Week 33:

August 24, 2023August 24, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Tecnico Universitaro 0 – 0 Emelec (M)

Honestly, at this point I want to know how long Emelec can go with 0 – 0 draws?

Hearts 3 – 1 Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Isak Thorvaldsson scored early to build the hopes of a Rosenborg romp, but Hearts two goals in the second half gave Hearts a decisive edge in the game, in the two-way tie, and in the race to stay alive in the European competition.

North Dakota 0 – 1 Montana Grizzlies

Delaney Lou Schorr picked up exactly where she left off as the Griz’s leading scorer netted the winner against the Eagles!

Hoffenheim 1 – 2 Freiburg (M)

The Bundesliga kicked off with a familiar feeling as Freiburg brought their best game to the table. We actually watched a bit as a family with Alex insisting that the boys from Breigsau were wearing stripes, while Owen thought they were wearing a giraffe print. Whatever he wears, Roland Sallai makes a great threat and his goal was the difference as Freiburg came away with three road points.

Airdrieonens 3 – 4 Ross County (Cup)

The Staggies are still going in the ViaPlay league Cup, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Holding a 3-1 lead after Kyle Turner scored and assisted within 90 seconds, The Stags defense proceeded to give away the store in the last ten minutes with a penalty and a late equalizer for the lower level opponents. Fortunately, Eamonn Brophy came through with a winner in additional time to move the Stags to the last 8.

Zeleznicar Pancevo 0 – 1 Vozdovac

The Dragons got their first win of the season with a quick long ball finding Niska Vujanovic who dribbled and slashed enough to find the net for the game’s only goal.

Grenoble 0 – 0 Troyes (M)

Grenoble didn’t win but they did remain unbeaten for this campaign.

HamKam 3 – 0 Rosenborg (M)

Before the game I was fantasizing that a continued run of good form could help Rosenborg back into European places, but they were too burnt out from the game in scotland to keep up with HamKam

Photo of Eliza Bentler by Ryan Brennecke

North Dakota State 1 – 3 Montana Grizzlies

The Griz got their second win in the Peace Garden State (all the more impressive because it tripled their win total from 7 previous games there). Within 15 minutes the Griz got three goals off of four shots, as Skyleigh Thompson, Riley Carolan and Eliza Bentler all found the net.

NYCFC 0 – 2 Minnesota (M)

We were able to watch a little of this as a family too…you know, when you weren’t dive bombing your mom or playing drink coaster tricks, but we didn’t get to see a goal. While you were falling asleep Jan Gregus struck back, and then I could see Miguel Tapias and Dayne St. Clair contort their frames to avoid giving up a penalty and save an own goal before Mender Garcia got a final goal to pull away.

Cimarrones 4 – 2 Alebrijes

Julio Cesar Cruz got the first goal, but Cimarrones stormed right back and the Alebrijes dropped another.

News & Notes

We Have a Champion!

Spain became the second country to win both a Men’s and Women’s World cup. Unfortunately it seemed to validate the widely disliked and player loathed coach Jorge Vilda.

It’s an unfortunate story-line to hear developed. But, honestly, coaches don’t play the games, and their effect is often over estimated. I’m going to choose to celebrate Olga’s winning goal, Aitana Bonmati’s golden boot, and Salma Paralluelo instead of Vilda (or the louche of a leader the team is also dealing with).

Other Cup-Dates

Rosenborg’s hopes of moving on to the next round of European competition were dashed with Hearts having a great showing in Edinburgh…but again, it’s Edinburgh, hard not to have a good time there.

Meanwhile, Ross County will stand with their fellow premier leaguers in their cup quarter finals. Next up will be Aberdeen on September 27th, four days after they play Aberdeen in the league…so familiarity will breed…something.

The Loons might not like their quarterfinal flame out against Nashville, but since the Music City Men made it to the final there’s some solace (also a little solace in the fact that Lionel Messi dominated literally EVERYONE)

The Gang’s All Here!

With the Griz back in action we can fully appreciate the game from Mount Sentinel to the Punjab plain, from the Black Forest, to the Gold Coast’s brightest star.

Player of the Week

One of the many things I love about team sports is how substitutes can make as much of a difference for a team as the stars. When that sub helps win a game, it’s great. When he goes out and helps win another…that’s flipping awesome. So Kyle Turner’s gumption stepping up as Ross County’s midfielder merits this week’s award.

Standings

For the first time in Months a team not named Punjab is at the top of our standings (though with the wonkiness of my internet connection the bottom of the standings may not be as accurate)

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Montana	2	0	0	3.00	2.00	0.50
Punjab	12	3	5	1.95	1.95	0.95
Minnesota	24	9	11	1.84	2.39	1.20
Rosenborg	23	7	15	1.69	1.69	1.09
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Grenoble	17	7	17	1.41	1.15	1.05
Emelec	8	12	9	1.24	1.72	0.97
Ross County	10	5	13	1.25	1.57	1.54
Freiburg	13	7	19	1.18	1.26	1.62
Alebrijes	6	7	9	1.14	1.27	1.45
Vozdovac	4	6	11	0.86	0.71	1.57

Table Updated 8/24/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 24th

Montana Grizzlies v. MSU Billings (the Grandma Di Derby)

Friday, August 25th

Saturday, August 26th

Freiburg v. Werder Bremen(M)

Ross County v. Rangers

Vozdovac v. Red Star Belgrade

Auxerre v. Grenoble (M)

Sunday, August 27th

Rosenborg v. Aalesund (M)

Montana Grizzlies v. THE Ohio State University

Minnesota v. Seattle (M)

Emelec v. Delfin (M)

Monday, August 28th

Tuesday, August 29th

Correcaminos v. Alebrijes

Wednesday, August 30th

Minnesota v. Colorado (M)

83. New Season, New-Ish You

August 20, 2023August 18, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

There’s always a slightly sad air to the end of Summer. The days get shorter. The freedom gets staler. The brightest greens and liveliest flowers start to droop and fade.

But it’s also an exciting time of year. For all the ends and declines, there are many important starts at hand.

That’s especially true in our household. Alex is starting kindergarten. I’m going back into full classroom teaching. And teams around the world are starting new seasons.

Now isn’t just the time for things around us to change, it’s time to see our world and ourselves with fresh eyes.

Dear Boys,

At the start of the year every soccer team is handed a clean slate. The league table is a beautiful string of zeroes. You can write your team down at the top of the league for possibly the only time all year.

In the classroom, the white boards and chalkboards seem totally unblemished, and you can imagine anything and everything on them. Before you walk into the room, you can imagine uncovering any number of universal secrets inside its walls, even the mystery of friendship, or the perfect fart joke, or how to write an “R”.

All of those possibilities exist because, during the summer, your time and mind was consumed with day to day doing and being. The previous school year or football season has just been gestating in your brain, mellowing, maturing, leaving behind ingrained skills and important areas for growth that you will now leap at with full enthusiasm.

Alex is hesitant to fail, but can, more often than not sound out the letters in simple Consanant/Vowel/Consonant words (“hop”, “but”, “red”, etc.).

I am leery of collapsing into bad habits, but I’m also more prepared to accept my limitations and work with less obsession in my grading and more gratitude in my everything else.

Our favorite teams are in new situations as well. Alebrijes brings their new coach Carlos Guitierrez with a new style into the mix. Freiburg will have high hopes for the new striker Junior Adamu, possibly being the dribbling, penetrating attacker that frees up Vincenzo Grifo to do more than feed the ball into the box. The Griz will have new keepers to audition including, fingers crossed, our favorite Aurora/Grizz Bayliss Flynn.

With all this new-ness you can feel like its time to start over.

But it isn’t.

Don’t let the smolder deceive you…I wasn’t feeling good.

Yes it’s a new season. Yes it’s a new opportunity. Yes, you have new skills, and talents, and ideas…but you are still you. You still have the same history, the same memories, the same triumphs and tragedies.

Carlos Guitierrez doesn’t get to mind-wipe all of Oaxaca’s old habits. Freiburg still has a recent habit of fading out of top spots at the end of the year. I will always remember the hard, cold, charred sensation that came with another sheaf of essays weighing down my bag and sitting heavily on my conscious with guilty self-critique because I didn’t do enough to help every kid improve.

And Alex still wants to use whatever he learns to build and control a dinosaur robot. Chris Citowicki still manages to coax epic goalkeeping outings from the scholars who stand in Missoula.

This is a new season, just as last year was once new, and the year before that, and the one before that.

We struggled and we grew then. We will struggle and grow now.

It’s a new season, and a new-ish you, a new-ish me, a new-ish team. We have an opportunity to start again, with both our talents and our flaws to guide us. This new season, this new school-year, might be great, it might be hard, but it will definitely be what we make of it.

Week 32: Catch-22

August 17, 2023August 17, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Punjab FC 0 – 0 Bangladesh Army (Cup)

Punjab got a point! But they still are looking a little punchless against some toothier competition. Macjen and Mera remain the teams’ focal points, but vision is getting blurry.

Rosenborg 2 – 1 Hearts (M–Europa Conference)

Sverre Halseth Nypan managed a pair of first half assists against a familiar Scottish foe and a rowdy crew of scots on the road. Nypan pressed forward repeatedly to make the right side supremely strong for the Trolls as they hit their seventh straight match without a loss.

Mineros 1 – 1 Alebrijes

The Oaxacans continued to have their testiness translate into some difficult situations. Coach Carlos Guittierez and Esteban Escobedo were carded right before the end of the first half, which left Oaxaca with just ten men (and a worried coach). Julio Cesar Cruz got the equalizer early in the second half which was fortunate as defender Miguel Arreolo was sent packing later in the half and right after the match, goalie Octavio Paz was given a red card to carry over into the next match. So 8 Alebrijes managed to hold on to a draw against 11 Mineros…YIKES

Nashville 5 – 0 Minnesota United (M-Leagues Cup)

Speaking of Yikes…this game. (DJ Taylor was ejected after 34 minutes, and the rest of the defense was totally torched)

Ross County 2 – 0 St. Johnstone

St. Johnstone had more looks at the goal, but County had the best looks…and they didn’t miss. Despite Yan Dhanda having to leave the game after just a half-hour, his replacement Kyle Turner did a superb job and got his first goal for the Staggies on an excellent long ball. Connor Randall found the net as well to thrill the home supporters, but the defense was in fine form and kept the box in front of Ross Laidlaw neat and tidy.

Vozdovac 1 – 1 FK Radnik Surdulica

Vozdovac was fortunate to equalize on an own goal, and even more fortunate not to concede a late winner after Filip Damjanovic left with a red card in the 81st

Grenoble 2 – 0 Paris FC (M)

Mathys Touraine is rapidly becoming the latest in a long line of super strong Grenoble defenders. Like Loic Nestor and Adrien Monfray, he’s been a tremendous asset both in attack and in defense. This week that included starting a great passing combination that lead to his own volleyed finish. His work this week gave Grenoble the needed push to make them one of only three teams to reach 2-0 in the young season

Emelec 0 – 0 Orense (M)

Emelec is also undefeated in this fall’s Ecuadorian campaign even though they haven’t scored a single goal yet. Unlike the six point gap between top and bottom of the French League, Ecuador’s has every team within one game of becoming league leaders.

SV Oberachen 0 – 2 Freiburg (M-Cup)

Oberachen welcomed Freiburg for the first round in the DfB Pokal, and Freiburg never looked remotely bothered. Rolland Sallai and Christian Gunter got the goals, and the boys from Breigsau geared up to start their season in earnest.

Alebrijes 2 – 1 Celaya

Oaxaca’s run of cards on cards on cards came to an end and also lead to their first win of the campaign. It helped to have Kaleth Hernandez strike within 1 minute of kick off. Despite giving up an equalizer, Julio Cesar Cruz nailed a penalty to take the lead.

East Bengal FC 1 – 0 Punjab FC (Cup)

Roundglass Punjab got one more shot at the Durand Cup and their first big result as part of the top flight of Indian Soccer, it went about like the others. Kiran Limbu has done his best, but there’s just not enough to push them past the strong defenses of the two Bengali clubs.

Emelec 22 – 0 La Familia (F)

That isn’t a typo, Las Electricas legitimately put twenty goals past their fellow Guayaquil team and then put two more through. It was 6 in the first 18 minutes and 12 in the first half.

News & Notes

Women’s World Cup-Date

The Women’s World Cup Final is set with Spain facing England on Sunday.

It’s worth noting that Spain is here, frankly, in spite of a host of problems with their national federation. The players, who fought for a decade to have any support for their team at all, have continued to advocate for what they want and need and frankly deserve. The response of the federation was to say, “stop asking for things or we’ll stop letting you play”. It has lead to the awkward experience of watching players celebrate the greatest moments in national team history without even looking back at the coach (the representative of the dismissive system).

Meanwhile, England has a massive psychological investment in winning a world cup and proving that they can still win trophies in the game they invented. So, quite a lot of drama is afoot.

Other Cup-Dates

Likewise the men are wrapping things up in their cups as well, both Minnesota and Punjab saw this chapter of their seasons crash down around them. While that’s disappointing, there’s still a long way to go for their regular seasons, so wait and see.

Freiburg’s cup run started well, and the women’s side will see the same start soon. Rosenborg has another match up with Hearts to stay alive in Europe (Hearts having one goal on the road will make this match in Edinburgh extra important). Meanwhile, Ross County will look to stay alive in the League Cup this weekend.

Vamos Electricas!

It’s been hard to follow, but there is a competition for the Women’s Side in Emelec. They’ll play this year in the Campeonato Provincial (for Guayaquil), win the league and you’ll have a chance to move up to the top league. (It may be hard to track down player names and statistics, but we’ll do what we can.)

It will be a little easier to follow the results for the Griz soccer team when they kick off this week (and when they do, we’ll have every team on the table)

Player of the Week

Mathys Tourainne might have had the best moment of individual play, and the Electricas had a tremendous outing, but I couldn’t identify any players to award. So instead, I’ll give this week’s honor to the often named but as yet unheralded Jayden Nelson.

Standings

With their twenty two goals Emelec has suddenly gotten an extra half a goal a game which doesn’t make much difference to the points total, but does keep them ahead of Ross County. The one mover is Grenoble that sneaks up to fourth place…while Punjab’s rough Durand Cup has them much closer to the chasing pack.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab	12	3	5	1.95	1.95	0.95
Minnesota	23	9	11	1.81	2.40	1.23
Rosenborg	17	6	13	1.77	1.74	1.00
Grenoble	17	6	17	1.43	1.18	1.08
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Emelec	8	11	9	1.25	1.79	1.00
Ross County	10	5	13	1.25	1.57	1.54
Freiburg	13	7	19	1.18	1.26	1.62
Alebrijes	6	7	9	1.14	1.27	1.45
Vozdovac	4	6	11	0.86	0.71	1.57
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 8/17/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 17th

Tecnico Universitaro v. Emelec (M)

Hearts v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

North Dakota v. Montana Grizzlies

Friday, August 18th

Saturday, August 19th

Hoffenheim v. Freiburg (M)

Airdrieonens v. Ross County (Cup)

Zeleznicar Pancevo v. Vozdovac

Grenoble v. Troyes

Sunday, August 20th

HamKam v. Rosenborg (M)

North Dakota State v. Montana Grizzlies

NYCFC v. Minnesota (M)

Monday, August 21st

Tuesday, August 22nd

Wednesday, August 23rd

Cimaronnes v. Alebrijes

Week 31: Oh, here goes gravity

August 10, 2023August 9, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Rosenborg 3 – 2 Crusaders (M–Europa Conference)

It took a while, including all of extra time, but Rosenborg survived the Northern Irish with a late Leo Cornic goal coming after a string of intense goal mouth chances that the Trolls couldn’t seem to finish. Cornic’s final rooftop blast was great, but still needed Andre Hansen to make a critical save to seal the victory.

UDG 5 – 0 Alebrijes

Ooof. Oaxaca trailed by 4 within 30 minutes and though a raft of defensive changes stymied UDG in most of the second half, this was just ugly.

Libertad 0 – 0 Emelec (M)

The second half of Ecuadors knock out round kicked off but Los bombillos couldn’t capitalize on a Pedro Ortiz clean sheet.

Columbus Crew 3 – 3 Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

Bongokhule Hlongwane struck twice again to continue forcing the question about whether he or Lionel Messi is having a better tournament. But the Loons still needed Hasani Dotson’s long range effort to bounce off of something bizarre to get the Loons for a shout-out. That’s where Dayne St Clair saved two penalties and helped the Loons squeak through.

Celtic 4 – 2 Ross County

It only took 3 minutes for the dominant team in Scotland to take the lead, but County came back in the second half to score their most goals at Celtic since the 2020 upset shocker. Goals from Jordan White and James Brown gave the stags a valuable moral victory (though those don’t help the standings any).

Saint-Etienne 0 – 1 Grenoble

Grenoble’s golden signee, Moldovan striker Virgiliu Postolachi, had several first half chances go wanting. While Saint-Etienne had the better looks in the second half, Brice Mableu stood strong with a penalty stop as well. Finally, late on in the game Amine Sbai managed to dash down the line, feed the redoubtable Jessy Bennet who passed through an absolutely gorgeous dummy run (I couldn’t id the player) to Abdoulie Sanyang for a late winner.

FK IMT Beograd 2 – 2 Vozdovac

The Dragons got another draw with a clever bit of desperation passing from Mihajlo Neskovic leading to Bogdan Jocic’s first goal of the campaign. Some suspect defending and spotty goalkeeping gave IMT a lead but substitutes Lazar Kojic hit Borisav Burmaz on a pin-point cross to hit the equalizer.

Fk Haugesund 1 – 2 Rosenborg (M)

An early goal for Haugesund and Ulrik Jenssen’s injury gave Rosenborg a lot of doubt. But Jennsen’s replacement–Hakon Rosten–at just 18 kept up with the big guys and was in the right place on a deflected free kick to slam home the equalizer. After Haugesund was reduced to ten men, Magnus Holte was again in the right place at the right time to find the winner.

Mohun Bagan SG 2 – 0 Punjab FC (Cup)

Mohun Bagan is one of the premier teams in Indian soccer, so Punjab was unlucky to draw them for their first game in the big time. The Unluckiness continued when defender Melroy Assissi scored the first goal of the game, into the net he was helping to defend for Punjab. One game does not make or break a year, but here’s hoping it wasn’t a sampling of what will be coming.

Defensa y Jusiticia 1 – 0 Emelec (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Trailing by three goals already, Emelec had their work cut out for them, and they didn’t get it done.

Toluca 2 – 2 Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

When I was doing Owen’s bedtime, the Loons were dominant. Joseph Rosales and Bongokhule Hlongwane managed gorgeous goals. When I started watching the match, they looked great, and then it all came undone with Michael Boxall failing to clear a ball near the goal that was hammered for Toluca’s first, and then Hasani Dotson making an ill advised challenge that earned him a second red and Toluca a penalty that promptly equalized. Once they were down a man, the Loons were clearly rattled, and had to hold on with every fingernail to make it to penalties. Despite my doomsaying the Loons came out like Lions during the shoot out, with an Argentine, a Kiwi, an Ohioan, and a Korean finding the net while our Canadian keeper (Dayne St. Clair) saved one and saw another bounce off the corner.

News & Notes

Women’s World Cup-Date

Norway’s great showing against the Phillipines didn’t come with a renewed vigor. The squad bowed out to Japan with Sarah Horte getting a brief run out…I blame the lack of playing time for Blakstad and Josensdal. Denmark’s storied run came to a conclusion as well, losing by 2 to Australia.

But while some of our favorites fell away, THE favorite: the US Women were also ousted, in a major upset for the top rated side in the world and the back-to-back defending champions. Some will blame technology, but c’mon…we know what’s what.

Other Cup-Dates

As the Men’s leagues continue to copy the ladies with cups on cups on cups, we saw Emelec wrap up their run, we will see Freiburg star theirs, while Rosenborg advance to the next stage of Conference League knockouts where they will face Ross Conty’s old foe: Hearts.

The Stags they have another week before their next cup tie, but Minnesota United will march on to face Nashville (this despite the fact that America thought they had won twice and my internet news feed couldn’t decide either). Punjab FC has two matches to round out their group stage, including one against the Bangladeshi Army team…so a bunch of guys trained to kill you…no pressure…and East Bengal, another ISL team, but one less imposing than Mohun Bagan.

Player of the Week

Two teams grabbed a pair of wins this week, and while there are some strong performances from Rosenborg to consider, the Loons wouldn’t have either win if it wasn’t for Dayne St. Clair. So take a bow big Dayne, you are the player of the week.

Standings

The gap is closing between Punjab and their closest rivals, but I couldn’t find it in me to give the Loons 6 points for skin of their teeth penalty wins, otherwise we’d be within 0.1 at the top of the table. Meanwhile, County’s great run in the Scottish Cup has boosted them up past Freiburg and into a dead heat with the fast fading Emelec (Miller Bolanos to Dingwall?)

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab	12	2	3	2.24	2.29	0.94
Minnesota	22	6	9	1.95	2.46	1.05
Rosenborg	17	6	13	1.58	1.67	0.94
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Grenoble	15	6	17	1.34	1.16	1.13
Emelec	7	8	7	1.32	1.23	1.14
Freiburg–b	12	7	19	1.13	1.24	1.66
Alebrijes	5	5	8	1.11	1.33	1.39
Ross County	6	4	12	1.00	1.23	1.50
Vozdova	4	3	11	0.83	0.67	1.65
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 8/9/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 10th

Punjab FC v. Bangladesh Army (Cup)

Hearts v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Friday, August 11th

Mineros v. Alebrijes

Nashville v. Minnesota United (M-Leagues Cup)

Saturday, August 12th

Ross County v. St. Johnstone

Vozdovac v. FK Radnik Surdulica

Grenoble v. Paris FC

Sunday, August 13th

SV Oberachen v. Freiburg (M-Cup)

Emelec v. Orense (M)

Monday, August 14th

Tuesday, August 15th

Alebrijes v. Celaya

Wednesday, August 16th

East Bengal FC v. Punjab FC (Cup)

Weeks 30: Back to Reality

August 3, 2023August 4, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Crusaders 2 – 2 Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

The Northern Irish team started out well, getting the first goal, but Carlo Holse and Ole Saeter were able to return fire and put Rosenborg ahead even though they were in hostile territory. While Erland Reitan’s late own goal gave the Crusaders a draw and an even footing for the next match, Rosenborg’s two away goals means they can draw this next week and still survive for the next round.

Minnesota United 2 – 3 Chicago Fire (M- US-Mex Cup)

The Loons looked to be living their best life in their second League Cup match. After dispatching Puebla 4-0 they were holding strong against one of the hottest teams in the US (no pun intended). When Bongokhule Hlongwane found the net to take the lead, things looked great, when he scored again ten minutes later to take the lead back after a Fire penalty, I felt like we were almost unstoppable. When Chicago scored twice within the next ten minutes to take the lead and leave the Loons hoping for results to advance, I remembered that I live in Minnesota, and we can’t have nice things.

Ross County 3 – 3 Kelty Hearts (M-Cup)

Kelty gave the Staggies their most challenging game of the ViaPlay League Cup to this point. Simon Murray continued his absolutely torrid form, but a late penalty for Ross Cunningham gave Kelty a life line and they took full advantage in the penalty kicks that followed (truth to tell, I’d rather lose penalties here than in the premiership playoff that the Staggies had last June.

Vozdovac 0 – 0 Javor

The Red Dragons are back in action in Serbia! Well, action might be a bit strong given the showing against Javor, but we’re always happy to have a reason to cheer and shout for Belgrade’s best Shopping Mall Based team.

Rosenborg 3 – 2 Odd (M)

Odd came out guns blazing in this match, with two goals within the first ten minutes, leaving the normally strong Rosenborg defenders grappling with how things had gone so wrong so quickly. But Andre Hansen stood strong for the rest of the match, and the team came out reset in the second half to notch three goals with Ole Saeter heading in from a corner, and connecting from the spot. When Odd lost a player to red card, Ulrik Yttergard Jenssen was once again ready to capitalize with a chaos goal, giving RBK the win.

Alebrijes 1 – 1 Tapatio

Oaxaca has taken some time this summer to prepare for the new campaign with a new coach, a new mascot and the typically daring new jerseys. The team once again brought on a host of young players to learn the craft and only said farewell to Christian Canozales. The new look team started the campaign with a familiarly tame draw against Tapatio.

Emelec 1 – 2 Defensa y Jusiticia (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Los Bombillos grabbed an early lead against one of the most dangerous teams in Argentina. For a bit it seemed like they might be able to grab a surprising result to take into the second half of the tie…but Defensa y Justicia came storming back, getting two road goals and leaving Emelec with a lot to do during. the away tie in Argentina.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

It was Alex’s final week playing for the Highland Groveland Recreational Area’s U-5 Sunday 5 Pm session….breeding ground of champions. Ok, that might be overselling the competition, really, but it was very fun to have both sets of grandparents, both parents and a little brother in attendance. Alex ended up on a team with a young man with an extra six inches on everyone and a real will to dominate the game, so the goals weren’t coming as usual for Big A. But he found a way to have fun, taking the lead in defense, stepping up and knocking away the ball from several opponents, and trying to get a coach to stop eating a sucker while she ran around (it wasn’t safe, said Alex).

Women’s World Cup-Date

Norway left their struggles behind them with a staggering 6 goal outburst against the Phillipines that sees them through to the next round. Unfortunately for our sake, none of the Rosenborg Kvinner factored in the match. I’m holding out hope for Julie Blakstad, super sub miracle worker in the knock-out stages.

Haiti lost both of their final games in the group stage, a heart breaking 1-0 defeat against China, and a 2-0 loss to Denmark that saw Lene Christensen stop Sherly Jeudy’s shots…bestill my heart. Denmark will advance, and Haiti will go home, but don’t take anything away from les Grenadieres, they performed better than most predicted and did their home nation proud.

Other Cup-Dates

A few more Cup related events here in the summer months. Rosenborg and Emelec are in precarious positions going into the next matchday for their continental competitions, but could both advance (or both be eliminated…who knows).

Within domestic contests, both Ross County and Minnesota United have advanced to the knock out stages. Minnesota plays old friend Christian Ramirez in Columbus, while the Staggies join ten other teams in the round of sixteen (where top four finishers Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs, Celtic and Rangers were already waiting). The Stags will play against Airdrieonians a Lancanshire side that went unbeaten in their group matches.

And finally Punjab FC, who officially joined the Indian Super League this week, will get a taste of the level of competition by taking on Kolkata stalwarts: Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in the group round of the Durand Cup (India’s oldest soccer competition).

Players of the Week

Given the lackluster week for club teams and the enduring strength of her goalkeeping for Denmark let’s give it up for Rosenborg and Denmark’s choice in the goal: Lene Christansen.

Standings

Punjab is back and ready to try to hold on to their spot atop our standings, but there’s plenty of opportunity for the other teams to catch up now that Punjab can, you know, lose. (Due to some delays in posting, standings will be updated next week)

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab–b	12	2	3	2.24	2.29	0.94
Minnesota	22	6	9	1.95	2.46	1.05
Rosenborg	17	6	13	1.58	1.67	0.94
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Grenoble–b	15	6	17	1.34	1.16	1.13
Emelec	7	8	7	1.32	1.23	1.14
Freiburg–b	12	7	19	1.13	1.24	1.66
Alebrijes–b	5	5	8	1.11	1.33	1.39
Ross County–b	6	4	12	1.00	1.23	1.50
Vozdovac–b	4	3	11	0.83	0.67	1.65
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 7/27/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 3rd

Rosenborg v. Crusaders (M–Europa Conference)

Columbus Crew v. Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

UDG v. Alebrijes

Friday, August 4th

Saturday, August 5th

Celtic v. Ross County

Saint-Etienne v. Grenoble

FK IMT Beograd v. Vozdovac

Sunday, August 6th

Fk Haugesund v. Rosenborg (M)

Libertad v. Emelec (M)

Monday, August 7th

Mohun Bagan SG v. Punjab FC (Cup)

Tuesday, August 8th

Emelec v. Defensa y Jusiticia (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Wednesday, August 2nd

Nobel FC: William Golding

August 1, 2023June 26, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Background

William Golding was born in 1911 and followed in his father’s footsteps to become a teacher. He was a youthful optimist who came to view the world more cynically following a tour of duty during the Second World War (“man produces evil as bees produce honey”). After the war he continued to write while teaching and ultimately published his first novel: Lord of the Flies (a book that has been thoroughly cemented on reading lists). He continued to publish, winning some recognition and awards for his other work, but always being marked apart for his first. In 1983 (my birth year) the Nobel committee gave him its award. They noted “his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth*, illuminate the human condition in the world of today”.

*I didn’t get this word choice until I read the following quote from Golding: “people always think that [mythic] means ‘full of lies’, whereas of course what it really means is ‘full of truth which cannot be told in any other way but a story’.”

Works

From: Lord of the Flies

“The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its arms in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.”
–From Chapter 10: “View to a Death”

From: To The Ends of the Earth (adapted from Golding’s The Fire Below)

“Why are we such creatures as a few sentences of an angry man should matter more than the prospect of death”

From “Rough Magic” (in the collected essays A Moving Target)

“There is one behest to be engraved over the novelist’s door. Have one hand holding your pen and the other firmly on the nape of the reader’s neck. That is rule one, to which everything else must be sacrificed. Once you have got him, never let him go.”

Message

Golding is the first writer we’ve studied for this project who primarily worked in prose rather than poetry. Perhaps it’s that more direct nature that makes his belief that while everyone can imagine themselves as genteel or respectable, we are, all of us, marked out in our more vicious, cruel, and self-serving tendencies. He makes a habit of slashing and grasping at every opportunity, it’s his way of holding on to the reader’s attention. His habits are help him to attack the hypocrisy of assumed excellence, reveling instead in a dirty rotten humanity, many would rather ignore, while maintaining that there is still something to recommend in each of us. He’s not always easy to read with his penchant for violent and vile actions, but he does apply a deftly funny satirical style as well.

Position: #9 Striker

That aggressive message and style made it clear to me that Golding would be best suited to playing in the attack. But I wasn’t sure where he should play (scoring goals like a striker? causing havoc like a winger? crafting opportunities like a midfielder?). Ultimately the style and incisive message struck me first and foremost as a goal scorer. I also noted that the staying power of Lord of the Flies overshadowing the rest of Golding’s work brings to mind a good player who is always reminded of a single timely or artful strike. So, I opted to sign him up as our first number 9 goal scoring threat.

As an added bonus, Golding is the first laureate I’ve read about who has evidence to back up the positional claim. He was a strong sprinter and cricket team captain during his school days, which leaves me to think he actually would be well suited to playing at the top of the attack (sprinting and leading).

Perhaps I’m biased. Perhaps the presence of a teacher/writer/world-wide commentator and fan of Jane Austen skews my view. But by god, I like William Golding and I think he’d be a great striker. Argue with me below.

Next Time: 2003 Honoree–JM Coetzee

Weeks 28 & 29: Uff Da

July 27, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Summer illnesses are no fun. I was mostly spared on the illness front, but nursing everyone in the house back to health while also doing the jobs that a running a house requires left me with not much bandwith to write. So here’s a double week review (and hopefully my Dear Boys will post as normal)

Recap

Stranrear 1 – 5 Ross County (Cup)

Nothing says Scottish summer like visits to teams even smaller than County and rain on rain on rain. Simon Murray and Jordan White used their height to loom over Stranrear’s defense and capitalize on the clearest openings whenever they appeared to the tune of a hat trick for Mr. Murray. Which gave County a slightly bigger scoreline than they might have otherwise earned.

Minnesota United 1 – 1 LAFC (M)

Your mom and I went off to enjoy the match and some of the finest vegetarian vittles available. I regret to report that the samosas are to tiny for you, but was happy to see that the Loons held their own against the defending champions and arguably best team in America right now. The biggest help was Emanuel Reynoso breaking ankles and hearts. The biggest hindrance was that, once again, the previous sentence summarized the entirety of Minnesota’s strategy.

Rosenborg 2 – 1 Tromso (M)

The Trollboys have their first win under coach Svein Maalen, courtesy of some aggressive play by the attacking line of Holse, Nelson, and Saeter. (The nifty give and go of Saeter and Holse got the first goal, and our favorite Canadian attacker continued to stretch the defense). Tromso grew back into the game, and equalized, but their hero quickly was sent off and Rosenborg capitalized on their advantage with Ulrik Ytttergard Jennsen nailing the winner deep in injury time.

Emelec 0 – 0 Sporting Cristal (M-Copa)

This game happened. And while it was certainly disappointing not to score, the result was exactly what Los Bombillos needed. Romario Caicedo, Bryan Carabali and Pedro Ortiz don’t get as much press as the omnipresent Miller Bolanos, but they were vital to Emelec’s result and advancing on to the next round.

Ross County 2 – 1 Greenock Morton (Cup)

In the early stages it looked like Greenock Morton would have the opportunities to capitalize on gaffes in the County defense. But Ross Munro acquitted himself well again, and in the second half, the Staggies made the most of attacking the Jail End fans by scoring twice on Jay Henderson’s excellent volley and another bout of Simon Murray speed.

Stromsgodset 0 – 1 Rosenborg (M)

Sverre Nypan was able to flip the ball over a charging keeper to give Rosenborg another aggressive lead. But the team’s performance there after was textbook defensiveness with Erland Reitan returning to his defensive roots and Andre Hansen holding down the goal

https://youtu.be/asS9cYIF2Tk

Puebla 0 – 4 Minnesota United (US-Mex Cup)

There has been a long standing assumption that Liga MX is better than MLS. And an assumption that even subpar Mexican teams can dominate American peers. This game put that to the test. Puebla is struggling to start their season and while the Loons have looked adequate at best, they smoked Puebla here with Bongokhule Hlongwane charging down every bit of space and Emmanuel Reynoso delivering some gorgeous moments (and a free kick that rivals Leo Messi from earlier in the weekend).

FC Edinburgh 1 – 3 Ross County (Cup)

Simon Murray and Jordan White continued their strong showing, keeping their unbeaten run in the season opening Viaplay Cup going.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

As mentioned above, y’all were sick. So the number of actual highlights was pretty slim. Alex did get a chance to go play with both Mom and Grandpa Bruce watching, but they didn’t have the same detailed reviews of Alex’s play…almost like they don’t write a blog about soccer.

Women’s World Cup-Date

It’s been a surprisingly rough start to the cup for Norway. An upset at the hands of New Zealand and a draw against Switzerland has left Norway at the bottom of Group A and needing a big win against the Philippines to advance to the next round. Mathilde Harviken has done her best to hold down the defense, but my hope for a Julie Blakstad’s emergence as a dominant attacker has been tempered. Meanwhile, Rosenborg’s keeper Lene Christensen, pitched a clean sheet for Denmark against China.

Haiti did a great job keeping a tight hold on England turning what people had predicted to be a trouncing into a narrow defeat. Jennyfer Limage had to leave in the first half with an injury, but Sherly Jeudy performed well (as ever) and Florsie Joseph had a brief appearance.

Big Changes

Nicholas Delpine’s turn at the World Cup naturally gives him some opportunities to go beyond coaching a third division French club, so he will be moving on. So to will Maxwell Konadu at Legon Cities. He kept Legon up and surviving despite plenty of struggles, but I’m definitely more bummed that Michael Otouo is also leaving the club.

Players of the Week

Originally I would have had to choose between Emmanuel Reynoso’s great footwork and passes or Simon Murray’s excellent attacking week. But with two weeks to identify great players, we can rightly applaud both.

Standings

With Aurora’s season at an end and the TrollKvinner on their World Cup break, Punjab can breathe easily. They won’t have many threats to their position until they hit the field again after the Monsoon season ends and they take the field in October.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab–b	12	2	3	2.24	2.29	0.94
Minnesota	22	6	9	1.95	2.46	1.05
Rosenborg	17	6	13	1.58	1.67	0.94
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Grenoble–b	15	6	17	1.34	1.16	1.13
Emelec	7	8	7	1.32	1.23	1.14
Freiburg–b	12	7	19	1.13	1.24	1.66
Alebrijes–b	5	5	8	1.11	1.33	1.39
Ross County–b	6	4	12	1.00	1.23	1.50
Vozdovac–b	4	3	11	0.83	0.67	1.65
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 7/27/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 27th

Crusaders v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Minnesota United v. Chicago Fire (M- US-Mex Cup)

Friday, July 28th

Saturday, July 29th

Ross County v. Kelty Hearts (M-Cup)

Sunday, July 30th

Rosenborg v. Odd (M)

Monday, July 31st

Alebrijes v. Tapatio

Tuesday, August 1st

Emelec v. Defensa y Jusiticia (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Wednesday, August 2nd

82. Bring Your Best Attitude

July 24, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

In the preparation work for the Nobel XI writing experiment, I read a book by prize winner JM Coetzee where the South African writes about an unfair soccer match.

For context, a rag tag group of local boys, including protagonist David, is groomed to play against a local team with more resources (a group from a do-gooding orphanage). When the local boys are summarily drubbed by the orphans, David’s guardian storms on to the field and denounces the orphans and their teacher.

“This is not a football game, this is a slaughter of the innocents…They are bullies. They win by intimidating their opponents…If you really want to test your team, Senor, you should play against stronger opponents.”
JM Coetzee The Death of Jesus

That same despair of unfair treatment occurs in a few other spheres of our Soccer fandom, and with surprising frequency in the women’s game.

In the USL-W Heartland, Minnesota Aurora is patently the dominant force. The biggest market, the biggest ownership base, the most accomplished players leading to consecutive unbeaten seasons and local conference titles. To our rivals in Chicago, Green Bay and Kenosha, our lovable little Aurora is the biggest bully on the playground.

Dear Boys,

At the same time, half-way around the world, the Women’s World Cup has kicked off with its largest ever field. It will feature teams from 32 nations in action (the same as the men’s, though for less prize money). There’s been some celebration about the growth of the game, but there’s also been a lot of handwringing and cogitating about the lack of quality that comes with expanding the tournament. Many expect big sides like Sweden, Norway, England, France, and (of course) the United States to win, the only question is by how much.

To paraphrase the concern as voiced on a recent World Football by our one-time reader Mani Djazmi: these uncompetitive games can turn off viewers. People will know what will probably happen and therefore won’t watch until later rounds when a few true contenders are left standing. This will lead to lower ratings which leads to lower revenue which leads to a lower perceived value for the women’s game.

Better then to have the best teams play the best teams, and leave potential punching bags like New Zealand and Haiti, Zambia and Vietnam out of it.

But to me disliking the bully or wincing at blow outs is only one view of the situation.

Rather than viewing it as bullies and blowouts creating hurt feelings and lost value, what if we re-center around the perspective of those teams who are out on the field.

The teams who face Aurora might well be frustrated not to be winning trophies, but they are (like Aurora) largely college and High School kids who want to get better. Who are there most of all, to learn. They get a chance to spend a few summer weeks as semi-professional athletes with big crowd and televised matches and newly built friendships.

Batcheba Louis and Alex Greenwood in action

The teams who are on the field are stepping up to a challenge. We could continue to focus on the teams that are likely going to win, but we could also set that aside and talk about how great it is to see a team like Nicholas Delpine’s Haiti stepping up to a challenge. Connecting women from a global diaspora to support their home country, learn, and grow.

Sports, and soccer in particular, isn’t just about who won and who lost. It’s about after the final whistle too.

If you boil it down to the end result then, yes, you don’t need to report much on Haiti because they don’t have much of a chance. But by that same logic, since the vast majority of teams around the world aren’t getting hardware this year, we probably could write about only two-three clubs in every country and ignore the rest. It’s the theory of the Superleague all over again, but more well-intentioned than that ill-begotten cash grab.

But if you consider what comes after the final whistle, then it’s not about who won or lost. It’s not even about why they won or lost. It’s about how teams learn from what they experience.

You can learn by doing like having success against the greatest opponents. But success need not be defined by winning: Sherly Jeudy set up some solid chances for her teammates in Haiti’s game against England. Those are great, and, knowing Sherly, she’ll look for ways to make them better.

And you can learn by seeing: there’s no shortage of great examples in your opponents. Whether you faced off against Tianna Harris or Cat Rapp, you can learn from what they did. After all, they aren’t your enemies, they’re just your opposition.

If it seems like your team doesn’t learn anything after these lopsided games, then you have learned one thing: you need a new coach.

And in addition to all those fuzzier outcomes, occasionally surprises and upsets happen and we’re all better for it (to wit the long standing giants in Norway getting beaten by New Zealand in the league opener, or the team that matched Aurora last year failing to make the playoffs this year).

In reality, everyone, every day, can only control two things: their actions, and their attitude.

The risks of blow out games (whether to goliaths of women’s soccer or a fictional team of orphans) may appear great. The actions of your beloved side may not match your opponents. But ultimately your attitude affects how you respond, and how you learn from the experience.

Bring your best attitude.

Week 27: End of the Line

July 13, 2023July 13, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Minnesota Aurora 1 – 0 Chicago City SC (F–Playoffs)

This game might be the dictionary definition of the word “frustrating”. As I was home alone I got to watch and write along with the game and was stunned at first the weather (a sloppy, driving rain mixed with oppressive humidity) then the number of chances that Aurora missed, and finally the absolute apathy of the Chicago City side that clearly had been through enough facing Aurora this year. Ari Del Moral converted the vital penalty, and Minnesota advanced to the next round.

Minnesota Aurora 0 – 1 Indy XI (F-Playoffs)

Aurora met Indianapolis facing their fellow Central Conference division winner. The result was surprising in that Minnesota lost and went goalless for the first time this season. Full credit to goalie Amanda Poorbaugh (often left waiting around this season by a great defense). She stopped many Indy attempts but couldn’t stop the final free for all spot kick into the box.

It’s a discouraging end to Minnesotas excellent season as a league championship seemed thoroughly possible, but it doesn’t diminish a great year of growing and learning as a team.

Minnesota United 1 – 4 Austin FC (M)

A week after a great outing, the loons got the inverse service. Of course Austin is near the top of the Western conference and Portland is near the bottom, so it makes more sense.

Rosenborg 1 – 2 Lillestrom (M)

An early lead was promising for the Trolls with Ole Sæter scoring eleven minutes in. But the last seven minutes were a disaster, with LSK scoring twice to wipe out any chance for Rosenborg to get some credit.

Sporting Cristal 0 – 1 Emelec (M-Copa)

Emelec could not ask for a better way to start their knock out campaign in the Copa Sudamericana. They spent most of the game defending against Cristal’s attack. Jose Cevallos’ free kick set up his own off-ball run for the winning goal. Beyond winning this one game, they also got an away goal, so even if next week’s match ends 0-0 Emelec will advance.

Houston Dynamo 0 – 3 Minnesota United (M)

For several months Minnesota United games have been marked by two things: an offense that can’t score much, and a defense that is constantly having to save the day. While the game against Austin showed that the defense might be suffering a bit of fatigue, this game showed that the offense has started to click. It helps to have Emanuel Reynoso back, but it also helps to have new striker Teemu Puuki who helped set up the first goal for our buddy Bongi, and scored the second.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

Alex was back in action with his weekly soccer practice, and while the team didn’t fare as well as the last time, Alex was doing it all once again. He was noticeably upset when the opponents got their fifth goal, but when we remembered that fun was the main purpose, and that supporting your team was the goal, things seemed better–as if to prove it, went out got another goal and an assist.

Gold Cup-Date

After Honduras was dumped out at the group stage, our attention turned entirely to Jamaica and Canada. Kemar Lawrence’s injury left him on the bench for Jamaica’s defeat against Mexico, and somehow the strong showings for both Jayden Nelson and Viktor Loturi, they too didn’t make it to the pitch but Canada held their own against the United States, thanks largely to the one player who did come back: Dayne St. Clair. Big Save Dayne had a great match, keeping the United States in check, until Canada came back with a pair of late goals to take the lead (unfortunately the US got their own late equalizer and then survived the shoot out, so Dayne was back to Minnesota in time for the match against Houston.

Women’s World Cup-Date

In one week the women’s world cup will kick off in Australia and New Zealand. Of the five women’s teams we follow, three will have players down under for the tournament. Freiburg’s lone representative will be Janina Minge, who is part of the reserve list for Germany (just in case someone gets hurt), Rosenborg will send four players, three for Norway (Sara Horte, Mathilde Harviken, and Anna Josendal) and the starting keeper for Denmark (Lene Christiansen). But Grenoble has five players plus coach Nicholas Delpine who will all be supporting Haiti. So naturally we’re excited about seeing Haiti, Chelsea Surpris, Jennyfer Limage, Sherly Jeudy, Maudeline Moreyl, and Florsie Joseph.

Player of the Week

Dayne St. Clair had two great games in two competitions. I was surprised that he hasn’t already gotten a Player of the Week award this year, but this is certainly deserved.

Standings

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab–b	12	2	3	2.24	2.29	0.94
Minnesota	22	6	9	1.95	2.46	1.05
Rosenborg	17	6	13	1.58	1.67	0.94
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Grenoble–b	15	6	17	1.34	1.16	1.13
Emelec	7	8	7	1.32	1.23	1.14
Freiburg–b	12	7	19	1.13	1.24	1.66
Alebrijes–b	5	5	8	1.11	1.33	1.39
Ross County–b	6	4	12	1.00	1.23	1.50
Vozdovac–b	4	3	11	0.83	0.67	1.65
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 7/13/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 13th

Friday, July 14th

Saturday, July 15th

Stranrear v. Ross County (Cup)

Minnesota United v. LAFC (M)

Sunday, July 16th

Rosenborg v. Tromso (M)

Monday, July 17th

Tuesday, July 18th

Wednesday, July 19th

Emelec v. Sporting Cristal (M-Copa)

Week 26: Staycation the Second

July 6, 2023July 6, 2023 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Green Bay Glory 0 – 4 Minnesota Aurora (F)

Sophie French joined the dynamic duo of Rapp and Hansen in helping Aurora make the most of another trip to Wisconsin. Even more impressive: French was playing out of position as a defender before charging up and bringing her usual attacking brilliance and find the net.

Roa 0 – 3 Rosenborg BK (F)

Anna Josensdal continued to be an iron woman and netted another goal for the Trolls, young Synne Bronsted (only 20) did the same as Rosenborg rolled to victory.

Minnesota United 4 -1 Portland Timbers (M)

This was an absolutely wild match, and one that I got to go see with Alex! You had plenty of attacking football, you had a crazy number of calls by the referee (not all of them were dumb…no matter what the people sitting next to us said), you had a goal directly from the corner kick by Emanuel Reynoso. And that was just the half we watched! In the second half we had more goals, a brief bit of fear, and another goal from Alex’s new favorite Bongokhule Hlongwane (sorry Boxall, I was advocating for you but the kid likes goals)

https://youtu.be/fYzefcUDoD8

Minnesota Aurora 7 – 0 Chicago City SC (F)

Aurora wrapped up their second unbeaten regular season with what amounted to a bit of a curtain call as Cat Rapp scored twice (9 for her this year), Maya Hansen once (12 goals for her), and Hannah Adler once (11 for her). Those three accounted for half of the team’s total 60 goals during the regular season.

Aalesund 1 – 0 Rosenborg (M)

Coach Svein Malen’s second game in charge of Rosenborg went a lot like his first. Rosenborg looked okay, competent for sure…and then they gave up a second half goal and sunk deeper down the table.

Alex cheers and hits the guy in front of us…

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

We completed our two weeks of vacation with a fourth of July celebration that included grandparents, and all the assorted aunties, uncles, and cousins. While I was kind of hoping that Alex would get to challenge goalie Uncle Simon or midfielder Uncle Matt, we settled for seeing the MacKenzie kids deliver a thorough water balloon drubbing to the MacKenzie dads.

Gold Cup-Date

The Gold Cup’s opening round came to an end. Kemar Lawrence started for Jamaica against St. Kitt’s and Nevis. He was strong in distribution but not the best at stopping and spent the second half on the bench. ,Joseph Rosales did an excellent job with his usual two-way play for Honduras in a draw against Qatar and a win over Haiti. But, that wasn’t enough to pull El H into the second round.

The real story that got us fired up though was the tournament saving win for Canada against Cuba. The Maple Leafs could have been knocked out in the first round (a major come down for the team after their first world cup in 3 decades). But that was why they clearly used our favorite players: Dayne St. Clair of Minnesota was in goal, Jayden Nelson of Rosenborg was an attacking substitute in the first half and Viktor Loturi of Ross County came in for the end of the game. (Sidebar one: Okay, yes, one of Cuba’s goals came after Dayne gave up a foul…but c’mon…it’s Bootroom or Bust for the Canucks!)

(Sidebar two: we somehow missed that Matthais Phaeton led the Guadaloupe team throughout the cup including a tie against Canada and a win–with two goals–against Cuba, but a missed penalty cost them a draw that would have pulled them through to the second round)

Transfer Time

Last week I covered most teams, but failed to account for changes coming to Grenoble’s men’s side. While some of the strong willed GF38 back line (Loris Nery and Bart Straalman) reached the end of their contracts, the big change was seeing lead creator Matthais Phaeton depart for CSKA Sofia in Hungary. Aside from Hungary’s abysmal politics, we hope Mathais can step up to the Conference League and draw more attention by playing against Europe’s best.

But Grenoble brought on several strong young players, poaching players who have impressed them the last few seasons with Eddy Sylvestre and Mattheo Xanthippe coming in, the big fresh blood for the team is Belgian Dante Rigo coming in to settle the midfield.

One other team we haven’t discussed much (as they continue preseason before the league stars at the end of the month) is Alebrijes de Oxaca. Their primary change was to say so long to long time coach Jorge Manrique Islas and bring in new coach Carlos Guttierez

Player of the Week

Cat Rapp has been utterly outstanding all season long for Minnesota Aurora and if she wanted to be mad at us for not recognizing her as player of the week sooner we couldn’t blame her. But hopefully she’s understanding.

Standing

Half way through the summer holidays Punjab should be grateful to the guys in Minnesota and Rosenborg, becuase while the women’s teams might well be charging towards the title by now, the mens teams in each club setting are simply surviving. What happens when the Loons join Aurora in bringing the heat? Well…you can see how close it’s gotten.

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
Punjab–b	12	2	3	2.24	2.29	0.94
Minnesota	20	6	7	2.00	2.61	1.06
Rosenborg	17	6	12	1.63	1.69	0.91
Legon Cities–b	9	7	8	1.42	1.25	1.29
Grenoble–b	15	6	17	1.34	1.16	1.13
Emelec	6	8	7	1.24	1.24	1.19
Freiburg–b	12	7	19	1.13	1.24	1.66
Alebrijes–b	5	5	8	1.11	1.33	1.39
Ross County–b	6	4	12	1.00	1.23	1.50
Vozdovac–b	4	3	11	0.83	0.67	1.65
Montana–b	0	0	0	—	—	—

Table Updated 6/22/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 6th

Minnesota Aurora v. Chicago City SC (F–Playoffs)

Friday, July 7th

Saturday, July 8th

Minnesota United v. Austin FC (M)

Sunday, July 9th

Rosenborg v. Lillestrom (M)

USL-W 2nd Round Playoff (Minnesota/Chicago winner versus Flint City/Indy XI winner)

Gold Cup 2nd Round (with Canada’s Bootroom connection, and Kemar Lawrence in action)

Monday, July 10th

Tuesday, July 11th

Wednesday, July 12th

Sporting Cristal v. Emelec (M-Copa)

Houston Dynamo v. Minnesota United (M)