MLS Newsstand – June 7, 2018

MLS Newsstand – June 7, 2018

MLS Articles

Yoshi Yotun, Andy Polo Peru World Cup call-ups a big deal for MLS

ESPN – June 6, 2018

Every time a World Cup rolls around, it is interesting to see how much MLS is represented on the world’s biggest stage. In doing so, it’s no surprise to see that the CONCACAF nations, even with the United States men’s national team not competing in Russia, will once again make up the majority of MLS player representation at the World Cup beginning later this month.

This part is typical. What is rare, however, is seeing MLS players from CONMEBOL nations in the 32-team tournament.

Dating to 1998, just four MLS players have ever been part of a final 23-man CONMEBOL team’s roster. It started with NY/NJ MetroStars midfielder Marcelo Vega (Chile) and Miami Fusion midfielder Carlos Valderrama (Colombia) at France ’98 and didn’t happen again until Brazil 2014, when Chivas USA forward Oswaldo Minda and Toronto FC goalkeeper Julio Cesar played for Ecuador and Brazil, respectively.

That brings us to Russia 2018, where for the first time a CONMEBOL team will boast two MLS players in its squad, as Peru boss Ricardo Gareca has announced that Orlando City midfielder Yoshimar Yotun and Portland Timbers midfielder Andy Polo will be making the trip to Russia.

MLS is a league that has enjoyed a heavy influx of South American players of late, with 30 joining the league over the winter, bringing the total to 79 at season’s start. In that respect, there is a feeling that the World Cup calls for Yotun and Polo are the first major milestone for the league in this era, one that’s heavily influenced by South American talent. Most important for the league, though, is that these two players stand to play big roles in Russia.

Yotun’s value to Peru is well known. Deployed in a central role by Gareca, Yotun is a midfield anchor and produced a number of brilliant performances in the 18-round, heavyweight fight that is CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. The peak was Peru’s 0-0 draw vs. Argentina last October in Buenos Aires, when he helped stifle Lionel Messi and the Albiceleste attack.

Yotun brings the same work rate to Orlando’s midfield while adding a bit more in attack for head coach Jason Kreis — especially from the penalty spot, where he is a cool two-for-two this season. Yotun arrived in Orlando only last season and fit into Kreis’ system like a glove, adjusting to the league “quickly, if not quicker than any person I’ve ever coached,” Kreis noted following April’s 3-2 win over San Jose.

It’s the type of experience that could lay the groundwork for more players from Peru’s golden generation to head to MLS.

“Being here in MLS has been the best decision I have made,” Yotun said via a club interview. “The league is very good and very intense, you run a lot, you play a lot, the intensity has risen. Orlando has helped me greatly.”

Unlike the 20 starts Yotun has accumulated in Orlando over the past two seasons, Polo has just six starts in Portland, but it’s no coincidence that the Timbers’ uptick in results this spring coincided with Polo’s return to the lineup, as Portland has won the past four games in which he has started.

Polo also has the luxury of playing the same position for both club and country — the left side of midfield — and that is bearing fruit for the Timbers. Portland fans are just now starting to see what Polo can bring to the table, the most notable examples being the 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on May 13, then his finest outing of the season six days later in a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles FC, in which the Morelia loanee tirelessly outdueled his LAFC players counterparts.

Peru fans saw the same bite in seven World Cup qualifiers and in Peru’s memorable 1-0 win over Brazil in the 2016 Copa America Centenario.

While he has yet to show his offensive punch in Portland, the 23-year-old Polo is a reliable scorer in a Peru shirt, having scored in official matches at the Under-15, U17 and U20 levels. With a goal in the World Cup, he could become the first Peru player to score in all four categories.

While it might not register as much as a Zlatan Ibrahimovic signing, there is a long-term significance in the Peru calls for Yotun and Polo, with the rest of CONMEBOL realizing that a path to a World Cup dream can be fulfilled in MLS.

Toronto FC looks to extend domination of Union

FOX Sports – June 6, 2018

With defending MLS Cup champions Toronto FC still trying to get their season on track, a journey to face the Philadelphia Union on Friday night in Chester, Pa., may be a welcome prospect.

Toronto (3-7-2) is unbeaten with a 6-0-2 record in its last eight league meetings against Philadelphia (5-6-3), a stretch that includes a 3-0 victory in Toronto just over a month ago.

“I think it’s taking each game as it is and trying to execute on the day,” said Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney. “There’s no real specific reason. I think they’re a good team, but I think we match up pretty well in terms of the guys we have.”

Italian playmaker Sebastian Giovinco has scored six goals and added two assists in seven matches against Philadelphia, including one of each in that win in May.

But instead of proving an early turning point in the Reds’ season, that decisive victory lingers as a rare reminder of the dominance Toronto was capable of in 2017.

An injury-plagued TFC side has gone 1-3-1 since, and last weekend gave back a three-goal lead in a 3-3 draw at Columbus Crew SC.

Forward Jozy Altidore and defenders Drew Moor and Chris Mavinga are among those who remain injured and unavailable this week.

“Nothing is just as simple as missing guys,” Vanney said. “I think collectively our mentality to protect our box and not allow teams to get into our box has to be a little stronger. And that’s how we defend from front to back.”

Meanwhile, Philadelphia was unbeaten in four matches before a bizarre 3-1 loss at Atlanta in which two ejections saw the Union quickly reduced to just nine men.

Midfielders Haris Medunjanin and Alejandro Bedoya were ejected, and they’ll have to serve suspensions in Friday’s game against Toronto.

However, midfielder Borek Dockal believes Philadelphia will still be able to create opportunities, in part because of how they were able to respond and keep last weekend’s match respectable

“If we are going to play like we’ve played the last couple of games, we’re definitely going to create some chances,” said Dockal, who has two goals and five assists in his last five matches. “And hopefully I’m going to come to some chances also.”

The question is whether Philadelphia can stifle Giovinco on the other end.

“Giovinco is a great player, smart,” said Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake. “We just have to try to limit him as much as possible, try to stop his source of getting the ball, and see how much we can (force) him to play it back, which I think is going to be very difficult. But I think it’s a task, and we’re up for it.”

Common goal: how soccer helped heal the area at the centre of the LA riots

The Guardian– June 6, 2018

South Los Angeles is a 51 sq m grille of concrete and asphalt, spread flat below the sparkle of Hollywood and the towers of downtown. Early city leaders wrote racist covenants forcing black people and Latino immigrants into the blocks of south LA – not-so-subtly barricading them from the opulence beyond.

Twice in the last 52 years, south LA has exploded into days of fiery riots following incidents of police brutality. The most recent, in 1992, erupted at the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues, roughly the area’s geographic centre, after the police beating of an unarmed man, Rodney King, was captured on video. The riots lasted for nearly a week, leading to 12,000 arrests and exposing the world to LA’s complex and violent tangle of gangs, who still patrol much of the area today.

Less than two miles from this fateful intersection sits the Algin Sutton Recreation Center. From the air, it is like a tiny, almost imperceptible square of green in south LA’s uniform grey. For years, Algin Sutton was a magnet for gangs. According to police maps, seven gangs – including LA’s largest, the 18th Street gang – claim the area as their own. The park’s main feature, a giant field ostensibly set up for soccer, was a pit of dirt, gravel and broken glass.

“Imagine a boat with a hole in it, that’s what that park was – a big hole in the boat,” says George Weaver, the program director at Brotherhood Crusade, an organisation dedicated to helping the underserved in south LA. “Someone had to figure out how to fix the [park’s] community so the community could thrive.”

Weaver, however, did not think he was the one to fix it. It was 2012, and he and Ed Foster Simeon, head of the US Soccer Foundation (USSF), were casting about for a place to test an unusual hypothesis: could soccer stabilise a volatile neighbourhood?

Algin Sutton, with its threadbare pitch and violent history, seemed too big a risk. Its empty baseball field and basketball court, built by well-meaning local professional teams, stood as broken reminders of previous attempts at revival.

Then a boy appeared. He was no more than 10 or 12, Foster Simeon recalls, and approached them.

“Are you here to do something about the soccer field?” Weaver remembers the boy asking. “We’ve been waiting.”

Foster Simeon and Weaver looked at each other they knew they had found their place.

For the next year, the pair worked to build that soccer field. They got some help: the USSF, along with the Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy, contributed $200,000 (£149,000); Brotherhood Crusade came up with another $600,000. By 2014, a full-size turf field had been constructed, along with metal bleachers, a fence and rows of stadium lights.

But instead of simply laying turf and slapping a sign on the pole, they also implemented the USSF’s youth soccer curriculum, called Soccer for Success. A free, two-hour after-school program, it involves coaches teaching skills and mentoring children in small groups.

They hired and trained coaches, and bought uniforms and workout equipment. Brotherhood Crusade opened a summer school, offered tutorial services for classwork, ran classes about nutrition and even provided free healthcare for their families through the nearby St John’s Hospital.

“Some people just want to build a soccer field,” Weaver says. “What we are trying to do is build more than a soccer field. We are trying to build a community.”

On the day of the opening, something strange happened: the gangs stayed away. It was as if the new soccer field – filled every afternoon with coaches and kids – had created an invisible barrier. Algin Sutton had become a place they decided to leave alone.

Weaver says they told the older gang members that he and the soccer foundation weren’t trying to drive the gangs away. Rather, they were trying to build a refuge – one where everybody, including the gang members’ families, could feel safe. He says they understood and respected the goal to create something good in their neighbourhood.

He remembers the moment he knew he had succeeded. It came one afternoon as he sat behind two women watching their children play. One mother had a Pirus street gang tattoo, the other had markings of the Hoover Criminals. By gang code, he says, they shouldn’t have been in the same park, let alone sitting side by side at a soccer game. Yet the field had suspended those edicts.

“In gangs you can’t be caught slipping,” Weaver says. “You can’t be caught in the wrong neighbourhood. But for their kid …”

In a city like LA, which is only 30% white, there are many neighbourhoods like the one around Algin Sutton that lack places for African American kids to play soccer.

The USSF tries to solve this problem by building smaller “futsal” fields in urban areas, and using their Soccer for Success program to introduce kids from underserved communities to the sport. Foster Simeon’s belief is that if kids in these neighbourhoods start playing soccer, the game will thrive in their communities much the way it has in wealthier areas. His partnership with Weaver is unique because Brotherhood doesn’t run sports programs. But, he says, “when they saw the curriculums and the outcomes we were getting they understood. All they care about is helping the kids.”

The conditions that led to the 1992 riots remain, he says. South LA remains a depressed desert in a booming city. Three-quarters of its residents are considered low income. Investment is sparse.

“Their story is very much tied to the 1992 riots,” Weaver says of the local community. “It’s a big deal to have a field built at Algin Sutton. They build fields every day in the suburbs, but not here. All we are doing is helping young people understand that they have value too.”

One recent evening, Weaver stood at the north end of his field and smiled. The park, once overrun with gangs, was alive. The field’s lights blazed bright. Two local teams of Latino teenagers played on the turf. Behind him the basketball courts and jungle gyms were packed. Families lingered on the pavement. Two women sat behind a card table selling cookies. A man sold ice cream from a makeshift cart attached to a bicycle.

“This is actually the only park in this section of the city, which is why the gangs used to come here,” says one of the youth coaches, Leo Hill. “Now the gang activity has just dropped. I think they saw there was a different crowd here. I guess the park was so nice they didn’t want to mess it up.”

U.S. Soccer officially hires Earnie Stewart as first general manager of men’s team

Yahoo! Sports- June 6, 2018

Earnie Stewart’s hiring as general manager of the U.S. men’s national team finally became official on Wednesday, a little more than a week after Yahoo Sports reported that the parties were finalizing a deal.

A three-time World Cup player for the U.S. who won over 100 caps during his 14-year international career, Stewart begins his new job on Aug 1. He’ll remain in his current role as sporting director of the Philadelphia Union in MLS until then. The 49-year-old previously held executive positions with Dutch clubs AZ Alkmaar, NAC Breda and VVV Venlo.

“With his breadth of experience as both a player and a technical director, Earnie is the ideal leader to guide the long-term success of our men’s national team program,” U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro said in a press release. “This is a further step in our commitment to ensure that soccer operations are run by soccer experts.”

The GM position was created by the federation’s board in the wake of the USMNT’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which kicks off this month. The first order of business for Stewart will be to find a new head coach. That process had been overseen in the past by USSF CEO Dan Flynn and then-president Sunil Gulati. Cordeiro succeeded Gulati in February after Gulati decided not to run for reelection.

“Having played for the U.S. men’s national team, I’m honored by the opportunity to return to help lead this rebuilding phase,” Stewart said in a statement.

“We have a tremendous amount of young talent and passion in the U.S., and I’m ready to jump in, hire a new head coach and build a culture of success, with the ultimate goal of the U.S. men’s national team becoming a world champion.”

The U.S. men have been led since November by interim manager Dave Sarachan. Sarachan, who is not considered a contender to coach the team permanently, took over after Bruce Arena resigned.

Born to a Dutch mother and an American serviceman father and raised in the Netherlands, Stewart was chosen from a field of about 10 candidates. The search was conducted by a six-person committee comprised of Flynn, former national team players Carlos Bocanegra and Angela Hucles, USSF technical officers Nico Romeijn and Ryan Mooney and marketing chief Jay Berhalter.

The men’s GM won’t oversee youth national teams. Stewart will be responsible solely for the senior squad. But he will work closely with youth technical director Tab Ramos to implement a consistent style of play through the ranks.

“Building a culture is something that you have to do together,” Stewart said. “It’s not one person or two people. It’s actually sitting down and having conversations with the coaches of the U.S. youth national teams.”

Familiarity should help. Ramos and Stewart have known each other for decades and were teammates at the 1994 and ’98 World Cups.

“Based on the profile of the position and the required skills, Earnie is a natural fit,” said Romeijn.

And it seems to be a dream job for Stewart, who left the Netherlands for Philadelphia three years ago with an eye on influencing American soccer.

“It’s the top of the pyramid in my profession — in my book, this is the highest that you can achieve as a sporting director,” he said. “I’ve worked very hard to have this opportunity. When it came, it was something I could not turn down.”

D.C. United survives in penalty kicks to advance in U.S. Open Cup

Washington Post– June 5, 2018

The early stages of the U.S. Open Cup are license for MLS coaches to set alternative lineups and partnerships. Matches fall amid the stress of league assignments and, until the tournament brackets narrow and a trophy comes into view, personnel decisions require balance.

So it was Tuesday at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds as D.C. United opened its campaign in this charming, 104-year-old tournament. With a mix of regulars and reserves, United carried itself adequately most of the evening, but after failing to stretch the lead and conceding a late equalizer, D.C. defeated second-division North Carolina FC, 4-3, on penalty kicks.

Ian Harkes scored in the first half for United, but Marios Lomis answered in the 83rd minute for what will go into the record books as a 1-1 draw.

In the tiebreaker, while United converted all but one, D.C.’s David Ousted made one save and watched another attempt hit the frame. Bruno Miranda’s conversion in the fifth stanza secured passage to the round of 16, June 16-20 against an opponent to be determined by Thursday’s draw.

“Welcome to the early rounds of the Open Cup,” said Ben Olsen, United’s relieved coach. “The trick is to always survive them. We got through it.”

Just barely. The visitors — who are struggling in the United Soccer League and had defeated two amateur teams to advance in the Open Cup — were outmatched all over the field and posed no danger until the last 20 minutes. United, though, lulled itself into a false sense of security and failed to close out the match in regular time.

“We should’ve been up two or three nil at that point,” Ousted said. “I’m glad we got out of it and are still in the Cup.”

This Open Cup date lacked the fervor at this stage last year, when an amateur side from Baltimore, Christos FC, attracted an overflow crowd to SoccerPlex and tested United much of an electric night before running out of gas, 4-1.

Tuesday’s crowd was much quieter; announced attendance was 3,118 but actual turnout was probably half that. The biggest commotion came when stray shots sent children scrambling like kittens on a grass hill behind one goal. In extra time, player interaction was audible to most of the remaining spectators.

“They always unfold this way,” Olsen said of the early rounds. “And there are a whole bunch of factors: There are 150 people in the crowd; you’re mixing players up; [the opponents are] playing maybe one of the most important games of their season. It all adds up to early Open Cup stuff.”

With regular season trips to Seattle and Toronto approaching, Olsen saved some regulars and inserted players needing competitive minutes. Dane Kelly, a prolific scorer for years in the lower flights, made his first start for United. Harkes, Miranda and Jalen Robinson were also given a chance

United went ahead in the 25th minute when a burst of pressure resulted in a flurry of opportunities in the penalty area, the last stabbed in by Harkes from close range.

D.C. kept an iron grip on the match while probing for a second goal that would have settled the outcome against a toothless foe. Joseph Mora set up Kelly for a near-post header, but Alex Tambakis made a fine reflex save.

North Carolina gained traction and confidence. And in the waning moments, the visitors drew even when D.C. failed to clear a corner kick. From the top of the penalty area, Lomis turned on the ball and drove a low bid into the near corner.

Ousted came to the rescue in the 30-minute extra time with a superb save on Daniel Rios’s threat from distance.

“We had to stay positive and know our time was coming,” Harkes said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t come until penalties.”

In other matches, United’s USL affiliate, the Richmond Kickers, was crushed by MLS’s Philadelphia Union, 5-0. MLS’s New England Revolution lost at USL’s Louisville City, 3-2. The other 13 games are Wednesday.

Orlando City rolls to U.S. Open Cup win over Miami FC

Pro Soccer USA– June 6, 2018

HIALEAH, Fla. – It wasn’t a league match, but Orlando City got its first win in a month.

And it was a much-needed win the club hopes will be a spark for future success after a four-game MLS losing streak.

The Lions opened their U.S. Open Cup run with a 3-0 victory over Miami United at Ted Hendricks Stadium Wednesday during a fourth-round match that got heated toward the end. A few brief scrums ended with players needing to be separated – by Orlando City midfielder PC – and a Miami United assistant coach was sent off in the 71st minute.

“I’m pleased, obviously, to get a result that wasn’t easy,” said Orlando City coach Jason Kreis. “I mean, this is a very difficult field to play on. As you can see, the ball was all over the place. It’s small and you knew there were going to be a lot of physical confrontations.

“I’m very, very pleased we got the win to advance and I’m even more pleased that we got out of here with no injuries.”

Kreis said he put out the lineup he though would get Orlando City the win on a turf field in Hialeah over an NPSL side. Outside of the usual starters, Stefano Pinho played up top of the Lions’ 4-3-2-1 formation, PC got the start on the left wing, RJ Allen was back at right back and Dillon Powers was the second defensive midfielder alongside Uri Rosell.

Pinho finally got his second goal of the season in the 37th minute of the match. Midfielder Sacha Kljestan found right back RJ Allen in the penalty area after some solid build-up play and Allen’s low cross connected with Pinho, who calmly finished the sequence to open the scoring.

After going scoreless through 10 MLS appearances since scoring a match-tying goal in stoppage time against D.C. United, Pinho was glad to finally finish another chance.

“It’s amazing,” Pinho said. “It’s a great feeling for me. I get more confidence to play more and to help the team for the next game.

“Before I came here, I put in my mind, ‘Today, I want to score.’”

The match also marked the return Orlando City captain and centerback Jonathan Spector – he was the one who started the build-up play that led to Pinho’s goal. Spector found Kljestan, who traded passes with Josue Colmán before Kljestan got the ball to Allen.

“It wasn’t here just to get minutes,” Spector said. “I wanted to contribute, so it was good to be able to do that.”

He added, “I’ve been doing it long enough where I’ve had some long-term injuries before, unfortunately, but it’s part of the game. You get used to it. I just felt really good. Comfortable and really happy to be back.”

Spector said he thinks he’s close to being able to play a full 90 minutes. Prior to Wednesday’s match, he hadn’t played since April 8.

Centerback Chris Schuler also got his first match minutes since breaking his left arm against the Chicago Fire two weeks ago and he was his usual physical self. In the 57th minute, he collided with a Miami United player, who ended up on Schuler’s back in the penalty area. He shrugged off the contact – and the player – and got back into Orlando City’s defensive half.

Powers doubled Orlando City’s lead in the 53rd minute. Kljestan sent a cross to the top of the penalty area, Powers took a touch, then smashed it home with his left foot. That goal was followed by one from PC in the 61st minute – Kljestan assisted on that one, too.

Kljestan’s three-assist night was the first for an Orlando City player since Brazilian legend Kaká did it on Sept. 25, 2015, against the New York Red Bulls.

The goals by Powers and PC were the first ones scored by either player in an Orlando City uniform.

“All three goals, good finishes,” Spector said. “It’s good to get on the scoresheet in that fashion. I think we had some good movements with the ball. Kept the ball really well. Made them work defensively. We got the reward for it.”

Next, Orlando City will take a chartered flight to Vancouver for a Saturday match against the Whitecaps. That match will be followed by one in Montreal against the Impact on Wednesday. The club continues Open Cup play in the Round of 16 — the draw for the next round is on June 7.

“It sets the tone for this trip,” Spector said of Wednesday’s win. “It’s a long road trip for us and it really sets the tone. Hopefully it will be the catalyst for the next couple of games we have in Canada.”

Red Bulls knock NYCFC out of the US Open Cup again

New York Post– June 6, 2018

Sure, New York City FC are property of City Football Group, but they have been owned by the rival Red Bulls.

For the second straight year, the Red Bulls knocked NYCFC out of the U.S. Open Cup. And they rolled to a 4-0 laugher for the second straight meeting (the first an MLS contest on May 5). This one was a fourth-round U.S. Open Cup beating Wednesday night before a crowd of 9,496 at Red Bull Arena.

“It’s a frustration. … We make it really difficult for ourselves,” said NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira, whose team fell to 3-8-1 all-time against the Red Bulls and was taunted with chants of “Who’s your daddy?”

The Red Bulls got a brace from Daniel Royer and goals from Victor Bezecourt and Aaron Long, along with a clean sheet from keeper Ryan Meara. Bezecourt, Long and Meara are products of the USL Red Bulls II squad.

The Red Bulls and NYCFC are philosophic opposites: the Red Bulls’ high press versus NYCFC’s pretty soccer; the hosts’ player development against the visitors’ reliance on pricey imports such as David Villa.

For the second straight year, the Red Bulls, who reached last year’s U. S. Open Cup final, knocked NYCFC out of a competition that allows just five internationals.

NYCFC lost Rodney Wallace and Ronald Matarrita to international duty and Cedric Hountoundji to injury, and their lack of depth and young U.S. players hurt. The Red Bulls were missing Kaku, Tyler Adams, Tim Parker, Michael Murillo and Fidel Escobar, but eight of their starting 11 had benefited from seasoning with Red Bulls II, including six this year.

“It was a great night. This tournament means a lot to us and we want to make another run. It’s a chance to win a trophy,” Meara said. “Being so close last year, almost being able to taste it and losing, that sticks with us. It’s another opportunity and we’re going to put our best foot forward.”

NYCFC have lost all four Open Cup games in their history, and until they get a second team to develop their youngsters, they will be working at a disadvantage.

“Look at the defense between the two teams. Both teams had players who didn’t play often, but they look more sharp than us. The reason is they have the B team [that] allows those players to play every week,” Vieira said. “It was quite difficult for [our youngsters] because they didn’t play so many games. … What’s important for us is to try to have the second team which will allow those young players to play.”

Bezecourt scored 1:56 in. Teen defender Hassan Ndamn, in his first start with the big club, saved a Villa shot off the line. Long headed home a Marc Rzatkowski corner in the 52nd minute. Royer added goals in the 87th and 89th minutes. But this one was less about stars and more about development. It’s part of the reason Red Bull is unlikely to pay $20 million for Huracan’s Ignacio Pussetto.

“I challenged the team before the game,” said coach Jesse Marsch, who reports claim could be headed to RB Leipzig. “It’s a derby and a chance to showcase our team and our club and what we do here. No doubt our players went out and did that.

“So big sense of pride. … We are at the forefront of player development in this country. There’s no question.”

The Red Bulls will learn their fifth-round foe in a draw at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Minnesota United FC prevails in PKs over FC Cincinnati in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Cincinnati Enquirer– June 6, 2018

Penalty kicks can be a cruel bedfellow for a soccer club. Futbol Club Cincinnati learned that the hard, uncomfortable way Wednesday against Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United FC.

Minnesota dispatched FC Cincinnati from a fourth-round U.S. Open Cup contest via a penalty-kick shootout, 3-1, before a crowd of 15,486 at Nippert Stadium.

The shootout followed 120 minutes of scoreless play between the MLS and second-division United Soccer League side.

The visiting “Loons” took an early advantage in the shootout by converting each of its first three spot kicks while Cincinnati made just one out of four tries.

Michael Lahoud scored FC Cincinnati’s third attempt after Kenney Walker and Sem de Wit both missed.

Cincinnati goalkeeper Spencer Richey made a save to briefly stave off the loss but Nazmi Albadawi missed the club’s fourth kick, which was tipped wide by Minnesota’s Bobby Shuttleworth, to seal the hosts’ fate.

FC Cincinnati was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup by virtue of the defeat and saw its all-time record in the competition fall to 8-3.

“Really proud of our group of players for how they performed through the course of the 90 minutes, 120 minutes,” FC Cincinnati head coach Alan Koch said. “They went out and did everything they were asked them to do. A lucky bounce here or there and who knows? Maybe we win the game in 90 minutes… For a second-tier club, to be quite honest, to go play like that against an MLS group where I don’t think you could really tell the difference of who was in the first tier, I’m very proud of our group of players.”

It’ll be a Bessler family reunion when RSL, Sporting Kansas City meet in the U.S. Open Cup

Salt Lake Tribune– June 6, 2018

The Beslers went through a lot of garage doors. Just about every month one of the three boys put a dent in the door with a ball or broke a window with a puck.

“My parents were not too happy about it,” Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler said. “I’m sure they’re OK with it now.”

A couple decades later, two of their sons are playing professional soccer, and on Wednesday Matt and Nick have the chance to face each other in a competitive match for the first time. Real Salt Lake takes on Sporting Kansas City at Rio Tinto in the fourth round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.at Rio Tinto in the fourth round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

“I’m going to for sure try to win bragging rights,” Nick said.

Even as kids Matt and Nick were often on the same team against their middle brother Mike and one of his friends. They all played organized sports, but together in the back yard or the driveway they added twists to classic games.

Jumping on the trampoline turned into a contest for who could make the best catch as they tossed the football around. They added a three-point basketball shot to street hockey. When one of the brothers missed a shot in HORSE, instead of getting a letter he had to complete a dare, like closing out his mother’s email while she was working.

The Beslers were always competitive, but Matt had never prepared himself for the possibility of facing Nick in a professional game.

“I don’t know what to expect or how I’m going to feel,” Matt said of Wednesday’s match.

With six years separating them, for Matt and Nick to play each other several factors needed to work in their favor: they both had to be good enough to go pro, and then Matt needed to play long enough and Nick needed to rise through the ranks quickly enough for their careers to overlap. Miraculously, that all happened.

Matt, captain of Sporting Kansas City, has spent the entirety of his decade-long career with his hometown club. The center back also has earned 47 caps with the United States national team.

Nick, 25, was selected fifth overall in the 2015 SuperDraft. He spent the first three seasons of his professional career in the USL, first with Portland Timbers 2 and then with the Real Monarchs.

Traditionally a defensive midfielder, Nick made his MLS debut as a center back in RSL’s 3-0 win over Colorado on April 21. He has made eight appearances since.

The weekend of Nick’s debut was a busy one for the Beslers. The night before, his parents Greg and Diane watched from the Children’s Mercy Park stands as their eldest son tied Kerry Zavagnin’s club record for starts (228) and set a new record for minutes played (20,551). The next morning they flew to Salt Lake City to watch their youngest son kick off his MLS career.

But that kind of travel was the usual for Greg and Diane. They had done something similar when Matt’s wedding fell on the night before Nick’s NCAA championship match with Notre Dame. (“I don’t think they slept at all,” Matt said.)

“They’re definitely the biggest supporters for all three of us,” Nick said. “The stories that they’ve had and the commitments that they’ve made and gone through with are pretty cool.”

The Besler brothers’ dynamic has changed with age. Matt has a family of his own, and he and Nick spend their MLS seasons in different states. Mike took a different path and is now a history teacher.

“At the same time when we still get together there’s a lot of those [same] elements in play,” Matt said.

Take Christmas a couple years ago for example. The Besler brothers and their father decided to go to the gym to play a friendly game of basketball as a family.

“It turned unfriendly pretty quick,” Nick said.

He and Mike teamed up against Matt and Greg. Matt and Nick guarded each other, and at one point Matt almost clocked Nick in the jaw with his elbow as the SKC center back drove to the hoop, according to Nick.

Nick joked if they got on the field at the same time Thursday, they’d try to at least keep elbows away from the face.

RSL is set to rotate in a young lineup for the fourth round Open Cup match in a brutal stretch of five matches in 15 days, making it likely that Nick will get on the field. Matt is traveling with Sporting Kansas City, and the defending Open Cup champions often put out first-choice lineups, even in the Open Cup. However, they have had an especially quick turnaround after beating Minnesota 4-1 Sunday.

U.S. Open Cup round of 16 draw: Louisville City to host fellow USL club Nashville SC

ESPN– June 7, 2018

At least one club from the second-tier USL will advance to U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals as Louisville City were drawn against Nashville SC in the round of 16.

U.S. Soccer conducted the draw on Friday, the morning after Nashville, whose owners were granted an MLS expansion team last year, advanced by defeating the Colorado Rapids.

Nashville SC will travel to face last season’s USL champions Louisville City, which ousted the New England Revolution on Tuesday night.

The draw was split into four geographic regions, so the winner will advance to play either Atlanta United or the Chicago Fire, who will meet in Georgia later this month.

In the West Region, the Sacramento Republic, the only other non-MLS club to reach the round of 16, will play at LAFC, while the Portland Timbers host the LA Galaxy.

The Houston Dynamo will be at home against Minnesota United in the Midwest Region while FC Dallas travels to Sporting Kansas City.

And in the East, the Philadelphia Union will host the New York Red Bulls while Orlando City visits D.C. United.

Atlanta, LAFC, Houston and Philadelphia will host quarterfinal games in July should they advance.