The United States’ men’s national team earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against international heavyweight Uruguay in a Tuesday night friendly at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

The US men, who haven’t won since the Gold Cup semi-finals against Jamaica in early July, overcame a 50th minute Brian Rodriguez goal to earn one of their most impressive results in recent memory against FIFA’s 5th-ranked team.

The Stars and Stripes fell down 0-1 early after the LAFC forward put the South American team ahead just after halftime. The US couldn’t do much to stop Uruguay’s opener, which came on a counter.

While the Americans found themselves down, they kept on attacking Fernando Muslera’s goal until finally finding the net in the 79th minute. A lucky deflection sent the ball right to Jordan Morris in front of the goal, who beat the Galatasaray keeper to draw the game into a 1-1 deadlock.

When the whistle blew over just ten minutes later, the score remained tied and both teams went home a little frustrated.

While the USMNT might not be completely happy with Tuesday’s results, it’s undoubtedly a demonstration that the team has plenty of talent and room to grow as it looks to carry its momentum into the CONCACAF Nations League.

They’ll kick off that competition against Cuba on October 11th.

The post USMNT Draws Uruguay 1-1 in International Friendly appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The first International break of the new season delivered a surprising win for The Netherlands in Hamburg over the 2014 World Cup champions Germany. At the sold-out Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany scored first after a counter-attack, when the ball was reflected to Bayern’s winger Serge Gnabry in the 9^th minute – and that was the only thing that Germany did this match! 

The Netherlanders pushed the Germans into their own half at the start of the 2^nd period and they managed to level the score in the 59^th minute through Barcelona’s new star Frenkie De Jong. He managed to ditch Germany’s defenders and ended up alone against Manuel Neuer, scoring from 6 yards away. 

In the 66^th minute, Jonathan Tah scored an own goal after a sharp Netherlands corner kick, which Neuer managed to defend but the ball was reflected from Tah’s foot and still ended behind the goalkeeper. Some minutes later, Matthijs De Ligt touched the ball with his hand in the penalty box. Although he claimed that the handball was not intentional, the decision stayed the same.  

Toni Kroos leveled the score to 2-2, but 7 minutes later the Netherlands had the lead again through Donyell Malen. Georgino Wijnaldum finished the job in the 91^st minute, making it 4:2 for the Netherlands. 

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Copa America’s Group B got off to an unexpected start on Saturday night as Colombia upset Argentina by a final score of 2-0.

Argentina, led by Leo Messi, was disjointed and unable to break through against Colombia’s rock solid defense. It’s yet another disappointment for the Argentinian National Team after a disappointing Round of 16 exit at last summer’s World Cup.

Despite having superstars such as Messi, Sergio Agüero, and Ángel Di Maria on its offense, Argentina couldn’t muster a goal despite 13 shots on the night.

Colombia, on the other hand, played smart team soccer and kept the Albiceleste from finding open space. They were knotted at 0-0 at the break, but were able to push through and find the net twice in the second half.

Colombia’s first goal came in the 71st minute when substitute winger Roger Martínez beat Franco Armani with an unstoppable right-footed strike.

The Cafeteros assured their victory when striker Duván Zapata, who had recently come on to replace star striker Radmael Falcao, buried home a Jefferson Lerma cross to give Colombia a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute, assuring a crucial victory.

Colombia is now in control of Group B and will look to seal up their berth in the knockout stage of the competition when they play Qatar in São Paulo on Wednesday.

For Argentina, they now must regroup and not allow their surprising first defeat prevent them from moving on to the next round.

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Veteran English striker Jermain Defoe has dismissed concerns that many people have about the fitness of Tottenham and England national team talisman Harry Kane.

Reports from England have emerged which have suggested that Kane was rushed back from his ankle ligament injury and this could impact his conditioning ahead of the world cup which will take place in Russia during the summer.

England will head into the world cup this summer hoping to win the tournament for the first time since 1966.

Defoe knows Kane from the time which the two spent together at Spurs.

“You don’t need to be fit; if you’re a goalscorer, you’re a goalscorer,” Defoe, 35, told Press Association Sport. “He had that injury, and people are saying he rushed back, but if you’re Tottenham, you need him back, as simple as that.

“Harry’s one of those players who even if he’s not 100 percent he wants to play, to score goals. He wants to go into the tournament sharp, as he was before the injury. If you miss five, six, seven games, you need five, six, seven games to get your sharpness again.

“We hope he goes there sharp, but even if he’s not match fit, if a chance comes, Harry will score.

“I’ve had games where I’ve not been 100 percent match fit and you manage the game, wait for the chances, get yourself in the area where you score. Instinct kicks in; you take your chances like you normally do, regardless of how many games you’ve played and you’re fit or not.”

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Most footballers dream of playing for their countries at big international tournaments such as the world cup. Manchester United’s Michael Carrick has however revealed that it was different for him and that playing internationally made him depressed.

During a 12-year spell, Carrick has won 18 major trophies with United which has included five Premier League titles as well as the Champions League title in 2008.

However whilst he represented England from 2001-2015, he only went on to gain 34 international caps and only once featured at an international tournament which was the 2010 world cup in South Africa.

He did not even enjoy this experience and revealed that it made him depressed.

“I was finding it hard going away with England. I didn’t mind going away with United on pre-season for the three weeks or whatever but going away with England it was almost depressing in a way, it made me really down,” Carrick told the BBC’s Premier League Show.

“It came to a point after South Africa I thought I can’t do that again. People will say ‘pull yourself together and be grateful for it’.

“I understood the privileged position I was in, but I just found it so hard and I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I was depressed at times, I told the FA please don’t pick me.”

The post Manchester United’s Carrick did not enjoy international soccer appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The United States’ men’s national team earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against international heavyweight Uruguay in a Tuesday night friendly at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

The US men, who haven’t won since the Gold Cup semi-finals against Jamaica in early July, overcame a 50th minute Brian Rodriguez goal to earn one of their most impressive results in recent memory against FIFA’s 5th-ranked team.

The Stars and Stripes fell down 0-1 early after the LAFC forward put the South American team ahead just after halftime. The US couldn’t do much to stop Uruguay’s opener, which came on a counter.

While the Americans found themselves down, they kept on attacking Fernando Muslera’s goal until finally finding the net in the 79th minute. A lucky deflection sent the ball right to Jordan Morris in front of the goal, who beat the Galatasaray keeper to draw the game into a 1-1 deadlock.

When the whistle blew over just ten minutes later, the score remained tied and both teams went home a little frustrated.

While the USMNT might not be completely happy with Tuesday’s results, it’s undoubtedly a demonstration that the team has plenty of talent and room to grow as it looks to carry its momentum into the CONCACAF Nations League.

They’ll kick off that competition against Cuba on October 11th.

The post USMNT Draws Uruguay 1-1 in International Friendly appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The first International break of the new season delivered a surprising win for The Netherlands in Hamburg over the 2014 World Cup champions Germany. At the sold-out Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany scored first after a counter-attack, when the ball was reflected to Bayern’s winger Serge Gnabry in the 9^th minute – and that was the only thing that Germany did this match! 

The Netherlanders pushed the Germans into their own half at the start of the 2^nd period and they managed to level the score in the 59^th minute through Barcelona’s new star Frenkie De Jong. He managed to ditch Germany’s defenders and ended up alone against Manuel Neuer, scoring from 6 yards away. 

In the 66^th minute, Jonathan Tah scored an own goal after a sharp Netherlands corner kick, which Neuer managed to defend but the ball was reflected from Tah’s foot and still ended behind the goalkeeper. Some minutes later, Matthijs De Ligt touched the ball with his hand in the penalty box. Although he claimed that the handball was not intentional, the decision stayed the same.  

Toni Kroos leveled the score to 2-2, but 7 minutes later the Netherlands had the lead again through Donyell Malen. Georgino Wijnaldum finished the job in the 91^st minute, making it 4:2 for the Netherlands. 

The post Netherlands Beats Germany in Hamburg With a Fantastic Turnaround appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Copa America’s Group B got off to an unexpected start on Saturday night as Colombia upset Argentina by a final score of 2-0.

Argentina, led by Leo Messi, was disjointed and unable to break through against Colombia’s rock solid defense. It’s yet another disappointment for the Argentinian National Team after a disappointing Round of 16 exit at last summer’s World Cup.

Despite having superstars such as Messi, Sergio Agüero, and Ángel Di Maria on its offense, Argentina couldn’t muster a goal despite 13 shots on the night.

Colombia, on the other hand, played smart team soccer and kept the Albiceleste from finding open space. They were knotted at 0-0 at the break, but were able to push through and find the net twice in the second half.

Colombia’s first goal came in the 71st minute when substitute winger Roger Martínez beat Franco Armani with an unstoppable right-footed strike.

The Cafeteros assured their victory when striker Duván Zapata, who had recently come on to replace star striker Radmael Falcao, buried home a Jefferson Lerma cross to give Colombia a 2-0 lead in the 86th minute, assuring a crucial victory.

Colombia is now in control of Group B and will look to seal up their berth in the knockout stage of the competition when they play Qatar in São Paulo on Wednesday.

For Argentina, they now must regroup and not allow their surprising first defeat prevent them from moving on to the next round.

The post Colombia Upsets Argentina 2-0 in Copa America Opener appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Veteran English striker Jermain Defoe has dismissed concerns that many people have about the fitness of Tottenham and England national team talisman Harry Kane.

Reports from England have emerged which have suggested that Kane was rushed back from his ankle ligament injury and this could impact his conditioning ahead of the world cup which will take place in Russia during the summer.

England will head into the world cup this summer hoping to win the tournament for the first time since 1966.

Defoe knows Kane from the time which the two spent together at Spurs.

“You don’t need to be fit; if you’re a goalscorer, you’re a goalscorer,” Defoe, 35, told Press Association Sport. “He had that injury, and people are saying he rushed back, but if you’re Tottenham, you need him back, as simple as that.

“Harry’s one of those players who even if he’s not 100 percent he wants to play, to score goals. He wants to go into the tournament sharp, as he was before the injury. If you miss five, six, seven games, you need five, six, seven games to get your sharpness again.

“We hope he goes there sharp, but even if he’s not match fit, if a chance comes, Harry will score.

“I’ve had games where I’ve not been 100 percent match fit and you manage the game, wait for the chances, get yourself in the area where you score. Instinct kicks in; you take your chances like you normally do, regardless of how many games you’ve played and you’re fit or not.”

The post Jermain Defoe dismisses concerns about the fitness of Harry Kane appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Most footballers dream of playing for their countries at big international tournaments such as the world cup. Manchester United’s Michael Carrick has however revealed that it was different for him and that playing internationally made him depressed.

During a 12-year spell, Carrick has won 18 major trophies with United which has included five Premier League titles as well as the Champions League title in 2008.

However whilst he represented England from 2001-2015, he only went on to gain 34 international caps and only once featured at an international tournament which was the 2010 world cup in South Africa.

He did not even enjoy this experience and revealed that it made him depressed.

“I was finding it hard going away with England. I didn’t mind going away with United on pre-season for the three weeks or whatever but going away with England it was almost depressing in a way, it made me really down,” Carrick told the BBC’s Premier League Show.

“It came to a point after South Africa I thought I can’t do that again. People will say ‘pull yourself together and be grateful for it’.

“I understood the privileged position I was in, but I just found it so hard and I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I was depressed at times, I told the FA please don’t pick me.”

The post Manchester United’s Carrick did not enjoy international soccer appeared first on SportzBonanza.