Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

CALENDAR UPDATE: The kickoff time for the Mother’s Day derby with New York Red Bulls at PPL Park on May 13 has been moved from 1:30pm to 12:30pm. The game will be shown live on ESPN2.

Chris Vito reports that Danny Califf “most probably” will not be ready to play when the Union travel west to play Chivas USA. Nowak and the training staff “believe” Danny Mwanga will be ready.

Dave Zeitlin tweets that Nowak “indicated he’ll likely keep the same starting backline, meaning more Gaddis and no Albright.”

SB Nation LA says the key for both teams in Saturday’s match against Chivas USA will be defense, calling the game “the battle of the moveable object, and the stoppable force.”

Peter Nowak says Kai Herdling was brought in as much for his leadership abilities as for his skill on the pitch, that “it’s not about having a guy with flair or who is very technical, but someone who will get these guys going.”

Nowak says of Herdling, “With all of the youngsters we have in the locker room, I think he will be a good role model for them. And from the playing side, he’s a guy who can be a striker, a playmaker, someone who always wants to be around the ball. He’s very technical.”

Just where Herdling will play remains to be seen, although Danny Mwanga says “he’s more of an attacking midfielder.” Nowak says, “I don’t want to go overboard and say what we’ll be with Kai. We’ll have to see where he fits.”

Nowak explains that Herdling’s loan is part of the ongoing development of the relationship between Hoffenheim and the Union. “We’ve been talking about how to establish this pipeline and how to be proactive with certain things. They recommended Kai. He’s a local guy who is a role model for their youngsters. With the young guys we have in our locker room, I think he’ll be a good role model for them, as well.”

Nowak commended Herdlin’s work ethic. “He was surprised that we don’t train twice a day. Very surprised. He asked me if he could come in again during the afternoon to train by himself. I told him the facility is for him, he can do whatever he wants, but nobody will be here but the coaching staff.”

Kerith Gabriel reports that Herdling, who is back in Germany to get his work permit visa, will not be available on Saturday.

Carlos Valdes says, “We needed a victory to start showing who we really are…we have a team that knows how to play soccer, a team with young players, a team with a lot of experience, and good dynamic. Every day we are getting along better and people can expect this team to only get better.”

Four Union players—Carlos Valdes, Raymon Gaddis, Brian Carroll and Freddy Adu—earned honorable mentions in SBI’s Best XI for Week Six.

The top five Union players on the latest Castrol Index are Sheanon Williams (52), Gabriel Gomez (79), Brian Carroll (81), Lionard Pajoy (88) and Zac MacMath (91).

Zac MacMath is profiled by US Soccer. Did you know he used to be a center back?

When Schalke come to PPL Park next month, Raul won’t be with them. ESPN reports the striker “has decided not to extend his contract with the club and will leave the Bundesliga, and European football, when his deal expires at the end of the season.” According to the report, Raul says, “My sporting future is not in Europe, but rather in another league not as strong as the Bundesliga. In the coming weeks we will meet and look at the offers.” Well, Mr. Raul, as they say, it’s always sunny in Philadelphia.

Local

PSP’s photo essay of the reserve match.

Here’s a Q&A with City Islanders president Eric Pettis. He says of the team’s relationship with the Union, “That’s going great…We are really building a good relationship with them and really getting that big brother, little brother thing down.”

MLS

Sebastien Le Toux put an end to Kansas City’s three-game shutout streak but Sporting remain undefeated after seven games with a 3–1 win in Vancouver. Le Toux has so far scored as many goals as the Union has, although the Union does have a game in hand.

It wasn’t all bad news for Canada as Montreal picked up their first road point of the season with a 1–1 draw with DC United.

Houston Dynamo backup goalkeeper Tyler Deric is due in court this morning for an arraignment hearing related to the charge of assaulting a public servant he received following an altercation outside of a club in February. The case against Dynamo defender Warren Creavalle, who was accused of interfering with a public servant, was dismissed in March.

US

Fox Soccer tweeted this morning, “BREAKING: @FOXSports is airing 9 live matches from the @PremierLeague’s final day for the first time in U.S. TV history. #SurvivalSunday”

The USWNT has announced it will play Sweden on June 16 and Japan on June 18 in an invitational to be held in Halmstad, Sweden.

Elsewhere

Monterrey defeated Santos Laguna 2–0 in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final.

Chelsea parked the bus and scored a goal against the run of play to defeat Barcelona 1–0 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal.

Thousands lined the streets of the northern Italian city of Bergamo today for the funeral of Piermario Morosini, who collapsed during a game on Saturday.

On Wednesday, former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam began his appeal against the lifetime ban from football he received after being found guilty of bribery.

According to Forbes magazine, Manchester United remain the world’s most valuable sports club at $2.24 billion, $385 million more than both the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys.