Monday's soccer news starts with the situation in the Eastern Conference for the teams currently in 3rd through 8th-place. Three points separate all of them, creating a situation where any slip could have a team the odd one out in the playoff picture. Right now, that's Atlanta United in 8th-place on 36 points. With Major League Soccer's unbalanced schedule, this is normally where we'd spend time . . .
Manchester City beats RB Leipzig 6-3, Philadelphia out of the Champions League
Thursday's soccer news starts with the Champions League where Tyler Adams's RB Leipzig lost 6-3 at Manchester City. Nathan Ake put City up in the 16th and an own-goal doubled the lead in the 28th. Christopher Nkunku pulled a goal back for Leipzig, but a first-half stoppage time penalty from Riyad Mahrez made it 3-1 City. Nkunku scored again in the 51st. City's Jack Grealish added a fourth goal in . . .
The changing scope of leagues, competitions, and calendars
By J Hutcherson (Aug 24, 2021) US Soccer Players - We're already well into an era of change across world soccer. From the Nations League concept started in Europe and embraced by Concacaf to World Cup expansion to FIFA's delayed Club World Cup revamp. UEFA alone has now added a third European club competition with yet another Champions League revamp looming. Last month, CAF made a new African . . .
The level of difficulty in the Octagonal
By J Hutcherson (Aug 3, 2021) US Soccer Players - If there's a takeaway in this era of Nations Leagues and compacted schedules, it's that whatever just happened only counts for so long. The Concacaf Nations League ended a little over a month before the Gold Cup began. Now it's World Cup qualifying set to start on September 2. What's already clear is that success in this region is even more of a . . .
Group C concludes, USMNT gets Jamaica in quarterfinals
Wednesday's soccer news starts with the USMNT learning its opponent in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals. Jamaica finished 2nd in group C and will play the United States on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium (9:30pm - FS1). Costa Rica won the group with a 1-0 shutout of Jamaica at Exploria Stadium and will play Canada in the quarterfinals. Bryan Ruiz scored the game's only goal in the 53rd . . .
Four takeaways from the opening phases of the 2021 Gold Cup
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 16, 2021) US Soccer Players - With Thursday's second match night of group B in the books, we're now halfway through the 2021 Gold Cup round-robin stage. The outlines of the knockout bracket are taking enough shape for some general observations can be made about the latest edition of Concacaf's top tournament. Here's four. Issues for Cinderella teams It's a . . .
Concacaf announces the Gold Cup preliminary rosters
Friday's soccer news starts with Concacaf taking another step towards the Gold Cup that starts on July 10. We now know the preliminary rosters for the participating teams, which tells us next to nothing since they could include a maximum of 60 players. In the press release announcing a whole lot of players potentially participating in the 2021 Gold Cup, Concacaf specified that "The final 23-player . . .
Concacaf announces Gold Cup venues
Friday's soccer news starts with Concacaf continuing the 2021 Gold Cup schedule rollout. We now know the other venues. Concacaf previously announced that Las Vegas's Allegiant Stadium would host the final and Inter Miami's Fort Lauderdale stadium is the site for the preliminary rounds. Add to that group AT&T Stadium in Arlington, BBVA Stadium and NRG Stadium in Houston, the Cotton Bowl in . . .
Preview: USMNT U-23s Concacaf Olympic qualifying
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Mar 15, 2021) US Soccer Players – The Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament that kicks off Thursday has been on the minds of many for the past year. Part of that was timing. Originally scheduled for last March, it and the Olympics ended up delayed due to the pandemic. Open to Under-23 players, it determines which two teams from the region travel to . . .
The 2021 soccer schedule
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Dec 28, 2020) US Soccer Players – 2020 was an unprecedented year loaded with obstacles, rescheduled games, and health protocols. Even when soccer came back, it wasn't the same. Tournaments played in bubbles, no fans allowed into stadiums, and piped in crowd noise became common this year. Despite all of this, enough of the games continued to create a new normal. . . .
