Daily news roundups

Union bits, academy results, conference semis, more news

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

At Union Tally, Matthew De George has a helpful breakdown of how Bethlehem Steel FC might be composed in terms of players specifically signed to the team, first team reserve players, and academy players.

At Philly.com, Jonathan Tannenwald on how NYRB’s current success could be a model for the Union.

Brotherly Game some player stats over the past six seasons.

Lehigh Valley Live’s weekly “Turkeys and Trophies” column calls naming the Union’s USL team Bethlehem Steel FC an “inspired choice.”

Union target Alejandro Bedoya continues to deal with an illness that has kept him from playing for Nantes — or the USMNT — since the end of September.

Union Academy

The Union Academy U-16s and U-18s hosted PA Classics on Saturday at the Union training grounds. The U-16s fell 2-1 with substitute Daniel Bloyou scoring in the 80th minute after a brace from PA Classics’ scored by Isaac Hollinger in the 31st and 40th minutes. The U-18s drew 00.

The U-14s were in North Carolina over the weekend for the US Soccer Development Academy Showcase. On Saturday, they began with a 0-0 draw with NYCFC before defeating Oakwood 1-0 with a 10th minute goal from Obafemi Awodesu. On Sunday, the team played Orlando to a 22 draw. Jason Aoyama opened the scoring in the third minute before Orlando equalized in the 5th minute. Cole Turner put the Union ahead in the 71st minute only for Orlando to equalize in the 78th minute.

According to the Union Academy Twitter account, the U-15s, and the U-13s, both won 5-0 over the weekend, and the U-12s won 4-0, over the weekend but opponents are not listed.

Among the 60 players called into the training camp taking place this week in Bradenton, Florida by US U-15 head coach John Hackworth are six Union Academy players: goalkeeper Carlos Dos Santos (Philadelphia, Pa.), defenders Rayshaun McGann (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Nykolas Sessock (Holland, Pa.), midfielders Brenden Aaronson (Medford, N.J.) and Seth Kuhn (Wyomissing, Pa.), and forward Issa Rayyan (West Chester, Pa.).

Local

Temple lost 2-0 on the road to No. 9 SMU on Saturday, finishing the regular season with a 10-6-2 record. Villanova lost 2-1 at home to No. 7 Georgetown. Penn was defeated 2-1 on the road by Brown after giving up a game winning 86th minute penalty kick. Drexel defeated Northeastern 1-0 on Saturday, the lone goal coming with 45 seconds left on the clock, thus eliminating the visitors from Colonial Athletic Association Tournament contention. La Salle defeated St. Joseph’s 1-0.

MLS

Sunday’s slate of conference semifinals began with NYRB traveling to RFK and defeating DC 1-0 off of a 72nd minute strike from Dax McCarty. Next up, Portland hosted Vancouver to a 0-0 draw. After that, Columbus conceded Patrice Bernier’s equalizer four minutes after their early lead from a cool finish from Federico Higuain in the 33rd minute, losing 2-1 on the road after a goal from substitute Johan Venegas. Finally, Seattle defeated Dallas 2-1. Dallas had the early road lead courtesy of Fabian Castillo 18th minute goal before Andreas Ivanschitz equalized in the 67th minute and Clint Dempsey scored the 86th minute winner from a free kick. The second legs of the conference semis will be played next Sunday.

Is Jermaine Jones’ time in MLS at an end?

Eddie Johnson has officially retired. The player, who you will recall hasn’t played for DC United since being diagnosed with a heart condition, sees a future for himself in youth development.

The News & Observer on new Carolina RailHawks owner Steve Malik. Malik replaces the disgraced Traffic Sports as the owner of the NASL team.

US

The US U-23 team will play two games against Brazil in Brazil in November in preparation for the two-game playoff against Colombia in March for a spot the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In case you missed this: “Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a resolution urging FIFA, the international soccer governing body, to pay its female soccer players the same as their male counterparts.”

Elsewhere

Reiterating comments made in the Financial Times interview we linked to on Friday, Reuters reports: “Embattled soccer boss Sepp Blatter has rejected complaints made by the sport’s biggest sponsors over a bribery and corruption scandal, saying they were politically motivated and made at the behest of the United States.”

PA Sports reports, “FIFA presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale has claimed the organisation’s sponsors are exerting too much power by calling for Sepp Blatter to quit immediately as president.”

Reuters reports, “FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne wants soccer’s crisis-hit government body to be less formal and more humble in the future.” Champagne said, “There are a lot of things I think we need to improve in terms of style…We can definitely save some costs on the administration and on the World Cup…The reconstruction of FIFA’s image will be achieved only if there is a change of style, which is more open to the people, more accessible and to some extent more humble.”

Italian FA head Carlo Tavecchio, classy as ever.

Also from Reuters:

African families are handing their life savings to false agents who promise their sons a career with a European club but instead leave them abandoned on the street, says a charity which deals with the problem.

Jean-Claude Mbvoumin, a former Cameroon international who heads the Culture Foot Solidaire group, also warned that Africa is awash with ramshackle, unlicensed soccer academies which exist primarily to prepare children for a move abroad.

“In Africa, you have thousands and thousands of academies for which the main goal is to transfer young players to Europe,” he said on the sidelines of the Play the Game conference.

“They just want to make money, they don’t care about the health of the children,” he added referring to academies which are often little more than a dusty pitch by the roadside.

Just like they drew it up in training:

15 Comments

  1. Tannenwald’s piece is good. Worth the read.

  2. It should be noted that it is solely one douchebag Republican, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, blocking the resolution for urging FIFA to pay women more fairly. Not, as MSNBC maliciously reports, the GOP.

    • if it were just one senator opposing it wouldn’t they be able to pass it?

      • according to the following link, it only required one senator to block it.

        I don’t know anything about committee-specific procedural rules, but it also appears the Senator who introduced it asked for unanimous consent, so maybe that’s why it only required one person to block it?

        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fifa-equal-pay-womens-soccer_5630e1d0e4b0c66bae5a4a83

      • No, the Senate has some really weird rules that allow one member to block legislation for a period of time. So eventually they can, but it will be awhile.

      • “Sections 2 and 3 of Rule VII (Morning Business) of the Standing Rules of the Senate outline the procedure for bringing motions to the floor of the Senate. Under these rules, “no motion to proceed to the consideration of any bill…shall be entertained…unless by unanimous consent.” In practice, this means that a Senator may privately provide notice to his/her party leadership of intent to object to a motion. The leadership can more easily schedule business if they know in advance which unanimous consent requests are likely to receive objection.
        The original intent of these sections was to protect a Senator’s right to be consulted on legislation that affected the Senator’s state or in which a senator had a great interest. The ability to place a hold would allow that senator an opportunity to study the legislation and to reflect on its implications before moving forward with further debate and voting.”

      • Let’s see by a show of hands. How many people think the rules of the US Senate were written by Nick Sakiewicz?

      • Magic. Only on PSP.
        .
        There are minds much greater than mine visiting these pages.
        .
        I just bend language to appear intellectual. You folk…. “you. you . you.” – – as Robert Di Nero says. you are the dreamers – the makers of magic you are the humor and erudition.

      • Old Soccer Coach says:

        Such Senatorial “courtesies” as the allowing of temporary holds via the unanimous consent device have been part of the Senate since day one it seems. I am not a historian of the Senate, I have read JFK’s Profiles in Courage many years ago, and R.w. Caro’s 3rd and 4th volumes on LBJ – which I highly, highly recommend to any political junkie of either party reading this – and Teddy White’s two decade long quadrennial series The Making of the President are primarily where I learned my US Senate politics.

        Aside from those sources it was my lot to teach s History and read background works by others. The Senate in the beginning was twenty-six people. That’s the size of a modern day full cabinet. George Washington had to decide how separate the Senate was to be from the administration in the earliest moments. (Remember that he would have remembered the Governor’s Council from his days as a member of the VA House of Burgesses, and walk through the Capitol chambers of the two at Colonial Williamsburg to inform your assessment.)
        .
        Personal courtesy has always mattered a great deal in Senate tradition. We can accuse Sakiewicz of wanting to be his own SD with ease. But we cannot accuse him of the arcane, Byzantine labyrinth of Senatorial aristocracy-like courtesy.
        .
        Remember that they were not directly elected by popular vote until 1913 (do check the date please, in case my memory is playing tricks) but were chosen by the state legislatures according to the individual state’s constitutions. They were supposed to be a check on the passions of democracy, both through indirect election and by being 2/3rds NOT standing for re-election every 2 years.

      • You are correct, the 17th amendment was ratified in 1913.

      • Will this be on the exam?

      • Old Soccer Coach says:

        Thank you for the leg work, R3er. Very helpful.

  3. Tokyo Sexwhale reference noted….. I like the new editorial policy.
    —–
    Are we due for two new jerseys new season?? Looking at these Portland third jerseys, I am hoping for something new and exciting as opposed to the MEH away jerseys we got this year…

  4. For the first time I’m torn as to whether to keep Curtin now that Jason Kreis is officially available.

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