Sounders

The U.S. Open Cup second round kicks off Tuesday, and there are a couple games of local interest:

Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) at VSI Tampa Bay (USL PRO)
Plant City Stadium; Plant City, Fla. (4:30 p.m. PT)

Sounders FC U-23s (PDL) at Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO)
Queens University of Charlotte Sports Complex; Charlotte, N.C. (4 p.m. PT)

Sounders FC will face the winner of the Tampa Bay derby in a third-round game May 29.

If the Rowdies win, the game will be in Florida, create some crazy travel for Seattle, and feature a matchup of the Scott brothers. If VSI wins, the game will be at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila and limit the Sounders’ travel to the West Coast.

Elsewhere, the U-23s will be in action after their big first-round win over Doxa Italia (which led to forward David Geno being named Player of the Round).

The U-23s would advance to play the Chicago Fire in the third round. Here is a preview of Tuesday’s game from the team.

It’s official: New York will be getting an expansion MLS team called New York FC that is expected to join the league in 2015.

The big news? The team will be owned by Manchester City (this was previously reported) AND the New York Yankees (this was not). City will be the majority owner while the Yankees will “be an active member of the ownership group,” according to a news release. Yankee Stadium, of course, is hosting a City-Chelsea friendly on Saturday.

You’ll notice the new team’s Twitter feed looks to be in City colors.

The league has long been committed to expansion in New York, which will give MLS 20 teams two seasons from now. New York technically already has a team, but NYCFC will be located somewhere within the five boroughs, while the Red Bulls play in Harrison, New Jersey.

Interestingly, there is no stadium deal in place for NYCFC. The new team will play in an interim home to start as ownership explores options in Queens and elsewhere.

What do you make of the news? Let’s get to some links:

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— First off, here are a couple reports from Spain linking the Sounders to Levante UD midfielder Jose Javier Barkero. The stories indicate Obafemi Martins is behind efforts to bring a former teammate to his new club. The Sounders have declined to comment on the reports through a team spokesman.

— Looks like ticket sales for the June 11 World Cup qualifier at CenturyLink Field between the U.S. and Panama are at about 32,000 (reports here and here). Safe to say sales have been a bit slow the past couple weeks and capacity cap of 42,000 shouldn’t be an issue.

— It should be no surprise that Mario Martinez will reportedly be called in by the Honduran national team for next month’s qualifiers.

— Around the league, here is Grant Wahl‘s latest column for SI.com with lots of news and notes, and it sounds like the MLS All-Star Game opponent won’t be British.

— When it comes to other MLS ownership news, it sounds like David Beckham is definitely interested in getting involved, and the league put out a statement recently regarding reports about Chivas USA possibly changing hands.

— Lastly, the league website’s look at the controversial plays from last week (including some from the Sounders-Dallas games)…

The U.S. under-20 national team has called up 22 players for an upcoming youth tournament in France, and Sounders FC academy forward Jordan Morris made the squad.

The U.S., grouped with Colombia, Congo DR and host France, will be in action starting May 28 in Toulon, France, as both preparation for this summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey and one last evaluation toward that final roster.

Morris, a Mercer Island native, is one of three academy players nationwide to make the team and had starred in a training camp earlier this year in his first-ever call-up.

Many expected Sounders FC defender DeAndre Yedlin might have been involved, as well, but a couple reports have noted that players like Yedlin and others who are regulars for their MLS teams (e.g. Real Salt Lake’s Luis Gil) weren’t called up so they can focus on league play.

The expectation is still that Yedlin will be on the U-20 World Cup team. Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer admitted about as much while a guest on the Reign FC broadcast Sunday.

Here is a look at the full roster for the Toulon tournament:

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GOALKEEPERS (2): Cody Cropper (Southampton FC; Maple Grove, Minn.), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (7): Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (C.D. Guadalajara; Riverside, Calif.), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), Jeffrey Payeras (C.S.D. Municipal; Hawthorne, Calif.), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; Plano, Texas), Marlon Hairston (Louisville; Jackson, Miss.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City; Mission, Texas), Collin Martin (Wake Forest; Chevy Chase, Md.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)

FORWARDS (6): Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Daniel Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), Alonso Hernandez (C.F. Monterrey; El Paso, Texas), Alfred Koroma (Akron; Southlake, Texas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders Academy; Mercer Island, Wash.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bolingbrook, Ill.)

Two goals for Eddie Johnson in Saturday’s 4-2 home win against FC Dallas has led to another prize.

The Sounders FC forward was voted MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 12. It marked the third time Johnson has earned the award with Seattle, having also claimed the honor in Week 22 and Week 27 last season after wins against the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, respectively.

The 29-year-old received 17 of the 25 first-place votes. Teammate Lamar Neagle got two votes.

Johnson has a team-leading four goals in league play and five in all competitions, when including the CONCACAF Champions League.

He got some love from U.S. men’s national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Twitter, too, as Johnson will report to USMNT camp after Sunday’s road game against the Galaxy. And here’s a tweet from EJ below…

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Thank u to everyone who voted me for POTW. Individual award but wanted to share it w/ my entire team who push me to become better each day

Another big win and another jump up the standings.

Sounders FC is up to sixth in the Western Conference after Saturday’s 4-2 home win against league-leading FC Dallas. You’ll also notice Seattle is fifth in points-per-game, if you like to make your judgments that way.

In other stats, the Sounders are first in goals allowed (tied for first in MLS), tied for third in goal differential, and only three teams in the entire league have fewer losses.

That worst-ever start is long forgotten. The 2010 Sounders hold that mark through 10 games at 3-4-3 and the 2011 Sounders started 3-3-4.

Any thoughts heading into the week?

UPDATE: The Reign lost, 3-0, in front of 1,046 at Starfire Stadium. Seattle, which was down to 10 players in the second half, is now 0-6-1 on the season after six straight defeats. It has been a tough going for the brand-new club, having been outscored 15-4 overall. Average attendance is about 1,559. Up next? The star-studded Portland Thorns FC in a home game Saturday.

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Reign FC is back in action Sunday with a 6 p.m. home game against Sky Blue FC of New York/New Jersey. Above, I’ve embedded what will be the live stream.

Seattle’s struggles have been no secret with a 0-5-1 record and five-straight losses. The personnel issues are piling up, too — Hope Solo (wrist surgery), Megan Rapinoe (on loan in France), Amy Rodriguez (starting a family), Keelin Winters (ankle injury), Kate Deines (ankle injury), Elli Reed (ankle injury). The eye test says Winters is closer to a return than Deines and Reed, as the latter two were seen on crutches Thursday.

Sky Blue FC (4-1-1) is coming off a big 1-0 road win in Portland on Thursday, which vaulted the team into a tie for first place. The visitors feature U.S. internationals in Jill Loyden, Kelley O’Hara and Christie Rampone, and also Sophie Schmidt and Melanie Booth of Canada.

Tickets are available through ReignFC.com starting at $19.

The second game of the 2013 Cascadia Cup was played Saturday, as 10-man Portland earned a 2-2 road tie against Vancouver at B.C. Place.

The Whitecaps have still never won a rivalry game in the MLS era at 0-6-5.

Remember, the reigning champion Timbers play four of six games on the road this season after getting four of six at home in 2012. They have done well through their first two away, earning come-from-behind ties.

The Sounders get four of six at CenturyLink Field.

Here is a look at the standings and results (past winners after the jump):

Portland Timbers — 0-0-2 (2 pts.) 0 GD
Seattle Sounders FC — 0-0-1 (1 pt.) 0 GD
Vancouver Whitecaps — 0-0-1 (1 pt.), 0 GD

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Three wins in a row for Sounders FC is the longest active winning streak in MLS. Six games without a loss is the second-longest active unbeaten streak in the league (Portland is at 10, New York can also get to six Sunday afternoon).

Here is a quick look at the best winning streaks and unbeaten streaks in team history within a single season:

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Sounders FC’s longest unbeaten streaks

Nine games — May 28-July 16, 2011 (6-0-3)
Seven games — July 11-Aug. 28, 2010 (5-0-2)
Six games — April 13-current (4-0-2)
Six games — June 30-Aug. 5, 2012 (3-0-3)
Six games — April 7-May 9, 2012 (5-0-1)
Six games — March 25-April 30, 2011 (3-0-3)
Six games — Sept. 9-Oct. 15, 2010 (5-0-1)
Six games — June 13-July 25, 2009 (3-0-3)
Six games — April 25-May 30, 2009 (1-0-5)

Sounders FC’s longest winning streaks

Five games — April 14-May 9, 2012
Five games — Sept. 18-Oct. 15, 2010
Four games — July 15-Aug. 8, 2010
Three games — May 8-current
Three games — Sept. 17-Oct. 1, 2011
Three games — June 18-June 26, 2011
Three games — Oct. 3-Oct. 24, 2009
Three games — March 19-April 4, 2009

Photo credit: Dean Rutz, The Seattle Times (full gallery here)

Here are some team-provided quotes and stats from Sounders FC’s 4-2 home win Saturday against FC Dallas.

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Sigi Schmid – Sounders FC Head Coach

(On the game…) “Obviously a good game for the fans-exciting game. You never want to squander a two-goal lead, but we knew they were dangerous on set pieces. We lost our mark on the first one and obviously Michel hits a great ball on the second and Michael [Gspurning] got tied up. The timeliness of our third goal was really vital and we continued to get opportunities. The red card I think was justified-if you saw Leo [Gonzalez]‘s eye, you would know it’s justified. Now it’s just a situation of us continuing to do what we’ve been doing over the last few games and carry it forward. The guys know what they have to do, they know how they have to play now to win games.”

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Photo credit: Dean Rutz, The Seattle Times

There were definitely a few talking points from CenturyLink Field on Saturday, as Sounders FC earned a 4-2 home win against FC Dallas. The most controversial play came in the 72nd minute, when Dallas forward Blas Perez caught Seattle defender Leo Gonzalez with an elbow as they battled for a header (available at the 6:25 of the video highlights).

Gonzalez was bloodied on the play, as you can see above, and after some discussion, referee Mark Geiger eventually issued Perez a red card.

The Twitter reaction from (presumably unbiased) national folk was a bit split from what I could tell; here are some posts from Real Salt Lake, Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas.

Here was Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid‘s take: “The red card I think was justified. If you saw Leo’s eye, you would know it’s justified.”

And here was FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman: “You know what? The nice thing is technology today is wonderful. I would encourage each of you to take off your Sounders hat and go look at the video, and you can see that if anything, Gonzalez ran into him. I was just a little confused that the referees couldn’t get it right. I think what ended up happening is, it’s like a policeman shows up and a guy’s got a bloody face so somebody must have hit him. I think I wasn’t real pleased with it, but it’s the way the game goes. You’re counting on the right decisions being made by the linesmen and the referees and they really have the best position, so it is what it is.”

So what do you think?

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