The United States have found a new goalscoring star as Ricardo Pepi's brace inspired a 2-0 win over Jamaica in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
USA teenager Pepi now has three goals in two international appearances after the 18-year-old scored on his debut against Honduras last month on the road to Qatar 2022.
Playing before a home-state crowd in Austin, Texas on Thursday, the El Paso native and Dallas star cemented his newfound status as the central figure in USA's attack in the absence of Christian Pulisic.
After the United States failed to score in the first half for the seventh successive game, Pepi found the net in the 49th minute with a header from seven yards out off a cross from Sergino Dest.
In-demand teenage sensation Pepi followed that up in the 62nd minute by putting home a cross from Brenden Aaronson with his right foot, Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake having no chance to make the save as the former came clean through the middle of the defence.
Pepi's heroics shifted the spotlight away from referee Reon Radix, who drew the ire of the home side by failing to show red cards when Jamaica players hauled down USA attackers who appeared to have a clear path to goal in the first and 33rd minutes.
USA ultimately did not need help after dominating throughout the game, with 61 per cent of possession and seven shots on goal to Jamaica's one.
After a second successive win following two road draws to open the final round of qualifying, USA – a point clear of Mexico before their clash with Canada – next travel to Panama on Sunday, while Jamaica host Canada the same day.
Football rumours: Tottenham ready to battle Newcastle for James Maddison
Tottenham will give Ange Postecoglou funds to rebuild the squad when he is confirmed as their new manager, according to the Daily Mirror. They are willing to battle Newcastle for England midfielder James Maddison, 26, from Leicester with Brentford goalkeeper David Raya, 27, and Wolves defender Max Kilman, 26, on the wanted list.
Moises Caicedo, 21, has emerged as the new midfield target for Chelsea, reports the Standard. The Blues have switched their attention to the rising Brighton star with Paris St Germain expected to win the race for 22-year-olld Sporting Lisbon midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
Newcastle have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Kalvin Phillips. The Daily Telegraph says the England midfielder, 27, intends to stay at Manchester City.
Atletico Madrid have joined the race for Wilfried Zaha, 30, according to the Daily Mail. The Ivory Coast forward will be available for free if he turns down a new contract offer from Crystal Palace.
Social media round-upPlayers to watchRomeo Lavia: Former Chelsea star Eden Hazard is said to have helped with a potential move for the 19-year-old Belgium midfielder from Southampton to Stamford Bridge.
Franck Kessie: Liverpool are reportedly keen on signing the Ivory Coast midfielder, 26, from Barcelona.
Tottenham poised to announce Ange Postecoglou as their new manager
Tottenham are expected to announce Ange Postecoglou as their new manager after reports on Monday claimed the Celtic boss has agreed a two-year deal.
The 57-year-old Australian’s pending appointment will end Spurs’ long search for a permanent replacement for Antonio Conte, who they sacked in March.
Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason had respective spells in temporary charge as the London club failed to qualify for European football next season for the first time since 2009-10.
Postecoglou told Celtic principal shareholder Dermot Desmond on Saturday night of his decision to leave the Glasgow club and has now agreed a deal in principle with Spurs, with the option to extend.
Former Australia head coach Postecoglou admitted on Saturday, after Celtic’s Scottish FA Cup final win over Inverness had secured them the domestic treble, that his celebrations would soon be disrupted.
Neither club have commented but reports claim an announcement will be made when the finer details of the contract have been finalised.
When repeatedly pressed on his future after Celtic’s 3-1 Hampden win over Inverness on Saturday, Postecoglou said: “I anticipate enjoying this moment for the next 24-48 hours, as long as I can, before someone drags me away and takes my attention away from enjoying something that’s been hard-earned.
“The reality is, there’s probably players in that dressing room who won’t be here next year. That’s the nature of football.”
Postecoglou has won five domestic trophies out of a possible six after arriving from Yokohama F Marinos in 2021 and was linked with numerous Premier League clubs throughout this season.
He became a hero with the Celtic support, not just for resuming their success after a barren season, but also for implementing an attacking style of play and his connection with the fans.
Postecoglou, due to go on a family holiday on Tuesday, will now swap Glasgow for another rebuild job at Spurs.
Former Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers has emerged as an unlikely favourite to succeed Postecoglou at Celtic, four years after leaving the club mid-season to take over at Leicester.
Assistant manager John Kennedy is also high up the list but reports claim Postecoglou hopes to take the former Celtic defender to Tottenham.
Virtual reality could help improve heading skills amid new restrictions – study
Virtual reality could help footballers improve their heading without the repetitive head impacts from a ball, a new study indicates.
Players involved in a study at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport and its Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences demonstrated greater performance in ‘real world’ heading after training with a VR headset compared to a control group who did no training.
The VR group also reported greater self-confidence and efficacy in their heading compared to the control group, the study found.
The study, titled: ‘A preliminary investigation into the efficacy of training soccer heading in immersive virtual reality’, has been published in the journal Virtual Reality on Tuesday.
It provides some insights into how players may be able to improve heading technique amid restrictions on training.
Football Association guidelines advise against any heading training in under-12s, while a trial is ongoing in the current season and next season to eliminate deliberate heading completely from matches up to and including that age group.
At ages 12 and 13, heading should be limited to a single session of no more than five headers, and no more than 10 headers per session for children aged 14 to 17, according to FA guidance.
Even in adult football at all levels, players are advised to perform only 10 ‘higher force headers’ per training week, such as headers from crosses, corners, free-kicks and returning of goal kicks.
The exposure to heading has been limited because of concerns over the sub-concussive impact of repetitive heading on a player’s longer-term wellbeing.
The 2019 FIELD Study found professional footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the general population.
“With increasing restrictions of heading exposure to professional and youth soccer, it is evident that alternative methods for training heading confidence and technique will be required while it remains an integral part of the game,” the VR paper concluded.
“The work presented here provides some initial evidence suggesting that immersive VR may have a place in any new approach to training this important skill.”
A group of 36 adult recreational-level players, made up of 30 men and six women, participated in the study in total.
The 36 were split into two groups of 18, with 16 men and two women in the control group who did not use the VR headsets between ‘real world’ heading sessions, and 14 men and four women in the VR group.
The VR group used the Oculus Quest 2 head-mounted display, with the Rezzil Player 22 application used to provide the VR football heading training.
Dr Ben Marshall, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said: “Our findings show that virtual reality (VR) based training can be used to improve real-world heading performance and that this method is more effective than not training the skill at all.
“This is important as current training guidelines recommend limiting the number of physical headers performed in training for all age groups due to the associated long-term risks to player health.
“Our findings suggest the inclusion of VR-based training could play an important role in developing football heading skills whilst reducing the number of real-world headers and sub-concussive head impacts that players need to be exposed to – which is really positive.”
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