Major Link Soccer - Work Trips Suck Edition

Man, I hate work trips.  They make you miss awesome soccer like the Sounders 4-2 win over the New York Red Bulls and a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution.  I would have loved to see the scuba celebration live with 46,000 cheering fans.  Tyson Wahl needs to talk with Roger Levesque (and definitely not Eric Hassli) on the fine art of goal celebrations.  At least I've been able to watch the highlights of the two matches here. 

Goal of the Week: Fredy Montero's brilliant late game free kick against Toronto FC has won the MLS goal of the week award for week 14 in a very tight race.  Tyson Wahl or Erik Friberg may soon join Montero as a goal of the week winners (vote for your favorite).  They would also join fellow Sounders Lamar Neagle and O'Brian White as goal of the week winners this season. 

More links after the jump:

Rosales Mourns Relegation of Historic Side: An international soccer dynasty lost a lot of its luster this weekend when River Plate were relegated to the 2nd division of Argentinian soccer.  It was the first time the historic club had been relegated in its 110 year existence.  Eighty-nine civilians and 35 people were injured in the rioting and an investigation into over-crowding may interrupt the final of the Copa America tournament.  Sounders midfielder Mauro Rosales was both sad and frustrated when he heard the news after the Sounders game on Sunday.  Rosales helped lead River Plate to a Clausura title in 2008 before joining the Sounders. 

US Falls to Mexico: Mexico played the US national team out of the stadium with a 4-2 win this Saturday to capture the Gold Cup.  Unfortunately, yet another game I missed.  By all accounts it was exciting end-to-end soccer with plenty of chances and goals to spare.  Ultimately, the back four of the US provided too many chances to Mexico and weren't able to hold onto their early 2-0 lead off goals by Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan.  You can see highlights here.

US-17s Advance: While the senior team was fighting a losing battle against Mexico the US under-17 team was able to secure 2nd place in their group and advance in the U-17 World Cup in Mexico.  Captain Marc Pelosi was sent off in the 68 minute for a 2nd yellow card and won't be available to play against the Germans on Thursday.

Magee Wins Player of the Week: LA Galaxy midfielder Mike Magee won MLS player of the week honors for his goalkeeping this weekend.  Starting goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts left early in the California Classico against the San Jose Earthquakes due to a broken arm and back-up keeper Josh Saunders picked up an ill-advised red-card.  Fortunately, on the pitch for Bruce Arena was 5'9" midfielder Mike Magee.  A couple of saves later, and lots of help from the LA backline, the midfielder managed to secure his first shut-out.  For extra irony...Magee is the first GK to win the honor this season.

Davies Fined: DC United forward Charlie Davies was fined $1,000 Friday for a particularly blatant dive.  The referee missed the call and it ultimately helped DCU escape with a point from Rio Tinto.  Even the writers over at Black and Red United, the SBN blog for DCU, agreed that it was the right decision.  The league has also fined the LA Galaxy $5,000 for not putting David Beckham on their injury report and New York Red Bulls GM Erik Soler $10,000 for criticizing refs.

Friendly Advice for the Revolution: Steve Davis offers some friendly advice to Bob Kraft and the Revolution front office on the whole YSA chant incident.  It all boils down to accepting the customers you have rather than burning bridges to secure the customers you want.  Sounds like sage advice to me for a club that's always struggled to fill their cavernous stadium.

New Clubs for WFC: The new MLS summer friendly experience, the World Football Challenge, recently added Juventus & Sporting Lisbon to the schedule.  The event now includes a pretty impressive list of teams including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City.  You can see the full schedule here.