By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jul 13, 2020) US Soccer Players – World Cup history can often reveal some surprises, especially in the tournaments early era. Uruguay hosted the first World Cup 90 years ago this month. No one back then had any idea of what the tournament or the sport might become. The World Cup is now the planet's most-watched sporting event and a commercial and marketing . . .
5 soccer docs worth your time
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jun 8, 2020) US Soccer Players – The lack of live sports gave a newfound focus on documentaries. Viewership for the 10-part ESPN docu-series The Last Dance, for example, finished with an average of 5.6 million viewers. This has prompted a series of armchair critics to chime in on which sports docs they like best. Axios recently put out a list of the 50 best sports . . .
Justice for George Floyd
Recent events have focused everyone's attention on the racial inequality and official mistreatment and violence that African-Americans in the United States face every day. This issue has plagued our country since its inception and is the original sin of the United States. Racial discrimination and the threat of violence force black Americans to live in fear. They suffer fear and pain caused by . . .
Where are they now? The 1990 USMNT World Cup squad
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jun 1, 2020) US Soccer Players – It was 30 years ago that the United States was preparing to play in its first World Cup since 1950. Qualifying for Italia ‘90 in November 1989 had been a history-making feat for a nation that had been in the international soccer wilderness for so long. The team, made up largely of recent college grads and a mix of semi-pro and . . .
Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT at the 18-month mark
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (May 22, 2020) US Soccer Players - In early June, Gregg Berhalter's tenure in charge of the USMNT will pass the 18-month mark. In a world without COVID-19 and the disruptions it's unleashed, he and his team would be set to gather for a camp to prepare for the Concacaf Nations League semifinals and final. Those games were on the schedule for June 4 and 7 in . . .
Beasley plans to join USMNT alums in the USL
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (May 20, 2020) US Soccer Players - Most soccer cultures take their older generations for granted. The deeper the history of the game in a given place, the greater the number of former players who influenced the sport in their post-playing lives. The matriculation of retired players into positions that impact the game in the places they come from is so natural as to . . .
Statement on US WNT players court decision
The United States Men's National Team Players Association releases the following statement concerning the ruling for summary judgement in Alex Morgan v. United States Soccer Federation. The USMNT players continue to stand with the WNT players in their efforts to secure equal pay. For a year and a half the USMNT players have made proposals to the Federation that would achieve equal pay for . . .
US Soccer makes striking retreat from the youth development space
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 17, 2020) US Soccer Players - Over the past quarter-century or so, the American soccer community has gotten used to hearing terms like "historic" and "unprecedented" in mostly positive contexts. The game has grown by leaps and bounds here. This week that norm got flipped on its head. That's because US Soccer announced a set of dramatic measures to cut costs . . .
The lost classics of the USMNT in the 1990s
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 17, 2020) US Soccer Players - There's a fairly well-defined list of the most important USMNT results in modern history. The 2002 Round of 16 win over Mexico. The last-minute victory over Algeria in 2010. The 1-0 victory in Port of Spain in 1989 that sent the Americans to the World Cup for the first time in 50 years. Attention regularly turns to those games . . .
Remembering what made the boys of ‘94 so special for MLS
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 10, 2020) US Soccer Players - MLS marked its 24th birthday this week, celebrating the anniversary of its inaugural match back in 1996. With the current season suspended indefinitely, the coronavirus pandemic has imposed some awkwardness on the milestone. Yet the situation may also give us a bit more mental bandwidth to process and appreciate just what a . . .
