Some Soccer News for Jun 26, 2017

It's Day 177 of 2017.


Russia's entire World Cup 2014 is under investigation for PEDs. By Martha Kelner for the Guardian.

• Russia Today reports that all players were already cleared by FIFA and none of them tested positive at the World Cup.

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San Jose Earthquakes have fired head coach Dominic Kinnear.

• He has been replaced by assistant coaches Chris Leitch.
• Kinnear was not on the latest du Nord MLS Coaches Hot Seat Power Rankings. Meaning, I missed that one badly.

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Reminder: The new Adrian Heath radio show with host Jamie Watson will air on Tuesdays at 6pm CT on 1500ESPN radio.

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Minnesota United

Results:
-Sat Jun 24
Minnesota 2-2 Vancouver - MU goals by Francisco Calvo + Jerome Thiesson. VW goals by Cristian Techera(PK) + Tony Tchani.

My MNUFC Notes:

• Game highlights. [VIDEO]
• Yes it was a comeback from 2 goals down.
• Yes they got the tie and 1 point.
• But man oh man how did that happen? Vancouver are just not very good.
• The 1st half was one to forget.
• MN gave up two huge mistakes for goals, the 2nd just moments before the halftime whistle.
• And for the 3rd game in a row Shuttleworth had his butterfingers all over 1 of the goals allowed. Another PK!
• This time KVenegas has too take a huge chunk of blame too. His awful backpass is what forced Shuttleworth into that position to begin with.
• The 2nd half was a much better performance.
• At times Minnesota passed circles around Vancouver. Some beautiful stuff. Really.
• 2 defenders scored the goals - how about that - Calvo and Thiesson - both get their first Loons goal.
• Calvo was not forward for a set piece when he scored. No, he brought the ball out of the back and after passing off just kept running until he was unmarked at the back post. Fantastic play, from a player with a huge future.
• After his goal Jerry went Loony:

Thiesson goes Loony! https://t.co/y2sfXDmkOj

— Bruce McGuire (@dunord) June 26, 2017

• Molino nice cross to Calvo for his goal. And Molino did a couple other things too. But he also missed a wide open net from about 5 yards away. He put the ball WIDE!!!!
• Ibarra nice pass to Thiesson for his goal. And Ibarra did a couple other things too.
• Teamwork!
• KVenegas got a 2nd start in a row, building some confidence.
• JVenegas - where do we start? He is afraid of contact now. Earlier in the season he would just fall over and whine about not getting calls, now he avoids opponents and lets them have the ball. And his passing... don't make my blood boil all over again.
• No one on this team can deliver a decent cross either. No one.
• Ibson did that crazy Ibson thing. Amazing effort, urging everyone else on, passing and dribbling. Pickpocket defense. Torturing opponents. But then he stops, throws his hands up and turns his back on the play if the littlest thing doesn't go his way. And he needs to work on his set piece service. The whole frickin team does.
• Ramirez barely saw the ball. They NEED to get him the ball. Good things happen when he gets the ball a lot.
• Kallman hurt his leg in a collision. Then came off a few minutes into 2nd half, replaced by Taylor who did not screw up. We shall see how Kallman is.
• Kadrii finally came on in the 82nd for JVenegas. Should have come on 10 minutes sooner. Kadrii must be wondering what he has to do to get on the field.
• My biggest question about Minn offense is this: Are the players on the field not carrying out the game plan? If they are, and its not working, then it needs to change. If they are not, then why the fuck not. One of those 2 is the real issue. By the way, what is that game plan?
• 19k+ attendance. Its getting there. Slowly.

Media:

• Match report. By Andy Greder for the Pioneer Press.
• Match report. By Megan Ryan for the Star Tribune.
• Halftime rants are working, but why are they necessary? By Ryan.
• Players say they aren't playing too many minutes, despite the heavy schedule and dearth of substitutes. By Ryan.

One quick note about Vancouver: I had no idea Fredy Montero was even out there until he was replaced in the 73rd minute.

Stats:

• MU is back into the lead for most goal allowed - still averaging 2.2 allowed per game.
• You take out those 18 allowed in March and there have still be 20 allowed in 13 games. Or 1.5 per game. Still one of the worst defensive records in the league.

Schedule:
-Thu Jun 29
New York City v Minnesota
-Tue Jul 4
Minnesota v Columbus - 6:00pm CT

Minnesota United FC has now played 17 games - exactly half the season - and before Thursday's game in New York I will grade the whole roster A-F.

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MLS

My MLS Notes:

• Chicago now at 9 games with a loss, 7 wins and 2 ties, with 18 scored and 3 allowed.
• One helluva goal by David Accam - best I have seen in the league this season - coming on the end of an 18 pass sequence for the Fire:

Backheels. We love 'em. #CHIvORL pic.twitter.com/4cuR3u10D9

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 25, 2017

• New York is Blue this week after beating Red Bulls in NJ.
• Ike Opara can't stop scoring goals and this one is brilliant:

🚨 Center back bicycle kick alert 🚨 #LAvSKC https://t.co/qvcJ1knkVp

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 25, 2017

• LA goalkeeper Clement Diop delivered this beauty. (Hint: its a disaster) [VIDEO]
• LA lost again at home and now has played 8 home games amassing 1 win and 3 ties for 6 total points at Stub Hub Center. Wow, that is bad.
• On the flipside LA has played 8 road games and has an excellent record of 5 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie for 16 points - by far the best in the league.
• Clint Dempsey crushed Portland's spirits with a goal at the death knell. After the game he said, "Last week we tied and it felt like a loss. This week we tied and it felt like a win. Soccer is strange."
• In the past 8 days Portland has played 2 of the 3 worst teams in the league plus their biggest rival and came out of it with just 1 point.
• Andre Blake saved a PK and a win for Philadelphia.

Stats - Top Goal Scorers:

• 14 Nemanja Nikolic (2 via PK)
• 11 Erick Torres (5 via PK)
• 10 David Accam (2 via PK)
• 10 David Villa (2 via PK)

Media:

• The armchair analysis for Week 17. By Matt Doyle for MLS.
• XI items of interest from a so-called rivalry week. By Alexander Abnos for Sports Illustrated.

Week 17 schedule/results:
(15 games)
-Wed Jun 21
DC 2-1 Atlanta
Minnesota 3-2 Portland
Colorado 1-3 LA
Seattle 1-1 Orlando
-Fri Jun 23
Toronto 2-0 New England
Houston 1-1 Dallas
-Sat Jun 24
New York RB 0-2 New York City
Atlanta 1-0 Colorado
Philadelphia 1-0 DC
Columbus 4-1 Montreal
Minnesota 2-2 Vancouver
Chicago 4-0 Orlando
LA 1-2 Kansas City
San Jose 2-1 Salt Lake
-Sun Jun 25
Portland 2-2 Seattle

45 goals in 15 games = 3 gpg

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NASL:
The league has announced that an expansion team will begin next season in San Diego. They currently do not have a stadium.

• Ownership is led by local businessman Bob Watkins, who will also be team president. Other owners include 4 top European players: Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye, Eden Hazard and Moussa Sow.

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USMNT

Dallas goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez has flip flopped back and forth between USA and Mexico national teams, but now he has officially filed paper to play for the USA, so once this goes through FIFA even if he never plays for the USA he cannot go back and play for Mexico. This paperwork is permanent.

A big crop of talented central midfielders are ready for harvesting. By Brian Sciaretta for American Soccer Now.

The following squad has landed in Nashville to begin training for a friendly and the Gold Cup:

• G: Brad Guzan - Atlanta United FC, Bill Hamid - DC United, Sean Johnson - New York City
• D: Matt Besler - Sporting Kansas City, Omar Gonzalez - Pachuca, Matt Hedges - Dallas, Eric Lichaj - Nottingham Forest, Matt Miazga - Chelsea, Justin Morrow - Toronto, Jorge Villafana - Santos Laguna, Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
• M: Kellyn Acosta - Dallas, Paul Arriola - Tijuana, Alejandro Bedoya - Philadelphia, Joe Corona - Tijuana, Dax McCarty - Chicago Fire, Cristian Roldan - Seattle Sounders, Kelyn Rowe - New England Revolution, Kenny Saief - Gent, Gyasi Zardes - LA Galaxy
• F: Juan Agudelo - New England Revolution, Dom Dwyer - Sporting Kansas City, Jordan Morris - Seattle Sounders
• Coach: Bruce Arena

Breaking down the Gold Cup roster. By Brian Sciaretta for American Soccer Now.

Who is Kenny Saief anyway? By Brian Sciaretta for American Soccer Now.

Friendly Schedule:
-Sat Jul 1
USA v Ghana - 3:45pm CT on ESPN
Pratt + Whitney Stadium - East Hartford

Group Stage Schedule:
-Sat Jul 8
USA v Panama - 3:30pm CT on FOX
Nissan Stadium - Nashville
-Wed Jul 12
USA v Martinique - 8:00pm CT on FS1
Raymond James Stadium - Tampa
-Sat Jul 15
USA v Nicaragua - 6:00pm CT on FXX
FristEnergy Stadium - Cleveland

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I don't know how long this has been around, but its pretty cool:

• The 10 most significant goals in US Soccer history. From Sports Illustrated.

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AMERICANS ABROAD

Bobby Wood has signed a contract extension with Hamburg until Summer 2021.

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Canadian Championship - Final Schedule/Results:

2nd Leg
-Tue Jun 27
Toronto v Montreal (1-1)

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Americans in Mexico:

Tijuana with Paul Arriola, Joe Corona and Michael Orozco has a new head coach - Argentinian Eduaro Coudet.

• This is his 2nd head coaching position, coming from Rosario Central where he had also been a long time player.

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CONFEDERATIONS CUP:

Semifinals schedule
-Wed Jun 28
Portugal v Chile - 1:00pm CT on FS1
-Thu Jun 29
Germany v Mexico - 1:00pm CT on FS2

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My columns for 1500ESPN.



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