Daily news roundups / Featured

Union notes, USA v Mexico news, NY stadium craziness, more

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

The Inside Doop says that, following what may have been the Union’s worst showing all season, if the team’s playoff hopes aren’t totally extinguished, they are flickering. Also, what’s happened to Roger Torres (“could Torres be someone who emerges as a viable offensive threat? Or is his defense still too much of a liability?), and will 20-year-old Jack McInerney be able to handle the pressure of being the team’s top striker?

Michael Farfan received an honorable mention in MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week.

The Times Herald profiles Antoine Hoppenot. It seems he has been nicknamed “The Jet” by his teammates.

The Union’s lone tally in Sunday’s loss is still listed as a Chicago own goal but Chandler Hoffman first laid claim to it. Says John Hackworth, “He is telling me he flicked that ball, so I’m giving him credit for the goal.”

Union Academy U-17 defender Brian McConnell, who scored two goals in the recent Generation adidas Cup-winning campaign and has been called up for Reserve League games, says of the GA Cup tournament, “The tournament has definitely helped me to become better. Playing with different people makes me learn how to play better and off the field, you’ve got to be professional and respectful so it’s taught me to be a better person too.”

More power rankings: At MLSsoccer.com, the Union fall two spots to No. 16. ProSoccerTalk also has them at No. 16. At ESPN, they drop one spot to No. 13.

Union Dues has five Union players they believe will most likely move on to greener pastures.

Local

Delran’s Carli Lloyd is home from the London Olympics. She said of winning the gold, “I don’t think it’s sunk in. It’s pretty crazy. I’m actually kind of sad it’s over. That was probably one of the proudest and most spectacular moments of my life.”

Lloyd praised her longtime mentor and trainer at Universal Soccer Academy in Lumberton, NJ, James Galanis, for much of her success. Galanis has also worked with Hope Solo and Heather Mitts.

Lloyd says she will take a needed break before embarking on a ten-game victory tour with the USWNT.

Charleston Battery midfielder and local lad Tony Donatelli is the USL PRO Player of the Week. Greg Jordan, on loan from the Philadelphia Union to Harrisburg City Islanders, and fellow City Islander Tom Mellor were named to the USL PRO Team of the Week. Lucky Mkosana and Nick Noble received honorable mentions, as did former Union man Chris Argorsor, now with Richmond Kickers.

The Temple men’s team begins preseason training today.

MLS

Why MLS would schedule three games on an international date is beyond me.

Deadspin speculatively connects the news we linked to earlier this week that a deal is imminent for a $300 million new soccer stadium in Flushing to the return of the New York Cosmos and an unnamed rich investor from the UAE.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says, “There’s enormous support for a soccer stadium from what we can tell from elected officials and from local officials in the area. In Queens, in particular, soccer is a very big game.”

While Queens Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director, Jack Friedman, says “It’s definitely going to happen. It’s going to be a great, great thing,” the Village Voice helpfully provides a little grounding on the realities that must be addressed before any ground is broken.

RSL Soapbox says the league’s focus on adding a second team in New York could be a mistake.

Women’s Soccer

Seattle Sounders Women, who last season featured Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan when they weren’t on USWNT duty, says they will be back in 2013. Whether they will be back in the W-League or the as yet unnamed new pro league that is in the works is yet to be known.

Bleacher Report has three ways fans can help translate the USWNT winning the gold medal at the Olympics into growing the sport in the US.

Alex Morgan was the seventh most clicked athlete at NBCOlympics.com during the Games.

US

Look for our preview of tonight’s friendly between Mexico and the USMNT (8pm, ESPN2, Univision, ESPN3) later this morning. If you haven’t already, check out or look back at the USA-Mexico rivalry, which stretches back to 1934.

Jurgen Klinsman says of Mexico’s recent success at multiple levels of international competition, “We respect what they did and have admiration, but we’re coming here to win.”

The Sports Network says the USMNT has nothing to lose when they face Mexico tonight. How about the game?

US Soccer looks at the conflicting roles of the Mexican-American players on the US team.

Goal.com says the contingent of MLS players on the roster must repay the faith Klinsmann has shown them.

SI’s Alecko Eskadarian takes a look at the roster.

Looking at the absence of some veteran defenders on the roster Jurgen Klinsmann called up, The New York Times says, “The message appears to be that while Cherundolo and Company might get the United States through World Cup qualifying, a new generation of players will be manning the back line come the 2014 World Cup.”

ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle asks if the US can close “the gap” with Mexico.

Tim Howard says, “Look, they’ve had a couple good results, but last World Cup qualifying, we finished first in the group. So we’ve still got that belt. So I don’t think there’s this gap.”

SI’s Grant Wahl says the rise of Mexican soccer is positive for the US.

More on tonight’s game from US Soccer, MLSsoccer.com, Soccer America, Sporting News, SBI, USA Today, and Philly Union Talk.

DaMarcus Beasley, selected to be part of the USMNT roster for tonight’s friendly, says more Americans should play in Mexico. “It’s a good league, with good players. They play football down here.”

Landon Donovan says he could retire when his MLS contract is up in 2013. Donovan also says Mexico fans may not like the US but they respect how far the team has come.

Elsewhere

Soccer was the most tweeted sport during the London Olympics, generating well over 5 million Tweets.

Fox Soccer has reached a deal with CONCACAF to broadcast the 2013 and 2015 Gold Cup tournaments as well as the CONCACAF Champions League through the 2015-16 season.

BeIN Sports USA launches today at 7:30pm on DirecTV. Comcast subscribers who want to watch La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and more can use the link to request the channel be added.

It looks like Franck Riberry and Karim Benzema will face prosecution for sleeping with an 16-year-old prostitute after all.

Here’s an interesting story about Maxim Molokoedov, a Russian who was sentenced to 3 years in prison in Chile for drug smuggling and, though still serving his sentence, is now with a second division club, even though he was given the chance to leave prison early and return to Russia.

Soccer America previews some of today’s friendlies. Here’s a listing of what you can watch:

2:00pm – Sweden vs Brazil – GolTV
2:30pm – Germany vs Argentina – ESPN2, ESPN3
2:30pm – Hungary vs Israel – Israeli Network
2:45pm – Belgium vs Netherlands – ESPN3
2:45pm – France vs Uruguay – ESPN3
3:00pm – Scotland vs Australia – ESPN3
4:30pm – Spain vs Puerto Rico – ESPN3
7:30pm – Mexico vs USA – ESPN2, ESPN3
8:00pm – Ecuador v Chile – beIN Sport USA

2 Comments

  1. James "4-3-3" Forever says:

    The Torres thing is weird, it’s almost a very Nowak thing to do by Hackworth. We all knew Torres had holes, but we all also clearly saw what he brings to the table. Unless he spent his rehab time forgetting how to play soccer, I am not sure what Hackworth is seeing.
    Because, on the other hand, Adu is clearly terrible for this team. I think most of us also agree Marfan would be great on the wings for us. So I really want to see Marfan in Adu’s spot, and Torres in as CAM.
    And with Okugo/Carrol being the other two midfields, they can more than make up for Torres’ defense.

  2. I was interested in seeing what Torrres would have when he came back as well, but then saw him during the Aston-Villa game. There were several times when he was hot-dogging with the ball, and it completely surprised me. He was standing back from the ball and waving the defender in to it before taking control back and either passing or moving it onto another player. For not being in the whole game, this happend right in front of me in the stands, and I started barking at him as if I was his coach. (Many of my former youth players would have recognized the tone and the content.) If I were John Hackworth, he would have heard about it in high volume and great detail after coming off of the field. I hadn’t seen it from him before, and hope not to see it again. I don’t know if that is what is holding him out now, but I didn’t apprecaite it, and I cannot imagine that it is consistent with the business that this team needs to do.

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