Photo courtesy of Philly Unity Cup
Philadelphia Union
South Jersey native and top Philadelphia Union Academy prospect JD Wagner, has committed to play at the Naval Academy.
Local
Exciting action in the Philadelphia Unity Cup Quarterfinals. Sierra Leone knocked out defending champs Ivory Coast in penalties, and last year’s runner-up Liberia defeated Germany. The two Semi-final matches will be Sierra Leone vs. Jamaica on Sunday at 2pm, and Puerto Rico vs. Liberia on Sunday at 5pm.
Harrisburg City Islanders will be hosting open tryouts. Find dates and info here.
A poor weekend for Philadelphia colleges, as the men’s teams for Drexel, La Salle, Temple, and Villanova all lost their respective games.
MLS
After a mostly boring match, Vancouver and Seattle finished the first leg of their matchup with a draw.
Here’s a preview of the Houston vs. Portland match.
There are eight remaining teams in the MLS playoffs. Here is what you need to know about them.
Three of the four remaining teams in the USL playoffs are MLS affiliates.
A look at star goal-keeper and “missed-opportunity” Zack Steffen.
FC Barcelona star Javier Mascherano is reportedly looking to come to MLS next season.
Around the globe
A fan has died at a match in Malawi after violence from the rival side.
The England U-17s came back against Spain to win the U-17 World Cup.
The winner of the 2018 World Cup will receive an immense $38 million dollar prize. The USMNT’s chances are currently standing firm at 0%.
The Unity Cup semi-final took place yesterday. The final will take place on November 11 at 6pm at the Linc between Sierra Leone and Liberia. The quality of play yesterday was very high considering most took place during heavy rain. What I also found interesting was talking to some players who had played with Zach Steffan (and Pfeffer) and other good players who had fallen off the radar since. The general consensus was that the Union had concentrated on the WRONG players and that is one of the reasons why Steffan was never pursued.
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If you want to see some good soccer at a FREE event come to the Linc on Nov 11. There will also be a 3rd place game between Jamaica and Cost Rica. All these nations have lots of ‘immigrants’ living here in the city who all are expected to show up. Show be a great spectacle.
To develop the point Ryan Rose includes above about the USL playoffs, … .
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Two of the three MLS affiliated sides are wholly owned affiliates, sometimes called “MLS2” teams where the parent club absorbs the business losses and completely controls the soccer operation in all aspects. They are NYRB2 and Swope Park Rangers (Sporting Kansas City).
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The third is an independent affiliation, FC Dallas and OKC Energy — where Oklahoma City retains responsibility for both the business decisions and the soccer ones.
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Another, in some ways more pungent, way to make the point, given the controversies raised about the MLS2 sides at various times this season, is that only one independent stand-alone USL franchise has made the semis.
Of course based on regular season-long performance, it is probably the favorite to lift the cup.
Well… I’d take Javier in Philly as the HDM and scrap everything else. There. I said it.