Here are the top 15 stories everyone's talking about this morning:
1. CAN MONTREAL MAKE HISTORY?
Tonight’s the big night for the Montreal Impact. With more than 30,000 fans set to watch them take on Pachuca at Olympic stadium (8 pm ET, Fox Sports 2) in the second leg of their Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series, only one question remains: Can the MLS side take advantage of their 2-2 first leg road draw and book a place in the CCL semis?
2. HAMID SET TO RETURN
DC United return to Champions League action on Wednesday for the second leg of their clash with Alajuelense (8 pm ET, Fox Sports 2) and, while they may have a mountain to climb as they try to overturn a 5-2 first-leg deficit, the good news is that Bill Hamid may be back in goal. The bad news? Luis Silva and Markus Halsti have both been ruled out.
3. NEW STADIUM NAME IN C-BUS
After announcing that they’d signed three of their 2015 SuperDraft picks on Monday, the club had another major announcement today as they revealed the first naming rights partner for Crew stadium, which will now be named MAPFRE Stadium.
4. BOCANEGRA’S NEW JOB
While Atlanta’s MLS expansion franchise is still two years away from playing its first MLS game, the organization has already started hiring key front office members, announcing on Monday that former US national team star Carlos Bocanegra will be the team’s first technical director.
5. CITRUS SELL-OUT
Orlando City officially #FilledTheBowl on Monday, announcing that they'll make their MLS debut on Sunday against New York City FC (5 pm ET, ESPN2) in front of a sell-out crowd of over 60,000 fans at the Citrus Bowl. OCSC's high ticket demand even has club officials pondering the possibility of raising the announced 20,000 capacity for their remaining 2015 regular season games.
6. FUTBOLMLS.COM HAS A NEW HOME
FutbolMLS.com, your destination for MLS news and stories in Spanish, is now bigger and better than ever after joining forces with league TV partner Univision. The new FutbolMLS.com can now be found on Univision's digital platform.
7. SPORTING KC SIGN AN INTERNATIONAL
SKC owner Robb Heineman confirmed early on Tuesday that he met with Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart in Germany, pouring cold water on a German report that had shot down rumors linking the club to the Hamburg midfielder. While Van der Vaart draws the bigger headlines, don't sleep on SKC's Monday signing of another international, Canadian defender Marcel de Jong.
8. RED BULL IMPROVEMENTS
As sporting director Ali Curtis discussed his plans to improve a “pretty successful” team and head coach Jesse Marsch talked about who his starting center backs might be, the club’s new USL side, New York Red Bulls II, made a bit of news on Monday, naming longtime Red Bulls striker and former first-team assistant John Wolyniec head coach of the lower division side.
9. RIGHT SIDE OF THE RIVER?
After finishing preseason with an absolute scorcher of a goal against the Charleston Battery on Saturday, New York City FC midfielder Mix Diskerud let out a different kind of burn on Monday, firing off a shot at the New York Red Bulls. The American international told reporters that he hates his club's crosstown rival, and declared NYCFC as New York City's true team.
10. BERRY DEPARTS, UNION SIGN A DRAFT PICK
It was a pretty busy Monday for the Philadelphia Union, who confirmed Austin Berry’s loan move to South Korean side FC Anyang and announced the signing of second round SuperDraft selection Dzenan Catic.
11. COYLE IS CONFIDENT
It may be Owen Coyle’s first season as a head coach in MLS, but the Scotsman is certain that he can succeed with the Houston Dynamo, which announced on Monday that they’ve found a new local TV partner.
12. CAREER TRAJECTORY
Following the big name acquisitions made by Toronto FC this offseason, it may appear that midfielder Collen Warner’s place in the starting lineup is in jeopardy. The 26-year-old isn't complaining though, embracing change and remaining confident of his career progression with the club.
13. US U-17S KEEP ROLLING
While the US U-20s struggled through their first games at January's CONCACAF Championships, the US U-17s are having no problems in their World Cup qualifying tournament, getting goals from Joe Gallardo and Haji Wright to beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 and improve to 2-0-0 at the competition.
14. LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
Alexi Lalas is known for telling it like it is, so you know he kept it real when we grabbed him for 10 minutes to talk about how the league has grown and where it’s heading. The new Fox Sports analyst and his colleague Rob Stone also sat down to chat about what the network has planned for its soccer coverage ahead of its foray back into MLS broadcasting.
15. HOW FAR WE’VE COME
As MLS enters its 20th season, there’s perhaps no better indication of just how far the league has come than taking a look back at the original team logos and brandings.
MLSsoccer.com Musts
All you need to know: the MLS 2015 Season Guide
ExtraTime Radio: 2015 MLS Preview and Bocanegra on his new job
Juninho eyes future with US national team
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