Alphonso Davies, the 17-year-old Canadian phenom who we’d really like to see race Kylian Mbappe, was omitted from the Vancouver Whitecaps match against Seattle on Saturday with multiple outlets citing well-developed talks between the MLS side and German power Bayern Munich.
Something’s happening in Los Angeles. After losing to FC Dallas on May 30, the LA Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last seven MLS matches, including yesterday’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia at Talen Energy Stadium. A lot of that play is down to the goodness of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who now has nine goals and an assist in his last six league starts.
Wil Trapp doesn’t score often. In fact, what you’re about to see from the 25-year-old USMNT and Columbus Crew defensive midfielder is his first goal of the season and only the second of his six-year professional career. When you factor in the circumstances, it’s one of the best goals of 2018.
Wayne Rooney earned his first start for DC United in Major League Soccer on Saturday in Atlanta. Then Josef Martinez showed him a thing or two about how to score in this country, setting the record for most MLS hat tricks in an absurdly small number of games.
The Chicago Fire defeated Louisville City 4-0 in the U.S. Open Cup yesterday, and Bastian Schweinsteiger delivered an assist that was reminiscent of his charging forth at the 2006 World Cup. Have some, Costa Rica.
Here’s Schweinsteiger dictating play in the final third before playing the easy ball. Would Germany have benefitted from convincing Schweinsteiger to come out of international retirement to play in Russia? No, but that’s a pretty good shit take to get the people riled up.
DC United opened Audi Field Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps, and marquee signing Wayne Rooney was handed his debut in the 58th minute. Rooney assisted USMNT winger Paul Arriola on DC’s third, but special mention to Vancouver’s conciliatory strike in the 94th minute — 17-year-old Canadian international Alphonso Davies ruined United’s backline before curling in a shot from distance.
The 2018 MLS All-Star team is one of the best we've seen in years, with a plethora of American and international talent. The side is led by Gerardo “Tata” Martino, current manager of Atlanta United and former Barcelona and Argentina coach.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic used all of his 6-5, 209 pound Swedish frame to open the scoring for Los Angeles against DC United on the Fourth of July, making it 10 goals from 13 games for the striker. The 36-year-old is doing everything in his power to restore LA to prominence in MLS, but the Galaxy aren’t any good.
Darwin Quintero, Minnesota United’s first-ever Designated Player signing, repaid in full his $1.65 million salary by scoring the club’s maiden hat-trick in Major League Soccer. What’s more, it was the greatest hat-trick in the history of the league. I can say that because I was there — look! Here’s a picture of Michael Bradley suffering in the Fourth of July heat whilst “shielding” his backline (he was awful).
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has shown his support for Sweden throughout the World Cup, but after being left off the 23-man squad despite his status as the nation’s all-time top goalscorer, you can bet that the Blue-Yellow’s march to the Round of 16 has been somewhat bittersweet for the 36-year-old.