Some Soccer News for May 8, 2017

It's Day 128 of 2017.


I still kinda can't believe that Minnesota United beat Sporting Kansas City 2-0 on Sunday. I certainly did not expect that.

dN

Few things in the world make me happier than a Batman to Superman goal for Minnesota!

.@Chris_Ramirez17 meet net

Net meet @Chris_Ramirez17 #MINvSKC | 2-0 pic.twitter.com/0HReLaqknc

— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) May 7, 2017

dN

Sulley Muntari says he hears racist shit from the stands at every single game. He is pissed off. And frankly seems a bit worn out by it. From CNN:

He hears racial abuse "every game" in Italy.

Now @MuntariOfficial says he's ready to support a player boycott https://t.co/7dQhD8Xmjg pic.twitter.com/PjqSB13RPT

— CNN Football (@CNNFC) May 8, 2017

dN

MINNESOTA UNITED

Schedule/Results:
-Sun May 7
Minnesota 2-0 Kansas City - MU goals by Abu Danladi + Christian Ramirez.

My MNUFC NOTES:

• LINK CORRECTED: (thanks Randy) Game highlights [VIDEO]
• Post game press conference [VIDEO]
• Came out in a good old fashioned 4-4-2 - Ramirez and Danladi were equal partners up top.
• MN got their first half time lead of the season.
• Their second shut out.
• Danladi got his 1st start and 1st goal.
• Ibarra grabbed assists on both goals.
• Ramirez scored his 6th goal of the season.
• Minn defense has allowed 1 goal in past 3 games! Can you believe that???
• There is no doubt that Ibarra getting better and better every day. Every day.
• Minn should have had a 1st half penalty on a very clear hand ball but the referee told the MN staff that he could not see it. Good for the ref admitting that.
• 2nd half - Burch v Zusi - head to head - Man Bun on Man Bun.
• I was worried when the first two subs for Minn were Warner for Danladi and Taylor for Thiessen. It all worked out just fine.
• These players have stepped up big time after being questioned by many, including me at times: Shuttleworth, Kallman, Ibson, Ibarra and Ramirez.
• These guys have been exactly what we hoped for: Calvo, Cronin.
• These ones are what they are, and aren't hurting the team: Thiessen, Burch.
• These are the players we need more from: Molino, JVenegas.
• There have been disappointments too: Demidov, Alvbage, Kadrii, Schuller, Taylor.
• Finally, these guys will/are get/ting a chance: Danladi, Davis, Warner, Greenspan.
• Since Apr 1 Minnesota United has 3 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie.
• Minnesota United, Atlanta United and DC United all have 11 points. (Atl and DC have played 1 fewer game than MN though.)

Happy for the man of the match @ShuttleworBobby . Clean sheet and 8 saves. Broken nose 👃🏼 but kept on doing his job. 👊🏻#character @MNUFC pic.twitter.com/WysmW3Exoz

— Marius Rovde (@MariusRovde) May 7, 2017

Media:

• 7 items from Minn win over KC. By Caitlin Murray for Fox Sports.
• Miguel Ibarra getting better and better. By Andy Greder for the Pioneer Press.
• Match report. By Greder.
• Match report. By Megan Ryan from the Star Tribune.
• Shuttleworth end the game bloody and busted up but far from broken, or scored upon. By Ryan.
• Finally, a full team effort, for 90 minutes. By Ryan.
• Watching the Loons beat KC sitting next to the owner. By Patrick Reusse for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. PS. Reusse does not like soccer scarves, but he likes me. And some of the comments after the article are downright genius! Thank you hilarious fellow soccer lovers.

Schedule/Results:
-Sat May 13
Toronto v Minnesota - 2:00pm CT on My29

• Toronto plays at Columbus on Wed May 10, and the Minn game will be their 5th in 15 days.
• Toronto has also won 4 in a row by a combine score of 8-2 - the first 3 at home.

dN

MLS

My MLS Notes:

• Philly wins! Philly wins! Philadelphia Union finally won their first game of the season.
• And CJ Sapong of PU got a hat trick, all after the 70th minute.
• What a quote from DC coach Ben Olsen: "The whole 1st half we were full of shit. We looked like posers. We thought it was an easy day at the office."
• 10 of the weeks 13 games featured a shutout, and no game ended 0-0.
• The 3 Canadian teams all got 0-1 road wins.
• There was only 1 tie game.
• Dallas still unbeaten!
• RSL lost 3 in a row under new coach Mike Petke after winning the first 2 in a row.
• Petke: "I am very frustrated right now, I am very angry right now, I am disgusted right now."

Yeah, Toronto is good. And a few other MSL notes - including Minnesota Love. By Matt Pentz for the Guardian.

The 50 goals club and much more analysis from Week 10 - including Minnesota Love. By Matt Doyle for MLS.

9 takeaways - including Minnesota Love. By Caitlin Murray for Fox Sports.

The XI - including Minnesota Love. By Alexander Abnos for Sports Illustrated.

The best of the best from Week 10 - including Minnesota Love. By Charles Boehm for MLS.

Toronto's goal is to become one of the best teams ever in MLS, and they are doing everything they can to get there. By Kurt Larson for the Toronto Sun.

Week 10 Schedule/Results:
-Wed May 3
Toronto 2-1 Orlando
KC 2-0 New York RB
-Fri May 5
Colorado 0-1 Vancouver
-Sat May 6
Seattle 0-1 Toronto
DC 0-1 Montreal
Philadelphia 3-0 New York RB
Columbus 2-0 New England
Houston 4-0 Orlando
Salt Lake 0-3 Dallas
LA 2-2 Chicago
San Jose 3-0 Portland
-Sun May 7
Minnesota 2-0 KC
New York City 3-1 Atlanta
-13 games with 33 goals scored = 2.5 gpg

dN

USMNT

OFFICIAL:
World Cup Qualifying
-Fri Oct 6
USA v Panama - Time TBA on ESPN + Univision
Orlando City Stadium, Orlando FL

There are no expected hurdles for quickly approving the hosting of the 2026 World Cup by USA, Mexico and Canada. By Rob Harris for the AP.

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIFINALS

No one expects anything other than RM and Juve to advance without much trouble.

2nd Leg
-Tue May 9
Juventus v Monaco (2-0)
-Wed May 10
Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid (0-3)

dN

CONCACAF U17 Men World Cup Qualifying and Championship:

Mexico are again champions. Huge congrats to them.

BAD NEWS: The USA had a lead as late as 2 minutes into 2nd half stoppage time, but Mexico tied it and then won the championship in a Penalty Kick Shootout. Damn.

• Akil Watts of the USA put his PK attempt over the bar in the 4th round.
• They were sooooooooo close, but could not hold on.

GOOD NEWS: The USA qualified for the World Cup by winning their secondary group. Huge congrats to them.

2nd Stage
Group D Schedule/Results:
-Mon May 1
Honduras 7-1 Cuba
-Wed May 3
USA 3-0 Honduras - USA goals by Josh Sargent(2) + Ayo Akinola.
-Fri May 5
USA 6-2 Cuba - USA goals by Indiana Vassilev, Miguel Coll(OG), Andrew Carleton, Zyen Jones, Bryan Reynolds, and Timothy Weah.

Group E Schedule/Results:
-Mon May 1
Costa Rica 2-1 Panama
-Wed May 3
Mexico 1-0 Panama
-Fri May 5
Mexico 6-1 Costa Rica

CHAMPIONSHIP Schedule/Result:
-Sun May 7
USA 1-1 Mexico - Mex wins 5-4 in Penalty Kick Shootout. USA goal by Andrew Carleton.

Costa Rica and Honduras also qualified for the World Cup.

World Cup tournament is Oct 6-28 in India.

dN

AMERICANS ABROAD

Ethan Horvath's debut in goal for Club Brugge could have been a complete disaster. Having thought the whistle had been blown he put the ball on the ground for a free kick, but there was no whistle and Royal snapped up the loose ball and scored. Oof. He made up for it though with several good saves and even an assist on a long free kick that his teammate ran on to and scrambled home. They won 3-1.

DeAndre Yedlin and Newcastle had already gained promotion back to the Premier League for next season and this weekend he went 90 as they won the Championship Division, beating Barnsley 3-0.

dN

English Championship division promotion race:

(4 Americans involved)
*94 Newcastle United - DeAndre Yedlin
*93 Brighton + Hove Albion
--- (Playoff seedings - 1 team will be promoted)
1 85 Reading - Danny Williams
2 81 Sheffield Wednesday
3 81 Huddersfield Town - David Wagner (coach)
4 80 Fulham - Tim Ream - LAST: Won 1-2 at Sheffield Wednesday
*promoted

Promotion Playoff Schedule/results:
1st Leg
-Sat May 13
Fulham v Reading
-Sun May 14
Huddersfield v Sheff Wed
2nd Leg
-Tue May 16
Reading v Fulham
-Wed May 17
Sheff Wed v Huddersfield

dN

The Terrence Boyd + Torstan Frings + Darmstadt Tracker:

• Results - Lost 1-0 Sat May 6 at Bayern Munich
• Note - Thats it. Its over. They are going down. Relegated. Boyd was not in uniform.

dN

The Miguel Herrera + Several Americans + Tijuana Tracker:

• Results - Won 1-0 Fri May 5 v Veracruz
• Note - Arriola started and came off at half time. Corona started and went 66 min (and his sub scored the game winner.)
• Standings - Finished Clausura season at #1.
• Up Next - playoffs

dN

LIGA MX

My LIGA MX Notes:

• Tijuana claims the #1 seed by 4 points. (They were the #1 seed in the Fall season as well.)
• CCL Champs Pachuca missed the playoffs on goal differential.
• Morelia snuck in on the last day jumping over America.
• Which leaves America out. And their coach La Volpe is gone.
• Tigres and Tijuana are the 2 hottest teams in the league right now, but due to seeding they would meet in the Semifinals if both advance past the first round.
• Monterrey and Tigres UANL meet up in the Monterrey derby in the first round.
• And the Guadalajara derby between Chivas and Atlas will also be played in the Quarterfinals.

Race for the 8 playoff spots:

31 Tijuana (+8) - LAST: W 1-0 v Veracruz
27 Monterrey (+8) - LAST: L 1-2 v Morelia
27 Guadalajara (+3) - LAST: T 0-0 at Necaxa
27 Toluca (+1) - LAST: L 2-2 at Santos Laguna
26 Santos Laguna (+5) - LAST: T 2-2 v Toluca
26 Atlas (+4) - LAST: L 0-1 v Chiapas
25 Tigres (+14) - LAST: W 1-5 at Queretaro
24 Morelia (+3) - LAST: W 1-2 at Monterrey
----
OUT 24 America (0) - LAST: L 2-3 v Pachuca
OUT 24 Pachuca (0) - LAST: W 2-3 at America
OUT Veracruz (-6) - LAST: L 1-0 at Tijuana
OUT Leon (-2) - LAST: L 1-2 v Cruz Azul
OUT Necaxa (-5) - LAST: T 0-0 v Guadalajara
OUT Queretaro (-6) - LAST: L 1-4 v Tigres
OUT Pumas
OUT Cruz Azul
OUT Chiapas
OUT Puebla
*clinched a playoff spot

Clausura Liguilla Quarterfinals Schedule/Results:
Leg 1
-Wed May 10
Tigres(7) v Monterrey(2)
Santos Laguna(5) v Toluca(4)
-Thu May 11
Morelia(8) v Tijuana(1)
Atlas(6) v Guadalajara(3)
Leg 2
-Sat May 13
Monterrey(2) v Tigres(7)
Toluca(4) v Santos Laguna(5)
-Sun May 14
Tijuana(1) v Morelia(8)
Guadalajara(3) v Atlas(6)

dN

BIG GAMES IN EUROPE:

-Sat May 6
Juventus 1-1 Torino - the Turin derby ends in a tie
Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal - still at #1 + #5
Dortmund 2-1 Hoffenheim - swap spots to #3 - #4
-Sun May 7
Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United - remain at #6 + #5
Marsielle 2-1 Nice - Mars up to #5 and Nice stays at #3

dN

The Netherlands national team is stranded in such a remote swamp that they have hired Dick Advocaat to run the team again for the third time. They are really struggling right, so is this the fix?



The Bird Is The Word