By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 10, 2021) US Soccer Players - The most unusual year in Major League Soccer history ended with the Columbus Crew lifting its second MLS Cup trophy following a comprehensive victory over the Western Conference champions Seattle Sounders. The season did not end the way the Sounders had hoped, but the club's achievement of reaching four MLS Cup finals in five years . . .
Kessler, Dike, and the continued importance of the college model
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 20, 2021) US Soccer Players - Gregg Berhalter's first USMNT camp of the new year now has a match to close it out. A mixed American squad will face off against Trinidad & Tobago on January 31 in Orlando. The game is the finale of an annual process that's about talent identification and opportunity. This year’s camp is also serving as a chance for U-23 . . .
MLS 1.0 in the Eastern Conference final
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 2, 2020) US Soccer Players - Over its 25 years, Major League Soccer repeatedly turns to what's new. The league itself was a new way of limiting spending on players. It's original team names and uniforms were about what was cutting edge in the mid-1990s. Multiple rounds of expansion have pushed new teams forward. New fans, new stadiums, and new understandings of . . .
Philadelphia, New England, and the East
Tuesday's soccer news starts with Philadelphia winning 2-1 at New England. An own-goal put the Union up in the 34th minute with Anthony Fontana doubling the lead in the 69th. Tajon Buchanan pulled a goal back for the Revolution in the 80th minute. The result has Philadelphia in 2nd-place, three points behind Toronto and four points ahead of Columbus. Toronto and Philadelphia have played 19 games . . .
The 6 best regular season games in MLS history
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Apr 13, 2020) US Soccer Players – Our look back at the last quarter-century in MLS continues by highlighting the best regular-season games in league history. For a league that's relatively young, MLS has packed a lot of passion and emotion over a short time. MLS has had its share of superstars from North America as well as across the globe. Some of the best games . . .
What Sporting KC can teach the Revs about a rebrand
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 25, 2020) US Soccer Players - Branding a soccer club in the modern American soccer landscape is an unenviable task. Getting it right might mean a huge wave of interest and the kind of viral marketing success that can turn soccer from after-thought in a market to the "it" team everyone wants to support. Getting it wrong means missing out on a potential group of . . .
The round one playoff disappointment
The soccer news starts with the easy round one playoff disappointment. Minnesota United lost at home in the opening round of the MLS playoffs and it wasn't down to self-proclaimed best player in MLS history Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sebastian Lletget and Jonathan Dos Santos scored the goals for the Galaxy at Allianz Field, but it's tough to pile onto the end of Minnesota United's season. Yes, Minnesota . . .
One playoff spot left in the Eastern Conference
The soccer news starts with two games remaining in the season and all but one playoff spot spoken for in the Eastern Conference. New England is in 7th place on 42 points, still capable of moving up in the standings but well aware that they need to see off 8th-place Chicago four points behind them. 9th-place Montreal is five points out of that final playoff spot with 10th-place Orlando City still . . .
The stadium game hasn’t changed in MLS
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 2, 2019) US Soccer Players - MLS commissioner Don Garber's talking points around the 2019 MLS All-Star Game mostly gleamed with positivity. Major League Soccer is growing by leaps and bounds, adding two teams in 2020 and another in 2021. An announcement of two new teams appears to be in the works. By the time the next World Cup rolls around, the top division . . .
Bruce Arena revamps the Revs
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Jul 18, 2019) US Soccer Players - In 1975, Saturday Night Live poked fun at the hysteria around the movie "Jaws" with a skit called "Land Shark." The title character, dubbed "the cleverest of all sharks," able to "strike at any place, any time," preyed on apartment dwellers foolish enough to open the door when the creature knocked under false pretenses. At which . . .
