October 18, 2010
Puerto Rico got two goals from Nicholas Addlery in the second half of Added Extra Time in Vancouver and Carolina scored twice in the last 20 minutes at home against Montreal to come back from 1-0 down to advance to the USSF D-2 Pro League final.
Puerto Rico hosts the first leg of the final this Sunday with the match in Carolina coming almost a week later on Saturday October 30th.
If I had to bet, I'd lay my money on the Islanders getting the job done. This is a team that is peaking at the right time and I have a feeling that they'll get a call or two at home that swings things in their favor.
News & Notes:
- The USL's interview with Chris Economides about the I-League continued with portions on Player Development and Fan Experience .
- Steve Davis says farewell to Brian McBride. I wonder if he'll end up in the Fire's front office before too long?
- Fanhouse & WV Hooligan look at the MLS playoff teams. MLS was even more lopsided than the USSF D2 Pro League. MLS has 6 of the 8 playoff teams coming from the Western Conference where D2 had 5 of the 8 teams coming from the USL Conference.
- Columbus Crew GK Will Hesmer had a nice finish to become the 2nd GK in MLS history to score a goal.
- US Soccer Daily looks at the FIFA corruption situation where some journalists posing as members of the US bid committee attempted to buy some votes.
- On a related note, the US has pulled out of the bidding for the 2018 World Cup and England has pulled out of the bidding for the 2022 World Cup. With only European countries remaining in the running to host the 2018 World Cup, England must have figured the odds that Europe would get two Cups in a row was pretty slim.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
