While the likes of Ashley Cole and even Jelle Van Damme are being handed contracts by the LA Galaxy despite advancing age and questionable desire, former Brazil international Adriano has just signed a contract with Miami United, a club in the little known National Premier Soccer League* — the U.S.’s fourth division.
Jordan Morris is a 21-year-old striker who has played for the Seattle Sounder’s youth academy and Stanford University. He’s made seven appearances for the U.S. national team, scoring one goal against Mexico. U.S. fans and media have identified him as their next great hope and have become heavily invested in his career decisions as a result, benefitting no one.
LAFC are set to join MLS in 2018, but until now, all they had were roughly eight million celebrity part-owners. All that has changed, however, as they have unveiled a rather gorgeous crest and Will Ferrell as celebrity part-owner No. eight million and one.
First the crest…
There have been two notable responses to Abby Wambach’s declaration of distaste for “foreign guys” playing for the U.S. men’s national team. One was an impassioned and thoughtful defense of such players by someone who falls into that category and the other was a seconding of Wambach’s opinion by a fellow retiree who seems to still be feeling personally aggrieved by the foreign guys she was talking about.
What was supposed to be a joyous celebration of Abby Wambach’s legendary career proved historic for a second reason as the U.S. lost 1-0 to China at home. This loss ended the World Cup winners’ 24-match unbeaten streak overall and astonishing 104-match unbeaten streak at home. Their last home loss was in November 2004 to Denmark, just three years after Wambach made her international debut.
Just before playing her final match for the U.S. national team, Abby Wambach has proven that she might have a future as Donald Trump’s running mate.
Appearing on the Bill Simmons podcast, Wambach, who has scored more international goals than any other person to ever play the game (184), shared her thoughts on the problems with the U.S. men’s team.
Don’t blink. You’re watching the fastest goal in #MLSCup history at 27 seconds, courtesy of @DiegoDv8. https://t.co/m3wsmpQ1RZ
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 6, 2015
The Columbus Crew proved they can score fast goals with Justin Meram’s effort just nine seconds into their Eastern Conference Championship against the New York Red Bulls, but in the MLS Cup final they picked a terrible time to prove that they can concede them too. Read more
All set for a 2,400 mile journey to Columbus. ???? #OnwardRoseCity #RCTID pic.twitter.com/V1wJo14Mjw
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) December 3, 2015
The Portland Timbers will face the Columbus Crew in the MLS Cup final and since Columbus will host the match, they’ve made some pointed additions to the prohibited items list for Mapfre Stadium.
The announcement that Patrick Vieira will replace Jason Kreis as manager of New York City FC has been meet with near unanimous disapproval. He’s foreign! He has no MLS experience! He’s foreign! He’s only using this as a stepping stone to the Man City job! HE’S FOREIGN!!!!
Though the limited track record for great European footballers turned MLS managers isn’t great, Vieira and NYCFC are both unique cases that complicate comparisons to previous failures.
The Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City concluded their playoff game with an MLS record 22-shot penalty shootout that ended with Portland’s keeper scoring and Kansas City’s keeper missing. But that was just the finale.
Before that, each side had four misses, but none were more incredible than Saad Abdul-Salaam’s, which hit both posts and stayed out.