Real Madrid lost all three matches at the International Champions Cup, including a 3-2 loss to Barcelona on Saturday, but head coach Zinedine Zidane and his players are not concerned.

Heading into their quarterfinal meeting Sunday in the Women's European Championship, England has the momentum and France has the history. So how are both teams approaching their first foray in the knockout round? By talking smack, a lot of it.

In my last article, Soccer Made in Germany, I have discussed the success story of German MNT and the lessons we can learn from them. Now let us have a look at a three other countries and the associated professional men's leagues, namely England, Japan and USA, three countries from three different continents. I should note that information is limited for the Japan /J1 League due to the limited information in English and for MLS due to their limited transparency.

After the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid spent $90 million for then 22-year-old Colombian James Rodriguez, who looked on track to becoming one of the world's great playmakers. This season, he'll be playing for Bayern Munich.

Two years ago, Mexico beat Jamaica to win the Gold Cup and within 48 hours its coach, Miguel Herrera, was fired following an incident with a Mexican reporter at Philadelphia's airport. On Sunday, Mexico lost to Jamaica in the Gold Cup semifinals, and the drumbeat "Fuera, Osorio" grew.

Hopes and expectations of FIFA reform under president Gianni Infantino have taken another setback. The Guardian reported Infantino orchestrated the removal of the ethics committee chairman and members last May while the committee was investigating Infantino for allegedly citing an inaccurate amount of money he spent on his election campaign.

Christian Pulisic, who turns 19 in September, enters his third season for Borussia Dortmund with a new coach. The early indications are that Dutchman Peter Bosz expects the young American to play a key role. And that's not the only good news coming out Dortmund.

An encouraging and historic third-place finish at the 2015 Women's World Cup has fueled optimism among the players and head coach of England, which is one of several nations hoping to spring a surprise at the 2017 European Championships.

Barcelona, which started its preseason training on Wednesday, arrives in the USA next week for three games, beginning with a July 22 match against Juventus in New Jersey. That will be Barcelona's first game with new coach Ernesto Valverde in charge. Who?

Chuck Blazer, the larger-than-life American soccer executive who became the symbol of the excesses in international soccer, died on Wednesday at the age of 72. Before he became a whistleblower and the center of attention of the Federal investigation that resulted in indictments against dozens of soccer and marketing executives, Blazer had been highly influential in U.S. Soccer and FIFA.

Could the recent FIFA Confederations Cup championship coupled with UEFA U-21 championship be a coincidence for German MNTs? I personally believe in luck and coincidences in soccer results, but they are usually limited to a game or two.

Will Romelu Lukaku be the force who will turn around Manchester United's struggling attack? Not since the start of the English Premier League has United scored as few league goals as it's scored in the last two seasons: 49 in 2015-16 and 54 in 2016-17.

Five weeks after declaring his wish to leave Leicester City, midfielder Riyad Mahrez reported for preseason training and a vital meeting with manager Craig Shakespeare.

With less than nine months before their combined World Cup 2026 bid must be submitted to FIFA, time is of the essence for the U.S., Canadian and Mexican federations. They've formed the United Bid Committee for handling the bid process and hired John Kristick, who worked on the USA's unsuccessful 2022 World Cup bid, as executive director.

No player will have more pressure on him in the English Premier League next season than Alexandre Lacazette. You might not have heard of the 26-year-old Frenchman, but Arsenal just set a club record when it agreed to pay Lyon what could amount to $68 million for his transfer.