Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

The Union finish the home season on Saturday against Kansas City (7 pm: TCN, MLS Live (Stream of the Week), MLS Direct Kick, DirecTV). Let us hope they do so with fight and determination. We could all use a palate cleanser after the last few games.

Look for our preview and quick reference later today. In the meanwhile, previews from the Union (video), Inquirer, Brotherly Game, and Playing for 90 (slideshow). Brotherly Game has three questions with fellow SB Nation blog The Blue Testament.

In the latest Daily Doop, Kerith Gabriel says Curtin should have the full squad to select from for Saturday’s game.

On the Kansas City injury front, goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum is questionable for Saturday’s game after a training ground injury on Thursday. Center back Matt Besler is out with a right thigh bruise he picked up in the USMNT draw with Honduras. Center back Aurelien Collin, who has missed three league games and one CONCACAF Champions League match with a right ankle strain, has been training with the team and could be available.

At CSN Philly, Dave Zeitlin reports that “a source familiar with Philly’s coaching search confirmed that Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz has made the decision to stick with Curtin as manager moving ahead to the 2015 season.” Zeitlin says “it’s only a matter of time” before the interim tag is removed.

In an article from Jake Kaplan at the Daily News, Amobi Okugo, who will be out of contract at the end of the season, says he will focus on his future after the season finale against Columbus: “We’ve still got two games left so [my mindset is] just focusing on the two games. And then once the season’s over we can focus on that.”

Kaplan writes that Okugo said “he would like to return next season.” Okugo acknowledged his aspirations to play in Europe but said, “[Y]ou’ve got to go when the time is right.” Okugo explained, “You can’t just go to go. You’ve got to go to a situation where you can grow as a player and develop as a player. I’m developing here. I feel like I’ve developed a lot over the last 3 years when I started establishing myself within the first team.”

Playing for 90 speculates on the futures of Okugo and Zac MacMath.

An article at the Union website recounts Jim Curtin’s remarks at Tuesday’s press conference on how the team is looking for positives as the season comes to a disappointing close.

An article at MLSsoccer.com about potential Homegrown Player signings says of Union Academy and Reading United alum Darius Madison

OK, we know, why would the Union sign a junior forward to a Homegrown deal if he’s not even starting at Virginia? Excellent question. Madison, though, has the talent to be a professional. He’s quick, incisive and knows where the goal is. It just comes down to development, and the Union could easily give him competitive minutes with the Harrisburg City Islanders while still training with Philadelphia most weeks.

Onward State has a profile on Union Academy alum and “one of Penn State’s best kept secrets,” Connor Maloney.

Michael Lahoud was on Huff Post Live on Thursday to talk about the Ebola crisis.

At CBS Philly, more on the #KickEbolaInTheButt campaign that was launched by Lahoud and Temple professor Thilo Kunkel.

Local

At US Soccer, a video segment with U-17 MNT midfielder Christian Pulisic (Hershey, Pa., PA Classics).

On Sunday, Nov. 16, USWNT defender Ali Krieger will be with FC Revolution to lead an InstaSKILLS training session. The session is open to players aged 8-16. For more information, click here.

MLS

In Eastern Conference play, Lee Nguyen’s brace led New England to a 2-1 road win over Houston on Thursday night.

In an interview with Reuters, Jurgen Klinsmann said he was not criticizing MLS when he talked about his disappointment that top USMNT players had returned to the league from Europe. “I never meant to put anyone down in the MLS by saying we need the highest level possible for our players no matter where they play. It was just an attempt to explain that players need to always strive to the highest possible level.” Klinsmann explained,

It’s great to see that we have debates and public discussions like this because that shows that more and more people care about soccer in this country.

In Europe, in South America and in Mexico we’re all used to this. It’s part of people’s everyday lives – to have debates about different opinions. It’s just starting now in the United States and I think it’s pretty cool.

More reaction to the Garber-Klinsmann spat from ASN, ESPN, SI, ProSoccerTalk, and the Guardian.

At Vice Sports,  Jorge Arangure, Jr. writes, “People inside MLS believe that at nearly every opportunity, Klinsmann has intentionally found a way to chide some aspect of the domestic league: MLS’ summer schedule, the lack of a promotion or relegation structure, and the overall quality of play.”

The Guardian on why MLS must align its schedule more closely with the USMNT’s international calendar.

Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo, who was just unveiled as one of the new owners of Serie B side Bologna, says he expects “synergy” between the Italian club and the Impact.

Speaking after Australia’s 1-0 loss to Qatar on Tuesday, Tim Cahill backed Qatar as host of the 2022 World Cup. “The money they [Qatar] put into football is overwhelming and for me, every time I come here I’m like ‘wow’. They should be proud of what they are creating. For me I have no problem (in Qatar hosting the World Cup).”

Thousands of fans paraded through the streets of Orlando on Thursday evening as they made their way to the groundbreaking ceremony for Orlando City’s new stadium on Thursday night.

Orlando City president Phil Rawlins was not pleased with Jurgen Klinsmann’s recent comments about MLS.

Frank Lampard insists he will leave Manchester City to join NYC FC in January when his loan expires.

Columbus Crew have signed 17-year-old midfielder Ben Swanson to a Homegrown Player contract.

US

The USWNT faces Guatemala tonight in its second group game at the CONCACAF 2015 Women’s World Cup qualification tournament (9 pm: Fox Sports 1, Fox Soccer 2Go, Fox Sports Go).

There’s plenty of room for improvement after Tuesday’s underwhelming 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago. Abby Wambach said of Tuesday’s game, “Every single player, all of us in the dressing room right now, we’re embarrassed because that’s not the way we want to play soccer, that’s not our style and the soccer we want to play…For us, we want to get back to what we do well, and those things will come in the upcoming games I’m sure. We have to fix the problems, fix the issues that made it so difficult for us to score goals.”

Speaking of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, The 11 reports, “The Canadian Soccer Association and its lawyers are prepared to argue that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has no jurisdiction to hear a complaint that the use of turf surfaces at the 2015 Women’s World Cup is an example of gender inequality.” The argument is based on the fact that the tribunal is a provincial body, not a federal body.

As Jurgen Klinsmann has made clear, the preferred path for men’s national team players is to play in Europe. At the New York Times, Sam Borden has a good read on how such a path might work against USWNT players, using the example of Lindsey Horan, a forward who opted out of playing in college in order to sign with Paris Saint-Germain’s women’s team, with whom she just signed a new two-year contract after playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

It’s official: Delran’s Carli Lloyd has been traded by Western New York Flash to Houston Dash. In exchange, the Flash receive midfielder Becky Edwards, defender Whitney Engen, and a third round pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft.

Elsewhere

In an interview on the FIFA website, Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, says legal concerns prevent the full release of the report into the investigation of corruption in the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups:

Firstly, it must be pointed out that the main report has been produced not by Michael Garcia alone, but also by the deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee Cornel Borbély. In fact, the report into Russia and the USA was produced solely by Cornel Borbély. This is because Michael Garcia was unable to take part in some parts of the investigation due to the possibility of conflicts of interest, for example in the case of the American bid (as he is a US citizen). Publishing the report in full would actually put the FIFA Ethics Committee and FIFA itself in a very difficult situation legally. What is more, we have to respect the personal rights of the people mentioned in the report, which in the case of full publication of the report would in all likelihood not be possible.

Eckert says he expects to release an “overview of the investigation report, a summary of the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report, as well as a brief evaluation of the same” by mid-November “at the latest.”

More on Eckert’s comments from The Guardian, ESPN, ProSoccerTalk, Goal.com, and Reuters.

Supersport reports, “Morocco looks set to withdraw its rights to host the African Cup of Nations next year due to fears of the viral disease Ebola, which has ravaged a number of African nations over the last few months, spreading to their country.”

UEFA president Michel Platini says in his new book that he wants to see the the introduction of a white card to be shown to players guilty of dissent. After being shown the white card, players would be required to sit in a “sin-bin” or penalty box for 10 minutes. Among other changes he proposes is one that would allow five substitutions in a game, “two changes at half-time while maintaining the possibility to make three more during the course of the match.”

Check out the latest Footy on the Telly for listings of live soccer on TV, online, and on satellite radio for the upcoming week. There are a ton of games.