Daily news roundups

Readying for DC, Hburg in Sacramento for USL PRO final, Copa America, more

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

A huge road game against DC on Saturday (3 pm: NBCSN, NBC Sports Live Extra). If you can’t travel to the game or watch the broadcast, follow PSP on Twitter, we’ll be down there.

Ethan White is hopeful that he’ll be able to recover from the left hamstring injury he picked up against Houston and play against his former team on Saturday.

Ray Gaddis says of White, “What’s impressed me is how mentally focused he stayed up until the time he got his opportunity. There were a lot of people in and out, and then when he took his opportunity he stayed focused and he tried to make sure he was always a team player no matter what throughout the entire season.

White makes the bench for MLSsoccer.com’s All-Homegrown Player team, one “that could challenge any team in MLS on any given day.”

MLSsoccer.com on the boost to DC United provided by the return of Chris Pontius and Eddie Johnson in Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League win over Tauro FC.

Previews from PSP, Philadelphia Union (video), Inquirer, DC United, Black & Red UnitedSoccer AmericaGoal.com. Brotherly Game asks fellow SB Nation blog Black & Red United three questions.

Amobi Okugo comes in at No. 13 in MLSsoccer.com’s annual 24 Under 24 list. On the shortlist but not making the cut were Zac MacMath and Andrew Wenger. Former Union man Jack McInerney also failed to make the cut.

Dont forget Sunday’s #KickEbolaInTheButt event at Temple will be taking place 2-4 pm. Michael Lahoud, Amobi Okugo, and Andre Blake will be at the event, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other Union players are also there.

Freddy Adu made his debut with Serbian club Jagodina FK on Wednesday, entering the game late in the second half.

Local

On Saturday, Harrisburg City Islanders will face Sacramento Republic in the USL PRO Championship Final (10:30 pm: NSCAA TV, YouTube).

At Penn Live, Michael Bullock on the big contributions Jamiel Hardware has made to the City Islanders reaching the championship final.

At MLSSoccer.com, Dave Zeitlin on how Union loanees have thrived with Harrisburg.

Championship fever has hit Sacramento for Saturday’s sold-out game.

At ASN, Brian Sciaretta profiles Atlanta-borm, Allentown-raised Danny Barbir, the US youth international defender who left Manchester City’s youth program over the summer to sign with West Bromwich Albion.

Brotherly Game has its weekly five questions with Philadelphia Fury GM Graham Charters.

Temple opens American Athletic Conference play this weekend at home against Cincinnati.

You will recall that we recently linked to a story involving an alleged hazing incident on a Cincinnati youth team during a trip to a tournament in Philadelphia in August. The Hamilton County, Ohio prosecutor announced on Thursday that no charges would be filed for what he characterized as “roughhousing.” He explained, “I have never been involved in a case with more erroneous rumors than this.”

MLS

Former Union man Bakary Soumare has been suspended one game for a dangerous tackle in last weekend’s game against DC. Unfortunately, he’ll miss Saturday’s game against Houston rather than Thursday’s game against the Union.

At ESPN, Graham Parker on how Wednesday’s Expansion Priority Draft was an opportunity to “put the values and styles” of NYCFC and Orlando City “alongside each other, to invite a comparison.” More from SBI.

With the possibility that four of the eight teams advancing to the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League will be MLS teams, US Soccer Players wonders if the tournament is changing:

Right now, the Champions League is a secondary Liga MX trophy that happens to involve other CONCACAF teams. The result is a foregone conclusion. Liga MX will win, represent CONCACAF at the Club World Cup each December, and fail to advance to the semifinal stage. CONCACAF needs one of two things. Another league to push Liga MX in the Champions League and potentially take the trophy, or Liga MX using the Champions League how CONCACAF intended as the highest level of club competition in the region.

Brotherly Game ranks the top 100 clubs in the US and Canada. The Union come in at No. 7, Harrisburg City Islanders at No. 31, Reading United at No. 44, and OCean City Nor’easters at No. 66.

CBS13 reports, “The city of Elk Grove may be paying twice as much for land for a proposed soccer stadium than it is worth.” Elk Grove is competing with nearby Sacramento for a MLS franchise.

Concerns are being voiced in Las Vegas that the proposed publically-funded soccer stadium will mean a 50 percent decrease in funding from a tax that is used for parks and recreation, which will mean an increase in the fees youth soccer associations pay for field rentals and maintenance. In the case of the Nevada Youth Soccer Association, those fees currently stand at $1.5 million per year.

Click here for a PDF copy of the new Pro League Standards.

Officials with new USL PRO sice Charlotte Independence say they are prepared to spend up to $2 million in stadium renovations.

US

The 2016 Copa America, which will be hosted by the US and is the centennial of the tournament, has been officially added to FIFA’s international calendar. The announcement on the CONCACAF website notes, “In a 16-team field, CONMEBOL’s ten Member Associations – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela – will be joined by six competitors from CONCACAF, including host and 2013 Gold Cup champion United States, six-time Gold Cup champion Mexico and 2014 Central American Cup winner Costa Rica.”

Reuters reports, “The US Olympic Committee’s chief executive hopes to meet with U.S. Soccer this week to discuss why national goalkeeper Hope Solo continues to play although she has been charged with domestic violence.”

USWNT captain Christie Rampone says the team supports Solo.

Vice Sports has an excellent overview of how the Hope Solo situation has spiralled out of control. A sample:

So, here are the ingredients that have added up to a domestic violence case that is actually drawing attention away from the NFL: a mainstream national media that has never reported consistently or robustly on the women’s national soccer team, an ongoing debate within the U.S. women’s soccer community about the lack of goaltending talent beyond Solo, and a USWNT communications department that is wildly unprepared for negative attention. We’re left with a tidy diversion for the NFL and an epic, confusing mess for any supporter of the women’s national side.

At ASN, John D. Halloran writes,

While domestic violence in all cases should be publicly condemned and harshly punished, the idea of being innocent until proven guilty is still, and should remain, a cherished right. Should Solo be found guilty, U.S. Soccer must take strong action. But to convict players before a trial takes place, even in the court of public opinion, sets a dangerous precedent…

Solo’s past and U.S. Soccer’s actions last week are also irrelevant to the discussion about benching her. Unlike Rice and Peterson, who have both admitted their guilt, Solo maintains her innocence and is entitled to her day in court.

The BBC wonders if there is a double standard when it comes to domestic abuse.

BuzzFeed on how Sunil Gulati is pressing for more transparency at FIFA but hasn’t disclosed how much he’s compensated by FIFA for being an executive committee member.

The The US Paralympic National Team fell 2-1 to Argentina in the America Cup semifinals in Toronto and will now face Canada in today’s third place game.

Elsewhere

The BBC reports, “UEFA president Michel Platini will not oppose calls to disclose investigator Michael Garcia’s report into alleged World Cup corruption.” Now, if he could make the step from “not oppose” the public release to “actively support.”

However, The AP reported, “FIFA President Sepp Blatter says ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia’s report into alleged corruption in the 2018-2022 World Cup bidding will stay secret. Blatter says no member of his executive committee asked for the report to be published at its meeting on Friday.” So, was US Soccer president and executive committee member Sunil Gulati, who has publically stated he wants the report released, not at the meeting?

Reuters reports, “Soccer’s governing body FIFA agreed to ban the third-party ownership of players on Friday, its president Sepp Blatter said.” Explaining the need to establish a working group to oversee the implementation of the bann, Blatter said, “We took a firm decision that TPO should be banned but it cannot be banned immediately, there will be a transitional period.” The BBC has more background on the ban.

9 Comments

  1. OneManWolfpack says:

    Really good news about FIFA adding the 2016 Copa America to the calendar. I assume that means full squads will be here. I shall start saving now… I will be going for sure!

  2. FIFA really needs to figure out how to fix themselves

  3. “Hey, bartender. I’ll take a draw & give my friends here, SKC & Galaxy, a win a piece.” We’re overdue for a little help. Expecting Crew at home pays back gets Impact. Just tighten it up with the other two this weekend. Don’t fall back.

  4. Please don’t shout. I have a Jermaine Jones hangover. It hurts.

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