Major Link Soccer: Martins Not Joining Nigeria, Kick Time Changed

Seattle

First, a reminder that today the Museum of History and Industry in South Lake Union is hosting a celebration of the Seattle Sounders 40th anniversary. As the first Thursday of the month, admission is free. I'll be there, as will unspecified players between 5:30 and 6:30 PM.

Obafemi Martins has played so well the last four weeks that some have speculated he may be back in the Nigerian National Team picture. As the Seattle Times has discovered, that doesn't appear to be the case. Looks like we'll have Oba all to ourselves this summer.

Ticket holders and TV viewers take note: Seattle's scheduled Sept. 20th game at New York Red Bulls has had the time and channel change. It will now be played at 4:30 Seattle time (7:30 New York), and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network (originally meant to be Seattle's lone game on the flagship NBC). Does this mean that another game will be moved to NBC proper? Hopefully including our team?

If you play MLS Fantasy Soccer, there are three players you just have to have right now: Dempsey, Martins, and Lamar Neagle.

Three Sounders were named to NBC's Team of the Week. Two are familiar faces, but there is a Sounder who is almost certainly making his first appearance.

Dylan Remick and Ross Fletcher were among the guests on Seattle Soccer Talk Tuesday night, where Ross shared a story about Gonzalo Pineda's postgame reaction to his first minutes as a Sounder. This is after having to leave Liga MX and nearly quitting the game altogether.

MLS

The attacking power of Toronto has sputtered in recent weeks as Jermain Defoe rested his hamstring. It appears he will be ready to go against the New England Revolution this weekend, which can't be a comforting fact for a team with a -2 goal differential eight games in.

There is now a unified movement against David Beckham's downtown Miami plans as thirteen port officials have joined together in holy matrimony to prevent a soccer stadium in Port Miami. On the other side, The University of Miami would like to call that proposed stadium their home (under the right conditions) but probably can't get out of their lease at Sun Life Stadium that easily.

Orlando City is having some problems of their own locking down their home turf, but fans aren't stressing the details. They're looking forward to playing at the Citrus Bowl, even if it is for a full year.

With six goals, Erick Torres is the second-leading scorer in the league. Chivas USA is rightly working to make sure that his loan deal to the team continues through at least the rest of this season. I'm sure they'd take another year or two if they can get it.

Nate Silver Carl Bialik asks the country how they feel about soccer.

Alessandro Del Piero, a member of DC United? Team owner Erick Thohir calls the idea "unlikely".

US Soccer

The NASL streaming service has seen a few hiccups in the first few weeks of service, so the league has refunded a portion of subscribing payments and extended the free trial for would-be viewers of NASL matches.

Might Tim Ream be a late entry for the team headed to Brazil?

Europe

Prepare yourselves for the excitement and passion of a "subway series" as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are now set up to square off in the UEFA Champions League Final. Atletico downed Chelsea in the semis to give themselves a chance to win their first-ever Champions League title. This is the first time that two teams from the same city have met in the ultimate game for that tournament, played this year in Lisbon. That's a mere five hours away from Madrid. The coach of Atletico has several people he'd like to thank for getting his team to the final:

Simeone on his team: "I want to thank their mothers for giving birth to players with balls this big [gestures to show substantial size]"

— AS English (@English_AS) April 30, 2014

The NBA just brought a huge, clenched fist down on racism within its sport. Racial issues of course still exist, and many would argue that the NBA should have taken stronger action against Donald Sterling years ago. However, his punishment fit the nature of the crime: the team owner will be effectively kicked out of the league in the near future and will never again attend a league game. Nakedly racist comments like that rarely come from soccer team owners, and yet there is a pervasive racial tinge across the sport worldwide. Could FIFA come down on fans and players the same way Adam Silver came down on Sterling?