We’re 68 minutes into last night’s MLS meeting between the New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake at Red Bull Arena with the home side leading 3-0. It’s a fairly innocuous time in the grand scheme of things, but MSG Network broadcaster Shep Messing — who covered the ’86, ’02 and ’06 World Cups for ESPN — is about to drop an absolute bombshell on viewers with regards to the USMNT at the 2014 World Cup.
If you build it, they will come. That comes as no surprise given the approximate season ticket waitlist of 13,000, but the Portland Timbers finally put on their 2019 home opener — 13 matches into the MLS season — in front of a sellout crowd of 25,218 at Providence Park on Saturday night.
The stadium, located in southwest Portland, underwent an $85 million expansion that added roughly 4,000 seats to the eastern side of the stadium, accounting for the Timbers’ historic 12-game road trip to begin the season.
After winning MLS Cup in its second season as a club, Atlanta United struggled following the departure of manager Tata Martino.
They were thoroughly outplayed by Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, won one out of their first six matches of the 2019 MLS season and couldn't muster anything going forward. Martino's replacement, 49-year-old Dutchman Frank de Boer, became the scapegoat for Atlanta fans.
And out of the frustration and anger rising from the state of Georgia, the #deBoerOut Twitter account was born.
Argentina’s U-20 World Cup campaign is off to a glorious start in Poland, thanks in large part to Atlanta United’s Ezequiel Barco. The 20-year-old attacker scored a penalty in the 63rd minute to put Argentina up 2-1, and then he scored what would prove to be the match-winner in the 71st with a stunning side-foot volley from distance.
On Wednesday, May 22, Seattle Sounders and USMNT centerback Chad Marshall announced his retirement.
While he never quite broke into the USMNT first team with only 12 appearances, Marshall will go down as one of the best American centerbacks to ever play the game.
DaMarcus Beasley is calling it a career.
In his 20th year as a professional soccer player, Beasley announced Monday this season would be his last.
— DaMarcus Beasley (@DaMarcusBeasley) May 20, 2019
Since Major League soccer began play in 1996, the United States and Canada has been home to some of the world’s finest attacking talent. The likes of David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco have been scoring at an unprecedented rate over the last few years, but there are those from the league’s humble beginnings that scored at an even more impressive clip.
It took a while, but Chris Wondolowski finally equaled Landon Donovan’s mark for most goals in MLS history. He didn’t take long to become the top MLS goal scorer of all time.
For more almost a decade now, Bill Hamid has been a stalwart goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. At 19, he became the youngest goalkeeper to win a regular-season MLS match, beating Tim Howard’s record by four days.
Hamid has now made 200 appearances for D.C. United — and Wednesday night’s was arguably his best performance yet.
The question is: Will it get him some playing time with the USMNT?
Bruce Arena, the magnificently arrogant New Yorker who was at the helm of the biggest disaster in U.S. soccer history, is back in the coaching ranks.
The New England Revolution hired Arena as its head coach and sporting director on Tuesday morning.