Photo by ISIphotos.com
There are two key MLS playoff series kicking off today, and European soccer action looms, but the U.S. Under-17 national team's final World Cup group match should garner plenty of attention on this Soccer Sunday.
The U.S. Under-17 team is coming off a 1-0 win vs. Malawi and can progress to the knockout round of the Under-17 World Cup with a draw or win vs. the United Arab Emirates today (10am, ESPNU).
THe ultimate MLS rivalry heads into post-season mode as Chivas USA takes on the LA Galaxy at Home Depot Center (5pm, ESPN2), but not before the league's most familiar playoff foes face off when Chicago meets New England (2pm, FSC).
If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Sunday's soccer TV schedule is after the jump):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
6:30am– ESPN360.com- Ajax vs. Feyenoord
7am– Setanta USA- Spartak Moscow vs. FK Rostov
9am– RAI- Sampdoria vs. Bari
9am– ESPN360.com- Roma vs. Bologna
9am– FSC/FSE/ESPN360.com- Livorno vs. Inter Milan
9:48am– ESPN360.com- USA vs. United Arab Emirates (Under-17 World Cup)
9:48am– ESPN360.com- Malawi vs. Spain (Under-17 World Cup)
11am– FSC/FSE- Birmingham City vs. Manchester City
1pm– Azteca America- Morelia vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
1pm– Telemundo- Toluca vs. Queretaro
1pm– FSE- Sunderland vs. West Ham United (Delayed)
2pm– FSC/FSE- Chicago Fire at New England Revolution
2pm– ESPN360.com- Korea Republic vs. Algeria (Under-17 World Cup)
2pm– ESPN360.com- Italy vs. Uruguay (Under-17 World Cup)
3:45pm– FSC/RAI- Palermo vs. Genoa
5pm– Univision- Club America vs. Jaguares
5pm– ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com-Chivas USA vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
9pm– Telefutura- Santos Laguna vs. UNAM Pumas
Italy up next on 11/4
Hey Ives, is it really that much cheaper to own a turf field than natural grass field? sure at first it requires little upkeep but after some time the field goes to crap and you either need to replace it or repack in the rubber or do something to make it even again. I am just wondering because after seeing a couple matches at this U-17 world cup it seems like FIFA is opening up somewhat to turf, even though most players cant stand it.
Do you think the United States was actually playing better, or was it who they were playing that made this team look really good today? Since UAE gave them alot of space, it allowed the team to actually play their game with possession. While in the spain game (i only saw the first half), spain pressured high and made them look silly on defense for a while and neutralized part of the attack.
Finally, who do you see from this team rising in the future to the senior team?
anyone feel that we have the toughest 4 teams throughout the bracket?
He had a much better haircut than that guy with the low hairline for UAE. Does that answer your question? He looked very energetic running onto the field.
Under 17 World Cup Round of 16
Argentina v. Colombia
Turkey v. U.A.E.
Switzerland v. Germany
USA v. Italy
Spain v. Burkina Faso
Iran v. Uruguay
Mexico v. South Korea
Nigeria v. New Zealand
Totally agree. Good intelligence and confidence in this team. I wish there was a strong, ball-winning central midfielder to allow more space to be created, and of course the finishing needs to be a lot stronger, but this is basically a pretty good team.
and Jerome and chavez h ave “blown” any chances? How about two break away goals against Spain? hmmm. Atleast McInerney has scored a goal as a striker. He has connected the best with Duran in the middle. I say a McInerney-Chavez pairing would be best.
If Renken and Gyau can make it through the Hoffenheim system, they will be stars. Gil is the youngest, and best player on the U-17 world cup team, so he has a ton of potential. Edwards is a big kid and very athletic. Watts is decent, but our biggest problem on the senior level is defense. No depth, no real quality like our attacking players. It’s very worrying.
Right but he knew that as well and still acted like a child. Hasn’t learned a thing since the incident on the Scotland bench has he?
watched both the malawi and uae games…am very impressed with the u17s comfort with the ball, first touch and possession, it seems to be a bit better than the full national team….granted, they are kids playing against other kids…that said, i hope this group will be able to mature in the right environments and hopefully we can get at least 5 from this team to the full national team….on another note…any idea what the schedule is for the round of 16???
He had a yellow before and got a second it wasn’t a straight red
Barry Ferguson sent off for interference on a THROW IN.
Phillips had a sitter 6 yards in front of Shay Given, but calls for a handball instead of shooting. Maybe he should let the officials call the fouls and play soccer.
Birmingham fans deserve a goal, but the final pass is never there.
Player is up and walking off, but he certainly has a concussion I’d assume, he seemed to swallow his tongue. He looks like he’s coming back on.
Crap all over the field in Birmingham and oh s— Birmingham City player down on the floor with a seizure?
there are countless videos online of their training sessions, and i have been to a few in chicago
I agree. I would like to see a little more creativity and ability to make dangerous, attacking passes from at least one of the center-mids, but I guess I can settle for competent distribution and positioning at this point.
This Chucho guy is legit. His name is as well.
Birmingham taking it to City.
I would add that it was refreshing to see the U-17s play goal kicks and free kicks short to keep possession rather than automatically going long every time.
This team is very convincingly unconvincing in the final third otherwise the team is pretty good. I like the defense and the holding midfielders, but Polak sometimes get caught going forward. Poladchuk and Duran are good, but you’d think that if the team is trying to score that they would want the centermidfield to be a little more dynamic.
Wow…settle down there buddy…
absolutely a glaring generalization. how many full team training sessions do you sit in on, Adrian?
Good and convincing win for a team that only needed a draw.
How did Packwood look?
Good win that could have been convincing with more composure in front of goal.
good thing he had to avoid the UAE player going two studs up full tackle
McInerny and Shinsky stepped up a bit. Now if Jerome and Gil can find some more skills in front of goal, US might have a chance in next game.
F*** Jerome and his F***ing time wasting. USA — not UPA!
no foul?
Typical (of late) slow start for the USA in FIFA competitions… Many chances and lots go wanting… will they get some in the net next round? Shinsky is growing on me…Jack McInerney going the opposite way..
oh no, what happened to jerome, i hope he is faking it
I too agree. Gil looks great on the ball. He’s calm, creative, etc. Very impressive for someone that age.
you have to admire that creativity, he wanted to lay it off backwards, out of the air, with the outside of his foot
Wow, this corner flag thing is really holding up the game…the FIFA commentators backhanded comment about the linesman not trying to fix the corner flag was hilarious…
Good time wasting by Jerome
Wow, I can’t believe how negative some of you folks are. ALL the possession, plenty of opportunties, skilled touches…WHAT exactly do you want?
great shielding of the ball by jerome, he is looking great
wow he has some speed and that was a great first touch
Anyone notice that that one UAE player’s hairline almost comes all the way down to his eyebrows?
First order of business for the US U-17 residency program when they get back to Bradenton: Force all players to practice with his weak foot for an entire practice. To say our right mid has no left foot is a serious understatement. It would be interesting to see how the champion of the US Academy league would do against Malawi and the UAE, lack of chemistry seems to be a huge problem, not very fluid and really no clue in the final third. No killer instict.
agree entirely.
Probably an oversimplification but you may have a point about the culture change. It is unusual to see the US having so much of the possession.
Soft call.
I don’t know why some of you are getting on Gil. I thought he’s looked fine. Remember, he’s only 15 and he’s basically in charge of running the entire offense for the US team. He’s gotten unlucky in front of goal a couple times but you can see the skill and vision on the ball. Hopefully, he’ll get a move to a good team and he can develop for us.
what in the world is that free kick for
i think it’s more the changing attitude of the us soccer culture, and the coaching
if you’ve seen any of the senior team’s practices, they practice the counter attack extensively, not much one on one
I wonder if the US kids with get sodomized by the refs versus Italy like the senior team does?
I can’t believe we haven’t finished this game off.