I have joined the Guardian today as a soccer correspondent in the United States. This is why I cover the sport
As the shootout loomed to close the 1999 Women’s World Cup, millions of US women’s national team fans fought their nerves. But at our family’s watch party in central Minnesota, nobody doubted the USWNT’s chances.
My relatives – all soccer fans – were fixated upon the action as each second passed, as is the nature of a soccer family like mine. As extra time progressed, they reassured me, aged five, that our team was in control. I wasn’t exactly locked in to the match – it was summer in Minnesota, and my brother and sister had our own ball to kick around – but I clearly remember my family’s confidence in that moment.
Jeff joins the Guardian as part of our ongoing expansion covering soccer in the United States ahead of the 2026 World Cup. He arrives alongside two other new hires: soccer correspondent Pablo Iglesias Maurer and assistant sports editor Ella Brockway. He is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.