Some Soccer News for Sep 6, 2017

It's Day 249 of 2017.


And with that clunker the USMNT falls to 4th place in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

• Panama moves to 3rd and the two face off in October in Orlando - how huge will that game be?!?!?!
• Panama will be ultra motivated after they were knocked out of the last World Cup by the USA.
• And in the last game the USA will go to T+T who would LOVE to avenge 1989!

dN

USMNT - World Cup Qualifying

-Tue Sep 5
Honduras 1-1 USA - 4:30pm CT on beIN
Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula

My USMNT Notes:

• Whew...
• Why did it seem like the USA spend so much of their possession just lumping the ball forward to no one. Was this the actual plan? I hope not. It was brutal.
• When 3 of your 4 defenders have genuinely bad games your odds of winning are very very small.
• So weird that Graham Zusi was one of the best USA players against Costa Rica last Friday and then last night was one of the worst. So weird.
• The good part was that ALL THREE subs, Wood, Arriola and Cameron, had a real impact on the final score of the game. They brought energy, new attacking options and ultimately the tying goal from Wood.
• Every game in Central America is a crazy, ugly affair no matter what year it is. Expecting something else is foolish.
• Good game: Cameron, Arriola, Wood
• Average game: Guzan, Besler, Acosta, Bradley, Dempsey, Morris, Nagbe, Pulisic
• Bad game: Beasley, Gonzalez, Zusi
• My final thought - Arena is going with experienced players, and I understand that, but even he has said that the World Cup is about young players, and I think he needs more of them in qualifying.

What is the formula for USMNT qualifying now? By Avi Creditor for Sports Illustrated.

What is going on with the USMNT defense, and how can it be remedied? By Scott French for Four Four Two.

dN

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying:
Mexico has qualified for the World Cup. And Costa Rica is on the brink. USA, Hondura and Panama will duke it out for the 1 more automatic spot and 1 playoff position.

Hexagonal Schedule/results:
Matchday 8
-Tue Sep 5
Honduras 1-1 USA
Panama 3-0 T+T
Costa Rica 1-1 Mexico

Hexagonal Standings:
(8 of 10 games played)
---IN---
18 Mexico (+8)
---AUTO---
15 Costa Rica (+7)
10 Panama (+2)
---PLAYOFF---
9 USA (+1)
---ALIVE---
9 Honduras (-7)
---OUT---
3 Trinidad +Tobago (-11)

Ahead are the final 2 games of qualifying for CONCACAF:
Matchday 9
-Thu Oct 10
Costa Rica v Honduras
Mexico v T+T
-Fri Oct 6
USA v Panama

Matchday 10
-Tue Oct 9
T+T v USA
Honduras v Mexico
Panama v Costa Rica

dN

SOUTH AMERICA - WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

My CONMEBOL Notes:

• Chile falls out of the good spots after a loss at already eliminated Bolivia! What has happened?
• Peru leaps up over Argentia and into the last automatic qualifier.
• Argentina could only tie last place Venezuela, thus remaining in the playoff position.
• And Uruguay takes 2nd place in the federation qualifying tournament.

Matchday 16 Schedule:
-Tue Sep 5
Bolivia 1-0 Chile
Colombia 1-1 Brazil
Argentina 1-1 Venezuela
Ecuador 1-2 Peru
Paraguay 1-2 Uruguay

Standings:
---IN---
37 Brazil
---AUTO---
27 Uruguay (+10 GD)
26 Colombia (+3 GD)
24 Peru (+1 GD)
---PLAYOFF---
24 Argentina (+1 GD)
---ALIVE---
23 Chile (+1 GD)
21 Paraguay (-6 GD)
20 Ecuador (0 GD)
---OUT---
13 Bolivia
8 Venezuela

dN

Holger Czukay, bass player in the great German band Can, has passed away at age 79.

• Earlier this year drummer Jaki Liebezeit passed away as well.
• Almost all of their music from the late 60s and early 70s still sounds fresh and beyond where music is today.
• Their albums Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi and Future Days are all essential listening.
• Here is one of Can's many great songs: Vitamin C

dN

MINNESOTA UNITED

This is not what you want to see: Its been over a week since either of the two Twin Cities daily newspapers have posted an article on the team.

Schedule:
-Sat Sep 9
Minnesota v Philadelphia Union - 7pm CT on My29 in the Twin Cities

The 2 MNUFC Academy teams play their first games this weekend:
(at NSC in Blaine)

• Sat Sep 9 U13 v Campton United - 9:30AM CT
• Sat Sep 9 U14 v Campton United - 11:30AM CT

---

• Sun Sep 10 U13 v Cincinnati United Premier - 9:30AM CT
• Sun Sep 10 U14 v Cincinnati United Premier - 11:30AM CT

dN

MLS

Really good game tonight: NYC v SKC!

The MLS Academy system is maturing and changing rapidly, including recruitment of players from all over the place. Tactics look more chaotic all the time. By Charles Boehm for Four Four.

Week 27 Schedule:
(12 games)
-Wed Sep 6
New York City v KC
-Sat Sep 9
Chicago v New York Red Bulls - 2:55pm CT on UniMas
Toronto v San Jose
New York City v Portland
DC v Orlando
New England v Montreal
Minnesota v Philadelphia
Houston v Colorado
Vancouver v Salt Lake
-Sun Sep 10
Columbus v KC - 12pm CT on ESPN
Atlanta v Dallas - 2:30pm CT on FS1
Seattle v LA - 8pm CT on FS1

dN

BIG TEAMS + GAMES IN EUROPES TOP LEAGUES:

-Fri Sep 8
Hamburger v Leipzig
Metz v PSG
-Sat Sep 9
Manchester City v Liverpool
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Everton v Tottenham
Leicester v Chelsea
Stoke v Manchester United
Freiburg v Dortmund
Monchengladbach v Eintracht Frankfurt
Hoffenheim v Bayern
Real Madrid v Levante
Valencia v Atletico Madrid
Sevilla v Eibar
Barcelona v Espanyol
Juventus v Chievo
Sampdoria v Roma
-Sun Sep 10
Schalke v Stuttgart
Inter v SPAL
Lazio v Milan
Bologna v Napoli
Nice v Monaco
Lyon v Guingamp
Marseille v Rennes

dN

All of my columns for 1500ESPN.



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