Alexander Abnos
@AnAbnos
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https://t.co/mBizmjUAJj | Journalist. Former managing editor, The Athletic Soccer. Also: Sports Illustrated, The Guardian, and elsewhere. 🦁🗡️☀️/🇺🇸/🚲
Brooklyn via Kansas City & DC
Joined March 2009
These games are happening at the same time in the same country.
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I think Lionel Messi's decision to play in the United States was sealed 8 years ago at this exact moment. This is when he realized that this was a land of free chicken sandwiches, where even the *Washington Wizards* could make people happy.
Priceless Argentina national team gets free chicken at the Wizards game reaction no. 2: http://t.co/1V6lpU4SEI.
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Switzerland is going to play in a World Cup looking like a "HELLO my name is" sticker
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I am now reading about HotShot. This product is absolutely insane.
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If you're already bored with the sheer predictability of men's European club football, allow me to suggest MLS, where the first-placed team was one of the league's worst-ever teams 1.5 seasons ago and the last-placed team has Lionel Messi.
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Phil Neville, an Englishman, is holding a post-match huddle in the middle of the field here in the United States! Surely there will be a full news cycle and plenty of criticism surrounding this absolute madness.
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#USMNT fans: I'm a bit biased here, but overlook Iran at your peril. Among the elite teams in Asia consistently, and currently in some of the best form I've ever seen them in. Only missed knockouts at last 2 WCs bc of ridiculous golazos. Playing v. close to home. Not an easy out.
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Maybe MLS's quickest path to being a top-5 league worldwide is just waiting around for European club soccer to completely self-destruct.
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Recap: .• FS2 cuts away from FC Cincinnati-Monterrey for college basketball.• FS2 runs an on-screen alert saying FCC-Monterrey is on the Fox Sports App.• On the Fox Sports app, the FCC-Monterrey stream links to a stream of FS2, which is playing. college basketball. Awesome.
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Winning a championship earns a a star over the club crest. Winning 5-0 in an away playoff game that should have been at home but had to be moved due to motocross gets you one of these bad boys.
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I wouldn’t be where I am today without Grant Wahl. But the real story is how many people can say the same thing. On my Grant stories, which are probably very similar to yours:.
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Chapecoense had been a Brazilian soccer Cinderella story. From Serie C in 2012 to Serie A & Copa Sudamericana final in 2016. Now this.
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I'm not exactly unbiased, but it would seem to me that when a referee is actively engaging in conversation with a player who is holding the ball, it seems kinda unfair to then allow a quick restart in this manner!.
Caught sleeping. Sergio Busquets with the high IQ play to set up Facundo Farias to give #InterMiamiCF a 3-1 lead.
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After a moment of silence for Orlando victims, fans of Ecuador and Haiti erupt in a "USA, USA" Chant here in New Jersey.
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There's a big difference between identifying clear and obvious errors and searching for reasons to change on-field calls. This is actually a good test case. People who are not watching this game, or are seeing this Tweet later: Can you even guess why this goal was disallowed?.
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On top of every other huge major COVID-related thing that happened a year ago today. there was also this.
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What would the best “I have concepts of a plan” meme be for MLS?.
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The inclusion of Wichita and St. Louis without Kansas City is just hilariously perfectly calibrated to piss off 100% of Kansas Citians.
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Grant Wahl inspired me endlessly. First as a role model - a fellow Kansas kid who went to my high school and covered my favorite sport. Then as a co-worker at SI, where his work and advice was always top-notch. And later as a good friend. Tonight has been traumatic and surreal.
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This is the kind of thing that's so self-evident that I almost question whether it even needs to be said. but I'm pretty sure it's never really been said by a USMNT manager before (at least not in this way).
Poch on the USMNT's culture, looking up to the USWNT:. “One of the most important things that we need to aspire to is the women’s team…we have Emma that is the best coach in the world, and the women’s team in history won everything. We need to match you.”.
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I've been watching MLS all year long and this kid from the commercial hasn't made any progress whatsoever in his ability to speak Spanish to his grandmother.
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This MLS playoff format is truly bonkers. A team should not be able to lose a knockout round match 4-0 and have any serious hope of progressing to the next round. It should either be over or extremely likely to be over at this point.
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I like Jordan Siebatcheu because we all call him Jordan Siebatcheu but his name according to Google is Theoson Siebatcheu but his name according to Wikipedia is Theoson-Jordan Siebatcheu but he wears Pefok on the back of his jersey.
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Here's who can qualify for the World Cup, secure at worst a playoff spot, or be eliminated from contention on Matchday 12 of the CONCACAF Octagonal. Hi-res version here:
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It's not just the dummy at the end. Lukaku's diagonal run opened up the space for Meunier on the right, then he seamlessly occupied the next defender to give Chadli an opening in the box. So, so freaking smart.
We dare you to find a better counterattack! . Chadli finishes off a beautiful team play to give Belgium the win late in stoppage time. 🔥🔥🔥
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8 years ago, weeks before leaving to work at a World Cup, I got a jury summons for a date in the middle of the tournament. I postponed and never heard back. until today, weeks before leaving to work at a World Cup, for a date in the middle of the tournament!. Incredible.
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Congratulations to Kansas City for gaining 10 major league titles in a single day. Go Monarchs!.
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Ages of tonight's Portland Thorns starting XI when Christine Sinclair scored her first international goal:. Hogan: 1.Payne: -1.Obaze: -2.Sauerbrunn: 14.Muller: -4 months.Coffey: 1.Beckie: 5.Fleming: 2.Sugita: 3.Smith: -5 months.
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I’m sorry, this is just a hilarious chyron for an assistant coach at a cup final.
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This is taken a bit out of context. The question was about how teams the Netherlands will face later in WC will adjust to their playing style. Van Gaal started by saying (via translator): "I would assume that the stronger the country is, the less they'll adjust to the system. ".
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A man that big, that fast, with such soft feet, that reads the game that well and moves so intelligently. how exactly are you supposed to stop Lukaku when he’s in form like this?.
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Pulisic is 20. McKennie is 21. Dest is 18. Sargent is 19. Cannon is 21. All were asked to make veteran-level contributions tonight because most of the actual veterans on this team are either not there or not up to the task. #USMNT has a bunch of problems, but that's one of 'em.
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If any American sports people are confused by the #InterMiamiCF news, let me sum it up this way: Imagine that the Astros did what the Astros did, but instead of winning the World Series they missed the playoffs entirely.
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Tyler Boyd plays like someone who is not burdened in the least by the last 2 years of U.S. men’s soccer.
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Is that the first time we’ve heard the VAR conversation on an MLS broadcast? If so please let it be the first of many. That was great.
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🚨🚨FIELD PLAYER PLAYING GOALKEEPER ALERT 🚨🚨🚨. Turn on Man City-Atalanta right now. Edeson injured. Claudio Bravo red-carded. Kyle Walker (?!?!?!?!) coming on?.
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I suspect that I'm in the minority in not liking fake crowd noise on these Bundesliga broadcasts. Sure, it's comforting, but it's an inaccurate portrayal of what's happening and deprives us of a unique opportunity to know what high-stakes matches like this sound like on-field.
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My favorite quote from the @MLS oral history I put together w/ @GrantWahl & @BrianStraus in the new SI magazine. http://t.co/iWRX3QostG.
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"from the club's developmental pathway"
Signed ✍🏽 Harvey Neville. #InterMiamiCF signs Harvey Neville from @Intermiamicfii to a first team contract running through the 2024 MLS season. Neville becomes the third player this season promoted to the First Team from the Club’s developmental pathway.
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Chiefs and Royals have shared Kansas City since '69. This is the first time in those 46 years both have made the playoffs in the same year.
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I would imagine that a lot of us in the American soccer world are pulling pretty hard for Wolves right now.
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Stopped by the Adidas flagship store in SoHo on my way home. Think it’s fair to say it’d be especially weird if the deal didn’t actually happen now.
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With the departures of Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza, there are now 0 people on the Sporting Kansas City playing roster who have ever been Kansas City Wizards. It took 13 post-rebrand seasons for that to be true.
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I'm sorry, I don't doubt that these things are incredibly difficult to produce, but it's insane that the MLS whiparound show has commercials.
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Get you someone who commits to you the way Brian Schmetzer commits to not accepting any credit for his team’s successes.
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Eric Cantona just became the world's most in-demand eulogist.
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I assume the "humiliating" here refers to MLB, which fits. But it could also easily apply to ESPN bookers, who included Manfred on this panel and not Lisa Baird, whose NWSL is not only actually coming back, but is doing so before any of major U.S. league.
How humiliating is this? Tonight, Rob Manfred will appear on an ESPN special called "The Return of Sports" with five other commissioners -- all of whom have restart plans already finalized.
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I just screamed very loudly at the TV and this goal is why.
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I don't think it's possible to do "being a professional athlete" much better than Rapinoe. Produced at an elite level for over a decade, won championships and World Cups, played with a distinct style that matched her personality, and became a cultural icon in the process.
Two-time FIFA World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe will retire at the end of the 2023 NWSL season, she announced. Rapinoe has been with the Reign since the NWSL’s first season in 2013. More:
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The striking thing about this is the number of times he says it was a decision based on emotion/feeling. I think most #USMNT fans would want that to be the case, but it's worth appreciating just how hard those types of decisions can be, *especially* when you're 18.
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Hope there are cameras on-site for Greece-born Kansas City Chiefs draft pick George Karlaftis's first visit to the One True Parthenon
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Gonzalo Higuain had a golden opportunity to celebrate his goal by smoking an imaginary cigarette. He chose not to. Our loss.
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Why do people keep talking about Opening Day? MLS started like 4 weeks ago.
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Priceless Argentina national team gets free chicken at the Wizards game reaction no. 2: http://t.co/1V6lpU4SEI.
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National teams that give managers a second World Cup cycle:
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The extra time equalizer on Christmas Day was scored by a man named Jesus.
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This was Theodore Whitmore's reaction to Je-Vaughn Watson's goal.
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His general point seemed to be that once you get to a certain level, teams just play the way they play, and don't radically alter what they're doing to match an opponent, using the U.S. as an example. He also said that he didn't expect France/Argentina/Spain to adjust to NED.
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The @Arsenal men & @ArsenalLadies 1st teams took a combined squad photo. It's the only cool sports thing of the week. http://t.co/Ka7x29GgHR.
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I just have no idea what positive endgame MLS is hoping to reach with their approach to the Columbus Crew situation. Every step of the way it seems like they've made a bad situation worse.
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I hate to harp on things like this, especially when it's not exactly new, but NYCFC's Yankee Stadium camera angle is just awful.
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Women's soccer coverage has been extraordinarily successful here at @TheAthleticSCCR. IMO, it speaks to a huge & dedicated audience for serious, in-depth coverage in that space. Having Steph join @itsmeglinehan will enable us to do so much more of that, and I'm excited as hell.
We're thrilled to welcome Steph Yang (@thrace) – our new full-time women’s soccer writer – to @TheAthletic! . 📚:
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This man is in the middle of playing a senior World Cup qualifier.
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Is Johnny Russell a top 10 all-time Wizards/Sporting KC player? I don’t know if he is, but I’m pretty sure he’s in the conversation.
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Zinedine Zidane scores in his final match for Real Madrid. 10 years pass. Enzo Zidane scores in his first match for Real Madrid. Thats cool.
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I absolutely believed this was real when it came out and there’s a part of me that wishes I never learned it wasn’t.
17 years ago today, YouTube was created and of course it was Ronaldinho who had the first ever video with over 1 million views. 😍
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@laura_nelson Yet ironically enough, given the ever-increasing size of the front grills on some of those trucks and SUVs, they probably wouldn't have seen it coming from just a few feet away.
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On FS1, Dr. Joe just said that PRO told him none of the crew that worked the Orlando-NYCFC debacle yesterday will get another assignment in these playoffs. Accountability!.
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You know who else picked Austin FC to finish outside of the playoffs? Their own fans! And other fans!
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I'm having a great day, because it's the first at my new job as Staff Editor at @TheAthleticSCCR. I am thrilled to be joining the team, and also to be the latest person in your timeline bugging you to get a subscription (you should totally do that):
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Worth saying regardless, but especially since she’s been all over TV today and specifically right now in this E60 doc: we’re very lucky to have @itsmeglinehan at @TheAthleticSCCR.
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And just like that, the #USMNT can call up a forward that has scored 57 goals in the last 3 seasons.
IT'S OFFICIAL! #SportingKC's @Ddwyer14 is now a 🇺🇸 citizen.
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