Though Americans know nothing about football, these “soccer” fans are right to suggest that the U.S. has the best ultras in the world. After all, there was a secret CIA program dedicated to creating them running all through the 1950s and 60s. Due to ticket prices it looks like there’s hardly going to be anyone at this summer’s World Cup, besides one or two mind-control victims in the crowd awaiting activation. Their trigger phrase could be something like “We support the U.S.,” but, judging by this video, they won’t be able to hear it over the sound of hot dog wrappers swirling around the empty stadium and vultures screaming in the skies overhead, waiting for another player to collapse with heatstroke
When the 2026 World Cup was announced for the United States back in 2018, I told myself there was no way I’d miss it. I was going to be there in person, experiencing a World Cup on home soil and I know so many of you felt the exact same way.
Fast forward to now, and the ticket prices are completely astronomical. Outrageously unaffordable. What was supposed to be the dream of a lifetime has been priced out of reach for regular fans like me. I’m going to miss watching my country host the biggest event in sports… something I may never get to experience again in my lifetime.
Yes, they’re going to make money off this massive event on U.S. soil. But the greed has gone too far. It’s ruining the beautiful game and turning it into something only the wealthy can enjoy. A World Cup should be for everyone not just those who can drop thousands without blinking.
This is an absolute shame.
Still need tickets for the FIFA World Cup™?
Book an official hospitality package and lock in:
Premium seating
Dedicated entry
Unlimited food + drinks
Extended service
Get better views & more perks for your money!!
Buy here 👉 https://t.co/bLbIj8pljt
Perhaps the single biggest problem in youth development is that the very people at the top, those who are supposed to understand it best, actually don’t. I can’t be any clearer than that.
The idea that the golden age of skill acquisition is between 7 and 14 is simply not true. Yet that is exactly what the world governing body still believes.
Overprotected kids become unprepared adults.
Dawn Staley nailed it.🔥
You can’t shelter your child from every hard moment and then expect them to handle adversity when it counts.
Hard is the lesson.
Watch. Share. Bookmark.
High school coaches are expected to be champions, recruiting consultants, film scouts, & relationship managers — on top of teaching 6 classes a day. For pennies on the dollar. Some good ones are walking away. That’s a problem nobody’s talking about.
“I need you to lock in… I believe in you but you got to want this moment.“
Coach: Eye contact, reaffirming confidence while giving criticism
Player: Eye contact, listening, responding
This is some good coaching and credit to the player being coachable!
USMNT legend Tab Ramos has called out coaching in American youth soccer 🗣️
He believes due to various circumstances, coaches are making things too complicated for young players— which ultimately harms them instead of helping them develop.
“I was able to coach youth soccer outside of the national teams for a period of about 10 years,” Tab began.
“Unfortunately nowadays, the game has gotten so complicated, the pyramid of soccer in this country has gotten so complicated that it's very difficult for coaches.”
“By the way, it's a really big effort to get your C license, your B license, and your A license. It's an effort. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of money. And so now these coaches are going to go back to a club, you know, after spending all this money on their coaching education, those coaches have to get paid.”
“And in order to get paid, you have to sort of not only teach the players, but you have to kind of put on a show of all of the things that you learn.”
“So now I get to the complicated area. Because now what if you hired me in California? Here I am. I'm the former U.S. Soccer technical director and under-20 national team coach for four World Cups, and I have my pro license, and you bring me in and I take your players, because you just hired me to coach your team, because I'm this incredibly knowledgeable guy. And I come in and I just do small sided games with your players.”
“The parents of the kids on your team are gonna be sitting around and going, ‘Wait, why are we paying for this?’ But this is what happens.”
“See, I would have enough confidence to go there and do that. But the problem is that every coach in the country has to respond to a technical director.”
“And because of that, they have to put on this very, you know, difficult training session that's in sequence from your activation, to your small five v two, to your small sided possession, to then the body of your work, to then the tactical to then the big game, right? You got to go through the whole thing.”
“They have to do that. And the reason they have to do that is because their technical director is under pressure.”
“Because for the technical director to have his club in this league, the ECNL, or whatever, you need to have all of these standards.”
“And because of those standards, now the technical director is forced to hire someone who can do all these things.”
“Well, at the end of the day, there's all these standards and all these things going on. And who's not benefiting is the player, because the player would benefit more from things being simple, right?”
“And of course, it's only my opinion, but I think I've gotten enough experience. Forget the playing side. I've gotten enough experience on the coaching side at all levels, from youth national teams to coaching in MLS at Houston Dynamo to say, ‘Okay, let's put the brakes on this. Our training sessions are getting too complicated. How about let's go back to the beginning, right?’”
“That's what matters. This is how players learn the most. And of course, every once in a while you have to have your tactical sessions, and your exercises, where you have the certain patterns to goal, and like I get all of that.”
“Of course, we all know that stuff. But the simpler we make it, the more we put players in game like situations and one v one, the better.”
[via Sports Recruiting USA]
🇧🇷🗣️ This is an INCREDIBLE story from David Luiz about his time in Paris:
“A few months after I moved to Paris, two of my friends from Diadema came to spend some time with me there. They had broken up with their wife and girlfriend and were sad, so I invited them, hoping the visit would help clear their minds. Great.
“They soon met other Brazilians, who played for a team like the seventh-division amateur league in the suburbs of Paris — all immigrants without proper papers.
“Every night, my two friends came home angry, complaining that they were constantly beaten up. So, I said: “I’ll go over there tomorrow to watch you play.” And I did.
“I arrived wearing a ninja hat, half disguised, and watched. The opponents were all dressed up, with their uniforms, equipment, water bottles, and a coach. And my friends’ team was wearing nothing: one in white shorts, another in purple, a third in yellow. The guys were hanging from the goalposts to warm up…. It was a mess.
At the end of the match, which they lost, I asked:
“Do you want me to train the team?”
I’ll never forget the guys’ smiles. They were so genuinely happy and excited, something I had only seen when I was a kid, when we would fly kites in Diadema.
I started training the guys every Monday, from 10 to midnight. Sometimes I would train them on Monday and play a Champions League match on Tuesday. I even remember scoring a goal against Barcelona on one of those days. I started loving Mondays. I couldn’t wait to be with those guys. We talked, I listened a lot, and I got to know each one’s stories and struggles.
“Some made money playing capoeira, others delivering items on motorbikes or washing dishes. All of them had a hard life, afraid because of their illegal status, with little hope that things would improve, but football brightened up and took the weight off their days.
On my first holidays, I went back to Brazil and went to talk to the ultimate crazy woman, my mother:
“Mum, can you make stuff for the boys there?”
“Say no more! She made travel polo shirts, tracksuits, match uniforms, training uniforms, everything in sizes S, M, L, XL….
I went back to Paris with 21 suitcases. The guys’ dedication grew along with their joy. We started training twice a week, then three times. We got promoted, and at the end of the season, I had a crazy idea. Another one. “I’m going to throw a gala for the team, just like PSG does for us every year.” I rented a castle-like nightclub where Matuidi had thrown his birthday party and started producing ours.
“I had already hired a guy who used to film for PSG to film our guys’ matches, too. I asked him to bring all the videos to my house so we could watch them and choose the best goals of the year, the top scorer, the goalkeeper’s best saves. Let’s show them on the big screen! Then I ordered trophies for the winners of each category. Hey, but what about the others? Plaques! We’re going to make little wooden-and-acrylic plaques with each one’s name on them. Everything was perfect. The day before, I called the guys together:
“Do you have a white button-up shirt and a basic black coat for tomorrow’s party?”
Nobody had one. OK, I will buy you some.
I went to the store myself and got some. Then I thought about their girlfriends and wives. I called the group again and gave each one some pocket money so that their SOs could buy a dress if they wanted.
The party night arrived.
And if I told you it was incredible, one of the most extraordinary emotional moments of my life, as cool as winning the Champions League, would you believe me?”
🎙️ @TPTFootball
🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Vincent Kompany invited the players' families for today’s training session with Bayern Munich.
Kompany organized a barbecue and brought an ice cream truck and juice machine.
— @BILD