Free Republic

Former players with the USA's national women's soccer team, the reigning World Cup champs, decided to play in an independent soccer tournament in North Carolina and faced off against Wrexham, a club from Wales owned by Ryan Reynolds with a bunch of older dudes, and it went exactly like you'd expect. SNIP The modified game only lasted 40 minutes – just under half the normal time of a match... imagine if they had gone a full 90 minutes! SNIP

A group of young women who play or played professionally on the notoriously-woke U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) were full of braggadocio ahead of a match last week. That is, until they played a bunch of mostly retired men in their 40s from the U.K.After the game, though, suddenly the women were not quite as arrogant about their prowess on the grass. As it happens, the group of retired, older men from the U.K. totally destroyed the team of younger U.S. women with a 12 to 0 final at an independent soccer tournament in North Carolina last Thursday. The...

The Dragons' striker has been hitting the back pages all season but his explicit take on politics saw him hit the news headlines as wellWrexham AFC talisman Paul Mullin has spoken about the backlash following his custom-made boots being made public earlier in the season. The Dragons star posted a picture of his new footwear emblazoned with an anti-Conservative Party slogan back in October and the news hit the headlines across the UK. Mullin has been one of manager Phil Parkinson's top performers this season as Wrexham secured their place back in the Football League by clinching the National...

Friends of a schoolgirl who died suddenly just days after winning a football match have raised thousands for her grieving family. 'Talented young footballer' Kaylee Black, 13, who was a goalkeeper for the U13s Belfast football club Crusaders, died on Monday. Family and friends have raised more than £8,000 following her death. The GoFundMe page also paid tribute to the 'young, beautiful girl' whose death 'has left a massive space in the hearts of her family'. Meanwhile the club she played for, the Crusaders said they were 'devastated' in a statement issued following the youngster's death. Club chairman, Ronnie Millar,...

A 12-year-old Arizona girl suffered sudden cardiac arrest while playing soccer — and was given lifesaving CPR by a parent. Pyper Midkiff was just minutes into soccer practice Thursday night when she collapsed, KTVK reported. A teammate’s mom, who is also an ICU nurse, rushed onto the field and administered CPR until the ambulance arrived, Pyper’s father, Matt, told the outlet. Matt said he was coaching a different team nearby when he was alerted and rushed over to see his daughter being resuscitated.

According to Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, Baba Agbaje was playing at the intramural fields when he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.MACON, Ga. — A 21-year-old Mercer University student-athlete is dead after collapsing during a pick-up soccer game Monday night. According to Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, Abdul Rasheed Babatunde Agbaje was playing at the intramural fields when he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. He was taken to Atrium Health Navicent, the Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m. Agbaje was from Peachtree City. His family has been notified. An autopsy will be performed. Mercer...

In the past week, two high profile football (soccer for Americans) players have collapsed on the field of play, continuing a trend that has seemingly now become the norm.Last Wednesday, 28-year-old Brazilian player Zé Carlos, from the club Ferroviário suffered a sudden illness while playing in a cup match.He was treated as the game went on, according to reports, and returned to the pitch for a short time before being substituted and then collapsing and being taken to hospital in an ambulance…

The death of a 25-year-old man “has left the community in Antrim and beyond stunned and lost for words,” the Venerable Dr Stephen McBride from the Parish of All-Saints in Antrim has said.Jack McKitterick, 25, from Antrim died on March 16 in hospital after suffering a Brain aneurysm. Rev McBride from the Parish of All-Saints in Antrim said as the death happened “around mother’s day there is a heightened sense of grief”. "It is against the natural order for a mum and dad to be burying a child no matter what age that child is,” he added. "It is an...

Dementia Risk Higher for Elite Soccer Players — Is heading the ball to blame? by Judy George, Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today March 16, 2023 Share on Facebook. Opens in a new tab or window Share on Twitter. Opens in a new tab or window Share on LinkedIn. Opens in a new tab or window email article A photo of a header by Dayot Upamecano of France above Mitchell Duke of Australia during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Men who played elite soccer were more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases -- notably, dementia -- as they aged, a study in...

Eintracht Frankfurt fans clashed with police after arriving in Naples despite being banned from Wednesday's Champions League last-16 match with Napoli. Away fans were barred from the second leg after incidents in the first leg last month. But a police car was set on fire by a group of hundreds of supporters and smoke bombs and flares thrown at officers, who responded with tear gas. Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini wrote on Instagram: "These are not fans, they are criminals, thugs. I wonder if they would make the same mess in Germany?"

A football club in Lincolnshire is grieving after one of their players suddenly collapsed and died during a football game - Manchester United fan Michael Palmer suddenly lost consciousness playing for Crowland Town FC on Saturday Tributes have flooded in to a football player who died after collapsing on the pitch during a game. Michael Palmer was playing for Crowland Town FC reserves on Saturday, February 25 when he suddenly collapsed. The Manchester United fan, 23, sadly never regained consciousness. His heartbroken family said in a statement that it was "fitting" that Michael's passing was "on the grassy velvet of...

The captain of the boys’ soccer team that was dramatically rescued after being trapped in a flooded Thai cave for two weeks in 2018 has died. He was 18. Duangpetch Promthep was found unconscious in his dorm in Leicestershire, UK, on Sunday, and died at the hospital on Tuesday, the BBC reported. The cause of death has not been confirmed but it is not being treated as suspicious. The talented player’s passing comes just months after he arrived at Brooke House College Football Academy, where he received a scholarship last summer. “Today my dream has come true,” he wrote on...

The Canadian women's national soccer team is on strike due to pay equity problems and budget cuts. Star forwards Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie confirmed the news to Rick Westhead of TSN on Friday: The players also released a statement: "With the biggest tournament in women's football history less than six months away, our preparation for the World Cup and the future success of the women's national team program are being compromised by Canada Soccer's continued inability to support its national teams," the statement read, in part. "Despite our strong track record of success and history-making achievements for more than...

A future European Super League could include as many as 80 teams, Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 Sports Management, a company formed to sponsor and assist in the creation of a breakaway soccer league, said on Thursday (Feb 9). In a statement outlining the preliminary results of talks that A22 had with what it said was 50 European clubs and stakeholders of football, the company said change was necessary. "The vast majority of them share the assessment that the very foundation of European football is under threat, and it is time for change," A22 said.

A former World Cup star is believed to be trapped under the rubble of the deadly earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria early Monday... Former Premier League member Christian Atsu, 31, is among the missing in Turkey, and has yet to be accounted for following the 7.8 magnitude tremor, News AU reported. ...Atsu plays soccer for the Turkish League team Hatayspor in the southern city of Antakya, which was decimated by the quake. Many of his teammates have been rescued, but Atsu is still missing... The Former Newcastle United winger had just scored a last-minute goal Sunday to lead Hatayspor...

One of the most legendary soccer players of his time received a jail sentence and a fine for posting “transphobic” social media messages citing the Bible’s creation account.“God created Adam and Eve,” wrote retired Greek football legend Vassilis Tsiartas in the second of two Facebook posts opposing a 2017 law that would have lowered the age to legally change one’s gender to 15 and removed other legal barriers.The 49-year-old initially responded by saying, “I hope that the first sex changes will be made to the children of those who voted for this abomination.” Members of Parliament may as well “legalize...

The sudden death of a cadet player for Sporting Club de Huelva has shocked the Spanish football community. Estrella Martin, 14, died suddenly in her hometown of Ayamonte, in southern Spain, on Wednesday, according to the club. According to the report from local media, Estrella had a routine Tuesday training session before being found unresponsive in her home by her parents on Wednesday. “The Sporting Club de Huelva deeply regrets to announce the death this morning of our player Estrella Martín Rasco in her native Ayamonte,” the club said in a statement. “Belonging to our lower echelons, the soccer player,...

On Saturday, a football player suddenly collapsed after suffering from a cardiac arrest during the Beitostlen cup in Norway, local media Valdres and NRK reported. The player, who has yet to be identified, collapsed suddenly two minutes into the game. CPR was performed and they used the hall’s defibrillator to revive the player, and two minutes later, he was breathing again. He was immediately sent by air ambulance to Ullevål hospital. He must have responded well, tournament manager Vidar Hilmen told Valdres newspaper. It didn’t seem like we would be able to save his life, so it was a tough...

The 2024 Copa America tournament will be played in the United States, CONMEBOL confirmed on Friday after an agreement between the South American football confederation and CONCACAF. The format will feature 16 teams, 10 from CONMEBOL and six from CONCACAF, with teams from the North, Central American and Caribbean confederation qualifying via the 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League tournament. Discussions with some U.S.-based potential venues are already underway, according to sources, and it's possible that several of the cities set to host World Cup games in 2026 would also be used for the Copa America. For women's national teams, CONCACAF has...

SPANISH football giants Real Madrid have led tributes to a young female footballer who has died suddenly in Spain. Spanish side Sporting Club de Huelva announced that Estrella Martín, who was also a regular member of Spain’s U-15 women’s national team, had died suddenly. No further information has been released. “Sporting Club de Huelva deeply regrets to announce the death this morning of our player Estrella Martín Rasco in her native Ayamonte,” the club wrote. “A member of our youth ranks, the player, a cadet player and a regular member of the U-15 women’s national team, left us today in...