Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Some Soccer News for May 30, 2017

It's Day 150 of 2017.


LIGA MX Clausura Liguilla

Chivas got the job done, winning their 12th Mexican championship. Congrats to them.

As we see so many times late in games in Mexico the physical nature came pouring out. Lots of ugly hacks, cheap shots, pushing and yelling. It was very very close to totally boiling over. The referee barely held it together.

Match report. By Nayib Moran for ESPNFC.

Final Schedule/Results:
Leg 2
-Sun May 28
Guadalajara 2-1 Tigres - Gua wins the championship 4-3 on aggregate.

A review of the 2017 Clasura. By Tom Marshall for ESPNFC.

Head coach Miguel Herrera has left Tijuana to become the head man for Club America.

dN

Four big rivalry games in MLS this weekend!!! (see details below)
  • Seattle beat Portland
  • Red Bulls beat New England
  • San Jose lost to LA
  • Dallas and Houston went scoreless

dN

There were Four Big Euro League Cup Finals on Saturday:

FA Cup Final
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea

DFB Pokal Final
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

Copa Del Rey
Barcelona 3-1 Deportivo Alaves

Coupe De France
Angers 0-1 Paris St Germain

dN

English Championship Division Promotion Playoffs Final:

2 Americans involved, Huddersfield coach David Wagner, and Reading midfielder Danny Williams. (see details below)

-Mon May 29
Reading 0-0 Huddersfield Town - HT advances 4-3 in Penalty Kick Shootout.

dN

US Open Cup returns - Third Rd on Wed May 31. (see details below)

dN

USMNT U20 in World Cup Round of 16 on Thursday v New Zealand. (see details below)

dN

MINNESOTA UNITED

Results:
-Sat May 27
Minnesota 1-0 Orlando - MU goal by Christian Ramirez.

My MNUFC Notes:
  • Game highlights [VIDEO]
  • 4 wins this season now.
  • One helluva play for the games only goal: Ibson with a hot long pass to JVenegas who flicks the ball up and over the defense to Ramirez who goes around the keeper then lets a defender slide past before shooting into the empty net! Straight down the middle of the field.What a flick, what a finish:

  • Sometimes you just need 1.
  • Big win for the coach against his former team.
  • And Ibson. Ibson. Ibson. Ibson. What can I say? Just playing great week after week. That crazy slide tackle and then 360 spin move on the ground with the ball at his feet just outside their 18 yard box late in the game - Magnifico!
  • And I am not even sure if any of these teams have figured out that its Ibson who is killing them.
  • A rough first 20 minutes for MU, then play even out.
  • Loons came out flying in the 2nd half. But it left them vulnerable a couple times too.
  • Overall it wasn't a bad performance, but comparatively this was their worst of the past 3 games.
  • And yet its the only time they get points, and all 3 at that.
  • The Loons were 2nd to many balls, which leads to fouls, which become yellow cards and fouls committed in dangerous spots. Luckily it didn't cost them any goals.
  • MN usually has more shots that opponents but this game it was very different with Orlando taking 20 to Minnesota's 5.
  • Orlando wasted a lot of those shots including 3 golden chances.
  • Shuttleworth saved 2 big ones from Cyle Larin, and another Orl shot went off the post (lucky Loons).
  • That Ramirez goal was his 8th of the season. Which is very good.
  • Unfortunately Ramirez had a couple missed chances too, mishitting or whiffing on a couple crosses - not easy attempts by any means, but he could have done better.
  • Molino was out due to illness.
  • That meant Jome got his first ever MLS start. He went 79 minutes.
  • Jome was simple and solid, with 1 great pass that lead to an very good Ramirez attempt. Jome made NO glaring mistakes, which is a great sign. Happy for him. He still needs to go out on loan so he can play 90 every single week.
  • The back 5 were solid. Kallman and Calvo made some nice plays, bottled up Larin a lot of the time, and only had 1 or 2 bad plays. The fullbacks were good on both ends of the field.
  • Attacking set pieces still leave a lot to be desired. There is almost no threat right now on free kicks and corners. Iron Frickin Skillet.
  • The 14 second half goals scored by the Loons this season is excellent, and near if not tops in the league.
  • No longer have the worst goal differential: MN at -11, while RSL drops to -12.
  • JVenegas continues to be a mystery man. Many praised his performance this week, but I saw mediocrity outside of that beautiful flick for the Ramirez goal. He only connected on 50% of this passes, and made far less plays than anyone else in the midfield. I mean FAR LESS. And he still shy's away from physicality. Soft. Orl easily took the ball from him too many times. At least the diving wasn't as bad, almost completely gone actually. He clearly has skill, but I wish we would see real effort from him.
  • This team needs a #10 desperately!
  • Cronin didn't have the best game either. Several fouls, including a nasty yellow card, and not many decent passes. His worst game as a Loon.
  • Only the 2nd game in which MN has scored first. And they have won them both.
  • Calvo named to MLS Team Of The Week.
  • Final high point: No own goals!

Up Next:
-Sat Jun 3
Kansas City v Minnesota - 4pm CT on ESPN

Calvo + Jvenegas have left the team to join Costa Rica for World Cup qualifying.

Kevin Molino will be with Minn next Saturday in KC and then go join T+T for World Cup qualifying.

Jermaine Taylor will be with Minn next Saturday in KC and then go join Jamaica during the international break.

All the latest details on the MN United stadium that is inching closer and closer. Inching being the keyword here. By Brian Quarstad for Fifty Five One.

Injury/Illness updates, and a player comes in from Scotland to have a look around. By Megan Ryan for the Star Tribune.

dN

MLS

My MLS Notes:
  • Good and Bad for Dallas: Mauro Diaz returned, coming on as a sub in the 81st. His first game since the middle of last October when he tore his achilles. The bad news though is that they couldn't score against rivals Houston and had to settle for 1 point. That's 3 ties and 1 loss in the last 4.
  • Jozy Altidore (suspension) and Sebastian Giovinco (injury) sat out the Friday night Toronto game. AND THEY WON 5-0!
  • Four wins in a row for Chicago. They have officially turned it around.
  • Nemanja Nikolic of Chicago scored his 11th goal!
  • Kansas City has 3 losses and 1 tie in the last 5. Somehow still in 1st place in the West.
  • Houston, New England, Minnesota and Colorado are the only teams who do not have a win on the road.

Media:

Week 13 results:

-Thu May 25
Chicago 2-1 Dallas
-Fri May 26
Toronto 5-0 Columbus
-Sat May 27
Seattle 1-0 Portland
Vancouver 0-1 DC
New York RB 2-1 New England
Colorado 1-0 KC
Minnesota 1-0 Orlando
Salt Lake 1-0 Philadelphia
San Jose 2-4 LA
-Sun May 28
Atlanta 3-1 New York City
Dallas 0-0 Houston

26 goals in 11 games = a paltry 2.4 GPG.

dN

  • Miguel Almiron of Atlanta United named MLS Player Of The Week
  • Sydney Leroux of FC Kansas City named NWSL Player Of The Week
  • Antoine Hoppenot of Reno 1868 named USL Player Of The Week
  • Zach Steinberger of Jacksonville Armada named NASL Player Of The Week

dN

Did you see this crash in the Indy 500??? The guy walked away from it UNHARMED:


dN

USMNT

Two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, preceded by a friendly.
Roster (26 players):
  • G: Brad Guzan - Atlanta United, Ethan Horvath - Club Brugge, Tim Howard - Colorado Rapids, Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
  • D: DaMarcus Beasley - Houston Dynamo, Matt Besler - Sporting Kansas City, John Brooks - Hertha Berlin, Geoff Cameron - Stoke City, Timothy Chandler - Eintracht Frankfurt, Omar Gonzalez - Pachuca, Matt Hedges - Dallas, Tim Ream - Fulham, Jorge Villafana - Santos Laguna, DeAndre Yedlin - Newcastle, Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
  • M: Kellyn Acosta - Dallas, Paul Arriola - Tijuana, Alejandro Bedoya - Philadelphia Union, Michael Bradley - Toronto, Fabian Johnson - Borussia Moenchengladbach, Dax McCarty - Chicago Fire, Darlington Nagbe - Portland Timbers, Christian Pulisic - Borussia Dortmund
  • F: Jozy Altidore - Toronto, Clint Dempsey - Seattle Sounders, Jordan Morris - Seattle Sounders, Bobby Wood - Hamburg
  • C: Bruce Arena

Timothy Chandler has been removed from the roster due to a hamstring injury.

Walker Zimmerman was not called in due to a knee injury that will keep him out for 6 weeks.

The following players have 1 yellow card and would be suspended with a 2nd: Matt Besler, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron

A deeper look into the players on the roster. By Brian Straus for Sports Illustrated.

Name six uncapped American's that Bruce Arena could be considering for the Gold Cup roster? (Begins Jul 7.) By Arch Bell for ESPNFC.

Hexagonal Standings:
10 Mexico
7 Costa Rica
5 Panama
---
4 USA
---
4 Hondura
3 Trinidad + Tobago

Hexagonal Schedule/results:
Matchday 5
-Thu Jun 8
USA v T+T
Costa Rica v Panama
Mexico v Honduras
Matchday 6
-Sun Jun 11
Mexico v USA
-Tue Jun 13
Panama v Honduras
Costa Rica v T+T

dN

AMERICANS ABROAD

David Wagner is set to become the 2nd American head coach in the Premier League, with Huddersfield Town, who won the Championship division promotion playoffs.

Danny Williams went the full 120 minutes but suffered a very tough loss in that same playoff game. He took Readings 2nd PK in the shootout and buried it.

Christian Pulisic came on as a sub at half time and eventually drew the penalty that became the DFB Pokal cup winning goal for Dortmund.

Timmy Chandler started and went 72 min for Eintract Frankfurt in the Cup defeat.

Despite that win its the end of the line for Thomas Tuchel, the head coach for Pulisic at Dortmund. By Stephan Uersfeld for ESPNFC.

dN

Men's U20 World Cup - South Korea

The USA wins the group after both Group F final games ended in ties.

Round of 16 opponent is indeed New Zealand, who finished 2nd in Group E behind France.

USMNT - Group F - Schedule/Results:
-Mon May 22
USA 3-3 Ecuador - USA goals by Josh Sargent(2) + Luca De La Torre.
Incheon Stadium
-Thu May 25
USA 1-0 Senegal - USA goal by Josh Sargent.
Incheon Stadium
-Sun May 28
USA 1-1 Saudi Arabia - USA goal by Brooks Lennon.
Daejeon Stadium

USA Roster:
  • G: Jonathan Klinsmann - U California, JT Marcinkowski - Georgetown U, Brady Scott - De Anza Force
  • D: Danny Acosta - Real Salt Lake, Cameron Carter-Vickers - Tottenham, Justen Glad - Real Salt Lake, Aaron Herrera - U New Mexico, Erik Palmer-Brown - Sporting Kansas City, Tommy Redding - Orlando City, Auston Trusty - Philadelphia Union
  • M: Tyler Adams - New York Red Bulls, Luca De La Torre - Fulham, Derrick Jones - Philadelphia Union, Eryk Williamson - U Maryland
  • F: Jeremy Ebobisse - Portland Timbers, Lagos Kunga - Atlanta United, Brooks Lennon - Real Salt Lake, Emmanuel Sabbi - unaffiliated, Josh Sargent - St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri, Sebastian Saucedo - Real Salt Lake
  • C: Tab Ramos

Group F Standings:
5 USA (+1)
4 Sengal (+1)
4 Saudi Arabia (-1)
2 Ecuador (-1)

Round of 16 schedule/results (bracket):
S Korea 1-3 Portugal
Uruguay v Saudi Arabia - May 31
-----
Venezuela 1-0 Japan
USA v New Zealand - Jun 1 at 6:00am CT on FS1
-----
France v Italy - Jun 1
Zambia v Germany - May 31
-----
Mexico v Senegal - Jun 1
England v Costa Rica - May 31

The tournament.

dN

Canadian Championship

2nd Leg
-Tue May 30
Montreal v Vancouver (1-2)
-Wed May 31
Toronto v Ottawa (1-2)

dN

US Open Cup

3rd Round schedule/results - Takes place on Wed May 31.

dN

A long and incredible career ends for Francesco Totti. By Jason Horowitz for the New York Times.
  • "The city of Rome is a mess. The bus never comes, they don’t pick up the garbage and the cops do nothing. Now Totti’s leaving. It’s the last thing we need."
  • "Rome is a city of symbols, the pope, the Colosseum. And Totti..."
  • "I feel awful, awful. Now we will realize it. That he is gone."
  • Totti made his Roma first team debut in 1993 at age 16.
  • At his peak in 2001 he lead them to their only Serie A title in the last 35 years.

My columns for 1500ESPN.



The Bird Is The Word

posted by brucio at 15:05

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