Football

5:11 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Luis Enrique won’t be reading this, which is an open invitation to say the most outrageous things about him. Terrible, unheard things that few want to admit. Things like: he knows what he’s doing. And: he’s pretty good at this. Even this week, when that was clearer than ever,

4:00 AM ET Paul Pogba’s Manchester United future is shrouded in mystery — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: United may have found their replacement. Jump to: Tchouameni a man in demand | Sterling at City crossroads | Barca’s Ilaix fear | Jese’s freak injury | Fenerbahce’s transfer blunder Barcelona step in as Pogba’s

4:42 AM ET Adriana Garcia Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he thought club sporting director Leonardo was playing a joke on him when he was first told that Lionel Messi‘s signing was possible. Messi joined PSG as a free agent on Aug. 10, days after Barcelona announced they were unable to register the

3:38 PM ET We’re through two qualification windows for the U.S. men’s national team, and they’ve had two must-win matches to end each one. The USMNT has scraped and stumbled and suffered from a number of self-inflicted wounds. Gregg Berhalter & Co. have wasted points with an over-matched and overthought lineup in Panama. They’ve suffered

8:55 PM ET The United States came from behind in impressive fashion to beat Costa Rica in its CONCACAF World Cup qualifier at the new home of Columbus Crew on Wednesday night. U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter changed his lineup significantly, inserting goalkeeper Zack Steffen among nine changes to the starting 11 following Sunday’s 1-0 loss

11:23 PM ET COLUMBUS, Ohio – As Sergino Dest and Tim Weah were making their way back to the United States bench after being substituted, the two offensive heroes pumped up the home crowd at Lower.com Field. Dest high-fived teammates, as well as a few fans. Weah found time to give his jersey to someone

1:14 PM ET In the U.S. soccer ecosystem, there are no shortage of cities claiming to be the “home” of the sport in this country. Portland dubs itself “Soccer City, U.S.A.,” for starters. Washington, D.C., has held its share of memorable matches at the soon-to-be-demolished RFK Stadium, while fans in Seattle; Kansas City, Missouri; and

6:10 AM ET With two rounds remaining in European World Cup qualifying, the race is hotting up for a place at Qatar 2022. In October Germany became the first country to book a place at the finals, quickly followed by Denmark. That leaves eight automatic qualification spots still up for grabs for group winners, along

3:28 PM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Diego Simeone has admitted that he wanted to bring Lionel Messi to Atletico Madrid this summer, saying he called Luis Suarez to ask if a deal was possible. Messi became a free agent when his Barcelona contract expired on June 30, and planned to stay until the club

11:41 AM ET Bruce Schoenfeld Barcelona are one of many top clubs with academies or developmental relationships in the United States. The goal? Unearthing the next soccer gem. Courtesy of Barcelona residency academy FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Yurem Linares arrived with his father moments before soccer practice. He walked up a steep dirt path to the

3:30 AM ET Oyarzabal’s in the thick of a brilliant year for club and country, leading fans to wonder if he’s the next big thing. David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images Though they ended the tournament with a runners-up medal, the UEFA Nations League finals confirmed without a doubt that this is the era of Baby Spain.” Recite

11:00 AM ET Kevin De Bruyne played with painkilling injections at the Euros. There has to be a better solution to avoid players being worn out due to the grueling club and country schedule. Meng Dingbo/Xinhua via Getty Images Last April, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sounded the alarm, complaining that UEFA and FIFA were “killing”

8:18 AM ET Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy has been denied bail for a third time. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been refused bail for a third time as he awaits trial on four charges of rape and sexual assault. The France left-back was charged on Aug. 26 with an alleged attack

5:11 AM ET Inter Miami coach Phil Neville has demanded a “massive investigation” into Major League Soccer referees following his side’s 1-0 defeat at New York Red Bulls on Sunday. Miami suffered its fifth consecutive loss but Neville was furious after Gonzalo Higuain‘s equalizing goal was ruled out by VAR for offside in the second

10:41 PM ET PANAMA CITY, Panama — A team can repeat its mistakes so many times before it gets punished. So it proved for the United States men’s national team in its 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Panama. In its first four games, the U.S. had managed to avoid defeat. But even as it

10:56 AM ET Nicolo Barella‘s thunderous strike and a penalty converted by Domenico Berardi proved enough to earn hosts Italy a 2-1 victory over Belgium on Sunday and third place in this year’s Nations League. It offered some consolation for the European champions, whose semifinal loss to Spain in Milan on Wednesday ended their world-record

7:57 AM ET USWNT and Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan has said women have been pulled away from playing soccer because of “failures” in how the system is set up for them but added that things are changing as players stand up to their employers. Morgan was speaking after the Pride’s 3-2 defeat to NY/NJ

3:38 PM ET In the split second that Panamanian soccer changed forever, Anibal Godoy remembers his instinct to find his family. But as his mind tried to process Roman Torres‘ 88th-minute goal against Costa Rica that put Panama in position to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, he saw his teammate running for the corner