Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
While the Union have two weeks to rest and work on their cohesiveness, they will have to do so without the man in the middle as Bedoya has headed to train with the USMNT.
Rob Usry predicts that Bedoya will draw the start at Right Mid for the USMNT.
Local
Great story on Jamaican International and Bethlehem Steel striker Cory Burke’s rapid ascent.
Harrisburg City signed two players with some MLS experience.
Planning on going to Bethlehem’s home opener? Tickets are buy one get one half off.
The Union Academy had a successful weekend against Cedar Stars Academy.
MLS
The Union are moving in the wrong direction in the power rankings, although one player in particular is getting some love:
At MLSSoccer, the Union are down one spot to 15th: “Philly’s bright spot in a 2-1 road loss to the Lions? CJ Sapong. Can he carry the team while they find their early-season footing?”
At ESPN, the Union are down three spots to 18th: “If there’s a silver lining to the loss against Orlando for the Union, it’s that forward C.J. Sapong is scoring goals again.”
At SI, the Union are down one spot to 18th: “The Union withstood a constant barrage of attacks from Orlando City in the second half of a 2–1 loss on Saturday–so many that the scoreline really should have been much worse. On the plus side, CJ Sapong’s second goal of the season will give him confidence going forward. That’ll be important as offseason acquisition Jay Simpson continues to recover from a lung injury.”
Josef Martinez leads the league in goals and now he has signed a multi-year contract to stay in Atlanta.
The leaguewide injury report has been updated, and the Union find themselves leading the league in injuries. Not what the team wanted…
“SC STL”, a group working to bring MLS to St. Louis, has sweetened the pot to try to sway voters to approve stadium funding.
Toronto signed defender Jason Hernandez.
Eugene Rupinski rated each MLS team’s Twitter lineup card.
Graham Parker asks why the MLS even bothers to have games in March.
Because MLS roster rules just weren’t complicated enough – how MLS teams are using USL affiliates to their advantage.
Around the globe
Jonathan Klinsmann is training with Stuttgart’s U-23 team.
Stu Holden and Landon Donovan will be calling the US-Honduras match. So Holden decided to recreate one of the most famous photos in US Soccer history.
That US/Honduras match will be taking place this Friday at 10:50 PM EST. Late night soccer action!
Starting in 2020, the Copa America will be synced with the EURO tournament.
The best games of the international break.
Eight elite international teams are heading stateside for the 2017 International Champions Cup. As of right now, no games will take place in Philly but two are set for North Jersey.
Highlight of the day
All the goals from Week 3 of the MLS season.
From the MLS Soccer ranking comments on the average of polling:
“Compared with ESPN, 538 and SoccerAmerica writers
Politboro’s Most Overrated Team – Philadelphia
Politboro’s Most Underrated Team – Orlando”
If I am Curtin I am calling up Najem and seeing how he looks in the #10 during training for two full weeks.
I still like Alberg, but it’s clear we need a spark of talent and when we’ve seen Alberg in the #10 he was far from a spark.
I agree, although I believe that the way practice is set up is that the players loaned to Steel practice with the the Union most of the week anyway.
I’d like to see Alberg get a chance to do something before the last 10 minutes of a game.
That photo shoot was awkward…
If anyone hasn’t read through the Grantland article and perused through the entire photo shoot, please do yourself a favor and at least click through the photos. If the U’s current play will leave you bummed for 2 weeks, at least the 2002 USMNT photo shoot can make you believe that things actually can always be worse.
So that link to SI’s “most interesting int’l games this week” article provided one additional item of interest. Crew SC’s Justin Meram isn’t playing for Iraq this weekend because of ‘concerns about the travel ban’. My guess is that it’s more likely concern about repercussions in other countries for the travel ban, but it’s a shame he felt he had to do that.
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The only problem is you have to sit through a 30-second commercial of a model wearing shaving cream to get to the Meram story.
That was reported a few weeks ago – Iraq’s statement (http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/03/11/justin-meram-iraq-national-team-travel-ban-concerns) and Meram’s statement (https://twitter.com/JustinMeram/status/840941464125394944).