u/IndividualPleasant23

Cooper Sánchez, the footballer Rafa Márquez wants, but who cannot play for Mexico yet

The Atlanta United midfielder acknowledged that he has Mexican heritage and that the national team has contacted him. Cooper Sánchez needs a Mexican passport to play for El Tri.

Cooper Sánchez has opened the door to a story that Mexican fans will be following closely. The young Atlanta United midfielder confirmed that he has Mexican heritage and that the Mexican national team has already approached him to explore the possibility of representing them.

However, there is a concrete obstacle: for now, he cannot obtain a Mexican passport, which prevents him from playing for El Tri. Born on March 26, 2008, in Seattle, Washington, Sánchez is a product of the Atlanta United academy. He signed a Homegrown contract in August 2025 and quickly earned first-team minutes.

At just 18, he already has experience with the United States' youth national teams, including the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar, where he started several matches.

His surname and family background make him a potential dual-national. The player himself acknowledged Mexico's approach, but made it clear that the passport issue is the main obstacle at the moment. Without the document, he cannot be called up or make his debut for Mexico.

Cooper Sánchez is a rising prospect

Sánchez plays as a central midfielder and can also operate as a defensive midfielder. His time in Atlanta's academy, a brief stint with Columbus Crew, and experience at Dutch club FC Utrecht helped develop him before he returned to MLS.

In 2026, he established himself as one of Tata Martino's coaching staff's promising young players and has received call-ups to the United States' U-19 and U-20 teams.

Mexico's interest is no coincidence. El Tri continues to look for quality options in midfield, and the profile of a young player developed in MLS with Mexican roots is attractive in the medium term. The passport issue, however, means they have to wait.

Cooper Sánchez (left) has already played for several U.S. youth national teams.

Cooper Sánchez's profile:

-Born March 26, 2008, in Seattle, Washington.

-Atlanta United Homegrown player since August 2025.

-Has represented the United States at U-16, U-17 (2025 World Cup in Qatar), and U-19/U-20 levels.

-Has confirmed his Mexican heritage and that Mexico has approached him.

-Currently unable to obtain a Mexican passport.

An eligibility story that is only beginning

Cases like Cooper Sánchez's are becoming increasingly common in CONCACAF football. Players born in the United States with Mexican or other Latin American roots attract the interest of both federations.

Until the passport issue is resolved, the midfielder will remain available for the U.S. youth teams while continuing to establish himself at Atlanta United.

Mexico has already taken the first step by contacting him. Now, time and the necessary paperwork will determine whether he eventually wears the green shirt.

For now, Sánchez continues to develop in MLS, while his name remains on Mexico's radar. His eligibility story is only beginning, and it could become a major talking point in the coming years.

No one bids for women’s football broadcasting rights

With no bidders willing to meet La Liga F’s minimum asking price of €5 million, a new one-week bidding period has been opened, this time with no minimum price.

La Liga F will have to hold a second round of bidding to sell its audiovisual rights. No one was willing to pay the minimum asking price set by the organization: €5 million for the eight matches per matchday, or €2 million for a single match broadcast free-to-air. There were also no offers for the international rights, which had been priced at €800,000.

Broadcasters will now have until August 19 to submit new offers, barely ten days before the competition is scheduled to begin on August 29. This time, there will be no minimum bid.

For the previous rights holder, DAZN, broadcasting women’s football turned out to be a financial disaster. It was paying €7 million per season before terminating the contract a year early. Now, despite the reduced asking price, no broadcaster is willing to take over for the current period. It looks bad.

This is a difficult and hard-to-understand situation for a competition that wants to present itself as professional. But there is an even more important question: how are the clubs supposed to prepare their budgets if they don't know how much television revenue they will receive?

Clubs have to plan salaries, transfers, coaching staff, travel, facilities and professional structures, all of which require financial certainty. Yet with barely two weeks to go before the season starts, they still don't know who will broadcast the competition or how much money they will receive from the audiovisual rights.

The clubs also bear some responsibility here, because they have repeatedly backed the management of the organization running the competition. If they support the management model, they must also accept their share of the responsibility when things don't work. This isn't simply a broadcasting problem; it's a problem of planning and management.

La Liga F had set reserve prices for its rights. The market has responded in the first round by saying it isn't willing to pay them. That doesn't mean women's football has no value. It means that the value La Liga F believes its product has does not currently match what broadcasters are willing to pay. And that's where a serious discussion should begin.

Especially considering that La Liga F's own organizational chart, published in its transparency section, currently lists the position responsible for competitions and audiovisual products as vacant. The question is inevitable: who is actually leading such a strategically important issue as the competition's audiovisual product?

It's not enough to simply put the rights on the market, set a price and wait for someone to accept it. You have to build an attractive product, analyze the market, understand the broadcasters and know what you can realistically demand and offer. If the first round failed, perhaps the question should be whether the €5 million and €2 million price points were realistic, whether the commercialization model is appropriate, or whether enough is being done to increase the competition's television value.

The second round will provide an answer. But it is coming late. Clubs need certainty to prepare their budgets, while fans need to know where they will be able to watch the competition. On August 19, we will find out whether anyone ultimately decides to bid for the rights.

Argentina's Clubs with the Most Members in 2026

River Plate remains Argentina's club with the most registered members, followed by Boca Juniors and Independiente. Rosario Central is the highest-ranked club from outside Buenos Aires, placing fourth.

According to the 2025 AFA Club Report, officially published by the Argentine Football Association in January 2026, River Plate continues to have the largest membership base in the country. The report compiles data provided by clubs in the Argentine top flight and is the most recent official reference available.

River and Boca in a different league

River leads the ranking with 352,712 members, giving them a lead of more than 70,000 over Boca, who are second with 282,644. Combined, the two clubs have more than 635,000 members, maintaining a considerable gap over the rest of Argentine football.

Independiente are third with 165,262 members, making them the club with the third-largest membership base in the country and the largest outside the River-Boca duo.

Membership ranking in Argentina

1. River Plate: 352,712 members

2. Boca Juniors: 282,644

3. Independiente: 165,262

4. Rosario Central: 104,951

5. Racing Club: 102,707

6. San Lorenzo: 89,717

7. Newell's Old Boys: 84,759

8. Vélez Sarsfield: 79,083

9. Talleres: 70,582

10. Huracán: 68,755

The ranking's big surprise

One of the report's most striking figures is Rosario Central's fourth-place finish. The Canalla have 104,951 members, putting them ahead of traditionally considered major clubs such as Racing and San Lorenzo.

Racing also surpassed the 100,000 mark, registering 102,707 members.

San Lorenzo, Newell's, Vélez, Talleres and Huracán complete the top 10, with clubs from outside Buenos Aires—particularly those from Rosario and Córdoba—making a strong showing.

The strength of clubs outside Buenos Aires

Rosario Central are the highest-ranked club from outside Buenos Aires, while Newell's sit seventh with 84,759 members. Talleres also made the top 10 with 70,582.

Meanwhile, Belgrano narrowly missed the top 10, ranking 11th with 67,318 members.

A significant gap across the full ranking

While River have more than 350,000 members, clubs at the other end of the table have much smaller structures. According to the official report, Deportivo Riestra have 1,007 members, the lowest figure among the top-flight clubs surveyed.

The AFA said the survey aims to provide transparency and an objective basis for analyzing the institutional reality of Argentine clubs, which it considers fundamental social, cultural and sporting institutions.

Pablo Milad, president of the Chilean Football Federation (ANFP), said Chilean football fully backs FIFA president Gianni Infantino ahead of the elections in which he will seek re-election.

In recent weeks, Infantino’s leadership has faced widespread criticism over his failed FFE (FIFA Forward Enterprise) project, which sought to commercialize a stake in World Cup broadcasting rights.

Against that backdrop, and amid speculation about possible tensions stemming from the 2030 World Cup bidding process—which saw Chile excluded—the head of Chilean football sought to put those concerns to rest.

In an exclusive interview with BioBioChile, Milad flatly dismissed any lingering resentment over what happened with the 2030 World Cup, calling it “a chapter that is over.”

It is worth remembering that CONMEBOL, with Infantino’s backing, is seeking to expand the next World Cup to 64 teams as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930.

“It’s primarily about celebrating FIFA’s 100-year history, which has made the World Cup the most important sporting competition in the world,” said the ANFP president.

Asked directly whether Chilean football’s support for the FIFA president would be made public, Milad reiterated: “Today, we give our full support to Gianni Infantino.”

“What happened is in the past. It was nothing more than a proposal, and that proposal has already been withdrawn,” the ANFP president concluded.

CONMEBOL united “as always” behind Infantino

Chile’s backing confirms that CONMEBOL has become something of a shield protecting Gianni Infantino at what may be his most difficult moment.

While associations and federations around the world are increasingly speaking out against him, South American football remains firmly behind him.

Argentina, Venezuela and Ecuador had already officially announced their support through separate statements. Now, Milad’s comments to BioBioChile indicate that Chile has joined them.

If anyone thought Chile might break ranks because of the rejection it suffered over the 2030 World Cup, they were mistaken.

“CONMEBOL votes as a bloc; it has always been that way,” Milad told the outlet.

However, looking ahead to FIFA’s elections next March, Milad also stressed that “it will be up to the future board to make that decision,” noting that the ANFP itself will hold internal elections in November.

Divisions among federations over Infantino

Unlike CONMEBOL, other confederations have seen countries break ranks with the positions taken by their respective blocs.

CONCACAF, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, has opposed Infantino’s project, expressing “deep concern” over the Swiss-Italian’s governance.

Despite this, Mexico supports the FIFA president. The reason, according to the report, is an alleged FIFA offer for Mexico to move its national teams into CONMEBOL, effectively giving them an “upgrade” in exchange for their vote in the upcoming FIFA elections.

A different situation has emerged in Oceania. While the confederation backed Infantino, New Zealand Football (NZF) reversed its position.

NZF decided not to support Infantino’s re-election and called for an independent review of his leadership.

The forward trained with his teammates for the first time this Wednesday following his return from the 2026 World Cup.

Atlético Madrid manager Diego Pablo Simeone and Julián Álvarez had a roughly ten-minute conversation before Wednesday’s training session, marking their first meeting since the Argentine forward expressed his desire to leave the club during the 2026 World Cup, according to multiple sources who spoke to ESPN.

The conversation took place in a room at Atlético Madrid’s Cerro del Espino training complex and, according to sources, Julián reiterated to Simeone his desire to leave the club.

Atlético rejected an offer of around €100 million from Barcelona for the Argentine several weeks ago, having previously done the same with a €150 million offer from Real Madrid.

Barcelona sources insist that Julián remains Hansi Flick’s priority to replace Robert Lewandowski, and the Catalan club had been waiting for the meeting between Simeone and the forward before making another move. That meeting finally took place Wednesday and, according to sources, was prompted by Julián Álvarez’s desire to explain to his coach “in his own words” how he feels about the situation.

Sources also told ESPN that the forward is concerned about the media frenzy surrounding his situation. Simeone understood his concerns and remained close and straightforward with him throughout the conversation.

Julián spoke first, reiterating his desire to leave Atlético Madrid. Simeone listened and told the forward that he would support him on the sporting side because he considers him a key player in the project, while everything else is a matter for the club. In fact, Simeone had already said publicly in Seoul, before the preseason match against Manchester City, that he would help Julián “on the sporting side so that he can continue growing, improving and giving us the best of what he has given us over these past few years, which has been a tremendous amount.”

Julián, resigned to the situation, understood Simeone’s position, as it was what, according to sources close to the player, he expected. Despite reports over the past few months, the relationship between the two remains very cordial. There are some tactical decisions Julián has complaints about, but those are considered simple sporting differences.

Those close to Julián have always appreciated Simeone’s stance throughout the season, particularly from October onward, when La Araña went 119 days without scoring a league goal across 14 consecutive matches.

The conversation ended with a handshake and a mutual commitment to professionalism, as has been the case until now. Simeone reiterated that, if Julián stays, he will continue treating him as he has until now: as the key player that he is. He also made clear that anything off the pitch is something Julián needs to discuss with the club, something the forward understood perfectly well. The two then headed to the training session without any issues.

ESPN contacted Atlético Madrid to get the club’s assessment of the meeting between their manager and their star player. According to sources at the club, they viewed the meeting positively and described it as “something normal” given everything that has happened this summer.

Meanwhile, those close to Julián are still waiting for the club to change its position before the end of the transfer window. However, Atlético sources continue to insist that the Córdoba-born forward will not be sold to Barcelona.

Para mí los bodegones están recontra sobrevalorados. Ahora cualquier lugar que sirve comida genérica, bastante berreta y en porciones gigantes se vende como “bodegón de barrio”, como si eso automáticamente le diera algún tipo de valor cultural o gastronómico.

Y siempre con el mismo verso de “acá somos pueblo”, “comida de verdad”, “como la que hacía la abuela”, etc. Hermano, me estás sirviendo una milanesa de dudosa calidad con papas aceitosas y una ensalada que parece estar ahí desde ayer. Que la porción sea enorme no convierte la comida en buena.

Lo peor es que ni siquiera es que sean particularmente baratos. Antes por lo menos entendía el concepto: comida sencilla, abundante, medio rústica y a un precio razonable. Hoy muchos bodegones te cobran bastante caro por comida que, siendo generosos, es mediocre. Pagás la cantidad y el relato de “somos un bodegón de barrio”, no necesariamente la calidad.

Obviamente hay bodegones muy buenos y con identidad propia, pero siento que se metió todo en la misma bolsa. Si tenés porciones gigantes, una carta interminable, comida genérica y una foto de Maradona en la pared, automáticamente sos “un bodegón”.

I just don't think that was the actual issue at all. Like, if you had Man of Steel introducing Superman and his world, then BvS doing the same with Batman and Wonder Woman, you could easily go straight to a Justice League movie from there. There was enough basis for it.

Like, for all the problems either version of Justice League has, I just don't see how the issue was "it doesn't have enough backstory for the Flash and Aquaman." That just wasn't the problem at all. People say it because they seem to think the only way the franchise could have worked was by exactly copying Marvel, which I feel is silly.

Especially because The Avengers was the first MCU movie for a lot of people anyway. The movie doesn't depend on you having seen all the solo movies. And the Justice League characters were arguably more well known in popular culture than the Avengers were before that movie.

The movies just weren't good enough. It seems like people have turned "they didn't do enough solo movies" into this huge structural problem, when I don't think that was the issue at all.

One of the biggest myths around James Gunn is that he loves obscure characters because he's this massive deep-cut comics fan who just wants to give forgotten heroes their moment. I really don't think that's what's going on.

I think the real appeal of those characters is that they're essentially blank slates for most of the audience. If Gunn rewrites Peacemaker, Vigilante, the Guardians, or Creature Commandos to fit his style, almost nobody cares because almost nobody has a strong attachment to how those characters "should" act. For the average viewer, that version becomes the definitive version.

When the characters are obscure, he can get away with that. In fact, people praise him for "making them interesting." But that's because there aren't millions of fans saying, "That's not how this character is supposed to be."

The real challenge is characters who already have firmly established identities. You can't just reinvent Superman the same way you reinvent Peacemaker. You can't do that with Batman or Wonder Woman either.

I actually think you can see that in Superman. I liked the movie overall, but it also felt like Gunn was less comfortable than usual. He couldn't completely mold Superman into one of his usual character archetypes, so instead he surrounded him with characters like the Justice Gang, who fit his style much more naturally.

That might also explain why DCU Batman and Wonder Woman seem to be taking so much longer to crack.

O sea, hacerla justo antes del Mundial, como casi termina pasando, también habría sido un despropósito. Hacerla ahora no tiene ningún sentido.

Yo de verdad creo que el concepto de la Finalissima está bueno. No debería ser tan difícil encontrar alguna fecha en todo el año entre la Copa América/Eurocopa y el Mundial.

Igual, le echo un poco más de culpa a los europeos por estar "ocupados" con la boludez de la Nations League, que no le importa a nadie.