Noah Davis – Page 2 – Football Scout

Inside the VAR process: How the referee review cycle works in MLS

ATLANTA — In the 40th minute of a late-June match between Atlanta United and the Montreal Impact, midfielder Saphir Taïder sent a pass towards center-back Zakaria Diallo. Pity Martinez got in the passing lane, deflecting the ball into the air. As Diallo received the now-bouncing pass, United forward Brandon Vazquez arrived, stretching a raised foot to the ball, appearing to catch it and then follow through into Diallo’s ankle. The defender went down, and referee Ramy Touchan blew his whistle.

“Yeah,…

LAFC’s Bradley: El Trafico just another game

LOS ANGELES — Bob Bradley understands the hype around the “El Trafico” rivalry between LAFC and LA Galaxy (Friday, ESPN, 10 p.m. ET) but says it’s just another game in a long season.
“There are a few reminders [to the players] that go along with these kinds of rivalries. They’re a part of how we prepare every week, of how we play and what we want to be about when we step on the field. So, that part, I don’t ever want to lose,” the LAFC coach said after training this week.

– Galaxy’s Ibrahimovic…

Atlanta title defense back on track after offseason of change threatened to derail campaign

Seattle Sounders and Atlanta United’s rabid fan bases have been huge staples of Major League Soccer. Be sure to tune in to ESPN on Sunday at 3:55 PM ET.

ESPN FC’s Brian McBride examines LAFC’s growth under Bob Bradley and Carlos Vela’s evolution as the leader of the team.

ATLANTA — Before the start of the 2019 Major League Soccer season, Atlanta United were riding high. And for good reason.

While the 2018 MLS Cup winner lost head coach Tata Martino and spark plug Miguel Almiron in the offseason, it replaced that duo with former Ajax manager Frank de Boer and Pity Martinez, the reigning South American Footballer of the Year who joined the Five Stripes for a reported MLS-record $17 million. A preseason 7-1 destruction of the Seattle Sounders and 2-2 draw with…

Fire extinguished: Chicago needs to relight its fire in order to compete in modern MLS

The Chicago Fire became the first MLS team to fall to a non-MLS side in 2019, as Saint Louis FC ousted the Fire from the U.S. Open Cup.

In 2007, Martin Tomszak went to a soccer game, and it changed his life.

He joined the Chicago Fire traveling supporters’ group for a match in Toronto. “I think there’s a sense of having your back against the wall when you’re at another opponent’s venue and the camaraderie that comes along with that,” he says. “Having 200 or 300 away fans in a Toronto venue was something special. I fell in love immediately.” On the bus back home, he bought Fire season tickets and is now the vice-chairperson of…

‘I feel like I owe them’: Inbeom Hwang is becoming an icon in Vancouver’s Korean community

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Right now, Inbeom Hwang isn’t thinking about becoming the best South Korean player. That’s a heady challenge for a 22-year-old who everyone agrees is continuing to develop his skills and game. The idea of being his country’s best is, simply put, a bridge too far.

Instead, Hwang has another idea. Something a bit more attainable, and certainly a bit more romantic.

“I want to be a remembered player, someone who fans remember and miss,” he says through a translator…

Galaxy creator and partner to a pop star: Sebastian Lletget is the most interesting man in American soccer

The LA Galaxy have their longest win streak since 2014, but are they as good on paper as their MLS record this season? Via MLS

LOS ANGELES — Five o’clock on the Friday of a holiday weekend is not an ideal time to be driving on the highways of Southern California. But here we are, somewhere between the apartment Sebastian Lletget shares with his girlfriend, pop star Becky G, and Dignity Health Sports Park, home of the LA Galaxy — who host Real Salt Lake on Sunday (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The 26-year old star, a facilitator of his Major League Soccer club’s potent attack and arguably the one man in the U.S. men’s national…

College or FIFA pro gaming? For Cormac ‘Doolsta’ Dooley, 2019 eMLS Cup champion, it’s a difficult decision

Check out the best moments from eMLS Cup 2019, which was won by Philadelphia Union’s Cormac Dooley (aka doolsta). Via MLS

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — There’s a video online in which Doolsta shows off an impressive bit of skill on the soccer field. He is just inside his opponent’s half when he controls a throw-in with his chest, accelerates past two defenders, then rips a shot from 25 yards out before two others converge on him. The blast beats a sprawling, hopeless goalkeeper, sailing into the upper 90.

It’s the kind of move a viewer might expect from an elite FIFA tournament, which Doolsta — winner of eMLS League Season…

Keaton Parks’ move from Benfica to NYCFC can furthers his career, not end it

Dom Dwyer and Orlando City newcomer Nani came off the bench to help the Lions complete their comeback from 2-0 down in a draw with NYCFC.

On Sept. 4, 2016, recently turned 19-year-old Keaton Parks did something he’d done thousands of times before: He ran onto a soccer field. This time, two things were different: One, Parks was officially a professional. And two, he was far from home. So very far.

Parks, born in Plano, Texas, wore the white and black stripes of Varzim SC, a club in Portugal’s second division based in Povoa de Varzim, about 30 minutes north of Porto. After spending a season with the reserve squad, he worked his way…

Keaton Parks’ move from Benfica to NYCFC can further his career, not end it

Dom Dwyer and Orlando City newcomer Nani came off the bench to help the Lions complete their comeback from 2-0 down in a draw with NYCFC.

Parks, born in Plano, Texas, wore the white-and-black stripes of Varzim SC, a club in Portugal’s second division based in Povoa de Varzim, about 30 minutes north of Porto. After spending a season with the reserve squad, he worked his…

DaMarcus Beasley can’t stop, won’t stop as U.S. legend reaches 20 years as a pro

From being drafted by LA Galaxy in 1999 to stops in the Premier League, Bundesliga and beyond, DaMarcus Beasley continues to thrive 20-years since his debut.

Beasley’s not notable simply for playing 20 years of pro soccer but because of how consistent, how passionate and how reliable he’s been along the way.

HOUSTON, Texas — DaMarcus Beasley is a suit guy now.

When he first joined the Houston Dynamo in 2014, he wasn’t into wearing them on game days. It was too hot and too humid in his new town, and Beasley was more of a nice jeans or slacks and a simple shirt kind of dude. But a year or two in, teammate Giles Barnes arrived at a game in a suit. Beasley loved the look.

“It was a wicked suit,” the 36-year-old says. “A nice, nice suit. It was like he was coming to work.”

Ever since then: suits for…

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