Recaps of D.C. United’s 3-0 win over FC Cincinnati by us, WaPo and MLS. Cincinnati Soccer Talk with the other end.
Recaps of the Washington Spirit’s 4-2 loss to the Portland Thorns by us. Stumptown Footy with the other end.
She’s Calling It: ‘That Moment’ for Women’s Soccer Is Now. (Yahoo): Nice look into the Spirit owner.
Rowdies Complete Comeback Win in Loudoun (Rowdies): Didn’t expect this to be how this played out but it was a fight!
Brandon Vazquez late goal saves USMNT from upset in Gold Cup Opener (SSFC): I’m sure this is for someone? I had it on while I was doing other things. WaPo with more.
Martin’s Swansea to Southampton switch has become a row about money and principle (Athletic, $): For the periphery, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan lose their coach to the recently relegated Saints, but he had a couple of years left on his Swans deal, so they want some payment for that.
Finally, I don’t know what the next season of What We Do in the Shadows will play out like, but here’s the trailer:
I guess I’m the one the gold cup post is for.
The game was really not worth watching, just goes to show how good the Nations League squad was, chock full of leaders and blazing with talent, and also some of the youngest players we have to offer. These guys are… I was grasping for signs of quality, and ended up thinking James Sands could be… serviceable?? Zendejas looks like a combination player who needs dynamism around him. Turner is beast, but hardly someone we needed to kick the tires on. And I wince at the fact Vasquez got that goal, he’s entirely a “hope something falls for me off a cross” level talent, who cannot create anything himself.
Basically, I get why today’s writer wasn’t sure it was worth noting, this gold cup has little to recommend a viewing.
The Gold Cup roster after Saturday night definitely feels like a C/D team not a B team when compared to the A team that we took into the Nations League semifinal and final.
Oh, the joys of The Sun…
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/gylfi-sigurdsson-wayne-rooney-mls-30323564?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
That seemed pretty specific. Did this dude really come into town today? (Sorry to jump on reading what is typically a hype-wagon, but I am intrigued)
The Athletic is reporting it too (with comments disabled). So… looks like there’s something here. Taking a stroll through the “Personal Life” section of his Wikipedia is a ride.
Thank you for posting. As someone who does not follow the premier league, I had no idea about his arrest.
Reading it, it sounds like there was never any conviction (although I could be wrong about it), so perhaps there’s a degree of “innocent until proven guilty.” But that’s also at least a third player (after Ravel and Jeahze) that Rooney/Kasper have gone after with some pretty questionable behavior in their background.
I get that innocent until proven guilty is a good bar for legal punishment, not so good a bar when you’re evaluating whether to make someone a big part of your soccer team and a local inhabitant of your community…
The weird thing is they don’t really seem to need him. He’s 33 and hasn’t played in at least a year. Is he supposed to be a replacement for Lewis O’Brien? I don’t think they really play the same position.
But he was a teammate of Rooney’s at Everton. I assume he played with Palsson on the Icleand national team. He played for Swansea under the ownership of Levien and Kaplan. There are a lot of connections to DC, and Kasper loves a “distressed asset” that he can get cheap.
But yeah, the optics for this are real bad.
Even putting aside the awful allegations (and that’s a lot to put aside), it’s a very confusing move for the reasons you mentioned. We’re old as is, and need help in other areas (especially on the wings, where everyone breaks down pretty often).
Toronto finally fires Bob Bradley. Best for both parties, but it won’t help with the toxicity festering in their locker room. Or the fact that the roster was largely not his doing (re: the Italian guys).
Per the Athletic, DC United are close to acquiring Gylfi Sigurdsson. He is an out of contract midfielder from Everton who played with Rooney there in 2017. He has plenty of Premier League experience, and would be a welcomed addition to the team. I like the amount of former Premier League players on the squad. Gives the team the experience needed for a 2nd half challenge to the top teams in the East.
“Welcomed addition.”
Yeah, this would be really, really gross. I realize I’m probably tilting at windmills here but it would be great if there were loud enough fan backlash to this that the club would be compelled to rethink. I personally would not be comfortable supporting this team if they knowingly brought someone like that in and would have to think long and hard about what to do with the rest of my tickets for this year.
Source: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/charges-dropped-against-footballer-gylfi-thor-sigurdsson/ Its the 98 in the above qoute.
Still not a great look
I’m definitely not comfortable with that language. That there were suspicions but not enough evidence to bring a real trial is not grounds to celebrate his arrival in our community.
Operative: “Cleared of all charges.”
Prosecutorial due diligence: “not reach the threshold set out on the Code for Crown Prosecutors”
I know this is a toughy, but I can assure you, as an expert witness on many a divorce case, that “child molester” is tossed around like a baseball at times, a frankly weaponized. I don’t know these particular circumstances, but they could have been totally trumped up accusation(s).
Yes, be skeptical, but consider also having an open mind to innocence.
“Child molester” is not tossed around, I have no friggin idea what you’re talking about, and I think you should reconsider.
Again, he wasn’t deemed innocent, they didn’t bring charges cuz it didn’t meet a rigorous threshold for serious legal punishment
In court, in a knock-down drag out to get custody have, on a few sad occasions, included accusations that one of the parents is a child molester. Often, these accusations were found to be baseless.
So, when I mentioned “tossed-about”, I am specifically speaking of my experiences in court.
I repeat: I have no practical experience about this player but for him having played at Everton.
I pray that the charges were false; meaning, no child was harmed, and I totally understand the skepticism in the fitness for joining our club, because I share it.
Regardless of the _legal_ bar that needs to be cleared to actually charge people of crimes like this (which I gather is rather substantial in the UK), it seems pretty telling that Everton and Iceland and all of his sponsors dumped him immediately and he hasn’t gotten a sniff from anyone in two years now.
Compare that to, say, the Thomas Partey situation, where the guy is pretty clearly a creep of the highest order but there’s enough murkiness to make Arsenal feel like they had plenty of cover to keep playing him.
I don’t know, of course everyone deserves the chance to clear their name if it’s warranted, but there’s just so much about this that is deeply unsettling and DC United should not have to go this route to find good players to recruit.
Thanks for that, didn’t see it mentioned in the article.
And per Goff, DCU is NOT close to signing him. What is happening is this: he’s on a long list of players that would be available on a “free” and his agent is trying to revive his career (so is putting out rumors like “Rooney is interested in him” as a way of getting other clubs to bite).
Also, FYI, I have no real details about the charges initially made against Sigurdsson. However, if he had sex with a prostitute who turned out to be 15, that qualifies under UK law as “child sex offense” because even if there’s consent, the UK considers anyone under 16 as not capable of consenting (even if their sexual partner is 15).
In an action-packed match, Old Glory DC (OGDC) won their first ever playoff game, defeating defending champions New York Ironworkers (NY) 37-33. It’s just the second time that OGDC has defeated NY in 7 matches and the first time they beat New York in New York. OGDC journeys to Quincy, Massachusetts to take on the New England Free Jacks in the Eastern Conference Final this Saturday at 5:30 PM EDT on Fox Sports 1. The winner will face either the San Diego Legion or Seattle Seawolves in the Championship match at Seat Geek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois on July 8th at 3:00 PM EDT. Yes, the stadium that was once home to the Chicago Fire of MLS and is the current home of Major League Rugby’s (MLR) expansion team Chicago Hounds.
Anyway, let’s get down to the match recap. Coming into the match OGDC led the league with the fewest missed tackles and had been shown the fewest yellow cards in the league as well. While New York came in as one of the most penalized teams in MLR as well as having been shown the most yellow cards. The penalties would count for both teams in this match. OGDC’s best kicker, Argentine fly-half Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, didn’t think he’d make the first XV coming off injury. However, he was a late add to the first XV for OGDC and oh boy did that matter.
The game was intense right from the go with NY scoring a try off a clinical lineout inside the first minute of the game. NY won the line out then quickly worked it back outside and around OGDC’s 5th flank to go flying into tryzone on an offload. NY would fail the conversion leaving the score at 5-0. OGDC would answer back quickly. In the 4th minute OGDC would score off a lineout as well from about 10-meters out. NY was guilty of a penalty and OGDC elected to put it into touch for a lineout. OGDC would go for their favored rolling maul, but NY would stop the maul. OGDC pulled it and after several offloads punched through a gap in NY’s defensive line and bundled into the tryzone. Bonilla converted the try putting OGDC into the lead 7-5. Then in the 7th minute, NY was guilty of failing to roll away. The ref played advantage, so OGDC pushed it, but would eventually lose control. The ref brought it back to the spot the failure to roll away occurred. OGDC elected to try for a penalty kick goal. Bonilla did as he has done pretty much all season and put it through the uprights bringing the score to 10-5 in favor of OGDC. In the 12th minute, it looked like NY would respond, but their rolling maul off a lineout was stopped cold by a great defensive effort by OGDC. NY would lose control after several passages of play and the ball would roll into the tryzone where OGDC would recover it. OGDC were awarded a scrum at their own 5-meter line. They got it out and put it into touch. In the 17th minute NY was threatening again as OGDC were penalized for a scrum penalty. NY elected to kick it into touch for a lineout. They went with a rolling maul, which OGDC stuffed again. Off the stopped maul, the NY ball carrier failed to make the ball available resulting in a penalty and a scrum to OGDC. OGDC would make use of the scrum deep in their defensive half to clear the ball out into touch right around midfield.
In the 21’ on the lineout coming out of the hydration break NY would be guilty of another penalty. OGDC would again elect to try for a penalty kick goal. Bonilla came through again and put the ball through the uprights. OGDC now lead 13-5. Almost immediately after a yellow card was shown against OGDC and that was clear. However, on Television Match Official (TMO) review NY had committed a knock-on penalty in the buildup wiping out the yellow card. A few minutes later, OGDC would make a huge mistake on a lineout and NY pounced on it after the overthrow. The NY player then kicked it into touch, and it just barely ended up being a 50-22 and trickled out just inside OGDC’s 22-meter line. A couple minutes later OGDC were guilty of a penalty. NY put the ball into touch for a lineout deep in OGDC’s defensive half. On the ensuing lineout NY went with a rolling maul, which OGDC would illegally collapse. The ref awarded a penalty try to NY and showed a yellow card to an OGDC player. This being the 27th minute one of OGDC’s forwards would be in the sin bin until the 37th minute. OGDC’s lead was reduced to one with the score now 13-12. New York would put their man advantage to good use with a huge line break and carry. They through kicked it, but OGDC would get to it first and kick it into touch saving the try. On the ensuing lineout NY would continue with the punishment and attempt a rolling maul. It looked like OGDC stopped the maul, New York pulled the ball and were seemingly in for a try. On TMO review, the try was called back for obstruction by NY and as the ref had been playing advantage because OGDC had illegally collapsed the maul another OGDC forward was shown a yellow card in the 33’. Now up 2 men NY steamrolled into the try zone on the ensuing lineout and rolling maul. They would covert the try and take the lead 19-13 in the 34’. OGDC fought on and just inside NY’s half a high tackle penalty was called against NY in the 37’. OGDC elected for another penalty kick goal attempt and Bonilla banged it through. OGDC closed the gap to just 3 points at 19-16 in favor of NY. The first half ended with 3 minutes remaining on the second yellow card against OGDC.
OGDC would hold firm to start the second half preventing NY scoring with their 3-minute-long man advantage. Then in the 50th minute it looked like OGDC had stopped NY from scoring a try by holding it up and preventing the ball from being downed. However, on TMO review the on-field call of no try was reversed. As on video review by the TMO just before the whistle was blown for held up the NY player managed to down the ball. The try was converted, and NY extended their lead to 26-19. That series of phases of play had come off a costly ball handling mistake by OGDC. Then a few minutes later it looked like NY were about to score again as they stole a lineout from OGDC and had a massive carry on a line break, but OGDC recovered nicely to prevent the try. In the 57th minute, after several nice passes OGDC broke NY’s defensive line and dotted it down for a try. Bonilla converted the try closing the gap to 3 points again at 26-23 in favor of NY. About halfway through the second half Ny dominated lineouts 15-8 and hadn’t lost one yet at that point. Meanwhile, OGDC had a slight advantage in scrums at 6-4. In the 60’ minute NY were guilty of a knock-on and a scrum was awarded to OGDC. OGDC flexed their muscles and forced NY into a scrum penalty. OGDC would put the ball into touch for a lineout and bring on the second half hydration break in the sixty-second minute.
Coming out of the hydration break OGDC won the line out and in the breakdown, NY were guilty of a penalty. OGDC elected for a scrum. In a pair of attempts at the same scrum NY would be guilty of a scrum penalty. OGDC put it into touch at the NY 5-meter line for a lineout. OGDC would go with a rolling maul which was stopped by NY. However, a NY player engaged too early and was shown a yellow card in the 67’. OGDC elected to scrum down again. NY would be guilty of another scrum penalty. OGDC would elect to scrum again. NY was guilty of yet another scrum penalty. The ref awarded a penalty try to OGDC and showed a second yellow card to NY. The score was now 30-26 in favor of OGDC in the 69’. NY would play great defense by going on the offensive despite being down two men late in a knockout match. A few minutes later it looked like NY had scored a try to take the lead despite the 2-man disadvantage. However, on TMO review a knock-on by NY was found in the build-up right before the score and canceled out the try. OGDC were awarded a scrum at their own 5-meter line. OGDC would go with a box kick and the ball bounced in towards the middle instead of into touch. NY recovered it. After several phases of play OGDC would punch the ball out and pounce on it. OGDC’s captain would carry the ball forward and after sucking in the two NY defenders offload it and OGDC would carry it in clean and dot it down for a try. Bonilla converted the try bringing the score to 37-26 in favor of OGDC in the 78. In the 81’ it looked like NY scored. The on-field decision was a scored and on TMO review that was confirmed as the ball had been lost backwards not forwards by NY. NY would convert the try, but that would end the game as the ball was kicked into touch after the 80th minute. Final score OGDC 37 NY 33.
Setting aside any off the field issues for a moment, Sigurdson as a target is such a meh signing in my eyes.
He might give a spark for this year and might have enough left in his tank for next year, but hasn’t played in two years. It’s going to take at least a month of training to get him in shape and by then there’s barely any season left. This isn’t the type of signing that is going to push DC from borderline playoff team to contender imo (maybe ten years ago but not now).
There’s an overused phrase in very mundane situations that we all know, “better safe than sorry.” It can be misused by those apportioning underwear for a trip or snacks for a car ride and justify it to overdo it.
In this case, not bringing this player to DC is the safe part, and the sorry possibility is more than enough to quash this move. We all can believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty, that has never been the standard for a responsible person with their kids- a bad vibe or a hint is enough to get them out of there, and rightly. I don’t think anyone here would leave GS alone with a young family member given this information, and that should be extrapolated to the DC and NOVA area as a whole for obvious considerations.
I don’t know where in the world a person like GS can live comfortably, that’s no reason to make his new environs our club and our city, and whatever boost we might get on the field is not worth a potential tragedy off it.
I hope GS is innocent, as that crime is a horrible one to inflict, and I also hope he is not signed. This should be an easy call, I think Wayne needs to get a grip.
Derrick Williams’ banger for the 2nd goal against Cincy is up for Goal of the Week: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/vote-for-goal-of-the-matchday-mls-matchday-21