Friday, August 29, 2014

CONCACAF Champions League - Match Day 3 Results

Eight more matches in the books including the Red Bulls tournament debut. Hat tricks were the trend as Ariel Rodríguez (Saprissa), Darío Carreño (Pachuca), and Fredickson Elvir (Olimpia) all found the back of the net three times in their respective matches. Here's a quick rundown of all the Round 3 tilts.

TUESDAY

New York Red Bulls 2 CD FAS 0

CD FAS officially became the first team eliminated from the competition as they dropped their third straight to an MLS club, this time 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls. Playing without Bradley Wright-Phillips and Thierry Henry, the Red Bulls were still able to generate enough offense getting goals from Frenchman Saër Sène just two weeks after his trade from New England, and English midfielder Lloyd Sam. Deposed starter Ryan Meara made three saves to earn the shutout.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Roster Announced for USA - Czech Republic on September 3rd


Here's the roster for the USA's upcoming match against the Czech Republic. It's got some new faces on there including players who have yet to appear in a match for the U.S. Senior Men's National Team, as well as some familiar faces for U.S. Soccer Fans. Of the 21 players on the roster, 17 are based out of Europe, 3 play in Mexico, 1 is still in college and just 1, goalkeeper Nick Rimando, is active in MLS. That said, there are several MLS veterans on the team (highlighted in yellow): Guzan (Chivas USA), Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Orozco (Philadelphia Union), Ream (New York Red Bulls), Shea (FC Dallas) and Altidore (New York Red Bulls). It will be interesting to see who gets used up front alongside Altidore as the four other strikers on the roster have an average age under 20 and collectively have 1 CAP between them. Even if you count Julian Green among the strikers, you still only have four total appearances. Less than a week until matchday, I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Top Scorers and Standings - 8/27/14

Top 10 Leading Scorers

1. Bradley Wright-Phillips (England) - New York Red Bulls - 20
2. Dom Dwyer (England) - Sporting Kansas City - 16
3. Erick Torres (Mexico) - Chivas USA - 14
4. Robbie Keane (Ireland) - LA Galaxy - 13
5. Joao Plata (Ecuador) - Real Salt Lake - 11
5. Sebastien Le Toux (France) - Philadelphia Union - 11
5. Jermain Defoe (England) - Toronto FC - 11
8. Obafemi Martins (Nigeria) - Seattle Sounders - 10
8. Clint Dempsey (USA) - Seattle Sounders - 10
8. Chris Wondolowski (USA) - San Jose Earthquakes - 10
8. Gyasi Zardes (USA) - LA Galaxy - 10

Sunday, August 24, 2014

This Week's CONCACAF Champion's League Schedule

The third round of Champions League matches kicks off on Tuesday with eight more matches on the calendar. Just one MLS team in play this week as the Red Bulls take the field for the first time in this year's tournament on Tuesday. They face an early 6 point hole after the Montreal Impact twice defeated CD FAS in the first two rounds. Here's a rundown of all of the week's matches:

AUG 26

Saprissa (Costa Rica) vs Real Estelí (Nicaragua) - The first time these two teams met, Saprissa needed a second half equalizer to salvage a draw. Real Estelí now takes to the road after taking a point from each of their first two home matches giving them an early lead in Group 2.

New York Red Bulls vs CD FAS (El Salvador) - The Impact dealt CD FAS a pair of one goal losses to start the tournament making this essentially a make-or-break game for both clubs. New York is the last of the 24 teams to take the field, and they'll do so with home field advantage.

Comunicaciones (Guatemala) vs América (Mexico) - The tournament's two top scoring teams will do battle in Guatemala City in a match that will go a long way in determining the outcome of Group 8. With Bayamón (Puerto Rico) clearly out of their league getting outscored 11-1 through two matches, it's no doubt that one of these two teams will advance. Comunicaciones' striker Rolando Blackburn is tied with Montreal's Marco Di Vaio with a tournament-best 3 goals.

The Wild, Wild West - MLS Weekly Recap

Quite a race out west as Dallas, Seattle and Real Salt Lake all found themselves deadlocked atop the powerful conference following Dallas's win over Real Salt Lake on Friday night. While Seattle pulled back in front after their win in Portland on Sunday night, Sporting Kansas City wasn't so lucky over in the East as they lost big to DC United and fell behind them into second place. Meanwhile, Landon Donovan found the back of the net twice this week with a pair of game winners as the Galaxy slowly creep back into contention. In other news, Jermaine Jones is finally coming to MLS having inked a deal with the New England Revolution as the Revs make their playoff push. Jones is just the latest current or former U.S. National Teamer to sign an MLS contract in the past year joining Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu. Here's a look at the entire week in MLS:

LA Galaxy 4 Colorado 3

Landon Donovan and company rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to pull off an improbable victory over the struggling Colorado Rapids. Omar Gonzalez, substitute Alan Gordon and Donovan all scored in the second half for the Galaxy while Robbie Keane, who assisted on Donovan's game winner, scored his 13th goal of the year in the first. Former U.S. National teamer Edson Buddle scored his 100th career MLS goal in a losing effort. Buddle had been sitting at 99 goals since early April.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

CONCACAF Champions League - Match Day 2 Results

Eight more matches in the books with every MLS side in the tourney with the exception of the New York Red Bulls in action. Here's a look at this week's results highlighted by wins by Portland, DC United and the Montreal Impact.

TUESDAY

Portland 4 Alpha United 1

Portland took their show on the road to Guyana and rode goals by Congo's Steve Zakuani, Argentina's Maximiliano Urruti, Nigeria's Fanendo Adi and Jamaica's Alvas Powell to a 4-1 victory over Alpha United. Zakuani's goal was his first in a Timbers uniform since joining the club after 5 seasons with the Seattle Sounders. Alpha United's first goal of the tournament came just before halftime when Lilo scored on a free kick to cut Portland's lead to 2-1.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Real Surges Past Seattle Into First, Dallas Destroys the Quakes

HOUSTON 2 PHILADELPHIA 0

Will Bruin's third goal in his last four games, and ninth goal of the season propelled Houston to a 2-0 win over the Union in Houston. Tally Hall made a pair of saves to earn his 7th shutout of the season the the 35th of his career.

REAL SALT LAKE 2 SEATTLE 1

RSL rode a Joao Plata goal and an own goal to a 2-1 victory at Rio Tinto Stadium as they leapfrogged past the Sounders and into first place atop the Western Conference. The 5'2" Plata now has 11 goals on the season. Chad Barrett scored the loan goal for Seattle who could not build on their 6-0 rout of Chicago on Wednesday and fell for the third time in their last four league matches.

MONTREAL 1 CHICAGO 0

The Impact snapped their 7 game losing streak thanks to a late goal from Marco Di Vaio. The Impact, who also debuted their newest Designated Player, Ignacio Piatti, got a pair of saves from Evan Bush who earned his first career win and first career shutout in his 6th ever start for Montreal.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Top Scorers and Standings (8/19/14)

Top 10 Leading Scorers

1. Bradley Wright-Phillips (England) - New York Red Bulls - 18
2. Dom Dwyer (England) - Sporting Kansas City - 16
3. Erick Torres (Mexico) - Chivas USA - 14
4. Robbie Keane (Ireland) - LA Galaxy - 12
5. Joao Plata (Ecuador) - Real Salt Lake - 11
5. Jermain Defoe (England) - Toronto FC - 11
7. Sebastien Le Toux (France) - Philadelphia Union - 10
7. Gyasi Zardes (USA) - LA Galaxy - 10
9. Federico Higuain (Argentina) - Columbus Crew - 9
9. Clint Dempsey (USA) - Seattle Sounders - 9
9. Will Bruin (USA) - Houston Dynamo - 9

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Philadelphia, Seattle to Meet in U.S. Open Cup Final

The Seattle Sounders have played in 4 of the last 5 U.S. Open Cup Finals, winning 3 in a row from 2009-2011, and only losing in penalties in 2012. They'll make it 5 out of 6 after their resounding 6-0 defeat of the Chicago Fire tonight. They'll face the Philadelphia Union who needed penalties to dispatch FC Dallas in the other semi and will now appear in the Finals for the first time. Here's a quick recap of the semis:

Philadelphia 1 FC Dallas 1 (Philadelphia wins 4-3 on penalties)

 Zac MacMath saved a pair of penalty kicks as the Union defeated FC Dallas in the first of two U.S. Open Cup semifinal matches. Amobi Okugo gave the Union the lead off a feed from Sebastien Le Toux early in the second half, but Fabian Castillo took a ball from Blas Perez and beat MacMath to equalize with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation. After 30 minutes of scoreless extra time, the spotlight centered on MacMath who denied both Perez and Victor Ulloa during the shootout in leading his club to their first U.S. Open Cup Final.

Seattle 6 Chicago 0

Andy Rose, who had scored just 2 goals in 46 MLS matches over the past 3 seasons, and had logged just 3 minutes of MLS action since May 1st, scored twice on assists from Marco Pappa as Seattle cruised to their fifth U.S. Open Cup Final in the last six years. Chad Barrett and Obafemi Martins added goals on assists from Kenny Cooper before Cooper netted his tournament-high 5th and 6th goals on assists from future Tottenham man, DeAndre Yedlin, and Martins. Stefan Frei preserved the shutout with a flawless night in net for the Sounders.

Champions League Update

The Belmopan Bandits from Belize have been disqualified from the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League after it was determined that their home field was deemed unplayable. Costa Rica's Herediano will replace the Bandits in Group 7 joining Isidro Metapán (El Salvador) and León (Mexico). León won the opening match 4-2 in El Salvador. Matches will start up again on the 19th of August with DC United (8/20), Portland (8/19), Montreal (8/20), and Sporting KC (8/19) all in action on Match Day 2.

Top Scorers and Standings - 8/13/14

Top 10 Leading Scorers

1. Bradley Wright-Phillips (England) - New York Red Bulls - 18
2. Dom Dwyer (England) - Sporting Kansas City - 14
2. Erick Torres (Mexico) - Chivas USA - 14
4. Robbie Keane (Ireland) - LA Galaxy - 12
5. Jermain Defoe (England) - Toronto FC - 11
6. Joao Plata (Ecuador) - Real Salt Lake - 10
6. Sebastien Le Toux (France) - Philadelphia Union - 10
8. Federico Higuain (Argentina) - Columbus Crew - 9
8. Clint Dempsey (USA) - Seattle Sounders - 9
8. Gyasi Zardes (USA) - LA Galaxy - 9

MLS All Stars Win, Donovan Announces Retirement Plans - Weekly Recap

MLS All Stars Stun Bayern Munich, Landon Donovan Stuns EVERYONE

Bradley Wright-Phillips and Landon Donovan rallied the MLS All-Stars to an improbable 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the 2014 MLS All-Star Game (yes, I know it was not Bayern's A side). But afterwards it wasn't Donovan's slick game winning finish against world class goalkeeper Manuel Neuer that had everyone talking, it was the fact that Landon Donovan, aka Captain America, announced that he would be retiring from the game of soccer at the end of the 2014 season. Let that sink in for a second... The U.S. Men's National Team's all-time leading scorer is hanging up his spikes at the tender age of  32. Apparently he doesn't have the passion he once had for the game, and he's ready to move on to the next phase in his life. Barry Sanders anyone? And you know what? Good on him. Soccer's a game, it's supposed to be fun. And while Donovan may have a few years left in him - he's obviously still playing at a high level - why should he do a job he doesn't love anymore? Landon Donovan has been playing professional soccer since 1999, and has logged upwards of 500 matches between MLS, Europe, and the U.S. National Team. Am I ready to see him go? No, of course not. But I respect his decision, and I'm thankful I got to see him play. Enjoy this last season, fans, it'll be a long time before you see another player like him.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

CONCACAF Champions League Match Day 1 Results

Group play of the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League is officially underway with the first 8 matches in the books. Here's a look at this week's results highlighted by Montreal's 1-0 win over C.D. FAS of El Salvador. All four U.S. MLS teams were off this week.

TUESDAY

Montreal 1 FAS 0

The 2014 MLS Regular Season has been a frustrating one for the Impact as they've found themselves winners in just 3 of 21 matches. Their Champions League opener was a different story though as Marco Di Vaio, who scored 20 goals for the Impact a year ago, found the back of the net in the first half and Montreal defeated El Salvador's C.D. FAS by a score of 1-0. The game was not without drama though as Montreal saw defender Hassoun Camara ejected midway through the second half, and then proceeded to watch their head coach Frank Klopas ejected just ten minutes later. Evan Bush, who had started just 3 regular season games this year - all of them Impact losses - made a pair of saves to preserve the win. Montreal's leading scorer, Jack McInerney did not appear for the Impact.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Top Scorers and Standings - 8/5/14

Top 10 Leading Scorers

1. Bradley Wright-Phillips (England) - New York Red Bulls - 18
2. Dom Dwyer (England) - Sporting Kansas City - 14
2. Erick Torres (Mexico) - Chivas USA - 14
4. Robbie Keane (Ireland) - LA Galaxy - 12
5. Jermain Defoe (England) - Toronto FC - 11
6. Joao Plata (Ecuador) - Real Salt Lake - 9
6. Clint Dempsey (USA) - Seattle Sounders - 9
8. Obafemi Martins (Nigeria) - Seattle Sounders - 8
8. Federico Higuain (Argentina) - Columbus Crew - 8
8. Sebastien Le Toux (France) - Philadelphia Union - 8
8. Lee Nguyen (USA) - New England Revolution - 8
8. Maximiliano Urruti (Argentina) - Portland Timbers - 8
8. Gyasi Zardes (USA) - LA Galaxy - 8
8. Will Bruin (USA) - Houston Dynamo - 8

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Galaxy Surging, Revs Snap Skid - MLS Weekly Recap

Weekly Recap

WEDNESDAY

Joao Plata scored again for Real Salt Lake, but New York's triumverate of Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill and Bradley Wright-Phillips combined for a second half equalizer in what ended as a 1-1 draw. Phillips' assist was his first of the season while the 36 year old Henry's goal was his 5th this year, and his 46th in a Red Bulls uniform.

Chicago's Sean Johnson and Vancouver's David Ousted battled to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday night. The shutout was the 24th of Johnson's MLS career, and third this season. Ousted, from Denmark, has five shutouts in his second MLS season. The game also marked the MLS debut of Razvan Cocis who came on as a second half substitute for the Fire.

New England snapped an 8-game losing streak beating Colorado 3-0 behind a pair of goals and an assist from Lee Nguyen. Nguyen, in his third MLS season, has a career high 8 goals in just 20 games this year after scoring just 9 in 63 games over his first two seasons. Bobby Shuttleworth made three saves to earn the shutout and tied his career high with his 7th win of the year. Colorado's Austrian defender Thomas Piermayr was sent off in the second half after receiving a second yellow card with the score still 1-0.

Eddie Johnson and Chris Rolfe both scored for DC United as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Toronto FC. Johnson has just 4 goals, but has scored in three straight matches for United, all of them wins. Bill Hamid tied a career high with 8 saves on his way to earning his fifth shutout of the season.