Under dazzling blue California skies, the United States soccer team held its first World Cup training session at the co-hosts’ base camp Monday. For the 5,500 local fans with tickets to attend — the lucky ones among a lottery entered by 33,000 — optimism for the tournament about to kick off in their backyard was […]
Andrew Marszal
Posted inSoccer America Daily
World Cup is ‘full circle’ for London-raised U.S. striker Balogun
Raised in London by Nigerian parents, Folarin Balogun didn’t quite know what to expect when he signed up to play for the United States at the World Cup. “I didn’t realize at that moment how big football — soccer — was out here in America,” admitted the striker, who was born in New York, but […]
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Pochettino frustrated by injured Richards’ World Cup status
Coach Mauricio Pochettino on Friday said injured defender Chris Richards will not play in the United States’ friendly against Germany and expressed frustration that the player’s status in the World Cup squad remains in doubt. Crystal Palace center-back Richards has 36 US caps and would likely be Pochettino’s first-choice at the heart of defense alongside […]
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Senegal win can help fans ‘trust’ US World Cup bid, says Pochettino
Coach Mauricio Pochettino said the United States’ impressive 3-2 friendly win over Senegal Sunday can help the American public trust in their national team as the country prepares to host the World Cup. The US, along with Canada and Mexico, is co-hosting the tournament which kicks off June 11, with hopes high that stars like […]
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Pulisic finds form before World Cup as US beat Senegal 3-2
Christian Pulisic ended his goal drought and Folarin Balogun rifled in the winner as a much-improved United States beat Senegal 3-2 in a pre-World Cup friendly in Charlotte on Sunday. The win — and a slick first-half offensive performance powered by Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi — provided a welcome lift for coach Mauricio Pochettino’s co-hosts. […]
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Gritty Socceroos aim to spoil co-hosts’ World Cup party
Efforts to boost soccer in the United States rest heavily on the national team’s success at the World Cup — but their Group D opponents Australia have every intention of crashing the co-hosts’ party. “It’s our role to spoil one part of it,” Socceroos midfielder Aiden O’Neill told AFP on Saturday. “Obviously, I think it’s […]
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Tim Ream to captain World Cup co-hosts USA
Veteran defender Tim Ream will captain the United States at the World Cup, as the co-hosts seek to make a deep run at the tournament which kicks off in less than two weeks, coach Mauricio Pochettino said Saturday. Center-back Ream, 38, who spent over a decade playing for English clubs Fulham and Bolton Wanderers, was […]
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Can World Cup fuel North America’s soccer boom?
Long considered soccer’s last great unconquered market, North America has embraced the beautiful game to a stunning degree over the past few decades — and the upcoming World Cup could accelerate that boom. Visit Miami’s Nu Stadium — one of the roughly dozen Major League Soccer stadiums built across the region in the past decade, […]
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Los Angeles stadium undergoes World Cup facelift
Hundreds of corner seats have been ripped out of Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium and truckloads of freshly harvested sod were beginning the 1,200-mile journey from Washington state Tuesday as the venue puts the finishing touches on its facelift for soccer’s World Cup. The $5 billion stadium has also had to bury its NFL-standard synthetic turf […]
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California says probing possible violations over World Cup ticket sales
California has contacted FIFA over possible legal violations in the sale of World Cup tickets following allegations that some fans purchased seats in categories that were later changed, the state’s attorney general said Wednesday. The probe, which comes as supporters complain about the high prices of tickets for this year’s tournament, follows reports that soccer’s […]