Major Link Soccer: Sounders Crashing the ESPYs

Seattle

The 206 was well represented at the ESPYs last night. At one point, the home page for the awards ceremony featured an image of Russell Wilson handing off a trophy to Clint Dempsey on behalf of the US Men's National Team(winner of "Best Moment"). The Seattle Seahawks were named best team, and cornerback Richard Sherman was the "Breakout Athlete". More importantly than all of that though, look how good our boy is looking!

yedlin is so dapper gdi pic.twitter.com/q1XH0OoVyG

— davina (@bertiedav) July 17, 2014

Yedlin has another responsibility: lighting the way for other future soccer stars.

An important reminder for those of you planning to go to Saturday's meeting with Tottenham: Traffic across the I-90 bridge is going to be terrible, with the backup possibly extending as far as ten miles. Not totally related, but President Barack Obama will be in town Tuesday, so just... don't leave the house at all.

The Sounders are one of several teams (including the Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake) who could bring the world's game to Boise. That isn't in reference to a USL affiliate, but to a big-time friendly involving Spain's Athletic Bilbao. If and when it happens, the game would be hosted at the football stadium of Boise State University, well known for the blue turf. Would you be in favor of the Sounders playing an away friendly during the regular season?

Don Ruiz got some fascinating quotes out of head coach Sigi Schmid regarding establishing a winning culture in a team's "DNA".

Take a look at the trophy and medals made fresh for the inaugural winner of the Evergreen Premier League.

Three Mukilteo natives will be joining the Sounders Academy team this fall.

Meet the real-life Hydra, a blue-green creature that is "almost impossible to kill" and has the ability to "reconstitute itself". This all sure sounds awfully familiar...

Last but not least, Tuesday's Seattle Soccer Talk is up. We've got Stefan Frei, Kasey Keller, and one important ECS leader on the show.

MLS

There were four games going last night, one especially notable. The LA Galaxy, without Landon Donovan in the starting lineup, posted five on the floundering New England Revolution. It puts them in a position to take second place in the Western Conference with a game in hand if they can go into Kansas City this weekend and find a win. However, there was a complication: Omar Gonzalez sustained an injury, and it looks serious.

During the postgame press conference Bruce Arena head coach said that Omar Gonzalez is "out for awhile."

— Adam Serrano (@LAGalaxyInsider) July 17, 2014

Sporting KC retook the East lead with a victory over the Columbus Crew that wasn't sealed until stoppage time. Elsewhere, Toronto and Vancouver drew, and Sebastian Le Toux came through for the Philadelphia Union in a 3-1 win against New York.

MLS defenders are a hot commodity these days, and Yedlin isn't the only one whose stock is rising. Matt Besler, after being a USMNT anchor for the Cup, has confirmed that both Fulham and Sunderland are in the running for his services. Fulham may be desperate: since Dempsey left, they haven't had enough of that colonial flavor to stay in the Premier League. Besler confirmed the interest on KC radio, and also talked about how ESPN covers the league.

In recent days, the Philadelphia Union have been linked with Carlos Valdes. Fans of his current club are distressed to see that he is missing practices. Additionally, a Philadelphia-area kid has joined the Borussia Dortmund Academy. Shame he didn't go into the Union system.

Yesterday we mentioned that Atlanta had seen a bump in season ticket pledges during the World Cup. Now that the tournament is over, Orlando City is declaring that they have sold 7,500 season ticket packages, half of their goal of 15,000. These are of course more reflective of demand than simple pledges, which can be reneged on.

This weekend, Nick Rimando can tie the all-time record for shutouts by an MLS goalkeeper. He would be a deserving record breaker.

World

Now the the World Cup is over, Brazil has listed their 12 tournament stadiums on Craigslist hoping to get a buyer. "Lightly used 70,000 seater, 2 Billion dollars or best offer
FIFA begged. Pleaded. Told me how we'd use it EVERY day. How our country would become THE place to hang out. We had the beaches. And a Jesus statue. And dancers with skimpy outfits. And Pele. But if we had THIS, well, we'd be in the Global North. Plus, since I 'messed up their lives' by failing to win the last time we hosted, I owed them at least this much.
So three moths after finishing the damn things, I'm selling them to raise money for the Olympics or a stockade jail to house a grumpy FIFA organization"

Real Madrid is once again the most valuable sports franchise in the world, according to Forbes Magazine. The list was dominated by the NFL but many of the top spots were members of a European league. If/when the Sounders get on this list, they'll know they have truly made it. To do so though, they'd have to become relatively as valuable as AC Milan is today. A long road ahead for that.

In many ways, finishing the stadiums on time is the least of Russia's 2018 problems.

According to Pro Soccer Talk, now is the time to eliminate diving from soccer.