Tag: SoccerBlast

Pulisic scores in fourth straight, breaks personal goal record with Verona finish

Pulisic is in the form of his life this season for AC Milan, bagging his 12th goal of the campaign on Sunday

In front of goal, things have never been better for Christian Pulisic.

The U.S. men’s national team attacker scored his 12th goal of the season for AC Milan, getting on the scoresheet for the fourth straight match as the Rossoneri defeated Hellas Verona 3-1.

Pulisic has been on a superb run over the past month, posting five goals and two assists in Milan’s last seven matches, and has drawn three red cards for opposing players to boot.

Sunday’s strike at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi might have been the easiest goal of the bunch. Noah Okafor did most of the heavy lifting on what would eventually be the match-winner, stripping Verona’s Paweł Dawidowicz near midfield in the 50th minute.

The Switzerland forward would sprint away and go for goal himself only for Lorenzo Montipò to make a save at the near post.

Unfortunately for the Verona goalkeeper, the player to win the race for the rebound was Pulisic, who calmly tapped the loose ball into the empty net.

The tally takes Pulisic up to 12 goals and eight assists in all competitions, following up on goals against Empoli and Slavia Prague, who saw the USMNT star get on the scoresheet in both legs of a Europa League last-16 tie. Per Opta, no other American in a top-five league has scored in four straight games since at least 2010.

Watch Pulisic score his 12th of the season

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Alex Morgan chalks NWSL Challenge Cup-winning goal to ‘longest offseason I’ve had’

Morgan said focusing on her craft in an unusually long offseason helped her get the winner for the San Diego Wave

HARRISON, N.J. — Even at this point in a glittering career dating back over a decade, Alex Morgan is preaching the values of good old-fashioned practice.

Before a crowd of 14,000 at Red Bull Arena on Friday, Morgan’s late header gave the San Diego Wave a smash-and-grab 1-0 win over NJ/NY Gotham FC in the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup.

The U.S. women’s national team star was part of the side that won the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup just five days before the Challenge Cup, which is now a one-off curtain-raiser between the defending league champions (Gotham) and the NWSL Shield winner (San Diego) held a day before the NWSL regular season commences.

Between some early-season imprecision and the heavy legs of national team players on both sides (Morgan was one of nine USWNT players to suit up on the day), it was a game long on defensive organization and grit, and short on attacking threats at either end of the pitch.

San Diego ended up being credited with just seven shot attempts, but Morgan used a combination of strength and veteran savvy to shed her markers on an 88th minute corner, heading home the game’s only goal.

Speaking to reporters in a post-game mixed zone, Morgan insisted that one could draw a direct line between her game-winner and what she called “probably the longest offseason that I’ve had.”

“Just personally, I feel like I worked really hard this offseason,” said the 34-year-old striker. “Took the rest I needed, and then really built from that, worked on the things I wanted to — I needed to — work on, that I don’t get to throughout the season. So it feels good, being able to execute the things that I wanted to, and go out and help my team.”

Morgan was open about focusing on a lifting program designed for injury prevention after missing time in 2023. That was followed by position-specific work that came even as she was left off of the USWNT’s December roster and was only a late call-up for the W Gold Cup after Mia Fishel suffered a torn ACL.

“It was a lot of back-to-goal stuff, quick release, in and around the box,” said Morgan. “Things like a fake shot, or getting a couple inches in the box and and taking advantage of that.

“And then, a lot of crosses. I trained a lot with Kristen McNabb and some other [Wave] teammates in the offseason, they were whipping in a lot of crosses. And so, on the corner, the goal tonight, [it] was just a result of a lot of the heading that I was doing in the offseason.”

If you ask Morgan, all that work sharpened her in front of goal, but also kept her ready for the surprise U.S. recall.

“Going into the [W Gold Cup] last minute definitely put a little bit of a kink in things, but I felt really ready. I felt game-fit and ready to play,” explained Morgan.

“As much as it seemed like a whirlwind from the outside, I just felt like it was just something that I needed to kind of expect. You know, expect the unexpected. So, just having an opportunity to win two championships and being able to accomplish that in one week? I mean, it’s pretty wild.”

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USMNT captain Adams returns for Bournemouth after six months out

Adams’ return is a massive boost for the USMNT ahead of the Concacaf Nations League matches later this month

After six months on the sidelines, Tyler Adams is back.

The midfielder came on for Bournemouth in the 71st minute against Luton Town on Wednesday, marking his first appearance since September.

Bournemouth would go on to cap a miraculous comeback, as Antoine Semenyo claimed a brace to give the hosts — who trailed 3-0 at halftime — a stunning 4-3 win.

Barely two hours after Adams was named to a USMNT roster for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, the New York native returned from a hamstring injury that has required two surgeries.

The first came in March 2023, ending his season and playing a major factor in Leeds’ eventual relegation. The second came seven months later, shortly after Adams made a 20-minute Cherries debut that essentially set him right back to square one.

Bournemouth and the USMNT both had to be pleased to see him come on when he replaced Adam Smith in what was a wild match. Adams unsurprisingly stepped into a central midfield role for Andoni Iraola, who had his team see the game out in a 5-2-3 formation.

Shortly before that match kicked off, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter addressed reporters, discussing what had to happen for Adams to be in the 23-player Nations League squad.

“This decision was basically the output of months of communication with his club to track where he’s at, to see the levels that he’s performing at in training, the loads that he’s doing in training,” explained Berhalter. “Finally, a conversation with [Iraola] two days ago, and really hearing from the coach where he thinks Tyler’s at.”

Per Berhalter, Iraola gave a glowing review of Adams’ progress, which in turn sealed the deal from the USMNT’s perspective.

“He couldn’t say enough good things about [Adams],” said Berhalter. “He’s actually ready to play minutes [Wednesday] in the Premier League. So, we’ll see how that ends up, potentially 30 minutes, 15 minutes, who knows?

“But certainly, they think at the club that he has enough to play up to 45 minutes for us. So once we heard that, we jumped at that idea, because he means so much to the team, both on and off the field. It’d be nice to get him back. His last time with the national team was at the World Cup, so he’s been missed for a while. It’ll be nice to get him back into this group.”

Berhalter made sure to keep the door open for Adams as long as he could, naming him to the team’s 60-player preliminary roster for the upcoming Nations League semifinal against Jamaica (March 21), which will be followed by a contest — either a final or a third-place game —against Mexico or Panama on March 24.

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Concacaf announces launch of region’s first women’s club competition

The Concacaf W Champions Cup fills a major gap in the region’s women’s soccer space

Concacaf will launch its first-ever continental competition for women’s club teams, with three NWSL teams set to participate.

The Concacaf W Champions Cup, announced on Tuesday, will involve 11 teams from across the region, with play beginning in August 2024.

Theo Lloyd-Hughes was first to report the tournament’s details, including what countries will be represented this summer. The NWSL and Liga MX Femenil will each claim three places in the group stage, while the domestic leagues of Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Panama will all have one team in the mix.

A preliminary clash between the top team from Canada and El Salvador will determine who gets the tenth group-stage place.

At the time of publication, NWSL had not announced which teams would represent the league in the tournament. NJ/NY Gotham FC is the defending NWSL champion, while the San Diego Wave claimed the NWSL Shield (awarded to the regular-season champion). The North Carolina Courage won the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup.

Per Concacaf, the group stage will consist of two groups of five, with every team facing the other sides in the group once (two at home, two away).

The top two teams from each group will advance to the elimination round, which will be “a final four centralized event played in May.”

“Launching the Concacaf W Champions Cup is a very exciting next step on our journey of developing all aspects of women’s football in our region,” said Concacaf president Victor Montagliani in a press release.

Montagliani noted that the winner would be primed to represent Concacaf at FIFA’s planned Women’s Club World Cup (an event first reported by The Athletic in January).

“The W Champions Cup will provide a tremendous sporting opportunity for clubs in Concacaf, and we look forward to the first edition commencing in August this year, to crowning a first champion in May 2025, and to delivering an exciting pathway to the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup.”

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World Cup semifinal power rankings: Evaluating 2023’s final four

Evaluating this World Cup’s final four teams

Just like that, the 2023 World Cup has already hit the semifinal stage.

Frankly, it’s been a blur featuring a mix of less well-known teams announcing themselves to the world, while numerous highly-rated sides never looked quite right before stumbling out early. The U.S. women’s national team was not alone on that front.

Despite all that, no true underdog is still in the mix. The teams that are left include three of the five Pro Soccer Wire highlighted as major threats to the USWNT to win the whole thing, and the only semifinalist not mentioned in that piece (Sweden) is the one who sent the U.S. packing.

Curiously, though, it’s been a World Cup in which no one has quite revolutionized the game. England keeps winning, but only just barely. Australia has survived in a series of scrappy, even games. Spain is the rare team to lose a game 4-0 and make the semifinals in the same World Cup. Sweden…all right, well, Sweden are Sweden.

With all of that in mind, let’s get into where each team is heading into the massive pair of semifinals coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Who will start for the USWNT at the 2027 World Cup?

After a major disappointment in 2023, let’s look ahead to see who could start in four years

After his U.S. women’s national team side was eliminated from the 2023 World Cup, Vlatko Andonovski was already looking ahead to the next one.

“These are players that will be here for years to come, for tournaments to come,” Andonovski said on Fox Sports, referring to some of his team’s young stars. “This tournament is a great experience for them, and I think they’ll dominate the next one together.”

Though Andonovski likely won’t be there in four years (or even next summer at the Olympics), several of the USWNT’s top players at the 2023 World Cup will return for the 2027 edition.

Predicting World Cup starters four years in advance is obviously tricky. Who would have seen the emergence of someone like Alyssa Thompson coming in 2019, when she was 14 years old? Even players like Naomi Girma and Sophia Smith, established U.S. youth internationals four years ago, were still just teenagers at Stanford back then.

Still, we’ll do our best to project who may start at the 2027 World Cup, which could be played on home soil.

Players are listed along with their age in 2027.

Who’s next? The top candidates to take over as USWNT head coach

The USWNT job will be a hot topic in the months to come

A cruel summer has left the U.S. women’s national team boarding early flights home, and that means change is on the way.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski spent most of the last two years under increasing pressure thanks to inconsistent performance levels and some iffy results, and the USWNT will in all likelihood be looking for a new coach in the near future.

U.S. Soccer has made no such pronouncement just yet, and Andonovski declined to delve into his future immediately following the his side’s World Cup exit to Sweden, citing a desire to not hijack a moment for his own needs. That’s a prudent choice from a coach who no matter his stumbles, has placed the team’s needs before his own. It might not stoke the news cycle, but holding off on that discussion is the upstanding thing to do.

However, Andonovski’s tenure has included a series of underwhelming performances at the Olympics that ended with bronze instead of gold, and a three-game losing streak that tied the longest such run in USWNT history. That made this summer make-or-break for Andonovski.

As a prominent philosopher once said, you’re only funky as your last cut, and the earliest World Cup exit in this team’s history means that change is a must. There are issues beyond Andonovski’s control, including a long list of injured stars, but the USWNT job is a “no excuses, just win” role. It’s a safe bet that U.S. Soccer will soon be thanking Andonovski for his services and wishing him well in his future endeavors.

In other words, the discussion is already here. U.S. Soccer is surely going to be working on a preliminary list of USWNT coaching candidates before winnowing it down to a shorter list for first interviews, and so on. Within a few months, they should be introducing a new boss.

Here are some of the coaches out there that have the kind of resume the federation will be interested in.

Four reasons the USWNT had their worst World Cup ever

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the biggest failure in USWNT World Cup history

The U.S. women’s national team did something they’ve never done before, and probably won’t ever want to do again.

The USWNT is out of the World Cup earlier than ever before, exiting in the round of 16 after a scoreless draw with Sweden ended with seven cruel rounds of penalty kicks.

That outcome has consequences. Julie Ertz has already said this was probably the end of her run with the USWNT, while head coach Vlatko Andonovski — following up a disappointing Olympic performance in 2021 — is unlikely to be retained. There will be some soul-searching, plenty of after-action analysis, and potentially a new direction for women’s soccer writ large. The USWNT going out this early will likely have the kind of impact that is impossible to predict.

Before all of that, though, there’s the more immediate issue: a team that underperformed most of last year got back to some bad habits in the group stage at this World Cup. That condemned them to a match against a Sweden side ranked third in the world by FIFA, as opposed to a theoretically easier path to a third straight trophy ceremony.

Here are four main reasons things went so wrong for a team that could have won it all.

Three issues the USWNT must solve to save their World Cup

Some achievable changes that can give the USWNT a real shot at turning this World Cup around

It’s safe to say the U.S. women’s national team has not impressed anyone at this World Cup.

To be fair, things could be worse. Germany and Brazil have already packed their bags, as have the the defending Olympic champions Canada. Australia and Norway had to get their respective acts together to vault themselves into advancement at the last gasp, and a global power like Spain has suffered a 4-0 loss. It’s been wild.

None of that excuses the performances of the U.S. though, which have been extraordinarily frustrating. Setting Canada aside, all of the teams listed above also have had at least one good game at this tournament, a showing that most would agree deserved a grade better than a C-plus. The USWNT can’t say that.

Much of the discussion has centered on lineup choices and substitutions. Should Lynn Williams be in there? What about moving Julie Ertz back into the midfield? People want to see Sophia Smith playing centrally, they want a team that brought three different No. 10s to somehow find playing time for all of them, and on and on.

Pro Soccer Wire has good news, and bad news. We’ll start with the bad: none of these popular talking points would impact much of anything, save possibly disrupting the one bold choice (Ertz partnering Naomi Girma) that has paid off. Putting your fave into the next game isn’t going to save the day.

Why? Putting it bluntly, the USWNT’s tactical approach has mitigated so much of what these players are all good at doing. Swapping starters isn’t going to solve that, because the new player coming in will run into the exact same problem. On The Re-Cap Show, USWNT great Christen Press said it better than anyone: “Every single player, in every single line, is not being set up to succeed.”

When a coaching staff is doing that, shuffling the personnel is rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship. The problems with this USWNT, other than one aspect that we’ll get to at the end, are on a whiteboard, a PowerPoint presentation, and so on. They’re taking the field with a plan that leads them in the wrong direction.

With a round-of-16 match against Sweden (possibly the single team most familiar with how to slow them down on the planet), showing up with the same plan is asking to be sent home ASAP.

Here are some achievable changes that can give the USWNT a real shot at turning this World Cup around.

Andonovski hits back at ‘insane’ Lloyd criticism of USWNT mentality

The USWNT head coach wasn’t having any of his former player’s criticism

U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has hit back at Carli Lloyd, saying his former player questioning his team’s mentality is “insane.”

Andonovski’s side only managed a 0-0 draw with Portugal on Tuesday, advancing to the World Cup knockout stage as the Group E runner-up after a disappointing performance.

In addition to calling out USWNT players for their over-exuberant post-game celebrations, Lloyd also questioned the team’s mentality, saying on Fox after the game: “I’m just not seeing that passion. I’m just seeing a very lackluster, uninspiring, taking it for granted, where winning and training and doing all that you can to be the best possible individual player is not happening.”

In his post-game press conference, a reporter relayed Lloyd’s criticism to Andonovski. The USWNT coach admitted his side was far from its best against Portugal, but bristled at the notion that it was lacking desire.

“The one thing I want to say is that this team wanted to win this game more than anything else,” Andonovski said. “They’ve put everything they could in preparation for this tournament and every game that they go into, so to question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete, I think it’s insane.

“I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try hard or not compete. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels.

“It’s not like we played well by any means. We owned it. We know it’s not good enough. We’re not happy with our performance, but we qualified for the next round. We’re moving on.”

Andonovski was named USWNT head coach in 2019, coaching Lloyd for two years before her retirement in 2021.

Upon Lloyd’s retirement announcement, Andonovski said: “Carli Lloyd is a true legend. Her career was unique, and her success on the field is something all current and future national team players should aspire to achieve. The way she approached her everyday training and career as a professional is truly impressive and I’ve been honored to coach her.”

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