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Good morning! It’s hard to believe that Lindsey Heaps is finishing her 14th season as a pro. The USWNT captain will be returning to the NWSL for the second half of the 2026 season to play for the expansion team in her hometown Denver.
Soccer America Daily is edited by Paul Kennedy and Mike Woitalla.
AMERICANS ABROAD
Weston McKennie shines in Juve rout
Weston McKennie left Cremonese goalkeeper Emil Audero and three defenders on the ground while creating Juventus’ fourth goal in Monday’s 5-0 win.
It was ruled a Filippo Terracciano own goal, but McKennie got his name on the scoresheet 16 minutes later with a 12-yard header off Pierre Kalulu‘s long-distance cross.
🎥 Watch (👇): McKennie manufacture an own goal
🇮🇹 Gazzetta dello Sport on McKennie: “Catching the eye isn’t his trade, but popping up where no one expects him, yes: he pulls off (almost) two goals. And does what he must to give meaning to his evening.” (Gazzetta dello Sport rating: McKennie 7.5. 1=low; 10=high.)
🎥 Watch: McKennie head it in the net from 12 yards
Scudetto race:
1️⃣ Inter 43 pts. (19 games)
2️⃣ AC Milan 40 pts. (19 games)
3️⃣ Napoli 39 pts. (19 games)
4️⃣ Juventus 39 pts. (20 games)
🔼 Champions League qualifying 🔼
5️⃣ Roma 39 pts. (20 games)
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Lindsey Heaps is coming home
USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps is joining NWSL expansion team Denver Summit FC in June after her season with OL Lyonnes ends.
Heaps grew up in Golden, Colorado, and moved to France in 2012 to sign with Paris St. Germain out of high school.
Heaps, 32, said a big factor in her move is to be closer to her parents and to her husband, Tyler Heaps, the San Diego FC sporting director.
She spent parts of six seasons with the Portland Thorns (2016-21) but otherwise has played her entire pro career in France with PSG and in Lyon, where she has won four straight French league titles as well as the 2022 UEFA Women’s Champions League.
In 2025-26, OL Lyonnes has played 17 games, winning 16 and tying one.
🎥 Watch (👇): Lindsey Heaps’ message to her Lyon family, in French
MLS
San Diego FC gives Mikey Varas contract extension
San Diego FC signed head coach Mikey Varas to a multi-year contract extension.
The move follows SDFC’s record-setting expansion season when it MLS expansion records for most points (63) and most wins (19) in a debut season. It finished first in the Western Conference’s regular-season standings and came within one game of becoming the first fiest-year team since 1998 to reach MLS Cup.
“From day one, Mikey set the standard for who we want to be as a club,” said SDFC sporting director Tyler Heaps in a statement. “His leadership, tactical clarity nad alignment, and commitment to player development were instrumental in delivering a historic inaugural season.”
• Minnesota United: The Loons confirmed that assistant coach Cameron Knowles has been promoted to head coach, replacing Eric Ramsay, who departed for West Bromwich Albion, where he will be manager. Knowles, who hails from New Zealand, has been with Minnesota United since 2021. In early 2024, Minnesota went 2-0-1 with Knowles serving as interim head coach.
MLS coaches (by country):
12 🇺🇸 Arena (🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 ), Berhalter, *Bradley, Callaghan, Fraser, Mastroeni, Noonan, Olsen, Quill, Schmetzer (🏆🏆), Vanney (🏆🏆), Varas.
3 🏴 Neville, *Smith, *Wells.
2 🇦🇷 Martino (🏆), *Mascherano (🏆).
2🇨🇭 *Weiler, Wicky.
1 🇨🇦 Dos Santos, 🇨🇴 Pareja, 🇩🇰 *Sørensen, 🇫🇷 Damet, 🇮🇹 Donadel, 🇳🇱 *Jansen, 🇳🇿 Knowles, 🇿🇦 Carnell, 🇷🇸 Mitroviç, 🇪🇸 Estévez, 🇸🇪 *Rydström.
*No previous MLS coaching experience when he was hired in current position.
🏆=MLS Cup titles.
• Seattle: The Sounders hired former U.S. World Cup midfielder Ricardo Clark as an assistant coach. Clark served five seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps, most recently as head coach of their second team in MLS NEXT Pro. He replaces Andy Rose, who moved to LAFC as an assistant.
• MLS 2026: Offseason transactions and preseason schedules
USL
Jay Heaps assumes additional Birmingham post
Jay Heaps, the Birmingham Legion CEO, has taken on an additional post at the USL Championship team: head coach.
Heaps took the coaching job following the departure of head coach Mark Briggs, who moved to FC Dallas as an assistant coach.
VIDEO PICK
Macclesfield hero Sam Heathcote returns to school
On Saturday, defender Sam Heathcote helped Macclesfield of the sixth-tier National League North beat defending champion Crystal Palace 2-1 in the FA Cup. On Monday, he was back to work (👇) at Stamford Park Primary School in Altrincham, where he is a p.e. teacher.
OBITUARY: TONY FIELD (1946-2026)
Tony Field, who started for the New York Cosmos on the right wing alongside Pelé when they beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 to win the 1977 Soccer Bowl, died on Jan. 7 at the age of 79.
Field was part of a contingent of Englishmen who joined the Cosmos in 1976, Pelé’s second season, under Ken Furphy. In a 2014 interview with New York Cosmos historian David Kilpatrick, Field said he was familiar with the growing American game from coaches such as Timo Liekoski, Terry Fisher and Al Miller, who brought teams to Southport, where he played.
Field settled in Memphis after joining the Rogues in 1978. It was a huge change from the high life with the Cosmos, but he said he enjoyed Memphis. The Rogues were terrible — they started out 0-8 and were 1-10 when they beat the Cosmos 1-0 on a Field goal — but enjoyed enthusiastic support.
After they lost of their eighth game, a huge crowd greeted the returning Rogues at the Memphis airport, where Field was told to lead his teammates out. “Are you kidding?” he said. “In England, if there were 500 people waiting and we’d just lost, I’d be the first one killed.”
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WORLD CUP NAME OF THE DAY
🇲🇽 Azteca. In 1968, Mexico became the first Latin American country to host the Olympics when it held the 19th Summer Games. The 114,000-seat Azteca Stadium, completed in 1966, hosted Olympic soccer.
It became the first stadium to host two World Cup finals — Pele‘s Brazil beating Italy, 4-1, in 1970 and Diego Maradona‘s Argentina defeating West Germany, 3-2, in 1986. (Rio’s Maracana has hosted the 1950 and 2014 finals.)
Mexico City sits 2,240 meters (7,400 feet) above sea level. The heart of the metropolis of 22 million people sits on what was once an island in Lake Texcoco. Many of the city’s greatest buildings sink up to 12 inches per year into landfill.
Despite Azteca’s gargantuan size, all seats offer unrestricted views of the field. Credit goes to architect Pedro Ramirez Vasquez, who also designed one of the world’s greatest museums — the Museo Nacional de Antropologia.
• 2026: Now with a capacity of 83,000, Azteca will become stadium to host three World Cups — five 2026 games, including the opener and two knockout stage matches.
TUESDAY MORNING: WHAT WE’RE READING
• How Xabi Alonso’s dream Real Madrid return crumbled so quickly (AFP)
• Is Morocco ready to co-host the 2030 World Cup? Afcon indicates yes By Jonathan Wilson (The Guardian)
• How Wrexham are redefining ownership in pursuit of Premier League dream By Henry Winter (SI.com)
• MLS players support plan to align with international calendar By Lizzy Becherano (ESPN)
• Rolland Courbis, a passionate figure in French soccer, dies at 72 By Samuel Petrequin (AP)
🎟️ World Cup 2026 tickets: Everything you need to know
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