sharp. It really emphasizes the red in Red Bull.
Liga MX side Pachuca have landed 22-year-old winger Kekuta Manneh on a free transfer after the USMNT hopeful turned down the Columbus Crew’s contract offer, electing to continue his development abroad after five years of play in Major League Soccer.
Josef Martinez tore up Major League Soccer last season with Atlanta United. The native of Valencia, Venezuela, scored 19 goals in 20 appearances and was a finalist behind teammate Miguel Almiron for 2017 MLS Newcomer of the Year. Martinez’s success set the stage for a new wave of Venezuelans in MLS.
It’d been clear for a couple days now, but a formal press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame confirmed Nashville as one of two expansion franchises that could begin play as early as 2020 in Major League Soccer. With Los Angeles FC set to join the league in 2018 as the 23rd club, Nashville is now MLS’s 24th side and the third team in the Southeastern United States (Atlanta and Orlando being the other two).
According to Turkish journalist Sercan Dikme and as reported by Fotospor, 2016-17 Super Lig champions Besiktas (as well as current UEFA Champions League Round of 16 finalists) have signed Canadian international Cyle Larin from Orlando City SC.
Kaka, one of the best attacking footballers ever, the last player not named Messi or Ronaldo to win the Balon d'Or, has announced his retirement from professional soccer.