by Jason Longshore
1- It's a must-win match tonight for Atlanta United 2 on the SDH Network. I'll be live in Huntsville as the 2's are on the road for a 7pm Eastern kickoff against Huntsville City in MLS Next Pro. A regulation win definitely keeps them alive for another week, while a shootout win might do it depending on other results. Huntsville lost 3-0 last time out to New England while Atlanta won 3-1 last Saturday over Cincinnati. Karim Tmimi, Jay Fortune, and Nick Firmino scored in the win. Firmino is tied for the league lead in goal contributions with 15 goals and 5 assists this season. I'll be live from the Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville starting at 6:45pm with kickoff just after 7pm. Listen here at soccerdownhere.net in the audio player at the top of the main page, on the SDH app, or on the Spreaker app by searching for Soccer Down Here. (photo by the excellent @liz.calls.it.soccer)
2- Before that, I'll be on the call alongside Todd Agne for the Chattanooga Mocs as they host the Belmont Bruins at Finley Stadium in a non-conference NCAA women's soccer match on ESPN+. The Mocs have an opportunity to make some history if they can win their 6th straight match, it would break their program record winning streak. Looking forward to a fun one and Finley Stadium is always a great place to call a game from, you can watch if you are so inclined at the link starting at 2pm.
3- MLS and the New England Revolution finally announced a resolution to the Bruce Arena administrative leave saga. Literally at the same time the Revs posted the graphic on their 1-1 final in Minnesota, they announced via social media that the club accepted the resignation of Arena. This followed an article from the Athletic a few hours earlier which didn't have specifics about what happened to start the process but talked about the involvement of Richie Williams and Curt Onalfo, two long-time assistants for Arena who were likely not returning to the club in 2024. In a follow-up statement from MLS, they said that the investigation confirmed "certain of these allegations" regarding the use of insensitive and inappropriate remarks. MLS also said Arena would have submit a petition to the Commissioner if he wanted to work in MLS again. A resolution yes, but still plenty of questions.
4- On the field last night, Miami held on to defeat Kansas City 3-2 as they close the gap to the playoff line to 6 points with DC's 0-0 draw at home against San Jose. Leo Campana had two goals for the Herons, Facundo Farias scored the eventual winner in the second half as Alan Pulido cut the lead to 3-2 in the last 15 minutes. Miami will next be in action next Saturday here in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
5- Speaking of that match, after some back and forth in the Argentine media, it appears that Leo Messi will be traveling with the Argentine national team to Bolivia for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier. Initial reports about his substitution on Thursday night said there was an injury, follow-up reports disputed that. Gastón Edul of TyC Sports reports that the team will train today and it is likely Messi joins the team for the match.
6- Yesterday morning at the national team complex in Buenos Aires, an Argentina U23 selection defeated Bolivia 2-1. Atlanta United's Thiago Almada captained the Argentine team. I have not seen reports on the full lineups, but I would assume that Efrain Morales played in the match for the Bolivian selection.
7- In a not so thrilling international friendly, the USMNT defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 in St. Louis in front of a less than capacity crowd. Tim Weah scored early but then it took two goals in second half stoppage time from Ricardo Pepi and Christian Pulisic to stretch the scoreline. Weston McKennie assisted on Weah's goal and was the best player on the field for the USMNT. On Tuesday, they will host Oman in Minnesota.
8- Germany lost an international friendly to Japan 4-1 and Hansi Flick's job is in serious jeopardy. He might not make it to the Euros next summer, which Germany is hosting. Japan also contributed to Germany not making it out of the group stage at the World Cup, winning that match 2-1 in Qatar. Flick's Germany national team has won just four of their last seventeen matches.
9- The North Carolina Courage won their second straight NWSL Challenge Cup, this time in a storm-delayed final in Cary, NC over Racing Louisville. Kerolin and Manaka Matsukubo each scored in the 2-0 win.
10- In other action yesterday, Ukraine earned a draw with England 1-1 in Poland in a Euro qualifier. North Macedonia also earned a 1-1 draw at home with Italy in Luciano Spalletti's first match in charge. Celtic were eliminated from the UEFA Women's Champions League in an eleven-round penalty shootout after conceding a 120th minute penalty. Arsenal were also knocked out of the Champions League by Paris FC.
11- On this day in 1991, things started to change in popular music and especially in rock. Nirvana released the first single from "Nevermind" and what was previously underground busted through into the mainstream. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" turned into so much more than just a great song. What was alternative became normal in music, the previous styles of rock were pushed to the side, and everything changed quickly. Here's the famous video for your Song of the Day. It was wild seeing this on Hangin' with MTV and they had the lyrics scrolling on the bottom of the screen with the bouncing ball to follow along.
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