High Stakes Matches

Last Saturday saw two of the more important matches on the annual calendar - the Champions League final and the Championship Division playoff final.  Unfortunately, IMHO, neither was all that exciting despite the high stakes involved.  A couple of Union matches - one a complete stinker, the other not so bad - added a little to the agenda but it was still an underwhelming week.


Three Misses

The Fox guys were rambling on about Ronaldo's "iconic abs" after he made the final spot kick that completed Real Madrid's "win" over Atletico Madrid.  Never mind that he was mostly absent during the match itself.  No, for me the match turned on three misses.  First, the AR missed what looked like a pretty clear offside call on Real Madrid's goal.  Then there was Griezmann's missed PK.  And finally, Juanfran missed his kick from the spot.  Not that any one of these actors should be singled out for blame but clearly these were important events.  For some reason, even as the match ran into added extra time and then kicks from the spot, it never really grabbed me.  My pick for the performance of the match - referee Mark Clattenburg for his ability to separate the bs (yeah I'm looking at you Pepe) from the true fouls.

And really, doesn't soccer need to come up with another way to resolve draws in championship matches.  My proposed fix to throw into the pile?  Keep playing but allow additional substitutes.


A $200 Million Goal

Also tense but curiously underwhelming was the Championship Division playoff final between Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday Saturday.  Hull City were clearly the better attacking side but Sheffield defending was resolute.  Then in the 70th minute, Mohamed Diame provided a shining moment of quality.  This is what $200 million goal looks like.  I didn't see Sheffield having the ability to mount an attack and the last minutes weren't as frantic as you might have expected.  So Hull City are back in the EPL after just a one year absence and will benefit from all the new TV money.


Four More Points

The Union picked up an unlikely draw in Colorado and a more deserved win over Columbus back home.  In Colorado, they looked awful and were totally outplayed.  If not for the frame of the goal, they would have already been well behind by the time the Rapids actually took the lead in the 87th minute.  I was ready to accept defeat as it would have been a totally fair result.  Then scoring sensation Brian Carroll volleyed a ball past former Union keeper Zac MacMath in the 92nd minute and the Union had absolutely stolen a point.

Wednesday's match versus Columbus saw the Union return to the form that has served them well this year - possession and stringing together passes through the midfield.  Sure they benefited from two deflections (shots that were going to be on target though possibly/likely saveable) and the totally unnecessary sending off of former Union striker Conor Casey.  And the defense wasn't as tight as we'd like but from this homer's perspective, the three points were deserved. Most importantly, they did not cough up the lead after going up a man up so this is progress.

Ilsinho provided possession and an assist late in win over Columbus -  PSP photographer Daniel Gajdamowicz 

So the Union sit atop the East as we head into the Copa break.  There's much to be happy about.  I'm not thrilled with our team speed and our fitness is a bit suspect but many things are working.  Goals are coming from multiple players, so we don't have to rely on CJ Sapong (Sponge as Mackenzie calls him), though he's doing just fine thank you.  I had been thinking Pontius had been kind of quiet but he chips in with a goal and an assist against Columbus.  Bottom line - it's been fun to follow this team for a change.


Soccer's Version of The Onion

Check out this article from the latest edition of Soccer on Sunday.  The money quote from Jose Mourinho as he takes over at Man United:

“Job one, fumigate office,” Mourinho told Soccer on Sunday. “It smells of old, stale, Dutch crotch.

Alrighty then.  That's the kind of irreverence we like here at BFS.  Or about how this story on Leicester's transfer bid for Ronaldo which includes the following quote from the pec'ed one::

“To be wanted by the champions is flattering,” the galactico told Soccer on Sunday. “It’s no secret that I wish to finish my career freezing my ass off in England. I love Manchester UTD, but unfortunately they are a big steaming pile of donkey shite at the minute. Leicester are currently the only team befitting my talent and supernatural beauty.”

Oh yeah, definitely bookmarking that page...


Copa Copa Copa

They own the calendar for the next week.  Just to put a finer point on my cynical remarks from last week, the Copa America is a quadrennial tournament last played in 2015.  But it's only one year later you point out.  Somebody noticed that the tournament started in 1916.  So the powers that be said, let's do a special version to celebrate 100 years, expand the format, and best of all, hold it in the United States so we can make lots of money.  As the Inquirer said today, "So [the various federations] hatched a plan."

Of course, none of that will get in the way of us watching as much as we can.  Thing get underway on Friday, with the US taking on Colombia (9:30 Fox Sports 1).  The other group stage matches for the USMNT are 6/7 vs Costa Rica and 6/11 vs Paraguay.  Some of the groups don't look anywhere near as competitive as the US group but it could be I just don't know the teams.  Other group stage matches I'd be inclined to check out include Argentina vs Chile (Monday at 10 pm on FS1), Mexico vs Jamaica (6/9 at 10 pm on FS1) and Colombia vs Costa Rica (6/11 at 9 pm on FS2).

Next week - European Championships preview.