Major Link Soccer: LAFC is official

Seattle

In 2007, Osvaldo Alonso abandoned the Cuban National Team knowing he may never see his family again. Now that relations between the United States and Cuba have been mended, his father will be coming to visit on his shiny new travel visa. Perhaps he will be in attendance for Seattle Sounders FC's next home game  to see how appreciative Seattle is of his son.

Thursday's home game at Starfire will wrap up the Sounders FC 2 inaugural season. S2 need a single point in that final game to advance to the playoffs. Look for Seattle to come out with a strong lineup as Amadou Sanyang and Sam Garza return from suspension.

The Sounders moved up two spots in the MLS Power Rankings, the Supporter Shield race is heating up, and points  become more important with only five games remaining in the season.

Major League Soccer

The new Major League Soccer team in Los Angeles will officially be known as Los Angeles Football Club -- or LAFC for short -- the club announced.

Could the 2014 MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips be going in a different direction than his father and brother former English internationals Ian Wright and Sean Wright-Phillips? Wright-Phillips has been in contact with Jamaica about a one-time switch of nationality and is said to be mulling the offer.

From the sounds of it there will be another dos Santos in Major League Soccer next year. No it won't be Giovani dos Santos' brother and current Villareal player Jonathan. Instead it will be current Ottawa Fury FC head coach Marc dos Santos, who will be depart Ottawa Fury FC at season's end in favor of a coaching opportunity in MLS with Sporting Kansas City.

US Soccer

October 10 is a do or die date for the USMNT regarding the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Tuesday the US and Mexico released preliminary rosters for the CONCACAF Cup match, Jurgen Klinsmann picked a group of 34 players including 18 from Major League Soccer.The final roster is due October first.

The Centenario Copa America is set to be played in the USA in 2016, and was supposed to see the ten countries of South America, the US, Mexico and four other countries from CONCACAF play for the championship of both Americas. Unfortunately as of now CONCACAF has not committed teams to play in the tournament.

World Soccer

Today's pick of the litter in the Champions League is Barcelona vs. Roma. The game will be Lionel Messi's 100th Champions League appearance. Messi has scored 77 goals in his previous 99 appearances and will look to add to his total against Roma.

In the EPL diving/simulation is a problem, one caused solely by "Dirty Cheating Foreign Players."

"Dr Webb is a 'football referee expert' working out of the University of Plymouth’s Sport and Exercise Science department and after conducting an in-depth study into the matter, has concluded that the growing trend of player deception is directly linked to the large number of foreign players plying their swarthy trade in the Premier League."

Last week it was juggling while solving a Rubik's Cube. This week its gone one up with George Michael as his inspiration. Careless Whisper is played on a Saxophone while keeping the ball in the air.

Cut back moves have never been more fun to watch!!

Goal of the week Nominees: Volleys