By MICHAEL PENG
Toronto FC does not think fourth place is exactly a comforting position to be in right now to secure a playoff position, and it looks like Michael Bradley will be around to help the club continue its push at the expense of the U.S. Men’s National Team.
According to a report from the Toronto Sun, Bradley is expected to miss the U.S.’s friendly against Peru in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 4. Toronto is set to play the Seattle Sounders on the road a day later, and there is a “good chance” Bradley will be available for TFC during that trip.
Bradley hasn’t spent as much time with TFC as the club would like, as he has missed seven games this season due to USMNT call-ups, including four consecutive contests during the CONCACAF Gold Cup run in July.
The report, however, does not mention if Bradley will be available for the Americans’ ensuing friendly against Brazil on Sept. 8 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, nor whether his club and national team teammate Jozy Altidore will leave TFC during the same stretch.
Here are some other news and notes from around the league:
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS CAPTURE CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Vancouver Whitecaps can call themselves the champions of the Great White North at last.
Since the inception of the Voyageurs Cup in 2002 and the current format of the Canadian Championship came into existence in 2008, the Whitecaps had yet to capture the elusive trophy. That is, until Wednesday night.
A 2-0 win over the Montreal Impact added onto the 2-2 draw on the road in the first leg gave Vancouver a 4-2 aggregate win in front of its home fans at BC Place. Octavio Rivero opened the scoring about five minutes before halftime with a tap-in, and Tim Parker doubled the Whitecaps’ lead with a header in the 53rd minute.
The win guaranteed the Whitecaps a berth in next season’s CONCACAF Champions League.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW PANELS REJECTS ORLANDO’S RED CARD APPEAL FOR RAMOS
Rafael Ramos will not be available to Orlando City’s next MLS game against the Chicago Fire after his red card appeal was rejected by an independent review panel on Thursday.
Ramos was sent off by referee Jose Carlos Rivero in the 36th minute of Orlando’s Aug. 22 match against Toronto FC after he lunged into Justin Morrow with a harsh challenge.
The Lions filed an appeal this week requesting a review of Rivero’s decision, but the panel – consisting of one representative from the U.S. Soccer Federation, one representative from the Canadian Soccer Association, and one representative from the Professional Referees Organization – were not unanimous that a “serious and obvious error of the disciplinary decision” was made by the referee.
Per league policy, Orlando City has one more unsuccessful appeal for any send-off review remaining for the 2015 season.
MLS’S INTERNATIONAL CALL-UPS LIST FOR EARLY SEPTEMBER GROWS
With a number of international competition, such as World Cup and Euro Cup qualifiers, set for early September, a number of MLS players have been called up to their respective national teams.
Here is a list of of who will be called, with some of the more recent selections being announced on Thursday:
Kaka, Orlando City — Brazil (Sept. 5 vs. Costa Rica, Sept. 8 at United States)
Sam Adekugbe, Vancouver Whitecaps — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Kyle Bekker, Montreal Impact — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal Impact — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Marcel de Jong, Sporting Kansas City — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Will Johnson, Portland Timbers — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Cyle Larin, Orlando City — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Karl Ouimette, New York Red Bulls — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps — Canada (Sept. 4 and Sept. 8 vs. Belize)
Markus Halsti, D.C. United — Finland (Sept. 4 at Greece, Sept. 7 vs. Faroe Islands)
David Accam, Chicago Fire — Ghana (Sept. 1 vs. Congo, Sept. 4 at Rwanda)
Krisztián Németh, Sporting Kansas City — Hungary (Sept. 4 vs. Romania, Sept. 7 at Northern Ireland)
Román Torres, Seattle Sounders — Panama (Sept. 4 vs. Uruguay, Sept. 8 at Venezuela)
Anibal Godoy, San Jose Earthquakes — Panama (Sept. 4 vs. Uruguay, Sept. 8 at Venezuela)
Blas Pérez, FC Dallas — Panama (Sept. 4 vs. Uruguay, Sept. 8 at Venezuela)
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What do you think about Bradley reportedly missing out on the USMNT’s friendly vs. Peru? Impressed with the Whitecaps’ capture of the Canadian Championship?
Share your thoughts below.
I think we all agree on eliminating the All star game as team could play a mid week game there and not everyone is playing next weekend. The Red Bulls despite having the most or second most games left to play was off this past weekend and will be off next weekend
As I mentioned in my previous post which was deleted because I pointed out an error in an earlier version of this article – I thought MLS planned to reduce the number of occasions where it played through international windows. The above list is pretty long and that doesn’t even include USMNT players who will be called up for the upcoming friendlies.
Holy snikes, Ives.
You got some VERY aggressive advertisers – iggfinancial – who are overriding your site and trying to inject java-override malware into my system.
Stop these guys or you’re going to get reported as an attack site.
About a decade ago, I tried to do a hypothetical MLS schedule incorporating MLS, CCL, USOC, FIFA dates, playoffs and an All-Star game. It was impossible unless you began the season in March and held the playoffs between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with MLS cup aound Christmas Eve.
And that’s what they are going to have to do, maybe even earlier.
After LA2 and Miami join, maybe even indoor MN, at least half of the league will be in areas that can host games in the early months.
Anything to avoid these enbarassing moments
You could also shrink the bloated playoffs. And eliminate the All-Star Game and in-season friendlies. But all of that makes too much sense for MLS.
I agree:
– Shrink the bloated playoffs
– Eliminate in-season friendlies
– Do a couple 2-a-week (during boxing day matches, EPL play 3 games in about 8 days)
All the suggestions make sense but a larger roster with more payroll would helps as well!
I’m fine with a couple of additional midweek games (although they draw poorly in many places). And, while I have absolutely zero interest in the mid-season friendlies they aren’t going anywhere because they bring in a lot of money. These teams are businesses – we can’t ignore that. I also don’t think they have much impact. I only really paid attention to RBNY but this season they played reserves in their friendly matches.
I’m also more than fine with fewer teams making the playoffs – 12 out of 20 is ridiculous. I’d keep it to no more than 8 and use a playoff system that rewards teams finishing higher in the regular season. There are alternatives out there to a straight knockout format.
MLS is well past the tipping point with international conflicts. There was a time when it was only a few internationals and they were mostly US players that could be negotiated and balanced out most of the time. It was understandable they played on. It’s now become absurd and needs to be address ASAP if the league is going to add or even retain high quality international players. This is the stretch run. Fans deserve to see their team’s best players in meaningful MLS matches and not at the expense of international competitions.
THANK YOU!
STOP ignoring the FIFA dates, MLS. It’s bush league.
It should give the US an opportunity to try alternatives.
It’s would be nice to use the Brazil game as a tune up for the playoff but with about one month between those games you wonder how much that will help.
not to mention: Kei Kamara, Kevan George, Cedrick Mabwati, Justin Meram, Ben Swanson, Wil Trapp, Harrison Afful, and Sergio Campbell.
how much longer can MLS continue to ignore FIFA dates? this list will only continue to grow.
The Dallas game will definitely test our depth.
If Steindorsson ever had a moment to shine this is it (other than the beginning of the season and every time he’s subbed for Meram). At this point I’m not sure we see him on the roster next year.
We’ll also get to see JacMac magic with sorcerer Pipa!
Without Blas and Tesho, and presuming a still injured Diaz, Dallas is a bit stretched for depth too…fortunately, attacking players are where we have the most depth so it should be an entertaining game.
Gotta say though, if David Texeira doesn’t contribute in a big way down this last 10 games, I think it’s time to start looking at alternative ways to spend that cash.
How comfortable does 7th place look for Dempsey and Evans, who play for their opponents?