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 . . .
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 . . .
MLS Week 7: Minnesota opens stadium with a draw
The week 7 roundup starts in Saint Paul on Saturday where Minnesota United opened Allianz Field by drawing 3-3 with NYCFC. Osvaldo Alonso scored the first goal at the newest stadium in MLS, putting United up in the 13th minute. NYCFC answered back when Valentin Castellanos scored in the 16th. Ismael Tajouri put New York up two minutes later. Angelo Rodriguez equalized in the 20th with Minnesota . . .
Goals in the Eredivisie
The roundup of USMNT players in Europe and Mexico starts in the Netherlands. Erik Palmer-Brown scored in NAC Breda's 1-1 home draw with FC Emmen. Falling behind in the 15th, Palmer-Brown equalized in the 88th. Andrija Novakovich scored in Fortuna Sittard's 1-1 home draw with VVV Venlo. Novakovich's goal came in the 11th with VVV equalizing in the 81st. John Brooks's Wolfsburg lost 2-0 at RB . . .
A USMNT look at the 2019 Gold Cup
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 12, 2019) US Soccer Players - A bigger, more ambitious tournament, at least one new opponent, and a bevy of highly familiar ones await the USMNT this summer as they defend their Gold Cup title. This year’s remodeled event is 33% larger and takes place across three countries instead of just one. Costa Rica and Jamaica will each host a group-stage . . .
The LA Galaxy makes a defensive move
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 12, 2019) US Soccer Players - The LA Galaxy moved to strengthen its defense on Wednesday with the signing of Costa Rican center back Giancarlo Gonzalez from Serie A side Bologna. Gonzalez returns to MLS after nearly five years in Italy where he also played with Palermo. The defender played with the Columbus Crew for half a season back in 2014 before the club . . .
