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New Boston coach promises ‘passion,’ press

New Boston Legacy FC head coach Filipa Patão wants to make this known: Her teams play with passion. Patão, who spent the past five years coaching Portuguese side Benfica, was officially announced on Wednesday as the first head coach of Boston’s 2026 NWSL expansion team, as ESPN previously reported. She promised an aggressive style of soccer from the outset. “First of all, they’re going to see that my teams are…

Rodri’s return for Man City is just what Pep Guardiola & Co. needed

ATLANTA — If Rodri has come to the Club World Cup to send a message to Pep Guardiola that he’s ready to be thrust back into action, he wasted no time in delivering it. Ahead of Manchester City’s first session on their first day at their Florida training base, it was Rodri who was out on the grass before anyone else. He enlisted one of the many coaches in Guardiola’s…

Embrace the chaos of Concacaf: ‘It’s a different football’

The Dominican Republic had never qualified before for the Gold Cup, Concacaf’s continental championship, and certainly had never scored a goal. When the moment came, however, something seemingly straightforward took on a different tone. As Peter Gonzalez took possession of a throw-in and wriggled past Mexico defenders to get into the box, an El Tri fan lofted the ball that had gone out of play back onto the field. Gonzalez…

What the Club World Cup can tell us about comparing MLS to the Premier League and more

Here is what we’ve learned from the Club World Cup thus far: The Bundesliga is a lot better than the Northern League of New Zealand. The Portuguese league is also better than New Zealand’s league, but not by as much — and it’s also worse than MLS. But MLS is worse than the Tunisian league. And the Tunisian league is worse than the Brazilian league, but that’s nothing to worry…

Chelsea feel no pressure to win $130M CWC prize

Enzo Maresca said Chelsea are not under any financial pressure to lift the Club World Cup despite the £97 million ($130 million) on offer to the winner. The Blues face a scramble to qualify for the round of 16, needing to avoid defeat against Esperance de Tunis in Philadelphia on Tuesday to secure second place in Group D. They will receive in the region of £40m just for participating in…

NWSL Power Rankings: Kansas City, San Diego clear at the top

It’s Monday, and another week of NWSL action is in the books, which means it’s time for ESPN’s Power Rankings. Who’s climbing the table? Who’s in free fall? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 13 to come up with this week’s order of all 14 teams in the league. Let’s dive in. Previous ranking: 1 Next match: Friday, Aug. 1 vs. Racing Louisville, 8 p.m. ET Angel City…

Rashford: Hope to play alongside Yamal one day

Marcus Rashford has revealed his desire to one day play in the same team as Barcelona star Lamine Yamal. Rashford, 27, spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa after falling out of favour at Manchester United and sources have told ESPN that United are listening to offers for the England forward this summer. There has been interest from Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich…

Transfer rumors, news: Chelsea to rival Juventus for Kolo Muani deal

Chelsea have entered the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani, while Arsenal and Manchester City lead a host of clubs chasing Martim Fernandes. Join us for the latest transfer news, rumors and gossip from around the globe. Transfers homepage | Done deals | Men’s summer window grades – André Onana is keen to stay at Manchester United despite interest from AS Monaco. — Rob Dawson Read –…

Nuno extends Nottingham Forest deal until 2028

Nuno Espírito Santo has extended his contract with Nottingham Forest until the summer of 2028 after helping the club qualify for a European competition for the first time since 1995-96, the Premier League club said on Saturday. Portuguese Nuno, who previously managed Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, joined Forest in December 2023 and helped the team avoid relegation before guiding them to a seventh-place finish in 2024-25, their best top-flight…

Ranking the Premier League’s £100m transfers after Wirtz

Liverpool have signed 22-year-old midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in a blockbuster transfer worth an initial £100 million, with £16m in potential add-ons. While the British transfer record remains the £106.3m that Chelsea paid Benfica up front to sign Enzo Fernández in 2023, Wirtz will become only the fifth player to move to (or within) the Premier League for over £100m. Though Wirtz’s fee is a long way shy…