On paper, this is one of the more shocking upsets you’ll ever see in the CONCACAF Champions League. FC Dallas joined the Colorado Rapids as victims of the CCL Round of 16, leaving just Seattle and NYRB as the only remaining American representatives. But while Colorado’s defeat to Toronto FC was widely expected, Dallas’ plummet from grace continues to be a free fall.
Over the course of the last few years, Tigres UANL have established themselves as Liga MX’s premier side. While they’ve captured three-straight Apertura titles, they’ve also suffered the heartbreak of back-to-back defeats in CONCACAF Champions League finals, losing to America in 2016 and Pachuca in 2017. They’ll be desperate to represent the region at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the UAE.
Freddy Adu is back, baby! On Saturday night, the future of U.S. soccer and the next Rivaldo returned to the pitch for the first time since before the Season 1 of Stranger Things came out. The Freddy Adu Las Vegas Lights debut is a sure sign that U.S. soccer is back on the right track, or something. Now 28 and on a baker’s dozen of different clubs, Adu’s preseason performance wasn’t actually that bad, despite an eventual 4-2 defeat to D.C. United.
OK, this is getting a little crazy. Toronto, coming off probably the best season in MLS history in 2017, keeps getting better. The latest Toronto FC signing, midfielder Ager Aketxe, gives the Reds one of the scariest lineups in all of North America and they could blow away what the team accomplished last season.
The Seattle Sounders traveled to El Salvador to face Santa Tecla in the CONCACAF Champions League on Thursday night. It didn’t go well. They lost Jordan Morris to injury, couldn’t hold on to a lead and lost 2-1 in the first leg. But that Nicolas Lodeiro goal sure was something special.
Hi, do you like playing soccer? Do you like not sleeping? Then we’ve got the thing for you. To celebrate the start of the 2018 MLS season, NYCFC is hosting a 24-hour soccer marathon, with a five-a-side match that will last a full day.
The exhibition will be played at Rockefeller Center in New York City, set to start at 4 p.m. (ET) on Friday, March 9, continuing to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 10. About 500 players will have the chance to play soccer at famed 30 Rock as Patrick Vieira, David Villa and other NYCFC players criticize your insistence on toe-poking every shot you take.
You’ve seen it before: Goalkeeper makes a great save on a PK, pops up and saves the rebound. But this Dynamo save is something different; Houston keeper Chris Seitz made four saves in about five seconds in a preseason friendly against Phoenix Rising FC on Wednesday.
“It’s like playing in f*cking Siberia,” said a Toronto FC player entering the pitch before Tuesday night’s CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 first leg against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. The coldest MLS game on record was last season’s “Snow Opener” between Minnesota United and Atlanta United in Minneapolis, which checked in at 19° F.
We previously wondered how the Las Vegas Lights FC pledge to be the boldest club in North American soccer would play out on the pitch. Having a fantastic, neon-tubed crest and a gaudy home shirt is one thing, but it’s the product on the field that’ll ultimately sustain any interest.
Last season, Toronto FC took their game to another level with the signing of La Masia product Victor Vazquez. The 31-year-old Spanish midfielder was named to the 2017 MLS Best XI while adding a degree of quality and composure rarely seen in MLS.