WASHINGTON (AP) — Tyler Adams has set a bold goal for the U.S. soccer team, aiming to reach the World Cup semifinals for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1930.
“Everyone’s going to want us to say winning it is obviously the goal,” the American midfielder said Friday after the World Cup draw, “but I think setting the benchmark of the furthest the U.S. team has gone is also realistic.”
The 14th-ranked U.S. will start Group D against No. 39 Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, California, and then play 26th-ranked Australia six days later at Seattle. The Americans conclude the group stage on June 25 back at SoFi Stadium against the winner of playoffs among Turkey (25), Slovakia (45), Romania (47) and Kosovo (80).
“Getting three points right off right off the bat like that would be would be an amazing start for us and just put us in a great position in the group,” star Christian Pulisic said.
It appears to be among the less difficult of the 12 groups. The top two in each advance to the new round of 32 along with the best four third-place teams.
“Listen, we all want to win a World Cup,” defender Tim Ream said. “You don’t play a tournament just to be there and so we’ve had conversations, Chris and I have had conversations about, yeah, we wan to win. I think people can laugh and say whatever they want.”
“Potentially we played all three of these teams in the last six months but that can be a little bit of a false kind of sense of security,” defender Ream said.
In nearly a century of World Cup play, the U.S. is 1-7 in knockout games, getting outscored 22-7. The Americans’ only win was 2-0 over Mexico in 2002’s round of 16, which was followed by a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany. The Americans are winless in their last 12 World Cup matches against European teams, outscored 20-10.
“There’s no easy game in a World Cup. In fact, I think some of our hardest games in the previous World Cup were against the lesser opponents,” Adams said.
“It’s fair to say that the last World Cup we couldn’t set a bar or standard for anything. We didn’t know what to expect,” Adams said. “Now looking back on it, I think we have more experience. We’re a lot more mature. We’ve grown a lot as individuals and as a team.”
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Coach Mauricio Pochettino has scheduled friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in March and vs. a team to be determined and Germany just before the tournament.
As he mulls his roster, Pochettino thinks about “Miracle,” a 2004 movie he watched last month about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team of young players that upset the heavily favored Soviet Union and went on to win the gold medal. Coach Herb Brooks’ decisions made an impression on Pochettino.
“We don’t need the best players, we need the right players to make a team a strong team,” Pochettino said. “The right players to build a powerful team with the possibility to fight with any team in the in the world. Good and right are completely different.”
Gift-giving season may seem daunting in light of inflation, tariffs and the changing economy, but it doesn’t have to be.
Several Pioneer Press reporters have compiled a list to ensure you get the most out of your holiday frills, without fearing next month’s bills.
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Whether you’re headed to Ax-man Surplus, an eclectic thrift shop on University Avenue, St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in the West Seventh neighborhood or MyThrift store in St. Paul’s North End, you’re sure to pick up items that can be elevated to gift status for a fraction of the price.
Roll up your sleeves, break out the glue stick and put the kettle on, folks. It’s time to craft.
Homemade cookie tins
Planning to make cookies for the holidays? With a few extra steps and dollars, your cookies can be elevated to a thoughtful, inexpensive gift for friends, co-workers or even your mail carrier.
Vintage cookie tins are easy to find at thrift stores this time of year and usually cost only a few dollars. With some soap and elbow grease, you can transform a neglected piece of history into a treasured carrying case full of sweets.
Add some colorful tissue paper, a ribbon and a handwritten note, and you’ve got yourself a sophisticated display for a fraction of the price.
DIY beverage kit
Instead of spending upwards of $50 for a pre-made beverage kit, you can craft one yourself if you know what to look for.
Do you want to make a cocktail kit? If so, scour the thrift stores for a pair of highball, martini or wine glasses, which are usually priced around $5 each. The glasses can be polar opposites, complement each other, or come from the same set – go with whatever you think your recipient will like the most.
Add in some spices, dehydrated orange slices and a modest bottle of liquor and your basket is done.
Do you want to make a hot cocoa kit? If so, head straight to the mug aisle and start poking around. Whether you’re looking for a colorful cup suitable for a child or a discounted Starbucks mug for the tween in your life, chances are you’ll find at least one option that fits the bill while only costing a few.
Add in some chocolates, marshmallows or fresh roasted coffee and you’re good to go.
Lastly, don’t forget to peruse the aisles for any accessories to add to your kit like a cocktail shaker, fancy stirring spoon, mug tree, drink markers or bottle stand.
Keepsake boxes
If you’re looking for a gift for that person who has everything, consider a keepsake box for them to put everything in.
This will require one or more special photos plus optional mementoes and crafty supplies such as glue, scrapbook paper and stickers.
The first step is to wander the thrift store aisles; you are looking for a simple wooden box that fits your project idea.
Back at home, gather favorite photos of the person (and perhaps of their family, friends and pets) and make photocopies of these pictures that you will glue to the box. For this collage on a box, you can also include meaningful items such as handwritten notes, newspaper clippings and more.
This keepsake box can also be as simple as one meaningful family photo, as shown here of Molly Guthrey’s late Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Tillman, with a photocopy of Carolyn’s handwritten caption, given as a Christmas keepsake box for their daughter.
A small box at Goodwill was painted, with a family photo and handwritten caption attached, to give as a Christmas keepsake. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
A small box at Goodwill was painted, with a family photo and handwritten caption attached, to give as a Christmas keepsake. The box’s interior is adorned with scrapbook paper, more paint and a personalized stamp. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
A Goodwill keepsake box made the perfect canvas for a family photo craft project for a Christmas gift. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
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A small box at Goodwill was painted, with a family photo and handwritten caption attached, to give as a Christmas keepsake. (Molly Guthrey / Pioneer Press)
Once the box is painted (or not) and items are cut and glued down, seal this delicate masterpiece lightly with Mod Podge (matte). Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, that’s part of the charm of a thrifty, papery keepsake box. It can be created for any occasion!
Book lovers gift
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Books are easy to find at the thrift, so if you’re thinking about gifting a book this year, consider thrifting one, or many.
You can easily create a themed book bundle, for example: art books, history, romance, etc. Throw them in a cute thrifted basket, wrap them in newspaper with a bow and you’re good to go.
If you want to go the extra mile, consider annotating a thrifted book, adding a homemade bookmark with a quote from their favorite author, or a collage you made with magazine and paper scraps or throw in some thrifted mugs and hot cocoa.
Personalized picture frames
Gifting a family member or a friend a framed photo might seem old hat, but it doesn’t need to be.
Picture frames are a dime a dozen at most thrift stores. Wooden frames, metal frames, ornate frames, gaudy frames — you can find it all and in a variety of sizes. For this project, focus on the no-frills picture frames so you have more space to add your own.
Once you’ve selected the photo and frame, it’s time to get creative. If you want to paint the frame, you can add a funky border, cute pattern, details of the photo like where and when it was taken, or you can paint the frame to match the photo.
If you’re not confident with a paintbrush, you can also use stamps, collage or hot glue relevant items to the frame. For example, if it’s a photo from the beach? Add seashells. A photo with the kids? Add crayons. A photo from a night out? Add concert tickets, wristbands or anything that will help preserve the memory.
With very little planning and a quick trip to your local thrift store, you could have the picture-perfect gift.
Perfume lovers gift
For the person who loves fragrance, but doesn’t need you buying them a new bottle because they already own 1,000, or they’re simply picky, here’s an idea.
Vintage stores have glass perfume bottles galore: beautiful glass dabbers and those funky mister-style ones (you know, with the ball of air that you squeeze on the end). Give these to a fragrance lover, and they can put any scent they’d like inside, or simply use them as a décor piece. Bonus if you throw small samples of fragrances they’ve never tried, or a discovery set from a brand they’ve had their eye on for a while.
Not sure where to start? Talia McWright recommends the Antique Mall of St. Paul, located at the intersection of Fairview and Selby avenues, and the nearby Missouri Mouse Antiques.
Handmade ornaments
Not a seamstress? Don’t worry. Fabric ornaments made from felt are easy to do and sewing isn’t required, so long as you have fabric glue.
Simply pick a design (heart, frog, anything your heart desires), cut out the shape twice, then glue or sew them together. Be sure to leave a gap to stuff the ornament with fabric scraps or poly-fil, then glue or sew a piece of ribbon, twine or string to the top so it can be hung on a tree.
Ornaments can also be made using clay (air-dry clay is really easy to work with), or beads and string. Get creative, and have fun! It’ll be a one-of-a-kind gift that people can keep for years to come.
Music lovers gift
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Thrift a vinyl or a CD of someone’s favorite artist or genre for those old-school folks in your life. You could throw in a music-themed book as well (bonus points if it’s thrifted) or maybe a magazine featuring said artist or genre.
If you’re crafty and have the time, consider making a music-themed zine for them. It could include their favorite artist and fun facts about them, or the history of their favorite genres and how they’ve changed over time or it could simply be a list of music they should listen to, which you can write on a CD, vinyl or mixtape-shaped piece of cardstock.
If you want to go the extra mile, make a mixtape or burn a CD for someone with songs that they’d love or songs that you’ve listened to together; just make sure they have a way to listen to it. And if they don’t? Scour the thrift! Pawn shops are an extra good place for cassette decks and CD players because a lot of their electronics are tested.
Mini simmer pot kit
Add dried oranges, cinnamon sticks and cranberries to a mason jar (all dry ingredients) for friends and family to use as simmer pot ingredients.
All items can be purchased in bulk and then dispersed amongst small mason jars or any thrifted glass vessel. Add a cut piece of fabric to the lid if you want to make it festive!
Kid’s corner
If you’re holiday shopping for a kiddo in your life, start your hunt at the thrift store.
Action figures, dolls, children’s books, puzzles, board games and tricycles, to name a few, can all be found lurking at your nearest Goodwill.
Odds are you won’t find the latest Lego set, but you’ll find just about everything else – and for a bargain.
If I asked you to name a holiday flower, my guess is poinsettia, amaryllis or paperwhite would be the first to come to mind. But there’s another, underused seasonal plant that deserves attention.
Allow me to introduce you to cyclamen.
There are roughly two dozen species of the perennial plants, some with rounded leaves and others with heart-, kidney- or ivy-shaped foliage. Some boast white or silver marbling or speckles on their leaves.
But their flowers are the main attraction. Available in white and shades of pink, red and purple, the houseplants boast unusual, upside-down flowers with delicate, backward-curved petals –- and they bloom only in winter.
FILE – Cyclamen blossom in Freiburg, southern Germany, on Feb. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Winfried Rothermel, File)
FILE – Cyclamen blossom in Freiburg, southern Germany, on Feb. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Winfried Rothermel, File)
White cyclamen plants bloom in Glen Head, N.Y. on Nov. 29, 2025. (Jessica Damiano via AP)
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FILE – Cyclamen blossom in Freiburg, southern Germany, on Feb. 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Winfried Rothermel, File)
Place cyclamen plants in a spot that provides soft or indirect light, such as in front of an east- or north-facing window, or to the side of a brighter one. These plants do not like the heat; they thrive best at temperatures that hover around 60 degrees.
Cyclamens also like humidity, so consider growing them in a bathroom or placing pots on a rimmed pebble tray to which you’ve added water, but not so much that the pebbles float. As the water evaporates, it will create a humid microclimate around the plant.
Watering is a balancing act. Too much, and the plant’s roots will rot. Too little, and they’ll droop. Your best bet is to water cyclamen through the drainage hole at the bottom of its pot, placing it in a shallow bowl of water until the soil is lightly saturated, then removing the pot from the bowl and allowing it to drain before returning it to its home perch.
Take care not to splash the plant’s crown — the juncture between the bottom of the main stem and the roots — with water. It is highly susceptible to rot.
Provide a monthly dose of a balanced houseplant fertilizer diluted to half-strength when the plant is in its growing phase.
Stop watering and fertilizing as soon as the plant’s leaves turn yellow, which signals that it’s preparing for dormancy. Moving it to a cool, dark room will help the plant during this phase. Most, if not all, of the leaves will die and drop; you can trim off any that remain.
Brush off a bit of soil from the top of the plant’s tuberous root to expose it to air while it’s dormant. This will help prevent rotting.
Your cyclamen will look dead during summer, but will show signs of new life in the fall. When you spot new growth, cover up the top of the tuber with potting mix. Then move the plant back into bright, indirect light, and resume watering and fertilizing for another round of cheerful holiday blooms.
Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — When pastry chef Tino Gierig is asked what the famous Dresden stollen tastes like, his eyes sparkle and his voice rises to an enthusiastic sing-song as as he describes the rich delicacy filled with raisins and other dried fruits.
“Stollen tastes like Christmas, like family, like tradition, like hominess, peace, serenity,” the 55-year-old said as he lovingly kneaded his buttery yeast dough before folding in golden raisins in his Dresdner Backhaus bakery.
Bakers in the eastern German city of Dresden have been making stollen for hundreds of years and it is now a treasured Christmas tradition. It is usually cut on the first weekend of Advent — the four-week period leading up to Christmas — and served with coffee and Christmas cookies.
After baking several loaves of stollen in his Dresden bakery in November, Gierig picked off some slightly burned raisins from the top, brushed the pastry with butter, sprinkled granulated sugar on top, and in a final touch dusted it with powdered sugar.
The 55-year-old is precise in his baking, and also particular about how to define his hand-baked Christmas specialty: “It’s a heavy yeast dough, it’s not bread, it’s not cake. It’s a pastry that is only made for the Advent season.”
In Germany the desert is often called Christstollen, and to Gierig it looks “like Christ Child wrapped in swaddling clothes.”
“This kind of baking has a lot to do with symbolism,” Gierig said.
A stollen pastry, a traditional Christmas pastry, sits on a table in a bakery along with pastry ingredients in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Pastry chef Tino Gierig makes stollen a traditional Christmas pastry in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
People visit a Christmas Market at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A stollen pastry, a traditional Christmas pastry, sits on a table in a bakery along with pastry ingredients in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Pastry chef Tino Gierig makes stollen a traditional Christmas pastry in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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A stollen pastry, a traditional Christmas pastry, sits on a table in a bakery along with pastry ingredients in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
While Gierig’s description sounds like an ode to Christmas baking and the creation of stollen in particular, stollen is also big business with an organization that is dedicated to protecting and promoting the brand.
The Dresden Stollen Protection Association awards a coveted golden quality seal as a certificate of authenticity to bakeries that fulfill certain conditions and which are located in or near Dresden. The products are checked every year to make sure they fulfill all the expectations of the association.
According to the strict rules, stollen must be made with heaps of butter – at least 50% of the flour content – as well as a generous load of golden raisins, candied orange and lemon peel as well as some sweet and bitter almonds. The addition of margarine, artificial preservatives or artificial flavors is not allowed.
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The Dresdner Christstollen is additionally protected by European Union rules that stipulate where and how it needs to be produced, just like Lübecker Marzipan from the northern German city of Lübeck, Schwarzwälder Schinken ham from the Black Forest, or Aachener Printen gingerbread from the western German city of Aachen.
Nonetheless, the bakeries, which have often been run by the same families for many generations, can add their own mix of spices and flavors. They usually include include vanilla and cardamom, and sometimes tonka beans, cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves.
“There are just so many flavors from all over the world in there that have blended together, making it simply a wonderful symbiosis,” Gierig said.
In 2024, more than 5 million loaves were sold, about 20% of which were exported. Austria and Switzerland are the main countries of export, but Gierig says he also sells many stollen online to customers in the United States.
When stored in a dry, dark and cool place, the specialty keeps for many weeks.
A tradition with roots in the Middle Ages
While today’s recipes are fancy in ingredients and elaborate in preparation, Dresden stollen’s medieval origins are humble.
Stollen was first mentioned in a document in 1474 on an invoice from the city’s Christian Bartolomai Hospital, according to the association.
However, at that time, it was not yet considered a Christmas delicacy, but a fasting pastry that consisted only of flour, yeast and water.
Butter was not allowed until Pope Innocent VIII in Rome granted a special request by Elector Ernest of Saxony to lift the butter ban in 1491. From then on, stollen bakers have been also allowed to use more substantial ingredients.
While some of the more exotic spices were hard to get during the Communist decades in East Germany, stollen was among the most coveted delicacies in the country. Even Germans living in post-war capitalist West Germany were always hoping to get an original Dresden stollen package for Christmas from their brethren in the East as none of the stollen made in the west came anywhere close to the original.
