Jon Marthaler's soccer short takes

Short takes

• The U.S. women's national team finished its 2018 schedule with road victories against Portugal and Scotland, giving the squad an undefeated season for the fourth time in history. On the one hand, the two wins were both unexpectedly difficult, both coming by tight 1-0 matches. On the other hand, the team hasn't lost in 28 matches and has outscored opponents 93-17 in that span. So how bad can things be? The team's next round of friendlies comes in January.

• There's less optimism about the United States men's national team, which got hammered 3-0 by England's second string on Thursday. USMNT fans have been hoping that the past year has given a young team time to grow into a good squad, but the performance against England seems to indicate that the U.S. is just as far away from success as it has ever been.

• Brexit means … problems for the Premier League? A report in the Times of London suggests that, as part of Brexit planning, England's Football Association will push the Premier League to cut the number of non-English players on their 25-man squads to 12 from 17. The governing body might otherwise require Premier League teams to obtain work permits for all foreign players. Given onerous qualifying criteria, many players might not get permits and would have to leave.