All posts by h716a5.icu

Who are the top earning American players in Major League Soccer? Goal breaks down the top 10

The MLS players union released its salary data last week, and the numbers showed some interesting trends. 

Three Americans were in the top 10 in the league in terms of total compensation, while a fourth landed in the top 25. 

Even among Americans Toronto FC dominated the list of high earners, but Sporting Kansas City and Orlando City each placed a pair of players on this list. 

Here's the rundown of the top 10 highest paid Americans in Major League Soccer.

USA Today Sports10Michael Bradley, Toronto FCThe U.S. national team captain and Toronto star is the highest-paid American in the league at $6.5 million per year. AdvertisementGraig Abel9Jozy Altidore, Toronto FCThe former AZ standout returned to MLS to a big payday and will make $5 million in total compensation in 2018. USA Today8Tim Howard, Colorado RapidsThe highest paid goalkeeper in the league is also the Colorado Rapids' highest earner at $2.5 million this season. ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

USA Today7Clint Dempsey, Seattle SoundersDempsey took a cut in pay for the 2018 season but still ranks among the five best-paid American players at $1.7 million this season.

Moeen Ali has admitted he lost confidence in his batting after moving down the order for England

George Dobell13-May-2016Moeen Ali has admitted he lost confidence in his batting after moving down the order for England.Moeen made his name in county cricket as a top-order batsman. He opened the batting in his first international match – an ODI against West Indies in Antigua in 2014 – and then batted at No. 3 in the T20 side and at No. 6 when he first came into the Test side.But, as his international career has developed, so his spin bowling has taken priority over his batting. He fell behind Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in the Test line-up and, despite making two centuries as an ODI opener – one of them a 72-ball effort against Sri Lanka – he lost his position at the start of the summer of 2015 when the selectors left him out of the ODI team so he could work on his red ball bowling.Alex Hales and Jason Roy subsequently established a dynamic partnership in his place and, since his return to the side in the lower middle-order, he has not passed 21 in ODI cricket. Only once in his last eight T20I innings has he made double-figures; four times in that period he has been dismissed for a duck.He did have a brief spell as Test opener in the UAE, but was left more confused than ever by what was required of him in a team that, in successive Tests, batted him at No. 9, No. 8 and No. 9, before three Tests at opener were followed by a move back down to No. 8.While Moeen understands the reasons for his position in the line-up, he has found it challenging to retain his identity as a batsman.”If you want to be good at something, you have to believe,” Moeen said. “And I went through a phase where I probably didn’t believe I was a top-order batter.”I didn’t practise it as much, because I felt like my bowling was keeping in the team. I definitely haven’t done myself justice with the bat at Test level. I have shown glimpses in all three formats, but I have not done as well as I want. I know I can do better.”Part of the problem comes with being required to bat with the tail. Reasoning that he may not have time to play himself in, Moeen has often felt the need to attack from the start. While that has, at times, had positive results – most notably in the Ashes – it has seen him turn into something of a lower-order slugger rather than the classy player he once threatened to be. It is understandable from the perspective of the team’s needs, but the suspicion remains that England are not getting the best out of him with the bat.Certainly he has, at times, looked a long way below the standards he set in making a high-class century in his second Test. That innings, played against Sri Lanka almost exactly two years ago, took England to the brink of a memorable – and unlikely – draw.”I was more confident then,” he said, “because I’d come back from a couple of years of county cricket where I’d scored well.I just remember telling myself I wasn’t going to get out the night before. I’ve done it for Worcester. I was actually surprised we did it for so long. It was a good effort. But I’ve not been batting that much or that well since.”The hardest thing is obviously batting at No. 8. If you’re batting with Jonny Bairstow, you can play normally, and Stuart Broad is batting quite well at the moment. But then you get lower down…”On your marks: Joe Root, Perri Shakes-Drayton and Moeen Ali at the launch of the NatWest T20 Blast•Getty ImagesMoeen feels that a return to Worcestershire for the start of this season has helped him rediscover his confidence. He has batted at No. 3 in three Championship matches and, in scoring a century and two half-centuries, goes into the Investec Test series against Sri Lanka averaging 91 so far this season.”Going back to Championship cricket, batting at three, I feel like I’m back to how I was,” he said. “I do feel that I’m ready again. I feel like a proper batter again. The batting and the bowling are coming together.”That return to Worcestershire almost didn’t happen. He originally entered the IPL auction only to withdraw after Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, asked him to.”I’m actually glad I didn’t go in the end,” Moeen said. “England just said ‘we’d rather you played red-ball cricket’. It made sense in the end. I had a bit of a break and then played three Championship games. I obviously wanted to get ready for the Test matches.”He is talking to publicise the new NatWest T20 Blast season that beings – ridiculously – on the second day of the first Test next week. Moeen, like the rest of England’s top players, may well be limited to just one or two games in the group stages with the ECB announcing that, fitness permitting, every contracted player will be available for Blast action from June 15 to June 18.While he talks with great passion about the Blast, he is among many of the England players who feel that a city-based competition would improve the standard and spark new interest.”We’d love to be playing the T20 Blast as much as we can,” he said. “I played a bit last year, and I absolutely loved it. We miss a big chunk of it, and that’s a bit disappointing. But it’s the way it is.”It would be sad [if Worcestershire disappeared from a city-based competition], but personally I would love a franchise system. The standard would improve and although not everyone in domestic cricket would play – that’s the biggest shame about it – I think it would be good for the league and good for England.”To find out more information and buy tickets for this season’s NatWest Blast games, please visit: www.ecb.co.uk/natwestt20blast

Bukayo Saka sat out Arsenal’s hard-fought win over Manchester City and will not be available to play for England as a result.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Winger nursing muscle complaintRarely misses games at club levelWill not figure for the Three LionsWHAT HAPPENED?

The 22-year-old winger rarely misses a game at club level, with a 1-0 victory against City the first time he has failed to figure in a Premier League fixture for the Gunners since May 2021. Saka is nursing a muscle complaint that was picked up in a Champions League meeting with Lens.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Gareth Southgate selected Saka in his latest England squad in spite of that knock, but the Three Lions boss has been informed that the Arsenal talisman will not be available for games against Australia and Italy. Mikel Arteta said when asked for an update on Saka: "He hasn't trained at all in the last two days. He's not available to play football at the moment."

WHAT THEY SAID

While Saka was ruled out against City, Gabriel Martinelli did make a welcome return to action off the bench. Arteta added on having the Brazilian back, with Leandro Trossard picking up a first-half knock: “He’s been saying for a few weeks ‘I’m going be there against City even though everyone said it would be too soon’. Leo after 30 minutes felt something in his hamstring and he was ready with his kit straight away there. He’s a joy of a boy.”

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Martinelli’s deflected effort ended up settling a heavyweight clash with City, with a three-point haul against the defending champions preserving Arsenal’s unbeaten record in 2023-24 while pulling them level with north London neighbours Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table.

India captain MS Dhoni, who had hit the third-highest score for a No. 6 batsman to lift his wobbling side to above 300, admitted that the bowling is a headache that is getting worse for the team

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-20130:00

‘Nobody wants to bowl a bad over’ – Dhoni

India captain MS Dhoni, who had hit the third-highest score for a No. 6 batsman to lift his wobbling side to above 300, admitted that death-overs bowling is a headache that is getting worse for the team, especially with the fifth fielder having to come up inside the circle according to the new rules.Australia required 44 off the last three overs at Mohali, but Ishant Sharma’s persistence with either length or short-pitched bowling played into James Faulkner’s game plan as he robbed four sixes to reduce the equation to a far simpler 14 off 12 balls.”I think the last few overs were disappointing, it is an area of concern and it is getting worse. There was a bit of dew but not like in the last game, the individuals will have to step up, you have to back your strength,” Dhoni said. “You don’t need to spoon-feed bowlers at the international level.”Dhoni sympathised with the challenge the bowlers have to tackle with only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle after the Powerplays, but added that holding one’s discipline even at the worst of times could prove the most telling difference in the course of a match.”This generation of bowlers, though they have some amount of experience, if you consider the rule changes, with fifth fielder inside [the circle], I think most of the bowlers or all the bowlers are very new because experience doesn’t really count at the point of time.”A few bowlers may have off days and that’s where you have to make sure you are not giving away too many runs,” he said. “Even when you bowl a bad over, try to restrict it in between 15-18 runs, because if you go higher than that, it has a bigger impact on the game.”Dhoni predicted such shifts late in the game could become quite common, especially in the course of this series, with pitches favouring batting, the impact of dew and two good sides on display.”In the last game, we performed in the same situation and we were able to put pressure on them,” he said. “To some extent, we were in a winning position in this game but I think in this series especially, you’ll see quite a few times this balance shifting, and from that point the side that bowls slightly better is the one that will win most of the games”As much as taking wickets restricted the opposition’s scoring, the new rules provide the batting side with the opportunity to spark a turnaround, as India themselves proved rising from 154 for 6 in the 32nd over to finish at 303.”Today we kept losing wickets but still we got 300-odd runs,” Dhoni said. “So with that fifth fielder inside its becoming a bit difficult and with right amount of partnerships and if you have wickets in hand, you may see the team scoring on the higher end of the 300-plus scores”To prepare for such situations, Dhoni said India try to simulate the slog overs by putting fielders in place and checking how far the ball can be hit, even off the outside edge. But net performance does not mirror match situations because there is no “real pressure”.”Nobody really wants to bowl a bad over, but if it happens the individual is more disappointed than anyone else in the stadium or the team,” he said. “Ideally, it is best to leave him to this thoughts and then have a chat with him after the team is back at the hotel when he will be less frustrated and more accepting.”

Peter Ingram, the former New Zealand cricketer, has suffered back and knee injuries after being run over by his tractor

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2014Peter Ingram, the former New Zealand cricketer, has suffered back and knee injuries after being run over by his tractor. According to , Ingram was moving cattle on his farm when his tractor keeled over on a steep bank.”I jumped off the tractor and the bank was so steep I landed about five meters in front of it and then it’s run me over and crushed a couple of vertebrae and dislocated my knee,” Ingram said.Ingram was flown to hospital after he hobbled a kilometer to find help from his neighbours. He spent six days in hospital before being discharged.”The back will heal up 100 per cent, they’ve said, and hopefully I’ll be able to play cricket again sometime, but the knee is a different story,” Ingram said. “I definitely won’t be able to bowl. I’ve busted the MCL [medial collateral ligament] and PCL [posterior cruciate ligament].”Ingram, 36, played two Tests, eight ODIs and three T20 games for New Zealand. He retired from first-class cricket in 2012, but still plays for Taranaki district, and is also a teacher at Waitara High School.

Tom Harrison, a former Derbyshire allrounder and currently a senior figure at sports marketing company IMG, is the surprising choice as the new chief executive of the ECB to replace David Collier

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2014Tom Harrison, a former Derbyshire allrounder and currently a senior figure at sports marketing company IMG, is the surprising choice as the new chief executive of the ECB to replace David Collier.Harrison, 42, had a brief first-class career in 1995 – playing in a team that included Dominic Cork, Phil DeFreitas, Devon Malcolm and Daryll Cullinan – before moving into the business world where he worked with the ECB for three years including as head of marketing. He then worked for ESPN Star Sports in Singapore until 2011 before his current position with IMG as a senior vice-president where he is heavily involved in TV rights negotiations, which will be a key part of his new job.He has never held a position as high as chief executive but has been preferred ahead of the widely tipped Richard Gould, the Surrey chief executive, who was believed to be the favoured choice of chairman Giles Clarke.”As a lifelong cricket fan, I feel extremely honoured and privileged to have been offered this opportunity to lead the ECB as its new chief executive officer,” Harrison said. “I am a passionate supporter of the game across all formats, at all levels and I am genuinely excited by the substantial opportunities that the game has moving forward in this country.”Clarke said the interview panel had been impressed with Harrison’s “energy, passion for the game and his positive, bold, creative and ambitious vision for the future of cricket in England and Wales”.Harrison’s recent role in the TV rights business will be brought to the fore early in his ECB tenure as the board’s current deal with BSkyB runs until 2017, although there is the option for two more years. There is likely to be greater competition for rights in the next round of bidding with the presence of the aggressive BT Sport, who have made a big play for Premier League rights and are keen to expand into the cricket market.The ECB may reconsider how its rights are packaged. At the moment all live rights are bundled into one deal – only home international highlights are separate and reside with Channel 5 in the UK – but they could look to offer Twenty20 as a separate package while the issue of no live cricket on free-to-air television, which has been the case since 2005, remains a significant debate.Colin Graves, the deputy chairman and chairman of the commercial committee, said: “Tom’s commercial experience of working on some of the biggest sponsorship and broadcast deals completed in sport, means that he is exceptionally well qualified to help to drive more revenue into the whole game whilst his excellent network in Asia and at the ICC will be critically important as we look to continue to play a central role in the growth of the game internationally in the years ahead.”Harrison is due to take up his position in mid-January.

The second season of the Sri Lanka Premier League is expected to begin with the player draft on July 14 in Colombo

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Jul-2013The player draft of the second Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) season is scheduled for July 14 in Colombo and is expected to contain several international players, including a strong South African contingent, according to the league’s chief executive officer, Ajith Jayasekara. The league is scheduled between August 10 and September 7.”We have the entire South African squad with the exception of Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis lined up to take part,” Jayasekara said. “Pakistan has also shown their intention to send their present lot of cricketers but the participation of most of their key players depends on whether their tour to Zimbabwe takes place.”South Africa are due to tour Sri Lanka from July 20 to August 6 for five ODIs and three T20s and there is a possibility that members of the visiting team will stay back to participate in the league.”With the exception of England and India, players from all the other Test-playing nations have shown interest in participating in the league,” Jayasekara said. “Even a top performer like Chris Gayle has expressed his intention to take part once the Caribbean Premier League ends on August 24.”Other West Indian players like fast bowlers Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor, as well as Australians such as Doug Bollinger, Brad Hodge and Shaun Tait are among those who are expected to participate. The list also includes Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain. Jayasekara also said the franchises would reveal the list of players they are releasing by July 8.The draft rules allow a franchise to pick a minimum of 19 and a maximum of 25 players. If they stick to 19 players, the franchises have to pick seven international cricketers, nine domestic cricketers and three under-21 cricketers. If the squad comprises 25 members, the numbers change to 10, 11 and four respectively.Last season, 56 international players, mostly from Australia and Pakistan, and 90 local players were drafted in the league.Jayasekara brushed aside reports of problems with player payments in the first season. “We are perhaps the only league in the world to pay the players fees on time. Even the IPL has faltered on its payments. Some of the players who represented Kochi Tuskers Kerala have yet to receive their money and most of the players who took part in the Bangladesh Premier League have not been paid.”Like last season, officials of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit will monitor all matches of the second season of the SLPL. SLC is also looking to increase the number of venues this season and matches are scheduled in Hambantota, Galle, Dambulla and Kurunegala, apart from the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and Pallekele stadium in Kandy. Jayasekera said the SLC was also exploring the possibility of hosting matches at Moratuwa and Matara.”We want to take the matches to the provinces that are being represented in the tournament,” Jayasekera said. “Some of the matches will be day games because the venues do not have facilities for night matches.”The SLPL was set up by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to generate steady revenue to improve their wavering financial position after the 2011 World Cup. SLC signed a 15-year agreement with a Singapore-based company, Somerset Entertainment Ventures, to host the SLPL under an equal profit sharing arrangement.Jayasekera indicated that in the inaugural year, SLC earned as much as SLR 285 million, a figure which they approximately expect to receive each year over the next 14 years.The number of teams participating in the league this year is the same as last season: Uva Next (defending champions), Nagenahira Nagas (runner-up), Kandurata Warriors and Wayamba United (losing semi-finalists), Ruhuna Royals, Uthura Rudras and Basnahira Cricket Dundee.

Samuel Badree, the West Indies legspinner, will miss the only T20 against Bangladesh due to an injury

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2014Samuel Badree, the West Indies legspinner, will miss the only T20 against Bangladesh due to an injury. Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn has replaced Badree in the team.Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, who did not play the T20 home series against New Zealand in July, were also named in the 13-member squad for the match, which will be played on August 27 in Basseterre. The pair have replaced Christopher Barnwell and Darren Bravo from the squad for the T20s against New Zealand.Badree, the top-ranked T20 bowler in the world, has played 12 games this year, picking up 19 wickets, including a haul of 4 for 15 against Bangladesh in the World T20. Benn, who made a comeback to international cricket during the Tests against New Zealand, last played a T20 for West Indies in May 2010.West Indies T20 squad: Darren Sammy (captain), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith
In: Sulieman Benn, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo
Out: Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Christopher Barnwell

The decision to cut the funding for the 2025 women's European Championship in Switzerland has been labelled a "catastrophe".

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Federal govt cuts Euro 2025 fundsCompetition to take place in SwitzerlandDecision labelled a 'catastrophe'Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Swiss publication SRF states the country's Federal Council does not want to spend as much money on the women's Euros, where Aston Villa star Alisha Lehmann will be the face of the tournament, as originally planned. The report says 15 million Swiss Francs (£13.5m) were initially earmarked but that has fallen to 4 million Swiss Francs (£3.6m) – something that has been widely criticised.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT CRITICS HAVE SAID

GLP National Councillor Corina Gredig, who is co-president of the parliamentary group “Euro 25”, said there is outrage in parliament. “If you say now that you don’t have any money, then it will turn into a grumpy tournament," she told SRF.

Meanwhile, SP National Councilor Matthias Aebischer, president of the parliamentary sports group, said this was the wrong message for young girls looking to get into the sport.

He commented: "And now the Federal Council comes and says: We are not giving any money for the 2025 Women’s European Championship in Switzerland. This is simply a catastrophe.”

Thun local councilor Katharina Ali-Oesch added: “Pure disappointment. We were expecting something completely different than what has now come from the federal government and that poses major challenges for everyone."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The 2025 tournament is taking place in eight Swiss cities: Zurich, Basel, Bern, Thun, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Sion and Geneva. The fact that funds have been significantly slashed is not a good look for promoting women's football in Switzerland and, arguably, sends a negative message about the game, too. Moreover, the less funds a tournament has, the less likely it will be will run smoothly; plus, they beat France, Poland, and a joint Scandinavian bid to stage the competition – one that others desperately wanted to host.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

WHAT NEXT?

The 14th edition of the women's Euros is scheduled to get underway on July 2, 2025, and will be made up of 16 teams. England will be looking to retain their title when the tournament comes round in just under 18 months' time.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan plans to sign Members Participation Agreements by February 8 to confirm series against India, Australia and England over the next two years

Mohammad Isam30-Jan-2014The BCB’s letter to the ICC

Excerpt from the BCB’s letter to the ICC, read out by director Mahbubul Anam during Thursday’s press conference in Mirpur:
“The directors of BCB have been apprised of the content of the proposal, which was delivered on January 9, 2014, in Dubai. After a careful review of the draft, the board has expressed strict reservations about certain elements of the draft, which may be interpreted as contradictory to the rights of the Full Member. It was the board’s resolution and we have very categorically expressed strict reservations. The BCB are in no position to endorse the proposal in its entirety.”

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that Bangladesh will play against India, England and Australia in the next two years. He hopes to sign the Members Participation Agreements (MPA) by February 8 with the three countries to confirm the tours.”We will be in a better position than others,” Nazmul said. “We haven’t been to India in 14 years. We will go there to play Tests, they will come here too. We will go to England; Australia will come here.”The statement was followed by a round of applause from the BCB directors and councillors who were at the press conference room in Mirpur.Hassan continued by saying that Test cricket was his main concern, and that the three boards in question had asked the BCB for a slot, which will be sent within the next three days. He believes that the MPA will help ensure teams don’t pull out of Tests when they have earlier committed to a number of matches.”Our main issues were playing Tests. How we are going to solve this? Some of them gave dates, whether we will go or they’ll come. We hope to sign them by February 8. They asked us for our time. We will let them know our possible slots in the next three days. One thing is for sure, there will be more cricket. Within two years, we hope to play against everyone.”FTP didn’t have a legal basis. Now, there will be a Members Participation Agreement, which is enforceable by law, despite what anyone says or does now. What they are trying to say is that [they will be protected], for example, if a team wants to play just two Tests when they were supposed to play five. Then the TV broadcasters will take me to court for not playing five Tests. The MPA will come into force now to stop this.”Hassan rejected PCB chief Zaka Ashraf’s claim that four boards – BCB, PCB, SLC and CSA – were going to ask for a delay on the draft proposals becoming resolutions. He added that since the ICC press release had been sent out with the phrase “unanimous support”, all nations were in agreement.”We were not in any alliance. I said in the meeting that if my trouble doesn’t go away, I am not with anyone. If the trouble goes away, I am with everyone. This was my strategy. We have also asked for time, like the other three. We have opposed on a specific point.”It is unanimous by all ten [members]. It is a press release; nobody has objected to that. We gave our objection to remove this thing [the proposed two-tier system].”Hassan said that due to news in the Bangladesh media after BCB’s January 23 meeting that the board directors would support the Big Three, he had trouble convincing the ICC board members that he was going to debate some of the proposals.He confirmed that there was indeed a vote among the BCB directors at that meeting, but on whether Bangladesh will side with the majority in the ICC meeting or not. Eight votes are required by the ICC to pass a special resolution like the one proposed by the Big Three.”There was voting on one aspect. If, for instance, in the ICC meeting seven votes go in favour of the draft proposal, and two go against, whether we should still vote to pass the resolution or not. What should we do in that situation? The directors raised their hands, but I didn’t count it. The ones who raised their hands said that I should do what I feel is best for the country. Three of the directors said I should oppose.”