Mexico beats Panama 2-1 to win CONCACAF Nations League title on late penalty from Raúl Jiménez
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Raúl Jiménez scored his second goal on a penalty kick in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, and Mexico beat Panama 2-1 Sunday night to win the CONCACAF Nations League tournament for the first time.
Jiménez, the 33-year-old Fulham striker, dominated the week at SoFi Stadium with all four of Mexico's goals in El Tri's two matches .
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
What's going on with USMNT? Plus: Players to watch at Club World Cup
The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic's daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! Mauricio Pochettino was sold the American dream. His USMNT are having a nightmare. We're trying to get our heads around it. 🥵 Poch feels the heat 🏀 NBA, NFL bids for EPL club 📡 The Club World Cup Radar 👀 Totti's long-range belter 'I'm the guilty one here,' said Mauricio Pochettino, which made a change from apportioning blame to the players around him. Nothing has epitomised the awkward coupling between the USMNT and their new head coach quite like him digging out his squad at regular intervals. But Pochettino's mea culpa after Tuesday's 4-0 mauling by Switzerland was a variation on a recurring theme: that his collaboration with the U.S. has started badly, or taken longer than it should have done to take off. Don't forget, this was supposed to be U.S. Soccer getting serious and making the national team all they could be at the 2026 World Cup. It paid big to pluck Poch from the uppermost club coaching bracket. Advertisement So what's going on? Some mitigation before anything else. Pochettino's pool of players for the past week of friendlies has been weaker than normal. Certain mainstays such as Christian Pulisic and Sergino Dest are resting, and fringe names were rotated in on Tuesday. The fitness of his squad has been so temperamental he must think a clean bill of health is something that only happens for other coaches. His record over 10 games, though, is concerning: five wins and five defeats, with four of those losses in his past four matches. He fumbled the fixtures which really mattered, at the Concacaf Nations League, and he'll be bailing water if the confederation's Gold Cup — starting this Sunday — goes wrong, too. It took a mere six months for USMNT godfather Bruce Arena to imply that the Argentine was a poor choice. The Athletic's Paul Tenorio made me chuckle when he wrote in yesterday's TAFC: 'The honeymoon is over and a marriage counsellor is on retainer.' The trouble is that when you watch Poch's side, it's not easy to spot a fluent style forming, or dependable patterns of play. To wit: they Americans are no more potent than they were on the day Gregg Berhalter was fired last July. Just to branch off on a tangent for a second: across international football as a whole, we might be seeing evidence that switching from club jobs to a national team's technical area is trickier than it sounds. The crossover is in vogue, but how wise a ploy is it? England are furrowing Thomas Tuchel's brow. Germany have been ordinary under Julian Nagelsmann. Carlo Ancelotti isn't a sure-fire cure for Brazil's mediocrity. In reality, international coaching offers little scope to implement a detailed, tactical plan over a finite period. Training sessions are too few. Perhaps that's why associations went through a phase of banking on pragmatic types already working for them in another position, often coaching an age-group team; England did it with Gareth Southgate, Spain with Luis de la Fuente and Argentina with Lionel Scaloni. Advertisement There's an added complication for Pochettino, and one which is largely out of his control. The USMNT is not awash with world-class talent. Pulisic is as close as it gets but it surely says something that the cream of the crop in European club football aren't spending to sign him. It's concerning — if not surprising — that fatigue will see him sit out the Gold Cup entirely. The U.S. roster has its limits. That much is obvious. As Paul writes, the requisite depth is not there. But they should be, and have to be, better than this. 'If you want to criticise me, go ahead,' Pochettino said on Tuesday, and that grumbling could mount internally as well as externally at this rate. Because the World Cup is huge, it's predominantly on home soil next time, it's arriving soon and it will be many, many years before it comes around again. Somewhere in the not-so-distant future, FIFA will announce ticket prices for next year's World Cup finals. A handful are up for grabs already — corporate bargains at $73,500 a head, for example — but general-sale costs are still being finalised. The World Cup is a far bigger event than FIFA's Club World Cup (CWC), the revamped version of which starts in the U.S. on Saturday. But in Adam Crafton's overview of all of the things which need sorting for summer 2026, ticket sales are as intriguing as anything — because the CWC is failing to capture the imagination. The world governing body is offering students five tickets for $20 for the first game in Miami this weekend (down from $349 shortly after the group-stage draw in December). Realistically, it wouldn't be doing that if a) punters were queuing up to be there and b) it wasn't concerned about television cameras showing stacks of empty seats. Broadcast rights to this event set DAZN back $1bn after all. Advertisement On TV, the equivalent of two thirds of the globe's population will watch the 2026 World Cup. That audience is assured. But on the ground? It will sell better, sure, but were common sense to prevail, the take-up for the CWC should have some influence on FIFA's plans for next year. Don't hold your breath. One of the highlights of The Athletic's coverage of any tournament is always The Radar. Published before the games begin, it's our tactical, who's-who bible. You'll find Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe et all in today's Club World Cup breakdown but the real treats are the lesser-known profiles, like that of Auckland City's Dylan Manickum. He's a 32-year-old whose working life combines semi-pro football and, incredibly, full-time employment as an engineer. Beyond him, look out for River Plate's 17-year-old Franco Mastantuono. The precocious midfielder broke Lionel Messi's record as the youngest debutant in a competitive match for Argentina, and he's most likely off to Real Madrid soon. Also, a shout out to Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. Last year, he was the first Africa-based 'keeper to be shortlisted for the Yashin Trophy, awarded annually to the world's best. Williams has the knack of reading penalties (below) and if Sundowns make any sort of splash, they'll likely be indebted to their main man. It's been one of those weeks for Italy's national team; one of those weeks they have from time to time. Who can rescue them from the hole they have dug for themselves? What about Francesco Totti, the drop-dead-gorgeous 2006 World Cup winner? He's 48 years old now but the force remains strong, as shown by him casually finishing from halfway in an old-boys' game over the weekend. In October, he talked (semi-seriously) about coming out of retirement. Let's get it on.
Fox Sports
a day ago
- Fox Sports
On first 4-game losing streak since 2007, US looks unprepared with World Cup a year away
Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The only bright side for the U.S. soccer team is the World Cup starts in a year, not this week. The Americans conceded four goals in the first half, failed to get a shot on target and were embarrassed in a 4-0 blowout loss to Switzerland in a friendly on Tuesday night. 'It's really easy to look at one game, one half, and be like, oh, this is all going to pieces, they can't come back from this,' defender Walker Zimmerman said. 'But you look even the build-up to the 2022 (World Cup), we take down Morocco 3-0 and they make it into the semifinal. Things change — that was six months apart. It's not the end of the world.' Heading into their CONCACAF Gold Cup opener against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, the Americans are on a four-game losing streak for the first time since 2007 and have dropped four consecutive home games for just the third time overall and first time since 1988. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino blamed himself for picking a starting lineup that included four players with two or fewer international appearances. He wanted them to gain international experience but the Americans gave up four goals by the 40th minute for the first time since Nov. 9, 1980, at Mexico and the first time ever at home, according to Opta. 'It was my decision and the decision didn't work,' he said. 'It's painful because you don't want to improve losing games." A dismayed fan base, angered by first-round elimination at last year's Copa America and two losses in the CONCACAF Nations League final four in March, is questioning the commitment of the team's player pool. The U.S. was missing star Christian Pulisic (wanted time off); Yunus Musah (personal reason not disclosed); Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna (headed to the Club World Cup); Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams and Folarin Balogun (injured); and Sergiño Dest (regaining fitness). Dan Ndoye scored in the 13th minute, Michel Aebischer in the 23rd, Breel Embolo in the 33rd and Johan Manzambi in the 36th. Goalkeeper Matt Turner, playing his first match for club or country since March 23, spilled a shot that led to Embolo's goal. Defenders left the Swiss lots of space. 'You have to take your licks and understand where things went wrong and try to put them right in the next five days,' said defender Tim Ream, among five players who entered at the start of the second half. 'There's some individual errors that we make and we get punished for them at this level.' Instead of a steady improvement, the U.S. has regressed since reaching the second round of the 2022 World Cup. The Americans are 5-5 under Pochettino, who took over after the Copa America flop led the U.S. Soccer Federation to fire coach Gregg Berhalter. The U.S. also plays Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the Gold Cup's first round — the Americans have won their group in 16 of 17 Gold Cups, along with a second-place finish to Panama in 2011. They're group stage record is 40 wins, one loss and five draws. Only winning the tournament likely will calm supporters. 'I know in this sport you're not judged on one game, one half, but you've got to be able to bounce back mentally, physically, emotionally,' Zimmerman said. 'We've played hundreds of games in our career. Some are going to be amazing. Some aren't going to be so good.' Pochettino isn't concerned fans will give up on the U.S. team and stay away from matches. 'The fans are going to be there for sure in the Gold Cup and the World Cup," he said. 'I have no worries about that. The fans are going to be with the team." ___ AP soccer: recommended
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
The US men's national team has more of the last thing it needs: sports dad drama
The United States men's national team need a number of things. Some wins, after losing three straight games from March's Concacaf Nations League through Saturday's 2-1 loss to Turkey. A bit of momentum or indeed excitement for next year's World Cup on home soil. A clear identity, or at least a rediscovery of the kind of grit that once made this team competitive. A goalscorer. The one thing the Americans do not need is another episode of parent-driven drama. But that's what they have. Advertisement Almost two and a half years on, US Soccer is still feeling the ripple effects from the Reyna Brouhaha. After the 2022 World Cup, Gio Reyna's parents, both former national teamers, set off a scandal when they told the federation about a decades-old domestic violence incident between then-head coach Gregg Berhalter and his wife when they were in college, triggering an investigation. The Reynas were reportedly upset about Gio's limited playing time in Qatar, and Berhalter's subsequent airing of the player's lack of effort in training. Related: Christian Pulisic's father tells Landon Donovan to 'grow a pair' after criticism of son Berhalter was ultimately cleared of further wrongdoing and rehired, but the national team played for a pair of interim coaches for half a year and have never recovered the velocity they built up during Berhalter's first World Cup cycle, leading to a poor Copa América showing and the coach's ouster last summer. Reyna's career, meanwhile, has stalled, and could have benefited from the spotlight of the World Cup. Mark Pulisic, a former professional indoor player and coach and the father of the USMNT's best player, Christian Pulisic, added another chapter to the parental behavior files on Sunday. Advertisement It started when Landon Donovan lauded the 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo for his effort with Portugal in Sunday's Uefa Nations League final: 'I can't help but think about our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It's pissing me off,' said Donovan, who was covering the game for Fox Sports. It was an apparent jibe at the younger Pulisic, who asked to be left out of the USMNT's Gold Cup campaign after a long club season with Milan and ahead of a World Cup year. The general complaint was not new; Donovan said similar things on his podcast in May. But on Fox, they were put squarely into the spotlight. In response, the elder Pulisic took to his private account on Instagram, posting an image of a ChatGPT response about Donovan taking a sabbatical from soccer in 2013. 'This guy is talking about commitment,' Mark Pulisic wrote in the caption. 'Look in the mirror + grow a pair and call names out or are you afraid next time you want an interview you will get rejected again.' Christian Pulisic liked the post. Advertisement A few different things are true here, and they all speak to the current condition of the American men's game. For a start, the Pulisics are being thin-skinned. Fellow national team star Weston McKennie showed understanding for Pulisic's summer break. 'Any chance that we get, we want to play,' the Juventus midfielder, who will also miss the Gold Cup while in action at the Club World Cup, told USA Today. 'But obviously, if you don't feel like your body is in the right condition, and you don't feel like your body is in the best form or shape or whatever, to be able to do that at 100%, and you feel like you're risking injury, then it's better to let someone else go in that is completely 100%.' Related: For the USMNT, a successful summer is harder than ever to define Tyler Adams, who is in camp with the national team, has said he is fine with Pulisic's absence. So is US Soccer, at least publicly. 'After thoughtful discussions and careful consideration, we made the collective decision that this is the right moment for him to get the rest he needs,' the federation's sporting director, Matt Crocker, said of Pulisic upon the roster announcement. So why should the Pulisics care what a TV pundit – albeit one of the USMNT's best ever player – says about Christian's choices? Advertisement The whole thing also reflects the incestuousness of elite soccer in the United States, where everybody knows everyone and has for decades. Squabbles are never quite as superficial as they seem here, often harkening back to ancient grievances. The public nature of social media (even private accounts) is an accelerant. Beyond the aforementioned Reynas, Mark Pulisic is not the only USMNT dad who is very online. It's also valid to point out that Donovan and the other critical members of the punditocracy may not entirely understand what it's like to be in Christian Pulisic's shoes. Donovan took his own sabbatical and has acknowledged how taxing it is to be the face of the national team. 'I understand very clearly what it's like to need a break,' Donovan said on his podcast in May. Yet Donovan never played a full European season as a first-team regular. He was never a leading player for one of the continent's most regal teams in a grueling league like Italy's Serie A, relied upon several times a week to win games while his team is expected to compete in four competitions, including the Champions League. Pulisic not only did all of that, but he was Milan's leading scorer in his best season yet. (As an aside, this is also where the comparison to Ronaldo falls apart, since the latter played his club soccer in the much gentler Saudi Arabian league this season.) Advertisement However you tally up insults and umbrage, there is no escaping the conclusion that the timing of it all is particularly unfortunate. The USMNT, after all, are about to embark on a summer tournament in which they hope to move on the from all the recent dysfunction at last. Now they have even more of it, and the player in question isn't even in camp.
