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It should have been red: MLS suspends Whitecap Kekuta Manneh

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/18/2013

Kekuta Manneh

Kekuta Manneh

For the second time this year, a Vancouver Whitecaps player has been suspended for an offence that didn’t receive a red card during the game in question, but was later deemed to be red-card worthy by the MLS Disciplinary Committee.

On Tuesday, the committee determined that Whitecaps striker Kekuta Manneh should have been sent off for a late challenge on New England keeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Manneh saw yellow, but he will be suspended for Wednesday’s match with Chivas USA as if he would have seen red on the field.

At the time, with a little less than 20 minutes left in the second half, the Whitecaps were winning, 4-2, and held on for a 4-3 win. The Whitecaps were trailing 2-0 until Revs’ defender Andrew Farrell was sent off for a professional foul on Kenny Miller.

Had Manneh been sent off, as MLS deemed he should have been, the Revs would have been 10-on-10 with the Whitecaps for the final phase of the game.
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Miller will coach Canada at the Gold Cup

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/18/2013

Colin Miller PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/CANADA SOCCER

Colin Miller PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/CANADA SOCCER

Colin Miller has been handed the reins of the national men’s team for the Gold Cup tournament.

The FC Edmonton coach was granted permission by the Eddies to steer the Canadian national team through the July tourney. The fact that the NASL schedule goes on hiatus in July allowed Miller the time needed to prepare and coach the squad. FCE plays its final game of the NASL spring season on June 30, then don’t play again till the fall-season kickoff, Aug. 3 on the road to the Carolina RailHawks.

Miller coached the team for two January friendlies, a loss to Denmark and a draw with the host United States. In May, he led the national team in its loss to Costa Rica at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium. But, over these cycles, Miller has worked with many of the players on the 35-man long list the Canadian Soccer Association has submitted ahead of the Gold Cup. From that list, the final roster will be chosen.
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Garrett’s toe injury likely to shelve him for remainder of FCE’s spring season

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/17/2013

Robert Garrett

Robert Garrett

With FC Edmonton eliminated from contention for the NASL spring season title, don’t expect to see midfielder Robert Garrett in the lineup for a while.

Garrett was helped from the Clarke Stadium field late in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with the Carolina RailHawks. The Northern Irish international left the field on crutches.

Preliminary reports are that Garrett has a dislocated toe, an injury that would likely keep him off the field for four to six weeks. But, the Eddies have just two games left in the spring season, then will take July off as the NASL goes on hiatus. The fall season begins August 3. That means Garrett would likely two games but not miss time in the fall, when the games will have meaning once again.
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Whitecap Kenny Miller is the obvious Player of the Week choice

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/17/2013

kennymillerThere really only was one choice for MLS Player of the Week; and that was Vancouver Whitecap Kenny Miller.

In an announcement that surprised absolutely anyone who even pays half-attention of MLS, Miller was named the Player of the Week after the votes from the North American Soccer Reporters were counted.

Miller scored two goals after he drew a game-changing penalty in Saturday’s 4-3 win over New England at B.C. Place.

With the Whitecaps trailing 2-0 and needing a spark, Miller was able to latch on to a long through ball but had his heels clipped by defender Andrew Farrell before the Scottish forward could launch a shot towards goal. The Whitecaps earned a penalty, Farrell was sent off for the professional foul, Camilo converted, and the game was turned on its ear.
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Impact-ful season: A look at Justin Mapp’s remarkable 2013 campaign

By
Mike Wyman
– 06/17/2013

Justin Mapp, left, in action in the Amway Canadian Championship against Toronto FC. PHOTO: FRANCOIS MELLET/ CANADA SOCCER

Justin Mapp, left, in action in the Amway Canadian Championship against Toronto FC. PHOTO: FRANCOIS MELLET/ CANADA SOCCER

When the Montreal Impact selected Justin Mapp from the Philadelphia Union in the expansion draft, there weren’t a lot of tears shed by fans in the City of Brotherly Love. The Mississippi-born midfielder had spent the previous season and a half in Philly, showing occasional signs of the skills that prompted D.C. United to draft him before he had finished high school.
But he rarely rose to the level of play he had shown with Chicago in 2006, when he earned mention on the MLS Best XI.

The then-27-year-old with a decade of MLS experience behind him did not increase his fan base during the Impact’s inaugural 2012 campaign. Mapp played under 1700 minutes in 2012, spreading them over 27 appearances. He started 21 matches but only played a full 90 minutes three times, all early in the schedule. While his scoring numbers, a pair of goals and five assists were not in and of themselves sub-par, fans and media found more than a few things that rubbed them the wrong way about the veteran’s play.

Beset by a series of niggling injuries and obliged to leave the team briefly for family reasons, Mapp spent most of the season trying to get in gear, to less-than-ideal results. As the season unrolled, his questioners became doubters and doubters became critics.

Observers wondered about his fitness level, citing a perceived lack of endurance. All too frequently, Mapp dribbled into heavy traffic but lost the ball, leading to questions about his game sense. Critics expressed dismay at his crosses, too often directed, it seemed, to infinity and beyond.
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Quebec completes “national” team roster ahead of Marseille tournament

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/17/2013

Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin: Syracuse product will represent Quebec

Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin: Syracuse product will represent Quebec

The Quebec “national” team now has a complete roster.

On Monday, Les Quebecois announced the full team that will be going to the Tournoi International des Peuples des Cultures et des Tribus. That tournament, which begins June 23 in Marseille, France, brings together teams from French-speaking regions that aren’t recognized as countries. It’s a precursor to next year’s VIVA World Cup, a tournament which allows regions that aren’t recognized by FIFA to compete against each other. So, for the sake of argument, a team from Quebec could play Punjab or Kurdistan or a French region like Provence in the VIVA World Cup.

Now, to the additions made by coach and former Montreal Impact player Patrick Leduc:

Four forwards — Jean-Louis Besse, Pascal Aoun, Gabriel Moreau and Durnick Jean were added to Leduc’s team list. Besse is a former member of the Canadian Soccer League’s Trois-Rivieres Attak, while Moreau and Aoun were both notable CIS players. Moreau was with the University of Laval while Aoun was with the University of Montreal.
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Eddies eliminated from NASL spring-season race; Boakai makes pro debut at 16

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/16/2013

Paul Hamilton, left, battles fellow Calgarian Michael Cox at Clarke Stadium. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS, FC EDMONTON

Paul Hamilton, left, battles fellow Calgarian Michael Cox at Clarke Stadium. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS, FC EDMONTON

The Carolina RailHawks really only had one outstanding scoring chance in Sunday’s match with FC Edmonton; but that was enough to eliminate the Eddies from the NASL spring-season race.

A 1-1 draw eliminated the Eddies from having any chance of finishing atop the NASL standings, with two games left to go in the spring season. And the draw kept the Atlanta Silverbacks in pole position, with the RailHawks a point back.

A late goal from Cesar Elizondo allowed the RailHawks to snatch the point — and the goal also saved Canadian central defender Paul Hamilton some blushes. Hamilton, the NASL Best XI defender who was cut by the Eddies earlier this year and was making his first return to Alberta, was victimized by FCE striker Michael Cox for the game’s opening goal.

“It was a lot harder to come back than I thought,” admitted Hamilton, who had 30 orange-clad family and friends at Clarke Stadium cheering him on. “There was a lot of emotion at the start of the game. I didn’t think I played very well.”
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Miller, red card spur Whitecaps to wild victory over the Revs

By
Martin MacMahon
– 06/16/2013

Kenny Miller

Kenny Miller

It was a night of high drama on Saturday at BC Place, as Kenny Miller bagged a brace en route to a 4-3 win over the visiting New England Revolution.

Things started terribly for the Whitecaps, as they conceded twice within 20 minutes, first through Juan Agudelo, who went through unmarked to open the scoring on 10 minutes after latching onto a Chris Tierney through ball.

Then 10 minutes later, Kelyn Rowe doubled New England’s lead, linking up nicely with Diego Fagundez in the area.

The Revs looked far the better team and set for a convincing win when the game’s most crucial moment occurred just four minutes after Rowe’s goal, as Miller made his way behind Andrew Farrell and looked set to shoot, when the defender clipped his leg.

Referee Juan Guzman didn’t hesitate, reaching for his back pocket to dismiss Farrell, and pointing to the spot for a Whitecaps penalty.

“It’s just a clip,” Miller said. “I was getting ready to pull the trigger and put the ball in the back of the net, and he just clipped my heels or my calf. It’s one of them – it’s harsh on him, but by the letter of the law, it’s got to be a sending off.”
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Impact can’t recover after early surge from the Columbus Crew

By
David DiCenzo
– 06/16/2013

Matias Sanchez

Matias Sanchez

The Montreal Impact has been the class of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference in 2013. Fresh off three straight league wins and a two-week hiatus, the Impact seemed poised for a good result in a trip to Crew Stadium in Columbus.

The hosts apparently had different plans. The injury-riddled Crew showed no fear against the Eastern Conference leaders and dominated the play early en route to a surprising 2-0 win over Montreal. Matias Sanchez and Dominic Oduro scored for Columbus to hand Montreal (8-3-2) its first loss since a 2-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls back on May 8.

Both unorganized and unlucky on defence, the Impact paid a heavy price for its errors in the early going. Montreal was without Italian centre back Alessandro Nesta, who was serving a one-match suspension after receiving a red card in the Impact’s 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City June 1, and the Crew eagerly tested the visitors’ back line.

“We were second best the first 20 minutes,” said captain Patrice Bernier. “We played with fire. It’s uncharacteristic of our team. Normally, we’re very hard to play against and today, we seemed to be spread out and not be the same team from the last few games.”
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TFC takes advantage of the worst team in MLS

By
Steven Sandor
– 06/16/2013

Robert Earnshaw

Robert Earnshaw

As we have so often seen this year, Toronto FC was involved in a game filled with poor finishing, defensive miscommunications and some truly abysmal defending of set pieces.

But, for a change, it wasn’t TFC making the fatal errors.

D.C. United, now winless in 13, made a solid advertisement on why it is the worst team in MLS, losing at home 2-1 to TFC after scoring the first goal of the game.

It was a battle of the teams with the worst two records in MLS. A battle between the team that Toronto FC General Manager and president Kevin Payne left to become the man at the head of the Reds’ front office. And it was a chance for TFC coach Ryan Nelsen to revisit the ground where he enjoyed so much success.

And, for the first 45 minutes, fans were treated to the classic sporting paradox; a game that coaches would hate, but the people in the seats love. The midfield was open, despite the shorter-than-norm field that D.C. United has at RFK Stadium. There were chances on both ends. There were breakdowns. And that led to a half filled with talking points.
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