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Team meeting was called, Richter trialling, Lingerie Football at PPL, more

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

Chris Vito reports at the Delco Times on a team meeting that was called by Carlos Valdes and Brian Carroll on Saturday following the Union’s disappointing loss to DC last Thursday. Valdes said, “The last two, three games, we didn’t play as a team. Maybe we lose a little ambition. Maybe we lose a little focus. We spoke (Saturday) about it because we have seven games more and we need to win it. We need to be ready from the beginning.” Valdes said of the meeting, “It was really good. Everybody was in a good way to receive the message.”

Sheanon Williams said of the meeting, “Sometimes people need a kick in the (rear).”

Amobi Okugo was named to ProSoccerTalk’s Team of the Week. “Okugo was moved out of Philadelphia’s midfield and into the back by necessity. Now, alongside Carlos Valdes, that might be a Top Five in MLS in terms of center back combos.”

Freddy Adu was named to SBI’s Team of the Week (along with Lionard Pajoy). Okugo gets an honorable mention (as does Danny Mwanga).

Josue Martinez, who scored his first MLS goal in the win over Houston, stays grounded before games by calling home to Costa Rica. “I make sure before every game to call my girlfriend so I know everything is going to be all right.”

The Union sent out the first installment of The Hack Report to season ticket holders on Monday, a kind of open letter from the Union coach to fans (you can see it here on the Union website) intended to share “our strategy and thoughts.” In the letter to STHs it says that you can submit questions to Hackworth by tweeting @PhilaUnion with the tag #AskHack.

Vito reports at Union Tally that Ryan Richter is trialling with the Union. The Southampton native came to the Union in 2011 after playing at La Salle but was released before the start of the 2012 season after making no league appearances. Richter then played for Charleston Battery, helping the team win the USL PRO championship with 19 starts in 29 appearances, scoring two goals and four assists. Vito quotes one unnamed Union player, “He just wants to play. He’ll do anything to get on the field and he wants to stay here with us.”

More postgame coverage from HoustonDynamo.com, SBI, Soccerway, phillyBurbs.com, Houston Press, Union Dues, and UPI.

Pointing to Freddy Adu’s two-goal performance against Houston, for which he got a Top 3 Performers of the Week nod, the Union move up two spots to No. 13 in the power rankings at Sporting News. Adu is named to SI’s Team of the Week but the Union remain at No. 14, as they do at ESPN and Goal.com. Noting Adu had to leave Sunday’s game early due to injury, SI wonders, “what will it take for some Adu success to be met with no strings attached?”

SBI talks to Tim Howard about the upcoming generation of US goalkeepers in the likes of Zac MacMath, Bill Hamid, and Sean Johnson. “I look at Zac MacMath and Sean (Johnson) and Bill (Hamid) and I think the sky’s the limit for those guys…What I will say is I think goalkeeping is so much more than talent…I don’t think you learn a lot about a goalkeeper until much later on…Time will tell with those guys. But I have a lot of faith in them as a goalkeeping generation. More so than any we’ve had in a long time.”

This just in from the Department of YGBFKM, PPL Park will be the home of the Lingerie Football League’s Philadelphia Passion for two games next summer on June 15 and July 13. So, we can look forward to gridiron field markings disfiguring the beautiful pitch at PPL Park, all to make a few bucks off of a sport for which prurience is a founding value. Apparently, Chicago Fire’s Toyota Park began hosting a team last season. So much for Don’t Cross the Line.

Local

Drexel’s Michele Pataia and Penn’s Stephen Baker share the latest Philly Soccer Six Player of the Week award. Pataia scored twice in the Dragon’s 4–1 win over No. 11 Old Dominion on Saturday and, in addition to being the first Drexel player to earn Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week honors, was named to CollegeSoccerNews.com National Team of the Week . Baker scored four goals in Penn’s 7–2 win over Rider, becoming the first player to score four goals in a game since 1977. Baker was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week as well as the Co-Ivy League Player of the Week.

Drexel’s Stephen Baker and Penn’s Max Kurtzman also shared the Philly Soccer Six Defender of the Week Honors.

For the second week in a row, Temple’s Jared Martinelli was named Philly Soccer Six Rookie of the Week after registering an assist in the 2–1 win against St. Peter’s and scoring two goals in the 4–0 win over Howard. He was also named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week.

Villanova host Temple today at the West Campus Soccer Complex at 4pm.

MLS

Chris Wondolowski has been named Player of the Week for the third time this season.

Houston Dynamo president Chris Canneti said over the weekend that the team has turned down an offer from Houston Rockets owner Les Alexander to buy the club and will remain under the control of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). Just who will buy AEG is itself a big question.

Toronto FC face CD Aguila tonight in CONCACAF Champions League play in El Salvador (10pm, FSC).

US

US Soccer announced on Monday that the World Cup qualifier at Kansas City’s Livestrong Park has sold out.

At Goal.com, Avi Creditor writes that US Soccer needs to consider the benefits of smaller, sold out soccer specific stadiums when it comes to creating home advantage in qualifiers.

As of this writing, the US are leading Gambia 4–0 in group play at the Women’s U-17 World Cup.

Elsewhere

Apparently, Snoop Dogg is a fan of Ronaldo (the first one). “I loved the way he played. He played with a lot of style, he was good and he had the different hairstyles. His hair was pretty.”

10 Comments

  1. James "4-3-3" Forever says:

    Re: Howards comments. Anyone see Johnsons latest gaffe? MacMath has issues, but wow he never makes pure howlers like that anymore, something like kicking the ball straight to the other team. Atleast nowadays MacMath struggles with more cerebral things like when to come out vs when to stay, which is really something most GKs struggle with of all ages.
    I mean, Johnson was called up the NT recently too!

    • I know you got some kind of man crush on MacMath and all but the one thing you cant teach a keeper MacMath lacks. He lacks that commanding dominating presence of his 18 yard box. He needs to own that box and intimidate the opposing offense and be more vocal. He also appears timid back there. It will come with experience. Howard is right the US goalkeeping landscape looks good with those three keeper and I hope one of em can eventually lead the US someday…

    • James "4-3-3" Forever says:

      I was about to go into MacMath defense mode but from “It will come with experience.” I actually agree with me and you become very reasonable.
      And I have only resorted to a crush on him after some people resorted to jumping off the cliff with comments like “MacMath should play in the reserves for two years” or “MacMath simply won’t ever be a professional GK ever.”

  2. Initially when I heard the story about the Passion I was not too interested but after watching this video
    http://www.lfl360.com/video/ maybe I’ll go and see a game or two.

    • Ed Farnsworth says:

      To each his own. But only yesterday, the league posted a “Don’t Cross the Line” PSA on YouTube, which is aimed at creating an environment in which, among other things, sexism isn’t tolerated and “staff, clubs, players, partners and supporters are treated with dignity and respect.” Lingerie Football hardly meets that standard. The Union want to make a few bucks, fine, but it is hypocritical and grasping. And don’t send me an email from the Union account trying to sell me tickets to this garbage. Oh, too late.

    • I am in a public place so I had to watch with the sound off, and maybe I’m not missing anything with the sound off, but it looks exploitative. From the perspective of a Union supporter only, I suppose it’s less wear and tear on the pitch than the college game, because the women weigh less. But seriously, I really don’t see any positive aspects to this event beyond a few bucks. Maybe PPL should host the next WWE Smackdown if they need the money so badly. Maybe a high-stakes dogfight, oh, sorry, not that – people get upset when dogs get exploited.

    • I posted the link on the Clubs facebook page as a father with three daughters I wanted to puke when I saw and read about LFL at PPL Park. I would so rather pay money to see the Club have a womens squad and wish they did along with all the other MLS Clubs and pay to watch reserve games then this Go,Go Girls in shoulder pads. Hell I like to have the Union host a U18B&G and U16B&G tournament for Youth Clubs that are partners with them NOW that would be a tournament worth watching with a prize of River Cup. American Football should not be played at PPL Park in any form.

  3. I can only hope that nobody buys tickets. I hope they don’t show any promos on the big board during games – how do you explain it to an 8yr old? We’ve come so far to have the Phila area take our sport and our team seriously and now they are putting Lingerie football in our stadium? Time to fire off another letter…

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