Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

John Hackworth on the New York Red Bulls: “I don’t think they like us and I don’t think we like them.”

Sheanon Williams on the Red Bulls: “Regardless how many years we’ve been around, it’s Philly and New York, and nobody in Philly likes any teams in New York, and that is definitely how it goes with the Union and Red Bulls.”

Kerith Gabriel reports that whether or not Zach MacMath, who is on the injury report with concussion-like symptoms, will be available to start on Sunday will probably be a game-day decision.

Gabriel also confirms what most of us expected: Raul will not be coming to the Union and is off to Qatar and a big pile of money.

Goal.com predicts a New York win on Sunday. Unholy Union expects disappointment. Union Dues predicts a 2–0 Union win.

The Union reserves will play the New York reserves at 3:30pm on Sunday at Widener’s Quick Stadium.

Chandler Hoffman, who is the guest on the latest edition of the Philly Soccer Show podcast, gets some hometown coverage after scoring the game-winning goal against Schalke. The article is accompanied by a photo of him celebrating by pointing at the Union crest on his jersey. Love it.

Hackworth says of Hoffman, “Chandler Hoffman’s a goalscorer. It’s great for him to finally find the back of the net for us. You could tell it meant a lot to him. Hopefully it’s the first of many more to come.” He “finally” found the back of the net after being played out of position for 51 minutes against Vancouver and 43 minutes after coming on as a halftime sub against Schalke.

More on Hoffman’s night here.

Keeping in mind that Wednesday night’s win did come in a friendly (Jermaine Jones said, “We didn’t come here to lose the game.”), the positives from the game are nevertheless important looking ahead to Sunday. For example, the last time the Union scored more than one goal was when Hoffman, Roger Torres and Antoine Hoppenot combined for the 3–0 win over the Costa Rican U-20 team on February 28. “We wanted to see this,” said Hackworth. “Taking advantage of every chance was something our players obviously had in mind, and they took them tonight, which was great. We did a good job of stretching the defense, which is something we needed badly, and that was good for us and gives these guys a lot of motivation as we move forward.”

And there’s also this from Jimmy McLaughlin, speaking of the importance of the friendly for the younger players. “There’s nothing better than game experience. It’s the best way to improve and be able to go out and play and work on things you’ve been working on in practice. It’s a big step forward for all of us and it was great to be able to get some time in a great environment like this against a lot of great players.”

You can see footage of the collision that resulted in Klass-Jan Huntelaar’s concussion here. Highlights from the game are sprinkled throughout this clip from the Union. Schalke put up a highlight clip on YouTube. And BarbCV has photos from the game up on flickr.

Local

39 years ago today, the Philadelphia Atoms played their first home game at the Vet. Some 21,000 new fans saw a parade of  “3,000 youngsters in full soccer dress welcome the team” before they faced the Dallas Tornado. Although the match ended in a scoreless draw, the Atoms, led by Union broadcaster Bob Rigby between the posts, would defeat Dallas 2–0 on August 28, 1973 to win the NASL Championship. (Thanks to Atoms historian Steve Holyroyd for the Twitter reminder.)

MLS

With their new stadium set to open on Saturday, Sporting News looks at how Houston Dynamo have gotten things right.

Columbus Crew will host Stoke City on July 24.

Women’s Soccer

Boston Breakers kicked of the WPSL Elite League season with a 3–0 win over ASA Chesapeake Charge.

SB Nation talks to “the ultimate soccer mom,” Christie Rampone.

NBC has been focusing on the dangers of concussion in youth soccer. In this clip, Brandi Chastain demonstrates how young players can protect themselves.

US

The US U-17 WNT have guaranteed themselves a spot in the U-17 World Cup with a 7–0 win over Panama in Thursday’s CONCACAF qualifying tournament semifinal. They’ll face Canada in the final on Saturday at 6:30pm (CONCACAF.com).

Summer Green has had three hat tricks in four games for the U-17s, breaking the US record at any level for goals in a qualifying tournament.

Hope Solo talks about preparing for the Olympics and more in this interview. “Anything short of a gold medal will not be considered a success for the US team.”

What do you know, Mexico’s women’s team is bringing in players from the US.

Grant Wahl reflects on the complicated story that is Giuseppe Rossi.

Elsewhere

Check out this week’s Footy on the Telly listings for all of the channels showing the final Premiership games of the season. (Manchester City will be on ESPN2, Manchester United on FX. Tailgaters at PPL Park before the Union game at 12:30pm will be able to watch the City game on ESPN3 if they can get a good signal for their internet-ready device.)

Portuguese police will question Manchester United about the £7.2 million deal for Bebe in 2010.