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Premier League stars shine on international duty

By Joe Prince-WrightSep 10, 2019, 11:51 AM EDT
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Premier League stars are dazzling on international duty, as several have put in superb displays over the last week or so.

[ MORE: EURO 2020 roundup ] 

From Harry Kane‘s hat trick to Kevin De Bruyne‘s hat trick of assists, lots of PL players are busy helping their nations try to qualify for EURO 2020.

With just a few more games to go, we round up the star performances from PL players over the international break.

Harry Kane – Spurs star captained England to a 4-0 win over Bulgaria and scored a hat trick, with two penalty kicks in the second half.

Raheem Sterling – Set up Kane’s first goal and the Man City star scored another as he now has seven goals in his last seven games for England.

Kevin de Bruyne – His amazing start to the season continued, with three assists, one goal as Belgium beat Scotland 4-0.

Teemu Pukki – Norwich’s in-form striker kept his run going (and took the Pukki Party to Helsinki), as he scored in Finland’s 1-0 win over Greece and 2-1 loss to Italy.

Daniel James – Man United’s red-hot winger scored a stunning, trademark curling goal as Wales beat Belarus 1-0.

Phil Foden – Man City’s young star scored twice for England’s U21 side against Kosovo in 2-0 win.

Jorginho – Chelsea’s deep-lying playmaker scored the winning penalty kick for Italy late on against Finland.

Georginio Wijnaldum & Virgil Van Dijk – Both played in Holland’s 4-2 win against Germany and 4-0 win against Estonia. VVD captained the Netherlands, while Wijnaldum scored in both games from midfield.

Oleksandar Zinchenko – Versatile Man City youngster opened the scoring for Ukraine in their 3-0 win against Lithuania.

Bernardo Silva – Man City playmaker netted in Portugal’s 4-2 win away in Serbia.

Olivier Giroud – Chelsea’s forgotten man up top scored in France’s 4-1 win over Albania.

Christian Eriksen – Tottenham star scored twice for Denmark in their 6-0 thumping of Gibraltar.

David McGoldrick and Fabian Schar – Scored for the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland respectively in their 1-1 draw.

Victor Lindelof – Man United center back scored in Sweden’s 4-0 win against the Faroe Islands.

Josh King – Bournemouth’s striker scored as Norway beat Malta 2-0.

Court date for USWNT’s law suit versus U.S. Soccer delayed

USWNT equal pay
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By Nicholas MendolaApr 8, 2020, 8:23 PM EDT
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A court case that has dragged U.S. Soccer’s administration through the mud and led to a change of leadership may drag into the summer.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

A judge in California has delayed the May 5 trial of gender discrimination against the USSF until June 16 due in part to the coronavirus pandemic. A pretrial conference was also moved to June 1.

The federation is being sued by members of the two-time reigning World Cup champion USWNT under the Equal Pay Act.

The women are requesting more than $66 million in damages.

The extra month gives both parties more time to reach a settlement which could keep this ugly case away from trial. Given the uncertainty in our world, it could of course be delayed again.

The USSF has a new CEO in Will Wilson, who can make a major statement of change by stopping the trial from reaching court.

Handicapping the Final Four of Premier League March Madness

Premier League March Madness
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By Nicholas MendolaApr 8, 2020, 7:33 PM EDT
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Our Premier League March Madness results have been as topsy-turvy as the 2019/20 on-field campaign before coronavirus halted it last month.

Yes, the runaway No. 1 seed is alive, but the second, third, fourth, and fifth seeds have been expelled from the tournament within the first two rounds.

Voting in the semifinal round begins Thursday.

[ RESULTS: March Madness Round of 16 ]

Before we go any further, if you’re unfamiliar: To make sure you’re not missing out on either March Madness or the business end of the PL season, we’ve gone ahead and merged the two competitions. The March Madness Final Four and Championship game were due to take place this weekend in Atlanta but now you will be voting on Tottenham v. Arsenal instead of Duke v. Kansas.

Teams are seeded from 1-16 based on their current spot in the table, with Aston Villa winning the relegation playoffs on Monday to remain in the Premier League.

[ LIVE: March Madness PL hub ] 

Before we handicap the semifinal matches, let’s take a look at where the field sits after your Wednesday voting.

No. 1 Liverpool v. No. 12 Everton
No. 6 Wolves v. No. 7 Sheffield United

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

Look, all bets are off for the derby. The Everton faithful has shown up in a big way during voting, dispatching Manchester United and Chelsea.

That’s big time stuff, though Liverpool ended the dreams of our presumptive sleeping giant favorite Arsenal after beating West Ham in the Sweet Sixteen.

The Reds are going to have to not just been upstart Everton but overcome the legions of rival supporters who would happily click the Toffees’ box rather than see Liverpool gain the crown.

The other side of the bracket sees No. 7 Sheffield United looking to continue its surprising run in both the PL season and our voting.

The Blades knocked off Man City, potentially aided by the same phenomenon Everton hopes to see on Thursday.

Now they meet Wolves, who may be riding a crest of North American momentum in the form of affinity for El Tri hero Raul Jimenez.

Our prediction: Everton and Wolves in the Final.

RESULTS: Premier League March Madness Elite Eight

Premier League March Madness
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By Nicholas MendolaApr 8, 2020, 7:11 PM EDT
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Everton continued its upset path toward in our Premier League March Madness voting, showing its sensational support and setting up a fantastic eMerseyside Derby in the Final Four.

Thousands of votes were cast Wednesday, and the Toffees upset isn’t even the top underdog story.

[ LIVE: March Madness PL hub ] 

Chris Wilder’s Blades of Sheffield United won a back-and-forth affair with No. 2 seed Manchester City to move into the semifinals.

That’s where they’ll meet No. 6 seed Wolves, who powered past Leicester City as if it wasn’t a challenge.

If you want to see the full game schedule, seedings and bracket, here is the post you need as the tournament will run all week long:

Monday: Relegation semifinals, final – Aston Villa prevailed, Norwich, Bournemouth, Watford relegated
Tuesday: Sweet 16 results in full
Wednesday: Elite Eight
Thursday: Final Four
Friday: Championship game

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

IFAB: New handball rule can be adopted when games resume

Handball rule
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By Nicholas MendolaApr 8, 2020, 5:34 PM EDT
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The International Football Association Board (IFAB) issued a letter from secretary Lukas Brud on Wednesday, outlining several changes to the game.

The “tee shirt line” handball rule may be coming to club football quicker than expected due to the coronavirus suspension of the 2019/20 season.

IFAB will allow leagues the choice to use the new handball rule when matches resume this season, also making changes to VAR protocol and vowing to review the offside rule.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ] 

The new handball rule states that the shoulder goes to the end of the shirt sleeve or the bottom of the armpit (though obviously not in the case of a long-sleeve jersey).

For the purposes of determining handball offences, the ‘arm’ stops at the bottom of the armpit

So… get ready for baggy, longer jersey sleeves, or the increased recruitment of players with the longest armpits.

Kidding aside, the handball rule desperately needed clarification and we’ll see if this gives enough to fans and players alike.

Referees will now be “expected” to go to the screen on the field when a call is subjective, forcing the official to either uphold or overrule his initial call.

This same post says IFAB will now allow accidental handballs in the run-up to a goal in certain situations.

“Accidental handball by an attacking player should only be penalized if it ‘immediately’ results in a goal or an obvious opportunity for the player and/or their team to score a goal (i.e. following the handball, the ball travels only a short distance and/or there are very few passes).”

Well, that needs some clarification.

Back to the timing issue for the new handball rule, it seems logical that leagues would want to introduce new laws with a new season but stand-by for the decision of your favorite league.

As for the offside rule, “The members agreed that the fundamental philosophy of offside is underpinned by a desire to encourage attacking football and the scoring of goals. It was further agreed, therefore, that Law 11 – Offside should be analyzed and reviewed with a view to potentially proposing changes reflecting this philosophy.”

It’s a lot to unpack, and we’ll surely here from proponents and opponents of the changes soon. As always, implementation will make the biggest difference in how these changes are received.