Daily news roundups

Reaction to The Goal, The Win, SoBs win River Cup, East standings roundup, USMNT roster, more

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

The intro to Dave Zeitlin’s report on Kleberson’s goal is priceless: “Ray Gaddis said he blacked out. Michael Farfan felt like crying. Danny Cruz hoped no cameras were on him because he ‘looked like a little kid on Christmas.’ Sheanon Williams ‘screamed like a little girl all the way down the field.'” I still haven’t gotten my voice back after screaming like a maniac for a good 30 seconds straight.

Kleberson said, “I’m very happy. I feel like the fans needed this. And I needed to show the fans that I could score a goal. I’m very, very happy this moment came.”

At ProSoccerTalk, Steve Davis writes of Kleberson’s goal, “Now we can all debate about whether one moment, just one massive goal, is enough to justify what the Union is paying him this year. Because it really was powerfully meaningful and dramatic goal.”

Toronto manager Ryan Nelsen said of the goal, “It was a very good set piece. Our free kick (in the 80th minute by Robert Earnshaw) hits the cross bar and their one goes across the line and goes in.”

The 700 Level rounds up fan footage of the goal. More on Kleberson’s strike from SI and Tribal Football.

Kleberson said after the game, “The decision is always the coach’s, but I’m always ready to perform on the field.”

At the Union website, Andy Jasner has a piece of Ray Gaddis’ gutsy performance. Gaddis said, “It’s just a matter of that we want to make the playoffs. Play today, live tomorrow, it’s a cliché, but that’s all that was going through my head. Everybody needs to sacrifice down the stretch these last three remaining games. It was just a matter of sacrificing for your team. I was tired but you have to get through it…I’m going to give everything I have until I have nothing left. I will play with every ounce of energy for my team.”

Gaddis had just the right amount of understated confidence when asked about how the team would adjust to being without Fabinho and Sheanon Williams for Saturday’s game in DC. “Everyone’s played a vital role in some manner this season. We have good team cohesion so I think we’ll be all right still.”

John Hackworth said after the game that it may be possible for the Union to appeal the Fabinho red card. “From what I hear, and I haven’t seen anything yet on video, Fabinho, it might be. I don’t want to say anything because I’ll get in trouble. But it’s questionable whether he actually steps on the guy or not. So maybe we could appeal that. That’s a possibility.” We shall see, but I won’t be getting my hopes up.

Match reports and recaps from PSP, Philadelphia Union, Philadelphia Inquirer, Delco Times, CSN Philly, South Jersey Times, Delaware Online, The Intelligencer, Philly Soccer News, Brotherly Game, The Canadian Press, CBC Sports, Waking the Red, MLSsoccer.com, SBI, Goal.com, Soccerwire, Sports Mole, The Sports Network, UPI, and The AP.

With the win, SportsClubStats puts the Union’s playoff chances at 65.8%, up from 55.2%.

At Goal.com, Keith Hickey writes about the core of 14 players the Union has used with any regularity this season.

The Sons of Ben defeated the Union Front Office 3-1 on Sunday to win the third edition of the River Cup. The series history now stands at two wins for the Union FO and one win for the SoBs. Look for our photo essay of the game and PSP’s contributor Scott Pugh’s report on playing in the game later.

In case you missed it, the latest installment of Le Toux’s Corner came out on Friday.

Local

Harrisburg City Islander’s forward Sainey Touray signed with the NASL’s San Antonio Scorpions on Friday. At Penn Live.com, Michael Bullock notes that the contract is through the end of the NASL season.

On Saturday, the Temple men’s team defeated Drexel 2-0.

CBS Philly’s Matt Leon has an article on the emergence of the La Salle women’s team as a regional power. On Friday, Renee Washington’s double overtime goal saw the team defeat Fordham 1-0.

Penn’s women’s team defeated Cornell 1-0 on Friday. On Saturday, Penn’s men’s team did the same.

On Sunday, the Penn women defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 4-0. The Drexel women’s team fell 2-0 to James Madison.

MLS

In Eastern Conference play, the New York Red Bulls (53 points) remain in first place and have booked their playoff ticket with a 2-2 come from behind home draw with seventh place New England (42 points). Tim Cahill scored the stoppage time equalizer. Second place Kansas City (51 points) defeated eighth place Columbus (41 points) 1-0 on the road. Houston moves into third place after defeating fourth place Montreal (46 points), 1-0. The Union remain if fifth place (45 points) with their 1-0 win over ninth place Toronto (26 points). Chicago are in sixth place after defeating last place DC 3-0 on the road.

The Montreal Gazette on how the slipping Montreal Impact, who are winless in four games, are hoping home field advantage and a game in hand will be enough to see them in the playoffs.

Former Reading United man and PSP Player of the Week Deshorn Brown scored a brace, including the second fastest goal in MLS history, in Colorado’s 5-1 thrashing of Seattle on Saturday. It was the Sounders’ worst ever MLS loss.

Landon Donovan tied the league scoring record with goals in the 23rd and 41st minute in the LA Galaxy’s 5-0 thrashing of Chivas USA in Sunday’s not so super SuperClasico. Robbie Keane had two goals of his own.

In Sunday’s Cascadia derby between Vancouver and Portland, Darlington Nagbe put the visiting Timbers up 1-0 just before the half. Camilo Da Silva Sanvezzo equalized in the 76th minute before Will Johnson, who had assisted Nagbe’s goal, saw the favor returned and equalized in the 77th minute. In the 78th minute, Camilo equalized again with an side-volleyed stunner and the game played out to a 2-2 draw. Here’s a look at the new favorite for Goal of the Year:

The Orlando City Council votes today on funding the proposed new downtown stadium for Orlando City SC.

US

On Sunday, Jurgen Klinsmann’s 20-player roster for the final two World Cup qualifiers was released. The injured Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey are not on the roster.

Klinsmann said of the roster,

For the rosters against Jamaica and Panama, the thought process was the same as all the previous qualifiers. We want to win these games. We want to finish off the year on a high note, but we also want to make the game against Jamaica a special one. It’s our last home game of 2013, and we have had tremendous support from all the fans throughout the country wherever we have played. We want to recognize that and give the fans a real good game and three points…

Everything we do now sets the tone for summer of 2014, and therefore it’s important the players understand this is serious business. We want to see an improvement of the entire squad, and we want to see competition in every spot. You only have to say one word: Brazil. Then you automatically get fired up.

On Friday, Italian publication Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that the USMNT and Iran had agreed to play a friendly ahead of the 2014 World Cup, a story that was then picked up by various outlets including Iran’s Tasmin News Agency, which reported that Carlos Quiroz, the Portuguese Head Coach of the Iranian national team, welcomed the idea. On Saturday, US Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe said the reports are premature. “In preparation for our pre-World Cup matches, we’ve been actively talking to numerous Federations that have qualified for the World Cup about playing in the U.S. in late May and early June. All of these discussions are preliminary and we do not have any matches set at this point.”

The LA Times on the hopes of Osvaldo Alonso, who defected from Cuba in 2007, to play for the USMNT.

Soccer America’s Paul Gardner talks to Tab Ramos in the first part of “Tab Ramos: The making of a coach.”

Agree with him or not, Eric Wynalda always is an eminently quotable person, as this interview shows.

Elsewhere

The AP reports that it will be a year or more before a decision is made on changing the timing of the 2022 World Cup. Sepp Blatter said, “The 2022 World Cup will be played in Qatar — that’s it. We don’t know if it’s winter or summer. I do not know what will be the outcome…We need to carry out very deep consultations. We need to show some diplomacy and wisdom…Let us first play the World Cup in 2014 with an easy conscience.” I don’t even know where to start.

10 Comments

  1. Agree with him or not, most people would rather not work with a dick. Eric Wynalda talks like a dick, most of the time. His complete lack of self-awareness is maybe the reason why no one has given him the kind of job he thinks he deserves.

  2. LeToux’s best assist of the year! Thank God he let Kleberson take the kick.

  3. Hoppenot may have missed lot of shots but he made things happen and a foul on him resulted in the free-kick. Not enough is made out of that…

    • Ed Farnsworth says:

      Eli made 50 words out of it in his player ratings, which was written before, but posted after, the roundup.

  4. And now that the Flyers have fired Laviolette, the longest-tenured professional coach in Philly is … John Hackworth.

  5. Andy Muenz says:

    Does anyone know if ESPN is actually showing the US-Jamaica game Friday over the air? I know the game is on ESPN3, but when I checked the TV listings for ESPN, they are showing Sportscenter at 6 and their college football preview show at 7:30.

  6. Two comments for the day…
    a) After watching Camillo’s goal, I am guessing that Kleberson doesn’t have a chance at goal of the week.
    b) My hubbie made an interesting observation – after the goal, when all the players were celebrating, Le Toux stayed on Toronto’s side so that the game couldn’t be restarted. Learn something new everyday.

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