By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Jun 20, 2018) US Soccer Players - Through the first slate of opening-round games of the 2018 World Cup, perhaps the most surprising result has been Mexico’s shocking 1-0 win over Germany. One of the favorites coming into the tournament, Germany lost to a tenacious and energetic Mexican side. The underdogs deserved the result. Winning the opening game of the World . . .
Mexico’s World Cup expectations
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Jun 13, 2018) US Soccer Players - On the eve of the World Cup, fans across the globe are eagerly waiting for the tournament to start. They want to see their respective nations do battle, progress, and live up to the hopes and dreams placed squarely on the team’s shoulders. For Mexico, it is a bit more than that. The nation’s fans are yet again demanding their team . . .
MLS Power Rankings: The World Cup break
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Jun 7, 2018) US Soccer Players - The unofficial halfway point of the 2018 MLS season - the World Cup - is nearly upon us. MLS teams will shut it down for the duration of the tournament’s group stage. During that time, teams will either try and get things right or continue building on what works. There are more teams mired in the muck than there are in the first . . .
LA in the US Open Cup
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Jun 6, 2018) US Soccer Players - The enduring enigma known as the US Open Cup returns to Southern California on Wednesday, but there will be a new wrinkle this year. For the first time since 2014 there will be two local MLS teams competing in this event. MLS expansion side LAFC joins the LA Galaxy as both teams will play concurrently on Wednesday evening some 12 . . .
Giovani Dos Santos belongs on Mexico’s World Cup roster
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (May 30, 2018) US Soccer Players - When Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio pares down Mexico’s World Cup roster from 28 to the final 23, there are some names already cemented in stone. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. Hector Moreno. Hector Herrera. Giovani Dos Santos used to be one of those names. Dos Santos has a grand trajectory at both club and international levels . . .
Can LAFC learn from the Vegas Golden Knights?
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (May 23, 2018) US Soccer Players - The new team that arrived with great fanfare this season, taking everyone by storm and captivating viewers across the USA and Canada as it nears a championship wears black and gold. This team is not Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club but rather the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights. The expansion team had an . . .
MLS players for Mexico
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (May 16, 2018) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer and Mexico’s World Cup rosters have had little to do with one another over the years. In the coming weeks that history could change three times over. Three MLS players are part of Mexico’s 28-man provisional World Cup 2018 roster. Health permitting, all of them stand to survive the cuts once manager Juan Carlos . . .
The Galaxy’s losing streak
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (May 9, 2018) US Soccer Players - Between the 2017 and 2018 MLS seasons, the LA Galaxy made sweeping changes. The club shed itself of more than a dozen players and brought in reinforcements across all lines, from new goalkeeper David Bingham to forward Ola Kamara and every position in between. The topper to that, of course, was Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose arrival . . .
MLS POWER RANKINGS: Atlanta swaps places with NYCFC
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (May 3, 2018) US Soccer Players - Like a midseason coaching change, I am taking over the MLS Power Rankings. Two months in means there is still plenty of time this season to formulate opinions, change those opinions and in the process show where my deficiencies lie. Being based in Southern California forces me to take a harder and longer look at the Western . . .
Preview: 2018 Clausura playoffs
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (May 2, 2018) US Soccer Players - Typically, sports leagues are more marathons than sprints. It's more of a long-distance challenge that rewards participants who can manage the obstacles better versus a shorter competition that rewards those who start out fast and maintain that speed. Liga MX is definitely more sprint than marathon, and that sprint is quickly heading . . .
