News about James Sands

Off the 161st Street stop on the 4 train in the Bronx, Yankee Stadium's seats flooded in blue and pink shirts as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami took on New York City FC on Saturday afternoon. In the end, Messi's subpar outing ended in a 1-1 draw, as New York City's James Sands scored his first MLS goal to shut the noise.

Despite not being invited into Gregg Berhalter's US national team squad for their upcoming games, James Sands isn't discouraged from his future dreams. All roads lead to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in North America, with heavy majority games taking place in his home country. And if that means you aren't selected for Copa America this summer, Sands' highest national team priority is doing all he can over the next two years.

Toronto FC was the lone Major League Soccer team to not allow a goal this season, with three clean sheets on the road against New York City FC on Saturday night. On a spectacular free kick goal from Santiago Rodriguez, the bubble burst in the 24th minute. NYCFC defeated 2-1 at Yankee Stadium midway through the second half on a Kevin O'Toole header, winning their first game of the season. A reversal of fortunes was not in the cards for New York, who gave Toronto's Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty a 7th-minute goal on a play marred by defensive mishaps.

After the club's 3-1 home loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday, there was a tense moment with supporters, marking the team's seventh straight game in all competitions without a victory. The result sent New York City, who won the league in 2021 and were conference champions last year, to 14th place in the Eastern Conference. Sands was allowed to hear it after the game. 'It's not good enough, James!' In a clip capturing the moment, one called out.

JOHN MCGARRY: Rangers beat Ibrox 3-2 on Sunday after an exciting Scottish Cup match against Partick Thistle. Through a Kevin Holt penalty, the visitors led off the first half, but Rangers bounced back to level form after the break through Antonio Colak. The game became more tense in the 71st minute, when Mark Tillman poked a goal for Rangers after Thistle had wanted to pass the ball out due to an injury.

JOHN McGARRY AT PITTODRIE: Asked when returning to Ibrox how his team could possibly sit at the top of the table come the end of this term, Michael Beale pointed to a simple equation. There may be no errors from his charges over the course of 23 games. Coupled with this, they'd need a favor from one of the Celtic teams. Beale's men are still holding their part of the contract after two games of his tenure. Could the Rangers' boss have reconsidered how that ended the case against Aberdeen? Never in his wildest dreams.

GRAEME CROSER AT ST. MIRREN PARK: This is the perfect time for this ailing Rangers team and the worst-case scenario for the team's dissatisfied boss. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who needed VAR to help his team win the penalty-kick equalizer in Paisley, may not be borne this weekend or even this week. The Dutchman, who suffered with a string of Champions League drubbings and discredited by a home draw against Livingston, said he needed a maximum nine points from the three remaining Premiership matches going into the hiatus for Qatar 2022. He's only been in possession of four boys.

Rangers needed a late John Lundstram leveller to save a crucial Premiership point against 10-man Livingston at Ibrox and the disgruntled fans of the team. Giovanni van Bronckhorst wanted his team to return to form after the 1-0 home Premier Sports Cup triumph over Dundee on Wednesday night, but it was also dispiring slog with no time and fluidity. VAR was operating at Ibrox for the first time, but there was no need to double-check Livi striker Joel Nouble's fourth-minute drive, giving the well-drilled visitors, who had never won in Govan, the lead and increasingly dissatisfied home supporters who booed off their side at the break.

As the national team prepares to begin the tournament against Wales next month, ex-Rangers and USMNT midfielder Maurice Edu is confident that America's Scotland-based players will be able to deal with the demands of the World Cup. Cameron Carter-Vickers of Celtic and Malik Tillman of Rangers is expected to be a member of Gregg Berhalter's squad in Qatar, while Tillman's teammate James Sands also has a chance to play. Although none of those names have ever competed in a World Cup, Edu believes that their Scotland experiences will be highly gratifying on the international stage.

Rangers enter the competition off the back of two-consecutive thrashings at Ajax and Napoli, while the Reds find some solace against the Dutch side three weeks ago, when the Serie A leaders' hands were dealt with. We take a look at where the game could be won and lost ahead of the new instalment in the 'battle of Britain.'

Robbie Neilson was expecting a lot more in this match, but instead it was an all-too familiar Tale of Two Cities. The Hearts manager's solid pre-match prediction of a home victory over Rangers was presumably based on a desire to ignite rather than any misguided optimism. Yet, Hearts froze when faced with a chance to not only reel in their opponents on points but potentially redesign them on goal difference. The central divide between the Premiership's Glasgow clubs and their Edinburgh opponents was also revealed, as the Premiership's Glasgow clubs were formerly disadvantaged. Hearts are hardly a club of Dickensian poverty and their radical fan-ownership scheme, while European ambitions point to a better and more promising future.

After losing 3-0 at Ibrox, where penalties were the game's turning point, ten-man Rangers were left searching for their first Champions League point. Allan McGregor, a returning goalkeeper, saved a retaken Piotr Zielinksi spot-kick on the hour after Gers defender James Sands was shown off conceding it before being defeated from 12 yards by Matteo Politano in the 67th minute. Giacomo Raspador finished with a second with five minutes remaining, and Tanguy Ndombele grabbed a third to add to Gers' misery.

MARK WILSON AT IBROX: It took a third penalty to finally break Allan McGregor's resistance and put an end to his hopes of returning to Rangers in the Champions League on a night when Ibrox erupted with intense emotion and chaos. The 40-year-old so nearly completed the most extraordinary hat-trick of his lengthy top-level career. McGregor was crestfallen as Matteo Politano's attack remained agonically out of reach, stretching out a gloved left-hand.

With strikers Ricardo Pepi and Josh Sargent brought back to the fold, and three Scotland-based players being voted on, USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter has selected a 26-man squad for the team's September friendlies. Pepi played a key role in World Cup qualifying, with three goals and eight starts, but he has suffered with a brutal dry spell after moving to Augsburg (and subsequent loan transfer to Groningen) in the year without a single goal. Sargent, too, struggled to score for Norwich City, which was subsequently relegated, but he has returned to form in the Championship with five goals this season.

Edson Alvarez started scoring in the 17th minute after turning a corner with a well-timed header from the center of the box to Jon McLaughlin's back post. With two goals in 115 seconds, Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus made it 3-0, with Kudus netting a superb solo effort for the match's goal. Steven Bergwijn, the Dutch winger, continued his fins form after bouncing onto a loose back pass and rounding McLaughlin.

After Rangers struggled to clear a corner, the visitors were led in the 37th minute to fire home, with the ball dropping to Ibrahim Sangare. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's guys resurfaced three minutes later when Antonio Colak began a well-planned move. Both teams looked for the game's third goal after the break, and Rangers' goalkeeper Walter Benitez miraculously allowed Tom Larence's free-kick to squirm through his hands and into the goal. Rangers were unable to keep going as they were undone at a set-piece once more, with Armando Obispo heading home another corner.

STEPHEN McGOWAN of IBROX: Rangers never expected to win in a UEFA competition before. The club's first goal, Ibrox Malik Tillman, was scored with both immaculate timing and a slice of history on a pulsing European night. It was the last time Celtic and Rangers had competed in the Champions League's group stage. Archived: 2007-08. It looked unlikely that this season would be any different after a disappointing 2-0 first leg loss in Leuven. People should know better by now, perhaps by now. Nothing is impossible in Ibrox's second leg. Rangers lost their first legs against Braga and RB Leipzig last season, but the energy of their blustering home arena swept both teams aside like a coastal storm.