USMNT vs Canada, Final Thoughts

1. Regardless of how it looked, the U.S. comes away from their January camp with a pair of victories, and as we approach the next set of World Cup Qualifiers, the confidence gained from those wins shouldn't be undervalued. Equally notable is the fact that Jozy Altidore scored in both matches, and getting him on a hot streak in 2016 would be huge given some of the other question marks surrounding the USMNT.

2. I thought Brandon Vincent looked excellent in his National Team debut at left back. It wasn't a perfect outing or anything, but he looked confident and comfortable. Canada failed to do anything of note down his side, and Vincent was effective at getting into the attack even forcing a tough save in an attempt on goal. With lots of question marks on defense, it was nice to see a newcomer really seize the opportunity given him in the January camp, and there's good reason to be excited if you're a Chicago Fire fan.

USMNT and CMNT MLS Contingent Results

For the U.S. vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Around CONCACAF - World Cup Qualifying

By now, the fact that the U.S. has defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines is old news, but what about the rest of CONCACAF? Just as a refresher, the Fourth Round of Qualifying for CONCACAF consists of round-robin play for three four-team groups. The top two teams in each group will advanced to the Fifth Round, commonly known as the Hexagonal. The U.S. is in Group C with Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The other two groups are Group A: Mexico, El Salvador, Canada and Honduras, and Group B: Panama, Jamaica, Haiti and Costa Rica. Here's a quick glance at the rest of the matches on Match Day 1 (home teams in bold):

Group A

Mexico 3 El Salvador 0
Canada 1 Honduras 0

Group B

Costa Rica 1 Haiti 0
Panama 2 Jamaica 0

Group C

Trinidad and Tobago 2 Guatemala 1
United States 6 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1

And here's the match schedule for Tuesday:

Mexico at Honduras
Canada at El Salvador
Jamaica at Haiti
Costa Rica at Panama
Guatemala at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
United States at Trinidad and Tobago

Catching Up on the USMNT/U-23s

Costa Rica 1 USMNT 0

Another disappointing result for the U.S. Men as they have now won just once in their last six matches (1-4-1) following their 6-0 thrashing of Cuba during the Gold Cup. This on the heels of a stretch where the U.S. went 7-0-1 with wins over Mexico, the Netherlands and Germany this summer. While there were some bright spots - the return of Tim Howard, another strong showing from Bobby Wood, some solid play from Lee Nguyen, and Andrew Wooten's USMNT debut - the effort was largely uninspired leaving the U.S. with no momentum heading into World Cup Qualifying next month. While Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is hardly Mexico, neither was Antigua and Barbuda in 2012 and the U.S. needed a 90th minute goal to beat them. It's certainly not time for U.S. fans to panic, but this match in a few weeks cannot be one that's taken lightly. Vancouver's Kendall Waston and Montreal's Johan Venegas both started for Costa Rica in the win.

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Watch - Week 28

Fatai Alashe scored his second goal of the season in San Jose's 1-1 draw with Seattle to highlight the rookie class's performance in Week 28. Elsewhere Cyle Larin did double duty starting for both the Canadian National Team in World Cup Qualifying and in Orlando's 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City, while Saad Abdul-Salaam made a pair of starts for Sporting KC. Here's a rundown of all the action:

World Cup Qualifying

1 - Cyle Larin - Canada - Started vs Belize, 90 mins, 1 shot

MLS

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Sporting KC, 57 mins, 1 shot
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Seattle, 90 mins, 1 shot, 1 goal, yellow card
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs NYRB, 90 mins, yellow card
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Started vs Portland, 62 mins, 1 shot
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Started vs Orlando City, 90 mins
13 - Tim Parker - Vancouver - Started vs Colorado, 90 mins, 1 shot
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Started vs San Jose, 90 mins, yellow card
67 - Dominique Badji - Colorado - Sub vs DC United, 26 mins

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Watch - Week 27

Pretty quiet week for the rookie class with only ten teams in action, but we saw the return of Clément Simonin, the 9th overall pick in the draft, who hadn't played in an MLS match since March 29th. Here's a rundown of all the action:

National Team Duty

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City (Canada) - Started vs Belize, 68 mins, 5 shots

MLS

4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins
9 - Clément Simonin - Toronto FC - Started vs Seattle, 81 mins
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Started vs Toronto, 90 mins

Four MLSers Lead Canada to World Cup Qualifying Win over Belize

It wasn't as pretty as Canadian fans might have hoped, but Canada will head into their second leg against Belize with a 3-0 advantage thanks to a pair of goals by Tosaint Ricketts. Ricketts, who plays professionally in Turkey for Boluspor, now has four goals in World Cup Qualifying having also scored twice in Canada's match-up with Dominica back in June. Four MLSers saw action in the win as Will Johnson (Portland), Cyle Larin (Orlando City) and Marcel de Jong (Sporting Kansas City) all started and Vancouver's Russell Teibert coming off the bench adding an assist. The two countries will play their second leg on September 8th in Belize.

In other action, Columbus's Justin Meram scored his first international goal for Iraq in their 5-1 win over Chinese Taipei when he converted a late penalty. Meram has four goals and five assists this year for the Crew. Meanwhile, over in Europe, Robbie Keane continues to drink from the Fountain of Youth as he scored two more goals for Ireland in Euro 2016 Qualifying as the Irish defeated Gibraltar 4-0. Keane has 67 goals for Ireland in 18 years as a member of their National Team.


The U.S. also won their Friday friendly, defeating Peru 2-1, but we'll talk more about that tomorrow.

Recapping the Canadian Championship

For the first time in franchise history, the Vancouver Whitecaps are the winners of the Canadian Championship, and as a result, they'll be headed back to the CONCACAF Champions League next year. Here's a quick recap of the tournament in case you missed it as well as a little bit on the tournament's history:

Preliminary Round

FC Edmonton 3 Ottawa Fury FC 1
FC Edmonton 3 Ottawa Fury FC 1, FC Edmonton wins 6-2

Semifinals

Montreal Impact 1 Toronto FC 0
Toronto FC 3 Montreal Impact 2, Tie 3-3 - Montreal wins 2-0 on away goals tiebreaker

Goals for TOR: Jozy Altidore (1), Benoît Cheyrou (1), Sebastian Giovinco (1)
Goals for MON: Jack McInerney (1), Kenny Cooper (1), Dominic Oduro (1)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1 FC Edmonton 1
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 FC Edmonton 1, Vancouver wins 3-2

Goals for VAN: Gershon Koffie (1), Pedro Morales (1), Matías Laba (1)

Finals

Vancouver Whitecaps 2 Montreal Impact 2
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 Montreal Impact 0, Vancouver wins 4-2

Goals for VAN: Darren Mattocks (1), Pedro Morales (2), Octavio Rivero (1), Tim Parker (1)
Goals for MON: Laurent Ciman (1), Anthony Jackson-Hamel (1)

*Pedro Morales was the only MLS player to score multiple goals, but the tournament's Golden Boot went to Edmonton's Tomi Amoebi, who scored twice against Ottawa and then twice against Vancouver.

*The Canadian Championship has been in existence since 2008, but has only been played in its current format since 2011. Regardless of format, the Championship had previously been won only by Montreal and Toronto. Vancouver was the runner-up every year from 2009-2013. Toronto has won the Championship four times and Montreal three.

*Vancouver was knocked out of last year's tournament in the semifinals by Toronto when they lost on penalty kicks.

Looking Back at #1 Draft Picks

No doubt that Orlando City has few regrets about taking Canadian phenom Cyle Larin with the top pick in the 2015 SuperDraft, but let's look back at how other strikers drafted number one have fared in their MLS careers:

2015 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - 11 goals in 19 games

2012 - Andrew Wenger - Montreal - 4 goals in 23 games // 13 goals in 100 games
2011 - Omar Salgado - Vancouver - 1 goal in 14 games // 1 goal in 29 games
2010 - Danny Mwanga - Philadelphia - 7 goals in 24 games // 15 goals in 101 games
2009 - Steve Zakuani - Seattle - 4 goals in 29 games // 17 goals in 97 games
2004 - Freddy Adu - DC United - 5 goals in 30 games // 19 goals in 133 games
2003 - Alecko Eskandarian - DC United - 3 goal in 23 games // 30 goals in 125 games
2001 - Chris Carrieri - San Jose - 5 goals in 19 games // 19 goals in 75 games

Canadian Championship Leg 1 Highlights

Lots of excitement in the first leg between Vancouver and Montreal as Vancouver took a 2-0 lead only to have Montreal rally for a draw in the game's closing minutes. The second leg will be played on August 26th in Vancouver. Here's the highlights:

Gold Cup Day 8

Gareth McCleary's (Reading) second goal of the tournament clinched first place in Group B for Jamaica as they defeated El Salvador 1-0. Jamaica caps off group play with a record of 2-0-1. In the nightcap, Costa Rica ended Canada's hopes of advancing with a 0-0 draw. Canada finishes the tournament without a goal in three matches. With one day of matches remaining, seven of the eight quarterfinal spots have been filled. Guatemala can claim the final spot with a win over Cuba, otherwise the last spot goes to El Salvador. Trinidad and Tobago takes on Mexico in the other match tomorrow.

MLSers In Action

Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 9 mins
Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Je-Vaughn Watson (FC Dallas/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, yellow card
Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 70 mins
Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps/Jamaica) - Started, 81 mins, yellow/red cards
Alvas Powell (Portland Timbers/Jamaica) - Sub, 20 mins, 1 shot
Darwin Cerén (Orlando City SC/El Salvador) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Marcel de Jong (Sporting Kansas City/Canada) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Karl Ouimette (New York Red Bulls/Canada) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC/Canada) - Started, 69 mins
Maxim Tissot (Montreal Impact/Canada) - Started, 68 mins, 2 shots
Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada) - Sub, 23 mins, 2 shots, yellow card
Cyle Larin (Toronto FC/Canada) - Sub, 22 mins
Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls/Costa Rica) - Sub, 16 mins

Gold Cup Day 5

Jamaica pulled off a 1-0 stoppage time victory against Canada thanks to a late goal by Rodolph Austin. Canada has yet to score in the tournament. In Group B's other match, Dustin Corea netted a stoppage time equalizer to deny Costa Rica a win and the two countries settled for a 1-1 draw. Real Salt Lake striker Álvaro Saborío assisted on Costa Rica's goal. Tomorrow pits Mexico against Guatemala and Cuba against Trinidad and Tobago in Group C.

MLSers In Action

Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins
Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins
Je-Vaughn Watson (FC Dallas/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins
Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 4 shots
Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps/Jamaica) - Sub, 25 mins, 4 shots
Marcel de Jong (Sporting Kansas City/Canada) - Started, 90 mins, 2 shots
Cyle Larin (Toronto FC/Canada) - Started, 45 mins
Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas/Canada) - Started, 71 mins, 1 shot
Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada) - Sub, 19 mins, 1 shot
Darwin Cerén (Orlando City SC/El Salvador) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot, yellow card
Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls/Costa Rica) - Started, 90 mins
Álvaro Saborío (Real Salt Lake/Costa Rica) - Started, 77 mins, 1 shot, 1 assist

Gold Cup Day 2

CONCACAF's highest ranked team, Costa Rica, opened the Gold Cup with a 2-2 draw with Jamaica as Group B kicked off play. Costa Rica led 2-1 before Jamaica's Jobi McAnuff (Leyton Orient) equalized early in the second half. New York Red Bulls defender Roy Miller scored for Costa Rica, his second National Team goal in 53 CAPs. Miller has yet to score in six MLS seasons. Miller's Red Bull teammate Kemar Lawrence had an assist for Jamaica. Group B's other match saw Cyle Larin and Canada play to a scoreless draw with El Salvador. Group C kicks off play tomorrow with Trinidad and Tobago taking on Guatemala, and Mexico taking on Cuba.



MLSers in Action

Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls/Costa Rica) - Started, 90 mins, 2 shots, 1 goal
Álvaro Saborío (Real Salt Lake/Costa Rica) - Sub, 31 mins, 2 shots
Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins
Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot, 1 assist
Je-Vaughn Watson (FC Dallas/Jamaica) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot, yellow card
Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo/Jamaica) - Started, 61 mins, 1 shot
Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps/Jamaica) - Sub, 29 mins, 1 shot
Darwin Cerén (Orlando City SC/El Salvador) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Marcel de Jong (Sporting Kansas City/Canada) - Started, 90 mins, 1 shot
Kyle Bekker (FC Dallas/Canada) - Started, 86 mins
Cyle Larin (Toronto FC/Canada) - Started, 69 mins, 1 shot
Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas/Canada) - Started, 90 mins
Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada) - Sub, 7 mins, 1 shot
Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC/Canada) - Sub, 4 mins

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Report - Week 15

Pretty quiet week for the rookies with only five matches on the schedule. Cyle Larin scored for Canada in World Cup Qualifying, but Chicago's Matt Polster was the only member of the 2015 SuperDraft class to start an MLS match in Week 15. Here's a rundown of all the action.

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Scored for Canada vs Dominica (2018 WCQ)
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs New England, 90 mins, Yellow Card
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Appeared as sub vs Orlando City, 33 mins

MLS Weekly Recap - Week 15

Here's this week's recap:

Not a lot of action in MLS this week with only five games on the slate, but more big news on the National Team front as the U.S. stunned Germany in Germany 2-1. New York City FC midfielder Mix Diskerud notched the equalizer while Bobby Wood scored the game winner for a second straight match. It marked the first time the U.S. had ever beaten the Germans in Germany... Canada won their World Cup Qualifying opener against Dominica behind goals from MLSers Cyle Larin (Orlando City) and Russell Teibert (Vancouver). The second leg will be played today (6/16)... The U.S. U-20s lost a heartbreaker in the U-20 World Cup quarterfinals falling on penalties 6-5 after playing to a 0-0 draw with Serbia... New York City FC won their second straight behind goals by David Villa and Diskerud... Seattle scored three times in the second half as they routed FC Dallas and became the first MLS team to nine wins this year... Bill Hamid saved a Kaká penalty, but couldn't recover for the rebound as DC United fell 1-0 to the suddenly surging Florida-based football club. Kaká has seven goals on the season and his club is unbeaten in their last five matches... The Galaxy continue to tread water and salvaged a point against the Columbus Crew despite no Steven Gerrard (still), no Robbie Keane, and Gyasi Zardes being limited to 30 minutes off the bench.

Here's a rundown of all the action:

RESULTS

WEDNESDAY

United States 2 Germany 1

THURSDAY

Canada 2 Dominica 0 (World Cup Qualifying)

SATURDAY

New York City FC 3 Montreal Impact 1
Columbus Crew 1 LA Galaxy 1
New England Revolution 2 Chicago Fire 0
Seattle Sounders 3 FC Dallas 0

SUNDAY

Orlando City SC 1 DC United 0

SuperDraft Rookie Watch, Week 4

Week 4 featured some more rookies making their debuts as Montreal's Romario Williams, Houston's Zach Steinberger, Toronto's Clément Simonin and Seattle's Oniel Fisher all saw the pitch for the first time in 2015. In addition to that, Orlando's Cyle Larin scored his first goal for Canada in a 3-0 win over Puerto Rico and San Jose's Fatai Alashe delivered an exclamation point in the US U-23s 5-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Matt Polster made his third straight start for the Fire and leads all draftees in minutes played with 266 through 4 matches. Here's the rundown of everyone who got in on the action:

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Scored for Canada vs Puerto Rico
3 - Romario Williams - Montreal - Appeared as sub versus OCSC, 6 mins
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Scored for US U-23s vs Bosnia
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins, 1 shot
8 - Zach Steinberger - Houston - Appeared as sub versus Colorado, 21 mins, 1 shot
9 - Clément Simonin - Toronto FC - Started vs RSL, 90 mins, 1 shot, Yellow Card
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs FC Dallas, 61 mins
36 - Rob Lovejoy - Houston - Started vs Colorado, 59 mins, 2 shots
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Appeared as sub versus FC Dallas, 4 mins
67 - Dominique Badji - Colorado - Appeared as sub versus Houston, 13 mins

And here are our rookie rankings through March 31st:

1. Fatai Alashe (San Jose)
2. Khiry Shelton (NYCFC)
3. Matt Polster (Chicago)
4. Axel Sjöberg (Colorado)
5. Dominique Badji (Colorado)

CONCACAF U-17 Tourney Ready to Kick Off

The 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Tournament kicks off tomorrow in Honduras. Like the U-20 tournament last month, the tournament features two groups of six, with the top 3 teams in each group advancing to the playoff round. The winners of each group automatically qualify for the U-17 World Cup this summer while the winners of the two playoff games advance as well. Group A is comprised of Honduras, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Jamaica and the U.S. while Group B is made up of Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama, Saint Lucia and tournament favorites Mexico. Here's a look at the U.S.'s schedule:

2/27 - vs Cuba
3/2 - vs Trinidad and Tobago
3/5 - vs Guatemala
3/8 - vs Honduras
3/11 - vs Jamaica

Canada, Honduras, Panama and Mexico were the top four teams the last time the tournament took place (2013) with Mexico defeating Panama 2-1 in the final.

Superman and the SoccerSmith Q&A, Episode 4

Welcome to Episode 4 of Superman and the SoccerSmith's 4-4-2 Soccer Q&A. Let's get right to it this week!

MLS
 
1. SoccerSmith (SS) - Who will have a bigger impact in MLS this season: Edson Buddle or Dwayne DeRosario?

Superman (SM) - Well this is a tricky one considering that technically neither one of them has a team right now. That being said, Edson Buddle is currently in camp with LA and is also 33 years old while DeRo is not in anyone's camp and is 36, which is old, even by MLS standards. Buddle scored 42 goals in 87 appearances with the LA Galaxy in his time there from 07-10. While I don't see him regaining that type of form again, I do think there could be a place for him to play the wily old vet alongside a young and talented forward who could benefit from his experience.

SS - I don't know how much Zardes stands to benefit from Buddle's experience considering he already plays alongside Robbie Keane, but I think you're right (at this point) that Buddle will have the bigger impact this season. That said, I'll be shocked if DeRo doesn't end up somewhere by the start of the season. He just scored a pair of goals for Canada, and while one was a PK, the other wasn't, so he can obviously still play. If I'm Montreal or Vancouver and I'm headed to the Champions League, I'd give the Canadian international a shot just to add depth and experience and a championship pedigree to my roster. But we'll see. Silence on the line for DeRo right now. As far as Buddle goes, if he can stick with the Galaxy, he'll give them more depth up top which is ideal for another club with Champions League aspirations. You also have to figure that both Keane and Zardes stand to miss time for International Duty, and Buddle is a proven commodity that could probably provide the occasional start alongside Alan Gordon. You can't have too many options, and if Buddle is willing to accept a reduced role, I think he could be a nice find for LA.

Goals, Goals, Goals

Busy week for MLSers around the globe. Here's some of the highlights:

HONDURAS vs CANADA (U-20s)

Lots of MLS action here as Orlando City DP Bryan Rochez scored twice including a stunning game winner from outside the box. Rochez now as four goals in the tournament as Honduras gets set to face Guatemala with a trip to the U-20 World Cup on the line. Rochez wasn't the only MLSer to score in this game either as Toronto's Jordan Hamilton and Vancouver's Marco Bustos both scored for Canada.

Big Match-Ups This Weekend in U-20 Tourney

With just two match days remaining in group play, today's matches in Group A and tomorrow's matches in Group B carry some serious long-term implications. Here's a breakdown of how things could shake out for each team:

Group A

Panama - Perfect through three matches, Panama is in the driver's seat in Group A, and can clinch the top seed, and a berth to the U-20 World Cup with a win and a Guatemala loss or draw. They take on Trinidad and Tobago today and Guatemala on Wednesday.

Guatemala - Currently in second place, Guatemala can advance to the next round with a win over Aruba today. If they can follow that up with a win over Panama on Wednesday, they'll win the group.

United States - The U.S. currently sits in third place by virtue of the goal differential tie breaker. They face the Jamaicans today and Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday, and a loss to either club with likely result in their elimination from the tournament due to the first tie breaker being head-to-head results. That said, the U.S. controls their own destiny, so if they're eliminated, they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

Trinidad and Tobago - Trinidad and Tobago takes on Panama today, but for them, advancement will all come down to their finale against the United States. A win over the U.S. will put Trinidad and Tobago through as long as Jamaica doesn't beat the U.S. and demolish Aruba, in which case goal differential would likely be in the Jamaicans favor.

Jamaica - Despite earning just one point through three matches, Jamaica can still make a push for the final spot. If Trinidad and Tobago wins just one of their final two matches, and Jamaica beats the U.S. AND puts up a big number against Aruba, Jamaica could go through. That said, a loss to the U.S. will eliminate the hosts.

Aruba - Aruba has been outscored 17-1 through three matches. They have been virtually, if not mathematically, eliminated.

Group B

Mexico - Mexico, the tournament favorites, have outscored their opponents 14-1 through three matches. A win against El Salvador tomorrow, or Haiti on Thursday, will clinch the group and a spot in the U-20 World Cup.

El Salvador - Currently in second with five points, El Salvador have a tough match with Mexico before finishing up against cellar dwellers, Cuba. A win and a draw would be enough to put El Salvador through to the next round as they own the head-to-head tie breaker against Canada.

Honduras - Honduras's ability to advance will pretty much come down to their final match with Canada on Thursday provided they avoid a slip-up against Haiti tomorrow.

Canada - Canada gets cellar dwellers Cuba tomorrow in a match they should win, but their advancement will likely hinge on an ability to beat Honduras in their Group B finale.

Haiti - Haiti hasn't been eliminated, but they'll have a tough road ahead with matches against Honduras and Mexico and to have a realistic chance, they'd probably need to come away with wins in both.

Cuba - Like Aruba, Cuba is really just along for the ride at this point and they'll wrap up with matches against Canada and El Salvador.