Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

Jim Curtin’s weekly press conference is scheduled for today at 12:30 pm (Facebook).

How did Alejandro Bedoya do for the US in Tuesday night’s win over Trinidad and Tobago? Perhaps not as well as he did in the win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines but he still put in a decent shift. MLSsoccer.com gave Bedoya a 6.5 for his performance: “The Philly Union glue man certainly could have done more when put in good attack positions and his link passing was uncharacteristically spotty. Still, he contributed by quietly piling up 10 total defensive stops in the US end during the first half, and 14 in all before departing on 66 minutes.” Soccer America gave him a 5, ESPN and ASN gave him a 5.5, Pro Soccer Talk gave him a 6.

Andre Blake got the start as Jamaica was defeated 2-0 at home by Haiti in Tuesday night’s qualifier. Bethlehem Steel forward Cory Burke, who also started, earned his first cap for Jamaica through his 74 minute appearance. Both teams were already eliminated from advancing to the Hex. However, Jamaica begins its defense of the Caribbean Cup title on Oct. 5 against Guyana before facing Suriname on Oct. 11. In case you’re wondering, after facing NYRB away on Oct. 1, the Union are off until Oct. 16 when they host Orlando.

Former Union man Carlos Ruiz scored five goals in Guatemala’s 9-3 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines, becoming the all-time leading scorer in World Cup Qualifying history with 39 goals.

In the latest Inside Doop, Dave Zeitlin wonders if Maurice Edu will see minutes against Montreal at Talen Energy Stadium this weekend. Zeitlin also reports Josh Yaro is expected back from Africa this week, although it is unclear if he will play this weekend. Sadly, Yaro was home in Ghana for his mother’s funeral.

In case you missed it, PSP’s Tim Jones reviewed Maurice Edu’s performance on Sunday with Bethlehem Steel. More from Kevin Kinkead at Philly Voice.

The Union has announced the home game against Orlando on Sunday, Oct. 16, originally scheduled to kickoff at 5 pm, will now begin at 3 pm. The announcement notes, “Major League Soccer announced that all five matches in the Eastern Conference on Oct. 16 will kick-off at 3 p.m. The Western Conference matches will get underway at 5 p.m. with the same format as the Eastern Conference.”

At the Union website, the weekly “By the Numbers” post.

Power rankings! At MLSsocer.com, the Union drop one spot to No. 8: “Not exactly the result they were looking for in Chicago but the good news is that Maurice Edu played 32 minutes for Bethlehem Steel on Sunday.”

At Brotherly Game, Jared Young has his weekly player ratings comparison.

Even though Jordan Morris didn’t play this weekend, Keegan Rosenberry remains at No. 2 in the latest Rookie Rankings at MLSsoccer.com.

Philly.com reports city councilman Al Taubenberger, who is traveling to Frankfurt, Germany as part of a trade delegation representing Philadelphia and Mayor Kenney, would “like to see more flights between the cities, arrange a game between the Philadelphia Union and the Frankfurt soccer club, Eintracht Frankfurt, and set up a student exchange program between universities.”

City Islanders

Ninth place City Islanders host first place NYRB II today at Millersville University (4 pm, YouTube). Previews at City Islanders, USLsoccer.com, and Once a Metro.

Local

The weekly Philly Soccer Six awards have been announced. They are:

Player of the Week: Jorge Gomez Sanchez, Temple (2 GWG, 1 assist)
Defensive Player of the Week: Mike Kirk, La Salle (4 saves, SHO win over Drexel)
Rookie of the Week: Jacob Anderson, Villanova (GWG at No. 11 Boston College)

Kirk wins the Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time this season.

The Drexel men’s team came from behind to draw 1-1 with Rhode Island in their home opener on Tuesday night.

From the Temple men’s soccer website: “After kicking off its 2016 campaign with four wins and a 10-1 goals scored differential against opponents, Temple men’s soccer has received votes in both the NSCAA National Rankings Poll and the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25. Regionally, the Owls now rank second behind the University of Vermont who rank #23 in the national poll.” The team, who travel to face Rider in their first away game of the season on Saturday, is currently ranked No. 33 in the NSCAA national poll.

University of Delaware is ranked at No. 22 in the latest NSCAA national poll.

In the high school boys’ poll, Salesianum School (Wilmington, Del.) comes in a No. 6, Delbarton School (Morristown, N.J.) ar No. 14, and Lewisburg (Lewisburg, Pa.) at No. 17. In the girls’ poll, Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.) comes in at No. 10, Cumberland Valley (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) at No. 16, and Immaculate Heart Academy (Township of Washington, N.J.) at No. 21.

MLS

The league has announced this year’s MLS Cup final will be broadcast on Fox and UniMás on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 8 pm, the first time the final has been broadcast live on English-language network TV since 2008. Knockout round play begins on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and Thursday, Oct. 27, with the conference semifinals being played over two legs on Sunday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Nov. 6. The first legs of the conference finals will be played on Sunday, Nov. 20 (West) and Tuesday, Nov. 22 (East) with the second legs on Sunday, Nov. 27 (West) and Wednesday, Nov. 28 (East).

Houston has signed former Villanova defender Kevin Garcia from USL affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC.

Salt Lake has signed forward Ricardo Velazco from USL affiliate Real Monarchs. (In case you’re wondering, Roster Freeze day, when clubs must submit their final 28-player roster, is on Sept. 15.)

Athletic Stadiums looks at how new MLS stadiums are being constructed with “safe-standing areas”.

US

The US topped Trinidad and Tobago 4-0 in Jacksonville on Tuesday to clinch a first place finish in their group and advance to the Hexagonal stage of World Cup qualification. Along the way, Jozy Altidore scored two goals to pass Clint Dempsey as the team’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup Qualifying, and Christian Pulisic became the youngest player to start for the USMNT in a World Cup qualifier while also assisting Altidore’s second goal. The US will begin the Hex by hosting Mexico at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Jurgen Klinsmann said of Pulisic, “As we’ve said over the last few months, one step at a time, but the step was right today…We thought, it’s a good time now. Obviously, the performance was wonderful for us.” Klinsmann also joked, “Don’t want to give him too many compliments — gotta keep him down on the ground.”

Jozy Altidore said, “It’s crazy. He’s 17 years old and he has a calmness when he gets the ball. He can glide by people … effortlessly. The challenge for him is to stay humble, keep improving and for you guys to leave him alone. He doesn’t need to be reading about himself too much. He needs to keep his head down and keep working.”

The Guardian says Pulisic should start against Mexico. Fox Soccer says “the Christian Pulisic Hype Train is only picking up speed.” Deadspin says “The best USMNT starting eleven is one that features Pulisic.”

ESPN has a Q&A with Pulisic from before Tuesday’s game in which he says Alejandro Bedoya and Geoff Cameron are two of the veteran USMNT players who have “have really helped me out,” adding, “They’ve been really cool with me.”

By the way, Sacha Kljestan might be a Red Bull but, damn, he is looking good for the USA!

Recaps and reports at PSP, US Soccer, MLSsoccer.com (recap, player ratings, analysis), ESPN (recap, report, player ratings), Fox Sports (recap, takeaways), CBS Sports, SI, Soccer America (report, player ratings), ASN (recap, player ratings),  Goal.com (recap, takeaways, player ratings), Pro Soccer Talk (recap, analysis, player ratings), FourFourTwo (recap, analysis), Stars and Stripes FC, USA Today, Florida Times-Union, The Guardian, Reuters, and the AP.

Here’s what the US’ schedule for the Hex looks like:

#TheHex schedule is set for the #USMNT. First up: #USAvMEX at home on Nov. 11. #RoadToRussia pic.twitter.com/F0jHgBBX6s

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) September 7, 2016

Might it have been better schedule wise if the US had finished second in their group? More on the qualification schedule for the US at FourFourTwo. Click here to see the complete schedule for CONCACAF.

At the New York Times, Brian Sciaretta on the new wave of US players playing in Europe.

In a Q&A at the US Soccer website, USWNT head coach Jill Ellis explained why Hope Solo has been suspended from the team:

Over time there’s been off the field distractions for which the Federation has taken action. Each time an action has been taken there’s been made clear an expectation that this would be the last time such a step would be necessary. Sadly, how Hope handled her post-Olympic comments forced us to make a significant decision. It’s not simply a decision made about comments, it was based on the sum total of actions that have unfortunately shone a negative light on our program.

Ellis said of how the team will fill the goalkeeper position moving forward, “After the Olympics the plan was always to prepare for 2019 and that means investing in the other goalkeepers and getting them playing time. That’s still the process and it’s the same for every position. Everything right now is building towards 2019 and our future.” More on Ellis comments at Fox Soccer, CBS Sports, Soccer America,  Reuters, and the AP.

Elsewhere

You recall the FIFA president Gianni Infantino has repeatedly advocated opening the World Cup field to 40 teams (dumb idea). Now he says he’s open to a 40-team World Cup being co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico (dumb idea).

FIFA has announced the independent Ethics Committee has opened “formal adjudicatory proceedings” against the Vice-President of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) and former General Secretary of the QFA, Saoud Al-Mohannadi. The AP reports, “The case does not involve Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid, but no further details were provided by FIFA’s ethics committee.” Al-Mohannadi is seeking a seat on the FIFA Council.

CONCACAF has signed a “cooperation agreement” with FIFA Security and FIFA’s Early Warning System (EWS) team aimed at establishing “a joint framework for promoting and protecting the integrity of football matches organized under the auspices of CONCACAF.”

From ESPN: “Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy hopes to host NFL games in the club’s new 61,000-seater stadium when it opens in 2018 and said it is “realistic” that a Premier League game and an NFL game could take place at the ground on the same day.”

Also from ESPN: “The French Football League (LFP) has said it is considering imposing a homegrown players quota in an attempt to improve the competitiveness of Ligue 1.”