Things in week 17 start early with a couple of Confed Cup games (Russia/Portugal and Mexico/New Zealand) and then four-plus-one MLS games on Wednesday - and it's Wednesday already in much of BigSoccer-land where MLS fans live. So here we go. All games broadcast on MLS Live and Direct Kick unless otherwise noted; all times Eastern. Wednesday 21 June Atlanta at DC United, 7:30 pm Toronto at Montreal (Canadian Championship), 7:30 - TSN Canada (only?) Portland at Minnesota, 8:00 Los Angeles at Colorado, 9:00 Orlando at Seattle, 10:30 Friday 23 June New England at Toronto, 8:00 Dallas at Houston, 9:00, UniMas Saturday 24 June NYCFC at NYRB, 1:30, FOX Colorado at Atlanta, 7:00 DC United at Philadelphia, 7:00 Montreal at Columbus, 7:30 Vancouver at Minnesota, 8:00 Orlando at Chicago, 8:30 Kansas City at Los Angeles, 10:30 Salt Lake at San Jose, 10:30 Sunday 25 June Seattle at Portland, 3:30, ESPN -> EDIT: Moved to 10 pm on ESPN2 on account of the heat As always, keep it friendly here in the neutral PBP thread.
As part of Date #3 (they're all lasting a week), my fiancé is attending her first professional soccer match tonight (Portland at Minnesota)...
You da man! Good, good. Hope y'all have a good time. When I met my second wife, she wouldn't have recognized a soccer ball if it whacked her upside the head. But she came around and, while not as big a fan as me (she's not as likely to sit and watch an entire game on TV - USMNT being an exception), she's always ready to work in a game if we travel to a city that has a team.
@Ismitje I'm disappointed you didn't include the critical game today: Getafe at Tenerife, 2:55pm, beIn Sports - Promotion Playoff Final Leg 1
Tenerife spoiler for Ismtije (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Tenerife spoiler for Ismtije (open) Tenerife spoiler for Ismtije (close) Tenerife takes the lead at the 22nd minute!
As a marginally competent francophone but proud pedant, I must point out that she's a fiancée. You are the fiancé.
New Zealand just did a terrific job of playing directly into Mexico's hands. VAR is still stupid. They took 4 minutes to sort that out and issued one yellow card. And then the ref ********ed up, allowed play to restart, realized he wasn't supposed to, and issued two more. And now we're on a 5-minute delay. I agree with this tweet wholeheartedly: This is what I freaking mean about VAR. Game was ready to restart and now the ref is holding everything up so some replays can be consulted.— Leander “same handle *elsewhere*” Schaerlaeckens (@LeanderAlphabet) June 21, 2017 And this one too: 877615417614716932 is not a valid tweet id
That was awful. That should have been 3 Reds to Mexico and a Yellow for the original foul and 1 red and 1 yellow to New Zealand. VAR is supposed to help cut out stupidity like this. There were 2 clear headbutts by Mexican players. 1 clear kicking out by a mexican player, 1 New Zealand player with a push from behind, and Marco Fabian and a NZ player involved in a slapping match.
Exactly. If the results of VAR are only going to be marginally different than what would happen without it, then what's the point? I'm not a replay hater in most other sports, but it needs to be drastically limited in scope for it to be effective. In the soccer context, it should really only be used for goals and offside, contingent on the offside rule being re-written to require more separation between attacker and defender. Goal review should be instant (like in the Premier League), and offside review, with a better rule, shouldn't take more than 15-20 seconds. I'll add that VAR in the offside context should be limited to the action immediately preceding a goal. None of this garbage like the NHL where they can go back almost indefinitely.
The post game basically covered it. Essentially, the final decision is on the center ref and he clearly lost the plot. It's interesting to see what VAR officials told the ref to look at and if they suggested anything. (Knowing FIFA ... we will never know). As with the scope, this tournament and the U20 tournament were really the first "tests" outside of a few trial periods in club soccer. There are going to need to be adjustments and set guidelines. I agree with the offside rule because we can go back a good 2 minutes in some cases. Looking back at the multiple replays, there should have been 4 red and 2 yellows to Mexico and 3 reds and 3 yellows to New Zealand at the very minimum. That was bad and he nearly forgot the yellow to Reyes who committed the initial foul. Mexico has the depth, but they got lucky with the ref. There could easily have been quite a few suspensions for the Russia game.
I do wonder if New Zealand would benefit from having some agreement where they play away qualifiers during Aug-May in a flyable distance from Europe/North America and then the home qualifiers in the summer. It may allow them to feature more of their big name players. This is if they ever leave oceania where they currently spend 4 years preparing for a home and home against someone with a half spot. Although the 2026 WC with expanded spots is rumored to give Oceania 1 full spot.
Just realized that New Zealand features not one, but two USL players. Deklan Wynne (Whitecaps 2) and Kip Colvey (Reno, on loan from San Jose). Reminds me of when Andrew Boyens was on the 2010 World Cup roster.
It was, until I found out (was reminded) I had a meeting 30 minutes north of where I work. Which turns a quickish 30 minute jaunt to RFK into a potentially 1.5hr sweat-fest. Not to mention all the ancillary issues of driving an hour home after maybe too many consumables. Stay at home and watch it became the order of the day. Thx, Jay!