Some Good News for Milan, Pulisic, USMNT 🙏🙏🙏

“We’ve already shown who we are, and we need to keep proving it every game, going out to win.”

—Milan and USMNT 20-year-old midfielder Yunus Musah, on his team’s comeback win over PSG in the Champions League. In fluent Italian.

Good News for Milan, Pulisic, USMNT:

Milan triumphed over PSG Tuesday in what was effectively a must-win Champions League group match for the hosts. And the Red and Black looked great in doing it. Leao bikes, Giroud bullet headers, key contributions from Puli and Musah … everything was going according to plan until the 90th minute, when Christian Pulisic had to come off due to what looked like a hamstring injury (WATCH).

After the match, Milan manager Stefano Pioli said Puli’s injury could be cramp — Bite yer arm off for some cramp, thought American Soccer Twitter — but that he’d still need to be evaluated. Then MRI results came in Wednesday, with the diagnosis being muscle fatigue, meaning his status is day-to-day. So CP11 could be fit to face Lecce on Saturday, and one would think he’ll be good to go for the USMNT against Trinidad & Tobago in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals on Nov. 16. 🙌

Elsewhere in Serie (US)A, Weston McKennie did a very fine job filling in for injured teammate and countryman Tim Weah at right wing back in Juventus’ 1-0 win at Fiorentina on Sunday. Unfortunately, the match wasn’t without controversy, as Fiorentina was hit with a partial stadium one-match ban afterwards, due to racist and discriminatory chanting at McKennie and two of his teammates.

One tier down in Serie B(orn in the USA), Venezia pulled off a 1-0 win over Ternana on Saturday, thanks to a beautiful team goal that was 66.6666% American. In the goal, Tanner Tessmann — a.k.a. “Birmingham Beckham” — switched play with a beautiful long ball to Dennis Johnsen, who laid it off to Gianluca Busio for the match-winner. Definitely one worth watching. Venezia are now in second place through 12 matches.

Stay PoSitiVe:

PSV’s 6-0 win at Heracles on Saturday was their 11th-straight league win to start the season. According to football stat bible Transfermarkt, should the Farmers win again on Saturday, it would be the best start to an Eredivisie season in the league’s history. An incredible feat for Pepi, Dest and Tillman to be associated with.

More on the win … Ricardo Pepi had a goal and an assist in the victory, while Malik Tillman also added a goal. Pepi now has four goals in just 201 minutes of play in all competitions, giving him a 1.79 Goals Per 90 average. For comparison, Harry Kane is averaging 1.56 GP90, second-best in Europe’s big five leagues … MORE: PSV in second place in UCL Group B after 1-0 win over Lens Wednesday … EVEN MORE: Rog’s Interview with PSV Technical Director, and former USMNT star, Earnie Stewart drops Friday. Part of a new series with PSV, we are so bloody excited to share the stories of their development, history, and care for our boys abroad. Make sure to keep an eye on our socials for that first episode drop and for more to come.

Trusty the Process:

Congrats to Sheffield United and Blades supporters on their first win of the season against Wolves on Saturday. And special congrats to Auston Trusty for starting and going the full 90 in the win. Prior to this season, the MLS product had been very open about his lifelong dream of playing in the Premier League, and based on this video shared by Sheffield socials, it’s clear what the win — in just his fourth career PL start — meant to him. There’s a reason why this lad was so warmly embraced by Birmingham City fans while on loan in the Championship last season. 🙌

Matt Turner was benched in Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa. Forest boss Steve Cooper spoke about the reason behind the benching afterwards, saying it wasn’t because of his mistake against Liverpool in the previous match that led to a Mo Salah goal (WATCH).

🗣 "If (Turner has) done 10 percent not so good, he's done 90 percent really good things — and that's where we're focused. But there's a couple of things we want to continue his development with and felt this was behind the decision."

Turner has been tested before, and knows how to face challenges head-on. We’re quite certain he’ll be back pushing for the No. 1 spot in no time. 💪

Elsewhere in England … Tim Ream and Scouse Speedster Antonee Robinson played the full 90 in Fulham’s tough 1-0 loss to Manchester United. … Haji Wright bagged a brace — including a cheeky backheel finish — in a 3-2 loss at Preston North End, with Duane Holmes scoring the opener for PNE … Reggie Cannon started and played the full 90 in QPR’s 1-1 draw at Rotherham United, snapping a six-match losing streak.

DMV Donovan Delivers in Germany:

Kevin Paredes scored his first goal of the season for Wolfsburg in their 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen on Sunday (WATCH). Besides the goal, Paredes was excellent overall in the match, earning high praise from manager Niko Kovac afterwards.

🗣 “Kevin is an asset to our team thanks to his enthusiasm for the game. No matter which position he plays in, whether it’s on the wing, at left back in the back three or at number eight. I’m delighted with this development and he’s not an American international for nothing. He will continue to get his chance. If he continues to train so well and work hard, I can see a good future for him.”

Next up for DMV Donovan: A potential spot with the USMNT for their upcoming Nations League matches.

More from Deutschland … Jordan Pefok scored his third goal in his last two games for Borussia Monchengladbach in their 3-3 draw with Freiburg, but had to sub off in the first half due to an injury … In Bundesliga Bowl I, Paxten Aaronson and Brenden Aaronson both came on as subs in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-0 win at Union Berlin. Brenden and Union bounced back from the loss with an impressive draw Wednesday at Napoli in the Champions League … Julian Green had a goal and an assist in Greuther Fürth’s 2-0 win at Kaiserslautern. “Good Julian Good” now has three goals and four assists for Henry Kissinger’s favorite club.

🚨🚨THE MEN IN BLAZERS WOMEN’S AMERICAN FOOTBALL AWARDS, presented by Bud Light 🏆🏆🏆🍻

Last May, we launched our first annual American Men’s Football Awards, Presented by Bud Light. An event designed to give you a voice in deciding on America’s Premier League Player of the Year and America’s American Premier League Player of the Year. The awards were announced via a TV Show on NBC with Erling Haaland and Tim Ream graciously accepting their respective awards on the broadcast (for realz). 

Today, as we hurtle toward the culmination of another NWSL season o’ seasons, we announce the MiB Network’s Women’s American Football Awards in which you can decide NWSL Player of the Year, American Player of the Year and International Player of the Year. The nominees will be revealed in THIS WEEK’S RAVEN NEWSLETTER when voting will officially commence. You vote through an exclusive link in the RAVEN or through our THE WOMEN’S GAME NEWSLETTER over the next two weeks. The winners will be revealed in a special YouTube Live Night of Nights in December. It has been a magical year for the women’s game. A truly incredible World Cup, a hyper-competitive NWSL season and the inexorable growth of the game we love around the world.

News and Notes:

• Dante Polvara threaded a beauty of an assist in Aberdeen’s 1-0 win at Hibs in the Scottish League Cup semifinals on Saturday, despite the Dons being down to 10 men at the time (WATCH). It was Polvara’s third goal contribution (2G 1A) in his last seven matches in all comps.

• Alex Zendejas is flying. The FC Dallas product scored in Club America’s 3-0 win over Tijuana on Saturday (WATCH), his fifth goal contribution (4G 1A) in CA’s last six matches, all wins.

• Goalkeepers Gaga Slonina and Zion Suzuki went head-to-head in Eupen’s 1-1 draw at St. Truiden. Slonina had four saves to Suzuki’s one, with the Chelsea loanee’s Eupen side only conceding via an own goal from their center back.

• More from Belgium, as Bryan Reynolds and recent signee Griffin Yow both started in Westerlo’s 2-0 win at OH Leuven. The victory was just Westerlo’s second of the season, coming in the American duo’s second start together.

Parting Shots:

Great great news out of the Midlands this week, as Daryl Dike is back to training with West Bromwich Albion. The club shared video of Dike working out on the pitch Tuesday, which would seem to keep him on schedule for a return to action in January. Dike had been out since last April due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, and has played in just 27 matches for the Baggies since joining in December 2021. Here’s to hoping we see this truly likable, not to mention truly talented, striker back on the pitch soon.