By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 24, 2021) US Soccer Players - The 2021 season arrives for Major League Soccer behind a vanguard of uncertainty as formidable as any in recent memory. 2020 wreaked havoc on preconceived notions and reasonable expectations while laying waste to rosters throughout a stop-start campaign. It’s impossible to know what might have happened in the absence of the . . .
This strange season continues to trip up Europe’s top clubs
By J Hutcherson (Mar 23, 2021) US Soccer Players - The response to Juventus losing 1-0 at home to Benevento was about what you'd expect from one of soccer's "passionate" fan bases. You can pile whatever you want into "passionate" since it normally applies to supporters of clubs large and small. What it normally means in an elite European club context is extremely unhappy with the spreadsheet to . . .
Austin FC’s expansion season
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Mar 22, 2021) US Soccer Players – It has become an annual rite of passage in MLS. A new team prepares to enter the league each winter, signing players and marketing itself to a new city. The aim is to sell tickets and be competitive enough to make the playoffs. It's exactly what Austin FC has been doing as they prepare to kick off the 2021 season on April 17 on the . . .
The USMNT’s latest Olympic opportunity
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 19, 2021) US Soccer Players - It's obvious that qualifying for the Olympics is undoubtedly better than not making it. Teams don't enter competitions with a plan to fail. A slightly less either/or proposition is just how much the Olympic experience aids in the development of players on the path to the senior national team. It stands to reason that going to the . . .
The complexities and opportunities of a European USMNT window
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 18, 2020) US Soccer Players - We now know the USMNT squad for this month's European friendlies vs Jamaica in Austria and Northern Ireland. It's just the second time coach Gregg Berhalter has been able to call on his full player pool since the start of 2020. It's also the last full international window he'll have for evaluation and experimentation before the . . .
This version of the USMNT is already carrying expectations
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 17, 2021) US Soccer Players - "With great power comes great responsibility," or so the saying goes. These days, a new generation is learning about that axiom thanks to the exploits of Spiderman within the ubiquitous Marvel Cinematic Universe. A twist on that principle for a new generation of American soccer players might be, "with great talent comes great . . .
The BeNe League as an answer
By J Hutcherson (Mar 16, 2021) US Soccer Players - Since what sounds like fairy tales should start with "once upon a time," why not? Once upon a time, the Belgian and Dutch leagues produced some of the most competitive teams in Europe. That time all but ended when Ajax lost to Juventus as defending champions in the 1996 Champions League final. Belgium didn't get that far, with Royal Antwerp's loss . . .
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 . . .
Toronto, Montreal, and an intriguing 2021 season
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 12, 2021) US Soccer Players - Life in Canada isn't any more complicated than life in the United States at the moment, with an ongoing global pandemic limiting social interaction, travel, and the economy. Well, unless you happen to play professional sports. In addition to the concerns everyone else is dealing with, players from Major League Soccer's three . . .
The changing state of USMNT dual nationals
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 11, 2021) US Soccer Players - Tyler Boyd, Sergino Dest, Yunus Musah, Owen Otasowie, Andrés Perea, Jesus Ferreira, Daryl Dike, Ayo Akinola, Efra Alvarez, Julian Araujo, Frankie Amaya, David Ochoa, Marco Farfan. It's not quite a USMNT roster sheet, and not all of them have definitively committed to the program. It is a rundown of some of the dual-national . . .
