Breakfast Links - July 3, 2023
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Wow, what an upsetting weekend for the Houston soccer teams. Besides soccer, I hope everyone had an incredible weekend. Hopefully we can start off this week better with your links.
Houston
The only way to describe this weekend is 1-0. That is because all three of Houston teams lost by that scoreline. The Dash were up first playing away to the North Carolina Courage. The Dash were looking for revenge as this matchup was the game that was cut short due to weather back in April. Even with the full 90 minutes to play, the Dash failed to score on them once again. This now makes the Dash winless in their last five.
The Dynamo also went on the road to play Seattle, a team the Dynamo have never beaten away. The first 60 minutes went well until Micael received two yellow cards within a minute of each other. Once a man down, the Dynamo went into survival mode, facing loads of pressure from Seattle. Seattle broke through after a great Albert Rusnak goal. After the second straight defeat, the Dynamo will look to get back to winning ways with two home games up next.
Dynamo 2 also went on the road to Seattle to play Tacoma Defiance. Like the other two teams they also lost 1-0. Tacoma scored just 18 minutes in through Dylan Teves. After out-possessing and out-shooting Tacoma, Dos still could not find the tying goal. This is now the third loss in a row for Kenny Bundy’s squad.
MLS/NWSL
In the NWSL, we saw the first weekend with most of the World Cup players missing. This really showed with some of the big teams with lots of internationals dropping points. Take Sophia Smith and Crystal Dunn out of Portland and to nobody’s surprise they looked much worse, losing 1-0 to Kansas City. OL Reign and the Washington Spirit who were also missing key players and both dropped points as well. Washington got destroyed 3-0 at home by a struggling Orlando team. North Carolina now take the top spot after their win against the Dash.
It was not the craziest week in MLS, with no real shocking results or wild games. The biggest shock came with Philadelphia being shut out in Atlanta. Philadelphia was missing one of their most threatening players in Kai Wagner, so it was always going to be difficult. A great defensive performance and some Thiago Almada magic gave Atlanta all three points. Elsewhere there were some big wins for NYCFC, FC Dallas, and Sporting KC.
Around the World
The Concacaf Gold Cup continues with the group stage coming to an end. Groups A and B both finished up on Sunday night. Group A finished with both the United States and Jamaica getting massive wins. The United States put six past Trinidad and Tobago with Jesus Ferreira scoring another hat trick. Cade Cowell and Gianluca Busio also scored their first ever USMNT goals. Jamaica put five past Saint Kitts and Nevis with Jonathan Russell getting his name on the scoresheet for the first time with Jamaica. The United States ended up topping the group on goal difference.
In Group B, Honduras got their first win of the tournament beating Haiti 2-1. Frantzdy Pierrot opened the scoring for Haiti early on, but Honduras found two goals to overcome Haiti. Qatar had the biggest upset of the tournament so far beating Mexico 1-0. Qatar scored halfway through the half from Hazem Sehata and they bunkered for most of the game after that. Mexico had chance after chance but could not find the goal. Mexico still managed to top the group with Qatar finishing in second over Honduras on goal difference.
