Union

Here’s a roundup of reaction to the Union’s high altitude shellacking by Colorado Rapids from the best.

Local

Philadelphia has moved to the top of the table in the public voting for host cities for the 2018/2022 World Cup bids. Philly’s 9,000 vote lead took the top spot away from Houston, which had held it for two months. Add your vote here.

The Temple men’s team defeated Rutgers 2–0 on Wednesday and Tyler Witmer scored both goals. Temple will face La Salle in Philly Soccer Six action this Saturday. On Wednesday, La Salle topped Saint Joseph’s 1–0.

The Inquirer has a roundup of Wednesday’s Southeastern PA high school games for boys and girls soccer. Ditto the same for South Jersey boys and  girls.

MLS

Saying “I’ll never say never but I need to focus on my fitness,” David Beckham admits it is unlikely that he will play in Europe this season.

Here’s a look at recent happenings in the NFL (coaching errors) and MLB (poor attendance in a playoff run) and what MLS can learn from them.

The Canadian Soccer Association is mad at MLS for letting Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps drop the quota of Canadian players for next season.  Because Canadian and US players will be considered “domestic” for the two Canadian teams, but Canadian players will be considered “internationals” for US-based teams, the CSA fears Canadian players won’t have a fair chance.

CONCACAF Champions League

Although they are already eliminated, the Sounders got their first points in the CONCACAF Champions League thanks to a brace from Michael Fucito in a 2–0 win over Honduran side Marathon.

A brace from Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez bested a lone Columbus Crew goal in Guatemalan side CSD Municipal’s rain drenched 2–1 win.

WPS

Steve Davis writes about why a MLS-WPS partnership is unlikely.

The WPS is adding a team from Buffalo-Rochester whose name and logo will be announced next week. The team will play its home games at two different stadiums. Here’s a look why the addition just might work while the league waits for new teams from Dallas and Los Angeles to join in 21012.

Here’s an in-depth Q & A with former WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci.

All White Kit has some suggestions about what the WPS can do on and off the field to improve for next season.

US

More on the suit alleging fraud, racketeering and anti-trust violations against USSF from the fine folks at Inside Minnesota Soccer. The now defunct ChampionsWorld, which organized international friendlies in the US between big name European clubs, says that it was bankrupted by fees it had to pay to US Soccer. Soccer America looks at how all of this could undermine the federations authority, which can only harm the US bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup,

Grant Wahl says CONCACAF is killing the Mexico v USA rivalry with a new World Cup qualification format. Under the new format, it is almost certain that neither national team would face one another in qualification. The reason? Money and politics. Surprise!

Stuart Holden has signed a new three-and-a-half year deal with Bolton.

Elsewhere

The Mexico Football Federation says it will not bow to the demands of a player revolt led by Rafael Marquez. The players say they will boycott upcoming national team matches if their demands are not met.

Rob Bagchi of the Guardian says spontaneity is the key for memorable goal celebrations.

Footy on the Telly™

Two Europa League matches are on today. You Liverpool fans out there might still have time to come down with mysteriously aggressive yet short-lived and vaguely defined illness that prevents you from going to work/forces you to leave work early.

Utrecht v Liverpool, 1pm on GolTV
Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen, 3pm on GolTV