U.S. federation elects Cordeiro as president
Carlos Cordeiro was elected president of the U.S. Soccer Federation on Saturday, taking control of an organization that must chart a new course after its men’s team failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup.
Cordeiro has been the righthand man of outgoing president Sunil Gulati. He now is charged with running the U.S. end of a bid with Mexico and Canada for the 2026 World Cup.
He won on the third ballot with 68.6 percent of the vote.
“This is incredibly humbling,” said Cordeiro, the USSF vice president the past two years.
The vote initially featured eight candidates. Cordeiro pulled away from Kathy Carter, on-leave president of Major League Soccer’s marketing arm. She had the backing of MLS Commissioner Don Garber and narrowly trailed Cordeiro on the first ballot.
The other candidates were: former men’s national team players Paul Caligiuri, Kyle Martino and Eric Wynalda, lawyers Steve Gans and Michael Winograd and former U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Hope Solo.
All of the challengers to Cordeiro and Carter — both with close ties to Gulati — campaigned on platforms calling for change within the organization. All eight were given five minutes to address delegates before voting began.
“The two establishment candidates, Carlos Cordeiro and Kathy Carter, haven’t just been part of the system, they have created and shaped into what it is today,” Solo said. “A vote for either one of them is a vote for the status quo.”
Cordeiro, however, said he was the only candidate with the experience and plan to “hit the ground running on Day 1 and deliver the change we need.”
“We have made progress, but we need to make more. Today, the status quo is unacceptable,” Cordeiro said. “U.S. Soccer needs to change, transformational change. This vote comes down to one simple question: Who can actually deliver that change?”
Cordeiro immediately takes over for Gulati, who decided against seeking a fourth fouryear term after the U.S. was unable to make the 32-team World Cup field in Russia. Gulati will retain a role as a member of the USSF board and the FIFA executive council, and as chairman of the North American bid for the 2026 World Cup.
English Premier League: Sergio Aguero scored four goals as EPL leader Manchester City thrashed Leicester City 5-1. Aguero scored his goals in the second half, propelling City to a 16-point lead at the top of the standings.
Meanwhile, with a north London derby victory, Tottenham emerged from one of its most taxing runs unbeaten and with its top-four pursuit reinvigorated.
Harry Kane’s second-half header beat Arsenal 1-0 as Tottenham was in complete control at Wembley Stadium in front of an EPL record crowd of 83,222.
Tottenham has collected seven points from a possible nine, following victory over Manchester United and a draw at Liverpool, to climb into the third Champions League qualification place.
Briefly: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hat trick of the season to fuel Real Madrid’s 5-2 home win over Real Sociedad . ... Neymar scored the winner as French league leader Paris Saint-Germain won 1-0 at Toulouse. PSG is 12 points ahead of defending champion Monaco, which won at Angers 4-0 and moved up to second place . ... Borussia Dortmund beat Hamburger SV 2-0 for its 500th Bundesliga win at home . ... Napoli retook Italy’s Serie A lead by crushing third-placed Lazio 4-1. Napoli leasds six-time defending champion Juventus by one point.