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Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
News Analysis: Why are big-name U.S. players passing on World Cup tuneup?
Forward Christian Pulisic, America's active leader in goals and caps, will not participate in the last World Cup tuneup after a grueling schedule between club and country in the last year. (John Locher / Associated Press) 'To represent my country in a soccer game, there's just nothing better than that.' —Christian Pulisic, 2020 Never mind. —Christian Pulisic, last week With the World Cup, one the U.S. will play at home, just 380 days away, Captain America has decided to take a pass on the national team's last major competition ahead of the tournament. Advertisement That's Pulisic's choice, of course. He's played a grueling schedule with AC Milan this season, one that concludes Sunday, a week before the national team reports to camp in Chicago. And he has permission. 'Christian and his team approached the Federation and the coaching staff about the possibility of stepping back this summer, given the amount of matches he has played,' said Matt Crocker, U.S. Soccer's sporting director, noting that Pulisic has played more than 4,400 minutes for club and country the last 12 months. Read more: Congressional leaders call for streamlined visa process ahead of World Cup, L.A. Olympics Advertisement Nor is Pulisic alone in his absence. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Josh Sargent and Yunus Musah, Pulisic's teammate in Milan, were also left off the 27-man roster summoned to training camp ahead next month's Gold Cup, although some of those players will be participating in the Club World Cup. Yet even if reason and rules are strongly on Pulisic's side, the optics are bad. Over the last year the national team has suffered through two of its worst performances in recent memory, getting bounced in the group stage of last summer's Copa América — which cost coach Gregg Berhalter his job — then losing in heartless fashion to Panama and Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League under Mauricio Pochettino, Berhalter's successor. So with the national team in dismal form a year before the World Cup returns to the U.S. for the first time in 32 years, this is probably not the best time for the active leader in goals and caps to be asking out of the lineup. Especially since the Gold Cup likely will be the last, best chance for the team to rediscover the form that saw it reach the round of 16 in the last World Cup. Advertisement 'There is already doubt and concern regarding this team given recent failures. People are even questioning if they care and saying, 'If they don't care, then why should we?'' said Alexi Lalas, who played every minute in the 1994 World Cup, helping the U.S. reach the round of 16 and changing the trajectory of soccer in the U.S. forever. 'I can't believe we created an apathy towards this team a year out from hosting a World Cup. 'I just think this summer's Gold Cup, a tournament in the U.S., is a great opportunity to create a more positive vibe surrounding the team and reignite a belief that they can do something special next summer. I don't think we can afford to waste it.' That's all true. But Pulisic and the other first-choice players missing from the Gold Cup roster were put in a bad position by a global soccer environment with a rapacious appetite for matches — or rather a rapacious appetite for the money those matches produce. Former national team star Alexi Lalas, who played every minute of the 1994 World Cup, believes all Americans should be on hand for the final World Cup tuneup. (Jacob Kupferman / Associated Press) Consider Pulisic's schedule the last 12 months. For the U.S., he played in the Copa América, five friendlies and four Nations League matches. For AC Milan, the Italian club that pays his $5.8-million salary, he played in four tournaments, including Champions League. He's clearly banged up and needs some rest. Advertisement Traditionally, the Champions League final was the last game on the European calendar. Now it's followed by the Club World Cup, a competition I'm not sure anyone really needed but one that extends the club calendar for 32 teams for as long as another six weeks. Even at 26, that's a punishing schedule. If Pulisic and the others don't take a break now, they could head into the World Cup year running on fumes. 'Many people can say it's really important for us to be all together for the last time before the World Cup,' Pochettino said in virtual meeting with reporters. 'As a coaching staff we listen to the player. We have our own idea in everything, but after consideration we decided the best for him, the best for the team, the best for the national team is the decision that we made.' Lalas isn't buying that. Advertisement 'I recognize that players play a lot of games,' he said. 'But you know who plays a lot of games? Messi.' (Not recently. Messi played about half as many games as Pulisic in the last year, according to the website.) 'Of course I want U.S. players to be at their best in the summer of 2026, but we can't put them in bubble-wrap until then,' Lalas continued. 'I know I am from a different generation, and I try not be a grumpy old man. But I just can't fathom turning down the privilege of representing my country. Read more: Women's World Cup will expand to 48 teams in 2031 'We need all hands on deck. We can rest in 2027.' Advertisement Pochettino might not be buying his own words either. Because in the same news conference in which he excused Pulisic and the others, he made it clear that every spot on his World Cup roster is up for grabs. And the best way to grab one is to show up at training camp. 'What we want to create in our national team is people desperate to come, but desperate to come to perform,' said Pochettino who, in his eight months in charge, has been unable to rouse his players from a listless funk. 'To perform means follow the rules, create a good atmosphere, be part of the team. 'We need to create this culture about winning and we need to chase our aim. If we want to be good in one year's time, we need to think that today is the most important day. It's not to say, 'OK, I wait. The World Cup is in one year. It's in six months. It's in one month.' And then it's late.' The U.S. has been building for this since 2018, when FIFA awarded the World Cup to the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The roster has been carefully cultivated, players have been methodically groomed; broadcast contracts have been negotiated and sponsorships signed, all in the hopes of the U.S. making a deep run next summer. Advertisement Now that the tournament on the doorstep, those plans appear to be crumbling. Read more: Congressional leaders call for streamlined visa process ahead of World Cup, L.A. Olympics Could the U.S. really field a World Cup team without Pulisic, Reyna, Weah and the others? Well, it will be fielding a Gold Cup team without them. And Pochettino seems to have found a sense of urgency that was missing in the Nations League debacle. It's all a gamble. If the U.S. makes a long run in next year's World Cup, no one will remember who played in the Gold Cup. But if the U.S. is ousted early, Pulisic and the other absentees will get blamed, no matter how well they play. Advertisement 'A home World Cup can create a legacy. We should be doing everything possible, on and off the field, to make it successful,' Lalas said. 'There is pressure, responsibility and opportunity, especially for a country like the U.S. Home World Cups in 1994 and 1999 fundamentally changed the landscape and trajectory of soccer in America. 2026 can have the same impact. 'If we mess this up, on or off the field, we only have ourselves to blame.' ⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week's episode of the 'Corner of the Galaxy' podcast. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressional leaders call for streamlined visa process ahead of World Cup, L.A. Olympics
A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to streamline the government's visa processing system to ensure visitors from abroad will be able to attend next year's FIFA World Cup as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The World Cup, which kicks off in less than 400 days, is expected to generate $3.75 billion in economic activity in the U.S. With SoFi Stadium in Inglewood hosting eight games, the economic impact on Southern California is estimated at nearly $600 million. But cost-cutting measures proposed by Rubio could threaten that by reducing staff and closing some embassies and consulates, increasing visa wait times and making an already cumbersome system more complicated and costly. That could keep tens of thousands of fans at home. Even without the changes, six countries have at least one U.S. diplomatic post with visa wait times that extend beyond the start of the World Cup. Read more: Visa approval crisis threatens to cost 2026 World Cup and L.A. Olympics millions Rubio is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he will be asked about the visa process, said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). Kamlager-Dove, a member of that committee and a proponent of sports diplomacy, laid out her concerns and those of her colleagues in two-page letter addressed to Rubio and signed by 52 representatives, including Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), the first Republican to sign on; Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; and Ted Lieu (D-Manhattan Beach), a member of Democratic House leadership. 'I'm hoping to get some answers and some solutions,' said Kamlager-Dove, whose sprawling districts ranges from the border with Beverly Hills to South Los Angeles. 'This is a real problem because it impacts attendance and it impacts economic activity.' The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, with a record 48 countries participating. It will also be the first World Cup played in three countries, with Mexico and Canada sharing host duties with the U.S. However the vast majority of the games — 78 of 104 — will be played in 11 U.S. cities between June 11 and July 19, 2026. 'The economic stakes of these games and significant for red and blue districts nationwide, as is the diplomatic and soft-power opportunity of being at the center of the international sports universe,' Kamlager-Dove wrote in her letter. 'However the success of these games hinges on the State Department's ability to efficiently process the visa applications of spectators, athletes and media.' Read more: 'America will be open': Casey Wasserman assures IOC visa issues won't plague 2028 L.A. Olympics Kamlager-Dove believes the opportunity is too important to be sacrificed to politics. 'The United States has an obligation to put its best foot forward as the host of these games,' she said. 'Sports diplomacy is an important tool for us as we continue to talk about peace and cooperation. It's also so important as we recognize all of the different ethnic communities that help make up the United States and want to root for their home team. 'And so you want restaurants to be full, clubs and bars to be full, hotels to be full.' Earlier this month President Trump held the first meeting of a White House task force charged with overseeing what the president called 'the biggest, safest and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history.' But the administration has sent mixed signals over exactly how welcoming it intends to be. At that meeting attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Vice President JD Vance — co-chair of the task force — said the U.S. wants foreign visitors 'to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games. But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to Secretary Noem.' He referred to Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency has detained and interrogated visa holders at U.S. points of entry. 'It is up to [Rubio] to square that circle for us when he comes to our committee,' Kamlager-Dove said. 'The good news is you have Republicans and Democrats asking these questions. These games are non-partisan. And I believe that these are practical, logistical, solvable log jams that deserve a solution. 'Staff the State Department to focus on them. Accelerate and streamline these processes and prioritize diplomacy. Because the games are diplomatic.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
2028 Summer Games In L.A. Will Be 'Donald Trump's Olympics', Endeavor And TKO Exec Mark Shapiro Predicts: 'He Is Going To Walk Out Of Office With The Trophy'
Despite the setback of this year's wildfires, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be 'out-of-control good' and credit for their success will be taken by Donald Trump, according to Endeavor and TKO exec Mark Shapiro. The 'L.A. and back'' narrative will drive strong interest in corporate hospitality packages offered by TKO's On Location subsidiary, Shapiro predicted during an appearance at a Morgan Stanley media conference. Ben Swinburne, the Morgan Stanley analyst moderating Monday's session with Shapiro, asked the exec if he felt 'bullish' about L.A. in 2028 and anticipated will 'go on as planned' despite the fires. More from Deadline 'The View's Whoopi Goldberg Calls Trump-Zelensky Meeting "Chilling", Tells Viewers "If You Support Ukraine, Say It Out Loud" John Oliver Slams Trump Shout-Down Of "Not Thankful" Zelensky As "Awful" Spectacle: "He's A President In The Middle Of A War, Not A Toddler Opening A Present From Meemaw" Oscars TV Review: Conan O'Brien Nails It In Hosting Debut On A Night Of Celebration For Cinema, L.A. & Gene Hackman 'They've had time to rebuild and it's going to be a coming-out party,' Shapiro said, 'sort of at the other end of the spectrum from where the Oscars were last night when they celebrated L.A. and the pageantry and the history and, of course, encouraged folks to give back and support the rebuild.' Shapiro then made a sharp turn as he continued to paint the picture, getting political without any prompting. 'President Trump is going to walk out of office with the trophy that is the L.A. Olympics, that 'I did it, I brought it back, I was behind it, I put the resources, the support,'' the exec said. 'He'll be sitting front and center. I'm a true believer that this will be his Olympics as much as anything else.' Shapiro made the forecast without indicating explicitly whether the victory lap would be justified, but numerous ties exist between his businesses and the Trump Administration. Endeavor and its CEO, Ari Emanuel, represented the president and struck his deal with NBC for The Apprentice, which gave him enough visibility and resources to later enter politics. More recently, Emanuel has affiliated himself with Elon Musk, a Trump backer who has become a close advisor. Dana White, head of the TKO-owned UFC, has also been connected with Trump through the years. A former top exec at ESPN and Dick Clark Productions, Shapiro joined Endeavor in 2014. TKO, which is majority-owned by Endeavor and run by Emanuel, Shapiro and other Endeavor execs, was formed in 2023 from the merger of WWE and the UFC. The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026 are already putting experiences up for sale, Shapiro said. 'Between Milan and L.A., we're projecting to do $2 billion in revenue and $130 million in adjusted EBITDA. So, it will be a good story.' On Location was acquired by TKO from Endeavor along with two other former Endeavor assets, the Professional Bull Riders and IMG, for $3.2 billion. The transaction, which closed last Friday, will position TKO as 'pure sports' and Endeavor as 'pure representation,' Shapiro said. As TKO continues its successful run as a publicly traded company, Endeavor is set to exit the public stage in the next few weeks as Silver Lake takes it private. After Shapiro mentioned Trump and then added that the Paris Olympics were also lucrative despite the 'French being difficult,' Swinburne said he felt tempted to explore the Olympics topic in more detail but opted to move on. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery How To Watch Sean Baker's Oscar Winner 'Anora': Streaming, For Rent And More Every Oscars Best Animated Feature Winner Since 2002
