Happy Wednesday folks! Before we dive into the day, if you haven’t been watching the Africa Cup of Nations, you’re missing out. In my opinion, it’s one of the most underrated tournaments in all of soccer. Games are on beIN and beIN Connect, so make sure you check out today’s matches. Alright, grab your socks, here’s the news:
Soccer Bosses Want a $1 Billion Pan-American Tournament | Bloomberg
There is more talk about uniting the best of CONCACAF with CONMEBOL to form a super tournament that would take place every four years. The idea will be that the CONCACAF Gold Cup would become a quadrennial tournament, to be held the same summer as Copa America, and then a combined quadrennial tournament would take place the following summer. Let’s see how this will play out and whether it would eventually lead to more talks about combining confederations.
Steve Birnbaum gives us a look at the new D.C. United away jersey | Black & Red United
We love jersey teasers! Steve Birnbaum gave us a sneak peak at the new D.C. United secondary jersey, which is expected to be unveiled early next month. What do you think it’s going to be?
Dom Dwyer says he’ll be eligible for US citizenship in February | MLS
Dom Dwyer, Sporting Kansas City forward, has indicated that he’s almost ready to become a United States citizen. If that’s the case, he would then become eligible for the USMNT. The hope is that he gets his paperwork cleared with FIFA in time for this summer’s Gold Cup.
Nike embarrasses US Soccer with bad merch again | Stars and Stripes FC
Yo Nike, what’s up? Dog eat your homework and you just came up with some quick designs in order to turn something in? Because that’s the only explanation for this latest line of shirts and how bad they turned out.
Tim Howard: Bruce Arena will make wearing U.S. shirt matter again | ESPNFC
Tim Howard spoke on Bruce Arena and the energy he is bringing to the USMNT ahead of the January Camp friendlies and the March World Cup qualifiers. He also had some words on Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure with the national team.
D.C. United releases 2017 preseason schedule | Black & Red United
D.C. United is headed to Florida once again for preseason, where they will compete in the 2017 Suncoast Invitational hosted by the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
David Villa weighs in on promotion/relegation debate for MLS | Fox Soccer
New York City FC’s David Villa spoke of the differences between MLS and promotion/relegation in La Liga, speaking highly of the fact that each team in MLS has a chance to win. In La Liga, he proclaimed that for 15 of the 20 teams, “pro/rel is their league.” That will get Soccer Twitter rolling.
Yaya Toure: Man City midfielder rejects £430,000-a-week move to China | BBC
Yaya Toure has decided to stick it out at Manchester City, turning down a big move to China. It’s unclear whether the new Chinese Super League rules limiting teams to fielding a maximum of 3 foreign players in a match led to his decision to stay with City.
And there you have it. Today’s gonna be a good day, so grab your coffee, run the jewels, and enjoy!