As MLS Playoffs begin, league still rewards too much regular season mediocrity
As baseball season nears its end with the World Series, Major League Soccer’s 21st season will also culminate...
Posts by Leander Schaerlaeckens
USMNT wants less CONCACAF, but more would pay benefits over time
Much remains to be done before the United States will be a true and consistent World Cup contender....
What a 48-team World Cup would have looked like in 2014
So Gianni Infantino wants to expand the World Cup from 32 teams to 48. Because Gianni Infantino is...
U.S. Soccer and the women’s national team are headed for a showdown
The United States women’s national team rides in open rebellion against its federation, U.S. Soccer. Or so it’s...
Leicester City enjoying Champions League run while it lasts
In a lot of ways, it was classic Leicester City, even on a new frontier. They traveled to...
Landon Donovan’s return exciting, but reflects poorly on young talent pipeline
Landon Donovan is back – yay! That, more or less, was the sum of national opinion when it...
Christian Pulisic staying at Dortmund is the right move for him and US soccer
With time ticking down on the transfer window, it’s looking for all the world like U.S. national team...
By losing now, U.S. women’s soccer might have ensured more wins later
If you accept that the objective of playing is to win, then it follows that the failure to...
Under huge pressure, Brazil provides relief with win over Denmark in soccer
There perhaps isn’t another country that has wrapped its identity so tightly around a team as Brazil has...
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t need to win Euro to be an all-time great
Cristiano Ronaldo barely played any part in it. Well, not in the final anyway. But he’s a European...
Portugal, France reach Euro 2016 final with star players sacrificing for team
Soccer, more than just about any other team sport, requires cohesion and conformity of thinking for a side...
Referee Heber Lopes made himself far too visible in Copa America Centenario final
At kickoff, Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain stood on one side of the field. Alexis Sanchez and Arturo...
Could the end of the Jurgen Klinsmann era be nigh?
It’s been a strange summer for the United States men’s national team. A flurry of solid performances in...
Jurgen Klinsmann experiment finally showing results in USMNT victory over Ecuador
Before Germany’s national soccer team finally kicked off the 2006 World Cup on its home soil, the country’s...
Euro 2016’s dilution has made being mediocre good enough
Once Portugal-Iceland was in the books and every team at Euro 2016 had played a game, ESPN’s post-game show...
In hiring Jose Mourinho, Manchester United finally gives in to the demands of modern football
In the Premier League, the future is now. Forever and always. Tomorrow is just some ethereal, far-off thing that...
Sevilla wins third straight Europa League title, building sports’ most unnoticed dynasty
Imagine for a moment that your favorite college basketball team had won the NIT tournament three years in...
Survive and Survive Again: Sunderland have mastered the art of the great escape
Here, now, is the record of Sunderland’s placement in its last 12 Premier League seasons, including this year’s,...
Claudio Ranieri’s long career reaches pinnacle in Leicester City’s improbable triumph
If Leicester City’s Premier League title was improbable, the appointment of its manager and champions-maker Claudio Ranieri was...
10 years after relegation, Juventus rules Italian soccer… but what about rest of Serie A?
In one of his last acts as a Roma player, 39-year-old club icon Francesco Totti made Juventus the...
Liverpool’s decisive victory over Everton in Merseyside Derby endangers Roberto Martinez
Narrative is a funny thing. Going into the season, Everton was a club on the rise. Roberto Martinez...
EPL title race back on after Tottenham picks up crucial points on Leicester City
The Premier League is not decided yet. Harry Kane’s 10th-minute tally at Stoke City held up on Monday...
As non-profit, U.S. Soccer must do right thing and pay women’s national team equally
Fans in the stands for the U.S. women’s national team two games against Colombia over five days held...
USMNT’s big win over Guatemala answered qualifying question, but major concerns remain
They say winning solves everything. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, a win is just a win and the...
The golden age of Cuban baseball is over, and this is good
Growing up in Belgium, I got to see the Cuban National baseball team play each summer. Every year,...
