Photo: Paul Rudderow

Union

The Union’s win on Saturday has propelled the team up the chart in the power rankings on MLSsoccer and SBI with both placing the Union at no. 5. Long may it last.

The Bleacher Report’s featured LA Galaxy columnist wonders if Saturday’s match against the Union might be the cure for what ails Bruce Arena’s team after their 4–1 drubbing by Real Salt Lake. His conclusion? “There will be no antidote waiting for these ailing G’s on Saturday. Los Angeles will have a rough go at it this week. After a tough loss to Real Salt Lake which saw little production to show for it, the Galaxy will lose this one, but it won’t be as severe.” He predicts a 2–0 win for the Union.

Thirteen years ago at the 1998 World Cup, David Beckham beat Faryd Mondragon with a free kick. “I’ll have great memories from seeing him,” Beckham said. “It’s nice to be going up against him and hopefully I can do it again,”

In his State of the City address, Chester Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr says, “Just going down to that facility and to think it is in Chester with ESPN shooting our bridge and our fans and families, that does wonders for me…And probably within the next five years I’ll understand the game.”

Goal.com examines the impact of Faryd Mondragon.

KYW Newsradio has an interview with Jack McInerney. The article contains a link to the audio of the full interview.

From the Union website, acknowledgment that the Union’s attack has plenty of room for improvement. Carlos Ruiz thinks “we’ll play better after a couple of games because we don’t know each other yet. I’m sure after a couple of games we’re going to understand the movements and we’re going to be better up top.” Meanwhile, this piece looks at the contributions McInerney and Torres have made off of the bench.

Brian Carroll, named to the MLS Best XI for Week 2, is described in this piece from the Union as “rock steady doing what he does best: tilting the field in his club’s favor with effective ball-winning and smart distribution.”

The Union website has a profile on the Farfan twins.

Zack MacMath and Amobi Okugo both started in the US U-20 team’s 4–0 win on Tuesday over Suriname in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship tournament in Guatemala. Okugo picked up a yellow card in the first half and was substituted at the start of the second. He tweeted after the match, “Thank you to everyone who watched happy with the win not so happy about the yellow.”

The Union announced on Tuesday the “Union Fans Assist” charitable pledge program. Fans are encouraged to contribute to one of four charities—Help Kick Hunger, The Wheeled Scotsman Foundation, Go 4 the Goal and Chester City United—when the team scores a goal or keeps an opponent scoreless.

Vancouver coach Teitur Thordarson is not happy about some of Carlos Valdes’ tackles on Saturday. “The league showed us some videos before the season started on stupid tackles that something would definitely be done about,” Thordarson said. “We had at least two in this game where Atiba could have easily broken his leg and that’s something I’m not happy about. It’s obvious [Valdes] should have been sent off —this is what the league said, to protect the players. It was crazy.”

The Brotherly Game takes a look at the Union’s tactics in Saturday’s win.

The Union Dues questions the lines for the bathroom and the lack of Internet connectivity at PPL Park.

The U-16 and U-18 squads of Union affiliates FC Delco and PA Classics faced the equivalent New York Red Bull academy teams over the weekend. Things didn’t go so well, with the FC Delco U-18 team losing 3–1 and the U-16 team losing 2–1. After beating the Union’s New Jersey-based affiliate Player Development Academy 2–0 on Saturday, PA Classics U-18 team lost 3–0 to the U-18 Red Bulls team on Sunday. Despite going down to ten men, PA Classics U-16 team topped the Red Bulls U-16 side 4–1.

MLS

Portland Timbers get their first win as an MLS team in last night’s US Open Cup play-in match against Chivas USA.

Newcastle joins Manchester United and Everton on the list of Premiership teams that will be in the US this summer.

Don Garber thinks New England Revolution would benefit from playing in a stadium in a more urban setting. ““This is a wildly passionate sports town,” Garber told the Boston Herald. “I have no doubt that (the Revs) would be one of our most successful teams if (they had) a stadium in an urban environment.”

Chad Ochocinco has made the Sporting Kansas City reserves. “This is so awesome I’m an honorary member of SportingKC and can train with the reserve team as long as I want,” Ochocinco tweeted. “Totally awesome ILuvKC.”

US

Quote sheet and player ratings for the Tuesday night’s 1–0 loss to Paraguay.

ESPN polls a collection of experts about the state of the USMNT.

The 2011 class of the National Soccer Hall of Fame have been announced. Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart were first-ballot selections. Bruce Murray was selected by the NSHOF veteran’s committee and former US coach Bruce Gansler was selected in the builders category.

One MLS official says that the Hall of Fame ought to broaden its perspective to recognize more international players who have made an impact on the American game. (Peter Nowak, for example, was one of this year’s nominees.)

Elsewhere

In the US to promote Manchester United’s summer tour, Sir Alex Ferguson describes international friendlies as “a waste of time as far as I am concerned,” before not adding, “Unless they involve club teams, of course, particularly one that I am the manager of. Big piles of money are never a waste of time.”

A Spanish judge has ordered La Liga to play this weekend’s scheduled games. The clubs had called a strike in protest of a Spanish law that requires one match a week be broadcast on free-to-air television.

After Sepp Blatter criticized the state of Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup, Orlando Silva, the country’s minister of sports, says not to worry. “[W]e’re confident the majority of the stadiums will be handed to FIFA within the deadline agreed with them.” Construction of a new stadium in Sao Paolo has yet to begin.