The living legend that is Didier Drogba is approaching his 20th season of professional soccer, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. The former Chelsea striker lifted the Montreal Impact into the MLS playoffs for the first time in their history last season, and he’s almost certain to have an even more influential campaign this time around following his resounding hat-trick against Philadelphia.
The Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah bore witness to one of the most audacious game-winning backheel goals the sport has ever seen. In fact, it might be the only one the sport has ever seen.
With the friendly match between MLS’s Real Salt Lake and Serie A’s Inter Milan tied at 1-1 in stoppage-time, Inter’s Stevan Jovetic pulled of an absurd piece of skill to decide the match.
Patrick Vieira’s initial appointment as the manager of New York City FC raised more than a few eyebrows around footballing circles. He’d previously been employed as Manchester City’s reserve team and Elite Development squad coach, but his profound experience as a player saw him linked with massive jobs such as manager at Newcastle United.
It should come as no surprise that a city characterized by passionate support, the Portland Timbers have sold out every home match since joining MLS, and fabled urban planning dating back as far as 1903 should boast some of the finest tifo displays in the world.
The rabona kick is football’s version of a motorcycle. Yes, it’s cool and looks good, but you’re probably only going to hurt yourself. Wrapping your kicking leg around the back of your standing leg in order to strike the ball isn’t going to increase the accuracy of your service, but everyone’s going to know you’re a boss and that your hamstrings are in fine working order.
FC Dallas’ Fabian Castillo has just showed the world that a rabona pass isn’t just a clever bit of showmanship, it’s also the filthiest way to setup a goal imaginable. His rabona assist was beyond beautiful.
The New York Times has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news organization, which makes their July 12th publication of Jay Caspian Kang’s “The Dark Side of American Soccer Culture” that much more dumbfounding.
An interesting 18th week in the MLS had some own goals, a goal saving handball (great stuff FC Dallas), an extraordinary hat trick by Clint Dempsey (goal, assist and a red card), and a preposterous banger courtesy of Cristian Techera. Fresh off of a 1-0 lead, Vancouver took advantage of another chance just minutes later to put the game out of reach. A failed freekick attempt led to a ball bouncing back out of the box where Techera received a pass to then take his chances with the ball on his left foot.
Jordan Morris is enjoying the finest form of his professional career to date. On Saturday, July 2nd, Morris scored a highlight reel equalizer against Toronto FC in MLS regular season action. It was the American striker’s sixth goal in 16 games in his rookie season.
Tim Howard’s presence in MLS was clearly felt during his return on Monday as the American goalkeeper registered a shutout in the 0-0 draw between Colorado Rapids, Howard’s new club, and the reigning MLS champion Portland Timbers.
Howard’s debut electrified Colorado’s fanbase — the club typically averages 14,978 spectators per match but had a season-best 18,759 attend Monday’s July 4th matchup.
Rapids fans were keen to see Howard and Jermaine Jones, both returning from Copa America action with the United States, take the field together for the first time for the club.
Andrea Pirlo, one of the most interesting men in the world, has had a cookout. We know this because he posted a picture of it on social media, and we are sad. Not sad that he had a cookout, but sad that we weren't invited.