Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

Union news starved fans rejoice — we have rumors!

Well, one rumor, anyway. At MLSsoccer.com, Tom Marshall reports the Union is among several teams that have expressed interest in former US Under-20 national team players Dani Cuevas and Benji Joya, now with Santos Laguna, according to their agent, Maximiliano Roditis. The report says the Union did not respond to requests for comment.

At the Union website, the 2013 season in quotes.

The Brotherly Game has begun a “Behind the Crest” series aimed at looking at “what goes on off the field” that starts with a brief look at the Union ownership group. It’s a great idea for a series, although the statement in the first article that “Taking into account all of the ‘owners’ and their assets, their collective net worth is best measured in the billions and probably more accurately the tens of billions of dollars [emphasis in the original]”  is probably a bit grandiose.

Also at the Brotherly Game, a look back on the career of Chris Albright.

Brazilian soccer website Lance.net is reporting that Freddy Adu will be released by Bahia at the end of the season because of “technical deficiency.” Bahia director of football Anderson Barros said (via a crappy Google translation of the article), “He does not play because we understand that others are superior and then he had so many opportunities. Will end the contract and Adu will follow his life. Will be free to find another club.” Given that Adu was on a one-year deal to Bahia, and how little he played for the club, the news isn’t especially surprising. The “technical deficiency” part has got to sting, though.

At this point all of the Adu jokes have been made but the amount of chatter on Twitter saying Adu will find a home with the New York Cosmos sure is interesting. Not so fast, says Grant Wahl: “What’s next for Adu? After making some calls on Thursday, I learned that for now the NASL (the U.S. second division) is not a destination that is currently on Adu’s radar screen. One possibility may be Mexico, which could potentially suit Adu’s playing style and has been the site of career revivals for U.S. players like DaMarcus Beasley and Hérculez Gómez.” Hopefully those calls didn’t go to whoever told Wahl that Alesasandro Nesta would be the next manager of Montreal Impact and that Jurgen Klinsmann would not be calling up MLS players involved in the playoffs.

Local

The Temple men’s team hosts University of Southern Florida in the quarterfinals of the inaugural American Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday for a 1 pm. Temple tied USF 1-1 in the regular season.

The La Salle women’s team have advanced to the Atlantic 10 semifinals with a 2-0 win over George Washington. The goals were scored just over 30 seconds apart in the second half.

The La Salle Men’s team’s postseason fate will depend upon their final two games of the season on the road at Fordham and George Washington. La Salle is currently ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic 10 conference.

The Penn women’s team could clinch second place in the Ivy League – and keep their hopes of an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament alive — with a win over Princeton tonight at Rhodes Field. Kickoff is at 6 pm.

The Penn men’s team would advance their quest for their first Ivy League title since 2008 with a win over Princeton at Rhodes Field on Friday. Kickoff is at 5 pm.

The Inquirer has a nice profile on Penn Charter’s Jlon Flippens, “ranked as the best sophomore in the state by Top Drawer Soccer and No. 11 in the nation.” Flippens started with the Anderson Monarchs before moving to FC Delco/Continental FC and is part of the U.S. Soccer’s under-15 development program.

MLS

On Thursday, Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 (2-1 on aggregate) to advance to the the Western Conference final. With the lone goal in regulation time coming for RSL in the 35th minute tieing the series at 1-1, the game went to extra time. Chris Shuler scored the winner in the 102nd minute. More on the game from ProSoccerTalk, SBI, SI, and the AP.

Facing them will be the Portland Timbers, who defeated Seattle 3-2 (5-3 on aggregate). The Timbers were up 3-0 after 47 minutes before Seattle responded with goals in the 74th and 76th minutes. More on the game from ProSoccerTalk, SBI, SI, ESPN, and the AP.

Sports Business Journal reports that ratings for broadcasts of MLS games on ESPN dropped “29 percent, from an average of 311,000 in 2012 to 220,000 this season,” while broadcasts at NBCSN “averaged 112,000 viewers this season, an 8 percent decrease from 2012.” Average viewership for MLS games increased to 132,000 after NBCSN began broadcasting Premier League games in August.

Real Salt Lake will host the first leg of the Western Conference final on Sunday (9 pm, ESPN, ESPN Deportes).

Jon Miller, president of programming for NBCSN, said, “We have strongly urged MLS to consider a flex-scheduling concept. With good reason, MLS’s focus has been on attendance and getting local television deals. I think they know now that national television should be a priority. Hopefully, the league will work with the club owners to make something like flex scheduling a reality.”

ESPN senior vice president of programming Scott Guglielmino agrees that having the flexibility to change the schedule of games for some kind of “Sunday Night Football” style show is a good idea. “As with any sport, stories develop as you get closer to the playoffs. As a national broadcaster, you want to provide the fans with the most important games and best stories.”

Jonathan Tannenwald talks to NBC’s Arlo White.

NWSL

Two former Philadelphia Independence players are in NWSL news. Amy Rodriguez, who missed the league’s inaugural season due to being pregnant with her first child, has been traded by Seattle Reign to FC Kansas City in exchange for Kristie Mewis. Also, Sky Blue FC have loaned Danesha Adams to Turkish club Atasehir Belediyespor. Adams will return before the start of the 2014 season.

US

The US failed in its quest to reach the 2014 Women’s U-17 World Cup, falling to Mexico in the semifinals in Jamaica. With the score tied at 1-1 after regular time, the game immediately went to penalty kicks. Ocean Township’s Taylor Racioppi’s first penalty kick for the US was saved, as was Zoe Morse’s effort, sending the US to a third place consolation game against Jamaica on Saturday (3 pm, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Soccer 2Go). Advancing to the World Cup along with Mexico is Canada, who defeated Jamaica 5-0.

US Soccer.com has a profile on Racioppi, who along with nation team teammate Frankie Tagliaferri of Cols Neck, NJ plays for PDA, and her aspirations for a career in medicine.

At the New York Times, Sam Borden has an article on Ben Lederman, the first US-born player to be invited to train at Barcelona’s La Masia academy.

Beware US Soccer jersey counterfeiters! A man in Durango, CO is under investigation for selling more than $100,000 in “counterfeit and trademark-protected soccer jerseys of professional teams and players.” He allegedly sold the jerseys online and in a storefront he shared with a pizza shop.

Elsewhere

Check out the latest Footy on the Telly for the week’s listings of live soccer on TV, online, and via satellite radio.

Could Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabeu soon become Estadio Microsoft?

Romario vs. Ronaldo on what the 2014 World Cup means to Brazil.