In this week’s Like/Don’t Like, we highlight a nice design, the emergence of a Canadian youngster, and some antics and mistakes high and low.
LIKE:
USMNT centennial crest:
Allow this writer to add her voice to the chorus in favor of the US national team’s centennial crest. Clean, crisp, and classic, the simple stars and stripes pattern makes for an indelible image, and one that U.S. Soccer should seriously consider making permanent.
New England’s goal explosion: The Revolution have played pretty well of late, but no one had them romping 5-0 over the LA Galaxy. Consider this: The Revs scored just 10 goals through the first 12 games of the season, struggling mightily on the offensive end. But Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo have developed instant chemistry up top, and with Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe pulling strings in the middle, the goals should be flowing.
Teibert’s emergence: When 20-year-old midfielder Russell Teibert joined Vancouver back in 2011, it came with a fair amount of hype, at least in Whitecaps country. But in his first two years, the Canadian international wasn't gaining much traction: He was low on the depth chart and shuffled all around the field.
That has changed this season, with Teibert capitalizing on his first real dose of regular minutes. The midfielder had a brace last month to open his scoring account, and he chipped in an assist last weekend. The future looks bright for Teibert, and he should only get better.
DON'T LIKE:
De Luna’s blunder: Who was the luckiest man over the weekend? In a strange way, it was probably Chivas USA's Mario de Luna, whose awful own-goal last Saturday night was overshadowed by Germany goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who outdid de Luna in the US-Germany friendly a day later. Still, it’s going to be hard for struggling Chivas USA to reverse course if defenders are going to literally gift the opposition goals.
WATCH: Mario de Luna's own goal
The antics of Nesta and Bieler: There has been much debate over the justice, or lack thereof, handed out when Claudio Bieler and Alessandro Nesta locked horns last Saturday. Nesta was called for a penalty that Bieler converted, and Nesta was later sent off for a headbutt on Bieler in the second half. But Bieler certainly fueled the fire by kicking out at the Italian when he was on the ground. The bottom line is this: Nesta and Bieler are far too seasoned to be resorting to the antics they did in this match.
CONCACAF re-do: Everyone makes mistakes. But that was one big boo-boo made on live TV by CONCACAF during the 2013-14 Champions League draw on Monday when American and Mexican clubs were drawn together in the group stage (against tournament rules). You can't help but think it could have been avoided with a few rehearsals behind the scenes to make sure the draw follows basic regulations.
What do you like? What do you, er, Don’t Like? Let us know in the comments below.
