The sports, they have been good this month.
The Champions League is in full swing. Every college basketball fan on the planet is issuing friendly reminders that THIS IS MARCH. Hockey is doing hockey things. Baseball is still in the background, where it belongs. American football is far enough removed from our sports consciousness that we don't constantly feel guilty for liking it.
So, sports!
Whatever happens in the return leg, this CONCACAF Champions League first leg between FC Dallas and Pachuca is now the benchmark for all MLS clubs. This competition doesn’t favor MLS sides (Dallas are only just beginning their work for the 2017 season), and there’s still obviously a large gap between almost all MLS and Liga MX clubs, but this was the best team in MLS, backed by the best academy, unfortunate to only win 2-1 on the night.
USMNT manager Bruce Arena has announced his 24-man squad for vital World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Panama at the end of March. This represented the first opportunity for Arena to include European-based talent, but it’s clear that he’s also given a fair shake to the MLS players that impressed during January camp.
Tigres moved one step closer to their first-ever CONCACAF Champions League title by defeating Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 in the first leg of the semifinals. An own goal from ‘Caps defender Kendall Waston and a half-volley from Chilean international Eduardo Vargas will have Tigres confident of seeing things through ahead of the return leg in Vancouver.
Vancouver surprised everyone by making it this far in the competition, and their only hope was to give themselves a chance at BC Place by defending resolutely in the first leg.
The LA Galaxy challenged the Portland Timbers, and our MLS Rankings of Power, by posting a disparaging meme aimed at Diego Chara and David Guzman after the two combined to get Jelle Van Damme sent off on Sunday.
Van Damme was booked for both tackles although he made contact with neither player. Guzman actually spectacularly injured himself with his dive, which is another joke in and of itself.
You all know the name. It's that (young) man again.
(takes off hat, places hand over heart)
Christian Pulisic is on ! That's the American's third goal in his last four games for Borussia Dortmund, now up 1–0 in the DFB-Pokal. pic.twitter.com/Z5W4RoUFh9
— Planet Fútbol (@si_soccer) March 14, 2017
After a disappointing SheBelieves Cup that saw Alex Morgan fail to score while totaling just over 90 minutes across three matches, the USWNT striker returned to Lyon, where she is on loan from Orlando Pride until the conclusion of the European season, and completed her first 90-minute match in six months and scored a hat trick.
Lyon were playing Rodez in the quarterfinals of the French Cup, and Morgan contributed three goals in their 6-0 victory. The second goal is definitely the pick of the bunch, a phenomenal finish from the international legend.
Hamburger SV claimed a vital three points in their fight to maintain their position as the only German club to have never been relegated from the top division. The catalyst for Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Gladbach was American striker Bobby Wood.
Wood scored his fifth Bundesliga goal, and ninth across all competitions, after cleverly evading his marker by lying motionless on the ground for about five seconds. His marker ultimately ends up handing him the ball, and from there, Wood takes it around a defender and fires it into the net.
We want to start with an apology. Maybe two.
When we first saw this clip of Nemanja Nikolić scoring his first goal for the Chicago Fire, we were so certain he was offside we would have been willing to bet the farm, if we owned one. Since we don't, we settled for screaming with reckless abandon at the television. We may have insulted the ref. We certainly scared the children. The dog still hasn't come out of hiding. Sorry on all fronts.
Orlando City SC's new stadium is a beautiful piece of architecture that the team and their fan base will be proud of for years to come. It might also hold one of the most passionate fan bases in all of MLS as well.