Amaditidiane

Of all of the matches I covered during this summer’s International Champions Cup, AS Roma against Juventus from Gillette Stadium was perhaps the most unique. Neither club has the star power and recognizable branding of a team like Barcelona or Manchester United. Instead, this matchup drew fans with a strong connection to their team. While […]

A total of 80,162 fans descended on FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland to witness Barcelona take on Manchester United in the International Champions Cup. As expected, both teams had thousands of supporters show up to cheer them on, and the lineups at kickoff did not disappoint. Ernesto Valverde deployed Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar […]

Walking into Red Bull Arena, I was surprised to see how many random soccer jerseys were being worn. I’d come to watch Tottenham Hotspur play AS Roma after all, but if you’d told someone with no knowledge of the fixture to come, they’d have had a hard time telling you exactly who was playing whom. […]

In front of a record-breaking 82,104 fans — the most ever for a soccer game in New Jersey, Barcelona saw off Juventus 2–1 in an exciting International Champions Cup match at MetLife Stadium Saturday night featuring two quality first-half goals from Neymar. Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini scored a towering header to halve the lead for Juventus […]

In one of the most highly billed matches of the fourth annual International Champions Cup, Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich in the final ten minutes of an exciting affair Wednesday night. Despite several second half substitutions by both sides, the game was engaging and well appreciated by the 82,012 fans who packed MetLife Stadium in East […]

Even before the droves of Argentina and Venezuela fans descended upon Foxborough, Massachusetts Saturday night for the Copa America Centenario quarter-final, many people were expecting a comfortable victory for Argentina. So, when Gonzalo Higuain scored the game's opening goal after just eight minutes, things seemed to be going according to plan. The Napoli frontman doubled Argentina's […]

Before Brazil faced Peru at Gillette Stadium in the final match of the group stage during the 2016 Copa America Centenario, many considered Dunga's men reaching the quarter-finals a foregone conclusion. And while their failure to reach the knockout rounds was one of the major shocks of the tournament so far, the writing was on […]

Against Paraguay, when Jürgen Klinsmann announced the same lineup for the third consecutive match, many people were bewildered. It was the first time in his history as US manager that he'd done so, and the starting XI from the previous two games had produced mixed results. Sure, they'd blown out Costa Rica, but there were […]

Kurt Zouma suffered an unsettling injury during Chelsea's Premier League match against Manchester United in last week's fixture at Stamford Bridge. His fall was so awkward and his pain so obvious that United's Juan Mata immediately called for a stoppage of play, frantically signaling to the bench that his opponent needed treatment. Following the match, the young Frenchman left the stadium […]

The season, so far To say that Chelsea have had a lackluster start to their season would be generous. The Premier League champions are 16th in the league, have been knocked out of the League Cup, have lost a staggering seven matches and have looked an altogether different team than the one which took the league […]

José Mourinho is a fantastic coach. His record speaks for itself. He's a winner. He's won all over Europe, in many competitions, with several different teams. Everywhere he's gone, titles and trophies have followed. His time managing in the Premier League has been no different. In his first spell as Chelsea manager, he won back-to-back […]

To say that Chelsea have started slowly this season would be a rather generous understatement. The reality is their first month has been poor, especially when held to the standard of the previous season's impressive performances. Last year, Chelsea hit the ground running, winning all four opening matches and doing so with a dominant form that had […]

There are losses and, then, there are losses. Some hurt more than others. Some happen in preseason and come with a certain luxury of avoidance and denial. Others happen during the season and can demoralize or inspire fans. As a Chelsea fan, I know that watching them lose to a major rival like Manchester City earlier at the Etihad Stadium was […]

In what was to be the final International Champions Cup (ICC) match I covered, I traveled to Washington D.C. to watch Chelsea play against Barcelona. Having spent the majority of my time covering the ICC in the New York/New Jersey area, I made the trek south a day early in order to reduce travel stress […]

Harrison, New Jersey played host to yet another International Champions Cup match last night, as New York Red Bulls took on SL Benfica at Red Bull Arena. I'd seen Red Bulls defeat Chelsea 4-2 in the most recent match there, and watched Benfica lose to ACF Fiorentina on penalty kicks in East Hartford Friday night. […]