Daily news roundups

Possible Union US Open Cup opponents, more Union bits, US WC camp news, more

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

US Soccer has announced the draw for the fourth round of the US Open Cup. If Harrisburg City Islanders defeat Baltimore Bohemians on Wednesday, May 28 (5:30 pm kickoff), the Union will host Harrisburg on Tuesday, June 17 at 7 pm. If Baltimore wins, the Union will host Baltimore on Tuesday, June 10 at 7 pm. No word yet if the game will be one of the bonus games for season ticket holders, but a Union spokesperson tells PSP that all of the details will be released when the date and opponent are finalized.

In the latest power rankings at MLSsoccer.com, the Union move up one spot to No. 17: “Forget the five goals conceded – sometimes it happens. We at the Power Rankings Politburo are instead heartened by an attack that scored five of their own across two games. One thing: more Zach Pfeffer, please.” At ProSoccerTalk, the Union move up three spots to No. 15: “Saturday’s loss against the Revolution was troubling, but given what New England did to Seattle the week before, that may be less about the Union than their opponents. The midweek win against a full strength Sporting shouldn’t be forgotten.”

In the latest Castrol Index Weekly Top 20 Performers rankings, Cristian Maidana comes in at No. 4, and Danny Cruz at No. 7. In the latest Full Castrol Index, the top five Union players are Andrew Wenger (17th in the league), Leo Fernandes (38th), Maurice Edu (79th), Amobi Okugo (92nd), and Danny Cruz (111th).

At Soccerly, Kevin Kinkead on how the upcoming two-game West Coast road trip may be just what the Union needs.

LA Galaxy have a pretty lame commemorative poster for Sunday’s game against the Union.

At Philly Soccer News, Kate Harman on Danny Cruz’s struggles with injury through the start of the season. Cruz says of his play this season, “I think I need to be better in front of goal…But I’m continuing to work on it. I think I’ve been a lot better this year in the final third. I’m going to hopefully continue to get better and contribute goals and assists.”

Regarding the Philly.com story we linked to in Tuesday’s roundup regarding the possibility that the Union would have to make a payment to Sochaux, Vincent Nogueira’s former club, because the team had been relegated, which would push the total expenditures for Noquiera into Designated Player territory, Jonathan Tannenwald tweeted on Tuesday afternoon, “A spokesperson for the Union just told me that my report on Vincent Nogueira potentially becoming a DP was incorrect,” adding, “I was told that there was no extra payment after Sochaux’s relegation.” Tannenwald concluded, “I was not, however, given any concrete information about the terms of Nogueira’s contract. So I am not yet able to prove what the truth is.”

At MLSsoccer.com, more on Zach Pfeffer’s minutes in Saturday’s game.

Part 1 and Part 2 of Brotherly Game’s statistical comparison of Austin Berry and Aaron Wheeler.

Brad Knighton’s save on Ray Gaddis’ 70th minute rip from distance has been named SBI’s Save of the Week.

Houston’s Mark Sherrod is garnering comparisons to Conor Casey.

The Road to Brazil-series friendly at PPL Park on June 3 between Greece and Nigeria will be broadcast on beIN Sports and beIN Sports en Español.

Local

Harrisburg City Islanders’ Morgan Langley has been named USL PRO Player of the Week. Langley is joined on the Team of the Week by fellow Harrisburg forward Clesio Baque with Neil Shaffer and Matt Bahner receiving honorable mentions. More on the news from Penn Live.

If Reading defeat Rochester Rhinos in third round US Open Cup play on May 28, they will face DC United in the fourth round on June 17 at 7 pm the Maryland SoccerPlex.

MLS

Two midweek games tonight. At 7 pm, DC hosts Houston. At 10:30 pm, LA hosts Dallas.

The league’s disciplinary committee has suspended Eddie Johnson one game for a reckless challenge in Saturday’s game against Montreal. Portland Timbers defender Alvas Powell had an additional one-game suspension added to the automatic suspension that accompanied the red card he was given over the weekend.

Julio Cesar has left Toronto FC to join the Brazilian national team ahead of the World Cup. While his loan from Queens Park Rangers runs through the end of the year, he may not return to Toronto.

Business Insider reports that, according to the provisional rosters that have been released, MLS ranks eighth among leagues in the number of players going to the World Cup. At 31 players, MLS ranks between Mexico’s Liga MX (37) and the Netherland’s Eredivisie (28).

Manchester City chairman chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says New York City FC will soon announce it’s first signing. “Very soon you will be hearing about our first signing for our club in New York and it will be a very pleasant surprise I hope for our fans.” You can view video of Mubarak’s comments here.

The New York Times on “Soccer as spectacle in the Pacific Northwest.”

The City of Orlando has filed a lawsuit to force a church to sell the remaining parcels of land necessary for Orlando City SC’s new stadium.

Apparently, the first game that will be played at the new stadium in Atlanta will be an MLS game. A ground breaking ceremony for the new stadium took place on Monday.

NWSL

Three midweek games tonight: Washington vs. Sky Blue (7 pm), Kansas City vs. Seattle (8 pm), and Portland vs. Western New York (10:30 pm). You can see all of the games on NSCAA TV and YouTube.

US

The USMNT played two 60 minute closed door scrimmages against LA Galaxy II on Tuesday.

Clint Dempsey believes the US will make it out of its group at the World Cup:

The expectation doesn’t change. Playing in a World Cup you are trying to compete against the best teams in the world. That is what it’s all about. That is what is so special about it – that every team has had to work hard to qualify and they deserve to be there.

Nothing in life is worth having if you don’t have to work for it. Our group is difficult and we have our work cut out for us, but that is what it’s all about. We will face the challenge head on and put in the work that is necessary and make it count…

You have to stay hungry. You want to make it count. You don’t want to go down there and not be successful. We want to go down there and shake things up. We want to advance from our group and that is what we are focused on.

At ESPN, Jason Davis on which US “bubble players” will make the final cut. In the battle between Kyle Beckerman, Mix Diskerud, and Maurice Edu, Davis believes Edu will be the odd man out.

The AP profiles Michael Parkhurst.

At ASN, Brian Sciaretta talks to Joe Corona about being called up for the pre World Cup camp.

At SI, Grant Wahl reports that players who make the final 23-player roster for the World Cup will receive a minimum of $76,000 from US Soccer. More on what the World Cup money might mean for some of the players on the team who earn low wages in MLS from Business Insider.

Perhaps more interestingly, Wahl continues, “In researching this story, one surprise to me was this: Without any press coverage at all, the U.S. men’s national team signed a new collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Soccer in November 2011 that runs through two World Cup quadrenniums. In other words, the current deal goes through December 31, 2018, which means labor peace will continue for the next four years.”

From ProSoccerTalk, Richard Farley on what will define success for the US at the World Cup.

At MLSsoccer.com, Jonah Freedman on what the US learned at the Gold Cup that might be applied to the World Cup.

ASN’s Blake Thomsen has the latest on Ghana, the USMNT’s first opponent in group play at the World Cup.

At Buzzfeed, “42 Things Only Truly Intense U.S. Soccer Fans Will Understand.”

US Soccer has announced Lupe Fiasco as its “music director” for the World Cup. This is great news but I have one question for you: Who the hell is Lupe Fiasco? Additionally, the artist Futura has been named “Art Director.”

The US men’s beach soccer team took third place at the 2014 Beach Soccer Worldwide Riviera Maya Cup with a 1-2-0 record.

Elsewhere

The AP reports, “The Brazilian federation of professional athletes is demanding FIFA change the start times of more than a third of World Cup matches because of the heat and humidity in Brazil. The federation said Tuesday it filed a lawsuit asking FIFA to change kickoff times of all 24 matches that are scheduled for 1 p.m. local time. It wants all matches starting no earlier than 4 p.m. to avoid subjecting players to the ‘risks’ of playing in ‘intense heat.”’

Reuters reports, “Roman Catholic nuns backed by Pope Francis on Tuesday raised the alarm over increased risks of human trafficking, exploitation of workers, forced prostitution and sexual tourism at the soccer World Cup in Brazil next month.”

The Guardian reports, “Mario Balotelli was racially abused at the Italy training center Coverciano on Wednesday as the national team continued their preparations for the World Cup.”

It’s official: “The Central American Football Union (UNCAF) today officially confirmed that it will play the Central American Cup in the United States from September 3-13, 2014. In addition to providing a series of berths in important international tournaments, the Central American Cup USA 2014 will serve to celebrate UNCAF’s upcoming 25th anniversary.” Among those “important international tournaments” are the 2015 Gold Cup, and the 2016 Copa America.

At the Washington Post, Michael Caley on “How Spanish underdog Atletico Madrid shocked the soccer world with its version of ‘Moneybol’.”

9 Comments

  1. Guess they don’t sell opponents gear at Open Cup games. I would love to have a Baltimore Bohemians scarf.

  2. That game won’t be an extra game. The only one allotted this year is the Crystal Palace FC Game. However, there is a loyalty rewards level that gives you a free ticket to the game if I’m not mistaken.

  3. Lupe Fiasco is a rapper who put out two great albums about 6 years ago. Now he’s a conspiracy theorist mostly.

    • Beat me to it. Though in my opinion he put out one great album and one fine but kinda disappointing album.

  4. OneManWolfpack says:

    Here’s probably the only song people would recognize from Lupe Fiasco – http://youtu.be/glwhxRFhulo
    .
    No offense to Lupe Fiasco fans

  5. US Soccer has named me “Insightful Commentary Director”

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