Legendary United States men’s national team goalkeeper Tim Howard has been inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame on Sunday. Howard, who was in his first year of eligibility, received 46 positive votes from a 48-member selection committee.

Howard enters the Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class of inductees that also includes Olympic gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup winner Tisha Venturini-Hoch, USL Founder Francisco Marcos, and U.S. Paralympic team captain Josh McKinney.

Howard is widely considered the best American soccer goalkeeper in history. He started his career in MLS with MetroStars (modern-day New York Red Bulls) before heading to Europe for successful stints with Manchester United and Everton. Howard returned to MLS in 2016 and spent four seasons with Colorado Rapids.

Howard was handed his USMNT debut in 2002 and went on to make 121 appearances for the national side. He was part of the U.S. teams that competed at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2007 and 2017.

“You can’t think of these moments,” Howard said after learning about his induction into the Hall of Fame. “You get your head down, and you work hard, I’ve always said I’m just a kid from New Jersey who enjoyed playing soccer and learned how to compete and learned how to love the game.”

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EFL Championship club Sheffield United defeated league rivals Blackburn Rovers to book their place in the semifinals of the FA Cup. They are set to face six-time champions Manchester City, who thumped Championship league leaders Burnley 6-0

While Ben Brereton Díaz put Blackburn in the lead with a 21st-minute penalty, an own goal by Sam Gallagher seven minutes later put Sheffield back in the contest.

Rovers restored their lead in the second half courtesy of a 60th-minute Sammie Szmodics strike, however, Sheffield forward Oliver McBurnie produced a moment of magic in the 81st minute when he dribbled two defenders on the edge of the box to draw level.

With the game looking certain to go to extra time, Tommy Doyle fired a shot from about 25 yards into the top corner of the goal to seal a 91st-minute winner for Sheffield.

Sheffield’s FA Cup journey began against Millwall in the 3rd round, whom they defeated 2-0 to set up a 4th round clash with Wrexham. After going down to 10 men, United was unexpectedly held to a 3-3 draw, however, they managed to win the replay 3-1 to progress to the fifth round. In what was arguably their performance of the season, Sheffield United shocked Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur by defeating them 1-0.

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Ajax parted ways with manager Alfred Schreuder following the Dutch champions’ 1-1 draw with Volendam on Thursday; the team’s seventh consecutive league game without a win.

The draw sees Ajax slip 18 points behind Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord, with the fifth-placed side looking increasingly less likely to pull off the turnaround they need in order to revive their title hopes.

Schreuder arrived at Ajax following the departure of previous head coach Erik ten Hag, who parted ways with the Amsterdam-based club in pursuit of the managerial position at Premier League team Manchester United.

“This is a painful decision, but it’s necessary,” Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar commented in a statement. “Regardless of the good start to the season, we lost a lot of unnecessary points. The football itself was precarious too.”

While Ajax managed to get their season off to a strong start, the team’s performances soon started to slide, with their last league winning coming against RKC Waalwijk on October 23. Van der Sar further explained that while the club decided to give Schreuder an opportunity to use the 2022 World Cup break as well as the winter break to turn things around, it soon became evident that he was incapable of doing so.

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Arsenal is currently bottom of the Premier League table after losing their opening three games against Brentford, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Manager Mikel Arteta admits that the team has had a rocky start to the season and said they need to “reset” and “improve” their game.

The disappointing start to the season comes off the back of a summer of big spending for the club. Arsenal was the Premier League’s biggest spender in the summer transfer window. But the money has not translated into points.

“We have tried to explain the project and the decisions that we have made over the last few months in the transfer window. The amount of changes that we’ve had in two or three years is almost 30 players.”

“We have all participated, trying to create and build this project obviously led by the owners. It is a project that we believe in, that we have to assemble.”

He continued to stand by the moves they made in the offseason, claiming that they did what they felt was best for the club at the time. He acknowledged that in order for the team to thrive, they need to find out a way to make it work with all of their new pieces.

“And we have to embrace that because there is no other way in football, you’re going to have to have results and we are ready to do that,” he added.

The post Arsenal Manager Says Team Needs a “Reset” appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Frank Lampard was appointed as Chelsea’s head coach in July 2019 as a club legend who returned to his home as a player to take over the reins and try to right the ship after the dismissal of Maurizio Sarri.

Despite a fourth-place finish last season and the team qualifiying for the knockout rounds of the Champions League this season, Chelsea decided to let Lampard go after a bad start to the Premier League campaign.

The final straw for Lampard at Chelsea was a 2-0 midweek loss to Leicester City which saw the Blues fail to win in yet another matchup against direct competition.

Chelsea currently sits in 9th place in England’s domestic league, eleven points off of current leaders Manchester United. Even worse for the Blues is that they find themselves on the outside looking in at European qualification spots, 3 points off of Europa League qualification, and 5 points off of Champions League qualification.

Lampard’s team was seen as needing a breath of fresh air in the form of a new coach, and for the Englishman, that meant the end of his tenure at his beloved club.

Expect Chelsea to announce a new manager within the next couple of days.

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Celta Vigo is currently in 9th place in La Liga, looking to try to compete for a top-half finish and avoid the relegation worries that they have dealt with over the past two seasons.

One of the winter moves that they have now made in order to achieve that goal is the signing of Argentinian midfielder Augusto Solari.

Solari joins the Sky Blues from Racing Club de Avellaneda, where his contract was set to expire this summer. Celta will reportedly pay only $550,000 for his services due largely to his expiring contract.

The cousin of former La Liga great Santiago Solari, the 29-year-old player played a key role at Racing over the past couple of seasons.

At Celta, he will be reunited with his former coach Eduardo Coudet, where he was a key piece in their memorable 2019 campaign that ended with a Superliga title.

He is expected to play as a right midfielder for Celta and will provide Coudet with an option to switch things up at the position, where Brais Mendez has played the vast majority of minutes.

Solari will begin training with his new team this week and could debut on Sunday at Granada.

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Real Madrid suffered one of the most shocking defeats in recent soccer memory, falling in extra time by a 2-1 final score against CD Alcoyano, a tiny club that currently plays in Spain’s third tier of the sport.

Los Blancos took a 0-1 first-half lead after an Eder Militao goal just before the break and looked to have the match in the bag until Alcoyano scored a late goal that took the game to extra time.

An Alcoyano corner resulted in a goal for Jose Solbes in the 80th minute, who was free at the post.

In extra time, Real Madrid tried to avoid a penalty kick round by scoring a game-winning goal, and things looked to fall their way when Alcoyano defender Ramon Lopez was sent off with 10 minutes to go.

However, against all odds, in a counter-attack, Madrid let in the game-winning goal as Juanan Casanova beat Andriy Lunin to his right and sent the home bench into pandemonium.

Alcoyano headed on to advance to the Round of 16, and Real Madrid continues to fall further into a hole that has them looking unlikely to challenge for any silverware this season barring a miracle.

The post Real Madrid Eliminated From Copa del Rey in Shocking Defeat Vs. Alcoyano appeared first on SportzBonanza.

AC Milan is currently leading the Serie A table and is in the midst of a resurgent season that has them looking like one of the best teams in Europe.

In order to help them in their push to qualify for the Champions League next season and fight to win the Italian league, they have agreed to sign star striker Mario Mandzukic on a six-month contract for the remainder of the season.

Mandzukic departed Juventus halfway through the 2019-20 season and spent the second half of last season playing in Qatar. After not renewing his deal with Al-Duhail last summer, he appeared content to wait for the right opportunity, and he seems to have gotten it with them.

A former Croatia international and star for clubs like Juve, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern Munich, the 34-year-old veteran will give striking depth up front to Milan and serve as an option alongside ageless wonder Zlatan Ibrahimovic and youngster Rafael Leao.

It remains to be seen how productive Mandzukic will be, as he hasn’t played in Europe since May 2019. He did, however, score 10 goals in 33 games with Juventus that season before not appearing for the club last season.

Mandzukic has already begun training with his new club and could make his debut Saturday against Atalanta.

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After spending the past year in limbo on an Arsenal side that decided that they no longer wanted him, attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil has now found a new home in Turkey.

Ozil is currently in Istanbul, working on finalizing a transfer that will see him move to Turkish side Fenerbahce. According to reports, he terminated his contract with Arsenal early and signed a deal with his new club for the next three seasons.

Despite being a key member of Arsenal over the better part of the last decade, Ozil was left out of all matchday squads for the team in the 2020-21 season after seeing limited playing time the season before.

All in all, the former Germany international player leaves Arsenal after having scored 44 goals and provided 77 assists in 254 matches.

With his new team, which is currently in competition for top honors in the Super Lig and just three points behind first-place Beskitas, Ozil is expected to be the star of the squad and a key piece for their Champions League title push.

Expect Fenerbahce’s newest signing to begin training immediately and make his debut for his new team at some point over the next couple of weeks.

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Schalke 04’s season has been a nightmare so far, with the once-proud Bundesliga team currently in the heat of a relegation battle which could see them drop down to Germany’s second division for the first time in 30 years.

However, on Saturday, it was American teenager Matthew Hoppe who lifted their spirits and hopes, delivering his team its first win of the season with a hat trick.

Schalke hosted Hoffenheim on Saturday with the team in last place and seven points from potential safety, immersed in the second-longest winless streak in the history of the league.

Hoppe’s hat-trick, his first three goals in his fifth career start, led them to an easy victory that allowed fans’ hopes to begin to spark after a nightmare start to the year.

The California native’s first goal was a chipped shot over the keeper that put his team in front 1-0 just before the half.

Hoppe broke past the defense in the 57th minute to score again for his second goal, and then completed the hat trick just six minutes later with another chip to put the game out of reach at 3-0.

The 19-year-old player is the third American to ever complete a hat trick in Europe’s top five leagues after Christian Pulisic accomplished the feat with Chelsea last season and Clint Dempsey did so with Fulham in 2012.

Hoppe and Schalke will look to keep up the good momentum as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend.

The post Matthew Hoppe’s Hat Trick Propels Schalke 04 to First Win of Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Legendary United States men’s national team goalkeeper Tim Howard has been inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame on Sunday. Howard, who was in his first year of eligibility, received 46 positive votes from a 48-member selection committee.

Howard enters the Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class of inductees that also includes Olympic gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup winner Tisha Venturini-Hoch, USL Founder Francisco Marcos, and U.S. Paralympic team captain Josh McKinney.

Howard is widely considered the best American soccer goalkeeper in history. He started his career in MLS with MetroStars (modern-day New York Red Bulls) before heading to Europe for successful stints with Manchester United and Everton. Howard returned to MLS in 2016 and spent four seasons with Colorado Rapids.

Howard was handed his USMNT debut in 2002 and went on to make 121 appearances for the national side. He was part of the U.S. teams that competed at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2007 and 2017.

“You can’t think of these moments,” Howard said after learning about his induction into the Hall of Fame. “You get your head down, and you work hard, I’ve always said I’m just a kid from New Jersey who enjoyed playing soccer and learned how to compete and learned how to love the game.”

The post Ex-USMNT Goalie Tim Howard Inducted Into U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame appeared first on SportzBonanza.

EFL Championship club Sheffield United defeated league rivals Blackburn Rovers to book their place in the semifinals of the FA Cup. They are set to face six-time champions Manchester City, who thumped Championship league leaders Burnley 6-0

While Ben Brereton Díaz put Blackburn in the lead with a 21st-minute penalty, an own goal by Sam Gallagher seven minutes later put Sheffield back in the contest.

Rovers restored their lead in the second half courtesy of a 60th-minute Sammie Szmodics strike, however, Sheffield forward Oliver McBurnie produced a moment of magic in the 81st minute when he dribbled two defenders on the edge of the box to draw level.

With the game looking certain to go to extra time, Tommy Doyle fired a shot from about 25 yards into the top corner of the goal to seal a 91st-minute winner for Sheffield.

Sheffield’s FA Cup journey began against Millwall in the 3rd round, whom they defeated 2-0 to set up a 4th round clash with Wrexham. After going down to 10 men, United was unexpectedly held to a 3-3 draw, however, they managed to win the replay 3-1 to progress to the fifth round. In what was arguably their performance of the season, Sheffield United shocked Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur by defeating them 1-0.

The post Second-Division Sheffield United Makes FA Cup Semifinal appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Ajax parted ways with manager Alfred Schreuder following the Dutch champions’ 1-1 draw with Volendam on Thursday; the team’s seventh consecutive league game without a win.

The draw sees Ajax slip 18 points behind Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord, with the fifth-placed side looking increasingly less likely to pull off the turnaround they need in order to revive their title hopes.

Schreuder arrived at Ajax following the departure of previous head coach Erik ten Hag, who parted ways with the Amsterdam-based club in pursuit of the managerial position at Premier League team Manchester United.

“This is a painful decision, but it’s necessary,” Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar commented in a statement. “Regardless of the good start to the season, we lost a lot of unnecessary points. The football itself was precarious too.”

While Ajax managed to get their season off to a strong start, the team’s performances soon started to slide, with their last league winning coming against RKC Waalwijk on October 23. Van der Sar further explained that while the club decided to give Schreuder an opportunity to use the 2022 World Cup break as well as the winter break to turn things around, it soon became evident that he was incapable of doing so.

The post Ajax Fires Schreuder as Winless Run Continues appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Arsenal is currently bottom of the Premier League table after losing their opening three games against Brentford, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Manager Mikel Arteta admits that the team has had a rocky start to the season and said they need to “reset” and “improve” their game.

The disappointing start to the season comes off the back of a summer of big spending for the club. Arsenal was the Premier League’s biggest spender in the summer transfer window. But the money has not translated into points.

“We have tried to explain the project and the decisions that we have made over the last few months in the transfer window. The amount of changes that we’ve had in two or three years is almost 30 players.”

“We have all participated, trying to create and build this project obviously led by the owners. It is a project that we believe in, that we have to assemble.”

He continued to stand by the moves they made in the offseason, claiming that they did what they felt was best for the club at the time. He acknowledged that in order for the team to thrive, they need to find out a way to make it work with all of their new pieces.

“And we have to embrace that because there is no other way in football, you’re going to have to have results and we are ready to do that,” he added.

The post Arsenal Manager Says Team Needs a “Reset” appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Frank Lampard was appointed as Chelsea’s head coach in July 2019 as a club legend who returned to his home as a player to take over the reins and try to right the ship after the dismissal of Maurizio Sarri.

Despite a fourth-place finish last season and the team qualifiying for the knockout rounds of the Champions League this season, Chelsea decided to let Lampard go after a bad start to the Premier League campaign.

The final straw for Lampard at Chelsea was a 2-0 midweek loss to Leicester City which saw the Blues fail to win in yet another matchup against direct competition.

Chelsea currently sits in 9th place in England’s domestic league, eleven points off of current leaders Manchester United. Even worse for the Blues is that they find themselves on the outside looking in at European qualification spots, 3 points off of Europa League qualification, and 5 points off of Champions League qualification.

Lampard’s team was seen as needing a breath of fresh air in the form of a new coach, and for the Englishman, that meant the end of his tenure at his beloved club.

Expect Chelsea to announce a new manager within the next couple of days.

The post Frank Lampard Sacked as Chelsea Manager appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Celta Vigo is currently in 9th place in La Liga, looking to try to compete for a top-half finish and avoid the relegation worries that they have dealt with over the past two seasons.

One of the winter moves that they have now made in order to achieve that goal is the signing of Argentinian midfielder Augusto Solari.

Solari joins the Sky Blues from Racing Club de Avellaneda, where his contract was set to expire this summer. Celta will reportedly pay only $550,000 for his services due largely to his expiring contract.

The cousin of former La Liga great Santiago Solari, the 29-year-old player played a key role at Racing over the past couple of seasons.

At Celta, he will be reunited with his former coach Eduardo Coudet, where he was a key piece in their memorable 2019 campaign that ended with a Superliga title.

He is expected to play as a right midfielder for Celta and will provide Coudet with an option to switch things up at the position, where Brais Mendez has played the vast majority of minutes.

Solari will begin training with his new team this week and could debut on Sunday at Granada.

The post RM Augusto Solari Moves to Celta Vigo from Racing Club appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Real Madrid suffered one of the most shocking defeats in recent soccer memory, falling in extra time by a 2-1 final score against CD Alcoyano, a tiny club that currently plays in Spain’s third tier of the sport.

Los Blancos took a 0-1 first-half lead after an Eder Militao goal just before the break and looked to have the match in the bag until Alcoyano scored a late goal that took the game to extra time.

An Alcoyano corner resulted in a goal for Jose Solbes in the 80th minute, who was free at the post.

In extra time, Real Madrid tried to avoid a penalty kick round by scoring a game-winning goal, and things looked to fall their way when Alcoyano defender Ramon Lopez was sent off with 10 minutes to go.

However, against all odds, in a counter-attack, Madrid let in the game-winning goal as Juanan Casanova beat Andriy Lunin to his right and sent the home bench into pandemonium.

Alcoyano headed on to advance to the Round of 16, and Real Madrid continues to fall further into a hole that has them looking unlikely to challenge for any silverware this season barring a miracle.

The post Real Madrid Eliminated From Copa del Rey in Shocking Defeat Vs. Alcoyano appeared first on SportzBonanza.

AC Milan is currently leading the Serie A table and is in the midst of a resurgent season that has them looking like one of the best teams in Europe.

In order to help them in their push to qualify for the Champions League next season and fight to win the Italian league, they have agreed to sign star striker Mario Mandzukic on a six-month contract for the remainder of the season.

Mandzukic departed Juventus halfway through the 2019-20 season and spent the second half of last season playing in Qatar. After not renewing his deal with Al-Duhail last summer, he appeared content to wait for the right opportunity, and he seems to have gotten it with them.

A former Croatia international and star for clubs like Juve, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern Munich, the 34-year-old veteran will give striking depth up front to Milan and serve as an option alongside ageless wonder Zlatan Ibrahimovic and youngster Rafael Leao.

It remains to be seen how productive Mandzukic will be, as he hasn’t played in Europe since May 2019. He did, however, score 10 goals in 33 games with Juventus that season before not appearing for the club last season.

Mandzukic has already begun training with his new club and could make his debut Saturday against Atalanta.

The post AC Milan Signs Mario Mandzukic to a 6-Month Contract appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After spending the past year in limbo on an Arsenal side that decided that they no longer wanted him, attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil has now found a new home in Turkey.

Ozil is currently in Istanbul, working on finalizing a transfer that will see him move to Turkish side Fenerbahce. According to reports, he terminated his contract with Arsenal early and signed a deal with his new club for the next three seasons.

Despite being a key member of Arsenal over the better part of the last decade, Ozil was left out of all matchday squads for the team in the 2020-21 season after seeing limited playing time the season before.

All in all, the former Germany international player leaves Arsenal after having scored 44 goals and provided 77 assists in 254 matches.

With his new team, which is currently in competition for top honors in the Super Lig and just three points behind first-place Beskitas, Ozil is expected to be the star of the squad and a key piece for their Champions League title push.

Expect Fenerbahce’s newest signing to begin training immediately and make his debut for his new team at some point over the next couple of weeks.

The post Mesut Ozil Makes Move to Fenerbahce appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Schalke 04’s season has been a nightmare so far, with the once-proud Bundesliga team currently in the heat of a relegation battle which could see them drop down to Germany’s second division for the first time in 30 years.

However, on Saturday, it was American teenager Matthew Hoppe who lifted their spirits and hopes, delivering his team its first win of the season with a hat trick.

Schalke hosted Hoffenheim on Saturday with the team in last place and seven points from potential safety, immersed in the second-longest winless streak in the history of the league.

Hoppe’s hat-trick, his first three goals in his fifth career start, led them to an easy victory that allowed fans’ hopes to begin to spark after a nightmare start to the year.

The California native’s first goal was a chipped shot over the keeper that put his team in front 1-0 just before the half.

Hoppe broke past the defense in the 57th minute to score again for his second goal, and then completed the hat trick just six minutes later with another chip to put the game out of reach at 3-0.

The 19-year-old player is the third American to ever complete a hat trick in Europe’s top five leagues after Christian Pulisic accomplished the feat with Chelsea last season and Clint Dempsey did so with Fulham in 2012.

Hoppe and Schalke will look to keep up the good momentum as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend.

The post Matthew Hoppe’s Hat Trick Propels Schalke 04 to First Win of Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.