Short takes
• The U.S. women's national team defeated Chile twice in a week, 3-0 and 4-0, and now looks to the CONCACAF Championship in October, which also will function as the qualifier for next summer's World Cup. The United States has a good shot at ending 2018 undefeated, and hasn't lost since July of last year. But it's difficult to know just how good the USA is, given that it plays most of its games at home. The team has played just three road games since the 2016 Olympics, and one of those was in Canada.
• Italian sports newspaper Gazetta dello Sport published details of the payrolls of Italian clubs, and the most shocking number was Cristiano Ronaldo's paycheck. The new Juventus striker is making nearly $36 million this year. That's more than the entire squads of 10 Serie A teams and nearly four times as much as the next highest-paid player. So far, Ronaldo hasn't scored a goal, though Juventus has won three games out of three.
• This weekend is the kickoff of the new UEFA Nations League, a year-round competition for national teams that will replace many international friendlies. It remains to be seen whether fans will embrace it. If they do, expect to see the format exported to the rest of the world.
