Norgevenn, look it up.
Crawley Town F.C. v. A.F.C. Wimbledon (Friday)
I think it’s fantastic that the opening round of England’s League Cup features two teams who will begin their first seasons in league football this year. I also like the way that both of these clubs came into the league (League Two in this case). AFC Wimbledon decided when their club, Wimbledon F.C. were relocated and renamed that they’d rather start over and work their way back up the pyramid. Crawley Town, meanwhile, felt that they had more to offer than Conference level football could accommodate and have built the club gradually over the last few years by erasing the club’s debt and using its revenues to sign the best possible players. If there were some way for both clubs to win this match I’d be in favor of it, but failing that, I’d like to see them both succeed in League Two and keep progressing.
New England Revolution v. Sporting K.C. (Saturday)
I wish I could say that taking four points from their last two away matches has convinced me that the New England Revolution are “back on track,” but I’m not that naïve. Maybe Steve Nicol will continue to experiment with squad selection and formation and come up with one that will keep the club competitive for the rest of the season, but I don’t think it’s going to make much difference until a player or three of quality are brought into the club. Worse yet, this weekend they face a Sporting K.C. side that hasn’t lost in league play since the last week in May and who don’t look like losing again any time in the near future. Fun Fact: Sporting K.C. defender Júlio César ‘s Wikipedia page has a subheading entitled “Professional Journeyman”- that might be more truth than Júlio César wants to own up to.
Ross County F.C. v. Queen’s Park F.C. (Saturday)
Crashing out of the first round of the Ramsden’s Challenge Cup last week to Third Division Elgin City- and as defending champions, no less- was humbling if nothing else, but I’m going to put a positive spin on it. Specifically, that being out of one of the three cup competitions early will keep the squad fresher, longer, and will help to alleviate “fixture congestion” later on in the season. Right? Let’s hope so! A loss this week in the first round of the League Cup would be equally embarrassing as Third Division Queen’s Park are the only amateur side in Scotland playing “League” football. No Staggies- including ATD’s own Mark Corcoran- received passing grades following the loss (at home!) to Elgin City, and manager Derek Adams has stated that there will be some major changes made for this match.
Sogndal Fotball v. Rosenborg BK (Saturday)
After the cancellation of last week’s matches and for reasons that need no explanation it seemed like including a match from Norway’s Eliteserien was the right thing to do this week. This match features Rosenborg- Norway’s most successful club both at home and abroad- and newly-promoted Sogndal, whose back-up goalkeeper is American Joseph Bendik. Unbelievably, Sogndal is also the club of Tore André Flo who played for Chelsea, Rangers, and Sunderland a decade ago. The 38 year old striker began his professional career at Sogndal in 1993. Defending champions Rosenborg will be looking to add to their national record 22 titles, but they will also have one eye on the upcoming second leg of their Champions League tie with Viktoria Plzeň of the Czech Republic- they lost the first leg 0-1.
Portland Timbers v. Toronto F.C. (Saturday)
The laws of probability (I think) tell us that every time that two top MLS sides meet each other and provide us with an entertaining match, there is also a match like this on the schedule. Portland can be forgiven for being in last place in the Western Conference. Not only is it far more competitive than the Eastern Conference, but they are also an expansion team. Speaking of expansion teams, somebody should tell Toronto that they haven’t been one since 2007, so they’re going to need a fresh excuse for never finishing higher than 5th place in any season. Just a tip for the Toronto front office, picking up MLS cast-offs (Peri Marosevic, Dasan Robinson, etc.) is probably not the way to improve your club. Fun Fact: Portland owner Henry Merritt Paulson III hasn’t even turned 40 years old yet. Yikes.
Ajax v. F.C. Twente (Saturday)
Football in the Netherlands kicks off this weekend with the Super Cup, or Johan Cruijff Schaal, between last year’s champions Ajax and KNVB Cup winner’s F.C. Twente. Twente are the defending champions and Ajax have won the cup four times this century, so this should be quite the match. Twente will be led by Costa Rican international Bryan Ruiz and veteran midfielder Denny Landzaat, while Ajax will be led by captain and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg…unless, of course, he’s not playing for Ajax anymore when the weekend rolls around. This match will also serve as a nice preview to the season as these two clubs fought for the championship last year with Ajax winning it on the final day of the season. Fun Fact: Ajax manager Frank de Boer won three Super Cups as a player.
Vancouver Whitecaps v. L.A. Galaxy (Saturday)
Most likely the first place L.A. Galaxy are going to lay the “smackdown” on last place Vancouver, but that being said, I’m not sure there was an opponent that gave Manchester United a harder time than the Whitecaps did last week. I was particularly impressed with Rochat, Sanvezzo, and their new signing, Jarju. Some might argue that one of the reasons the Whitecaps played well against United was that they felt no pressure because there was “nothing to lose.” Coach Tom Soehn might want to take that approach for the rest of the MLS season. The club isn’t going to make the playoffs, so why not play like there is nothing to lose? Fun Fact: Believe it or not, as well as the Galaxy have played this season, they could be caught by both Dallas and Seattle in the next two weeks if results go against them.
UEFA U-19 Championship (Sunday)
Unfortunately, this post has to be published before the two nations that will meet in this match have been determined (it will be Spain/Ireland v. Serbia/Czech Republic), but I want to urge you to seek out this match anyway. Think of all of the possible outcomes: If Spain wins, well, duh! If Serbia or the Czech Republic win it may ensure another decade of doing well in major tournaments but never actually winning anything. If Ireland wins, well, does anyone remember how bonkers the Irish went they made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1990? Or, no matter who wins, they could pull a “Nigeria” and keep winning youth titles and never translate that to anything on the senior level. Fun Fact: If you’re lucky, Georger might include this in either his Saturday or Sunday TV listings.
Here, here on Crawley/AFC. I’ve followed AFC Dons since they were born as a club (MK, I’m looking at you). I wish long league stays for both and I really wish Dons go up, way up. They seem to be building the right way.
Portland have a bright future. They have the fan base, so it’s all about the talent. As Columbus showed, you can win and build in a smaller market with the right pieces. Give it a year or two, they should be contending. As for Toronto, they seem to be following the Maple Leafs ethos of working very hard at being mediocre. I wish them well and pray, for their sake, that MLS never institutes relegation.
I’m calling upset on LA/VAN. I think VAN will win it, but we’ll see.
Ireland – Czech Republic would be a match-up of a place I once lived vs. the place I’m moving to. I’d probably end up rooting for Ireland like I always do as per my heritage (I have no Czech in me to my knowledge)
Worth noting on Crawley Town, they are called the “Manchester City of non-League football” – one guess as to why. They aren’t very popular with fans of the other Conference teams as a result.
It will be interesting to see if their financial support will buoy them in League Two or if it will make little difference – it all depends on their club turnover, because League Two has a wage cap (60 percent of club turnover) that will limit how much Crawley can spend on their roster going forward. Promotion to League One won’t necessarily help to avoid the wage cap, as they are implementing FFA-style wage caps starting this season.
A note on that Crawley Town/AFC Wimby match–seems the reason why it’s having to be played is due to League Cup winners Brum having been relegated from the Prem. The last two into the league & one has to be eliminated before the first rounds begin. Bit of a shame that.
Would be a lot less of a shame if the match were televised, allowing for a nice chunk of revenue of both sides involved. Wombles get their first League Two match televised (for obvious reasons); Crawley will not have a match on TV (at least thus far) through November. Otherwise, it’s the same financial blackhole that all other League 2 clubs share.