In 1999, a U.S. team led by Landon Donovan got to the semifinals of the Fifa Under 17 Championship, in New Zealand. The young Americans played Australia to a 2-2 draw but lost the shootout 7-6 when Kenny Cutler missed his penalty and Oz’s Joshua Kennedy converted. Brazil won the tournament and the Yanks finished […]

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The English Premier League. Has to be the longest competitive schedule in team sports. The 2016-17 season, which ended over the weekend with 10 matches … began on August 13 and concluded on May 21. Yes, that is a season that lasted nine months and one week. Or, if you prefer, 40 weeks and one […]

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The most authentic sports experience in the United Arab Emirates is anything pertaining to the domestic soccer league — the Arabian Gulf League. It is a league overseen by Emiratis, largely staffed by Emiratis, featuring clubs overwhelmingly made up of Emirati footballers, and the whole of the league is largely watched by Emiratis, whether on […]

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Wow. It feels like the American soccer world emerged, in a span of 24 hours, from a dark and forlorn place and back onto the light and airy part of the global stage. A changing of the guard even as a veteran was back in the coaching box. … The goal-laden return of Clint Dempsey. […]

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I follow two national soccer teams, the United States and the UAE. Both play twice in the coming week in crucial 2018 World Cup qualifiers. I don’t feel good about either national team’s chances. For reasons that apply to both — key injuries, the pressure to produce results and competent opponents. First, the U.S.

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The financial ramifications of failure in England’s Premier League are the most dramatic in sports. The difference between income inside the league … versus income outside it for the three clubs who will be relegated in May … appears to be something north of 400 million pounds. Maybe around half a billion. Per club, per […]

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And you thought it was difficult to keep track of 32 World Cup teams … Starting with the 2026 tournament, Fifa will give Planet Soccer 48 national teams for its quadrennial event. If it seems like overkill, it is. Nearly one in four of Fifa’s 209 members will be at the 2026 World Cup, which […]

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It’s time. Jurgen Klinsmann must go. He now is inflicting real damage on the U.S. national soccer team. The U.S. Soccer Federation really has only One Job that fans insist it complete: Qualification for the Fifa World Cup. A limp and lifeless U.S. team was crushed 4-0 in Costa Rica tonight. The U.S. has lost […]

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I follow two national soccer teams. The U.S., of course, but also the UAE, after working six years in Abu Dhabi. Both teams have key matches in 2018 World Cup qualifying tomorrow. The Yanks play at Costa Rico, trying to avoid a second defeat to open Concacaf qualifying, following the 2-1 home loss to Mexico. […]

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Aside, perhaps, from the return of oil to $100 a barrel, the United Arab Emirates would like nothing more than to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The UAE played in the 1990 World Cup, a remarkable achievement at the time, given the country had not existed 20 years earlier. But they have not been […]

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