Thursday's soccer news starts with FIFA's announcement of the host cities for the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Dunedin, Hamilton, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Wellington will stage games. Sydney's Stadium Australia at 83,500 and Sydney Football Stadium at 45,000 along with Auckland's Eden Park at 50,000 are the largest venues. Eden Park is the . . .
MLS in the 2021 Concacaf Champions League
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 31, 2021) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer teams got a bit more time to prepare for the 2021 season due to the delay caused by collective bargaining negotiations in January. That extra month might look like a positive after 2020 pushed rosters to the brink. Then again, there's already been more than enough time to recover and plan. New England . . .
Champions League changes wait a month
Wednesday's soccer news starts with the difference between a delay and a reevaluation. UEFA formally postponed a decision on the future of the Champions League until next month. European soccer's governing body originally set today to vote on changes to their marquee club tournament in advance of the 2024-25 season. Reports have UEFA pushing for the Swiss system that would dramatically increase . . .
UEFA may be pushing for even more change
By J Hutcherson (Mar 30, 2021) US Soccer Players - It's probably easier to look at what might not be changing in the way European club soccer runs. We already knew about the various ideas for revamping the Champions League, the threat of a super league, and FIFA's push for a bigger Club World Cup. Now, there are reports that UEFA is considering doing away with Financial Fair Play. That comes at a . . .
US Open Cup revamps again for 2021
Tuesday's soccer news starts with the latest on the 2021 US Open Cup. US Soccer's Open Cup Committee announced that the opening round of the tournament will not go ahead as planned. Instead, the Open Cup will start on May 18 with the round of 16. It should come as no surprise at this point that the committee took the decision due to the pandemic. “After meeting with the committee and listening . . .
Preview: 2021 MLS season
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Mar 29, 2021) US Soccer Players – There was nothing normal about the 2020 season for Major League Soccer. Getting as close to normal as possible is now the challenge for MLS this season. The pandemic continues, but lower infection rates and more vaccinations point to better times ahead. For MLS, that journey starts on April 17. The regular season runs through . . .
USMNT U-23s fail to qualify for Olympics
Monday's soccer news starts with the USMNT U-23s exiting the Concacaf Olympic qualifying tournament following a 2-1 loss to Honduras. The United States fell behind just before halftime. The US got caught trying to play out of the back in the 47th minute, making it 2-0. Jackson Yueill pulled a goal back for the USMNT in the 52nd with a shot from distance. Finishing with 63% of the possession, . . .
Northern Ireland 1 – USMNT 2
The USMNT finished out the March 2021 international window with a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast. As expected, Northern Ireland changed most of their lineup from the one they used last week in World Cup qualifying. The USMNT made four changes to its starting lineup. Gio Reyna put the USMNT up in the 30th minute through a solo effort. Christian Pulisic doubled the lead from the penalty . . .
Preview: Northern Ireland vs USMNT
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 26, 2021) US Soccer Players - Fresh off a 4-1 win over Jamaica in Austria, the USMNT heads to Belfast to face 45th-ranked Northern Ireland on Sunday. The game will serve as another opportunity for head coach Greg Berhalter to push improvement for a young, talented group of American players now brimming with a confidence earned against the Reggae Boyz. The . . .
Four talking points following the USMNT’s win over Jamaica
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 25, 2021) US Soccer Players - The USMNT ran their unbeaten streak to eight games on Thursday with a confident 4-1 defeat of Jamaica in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, the first of their two friendlies in the March international window. Sergino Dest opened the scoring with a lovely long-range strike, the highlight of his eye-catching performance. Brenden Aaronson . . .
