On Friday, the 18-year-old FC Dallas striker’s marvelous year could get even better when the USA faces Mexico in World Cup qualifying. Ricardo Pepi, with 13 goals, was the highest-scoring American player during the 2021 MLS season. He made his USA debut in a 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Honduras in September, scored and […]
world cup 2022
Posted inGame Report, Story
Panama-USA Men's World Cup Qualifying Player Ratings
USA-PANAMA EXPRESS:Oct. 10 in Panama CityPanama 0 USA 1. Goals: Godoy 54.Att.: 23,000. * * * * * * * * * * The USA looked starkly different in personnel and performance from its 2-0 win over Jamaica on Thursday in Texas as it fell, 1-0, in Panama City on Sunday. With seven changes to the […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Hugo Perez reflects on El Salvador's Octagonal start
After only six months coaching El Salvador, first with the U-23s in Olympic qualifying and then with the full national team, former U.S. national team star Hugo Perez reflected on the three games the Selecta played in the Octagonal round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying. “We didn’t get what we wanted in terms of the […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Watch (game highlights): Canada stifle USA in Nashville
Canada’s Cyle Larin equalized seven minutes after Brenden Aaronson scored for the USA in the 1-1 tie, which left the USA without a win two games into 2022 World Cup qualifying.
Posted inGame Report, Story
USA-Canada Men's World Cup Qualifying Player Ratings
USA-CANADA EXPRESS:Sept. 5 in Nashville, TennesseeUSA 1 Canada 1. Goals: Aaronson 55; Larin 62.Att.: 43,028. The anemic offense of the Gregg Berhalter-coached U.S. national team may have been overlooked amid the glory of his young players winning the Gold Cup — with five 1-0 wins — but two games into World Cup qualifying it has become […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Hugo Perez draws parallels between El Salvador's World Cup quest and his U.S. playing experience
As El Salvador faces the USA to open the final group games for Concacaf World Cup qualifying, Coach Hugo Perez is looking for redemption. Not just for El Salvador, the country of his birth, but also for himself and his players, many of whom feel overlooked, as he once did, by the country where they […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Watch (game highlights): Germany lose its first World Cup qualifier in two decades
Germany, a four-time World Cup champ that hasn’t lost a qualifying game in two decades, dropped to third in Group 3 after a 2-1 loss to Northern Macedonia, now in second place behind Armenia in Group J of 2022 qualifying after three games. Germany, which has qualified for every World Cup besides the 1950 it […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
What soccer can do to pressure Qatar ahead of the World Cup
I don’t want to depress you any more than necessary in these stressful times, but next year is a World Cup year. The 2022 event, to be hosted in the tiny Middle Eastern state of Qatar, has become like one of those ominous dates in your calendar you hope that time will somehow defy. The […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Movie Rewind: 'The Workers Cup' – giving a voice to Qatar's exploited construction laborers
Last week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino issued the following statement: “Our first priority, our principle, the one we will use for our competitions and encourage everyone tofollow is that health comes first,” he said. “I cannot stress this enough. No match, no competition, no league is worth risking a single human life. Everyone in the […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Avoiding Qatar proves not so difficult after all
No matter how old and cynical I become, I’m still naive enough to hope that the world may become a better place. So when I read the headline that U.S. Soccer had canceled its three-week training campin Qatar, I thought for one short second that soccer’s governing body had followed its conscience and opted to […]