#Vancouver Whitecaps FC logo

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[whereisfootball]

2018 MLS Kit Branding Reimagined

The 2018 Major League Soccer season is nearly underway. It’s been a long offseason and we’re hyped to have it back.

Our friends Tap In have a lot of new, exciting MLS content coming this year on their guide, and in celebration of that, we decided to partner on a fun little project.

In a bid to add a little more personality to what is largely bland, impersonal sponsorship real estate on each kit, we reimagined every team’s jersey with something new in the middle of it. Some of these are local companies, others are prospective partners who have some fun link to the team, and others will probably just be arcane jokes that won’t land.

Nevertheless, we thought this was a fun way to bring a few of our favorite things together: Friendship, Photoshop & American soccer.

Please enjoy.

Atlanta United — Waffle House

An iconic southern restaurant with its roots in Atlanta, Waffle House is open 24/7, 365—and it’s the best. As Waffle House FC will tell you, this is a perfect sponsor for a team that’s tasty on and off the pitch. Their supporters never waver, refusing to shut off for even a single second when they pack the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They aren’t afraid to do things their own way—which, yes, can sometimes get a bit messy ... but most of the time it’s spot on.

Chicago Fire — Portillo’s

Sorry, it’s important we let you know now that this is probably going to be a food-heavy list as we’re rather fond of eating.

Portillo’s is a Chicago institution known for its hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, and an extremely healthy, 100% good for any diet cheese sauce.

While the Fire aren’t yet a Chicago institution themselves, we hope one day pictures of Bob Bradley, Hristo Stoichkov & Ante Razov will line the walls of a Portillo’s near you.

Colorado Rapids — Coors

The beer with mountains on the can that turn from white to blue when it’s cold enough to drink...

The beer that you knew and loved so well from ages 21-24...

The beer brewed with spring water from the very same Rocky range you can spot from the Colorado Rapids’ 18,000-seat soccer specific stadium...

Headquartered in Golden, Colorado and responsible for some of the best nights of your life, we give you Coors on a Rapids jersey...

“Like if Chelsea’s 1994 kit did a gap year in America.”

Columbus Crew — Wendy’s

As the red-headed stepchild of MLS, this one kind of feels right. And the disappearance of the club would be just as sad as when Wendy’s (founded in Columbus) got rid of their spicy chicken nuggets.

#SAVETHECREW

(Note: The actual kit is pretty great and it’s honestly insulting that we did anything to it. We’re sorry.)

DC United — Geico

The Chevy Chase, Maryland-based Geico gecko had some good years there. We all liked him for a while. It was a good bit. But it got stale right around the time Freddy Adu left town. Since then, DC United and the gecko have struggled mightily to find consistent form. Here’s hoping they both find success this year from a new approach.

(And, hey, while we’re here: All the best to you, Freddy.)

FC Dallas — Dr. Pepper

Everyone’s second team, Dr. Pepper, is a lifestyle in Texas. A Lone Star State-staple that pulls a talented 23-flavor squad from all-over—here’s to you Waco and Dublin— Dr. Pepper is an underrated, over-performing outfit with immense local significance … just like their imagined partner in Dallas.

A lot more to be proud of than their trophy cabinet will tell you.

Houston Dynamo — Swishahouse

As Mike Jones, noted soccer superfan, Swishahouse OG, and Everyone’s Favorite Rapper from 2005, once said:

Let ‘em know: Houston Dynamo.

Good enough for us.

LA Galaxy — SpaceX

Space. Galaxy. You get it.

Headquartered a stone’s throw from the LA Galaxy’s stadium in Carson is SpaceX, Elon Musk’s influential private “outer space things” company as it’s scientifically known.

Much like MLS’s most famous and successful franchise, SpaceX is a trailblazer famous for its glamour and willingness to break the mold. This isn’t to say it’s always smooth sailing—for either—but at the end of the day they’re both respected for their vision and performance.

This crossover is too perfect and it’s something that we’ve seen terrific mockups of in the past (though we wish we knew who to credit!). Also worth a shout is this awesome piece from LA Galaxy Confidential, which mentions Tesla as a fun potential partner. 

LAFC — The Boring Company

If the Galaxy is SpaceX, LAFC is The Boring Company.

Elon Musk’s newest endeavor is going to revolutionize Los Angeles by … making tunnels for cars? Oh, and by creating giant vehicles that can travel those tunnels and move lots of people at once … like a train. Hmm. The Boring Company seems like a well-backed but ordinary idea that lacks direction and distinction, with a lot of hype for reasons no one can really explain.

To be blunt, we haven’t really seen much to this point.

The Galaxy have sent a Tesla up into space and revolutionized how we build rockets... but LAFC have so far just made a bunch of flamethrowers and sold out their entire stock. So, we’ll see.

For now, all we’re really sure about is how much better their kit would have looked if they hadn’t put their sponsor in red.

Minnesota United — Prince. Duh.

You can have a Dirty Mind or even be a little Delirious, but you’ll still end up right back here with no Controversy. You can wear it in a Little Red Corvette, in a Purple Rain, When Doves Cry or even put it on Bambi. With this kit, you’ll be a Sexy MF.

Montreal Impact — Cirque du Soleil

What’s wilder than benching Didier Drogba because you’re better without him? One person doing acrobatics on the head of another person while a third person flies through the air holding fire. In French.

Born and headquartered in Quebec, Cirque du Soleil is now the largest theatrical producer in the world. The Impact aren’t even the kings of Canada yet, let alone MLS, but this could be the year they flip their way to the top. Holding fire. In French.

New England Revolution — Sperry’s

Put those Sperry’s on to look the part and take your dad’s boat out on the water. You’ll be as close to Boston as Gillette Stadium and the deck of your boat will probably be as soft as the turf too.

NYCFC — Sbarro.

The Michael-Scott-approved best pizza in New York. The only logical choice.

Sorry, sorry. We’re kidding. Don’t go to Sbarro.

...Let’s try that again...

NYCFC — WeWork.

Much like City Football Group, WeWork is trying to change a model.

For CFG, it’s football clubs. For WeWork, it’s the office space game. WeWork started in New York, born out of an inability to find affordable and available office space in the city—a problem NYCFC knows rather well—and now has an operation that spans across the globe.

Like CFG, it might not be your cup of tea, but it certainly works for a lot of people in NYC and has offered plenty of enterprising young professionals a place to grind. #JackHarrison

New York Red Bulls — Become the MetroStars again.

#Metros4Ever. That is all.

Orlando City — Publix

This one is a no-brainer.

Publix is an employee-owned supermarket chain that serves up some truly delicious food and has fans almost as fanatical as those found on The Wall in Orlando.

Floridians are vocally, passionately, sometimes a bit frighteningly #TeamPublix—and the same can be true for the way purple-clad City supporters get behind their squad.

Philadelphia Union — Wawa

If you know, you know. In their words:

“Wawa is your all day, every day stop for fresh, built-to-order foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services, and surcharge-free ATMs. The stores offer a large fresh food service selection, including Wawa brands such as built-to-order hoagies, freshly brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, built-to-order specialty beverages, and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks.”

Wawa 4 ever. #SheetzOUT

Portland Timbers — Powell’s

Powell’s City of Books is (supposedly) the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. It is ginormous and fantastic and you should go if you’re ever in Portland.

We don’t know of any football clubs sponsored by book stores, but if there was ever going to be one, it would play in the Rose City.

Real Salt Lake — High West

Tucked away in a state known primarily for its gorgeous vistas and as the home of the Mormon religion is a really wonderful distillery that will knock your socks off. It also comes with that beautiful mountain view, not unlike Rio Tinto Stadium.

San Jose Earthquakes — Yahoo!

Nothing says cool like needing an exclamation point at the end of your name. Kind of like building a brand new stadium and needing to tell people that you have a really long bar.

As the kit sponsor of the Quakes during their two title runs, we think it’s time for Yahoo! to make a return. (Not sure anyone will use it, though.)

Seattle Sounders — Starbucks

Sorry, we’re those guys. Seattle gave the world Starbucks and we needed to see what that logo would look like on these new kits. 

Plus, much like Starbucks invented coffee, the Sounders invented American soccer.

Sporting Kansas City — Hallmark

A proudly Kansas City company that is all about good vibes, with extensive Wizard of Oz involvement over the years.

That sounds a lot like Sporting KC to us—a team that needed a rough start in order to find its way. Much the same, Hallmark probably would have never become what it is today without extensive setbacks in its early years.

Toronto FC — Tim Hortons

Timbits and trophies: That’s what Toronto does. Nowadays, anyway.

We only had three Canadian teams to give the Tim Hortons love to, so we figured the toast of MLS deserves the world’s most lovely quick-service cafe and bake shop.

Vancouver Whitecaps — Lululemon

Set on the water, with an amazing mountain view, you couldn’t say a bad word about how great Vancouver looks. It’s straight-up cool. And local company Lululemon makes activewear that looks similarly awesome. We are officially here for MLS yoga wear.

————

This post was a collaboration between Where Is Football and Tap In Guide. Check out their stuff—it’s awesome.

A special thanks to Tap In’s graphic designer Mike Arney for helping bring our ideas to life, and to our buddy Ryan Rosenblatt for developing those ideas with us.

As always, you can follow us on Instagram @whereisfootball.

[junker-town]

The best and worst of the 2021 MLS kits

footyheadlines.com

We have some good, some bad, and a lot of ugly.

With the dawn of a new MLS season comes the promise of new beginnings and new opportunities. New fans can discover the game for the first time, new memories and magical moments will be made, all of them with the crest of your team donning the athletes.

Since 2005, Adidas, one of the biggest names in global soccer apparel, has been outfitting each MLS team with their jerseys. The investment Adidas has made in the North American game has had a significant impact on the growth of the sport in the U.S. After signing on, Adidas’s reputation in America grew and their array of products have dazzled fans from the beginning.

Which is why we have been confused and disappointed by Adidas over the past few years.

What we have seen is that for some reason, Adidas has decided to recycle old templates from their European clients and dump them to MLS. Beyond that, there have been a slew of white away jerseys that seem to never end.

Last season, teams like Houston, Minnesota, Nashville, NYCFC, and New York Red Bulls launched away kits that didn’t use a white base. However, with the addition of the white home kit for LA Galaxy, the teams in Atlanta, Portland, San Jose and Orlando got the white washed treatment (with Montreal and Toronto getting a white adjacent treatment in gray).

This trend was immediately noticed. Fans were not happy with the results. With Adidas feeling the pressure, the company announced their intentions to launch less white jerseys this year, and explore alternative away jersey colors.

Well if Adidas’s goal was to cut down on white-looking shirts, they failed.

Despite their promise, Adidas released seven new jerseys using either grey or white, bringing the number of jerseys using those colors up to 14.

Some of the white jerseys are not bad. Some teams, like in the case of NYRB or LA Galaxy, use white in their traditional home kit. But this is a continuing problem that we - and many other MLS fans - have noticed. There seems to be a consistent lack of desire for creativity among MLS kits. If it was there, then we wouldn’t be seeing re-used templates, the same colors, or jerseys that look like they slapped logos on t-shirts.

We want to see Adidas do better. We hope Adidas does better. Otherwise, we hope MLS goes to a new model of letting each club sign their own contracts with kit suppliers. We might finally get some diverse and exciting results that way.

With that being said, we’ve compiled a tier list of the best and worst kits in MLS. Here’s what each tier represents:

The BEST: pretty self explanatory, the best kit made this year

A: among the best kits in the league, deserving of full acclaim

B: a unique, creative effort was put forth and seemed to have payed off

C: Kits that are creative and bold, but seem to be missing something

D: Either the details added don’t work, there’s something missing, it’s bland or all of the above

Delete This: The most bland and uninspired kits of the bunch

And while they are clustered in tiers, these are ranked from our favorites to least favorites in order.

Let’s plunge right into this starting at the top.

The Best: LA Galaxy away

footyheadlines.com

This shirt managed to make Adidas’s horrible, stupid, no good, very bad shoulder stripe template look like a part of the shirt that’s meant to be there. That in itself is commendable, but mix in the color combination and the gold tracing the stripes and you have a classic, which is very rare to do in MLS.

A Tier

FC Cincinnati home

footyheadlines.com

The alternating blue and orange pinstripes atop a base of deep blue is a really solid look. It doesn’t have the gorgeous color combo of the Galaxy kit, but it does manage to also incorporate the template elements well, and in a way that actually complements the overall design.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC away

footyheadlines.com

Yes, we did go on a rant about how we dislike the white away kits. However, in this case, Vancouver’s white away kit is a classic and a throwback to an original Whitecaps jersey. The logo that fits perfectly in that blue band in the middle, the sleeves with great cuffs, and the clean collar wrap up this kit which should just be Vancouver’s permanent jersey.

B Tier

New York City FC home

footyheadlines.com

This one has grown on us from the beginning. The mini NYC’s in the stripes seemed tacky at first, but after sitting on it for a while, we’ve grown to love them. Add to it the solid white accents and this is a kit fans of The Pigeons should be proud of.

Seattle Sounders FC away

footyheadlines.com

We allowed ourselves one rant each in an effort to cut down on how long this article was and while we both thought this was a good kit, one of us had an especially strong opinion: “I was fine with this kit being wacky and fun before I saw the release video linking it to Jimi Hendrix. If you’re gonna do a legend, do a legend right. And to me, linking this to Jimi Hendrix, whose style and flair is so much more extravagant than this kit, ruined it for me. If it was called the ‘Purple Haze’ kit, I’d feel better, but they didn’t, and so I must protect Jimi because such a legend deserves better.”

Toronto FC home

In this list, we decided to reward teams that had creative elements that worked well together. Considering Toronto’s away kit has stripes that are similar to this one, we put this in the B tier. Fitting the theme works well for TFC and overall, this kit is one that stands out.

C Tier

Orlando City SC Home

footyheadlines.com

All in all, this is not a bad shirt. We’re not massive fans of gradients unless there’s a design element used to assist the transition and this kit accomplishes that. It’s not fancy or a classic, but it’s still good. The main question we have is why the MLS logo is on both sleeves. While this is a great kit, it’s nothing compared to the effort released by their NWSL sister club, Orlando Pride SC (also, yes, NWSL jerseys being better will be a common and accurate theme on this list):

footyheadlines.com

CF Montreal home

footyheadlines.com

We can debate the rebrand and take points off for it (we will later), but not on this kit. It’s clean, the accents are nice, and the sublimated club logo is bold enough that viewers at home will most likely be able to see it. However, they lose points here for the lack of blue which we’ve come to expect from previous Montreal Impact kits.

Chicago Fire away

It’s a good kit. As ugly as the Fire crest is, the monocolor badge doesn’t look nearly as bad here. The sublimated Chicago stars are a fantastic idea and addition, but they lack red. In fact, this whole kit is sorely missing the color red. Therefore, it’s only the second best soccer kit in Chicago. If you want to see a Chicago flag kit done right, look at the NWSL’s Red Stars:

footyheadlines.com

Portland Timbers FC home

footyheadlines.com

We both really liked the promise this jersey brought, but thought they messed up the execution. The stitch motif down the middle is unique, but the too-chunky collar disrupts it. We also found it weird to include dark green on half the front of the kit, but not on the sleeves. If this went back to the drawing board, we think it’d be a B at minimum.

Atlanta United FC home

footyheadlines.com

This one reminds us of the time Inter Milan decided to ditch their iconic blue and black stripes for a black kit and light blue pinstripes around it. The Five Stripes stuck to their nickname as close as you could, and while this is a great shirt, it seems like it would be much better served as a third kit.

Philadelphia Union away

footyheadlines.com

It’s...unique. The design is wild and gives us 90’s flashbacks. The color of blue and lightning bolt design is wacky in a fun way. However, a darker shade of yellow would have improved this jersey a lot because we can barely see the stripes, league logo, club badge and sponsor in these pictures. We can’t imagine how invisible they will look during a day game.

Chicago Fire home

footyheadlines.com

This shirt makes us sad because they were so close! Imagine just one other complementary design element laid on this shirt. Even a thin red cheesy oversized outline of a flame would have made this shirt so much better given that the base design is so solid.

D Tier

FC Dallas away

footyheadlines.com

This seems eerily reminiscent of Chelsea’s away kit from this season in terms of the pattern. It’s missing solid red elements we’ve come to expect from FC Dallas. But the one major detractor has to be the size of the MTX logo on the front. It just seems way too big and makes this feel tacky.

Real Salt Lake away

footyheadlines.com

This kit gets a few things right: the red monocolor crest, the red Adidas logo, the red MLS logo, and even the red on the sleeves. The blue sponsor and shoulder stripes look good as well. However, we think it’d be hard for a viewing audience to see the designs and adding a red outline to the sublimated graphics would have helped. Did we mention we liked the red in this kit?

Sporting Kansas City away

footyheadlines.com

This kit gives us the same vibes as this year’s West Ham United away kit. If we’re being honest, it just seems like something is missing. If some small piping stripes in either white or silver were at the top and bottom of the navy bands here, we think SKC has a much better kit.

Nashville SC away

footyheadlines.com

We liked these initially when it appeared to be black and yellow, but once we noticed it was navy our shoulders slumped. Navy and yellow is a wonderful color combination, but navy so navy it looks black doesn’t lend itself to that classic palette. If the navy was more vivid, this shirt would have been very high up the list, but instead it’s this, which is bad – therefore it’s bad.

New York Red Bulls home

footyheadlines.com

The problem with every Red Bull team’s shirt is that the logos are so massive, so intense and such a striking contrast of colors that it’s becoming difficult for any of their teams to have a decent shirt. This jersey is no exception. The base is much too simple and doesn’t include design elements that complement the kit. Also, the small Red Bull logo in the crest just above the big Red Bulls logo is goofy and unnecessary. If you’re going to be your own team and sponsor, please find a way to be more creative.

Austin FC home

footyheadlines.com

A club in its inaugural year should come in much stronger than this. It’s your first season, capitalizing on that energy and giving your supporters a dope shirt is important. It’s unlikely you’re going to have much more success beyond that, so it’s really disappointing to start the season with a non-memorable shirt. (Side note: Again, another team outdone by the NWSL. Racing Louisville is a new NWSL expansion team and dropped this beauty.)

footyheadlines.com

Minnesota United FC home

footyheadlines.com

This is how our conversation went for this jersey:

“I feel nothing toward this kit. It’s not ugly, it just seems like a light blue adidas shirt. D tier.”

“Yep, I’m good with that.”

~End of conversation~

Colorado Rapids away

footyheadlines.com

This kit has a lot of unique design elements. Unfortunately, no one will see them in action on the field and they are hard to notice if you don’t buy the jersey. The kit is a light green color (but it looks white) and you can barely notice the silver star above the crest. The biggest disappointment is the really cool embedded topographical line design paying homage to some of the high peaks of Colorado. Sadly, it’s the same color as the kit so you won’t be able to see it on your screen. For a look at a better crack at this idea, look at Kelme’s effort on the away kit for Spanish side SD Huesca.

D.C. United away

footyheadlines.com

Obnoxiously patriotic symbolism. DC is more vivid and interesting than cheap American iconography. The marble pattern is much too light and the red, white and blue is annoying. It looks too similar to the current US National Team jersey. DC, real DC, is a magnificent place, and we swear to God if DC doesn’t give us a Cherry Blossom shirt we’re gonna go mad.

Delete This Tier

Houston Dynamo FC home

footyheadlines.com

This shirt is actually fine. Perfectly fine. It’s OK. It’s not disgustingly memorable, or classically memorable. It’ll be forgotten as soon as the team stops wearing it and moves onto something else. But for now, today, it’s fine. I’m not sure that’s what they were going for but it’s difficult to see any other intent given the extreme lack of, anything. (Once again, a MLS team outdone by an NWSL counterpart. They look similar, but there’s no sublimated graphic for the Dynamo. Meanwhile, the Dash have this cool hexagon pattern)

footyheadlines.com

San Jose Earthquakes home

footyheadlines.com

We like the collar and the cuffs of the sleeves. Even the sponsor logo seems like a good size and a good color. But outside of that, we see nothing but a light blue t-shirt. We get that it’s your home kit, but you couldn’t have added anything else to it?

CF Montreal away

footyheadlines.com

Yes, this is the same kit as last year. Yes, we didn’t like it then. But, this is where we punish CF Montreal for their rebrand. It seems unnecessary to blow up a well established brand for the sake of making things more European. The Impact had a unique name and a fanbase that loved it. It’s sad to see it go. Also, if you’re going full rebrand, then Adidas should’ve given you a new away kit - so this ranking is as much on them as it is on CFM.

Los Angeles FC away

footyheadlines.com

LAFC’s Roma impression is hilarious. Like that old meme of a woman trying to hair flip rising out of water:

The base color is much less in the vintage category and extremely in the dirty socks category.

Inter Miami CF away

footyheadlines.com

Fashion icon David Beckham continues to be disappointing in an area in which he should never be disappointing. Not only is the kit bland and basic, and the Miami design is hidden in black, but it’s not Miami at all! The biggest problem here is that anyone who has never been to Miami could produce a more Miami shirt, and that is embarrassing. ADD. MORE. PINK.

Austin FC away

footyheadlines.com

See Austin’s other kit, but also the worst thing you can do is make no effort and sell a shirt at MLS shirt prices anyway. If you want to buy this shirt with a name and number on the back you’re going to pay $119.99, and that’s just criminal.

Columbus Crew SC away

This shirt is so bad it’s funny. It makes no sense and it’s hideous. The best part of this kit is that it’s just the setup to the punchline: the full kit.

footyheadlines.com

The Worst: New England Revolution away

footyheadlines.com

Cue the other rant:

“This has to be one of the most lazy and confused kits I have ever seen - made worse by the descriptions of the design elements. I’m from New England, and a lot of these design elements don’t make any sense at all.

“The one positive comes from dedicating the jersey to “The Fort”, a supporters section of the Revolution at Gillette Stadium. A logo on the lower left side lists the sections the group stands in, and overall, that’s the most unique thing about this jersey.

“The description of the design elements say the stripes on the shoulders represent “the colors of the water and the sky that surround the war-era forts throughout New England” and the lines on the main body of the kit represent “the blockwork of American Revolution Era war forts.”

“So let’s tackle each of these. The colors on this kit are confusing. While they claim the left shoulder stripes are navy, it looks closer to black in multiple pictures. In addition, the club crest and Adidas logo look black, leaving the United Healthcare sponsorship as the only navy thing on the jersey. As for the light blue, the messaging is wrong if they think that’s representative of the sea. The waters of New England are not that light. If it’s representative of the sky, they got that wrong too. The skies of New England are not turquoise.

“But, more importantly, the line design on the shirt itself doesn’t represent what they aimed for. A majority of the major forts in New England left over from the Revolutionary War are either: a) made of wood, not stone blockwork or b) pentagonal in shape, not square.

“All of this is just distraction from the main problem with this kit: it’s a template. The design is taken directly from the kit Spain will wear to the Euros in 2021.

footyheadlines.com

“Overall, this kit is a representation of everything wrong with Adidas’s MLS kit rollouts. The Revs deserve better.”

Finally, here’s our full tier list visualized:

Let us know what you think! Were we right? Were we wrong? Did we put too many in the C, D, and Delete This column? Leave a comment down below.

[mysticdragonkid]

Vagner Love Fifa 13

4312.Welliton-Vagner Love Ronaldinho FIFA 13. 2570 posts Fans' Favourite. February 13, 2017 10:15PM.

FIFA 13 Pack Opening #3 - Vagner Love - Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds. 194 views; 7 years ago; 5:58. FIFA 13 Pack Opening #1 -Falcao - Duration: 5 minutes, 58 seconds. 121 views; 7 years ago.

Check out all the new top players for FIFA 18 Ultimate, filter results, and add to squads.

FIFA 14 Infinity Patch (5 New Leagues) Single Link and Part Link

We are proud to present you today the biggest patch we’ve ever released on our website! FIFA Infinity Patch 14 will introduce 5 new leagues in your FIFA 14 game and add tons of other amazing features:

- 5 New Leagues:

Czech Gambrinus Liga -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits, flags and banners -Many names readed by the comentators -Chantpacks for 1.FC Slovacko, Banik Ostrava, Sigma Olomouc, Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec, Viktoria Plzen -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Hidden EA referees -Realistic generic adboards -Czech cup is in real format +real matchdates and hours

Greek Superleague Ellada: -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Real referees -Official Superleague ball -Realistic generic adboards -Greek Superleague with accurate league schedule (matchdates and hours) -Greek Cup in real format +real matchdates and hours

Japan J-League 1: -Actual rosters for the 2013 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits, flags and banners -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Real referees -Official J-League ball (adidas Kotohogi) -Realistic generic adboards

Turkish Super Lig: -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Many names readed by the comentators -Real kits, flags and banners -New kit numbers for Fenerbahce, Galatasaray + UCL, Besiktas, Bursaspor, Trabzonspor, Eskisehirspor & Gaziantepspor -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Hidden EA referees -Realistic generic adboards -Official Nike Incyte ball -Super Lig with accurate league schedule (matchdates and match hours) -Turkish Cup in real format +real matchdates and hours

Ukrainian Premier League: -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits, flags and banners -New kit numbers for Chornomorets Odesa, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro, Arsenal Kyiv & Metalurh Donetsk -Cyrillic Name Font -Many names readed by the comentators -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Real referees -Chantpacks for Chornomorets, Dnipro, Dynamo Kyiv, Karpaty, Metalurh Zaporizhya, Metalist, Tavriya, Volyn Lutsk, Vorskla -Realistic generic adboards -Ukrainian Cup in real format +real matchdates and hours

New national teams (playable in career mode): -Bosnia & Herzegovina -Croatia -Japan -Serbia -Ukraine

New teams in ROTW: -Pandurii Targu-Jiu(ROU) -Steaua Bucuresti (ROU) -BATE Borisov (BLR) -GKS Katowice (POL)

- Updated rosters in all of the original leagues to mid december - New Free Agents: Nenê, Quaresma, Miccoli, Vagner Love, Lisandro Lopez, Nilmar, Raúl, Misimovic, Rivaldo, Nelson Valdez, Elkeson, Kanoute, Miku, Vittek & Vukcevic - Real tournament names and team names (for originally non-licenced ones) [ENG only]- UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League licensed with realistic adboards, balls,referee kits, stadium boards,etc - Licensed referee kits for EPL, Liga BBVA, Serie A, UCL, Brasileiro Série A and Friendlies (Referee kits also available for lower leagues and domain cups) - Over 700 new boots with specific assignments for over 9000 players - Serie B fully licensed (Logos, Kits, Ball,etc) - All national teams licensed - New 13/14 Kits for Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Scotland, Sweden + Adidas 14 Kit Numbers - Alternative & Third kits for Crystal Palace, Lokomotiv Moskva, Vasco da Gama, Olymprique Marseille, CSKA Moskva, Borussia Dortmund, Austria Wien, Coritiba, Flamengo & Palmeiras - Updated kits for India, Egypt, Udinese, AS Roma & Torino - Stadium updates for Santiago Bernabeu and Old Trafford - New gloves - New scarfs for Liga BBVA - Realistic generic adboards for Brasileiro Série A & Friendlies - Updated Nike Incyte Ball Pack + HI-Vis (With RM14 assignments) - European kit numbers for Arsenal, Chelsea & Manchester United - New kit numbers for Brazil, Steaua, Ajax, Athletic Bilbao, Bayern Munich, Celta Vigo, Elche CF, Napoli, Reak Sociedad, AS Roma, Schalke 04, UD Almeria, Werder Bremen, Amkar Perm, Anzhi, FC Krasnodar, Krylia Sovetov, FC Rostov, Kuban Krasnodar, Lokomotiv Moskva, Spartak Moskva, Terek Grozny & Zenit - Cyrillic Name Font for Russian and Ukrainian Leagues (Latin Name Font in European Cups) - EPL Name Font Updated with new charachters like é, c, C, ü, á, Ö etc - New HD Pitch - New Kit Shadows - Many new missing minifaces for over 20 leagues - Real season schedules for the next 13 leagues: Austria tipp3-Bundesliga Belgium Jupiler Pro League Brazil Campeonato Brasileiro Denmark Superliga England League Championship Germany 2. Bundesliga Holland Eredivisie Italy Serie B Poland T-Mobile Ekstraklasa Portugal Liga ZON SAGRES Russia Premier League Scottish Premiership Switzerland Super League

- New 17 hidden faces: Nakamura Shunsuke Trémoulinas Benoît Hleb Aliaksandr Emre Belözoglu Malouda Florent José Bosingwa Baroš Milan Ferdinand Anton Frey Sebastien Taiwo Taye Cicinho Babel Ryan Quaresma Lisandro Lopez Raúl Nelson Valdez Kanoute

Available language versions: ENG, GER, ITA, PL, CZ, RUS.

NOTES

The new leagues can be seen ONLY in OFFLINE mode! The patch is online compatible and won’t affect your online modes! The patch is NOT COMPATIBLE with mods that uses database files!

If you want to play Career Mode with the new leagues simply go offline with Origin. If you want to play online, go to Origin and switch to online mode. You career will remain safe as long you don’t use the Career Mode while online.

A-League, Ligue 2, Irish League, Swedish Allsvenskan & Norwegian Tippeligaen are replaced by the new leagues in Career Mode. However you can still transfer and scout players from those league!

Irish League, Swedish Allsvenskan & Norwegian Tippeligaen are unplayable in Tournament Mode!

New Zealand, Wales, Northern Ireland,Finland and Norway have been replaced by the new national teams.

While playing Ultimate Team or Seasons, Shakthar and Galatasaray will use Steaua and Bate Borisov kits and logos.

DOWNLOAD LINK:

ADRIVE : CLICK HERE

MEGA : CLICK HERE

CHATS FROM MEDIAFIRE : CLICK HERE

ZYPPYSHARE:

PART 2: CLICK HERE

HOW TO INSTALL: CLICK HERE

Wagner Love Fifa 13 Download

Our weekly FIFA 13 news roundup is here!

The 3rd TOTS got released and features the best Barclay’s Premier League players of 12/13 season:

FIRST XI GK: Petr Cech, Chelsea – 84>89 RB: Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City – 79>85 CB: Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham Hotspur – 81 (83)>87 CB: Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United – 83 (84)>88 LB: Leighton Baines, Everton – 80 (81)>86 CDM: Michael Carrick, Manchester United – 81 (82)>86 RM: Eden Hazard, Chelsea – 87 (88)>91 LM: Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspur – 85 (88)>93 CAM: Juan Mata, Chelsea – 86 (87)>90 ST: Luis Suarez, Liverpool – 86 (88)>91 ST: Robin van Persie, Manchester United – 88 (89)>93

SUBS GK: Asmir Begovic, Stoke City – 76 (78)>82 CB: Ashley Williams, Swansea City – 76>82 CDM: Steven Gerrard, Liverpool – 84 (85)>89 CAM: Marouane Fellaini, Everton – 81 (83)>86 CAM: Santi Cazorla, Arsenal – 84 (86)>89 CF: Michu, Swansea City – 77 (80)>84 ST: Christian Benteke, Aston Villa – 72 (76)>81 You can get these TOTS players in packs from 6PM BST on 15th May – 22nd May. View this team in-game in the Web App or more detailed at FUTHead!

The normal TOTW 35 is also out featuring the next IN-Form players:

FIRST XI GK: Samir Handanovič, Inter – 83>85 CB: Arribas, CA Osasuna – 75>77 LB: Andrés Guardado, Valencia CF – 82>84 CB: Charlie Mulgrew, Celtic – 75>77 LM: André Ayew, Olympique de Marseille – 81>82 CAM: Vágner Love, CSKA Moskva – 82>83 RM: Kevin Mirallas, Everton – 78>80 CDM: Frank Lampard, Chelsea – 83>85 ST: Jérémy Ménez, Paris Saint-Germain – 81>82 ST: Branimir Hrgota, Borussia M’gladbach – 66>72 ST: Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool – 80>81

SUBS GK: Jelle ten Rouwelaar, NAC Breda – 71>74 RB: Davy De Fauw, SV Zulte-Waregem – 70>73 RM: Robert Snodgrass, Norwich City – 74>77 CDM: Remi Johansen, Tromsø IL – 63>64 RM: Saber Khelifa, Évian Thonon Gaillard FC – 68>73 RW: Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps – 61>64 ST: Mustapha Yatabaré, En Avant Guingamp – 61>67 These IN-forms will be available in packs from 6PM BST on 15th May – 22nd May. View this team in-game in the Web App or more detailed at FUTHead!

More MOTM (Man Of The Match) cards got released last week featuring players like Jo,McManama or Ivanovic:

Another ProPlayer card has been bought in the FUT Auction House last Sunday! This time the personal FUT13 card of Gareth Bale ended up on the FUT market and got bought for a price of 4,6 million coins! For a more detailed story of this card please go here.

And finally here are the best FIFA 13 related articles and guides of the week:

– The Backpage FIFA 13 Tips | End Your Losing Streak (EA)

Wagner Love Fifa 13 Demo

– Time Method on FIFA 13 Ultimate Team (FIFAUTeam)

– Hours Method on FIFA 13 Ultimate Team (FIFAUTeam)

Wagner Love Fifa 13 Repack

– How To Add Custom Audio To FIFA And Where To Get It From! (UltimateFIFA)

– 5 Star Skill Players in FIFA 13 (FGN)

[betarenasocial]

Palpite e Dicas de Apostas Real Salt Lake vs LA Galaxy

Real Salt Lake e LA Galaxy fazem bom jogo pelo campeonato da Major League Soccer - EUA. Partida do dia 24-09-2020 Quinta-feira, e seu palpite Real Salt Lake vs LA Galaxy de aposta está aqui! A partida acontece no estádio Rio Tinto Stadium, em Sandy, com capacidade para 20008 espectadores, que vão torcer para ajudar a equipa a sair vitoriosa. Poderá acompanhar o jogo ao vivo no Betarena, com acesso a toda a informação para ajudar nas suas apostas esportivas, incluindo estatísticas, eventos e odds. Introdução ao palpite Real Salt Lake vs LA Galaxy Em 2019-09-26 essas equipes se enfrentaram pela última vez, em partida pela Major League Soccer, temporada 2019. A partida terminou com o placar de 1-2 para o LA Galaxy. Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake tem 14 pontos, estando em 11ª posição na Major League Soccer - EUA, a campanha é de 3 vitórias, 4 derrotas e 5 empates. O que faz com que na 12ª rodada a equipe esteja com uma pequena desvantagem de 1 ponto relativamente ao Houston Dynamo que encontra-se logo acima, na posição 10. LA Galaxy LA Galaxy chega neste jogo com 15 pontos, e na 8ª posição na Major League Soccer, tendo ganho 4 jogos no total e perdido 4, além de um total de 3 empates. A vantagem da equipe para o Los Angeles FC, dono da 9ª posição, nesta 12ª rodada é inexistente, uma vez que os dois possuem a mesma pontuação, no caso do Vancouver Whitecaps, que está na 7ª posição, também possui a mesma pontuação. #20200924 #apostas #LaGalaxy #MajorLeagueSoccer #palpitedeapostas #prognósticos #PT/BR #RealSaltLake #USA Read the full article

[365footballorg-blog]

Se revela la nómina completa del Equipo de las Estrellas de la MLS

June 29, 20182:30PM EDT

Se revela la nómina completa del Equipo de las Estrellas de la MLS con una representación récord de jugadores de 17 países incluyendo ocho naciones latinoamericanas

Gerardo “Tata” Martino, DT de Atlanta United y el Equipo de las Estrellas, hace su convocatoria final y el Comisionado de la MLS selecciona a dos figuras para el esperado choque ante Juventus el 1 de agosto en el Mercedes-Benz Stadium  

NUEVA YORK (29 de junio, 2018) – Con una representación récord de jugadores de 17 países, la nómina final del Equipo de las Estrellas de Major League Soccer ha sido revelada para el MLS All-Star Game 2018 presentado por Target. Luego de que se anunciaran a los Primeros Once de la Afición a principio de semana, hoy el director técnico de Atlanta United y Equipo de las Estrellas Gerardo “Tata” Martino convocó a 14 jugadores más, mientras que el Comisionado de la MLS Don Garber seleccionó a dos futbolistas de cara al muy esperado duelo ante Juventus Football Club, a disputarse el miércoles 1 de agosto en el Mercedes-Benz Stadium en Atlanta (7:30 p.m. ET, en vivo por ESPN, UniMás, TSN y TVA Sports).

El conjunto de las máximas figuras de la MLS contará con 10 mundialistas, incluyendo cinco participantes en la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2018. Con 26 jugadores nacidos en 17 países alrededor del mundo incluyendo ocho naciones latinoamericanas, la convocatoria de este año es la más diversa en la historia de los MLS All-Star Games, eclipsando el récord anterior de 13 en 2016 y 2017.

Oprima AQUÍ para acceder a videos con declaraciones de Tata Martino y las Estrellas de la MLS

Haga clic AQUÍ para acceder a fotos, videos y logos del MLS All-Star Game 2018

Solicite AQUÍ credenciales de prensa para el All-Star Game presentado por Target. La fecha solicitar es el 18 de julio.

La nómina de Martino cuenta con una combinación de jóvenes talentos convocados por sus selecciones a Rusia 2018 y jugadores con experiencia como el campeón del mundo David Villa (New York City FC), además del campeón de la MLS Cup 2017 y ex Juventus Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC). El mediocampo de Martino está conformado por el mexicano Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), uno de los tres jugadores de la MLS en la Selección Nacional de México que consiguió su pase a octavos de final, y el peruano Yoshimar Yotún (Orlando City SC) que dio el pase para el primer gol de Perú en el Mundial en 40 años. El portero elegido por el técnico argentino es Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew SC), quien tuvo dos atajadas en la serie de penales ante Atlanta United en los playoffs en 2017, que terminó 3-1 a favor del Crew SC, para así avanzar a la Final de la Conferencia del Este.  

Los jugadores elegidos por el Comisionado de la MLS Don Garber incluyen al seleccionado de Canadá de 17 años Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), quien conquistó el Botín de Oro en la Copa Oro de la Concacaf 2017, y el dos veces ganador del Botín de Oro de la MLS Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls).

Martino seleccionó a jugadores adicionales para reemplazar al mediocampista de Atlanta United Darlington Nagbe quien fue nombrado a Los Primeros Once de la Afición, pero es baja debido a una lesión. 

Los Primeros Once de la Afición cuentan con el estelar delantero mexicano Carlos Vela (Los Angeles Football Club – Desafío EA SPORTS™ “More Than a Vote”), quien disputó los tres partidos de la fase de grupos de México en el Mundial y ha sido clave en la clasificación de El Tricolor a octavos. Los Primeros Once de la Afición también incluye al tridente ofensivo sudamericano de Atlanta United, conformado por Miguel Almirón, Ezequiel Barco y Josef Martínez actual líder de goleo en la MLS, al igual que al ícono de Suecia Zlatan Ibrahimović (LA Galaxy).

Las máximas figuras de la MLS se enfrentarán a Juventus, el gigante italiano que conquistó su séptimo título consecutivo de la Serie A este año. Juventus es el club más condecorado de Italia con más títulos de la Serie A y Coppa Italia que cualquier otro club italiano. La Juventus también ha alcanzado la final de la UEFA Champions League en dos de los últimos cuatro años (2015, 2017). El equipo está dirigido por Massimiliano Allegri, quien acaba de completar su cuarta temporada con el club.

Las entradas para el MLS All-Star Game 2018 presentado por Target contra la Juventus están a la venta a través de Ticketmaster.com. Los boletos comienzan desde $ 35.

Convocatoria del MLS All-Star Game 2018 por posición

Arqueros: Brad Guzan^ (Atlanta United), Zack Steffen* (Columbus Crew SC)

Defensas: Francisco Calvo* (Minnesota United), Laurent Ciman^ (Los Angeles Football Club), Alphonso Davies# (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Matt Hedges* (FC Dallas), Aaron Long* (New York Red Bulls), Michael Murillo* (New York Red Bulls), Michael Parkhurst^ (Atlanta United), Graham Zusi^ (Sporting Kansas City)

Mediocampistas: Miguel Almirón^ (Atlanta United), Ezequiel Barco^ (Atlanta United), Jonathan dos Santos* (LA Galaxy), Alberth Elis* (Houston Dynamo), Ignacio Piatti* (Montreal Impact), Alexander Ring* (New York City FC), Ilie Sánchez* (Sporting Kansas City), Diego Valeri^ (Portland Timbers), Yoshimar Yotún* (Orlando City SC), Wilfried Zahibo* (New England Revolution)

Delanteros: Sebastian Giovinco* (Toronto FC), Zlatan Ibrahimović^ (LA Galaxy), Josef Martínez^ (Atlanta United), Carlos Vela^ (Los Angeles Football Club), David Villa* (New York City FC), Bradley Wright-Phillips# (New York Red Bulls)

^Seleccionado a través de Los Primeros Once de la Afición

*Seleccionado por Gerardo “Tata” Martino

#Seleccionado por el Comisionado Don Garber

Convocatoria del MLS All-Star Game 2018 por equipo

Atlanta United (5): Miguel Almirón, Ezequiel Barco, Brad Guzan, Josef Martínez, Michael Parkhurst

Columbus Crew SC (1): Zack Steffen

FC Dallas (1): Matt Hedges

Houston Dynamo (1): Alberth Elis

LA Galaxy (2): Jonathan dos Santos, Zlatan Ibrahimović

Los Angeles Football Club (2): Laurent Ciman, Carlos Vela

Minnesota United FC (1): Francisco Calvo

Montreal Impact (1): Ignacio Piatti

New England Revolution (1): Wilfried Zahibo

New York City FC (2): Alexander Ring, David Villa

New York Red Bulls (3): Aaron Long, Michael Murillo, Bradley Wright-Phillips

Orlando City SC (1): Yoshimar Yotún

Portland Timbers (1): Diego Valeri

Sporting Kansas City (2): Ilie Sánchez, Graham Zusi

Toronto FC (1): Sebastian Giovinco

Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1): Alphonso Davies

Convocatoria del MLS All-Star Game 2018 por país de nacimiento

Argentina (3): Ezequiel Barco (Atlanta United), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers)

Bélgica (1): Laurent Ciman (Los Angeles Football Club)

Canadá (1): Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

Costa Rica (1): Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United FC) 

España (2): David Villa (New York City FC), Ilie Sánchez (Sporting Kansas City)

Estados Unidos (6): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Michael Parkhurst (Atlanta United), Zack Steffen (Atlanta United), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Finlandia (1): Alexander Ring (New York City FC)

Francia (1): Wilfried Zahibo (New England Revolution)

Honduras (1): Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo)

Inglaterra (1): Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls)

Italia (1): Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)

México (2): Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Carlos Vela (Los Angeles Football Club)   

Panamá (1): Michael Murillo (New York Red Bulls)

Paraguay (1): Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United) 

Perú (1): Yoshimar Yotún (Orlando City SC)

Suecia (1): Zlatan Ibrahimović (LA Galaxy)  

Venezuela (1): Josef Martínez (Atlanta United) 

Series: 

Topics: 

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MLSsoccer.com News

Se revela la nómina completa del Equipo de las Estrellas de la MLS was originally published on 365 Football

[latestcanadaposts]

Whitecaps say new “Unity” jersey is a tribute to iron workers

Vancouver Whitecaps FC unveiled a new steel grey “Unity Jersey” on Monday, created in collaboration with adidas. This is the first time in club history that Whitecaps FC have had a grey match day kit, drawn from the silver and grey outline on the club’s logo. Bob Frid / PNG

“Unity” is the word the Whitecaps are using to describe their new kit, which is perhaps a…

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Download wallpapers Vancouver Whitecaps glossy logo, 4K, blue football background, MLS, soccer, canadian soccer club, Vancouver Whitecaps emblem, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, football, sports logo, Vancouver Whitecaps logo, Vancouver Whitecaps for desktop free

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San Jose Earthquakes clinch playoff spot with late goal to beat Minnesota

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/san-jose-earthquakes-clinch-playoff-spot-with-late-goal-to-beat-minnesota/

San Jose Earthquakes clinch playoff spot with late goal to beat Minnesota

Photo: San Jose Earthquakes

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The nre San Jose Earthquakes’ soccer team logo, released Jan. 30, 2014

The nre San Jose Earthquakes’ soccer team logo, released Jan. 30, 2014

Photo: San Jose Earthquakes

San Jose Earthquakes clinch playoff spot with late goal to beat Minnesota

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With the Earthquakes needing a win in their final regular-season game Sunday to clinch the last Western Conference playoff berth, Marco Ureña scored in the third minute of stoppage time to beat Minnesota United 3-2 at Avaya Stadium.

San Jose (13-14-7) needed the win after FC Dallas’ 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. It’s an unexpected run for the Quakes, who fired head coach Dominic Kinnear midway through the season. San Jose is in the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

In the build-up to the winner, San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell sent a long ball that was chested by Victor Bernardez and headed to Quincy Amarikwa inside the 18-yard box. Minnesota goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth pushed Amarikwa’s shot wide but San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski chased it down for a feed to an open Ureña in front of the goal.

The Earthquakes have won seven of their past nine home games — with every win coming by one goal.

Wondolowski gave San Jose a 2-1 lead in the 55th with an easy redirection of Danny Hoesen’s cross at the back post.

Minnesota (10-18-6) tied it 2-2 in the 81st on Francisco Calvo’s header off the crossbar.

The Earthquakes will be at Vancouver for a playoff match Wednesday night.

In other MLS highlights:

•Roland Lamah scored twice, Mauro Diaz had a goal and two assists, and host FC Dallas beat the 10-man Galaxy 5-1.

FC Dallas (11-10-13) needed at least a tie and some help to make the playoffs, but the Quakes’ win over Minnesota United eliminated the defending Supporters’ Shield winner.

•Darren Mattocks scored early in the second half and the host Portland Timbers held off the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1.

Portland (15-11-8) won the Western Conference to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The Timbers also won their second Cascadia Cup since joining MLS. The Cascadia Cup is a trophy created by the fans of Portland, Vancouver and Seattle awarded to the best team in the Pacific Northwest.

•Nicolas Loderio scored two goals, Will Bruin had his third in the past two games and the host Seattle Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0 to wrap up the No. 2 playoff seed in the Western Conference.

The defending MLS Cup champion Sounders (14-9-11) avoided this week’s knockout round.

•David Villa scored two goals and New York City FC tied the Columbus Crew 2-2 in the first regular-season match at Citi Field to secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The new venue was selected for the regular-season finale because of a conflict with the New York Yankees’ playoff run.

•Atlanta United set two attendance records but failed to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs when Sebastian Giovinco scored on a brilliant free kick in the 84th minute, giving Toronto FC a 2-2 tie and the most points ever in an MLS season.

United broke its own MLS single-game attendance record with a crowd of 71,874 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the retractable roof was open on a warm, cloudy day. Atlanta also set a season record with an average of 48,200 a game, eclipsing the mark of 44,247 set two years ago by Seattle.

The tie gave Supporters’ Shield winner Toronto (20-5-9) 69 points on the season, beating the previous MLS mark of 68 set by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1998.

Around the world: Brazil scored twice in a six-minute span in the second half to beat Germany 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Under-17 World Cup in Kolkata, India, setting up a semifinal with England. Earlier at Kochi, Spain set up its semifinal against Mali with a 3-1 win over Iran. … World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari led Guangzhou Evergrande to a seventh successive Chinese Super League title with a 5-1 win over Guizhou Zhicheng. … Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham dismantled Liverpool 4-1 at London’s Wembley Stadium in front of a record English Premier League attendance of 80,827. Everton’s 5-2 loss to Arsenal sent Ronald Koeman’s team into the relegation zone. … Marco Asensio scored one goal and helped force an own-goal to lead third-place Real Madrid to a 3-0 win at home over Eibar in the Spanish league.

MLS playoff seeds

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. Portland Timbers

2. Seattle Sounders

3. Vancouver Whitecaps

4. Houston Dynamo

5. Sporting Kansas City

6. Earthquakes

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Toronto FC

2. NYC FC

3. Chicago Fire

4. Atlanta United

5. Columbus Crew

6. New York Red Bulls

Quakes’ next game

At Vancouver,

7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Original Article:

Click here

[dawnajaynes32]

The 10 Best MLS Logo Designs

The extended deadline for the HOW In-House Design Awards is July 5. Don’t miss this opportunity to recognize your team’s work—because a boost of confidence really is in reach! All it takes is one entry.

The identity of the MLS, North America’s top professional soccer league, has a suspect history. Forged in the early 1990s, both the league’s identity and team identities offered up the typical ‘90s aesthetic. And some of those aesthetics lasted for far too long. As we applaud the league office for modernizing its look in 2014, we turn our focus on the clubs and pick out—using insights from logo designers to help inform the list—the 10 best MLS logo designs out there.

Meet the Top 10 MLS Logo Designs

1. Portland Timbers

Simply put: There’s so much to love about the Portland Timbers’ design. The club harkens back to its roots in circular style and graphics, but pays homage to the past in a streamlined design that still gives us mountains in the background. The modern colors fit with the Pacific Northwest motif and the clever use of the ax as a “T” remains unparalleled.

2. Minnesota United

Embrace the loon. As the state bird of Minnesota, supporters have long called the team the loons, leading to its prominent location on the logo, which also features a blue stripe for the Mississippi River and grey as a nod to the material of the state’s Iron Range. The prominence and positioning of the loon, however, stands out and offers us a tremendous range of colors in a simplistic and powerful form that debuted with the MLS team in 2017. Plus, taking what is otherwise a typically static image and turning it into a dynamic bird gives us a fresh take on a bird-in-logo design.

  3. Vancouver Whitecaps

Are Whitecaps about mountaintops or rough seas? This logo has them both, all while embracing a “V” at the same time. Simple, yet descriptive and full of the cool colors that have defined Vancouver for a decade—not to mention colors of the pre-MLS Whitecaps team—this logo stands out with ties to mountains and sea. Anytime you can incorporate letters into imagery, you up your chances to a strong logo. Vancouver did just that.

4. Los Angeles FC

Embrace the gold in the brand new logo from a team not yet in action on the field. The new design for a team set to debut in 2018 has been described as elegant and spare, but it evokes all things good about Hollywood. The gold—paired with black—especially positions the logo in a singular space within the MLS and much of the United States’ sporting world. Plus, the winged L.A. comes across as pure brilliance.

[Read about designer Matthew Wolff’s process of designing this logo from scratch.]

5. New York City FC

In a world of shields, New York City FC instead went with a badge, a nod to the city’s historic use of subway tokens. The team’s version of the token, created by Rafael Esquer, cuts a pentagon out of the center to represent the five boroughs. The Gotham typeface ties to city signage and the monogram was meant to reflect the city’s graphical history.

6. Chicago Fire

With a name that evokes history in Chicago, the team’s logo ties to that fire-to-rebuild history with a fireman-style badge. The “C” in the middle represents Chicago, similar to other key Chicago sports teams, but with its own typeface twist. And the six-point star connects to the city flag and its representation of historical events in Chicago, giving this logo a modern twist on history.

7. DC United

Updated in 2015, the fresh DC United logo still plays its eagle front and center, but gives it a more polished version—and with wings that extend beyond the typical shield shape. The stars and stripes in the logo tie to the District of Columbia flag and British designer Peter Horridge darkened the red. He also gave us a new shape, drawn from George Washington’s family crest.

8. FC Dallas

Yes, we have a shield here, something you’ll see far too much of in this European-dominated design world, but this one screams Texas. And we can appreciate when something typically one thing (European) screams something else (Texas). The balance, yet boldness, of the combination works.

9. Columbus Crew

The Crew has grown up significantly since the club’s early iteration of design. All along the way, though, Columbus has owned its colors and then created a balanced, reverent identity that has plenty of nods—some subtle and some not as subtle—to team history without embracing embarrassing ‘90s design.

10. Orlando City

Overlooking the simple fact that Orlando City SC uses purple—at least the team embraces the distinctive look of a relatively new addition to the MLS—the powerful use of the Lion, a nod to the King of the Jungle mantra the team used throughout its USL run, is commended. The 21 sun flares bordering the lion signifies the club as the 21st franchise for the MLS. Simple, yet distinctive.

Online Course: Logo Design Basics

The post The 10 Best MLS Logo Designs appeared first on HOW Design.

The 10 Best MLS Logo Designs syndicated post

[flauntpage]

These Soccer Fanatics Are Ready for Launch of Canadian Premier League

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

While we don't yet know when the Canadian Premier League will kick off, one thing's for sure—the fans will be ready.

It was just last month that the CPL's existence and its first two teams, in Hamilton and Winnipeg, were officially confirmed. The rest of the CPL's initial roster of either six or eight teams is expected to be in similarly sized cities, since Canada's three biggest markets (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver) will be keeping their Major League Soccer squads.

But that hasn't dampened grassroots enthusiasm about the league; if anything, it's intensified it, as fans in underserved markets across the country have been clamouring for the chance to finally support top-flight pro soccer in their own backyards.

For proof, we need look no further than the CPL supporters' groups that have come into existence over the last two years.

The most established is the Barton Street Battalion in Hamilton. At its core is a group of fans that, for the better part of a decade, scratched their soccer-watching itch by trekking to catch Toronto FC games at BMO Field.

When word got out, in 2015, that Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young of the CFL was helping to spearhead the creation of a new Canadian soccer league, they took matters into their own hands. The Battalion were born and released their logo on social media later that year, and held their first formal meeting in February 2016.

L-R: Kevin Matchett (Ti-Cats representative), Paul Beirne (CPL representative), John McGrane (ex-Canadian national team player), Nick Bontis (vice president, Canadian Soccer Association), James Hutton, John Gibson (president, Hamilton & District Soccer Association). Photo by Amanda Stancati

A rep from the Ti-Cats was at that meeting, sending a signal to the Battalion that their local team was on its way.

"That's when we got the ball rolling," James Hutton, a founding Battalion member, told VICE Sports. "It was validation… we didn't have to wait for the team to show up for us to express our passion."

Hutton quickly ordered up 50 Battalion scarves, which he easily sold that summer to fans at a pair of Canadian women's national team games in Ottawa and Toronto. He feels that a civic renaissance in the Ambitious City will mean success for the CPL side (which, as it turns out, will indeed be owned by Young).

"There's this massive swell of Hamilton pride [right now]," says Hutton. "This will be not only a driving force to continue that, but it will be an outlet for people who want to go support the Canadian players and support their local team, to be involved with something special."

Over in Winnipeg, the seeds were also planted for a supporters group back in 2015. Big crowds for the FIFA Women's World Cup convinced Adam Johnston that his city was ready for more soccer.

So when talk heated up in 2016 that Winnipeg could be a CPL host city, he headed online to gauge interest in forming a supporters group. The group held its first formal meeting in January 2017, picked a name (Red River Rising) in April and, earlier this month, met with a rep from the ownership group, which also owns the CFL's Blue Bombers.

A lifelong Winnipegger, Johnston became a soccer fan in the late 1990s, after the departure of the old Winnipeg Jets soured him on hockey. He knows the city may not seem a prototypical soccer hotbed, but he's determined to break that stereotype.

"People are going to be pleasantly surprised once the league kicks off, and supporters of it do show up," Johnston told VICE Sports. "We want to build a good and unique fan experience here in Winnipeg that I don't think many Winnipeggers have seen before."

When it comes to unprecedented fan experiences, perhaps no market fits the bill better than Halifax.

On June 20, Halifax Regional Council voted unanimously to allow Sports and Entertainment Atlantic (SEA) to build a "pop-up" stadium on the downtown Wanderers Grounds, making the arrival of a CPL team in the Nova Scotia capital seemingly a fait accompli.

Members of the Halifax Wanderers Supporters Group were on hand to hear the momentous council decision firsthand.

"We were over the moon," James Covey, a Wanderers SG member, told VICE Sports.

His group coalesced late last year, when stories emerged of SEA's plans to build a downtown stadium. Their excitement was tempered by cynicism about the numerous ideas for Halifax sports venues that have come and gone over the years.

Attendees at a Halifax Wanderers Supporters Group meeting in March 2017. Photo courtesy of the Halifax Wanderers Supporters Group

But when Paul Beirne (who currently works for the CPL, but rose to prominence for his off-field role with TFC in the mid 2000s) came out to Halifax earlier this year, Covey could sense that this time was different.

"Pro soccer is mostly untested here, but I don't think we've ever looked at a similar proposition to this in any sport," says Covey. "Historic grounds, a natural grass pitch, downtown—all of those pieces count for a lot."

Covey admits that his city's lack of history with pro soccer also means a lack of history with supporters culture. But he's got plenty of backup on that front, as members of the burgeoning CPL supporters' groups stay in regular contact with one another, sharing news items, tips and excitement about the league.

And if Covey's group needs any advice on how to build a raucous supporters section, they may find wisdom from an unexpected source: Saskatchewan.

In Regina and Saskatoon are a hearty band of Canadian soccer fanatics who've spent years traveling far and wide—losing their voices and minds in the process—to support the men's and women's national teams. Many of them have banded together to form a prospective CPL supporters group, called Pile O' Bones.

The group—whose name is a play on Regina's original name, Pile of Bones—openly admits the uncertainty on their Twitter page: "We don't know for sure if Regina will have a #CanPL team. But if it does, we will be ready."

Although things were very speculative when POB formalized themselves last summer, it's gotten much more real as of late, with a recent report in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix about an ownership group looking to bring a CPL team to one of the province's two biggest cities.

Since that story came out, Rob Notenboom says that he and fellow POB members have been "banging the drum" about the potential team, trying to drive interest among local sports fans and businesses.

He feels confident—"like, 95 percent sure"—that a CPL team will come to either Regina or Saskatoon some day, and he's certain that fans from around the province (his group-mates included) would travel to support it, whichever city it lands in.

But he also knows that however committed and noisy his travel-tested contingent of fellow fans may be, the full-on "supporters section" experience might not find much traction among the wider fan base at first.

"For a while, we might be it," Notenboom told VICE Sports. "We might have a dozen people in the supporters group and slowly grow it, or 500 people might show up out of the blue. It's untested waters."

So Notenboom preaches a philosophy of openness and inclusion for his group, a recurring theme when it comes to these CPL fan collectives. Given their small scales at the moment (the groups we spoke to have unofficial membership counts in the dozens, at present), these groups can't afford to scare off potential converts.

But there's also a spirit of diversity interwoven into it as well; both Johnston in Winnipeg and Covey in Halifax cited the increased multiculturalism in their cities as a potentially massive driver of success for the CPL.

An artist's rendering of the new stadium on the Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, potential home of a Canadian Premier League team. Courtesy Architecture 49

"Whether you're rich, poor, you've been living here in Winnipeg all your life or you just got here from Latin America or the Middle East," says Johnston, "if you're interested in soccer and you want to support our local pro team, you're more than welcome to come on board."

Beyond these CPL-focused groups are other supporters' groups currently linked to teams in lower-tier US leagues that would likely jump to CPL if teams came to their cities—from Victoria (Lake Side Buoys), Calgary (Foot Soldiers) and Edmonton (FCESG) in the west, to Ottawa (Bytown Boys and Stony Monday Riot) and Kitchener-Waterloo (Grand River Support) in the east.

There's also support bubbling up on the outskirts of the three MLS markets—just this month, prospective supporters' groups in Quebec City and Mississauga, Ontario, have made themselves known, while a rumoured CPL team in the Fraser Valley could draw support from erstwhile fans of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Heck, the cork has even been popped on inter-group banter on social media:

Screenshot via Barton Street Battalion Twitter

Of course, we are talking about a league that still exists largely in the realm of speculation. The Hamilton and Winnipeg teams don't even have names yet. In fact, we don't even know whether the CPL will begin play in 2018 or 2019—or maybe even further down the road.

For the moment, it all seems rather ambitious. But for Hutton, of the Barton Street Battalion, that's a motivator rather than a deterrent: "It's the perfect description of [Hamilton], and this CPL project and ideology as a whole."

These Soccer Fanatics Are Ready for Launch of Canadian Premier League published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[sportslounge]

Sacramento Republic vence de virada o Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 #SLFC #WeAreRepublic

Impulsionado pela excelente vitória pela U.S. Open Cup na última quarta-feira sobre um oponente da Major League Soccer, o Republic FC recebeu Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 no Papa Murphy's Park LOTADO e venceu de virada pelo placar de 2x1.

Agustin Cazarez marcou o gol da vitória no minuto 74 após jogada de Tyler Blackwood. Os visitantes abriram o placar logo aos 5 minutos de partida e o empate veio aos 12 minutos com Sammy Ochoa.

A vitória coloca o Republic na 5a colocação da USL com  5V-6E-3D.

Sacramento volta a campo na próxima quarta-feira, 21 de junho contra o RGV Toros a meia-noite no Papa’s Murphy Park. Será o quarto jogo da equipe em 11 dias!

[betarenasocial]

Palpite e Dicas de Apostas Vancouver Whitecaps vs Montreal Impact

17-09-2020, Quinta-feira, vem com a partida entre Vancouver Whitecaps x Montreal Impact e no nosso palpite Vancouver Whitecaps vs Montreal Impact você encontra tudo para apostar no campeonato da Major League Soccer - EUA. O jogo acontece no grande estádio BC Place Stadium, em Vancouver. Poderá acompanhar o jogo ao vivo no Betarena, com acesso a toda a informação para ajudar nas suas apostas esportivas, incluindo estatísticas, eventos e odds. Introdução ao palpite Vancouver Whitecaps vs Montreal Impact A última partida entre essas equipes terminou em 2-4 com vitória do Montreal Impact. A partida foi disputada em 2020-09-14, válida pela temporada 2020 da Major League Soccer. Times se diferem tanto em aspirações quanto em capacidades. Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps vem para essa partida com 9 pontos em 12ª posição na Major League Soccer, em uma campanha negativa, tendo um total de 7 derrotas e 3 vitórias, além de um total de 0 empates. A 12ª rodada começa a com a equipe com a mesma quantidade de pontos que o Cincinnati, que aparece na posição 13, logo atrás. Montreal Impact Montreal Impact chega neste jogo com 16 pontos, e na 5ª posição na Major League Soccer, tendo ganho 5 jogos no total e perdido 4, além de um total de 1 empate. Com uma desvantagem de -1 pontos para tirar do Los Angeles FC, que está na 4ª posição no início desta 12ª rodada. #20200917 #apostas #MajorLeagueSoccer #MontrealImpact #palpitedeapostas #prognósticos #PT/BR #USA #VancouverWhitecaps Read the full article

[betarenasocial]

Palpite e Dicas de Apostas Toronto vs Vancouver Whitecaps

Toronto e Vancouver Whitecaps vão defrontar-se em 19-08-2020 num jogo a contar para o campeonato da Major League Soccer USA, aproveite o nosso palpite Toronto vs Vancouver Whitecaps para começar a ganhar com as suas apostas! O jogo desenrola-se no estádio BMO Field, em Toronto. Poderá acompanhar o jogo ao vivo no Betarena, com acesso a toda a informação para ajudar nas suas apostas esportivas, incluindo estatísticas, eventos e odds. Introdução ao palpite Toronto vs Vancouver Whitecaps O último jogo entre eles terminou empatado, quem ganhará dessa vez? A última partida entre essas equipes acabou em 1-1. A partida aconteceu em 2019-06-01, referente à temporada 2019 da Major League Soccer. Toronto Estando em 3ª posição na Major League Soccer, o Toronto chega a este jogo com 9 pontos, acumulando 1 vitória no total e perdendo apenas 0, além de um total de 1 empate. A 4ª rodada começa a com a equipe com a mesma quantidade de pontos que o Los Angeles FC, que aparece na posição 4, logo atrás. As atuações da equipe costumam ser melhores quando está atuando dentro de casa. Os números mostram isso. São 0 vitórias jogando longo dos próprios domínios, enquanto já obteve até aqui 1 resultados positivos jogando como mandante, além de 0 derrotas e 0 empates. Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps chega neste jogo com 6 pontos, e na 9ª posição na Major League Soccer, tendo ganho 1 jogo no total e perdido 1, além de um total de 0 empates. #19082020 #apostas #MajorLeagueSoccer #palpitedeapostas #prognósticos #PT/BR #Toronto #USA #VancouverWhitecaps Read the full article

[365footballorg-blog]

MLS All-Star roster set, with record 16 countries represented

June 29, 201811:44AM EDT

All-Star Coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino makes gameday roster selections for 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target; two selections by MLS Commissioner Don Garber round out 26-man roster for Aug. 1 match vs. Juventus in Atlanta

NEW YORK (Friday, June 29, 2018) – Major League Soccer’s star-studded roster is set for the 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target, and it will showcase the most diverse group in the league’s history. Today, Atlanta United head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino made 14 selections, while two players were honored as Commissioner’s picks by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, for the highly anticipated event against Italian powerhouse Juventus Football Club on Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. ET, live on ESPN, UniMás, TSN and TVA Sports).

The MLS All-Stars will feature 10 players with FIFA World Cup experience, including five participants in this year’s tournament, among 16 of the league’s teams. The roster features players from 16 countries – the most in MLS All-Star Game history, eclipsing the previous record of 13 in the 2016 and 2017 MLS All-Star Games.

CLICK HERE for soundbytes from MLS All-Star coach Tata Martino and MLS All-Star players.

Martino’s selections include a combination of young talent that recently featured at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, veteran leadership such as 2010 FIFA World Cup winner David Villa (New York City FC), and an intriguing MLS All-Star Game connection in former Juventus star Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), who led TFC to the 2017 MLS Cup crown and earned MVP in the Concacaf Champions League during the Reds’ runner-up performance. Martino’s midfield corps is headlined by Mexico’s Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy) – one of three MLS players on Mexican side that advanced out of the group stage at this year’s World Cup – and Peruvian Yoshimar Yotún (Orlando City SC) who helped set up his country’s first World Cup goal in 40 years earlier this month in Russia. The defensive group features 23-year-old goalkeeper Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew SC), who notably shut down Martino’s Atlanta side during the 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs with two penalty kick shootout stops en route to the Eastern Conference Championship.

The All-Star Game honorees chosen by Commissioner Garber include 17-year-old Canada National Team phenom Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), who was the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Boot winner, and two-time MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls).

Martino selected additional players to the roster to replace Atlanta United midfielder Darlington Nagbe, who was voted to the 2018 MLS All-Star Fan XI presented by Target, but will be unavailable for the match due to injury.

The MLS All-Star Fan XI, nominated by media and selected by fans, features Mexican star forward Carlos Vela (Los Angeles Football Club – EA SPORTS™ “More Than a Vote” Challenge), who propelled Mexico into the Knockout Round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Fan XI also includes Atlanta United’s young attacking trio of Miguel Almirón, Ezequiel Barco and current MLS Golden Boot frontrunner Josef Martínez, and Sweden great Zlatan Ibrahimović (LA Galaxy).

The 2018 MLS All-Stars will face Italian giants Juventus, who won their seventh consecutive Serie A title earlier this year. Juventus is the most decorated club in Italy, winning more Serie A and Coppa Italia titles than any other Italian club. Juventus also reached the UEFA Champions League final in two of the past four years (2015, 2017). The team is managed by Massimiliano Allegri, who just completed his fourth season with the club.

Tickets to the 2018 MLS All-Star Game against Juventus are now on sale by visiting Ticketmaster.com. Tickets start as low as $ 35.

CLICK HERE for 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target logos, photos and b-roll.

Media planning to cover the 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target may apply for credentials by CLICKING HERE. Without exception, credential applications must be received by Wednesday, July 18.

2018 MLS All-Star Game Roster by Position

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan^ (Atlanta United), Zack Steffen* (Columbus Crew SC)

Defenders: Francisco Calvo* (Minnesota United), Laurent Ciman^ (Los Angeles Football Club), Alphonso Davies# (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Matt Hedges* (FC Dallas), Aaron Long* (New York Red Bulls), Michael Murillo* (New York Red Bulls), Michael Parkhurst^ (Atlanta United), Graham Zusi^ (Sporting Kansas City)

Midfielders: Miguel Almirón^ (Atlanta United), Ezequiel Barco^ (Atlanta United), Jonathan dos Santos* (LA Galaxy), Alberth Elis* (Houston Dynamo), Ignacio Piatti* (Montreal Impact), Alexander Ring* (New York City FC), Ilie Sanchez* (Sporting Kansas City), Diego Valeri^ (Portland Timbers), Yoshimar Yotún* (Orlando City SC), Wilfried Zahibo* (New England Revolution)

Forwards: Sebastian Giovinco* (Toronto FC), Zlatan Ibrahimović^ (LA Galaxy), Josef Martínez^ (Atlanta United), Carlos Vela^ (Los Angeles Football Club), David Villa* (New York City FC), Bradley Wright-Phillips# (New York Red Bulls)

^Fan XI selection

*Gerardo “Tata” Martino selection

#Commissioner Don Garber selection

2018 MLS All-Star Game Roster by Team

Atlanta United (5): Miguel Almirón, Ezequiel Barco, Brad Guzan, Josef Martínez, Michael Parkhurst

Columbus Crew SC (1): Zack Steffen

FC Dallas (1): Matt Hedges

Houston Dynamo (1): Alberth Elis

LA Galaxy (2): Jonathan dos Santos, Zlatan Ibrahimović

Los Angeles Football Club (2): Laurent Ciman, Carlos Vela

Minnesota United FC (1): Francisco Calvo

Montreal Impact (1): Ignacio Piatti

New England Revolution (1): Wilfried Zahibo

New York City FC (2): Alexander Ring, David Villa

New York Red Bulls (3): Aaron Long, Michael Murillo, Bradley Wright-Phillips

Orlando City SC (1): Yoshimar Yotún

Portland Timbers (1): Diego Valeri

Sporting Kansas City (2): Ilie Sanchez, Graham Zusi

Toronto FC (1): Sebastian Giovinco

Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1): Alphonso Davies

Bios for 2018 MLS All-Star Game Roster:

GOALKEEPERS:

Brad Guzan | Goalkeeper | Atlanta United | Nationality: USA | Born: September 9, 1984

A member of the U.S. Men’s National Team, Guzan was named to his country’s 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup rosters, competed in the 2007 and 2015 Concacaf Gold Cups, the 2007 Copa America and the 2016 Copa America Centenario, where he was the starting goalkeeper. In his first season with Atlanta United in 2017, Guzan made 14 starts and finished with the third-best goals-against average (0.71) in the league. In addition, he also recorded the sixth-longest shutout streak in MLS at 541 minutes. Guzan was previously named to the MLS Best XI in 2007 and was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. U-21 team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This is Guzan’s second MLS All-Star selection (2007, 2018).

Zack Steffen | Goalkeeper | Columbus Crew SC | Nationality: USA | Born: April 2, 1995

Steffen has been dubbed the future of goalkeeping for the U.S. National Team, notably posting seven saves to earn a draw against France earlier this year. The 23-year-old with 30 saves in 14 appearances this regular season is tied for a league-best seven shutouts, including five clean sheets and 17 saves from May 5-27. Steffen leads MLS with the lowest goals-against average (0.79) among goalkeepers appearing in nine or more games in 2018. His 19 saves during the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs were instrumental in Crew SC’s postseason run to the Eastern Conference Championship. This is Steffen’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

DEFENDERS:

Francisco Calvo | Defender | Minnesota United FC | Nationality: Costa Rica | Born: July 8, 1992

The captain of Minnesota United FC and a member of the Costa Rica National Team, Calvo earned a trip to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Calvo tallied two goals and an assist in 27 games during his inaugural MLS season in 2017. A versatile player who can play multiple defensive positions, Calvo has earned his first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Laurent Ciman | Defender | Los Angeles Football Club | Nationality: Belgium | Born: August 5, 1985

A member of the Belgium National Team, Ciman was a part of the squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In his inaugural year in MLS, he brought Montreal to the Concacaf Champions League final and the MLS Cup Playoffs and earned Impact Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, Ciman was named to MLS Best XI in 2015 and was awarded MLS Defender of the Year. This is Ciman’s third selection to the MLS All-Star Game (2015, 2016, 2018).

Matt Hedges | Defender | FC Dallas | Nationality: USA | Born: April 1, 1990

The 2016 MLS Defender of the Year, Hedges has become one of the most important players to the FC Dallas team and defense. Hedges was previously named to the MLS Best XI in 2015 and 2016. He has also earned five caps with the U.S. National Team. This is Hedges’ second MLS All-Star Game selection (2017, 2018).

Aaron Long | Defender | New York Red Bulls | Nationality: USA | Born: October 12, 1992

After winning the 2016 USL Cup and earning USL Defender of the Year with the New York Red Bulls II, Long has made a smooth transition to the Red Bulls back line for the past two MLS seasons. From 2017-18, Long has started in 43 of 46 games with three goals in regular-season play. He also made three starts during the 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs. This is Long’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Michael Murillo | Defender | New York Red Bulls | Nationality: Panama | Born: February 11, 1996

A member of the Panama National Team, Murillo has most recently taken his talents to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Murillo originally played for San Francisco FC’s youth academy in Panama, eventually transferring to the club’s first division team. This is Murillo’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Michael Parkhurst | Defender | Atlanta United | Nationality: USA | Born: January 24, 1984

The six-time MLS All-Star selection (2005, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2018) is one of the most celebrated defenders in MLS. Parkhurst has played for the U.S. Men’s National Team, earning 25 caps and winning the 2007 and 2013 Concacaf Gold Cup. He was awarded MLS Rookie of the Year in 2005, Defender of the Year in 2007, and was named to the MLS Best XI in 2007. Parkhurst became the first team captain for Atlanta United.

Graham Zusi | Defender | Sporting Kansas City | Nationality: USA | Born: August 18, 1986

The U.S. National Team defender has made 55 international appearances and was an integral player for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Zusi has excelled for Sporting Kansas City, spending the entirety of his 10-year career with the team, and has helped Sporting earn the current top spot in the Western Conference. He is second in club history with 57 assists. Zusi was also previously named to the MLS Best XI in 2012 and 2013. This is Zusi’s sixth MLS All-Star selection (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018).

MIDFIELDERS:

Miguel Almirón | Midfielder | Atlanta United | Nationality: Paraguay | Born: February 10, 1994

A member of the Paraguay National Team, Almirón starred for his country in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup before breaking out in 2016 at the Copa America Centenario. The 24-year-old had an impressive first season, recording nine goals and 14 assists. On the 2018 season, he currently has six goals and seven assists. He was named the 2017 MLS Newcomer of the Year, was ranked No. 1 in the 2017 MLS 24 Under 24 list, was named to the 2017 MLS Best XI and was a finalist for 2017 Most Valuable Player. This is Almirón’s second MLS All-Star selection (2017, 2018).

Ezequiel Barco | Midfielder | Atlanta United | Nationality: Argentina | Born: March 29, 1999

The Argentina youth star, despite an early-season injury, has showcased his talent to the tune of three goals and an assist since early May to lead the club to first place in the Eastern Conference. He has played for Argentina’s U-20 team and made eight appearances. Before playing for Atlanta this season, Barco played for Independiente, and made appearances in Copa Sudamericana and Copa Argentina. This is Barco’s first MLS All-Star selection.

Alphonso Davies | Midfielder | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Nationality: Canada | Born: November 2, 2000

The Canada National Team phenom and one of the youngest active MLS players in the league, Davies had an impressive 2017 with Vancouver. Davies also earned international acclaim when he won the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Boot and was named to the tournament’s Best XI at age 16. During the 2018 MLS season, Davies ranks third in assists with seven. This is Davies’ first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Jonathan dos Santos | Midfielder | LA Galaxy | Nationality: Mexico | Born: April 26, 1990

A member of the Mexico National Team, dos Santos has most recently represented his country in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, as well as the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Dos Santos signed with the LA Galaxy in 2017 as a Designated Player after playing for Barcelona and Villarreal. This is his first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Alberth Elis | Midfielder | Houston Dynamo | Nationality: Honduras | Born: February 12, 1996

A member of the Honduras National Team since 2014, the 22-year-old Elis has been a budding member of the Dynamo since his 2017 debut. Elis scored 10 goals and four assists in 2017, and he is on his way to an even stronger 2018 MLS campaign. This year he has tallied eight goals and five assists in just 15 matches. During Concacaf Champions League play, Elis was named the tournament’s Best Young Player when he was competing for Olimpia. Elis earns his first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Ignacio Piatti | Midfielder | Montreal Impact | Nationality: Argentina | Born: February 4, 1985

The Montreal Impact star is once again putting together strong season in 2018 with eight goals and six assists. Piatti was named the Impact team MVP the past three seasons (2015-17). A model of consistency, Piatti recorded 17 goals and six assists in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He was named to the MLS Best XI in 2016. This is Piatti’s third MLS All-Star Game selection (2016, 2017, 2018).

Alexander Ring | Midfielder | New York City FC | Nationality: Finland | Born: April 9, 1991

A member of the Finland National Team, Ring has earned 44 appearances while scoring two goals in international play. Ring was selected as New York City FC’s Newcomer of the Year in 2017, posting four assists in 29 regular-season games after a successful career with FC Kaiserslautern. This is Ring’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Ilie Sanchez | Midfielder | Sporting Kansas City | Nationality: Spain | Born: November 21, 1990

Sporting Kansas City’s Newcomer of the Year in 2017 had a strong first season, appearing in 33 regular season games while adding two assists and helping contribute to 11 shutouts. This year, Sanchez has recorded two goals and three assists in 16 games as SKC leads the Western Conference. This is his first selection to the MLS All-Star Game.

Diego Valeri | Midfielder | Portland Timbers | Nationality: Argentina | Born: May 1, 1986

The 2017 Landon Donovan MLS MVP, Valeri finished last season with 21 goals and 22 assists and has starred for the Portland Timbers in all six years in the league, winning the Golden Boot in 2013, his first year with Portland. Valeri, who has made three appearances for the Argentina National Team, holds the record for the fastest goal in MLS Cup history and was previously named to the MLS Best XI in 2013, 2014 and 2017. This is Valeri’s fifth MLS All-Star Game selection (2013, 2014, 2016-2018).

Yoshimar Yotún | Midfielder | Orlando City SC | Nationality: Peru | Born: April 7, 1990

A starter and difference-maker for both club and country, Yotún played a heavy part in Peru’s run to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as well as the buildup toward Peru’s first World Cup goal in 40 years. Yotún started in all three group matches in Russia. For Orlando City SC, Yotún has three goals and five assists this season. The creative midfielder has the versatility to also play as an attacking left back. This is Yotún’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Wilfried Zahibo | Midfielder | New England Revolution | Nationality: France | Born: August 21, 1993

In his inaugural season with the New England Revolution, Zahibo has three goals and four assists in 16 games played. After seven professional seasons in France and Spain, Zahibo made the transition to MLS from Valencia CF and La Liga. This is Zahibo’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Sebastian Giovinco | Forward | Toronto FC | Nationality: Italy | Born: January 26, 1987

Giovinco led Toronto FC to a historic treble in 2017 – the Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup crown and the Canadian Championship title. A game changer since his MLS debut in 2015, Giovinco’s opening campaign included a record-breaking tally of combined goals and assists as he collected MLS Golden Boot, Newcomer of the Year, and Landon Donovan MLS MVP honors. Earlier in 2018, Giovinco was named the MVP of the Concacaf Champions League, leading Toronto to a runner-up finish. This is Giovinco’s fourth MLS All-Star Game selection (2015-18).

Zlatan Ibrahimović | Forward | LA Galaxy | Nationality: Sweden | Born: October 3, 1981

Signing with the Galaxy earlier this year, Ibrahimović stormed into the league with two late goals during his LA Galaxy debut on March 31. For 2018, he has tallied seven goals and three assists in 11 games played. The former Juventus player is Sweden’s all-time leading goal scorer with 62 goals in 116 games. Ibrahimović has played in two FIFA World Cups (2002, 2006). This is Ibrahimović’s first MLS All-Star Game selection.

Josef Martínez | Forward | Atlanta United | Nationality: Venezuela | Born: May 19, 1993

The top goal scorer in MLS for the 2018 season, Josef Martínez, had a wondrous first season in 2017 with recording 19 goals – the most ever by a player on an expansion team. In 2018, Martinez has scored a league-leading 14 goals. The 24-year-old was awarded both MLS Player of the Month and MLS Player of the Week two times in 2018. Martinez is a member of the Venezuela National Team in which he has been capped 42 times. This is Martínez’s first MLS All-Star selection.

Carlos Vela | Forward | Los Angeles Football Club | Nationality: Mexico | Born: March 1, 1989

A crucial member of the Mexico National Team, Vela has played in two World Cups (2010, 2018) and has won the Concacaf Gold Cup on two occasions. Before coming to LAFC, Vela played for such teams as Arsenal, Salamanca, Osasuna and Real Sociedad. He earned the Real Sociedad Player of the Year in 2011-12 and 2013-14. Now playing for LAFC, Vela has a team-leading seven goals and five assists. Vela has earned his first MLS All-Star selection. 

David Villa | Forward | New York City FC | Nationality: Spain | Born: December 3, 1981

The 2016 Landon Donovan MLS MVP and captain of New York City FC, Villa was also an integral member for the Spain National Team in three FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014); he scored five goals in leading Spain to its first World Cup crown in 2010. In 2018, Villa has tallied eight goals and four assists as New York City FC is once again among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. This is Villa’s fourth consecutive MLS All-Star Game selection (2015-18).

Bradley Wright-Phillips | Forward | New York Red Bulls | Nationality: England | Born: March 12, 1985

A two-time MLS Golden Boot Winner, Phillips has spent the entirety of his MLS career with the Red Bulls since 2013. In the 2018, he has netted 11 goals, which ranks second among the league leaders. In 2017, Wright-Phillips became the first player in Red Bulls history to reach 100 goals among all competitions – MLS regular season and postseason play, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and Concacaf Champions League. He was named to the MLS Best XI in 2014 and 2016. This is his second MLS All-Star Game selection (2014, 2018).

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MLS All-Star roster set, with record 16 countries represented was originally published on 365 Football

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MLS Newsstand - June 25, 2018

June 25, 20181:15PM EDT

SELECT CLIPS

MLS ARTICLES

Philadelphia Union 4, Vancouver Whitecaps 0

New York Red Bulls 3, FC Dallas 0

Orlando City SC 0, Montreal Impact 2

Sporting Kansas City 3, Houston Dynamo 2

Colorado Rapids 3, Minnesota United FC 2

Real Salt Lake 1, San Jose Earthquakes 1

Seattle Sounders FC 1, Chicago Fire 1

Los Angeles Football Club 2, Columbus Crew SC 0

Atlanta United 1, Portland Timbers 1

New York City FC 2, Toronto FC 1

Exclusive: Atlanta United dominates final MLS All-Star fan voting

Atlanta Journal-Constitution – June 25, 2018

Dominating the standings and attendance, Atlanta United also dominated the voting for the MLS All-Star game, which will be played against Juventus Aug. 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Six Atlanta United players — goalkeeper Brad Guzan, striker Josef Martinez, midfielders Miguel Almiron, Ezequiel Barco and Darlington Nagbe, and defender Michael Parkhurst — were voted into the MLS All-Star Fan XI. This will be Almiron’s and Parkhurst’s second consecutive All-Star appearance.

“They are incredible,” Parkhurst said of Atlanta United  fans. “From day one, until now it’s been amazing. Everyone sees it on a game day, and the passion they bring and the excitement and the atmosphere they create. But it’s everywhere. It’s when you are out about in the city and people recognize and the support they give you. It’s when you go to do a player appearance and go to sign autographs for an hour and there’s a line the whole time.”

The rest of the Fan XI is composed of talent that, combined with Commissioner Don Garber’s two selections and manager Gerardo Martino’s remaining 11 selections, which will be made later this summer, should make for a competitive game against the Italian powerhouse.

Joining the Atlanta United players are L.A. Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored 23 goals in 70 appearances for Juventus from 2004-06, and LAFC’s Carlos Vela, who was voted in through the EA Sports More than a Vote Challenge. Ibrahimovic has seven goals and three assists in 11 appearances, and Vela has seven goals and five assists in 12 appearances.

Last year’s league MVP, Diego Valeri of Portland, is the remaining midfielder. He has six goals and three assists in 14 appearances.

The other two defenders are LAFC’s Laurent Ciman and Sporting KC’s Graham Zusi.

The Fan XI may not be selected by Martino as the starting 11, but the group has a bevy of World Cup experience, which may help. Ibrahimovic is a two-time World Cup participant with Sweden. Ciman (Belgium) and Zusi played in 2014. Guzan played in 2010 and ’14.

Martino knows what he will get from Atlanta United, which leads MLS with 34 points, and its fans in terms of support.

“It’s an honor,” Guzan told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s a compliment to our fan base and how much they value our team, how much they value the city in terms of how welcome we are and what it means to be a host city for such a prestigious event. It’s an honor. It’s exciting. It should be a good week.”

Martinez leads MLS with 14 goals this season. Almiron is among the favorites to challenge Valeri for MVP with six goals and seven assists. Barco, 19, has three goals and one assist. Nagbe, acquired from Portland in the offseason, has three assists.

Atlanta United holds several MLS attendance records, including single-game (72,035), set this season, and season average (48,200), set last year. It leads the league in average attendance again this season with more than 48,000. Tickets for the All-Star game can be purchased from ticketmaster.com.

“They love the team,” Parkhurst said. “And we try to show them the love right back. It’s awesome that they got out there and voted for us. I speak for all six of us when I say that we are fortunate and thankful for their support.”

The MLS All-Star Fan XI:

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan, Atlanta United. His first All-Star selection.

Defender Michael Parkhurst, Atlanta United. His second consecutive selection and sixth overall.

Defender Laurent Ciman, LAFC. Has three goals in 13 matches for the expansion team.

Defender Graham Zusi, Sporting KC. Has two goals and an assist for the Western Conference’s top team.

Midfielder Miguel Almiron, Atlanta United. His second consecutive selection, has six goals and seven assists in 17 appearances.

Midfielder Ezequiel Barco, Atlanta United. Has three goals and one assist in 12 appearances.

Midfielder Darlington Nagbe, Atlanta United. Has three assists in 17 appearances.

Midfielder Carlos Vela, LAFC. Has seven goals and five assists in 12 appearances.

Midfielder Diego Valeri, Portland. Has six goals and three assists in 14 appearances.

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, L.A. Galaxy. Has seven goals and three assists in 11 appearances.

Striker Josef Martinez, Atlanta United. Leads MLS with 14 goals.

Red Bulls, Special Olympics New Jersey #UnifiedTogether

Asbury Park Press – June 23, 2018

HARRISON – Christian Muniz held up the Red Bull New York jersey, looking at his name and No. 78 printed on the back. Mai Vy Nguyen proudly pointed at her nameplate, hanging on the locker just like the professionals.

They were both part of the Special Olympics Unified team, taking the field against their counterparts from FC Dallas on Saturday afternoon.

Both goals were scored by Unified partners, Cullen Colfi of FC Dallas early in the second half and Adithya Sridhar to tie it up shortly afterward.

Most of the same Special Olympics Texas players had hosted the Red Bulls last summer.

“It was pretty cool, new team, new feeling,” said Sridhar, a mechanical engineering graduate student at Rutgers University. “Everyone comes from different parts of the state. Everyone’s different ages. But everyone’s got to come together. Playing for the Red Bulls Unified team is a huge incentive. Everybody wants to come together to play.”

Muniz, a 20-year-old from Linden, was particularly excited to get out on the field at Red Bull Arena.

“I’m excited,” said Muniz, who swam at the Special Olympics Summer Games, and was part of Kean University Unified basketball.

“I’ve never played on a field like this before. We played really well, and tried hard.”

Decked out in a grey Nike logo headband, Nicholas Vales from Oceanport started at left back for Red Bulls Unified.  Nguyen and Sridhar started the second half.

“I’m so happy to be here. It’s fun,” said Nguyen, 25, who has played soccer since age 12 and also works at Goodwill in Old Bridge.

It is the fifth year of the Unified Exchange program, which promotes social inclusion through sports.

The Special Olympics players “signed contracts” with sporting director Denis Hamlett at the Red Bulls’ training facility in Hanover Twp. on May 15. They practiced a couple of times before Saturday’s match, though many have played together in Union City for years.

Special Olympics New Jersey will host D.C. United on Aug. 26.

Special Olympics has offered Unified sports, which blend athletes with intellectual disabilities and neurotypical partners, for more than 20 years, with 1.4 million participants worldwide. There are 12 colleges and universities in New Jersey which host Unified sports programs, including Drew and Rowan, where assistant coach Jack Boncales was first exposed.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Boncales, a Ridgefield Park native and physical education teacher and basketball coach at Shepard Preparatory High School in Morristown.

“I love it. They played hard. They had a good time.”

How Park City’s Sebastian Saucedo went from RSL ball boy to budding star

Salt Lake Tribune – June 23, 2018

Sebastian Saucedo was on the sideline when Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando and the rest of Real Salt Lake played at Rice Eccles Stadium, just another starry-eyed elementary schooler serving as a ball boy and dreaming of a professional soccer career.

“Growing up in Utah, who would have known a young kid [from Park City] would have been able to just play in general?” Saucedo said after he scored his first MLS goal for RSL at Seattle on May 26.

Saucedo is on track to have a breakout year, not only scoring his first MLS goal but logging more assists (three) in 11 appearances than in the rest of his career combined. He got his opportunity when injuries kept Joao Plata out of the lineup, and while he has yet to displace Plata permanently from his starting role, Saucedo has solidified himself as a prominent figure in RSL’s attack.

“The last month, he’s defending better,” said assistant coach Freddy Juarez, who has coached Saucedo since he played for the RSL Academy. “He’s playing for the team, he’s keeping possession, he’s giving assists, he’s scoring. He’s not a [finished] product by any means, but he’s starting to take advice from other people, applying it and becoming a little bit more of a complete player.”

Saucedo’s parents were watching from home when Saucedo sent a scorcher from outside the box into the back of the net at Seattle last month. His mom later told him that his father was so overwhelmed with pride, he had to leave the room.

“I’ve had a couple goals in Mexico,” Saucedo said of one season he was on loan to Liga MX team Veracruz, “and he was there for one of them, so I couldn’t believe hearing my mom tell me that, that he would be so emotional.”

Saucedo had expected a gruff, “Good job, on to the next one,” from his dad, Martin Saucedo. Sebastian, or Bofo as most call him, grew up training with his dad at the North 40 fields in Park City from a young age. Martin always wanted to set his son up in the best environment to advance his career, and Saucedo quickly rose from the Basin Rec (where he said he’d get access to the field house after school and stay there until it closed) to the Park City Soccer Club. It was his stint with South Weber club La Roca that put him on the RSL Academy’s radar.

“He had a knack to get by guys and then create either a pass for someone else, a shot for someone else, or he scored himself,” Juarez said. “So that’s the first thing. That’s the type of player you think have a high ceiling, and we can now put in a more competitive environment we can work on all the other things, the psychological and all that.”

So Saucedo left his family to join the academy in Casa Grande, Ariz. The lifestyle change was the biggest adjustment for Saucedo — on the field, he scored 50 goals in 60 appearances with the Academy’s U15/16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches, then another five goals in four matches with the U-17/18 squad.

Because of his success at the Academy, Saucedo was highly touted heading into the professional ranks as the first homegrown signing from Utah in July 2014, but at the time he didn’t have the benefit of being able to get minutes with the Real Monarchs, RSL’s USL affiliate that played its first season in 2015.

Though there have been some exceptions, “academy guys … aren’t really ready to go from academy to first-team soccer,” Juarez said. “And so we all see a guy that can score in the academy and think he’s going to come [and do the same thing on the first team]. It’s not true.”

So Saucedo asked for a loan and played in Liga MX. When he returned to RSL last year, he was an occasional reserve. This season he came out swinging and hasn’t looked back, now not just a ballboy for Beckerman and Rimando, but playing and wearing claret and cobalt alongside them.

Zlatan on overcoming injuries — and winning over the haters

ESPNFC.com – June 25, 2018

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not a modest man, so perhaps it’s not surprising that LA’s newest celebrity decided to pose for the 10th anniversary of the Body Issue. But there’s still plenty for the global soccer icon to open up about. Ibrahimovic sat down with ESPN’s Chris Connelly recently and revealed the details of his brutal knee injury, how he’s adjusting to his new team and that oh-so-memorable debut.

ESPN: You’re here to pose for the Body Issue. So what’s different about you physically from every other footballer?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: When I do something, I do it powerful. Is not about the beauty because everybody can look good. But not everybody is powerful. And I bring that.

You also bring creativity and style. What is the moment like on the pitch when you know you can be creative? What has to happen?

I need to be angry. I need to be very angry. Then I bring out my [moves] that you will not expect … in a good way. And I see things that is difficult to describe. I can see holes in the game that I can use. And then I can see the vision, the second and the third step, what will happen, and I predict those things.

What motivates you?

I find the haters. I make that to give me energy. That is what I had all my career — I had people that didn’t believe in me. I had people who said that I will never make it. They judged me even before I even got a chance. But all that I turn around and I made it a driven power for myself. I was driven to do everything better, never be satisfied. That’s how I kept on, and I still find those holes where I get that energy. But the problem is, I make my haters become fans. So I need to have more haters.

It’s going to be hard to find those haters if you keep going like you have been. [Laughs]

Yeah, but I’ll find them. I’ll make them upset in some way.

Your accuracy is phenomenal on the pitch. In your book [I Am Zlatan, 2001] you talk about a coach [former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello] who put you right in the penalty box and just fired balls at you over and over again.

Every day. He put me in front of the goal and I made, like, 50 to 100 shots every day. When I say every day, it was every day. And he continued to push me, push me, push me, and at the end he didn’t need to call me. I went there by myself, and I did it because it became my medicine. I needed to repeat it, and I needed to train on it. You train hard, and hard work pays off. And that’s why I hit the target maybe more than normal.

What part of your body do you feel the most confident in, as far as your strength? The whole package. There is no weakness.

Even at 36? That changes things a little bit, right?

No, is perfect. I am like the wine: the older, the better. Age is just a number, it’s all in your head, how strong you are, how young you are and how you prepare yourself. I do a lot of training. I prepare very well and I like it because it drives me. It never makes me satisfied because when I feel good, I want to feel better. I’m a workaholic.

You suffered a catastrophic knee injury [in April 2017], though. What was that like? It was very strange because I never had a major injury. When it happened, I even said to myself, “I’m not injured.” And I tried to walk straight after. There is another player who got injured in the first half — he was carried out. I was walking out because I said I’m not injured. And when I came in, I still said to myself, “I’m not injured, it’s just a small bruise or something.” But something felt different. Then the next day it was swollen, and we did MRI and it showed that everything was off. Then you hear all the comments: It’s all over. He will never come back. He will never be the one he is. So now the haters come out. And all this gives me energy, all those people that are speaking. So I said, “I decide when I stop football. I decide how I will finish this story. I will not end this story by injury. I will walk out the way I want to walk out.” When I walk out, I will feel just like when I began to play, powerful and feeling perfect.

How did you take the mindset that you bring to every match to your rehab?

I trained every day, boring training. But I needed to do it. And I had people around me that believed in me and gave me that extra push. I had my family. I had my agent. I had my physio. We worked every day. And when I signed the extra year with Manchester United [in August 2017], I asked [coach Jose] Mourinho, “Can I do [rehab] from distance? Because if I see the teammates every day, I will go crazy.”

Because I want to be with them. I am that kind of person. When the coach needs me, I’m there even if my knee is not there or I have a broken leg or something. I will be there for them because that’s how I work. When they need me, I will stand up for them. And I will defend them in every moment. So I asked to keep distance, to do my training isolated. I give a big thanks to United [for letting me do that], to my teammates that was in United, to Coach Mourinho — that gave me that confidence. And I’m here now, and I’m enjoying my football here now.

Will it be hard for you to watch the Swedish national team play without you in the World Cup?

No. In the beginning, the first games was different because I felt I can do it much better than them, obviously. And still I feel that. But there is a time when you say let them do it and let them enjoy because where I came from, I was not welcome. I was different. I came from a different background. And I went through all those things and I became the captain on my national team. I mean, bigger than that it cannot be.

You heard the cheers here in LA with your phenomenal debut. You’re smiling just remembering it. What did it feel like there on the pitch?

It felt amazing because the buildup was amazing. The only wish from Galaxy was please be ready for March 31, and that’s the game against LAFC. Just prepare for that game and be ready and be here. And I say, “Don’t worry, this is my job. Just make my visa so I have it so I can come over.” [Laughs] So everything was ready. I came here. I trained for 20 minutes. I didn’t know anybody. The next day I’m selected for the game. The coach asked me, “Are you sure you can play?” I said, “Just give me some minutes. I’ll show you.” And they were all asking, “How’s your knee?” I say, “We just have to find out how it is.” And we were losing 1-0, so I’m sitting on the bench and was, like, no problem, we can still do this. After 2-0 I look at my left, I said to him, “I don’t know if Zlatan is enough for this.” After 3-0, I say, “Listen, this will be a long season.” And then I heard the crowd shouting, “We want Zlatan.” OK, would they put me in or not? Or they will rest me? I didn’t know anything. So I started to warm up. We did 3-1. OK, now it’s your turn. You go in and then magic happens. So I gave them Zlatan, like I said. They wanted Zlatan, I gave them that.

You’ve heard cheers in every great football cathedral in the world. What was it like to hear those cheers in LA?

It was amazing because when I changed clubs I had a special connection with the supporters. I feel the welcome. I feel the energy. I feel the adrenaline. And I just want to give back. I want to give back as much as possible, and especially to the kids out there because they are the future. And I know they don’t get to see me every day. Like, “You have the luck now to see me here.” So I just want to give back to them as much as possible and by doing what I’m good at, playing football. And that is where the creativity comes in. You want to do something extra. I want to be the example they take after.

For more from the 2018 Body Issue, pick up a copy on newsstands starting June 29.

Mexico’s Carlos Vela finds World Cup redemption as El Tri on the brink of knockouts

ESPNFC.com – June 23, 2018

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Three thoughts from Rostov Arena as Mexico defeated South Korea 2-1 to take control of Group F at the 2018 World Cup with goals from Carlos Vela and Javier Hernandez.

1. Vela pulls the strings for rampant Mexico

Vela had a long wait to step up and strike Mexico’s 26th minute opener past Jo Hyeon-Woo from the penalty spot. Who knows what was going through his mind? Perhaps a more emotional character mind would’ve thought about four years ago and the abuse he took when he failed to show up for the World Cup in Brazil, or what missing would do to his confidence. And then there was the sad passing of the LAFC player’s grandfather last Sunday back in Mexico after El Tri’s 1-0 victory over Germany.

“I hope you left proud of me,” read Vela’s message to his grandfather after what was surely a difficult time away from home.

But Vela put it away and put Mexico on track for another victory in Russia with authority.

This may have only been a penalty goal for Vela, but it felt like redemption; a reconnection with Mexico fans who had shunned him after he rejected a chance to play for the team in Brazil in 2014, when his career was absolutely on a high. The fans shouted his name as he trotted up to take the spot kick; and after he converted it, Vela kissed the crest on his shirt, crossed himself and lapped up the celebration with his teammates.

But it wasn’t just the goal. Vela has now put in two performances of the highest quality in Russia, playing off Hernandez and roaming with intent to link play, especially with Mexico’s wingers. The arrogance — not in any way a bad thing when it comes to Vela — is back in his play, with his close control inviting the opposition in before moving the ball away from them. It gives rhythm to Mexico’s attacking.

In Russia, it finally looks like the former Arsenal player belongs and is an important, if not indispensable cog in the Mexican national team.

2. El Tri on the brink of knockout round

This was another promising performance from Mexico and one that will keep the momentum generated from that victory over Germany flowing, even if South Korea’s mainly defensive style made it more difficult for El Tri to shine.

The biggest surprise about Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio’s starting XI was that there was only one change, with Hugo Ayala exiting for right-back Edson Alvarez and Carlos Salcedo slotting in at center-back. Osorio has still never repeated a starting lineup in two consecutive games since taking over as Mexico coach in the fall of 2015.

In the first half, Mexico had 69 percent possession and largely controlled the game, although South Korea had chances on the break, with Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min unable to finish when through on goal in the 39th minute.

Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was forced into action in the 56th from a sharp Ki Sung-yueng shot from the left side of the box, but El Tri had the better of the chances and managed to get the vital second.

Hector Herrera won the ball in the Korean half in the 66th. Then Andres Guardado delivered the ball to Hirving Lozano, who passed it to Hernandez. The West Ham United striker cut inside and put Mexico ahead at a time when there was growing frustration about missed opportunity. This was a big goal for a striker who hadn’t netted for El Tri since last October. And it would have been all the more meaningful given his 87-year-old grandfather Tomas Balcazar was in attendance. Balcazar netted for Mexico back at the 1954 World Cup.

El Tri may not have been completely clinical, but in terms of sheer grit and hard work in hot and humid temperatures — it was 33 degrees Celsius at kick-off (91 F) — against a South Korea side unafraid to break up play with tactical fouls.

Mexico’s defenders blocked Korea’s shots, and by the 13th minute, left-winger Lozano had made two vital defensive challenges, one of which was in the right-back position and the other close to the 6-yard box.

While some of the more favored teams stumble in Russia, Mexico is doing just fine and has been boosted by the huge traveling support — around half of the 43,472 — in Rostov Arena.

By the end, the Mexican fans were singing the name of Osorio, and even the goalkeeper chant that caused the Mexican federation to be fined after opener wasn’t heard.

Things are going very well for El Tri, who recorded consecutive wins at a World Cup for the first time since 2002, and are now a virtual lock to reach the round of 16.

3. South Korea over-reliant on Son

This World Cup hasn’t been a great advert for football in South Korea. As if anyone didn’t know it, Son is the team’s best player by a distance. And when you take out Swansea’s Ki Sung-Yun, there isn’t all that much quality.

The South Korea team was happy to foul at will — 24 compared to Mexico’s seven — and the main tactic seemed to be to defend deep and try set Son free to run behind Mexico’s high defensive line. It looked like it could possibly work in moments, but this South Korea side needed to provide more against a Mexican collective that is really clicking and not reliant on any one individual.

Son eventually got his goal – – a screamer — in second-half injury time, but it wasn’t enough, and South Korea didn’t really deserve much from this match, just like it didn’t against Sweden in the opening game.

The fact only four of South Korea’s 23-players play in Europe tells its own story. The Asian team hasn’t covered itself in glory in Russia.

Coming (back) to America: How Zack Steffen rediscovered his love for soccer and emerged as a top U.S. keeper

The Athletic – June 25, 2018

The​ moment he returned to the​ picturesque German​ city on the western edge of the Black Forest, anxiety​ was there​​ to greet him. It’s a feeling Zack Steffen couldn’t shake in late June of 2016.

The budding goalkeeper was in the company of his two sisters, Katy and Lexy, for a week as he prepared for his second season with the Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. The familiar gnaw of loneliness, however, was starting to envelop him even before his siblings boarded a plane for home.

To continue reading The Athletic click here…

Union ‘put on a show’ with historically dominant win on same night they honor club icon

The Athletic – June 25, 2018

CHESTER, Pa. — The​ “Doop” song​ is loud and upbeat and pretty much designed to get​ you off​​ your feet. And when it blares over Talen Energy Stadium’s loudspeakers, as it does after every Union goal, the good vibes are palpable.

On Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps, it was played five times — four for the season-high-matching number of goals the Union scored in their most dominant win of the year. The other? That came right after a giant black curtain was lifted up to reveal the words: “Ring of Honor Sebastien Le Toux” under the TruMark Financial Suites, as fireworks and loud roars from the crowd accompanied the team’s signature tune.

To continue reading The Athletic click here…

New coach Domènec Torrent praises quality of NYCFC players

Pro Soccer USA – June 24, 2018

BRONX, N.Y. — New NYCFC coach Domènec Torrent arrived in the United States a day before his team’s Sunday evening match against Toronto FC. He sat down with Pro Soccer USA contributor Glenn Crooks before the game.

Welcome. You come right in to a tough task taking on the reigning MLS champion in Toronto.

Torrent: “Thank you so much. I am happy to be here. I think we are ready to play against a good team against Toronto.  For us, it’s not easy to play in this stadium after this week. I just here arrived. Yesterday was my first training session.”

Was it frustrating having to wait so long after being hired to meet your new team?

Torrent: “Yea, but I cannot change anything. The problem was a Visa; it is not easy to go to USA right now, because it’s very complicated with all the bureaucratic papers. But I am happy, because in the end I’m here. And I arrived before the game, that’s the most important for me for the club. It’s not easy when Patrick is gone and they are one week or two weeks without a head coach. But we have an amazing staff. I watched the whole training session. It’s good.”

Have you been speaking with assistant coached Javier and Rob?

Torrent: “Yea. Javier and Rob are amazing, amazing staff for me. And every day, especially Javier, called me and explained to me what happened in the field, in the training session. But I say to Javier, ‘Don’t worry, I watched the training sessions.’ They work hard, they work very well. I’m very happy to have this staff.”

Did Pep Guardiola help you make the decision to come here?

Torrent: “Ah, of course. Was amazing experience with Pep, 11 years. I learned a lot with Pep. We’re good together. He’s amazing not just like a coach, and amazing person. In fact, two hours before he called and and he asked me are you all ready Domenec? I said, “I am ready Pep.” Pep is like a close friend for me. He is like family. He’s like a brother.”

What did you learn from him that you will bring to NYCFC?

Torrent: “Pep and me think about football the same. We like to make high pressing if it’s possible, to recover the ball quickly. Many people think about Pep, pep like to keep the ball all the time. It’s not. That’s a problem, because Pep likes to attack as soon as possible when recovering the ball. Attack quickly, and after that if it’ not possible, of course keep the ball.

“We like to play all the time with intensity. It’s better for us to play one touch, not two touches or three touches, if possible. But, always it matters the quality of the players. We have a talented team, and I need maybe two weeks more to introduce a little bit of a difference between Patrick and me, but we’re very, very similar. Patrick was in fact a good coach. He has done an amazing, amazing job here, and I respect a lot like a player and like a manager.”

Have you been watching NYCFC’s games?

Torrent: “I’ve seen the last nine games. I think right now, I know absolutely our players, the quality and this is one of the reasons why I’m here because I like this team. When I watch the games, I think this team is a talented team. When I watch the games, I think, ‘Ah, maybe this team is for you.’”

Three things: New York Red Bulls captain Luis Robles is his brother’s keeper

Pro Soccer USA – June 24, 2018

HARRISON, N.J. — Here are three things we learned from the New York Red Bulls 3-0 win over FC Dallas Saturday night at Red Bull Arena

Robles is his brother’s keeper

Luis Robles is a detail freak. He likes to have everything planned out, from his daily routine on the training ground to pre-game and in his everyday life.

So the Red Bulls goalkeeper was thrown for a loop Saturday night when his brother, Angel, a U.S. Army Major, made a surprise appearance post-game upon his return from Afghanistan. He just completed a nine-month deployment, the third tour in his 13 years with the Army.

“I had no idea. When I saw my brother I was in shock more than anything, maybe a little confused,” Robles said. “The way that I saw it playing out was I was going to the airport and picking him up at 3:47 pm and to see him at the stadium and the way the organization did it was truly amazing.

“I was absolutely floored. I’m still floored and I’m just glad I get to spend the rest of the weekend with my brother.”

Kaku can you hear me?

It’s a sequence that has played out a lot for Kemar Lawrence. He motors down the left flank as the Red Bulls attack with numbers, but then Kaku looks elsewhere to make a play.

“Me and him have been at it for a couple of days in a more friendly way because he sees so many thing sometimes, he’s so good at seeing Brad [Wright-Phillips], he’s so good at seeing the midfielder peeling off a defender’s shoulder, so sometimes I’m running from so far that he sees me, but he’s like ‘Kemar is running from so far, I don’t want to play him,’” Lawrence said.

On Saturday night, Lawrence made sure he didn’t just see him, but that he would hear the Jamaican international as well. Kaku didn’t have Wright-Phillips to play to, because the Red Bulls forward was fouled with referee Robert Sibiga playing the advantage. Florian Valot was an option to his right, but he faked a pass there and looked to his left to Lawrence instead.

“To be honest, he was screaming at me from half field,” Kaku said. “I saw him, I gave him the ball and to be honest he’s very quick.”

Approaching the century mark

Wright-Phillips’ goal in the 23rd minute was his 11th of the season, moving him to within three of Golden Boot leader Josef Martinez of Atlanta United.

It was his 25th game-winning goal, which moved him into 12th all-time in league history with Clint Dempsey and Carlos Ruiz and it was also the 97th league goal of his storied career.

“It wasn’t the plan. I didn’t think I would get to 100,” Wright-Phillips said. “I haven’t yet. We don’t know what could happen, but if I did it would be amazing. For this club, how they’ve treated me, how they’ve accepted me, the fans have taken to me, it would be nice, I can’t lie.”

Orlando City goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar: ‘I can take on anything’ following cancer diagnosis

Pro Soccer USA – June 25, 2018

In the months that followed a bone cancer diagnosis, Orlando City goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar – more or less – went about the business of being a professional soccer player.

There simply wasn’t time to be slowed down after her received a call that a pain in his leg was Ewing Sarcoma. He treated it like any injury and listened to his options. He found out his recovery time.

The 2015 Homegrown player signee wanted to make sure he could still be a goalkeeper.

“My first thought when I got that phone call from the doctor was, he said it was going to be about a seven-to-eight month process,” Stajduhar said during a May interview with Pro Soccer USA. “The first thought that crossed my mind was, ‘Seven to eight months without being able to play.’ That’s what really brought me down.

“I was absolutely gutted.”

For a while, the pitch was an escape. It was a place he thought about while undergoing treatment.

Toweling off after training, he said playing soccer in Orlando – even with the sun and stifling heat – was what he cared about.

“That’s the only thing I think about,” he said with a smile.

“I feel that my whole life, when I step across the line, everything else goes away. It’s like the whole world falls away and the only thing that matters is the ball, you know?”

He’ll have the time now. There will be less time in the hospital and more on the pitch. There’s time to enjoy his place on Orlando City’s roster.

Stajduhar, 20, was diagnosed in November 2017 and placed on the season-ending injury list. In May, he was cleared to participate in diving drills during training.

On June 19, clad in a suit – he loves fashion and owns five complete suits – Stajduhar rang the bell at the Pediatric Cancer Unit at Orlando Health’s UF Health Cancer Center, signaling the end of six months of treatment.

Stajduhar always knew he’d reach this point.

There were still some low points.

Sitting in a hospital bed, Stajduhar’s thoughts typically wandered to soccer.

For him, it was awful.

“I have two different types of treatment for the chemo,” he said. “One’s a day to a day and a half. One’s five to seven days. During those five to seven days, towards day three or four, those are probably my lowest points, towards the end of those treatments.

“I just want to get out of the hospital and get back here and be able to train and play.”

He would play video games or listen to music – Call of Duty: WWI or the rap trio “Migos,” respectively – but inevitably, he’d think about Sylvan Lake Park and his teammates.

“A lot of times it’s just sitting and thinking about getting back out here on the field,” he said. “It’s almost like torturing yourself. You want to be back on the field so much, but the more you think about it, the worse you feel being stuck in the hospital.”

Plus, when he was first diagnosed, he was told the safest option for him would be surgery that included a knee reconstruction.

“I was like, ‘Crap. That’s probably a whole year gone,’” Stajduhar said.

He didn’t want to halt his development as a player, so he said no to surgery.

“For me, it was never a choice,” he said. “It was always radiation. It was easy, for me.

“My parents were … not skeptical, but cautious, I would say, about doing radiation over surgery. The surgeon, the oncology surgeon, he OK’d it. He said, ‘It’s not ideal, but I think with your situation, it’ll be OK.’ Once he said that, my parents were on board with me as well.”

He had the support of his parents and his girlfriend, but his mother was worried.

“My mom … she just wants me to stay safe and stay healthy through the treatment process so I can finish it,” he said. “They have a more long-term, bigger picture, I would say, than myself. They try to pull me back in from me going too far.”

Club support

Every step of the way, Orlando City has been there for Stajduhar.

Without OCB, Stajduhar’s been training 100 percent with the first team. In particular, he’s spent time with goalkeeper Joe Bendik.

Bendik is a mentor and player-coach for Stajduhar. He’s also a friend – someone who provided an Xbox for Stajduhar to play during treatments and a steadfast teammate in the online shooter game “Fortnite.”

Bendik arrived in Orlando in 2016 and started working with Stajduhar soon after that. Bendik, an MLS veteran at that point, said Stajduhar needed some coaching. It was clear Stajduhar had the work ethic, he just needed a guiding hand.

“For us, he never really slowed down,” Bendik said. “He was just kind of held out of things. For every time I talked to him, I’d be like, ‘How are you feeling?’ And he’d say, ‘I’m good. I’m good.’

“You wouldn’t even know it. He’s just a strong individual character. His work ethic is incredible.”

Bendik was dealing with a concussion toward the end of the 2017 season, which meant he got a chance to chat with Stajduhar during Orlando City’s Nov. 4 charity match to benefit Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

“I just remember being really confident,” Bendik said. “I had heard that he was diagnosed with cancer and he wasn’t going to be back until July and all of these things and he’s sitting up in the stands telling me how he needs to go about getting games so he can get some minutes.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘Dude, you’ve got to go through chemo, you’ve got to go through radiation. Don’t even think about that.’”

By the time Bendik finished talking to Stajduhar after that charity match, he knew Stajduhar would be just fine.

“It wasn’t even a question for me,” Bendik said.

Orlando City goalkeeper coach Tim Mulqueen said he’s never worked with a player recovering from a cancer diagnosis. He immediately jumped into research to make sure the cancer was survivable. 

“My first concern was Mason and his long-term health,” Mulqueen said. “Soccer became secondary. I’ve known Mason for a long time, since he was a kid, so my first concern was for him.  Speaking to him, his positive outlook just permeated through everything and it brought me back to life, so to speak.

“It gave me a positive outlook toward how he was going to defeat this.”

Back at it

Now, with chemo in the past, Stajduhar can look toward his next steps with Orlando City.

If he ever wants to start for Orlando City (he hasn’t appeared in an MLS match yet), he’ll have to get past three other goalkeepers. He’s still out for the season and has a ways to go before he’s mimicking German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, his favorite player.

“It’s a difficult task, but I feel like once you conquer all of the adversity and stuff leading up to it, that makes you better,” he said. “One day, I’ll be sitting at the top.”

He’s had his naysayers – nowhere near enough to outweigh the support he’s received.

“It doesn’t matter what other people think or what they say,” he said. “The only opinion that I think matters for everyone is their own opinion. If you think you’re the best, that’s what eventually will happen. You’ll be the best.

“I feel that I can do anything. It’s not a matter of if, but when. Just extreme self-confidence and self-belief. With that, I can take on anything.”

Borek Dockal scores twice as Philadelphia Union rout Whitecaps

ESPNFC.com – June 23, 2018

Borek Dockal scored two goals, Ilsinho and Fafa Picault each added penalties and the Philadelphia Union defeated the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps 4-0 on Saturday at Talen Energy Stadium.

The Union snapped their two-game losing streak while Vancouver, which saw two players sent off late, had its six-game unbeaten streak broken.

In the 11th minute, Dockal got loose on the right side of the box and fired a shot. But Vancouver goalkeeper Brian Rowe was in good position to make the point-blank save.

Dockal stayed aggressive and broke through with the first goal of the game and a 1-0 Union lead in the 24th minute.

Cristian Techera made a late push for the Whitecaps in the 45th minute as he dribbled in tight and was able to force a corner kick. Techera also took the corner, which was cleared by the Union.

The Whitecaps were fortunate to be trailing 1-0 as they were outshot by the Union 15-0 in the first half. Midfielder Alphonso Davies, who had one goal and three assists in their last game, was taken out at halftime. It was unclear if the 17-year-old Davies had suffered an injury.

Union defender Keegan Rosenberry took a rare shot on goal in the 48th minute and had it saved by Rowe.

Nicolas Mezquida registered Vancouver’s first shot of the game in the 54th minute and was stymied by Union goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Union captain Alejandro Bedoya ripped a right-footed shot in the 63rd minute which was deflected over the goal by Rowe.

Dockal gave the Union a 2-0 advantage in the 71st minute with his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

The Union received a penalty kick in the 72nd minute when Cory Burke was fouled in the box by Jose Aja, who was shown a red card. Ilsinho converted the penalty in the 74th minute for a 3-0 lead.

The Whitecaps finished the game with nine players when Yordy Reyna was issued a red card in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Picault netted his penalty kick five minutes into the extra time.

Philadelphia was playing without midfielder Haris Medunjanin, who on Friday was suspended an additional two games for his actions towards the referee in a wild incident against Atlanta on June 2.

The Whitecaps were without defender Kendall Waston, who is with Costa Rica at the World Cup.

Borek Dockal, Ilsinho star in Union’s 4-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps

Philadelphia Inquirer – June 23, 2018

The Union spent Saturday evening commemorating a lot of milestones. Sébastien Le Toux became the first member of the team’s ring of honor, Walter Bahr’s death was observed with a moment of silence, and Jim Curtin celebrated his 39th birthday.

The most important milestone, though, came during the game. With a dominant win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Union (6-7-3, 21 points) finally jumped into sixth place in the Eastern Conference — and into one of the playoff spots.

It might be only a temporary achievement. Next weekend, Chicago, Orlando or Montreal — seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, and all within one win in the standings — might jump over them. But this will be true no matter the other results: Faced with a chance to make a statement, the Union did.

“We’re at a stage where I know we’re going to play good soccer now,” Curtin said. “I know that we’re going to keep the ball, I know that we’re going to attack and create chances. The only question is how will the group respond to adversity.”

They didn’t have to on Saturday. The first 20 minutes of the game were arguably the Union’s most impressive spell of the season. They recorded a 6-0 advantage in shots, a 179-45 advantage in attempted passes, and 79 percent of the possession.

Four minutes later, they got a well-deserved reward as Borek Dockal fired in the game’s opening goal. Ilsinho jumped on a poor clearance by Vancouver’s Brek Shea — a former U.S. national team phenom who is now a backup left back — and set up Dockal for a rip from 15 yards.

That dominance only grew over the course of the first half. When the whistle blew, the advantage in shots was 14-0. But the score remained 1-0, and Vancouver (6-6-5, 23 points) showed pace and purpose in its rare forays upfield.

Dockal doubled the lead in the 71st minute with another fine goal, on the team’s 20th shot of the game. He took a pass from Alejandro at the edge of the 18-yard box, cut past two defenders and lashed a shot past Whitecaps goalkeeper Brian Rowe.

“For the first time maybe this season, I felt like we had full control over 90 minutes,” Dockal said. “Usually, we make it difficult in the second half for ourselves with a stupid goal that we concede.”

The third goal came on the Union’s next trip down the field. Vancouver’s Jose Aja held back Cory Burke in the 18-yard box, and was sent off for it. Ilsinho converted the penalty kick in the 74th minute with an old-fashioned smash. There was no need for any fancy stutter steps or overthinking the placement, as we’ve seen in the World Cup this summer (and at times in MLS).

Picault finished the game off with a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time. He won the penalty, too, after stealing the ball at midfield and sprinting down the left wing.

At the final whistle, the Union had an impressive haul of stats to show off, with 25 shots and 545 completed passes. The latter figure was the second-highest in a game in team history.

Most important, they had a win that will likely make the rest of MLS take notice.

Red Bulls survive a red card and whip FC Dallas

New York Post – June 23, 2018

A man down for much of the night? No problem for the Red Bulls.

FC Dallas strolled into Red Bull Arena on Saturday night with a seven-game unbeaten streak and a stranglehold on second place in the MLS’ Western Conference. It also played most of the game with one more player than the home club.

None of that seemed to matter much.

The Red Bulls survived the first-half dismissal of midfielder Daniel Royer and calmly dispatched Dallas, 3-0, as two first-half strikes put the game beyond reach of the visitors.

“We knew we were in for a big challenge, and if you would’ve told me we were gonna go down a man in the [27th] minute, I would’ve said it was gonna be a long, long night for us,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. “But we showed again what we’re about.”

After a cagey first quarter of the match, New York found a breakthrough via its youngest star, Tyler Adams. In the 23rd minute, the 19-year-old mopped up a lose ball and crossed it to Bradley Wright-Phillips for an easy tap-in.

Four minutes later, the stadium’s good mood was halted temporarily when Royer was sent off for an ugly studs-showing tackle on Dallas’ Jacori Hayes. He initially was given a yellow before a video assistant referee ruling changed the decision to a straight red, and his teammates were forced to adjust.

They did so admirably.

The Red Bulls maintained relative control of the match, even with the disadvantage, as Adams put in an intelligent midfield performance organizing his teammates.

“Tyler’s grown so much over the past two years, three years. … His tendency is to, if he sees something to just do the job himself,” Marsch said. “And he can do that, he’s that gifted. But what’ll be important for him in his overall development is to make sure he’s always controlling what the team’s doing and aware of what’s happening around him.”

Adams’ midfield partner, Sean Davis, also helped to clog up the middle throughout the match, and served a tidy assist to defender Aaron Long just before the break.

Dallas peppered the opposing goal a bit after Long’s strike, but ultimately were not urgent enough throughout the night to threaten the Red Bulls. The visitors were surprisingly lackadaisical and struggled as the home team grew more comfortable in the second half. Dallas also got its own red card in the 90th minute when Reto Ziegler was sent off for kicking at Kemar Lawrence after a tangle-up.

“[To focus on details] was my reminder to them at halftime,” Marsch said. “Because there were a few moments where one guy would tune out and all of a sudden there was a gap in our team and they were able to maybe find a half chance or hit the crossbar, or whatever. But I felt like in the second half we had almost total alertness and commitment from everyone and it helped us really manage the game.”

Marsch’s team talk quickly came to fruition with a Lawrence goal, as the fullback latched onto a through ball in the 48th minute and beat goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez at the near post with a low strike.

Lawrence’s goal effectively ended the game, and marked a patient, resilient performance for a team that has now lost just once in the past eight games.

“It [the red card] wasn’t really on our terms, we had to wait until the opportunity presented itself,” Wright-Phillips said. “And when it did, we had to try and play clean and take our chances. I think we did for the most part.”

The Breakdown: FC Dallas at New York Red Bull

Dallas Morning News – June 24, 2018

FC Dallas traveled to New York on Saturday to take on the Red Bulls and things didn’t quite go as planned for Dallas. After going down a goal, and then up a man, things went into meltdown mode with FCD giving up two more goals to a 10 man side.

FC Dallas has never won at Red Bull Arena, they are now 0-4-1 there, so a loss isn’t a shock. This kind of meltdown game happens from time to time in soccer. Sometimes it’s best to just move on.

Let’s remember that Dallas is still in 2nd place in the West with 29 points, had their 2nd best 14-game start in team history, still has a game in hand on Sporting KC, and just came off a four-game win streak in league play. Granted this is two losses in a row if you include the US Open Cup, but that Cup game was a solid performance even though it was a loss.  Hopefully, this wasn’t the start of a summer swoon.  The Toros won’t dwell on this one too much, but I don’t want to talk about it to some extent.

Let’s break it down.

Formation and Tactics

FC Dallas started in a 3-5-2, that didn’t go so well. FCD had worked on the shape during the week, hoping it would help against the New York high press.  The graphic below is a touch off I believe, Hayes was more of the midfield anchor based on what I saw.

After Daniel Royer of New York got ejected for a tackle on Jacori Hayes, FC Dallas subbed in Michael Barrios for Kellyn Acosta and shifted to a 4-2-3-1 to try and take advantage of being up a man. This was basically pulling an 8 for a winger and keeping two 6s on.

Down 2-0 at halftime, in an offensive move, FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja brought on Tesho Akindele for Maynor Figueroa, shifting Ryan Hollingshead to left back.

Then once the game was 3-0, and basically out of hand, Pareja brought on Paxton Pomykal for Jacori Hayes making the shape a 4-1-4-1.

New York started in a 4-2-3-1.

Red Bull Coach Jesse Marsch made three subs Alex Muyl for Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Derrick Etienne for Bradley Wright-Phillips, and Aurélien Collin for Florian Valot. All three were straight swaps and none of them seemed to change the shape dramatically.

Due to the red card, Tyler Adams and Alejandro Romero Gamarra shifted left and up a bit in their average position to cover up for the hole in their formation and kinda ended up with a 4-3-2.

0-1 New York Red Bull Goal. 23rd minute. Bradley Wright-Phillips unmarked in the box after Maynor Figueroa losses track of him. A sharp cross from Tyler Adams, who had cleaned up a poor Ryan Hollingshead header, finds BWP for the point-blank goal.

0-2 New York Red Bull Goal. 39th minute. Ryan Hollingshead has a body on Aaron Long but doesn’t attack the ball off the corner. A really nice one time volley from Long goes into the Dallas net.

0-3 New York Red Bull Goal. 48th minute. Kemar Lawrence on the break is being tracked by Michael Barrios, Barrios sees Reggie Cannon coming to cover and gives up tracking. Lawrence at full trot gets an edge on Cannon and shoots near post for the goal.

There wasn’t a whole lot of good in this one.

Man of the Match I had to think about. I had a gut feeling I wanted to go with but it seemed incongruent with the scoreline. Eventually, I went to some stats and it backed up my gut. Matt Hedges. 85 touches, 85% passing, 9 tackles, 4 aerials won, 3 intercepts, 3 clears, and only 1 foul. That’s a damn good effort and he was playing hard all night, even when it was out of hand. This was a captain’s performance.

Maxi Urruti brought his usual effort and got off 5 shots, 3 on goal. This one below was pretty good.

I’d like to see Urruti combine better going forward, but there’s not exactly another striker for him to work off of.  Oh, also be in the box more.

Reggie Cannon was terrific. Ok, maybe he could have done better with Lawrence (NYRB’s left back) after Barrios gave up, but on the night Cannon was really good. 88 touches, 92% passing (which led FC Dallas), 3 tackles, 3 intercepts, and 0 fouls. And he’s taking guys one with 4 successful dribbles all in the offensive end, only 3 unsuccessful (only 1 in a bad defensive position).

Any minutes for Paxton Pomykal are good minutes. I liked how active he was and he showed good range (see chart). A little ambitious with some of the long balls maybe, but 3 tackles, a successful dribble, 26 touches, and 77% passing. He even took 2 corners.

This just in, Tyler Adams is fantastic. That is all.

Of Two Minds

Kellyn Acosta’s performance was fine. His sub was 100% tactical, getting off a linking mid for a winger to try and take advantage of the 10 man… er… advantage. Acosta was clearly pissed and for good reason, no one wants to come off that early. But I don’t think in hindsight we should be too worried. I think Acosta is maybe in a rut, he’s working his tail off in training though so I’m confident he will find his game.

“We had the advantage of one man and we wanted to move forward. We decided to go with three midfielders in the middle [to start the game]. When we went one man up, we wanted to add another forward and we wanted to sacrifice one of those midfielders, and in this case, it was Kellyn. Kellyn has been getting back into his rhythm [since his injury]. We are trying to add minutes and to give him a chance to recover and be himself. Today was more tactical, just to add another forward instead of having the three midfielders,” Pareja said. “Kellyn gives his heart for this team. I know the pain that he has and his frustration not being able to help in the moment, but Kellyn is fine.”

17 shots is fairly good off 23 crosses, so is 53.8% possession and 80% passing on the road on paper… BUT keep in mind the man advantage. Only 6 of FCD’s shots were on target and 47% came from outside the box. That’s not good enough, that’s back to the “hit it and hope” long-range shooting from the collapse of last season.

All three Red Bull goals had a defensive mistake involved. Granted NYRB has some nice attackers, but as I pointed out above with the clips, each play had an FCD mistake.

“I’ll say that it was noticeable in the game, they had a lot of energy, and for some reason, we couldn’t match that,” Pareja said after. “We have many parts of the game where we could’ve done a better job on that part, but we couldn’t. As I said, it was a night to forget and just learn and review and see what happened. Today we didn’t look good.”

The Daniel Royer tackle on Jacori Hayes was a legit straight red card. As you can see for yourself. Hayes was lucky his leg wasn’t broken.

Reto Ziegler’s red was just as bad, kicking out after he had been fouled. I’m sure it was a long frustrating night and Ziegler just lashed out. But the card was deserved. (This clip doesn’t show the kick out.)

Without Anton Nedyalkov, the left back position has become a problem. Hollingshead is playing against his own nature there, he’s not a great defender, and Figueroa is 35 and isn’t a good attacker. Nedyalkov was a good balance between the two and a compliment to Cannon on the right. Ziegler as a consequence has taken to hitting long balls rather than building out, 17 long ball passes in this one.

With Nedyalkov being sold I think FCD may be in a bit of trouble at left back. They are going to have to go out and get someone who can start via trade, signing, or transfer.  Hollingshead and Figueroa weren’t meant to be the starting left back this season.  The lack of a two-way player is hurting the back line and unbalancing the team.

FC Dallas returns to action on Friday, June 29th, against Minnesota United FC at TCF Bank Arena.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM CT on TXA 21.

Orlando City falls to Montreal Impact, extends seven-game MLS losing streak

Pro Soccer USA – June 23, 2018

Orlando City is still searching for answers.

During the Lions’ first home match in nearly a month, the story remained the same for the club. Orlando City conceded first and never recovered.

The club fired coach Jason Kreis after loss No. 6 during the current losing streak, but on a stormy Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 23,498, not much changed with interim coach Bobby Murphy at the helm.

The Lions (6-9-1, 19 points) lost 2-0 to the Montreal Impact, dropping their seventh consecutive match in league play and extending a club-record losing streak. It was Orlando City’s second match this week after playing D.C. United on Wednesday in a U.S. Open Cup game that went into extra time and was decided in the Lions’ favor on penalty kicks.

Orlando City came out flat after playing 120 minutes in the middle of the week.

“I want to apologize to the fans who came out tonight,” Murphy said. “The team selection falls on me and I chose a group that went out there and we weren’t good enough tonight.

“The energy was not there in the first half. For the first 45 minutes, the energy wasn’t there. It was the same group of players that came out to start the second half who were much livelier. You can call it whatever you want to, energy, effort. Bottom line, whatever it was, it wasn’t good enough.”

Since Philadelphia got a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, the Lions are now out of the playoff picture and sit in seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference table.

Centerback Lamine Sané put Orlando City behind early when he headed a cross from Montreal forward Matteo Mancosu into his own net in the 13th minute. The ball skipped by the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Joe Bendik and for the 14th time this season, the Lions were down 1-0 early.

“It’s a fluke and a really bad way to start the game,” Lions team captain Jonathan Spector said. “Too many times we’ve given up early goals in games because of poor defending or whatever it might be and then tonight it was just a bit of a fluke and I guess when it rains, it pours.”

After the first goal, the Impact were content to stay compact and force Orlando City to try to break them down. The Lions never could and finished the match with just one shot on target (eight shots total), despite 54.2 percent of the possession.

Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti put another goal on the scoresheet for the Impact in the 84th minute. The goal was waved off at first, but then was upheld after video review.

“They’re down, for sure,” Murphy said of the team. “They’re disappointed. The challenge is, you know, all the feel-good stuff we talked about in the last three days, coming off the victory and stuff, now you can’t abandon that stuff. Now my having to hold them accountable is even more important.

“There’s nowhere to hide in this. It’s not good right now, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. That’s a choice. We’ve just got to keep going and go back to work. For as long as they’ll employ me, I’ll keep pushing them and holding them accountable and try to get the best out of them.”

After a mostly-uninspired first half, Orlando City played with a sense of urgency after rookie attacker Chris Mueller was subbed on in the 64th minute. Centerback Amro Tarek came off and Orlando City abandoned its new three-man back line in favor of the 4-2-3-1 it had gone with for weeks.

The change in shape meant central attacking midfielder Sacha Kljestan dropped next to holding midfielder Uri Rosell.

It wasn’t enough for Orlando City to overcome a dismal first half that included no shots on goal despite controlling 55.6 percent of the possession.

Orlando City returns to action next Saturday with a match against rival Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Piatti, own goal help Impact beat Orlando City

TSN – June 23, 2018

ORLANDO, Fla. — Same opponent, same result.

Montreal notched its second win against Orlando City in 10 days as the Impact topped the Lions 2-0 on Saturday night.

Orlando (6-8-1) fired its head coach Jason Kreis and last week, but interim manager Bobby Murphy was unable to produce a different outcome as the team lost a franchise-record seven consecutive game. The Lions have conceded 19 goals during that span.

Montreal (5-11-0) has won two in a row — both against Orlando City, which the Impact beat 3-0 on June 13 — and three of its last four.

“I think it was a tough game because we knew that the new manager in charge probably gave more than the team had before, because it’s always the case when you change the manager,” said Impact head coach Remi Garde.

“We had a solid game, we played very compact in a deep block. And then when we gained the ball, we had many opportunities. We didn’t score more goals, but I think at the end we deserved the win.”

Ignacio Piatti scored his third goal in the last two games to lead the Impact.

Montreal jumped ahead on Orlando City’s own goal in the 13th minute. Defender Lamine Sane’s header redirected a cross by Montreal’s Matteo Mancuso past goalkeeper to open the scoring.

Orlando City captain Jonathan Spector said the mistake sapped any of the club’s early momentum.

“It’s a fluke and it’s a really bad way to start the game,” he said.

“Too many times we’ve given up early goals in games because of poor defending or whatever it might be, and tonight it was just a bit of a fluke and when it rains it pours.”

Piatti made it 2-0 in the 84th when, at the top-left corner of the 6-yard box, he took a feed from Alejandro Silva and evaded sliding goalkeeper Joe Bendik before finishing into an empty net from point-blank range. Montreal was flagged offside on the field, but was awarded the goal after replay review.

Evan Bush had one save in his second consecutive shutout for the Impact.

Impact defender Chris Duvall said the team showed well against an Orlando City club that was aiming to turn its fortunes around.

“It feels great because this is a team that I think has been struggling and a team that we played so recently,” he said.

“And I know that this game was little bit more chippy because they had something to prove to, not just us, but around the league, to their new coach, to their fans, to everyone. And I think to still manage to get a shutout against a very good attacking team is a huge win for us.”

Kickoff was delay nearly 30 minutes due to inclement weather.

Sporting KC scores twice in last five minutes for dramatic comeback win over Houston

Kansas City Star – June 23, 2018

The offseason wish list was topped by a high-dollar striker, but that search ultimately fell flat, and so Sporting Kansas City turned to Khiry Shelton and Diego Rubio as its solutions. But four months into the season, they opened Saturday’s match absent from the lineup, relegated to substitute options off the bench.

As it turned out, they were the solutions after all.

Rubio and Shelton each scored in the final five minutes, lifting Sporting Kansas City to a 3-2 exhilarating comeback victory over Houston inside Children’s Mercy Park.

On a night in which Sporting KC trailed for 82-plus minutes, Rubio tied the game in the 85th minute, and Shelton scored the game-winner three minutes later.

“It’s hard to describe the emotions that go through my body when something like that happens,” Shelton said, adding, “It’s one of the best feelings.”

Sporting KC (9-2-5) reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the West, moving a full three points in front of FC Dallas, which lost earlier Saturday.

It was a dud early, with Houston grabbing a 2-0 halftime lead. Sporting KC awoke a sold-out crowd of 20,081 late.

The comeback found the substitutes. Rubio entered in the 85th minute, after a lengthy conversation with a pair of coaches. Only 23 seconds later, he secured a game-tying goal, sticking a shot under the crossbar.

Shelton robbed him of the moment.

Three minutes later, after Houston midfielder Eric Alexander was ejected for a second yellow card, Shelton blasted a ball in the back of the net, one-timing a low cross from Daniel Salloi. The goal — prompting perhaps the loudest reaction from the Children’s Mercy Park crowd this season — was his second of the season and kept Sporting KC unbeaten over the past eight weeks. The club has not lost since April 28.

“That’s going to be one of those games we look back on,” Sporting KC defender Graham Zusi said. “Those are the kind of games you need to win to stay at the top of the table.

“You get that first one, and you feel like the second one is coming. The second one comes, and you just get that feeling the third one is coming.”

The wave began to turn in the early moments of the second half. Sporting’s Daniel Salloi halved the lead in the 59th minute, a sequence in which Gerso Fernandes and Johnny Russell also placed shots on goal. Salloi has five goals this year. After receiving most of his early-season starts on the wing, he was plugged into the striker’s role.

He touched the ball only six times in the opening half, indicative of a lackluster 45 minutes from the home side.

“When I was done talking to the team at halftime, I knew we were gonna go,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said.

“The coaching staff wouldn’t have needed to say anything when we came in (at halftime),” Zusi said. “We knew — that wasn’t us.”

Sporting KC put nine shots on goal in the second half after failing to test Houston keeper Joe Willis even once in the first. The substitutes beat him late, a crowd willing them to push forward. The intensity of the second half was such a contrast to the first 45 minutes that Vermes complimented the referee for calling the match differently after having to adjust to a different speed.

Rubio has scored three times this season, all of them off the bench. It’s been a theme for Sporting KC, which broke a club-record with its eighth goal from a sub in a single season.

Shelton, who started 12 of the team’s first 13 matches, recorded his first MLS game-winning goal.

“People get their opportunities and take advantage of them,” Shelton said. “I can’t be mad about (not starting). We’re a team. I’ve had my opportunity to showcase myself. Other guys have stepped up as well. I mentally know that and just (stay) mature about the situation.”

Sporting Kansas City rallies to defeat Dynamo

Houston Chronicle – June 23, 2018

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Daniel Salloi had a goal and two assists and Khiry Shelton scored a late goal in Sporting Kansas City’s 3-2 comeback victory over the Houston Dynamo on Friday night.

Shelton, who came on in the 76th minute, gave Sporting KC its first lead in the 88th. Salloi, on the left side, played a cross to a charging Shelton, who finished from just outside of the 6-yard box to make it 3-2.

Mauro Manotas scored in the opening and closing minutes of the first half to give Houston (6-6-3) a 2-0 lead at the break.

Salloi, a 21-year-old homegrown, slipped the rebound of a shot by Gerso Fernandes inside the near post in the 59th minute and Tim Melia, who finished with four saves, made a diving one-on-one stop of a shot by Mauro Manotas in the 78th. Diego Rubio came on in the 85th minute and scored seconds later to make it 2-2.

Houston’s Eric Alexander received his second yellow card and was ejected in the 87th.

Smith’s stoppage-time goal helps Rapids snap skid

FOX Sports – June 23, 2018

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) Tommy Smith scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time to give the Colorado Rapids a 3-2 victory over Minnesota United on Saturday night.

The 28-year-old defender has two career MLS goals, both in the last two games.

Minnesota’s Miguel Ibarra tapped in the rebound of Darwin Quintero’s to open the scoring in the 20th minute. Edgar Castillo tied it in the 50th with a rising blast into the far corner from the edge of the box.

Ibarra ran onto a through ball from Quintero on the right side and tapped a cross to a charging Christian Ramirez for an empty-net finish that put Minnesota (5-9-1) back on top in the 65th minute. But Joe Mason answered in the 74th, slipping behind the defense and chipping a first-timer over the head of goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth to make it 2-all.

Ibarra was given a straight red card in the 77th minute for violent conduct.

Colorado (3-9-3), which snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 2-2 tie with Chicago on June 13, won for the first time since April 14.

Extra time unkind to Minnesota United as the Loons lose 3-2 to Colorado Rapids

Minneapolis Star Tribune – June 24, 2018

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Minnesota United lost the lead, then a player — and finally the game to the struggling Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.

The Loons failed to hold their second-half lead, giving up the tying goal in the 74th minute and the winning goal in extra time in a 3-2 loss to a team that hadn’t won in more than two months.

Colorado got the winner on Tommy Smith’s header off a corner during six minutes of injury time. It came after United midfielder Miguel Ibarra was given a red card in the 77th minute. Ibarra had a goal and an assist and Christian Ramirez the second goal for the Loons (5-9-1).

It was a frustrating end to Minnesota’s first MLS match since June 3. Loons coach Adrian Heath said he thought the extra time already had elapsed before the Rapids scored.

“It’s a tough one to take tonight because at no stage did I think we were going to lose the game,” he said. “I never try to make excuses, but there’s no stoppages after the six minutes. Why we carry on play I don’t know. It’s a perfect opportunity — six minutes were up on the board and the ball was in the middle of the field.”

The Loons took a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute on Ramirez’s goal. Colorado protested there was offsides on the play, but the goal held up under review.

Minnesota lost the lead again when Joe Mason tied it in the 74th minute. Ibarra went to get the ball near midfield and got into a scuffle with Colorado defender Danny Wilson as he kicked the ball. Rapids’ Jack Price shoved Ibarra down from behind but things stopped before it escalated further.

Moments later, he was ejected.

“I think they told me that I tried to punch him,” Ibarra said. “I had no intention of punching him. I was just trying to get the ball. I pushed him, shoving back and forth. That was that.

“I was actually expecting a yellow for both players but once I saw the red I couldn’t believe it. I looked at the replay 10 times. On the replay I don’t see me throw a punch.”

Ibarra gave the Loons a 1-0 lead when Darwin Quintero came down the left side and took a close shot on keeper Tim Howard that trickled through and rolled toward the goal. Ibarra came racing in and scored in the 20th minute.

The Rapids (3-9-3) got the equalizer early in the second half when Edgar Castillo scored with a shot from the top of the box just under the crossbar in the 51st minute.

Colorado kept the momentum, and forced goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth to make a leaping deflection on a direct kick in the 61st minute.

San Jose Earthquakes end Real Salt Lake’s home win streak

ESPNFC.com – June 24, 2018

Real Salt Lake’s Damir Kreilach and San Jose’s Danny Hoesen scored second-half goals as the Earthquakes and RSL battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.

The draw snapped Salt Lake’s six-game home winning streak. It was the most consecutive games that the club had won in Utah since 2014.

RSL needed one more win to break the club record. They could not get it despite dominating offensively for much of the game. Salt Lake finished with a 27-15 advantage in shots and an 8-4 edge in shots on goal.

Last-place San Jose earned a draw for the second straight match. The Earthquakes have gone seven matches without getting in the win column.

Salt Lake controlled possession and tempo during the first half but could not produce any goals. RSL had a 12-4 advantage in total shots. The hosts also possessed the ball 72 percent of the time, though it resulted in only two shots on frame.

In the second half, Salt Lake turned up the pressure, and it finally paid off.

Kreilach put RSL on the board in the 54th minute. Corey Baird redirected the ball into an unmarked Kreilach in the heart of the 6-yard box. From there, the Croatian midfielder headed it home to put Salt Lake on the board.

Hoesen leveled the score in the 64th minute. Magnus Eriksson blasted a shot to the center of the goal, where Nick Rimando made a save. The ball trickled out to Hoesen, and he chipped the rebound over Rimando and into the net before the Salt Lake goalkeeper could cover the ball up.

Hoesen now has 10 goals for the season, one of four MLS players to tally double-digit goals thus far.

Rimando was credited with three saves while Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell stopped seven shots.

Real Salt Lake squanders opportunities, settles for draw with San Jose Earthquakes

Deseret News – June 23, 2018

SANDY — Real Salt Lake’s franchise record six-game home winning streak came to a frustrating end on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Despite dominating possession and creating the bulk of the chances all night against a poor San Jose squad, RSL was forced to settle for a discouraging 1-1 draw against the 11th place team in the Western Conference.

“It felt like Colorado last year when we absolute killed them and couldn’t score a goal. It feels like a loss to me,” said RSL midfielder Albert Rusnak.

RSL finished the game with a 64 percent-36 percent edge in possession and outshot San Jose 27-15. Its lone goal came early in the second half by Damir Kreilach, but San Jose equalized 10 minutes later as the teams ultimately shared the points.

“We did more than enough to get three points, and, like a handful of games this year already we just couldn’t find the back of the net,” said RSL coach Mike Petke.

Despite the discouraging draw, the point helped Real Salt Lake remain in a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with 23 points, just one point behind fourth-place Houston.

RSL could easily be sitting in sole possession of fourth place, though, with better finishing against a San Jose team that sat back and tried to transition. Even then, RSL found plenty of space to play through the Earthquakes, and it started early.

RSL dominated the opening half with a 72-28 edge in possession, but it had nothing to show for it. Corey Baird had the best chance of the opening half in the 11th minute, but he chipped a breakaway shot wide of the post after Rusnak played the ball into space behind San Jose’s defense.

Only two of RSL’s 12 shots in the opening first half forced San Jose keeper Andrew Tarbell to make a save.

The home side continued to push the pace early in the second half, and after near misses by Baird and Sebastian Saucedo in the 46th and 52nd minutes respectively, RSL eventually broke through in the 54th minute on the rare double header off a corner kick.

Baird got the initial header on Rusnak’s corner, redirecting it in front of goal where Kreilach was in perfect position to easily head it home for the 1-0 lead. It was the third goal of the season for Kreilach.

“We’ve been trying to do a little more set pieces over the last couple of weeks … it’s a free opportunity at goal, and it was executed very nicely. Corey with a great flick and Damir continuing his run,” said Petke.

It was a short-lived advantage.

In the 65th minute, San Jose’s Valeri Qazaishvili crushed a shot toward straight at Nick Rimando, who couldn’t hold on to the ball. The rebound trickled straight to Danny Hoesen, who calmly slipped it past Rimando for his 10th goal of the season tying the game at 1-1.

Hoesen’s goal felt like a double whammy for RSL because it came just a couple of minutes after Rusnak hammered a long-range shot off the crossbar.

“I was seeing the shot go in, and suddenly at the last second it rose above and hit the crossbar. I had a couple of chances myself, none of them went in, 28 shots on target and one goal is probably a lack of quality,” said Rusnak.

Both teams had great chances to win it late. With RSL pressing forward for the winner, Hoesen outdueled RSL defender Marcelo Silva to a San Jose clearance, but he sailed his wide-open shot against Nick Rimando well over the crossbar.

In the final sequence of the game, Silva headed a corner kick from Rusnak off the top of the crossbar.

“It’s tough … right now in the moment to take too many positives because it eventually feels like a loss,” said Petke.

Petke was forced to go to his bench early on Saturday when Justen Glad was subbed off in the 31st minute because of a potential concussion. He originally collided with San Jose’s Florian Jungwirth in the 17th minute going for a 50-50 ball, but returned a couple minutes later after being looked at by the trainers.

Roughly 10 minutes later, he signaled to medical personnel that he needed to come off for precautionary reasons, with Nick Besler replacing him.

Missed chances cost Chicago Fire in their visit to Seattle

Chicago Tribune – June 23, 2018

The Chicago Fire missed an opportunity to take three points on the road, settling for a 1-1 draw in their visit Western Conference champions Seattle Sounders, Saturday at CenturyLink Field.

Aleksandar Katai continued his excellent run of form with his fourth goal in the last six games, but the Fire once again suffered from lack of finishing and missed a chance at three points against a Seattle team that sits towards the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

One of the primary objectives for head coach Veljko Paunovic was for his side to get off to a strong start, an aspect the team had been lacking most of the season.

The Fire accomplished just that, thanks to an in-form Katai, who made a diagonal run through the Seattle defense off Brandt Bronico’s pass and converted from distance to put Chicago ahead only nine minutes in.

.”I know in the past I was a little bit harsh with Katai, but he had a fantastic game and I knew that he could do that,” said Paunovic.

“He has to work and figure out a way to work for the team in both directions. Together with the others, he had a fantastic game.”

But as the half progressed, the Sounders gradually took control of the ball after a rough start, spreading out the Fire defense and creating spaces for the likes of Clint Dempsey and Nicolas Lodeiro to threaten Chicago’s goal.

In the 23rd minute, Cristian Roldan and Will Bruin combined on the right flank to set up Dempsey, who beat out Dax McCarty to the box and scored the equalizer, his first goal of this 2018 season.

The teams hit the halfway with the tables turned, as Seattle closed out the half in control of the game and maintained it for the better part of a second half that featured more plenty of opportunities for both teams to take the lead.

The Fire missed two clear chances to take the game after regaining control halfway through the second 45 minutes.

Nemanja Nikolic received a perfectly placed through ball from Bronico but failed to finish past Stefan Frei. Similarly, Alan Gordon, who entered the game in place of Nikolic with a minute left, received a cross from Rafael Ramos and missed an easy tap-in by sending his shot wide.

“I was surprised we didn’t score. I think we created a lot of chances and we gave our best efforts towards the goal. That’s sometimes just how the game is,” said Bronico.

The 1-1 result is Chicago’s third consecutive draw in MLS action after defeating Atlanta United in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 midweek, keeping them out of the top six places in the Eastern Conference by one point.

The Fire return home next Saturday, June 30 to host New York City FC and new coach Domenec Torrent.

After a long wait, Clint Dempsey gets back on track with a goal as Sounders tie Chicago 1-1

Seattle Times – June 23, 2018

Clint Dempsey was his usual stoic, composed self in discussing the time it took him to register the one goal needed to tie a franchise record.

Many babies have been conceived and born in the gap between Dempsey’s equalizer for the Sounders in the 1-1 draw Saturday night with the Chicago Fire and his previous regular-season strike back in September against Vancouver. In the interim, the Sounders team he and Fredy Montero now lead with 47 career regular-season goals apiece has gone from a defending champion to a dethroned finalist, to a squad trying to avoid the Major League Soccer basement.

And even Dempsey, who can rattle off exact moments of his prior scoring slumps with expert recall and nerveless poise, had to admit the math is becoming a challenge for his team if it wants a playoff shot.

“We’re not looking that far (ahead), we’re looking at the next game,’’ Dempsey said after his team failed to secure a much-needed home victory in front of 39,513 spectators at CenturyLink Field. “It’s a must-win. We’ve got to get three points. That’s how we’re approaching every game.’’

That message had been delivered moments before in a postgame address to the squad by Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, who wasn’t thrilled with a run-and-gun second half in which both teams abandoned serious defending and took turns missing a blizzard of chances that nearly won it for their respective sides.

Besides Dempsey’s goal in the 22nd minute, erasing a ninth-minute opening score by Chicago midfielder Aleksandar Katai, the only thing that kept the Sounders from coming away with zero points was the acrobatic effort of goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Chicago poured it on the final five minutes of regulation and into extra time, forcing Frei into key stops.

His biggest came off a blast to the near post by Jorge Corrales in the 89th minute that Frei had alertly anticipated before diving back across his goal mouth to knock the ball out of bounds. Frei then got somewhat lucky in extra time when a turnover led to a through ball and near-certain scoring chance for Alan Gordon, who somehow failed to put his shot on net.

Gordon and Frei would collide moments later, both leaping for a ball in the air. The goalkeeper took an elbow and forearm to the head and was clearly groggy in being helped off the field as the final whistle blew.

Frei still was being evaluated after the game, and no immediate update on his condition was given.

For the Sounders, now 3-8-3 and with 12 points in 14 matches, the Dempsey goal was a welcome development for a team needing to get on a roll. At least four matches remain before any reinforcements likely will arrive during the summer transfer window, and the Sounders likely will need to win at least two and steal some points in the others.

Otherwise, they’d need to average more than two points a game the final 16 matches to have a realistic playoff shot, and that’s something they couldn’t manage during their stellar second-half runs the past two years.

“We’ve started to look at the standings and do the math,’’ Schmetzer said. “Today was two points dropped.’’

Schmetzer was optimistic about his veteran players, including Nicolas Lodeiro, Victor Rodriguez, Will Bruin and Dempsey providing a stronger attacking look in recent games. He talked about Dempsey being a streaky goal-scorer and hoped his first-half conversion of a Bruin pass will be the start of something good for a Sounders team that outshot Chicago 19-15.

But those good things have to come soon.

“Guys need to start getting hot, getting switched on,’’ Schmetzer said.

Bruin was physically abused throughout the game, but caught a break when a defender draped on top of him as he took a Harry Shipp pass suddenly backed off at the last instant.

“I thought he’d be all over me, but he gave me just enough room,’’ Bruin said.

Bruin tapped a quick pass from the right side across the goal mouth to a sliding Dempsey, who redirected it home.

After a “frustrating” season of near-misses and non-chances alike, Dempsey admitted “it felt good” to see the ball enter the net.

“Anytime you get good service to the box it’s always great as an attacking player because it gives you more opportunities to score,’’ Dempsey said. “I had some good looks tonight, and we created some good chances.’’

Dempsey alluded to a lack of chances during his drought, something he says had improved with Lodeiro and Rodriguez returning. He says the game has become more “fun” of late.

“I’m just trying to help the team with this run they’ve had of making the playoffs every year,’’ he said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. The goal is to try to put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs again, and hopefully we can do that.’’

Laurent Ciman, Adama Diomande on target as LAFC shuts out Columbus Crew

ESPNFC.com – June 24, 2018

Laurent Ciman and Adama Diomande scored in the opening eight minutes and LAFC cruised to 2-0 victory over the Columbus Crew at Banc of California Stadium on Saturday.

LAFC has won two straight after four games without a victory. The first-year club is 3-0-3 at home.

Columbus has followed three consecutive ties with a pair of losses.

Ciman scored in the fourth minute in his return to Los Angeles. The Belgian defender was in Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup as a standby player, but Belgium coach Roberto Martinez released him last weekend.

He ripped a 35-yard free kick that skipped once in front of Crew backup goalkeeper Jon Kempin, who started because Zack Steffen injured his knee in training on Thursday.

Columbus has allowed a set-piece goal in four straight games. Ciman’s three goals in 2018 have come on free kicks.

Diomande made it 2-0 four minutes later, moving back from on offside position to take a pass from Lee Nguyen to score in a third straight game. He has four goals for the season.

LAFC won despite forwards Carlos Vela (Mexico) and Marco Ureña (Costa Rica) and defender Omar Gaber (Egypt) being at the World Cup. Vela scored Saturday in a 2-1 win vs. South Korea.

Columbus settled down after the early deficit and found its possession game. In the 69th minute Crew midfielder Federico Higuain’s goal off a header was ruled offside.

LAFC’s Tyler Miller was otherwise not tested. He made just one save for his fifth shutout of the season and his career. Kempin finished with three saves.

The Crew has scored three goals in compiling a 2-3-3 road record.

On June 30, the Crew hosts Real Salt Lake and LAFC is home to the Philadelphia Union.

LAFC takes down Columbus Crew on franchise’s milestone day

LA Daily News  – June 23, 2018

LOS ANGELES — LAFC’s 2-0 victory over Columbus Crew SC marked the culmination of a big day for the team on Saturday.

On Saturday morning the nascent Major League Soccer franchise celebrated the first World Cup goal from one of its players when the face of the team, Carlos Vela, scored on a penalty kick to help Mexico defeat South Korea 2-1.

Later in the day, 21-year-old Portuguese midfielder Andre Horta was officially introduced at a news conference as LAFC’s third designated player signing.

And on Saturday night, Laurent Ciman and Adama Diomande scored to give LAFC the victory in the “Black & Gold” battle at the Banc of California Stadium.

“I think today is testament to what we’ve been doing for a number of years in terms of implementing this vision of ownership, of being a top team as quickly as possible,” said LAFC’s executive vice president of soccer operations John Thorrington. “Carlos is testament to that. Andre is testament to that. The success of the team so far. We didn’t set out to be in a good position a third of the way through the season. Certainly we are content with how we have started but know that there is a lot to do.”

Ciman returned to LAFC after a stint with the Belgian national team and stepped up to a free kick directly in front of the Columbus net. As he did on the road at Montreal and the during Banc of California Stadium’s opener, the 32-year-old LAFC captain hammered a line drive that found the net from 35 yards away for his third goal of the season.

“We knew we were getting a leader, a guy at the back who could helps us play at the back but the part of his free kicks has been a great surprise,” Bradley said. “By now, in certain situations, he’s been capable of coming up with something different. It’s been a great plus.”

LAFC doubled their lead in the eighth minute with a quick series of passes that left striker Adama Diomande alone in the box. The Norwegian turned, faced Kempin and slotted home his fourth goal in MLS play, and his third in three games.

Playing at full force along the defensive line, LAFC bottled up Columbus striker Gyasi Zardes, who stepped onto the pitch tied for second in the MLS with 10 goals. LAFC allowed Zardes just four touches in the opening half, and limited him to one shot during the 90 minute contest. They similarly stifled the usually productive midfielder Frederico Higuain.

“The understanding between Walker and Laurent was very good,” Bradley said. “We understand the things that Gyasi has done at Columbus that made him successful. We had an idea of some of his movements. Higuain is very active but I thought Eduard Atuesta handled the role very well.”

Wearing colors that are more black and yellow than black and gold (they claim the latter), Columbus came into the game leading the league in passing stats and were off to its best start under head coach Gregg Berhalter.

Missing American international goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who injured a knee in training on Thursday, the Crew called on backup Jon Kempin to maintain their stellar goalkeeping and goals-against record. Steffen established the eighth-longest regular-season shutout streak (525 minutes) until Columbus’s last match, a 2-0 defeat to Atlanta on June 13.

Kempin didn’t last more than four minutes before conceding Los Angeles’s first goal of the game.

Columbus put just one of 10 shots on target against LAFC goalkeeper Tyler Miller, and their frustration was apparent as the game progressed. LAFC did not back off its attacking style despite the early lead, collecting 16 total shots, five of which were on frame.

Referee Kevin Stott issued four yellow cards against the Crew (Milton Valenzuela, Frederico Higuain, Pedro Santos and Lalas Abubakar) compared to one against LAFC (Eduard Atuesta). Higuain’s transgression came when he protested an offsides call in the 69th minute that nullified a headed goal.

Defenders Steven Beitashour and Walker Zimmeran experienced their own professional milestones, playing in their 200th and 100th MLS games respectively.

LAFC improved to 8-4-3 (27 points) while Columbus dropped to 7-5-6 (27 points).

“We haven’t had a start like that at home so it was a good feeling,” said Bradley, noting that June 23 has been kind to him before: It marked eight years since he coached the U.S. men’s national team to a stunning World Cup victory over Algeria.

Portland Timbers keep unbeaten streak alive, hold on for 1-1 draw with Atlanta United

The Oregonian – June 24, 2018

Larrys Mabiala noticed something about the opposing defense on the Portland Timbers first free kick of the game. He took a mental note.

“I judged that they were defending way too high,” Mabiala said. “I just told myself that I was about to stop my run a little behind the defense.”

Just minutes later, that recognition paid major dividends. On a free kick from a similar spot, Mabiala ended his run on the back post, where a rebound fell to him. He headed it past goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 32nd minute, giving the Timbers (6-3-5, 23 points) an early 1-0 lead over league-leading Atlanta United (10-3-4, 34 points).

And coincidentally it was Darlington Nagbe, who played his first game against Portland since being traded from the Timbers last December, who initially helped Mabiala become comfortable with the team.

“We were very close,” Mabiala said. “It was very funny to see him [on the other side].” The Timbers got Mabiala’s goal early and held on late, grabbing a 1-1 draw with Atlanta by the skin of their teeth Sunday afternoon.

The draw keeps the Timbers’ 11-game unbeaten streak across all competitions chugging along, grabbing a valuable road point for a team whose form is as good as any in Major League Soccer.

The Timbers’ plan was evident from the outset. Absorb pressure from the potent Atlanta attack, remain disciplined and to pick their spots in the counter-attack.

“I thought for the majority of the game, we did a very good job with that,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We handled really well the crosses, the movements behind. Then when we had the ball we created chances. We had very clear and open chances, as much as they did. I thought a tie was a fair result.”

The Five Stripes maintained a staggering 72 percent possession in the first half but increasingly found themselves on the back-foot as the half progressed. Midfielder Sebastian Blanco spearheaded that counter-attack in the first half, consistently finding large pockets of space in the overzealous Atlanta midfield.

“He was very dangerous going forward,” Savarese said. “Fantastic game for him.”

In the 23rd minute, a Timbers counter led to a shot from Blanco from outside the box that rattled the top-right corner of the crossbar. Mere minutes later, the Timbers got their breakthrough on the Mabiala header.

But down 1-0, Atlanta opened the second half with renewed attacking vigor, poking and prodding in search of an equalizer.

And after 55 minutes of frustration, the top-scoring team in Major League Soccer finally found a goal. A deflection off the foot of Mabiala landed at the feet of midfielder Julian Gressel. With the goalkeeper off his line, Gressel made no mistake, slotting home the coveted goal and giving the sold-out crowd hopes for all three points.

It just wasn’t meant to be.

“When they were throwing numbers forward like that, we did a good job like we did the whole half of just defending and sitting in our block really well,” said goalkeeper Jeff Attinella. “Credit to the defense, they did a really good job of bunkering in and holding on for that point.”

It’s a point for Portland that feels a whole lot like a win on the road against the team atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Timbers continue to charge ahead, now moving into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with multiple games in hand. Their run of play has put the conference on notice for what’s to come.

When asked where they envision taking it from here, Mabiala chuckled.

“I see this going all the way until the end of the season.”

Atlanta United draws with Portland

Atlanta Journal-Constitution – June 24, 2018

Perhaps needing a super hero in front of goal, Atlanta United used a goal from Julian Gressel to salvage a 1-1 draw with Portland on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Atlanta United dominated possession (approximately 68 percent), but couldn’t finish scoring chances. Josef Martinez, wearing a black mask to protect his broken nose, missed so many chances, including two inexplicable misses at the end of either half, that he eventually ripped off the gear in the second half. What was supposed to last six weeks lasted about 60 minutes.

The draw, with an announced attendance of 45,116, moves Atlanta United to 34 points, most in MLS. The team will host Orlando, losers of seven consecutive, on June 30. The Timbers stretched their unbeaten run to nine games.

Atlanta United had 21 shots, 10 on target, and 18 chances (second most this season) created to get just the one goal. It’s a trend that has continued in the past few home games. Lots of offense, but not a lot of goals. The team has scored more than one goal at home  just once once its past five games.

“The most important thing is that we are creating chances,” manager Gerardo Martino said. “At some point you have to think those will start go in.

“It seems like weird things are happening on some of the plays. It’s one thing to miss shots or for the goalkeeper to make a great save, but on Josef’s last chance tonight it’s difficult to explain exactly what happened.”

That last chance came with Martinez, sans the mask, diving almost into the goal, but his header from just a few feet went sideways, instead of into the goal. He was whistled for a handball, which may explain the bizarre bounce. Something similar happened near the end of the first half. He said on Friday that he worried the mask would affect his vision when looking for the ball. He declined to answer a question after the game.

Martino said he suspects the mask interfered with Martinez’s vision, but hadn’t had a chance to ask him.

After dominating possession in the first 20 minutes, Portland began finding seams within the defense and created several good scoring chances on counter-attacks. A shot by Sebastian Blanco hit the post. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan saved another on a free kick.

The Timbers broke through in the 33rd minute on a diving header by Larrys Mabiala. A free kick from the left was touched by Samuel Armenteros. Guzan saved that, but, as Atlanta United defenders stood with their arms raised looking for an offside call, the rebound floated to Mabiala to nod home at the far post. The free kick was the result of a poor tackle and subsequent yellow card to Franco Escobar. It was the Timbers’ seventh goal from a set piece, tied for sixth most in the league.

The team tried to play with three guys in the back to break up counters, or man-mark Diego Valeri or Blanco.

A Martinez attempt was blocked by several Portland defenders just before the half. Frustrated, Martinez kicked the advertising boards behind the goal before grabbing them and shaking them back and forth.

Martinez missed again in the 52nd minute, putting a spinning effort over the crossbar.

“We know he has a special personality,” Leandro Gonzalez Pirez said. “We know when he’s missing chances we don’t need to say anything to him. We just know that he thinks about the chances that he misses. He’s a goal-scorer who has scored however many goals. Tonight he missed some. That’s just how it goes. We aren’t worried about it.”

The Timbers, playing banked lines of four or five at the back, with four or five in the midfield, proved hard to break apart or through.

“They defended well,” Martino said, pointing out that attacks in the second half came from all sides, whereas attacks in the first half typically started on whatever side the ball was won.

Atlanta United continued to dominate possession and the work paid off with an equalizer from Gressel in the 56th minute. His first career goal came at Providence Park in Portland last year. Sunday’s was his seventh in his MLS career. He actually tweeted earlier this week that maybe his seventh would come against the same team in which he opened his account.

Gressel said that Atlanta United had a better balance in the second half of offense versus defense. That may have helped him score.

“When a team has a lot of numbers in the box, and defends with everybody, it’s tough,” he said. “We have enough creativity and enough players to unlock a defense like that a bunch of times.”

Darlington Nagbe, one of those creative players and who was facing his former team for the first time after being traded during the offseason, was forced off with an injury that happened just before the goal. Martino said it’s a muscle injury, possibly an abductor, but he wasn’t sure.

Villalba came on in Nagbe’s place. He ripped a shot from 19 yards that skimmed off the crossbar. He came close a minute later when he tried to poke a left-footed shot into the right corner. But he couldn’t get anything on it and Jeff Attinella scooped it up.

Villalba kept firing, hitting a dipping shot that Attinella got low to smother in the 84th minute.

Miguel Almiron charged again second later, but Attinella made the tough save.

“It was a crazy game,” Gonzalez Pirez said. “We kept attacking wave after wave. For us, the ball just wouldn’t go in tonight.”

Torrent wins in NYCFC debut, 2-1 over Toronto FC

FOX Sports – June 24, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) Jo Inge Berget scored twice and coach Domenec Torrent celebrated his New York City FC debut with a 2-1 victory over Toronto FC on Sunday.

Berget made it 2-1 in the 68th minute, following Maximiliano Moralez’s direct pass up the right channel and slotting it home.

NYCFC (9-3-4) tied it at 1 in the 51st minute on Berget’s back heel from the top of the 6-yard box.

Victor Vazquez opened the scoring for Toronto (4-8-3) in the 37th minute. Vasquez outran his defender on Auro’s long ball up the right side and sent a chip shot over the onrushing goalkeeper.

NYCFC’s David Villa left the game in the 28th minute with a non-contact injury.

Torrent replaced Patrick Vieira in New York shortly after Vieira’s departure for OGC Nice was officially confirmed. Torrent had been the right-hand man to Pep Guardiola for the last 11 years, most recently at Manchester City.

Toronto FC looked far from great in loss to New York City FC

Toronto Sun – June 25, 2018

BRONX, N.Y. — Halfway toward picking up a huge road victory, bad old Toronto FC re-emerged. And against a dominant home side like New York City FC a visiting opponent needs to be strong, smart and committed for a full 90 minutes.

TFC, battling energy-sapping heat, certainly wasn’t that in a 2-1 defeat on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto dropped to 4-8-3 — three more defeats already compared to last season’s spectacular campaign — and while there are still a lot of games to be played, it will take far better efforts from the Reds to get back into the mix.

“Still just struggling to get back to who we are, what we’re best at,” was captain Michael Bradley’s assessment afterward in a Toronto locker room filled with sun-scorched, tired players.

“It’s been a trying stretch in every way, but we’re going to continue to play and continue to try to find the right ways to get things going but there’s no doubt that it’s been a real challenge.”

Both teams were coming off long, World Cup layoffs, but New York City looked sharper and dealt with the elements better in what Bradley said was the first match of the season where you could really feel the heat.

Beset by mistakes all season long, the Reds played nearly error-free in taking a 1-0 lead into the break, but the combination of a lack of concentration and poor technical play led to a pair of NYC counters, resulting in a brace from Jo Inge Berget.

Outside of Victor Vazquez’s clever 37th-minute chip past Sean Johnson which opened the scoring, Toronto FC looked punchless until a final surge in stoppage time which resulted in the team’s only two shots on goal of the final half.

“Over the course of the game, especially on the defensive (side) we weren’t really efficient, which cost us a lot of energy. And then you could see between the energy, humidness, we started to fade a little bit on the physical side,” said head coach Greg Vanney. “We’ve got a lot of different people in a lot of different places in terms of their match sharpness, in terms of their fitness levels and we’re still missing some guys. We’ve got to work through it as a group. There’s no excuses. We’ve just got to work through that as a group.”

NYC was playing for the first time under new head coach Domenec Torrent, who replaced Patrick Vieira. Vieira had never beaten TFC. Toronto came in with just one road win and one draw in six away matches, while NYC FC had earned 19 of a possible 21 points at its fortress in the Bronx. New York is now unbeaten here in 10 games dating back to last season, surrendering more than one goal only once in that span.

“We were just not super efficient, and we burned a lot of energy trying to make plays with our legs instead of just communicating with each other in a way to move people in the right positions to be efficient,” Vanney said. “With that comes fatigue, the way you want to move. They’re a good team and when you play good teams like that you’ve got to be more efficient on the defensive end so you have the energy on the attacking end.”

Berget’s tying goal, six minutes into the second half, was particularly back-breaking for Toronto.

“We didn’t start the half good, came out a little bit flat,” said midfielder Jonathan Osorio, one of the best TFC players on this day. “The conditions might have helped that, it was really humid, it was hard playing conditions, but it’s not an excuse. (We) let in that first goal, (it) really hurt us and we really couldn’t recover from it.”

Both sides were missing players due to injuries or international duty and it got worse for New York, when captain and star striker David Villa had to leave early in the first half due to a groin issue. Villa had averaged nearly two goals a game against Toronto in his career. Thanks to Berget, though, Villa’s absence became merely a footnote, while Toronto had to sub out the goal scorer Vazquez and the man who had set it up, Auro, due to nagging minor injuries.

Toronto will have a week to stew on its first loss in four games before hosting the New York Red Bulls next Sunday.

BONO STRONG AGAIN

In what has been a trying season for Toronto FC, at least Alex Bono continues to flash fine form.

The goalkeeper, who signed a contract extension with the club during the week heading into Sunday’s game with New York City FC, made a number of acrobatic stops that helped the Reds stick around against an excellent home side.

TFC was outshot 18-10 and 8-2 in terms of shots on target, but Bono was the best Toronto player.

Ideally, though, Bono wouldn’t have to be quite so busy.

“Well, I’m glad Alex is playing well, (but) I don’t want to rely on Alex in terms of working our way back into the playoff picture,” head coach Greg Vanney said after the game.

“As a collective group, we’ve got to get co-ordinated again. It’s me continuing to work with the guys and then we need to find a foundation that we can get on a run with.”

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MLS Newsstand – June 25, 2018 was originally published on 365 Football