The Carlos Vela Spain experience just might be drawing to a close. The Mexican striker hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire this season for Real Sociedad this season, and the Vela-to-MLS rumors seem to hold more weight than ever.
Vela, 27, was left out of Mexico's latest squad, and has four goals in 29 appearances in all competitions so far this season for Sociedad. For a striker, those numbers aren't enough to impress anybody.
Not a bad showing by yours truly last week, as I only missed the Chelsea-Everton match. While many of you will have one eye trained on your NCAA Basketball bracket, the other should be fixed on the football world as this weekend brings its own kind of madness to the pitch. The Manchester Derby along with pivotal matches in Italy, Spain and North America are “can’t miss” viewing. The five best of the weekend are:
1. Manchester City v. Manchester United, Sunday 12:00 p.m. EST, NBC
David Beckham will grace the cover of the April edition of GQ, and revealed in an interview with Michael Paterniti that he believes he could still cut it in Major League Soccer.
The young 2016 MLS season is only two weeks old but has produced a number of highlight reel goals. The San Jose Earthquakes clashed with 2015 MLS Champions, Portland Timbers on a rain soaked pitch in San Jose, California. While the Bay Area is not accustomed to the El Nino storm system, San Jose pulled out a 2 - 1 win with goals from their two star forwards, Chris Wondolowski and Quincy Amarikwa. Wondo's sublime finish in the 30th minute sent 2016 MLS All Star host, Avaya Stadium into a frenzy, but Amarikwa's chip in the 45th+1 minute had fans rocking.
We heard the LA Galaxy had a new sponsorship deal with someone! Hope it's a really cool company that in no way marginalizes certain groups of people, especially should one of those people play for the Galaxy!
Free !
Ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous Higuain brothers.
Gonzalo, 28, is enjoying something of a career renaissance. The Napoli striker has 26 goals in Serie A so far this season, twice as many as the next-best scorer. Napoli are within striking distance of Juventus at the top of the Serie A table.
Some of these highlights are just absurd.
On Sunday, cities around the United States (Canada, too) filled their stadiums to once again cheer on its top soccer league: MLS. Scarves were raised, chants were sung, and people generally had a better time than a kid at Disney World with unlimited access to chocolate and Mom’s smartphone. And that was just the jazzy surface stuff. There was also jazzy soccer stuff – like goals. Lots of them.
I stayed on target with my predictions as I only missed the Madrid Derby pick (what is going on with Real Madrid!!?!!). Not to worry, I will miss them all this week as quality matches dot the globe and the MLS returns. Here are the five can’t miss matches of the weekend, including the critical North London derby:
1. Tottenham Hotspur v. Arsenal, Saturday 7:45 a.m. EST, NBCSN
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane has seen enough over his four years of play in North America to declare MLS on par with Liga MX. A bullish Keane declared that Liga MX was stagnating in the face of MLS growth, a bold claim to make prior to Tuesday’s second leg fixture between the Galaxy and Santos Laguna of Liga MX.
On March 25, 2015, Major League Soccer announced that Minnesota United FC would be joining the league as a potential 2017 or 2018 expansion team. On February 24, 2016, the next major step in making that announcement a reality was taken in the form of the unveiling of their new St. Paul-based stadium design.