Some Soccer News for Mar 28, 2017

It's Day 87 of 2017.


I was on the radio in Salt Lake City last night (On Frame w/ Brian Dunseth and Matt Gaschk) talking about Minnesota United - the MNUFC and RSL face off on Sat Apr 1 in Minneapolis.

• Had a very good time speaking with these great people!
• You can listen to the episode right here.

dN

Tonight I will be at the Town Hall Brewery in the 7 Corners neighborhood of Minneapolis for Panama v USMNT at 9pm CT.

dN

Lionel Messi has been handed a 4, yes FOUR, game suspension from world Cup qualifying for something he said to a referee last Thursday.

• With only 5 games left in qualifying this is a HUGE blow to Argentina.
• Taking a guess, I expect Argentina to appeal this ban and it be reduced to 2 games.

dN

USA MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM

Tomorrow will be the 1 year anniversary of Christian Pulisic on the USMNT.

World Cup qualifying schedule/results:
-Tue Mar 28
Panama v USA - 9:00pm CT on beIN + Telemundo
Estadio Rommel Fernandez, Panama City

Bend It Like Bretos - Panama v USA edition. With Hercules Gomez. [VIDEO] By Max Bretos of ESPNFC.

Pre-game Media today:

• Bruce Arena in his natural habitat - deep in sarcasm, and on the sideline. By Grant Wahl for Sports Illustrated. - On whether Arena wanted the U.S. players to have more fun with him as the coach: “For them to have fun? We’re bringing a clown in for lunch today to make balloons and stuff for the players.”
• Even more Arena quotes from his interview session yesterday. By Steven Goff for the Washington Post.
• Carrying-over the energy created by Friday's win will be the trick the USA needs to pull off in Panama. By Brian Sciaretta for American Soccer Now.
• The rise of a potentially enormous American soccer star - Christian Pulisic. By Noah Davis for The Ringer.
• Panama must have revenge on their minds tonight. By David Waldstein for the New York Times.
• No one in Panama has forgotten that night. By Grant Wahl for Sports Illustrated. - Includes that unreal video clip from Mexico when the TV announcers realize they are still alive. They torch their own team and praise the USA up and down. Amazing video clip.

Here are the highlights from 4 years ago in Panama City. [VIDEO]
-USA lineup that night:

• G: Guzan
• D: Castillo, Orozco, Evans (Davis), Goodson
• M: Diskerud (Johannsson), Bedoya, Kljestan, Zusi, Beckerman
• F: Altidore (Boyd)

Tonight's USA Roster:

• G: David Bingham, Tim Howard, Nick Rimando
• D: DaMarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Tim Ream, Jorge Villafana, Walker Zimmerman, Graham Zusi
• M: Kellyn Acosta, Paul Arriola, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty, Darlington Nagbe, Christian Pulisic
• F: Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Chris Wondolowski

Panama Roster:

• G: Jose Calderon, Jaime Penedo
• D: Felipe Baloy, Erick Davis, Fidel Escobar, Adolfo Machado, Amir Murillo, Luis Ovalle, Roman Torres, Jean Carlos Vargas
• M: Edgar Barcenas, Miguel Camargo, Armando Cooper, Anibal Godoy, Gabriel Gomez, Amilcar Henriquez, Josiel Nunez, Alberto Quintero, Oscar Villarreal
• F: Abdiel Arroyo, Blas Perez, Tony Taylor, Luis Tejada, Gabriel Torres

dN

MINNESOTA UNITED

A high quality stern but respectful examination of the disaster that is Vadim Demidov, over-all team defense, and the scouting and acquisition of players. By Alex Schieferdecker for Fifty Five One.

• The three central holding midfielder routine is horrendous. How many times do I have to say this?!?!

The latest team notes. By Megan Ryan for the Star Tribune.

• Unfortunately the coach uttered this ridiculous phrase: "probably the most important game in this club’s history." Not even close. And I really don't want someone who has been here 6 months telling us about important games.
• JVenegas' wife had a baby boy. Huge congrats!
• Alvbage back to training after suffering that bad leg gash against Atlanta.
• Greenspan recovered from concussion.

Match Schedule/Results:
-Sat Apr 1
Minnesota v Sale Lake - 7pm CT on My29.

dN

MLS

LA Galaxy midfielder Sebastisn Lleget sustained dislocated bones in foot playing for USMNT on Friday night. He needs surgery and will be out 4-6 months.

Atlanta's Kid Dyno-Mite Josef Martinez will be out 4-6 weeks due to a quad injury he suffered with playing for Venezuelan last Thursday in World Cup qualifying.

A weekly recap/roundup/preview of soccer news from Canada's 3 MLS teams. By John Molinaro for Sportsnet.

Orlando continues to build their roster, with many ties to head coach Jason Kreis, even though the season is underway. By Alicia DelGallo for the Orlando Sentinel.

Week 5 Schedule/Results:
-Fri Mar 31
Toronto v Kansas City
Seattle v Atlanta
-Sat Apr 1
New York City v San Jose
Chicago v Montreal
Columbus v Orlando
DC v Philadelphia
Minnesota v Salt Lake
Houston v New York Red Bulls
Vancouver v LA
-Sun Apr 2
Portland v New England

dN

Kyle Bekker of San Francisco Deltas named NASL Player Of The Week

Corey Hertzog of Pittsburgh Riverhounds named USL Player Of The Week

Juan Agudelo of New England Revolution named MLS Player Of The Week

dN

THE HEX - CONCACAF World Cup qualifying

Standings: (3 of 10 games played)
7 Mexico (+3)
6 Costa Rica (+4)
4 Panama (0)
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3 USA (+1)
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3 T+T (-3)
3 Honduras (-5)

Matchday 4 Schedule/Results:
-Tue Mar 28
Honduras v Costa Rica - 4pm CT on Telemundo
T+T v Mexico - 6pm CT on beIN
Panama v USA - 9pm CT on beIN

dN

CONMEBOL WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Standings:
(13 of 18 games played)
30 Brazil (+22)
23 Uruguay (+10)
22 Argentina (+3)
21 Colombia (+1)
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20 Ecuador (+5)
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20 Chile (+3)
18 Paraguay (-5)
15 Peru (-2)
7 Bolivia (-22)
6 Venezuela (-15)

Matchday 14 Schedule/Results:
-Tue Mar 28
Ecuador v Colombia
Brazil v Paraguay
Bolivia v Argentina
Peru v Uruguay
Chile v Venezuela

dN

AMERICANS ABROAD

Schalke executive says that the rise of the US Development Academy teams are making it so that more and more American players are ready to make the jump to Europe. By Stephan Uersfeld for ESPNFC.



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