Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
At Philly.com, Marc Narducci spoke with Jim Curtin before Tuesday’s training session and has an injury update:
- Alejandro Bedoya, while he still has some soreness in his ribs, is back to full training with the team. Curtin said Bedoya “will play a major role as a starter for us” in Sunday’s game against Orlando.
- Josh Yaro is expected to be cleared and begin full training with the team on Thursday after suffering a concussion in the loss to NYRB before the international break.
- Ilsinho, who has been dealing with a plantar fasciitis for two months, “is expected back, according to Curtin.” (Matthew De George tweeted from Tuesday’s training session that Ilsinho was “training fully with the team.”)
- Narducci reports Curtin “wouldn’t say whether [Maurice] Edu would be play or be available for selection on Sunday.”
At the Union website, Matt Bodiford looks ahead to Sunday’s opponent, Orlando City, while Marisa Pilla looks at what needs to happen for the Union to clinch a playoff spot this weekend.
Orlando head coach Jason Kreis says of his team’s season end, now that they are eliminated from playoff contention, “I would see it that we need to finish strong. There’s two matches left, we have a team that’s good enough to win both matches. We need to show ourselves the right amount of respect, we need to play for pride… and I think most importantly we need to play for our fans.
At the Orlando City website, a “Know Your Opponent” look at the the Union.
The USWNT’s pay dispute with US Soccer is one of the issues discussed in an article at the New York Times titled “Thorny Issues Divide U.S. Soccer, and Its Fans.” Sam Borden writes that Alejandro Bedoya “absolutely agreed that women’s players should receive the same per diems and appearance fees as the men’s players. But he questioned the larger argument about salaries.” Bedoya explained,
I think the equal pay for equal play argument is flawed, and it’s flawed because sports business is atypical. We’re not talking about a man and a woman doing the same work at a law firm and billing the same hours and bringing in the same revenue. In the sports world, the marketing, the advertising, the media sponsorships — it’s very lopsided towards the men at this point. It just is. As that changes, other things should change too, but right now that’s the reality, and pay should reflect that.
I see it not as a woman versus man thing. It’s a numbers thing. Is someone sexist because they enjoy watching men’s soccer more than women’s soccer? At this point, that’s the simplest root of the difference.
Andre Blake and Jamaica were down 2-0 away to Guyana in Caribbean Cup Third Round play on Tuesday night after 30 minutes of play before the team drew level two minutes before full time and the game went to extra time. Jamaica took the lead over Guyana, who played with ten men after a 68th minute red card, in the 115th minute before Bethlehem Steel’s Cory Burke scored the last goal — his first for Jamaica — in the 120th minute of extra time for the 4-2 win after earlier earning a penalty kick in the 78th minute that Shaun Francis, who later scored the go-ahead goal, failed to convert. Recaps and reports at Jamaica Football Federation, Jamaica Observer, Guyana Chronicle, and Kaieteur News.
As of this writing, available match reports from the game do not include lineup information so I do not know if Warren Creavalle featured for Guyana on Tuesday night. Creavalle did make his first-ever appearance for the team in Saturday’s 3-2 loss away to Suriname, coming on as a sub in the 65th minute in the game, which also went to extra time. Kaieteur News reported, “Making his debut for Guyana was Warren Creavalle…Some life did come into Guyana’s attach with Creavalle showing signs of brilliance and on one play he dribbled three Surinamese.” More on that game at Guyana Chronicle.
Philadelphia Union Academy
At Brotherly Game, Matt Ralph has more on the Union’s concluding match at last weekend’s Generation adidas Cup East Regional qualifiers at the Power Training Complex, a 2-2 draw on Monday with NYCFC that the visitors then earned an extra point from when they won the resulting penalty kick shootout. Ralph notes, “The U16s finished the weekend with four points from three games and face a must-win against New York Red Bulls in November before heading to Orlando City for a pair of games in the second round of qualifying in February.” The Union are currently level with NYRB with four points to share fourth place in the seven-team East region.
Also at Brotherly Game, Ralph notes Union U-16 goalkeeper Tomas Romero has been called up by El Salvador’s U-17 MNT.
Local
Temple was defeated 1-0 in overtime on the road by Columbia on Tuesday, ending a 4-game winning streak. The team is back in action on Saturday when they travel to face Cincinnati.
Saint Joseph’s hosts Davidson today at 7 pm. Drexel is on the road today to face Hofstra. La Salle is away to VCU.
In the latest NSCAA/USA Today rankings for high school boys’ teams, Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.) remains at No. 2 while Salesianum School (Wilmington, Del.) drops one spot to No. 6. Lower Dauphin (Hummelstown, Pa.) did not make the top 25 but did receive votes.
In the girls rankings, Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.) moves up one spot to No. 7. Neshaminy (Langhorne, Pa.) received votes but is not in the top 25.
MLS
LA Galaxy announced on Tuesday the team will LA Galaxy Girls’ U-14/15, U-16/17 and U-18/19 Academy teams that will compete in the new US Soccer Girls’ Development Academy, which is set to begin play in the fall of 2017.
NYRB head coach Jesse Marsch says he prefers Bon Jovi to Bruce Springsteen. Discuss.
Charlotte Business Journal reports, “The Charlotte Independence have hired a sports investment firm to assemble a Major League Soccer ownership group even as the minor league soccer franchise grapples with a second straight season of operating losses totaling $2 million.”
US
So, the US conceded late to draw 1-1 with New Zealand. Ho hum. It was nice to see Julian Green score again, Sacha Kljestan looked good, and Lynden Gooch was capped. Recaps and reports at PSP, US Soccer, MLSsoccer.com (recap, report, analysis), Washington Post, ESPN (recap, player ratings), Fox Soccer, Soccer America, ASN (recap, player ratings), Pro Soccer Talk (recap, analysis, player ratings), Goal.com (recap, analysis, Green, Klejstan), SI, SBI, Stars and Stripes FC, The Guardian, Reuters
Attendance of 9,012 is the smallest for a #USMNT game at RFK Stadium since the first U.S. game there in 1977.
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) October 12, 2016
Fox Soccer has five questions for the USMNT ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Mexico on Nov. 11
At SI, Brian Straus says the outlook for the USMNT a year after losing the Confederations Cup play-in game is brighter.
Abby Wambach when asked by the New York Times about Jurgen Klinsmann using dual nationals on the USMNT (just like every USMNT coach before him):
Do I agree with everything Jurgen has done? No, I do not. It’s just my opinion, and I’m entitled to that. It feels a little bit odd to me that you have some guys that have never lived in the United States that play for the United States because they were able to secure a passport. To me, that just feels like they weren’t able to make it for their country and earn a living, so they’re coming here.
But do they have that killer instinct? I don’t know. I’d love to sit down with Mix Diskerud and some of these other guys and talk to them about it. I’d love to understand how much they love their country. I believe they can have love for both countries, but I’d love to hear it, and I think so many other people would, too. If this is an ignorant opinion, I’ll raise my hand in the end and say, “My bad.” But I’d want to have that conversation.
I can’t help but wonder what Earnie Stewart would say to someone doubting his “killer instinct”? Anyway, you will recall Wambach made similar comments in an interview last December, comments Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya later called “xenophobic.”
Wambach said of Megan Rapinoe’s kneeling protest, “Whether you agree or disagree with her choice to do it, she has the right to do it. If I was still on the team, I don’t know if I would join her in her protest, though. I’m fiercely patriotic, and the flag and the anthem is something that I really, really respect. So I don’t know if I could do that.”
Elsewhere
Fox Soccer offers a solution to “fix” CONCACAF’s World Cup qualification format.
The Guardian looks into the case filed by a Bangladeshi worker with the backing of the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation against FIFA “over its alleged complicity in the mistreatment of migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup.” The subheading of Marina Hyde’s article, which is called, “Infantino’s jetsetting contrasts grimly with migrant worker’s FIFA case,” reads, “A $5,000 legal challenge over exploitation of workers building for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar pales next to the value of private flights accepted by FIFA’s president.”
The AP reports, “A court in Paraguay has annulled a permit that allowed Nicolas Leoz, the former president of South America’s soccer confederation, to work once a week outside of his home while under house arrest. Leoz is awaiting extradition to the United States, where he has been charged in a corruption scandal being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department. The 88-year-old has been under house arrest in the Paraguayan capital since 2015.”
I’ve can’t believe we’ll see a whole season pass without a single contribution from Mo. He must really be hurt to sit out a contract year. Unreal.
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I get Bedoya’s general point, but in the U.S., the women’s team is more popular, no? They’re certainly more successful.
Doesn’t mean they make US Soccer more money though, which is really the point. They are employees in 2 separate fields for 1 company.
That, to me, is an open question. Which national team is more valuable $$$-wise. I would think there was more money in broadcasting women’s team games because the do better ratings-wise, but I don’t know. Maybe the mens team puts more butts in seats and sells more merch.
Can Sunday just get here?
Boy Jason I agree, play these games for Pride…be a professional… that’s what its all about.
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Phew, thank God you have nothing else to play for…like your club’s life in the top division. That would be a entirely different kind of chap chap…. and pride come to think of it.
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It is 100% impossible for me to take this seriously… and that is the problem.
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…carry on.
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overtime Abby Wambach speaks my first intention is to ‘look away’…she irritated me as a player and that certainly isn’t changing in the post playing career.
Can we please move on from Maurice Edu. It was clear for the past few months the club was stringing us along about him playing this season. He is too expensive, often injured, and has come up short more than not in big situations. Time to move on.
What about if we can keep Edu for a lot less loot…I foresee another 400,000$ freeing up (bye llsinho)
I could see him going back to the UK.
Pretty sure Ilsinho signed a 2-year contract.
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So only ways he could be gone is expansion draft, trade within MLS, sold to team overseas, or buy-out/mutual termination.
I only take him at $200,000. $400,000 to pricey for me. And he has to agree to play CB and be disciplined. But mostly I agree lets move on.
Best scenario for the Union was missed. Union beat Orlando, New England beats Chicago, Toronto beats Montreal. That clinches a spot for the Union and leaves New England something to play for the following week against Montreal. (NYCFC beating DC would be an added bonus toward 4th.)
I read through Fox’s suggestion for WC qualifying and I don’t like it. Specifically, I have an issue with the semifinals. Anytime there is a group with only one qualifier there is a lot of randomness based on the group you are drawn into. That’s the real great thing about the hex. There’s no randomness as far as the teams go. Compare that with the group in Europe with Spain and Italy. Do the other four teams have any chance to make it to Russia? Those teams could have just as easily ended up in Romania’s group and had a real chance of moving on.
I actually don’t have a problem with the gist of Wambach’s comments. The way I read it, she’s basically saying, “Here’s what I currently think. But let’s talk, and if I’m shown my opinion isn’t supported by facts I’ll own up and change my opinion.”
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That’s pretty much how it should be, for any opinion, really.
Fair points… I see and hear someone unable to deal with being out of the ‘eye’and therefore the tell all book conveniently timed and the POV that seems to be omnipresent….
On the flip side, why should Jermaine Jones, Mix Diskerud or Alejandro Bedoya have to explain themselves or justify their inclusion to Wambach?
I don’t know what is more irritating… the fact that Edu hasn’t and probably won’t play this year… OR …the fact that the team routinely does not provide any updates or anything of substance regarding his status.
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How can this be?
It is ridiculous at this point.
it’s a sorely, out of place, artifact of the Dark Ages aka Sak’s Regime. I find the puppet regime in Bethlehem suffers from this as well.