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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Colorado Rapids are making a big push to acquire center back Lalas Abubakar from the Columbus Crew. Abubakar joined the Rapids on loan this season and was named the club’s defender of the year. The loan move cost Colorado $125,000 in targeted allocation money, and the Rapids are willing to spend over $1 million in assets to acquire Abubakar permanently, sources told Pro Soccer USA. The assets would be a mixture of targeted allocation money (TAM) and general allocation money (GAM).
Colorado is one of several teams interested in Abubakar, according to a Crew spokesperson, who would not confirm specific bid amounts.
The Rapids’ original loan deal did not include an option to buy at the end of the season, but Abubakar endeared himself to the Rapids community with his personality and style of play. Speaking to Ghanaian outlet Zuria FM, Abubakar stated that he wants to stay in Colorado, but he knows Columbus wants him back.
A Rapids spokesperson would not confirm specifics but said, “I can confirm that Lalas is one of our offseason targets. He integrated himself well with the group in such a short amount time and was a solid contributor to our back line, so we’re hopeful we can bring him back next season.”
The current record fee for an intra-MLS defender transfer is $1 million, paid by Minnesota United to acquire Ike Opara from Sporting Kansas City before this season. The Rapids are willing to break that record for Abubakar.
Should the Crew accept the offer, it will give them the largest reported allocation-money transfers in league history for MLS SuperDraft picks on both offense and defense. Abubakar was the fifth-overall pick in the 2017 draft. Columbus also set a record when it transferred Justin Meram, the 15th-overall pick in 2011, to Orlando City SC for $1.05 million in 2018.
The post Colorado Rapids willing to spend over $1 million to get Columbus Crew CB Lalas Abubakar appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Ben Ferree, Pro Soccer USA
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According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Dries Mertens could be looking into the possibility of a move to either Major League Soccer or the Chinese Super League during the January transfer window. The Napoli star could have a deal to make the jump over to China already on the table, but even […]
The post Mertens heading to MLS or China? appeared first on Soccer News.
The post Mertens heading to MLS or China? appeared first on Soccer News.
Is it time for Mauro Manotas to finally leave Major League Soccer? ‘Finally’ might sound too harsh for a player that is 24 years old, but considering everything it feels like the striker has been in MLS for longer than some have expected. The Colombian forward who currently plays for Houston Dynamo is set to […]
The post Mauro Manotas set for MLS departure appeared first on Soccer News.
The post Mauro Manotas set for MLS departure appeared first on Soccer News.
Rebekah Vardy has denied leaking private Instagram stories from Coleen Rooney to a national newspaper, in a startling case of claim and counter-claim between the wives of two former England strikers. Rooney, who is married to England’s record scorer Wayne Rooney, posted a tweet on Wednesday in which she revealed how she came to suspect Vardy, […]
The post WAGS at War – Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy embroiled in Twitter row appeared first on Soccer News.
The post WAGS at War – Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy embroiled in Twitter row appeared first on Soccer News.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped to unveil his own shirtless statue in Malmo on Tuesday. The LA Galaxy star has been immortalised in a striking bronze monument near Malmo’s stadium, where he began his professional career in 1999. The 38-year-old posted a picture on Twitter showing him alongside the work and surrounded by crowds of fans, with the […]
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The post Ibrahimovic unveils shirtless ´Statue of Zlatan´ in Malmo appeared first on Soccer News.
Could Olivier Giroud be heading to Major League Soccer? It certainly is a possibility, at least according to Sportsnet 650. They are claiming that Vancouver Whitecaps have contacted Chelsea over a potential move for the French striker. The report is suggesting that the playing time the 33-year-old Giroud has had this season is not good […]
The post Vancouver contact Chelsea over Giroud appeared first on Soccer News.
The post Vancouver contact Chelsea over Giroud appeared first on Soccer News.
The MLS regular season came to a dramatic end on Decision Day and, along with it, comes the final Pro Soccer USA MLS Power Rankings of the 2019 season.
It’s no surprise the top two seeds in each conference — LAFC and NYCFC — top the Week 31 power rankings. Toronto FC, which ended the regular season on a 10-game unbeaten streak and earned a first-round playoff home game following a 1-0 win over Columbus Crew SC, made the biggest leap, advancing five spots to No. 7.
The Portland Timbers and FC Dallas, which both needed wins to clinch their postseason berths, each made four-spot positive advancement, while the LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls both dropped four spots after disappointing Decision Day defeats.
The Major League Soccer Power Rankings are created by averaging the rankings submitted by a committee of Pro Soccer USA’s editors and writers.
(1) Los Angeles Football Club (21-4-9, 72 points): Carlos Vela claimed the Golden Boot emphatically with a hat trick and LAFC set a new MLS record for points in a regular season following a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. (2) New York City FC (18-6-10, 64 points): Ronald Matarrita and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi scored inside the opening half hour to help lead NYCFC to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. No team is hotter down the stretch (7-1-2) than the East’s top seed. (4) Atlanta United FC (18-12-4, 58 points): Julian Gressel had a goal and assist and Josef Martinez returned from injury to score in a 3-1 win over the New England Revolution. The Five Stripes went 3-1-1 in their last five games. (6) Seattle Sounders FC (16-10-8, 56 points): Roman Torres scored the lone goal as the Sounders clinched the second seed in the West, beating Minnesota Untied for their second consecutive 1-0 victory to end the season. (5) Philadelphia Union (16-11-7, 55 points): The boos rained down at halftime and although the Union rallied to pull within a goal in an inspired second half, they ended the regular season with consecutive defeats. (3) Minnesota United FC (15-11-8, 53 points): The bad news for the Loons is they won just one of their final four regular season games, ending with a 1-0 loss to Seattle. The good news? Their first-ever MLS Cup playoff game is at Allianz Field vs. the Galaxy. (12) Toronto FC (13-10-11, 50 points): Alejandro Pozuelo’s second-half free kick was the difference for Toronto FC in a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew which helped the Reds move up to fourth in the East and clinch a home playoff game. (10) Real Salt Lake (16-13-5, 53 points): It’s back-to-back wins for Real Salt Lake, which defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 courtesy of a Damir Kreilach headed goal in the 28th minute. They are home in the first round against the Timbers, who handed them one of four losses at RioT. (7) D.C. United (13-10-11, 50 points): The good news is D.C. United didn’t concede a goal over the course of the final five games of the regular season. But failing to score in a regular season finale against FC Cincinnati cost them a home game. (14) Portland Timbers (14-13-7, 49 points): The Timbers needed a win on Decision Day and they got one, beating the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 to extend an unbeaten streak to four consecutive games to end the regular season. (15) FC Dallas (13-12-9, 48 points): What an emphatic way to book a playoff berth as FC Dallas crushed Sporting Kansas City 6-0 on Decision Day. Zdenek Ondrasek struck for a brace in the victory. (8) LA Galaxy (16-15-3, 51 points): The Galaxy are leaking goals at the most inopportune time, conceding a combined eight goals in consecutive defeats to the Vancouver Whitecaps and Houston Dynamo, a pair of teams that missed the playoffs. (9) New York Red Bulls (14-14-6, 48 points): The Red Bulls had an outside shot at a first-round home game, but that went out the window with another decisive defeat in Montreal. The Red Bulls lost five of their final 10 games of the season and haven’t scored in consecutive games. (11) New England Revolution (11-11-12, 45 points): Cristian Penilla leveled five minutes after Darlington Nagbe’s opening goal, but the Revs conceded twice in an eight-minute span early in the second half in a 3-1 loss to Atlanta, their opponent in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. (13) Colorado Rapids (12-16-6, 42 points): The Rapids needed a win, and some help, to clinch a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs. That didn’t happen with a 3-1 ouster at LAFC. Winning five of their last seven was impressive. (17) Chicago Fire (10-12-12, 42 points): The Fire missed the playoffs, but they ended the regular season on a high note, beating Orlando City SC, 5-2, to extend an unbeaten streak to five straight games. (16) San Jose Earthquakes (13-16-5, 44 points): The Earthquakes needed a Decision Day win to book a playoff spot, but they fell to the Timbers 3-1. Their season ended with six straight defeats. (18) Columbus Crew SC (10-16-8, 38 points): The Crew saw their five-match unbeaten streak snapped with a 1-0 Decision Day loss to Toronto FC. But for the first time since 2016, Columbus has missed out on the playoffs. (19) Montreal Impact (12-17-5, 41 points): There’s questions abound about the future of Nacho Piatti and others, but the Impact gave their home fans one last thrill with a convincing 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls. Bojan, Maxi Urruti and Orji Okwonkwo scored a goal apiece. (23) Houston Dynamo (12-18-4, 40 points): DaMarcus Beasley closed out his stellar career in fine fashion as the Dynamo defeated the Galaxy, 4-2. Christian Ramirez scored a brace and Alberth Elis had one goal and two assists. (20) Orlando City SC (9-15-10, 37 points): Another season that ended without a playoff berth was capped by a decisive defeat to the Chicago Fire. The Lions fell 5-2 at home and, a day later, James O’Connor was fired as head coach. (22) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8-16-10, 34 points): After three consecutive matches without a loss, the Whitecaps season ended with a 1-0 defeat to Real Salt Lake. How much will the roster be overhauled again. (21) Sporting Kansas City (10-16-8, 38 points): And the award for most disappointing Decision Day defeat went to Sporting Kansas City, which conceded six goals without response in a blowout loss to playoff-bound FC Dallas. (24) FC Cincinnati (6-22-6, 24 points): Despite finishing the match with nine men, FC Cincinnati managed to earn a 0-0 season-ending draw at D.C. United. Their expansion season finished with three consecutive draws and three clean sheets in their final five games.Pro Soccer USA writers Dylan Butler, Chris Fuhrmeister, Robert Jonas and Emily Olsen contributed to this report.
The post MLS Power Rankings Week 31: Toronto FC surges into top 10 appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Dylan Butler, Pro Soccer USA
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Bastian Schweinsteiger will go down in history as one of Germany’s all-time greats, says head coach Joachim Low. The 2014 World Cup winner announced his retirement on Monday after Chicago Fire failed to reach the MLS playoffs. Schweinsteiger was an influential part of Low’s side that triumphed in Brazil five years ago, when Germany defeated Argentina […]
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The post Low hails retiring Schweinsteiger as one of Germany´s all-time greats appeared first on Soccer News.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from football following Chicago Fire’s failure to reach the MLS playoffs. The 35-year-old stated via Twitter that “the time has now come” to conclude his playing career at the end of the 2019 season. In a message to fans, he said: “I would like to thank both you and my […]
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The post Schweinsteiger announces retirement after Chicago Fire miss out on MLS playoffs appeared first on Soccer News.
Los Angeles FC star Carlos Vela broke the MLS record for regular-season goals in his hat-trick performance, while Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez scored on his return. Vela shattered the record set by Martinez (31) in 2018 as LAFC ended their regular-season campaign with a 3-1 win over Colorado Rapids on Sunday. LAFC’s Vela surpassed Martinez […]
The post MLS Review: Vela smashes record with hat-trick, Martinez makes scoring return appeared first on Soccer News.
The post MLS Review: Vela smashes record with hat-trick, Martinez makes scoring return appeared first on Soccer News.
Despite having its No. 1 playoff seeding and the 2019 Supporters Shield secured, Los Angeles FC opted for a strong starting lineup as it looked to add another mark: the all-time record for points in an MLS season. It was also an opportunity for LAFC striker Carlos Vela to break the all-time record for goals scored in a season.
LAFC broke both.
Bob Bradley’s side defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-1 at Banc of California Stadium, snuffing out the slim chance the Rapids at making the playoffs entering Major League Soccer’s Decision Day.
With the win, LAFC set an all-time record of 72 points for the season and Vela’s hat trick gave the Mexican International 34 regular-season goals. Josef Martinez held the previous record after scoring 30 goals in 2018.
Vela opened the scoring with a laser from outside the 18-yard box into the upper 90, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute. Moments later, Vela made it 2-0, collecting a pass from Tristan Blackmon inside the six-yard box, spinning and then hitting a bicycle kick to score the brace.
It was indicative of the offensive pressure Colorado had absorbed for the opening half hour. But in the 40th minute, the Rapids pulled a goal back. Kei Kamara’s header off a Diego Rubio cross helped Colorado pull the score to 2-1 before halftime.
LAFC extended its lead again and Vela completed a hat trick by slotting home a low cross from Blackmon for a 3-1 advantage in the 51st minute.
In the 65th minute, LAFC defender Walker Zimmerman collided with Kamara and sustained a head injury, prompting his substitution for Lee Nguyen in the 70th minute.
LAFC closed out the win and ended the match outshooting its opponent 15-10 while holding 64 percent possession.
[See image gallery at appserver-f08ff38f]With the loss, Colorado’s season comes to a close and the 3-1 result will stand as goalkeeper Tim Howard’s final match as a player. The 40-year-old tallied two saves in the effort.
As the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed entering the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs, LAFC will play its next match on either Oct. 23 or 24, hosting the winner of the first-round match between No. 4 seed Minnesota United and No. 5 seed LA Galaxy, a series which will take place the weekend of Oct. 19.
The post LAFC sets records on Decision Day, eliminates Colorado Rapids from playoff picture appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Marco Cummings, Pro Soccer USA
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Carlos Vela broke the MLS record for regular-season goals by scoring the opener for Los Angeles FC against Colorado Rapids at Banc of California Stadium on Sunday. Mexico striker Vela bent home a beautiful effort from 25 yards in the 28th minute to surpass Josef Martinez’s tally of 31 for Atlanta United in 2018. The LAFC […]
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The post LAFC star Vela breaks MLS regular-season scoring record appeared first on Soccer News.
Competition: MLS Market: Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score anytime Odds: 3/5 @ Bet 365 With their spot in the play-offs already confirmed, LA Galaxy will look to end their regular season campaign on a positive note when they travel to a struggling Houston on Sunday night. Starting with the hosts, suffering a 2-1 loss at home to Real […]
The post Zlatan Ibrahimovic 3/5 to score anytime against Houston Dynamo in Sunday’s MLS matchup appeared first on Soccer News.
The post Zlatan Ibrahimovic 3/5 to score anytime against Houston Dynamo in Sunday’s MLS matchup appeared first on Soccer News.
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