Final: Portland v Orlando City LIVE! (8/11)

It's finally here.  The MLS is Back Final!  Will Group F winners Portland Timbers get their 2nd trophy or will Group A winners Orlando City SC get their first?  No drama for the pool as the top 3 have secured their spots.

5:49 pm PDT:  Geez, I hate late kickoffs, especially when there is no pomp and circumstance or national anthem. Wasn't this a 5:30 pm start (and originally 5 pm even up to the Semifinals)?

14':  Great job by the groundskeepers in keeping Fields 16 and 17 in great shape every match.  This final is on Field 17, next to the main building.  Either way, the teams will be happy to see their families in person for the first time in more than month.

26': Nice touch with the added MLS is BACK FINAL lettering on the front of the jersey.  Oh, and GOAL!  27' put in by POR's Mabiala off a free kick cross.  POR 1:0 (tiebreak total goals = 8).

31':  Hydration break.  Great audio between POR' Blanco and the referee.  No fake crowd noise!  Though, I do not know why they can't just feed hundreds of live streams with real fans, fans who can do chants and stuff for their home team.  You can add a noise filter so if one person wanted to yell and swear over and over it wouldn't be heard, just come across as crowd noise.  And get live oohs and aahs instead of manufactured ones or chants that are just not in the right place.   You couldn't do it random because the networks have a 10-20 second delay, but let fans sign up for live feeds.

39': #10 Pereyra ties it up with an assist from... Nani (OK, Opta incredibly didn't give an assist on that.. Only Opta).  And for the 11th straight match, each team has scored a goal.  Remember all those 0-0 halftime scores early on?   ORL 1:1 (tiebreak total goals = 9).  POR has given up at least one goal in all 7 tourney matches.

43':  POR's Valeri tries a close free kick kicking it low and trying to go under the wall.  The one I remember that worked was in the famous '07 LA@NY match for Beckham's NY debut and NY's Juan Pablo Angel scored that way in a wild 5-4 Red Bull win in front of 66K fans.

Half:  4 min of stoppage and we're tied at 1.  This is the 24th tie (of 51 matches) at halftime.  Remember, no Extra Time.  Oh, the part-Austin FC owner Matthew McConaughey MLS commercial!  He's got a great voice and loved the love it/hate it Interstellar.

55': POR has let ORL have possession (>64%) while pretty much even on shots.  Kudos for ESPN for complimenting the grounds crew.  Also, jealous of the FC Dallas fans who will get to see their team play tomorrow.  Limited to 5,000 or so fans but since it's DAL, no guarantee of a sellout.  I don't know of any other teams allowing fans and Louisville City (USL Championship - that's the name of the league, not an actual final) has had success with sellouts of almost 5,000 each match with no "outbreaks".

64': A giveaway where ORL needs to foul right outside the box.  Great free kick opportunity for Valeri whose shot is saved by ORL GK Gallese.

65':  Another fast reaction save by Gallese (again) off the CK attempt.

66':  Another POR CK bounces around and POR puts it in!  Goes through the box and Zuparik redirects it in.  POR 2:1 (tiebreak total goals = 10).

72':  Nani may have knocked POR's Villafana but Villafana then moved his head into Nani and fell backward.  Well, Nani still got the yellow (73').

76': Hydration break.  ORL has more shots but only one on goal and still has 63% possession.  Teams are under .500 when having 63% or more possession (2-3-6).

85': 7th card, 4th on ORL.  Really bad high boot by Ruan.  Regardless, both teams will start the regular season in 3rd place in their respective conference.  One more goal will give Super League 10th place over BigRedMessi 2.

88':  Always nervous when the ball is played back to POR's GK Steve Clark.  Remember the CIN match?  One thing I hope they keep is the live audio between VAR and referee.  Simple, non-judgmental.  Just the facts.

90': Another big save by ORL.  5 minutes stoppage.  Blanco and Valeri are out, hopefully no PSO.

90'+2':  ORL has a clear shot all by himself and... skies it high.  Kyle Smith.  American.  College-trained.  USL.  No wonder.  ORL GK Gallese's OMG reaction was classic.  It's no coincidence that the players mentioned thus far are from outside the USA (Blanco, Mabiala, Pereyra, Nani, Valeri, Zuparik, Gallese).  The exceptions are POR GK Steve Clark, but I only mentioned him because of his gaffe against CIN, and Jorge Villafana, who I only mentioned because he acted like he got hit by a sledgehammer and dove.  OK, McConaughey is American and great and probably would've scored on that clear shot.

90'+4':  ORL GK in the box on the CK.

90'+5': POR with CK and they can kill 30 seconds.

95:03:  Match over!  Great to see POR celebrating like it means something!  POR gets their 2nd trophy to go with MLS Cup '15.  ORL falls short with an uninspired last 30 minutes or so.  With 10 goals scored in the final 3 matches, Kona Coast Sliders takes 7th over Kona Coast Fauci's.  BigRedMessi 2 takes 10th over Super League.

Nani, Nani Part Two (8/6)

HDD BOOT DEVICE NOT FOUND, CA -- The evenly matched semifinal (ORL +150, MIN +175) between Orlando City SC and Minnesota United FC did not account for the Nani factor.  I wore my MIN jersey as I needed them to win to claim 2nd in the pool (it's pride!).  Of course, it didn't work when I wore my LA Galaxy jerseys for their 3 matches.  Rain and lightning delayed the match 79 minutes, the third such major weather delay in the tourney.

While MIN had most of the control and shots, it was Nani who scored twice in the first half in superstar fashion with the first him bullying the defender off a long pass over the top to slide it past the GK in the 36' and the second just scoring a world-class bender outside the box in the 42'.

MIN struggled but finally cut the lead in half in the 83' on a 50/50 offsides that was NOT called, thus it stood (whereas last night it was called and the goal was no good).  MIN had 17 shots and 13 corners but couldn't find the finishing touch (only 3 shots on goal).  ORL added a garbage time goal in the 90'+6' (Nani had the assist) to win 3-1 and advance to their first-ever major final.  ORL only had 7 shots but 4 were on goal.

No one got ORL which means everyone missed both finalists, the first time that has happened in our 36 HWCI NCAA and Soccer pools.   As a result, TarjetaRoja gets to keep 2nd place and The Six Foot Box claims 3rd.  There are 2 tied entries if people care about 7th or 10th place as the total goals scored stands at 7 with one match left to play.

Freeze Frame (8/5)

WATCHING INSANELY FUNNY "BUSTED" ON NETFLIX, CA -- After a rocky start with two teams dropping out due to positive COVID-19 cases and another match postponed with inconclusive results, the MLS is Back tournament has been lucky as there have been no more positive cases in four weeks and the MLS avoided the potential bad weather from Hurricane Isaias as their quarterfinals ended before it hit Florida and these semifinals are occurring after Isaias veered off the east coast and landed north of Florida.

The result was picture perfect sunset as the first semifinal kicked off.  Once again, 1F-Portland Timbers were playing with two days less rest than their opponent but were a slight favorite (+140 vs +180) and held a 6-1-3 record against 2A-Philadelphia Union.

Here is how the pool results shaped up as the match progressed.  TR = TarjetaRoja (2nd, 69 pts), T6FB = The Six Foot Box (3rd, 65 pts), D=K = Duetschland = Koenig (6th, 57 pts).  D=K needs PHI to win and then ORL to beat MIN tomorrow to force a tiebreaker with T6FB.

13': POR opens scoring, the first time PHI has trailed in the tourney (thanks to GK Andre Blake making 28 saves in the previous 5 matches).  D=K needs PHI to win which means at least 2 goals towards the tiebreaker for 3rd..

45'+1':  PK to PHI!  Well, more goals is okay for T6FB who would win the tiebreaker with D=K if PHI&ORL wins with 7 or more in the 2 semifinal and final matches.  First PK for PHI in the tourney and the 5th (!) PK POR has given up.

45'+2': PHI skies the PK over the crossbar.  None of the four semifinalists have made a regulation PK and are a combined 0-for-2 (ORL missed theirs).

70': POR capitalizes again on poor marking and go up 2-0.  If PHI is to win, the total goals would have be at least 4 now. D=K hoping for one of those PHI 3 goals in 15 minute spurts.

85':  PHI coming to alive and they finally score off a saved direct free kick.  3 goals and hope for D=K.

86':  Opportunistic, and PHI ties it... oh, offsides.  VAR looking at it.  Wow, I would say tie goes to the runner.  But because it was called offsides, no overwhelming evidence to overturn it.  Had it been called a goal, there would be no overwhelming evidence to overturn it.  Really, the refs have to let the 50/50s go to VAR.  That would have been 4 goals with PHI with a chance to win in PSO.  D=K can't believe it.  T6FB is looking at the easy way out (PHI loses) to secure at least 3rd place.

End:  A few more tries but PHI comes up short, losing 2-1.  D=K is eliminated and T6FB will finish either 2nd (bumping TR to 3rd) or 3rd, depending if his finalist pick of MIN wins tomorrow.  No one got POR keeping the standings the same.  POR has beaten the 3rd place team in Group A and now the 2nd place team.  Will they get a chance to knock of the 1st place team in Group A (ORL) in the Final?

"Underdogs" Win (8/1)

MOON JELLYFISH IN LONG BEACH, CA -- The teams with less rest manged to drive to comfortable wins as the quarterfinals came to an end.  Minnesota United FC, with an extra days rest, scored a minute and a half apart in the first half but saw their lead cut in half on a PK and it looked like the San Jose Earthquakes may just rally again.  But six minutes later MIN scored and then added another insurance goal to win 4-1.  MIN has relished their underdog status despite being one of the undefeated teams in the tourney and the regular season (which includes the group stage matches).  There was no more Wondo magic (who came in after MIN went up 3-1) or lucky golden shorts magic.

New York City FC, who finished 3rd in Group A, was surprisingly the favorite as I guess POR were playing on two days less rest and barely survived FC Cincinnati the shootout.  And NYC stuck first on a PK but POR tied it right before the half with is always a deflater for the leading team.  The second half saw subs Diego Valeri and Andy Polo score, with the latter with a golazo from outside the box past the outstretched GK (who got his finger tips on it) into the upper right corner.  POR's 3-1 win gives the Western Conference two teams and the Eastern Conference two teams in the Final Four.  There is a 3-day break before the Semis begin Tuesday.

Five picked MIN and that was enough to eliminate Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders (even though they had NYC later) and keep Deutschland = Koenig from taking second.  It also gave The Six Foot Box at least third place... but with an asterisk as he could lose the 3rd place tiebreaker to Deutschland = Koenig if the total goals is less than 7 and PHI and ORL win their semifinal matches.  All 8 possible outcomes are now detailed in our Final Four Possibilities format.  No one got POR meaning TarjetaRoja was the only entry to get 2 of the 4 semifinalists (MIN, PHI) but can't get any more points.  Pool Champion Bobby Cee Racer also got MIN to finish the tourney with 76 points.

So the free USPS Priority Mail mailers came in the mail today (3 "mails" in a phrase!) and I can fit a jersey, a hat and a scarf in there.  And will try to stuff other goodies as well for our winner, Rob C (Bobby Cee Racer).  Second place will get a hat and scarf and third will get a scarf.  Vintage NASL stickers, LA Galaxy programs, bangers, cell phone credit card holders, and other things that are small, I'll toss in since there is no weight limitation.

Can You Hear Me Now? (7/31)

SON EDGED THE GRASS, CA -- Remember a couple days ago when FC Cincinnati's Jurgen Locadia scored a PK against Portland Timber GK Tyler Miller but when it came to the penalty kick shootout (PSO), Miller got his revenge and made the save against Locadia?  Well, here in the mismatch between never-made-the-playoffs Orlando City SC and scored-3.75-goals-per-match Los Angeles Football Club.... but, let's start at the beginning.

ORL, with two more days rest, played even with LAFC and had a breakthrough when they were awarded a PK.  But LAFC's GK Kenneth Vermeer came up big with a diving stretched out save against Nani to keep the match scoreless in the 57'.  And 3 minutes later, LAFC were on the board with Bradley Wright-Philips' fourth goal in 5 matches with LAFC in the 60' (first LAFC of the match).  Host ORL were still fighting and on a CK, ORL headed it for a goal in the 90' which did not make head coach Bob Bradley happy.  The stats were actually heavy in favor of ORL (17 shots to 8, 7 CKs to 4, 52% possession to 48%).  Opta, once again is its usually self, somehow crediting ORL with 5 shots on goal but LAFC with 5 saves.... then the goal was not a shot on goal?  Only Opta as we say in the LA Galaxy Press Box.

In the PSO, LAFC hit the crossbar on their second attempt but made the other four.  Vermeer actually saved ORL's fourth shot but the ball trickled behind him into the goal.  At 4-4, Nani had a chance to win it (got to give it to him going 5th, that's what we want our DPs to do) and, did I mention the CIN-POR story above, Nani got his revenge and nailed the game-winner, 5-4, in the PSO.  Nani ran with a "can you hear me now?" pose and the celebration in both the clubhouse and at ORL's stadium were great.  I do not like the stutter-steps when players take PKs though.  With prior exuberant celebrations by San Jose Earthquakes and Minnesota United FC, and now ORL, this makes it feel like a World Cup atmosphere.  As great as LAFC are, they tend to falter in knockout matches.  They finally beat LA Galaxy last year in the playoffs and then lose to Seattle Sounders FC.  They beat SEA in Round of 16 and then lose to ORL.  And Bradley is not happy.

In the pool, no one picked ORL and 9 lost out on LAFC.  And with 5 matches to go, we have our champion!  Bobby Cee Racer (70 pts) is our first HWCI MLS Pool Champion.  TarjetaRoja (2nd, 63) who had clinched a spot yesterday will finish 2nd or 3rd.  Four others will fight for that last prize spot.  

Tomorrow, 5 picked MIN and 5 picked NYC.  Beyond that, The Six Foot Box (3rd, 59) has MIN in final and Deutschland = Koenig (4th, 57) has PHI in final.  Those two could snatch 2nd away from TarjetaRoja.  With LAFC out, no one will pick the correct champion.  Go Chivas, who had LAFC as his champ, has clinched last place (47).  He, along with BigRedMessy (5th-Tied, 56) and BigRedMessi 2 (10th-T, 53) were eliminated.

3 in 15 Minutes (7/30)

ALL DAY DESIGN REVIEW, CA -- The Philadelphia Union scored three times in 15 minutes of the first half to beat Sporting Kansas City, 3-1, to advance to the semifinal against either New York City FC or Portland Timbers.  Sergio Santos assisted on the first goal and scored twice, his first off a breakway when SKC had a poor passback to midfield.  The second half was actually scoreless though SKC nearly cut the lead to one early in the second half but the free kick went off the left post.  SKC GK Tim Melia, who was brilliant in the PSO last match, had a 429-minute shutout streak before he allowed 3 in 15 minutes.

In the pool, 3 had PHI making the Semis including TarjetaRoja (2nd, 63 pts) who becomes the first to clinch at least a tie for the top 3 prizes and a 12.5% chance to win the pool.  Bobby Cee Racer, who leads the pool by 7, is still in the high 90s at 96.9% or 62 of 64 possible outcomes he would finish in the top 3 and a 75% to win the pool.  BigRedMessy (5th-T, 56) is the only other with a chance to win the pool (12.5%).  Six others have a chance to finish in the top 3.

Double Shootout (7/28)

SON TRYING TO BE A YOUTUBER , CA -- Columbus Crew SC gave up a goal for the first time in 299 minutes but rallied to tie with Gyasi Zardes putting in his rebound off his PK which was saved in the 79'.  In the penalty kick shootout, Minnesota United FC GK Tyler Miller made another save which was enough as MIN hit all five PKs to win the PSO 5-3.  Chase Gasper's GW PK was right down the middle. CLB finishes 9th in the tourney but 1st in the Eastern Conference when regular season hopefully resumes play later this month.

The Portland Timbers were cruising 1-0, scoring in the 67' (snapping FC Cincinnati's 277-shutout streak) after a CIN goal was taken away by VAR for an offsides in the 62', until POR GK Steve Clark made the oddest decision to try to play a CIN kicked long ball with his feet instead of picking it up and had to trip the CIN player encroaching.  Jürgen Locadia stepped up and put converted giving the underdog CIN the tying goal in the 81'.  It didn't stop there for these two players.  In the 86', a CIN shot somehow went through Clark's hand but luckily hit the right post and bounced out.  In the 88' a perfect cross gave Locadia a tap in from six yards away but he shanked it over the bar.  On to the penalty kick shootout, both teams have converted their first two PKs and Locadia is up again to face Clark.  This time, Clark makes the save and redeems himself.  Like MIN, POR didn't miss and their 4th was the winning kick, 4-2.

So Group D and F send their second team into the Quarters (beating both teams from Group E) joining 3 from Group A and SJ from Group B.  There is a day of rest and then three days of quarterfinals.

In the pool, 7 picked MIN into the Quarters which eliminated BigRedMessi 2 and Deutschland = Koening from winning the pool and meant Super League was finally eliminated along with Coronavius_Sucks! from the top 3 prizes.  Bobby Cee Racer and Super League were the only two to pick POR (no one had CIN) as the former now has a huge 11-point lead (70 pts).  Surprisingly, he hasn't clinched the top 3 yet as he (98.4%) and TarjetaRoja (92.2%) are almost there, essentially leaving just one spot up for grabs.  POR's win eliminated The Six Foot Box from the winning the pool and Futbol Fabone Eleven from the top 3.  Interestingly, both of those entries are mine and that leaves 3 with a chance to win the pool and 9 with a chance for the top 3.

Double Rout (7/27)

BOY SCOUT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, CA -- Real Salt Lake tied the match about 21 seconds after kicking off following San Jose Earthquakes' first goal with a great chip over the GK to go into halftime tied at 1.  But SJ came out scoring four times in the second half (matching Los Angeles Football Club's 4 2nd half goals vs LA Galaxy) in dominating a frustrated RSL team, 5-2.  SJ had two PKs (both converted by Magnus Eriksson who also added an assist) and RSL had two players sent off.  SJ's Wondo scored off the bench for a 3rd straight match.

In the heavyweight marque match, LAFC got its revenge on last year's playoff loss whipping Seattle Sounders FC, 4-1 behind Diego Rossi's two goals (7 for the tourney).  LAFC was fast and had control but when Rossi couldn't be a couple of golden chances away, SEA came back to cut LAFC's lead in half at 2-1 with 15 minutes left.  But LAFC scored twice in 7 minutes as Rossi managed to finally put an easy goal away.  There were no cards in the match.

Concacaf announced a new WC22 qualifying format with 30 teams competing for three spots to join the top 5 teams to form the 8-team Final Round (no longer the Hex anymore, I guess the Oct).  The top five are 11-Mexico, 22-USA, 46-Costa Rica, 48-Jamaica, and 62-Honduras, based on the July 16th FIFA rankings.  The 30 teams in the First Round will be broken into six groups of five with 69-El Salvador, 73-Canada, 80-Curacao, 81-Panama, 86-Haiti, and 105-Trinidad and Tobago pre-seeded for each.  The six group winners will pair off in the Second Round and the 3 winners will advance to the Final Round.  With 8 teams competing for 3.5 spots, it will be harder for USA considering how poorly they do on the road.

In the pool, Coronavirus_Sucks! was the only one to get SJ and also was one of 13 to get LAFC.   2 got none.  She moved to 5th (54 pts) in the standings but Bobby Cee Racer still has a six point lead with 62 pts.  SJ's win eliminated Hereforthecommentary (8th-Tied, 51) from the top 3 and yours truly, Futbol Fabone Eleven (8th-T), from 1st.  13 had SEA going to the Quarters as the SEA-LAFC matchup was not expected so soon eliminating Carseroni (14th, 46) from the top 3, leaving 12 still alive and 6 who can win the pool.  Bobby Cee Racer still has a 63.1% chance to win the pool and slightly lower than yesterday 88.1% chance to finish in the top 3.  BigRedMessy (7th, 52) moved up with a 14.1% chance to win 1st and 40.2% chance to finish in the top 3.  He is the only entry left that still has his/her champion with LAFC.  3 had SEA winning it all including our leader.  With most favorites out, the most any entry could get is just 89 points.  Super League, in last with 43 pts, had a 1 in 1024 chance to finish 3rd and now sits at 1 in 512.

Group A Dominates, First PSO (7/26)

HOUSE CLEANING, CA -- New York City FC came out firing and Toronto FC, who were without Ayo Akinola due to injury (5 goals in tourney) were on their heels most of the match.  An early 5' goal set the mood as NYC got revenge on last year's playoff rematch, 3-1.  The last team to get into the Knockout Round is now in the Quarterfinals.  NYC's win also meant that all 3 Group A vs Group C match-ups went to Group A.  Group A has three teams in the Quarters (ORL, PHI, NYC).

Vancouver Whitecaps FC were huge underdogs hovering around 8.5:1 odds as they could only field 18 players (teams can field 23 like Sporting Kansas City did) using a 3rd-string GK with no backup GK (VAN only made one sub in the match).  With SKC coming out dominating the first half, it was a fun match to watch to see how the young GK Thomas Hasal would do and he did well, saving six shots in the first half and faced 22 shots.  He also ran into the goal net camera hitting it with his head (so adorable) and in the second half had a concussion check (remember, VAN has no backup GK) but he passed and kept the match scoreless.  

In the first penalty kick shootout of the Knockout Round (no Extra Time), VAN missed three (2 saved by Tim Melia who also had 5 saves during regulation) while Hasal made one save and nearly had another, but it wasn't enough as SKC goes to the Quarters winning the PSO 3-1.  Although it would have been nice to see VAN win, the next match also wouldn't have been pretty as SKC could've easily just as won 5-0 if they finished better.  SKC ended with 36 shots, a club record.  Hasal ended with 8 saves in regulation.

In the pool, 9 got NYC and no one got SKC, mainly because it was supposed to be ATL-SKC in the Round of 16 but ATL flamed out.  NYC's win eliminated Go Chivas (14th, 43 pts) from winning the pool (leaving 7) and made TomJ (13th, 44) the first entry to be eliminated from the top 3 prizes.  Bobby Cee Racer (58 pts) built his lead back to 6 points with Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders moving into a tie for second.  Bobby Cee Racer still maintains a big advantage of winning the pool (67.9%) and finishing in the top 3 (93.7%).  

Errors Lead to 1-0 Shutouts (7/25)

DROPPED MY 5-YEAR OLD IPAD AIR 2, CA -- With no Extra Time and matches going straight to penalty kick shootout, it's no wonder teams were tentative and both matches had scoreless first halves.  

Host 1A-Orlando City SC scored off a defensive miscue in the 60' to win 1-0 over the 3C-Impact de Montreal to advance to the Quarterfinals.  ORL played like the favorite they were as Thierry Henry's team lacked any urgency most of the match.  The line judge played a role nullifying an ORL goal by waving his flag.  If  the ref did what he was supposed to, in this photo-finish offsides, and waited to waive his flag after the goal or kept his flag down, it could've been reviewed by VAR.  ORL has a tough match ahead of them as they will face the winner of 2B-Seattle and 2F-LAFC, but ORL will have two extra days rest.

2A-Philadelphia Union scored off a NE midfield misplay at midfield in the 63' to win 1-0 over the 2C-New England Revolution to advance to the Quarterfinals.  Both Group A teams beat Group C teams.  1C-Toronto FC should then feel weary of their match against Group A 3A-New York City FC.

NE head coach Bruce Arena was red-carded after the match.  My estimates for Disciplinary Points only include match statistics since subsequent discipline or nullifying cards can come 1-2 days later and it's still not clear (nor any official total) how the DP is recalculated.  For instance, 4A-Inter Miami FC's Juan Agudelo's first yellow card was rescinded two days later, but he got a second card for a red card, so do the 7 points go down to 3, because the red card is still there.  Does any added supplemental mean 8 points so a card 1-2 days later means 8 points instead of 3 if it happened in the match?  Does a fine for simulation mean 8 points?  We probably won't get a tally unless it comes into play as a tiebreaker.

Four had ORL and 8 had PHI in the Quarterfinals.  Six Foot Box and Deutschland = Koenig got both right and are now just 3 points behind leader Bobby Cee Racer (54 pts).   Four got none right but Super League is still in last with 39 pts.

There was a small error in my 32K simulation but in correcting it for the 8K simulation, all entries are still alive.  But just 8 now remain who can win the pool.  Bobby Cee Racer is still the overwhelming favorite to win the pool (65.8%) and prizes (93.8%).  Six Foot Box and Deutschland = Koenig have a 48.2% and 43.9% of winning a prize with the latter with a 16.9% to win the pool.  Super League still has an 18 of 8192 chance of finishing 3rd.

Crazy Endings (7/23)

AT WORK FOR ONE 15-MINUTE MEETING, CA -- An electrifying, pun intended, match as lightning paused the Chicago Fire FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC match for more than 90 minutes in the 63' while scoreless.  When play resumed, VAN came out strong and scored twice in the next 8 minutes to not only prevent a potential crazy tiebreaker between NYC and CHI going to disciplinary points but the 2-0 win was enough to get into the Knockout Round, eliminating CHI and putting NYC's hopes on hold.  Both teams did a complete 180 with CHI starting with a convincing victory over the defending champ Seattle Sounders FC and VAN blowing a 3-1 lead to lose to the San Jose Earthquakes.

CHI pulled within one on a scramble but VAR reversed the goal and called the handball which was harsh.  But apparently, in trying to make it more black and white, any handball leading to a goal is called back.  The one reversal helped send CHI home in dramatic fashion.

But not as dramatic (and not talking about the ref injury and substitution in the 20') as the Houston Dynamo-LA Galaxy match where HOU took the early lead and watched LA blow opportunity after opportunity.  As time wore on, it was obvious LA was not going to score much less get the 3-goal win they needed.  But eventually, luck runs out, and HOU was called for a soft foul in the box (similar to how LAFC got a PK in their El Trafico match, so I guess this was payback?) in the 90' and Cristian Pavon converted sending HOU home with the 1-1 draw.  HOU needed a win and New York City FC needed HOU to draw or lose and that stoppage time penalty sent NYC into the Round of 16 as the 16th and final team.

LA does know that Zlatan does not play for them anymore, right?  At one point LA had 28 crosses to HOU's 6 (ended 34-12).  So LA is unlucky, untimely, and just poor.  HOU's goal where LA GK just stood there on the free kick was embarrassing.  LA blew a late 3-on-1 breakaway which would have given LA a boost in the regular season standings but the perfect Pavon open cross went to no one because LA stopped running.  It's a roller coaster watching this team.

In the first match, LA missed a PK that would've opened scoring and dictated the match.  LA had two goals called offsides by a foot or so in losing to POR 2-1.  In their second match, the soft PK call enabled LAFC to tie it at 1.  LA thought it took a 3-2 lead but Pavon was just offsides.  LAFC soon scored and then added 3 more.  LA had four goals but two were PKs and one was an own goal.  Sigh.  But I still love LA.

Speaking of  Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Football Club continued to score without Carlos Vela.  Two more goals gave them a tourney-high 11, including Bradley Wright-Phillips scoring in his third straight match (taking out camera on wicked strike) with LAFC, but the Portland Timbers pulled the equalizer in the 81' to win Group F with a 2-2 draw.   Unlike Group D, where the loser (runner-up) got two extra days rest, in Group F it was worth playing to win the group to get 2nd-year FC Cincinnati rather than the defending champ Seattle Sounders FC.  So with the draw, LAFC finishes 2nd and will try to get revenge from their playoff loss last year to SEA in the Round of 16.

So to recap:  VAN scores the two needed 2nd half goals after a 90-minute weather delay to edge out CHI for 3rd, LA scores a PK in stoppage to eliminate HOU, and POR scores in the 81' to get the draw that wins Group F.  Whew.

In the pool, Bobby Cee Racer extends his lead to six points with an even 50 so far.  Three are tied for 2nd (44) and four are tie for 5th (43).  Bobby Cee Racer was the only one to pick the LA-HOU tie and Carseroni (9th, 42) and Deutschland = Koenig (5th-T) were the only two to pick the LAFC-POR tie.  No one got to pick the rescheduled CHIvVAN match.

Six teams were awarded points today and all 15 got NYC, 3 got SJ, 14 got SEA, 13 got VAN, 9 got POR, and all 15 got LAFC into the Round of 16.  9 entries got 5 of the 6 while the other six got 4 of out of 6.  Overall, Bobby Cee Racer, Carseroni, and Duetschland = Koeing got 16 (out of a possible 20) points today and six got just 12.

As for the Round of 16, Bobby Cee Racer got 13 of the 16 while twelve got 11.  Super League (15th, 35) got just nine.  Everyone had RBNY and ATL but both failed to qualify.  14 had CHI who failed to qualify.  There were six teams picked to win the tournament and four are eliminated (ATL (5), LA (3), HOU (1), and COL (1)).

14 Teams In (7/22)

HUMP DAY, CA -- Sporting Kansas City secured their spot in the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake.  SKC currently leads Group D and as the 3rd team in, the Colorado Rapids are the fourth team eliminated.  So while COL could win 10-0 tonight and have the best goal differential of all the 3-point teams, they can't quality since they will finish in 4th place.  Group of Death indeed.  

Another 3-point team won't make the Round of 16 as the New York Red Bulls got shut out 2-0 by FC Cincinnati propelling the latter into the Knockout Stage.  CIN, which lost their first match 4-0 to Columbus Crew SC, have beaten ATL and NY in back-to-back matches.  CIN just had 2 shots on goal and benefited on a CK that hit the GK in the face and into the net for an own goal.  NY has 3 points but with a -3 GD, only 3 3rd place spots are open (MIN or RSL have 4 pts) and they will fall behind MTL (-1) (who now advance to the Round of 16) and NYC (-2) who have completed play and would fall behind either VAN (if beats CHI, would have at worst a -3 but better GF) or CHI (already 3 pts) if either team finished 3rd in Group B with 3 points.

After a wild scoring blitz, there have just been 14 goals scored in the last 9 matches (1.56 per match) with 9 teams shut out (before MIN-COL tonight).  The 18 matches before that saw 67 goals (3.72 per match) and just 8 teams shut out.

The last match saw an entertaining 2-2 draw between Minnesota United FC and the already eliminated COL.  MIN finishes 2nd in Group D.  So 14 of the 16 spots are accounted for as even the LA Galaxy control their destiny and a 3-goal win over Houston Dynamo (yes, I realize it's even a stretch for LA to just win) would get them in the Knockout Stage.  Houston gets in with a win.  

Chicago Fire FC gets in with just a draw or even a one-goal loss if LA does not win by 3 goals or more.  Vancouver Whitecaps FC need a 2-goal win (to overtake CHI for 3rd) and LA to not win by more than 3 goals or a 3-goal win to qualify outright.  NYC gets in if LA beats HOU by only one or two goals or LA-HOU draw.  

A 1-0 VAN win over CHI would give both NYC and CHI 3 points, -2 GD, and 2 goals for.  If HOU wins or LA wins by 3 or more, then NYC and CHI would come down to the nowhere published disciplinary points tiebreaker for the final 3rd place spot.  Not including any subsequent discipline or takeaways, NYC has 42 fouls and 7 yellow cards for 63 disciplinary points (42 + 7*3).  CHI in two matches has 33 fouls and 6 yellow cards for 51 DPs (33 + 6*3).  The less DPs wins tie tiebreaker so CHI has a small 12 point cushion.  Sheesh.  Luckily CHIvVAN play first so a lot of this hopefully goes away.  But watch VAN win 1-0.

Oh, boy.  Welcome the 7th (of 28) FC City or City FC team. 9th if you include City SC.  Geez, Charlotte FC.  We waited weeks for this?  Nothing creative or exciting?  I do love the colors and the font and like the added "Minted" in the crest.  I don't know why they put a slightly modified Microsoft Clipart of a crown the middle.  At least the four spires mean something but originality is not CLTFC's strongsuit.

As for the pool, a whopping 21 points were up for grabs with three matches and six teams that qualified from completed Groups D and E plus the 3rd place team from completed Group C.  8 got SKC's win, 2 CIN, and 4 picked the MIN-COL tie.  Two went 2-1 and three went 0-3.  For the Round of 16 teams, 13 got SKC, 9 MIN, 11 RSL, 10 CLB, 3 CIN, and 9 MTL (3rd place C).  10 got 4 of the 6 teams and Super League got just two of 6.  Overall, BigRedMessy got 14 points while Super League got just 7.  8 others got 13 points.  Bobby Cee Racer is now alone at top with 34 points and has the most R16 teams thus far (8 of 10).  Super League is last with 23 points and has the fewest R16 teams (5).

Montreal Sends 3 Teams In But Not Themselves (Yet) (7/21)

PAINTING THE PLAY STRUCTURE, CA -- Toronto FC and the New England Revolution played to the 3rd scoreless draw of the tournament sending both to the Round of 16.  However, it will be the what-ifs that could haunt either team as TOR edges NE for the tiebreaker (either 1st/2nd or 2nd/3rd depending on DC's match later).  One TOR PK was correctly taken away by VAR as the foul was just outside the box but each team had typical normally penalty that wasn't called.  An apparent takedown by TOR was not called a penalty for NE in the 80' and an apparent TOR handball wasn't called in the 89'.  If in the first 15 minutes, most likely they are both called a foul.

The collapse of Atlanta United FC is complete failing to score in any of their three matches in their 3rd straight 1-0 defeat, this time to Group E winner Columbus Crew SC.  CLB recorded their third straight shutout with three different lineups.

D.C. United couldn't rally for a third time and fell 1-0 to Impact de Montreal, eliminating DC from the Knockout Round.  MTL keeps their hopes alive and vaults ahead of NYC who also have 3 points in 3rd place.  By the virtue of two completed groups having 3rd place teams with just 3 points, it sends all the teams with 4 points into the Round of 16:  Real Salt Lake and Minnesota United FC in Group D and LAFC in Group F.  No one gets points for these last three until Groups D and F are complete.

VAN's GK which got his glove stomped on against SEA is out with a fractured hand.  Ouch.

And LA will get a NWSL team in 2022.  With Natalie Portman ("Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace") and Mia Hamm as two of many owners (Hamm is also an owner of LAFC, which is notably absent from this announcement), we'll see if Angel City sticks as the team name.  The NWSL has some weird names and I couldn't figure out for the longest time what OL Reign was... Olympia?  It's for Olympique Lyonnais Group which bought the Tacoma team.  Well, my guess of Olympia was close then.

In the pool, no one got the TOR-NE tie, two got CLB (Deutschland = Koenig and Coronovirus_Sucks!), and 7 got MTL right.  Deutschland = Koenig got 2 of the 3 matches correct and 6 got none.  All 15 got TOR into the Round of 16 and 5 got NE.  All 15 lost ATL but more importantly 5 lost their champion and 4 more lost them in the Final.  By far the biggest disappointment, so the LA Galaxy can only be at worst the 2nd biggest disappointment of the tourney.  While still early, LA at least needs to win by 4 to top both MTL and NYC for 3rd place contenders (by 3 to top just NYC but that's cutting it close).  So LA will have their destiny in their hands when they play on Thursday.

OK, back to the pool.  Bobby Cee Racer and Go Chivas picked up 7 points to move into a tie for first with 21 points.  TomJ (3rd-Tied, 19) and Hereforthecommentary (5th, 18) also picked up 7 points.  Six picked up just 3 points on the day.

Group A is Complete (7/20)

STARGAZING SATURN, CA -- All 24 teams were alive before today but now we have our first elimination.  New York City FC's 1-0 win kept their hopes alive and killed Inter Miami CF, who have lost their first five matches as a franchise, a record.  Each team committed 21 fouls (42 for the match).  Probably the most interesting thing is an ant crawling on the camera at kickoff juxtaposed against the fake virtual Adidas logo.  NYC has 3 points and a -2 GD and will need help to become one of the four best 3rd place teams.

Host Orlando City SC score two minutes after the Philadelphia Union opened scoring getting a 1-1 draw that made them the Group A winners.  Both will play July 25.  

Ugh... Charlotte FC is still one of the possible names.  Please, no more City FCs or FC Citys!  There is hope as a possible early rendition has a crown above the stadium, so maybe Charlotte Crown FC will win.  But I told you Monarchs won't be it.  The announcement is two days away and is exciting nonetheless.

Now the St. Louis expansion club (which now will play in 2023 instead of 2022) will announce their name on Aug 13.  Stars is popular but like Monarchs, it likely won't be it.  I do hope they spell out "Saint" in their name though.  I would compromise and accept The Lou FC being the name.  Kind of cool sounding and does not remind me of a British toilet.  Being the heartbeat of American soccer, I wouldn't be opposed to SC, just not FC (which is already the name of the USL Championship club).

Back to the pool, no one got a chance to pick these two re-scheduled matches but since Group A is done, we can now award 3 points for the 11 who picked PHI and 9 who picked ORL.  5 got both teams while the other 10 got just one.  So no one will be shut out!  The six points for PHI & ORL propel Six Foot Box to the top of the standings with 15 points.  Bobby Cee Racer and Go Chivas move up to a tie for 2nd with 14 points.  5 won't get any points for picking MIA into the Round of 16.  BigRedMessy is last with 8 pts.

Easy Shutouts (7/19)

SLEEPING IN SUNDAY, CA -- The San Jose Earthquakes became the 5th team to qualify for the Knockout Round and the first to clinch the win their group in a 2-0 shutout of Chicago Fire FC.  The Group B winners will face the 3rd place team from either Groups A, C, or D.

Seattle Sounders FC could have been the first team eliminated but put on a big performance beating Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-0 to move into second with 4 points.  While MLS won't say it (but FOX will), SEA qualifies for the Round of 16 as Group A can only have a 3rd place team with 3 points and a tie in Group E between CIN and RBNY would mean SEA has the tiebreaker with a +2 GD over both CIN (-3) and RBNY (-1).  So at worst, SEA is the 4th-best 3rd place team and at best the Group B runner-up.  VAN, who were already severely short-handed, even lost their GK when a SEA player accidentally stepped on his glove -- but the match was already 3-0 so the backup (actually, the 3rd string) did well.

The CHIvSJ was a rescheduled match so no one picked it.  11 got SEA right.  Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders still lead with 10 points (of 22 possible picked matches).  BigRedMessy and Deutschland = Koenig are last with 5 points.  Starting tomorrow when Group A closes shop, entries will be awarded 3 points per Group A team making the Round of 16 (right now, ORL and PHI).  Group C closes Tuesday, Groups D and E close Wednesday, and Groups B and F close Thursday.  As 3rd place teams qualify, entries will get the 3 points that day.

Hearing Rob Stone say "Goonies Never Die" (referring to SJ) reminds me of the recent "Goonies" reunion (all 6 of Josh Gad's Reunited Apart reunions are a must-watch) where the cast said they get the "Goonies Never Die" from fans and they have politely remind them Goonies don't die.  They said "Goonies never SAY die".  Too funny as I'm sure I've misquoted that as well!

One Way Traffic (7/18)

FORMING NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, CA -- The Portland Timbers clinched a spot into the Round of 16 with a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.  POR becomes the 4th team to make the Knockout stage and leads Group F. 

In the 7th El Traffico, the LA Galaxy got news that Javier Hernandez won't be in the lineup due a calf injury which mean both he and Jonathan Dos Santos were out.  Despite being huge underdogs, LA managed to score twice, one on an own goal and one on a retaken penalty (when LAFC GK went off his line too early to make the save - but no yellow card like in the Women's World Cup, just a retake).  With a 2-1 lead heading into halftime, the wheels began to fall apart.  Diego Rossi scored his 2nd right before the halftime whistle off a LA GK save.  LA tried again and in the second half, Carlos Pavon scored but he was maybe a half step offsides and six minutes later LAFC took the lead for good.  For good measure, Rossi scored twice more (to finish with a tourney high 4 goals and 1 assist) to embarrass their neighbors, 6-2.  This was the second straight 8-goal El Traffico, both won by LAFC who now have tied the series at 2-2-3.  40 goals in 7 matches (5.7 goals per match) and this was the first without Zlatan.

LAFC is virtually in the Knockout round with 4 pts and a +4 goal differential, almost definitely will be the top 2 or top 4 3rd place finishers while LA is virtually out with 0 points and a tourney worst goal differential of -5.  LA would have to beat HOU by 2 to take 3rd place and then hope 3 points is enough.

While teams that have qualified for the Knockout round could rest players for their last group match, don't forget these group matches do count in the regular season standings so a loss would not be acceptable.

11 got POR and 8 got LAFC.  5 went 2-0 while Deutschland = Koenig went 0-2.  The top 2 remain the same and four points separate first and last. 

Unfortunate Deflection (7/17)

LIFTING MY COUSINS IN THE AIR, MONTEREY PARK, CA -- For the first time, MLS had two matches being played at the same time and for the night, the three matches only produced one first half goal.  In the craziest match featuring winless teams Colorado Rapids and Sporting Kansas City, VAR intervened three times, sparing COL one red card in 43', giving COL one red card in the 58' (denial of scoring opportunity), and calling a harsh inadvertent handball on COL that led to a SKC PK that they converted for a 2-1 lead.  The bad luck with VAR culminated with another COL red card for dissent in the 73'.  But COL managed to tie it at 2 in the 84' on a great finish.  This was the 3rd goal scored by a team in the tourney down 2 men (2 by D.C. United).  But in the first minute of stoppage time (the ref flashed 12' which is probably the most I've ever seen), a long shot by SKC's Graham Zusi deflected off a COL player and went just over the head of the GK into the net for the eventual game-winner (3-2).

D.C. United and New England Revolution played to a 1-1 tie thanks to NE badly misplaying a ball back to the GK which Federico Higuaín happily put in for DC.  NE and TOR sit atop Group C with 4 pts with DC in third with two.

Real Salt Lake and Minnesota United FC played to the tourney's second 0-0 draw putting both teams at 4 pts in Group D.

4 picked a TIE between DC and NE while 9 got barely got SKC correct.  Coronavirus_Sucks! was the only one to get the RSL-MIN tie correct.  Deutschland = Koenig (moved up to a tie for 7th) and BigRedMessi 2 (now in a 4-way tie for last with 4 pts) went 2-1 while four went 0-3.  Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders remain tied for first with 8 pts.

14 Seconds (7/16)

PHYSICALLY AT WORK, CA -- So LAFC, without Carlos Vela, can still score 3 goals but Atlanta United FC without Josef Martinez has been shutout twice in a row after scoring in 27 straight matches (including playoffs) and are on a 215 minute scoreless streak.  FC Cincinnati snapped a 7-match winless streak to pull off the huge 1-0 upset thanks to ATL picking up a red card in the 26' and a VAR reversal of an ATL PK opportunity in first half stoppage.  ATL picked up a second red card in the 90'+10' aided by VAR in a match that went to the 90'+13' (102:41 - 10 min was initially announced).  ATL is the first team to be shut out in 8 matches (COL on 7/12).

Toronto FC needed 14 seconds to seize back the lead that they kept after Impact de Montreal tied it with a PK at 2-2 in the first half.  Alejandro Pozuelo assisted on all 3 TOR first half goals.  The second half saw Ayo Akinola get his hat trick after muscling a defender off the ball (pretty funny) and then chipping it over the GK before MTL pulled one back after their second PK in stoppage time.  The 4-3 win put TOR on top of Group C.  Akinola leads the tourney with 5 goals and Pozuelo leads with 5 assists.  TOR extended their regular season unbeaten string to 14 matches (6-0-8).

Even with Columbus Crew SC's GK injured for the whole 10+ minutes of stoppage time, the New York Red Bulls still couldn't muster a shot on goal and became the first team in the tourney to do so.  CLB only had 3 shots on goal themselves but scored on two of them for a 2-0 win to clinch a spot in the Round of 16 and lead Group E with 6 points.   CLB may rest starters which will help ATL but if CIN and RBNY tie, then it doesn't matter what ATL does.  ATLvCLB plays first with CINvNY playing the next day.  

Super League was the only one to pick CIN.  Ten got TOR right.  Six got CLB (in one of closest matches to pick with 7 picking NY).  TarjetaRoja (moving from a tie for 12th to a tie for 8th (4 pts)), Coronavirus_Sucks!, and Super League (the latter two going from 6th-T to 5th-T (5 pts)) went 2-1 for the day.  Deutschland = Koenig (fell from 6th-T to 12th-T (3 pts)) went 0-3. But the top 4 didn't change.

Crazy Comeback (7/15)

PLAYING TENNIS IN OUR CUL-DE-SAC, CA -- Vancouver Whitecaps FC were without three key scoring threats so goals were going to be hard to come by but VAN managed to score three thanks to defender Ali Adman's great finish, one own goal off a long counter, and capitalizing a severe misplay by San Jose Earthquakes' GK.  VAN actually had just two shots on goal but 3 goals!  But their 2-0 and 3-1 leads did not last as SJ made four offensive subs in the 63' which led to sub and MLS leading scorer Chris Wondolowski (still pains me how he could've lifted USA to beat Belgium) netting one in the 72', Oswaldo Alanis scoring in the 81', and sub Shea Salinas scoring 8 minutes into stoppage time for the game-winner (4-3).  The game actually went almost to the 102' (100:52).

SJ dominated the match outshooting VAN 30-7 with 11 shots on target, earning 22 corner kicks, and having 67.8% possession.  I do not know how it's possible but SJ had 11 shots on goal forcing 8 saves.  8 saves + 4 goals should be 12 shots on target.  New math, I guess.  But SJ's first goal was a beauty with Andres Rios redirecting a hard cross with his backheel that found the far corner of the net.

So SJ sits atop Group B with 4 points over CHI (3 pts) but CHI has only played one match.  Defending champ SEA would've benefited with a tie but the road just got a little tougher (either way it was a must-win in their last match).

In the pool, four picked SJ (the odds before the match trended heavily in SJ's favor with VAN at -360) which leaves Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders back alone on top with 6 points. This has been a difficult pool as there have only been three ties and the leaders were correct on just 6 of  13 matches.  BigRedMessi 2 is still last with one point.

The funniest thing about the TV broadcasts is watching a Pando* shot go high above the crossbar and through the virtual jumbo-tron "behind" the goal. 

*-Named after Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez, this LA Galaxy player in 2005 had 62 shots but only one goal in the regular season-- on a PK that deflected off the GK into the net.  However, he scored the GW goal in overtime against New England to win the Galaxy their 2nd MLS title.  It was my infamous yell while in the bathroom after regulation (watching with Galaxy Stats Crewat a restaurant) that "Pando will get the game-winner!".  And it came true.

Host, Union, and Fire (7/14)

WFH, CA -- SEA let a draw slip away as Chicago Fire FC made an impressive debut with a 2-1 win over the defending MLS champs.  Robert Beric had a sweet backheel dribble behind his back to get one-and-one with the GK which he buried to break the scoreless match.  SEA tied in the 77' but a sweet back post run by Mauricio Pineda gave CHI the lead in the 84'.  CHI, which had been moved from Group A to Group B to replace DAL when NSH dropped out (leaving Group A with 5 teams), is in pole position for Group B with two matches left.

Host ORL got off to a strong start with a brace from Chris Mueller in the first 10 minutes en route to a 3-1 win over NYC to move closer to the Knockout stage.  The ref actually held up 10 minutes of stoppage time in the second half which just allowed NYC to run up the shots on ORL, finishing with a tourney high 26 shots.

PHI scored in the 5' and in the second half to outlast expansion MIA, 2-1, to secure themselves and ORL into the knockout round.  PHI and ORL will play each other to determine the Group A winner.

Since the opponents changed, the CHIvSEA and PHIvMIA results do not count in the pool standings.  Just 4 got ORL right putting Six Foot Box and TomJ into a tie for first with Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders with 5 pts.  BigRedMessi 2 is still in last with one lone point.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC finally gets to play tomorrow!  And they are huge underdogs to SJ (+300) but not a bad as CIN to ATL (+475) and LA to LAFC (+325).  It's the lone match of the day.