By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (May 26, 2021) US Soccer Players - The 2020 Major League Soccer season began with plenty of promise. It was the league's 25th season, a remarkable achievement for an organization that nearly didn't make it to its second decade. 2020 also brought an uptick in multi-million spending across the league. Clubs that had previously been reluctant to drop seven-figure fees . . .
Aaronson’s Red Bull Salzburg wins the Austrian Bundesliga
Thursday's soccer news starts in the Austrian Bundesliga. Brenden Aaronson subbed out in stoppage time of Red Bull Salzburg's 2-0 home shutout of Rapid Vienna to win the league title. Patson Daka scored in the 33rd and 56th minutes. Rapid Vienna played a man down from the 86th minute. Red Bull coach Jesse Marsch will make the move to RB Leipzig with two Austrian Bundesliga titles and two Austrian . . .
Kessler, Dike, and the continued importance of the college model
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 20, 2021) US Soccer Players - Gregg Berhalter's first USMNT camp of the new year now has a match to close it out. A mixed American squad will face off against Trinidad & Tobago on January 31 in Orlando. The game is the finale of an annual process that's about talent identification and opportunity. This year’s camp is also serving as a chance for U-23 . . .
Beckerman, the end of an era and hopes of a brighter tomorrow
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 31, 2020) US Soccer Players - This month an iron man of American soccer called time on a great career. In doing so, Kyle Beckerman brought down the curtain on a momentous era for the game in his country as just about everyone on earth celebrates the end of a brutal 2020. Now 38, Beckerman is the only non-goalkeeper in MLS history to play 20 seasons. He . . .
MLS chooses to remain stuck in 2020
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 30, 2020) US Soccer Players - It was supposed to be different. Major League Soccer was supposed to celebrate its 25th season in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans. Instead of celebrating a landmark campaign for a league that was never guaranteed more than a few years of existence back when it launched in 1996, MLS spent the majority of the year . . .
After turbulent 2020, Black Players for Change look to turn tumult to triumph
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 24, 2020) US Soccer Players - From a deadly global pandemic and widespread economic suffering to political dysfunction and police killings, 2020 visited plenty of pain on MLS players, just like the rest of the world. One silver lining amid that woe was the founding of Black Players for Change. BPC officially launched on Juneteenth, a date rich with . . .
The top 5 MLS jerseys
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Dec 21, 2020) US Soccer Players – Soccer jerseys can be iconic or ugly, classic or colorful, and oftentimes attempts at triggering nostalgia. Aside from the built-in market of fans that will buy whatever their team is wearing, jersey sales are the real metric of what people like and what they don't. A nice infographic explaining why this shirt is special only goes . . .
LAFC keeps rolling in the Champions League
Monday's soccer news starts with LAFC advancing to the final of the 2020 Concacaf Champions League. LAFC came back to beat Club America 3-1 on Saturday night with an energized performance from Carlos Vela. Club America took the lead in the 11th minute. A confrontation in first-half stoppage time saw LAFC's Equard Atuesta exit early with a red card. Carlos Vela responded early in the second-half . . .
The MLS youth movement will continue in 2021
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 18, 2020) US Soccer Players - Many things marked the 2020 Major League Soccer season. The pandemic, most obviously, with its massive impact on the schedule and the stress placed on players and coaches. The story of the Columbus Crew champions in 2020 after nearly moving two years ago. A successful expansion season in Nashville, not only qualifying for the . . .
MLS 2020 in review
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Dec 14, 2020) US Soccer Players – It took nearly 300 days, a tournament played in a bubble, and the remainder of the season with no or limited fans in the stands to finally end the 2020 season, the longest and oddest in MLS history. In a year where the league celebrated its 25th year, Major League Soccer marked a most unusual season. How could it not be the case . . .
