Anyone who says they don't like playoffs is either lying or a fool

That might have actually been the first time in this game that Messi broke out of a stroll

If this is where Darlington Nagbe's career ends, at least it's in one of these incredibly crisp yellow Crew jerseys, as nature intended.

No further explanation will be offered at this time

I've been an Ajax fan for 30+ years and I don't recall the club being in worse shape than it is right now. (Manager Johnny Heitinga was finally put out of his misery this morning.) Even in the post-van Gaal, late-'90s wilderness, there were (bad) ideas and (mid) people with knowhow. Now, neither.

THE SOCCER MAYOR www.theguardian.com/football/202...

I'm up and watching a game that kicked off just before 11pm ET. An early goal is exactly what I deserve.

Always read Hannah

This game is so good the soccer group chat has, for the very first time, pivoted to baseball.

Walkoff video replay let's go

Baseball

My misadventures in World Cup ticket-buying. This week's column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The fact that she would just volunteer this feels 100% consistent with someone who would outsource a core function of her highly specialized and coveted job to AI...

Stuff like this seriously bums me out. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

With social isolation rising, about the last thing that brings people together - even across political divides - is sports fandom. Me @financialtimes.com on why fans have more friends, social connections and democratic sympathies - with help from @moreincommonus.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/671ea66b-4...

My misadventures in World Cup ticket-buying. This week's column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

A denim kit-themed ugly Christmas sweater is art www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/jones-13-soc...

I think Chotiner's superpower is that he's perfectly willing to let an interview get uncomfortable/derail by lingering on a specific point and making his subjects follow an argument to its logical conclusion, rather than just moving on because he has a bunch of other stuff he needs to get through.

Assuming, well, all of it: wouldn't the breeze up there basically make something that even looks like soccer impossible?

"But as always, voters still seem to prefer the original to the growing number of far-right copycats" - @casmudde.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A friendly reminder that Elizabeth Eddy has played in a grand total of just 19 NWSL games across the past 4 seasons. Eddy is suffering from Riley Gaines Syndrome in this piece. This is nothing more than the bigoted rambling of a bitter player who just isn't good enough to start at a pro level...

Every ad for AI is like "Are you a total fucking idiot? Well have we got the product for you!"

I don't know how big the overlapping area of F1 Bluesky and Modeling Clay Bluesky is, but I'm quite pleased with my maiden effort. (Halo's a little janky, but I didn't want to take all of the boy's clay.)

Why did Indiana University attack and cut its own student newspaper? Well, in a twist of irony any English professor would call clichéd, it turns out IU did it because they were angry about the students' reporting on a FIRE report naming IU as the worst public university for free speech in the US.

This was really good. Somehow, MLS has had a Messi bump and yet broader interest in the league hasn't really moved. The strange thing about Messi and Ronaldo is that some of their staunchest fans really only care about them. And so it sort of doesn't matter who they play for, or against.

Like we all said, Blue Jays in four

The newspapers don't have investigative reporters on their sports desks any longer. Most remaining websites have systematically hollowed out their reporting infrastructure. The TV shows that did reporting have been canceled. And whatever remains is in bed with the betting industry.

I sort of like that heists are having a moment. It was overdue, I think.

It's obviously penne, which has been optimized to retain as little sauce as possible... Adds no value. Just steals resources. The private equity of pasta.

Our little Hudson Valley town had *a lot* more protestors at today's No Kings rally than the last one, for what that's worth.

What makes the Premier League the world's top soccer circuit, I think, isn't just that the stands are always full and loud, the grass verdant, and the production values perfect. It's that any game at all can serve up an unforgettable thriller. This has been a Palace-Bournemouth appreciation post.

We seldom think about demands on footballers who play for clubs and nations on different continents. 8 days ago, the USMNT's Chris Richards played in the heat of Austin, TX. Then at altitude in Denver. Today he's starting in London. He played all of Gold Cup, most of Sep. camp and, soon, Nov. camp.

Ange's streak of always winning something in his second season remains intact

My son calls the uprights on a(n American) football field "the touchdown forks" and I will never correct him.

just a Clippy propped up by tens of billions of dollars in VC

Feeling more hopeful about the #USMNT after another encouraging international window? Well, have I got the book for you!

Feeling more hopeful about the #USMNT after another encouraging international window? Well, have I got the book for you!

Call it Pochismo. Call it Poch-ball. Call it "culture eating strategy for breakfast," or whatever. However you label it, the United States men's national team fully reflects its manager Mauricio Pochettino now. And it's gathering steam. Column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Made an attempt at explaining that and some other stuff: www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/o...

Call it Pochismo. Call it Poch-ball. Call it "culture eating strategy for breakfast," or whatever. However you label it, the United States men's national team fully reflects its manager Mauricio Pochettino now. And it's gathering steam. Column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

There's a simple solution here, Frenkie... comment on your salary. (An annoying European soccer thing is clubs/players not sharing information and then complaining that the information out there is wrong.)

Call it Pochismo. Call it Poch-ball. Call it "culture eating strategy for breakfast," or whatever. Whatever you call it, the United States men's national team fully reflects its manager Mauricio Pochettino now. And it's gathering steam. Column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Call it Pochismo. Call it Poch-ball. Call it "culture eating strategy for breakfast," or whatever. Whatever you call it, the United States men's national team fully reflects its manager Mauricio Pochettino now. And it's gathering steam. Column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

I I believe I believe that I believe that we I believe that we'll be live I believe that we'll be live I believe that we'll be live

The best kind of mail day. Congrats to the king @stefanfatsis.bsky.social on what I'm absolutely certain will be a delightful read.

If you don't care about what you publish, why should your readers?

Welcome to hell! www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The USMNT outplayed the second-ranked team in South America and probably deserved more than the 1-1 tie with Ecuador tonight. Want to know more about how the U.S. went from total international irrelevance to here? Please consider pre-ordering my book! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722130...

The USMNT outplayed the second-ranked team in South America and probably deserved more than the 1-1 tie with Ecuador tonight. Want to know more about how the U.S. went from total international irrelevance to here? Please consider pre-ordering my book! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722130...

That's the best half I've seen the USMNT play -- against South America's second-best team, which beat Argentina last month! -- in quite a while.