Union

Kerith Gabriel reports that “a member of the technical staff told the Daily News” that Zac MacMath will be in goal against Seattle.

The Union will have traveled 10,000 miles in a week between the Chivas USA game and the Seattle game. Peter Nowak says, “You cannot fool your body. As much as you want to play your best soccer that your brain likes to do, your legs and lungs are not gonna do it,” before adding, “The travel part is still the challenging part, but I believe we will recover well in the next couple of days.”

Kevin Kinkead’s scouting report notes that Seattle will be without Fredy Montero (yellow card accumulation) and that Mauro Rosales is questionable (MCL sprain) which means that the Union are likely to be looking at “striker by committee” from the Sounders.

Danny Califf is ready for Seattle. “Matches like Chivas USA after a short turnaround and flying across the country and then back to Seattle are the ones you want as a competitor. We lost there last season in the first game as a franchise. These are different circumstances this season. We need to keep playing well as the regular season winds down into the playoffs.”

JP Dellacamera gives his match preview.

Match preview from phillyBurbs.com.

Marc Narducci, noting that the Union would have to “royally mess up” not to make the playoffs despite recent injuries to its net minders, has this breaking news about the Seattle game: “No matter how it plays out, the Union are guaranteed to field a lineup, while competing against a Seattle team that has already clinched a playoff berth and still has an outside shot at the best record in the league.” Whew! I was worried we’d have to forfeit.

CSN Philly talks about Sebastien Le Toux’s recent roaring form. In the piece Le Toux explains his recent “Flash Mob” goal celebration dance. “Every time I see that commercial, I stand up in my living room and dance like him. That’s why I did it. I was waiting for a good moment, a good time.

Speaking of returns, Nowak is full of praise for Justin Mapp, back from a quad injury. “We always have to monitor his fitness and his ability to play 90 minutes, but I think he gave us a lot of good stuff the other night in LA. I’m happy for him to have the courage to pull the trigger. He has a very wicked shot, meaning you never know where the ball is going to go. And defensively, he was very good. He always brings us something different. He has a lot of vision, a lot of speed and is very unpredictable.”

Although he is talking about the problems the USMNT is having getting enough attackers into the box, Nowak could be talking about the Union. “I don’t think it’s necessarily about the numbers [of forwards]. You can play 4-1-1-4 in attack; you can play different. It depends on if the players recognize situations—for example, the ball goes wide, can we make the 20- to 30-yard sprints to be in the box? I think we struggle with that, to recognize that when the ball is moving a certain way, we know where the third, the fourth, the fifth pass is going to be, and we find ourselves in the box. Then everybody knows, ‘OK, this is going to need a 30-yard sprint to be in the box, and then maybe 20 to 30 yards back to pressure the ball immediately so we can win it back.”

The latest Castrol Index numbers are in and the top five Union players are Carlos Valdes (16th), Sheanon Williams (32nd), Danny Califf (37th), Sebastien Le Toux (55th) and Brian Carroll (117th). The current rankings are based on “Data through the end of August 2011.” Seattles Álvaro “Flaco” Fernández is ranfed first, followed by Thierry Henry and Kansas City’s Chance Myers.

The Route 291 ramps at the Commodore Barry Bridge that are intended to ease access to and from PPL Park will open today after a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1:30pm.

Union fans gave enough blood during the club’s second annual blood drive to save 1,388 lives. Well done!

Local

Ocean City Nor’easters captain Terry Gibbs has made topdrawersoccer’s list of the top 100 college seniors most likely to turn pro.

La Salle goalkeeper Melissa Sanger has been honored as a SI Face in the Crowd.

Philadelphia girls soccer club Soccer Sisters United, along with Nicole Barnhart and Lori Lindsey of the Philadelphia Independence and the USWNT, took part in the Lets Move! clinic hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House on Thursday.

MLS

Seattle have so far sold more than 55,000 tickets for their final home game of the season, against San Jose on October 15.

They’re talking the Treble in Seattle.

Grant Wahl says a big part of LA’s success this year has been David Beckham’s fine form.

Elsewhere

Chuck Blazer, the number 2 man at CONCACAF and the American who blew the whistle on the well-known crook Jack Warner and the now banned for life former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam, has announced he will resign his CONCACAF post in December. The friendly gnome says he will retain his FIFA executive committee position,, the term of which doesn’t end until 2013.

Soccer America looks at the contributions Blazer has made to American soccer.

Squirrels in the WPS final. Squirrels in the MLB playoffs. The Guardian takes a look at some memorable animal interventions on the other side of the pond.

Footy on the Telly™

Friday, October 7
Finland v Sweden 12:15pm ESPN Deportes
Czech Republic v Spain 2:45pm ESPN Deportes
Tecos v Monterrey 9pm Galavision
Costa Rica v Brazil 10pm ESPN Deportes
Portland v San Diego (NCAA men) 10pm Fox Soccer

Saturday, October 8
Melbourne Victory v Sydney 3:30am Fox Soccer
Greece v Croatia 9:30am ESPN Deportes
Netherlands v Moldova 11:30am ESPN Deportes
Liechtenstein v Scotland 1:30pm ESPN Deportes
Penarol v Fenix 3pm GolTV
Botafogo v Bahia 5pm GolTV
USA v Honduras 6pm. Fox Soccer, Univision
Queretaro v Santos Laguna 6pm Telefutura
Cruz Azul v Puebla 6pm ESPN Deportes, Azteca America
New England v San Jose 7:30pm Direct Kick
Pachuca v aguares 8pm Telefutura
Tigres v Pumas 8pm Telemundo
Dorados v Cruz Azul Hidalgo 9pm GolTV
Atlas v Tijuana 9:30pm Galavision
Seattle Sounders v Philadelphia Union 10pm CSN
Atlante v San Luis 10pm Telefutura

Sunday, October 9
Toluca v Chivas 1pm Telemundo
Alabama v Florida (NCAA women) 3pm ESPNU
Santos v Palmeiras 3pm GolTV
America v Morelia 5pm Univision
Nacional v Rentistas 5pm. GolTV
St. Vincent & Grenadines v Guatemala 7pm. GolTV
Dominican Republic v El Salvador 10pm GolTV