Daily news roundups

Loan reinforcement, Union face NE in USOC quarterfinals tonight, WC semis begin, more news

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

Jamaica National Premier League club Harbour View FC has posted an article saying that Brian Brown, a 21-year-old striker who was the league’s Golden Boot winner last season with 18 goals scored in regular season play, and two more in post-season play, will join the Union on loan until the end of the 2014 MLS season.

A Union spokesperson tells PSP “the deal has not been finalized yet,” and the Harbour View announcement noted that Brown left Jamaica on Monday “to complete all final arrangements.”

Brown was recently on trial with the Union.

The Union host New England Revolution tonight in the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup with a 7 pm kickoff. Tickets are $10 for season ticket holders, $20 for everyone else.

Zac MacMath said of the game, “Obviously this is going to be our fourth time playing New England in the last four months. It’s always difficult playing a team four times. But we just have to play our game. They’re probably going to come in and sit, a lot like Kansas City did two years ago, and play for the counter or steal a goal late, take it to penalties, or however it may be. It’s a tournament game. You just try to survive and advance. Both teams will (have that idea) and hopefully we can get the better of them.”

You will recall the Union defeated New England 3-1 on the road in their first league game after the World Cup break on June 28. New England head coach Jay heaps said, “They did a nice job changing what they did tactically. It’s something they hadn’t done up until that point. I thought it was interesting how they approached our game, they did a good job of man-marking our two playmakers and freeing up their playmaker.”

New England midfielder Kelyn Rowe said, “I think the fact that they did come in and beat us here at home after the (World Cup) break was a big eye opener for us. No matter what team they put out there, we want to get a result, and obviously a positive one to get that payback from when they were here.”

If the Union defeat New England tonight, they will be on the road for the Aug. 12 semifinal, facing either Carolina RailHawks of the NASL, or FC Dallas.

If Sebastien Le Toux should score in tonight’s game, he will become the leading US Open Cup goalscorer of the modern pro era.

Previews from Philadelphia Union, Daily News, Delco Times, Burlington County Times, New England Revolution, New England Revolution (video), The Cup.us, Soccerly (1), Soccerly (2), The Bent Musket, and MLSsoccer.com.

In the latest Inside Doop, Dave Zeitlin notes that with a US Open Cup game tonight, league play against Colorado at PPL Park on Saturday, and New York at PPL the following Wednesday, interim manager Jim Curtin will be faced with his first roster management test.

Le Toux on the yellow card he received in Dallas on Friday, his first in more than 12,700 minutes of league play: “I knew I had never gotten a card in MLS, but I was not expecting to get one the last game. I was surprised he gave me one because I didn’t do anything. I think maybe (Jurisevic) wanted to put that on his résumé that he was the first one to give me a yellow card in the league, but I don’t know…I had to tell him every time that he was making mistakes.”

The Guardian on Friday’s loss in Dallas: “Against Dallas, Philadelphia had more attempts on goal – but just as has been the case all season, they lacked the cutting edge to make the most of their otherwise patient build-up play. The Union need more than just change in the dugout.”

Brotherly Game has its stat hero and stat zero from Friday’s game.

Power rankings! At ESPN, the Union are at No. 14: “If last week’s win over the Revolution was evidence of a new-coach bump for the Union, the energy might have already dissipated. Philadelphia was thoroughly outplayed by Dallas in muggy conditions in Texas.” At Soccer America, the Union drop one spot to No. 15: “It wasn’t a good day to be a Philly defender…Nothing dour about Philly; it has scored 11 goals and conceded 10 in the last five matches.”

No Union players are among the top vote getters on the All-Star ballot. Voting closes at 3 pm on Friday, July 11.

Michael Farfan, the former All-Star who left the Union at the end of 2013 for Cruz Azul only to recently be cut by the team, was training with the Union on Monday. Kevin Kinkead reports, “A source close to the situation said Farfan…was only training with the team and did not confirm whether there was interest from the club or player in signing a new deal.”

Gabriel Farfan joined Chiapas on a full transfer from Chivas USA last week (crappy Google translation here).

The Cup Connections series on the Union website continues with Francis “Hun” Ryan, the Philadelphia German Americans midfielder who was captain of the 1934 World Cup squad.

MLS

New York City FC have loaned Jeb Brovsky to Norwegian side Strømsgodset Toppfotball until the end of the year.

More on Beckham shifting his gaze from Miami to Broward County as a possible site for his proposed franchise.

US

ASN on how Jurgen Klinsmann is “the world’s best recruiter of dual-national players,” and how that will help bring more quality into the national team while the development system is improved.

Elsewhere

Brazil meets Germany today in the World Cup semifinals (4 pm: ESPN, Univision, Univision Deportes, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes +, WatchESPN, Univision Deportes En Vivo, AFN Sports, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes Radio, Futbol de Primera Radio, SiriusXM FC). If you’re concerned about getting to the Union’s US Open Cup game tonight in time, the semifinal will be shown on the PPL Park jumbotron.

Bloomberg Businessweek looks at the massive market for fake Brazil jerseys in Brazil, which has led Nike to reduce the cost of its authentic Brazil national team jerseys by 35 percent from 229 reais, “almost one-third of the monthly minimum wage,” to to 149 reais, or $67, which still isn’t exactly cheap.

The AP reports, “A senior executive with the official World Cup corporate hospitality provider was arrested Monday in the plush beachside hotel where FIFA President Sepp Blatter is staying, as part of a Brazilian police investigation into illegal ticket sales.” Investigators tell the BBC that the scalping scheme operated on an “industrial scale.”

When the World Cup’s “ecological” mascot Fuleco, which is based on the endangered three-banded armadillo, was unveiled, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said, “The fact that the three-banded armadillo is a vulnerable species is very fitting. One of the key objectives through the 2014 FIFA World Cup is to use the event as a platform to communicate the importance of the environment and ecology.” Now, “But now,” reports The Global Post, “as millions around the world tune in to watch the ultimate soccer tournament, critics are claiming that FIFA’s sweet rhetoric on the environment is nothing more than crass corporate greenwashing, and that the organization is doing zip to save the unfortunate armadillo.” Surprise!

Combined viewership on ESPN and Univision of the World Cup quarterfinals averaged 10 million-plus per game.

Here’s a review of ESPN’s World Cup match coverage. “Taylor Twellman has quickly become one of the finest color commentators on American television…[Alejandro] Moreno—talkative but inarticulate, enthusiastic but predictable—[is] distinctly inferior to everyone else on ESPN’s roster.” Well, we disagree then.

SI wonders if Fox can match ESPN when they broadcast the World Cup in 2018.

At ESPNW, former Inquirer writer Kate Fagan on why FIFA needs more female leadership.

Nike is no longer Manchester United’s kit supplier. Yes they are.

Alfredo di Stéfano, rest in peace.

10 Comments

  1. I don’t see why the Union shouldn’t sign Farfan. He would be cheap and even if he was only a bench player he would add a creative element different from the runfasthardworkers we have on the bench.

    • I don’t see why Farfan would be cheap. Just because he is training with friends doesn’t mean he’s out of options and is begging for his old job back.

      That said, I would love to see Mike come back.

    • Wouldn’t he go through some type of allocation order since we got a fee for him (and since we’re not the Galaxy/Sounders)?

  2. I believe that Deadspin guy misspelled K-E-L-L-E-R. That guy has been useless. All he does is repeat during the replay what his partner said live, along with a couple of cliches thrown in for style. Much respect for the man, but TV ain’t his thing.
    .
    And Moreno has been great.

    • Screamer has been interesting, and by interesting I mean a distillation of everything great and shitty about Deadspin, like funny headlines that feel like total clickbait when you get to the actual article. How could they review ESPN’s coverage without even mentioning Efan Ekoku? He’s their best commenter by far.

      • Greg Howards writing for Screamer has been fantastic. He has been one of Deadspins best writers for a while. But the other writers for screamer including the guy who wrote this article have been a’ight to just filler. Not appreciating Moreno kind of proves that point.

      • Earl Reed says:

        Yet another segregation of soccer from mainstream sports. So annoying. Fans have yet to catch on to the fact that this kind of thing only marginalizes the sport. ESPN, Fox, and others love creating backburner outlets. I mean, it would be unthinkable for a network to think so much of soccer that they’d make it a staple of their news coverage instead of dwelling upon offseason sports like the NBA and NFL. As long as the hardcore soccer fans are content digging up coverage from Fox Sports 2 and WatchESPN far away from mainstream America, soccer will continue to be treated like a rotten corpse – buried far away from the public eye.

  3. thanks for reminding me how much I miss Kate Fagan, or, how much I miss good writing in the Inquirer

  4. Moreno has brought great analysis to games- some if the best by far. He easily recognizes errors and is quick to praise good play. I enjoy him much more than mcmannamin (sp?)

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