Going Dutch?

No explanation needed
AP Photo - Allessandro Tarantino

The USWNT had no intention of splitting the WC trophy with the Netherlands.  Though not overwhelming, in the end the margin of victory was clear.   The scoreless first half was pretty entertaining stuff, with the US often testing keeper Sari van Veenendaal (woman of the match?) but the Dutch handling the pressure well and occasionally suggesting they might score on the counter.  The deadlock was broken when Dutch defender Stefanie van der Gragt made contact with a high boot in the box; Rapinoe did not miss.  The call was fair but was leaving everybody less than thrilled that it would be the deciding goal.  Thankfully, break out star of the tournament Rose Lavelle solved that for us with a brilliant run and shot from the top of the box (from which you never score) - an easy choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.

At times they didn't look great but beating France, England, and the Netherlands in consecutive matches on European soil says plenty.  Plus they managed to piss off multiple conservative pundits while doing so.  I don't mean to wade into that mess too much except to say I can find hundreds and hundreds of videos of male strikers preening way worse than anything Rapinoe did so be consistent or shut up.


No Cup for USMNT

The US men did not fare quite so well in Chicago.  They played well enough but came up short 0-1 to Mexico.  Fair to say that the match was at least equal and maybe you could argue the US should have outscored Mexico.  I won't say I read every post game article but what I heard from the team afterwards was encouraging - clear-eyed assessment acknowledging the good and the bad.  The best thing is that the team is headed in the right direction; even that wasn't clear from the dreadful pre-Gold Cup friendlies.  But the team doesn't seem anywhere deep enough to be a clear cut WC qualifier, let alone a player.


The Wooten Clan
musical accompaniment Wu Tang Clan (explicit language but you knew that)

Saturday night's match in Salt Lake City should be the debut of the Union's new acquisition - striker Andrew Wooten  (pronounced VOO-ten)  He comes to us from the second division of the Bundesliga, where he was the fourth leading scorer last year.  Given that finishing is the Union's biggest weakness, the deal makes sense.  We've been down this road before.  Hard to know exactly what to expect bringing in players from the second tier of European football.  We don't need him to be Bradley Wright-Phillips but we do hope he's not the second coming of Jay Simpson.

Przybylko (center) and others celebrate
YONG KIM / Inquirer STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Speaking of inability to finish, the Union were all over Orlando in the first half Sunday (game was moved from Saturday night due to weather) but only put one in the net.  Two, ahem, lightning strikes from Orlando at 67 and 81 minutes made those failures look really costly.  Fortunately our phavorette non-phonetically spelled hero, shuh-BILL-koh came through with a lovely strike in the 90th minute to rescue a draw.  The set up was pretty, and not just because it involved youthful subs Anthony Fontana and Matt Real - the runner up YouTubeableMoment; probably would have won most other weeks.

The late tally to grab a point almost obscures the fact that this was really two dropped points.  Four points from a home-and-home series over four days doesn't sound awful except when you already had the three away points, were sitting on a 1-0 lead, and were pushing the other side all over the field.  The good news is that the rest of the league seems to be our friend right now.  NYCFC lost - at home no less - to Portland.  Montreal and Columbus also lost.  And, in a match I wish I had watched live, Atlanta and Red Bulls played to a 3-3 draw in front of 68,077 fans.  The match featured four goals from the 60th minute on and two in stoppage time.

Second Shoe About to Drop

Stories are flying that Steve Bruce is about to be appointed as Newcastle's next manager.  In fact, by the time you read this, the shoe may have hit the floor.  Shoot me now.  Just shoot me now.   By my count he's taken teams up four times (Birmingham twice and Hull twice) but also been relegated twice (Birmingham and Hull).  See the up-down-up pattern there?  The guy has made a career of managing teams that live on the edge of the Premier League.  Sound like any club we know?  He is the perfect fit for Mike Ashley's unambitious ownership.  Except - and this is the part I really don't get - Bruce has left a few clubs based on frustration over transfer policy.  Why the eff would he come to Newcastle?

The third shoe - the news that the club will be remaining in Ashley's hands - should drop any day now.

Then there's this.  With the departure of Perez and the end of Rondon's loan from West Brom, the leading returning scorer for Newcastle is center back Fabian Schar, who had four goals last season.  But apparently Everton is keen on stealing him away.  Perfect.

Still not bitter...


Late Night

Jeff K says these are Union players on their way to SLC;
I recognize Fabinho but not sure about others.

Mild withdrawal now that the World Cup and Gold Cup are over.  Plus fears that the upcoming Newcastle season will be a disaster.  Fortunately, we wake up in July with the Union in first place.  They face Real Salt Lake at 10 pm on Saturday night.  BFS Ski Resort advisor Jeff K sends the pictures at left and below, noting that he is on the same flight as the Union to Salt Lake City.

Okay, that's definitely Fabian showing off
during the delay