Daily news roundups

Mo digs Nogueira, Hack says midfield will take a little time to settle, more news

Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union

All of us at PSP would like to welcome the All Three Points podcast, which is hosted by PSP contributor Jeremy Lane and Chris Gibbons, who has also contributed to PSP in the past. Look for the podcast’s PSP debut soon.

Philadelphia Union

Maurice Edu is down with Vincent Nogueira. “I like him. He’s very comfortable on the ball. He likes to get on the ball. I told him before [Wednesday’s game against New York], ‘Just play. Just do whatever you want.’ And me and [Brian Carroll] will adjust according to what he’s doing. I thought he did well. He found a lot of holes, and he looked to turn and create things. I think he was a good spark for us. I think him being so eager to get on the ball will create opportunities for me to get forward more and make playing out of the back a little bit easier as well.”

John Hackworth said after Wednesday’s game, “Vincent, I think he showed his qualities in there. Maidana did the same thing. It’s going to take a little bit of time, a little bit of work to get those guys on the same page and syncing the way we would like. But so far, so good.”

The Brotherly Game looks at Wednesday’s game for clues on how the Union might play when the season gets underway.

At The 700 Level, Dave Zeiltlin looks at preseason battles for a starting position on the Union at forward, right wing, left back, center back, and goalkeeper.

The Brotherly Game’s series on the Union’s positional depth continues with a look at the right backs.

A preview of the Eastern Conference at the Bleacher Report — be warned, it’s one of those annoying slideshow things — says, “The Philadelphia Union just missed a playoff place in 2013, and all things considered, they will probably be a bubble team again in 2014.”

Josh Cohen, the UCSD goalkeeper, talks about his training stint with the Union during their first week of preseason at YSC Sports.

Local

The Hill School’s Colten Habecker and Neshaminy High School’s Megan Schafer have been named the Gatorade’s Boys and Girls High School’s Players of the Year for Pennsylvania. Receiving the honors from Delaware is The Salesianum School’s Dylan Huber (no Delaware girls player is listed). New Jersey’s James Murphy and Caroline Chagares were also honored.

MLS

Player news:

  • Toronto FC is scheduled to unveil Brazil national team goalkeeper Julio Cesar today.
  • Sporting Kansas City have signed midfielder Jimmy Medranda on a multi-year deal from Deportivo Pereira in Colombia.
  • Midfielder Clyde Simms, who last played for New England, has announced his retirement after nine seasons as a pro. Simms is battling the kidney disease Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis.

ASN follows a trail of evidence that suggests David Beckham’s Miami MLS franchise could be called the Miami Fusion.

MLS Live subscriptions are now available through Feb. 19 for $52.99, 20 percent off the regular price. In case you’re wondering the Union is one of nine MLS teams that have waived blackout restrictions on MLS Live.

NWSL

Deadspin reprints an article written by Allison McCann that was originally published by Howler that asks if can women’s professional soccer can succeed in the US and answers the question with a look at the women’s game in Sweden.

US

US Soccer announced on Thursday that the USMNT will host Mexico in a friendly on April 2 in Glendale, Ariz (11 pm: ESPN2, WatchESPN, UniMas and ESPN Deportes Radio.) Becasue the game does not fall on a FIFA international date, the US squad is likely to primarily feature MLS- and Liga MX-based players.

Oguchi Oneywu talks to ESPN about his hopes of making the US World Cup team.

The USWNT defeated Russia 8-0 on Thursday in Atlanta, topping last week’s 7-0 win over Russia in Boca Raton. Two Russian own goals started the scoring before Amy Rodriguez, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Lauren Holiday, Heather O’Reilly and Christen Press each tallied in the second half. Wambach’s goal was her 165th for the US. Postgame quote sheet and more recaps from ASN, Soccer America, ProSoccerTalk, and The AP.

The USWNT’s 42-game unbeaten streak will next be tested when the team faces Japan in the opening game of the Algarve Cup in Portugal on March 5.  The last time the US lost a game was against Japan at the Algarve Cup on March 5, 2012.

Elsewhere

The AP reports, “Local organizers in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba insisted Thursday they have taken all measures requested by FIFA to guarantee its delayed stadium will be finished in time for the World Cup finals in four months.”

FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger, a vocal critic of the decision to award Qatar the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup, believes it would be the wrong decision to take the hosting rights away. “People have been asking when FIFA would be taking the World Cup away from Qatar but I think that would be counter-productive. It would mean the current situation, the human rights violations would go on. It would simply mean that the spotlight would be put away from them. What is now important is to use the pressure that you get from this global event, which interests billions of people, as an opportunity to ask Qatar to show it’s an open and tolerant country. They need to show this as quickly as possible.”

Failing to qualify for the Champions League could cost Manchester United as much as £70 million. That’s $116,935,000.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has confirmed plans are in the works to launch a Premier League “B” league. Sky Sports reports, “The new league would replace the current Under-21 league format, and would be for Under-23 players with four over age players allowed.”

Lazio have threatened legal action against anyone disputing the age of Cameroonian midfielder Joseph Minala, who is on the Italian team’s youth squad. Minala’s declared age is 17, although he looks much older, and a report had recently claimed that the midfielder said his real age was 41.

 

7 Comments

  1. A 41-year-old playing on the U-17 team? If they want to get his real age, take him out to the bar and see what he does when he gets carded.

  2. OneManWolfpack says:

    I hope I look 17 when I’m 41!
    .
    Love to hear Edu and Nogueira are already building chemistry. Sounds like Nogueira is gonna be the #10 we need.

  3. Great news on Edu and Nogueira gelling.
    .
    The link on lineup battles is great with who should start vs who will start being different. Very cynnical.
    .
    Great to see some insight from these preseason games. but in reality I still spend every night praying John Hackworth doesn’t blow this for us.

  4. Hackworth mentioning Maidana when asked about Noguiera makes me think he will blow it for us this season.

  5. Hahaha I’ve never seen a 17-year-old who looks like that!

  6. Ed, can we get some clarification on this MLS live deal- I don’t have a tv, and I bought it last year but when I could watch less that 1/2 of the games I decided not.

    • Ed Farnsworth says:

      I’m not sure what kind of clarification you’re looking for, KenZolo. Here’s more info on MLS Live’s availability from another promotional post on the league website:

      “MLS LIVE is available in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The service is not available to fans living or traveling outside of North America. All nationally televised matches are blacked out, but are available 48 hours after the match in the archives. Local broadcast blackouts are set by the clubs and their broadcast partners. Write to feedback@mlssoccer.com for more information on blackout polices and local blackout regions.

      “Blackout policies as of December 25, 2013. Policies subject to change.

      “No local broadcast blackouts: Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, FC Dallas, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting KC, Toronto FC.”

      The only change to the list of teams that have waived local blackout restrictions in the ad linked to in the roundup (“as of February 3, 2014”) is that Kansas City is no longer listed.

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