Midfielder Logged a Solid Performance in Copa del Rey Win Over Deportivo La Coruna
Johnny Cardoso delivered his most impressive performance in an Atlético Madrid shirt during Tuesday's Copa del Rey round of 16 clash with Deportivo La Coruña, helping the club secure a 1-0 victory and advancement to the quarterfinals.
With regular captain Koke sidelined by injury and Pablo Barrios still recovering, the American midfielder seized his opportunity to control the center of the park. Playing his first full 90 minutes for Atlético, Cardoso showcased the qualities that prompted the club's €25 million investment in bringing him from Real Betis last summer.
The 24-year-old was nearly flawless in possession, completing an exceptional 62-of-65 passes for a 95% accuracy rate. His composed distribution helped Atlético maintain control against the Segunda División opposition, with nine of those passes finding teammates in the attacking third as he worked to create opportunities.
Defensively, Cardoso proved equally valuable. He won seven tackles and made four recoveries while claiming victory in 9-of-13 ground duels. At times, he dropped deeper to function as a makeshift center-back alongside the defense, facilitating ball progression and providing additional cover. His 10 total defensive contributions demonstrated his versatility and tactical awareness.
The performance represented a significant step forward for Cardoso, whose debut season has been disrupted by injuries. A nagging ankle problem from last summer and a December knee issue have limited him to just nine appearances this campaign. Meanwhile, Koke's late-career renaissance has kept the veteran in the starting lineup for most matches.
Tuesday's composed, confident display offered a glimpse of Cardoso's potential future role within Diego Simeone's squad. While Atlético typically struggle without their club captain, the American's mature performance softened that blow considerably. As he continues gaining fitness and familiarity with his teammates, Cardoso appears poised to become an increasingly important piece of Atlético's midfield puzzle, particularly as the season intensifies across multiple competitions.
Defender Wins U.S. Soccer Award After Stellar Year
Chris Richards has been named the 2025 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, capping an exceptional season for both club and country. The Crystal Palace defender secured the honor with nearly half of the weighted vote (48.6%), outdistancing fellow nominees including midfielder Malik Tillman and defenders Max Arfsten and Alex Freeman.
The Birmingham, Alabama native enjoyed a breakout year internationally, appearing in 12 matches for the U.S. Men's National Team—the most appearances and minutes (1,005) in a calendar year. Richards proved instrumental during the team's Gold Cup campaign, starting all six matches en route to the final against Mexico. His stellar tournament performance included two goals, highlighted by the opening strike in the championship match. Though the U.S. ultimately fell 2-1 to Mexico, Richards earned recognition on the tournament's Best XI.
Richards becomes just the second defender in consecutive years to claim this prestigious award, following Antonee Robinson's 2024 triumph. This marks the first time since the mid-1990s that defenders have won back-to-back honors, when Marcelo Balboa and Alexi Lalas accomplished the feat.
The 25-year-old's club success proved equally impressive. Richards established himself as an indispensable part of Crystal Palace's defense, helping the club achieve historic milestones. He played every minute during Palace's FA Cup campaign, which culminated in a stunning 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the final—delivering the club's first-ever FA Cup trophy. Richards continued his winning ways into the new season, going the distance as Palace defeated Liverpool on penalties to capture the Community Shield.
Learning of his selection live on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show," Richards expressed gratitude while looking ahead to the upcoming World Cup on home soil. "People are going to say it's a lot of pressure but pressure builds diamonds," he noted, adding that the team aims to be "holding a big trophy" by summer's end. His performances have certainly positioned him as a cornerstone of those World Cup ambitions.
On This Day in 1994, The Americans Learn to Finish Under Pressure, Starting With a Victory Over Norway
The essential question from December remained unanswered as the calendar turned: Could the United States break down organized opponents willing to sit deep and absorb pressure? Seven goals against El Salvador and eight against the Cayman Islands had proven only that the Americans could finish when given space. Germany had proven it could defend when desperate. But the World Cup would demand something neither blowout nor survival instinct could provide—the composure to find goals against competent opponents protecting narrow leads. January would test whether the pattern could be broken.
Norway arrived at Sun Devil Stadium on January 15 as the fourth-ranked team in the world, bringing most of its first-choice players to face an American side still missing its European-based core. John Harkes remained at Derby County. Roy Wegerle at Coventry City. Eric Wynalda in Saarbrücken, Earnie Stewart in the Netherlands and Tab Ramos in Spain. The absences invited familiar narratives—that the Mission Viejo players were second-string, that victories without the "magnificent seven" couldn't validate American progress, that losses would confirm the domestic-based squad's limitations.
"A lot of people would like to think that it leaves us in trouble," Alexi Lalas said before the match, his voice carrying the edge of someone tired of defending his commitment. "But when they start saying we're amateurs and we're the second-division sort of players, well, that pisses me off because we all made a cognizant decision to stay here at the team's training center in order to help give our team a chance to succeed."
The Americans had lost 1-0 to Norway in Oslo four months earlier, pushed around physically in a performance that suggested intimidation. Against a Norwegian side built around veteran goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt and forward Jostein Flo, the pattern seemed likely to repeat—particularly after Frank Strandli scored in the 45th minute, converting Erik Mykland's cross just before halftime to send Norway into the break with a 1-0 advantage. In December, a halftime deficit against quality opposition would have signaled the final score. Not this time.
Marcelo Balboa, playing only his second match since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in April, had entered in the first half after Desmond Armstrong's injury. Nine minutes into the second half, Joe-Max Moore sent a corner kick from the right side toward the penalty area. Balboa rose above a defender and headed the ball past Frode Grodas from 15 yards, the precision suggesting his knee reconstruction hadn't diminished his timing. Norwegian coach Egil Olsen called the goal "impossible." Balboa, who practiced the same shot a hundred times in training, thought differently.
The tie lasted until regulation's final seconds, when the Americans manufactured the winner through precisely the kind of buildup that had eluded them against organized defenses. Dario Brose, playing in France's second division and making his U.S. debut, spotted Claudio Reyna's run and delivered the pass over the top. Reyna—recently crowned NCAA champion for the third consecutive year at Virginia—fired from a tight angle. Grodas blocked the shot but couldn't control the rebound. Cobi Jones, the 5-foot-7 forward who had hit the crossbar from point-blank range in the first half, drilled the loose ball into the net with his right foot.
The 2-1 victory sent 15,386 spectators into delirium and the American players into an impromptu celebration. More significantly, it revealed something the December results couldn't: the capacity to absorb pressure, maintain composure, and find goals when trailing against legitimate opposition. "We knew we had to get down and dirty, bang a few heads," Lalas said afterward. "We decided to fight today and kick some people around."
A week later at Cal State Fullerton, Switzerland arrived for the World Cup preview both teams needed—the nations would meet June 18 at the Pontiac Silverdome to open Group A. The match unfolded as tactical reconnaissance rather than a definitive test, both squads missing European-based regulars. Sebastian Fournier's 68th-minute goal gave Switzerland the lead their defensive organization seemed prepared to protect. Then Andre Egli, pressured by Lalas on a cross from Jones, headed sharply into his own net in the 88th minute to force a 1-1 draw. "The guy's momentum just put it in," Lalas said, though Egli insisted he'd been pushed. The Americans had outshot the Swiss 6-3 but needed a bit of fortune to salvage the result. The lesson was ambiguous—they'd created chances but required an own goal to convert them.
Seven days later in Seattle, 43,651 fans filled the Kingdome to watch the Americans face a Russian side traveling through chaos. 14 national team members had signed a petition seeking coach Pavel Sadyrin's removal. The team had arrived Friday night after 17 hours of flight and 24 hours of travel. They looked exhausted in warmups, prompting Dominic Kinnear and the Americans to attack immediately, exploiting space on the wings through Chris Henderson and Jones.
Despite controlling the first half, the United States fell behind in the 52nd minute when Dmitri Radchenko finished Oleg Salenko's lead pass, catching American defenders out of position. Late in 1993, the deficit might have hardened into defeat. Instead, the Americans pressed forward with the confidence born from two consecutive comebacks. In the 85th minute, Reyna dribbled free from a charging defender during a set-piece play and spotted Mike Lapper on the right. Lapper's cross found Lalas, whose header tied the match 1-1.
Three matches. Three times trailing. Three times finding equalizers or winners in the final minutes. Milutinovic, rarely given to praise, allowed himself the faintest smile when asked about the month's performances. "These are the best," he said, shrugging with characteristic terseness. The assessment mattered precisely because it came from someone who refused to celebrate hollow victories.
The January results revealed something statistics couldn't capture. The Americans had discovered resilience under pressure, the psychological fortitude to believe comebacks were possible rather than improbable. They'd beaten the fourth-ranked team in the world. They'd drawn with two World Cup opponents while missing their European-based stars. Most significantly, they'd stopped collapsing when trailing at halftime.
Whether this solved the finishing crisis against organized defenses remained unclear. The Norway winner came from individual brilliance and a fortunate rebound. The Switzerland equalizer required an own goal. The Russia draw needed a set-piece play. None demonstrated the sustained ability to break down defensive shape through patient buildup that the Swiss, Colombians, and Romanians would demand in June.
But the Mission Viejo players had proven they belonged, that their decision to sacrifice European paychecks for collective preparation wasn't romantic foolishness. Balboa's knee was holding. Young talents like Reyna and Brose were integrating smoothly. The team had learned it didn't need the "magnificent seven" to compete, even if it would need them to advance.
As February approached, with the Joe Robbie Cup in Miami—featuring Bolivia, Sweden, and, crucially, Colombia—the Americans had replaced one unanswered question with another. They could now finish under pressure against quality opponents. Could they do it consistently enough to escape their World Cup group? The next four months would determine whether January's resilience was a foundation or a mirage.
