Soccer

Caitlyn Jenner and Hope Solo both had a HELLUVA YEAR ... both nabbed hardware at Glamour Magazine's "Women Of The Year" awards in NYC -- but they took way different paths getting there.

While Caitlyn's been hailed as a hero for the way she handled her transition in the public eye -- Hope's grabbed publicity for almost all the wrong reasons: allegedly beating up her nephew and berating cops ... along with winning the Women's World Cup.

Clearly, Hope's solo efforts didn't carry as much weight as her team achievements.

Even Barack Obama is distancing himself from Hope Solo ... with the President of the United States refusing to acknowledge the goalie at a ceremony Tuesday honoring the U.S. Women's team.

A German soccer superstar is declaring war on a Chinese toy company -- claiming they ripped off his name and image to make a Nazi action figure ... but wait'll you hear the company's defense.

The man at the center of the controversy is Manchester United player Bastian Schweinsteiger -- who played on Team Germany's World Cup team last year ... he's a big deal.

He also looks A LOT like the WWII German Army Supply Duty toy named "Bastian" that's being hawked by Chinese toy company DiD.

Well, Bastian doesn't feel like imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ... when Hitler's involved ... so he's preparing to sue the company.

But a rep for DiD says it's all one big misunderstanding -- "We think that all Germans look like that. Bastian is also a very common name in Germany.”

Wow.

The DiD rep added, "It is a complete coincidence that the figure ‘Bastian’ looks like Schweinsteiger."

She's partied with him all over the world ... and was recently spotted at his game ... but Karrueche Tran tells TMZ Sports she's definitely NOT dating soccer superstar Memphis Depay.

But watch the video ... it's not the most convincing denial we've ever seen.

Tran first hung out the Manchester United stud in Miami back in June -- and was spotted in the crowd at one of his games just a few weeks ago.

But when we saw Chris Brown's ex-girlfriend out at Beso in Hollywood this week ... she insisted they're nothing more than friends.

Seems Karrueche Tran's summer lovin' is spillin' over into the fall ... because she's getting very close with Manchester United star Memphis Depay ... and even went to his game Wednesday night.

Tran was first spotted with Depay in Miami back in June -- but recently it seems things have started to heat up ... with the two hitting nightclubs together and even shopping in Manchester.

Now, with Tran attending the Man U game ... pointed out by our friends at BSO ... it's just another clue she's more than just friends with the guy who signed a $40 million contract back in May.

BTW, Man U won the game 2-1 ... and even though Memphis didn't score on the pitch, seems he might do pretty well after the game.

Sydney Leroux is about to say "I do" in a wedding gown that shows off her killer physique for the low, low price of ... a $10,000 lace dress when she ties the knot in a few weeks.

The World Cup champ eloped with fellow soccer star Dom Dwyer earlier this year, but they're having a proper wedding celelbration in October. TMZ Sports has learned up-and-coming designer, Inbal Dror created a custom gown for Sydney.

Bridal stylist, Jessica Fama tells us Sydney decided on a mermaid style dress with a deep plunging neckline, and low cut back because she wanted "wanted to show her figure." We don't blame her.

Sydney and Dom have a high-priced track record -- as we first reported she designed a sweet $20k diamond wedding ring for him.

Good thing Donald Trump hasn't ripped into Portuguese immigrants -- the country's greatest export ... Cristiano Ronaldo just dropped a fortune to live in Trump Tower.

The $18.5 mil purchase got the Real Madrid forward a 2,500 sq ft loft in the midtown skyscraper. Cristiano's pad used belong to Italian real estate mogul and Trump biz partner, Alessandro Proto.

The purchase has soccer rumor mill buzzing that CR is about to join one of the NY area MLS teams -- New York City FC or the Red Bulls.