With World Cup Qualifiers set to take place all around the world this weekend, there are plenty of shenanigans popping up everywhere as players arrive at their national team camps. That doesn't mean there aren't still plenty of goodies happening at the club level, too...
"Are you actually Gareth Bale?"
Yeah.
Never lose your sense of wonder.
What even is this?
Well, it's an announcement that Roma signed Patrik Schick. But it's also a lot more.
Twitter is weird.
Globetrotting
There were a whole bunch of MLS players called up for international duty this window, including four NYCFCers.
This window was extremely busy, with 89 players getting the nod from their national teams. A helpful reddit user by the name of FantasyMLShelper went ahead and sorted the number of call-ups from MLS by each of the last thirteen international windows. That goes all the way back to September 2015. Check out the whole list here. It's an eye-opener.
New Kids on the Block?
Over the last few years, Sacramento Republic FC have constantly been in the MLS expansion conversation. They've got the fanbase and the stadium, and they've beaten a Premier League side (!!!) in a friendly before.
It looks like their hard work could be paying off sooner rather than later...
🤔🤔🤔
Zero to 100 REAL QUICK
As part of his weekly round up of American soccer happenings, FourFourTwo USA's Paul Tenorio wrote this feature on the life of a backup goalkeeper. It's pretty darn intense.
Here's one quote from Portland Timbers backup Jeff Attinella, who faced something absolutely fearsome: “I hadn’t seen a cross all day and one of the best players in the history of MLS lines up to take a corner and it’s like, ‘Whoa, alright, now I’m in the game.'”
Could you imagine having to do that?
Have you kids heard of 'memes'?
Bet you thought you'd seen the last of AS Roma in this edition of Trending!
Wrong! You're wrong!
Smash that like button, ladies and gentlemen, because Italy's capital club are slinging the dank memes.
Seriously though, is there a more efficient format to illustrate how clubs have handled unveiling signings this summer? No.
Two Different Worlds
FACT: Christian Pulisic is good at soccer.
FACT: Americans and Germans love him.
FACT: He has two completely different audiences.
What does it mean? We have no idea, but graphs don't lie, folks. Grant did the research!
