Good morning! This week begins with a soccer rarity. FIFA international windows are open for both men’s and women’s national teams at the same time. Close to a full contingent of USMNT players was at training yesterday in Maryland ahead of the opening Copa America tune-up against Colombia on Saturday. The USWNT arrived in Minnesota for its second match against South Korea on Tuesday. The Emma Hayes welcome tour continued when she and her son attended Minnesota Lynx practice at which she showed off her shooting skills.
Soccer America Daily is edited by Paul Kennedy and Mike Woitalla.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP
The Columbus Crew defeated Mexican powerhouses Tigres and Monterrey to reach the Concacaf Champions Cup final for the first time, but it proved to be no match for a third Liga MX opponent, Pachuca, falling 3-0 at the packed Estadio Hidalgo.
The MLS champions were overwhelmed by a blistering start from Pachuca, which took the lead after just 12 minutes. Los Tuzos added a second goal just after the half-hour mark, and only the intervention from VAR kept the match close at the break.
MLS’s reigning champion struggled to cope with Pachuca’s superior movement off the ball, and only some superb play from keeper Patrick Schulte saved the Crew from suffering a bigger defeat.
Top 5: Most Concacaf club championships:
1. Club America (Mexico), 7
2. Pachuca (Mexico), 6
2. Cruz Azul (Mexico), 6
4. Monterrey (Monterrey), 5
5. Saprissa (Costa Rica), 3
5. UNAM (Mexico), 3
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: WILFRIED NANCY
“Bravo for Pachuca. They deserved to win, so I will not talk about if they deserved to win or not, they won, so well done for them. My players gave everything, knowing that they were sick also. All the team had diarrhea since yesterday; the staff also. So again, don’t get me wrong. This is a fact. I’m not here to tell you [Pachuca] don’t deserve to win. They scored three goals; OK. But my players gave everything, knowing that it was not easy for them.”
— Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy after the Crew’s 3-0 loss to Pachuca in the Concacaf Champions Cup final. By game time, he said, almost his entire team (players and coaching staff) had food poisoning. (MLSSoccer.com)
USWNT
The Emma Hayes era got off to a joyous start as the U.S. women’s national team buoyantly disposed of South Korea 4-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
From start to finish it was a mismatch on a crisp and sunny day in Colorado. The Stars and Stripes dominated almost every phase of the match.
• What They’re Saying: “We were controlled in what we did in the first half,” said Hayes. “We stuck to the structures and the coaching. Everybody did what I asked of them. It’s really nice to feel like I’ve got the trust and the belief in the group to be able to play football. And while the American DNA and mentality is one that we don’t want to lose, being able to play the way that we are is really exciting.” (AFP)
• Next up: The USA will face South Korea again on Tuesday night at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.
• U.S. Player Ratings (USA vs. South Korea):
7: Davidson, Smith Swanson.
6: Girma, Macario, Lavelle.
5: Campbell, Nighswonger, Coffey, Horan, Rodman, Krueger, Shaw, Staab, Dunn.
4: Fox.
(Game Report by Theodore Lloyd-Hughes)
• Your view? Comment here with how you viewed the U.S. performance.
• Historic match: The U.S. women’s deaf national team defeated Australia 11-0 in a match that marked the first U.S. extended national team doubleheader with a senior national team and first extended national team match televised by U.S. Soccer broadcasters. Emily Spreeman set a deaf WTN record with six goals, while Holly Hunter scored a brace and Ani Khachadourian, Paige Beaudry and Sabina Shysh added goals.
MLS
Real Salt Lake had needed late miracles to steal points in recent games. But there was no doubt about the outcome of Saturday’s match against Austin FC.
RSL got a Chicho Arango hat trick and an Anderson Julio first-half brace en route to a 5-1 win in which it led 4-0 at the half and 5-0 before conceding a goal in second-half stoppage time.
🎥 Watch: Chicho Arango score from 58 yards.
The win before a standing-room crowd of 21,078 fans extended RSL’s unbeaten streak to 13 games and kept it on top in the Western Conference, three points ahead of streaking LAFC.
• Record pace: Arango finishes the first half of the 2024 season with 16 goals, one short of Alvaro Saborio’s RSL season record of 17 goals set in 2012.
Top 5: Supporters’ Shield standings:
1. Inter Miami (10-3-5), 35 pts.
2. FC Cincinnati (10-3-3), 33 pts.
3. Real Salt Lake (9-2-6), 33 pts.
4. LAFC (9-4-3), 30 pts.
5. New York City FC (9-5-2), 29 pts.
LAFC stayed three points behind RSL with a game in hand when it won its seventh consecutive game in all competitions with a 1-0 win over FC Dallas on Denis Bouanga’s goal in the 74th minute.
Former French national team captain Hugo Lloris has shutouts in five straight MLS games and has not conceded a goal in 481 minutes, extending an LAFC record.
Worst: Three-game week (May 25-June 1):
1. Sporting KC 0/9 pts.
2. FC Dallas 1/9 pts.
2. Orlando City 1/9 pts.
2. St. Louis City 1/9 pts.
2. Austin FC 1/9 pts.
2. Colorado 1/9 pts.
USL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Tampa Bay Rowdies ended Sac Republic FC’s unbeaten streak at 14 games across all competitions with a 1-0 win at Heart Health Park.
Charlie Dennis broke a scoreless deadlock for the game’s lone goal eight minutes into the second half. The Rowdies have 22 points, one more than Republic FC, but sit only fourth in the Eastern Conference behind Louisville City, Charleston and Indy Eleven.
Sacramento stayed only one point off the lead in the Western Conference when New Mexico United fell to Monterey Bay 1-0 on Sunday night.
AMERICANS ABROAD
U.S. Olympic hopeful Gianluca Busio assisted on Christian Gytkjaer’s 24th-minute goal in Venezia’s 1-0 win over Cremonese but had to be helped off the field in the 59th minute while clutching his thigh.
The victory earned Venezia promotion to Italy’s Serie A. Busio and fellow U.S. U-23 midfielder Tanner Tessmann played crucial roles in Venezia’s third-place finish, which qualified it for the promotion playoffs as top seed.
Venezia (Italian Serie B, 2023-24):
Tanner Tessmann
Regular season: 37 games (3,145 minutes), 6 goals, 3 assists
Playoffs: 4 games (360 minutes), 1 goal
Gianluca Busio
Regular season: 37 games (2,958 minutes), 7 goals, 4 assists
Playoffs: 4 games (289 minutes), 1 assist
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Real Madrid always finds a way in the UEFA Champions League and so it proved again as it was outplayed by Borussia Dortmund but still claimed a record 15th triumph with a 2-0 win at Wembley.
Top 5: Most European Cup titles:
1. Paco Gento (Real Madrid) 6
1. Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) 6
1. Luka Modric (Real Madrid) 6
1. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) 6
1. Nacho (Real Madrid) 6
MONDAY MORNING: WHAT WE’RE READING
1. Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid, a match made in soccer heaven By Henry Bushnell (Yahoo Sports)
2. Tit-for-tat over MLS and Indy Eleven could end pro soccer altogether for Indianapolis By David J. Ziemba (Indianapolis Star)
3. ‘This shirt is my skin,’ José Mourinho tells Fenerbahce fans at his unveiling (PA Media)
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Publish date : 2024-06-03 03:00:00
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