Friday's soccer news starts with Major League Soccer's great white whale, aka the Concacaf Champions League. While it might be worth arguing over the importance of the regional tournament, there's no doubt it's a priority for the league. Their attempt to end run it with the Leagues Cup and the Campeones Cup only shows how important competing with Liga MX is to MLS. It doesn't matter which MLS club . . .
Preview: 2020 Liga MX Clausura
The soccer news starts with the return of Liga MX on Friday and the start of the 2020 Clausura. The Apertura didn't end until late last month due to Monterrey's Club World Cup commitments, and the reigning Liga MX champions are the likeliest choice to repeat. Not at all surprising is that the team they beat on penalties on December 29 is right there with them. Club America is always the team to . . .
Monterrey’s Club World Cup
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Dec 19, 2019) US Soccer Players - At the international level, Mexico has yet to break through on the world's biggest stage. El Tri has done well to reach the World Cup and get out of the group stage consistently but cannot get past that phase. At the club level, Mexico has earned that reputation as well. The latest big-stage failure came in Qatar on Wednesday. . . .
Alan Pulido’s choice to pick Sporting Kansas City
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Dec 11, 2019) US Soccer Players - When star Mexican striker Alan Pulido decided to leave Chivas Guadalajara, he had plenty of options at his disposal. Pulido had suitors both domestically and abroad. With Europe already in his past, he had his pick of places to go. Somehow, he chose Middle America. It may seem like an odd choice, but Pulido's move to Sporting Kansas . . .
LAFC and the luck of the Concacaf Champions League draw
Concacaf announced the pairings for the 2020 Champions League for the round of 16 that opens the tournament for Liga MX and MLS teams. The first legs are set for February 18-20 with the second-legs on February 25-27. Concacaf seeds the round of 16 with only North American zone clubs in pot 1. For the five MLS teams, the goal was avoiding the lone Liga MX club in pot 2. Step up LAFC, who drew that . . .
Does Chicharito have an MLS or Liga MX future?
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Dec 4, 2019) US Soccer Players - Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez is open to moving to a new club. According to reports, Hernandez would be willing to move somewhere due to his decrease in playing time in Spain with Sevilla. Hernandez's best move would be to move west across the Atlantic Ocean. The further west he goes, the more his playing time would increase. However, . . .
Diskerud’s Ulsan loses K League on final day
The roundup of USMNT players in Europe and Mexico obviously starts in South Korea. A yellow card accumulation suspension kept Mix Diskerud out of the final game of the season with the K League title on the line at home to Pohang Steelers. With Joenbuk chasing Ulsan, a draw or a win would see the title go to Diskerud's club. Suprising no one that follows him on Twitter, Diskerud responded to his . . .
Tigres in the Apertura 2019 playoffs
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov 27, 2019) US Soccer Players - With the Liga MX regular season sprint complete, eight teams will play for the Apertura 2019 championship. Club America is the headliner, taking their spot in the limelight as always. America is trying to add to its already crowded mantle with yet another piece of hardware. Mexico's other big clubs didn't bother to make an . . .
Wolfsburg beats Eintracht, Schalke wins at Werder Bremen
The roundup of USMNT players in Europe and Mexico starts in the Bundesliga. John Brooks's Wolfsburg won 2-0 at Eintracht. Wout Weghorst scored in the 19th minute. Wolfsburg went a man down with a red card to Marcel Tisserand in first-half stoppage time. Joao Victor doubled the lead in the 65th minute. Weston McKennie subbed on in the 73rd minute for Schalke's 2-1 win at Werder Bremen. Amin Harit . . .
MLS, Liga MX, and the MLS All-Star Game
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 22, 2019) US Soccer Players - The MLS All-Star Game isn't so much an institution as it is a traveling circus. Though some version of the game has been around since 1996, very little about it has been constant. Major League Soccer has seen fit to mold the All-Star Game and its surrounding festivities into various forms to better serve the purposes of expanding . . .
