These last four days have been a let down and quite painful for me on a footballing scale. On a scale of 1 out of 10—1 being the most intolerable and 10 being the most euphoric—I’m at a 2 1/2. 😞
Images via Reuters
Why am I so down-trodden? My two favorite football clubs for decades, Arsenaland Barcelona are in a slump at the moment. Arsenal lost a league game this past Sunday to Aston Villa, and their Champions League game today against Bayern Munich. Barcelona was eliminated yesterday from the Champions League by Kylian Mbappé and Paris Saint-Germane.
Declan Rice dejected after Aston Villa result Sunday, April 14, 2024 — Action Images via Reuters
And if that heartbreaking defeat wasn’t enough for my fragile heart, then came the 2nd leg of the UEFA Champions League Quarter-final today against Bayern, in Munich. As I watched the match, I became acutely aware of my Gunners’ young inexperience in huge pressure-filled games in one of the most elite, acclaimed tournaments in the world, certainly in Europe. Arsenal just did not have the savvy or the savage predatory hunger to take it to Bayern Munich. Credit Bayern for being well-disciplined in defense along with their pedigreed experience in big Champions League fixtures.
Kylian Mbappé scores sending PSG thru to the Semi-finals — Getty images
And my beloved FC Barcelona were eliminated by PSG, Dembélé, Vitinha, and the phenomenal magic of Kylian Mbappé. Despite the disappointing losses of my two clubs, the level of football played, the offensive creativity exhibited by the top clubs in the world, and the exquisite number of goals scored, made this weekend and mid-week truly a footballing experience to last a long, long time! Below is my #1 pick for Best Goal of these CL Quarter-finals, Frederico Valverde’s smasher in the 79′ minute to tie the aggregate. Watch the highlights and be amazed…
Now it is on to the Premier League title race against Man City and Liverpool, and on to the LaLiga title race for Barcelona against Real Madrid and maybe Girona if they gain momentum in these remaining weeks of league play.
“Football-Soccer: The language the world speaks fluently.”
It will be a busy summer for me come June and July. Why you ask? I am going to get obese with world class football and I am not ashamed of it!
Well, unless our Yanks perform dismally like our 1990 boys who embarrassed us just by being in the tournament. In FIFA Italia ’90 we didn’t win or draw any of our Group A matches and conceded 8 goals, the worst defeat was against Czechoslovakia 1–5. The Czechs made us look like little lost farm boys chasing and chasing and chasing… rabbits, chickens, and piglets. Oh it was so bad and it hurt, bad.
But today’s USMNT is by far and away superior to those nightmare squads of the 80’s early 90’s. We really hit the CONCACAF and world stage in Korea-Japan 2002, our best tournament to date advancing to the quarter-finals. There is much chatter around football analysts—at least here in the states—that this current U.S. national team is on track to matching or surpassing our heroic 2002 team. But first we must show we belong in FIFA’s top 10-15 world rankings in this summer’s Copa America. Let’s take a look.
Copa America 2024 Groups
Starting June 20 at 20:00 (GMT -4h) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, the CONMEBOL Copa America kicks off with Argentina playing Canada. Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texas will host matches with Dallas hosting two Group fixtures—Peru vs Chili and USA vs Bolivia—and one Quarter-final fixture.
Copa America 2024 host cities
Naturally, my two squads will be the USA and Brasil. My Canarinhos are seeded #2 in the tournament with champions Argentina seeded #1. Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid will have to fill the shoes of injured Neymar. After defeats last year to Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina, Brasil was dipping from their decades long juggernaut perch. But this past March 23rd, Brasil showed against England they still belong in the top 5 of the world. Hopefully they can continue this momentum into Copa America and World Cup 2026. And England is no slouch! The 3-Lions were fantastic in the first 30-45 minutes.
Brasil National Team 2021 – Front (L to R) Neymar, Gabriel Barbosa, Fred, Everton, Alex Sandro – Back (L to R) Fabinho, Thiago Silva, Eder Militao, Gabriel Jesus, Danilo, Ederson (GK)
Surprisingly the USMNT broke into the Copa America’s top five seeds at #4! The Yanks were drawn into Group C and will be highly tested in their last group fixture against Uruguay and should advance to the quarters in the next round. But they will face either Brasil or Colombia, not an easy task by any stretch. And it will be a baptism on hot coals for such a talented, but young squad who won’t see much ball-possession against either South American team. Thank the footballing gods the Yanks performed brilliantly against Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League Final. They can carry hope from that three-peat championship title.
Now to the 2026 World Cup preview.
Image courtesy of CONCACAF
FIFA World Cup 2026
Yes, I am over the moon thrilled that my hometown Dallas, Texas will be hosting FIFA World Cup 2026 matches in June and July. Houston, Texas will also host some matches. The two major cities are 239 miles apart and approximately a 4-hour drive via I-45 barring heavy traffic or wrecks. In Canada, Toronto and Vancouver host. In Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey host. And in the United States, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas of course, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle all host.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington (left) and the Dallas skyline (right)
NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
But wait, there’s more great news! Dallas will host 5 Group fixtures, 2 Round of 32 fixtures, 1 Round of 16 fixture, and 1 of the Semi-final fixtures. Dallas is hosting the most WC 2026 games of all host cities in all three countries. I am beyond euphoric!
Let me just quote from the FIFA World Cup 2026 website what they say about Dallas’ and North Texas’ footballing development over the last two decades:
FOCUS ON EMERGING TALENT
With an impressively large youth football system, an incredible stadium, and experience hosting Super Bowls and numerous men’s and women’s national team matches over the past few years, Dallas is prepared for the FIFA World Cup™.
North Texas became home to the Dallas Burn in 1995, and played in its first game in front of 27,779 fans. In 2004, the team was renamed to FC Dallas. Today, the North Texas football community is one of the largest in the United States, with nearly 176,000 registered players.
The Dallas Cup, the largest international youth football event in the country [possibly the world], annually brings the world’s finest young players and more than 150,000 spectators to Dallas. Of special significance in the Dallas and North Texas’ history is the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™, when six games were hosted, and FIFA placed its tournament headquarters and the IBC in Dallas.
— fifa world cup 2026 website, accessed 3/24/2024.
I attended the Quarter-final between Holland versus Brasil in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas on July 9th, 1994. My girlfriend (at the time) and I sat smack in the middle of all the Brazilian fans dancing the samba, singing, and playing all their instruments. As we exited the stadium she was grinning ear-to-ear and simply said, “I have never had so much fun at a sporting event like I just experienced. And I’ve been to all major American sports,” meaning football, baseball, and basketball, “and none of them were in the same ballpark to that game!” I just laughed and said, I told you so. It truly is the Most Beautiful Game on the planet, especially when Brasil plays.
On that note, I have all ten fingers crossed and all ten toes semi-crossed 😉 that back in Dallas I will get to see my darlings, the USMNT Yanks and my yellow, blue, and green Canarinhos… Brasil. Lifetime memories right there. Can’t wait.
“Football-Soccer: The language the world speaks fluently.”
Thursday night, March 21, the USMNT advanced to the CONCACAF Nations League Final, beating Jamaica in the first semi-final 3–1 in extra time. They will meet Mexico Sunday, March 24 in AT&T Stadium, Arlington/Dallas, Texas for what should be a highly competitive, exciting rival match.
Against Jamaica the Yanks came out flat with no energy, no real pace as if they thought knocking the ball around laterally ad nauseum, and no attacking through directly, would suddenly make the ball magically go in the Jamaican net. But the exact opposite was the case. Only 30-seconds after the opening whistle Jamaica had a set-piece throw-in deep in the Yanks defensive third. Throwing it almost to the end-line, left wingback Antonee Robinson (Fulham) was beat, the cross went to the far post run of Greg Leigh, who started from the top of the U.S. penalty box, and Leigh headed it past a scrambling Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest). BANG! A dream start for Jamaica, a shocking nightmare start for the Yanks.
The rest of the first half was sheer torture for me to watch because it seemed minutes after their goal the Reggae Boyz went straight into their highly disciplined, defensive 5-4-1 setup. Icelandic Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson had Jamaica superbly organized in the back with dual defensive midfielders protecting the middle in front of their three center backs. The U.S. had no answer creatively through the “bus” or over the Jamaican bus. To make matters worse, the passing by our boys was messy and not at all sharp. It looked like we just might lose the match if Manager Gregg Berhalter didn’t change tactics and some lack-luster players, especially Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach) who had a mistake-ridden 45 + 1 minutes.
During the half as requested by me to our television in frustration, Scally was brought out and wonderfully replaced with one of my favorites, Giovanni Reyna (Nottingham Forest, on loan). The impact of Reyna was immediate for the Yanks. Here are the highlights from streaming service Paramount+. Hope all of you in the U.K., Brasil, and South Africa can watch them:
The brightest spot of the game? Three players: Malik Tillman (PSV, on loan), Haji Wright (Coventry City), and Gio Reyna, my Man of the Match.
Up next? Mexico. And it will be a feisty, heated game for sure. It won’t be easy for us against Mexico even being the home team in Arlington/Dallas, TX, USA. Why? Because when Mexico plays in the U.S. they are typically still the home team due to their fanatical fans both here and visiting-traveling to Mexico’s games. 😡 They almost always outnumber American soccer fans by a huge margin unless playing so far north in the U.S. such as Columbus, OH, or Chicago, IL, or Seattle, WA, the Mexican fans can’t travel so far north. If you noticed in the above highlights the many empty seats in AT&T Stadium against Jamaica, that’s what I am talking about. It is infuriating and sad for the USMNT and our poor level of support when it comes to our biggest rivals, Mexico.
Nevertheless, it will be an exciting game. Many football/futebol analysts are picking the U.S. to lift the championship trophy once again for a third time. GO USA!!! 🇺🇸 ⚽ 🇺🇸
“Football-Soccer: The language the world speaks fluently.”
World's Most Beautiful Game 