Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Academy
Philadelphia Union
Union Academy forward Axel Picaxo and Bethlehem Steel keeper Kristopher Shakes were named to the final roster for the U.S. U-18 MNT squad that will head to the Czech Republic for an international tournament.
The U.S. Open Cup Final will officially be broadcast on ESPN2 and UDN.
Adam Najem made international debut for Afghanistan in Kabul.
Jack Elliott makes consecutive league Teams of the Week. Bedoya earns a bench call.
We posted it yesterday, but please vote for Ilsinho for Goal of the Week so Atlanta United fans will chill out.
Local
Union Academy products and Duke University freshman Seth Kuhn and Issa Rayyan earn shouts as part of the school’s top-5 recruiting class. Kuhn was also named to Top Drawer’s preseason Freshman Best XI.
MLS
A look back at Week 25 in MLS.
Up next: Rivalry Week! Unlike past iterations, this Rivalry Week actually has some heavy-hitter matchups.
First up on Wednesday is NYCFC versus Red Bulls.
The Union near the top-10 in the latest power rankings.
D.C. does a Rodney Dangerfield bit.
LA Galaxy send Joao Pedro off to Greece.
U.S. Soccer
The Yanks are coming across the pond.
World
Manchester United lost a game over the weekend — so of course everyone freaked out (and called out World Cup champion Paul Pogba, who is the least of any squad’s problems).
Lazio’s ultras, previously known for being racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic, can now add misogynist to their CV as they try to ban women from their “sacred space” in the stadium. Bravo, dweebs.
What we’d all love to see but definitely won’t is the Lazio Ultras banned indefinitely with their seats given to local women’s organizations. Unfortunately Serie A does the absolute bare minimum and there’s no chance these guys are punished in the slightest.
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Atlanta as a voting bloc is hard to overcome as we saw in the All-Star game. Unfortunately Ilsinho doesn’t stand a chance against it even though Martinez did nothing in comparison to what Ilsinho accomplished (and Zardes’ goal right after was probably better than his based on Wil Trapp’s taclke and pass alone).
Lee Ngyen is getting similar disrespect on his goal. Rusnik? Yeah that was a nice shot, but not GOTW.
Atlantians are single handedly ruining MLS voting…
Running* MLS voting. They’re running it. They’re running team fandom, they’re running the East, they’re running attendance, they’re running concessions cost, everything. Running it. Nothing but impressed by their immediate dominance. Envious yes, but impressed.
Ilsinho got ESPN’s MLS GOTW. So the Union have that going for them!
I’ve been really critical of Jim Curtin in the past, but I’ll say this: I’ll take Jim over Jose Mourinho any day. I know, that’s a nutty thing to say. And perhaps one could argue that Mourinho’s best work is done with underdog teams, and I won’t question his sterling resume. He is (or at least was) a master manager. But the man’s moaning — while entertaining to me — must be absolutely painful for his team’s fans. The way he ridicules his players… Yeah, it’s honest, but it clearly creates chaos at clubs he manages. We can say what we want about Jim Curtin, but he’s always struck me as a stand-up guy, professional and a work of class. I’m grateful for that.
You’d take Jim Curtin, who has never won ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING over a coach who has won multiple league titles throughout Europe and Champions League because Jim is a stand up guy? Jesus.
I said it was crazy. And I’m talking about Mourinho now, not Porto Mourinho. But really, I think Mourinho has really lost the plot. Maybe he’ll get another job and find success again. But I’m not banking on it.
Putting Mourinho in charge of the Union would be must-see reality TV. I would pay anything to subscribe to a service that showed me that every week. Especially when spends the club’s whole transfer budget on Fellaini.
I see your point and agree with it. It’s like Mourinho’s act is running thin and at some point he kind of plays his way out of town. Talented yes, but motivating rich athletes is difficult and they usually don’t respond well to being criticized relentlessly.
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Mourinho running the Union would be insane like Nowak, but with better results!
i love all this call for Ilsinho to get goal of the week. i believe it should be top two with Nguyen fighting it out. slight problem: Martinez is Martinez and it’s a record tying goal. that’s not the problem. 280 people maybe will vote Ilsinho. 28,000 will vote Martinez. can’t compete when 12,000 show up on a good day to 72,000 on any day.
There is a reason why in 1972 the U. S. Supremem Court issued a ruling that is generally summarized as “1 man 1 vote” for all federal elections.
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Sports voting today does not follow that principle.
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The idea that qualitative judgement should be attributed to current sports voting practices is gently amusing.
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As is an article of faith in all previous comments, what sports voting measures is the electronic media save-ness of particular fan bases, nothing more.
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in the late 50s major League baseball turned over all-Star game voting to the fans. The smallest market in the league, fearing that fact, used radio to encourage its fan base to favor its team.
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the eight position players for that year’s game for the national league were all from Cincinnati.
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