There’s always going to be an emphasis on how Designated Players perform in MLS, that comes with the territory of earning 20 times more than your teammates. And there’s always going to be an extra emphasis on Mexico’s internationals in the league, especially when they’re just 29 and stepping away from three years in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt.
A big storyline from Major League Soccer’s opening weekend was the debut of 16-year-old LA Galaxy phenom Efrain Alvarez. The Los Angeles native was an academy product before becoming a revelation in the USL last year, scoring 12 goals and adding three assists in 17 appearances for the club’s reserve team, LA Galaxy II.
Monterrey kept pace with Tigres at the top of the Liga MX Clausura table with a 2-0 victory over Guadalajara at Akron Stadium on Saturday, and both Rayados goals were of the highest order.
Also, they were both scored by Colombian attacker Dorlan Pabón, who ripped a long-range golazo in the second minute and then did it again in the 89th.
Here’s the first.
Here’s the second. Déjà vu.
There was a time when Brek Shea a lanky winger from the great city of College Station, Texas — home of the Dixie Chicken and the greatest football stadium in the country — looked like the next big thing for U.S. soccer. The Cockatrice, as no one but myself calls him, had a combination of skill, panache, size and athleticism that earned him a move to Stoke City after five seasons with FC Dallas.
Last time we checked in with Diego Maradona and Dorados, it was to report on the Argentine legend’s antics during his side’s Ascenso MX Apertura final defeat. After the heartbreak of that 4-3 aggregate defeat, Maradona has since returned to lead Dorados during the Clausura season.
While the club has achieved success in the Copa MX — they’ll play Liga MX side Atlas on Tuesday in the Round of 16 — the regular season has been something of a disaster for the club. After six matches, Dorados has only managed one win.
Hirving “Chucky” Lozano’s 14th Eredivisie goal of the season salvaged a point for PSV in a 1-1 draw with third-place Feyenoord, but the club’s lead at the top of the table was cut to just two points following Ajax’s 5-1 victory over Den Haag.
Feyenoord had Sven van Beek sent off in the 59th minute at the Philips Stadion, but the visitors still managed to take the lead through Nicolai Jorgensen in the 70th minute.
`The CONCACAF Champions League's return has fully kicked off now, will all eight matchups in the Round of 16 through the first leg. Earlier in the week, Toronto FC embarrassed in Panama by Independiente, while the Houston Dynamo and New York Red Bulls both won their games and kept clean sheets.
Welcome to Europe, Diego Lainez.
Lainez, a diminutive, 18-year-old Mexican, moved to Real Betis from Club América in January to join club vice captain Andrés Guardado, a fellow Mexico international. He had played in five matches before Thursday with all of two yellow cards to show for it.
Juan Carlos Osorio became the latest coach to lead Mexico to the World Cup Round of 16 and no further over the summer. The 2018 tournament was the seventh straight time El Tri was knocked out at that stage.
After the 2018 World Cup, Osorio resigned from Mexico and in September he was appointed Paraguay manager. His first match with the club was a 1-1 draw with South Africa in November.
Having been in the rumor mill for a few days and teased on social media, the Marco Fabian transfer to MLS was officially announced Friday afternoon: The Mexico international is heading to Philadelphia.