Hello and welcome to the L.A. Times’ weekly soccer newsletter. I’m Kevin Baxter, the Times’ soccer reporter, and I’m writing you this week from just outside Dallas, where the reigning world champion women’s national team just clinched a spot in next summer’s World Cup by running roughshod over the rest of the field in the regional qualifying tournament.
In addition to exploring the ridiculous global dominance of the U.S. women, this week we’ll give a shout-out to Canadian superstar Christine Sinclair, who is poised to become the most prolific scorer, male or female, in soccer history; talk about the men’s team, which is trying to move forward after missing its first World Cup in 32 years; touch on what the increasing diversity in U.