INDIANAPOLIS — The first go-round of the Louisville Indianapolis Proximity Association Football Contest (LIPAFC) in 2019 went down Saturday evening at Lucas Oil Stadium, with the Indy Eleven and Louisville City FC sharing points at the end of 90 after a 1-1 result. Tyler Pasher continued his scoring tear with a first-half tally during the run of play, which was equaled by a well-placed free kick by Paolo DelPiccolo into the top bins on the other side of the interval.

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Follow Robbie on Twitter: @RobbieMeh.

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Photo credit: Jamie Smed/Soc Takes

The U.S. and England are on a collision course to meet Tuesday in the semifinals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup. So, how did both teams get here?

USA vs. France

When Megan Rapinoe plays for the USWNT, it is like knowing that Wonder Woman would be by your side. Even when the USWNT had another game full of doubts, withdrawing their lines to hold the French rush, Rapinoe took out the magic wand, and the show began. The conversion of an early free kick and an offensive run in the second half took Rapinoe to the top of Women’s World Cup goal-scorers list. She’s a co-leader with Alex Morgan and English striker Ellen White.

The U.S. surpassed the quarterfinals, but with another match that leaves concerns in the functioning of the team. The squad managed by Jill Ellis completed less than 200 passes during the game, lost the ball possession and suffered 20 attempts of the French side. Rose Lavelle was lost for the second consecutive game and Alex Morgan was secluded; nevertheless, they achieved danger into the European terrain with counterattacks lead by Rapinoe and Tobin Heath.

Vulnerable for moments, the USWNT advanced again. They are not the perfect team that they used to be. But winning is the more significant task; there are no small victories in a World Cup tournament, and so far, that suffering has been worth it.

England vs. Norway

“Bring it home” has been the nostalgic motto of every English soccer fan during World Cups, and the disappointment has been real. Since the generation of the ’90s lead by coach Bobby Robson, England hasn’t had a team that could compete for a World Cup championship. Names like Beckham, Owen, Scholes, Shearer, Ferdinand and Campbell failed every time they got a chance to bring the most glorious title to the country of its origin. Fifty-three years later, there’s real hope to bring a trophy home, and the ladies might be on their way to doing it after the men came up just short at the 2018 World Cup.

In less than 60 minutes, the Lionesses sealed their ticket to the Women’s World Cup semifinals in a match that seemed challenging. But the English ladies erased Norway from the pitch; they found a quick goal and imposed their conditions. England makes it look smoother when they face demanding rivals. The Lionesses are gaining momentum with elegant football.

If there was immense morbidity for the match between France and the USA, we need to start thinking that the semifinal between England and the U.S. is going to give us a better spectacle. The two best rosters in the world advanced through different means: the Americans after eliminating the host nation, and England by inflicting so much damage to every rival they faced. The 2019 edition could be the most exciting of all World Cups ever played.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

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HARRISON, N.J. — As the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France looms ever-so close to its start, the U.S. women’s national team squeezed in one final dress rehearsal May 26 at Red Bull Arena against Mexico. Strikes from Tobin Heath, Mallory Pugh and Christen Press carried the hosts to a 3-0 victory. Mexico failed to qualify for the tournament, while the U.S. will make its Group F debut June 11.

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Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JamieSmed.

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Photo credit: Brian Dooley

Fearless, practical, and organized.

There is an exponential growth when Sweden faces challenging opponents in tournaments like the Women’s World Cup and Olympic Games. There is an “I believe” magnet that the Swedish have when they play against teams that on paper are slightly superior to them. The Scandinavians surpassed a young German generation that was on a perfect streak with intrepid football skills and by imposing their physical conditions. In the semifinal, they broke the Dutch aesthetic for 90 minutes with a “rocky” way of playing; although, the extra time had a different outcome. And in their last match of the tournament against England, they didn’t want to leave with empty hands.

Sweden is an adaptable team, which is an outstanding quality when you can’t dominate the ball. However, they can overwhelm their rivals by applying physical force and offensive projection, or by not letting them play. Generation after generation, the Swedes understood that sometimes aesthetics don’t matter when it’s about leaving the pitch victorious. In the 2016 Olympics, Hope Solo called them “a bunch of cowards” after the Scandinavians eliminated the U.S. in penalty kicks, just because “they didn’t want to open play.” Nevertheless, in the current World Cup, the Swedes demonstrated better qualities as a group, even when they seemed to be unsteady as previous football generations.

They achieved third place by eliminating and defeating teams like Germany and England, two national squads that were stronger and displayed better football than them. Although, the game plan and team effort made by the Swedes tore apart the favoritism. On the pitch, Sweden transformed the rocky football showed against the Netherlands in the semifinal, to a more vertical and courageous way to play against the Lionesses. In 22 minutes, the Swedes scored twice, leaving England with the necessity to look for the opponent’s goal. The Lionesses cut the difference in the first half, but Sweden held every single attacking effort of the English ladies thereafter.

With Fran Kirby’s goal, the English momentum rose. The Lionesses knocked at the door time after time, and when Ellen White seemingly found the back of the net for the tie, VAR interceded. A barely visible handball left Sweden up on the scoreboard. The game was the reflection of another great women’s soccer match; it was full of intensity, verticality and drama. But the bronze medal was taken by a Swedish team that earned its way as second of Group F, then got as far as it could. The intelligence of Peter Gerhardsson and his coaching staff to design the “less difficult” path, and the determination of the Swede generation granted the Scandinavian country a well-deserved third place.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

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CINCINNATI — If Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT squad was hoping for a confidence boost heading into the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, it’ll have to look elsewhere for inspiration beyond the tape of Sunday’s 3-0 shellacking by Venezuela at Nippert Stadium. A brace from Jose Salomon Rondon and another from Jefferson Savarino, all before the half, put the match out of reach and carried the visitors to a convincing win on American soil.

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Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JamieSmed.

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Photo credit: Chrissy Johnston/Soc Takes

INDIANAPOLIS — The footy gods looked down upon us mere mortals’ Gregorian calendar and decided to bestow endless blessings upon Sunday, July 7, 2019. The finals of the Women’s World Cup, Copa America and Concacaf Gold Cup are all set for this Sunday.

Union Jack Pub Broad Ripple is hosting a marathon watch party for the occasion, with all three finals to be shown on a massive screen set up in the parking lot behind the pub.

Doors open at 9 a.m. ET with the USA and Netherlands set to kick off at 11. The women’s final is the focal point, as the event is primarily being billed as a World Cup final watch party. But the Copa America and Gold Cup finals will also be shown on the large screen. There’s also the Africa Cup of Nations, plus MLS and USL Championship regular-season action happening Sunday.

Here’s a full rundown of some of the day’s most intriguing matches (please note that not all of these will be shown at the watch party):

11 a.m. – Women’s World Cup
USA vs. Netherlands

Noon – Africa Cup of Nations
Madagascar vs. DR Congo

2 p.m. – MLS
Atlanta United FC vs. New York Red Bulls

3 p.m. – Africa Cup of Nations
Algeria vs. Guinea

4 p.m. – Copa America
Brazil vs. Peru

4:30 p.m. – MLS
Philadelphia Union vs. Orlando City SC

5 p.m. – USL Championship
Swope Park Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies

6:30 p.m. – MLS
NYCFC vs. Portland Timbers

7 p.m. – USL Championship
Charlotte Independence vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

9 p.m. – Concacaf Gold Cup
USA vs. Mexico

Union Jack Pub also sponsored Episodes 7 and 8 of Soc Takes TV on the ISC Sports Network. The latest episode covers the USWNT, USMNT and Indy Eleven.

With so much footy on the docket, don’t miss the all-day soccer marathon at Union Jack Pub this Sunday.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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• The MASL regular season has concluded and the playoffs are winding down, with the Milwaukee Wave and Monterrey Flash set to duel for the Ron Newman Cup today. As…
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CINCINNATI — The Philadelphia Union outplayed and ultimately topped FC Cincinnati 2-0 at Nippert Stadium on Saturday in downright dreadful conditions.

A clean sheet from Andre Blake and two strikes early in the second half, the first by Marco Fabian and the second by David Accam, who also assisted on the first, helped propel the visitors to the road win.

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Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JamieSmed.

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• There is no question about it. If this were the Oregon Trail, the Indy Eleven would have snake bite. Teams get injuries and players need rest, but this season’s injury list has been off the charts already through six games. The best news out of all of this is that…
• The Indy Eleven host United Soccer League side Swope Park Rangers on Thursday at Grand Park with kickoff set for 2 p.m. ET. While some things matter in the preseason and some don’t, here are three subplots to follow tomorrow and throughout Indy’s preseason: Ubi’s form and the possible…
• INDIANAPOLIS — Seeking a versatile player to help at the wide midfield spots and centrally when needed, the Indy Eleven appear to be close to terms with New Zealand international Craig Henderson. Eleven coach Tim Hankinson confirmed the move Thursday evening on Casillero Deportivo in an interview with Gus Ochoa and Logan Ayers. https://t.co/xsjRfg6SVN…

Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

We’ve had a few weeks of USL Championship action, and while I was going to wait a bit longer before going all number nerdy, things have been far too chaotic to ignore. Upsets galore, some expansion teams doing unexpectedly well, some doing far worse than I predicted, and generally lots of stuff to #HotTake about.

I’m not going team by team and doing all the numbers and explanations, that can wait until May when there’s a much larger — and more statistically significant — sample size. I am, though, looking at points-per-game data for 2018 and 2019 (so far), and using that for the basis of this rambling analysis.

I first calculated my numbers and ran a basic correlation analysis in Excel. It spat out a whopping 11.4%. In a nutshell, there’s basically no connection whatsoever between the results of this season and last. Let’s dive in to show just how chaotic things are.

We begin, as is tradition, with the Western Conference.

Two teams have moved by an entire point per game (roughly): Tulsa Roughnecks and Orange County SC. Tulsa has come out of the gate swinging, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Orange County 5-3, blanking Tacoma and currently leads the Western Conference. They blew it right the hell up at the end of last season and it looks like it might actually work.

Orange County on the entirely opposite hand has walked into the gate, fallen over and passed out on the starting line. The club finally managed a win, just the one, after losing to Tulsa and expansion El Paso. Five points through five from a team that completely bossed the Western Conference around last year is bad, and more importantly, made me look stupid. I did give Orange County 10% odds of being a mess, but I honestly didn’t expect it might be this bad.

Honorable mention goes to Los Dos, who actually look half good for once in a very long time, and a major dishonorable mention goes to Phoenix Rising. Phoenix is sitting at four points through four games, and that’s just plain dreadful. It’s inexplicable. I might as well mention RGV, a team that was pretty bad last year and is much, much worse so far in 2019. The Toros have played five games and have two points. TWO. They can’t even use excuses about a tough schedule or road games, either. Not good, my dudes.

Only one team out West that was genuinely really good last year remains really good, and that’s Sacramento. They kept most of their major players, and they’ve been ramping up their efforts on and off the field to build momentum for MLS once again. Hopefully, it works. There aren’t many reasons why Sacramento shouldn’t be in MLS in two years.

And onto the East.

Saint Louis completed their fifth conference switch in five seasons, prolonging my favorite administrative meme in USL, and are finding the Eastern Conference a much, much easier game. They’re sitting comfortably atop the conference and are playing the best they ever have. Very, very great work. Tampa Bay and the Baby Bulls both get a nod for improvement, and they’re hot on Saint Louis’s heels.

Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

On the opposite side, we find two teams with one point through three: the Swope Park Rangers and Charlotte Independence. They’re bad. Real bad. Very, very, very bad. Charlotte’s big announcement can’t come soon enough, as hopefully it means more money for this team. Also, we gotta talk about Louisville. Down .741 points per game from last season, they’re not far removed from the playoff bubble at the moment. I know it’s early, but yikes and/or oof.

Take a look at this. Them right there are the expansion teams. Now, let’s talk about the expansion teams.

In the West, one of the three newbies is within playoff range: New Mexico United. They’re fifth in the conference by PPG, have 10 points through six matches and are the only newcomer to have really figured things out early. They’re one of the few predictions I made in March that’s holding true.

El Paso and Austin are both doing OK. They’re not yet in the playoff picture, but they’re not so far away now that things are impossible. El Paso needs to find some chemistry with their defense, and they’ll be fine. Austin, meanwhile, needs to score more goals. It’s much easier said than shot, I’m well aware, but it’s the biggest issue they’re facing so far.

The same can’t quite be said as much for the East, unfortunately. Memphis is doing adequately, but not much better just yet, Birmingham and Loudoun are both struggling early, and then there’s Hartford. Oh, Hartford.

You see, back in March, I was buying all the Hartford Athletic stock I could get my hands on. Then, they went and lost their first five games played by an aggregate scoreline of 2-11. The flattening at the hands of the Rowdies was a particularly dire affair and I’m getting ready to start selling. A team that plays a 5-4-1 that can’t defend is a team with some rather serious problems. Maybe they’ll figure it out come June and they’ll be the next 2018 OKC Energy for me to write about in a few months. But I have some major worries about the new New England team.

I’ll hold off on any meaningful attendance discussion for now, simply because we don’t have much in terms of data just yet, but things are looking sufficiently fine to keep me from tweeting about it. Really, until everyone’s played at least four or five home games, there’s nothing to actually analyze.

Follow John on Twitter: @JohnMLTX.

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