Daily news roundups

“Complete performance”: Union tops Timbers, league results, US faces Panama, more

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

Jim Curtin described Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Portland — the Union’s first-ever win over the Timbers — as “our most complete performance of the year.”

It certainly was among the most satisfying, what with Andrew Wenger kicking that goalscoring jinx into the back of Portland’s net with an absolutely beautiful strike, Vincent Nogueira scoring a brace (!), and each goal smoothly assisted by Cristian Maidana.

It’s the kind of thing every Union fan could get used to.

Nogueira and Maidana were named to ESPN’s Team of the Week for their efforts. More on Nogueira and Maidana at Delco Times, more on Wenger finally making a mark in the scoring column at CBS Philly and CSN Philly.

Checkout our video of Mike and Kevin’s postgame wrap, Curtin’s postgame press conference and postgame comments from Andrew Wenger, Ray Gaddis, Vincent Nogueira, and Cristian Maidana (includes transcript).

Recaps and reports from PSP, Philadelphia Union, Inquirer, Delco Times, CSN Philly, CBS Philly, Philly Soccer News, Brotherly Game (recap, analysis), Sons of Penn, Philly Sports Network (game recap, River End recap), MLSsoccer.com (recap, Union take, Timbers take), Portland Timbers (recap, notes), The Oregonian, Stumptown Footy (recap, three questions), SBI, MLS Multiplex, Vavel, Sports MoleThe Sports Network, and the AP. Our photo essay from the game will be up later this morning. In the meanwhile, USA Today has a photo gallery.

So, that yellow on Maurice Edu, the one that will see him suspended for Saturday’s road game in Toronto. What did Edu think of the call? “I guess I have to watch it again,” he said diplomatically after the game. “But in the heat of the moment I felt like we both went in on similar ways on the challenge, and I took the ball. Obviously the ref saw it a different way.”

Curtin chuckled before saying what he thought of the call: “It’s a great tackle. It’s the tackle that I dream of as a center back. I loved it, I thought it was a clean play. I think that the mindset of the referee [was that] it did look hard because the guy gets taken out but you can’t get more of the ball [than Edu did].”

At the Delco Times, columnist Jack McCaffery observes “at a point in Philadelphia major-league sports where it’s stylish to be a little lousy, there is the Union providing consistent, professional soccer midway through a season that didn’t begin that way.”

MLSsoccer.com and USA Today note the Sons of Ben’s hilarious trolling of the Timbers’ Timber Joey. Well played, well played.

At Union Tally, Matthew De George recounts the Union’s summer transfer history.

The second part of the two-part series on Maurice Edu is up at the Union website.

MLSGB on what Bournemouth fans should expect from the Union in Tuesday’s friendly.

Local

Harrisburg have announced the signings of forward Craig Foster and defender Shaquille Dyer. Foster is a veteran of Jamaica’s U-20 national team and received his first senior call-up for the 2014 Caribbean Cup. Dyer also has experience with Jamaica’s U-20 team and is currently part of the U-23 pool for the Olympics.

Foster would score the game winner in Harrisburg’s 2-0 road win over NYRB II on Sunday at Red Bull Arena. The win sees Harrisburg move into a playoff spot over NYRB II. Recaps at USL, NYRB, and Empire of Soccer.

On Saturday, Reading United fell 2-0 at home to NYRB U-23s, conceding both goals in a four-minute span. THe loss puts a big dent in the team’s playoff aspirations. Recaps at PDL and Once a Metro.

Also on Saturday, Ocean City Nor’easters defeated FA Euro 1-0, while Lehigh Valley United Sonic fell 3-0 on the road to Jersey Express.

MLS

In Eastern Conference play, first place DC (35 points) had the weekend off. Second place NYRB (26 points) defeated sixth place New England, 4-1, handing the Revolution their fifth loss in a row. Third place Toronto (24 points) drew 4-4 on the road with ninth place NYCFC (21 points), Giovinco scoring a hat trick for the Reds. Frank Lampard’s NYCFC debut, scheduled for the Toronto game, was delayed due to a calf injury. Fourth place Orlando (24 points) lost 2-0 at home to Dallas. Fifth place Columbus (24 points) lost 3-0 on the road to eighth place Montreal (21 points), Dominic Oduro scoring a brace for the Impact. Sixth place Philadelphia (22 points) defeated Portland, 3-0. Last place Chicago (18 points) defeated Seattle, 1-0, it’s first-ever win over the Sounders.

In the Western Conference, first place Seattle (32 points) lost 1-0 on the road to Chicago, their fourth loss over the last five league games. Second place Vancouver (32 points) lost 1-0 at home to sixth place Kansas (30 points) City. Third place Dallas (32 points) defeated Orlando 2-0 on the road. Fourth place Portland (31 points) lost 3-0 on the road to Philadelphia. Fifth place LA (31 points) had the weekend off from league play for an International Champions Cup game, defeating Club America 2-1 in Steven Gerrard’s debut for the team. Seventh place San Jose (25 points) lost 2-0 at home to eighth place Houston (24 points). Ninth place Salt Lake lost 3-1 on the road to tenth place Colorado (21 points).

ASN and American Soccer Analysis examine the new Targeted Allocation Money thing.

Orlando City owner Flavio Augusto da Silva has confirmed the club is in talks to land Chicharito.

John Mensah to Kansas City?

22-year-old Argentine forward Lucas Melano to Portland?

Local politicians in San Antonio are looking to push efforts to land a MLS franchise in that city.

Freddy Adu to Tampa Bay Rowdies? Whatev.

US

After a less than convincing win over Haiti on Friday — one that nevertheless assured advancement to the quarterfinals of the the Gold Cup — the US takes on Panama tonight (9 pm: Fox Sports 1, UniMás, Univision Deportes, Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer 2Go, Univision Deportes En Vivo, SiriusXM FC).

Will Panama be looking to avenge the 3-2 loss they suffered the last time these two teams met? the one in which they gave up two goals in the dying minutes of the game and so missed a playoff spot for the 2014 World Cup (and also assured Mexico of qualification)? Graham Zusi said, “I think that’ll always be in the back of their head. I think every game in this tournament’s going to be a battle, and I don’t expect this one will be any different. They’re seeking, I guess, a little bit of revenge. I don’t think they’ll take it personally on me, but I think they’ll take it personally against the US, yes.” We shall see.

Should Jurgen Klinsmann rest starters like Dempsey and Bradley for the first knock round? It’s a question that many US fans are asking.

Previews for tonight’s game at US Soccer, CONCACAFMLSsoccer.comFox Sports, ESPNCBS Sports, SI, Soccer AmericaGoal.comWorld Soccer Talk, Vavel,

Recaps and reports from Friday night’s 1-0 win over Haiti at PSP, US Soccer, CONCACAF, Boston GlobeBoston Herald, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, MLSsoccer.comYahoo SportsSI, ASNProSoccerTalkGoal.com, SBIThe Guardian, and American Soccer Analysis. Postgame quotes at US Soccer.

ESPN has three quick toughts on Friday’s win, SI has three thoughts, Soccer America and CBS Sports have three takeaways, Goal.com has ten takeways, MLSsoccer.com has three things, and ProSoccerTalk has three things not learned.

Player ratings at Soccer America, New York Times, CBS Sports, MLSsoccer.com, ASN,

At SI, Brian Straus on how emerging US stars like Gyasi Zardes and Aron Johannsson are proving crucial for the US.

At Yahoo Sports, Leander Schaerlaeckens on why the US is playing so poorly at the Gold Cup.

Good read at The Guardian on why the children of immigrants are supporting the US rather than their parent’s homeland.

More parades like this, please!

Elsewhere

The New York Times reports, “The United States Soccer Federation is expected to face aggressive scrutiny on Wednesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing related to charges of widespread corruption among leaders of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.” The report quotes Senator Richard Blumenthal (D – CT), “We need to understand how this corruption occurred. U.S. Soccer either knew or should have known. It’s that simple, and I don’t know which is worse.” This could get interesting.

Reuters reports, “Jeffrey Webb, one of seven current and former officials of soccer’s world governing body FIFA arrested in Switzerland in May, has agreed to be extradited to the United States to face corruption charges.”

Also from Reuters, “Switzerland now has 81 reports of suspicious financial activity linked to FIFA’s decisions to let Russia and Qatar run the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments, the Swiss attorney general’s office said on Sunday.”

15 Comments

  1. So where do the Union go from here?
    Do they decide to go for it and bring in transfer window upgrade? Do they decide the team is gelling and decide to save money and stand pat?
    Should they deal Sheanon because they obviously don’t have plans for him even when he plays well?
    Can they overcome their deficit in games played?
    Can Wenger regain his form?
    It seems like we are in this same position every year with the Union where it seems like a struggling team can get it together and crawl into the playoffs but never seem to.
    Can Sieve! overcome his unrelenting cynicism and pessimism about this team….?

    http://www.indra.com/cgi-bin/spikes-8-ball

    • They can’t do anything transfer wise until M’Bohli’s contract is sold.

      • yea but will they? The Unions motto has been “Good enough is good enough” They might stand pat or bring in cheap prospects.

    • Andy Muenz says:

      I disagree with the assessment that they have no plans for Sheanon. That last several games Curtin has rotated his three outside backs like many of us would like to see rotation at other positions as well.

  2. I traveled to Yankee Stadium to watch NYCFC play Toronto….. Holy hell Sebastian Giovinco went off. A great….GREAT…..MLS player. No Bradley. No Altidore. Just a 5′ No” fireplug dousing any hope from NY faithful.

    • Watched it on ESPN. Amazing goal scoring and jaw-dropping bad defense from both teams. Toronto looked especially terrible there and I have hopes we might be able to beat them at BMO field next week.

      Noone of that should take away from the fact that Giovinco is awesome. He is so cool when it comes to finishing… Only goal scorer in this league who might be more gangster is Robbie Keane. It’s great that these guys are getting into the league.

      • OneManWolfpack says:

        Yeah Keane’s goal in the friendly against CA this past weekend, was unbelievable.

    • Giovinco is not on the All-Star Roster. Reason enough to chalk that game up as a joke. Won’t be watching. Giovinco is putting together arguably most dominant DP season in league history.

  3. Update that Rodolfo is actually trialling from De George this morning. Another CF/ST if u read correctly? I’m still not sure this is the biggest need, we only play with one and Sapong is playing well with two very capable subs behind him. I think the wings and Adam need to be addressed. Saturday was awesome, but looking back that is the exception, not the rule. Carroll has been amazing but he’s older and needs some rest. If transfermrkt is correct, Rodolfos value is $150k? Come on.

    • Just wanted to add, I got the 9 game plan this year bc I wasn’t happy with the offseason but still wanted to go to some games, Saturday may have made it all worth it. That was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever witnessed at PPL, maybe with the Open Cup final. Everyone was loud, SOBs were on point, we played well, etc.
      .
      Oh as I was leaving, so was the Bournemouth team, walking right by us. The one thing I always notice when we play foreign teams, and especially this time since they were literally right next to me, they are huge. They are obviously significantly bigger than our teams. It’s always a reminder that the other countries’ football/basketball, etc are playing soccer, and wow what athletes they are.
      .
      Also, right behind section 110, the sandwich place, had a 20 min wait for sandwiches. The guy gave me 3 free refills of my $10 beer while I waited, so I wasn’t too unhappy, but he told me it was bc there is literally one guy working in the back.

      • OneManWolfpack says:

        I agree with the size of the foreign, especially European, players. When Crystal Palace was here it looked like grown men vs children.

  4. The Timber Joey, Who Needs a Chainsaw, rip was brilliant. Well done.

  5. Loved the mockery- that’s some cutting humor there.

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