Some Soccer News for Jun 22, 2017

It's Day 173 of 2017.


Minnesota United

Results:
-Wed Jun 21
Minnesota 3-2 Portland - MU goals by Amobi Okugo(OG), Christian Ramirez + Abu Danladi. PT goals by Diego Valeri(PK) + Francisco Calvo(OG).

My MNUFC Notes:

• Game highlights [VIDEO]
• What an important win that was! Just when it felt like the team could be headed down the drain, they pull off a win at home.
• And what a win. Loons win! Loons win!
• And the way Minn came out of the gate with a fierce determination set the tone for the whole game.
• And lemme tell ya, that game was a goddamn 3 ring circus:
5 goals
2 of them own goals - 1 for each team
1 spectacular finish by Ramirez
1 penalty for Portland
2 red cards - 1 for each team on the same play
1 goalkeeper blunder by Portland that became a goal

• Ramirez had a highlight reel goal, which at first was a flubbed touch that he then turned into something spectacular.

The set up. The finish.

All super. #MNUFC pic.twitter.com/ciZ5qmWqkL

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 22, 2017



• Okugo put in an own goal for Minn.
• Calvo put in an own goal for Port.
• Shuttleworth made a poor decision and gave up a PK for Port to score.
• Atinella made a poor decision and gave up a loose ball for Minn to score.
• Again, happy for KVenegas getting on the field more. But he HAS to work on those crosses. The chances are there, but the passes MUST get better. If I was the coach I would just say to him, "at the end of practice everyday I will have someone out here on the field with you and I want to see a minimum of 100 crosses, every day."
• No one celebrated on the field after the final whistle harder than KVenagas either.
• Cronin again faded as the game wore on.
• Molino put in a surgically accurate pass for the Ramirez goal.
• But Molino's defense is pitiful, I mean really really pitiful.
• Ibarra had some of the darting beauty up his sleeve last night. More please.
• The tactics were right for Minn, except for 1 thing - WTF is up with not using subs. Heath is trying to kill these guys. I hope they have legs left for Saturday night cuz Vancouver is gonna bring it.
• That was the 5th road loss in a row for Portland.
• And then there's this gem:

Last night's @MNUFC-@TimbersFC game was the first in @MLS history with two own goals & two red cards. Plus a penalty kick for good measure.

— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) June 22, 2017

Media:

• Match report. By Andy Greder for the Pioneer Press.
• Match report. By Chris RB for Fifty Five One.
• Kevin Venegas gets back to back starts. By Megan Ryan for the Star Tribune.
• Post game notes. After the ping-pong talk. By Greder.

Schedule:
-Sat Jun 24
Minnesota v Vancouver - 7:00pm CT on My29.

Minnesota's NASL players have by and large done good for themselves in MLS. By Wes Burdine for Fifty Five one.

• 2 weeks ago I broke down the season so far for all of those NASL players in my 1500ESPN column.

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Private: du Nord Music Mix Vol 127 (download + extract)

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MLS

My MLS Notes:

• Orlando stole points from Seattle on a goal 4 minutes into 2nd half stoppage time.
• Young Jack McBean is getting a shot again in the LA lineup and came through with 2 goals. The 2nd was a behind the back flick.
• The Villarreal brothers, Jose and Jaime, both started for the Galaxy. They were part of the team's academy. As were 6 others who took the field last night: McBean, Zardes, Smith, Romney, Jamieson and Garcia.
• Atlanta can't get Brad Guzan in their goal fast enough. That guy they got now is pretty awful.

A Q+A with Wilmar Cabrera whose leadership has helped turn the Houston Dynamo around. By Scott French for Four Four Two.

Week 17 schedule/results:
(15 games)
-Wed Jun 21
DC 2-1 Atlanta
Minnesota 3-2 Portland
Colorado 1-3 LA
Seattle 1-1 Orlando
-Fri Jun 23
Toronto v New England
Houston v Dallas
-Sat Jun 24
New York RB v New York City
Atlanta v Colorado
Philadelphia v DC
Columbus v Montreal
Minnesota v Vancouver
Chicago v Orlando
LA v Kansas City
San Jose v Salt Lake
-Sun Jun 25
Portland v Seattle

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Des Moines Menace considering a move up from PDL to new USL D3 set to begin in 2019. From USLD3.

• Many Minnesota fans have a fondness for Des Moines after the teams encounters in the US Open Cup. Best of luck to them.

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A pretty good overview on how the Video Assistant Referee system works. By Ridge Mahoney for Soccer America.

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USMNT

The name Kenny Saief turned up on the preliminary Gold Cup roster and all but a very few (less than 2 hands worth) had no idea who he was. (I had no idea.) Well, today he got his FIFA approval to play for the Red, White and Blue. He had played for some Israeli youth national teams, so he needed to officially change his nationality with the governing body. He plays his club soccer in Belgium at Gent. From US Soccer.

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Canadian Championship - Final Schedule/Results:

Good result for TFC last night, getting a tie and a road goal.

1st Leg
-Wed Jun 21
Montreal 1-1 Toronto
2nd Leg
-Tue Jun 27
Toronto v Montreal

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My columns for 1500ESPN.




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