Santos-Griswold rallies to win 500m short track
Team USA's Kristen Santos-Griswold captures gold in the 500m with a brilliant late-race move during the ISU Short Track World Tour stop in Milan, Italy.
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Miami Herald
39 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Countdown to 2026 World Cup has begun, and pressure is on U.S. team to improve
Soccer is making big headlines in the United States this week with the kickoff of the Club World Cup at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday and celebrations in 11 cities across the country on Wednesday commemorating one year to go to the 2026 World Cup. All 16 World Cup host cities (11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada) unveiled countdown clocks as part of the festivities. The Miami clock was revealed at the Perez Art Museum (PAMM) in downtown in a ceremony that included city and county officials, the Miami World Cup host committee, and singer Marc Anthony. The clocks will count down to the stroke of midnight on June 11, 2026, when the tournament opens in Mexico City. The first 13 of 48 teams have already qualified, including co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the USA, who get automatic entry. The way things are going for Team USA of late, coach Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. Soccer Federation are surely grateful for the automatic bid. The U.S. team lost 4-0 to Switzerland in a friendly in Nashville on Tuesday night, with all four goals conceded in the first half. It was the fourth loss in a row for Team USA. Among the headlines following the game: USMNT humiliated by Switzerland 4-0. USMNT thrashed 4-0 by Switzerland in final Gold Cup tune up. First half debacle dooms hapless USMNT in 4-0 friendly loss to Switzerland. Former U.S. national team stars Alexi Lalas and Landon Donovan, now Fox Sports commentators and podcasters, have not minced words in their analysis of Team USA, questioning the heart, work ethic and commitment of some players. Pochettino, an Argentine who was hired last Fall from Tottenham Hotspurs to lead the American squad, has tried to instill more passion and pride in the national badge. 'We're going through a period right now where this team is being looked at in a critical sense, and I think fairly so,' Lalas said on a conference call marking the year to go to the World Cup. 'I think more concerning is a possible apathy that has crept in towards this team. And I never thought if you would ask me, back in 1994, what the summer of 2025 a year away from the World Cup in 2026 would look like that this would be what I would come up with.' Both Donovan and Lalas stressed that there is pressure on the U.S. team to rise to the occasion. 'I also don't want to let this generation off the hook,' Lalas said. 'This is a generation that, over those last 30 plus years, everybody has worked to make sure that they have everything that they possibly need in terms of the opportunities and the resources that they have. 'And with that comes higher expectations, and I do think fair expectations, and so whoever ultimately is on that field come next summer, when that whistle blows, I hope that they recognize the opportunity, and I hope that they recognize the responsibility to further the game.' Donovan said the team's highest profile Europe-based players who have been considered locks to make the World Cup squad might be replaced by hungrier, lesser-known players if they are not careful. 'When you put the U.S. jersey on, or you get invited to a camp, it is a massive responsibility,' Donovan said, adding that he was moved by seeing 30,000 U.S. military members singing the Star Spangled Banner at a 2006 game in Germany. 'That's the level of dedication I think fans want to see.' The last time the United States hosted a men's World Cup was 1994. Lalas said the world will see next year how much soccer progress has been made in this country. 'I think the world is going to be pleasantly surprised by how far we have come in it's still a relatively short period of time, but we still have a ways to go,' Lalas said. 'A World Cup is, for lack of a better word, this circus that comes to town with a huge tent. That tent has gotten bigger, and we want to make sure that we are as welcoming and accommodating as possible, because we recognize that a lot of people are going to come in and maybe again, as far as we've come, they're going to be some people that taste test, and we hope that they get a little taste of it, and they want more, because the circus will leave town. The legacy that it leaves, that's what's important.' Other teams who have punched their tickets to the World Cup are defending champion Argentina, first-time qualifiers Jordan and Uzbekistan, as well as Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, IR Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and New Zealand. The remaining 35 teams will be confirmed by March 2026, when all the regional qualifying tournaments have concluded. World Cup tickets will go on sale to the public in the coming months. Select ticket-inclusive hospitality packages are already available. Additional hospitality packages, including for matches in Canada and Mexico, are set to go on sale in July. Fans can learn more at Messi returns to Inter Miami Lionel Messi raced back to the Inter Miami training facility Wednesday morning to prepare for the Club World Cup following Argentina's 1-1 tie with Colombia Tuesday night in World Cup qualifying. Inter Miami plays Egyptian power Al Ahly in the opening game Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium. 'I don't think any other player's doing something like that,' said Inter Miami defender Ian Fray. 'They just played [Tuesday night] at 8 o'clock and he was already back and came straight from the airport in his full Argentina kit. You just look at that and say, `This guy's ready.' It just shows you he's taking really seriously, which you'd expect. It elavates all of our levels by being there.'
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
With World Cup exactly 1 year out, USMNT legends say pressure is turned up a notch
The United States Men's National Soccer Team will be the home squad in next year's World Cup, and they could make a big splash. Eleven of the 16 host stadiums in next year's tournament, which begins exactly one year from Wednesday, are in the United States, with New Jersey's MetLife Stadium hosting the final. After 1994, Major League Soccer was born, and it goes without saying that the immediate rise of soccer's popularity in the country was exponential. But it's seemingly hit a wall in recent years as the USMNT hasn't exactly given Americans a chance to grasp on. The squad got into the Round of 16 in 2010 and 2014 but failed to even qualify for the tournament in 2018. The USMNT returned to the Round of 16 three years ago but couldn't get out of the Copa América group stage on their own home soil last year. Team USA legend Landon Donovan, though, feels that soccer is "secure" in the country, even if Team USA disappoints, and its popularity can only go up from here. "There's going to be a lot of pressure, for sure, on this team. You play a World Cup in front of your home crowd, there's certainly going to be pressure. Is the state of soccer in trouble if they don't do well? No," Donovan said in a conference call with reporters this week. "There is a massive, massive opportunity [for this team]. In my experiences from the '02 World Cup, when we did really well, my life changed, and the trajectory of USA Soccer changed a little bit." But then again, Donovan scored one of the most famous goals in United States soccer history: his goal in stoppage time against Algeria put the U.S. through the group stage for the first time since 2002. "In 2010, it was that on steroids when we had an iconic moment. So if this team can do one of two things, either go far and/or have an iconic moment or two, it will catapult soccer through the roof in this country." Alex Lasry, the CEO of the NYNJ Host Committee, offered similar sentiments, saying the global stars coming to the United States will be enough to grow the sport itself. "If it ends up being not what we're hoping, I don't think that's going to dampen what the World Cup means to the United States," Lasry told Fox News Digital at Jersey City's Liberty State Park, which is the home of the official 2026 World Cup fan festival and hosted a one-year countdown launch party on Wednesday. "I don't think it's going to dampen how that 6-, 7-, 8-year-old looks at it. Having [Lionel] Messi, [Kylian] Mbappe, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Christian] Pulisic, the stars of the sport here, is what's going to lead to that next generation of athletes saying, 'I want to be a part of that.'" Fellow USMNT alum Alexi Lalas took the other side of the coin. While agreeing with Donovan in that all it takes is one special moment to get the country latched on, he said he isn't letting this squad "off the hook." "This is a generation that, over the last 30-plus years, everybody has worked to make sure that they have everything they possibly need in terms of the opportunities and the resources they have; and with that comes higher expectations and fair expectations," Lalas said. "Whoever is ultimately on that field next summer, I hope they recognize the opportunity and responsibility to further the game. What [does that look] like? It can come in a lot of different forms. But when that final whistle blows for the U.S. team, you want to leave thinking, 'That was something I'm going to remember. That made me proud to not just be a soccer fan in the United States, but to be an American.'" "You've got to be ready for that and embrace that opportunity with both hands and make the most of it," he said. "I don't want to let them off the hook, because I think they can do things we haven't seen before. They need the soccer gods to smile, but every team in the World Cup needs a little bit of luck going forward. And over the next year, they're going to have to work at what's going on, and I think the attitude off the field, to make sure they maximize next summer." The 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place in North America next year and will be featured on FOX Sports. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Dominion Post
4 hours ago
- Dominion Post
Teen phenom ElliReese Niday competing for Team USA at American Cup meet at Mylan Park
MORGANTOWN — A portion of the world's top divers will be on display in Morgantown, competing in the USA Diving American Cup, held at the Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. One already has Olympic aspirations even though she's still three years shy of getting her driver's license. ElliReese Niday, 13, made headlines last month in Alabama by becoming one of the youngest national champions in history when she won the women's 10-meter title at the USA Diving Championships. 'It's really crazy,' Niday said, according to USA Diving. 'Maybe one day when I grow up, I'll make the Olympic team possibly.' Niday, from Moultrie, Ga., is the daughter of former Tennessee standout Lauryn McCalley Niday, who won national titles in 2000 and 2001 on the 3-meter springboard. The younger Niday has quickly made her own name in the sport, winning three gold medals at the 2023 Junior Pan American Championships, as well as being a seven-time junior national champion. The four-day event begins at 10 a.m. Thursday with preliminary rounds in the men's 3-meter and the women's 10-meter. Niday is scheduled to begin 10-meter preliminaries at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday. Along with members of Team USA, divers from Japan, Australia, Canada and Korea will be competing in the international event. More preliminary rounds are scheduled for Friday, with finals in individual and synchronized events beginning Saturday and concluding Sunday. 'This is an incredible opportunity for our community to witness Olympic-caliber diving right here in Morgantown,' said Jennifer Lainhart, Director of Aquatics and Track at Mylan Park. 'Hosting athletes from around the world not only showcases the capability of our facility, but it brings global excitement to our region.' Other headliners competing for Team USA in Morgantown include former TCU standout Anna Kwong, who won the 1-meter title at the USA Diving Championships. She'll be competing in the 3-meter individuals, along with Sophie Verzyl, who finished fifth in the event at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. The combo will also be competing together in the synchronized 3-meter competition. On the men's side, Carson Tyler took fourth in the 2024 Olympics in the 3-meters and will be competing in that event in Morgantown. Indiana's Josh Hedberg was once the top-ranked high school diver in the country and he won the 10-meter title last month at the USA Diving Championships. Hedberg will be competing in the 10-meters this weekend and will double up with Tyler in the synchronized 10-meter competition. 'The American Cup is a tremendous opportunity for divers from around the world to represent their countries and compete on an international stage,' said Lee Michaud, President of USA Diving. 'We're thrilled to welcome everyone to Morgantown and to once again experience the world-class facilities and incredible hospitality that Visit Mountaineer Country and the Peak Health Aquatic Center provide.'
