The San Diego Wave hired Landon Donovan as its new interim head coach, the team announced Friday. Donovan replaces outgoing interim head coach Paul Buckle, whose original commitment to the team only ran through the summer window. Donovan holds a USSF A senior license and will coach the Wave through the end of the 2024 NWSL season while the club continues its search for a permanent hire.

Donovan is one of the most decorated U.S. men’s soccer players in program history with 57 goals in 157 international caps, as well as winning the MLS Cup six times. He was vice president of soccer operations for the San Diego Loyal in USL until the club folded in 2023 due to an inability to find “a viable near- and long-term stadium solution in the market.” Before that, Donovan was the Loyal’s head coach from 2019 to 2022.

“Landon’s level of knowledge, understanding and experience as both a player and a coach, provides us with a leader that can help guide this club to where we want to be — in a playoff position and competing for a Championship. His passion for this city and growing the game, along with having a player-first mentality, make him a natural fit for this club,” said Wave general manager Camille Ashton via a club statement.

Donovan will take over immediately, coaching…

For the past couple of months, the Chicago Red Stars have been scrambling to find a replacement venue for their September 21 game, which was originally to be played at SeatGeek Stadium, their home venue in Bridgeview.

Chicago music festival Riot Fest announced in June that they would be using SeatGeek’s parking lots that weekend for their event, a move that would have disrupted the Red Stars’ ability to use the stadium, with tens of thousands of people expected to attend the concert.

But in a somewhat anticlimactic but welcome development, the conflict has disappeared on its own: Riot Fest will instead be moving back to the city of Chicago proper, leaving SeatGeek unimpeded for its originally scheduled event, a home game against the San Diego Wave.

Red Stars president Karen Leetzow was obviously pleased with the development, telling The Athletic that Riot Fest organizers had confirmed the move to her in writing on Monday, just as the club was preparing to announce its new emergency alternative venue.

That alternative venue? CPKC Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Current. Leetzow said KC Current president Raven Jemison had called her after hearing the initial report of Riot Fest moving to Bridgeview and offered CPKC as a backup, with KC a 90-minute flight from Chicago.

“We…

Arsenal have confirmed the departure of Cloe Lacasse on a permanent transfer to NWSL side Utah Royals.

Lacasse has joined the Royals on a contract until the end of the 2027 NWSL season.

The Royals has added the 31-year-old forward to the roster by acquiring an international roster spot through to 2025 in a trade with NJ/NY Gotham FC in exchange for $100,000 in allocation money.

Lacasse spent just one season in north London after signing from Benfica last summer and made 28 appearances, scoring five goals. She also helped Jonas Eidevall’s side win the 2023-24 Continental Cup final, starting in their 1-0 win over Chelsea at Molineux.

19 of those appearances were in the Women’s Super League but just six were starts, with Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead often starting ahead of her out wide.

Arsenal signing Mariona Caldentey, who can operate out wide as well as an attacking midfielder, from Barcelona this summer could see Lacasse’s opportunities for game-time dwindle further this season.

“We are excited to be adding a player of Cloe’s quality to our squad,” said Royals sporting director Kelly Cousins. “Her ability on the ball is world-class, but her industry on both sides of the ball speaks to her character. Her presence will be important in continuing to build our club’s…

Angel City have confirmed the signing of former Manchester United captain Katie Zelem on a deal through to 2026.

Zelem, 28, joins after leaving United following the expiration of her contract at the end of June, bringing an end to a chapter that saw her make over 160 appearances for the club.

A product of United’s academy, Zelem initially left in 2013 due to the absence of a senior women’s team, moving on to Liverpool and later Juventus. However, she rejoined United in 2018 when the club re-established its women’s side, quickly becoming a cornerstone of the squad.

Named as captain ahead of United’s debut season in the Women’s Super League, Zelem played a pivotal role in the team’s rise, leading them to promotion in 2019 and their first-ever Champions League qualification in the 2022-23 campaign. She also helped United clinch the FA Cup with a victory at Wembley last season against Tottenham Hotspur.

Welcome to LA, Katie!
#AngelCityFC announces that England WNT midfielder Katie Zelem has signed with the club through 2026 via free agency. Zelem, former team captain for Man Utd, joins the club as the first signing of the August transfer window.https://t.co/T4nF5Qx2nH pic.twitter.com/KU2QpNTRA9

— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) August 12, 2024

United finished fifth…

PARIS — When the final whistle came, mercifully, Crystal Dunn collapsed forward onto her knees and pounded her fists into the grass. The bench emptied onto the field, the stadium — fans long eager, and waiting, for a fifth Olympic gold medal — erupted. But in that moment, Dunn was alone and thinking of her own journey to this point.

“You think about all the sacrifices you made,” she said. “Yeah, this game is hard but it’s not just this game. It’s everything you went through. It’s the whole tournament, the buildup.”

For Dunn, it’s not just the buildup of the last year after this program went through a historically disastrous early departure from the 2023 World Cup. It’s not just the last three months, when new head coach Emma Hayes was finally installed at the helm of the U.S. women’s national team program. For Dunn, the player who has the longest history with the senior national team, it’s everything she has gone through since 2013. The rosters she made, the rosters she didn’t. The tournaments they won, and more often, the tournaments they didn’t. The highs and lows. The injuries. The comebacks. All of it.

And on Saturday evening in Parc des Princes — sacrifices and buildup behind her, a 1-0 win against Brazil on the scoreboard, 106 minutes…

Follow live coverage of Day 12 of the 2024 Paris Olympics, with 21 gold medals on offer

LYON, France — Emma Hayes wanted her players to suffer.

On Monday, the U.S. women’s national team head coach showed her team a video of ultramarathoner Courtney Dauwalter discussing how she digs deep during 100-mile races. Dauwalter enters what she calls her “pain cave” during races. With every mile, Dauwalter imagines herself in a hard hat with a chisel, picking at the walls of the pain cave, tolerating more and more and more.

“I could see today that players were having to dig to the deepest place within them,” Hayes said Tuesday, following their second consecutive extra-time win in the semifinal against Germany.

“I’ve said this all along — the reason I want to play the team together for as long as possible is because I want them to develop that. I want them to suffer. I want them to have that moment because I do not believe you can win without it.”

A year to the day after it was bounced from the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Melbourne, Australia, the U.S. survived and advanced. In four days, back in Paris, the U.S. will have a chance to win a gold medal. The team is not the same as it was a year ago. Right now, the players are tired, forced to dig deep mentally with each new…

The best things come in threes and the U.S. women’s national team front three is no exception. On Tuesday in the Olympic Games semifinal, it was Sophia Smith who scored the winning goal. But collectively, Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson have contributed to 10 of the team’s 11 goals this tournament.

“Honestly, I don’t remember anything that just happened,” Smith told NBC after the match. “I know Mal played me a perfect through ball. I know I had to step up in a big moment for this team.”

By now it’s clear U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes wants to stick with her chosen starting XI as far as they can go. The team had some forced rotation when defender Tierna Davidson returned from injury and midfielder Sam Coffey returned from a yellow card suspension. However, Davidson only played one half and was substituted for Emily Sonnett at halftime. Another key player, midfielder Rose Lavelle, came off in the 60th minute for forward Lynn Williams, perhaps nursing some foot or ankle tenderness from a hard block in the quarterfinal against Japan.

For their part, Germany didn’t look fresh either, which seemed to manifest in a highly physical game with plenty of shoves and barges. Was it by design to frustrate the U.S. and break up any attempt at…

The U.S. women’s national team has been weathering the wear and tear of the Olympics, but ahead of a semifinal match against Germany on Tuesday, everyone was in training.

“It’s a great sign,” head coach Emma Hayes said.

Hayes did not provide details about who might be available against Germany.

Defender Tierna Davidson collided with German defender Jules Brand during the second game of the group stage. Emily Sonnett replaced Davidson in the 44th minute of that game and the subsequent two matches against Australia and Japan. Hayes, at the time, said Davidson was dealing with a knee contusion.

On Sunday, the U.S. battled through 120 minutes against Japan. Trinity Rodman scored the winning goal in the 104th minute, but Emily Fox, Korbin Albert, and Rodman all needed trainers’ help in extra time. Fox came off the field after her injury in the 121st minute of the game, and Casey Krueger took her place.

The U.S. is heading for a rematch against a team it has already played in this tournament, but it was clear that Hayes and the players weren’t expecting the same sort of game they experienced in Marseille.

GO DEEPER

USWNT 4-1 Germany: U.S. finds scoring groove to secure knockout spot at 2024 Olympics

“Even if you play the same opponent a week apart, they’re always two very,…

PARIS — The U.S. women’s soccer team is through to the Olympic semifinals following its 1-0 extra-time victory against Japan at Parc des Princes thanks to Trinity Rodman’s left foot, a heaping dose of patience and confidence in consistency.

It wasn’t pretty football, but it was what the U.S. expected. When the players walked through the mixed zone, they didn’t care how it looked. They cared about moving on to the semifinal against Germany in Lyon. The same went for head coach Emma Hayes.

“I’m paid to do this job,” Hayes said. “What I’m interested in is what we do in-house. I’ve been coaching football matches a long time. I’ve said it from the beginning: connections help. I don’t believe we’d have gone through if we’d have made too many changes.”

With Japan in a low block and content to allow them to possess for most of regular time, the U.S. could only try pushing the ball horizontally across the back line from Emily Sonnett to Naomi Girma to Emily Fox and back. Their brief forays forward were generally rebuffed, and Japan shut down most attempts at creating any pockets of space.

By the second half of Saturday’s game, the isolated whistles from the crowd at the conservative passes between the USWNT back line had escalated into stadium-wide…

It was far from the most entertaining match of soccer this Olympics has offered — even French-influenced booing rang out every time the U.S. played out of the back. It was forward Trinity Rodman who eventually fought through tired legs and a compact Japan defense to find the back of the net for the U.S. in extra time of a drawn-out quarterfinal match.

Even with the utmost respect and knowledge of Japan, U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes’ side struggled against their opponent.

Japan shut down the front three of Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith for much of the game. The trio who had been so dominant in the group stage slowed in the knockout round opener. Could tired legs, forced changes in the midfield and cautionary play be to blame? Sure, but Japan is also a very clinical team, able to cede possession and attack when they can create chances.

“Minimal changes gives you the better chance to build the creativity, so I will not change anything I’m doing,” Hayes said before the quarterfinal match. But on Saturday the lack of rotation led to the exact opposite of creativity. And still, she waited until the start of extra time to make her first sub: Lynn Williams on for Swanson.

For the first time at the Paris Games, the U.S. had to rely heavily on its…