The soccer news starts without the regular caveat. Two months into the 2019 MLS season, and it's reasonable to go ahead and consider the table. There's no longer the too few games caveat, small sample size, or any other hedge that turns a rough start into a salvageable situation. Things might change, but right now the fair assessment is that the Eastern Conference isn't what most of us . . .
MLS Week 8: Toronto’s big comeback, LAFC’s big win
Week 8 of the 2019 MLS season started with Toronto's big comeback, winning 4-3 at home against Minnesota United. Toronto fell behind to a Darwin Quintero goal in the 17th minute. Alejandro Pozuelo equalized in the 28th and out Toronto ahead two minutes later. Minnesota answered back with an Angelo Rodriguez goal in the 57th. Quintero scored a 70th minute penalty to put United up 3-2. Jordan . . .
Goals for Wooten in the 2.Bundesliga
The roundup of USMNT players in Europe and Mexico starts in the 2.Bundesliga with another big game for Andrew Wooten. He scored both goals in Sandhausen's 2-2 draw at Joe Gyau's Duisburg. Wooten scored in the 28th minute and converted a penalty in the 62nd. Gyau subbed on in the 33rd, setting up Havard Nielsen's goal in the 71st. Duisburg's Kevin Wolze equalized from the penalty spot in the 88th . . .
MLS makes announcements
Friday's soccer news starts with MLS announcing that they plan to expand the league to 30 teams. As these things go, expecting any league to cap their total number of teams when investor/operators are willing to pay their $200m expansion fee might be misguided. The pursuit of expansion fees may have been the cause of death for the original North American Soccer League, but from the MLS perspective . . .
USNSTPA statement for playing on sod at Nippert Stadium on June 9
The US National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA) is opposed to playing any game on sod placed atop artificial surfaces. On April 2, 2019 the USNSTPA sent the following e-mail to US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro. On April 8 we received a response from US Soccer's legal counsel that the game would go ahead as scheduled. In the view of the Players Association, this is just one . . .
The latest twist to the Champions League story
The soccer news starts with another Champions League underdog. Though it's hard to describe any team making it this far in Europe that way, half the semifinal field is what we'll respectively call "unexpected." Spurs joins Ajax in the spoiler's semifinal after they knocked out Manchester City on away goals. With all the criticism Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola faced after falling behind . . .
Once again it’s Ajax disrupting the Champions League
Wednesday's soccer news starts with Ajax advancing to the 2018-19 Champions League semifinals with a 3-2 aggregate win over Juventus. Ajax won 2-1 at Allianz Stadium. After falling behind to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the 28th minute, Donny van de Beek equalized in the 34th with Matthijs de Ligt scoring the series winner in the 67th. The result takes one of the favorites out of the tournament, . . .
The Premier League vs La Liga
It's a Champions League Tuesday in the soccer news with Manchester City trailing Spurs 1-0 and Juventus tied 1-1 with Ajax on one side of the quarterfinal bracket and Barcelona leading Manchester United 1-0 and Liverpool 2-0 up on Porto on the other side. Juventus vs Ajax and Barcelona vs Manchester United conclude later today, with the home teams holding the clear advantage. It's the same for . . .
The MLS rivalries in the I-95 corridor
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Apr 15, 2019) US Soccer Players – For the major East Coast cities linked by Interstate-95 in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the country, every game between them is a rivalry game. That's regardless of the sport. all of them have a rich sports tradition and distinct rivalries. Over the past two decades, rivalries built by those other sports have . . .
FIFA keeps pushing for a 48 team World Cup
We start the soccer news with FIFA president Gianni Infantino stumping for World Cup expansion. Like an good politician, Infantino is making sure he has the support for a 48-team World Cup in time for the FIFA Congress in Paris on June 5. That means finding at least one other country willing to host games in 2022. So far, that hasn't been easy. AP's Rob Harris reports that Infantino is working to . . .
