Major Link Soccer: Chicharito too pricey for LAFC

Seattle

You know what are great? Sports. Especially this soccer one. Fandom and passion for a team can come from all kinds of places, but every fan has their personal story of getting drawn in and hooked. For reader (and FanPost writer) BigSchmid, the story involves, pain, family and healing, and you should check out their tale.

The Sounders women open their WPSL season Saturday with a trip to Vancouver to take on the North Shore Girls Soccer Club. After winning the Northwest division last season they’ll be looking to hit that benchmark again.

The 2017 Manchester City Cup Super Group International (whew...) is underway, and the Sounders academy U14s are there and going strong. They defeated Manchester City in the U15 division 3-2. See more recent Sounders Academy results at the link.

Remember when Kyle Beckerman straight-up kicked Clint Dempsey in the kneecap after a tackle in the last match? That follow-through earned him a retroactive suspension for one match, and he will miss RSL’s match against the Philadelphia Union.

A different Beckerman, AEG President and CEO Dan Beckerman, spoke for the first time on the record about his company’s bid to develop KeyArena, and why it’s the best plan ever.

Last week we highlighted the fundraiser with the goal of erasing Seattle Public Schools’ student lunch debt, and it was a success! Coincidence? Of course not, so today we highlight the next step in the campaign: eliminating Renton’s school lunch debt!

Major League Soccer

LAFC certainly wants to make a splash with a big name player when they enter the league, and they have deep pockets. But as much as they might like that player to be Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, the Mexican star may be out of their price range. The striker is reportedly asking for “way north of $10 million” per year, and signing him would require paying what will no doubt be a large transfer fee to Bayer Leverkusen.

Every week 13 match in MLS will be preceded by a moment of silence to remember the victims of Monday’s terrorist attack in Manchester that claimed 22 lives and injured many others.

Rankings of power, they never get old, so here is the latest from RSL Soapbox’s Power Ranking Averages. We have a new top team, and we won’t talk about what happened with the Sounders’ ranking.

ESPN writers lay out the cases for and against David Beckham deserving a place in the US National Soccer Hall of Fame, after he made the 33-player ballot for the first time.

Speaking of halls and fame, FC Dallas and US Soccer have released new and updated renderings of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Who doesn’t like renderings?

Charlotte’s chances for an MLS franchise are looking weaker than a few months ago, with not much movement from the league in terms of scheduling a visit to the city, nor from the city government in terms of creating a partnership.

Whitecaps FC 2 fans will be able to bring their dogs to this weekend’s match, with the $5 canine ticket being donated to Paws for Hope.

NASL bonus: Cosmos Country, a blog and podcast that covers the NASL team, has decided to end their pod and their coverage of the team, after receiving angry and vaguely threatening feedback from the team’s ownership by phone over the site’s commentary about the Cosmos.

US Soccer

USWNT coach Jill Ellis has named her 21-player roster for the upcoming friendlies against Sweden and Norway, including Seattle Reign’s Megan Rapinoe and other familiar faces.

The U20 men earned their first victory of the World Cup Thursday, a 1-0 win over Senegal that puts them at the top of their group.