MLS teams DC United and Real Salt Lake have made strides by advancing to the quarterfinal round of the CONCACAF Champions League tournament, the most prestigious competition among the top clubs in CONCACAF.
United came away with a 2-0 win over Arabe Unido at RFK Stadium in Washington DC to win Group H and advance to the quarterfinal round. Conor Doyle opened the scoring for United in the first minute of play and Jared Jeffrey ensured the victory just before the half time whistle. DC United’s next game against Jamaica’s Montego Bay United on Tuesday is a mere formality.
Meanwhile in Group G, Real Salt Lake battled El Salvador’s Santa Tecla to a goalless draw on the road to stay atop the group and substantially increase its chances to advance to the quarterfinal round with two home games left.
MLS
Major League Soccer has added another franchise in Los Angeles that will replace Chivas USA, which folded last year. American basketball great Magic Johnson and former U.S. national team player Mia Ham are among a group of investors led by team owner and Malaysian businessman, Vincent Tan, and investor Henry Nguyen. The Los Angeles Football Club, which debuts in 2018, will play in its own, new 22,000-seat stadium built in Exposition Park in downtown, Los Angeles, near the LA Coliseum.
The new franchise will compete with the established MLS five-time champion LA Galaxy and its major stars such as Irishman Robbie Keane, Mexican international Giovani Dos Santos and former England captain Steven Gerrard.
In MLS play last weekend, Columbus Crew defeated Philadelphia Union, 2-1; FC Dallas knocked off New York City FC, 2-1; Real Salt Lake topped Houston Dynamo, 3-1, and New England Revolution beat Toronto FC by the same score; Orlando City FC defeated Sporting KC also by a 3-1 margin. Colorado Rapids and DC United played to a 1-1 draw, and so did San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders; Montreal Impact held LA Galaxy to a goalless draw.
USA Women
New Yorker Crystal Dunn, who represented Rockville Center’s South Side High School on Long Island and later played collegiate soccer at North Carolina, was added to the USA squad for the rest of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Champions Victory Tour. The USA will play Haiti on Thursday, Sept. 17 in Detroit (7 pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports Go) and on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 20 in Birmingham, Alabama (2 pm on ESPN2). Haiti was called in after Australia pulled out due to on-going Union-Association negotiations.
Copa America
The 2016 Copa America Centenary tournament is a go and CONCACAF has pledged its support for the 16-nation tournament to celebrate 100 years of soccer in South America. The tournament is scheduled to be played in the U.S. next summer, June 3 – 26. The 10 South American nations that will play are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The South Americans will battle six CONCACAF teams, including Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, USA and winners of playoff games between Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba versus Panama.
