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2nd minute goal for Wolfsburg followed by a 14th minute goal for Frankfurt and we've go Bundesliga after dark early in the morning.
First game finishes 2-2. Hoffenheim opens up the game at Dortmund with a 2nd minute goal. That's a 2nd minute goal for the road team in each game today in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund ties it up in the 21st minute as Donyell Malen continues his ascent into superstardom. 25th minute header from Nico Schlotterbeck and it's 2-1 Dortmund.
Hoffenheim scores again in the 64th minute. Beier gets credit for both goals. Dortmund now swamping Hoffenheim and just put one off the post in the 70th minute.
Dortmund flubs a wide open header in the box during stoppage time and loses 3-2 to Hoffenheim. Now onto the battle of the burgs, Augs vs Frei.
Only thing watched today was last extra time of league cup final, and that not closely. My timing was good.
Another option is to buy a regional rail pass before you go, and then take the Shinkansen to a stadium elsewhere in Japan. Depending on which part of Japan the match was to be held in, you would in theory only need the regional pass required to get you there from Tokyo and back again, rather than paying the extra for a "full" rail pass. We're still a few years away from the Hokkaido Shinkansen reaching as far as Sapporo Station, alas; for now, time-sensitive trips to see Consadole play at home might require a flight to New Chitose Airport instead. Still, that's "only" about an hour and a half's flight time from Narita Airport, give or take... ----- Speaking of Consadole, they have continued the trend of using local themed imagery on their 2024 jerseys: The home jersey has a map of Hokkaido on the bottom left - again adding the four "Northern Territories" claimed by Japan yet occupied by Russia. The away jersey, by contrast, has a grid map of Sapporo itself. The third jersey shows the Blakiston's Fish Owl - a species also represented by Dole-kun, the team's mascot. Their opening match took place this weekend also:
MLS VAR critics, this is the best angle the Football League could come up with for their showpiece cup final.
Freiburg took the early lead at Augsburg, but the hosts have two late goals (72, 81) to take the lead as time ticks away.
Doh, it's actually his second win but the other one was a road course so this is the first win on an oval by a driver born in Mexico.
USYNT defender Ramiz Hamouda signs with Birmingham Legion Clemson defender Shawn Smart signs with Las Vegas Lights That's a 15 year old signing with Birmingham and a 20 year old leaving college early to sign with Las Vegas. I'm not sure what the finances are for USL Championship teams, but there's definitely been a shift the last couple of years.
Major League Rugby returns this weekend. The Atlanta franchise has moved west and become Rugby FC Los Angeles, and there are new franchises in Charlotte (Anthem RC) and Miami (Miami Sharks). That's 12 teams for the year and Fox has announced an 18 game broadcast schedule on FS2 (12 games) and FS1 (6 games). Everything else is on the Rugby Network for free. It seems like the league might be settling in finally. 5 of the 9 highest attended games happened in the 2023 season, and there's a strong following in San Diego, Seattle, Utah, and New England. There is a Monterrey, Mexico team planned for next year.
I think Americans would really take to the other rugby but they seem to like the rolling around on the floor. But rugby league is easier to understand. You have 6 attempts to score. If you don't score you hand over possession. It's just like football without the forward throw.
Sadly, 2 teams went under in the offseason, Toronto Arrows and Rugby NY. They were the 4th and 5th clubs to collapse since the inaugural 2018 season. Although, in fairness, 2 of the clubs to "collapse" were kicked out of the league after it was discovered the owner was paying players under the table to get around the League's salary cap rules.
Those two this offseason are the only ones to truly fold. Toronto folded a month after their president/GM died. New York is probably the only real failure. They moved from Brooklyn to the suburbs in Mount Vernon last year and then folded after not finding a buyer this offseason. Colorado quit the league when they decided it wasn't as US player development focused as they wanted. Then the owner cheating in LA and Austin happened. 5 of the original 7 teams in 2018 are still playing. All 3 that joined in 2020 are still playing. Atlanta moving to fill the LA market is the first one to move. This is the 4th straight year of either 12 or 13 teams playing.
This is probably the biggest issue with MLR right now. It is basically an offseason league for other leagues. As an example, the Seawolves have 38 players on their roster, 17 of them are US/Canada players and most of those don't get any real playing time. IMHO, MLR could seriously benefit from MLS style roster rules that limit foreign players on the roster and then some additional requirements that mandate playing time for Americans.
I think that was originally part of the plan. When it didn't come to fruition, Colorado bailed. I believe the one season of PRO Rugby had some of those restrictions in place.
This Saturday Night in Las Vegas, at Allegiant Stadium: NRL Doubleheader to start their 2024 season. Also, for those complaining about MLS Var reviews: Penrith got robbed!
The new director of soccer for Loudoun United is Oliver Gage, who was the director of football for the CPL and then with an outside group that was leading two of the CPL teams. He's also got experience with Houston Dynamo and UVA soccer. Good news for Loudoun and probably not as good for the CPL. https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1302401