Soccer 2026

[Phall]

The World Cup is over. Global soccer goes on; time for a new thread.

Real Madrid is set to break some record fee for a new star African, "Yan Diomande" whose playing rights are currently owned by Red Bull Leipzig (part of the Red Bull energy drink group conglomerate, duh). I applaud this guy Diomande for actually playing for his country of origin, Ivory Coast, despite being one of these supra-national "test tube freaks"... apparently he trained in Florida for a couple of his teenage years before being shipped around as a commodity. He could surely be a citizen of England, USA, Germany, or especially France.

The 40-yr old (black, obviously) goalkeeper for Cape Verde was signed by Chile's top pro league team. Good for him.

Zidane seems set to sign on as the new French national team manager. This seems weird to me. He won with a "multicultural" squad - the current team is all-African. I don't believe this will "revert" until some type of total overhaul. Why would he accept this? His son is the starting goalkeeper for Algeria. We have a multi-page thread over whether or not Zidane is "white"... what more can be said?

The most interesting sports saga that isn't headlining American news is Italy's search for a new team coach. Italy has missed the last three World Cups, which is outlandish on its face. Andrea Pirlo is a former AC Milan and Italian international who currently coaches in Dubai (where celebrity Euros go to make money on their names). Pirlo played a few years for NYCFC at the end of his career. As a famous coach in a fledgling arab league, he signed on, quite naturally, as a spokesman for the league's gambling partner, fonbet.

I'm going to paraphrase a bit here. Italy's sporting commission was hired by its political committee. Famous player Paolo Maldini was among those chosen to be part of the committee to select the new coach of the national team. Maldini picked Pirlo, but the politicians above him rejected the pick on the basis of a relationship with Russia (who they categorically must hate). While being the coach of a UAE team in Dubia, Pirlo signed on to be a spokesman of fonbet. There was enough stink about this to veto Pirlo's selection.

As a result, Paolo Maldini resigned from his role as the head of selection committee. Another guy did too, but I don't know him by name. Anyway, Italy has now missed on its first three coaching choices. The interiim guy, Baldini, played six (!!!) African-born players in their last friendly match. Will the next Italian coach bring Italy to glory?

 

[Freethinker]

Italy is an utter mess right now. If they go with Africans, they will truly sink. They won the 2020 (held in 2021) Euro Cup with a team that was entirely Italian (or darn near close). Not sure what the heck went wrong before and after and why that brief couple of year period was so successful in contrast? Anyway I have no idea if he ever wants to coach, or would even be qualified, but my vote goes to legendary Italian goalie and rightwing nationalist Gianluigi Buffon!

 

[Phall]

NEW YORK – Larry Berg has been named Major League Soccer’s next Commissioner following a vote on Monday at the league’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

Berg, who has served as Co-Managing Owner of LAFC and Co-Chair of Major League Soccer's Sporting and Competition Committee, was selected via a comprehensive succession planning process led by the MLS Board of Governors, with Commissioner Don Garber supporting the transition process and Korn Ferry, CAA and The Miles Group serving as advisors throughout the search.

I don't have a hot take on that choice other than to remark that these Jews sure have a funny way of landing at the helm of almost every American sports league. What are they up to?

Mauricio Pochettino stays as US coach, agrees to new 4-year contract through 2030 World Cup​

A 54-year-old who took over in October 2024, Pochettino led the U.S. to the World Cup round of 16, where the tournament co-hosts were eliminated with a 4-1 loss to Belgium.​

I also don't have a hot take on this, apart from the reminder that the second game of the group stage had the USMNT start just two whites, the blackest and least-white team in the nation's history. Maybe in 2030, Pochettino can beat his mark with a lonely white goalie.

I'm not convinced any of these coaches are better than one another. They all have large teams of assistants, analysts, strategists, nutritionists, and beyond. The players rarely train together often, so I can't imagine the team-building or motivation intangibles weigh very heavily. I can't even tell you if Pochettino speaks English (or how many of the US players do or don't).