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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Columbus Crew overcome 2-goal deficit, defeat FC Cincinnati in Hell is Real: Takeaways
CINCINNATI - When the Crew went down 2-0 in the first five minutes of their Hell is Real matchup against FC Cincinnati, coach Wilfried Nancy was confident the game was far from being a lost cause. "I want to stay humble, but I knew that we were still in the game if we scored," Nancy said. "I felt it in the middle of the first half, and again in the locker room in the way we were calm, composed and tried to be precise and concise. They did the job because they play for their teammates." Advertisement Scoring four unanswered goals, the Crew defeated Cincinnati 4-2 at TQL Stadium on July 12. It took until the 42-minute mark for the Crew to find their way onto the scoresheet with a goal from forward Diego Rossi, his team-leading 11th of the regular season. Replay: Columbus Crew defeat FC Cincinnati on the road in Hell is Real rivalry match Midfielder Max Arfsten, in his first game back with Columbus since his stint with the United States men's national team, fully swung the momentum in the Crew's favor by evening the score three minutes into first-half stoppage time. The Crew came out of halftime eager to find the tie-breaking goal, which showed in the shot forward Ibrahim Aliyu took from a few feet outside Cincinnati's box. Jul 12, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew forward Diego Rossi (10) celebrates after the victory over FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images Inside the box, Cincinnati defender Miles Robinson attempted to clear Aliyu's shot out of play, but instead kicked the ball past goalkeeper Roman Celentano for an own goal. Advertisement "This is so difficult to cross like this between the goalkeeper and the defender when he's running back towards his goal," Nancy said. "Well done by Ibra (Aliyu), this is good for him because he didn't start well the game, but he was able to come back." Columbus landed a final blow in the third minute of second-half stoppage time with midfielder Taha Habroune scoring his first-career MLS goal. The victory was the Crew's first over Cincinnati since the 2023 MLS Cup Eastern Conference final. It also marked the third time in their last five games that they have defeated the team at the top of the MLS standings. "This one was difficult because we went 2-0 down in five minutes," Arfsten said. "Obviously, nobody plans for that or wants that. But once again, like I've said it all year, I feel like this is the resilience this group has. ... I think it's a testament to this group and all the guys on our team and how we're able to bounce back. So, I'm proud of our guys, and there's obviously things to learn from." Advertisement What went wrong for Columbus Crew in opening 5 minutes vs FC Cincinnati Nancy looked away from the game for two seconds to grab his water bottle. When his eyes went back to the field, he saw the consequence of what he referred to as the Crew's "horrendous" kickoff execution. "We gave up possession on the right side," Arfsten said. "And then, they did well to kind of just counter and cut back. And the guy was free and made a good finish." Jul 12, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Fans celebrate after FC Cincinnati midfielder Evander (10) scores a goal against the Columbus Crew in the first half at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images Midfielder Pavel Bucha was credited with the goal, scoring off a cross pass from defender Lukas Engel. Cincinnati remained aggressive on the Crew's side of the field following Bucha's goal, displaying no hesitation in the attack. When Robinson took a shot that deflected off Crew defender Yevhen Cheberko, midfielder Evander Da Silva Ferreira capitalized with a long shot for Cincinnati's second goal. Advertisement "Evander with the volley was outstanding," Nancy said. "We know that he's able to do that. (Cincinnati) had everything in five minutes. ... It was not a good start, I cannot explain." Columbus-native Taha Habroune records first goal vs inner-state rival By the time Habroune entered the game in the 78th minute, the Crew had already secured a 3-2 advantage, and the 19-year-old knew his job was to do anything necessary to keep Columbus in front. Jul 12, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; FC Cincinnati defender Alvas Powell (2) dribbles against Columbus Crew midfielder Taha Habroune (16) in the second half at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images A prime opportunity came when Habroune beat several Cincinnati players to a loose ball. He then outran Celentano and sent his shot into the bottom-left corner of the net. Advertisement "It couldn't have been a better first goal," Habroune said. "Growing up in Columbus, I always went to the games, and I know how big the rivalry is. So, it means a lot to me to seal the game for us." The Crew go back on the road to face Nashville SC on July 17 at 7:30 p.m. bmackay@ @brimackay15 Get more Columbus Crew content by listening to our podcast This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew comeback, defeat Cincinnati in Hell is Real: Takeaways
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Why Big USA-Mexico Gold Cup TV Numbers Are Good And Bad News
Mexico midfielder Roberto Alvarado, left, fights for the ball with United States' midfielder Max ... More Arfsten during the Concacaf Gold Cup final on Sunday in Houston. Amid lots of fretting over the future of the United States men's national team less than a year out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes TV viewership data that suggests there are still a lot of American fans who care deeply about the program. The English-language broadcast of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final between the USA and Mexico on Fox drew an average of 3.73 million viewers and peaked at 5.2 million. The telecast marks the largest English-language audience ever for a Gold Cup match, and the largest for any soccer game on Fox since last year's Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia. And that's even before Univision's Spanish-language American numbers are added in, which are typically even higher than Fox for matches involving Mexico. (Those numbers don't appear to be available yet). If nothing else, the data tells us that viewers are far from tired of seeing Concacaf's biggest rivalry. That's true even in an era where international relations have become more fraught between the two nations, and while Mexican immigrants to the U.S. are among the most directly impacted by ramped up immigration enforcement efforts by President Donald Trump's administration. And it's true despite more direct competition than ever between the nations' two domestic leagues in the annual Leagues Cup and recently expanded Concacaf Champions Cup. For the sake of both nations' future competitive development, the lack of fatigue with the rivalry may be more of a mixed blessing than it first appears. Does USA Care Too Much About Beating Mexico? There's no denying the rivalry is commercially beneficial for both nations. The Mexican federation has made the United States its second (and debatably first) home for national team games for some time now, given the enormous audience of Mexican fans north of the border who have more disposable income than their relatives in the considerably less affluent Mexican economy. And the United States' ability to consistently give as good as it gets over the last generation of competition against its border rival has given the men's game precious credibility, even while it still generally struggles against elite European or South American opposition. At the same time, it's become increasingly clear that the rivalry isn't really serving either team's competitive aims anymore. From the American perspective, manager Gregg Berhalter's success over Mexico in one Gold Cup final and two Nations League meetings was often touted as some of the best support for his continued employment. That hid the fact that Mexico was historically below average for most of Berhalter's tenure. And if you removed performances against El Tri, the United States was exactly average – not better or worse – in its competitive performances both in Concacaf and then on the world stage. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the U.S. advanced from its group and then got bounced by a superior Dutch side in the second round, the identical fate of the 2010 and 2014 U.S. World Cup teams. None of this is to say Berhalter's first cycle was a disaster. But it wasn't exceptional either. And some viewed it as such solely because of those Mexico performances when making the case for Berhalter's continued employment beyond 2022. The decision to renew Berhalter is a major reason the program finds itself amid such uncertainty now. Mexican Regional Dominance Hasn't Translated Either Meanwhile, Mexico's lack of improvement on the global stage is perhaps even more damning as the Western Hemisphere's third-most populous nation, and one where soccer is decidedly the most popular sport. Sunday's victory marked Mexico's record 10th Concacaf Gold Cup title since the tournament began in 1991. In that time, Mexico has played in eight World Cups. The first seven times, they've reached the second round but no further. Then in 2022, they failed to advance from a group that included Argentina, Poland and Saudi Arabia. Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay are all less populous Western Hemisphere nations. All have reached at least one quarterfinal over that span, with Argentina of course winning the whole tournament in 2022 and Uruguay finishing third in 2010. None of them have more money in their domestic league systems than Mexico has in Liga MX. But perhaps driven by continued lust for continental superiority, Mexican clubs have increasingly become exporters rather than developers of talent. The result is domination of the Concacaf Champions Cup, and a shallower player pool for El Tri. A Trap Of Concacaf's Making The era of increased continental competition in Concacaf has brought only marginal improvement for the United States and basically none for Mexico. And yet at a time when Concacaf should be moving toward a less insular competitive calendar to allow for more of its elite teams to play higher quality opponents, it is doing the opposite. The insistence of playing the Gold Cup every two years, plus the more recent creation of the Concacaf Nations League, means there's the potential for the USA and Mexico to play five competitive finals against each other in every World Cup cycle. That's to say nothing of future World Cup qualifying for 2030 and beyond. And so far the audiences don't appear to be getting tired of it. In fact, quite the opposite. Which means we can expect American and Mexican soccer to continue to get wealthier in the near future. But probably not much better.
Fox Sports
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Why Mexico Wasn't Called For A Handball In the Gold Cup Final vs. USA
Did a missed handball call cost the United States the Concacaf Gold Cup title against Mexico? Not according to VAR. In the second half of Sunday's final, Mexico defender Jorge Sánchez tackled the ball away from United States defender Max Arfsten, but when he tried to get back on his feet, he placed his hand on the ball in the penalty box. The U.S. emphatically called for a handball, but after consulting with Video Assistant Referee (VAR), match official Mario Alberto Escobar Toca ruled that it was an incidental handball and therefore not a penalty in favor of the United States. An incidental handball refers to a situation where a player's hand or arm unintentionally makes contact with the ball, without the player deliberately handling the ball or making their body unnaturally bigger. If called, the U.S. would have had an opportunity to take a commanding lead in a crucial point of the match. Instead, Mexico went on to score the match winner in the 77th minute on a goal from Edson Álvarez that, coincidentally, also had to go to VAR. Mexico has now won back-to-back Gold Cup titles, while the U.S. lost its final competitive match before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the Canada, Mexico and the United States. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from Gold Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Years after learning soccer in their basement, brothers Brenden and Paxten Aaronson both play for US
United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, walks of the field with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) CORRECTS ID AT RIGHT, TO MAX ARFSTEN, NOT PAXTEN AARONSON - United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, is congratulated by Max Arfsten after scoring against Trinidad and Tobago during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) United States defender John Tolkin, left, talks with teammates Brenden Aaronson, center, and forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, stands with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before an international friendly soccer match against Switzerland, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, poses for a photo with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, poses for a photo with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, walks of the field with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) CORRECTS ID AT RIGHT, TO MAX ARFSTEN, NOT PAXTEN AARONSON - United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, is congratulated by Max Arfsten after scoring against Trinidad and Tobago during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) United States defender John Tolkin, left, talks with teammates Brenden Aaronson, center, and forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, stands with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before an international friendly soccer match against Switzerland, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, poses for a photo with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) Brenden and Paxten Aaronson play on better soccer fields these days than the New Jersey basement known as 'The Dungeon' where they used to practice penalties and free kicks. 'We had to put in special lights so they wouldn't kick the light bulbs and break them,' mom Janell Aaronson recalled. 'We had to do some padding on some of the poles that are in the basement so they didn't get hurt. We made it as safe as we could." Advertisement On June 10, she was in the stands at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, watching them become just the fourth pair of brothers to start the same match together for the U.S. national team, the first since George and Louis Nanchoff against the Soviet Union in 1979. 'I played with this guy since, I don't know, 5 — he was probably actually 2 at that time,' Brenden said. 'Maybe 7, I was, and he was probably 4.' Brenden, 24, already is a World Cup veteran, appearing as a substitute in all four U.S. matches at Qatar three years ago, Paxten, who turns 22 in August, hopes to make the World Cup roster for the first time when the U.S. co-hosts next year's tournament. 'Completely different players. Both in different ways can perform,' U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. Advertisement Both are on the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where the Americans play Guatemala on Wednesday night and hope to advance to a final against Mexico or Honduras on Sunday. Both are midfielders and wingers who made their way up through the Philadelphia Union academy system and moved to Europe after two seasons in Major League Soccer, Paxten at age 19 and Brenden at 20. At the start of their national team camp together, they reflected on learning the sport in their backyard and the downstairs room given its nickname by their dad, Rusty. 'We always played in the basement, right before or after dinner,' Paxten said. 'We had a basement with kind of like a mini-pitch that we built off of carpet and goals that we taped on the wall and stuff like that. So we would always just play down there and then come up for dinner, then after dinner go down and play, We broke a lot of lights.' And learned competition. Advertisement 'Toes have been stepped on," Paxten said. Their dad, Rusty, played college soccer at Monmouth, ran a risk management firm and is sporting director of Real Futbol Academy in Medford, New Jersey. In addition to the brothers, 18-year-old sister Jaden will be a freshman on Villanova's soccer team this fall. 'I don't know how these guys do it without having a younger brother or someone to train with,' Brenden said. 'When you're in a shooting drill, sometimes you can take times off. But you know he's going to want to beat me and I'm going to want to be him, so you go that extra mile to keep even getting better at it.' Brenden scored in his MLS debut with Philadelphia in March 2019 and has played for Salzburg (2021-22), Leeds (2022-25) and Union Berlin (2023-24). He made his U.S. debut in 2020 and has nine goals in 51 international appearances. Advertisement Paxten debuted in MLS with the Union in May 2021 and has played for Eintracht Frankfurt (2023-24), Vitesse (2024) and Utrecht (2024-25). He made his first U.S. appearance in 2023 and scored against New Zealand at last year's Olympics. Before the match against Switzerland, they hadn't played on the same team together since the youth academy. They faced each other briefly on Nov. 4, 2023, when Brenden entered in the 83rd minute for Eintracht Frankfurt and Paxten in the 85th for host Union Berlin. 'There's been some fights throughout the years,' Brenden said, with Paxten sitting adjacent and laughing. 'It's more in the one v. ones when I would get beat by him. Because you're the older, you feel like you have to win. But he's beat me a handful of times where I had a temper tantrum. I was kicking the ball against the wall. I literally — I can't take it sometimes.' But afterward, they resumed playing the FIFA video game. Advertisement Having the common 'E' in the names of the siblings was mom's idea. 'We spelled Brenden `E-N. I just liked the spelling of that vs. 'A-N. Just visually. It looked better to me,'' Janell said. 'When we ended up having our other kids, I just made sure that they all ended in `E-N.' I don't know why. I just did that.' After the Gold Cup and brief time off, Brenden will return to England to prepare for the Premier League season with newly promoted Leeds. Paxten will report to Eintracht Frankfurt unless he's loaned again. Trying to watch all their matches is daunting for their parents, who also will be at Villanova for Jaden. Advertisement 'Sometimes when the games are on, I don't like to get the updates because I do like to go back and watch,' Rusty said. 'Sometimes I've looked at my phone, something good has happened and then the cat's out of the bag and there's no need to watch the game.' Streamed replays are not for mom. 'I don't even know how to work any of that,' she said. ___ AP soccer:
NBC Sports
11-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
USMNT vs Switzerland player ratings — Who starred after miserable, ghastly first half in Nashville?
A horrendous first half in Nashville almost made it feel unfair to assign player ratings to the USMNT against Switzerland, trailing 4-0 after 45 minutes at Geodis Park. But you know what? We would certainly be writing them up if the Yanks piled misery on the Swiss and built a four-goal lead. And if we weren't committed to this post, we might've missed a couple of star turns in the second half. Yes, Switzerland was happy to give the Yanks the ball and coast to a near-certain win, but two halftime subs added to their performances against Turkiye to the extent that you'd bet on their being a part of the World Cup roster at this point. Let's dig into a rough Tennessee four-step. USMNT vs Switzerland player ratings — Did anyone star in embarrassing loss? Matt Turner: 4.5 — With no club action since the fifth round of the FA Cup on March 1 and just two USMNT appearances that same month, he might've been rusty. It's hard to say as he was under fire from about the fifth minute through halftime. Definitely wants a goal back. Max Arfsten (Off HT): 4 — Here's why you can't trust counting stats all the time. Arfsten was fun going forward and nearly played a part in an early goal, and he was engaged in trying to win duels. However, the stats don't show poor performances on at least three of the four Swiss goals during his shift. Mark McKenzie: 5 — Was excellent on the ball, especially in the second half. A pair of mistakes amongst the Swiss goals. Walker Zimmerman: 6 — Might he have reacted quicker on the Swiss opener? Feels like he gets scapegoated when the team has a bad game, but he remains a solid option. Nathan Harriel: 5 — Showed good mental strength to play a decent second half after a first frame that was about as ugly as it gets, even allowing for the deflection that helped the Swiss open the scoring behind him. Johnny Cardoso: 6 — Tidy enough with the ball but quiet overall. Sebastian Berhalter (Off 75'): 6 — Looked like a man earning his first cap in the first half, but there's no shame in that especially against a very good Swiss midfield. Comfortable when the play improved in the second half. Paxten Aaronson (Off HT): 5 — Touched the ball just 18 times, as did his brother. Brenden Aaronson (Off HT): 4 — Touched the ball just 18 times, as did his brother. Quinn Sullivan (Off HT): 4.5 — Gave the ball away on Switzerland's fourth goal. Brian White (Off HT): 6 — Got on the ball 19 times in cutting an isolated figure up top. Created a chance early up top and drew two fouls. He's the one halftime sub that was a bit of a surprise. Subs Diego Luna (On HT): 7.5 — It's going to be difficult to keep him out of the XI, let alone the World Cup roster. Patrick Agyemang (On HT): 6 — Perfectly adequate. Tim Ream (On HT): 7 — It's not great that he's still possibly a World Cup starter at CB in that no one's clearly passed him, but Ream is a wonderful footballer. Malik Tillman (On HT): 8 — A fantastic week for the player during a trying time for the team. Marvelous work rate and technical acumen. John Tolkin (On HT): 7 — Looked better than he did in any of his first four caps. Damion Downs (On 75'): — N/A
