Some Soccer News for Oct 6, 2016

It's Day 280 of 2016.


One thing you never ever want in professional sports is for the government to get involved. It turns a bad situation into a total cluster fuck. That is exactly what is happening to SUM and their marketing deal with US Soccer as it pertains to pay for the USA Women's National Team. Two senators, Diane Fienstein (California) and Patty Murray (Washington) have sent a letter to SUM CEO (and MLS commissioner) Don Garber asking him to explain the deal. This is a letter a business NEVER wants to receive.

• Thanks to Soccer America for the heads up.

dN

My Minnesota United Notes:

• 2-2 tie at Tampa Bay.

• Game highlights. [VIDEO]

• Disgrace + Disgust = How I Feel. Giving up a tying goal in 2nd half stoppage time in a crucial game can bring out these feelings in a person.

• The mental weakness of this team cannot be overstated. They take the lead in games over and over only to fold down the stretch.

• Good news? At least for another 3 days the Loons are still in 4th place.

• Now 5 games without a win. At least they broke the 4 games losing streak. At least.

• Ibson and Jamie Watson both has decent games again.

• Christian Ramirez had his best game in a while, and got a goal, but he needs to toughen up A LOT.

• Jeb Brovsky made the Ramirez goal possible by TAKING A QUALITY SHOT FROM DISTANCE! Which happens so little on this team its maddening.

• Brent Kallman was decent again too, but made a big mistake on a clearance that lead right to the first Tampa goal.

• The defense from the wings/fullbacks was horrible. Actually the defense from most of the players was horrible.

• Kevin Venegas had his best offensive game since he returned from knee surgery.

• JC Banks with a strong goal. Holding off several defenders in the box and then turning and firing.

• Chris Klute came on in the 80th min, making his debut for the Loons. He played right fullback which pushed Kevin Venegas up into the midfield.

• Several strong chances on goal for Minnesota were wasted by poor and weak shots. There is no excuse for this.

NASL Mid-Week 25 Schedule:
-Wed Oct 5
Tampa Bay 2-2 Minnesota
-Sat Oct 8
Jacksonville v Indy - POSTPONED until Wed Oct 12
Puerto Rico v Minnesota
Miami v OKC
-Sun Oct 9
Carolina v Ft Lauderdale - Originally scheduled for Sat
Ottawa v New York
Edmonton v Tampa Bay

NASL Playoff race: (top 4 advance)
#55 New York (4 games left)
47 Edmonton (5 games left)
*45 Indy (5 games left)
37 Minnesota (+4 GD) (4 games left)
----
37 Tampa Bay (+2 GD) (5 games left)
36 Miami (+1 GD) (5 games left)
34 Carolina (-11 GD) (5 games left)
*Won Spring Season, automatically in playoffs
#Clinch a top 4 finish and a playoff spot

dN

Nonspecific: du Nord Music Mix Vol 99 (download + extract)

dN

Chad Marshall of Seattle Sounders named MLS Player Of The Month for September.

dN

Lynn Williams of Western New York Flash named NWSL Most Valuable Player for the 2016 season.

dN

NWSL Final:
-Sun Oct 9
Washington Spirit v Western New York Flash - BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston - 4pm CT on FS1

dN

USL Playoffs - Quarterfinals schedule:
WEST
-Sat Oct 8
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 v Oklahoma City Energy
-Sun Oct 9
Swope Park Rangers v Orange County Blues
EAST
-Fri Oct 7
New York Red Bulls II v Rochester Rhinos
-Sat Oct 8
Louisville v Charleston Battery

dN

A very long intro finally gets us to the question of who is going to step up and take the job of the next USA goalkeeping stalwart? Kasey Keller gives his thoughts on the subject too. By Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated.

Five things you should know about the USMNT game in Cuba on Friday. From US Soccer.

USA Mens National Team upcoming friendlies:
-Fri Oct 7
Cuba v USA - Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana - 3:00pm CT on ESPN2 + UniMas
-Tue Oct 11
USA v New Zealand - RFK Stadium, Washington DC - 7:00pm CT on on ESPN + UniMas

Here is the Roster for the Cuba game:

• G: David Bingham - San Jose Earthquakes, Ethan Horvath - Molde, William Yarbrough - Leon

• D: Steve Birnbaum - DC United, John Brooks - Hertha Berlin, Geoff Cameron - Stoke City, Timmy Chandler - Eintracht Frankfurt, Omar Gonzalez - Pachuca, Fabian Johnson - Moenchengladbach, DeAndre Yedlin - Newcastle

• M: Paul Arriola - Tijuana), Michael Bradley - Toronto, Lynden Gooch - Sunderland, Perry Kitchen - Heart Of Midlothian, Sacha Kljestan - New York Red Bulls, Christian Pulisic - Dortmund, Danny Williams - Reading

• F: Jozy Altidore - Toronto, Julian Green - Bayern Munich, Jordan Morris - Seattle Sounders, Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes, Bobby Wood - Hamburger

dN

The USA Womens National Team is playing a friendly in Minneapolis on Sun Oct 23.

Here is the roster for that game:

• G: Jane Campbell - Stanford, Ashlyn Harris - Orlando Pride, Alyssa Naeher - Chicago Red Stars

• D: Abby Dahlkemper - Western New York Flash, Arin Gilliland - Chicago Red Stars, Merritt Mathias - Seattle Reign, Kelley O'Hara - Sky Blue FC, Becky Sauerbrunn - FC Kansas City, Casey Short - Chicago Red Stars, Emily Sonnett - Portland Thorns FC

• M: Morgan Brian - Houston Dash), Danielle Colaprico - Chicago Red Stars, Tobin Heath - Portland Thorns FC, Lindsey Horan - Portland Thorns FC, Carli Lloyd - Houston Dash, Allie Long - Portland Thorns FC, Samantha Mewis - Western New York Flash, Andi Sullivan - Stanford

• F: Crystal Dunn - Washington Spirit), Shea Groom - FC Kansas City), Ashley Hatch - BYU), Kealia Ohai - Houston Dash), Christen Press - Chicago Red Stars), Lynn Williams - Western New York Flash

NOT coming to Minneapois: USA stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Meghan Klingenberg, Julie Johnston and Mallory Pugh among other regulars.

dN

Lots and lots of World Cup qualifiers this weekend and next. See the schedules and all the results right here.



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