Photo: Earl Gardner
World Cup
Perhaps the craziest day in Russia yet was highlighted by Mexico advancing to the round of 16 despite getting shellacked 3-0 by Sweden, thanks to Germany’s shock 2-0 loss to South Korea.
It was the third time in a row that the reigning World Cup champion was eliminated in the group stage.
Later in the day, Brazil cruised to a 2-0 victory over Serbia to top Group E, while Costa Rica earned a bit of self-respect back with a solid 2-2 draw with Switzerland (on a rather quirky penalty goal).
This afternoon, England and Belgium fight for the top of Group G, but the real fun will be this morning when wide-open Group H will be decided between Japan, Senegal, and Colombia.
Philadelphia Union
The Union jumped up to #10 (thanks to their No. 10) in the league’s power rankings.
Philadelphia will be heading to Banc of California Stadium this weekend to try to hand LAFC their first-ever home loss.
MLS
The league announced All-Star game festivities in Atlanta for the weekend of July 28.
Wayne Rooney is finalizing the deal that will send him to D.C. United.
Austin City Council is making some big decisions this week regarding plans for an MLS team coming to the city. #SaveTheCrew
Was in LA for couple of days. Was at LAFC – Columbus. What a stadium and what a support section! Actually before the game there was a huge tailgate with an excellent atmosphere on the grass in front of the stadium. The supporters started singing and banging the drums 45 minutes before the game and kept on going for at least half an hour after the game. What an experience: try to make a game there if you can, such as on Saturday. Plenty of good seats still available on seatgeed or vividseats.
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Then yesterday morning I was in a bar in my German Werner shirt with circa 3090 Mexicans near the LA Conference Center. At one point it looked like Germany was going to score and would have knocked Mexico out. So they all started yelling ‘Korea, Korea, Korea’. Had Germany scored and won then I am not so sure I would have made it out of that bar alive. In the end they all came to me to console me….
There was a day when PPL was just like LAFC’s stadium. It was years ago, but I’m sure it was real.
No, not really. Have been at PPL since day 1 and the supporters at LAFC are a lot livelier and have more endurance. Helps that they have their own bar with $4 beer.
Same comment here, except I’m in Portland and went to the Thorns-Sky Blue game last night. We sat above the supporters section under the roof, and the atmosphere blew away recent games at Talen. A buddy I went with said that it’s about twice as loud for a Timbers game. Highly recommended. The Union are out this way on August 4th.
The Mexican fans going to the South Korean embassy and having the ambassador come outside to drink shots of tequila with them….Priceless. Germany becoming the fourth previous champion in the last five World Cup cycles to not make it out of group play makes me reconsider expanding the tournament. Granted I don’t think teams at the bottom can win but the upsets along the way make for great drama and bring entertainment to casual fans.
Technical, picky detail. “Consul-General” according to Fox Sports in Red Square. “Ambassador” is higher up than consul-general.
Really tough break for Senegal. Not a single African nation in the final 16. And I thought Senegal and Morocco both made decent cases for themselves. Eager to watch Belgium/England. Despite the talk of it being better to tank the match and avoid the Portugal, France, Argentina, Brazil side of the bracket, I’m not sure any team is better off facing Croatia and Switzerland. And, of course, Spain.
So the Austin City Council meeting tonight will affect 4 cities – Columbus, Austin, San Antonio & more recently potentially Sacramento.
No pressure council members…
Best case scenario for Columbus & San Antonio and the future of professional soccer in the US, is the city council outright rejecting taking the next step with PSV, but that is not likely to happen.
For MLS FO to be happy, Austin would have to basically commit PSV’s plan tonight, which again is probably not going to happen.
Most likely it plays out to no hard decision and more ambiguity since they have the next month off, which may lead to mounting pressure from all sides on Precourt.
MLS and Mark Abbott are talking to investment groups in Columbus, so the longer this drags out the better chance he sells local and Crew stay.
#SaveTheCrew
#SaveTheCrew
So the Austin City Council meeting tonight will affect 4 cities – Columbus, Austin, San Antonio & more recently potentially Sacramento.
No pressure council members…
Best case scenario for Columbus & San Antonio and the future of professional soccer in the US, is the city council outright rejecting taking the next step with PSV, but that is not likely to happen.
For MLS FO to be happy, Austin would have to basically commit PSV’s plan tonight, which again is probably not going to happen.
Most likely it plays out to no hard decision and more ambiguity since they have the next month off, which may lead to mounting pressure from all sides on Precourt.
MLS and Mark Abbott are talking to investment groups in Columbus, so the longer this drags out the better chance he sells local and Crew stay.