Some Soccer News for Nov 28, 2016

It's Day 333 of 2016.


Seattle Sounders are into MLS Cup Final.

• After making the playoffs in all 8 seasons in MLS, this is the clubs first trip to the championship.

MLS Playoffs - Semifinals Schedule and Results:

• Seattle will host the final if Montreal beats Toronto. Otherwise the Sounders head to Ontario for the championship game on Dec 10.

• Colorado lost at home for the only time this season. Not a good time to have that happen.

• Sounders get the job done. By Matt Pentz of the Seattle Times.

• Rapids lose war of attrition that is usually their forte at altitude. By Daniel Boniface of the Denver Post.

• Colorado had 16 shots, and Seattle keeper Stefan Frei had 0 saves. That is poor shooting.

• Jordan Morris spent the 48 hours prior to the game in bed with the flu, then started, got the crapped knocked out of him for 90 minutes and still got the game winner. One helluva effort.

• Morris's goal. [VIDEO]

• A truly ugly Semifinal game. Lets hope Wednesday is better.

1st Leg
-Tue Nov 22
Montreal Impact 3-2 Toronto - MI goals by Dominic Oduro, Matteo Mancosu + Ambroise Oyongo. T goals by Jozy Altidore + Michael Bradley.
Seattle Sounders 2-1 Colorado Rapids - SS goals by Jordan Morris + Nicolas Lodeiro (PK). CR goal by Kevin Doyle.

2nd Leg
-Sun Nov 27
Colorado Rapids 0-1 Seattle Sounders - SS advances 3-1 on aggregagte. SS goal by Jordan Morris.
-Wed Nov 30
Toronto v Montreal - 6:00pm CT on FS1

Seeding for hosting MLS Cup:

1. Toronto
2. Seattle Sounders
3. Montreal Impact

dN

LA Galaxy wasted no time in filling half of Bruce Arena's job: Peter Vagenas has been named General Manager.

dN

With Bruce Arena now the former LA Galaxy head coach the team has released some of his very best quotes during his reign. By Adam Serrano of the LA Galaxy.

• The funniest: "Actually, analytics in soccer, if no one here has figured it out, doesn’t mean a whole lot. Analytics and statistics are used for people who don’t know how to analyze the game."

• My favorite: "At the end of the day, there’s 11 players on the field. And once in a while it’s 10."

dN

NASL has sunk further into crisis with word of lack of funds for champions New York Cosmos. By Dave Martinez of Empire Of Soccer.
-The gist of what is happening:

• "The team hasn’t taken ticket deposits for next year."

• "The location of their 2017 home venue remains a mystery."

• "Players are being shopped for transfer."

• "Payroll isn’t being met."

• "Staff are being furloughed."

Also: "The NASL is conducting a Board of Governors meeting this Tuesday to address the future of the league."

dN

Today is a grand day in music! One of my favorite and one of the most interesting artists of the 2000s releases a new single today!

• Burial - "Young Death" + "Nightmarket"

New Burial 12" - Young Death / Nightmarket SHIPPING NOW... https://t.co/t4jYZF5Dvh pic.twitter.com/CSfhL0kY1z

— Bleep (@bleep) November 28, 2016

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Things for US Soccer to consider when hiring the next head coach. Mostly good old fashioned common sense with some CONCACAF and USA specifics mixed in. By Gabriel Marcotti of ESPNFC.

• The 2nd part of this article has the best insight for us die-hards.

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Only one person was able to split open the Jurgen Klinsmann myth during the 5 year spell, and he paid with his job - why not read what that person thinks will be the Klinsmann legacy. By Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated.

• To me, this is the most damning: "Among the seven U.S. teams that have qualified for the World Cup in American soccer’s modern era, Klinsmann’s side took the fewest shots per 90 minutes, yielded the most and eclipsed only the 1994 squad in possession."

dN

Trinidad + Tobago follow suit with the USA and fired their head coach after losing the first two World Cup qualifiers - Stephen Hart has been shown the door.

• Commentary on the firing and the team. By Alvin Corneal of Trinidad and Tobago Guardian.

• The whole federation is a mess, no surprise, courtesy of the crook Jack Warner.

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USWNT in Women's U20 World Cup

• USA on to the Semifinals, coming from behind to win 2-1 in the Qfinals over rivals Mexico!

• 2 substitutes got the USA goals - Ally Watt and Kelcie Hedge.

Quarterfinal Results:
-Thu Nov 24
North Korea 3-2 Spain
Japan 3-1 Brazil
-Fri Nov 25
USA 2-1 Mexico
Germany 0-1 France
Semifinals Schedule:
-Tue Nov 29
USA v North Korea - Tonight at midnight CT on FS1.
Japan v France
Final:
-Sat Dec 3

dN

The Bob Bradley + Swansea City Tracker:

• Note - A very wild win on Saturday. The first win for Bradley. Leading 3-2 with 16 minutes to play they gave up 2 goals and trailed 4-3 as stoppage time began. But they got goals in the 1st and 3rd minutes of added time to dramatically win it.

• Results - Sat Nov 26 W 5-4 v Crystal Palace

• Standings - 19th Place, 2 Points + -5 GD into Relegation

• Up Next - Sat Dec 3 at Tottenham (its going to be a very rough run with 7 more games to play before the transfer window opens in January)

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action. From the Guardian.

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Liga MX Apertura Liguilla Quarterfinals:

• There will be no repeat Champion in Mexico as Pachuca is OUT.

• 3 of the 4 lower seeds advanced! Including the #7 and #8!

• Tigres the #3 is the highest seed left.

1st Leg
-Wed Nov 23
Leon(8) 3-0 Tijuana(1)
Necaxa(7) 2-1 Pachuca(2)
Pumas(6) 2-2 Tigres(3)
America(5) 1-1 Guadalajara(4)
2nd Leg
-Sat Nov 26
Tijuana 3-2 Leon - Leo adv 5-3 on agg
Necaxa 0-0 Pachuca - Nec adv 2-1 on agg
Tigres 5-0 Pumas - Tig adv 7-2 on agg
Guadalajara 0-1 America - Ame adv 2-1 on agg

Semifinals Schedule:
1st Leg
-Wed Nov 30
Leon(8) v Tigres(3)
Necaxa(7) v America(5)
2nd Leg
-Sat Dec 3
Tigres(3) v Leon(8)
America(5) v Necaxa(7)

Americans in Liga MX Liguilla:

• William Yarborough - Leon - in goal for both legs as they advance.

• Miguel Ibarra - Leon - not in uniform for either leg as they advance.

• Michael Orozco - Tijuana - started the 1st game and on the bench in 2nd game but they are knocked out.

• Paul Arriola - Tijuana - not in uniform for either leg but they are knocked out.

• Jose Torres - Tigres - subbed on in 1st game and on the bench in 2nd game as they advance.

• Omar Gonzalez - Pachuca - went the distance in both legs but they are knocked out.

• Ventura Alvarado - America - on the bench for the 1st leg and STARTED and went 83 minutes in 2nd leg as they advance. Only his 2nd appearance of the whole season.

dN

The Miguel Herrera + Tijuana Tracker:

• Results - Playoffs - Quarterfinals - Wed Nov 23 L 3-0 at Leon, Sat Nov 26 W 3-2 v Leon

• Standings - Knocked out of playoffs in Quarterfinals on 5-3 aggregate score

• Up Next - Apertura season is over

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RB Leipzig are from the old East Germany, owned by Red Bull, but not allowed to call themselves that, and are roundly loathed by most German fussball fans. They are also in first place above mighty Bayern. By Barry Glendenning of the Guardian.

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A former Yugoslavian club with a history dating back to 1932 was torn apart by war in the 1990s. Today 2 teams, FK Trepca and KF Trepca, claim the same history and colors, but little else, beyond sadness. By James Montague of the New York Times.

dN

USL team Arizona United has been renamed Phoenix Rising. OK then.



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