Daily news roundups / Featured

Chandler’s one track mind: score goals, Keon cracker for T&T, More USMNT injuries

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

While he was walking off the pitch after scoring in the first half in Tuesday’s Reserve League match against DC United, Zac MacMath and Amobi Okugo, who had been watching the game from the stands, said to Chandler Hoffman, ““Good first goal. Now go get a hat trick.” Hoffman must have thought they meant a second half hat trick because he ended up with four goals on the day.

Reserve coach Brendan Burke said of Hoffman after the game, “Chandler has a one-track mind. He just wants to score goals. You see that when the penalty came up, he grabbed the ball. There’s no letting an academy kid get one. That’s just not in his nature—which is great. That’s what you want out of a center forward.”

Keon Daniel scored a cracking goal for Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday in the 4-1 win over French Guiana in Caribbean Cup play on Wednesday. The match report says Daniel “was easily T&T’s player of the match.” Here’s footage of his strike:

Carlos Valdes is another Union player away during the international break for national team duty. Valdes said of how the Union has been playing over the past several games, “I’m extremely happy with how we’re playing. The team has responded very well, so you can tell that everyone is committed for one purpose, and that is to finish strong with great wins for our fans that supported us in every home game we have had so far. We have three matches left and we have to finish strong. I know we’re out of the playoff race, but I still think it’s important to get as many points as possible and take those positive energy signs into next season.”

In his off-beat MLS Awards, Alecko Eskandarian gives Antoine Hoppenot an honorable mention for Best Super Sub. Describing him as “every defender’s nightmare,” Eskandarian writes, “Hoppenot came out of nowhere, most opposing coaches said, but Philly knew it had something special since Day 1—when he matched fellow rookie speedster Ray Gaddis stride for stride in a preseason 40-meter race.”

In another sign of openness that would have been unimaginable under Peter Nowak, a new series called “Meet the Trialists” has begun on the Union website. The first installment introduces Matt Kassel, the Red Bulls academy product signed by New York as a home grown player in 2011 and released by the team in the 2012 preseason. Given his experience with the Red Bulls, Kassel has a lot of praise for John Hackworth and his coaching staff. “They talk to you; they tell you how you are doing what’s going on. Communication is big, not just in my career but for any athlete. You want the coaches to tell you what they like, what you need to work on. I wasn’t getting that at some of the other places I’ve been. I get that here.”

Kerith Gabriel reports in The Daily Doop that Danny Cruz participated in a full training session on Wednesday.

You can submit your candidate for the Fans Fan of the Year here.

Local

Former Philadelphia Independence midfielder Joanna Lohman will be the keynote speaker at the GO! (Generation Out!) Athletes relaunch event tonight at University of Pennsylvania’s Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall. The event is aimed at raising awareness of homophobia and discrimination in sport.

The Delco Times looks at how Chester’s “Soccer for Success” program is doing. Administered by Widener University with funding from US Soccer, the program appears to be doing very well in its first year.

MLS

Hundreds attended a memorial service for Michael Jones on Wednesday. The New York Red Bulls youth coach was brutally slain early Sunday morning in Manhattan.

League president Mark Abbott held a roundtable with representatives of Hispanic media outlets to discuss the proposed stadium in Queens. Abbott said, “What we believe is that because of the economic development we’re bringing, by making the park a better park and by bringing a game that the neighborhood and community loves, and by being part of that neighborhood and community, there will be strong support for the project.We’re very optimistic about how that process will work.”

More on the proposed stadium in Queens from NY1.com, The Queens Gazette, The Queens Ledger, Goal.com and Sporting News.

Preliminary plans are that construction will begin in 2014 with the new team joining the league in 2016. Abbott said, “This is our priority in terms of our next expansion, which will be our 20th team. We haven’t made a determination about the timeline for expansion beyond that.”

The league may have no timeline for expansion beyond a 20th team in New York but that isn’t stopping other cities from developing their own plans. NextSTL.com reports that the group behind redevelopment efforts for Union Station in St. Louis include plans to build an MLS stadium. The report says that Lodging Hospitality Management, the group behind the effort, is connected to THF Realty, whose chairman and owner is Stan Kroenke, the majority stakeholder of Arsenal and owner of Colorado Rapids and the St. Louis Rams.

MLSsoccer.com takes a look at the top 19 SuperDraft prospects.

Women’s Soccer

More on what the prospect of two women’s teams in Seattle competing to be in the proposed new women’s professional league might mean from The Seattle Times and ProSoccerTalk.

US

First Landon Donovan and Brek Shea had to pull out from the USMNT due to injury. Now, defenders Fabian Johnson and Edgar Castillo are out. Johnson is recovering from the flu and is expected to be available for Tuesday’s qualifier against Guatemala. Castillo will miss both games due to a foot injury.

As Soccer America puts it, the US left back jinx continues.

That means the US roster is down to 20 players, three of whom are goalkeepers. MLSsoccer.com writes, “No replacements were called in, which leaves captain Carlos Bocanegra as the likely starter at left back. Who Klinsmann prefers at left midfield is still up in the air, however, as nobody in camp currently plays that spot.” No replacements have been called? WTF is going on?

Apparently, Jermaine Jones is carrying an ankle injury.

The Miami Herald says Michael Bradley is providing some much needed leadership for the USMNT.

The Washington Times looks at what Graham Zusi brings to the team.

SBI says it is a more mature and focused Eddie Johnson that is returning to the USMNT.

Goal.com previews Friday’s qualifier.

The Lion of Vienna Suite examines what the firing of Owen Coyle might mean for the US players on Bolton. I bet Sebastien Le Toux is patting himself on the back for not getting mixed up in that disaster.

A consensus is emerging among some observers that there are three leading candidates to take the USWNT head coaching job vacated by Pia Sundhage: former Philadelphia Independence head coach Paul Riley, Notre Dame and US Women U-20 coach Randy Waldrum, and former USWNT head coach Tony DiCicco. Stars and Stripes FC gives the low down and the three candidates with ProSoccerTalk providing more from there. PSP readers will know that we would be over the moon if Paul Riley got the job.

Elsewhere

Forbes considers the emergence of several new soccer journals and concludes we are entering a golden age of long form soccer writing.

SiriusXM will launch a new 24 hour soccer channel on Monday, Oct. 15 at 7am. SiriusXM FC will be channel 94.

Plans are underway in Italy to ban betting on the outcome of matches.

 

 

2 Comments

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

    There was some sort of Soccer Business conference in England today or something, and check out this gem from our wonderful leader:
    Grant Wahl ‏@GrantWahl
    Not surprising I guess RT @LiFootball Garber hates the fact that players from MLS go back to play in Europe in off-season.

  2. I thought Sirius/XM 92 is already a soccer channel…; love the Football show at 7am, Men in Blazers, Counter Attack after Champions league matches and live transmission from Radio 5 around lunch time. Anyone who is a soccer fan and does not know about this channel should check it out!
    /
    Besides the USA matches this weekend I am looking forward to the Poland-England match to be played in Poland. Should be a cracker. Rooney is the new captain now that Terry ‘resigned’.

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