First there was the Algarve and Cyprus Cup finals across the pond with the US, Canada and Mexico playing. Then CONCACAF unveiled the Gold Cup schedule details in the morning. Then long-time US international Heather Mitts retired. And the night was capped off by CONCACAF Champions League play featuring the LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo. Here's the quick hits:
- US beat Germany at Algarve
- Canada fell to England at Cyprus
- US, Canada and Mexico start out west in Gold Cup
- Mitts will go into broadcasting
- LA romped against Herediano, will play Monterrey
- Houston fell hard in Mexico, Santos Laguna to face Seattle
Miller Missteps Continue
If you thought Roy Miller's disaster of a game last week, it did not end there. He actually claims now that he purposely encroached on the penalty given for his handball… yes, encroached on purpose - don't believe me? Read his own words in this story about the bizarre rationale.
Olympic Concern
Sometimes having a roof over your head is not a positive. Apparently there are concerns in Montreal that if the weather is bad, Olympic Stadium will have to be cancelled over issues with the roof.
Away Goals Rule Counterproductive?
That is the question being pondered in this story. Unfortunately this writer spends just as much time going in circles with scenarios that disprove what he's trying to say. This was a long-discussed topic when I worked at USL and for a brief time because we largely felt, like Arsene Wenger is pointed out as having said by this writer, the effect has been pushed too far tactically.
The concept of away goals is to reward the visiting team for playing attacking soccer. The problem is, they tend not too despite the possible reward because they would rather take a 0-0 result back home than risk being exposed and trailing in the series. Then, since they don't have that tiebreaker in their bag, they play defensive, after all, at home too afraid to give up that tiebreaker to the other team. Add on top of that that the home team in the first leg also plays defensively afraid to trail in the series, you end up very little desire to attack for most of the series.
Who Has Tifo?
Since I have featured a lot of video here lately, let's keep up the trend with this little piece featuring some Sounders and Timbers tifo in advance of the Rivalry Week match Saturday.
'Soccer with Breakfast' is a quick recap of interesting, underreported, or top soccer news items - sometimes accompanied by some commentary - to give readers in the Inland Northwest area (or beyond) a brief look around the North American news scene.
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