The Beautiful Game 2023 Chapter 5: Uprooted
Expected the unexpected! My excitement for the Oakland Roots home opener was put on pause as the game was postponed, so because of those uprooted plans, this article will instead focus on one key MLS and international game and we’ll take a look at some of the other happenings across the world of soccer.
Featured Domestic Game: San Jose Earthquakes 0–0 Toronto FC
SJ XI: JT Marcinkowski; Carlos Akapo, Jonathan Mensah, Rodrigues, Paul Marie; Cristian Espinoza, Jackson Yueill, Michael Baldisimo(76’ Judson), Benji Kikanovic(59’ Tommy Thompson); Jeremy Ebobisse, Cade Cowell(76’ Ousseni Bouda)
TOR XI: Sean Johnson; Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Matt Hedges, Sigurd Rosted, Raoul Petretta(46’ Kobe Franklin); Michael Bradley, Brandon Servania; Federico Bernardeschi, Alonso Camarero, Victor Vázquez(73’ Kosi Thompson); Deandre Kerr(81’ Hugo Mbongue)
This was the first week of the 2023 MLS season where games occurred during the international break. Toronto FC felt the absences slightly more with 5 internationals called up versus San Jose Earthquakes’ 2, but even still with the presence of playmakers like Cristian Espinoza and Federico Bernardeschi, neither team could score. For San Jose Earthquakes, it’ll be important to rediscover a scoring touch and hopefully get back on the win column in their next game. Their next opponent Houston Dynamo are gaining confidence especially after beating Texas rivals Austin FC.
Featured International Game: USA 1–0 El Salvador
62’ Ricardo Pepi 1–0 (Goal of the Week)
His third and most important goal of this International Break with a finish as cool as ice
https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGolazo/status/1640521363512336387
USA XI: Matt Turner; Sergino Dest, Miles Robinson, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Weston McKennie(90’ Johnny Cardoso), Yunus Musah(Luca de la Torre 72’); Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna(Taylor Booth 72’), Alejandro Zendejas(Brenden Aaronson 60’); Daryl Dike(Ricardo Pepi 61’)
SLV XI: Mario Gonzalez; Alex Roldan(46’ Nelson Blanco), Eriq Zavaleta, Roberto Dominguez, Bryan Tamacas; Kevin Reyes(77’ Richard Menvijar), Brayan Landaverde(57’ Cristian Martinez), Narciso Orellana, Jairo Henriquez; Enrico Hernandez(57’ Mayer Gil), Brayan Hurtado(69’ Cristian Gil)
The CONCACAF Nations League is a step above international friendlies but still not exciting in most cases. Winning 7–1 is nice until you realize where Grenada is ranked. Definitely not a Brazil Germany scenario.
El Salvador is a more worthwhile test given their improvement over Hugo Perez, but anything other than making it to the final of this tournament is a failure for the USMNT. More significantly, this is an opportunity to cap tie key dual nationals such as Alejandro Zendejas and Taylor Booth.
The wins are nice, but as the players return mostly to high stakes European campaigns, it’ll be worth keeping tabs to see if they can find a way to perform for club and country.
Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22
UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarterfinals (DAZN YouTube)
3/21 10:45 am Bayern Munich 1–0 Arsenal
3/21 1 pm Roma 0–1 Barcelona
3/22 10:45 am Lyon 0–1 Chelsea
3/22 1 pm PSG 0–1 Wolfsburg
Some interesting results here even if they are all 1–0 shorelines, because some of the clubs on the winning side were the underdogs namely Chelsea and Wolfsburg.
US Open Cup First Round Begins Too!
I feel it’s worth following the US Open Cup action from the first round because you get a better look at the growth of soccer from the grassroots level. In the next round on April 4–6, we’ll get to see USL Championship sides enter the fray. This will be a great test for any prospective Cinderella stories prior to the debut of the MLS clubs.
Thursday, March 23
2024 Euro Qualifiers
12:45 pm FS1 Italy 1–2 England
England with a gutsy win in Italy, a country they hadn’t won in 60 years. Harry Kane’s penalty meant he surpassed Wayne Rooney as England’s all time goalscorer. Some minor revenge for the Euro 2020 final, but Italy’s triumph will prove little consolation if they fail to qualify for their third of the last four available tournaments.
Sunday, March 26
6 pm NWSL Angel City FC 1–2 NJ/NY Gotham FC
NWSL kicked off this weekend and Lynn Williams got the game winner in one of the intriguing opening matchups. I look forward to seeing which players rise to the challenge ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup!
Monday, March 27
11:45 am Euro Qualifiers FS1 Ireland 0–1 France
France took down Netherlands 4–0, so Benjamin Pavard scoring the only goal against the Irish is both an efficient outing for the favorites while a confidence building performance for the underdogs.
What I’m watching this weekend
Prior to the Weekend
I’ll be curious to see which four teams emerge into the UEFA Women’s Champions League with all the ties finely poised.
Friday, March 31
11:30 am Bundesliga: Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bochum
Frankfurt are fighting for a European spot but Bochum have been a scrappy and difficult to break down opponent as of late.
Saturday, April 1
7 am Premier League: Arsenal vs Leeds United
Weston McKennie and Brenden Aaronson will be one American teammate short with Tyler Adams out for the season, making getting a point against league leaders Arsenal even more of a tough task.
7:30 pm MLS San Jose Earthquakes Vs Houston Dynamo
Can the Quakes get their third win of the season, or will PayPal Park continue to be one of the easier venues for visiting teams to pick up points in MLS?
Sunday, April 2
8:30 am Premier League Newcastle United vs Manchester United
11:45 am Serie A Napoli vs AC Milan
A pair of European fixtures between teams at or near the top of the table is the perfect way to finish the weekend!
Thank you as always for reading. Let me know what games you are planning to watch and even if life uproots your plans, keep loving and living the beautiful game!
Image Credits
