By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 30, 2021) US Soccer Players - On Thursday night in Los Angeles, LAFC played to a 2-2 draw with Minnesota United. Two clubs with MLS Cup ambitions split the points in an entertaining game that featured a goal from Carlos Vela and a stoppage time equalizer from United's Hassani Dotson. Adrian Heath and Minnesota United were the happier of the two teams after . . .
The different pressure on the USWNT and USMNT
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 28, 2021) US Soccer Players - The US Women's and Men's National Teams are a world apart. This is true geographically, with the USWNT currently at the Tokyo Olympics and the USMNT at the Gold Cup, and metaphorically. The women went to Japan carrying expectations of winning an important tournament. The men entered this edition of the Gold Cup largely focused on . . .
Cade Cowell, Henry Kessler, and Gold Cup opportunity
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 23, 2021) US Soccer Players - For the USMNT, this Gold Cup is about the opportunity. It’s about the opportunity to win a trophy, of course, but also the opportunity presented to individual players. There’s an intense World Cup qualifying campaign coming very soon. USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter is on the hunt for players who can step up when asked to aid in that . . .
Atlanta United under big club pressure
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 21, 2021) US Soccer Players - Atlanta United was a big club before it ever played a game. By driving so much local interest in professional soccer, they climbed into the upper echelon of franchises in Major League Soccer. The club met that wave of enthusiasm with ambition. Atlanta spent real money on up-and-coming talent and hired a well-known head coach with a . . .
Louisville City’s lesson
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 16, 2021) US Soccer Players - For obvious reasons, the growth of professional soccer in the United States has largely depended on Major League Soccer over the last two-and-a-half decades. The country's topflight dominates the landscape with its shiny new stadiums and multi-million dollar expenditures. When the public at large thinks about soccer in the United . . .
Shaq Moore takes his Gold Cup chance
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 14, 2021) US Soccer Players - If there was any consensus about the USMNT's narrow 1-0 victory over Haiti in the team's opening group stage game at the 2021 Gold Cup, it was about the performance of right back Shaq Moore. On a night when the defense fended off several dangerous Haitian counterattacks, it was Moore who stood out on the right side of the US . . .
Seattle’s run continues
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 9, 2021) US Soccer Players - The Seattle Sounders can add another record to the club's already long list. A 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night in Seattle gave the defending Western Conference champions a run of 13 games without a loss to start the season. That puts them ahead of four other teams that reached the 12 games unbeaten mark over the . . .
MLS has plenty of experience playing around the Gold Cup
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 7, 2021) US Soccer Players - Every two years, the story is the same. The Gold Cup arrives and Major League Soccer shifts into "Make Do" mode. Concacaf's championship may give a bigger stage to players who would otherwise be left to toil in the shadows, but it sure throws a wrench in things for MLS teams. Depth gets tested. Coaches must turn to more unheralded . . .
De La Fuente at Barcelona and now Marseille
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 2, 2021) US Soccer Players - Once upon a time, Konrad de la Fuente was a unicorn. While Americans had made inroads at clubs across Europe and in the biggest leagues on that continent through 25 years of trying, none had established himself with one of the world's most famous clubs, FC Barcelona. Spain, for reasons unclear, proved largely impenetrable to talent . . .
The Crew’s second stadium
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 30, 2021) US Soccer Players - Back in 1999, there was hardly a thing called a soccer-specific stadium. In a country that had only just launched a topflight a few years before, the idea of a building purposely built for soccer was, well, ridiculous. When Crew Stadium opened in 1999, it was not state-of-the-art. It didn't have suites. Planners reserved one end . . .
