By JOSE M. ROMERO
The Philadelphia Union have been one of the biggest stories of the MLS season with its play in the first half of the season. But Friday night at PPL Park just wasn't the second-year club's night.
The Colorado Rapids snapped Philly's 10-game unbeaten streak in MLS matches with a 2-1 win at PPL Park. That, and forward Carlos "El Pescadito" Ruiz is apparently on his way elsewhere, Coach Peter Nowak said following the match.
Ruiz did not suit up for Friday's game and was seen shaking hands with teammates while wearing street clothes.
"Carlos is no longer with us," Nowak said in postgame comments, according to the Union's official web site.
The impending departure of Ruiz — as of late Friday it was not known exactly what the nature of the roster move involving Ruiz entailed nor where he was headed — overshadowed a frustrating loss for the Union. Pablo Mastroeni and Sanna Nyassi scored the Rapids' goals, with Roger Torres providing Philadelphia's lone goal in an exciting stoppage time session.
Ruiz, a longtime MLS player and Guatemalan national, has two Golden Boot awards from his L.A. Galaxy days and is the all-time leader in postseason goals in the league with 16. He was the MLS MVP in 2002. He had six goals in 14 games for Philadelphia this season, and before coming to the Union on a transfer in February of this year played in Greece for Aris FC.
The Union have gotten quality play from forwards Sebastien Le Toux and Danny Mwanga this season, though neither scored Friday night.
In the 26th minute, the Union's Keon Daniel hit the top of the goal with free kick. Then Mastroeni came up big at the other end for Colorado in the 35th minute.
Mastroeni gathered in a feed, took a touch and dribble and cut in for a shot that curled into the net far post past goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon for a 1-0 Rapids lead.
The Union almost tied it in the 40th minute when Carlos Valdes flicked a set piece just over the goal.
As halftime neared, Nyassi sped past Valdes on the left flank and took a good pass from Omar Cummings, shooting the ball into the net on the run to give the Rapids a 2-0 lead.
Valdes, for that mistake, was active around the goal. His try off a corner kick from Le Toux in the 60th minute required a big save from Matt Pickens.
The game turned in the 64th minute when Union defender Sheanon Williams was issued two yellow cards successively for arguing a call. His red card ejection gave the Rapids a man advantage, but the Union were the more aggressive team in the late going.
Le Toux and Torres had good opportunities on goal that missed or were saved, then Torres scored three minutes into stoppage time.
The Union got one last solid chance before the final whistle, but Pickens save another Valdes header in front.
The Rapids (8-6-10) moved into fourth place in the West at 24 points and are undefeated in their last three matches.
That’s not even cool to joke about. KKK is beyond unacceptable
williams threw his hand in the air and said get the f$%^ off me because the ref grabbed him by the shoulder. Regardless of williams’ mental state at that point, the ref has no right to touch him as he has no right to touch the ref. The ref lost control of that game from the 40th minute on. Proprs to COL, but i hope that ref got hit by a bus on the way home…..
Good work Filly. Next, start working on getting rid of Mwanga for us.
Regards,
RBNY
As a longtime member of the Philly area KKK, let me assure you that we have been dedicated to driving Ruiz out on both racial and diving grounds.
how many man did your grandmother sleep with?? i’m joking 😉
What is all this about fan treatment and fights in stands? Is this documented fact or folks assumed that union fans are the same as iggle fans?
When did Dennis say Ruiz’s behavior was acceptable? He just described what Ruiz does and why he is effective. Stop trying to pick fights.
Ruiz is going to Mexico…most likely Veracruz…at this point in his career he is heading where he is more comfortable and where they give him more $$$…
implosion? first place. games in hand on pink cows and columbus. one loss does not equate to implosion. especially considering how they almost tied the game late while playing a man down.
I was all about Philly for a while there…they seemed like they had it all going in the right direction. What happened? They got rid of Jordan Harvey….The supporters are fighting each other in the stands…And now they have run one of best players in MLS history out of town. Ruiz love him or hate him is a good player. I don’t get it…Why the implosion?
GO BOLIVIA…!!!
That was actually a reply to your previous post, abou whether Devious is suddenly and magically immune from charges of racism because of his background whereas you are supposedly damned from the start because of yours. But the points in your “How about we try to not mention it once and watch it go away over time” post don’t follow either, so same difference.
Neither of your points there follow.
and you have a demented way of interpreting comments someone make about anothers comments.
Regardless of the playground the basic ethical questions can be answered the same in all cases. It gets at a man’s integrity.
I believe we talk about racism too much. How about we try to not mention it once and watch it go away over time. It’ll never happen though because that would result in a victimless society that would make everyone regardless of race accountable for their actions.
What a great timing for the best player on the bastard team to leave …RB will get back to our old winning ways ….and again will get Easter Conference title …..and union fans please stop whining about ref calls ,cuz you sound like Ruiz…..
Nowak’s comments blaming the fans and the media for Ruiz leaving are pathetic, a ridiculous cop-out.
First off, it does and should matter what your background is. There is a difference between criticism within a group and criticism across groups.
Second, that doesn’t mean that people of an ethnic/racial group don’t sometimes internalize and replicate racism towards their own group.
Last, it’s not useful to call people racist or non-racist. It’s clumsy and lends itself to provocative attacks and overly-defensive responses. Let’s instead talk about racist behavior or behavior that’s influenced by racism or that contributes to racism. This leads to better discussion and the chance for personal growth. It has the added benefit of also being more accurate.
I think hes just talking about soccer. You have a demented way of interpreting people’s comments.
You just described the acts of every criminal. Is it acceptable to be criminal?
They piss off their victims and the police have an inability to watch everything. You have a demented perception of life.
Relevance?
How’d that last playoff series between the 2 teams go?
If you wouldn’t have put your ethnicity; you would have been called racist. I, on the other hand, am a mix of Italian, Welsh, and Hillbilly. So I’m not allowed to say what you said.
Ruiz, love him or hate him, has figured out how to use the rules of soccer and referees’ inability to watch everything at once to set himself up to score goals. Yes he dives. Yes just before a ball is passed to him he puches defenders away, hard, with his hands or trips them, or kicks them, but is generally looking innocent by the time the ball is actually played toward him. Does he piss off defenders by his constant fouling, ask Ricardo Clark, and suffers many retalitory fouls as a result.
Also, while he is no longer as quick as he once was, he can still hit the target with some consistency.
Ruiz whines, simulates fouls, ruins team unity and on top of that is a dirty player. I would boo him if he ever came to my team. I am a mix of English, Polish, Bolivian, Cambodian, Mexican and Jordanian. Call me racist, please.
How’d that last game against columbus go?
Philly has been struggling offensive not because they don’t have the weapons, but because they can’t find a way to get LeToux,, Ruiz and Mwanga on the same page. I credit them from learning from last season- don’t wait until it sorts itself out (it’s what they did with the keeper situation last year and it was a disaster). Mwanga is the future and LeToux is the heart and soul of the team, so it makes sense that Ruiz would be the odd man out. I wish him well and someone else can pick up his finishing ability.
This had just as much to do with the offered transfer fee as it did his desire to leave. I am happy he is going because honestly I don’t like the way he played the game. He may have scored a goal here and there but he was always standing still and was offside more often than he wasn’t. If you look at philadelphia sports favorites, we cling to those guys who give it there all every minute they are in the game. Chase Utley has never jogged to first base on a pop-up and Dan Carcillo has never backed down from fighting a guy twice his size and that’s why we love them! (Even though carcillo won’t be on the team next year) besides, with 330k of cap space on top of what they already have we can be looking at a younger much better player in the coming month.
Racism exists more than ever with now all races be discriminated against. You played a game in Zimbabwe lately?
If you don’t think racism is alive, then you are part of the problem. That being said, criticizing Ruiz for diving doesn’t make you a racist. I am not ashamed to admit that I’ve criticized him in the past myself. But, I’ll bet racism does contribute to some of the vehemence with which he is criticized.
Read the MLS press conference
GTFO
Read the press conforence with nowak
No it’s not, but equating legit criticisms to racism is.
Come on in now before it gets more popular.
I get your point about how much better play is. Early MLS turned off a lot of potential fans, which is a shame.
If you think Ruiz is leaving Philly because he is offended I think you are just plain and simply wrong. Ruiz has been linked to 2-3 different clubs the last couple of months. It just seemed bound to happen. I dont think he likes being in Philly too much and Philly should be getting a transfer fee from whatever club he is joining. I dont think Philly is just letting him go.
I do know that Philly better have some signings lined up after Ruiz and Harvey having left. The only name I have really heard from Philly is Josue Martinez out of Costa Rica and they supposedly had their bid rejected.
I do not disagree with the referee about giving Sheanon Williams two yellows/Red for dissent. The ref calls the game and if your telling him to F***k off and more – I wouldnt want you on my pitch either. The dude needed to take a chill pill – obviously he saw the AR call play on – and obviously he got up OK after the tackle. Williams lost this one for Philly – not the ref.
That was a fun game. The last 2 MLS games I’ve seen–Seattle-Colorado–have been good entertainment. All 3 goals in this game were pure class, too. I’ll admit that I mostly watch European soccer, but more and more I’m getting drawn into MLS. The quality of play is a LOT better than just a few years ago. (Hopefully that doesn’t sound condescending. I’ve been to a few MLS games and have watched it off and on since the league started, but, for whatever reason, it’s just now starting to get its hooks into me. I hope I’m indicative of a lot of other people, too. If MLS could become the premier league in the western hemisphere, that would be outstanding.)
And yeah, Nyassi is some player.
How about Nyassi? He is heating up.
Truth: Ruiz can score goals. Ruiz is a diver. He is also a cheap shot artist away from the ball. He never stays in one place very long and seems to always leave at strange times.
I hope the next time he calls any MLS team that they just ignore him.
The U lost to the Rapids in the first half and to the refs in the second. The defense got burned early and the refs killed almost anything from there outside the last minute scramble for goals at the end.
Ruiz is going out, is it possible that someone much better is coming in?
racism is still plenty alive
Rapids now have a chance at pulling off a treble against Eastern Conference sides, having downed RBNY last week and the Union tonight and getting Columbus at home next week. East is looking very vulnerable these days…
Here’s an idea: if you don’t want to be called a diver, stop diving.
Philly fans are the ones to blame for this, now they have even less offense…idiots
eurodouche
Good question…
Where was that said?
It’s not like it’s going to be any better elsewhere, especially after this.
Always knew he was a p*ssy but man is this dumb. Leaving cuz some fans don’t like you is a soft way to go