Thanks to Kenn Tomasch we can now be underwhelmed with USL attendance for the 2009 regular season. Remember that the Rowdies will be in a league with some or all (we hope) of these outfits in 2010.
Montreal Impact are by far the standouts in this group with an average attendance in excess of twelve thousand a game. Click to continue reading...

Montreal Impact lost to Argentina's River Plate 2-1 last night in over-time. River Plate remained undefeated on their Canadian tour. They played the Toronto FC and a game against an English clud in Edmonton so far.

It may have been raining hard in Montreal yesterday but attendance was high to near capacity at the Saputo Stadium.

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The Bordeaux Girondins were in Montreal to play the En avant Guingamp Club for the Champions Trophy on Saturday, July 25. I guess they decided that since they were there anyways they'd play the Montreal Impact.

Bordeaux captain, Alou Diarra, celebrates after winning the Champions Trophy soccer match against En avant Guingamp in Montreal.

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Photographer Jeremy Olson has been shooting for Inside Minnesota Soccer since the beginning of the site last October. Jeremy is a very gifted photographer and has also been shooting for the Minnesota Thunder this season. His site can be found here.

Olson has caught some amazing shots this year but none more surprising than what many of us Thunder fans missed during the game as did referee Tyler Ploeger who certainly would have had to red card someone for this display of infighting.

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Photographer Jeremy Olson has been shooting for Inside Minnesota Soccer since the beginning of the site last October. Jeremy is a very gifted photographer and has also been shooting for the Minnesota Thunder this season. His site can be found here.

Olson has caught some amazing shots this year but none more surprising than what many of us Thunder fans missed during the game, as did referee Tyler Ploeger who certainly would have had to red card someone for this display of infighting.

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The Blues played 2 great games away at the Cleveland City Stars. First Miami FC came away with a 2-1 victory on Thursday June 18th. I saw the game at Fritz & Franz and had a great time with a couple of the players and the Ultras. We were down 1-0 but the Blues recovered Leo Inacio Nunes scored off a precise shot that found the inside of the bottom right post, tying the score 1-1. Click to continue reading...

Matt Reis was the hero in the 2008 Superliga Final/AP

A day after the US suffered its worst ever loss to Brazil and four days after our national team was beaten by Italy by the worst scoreline since 1934 let's refocus temporarily on the club game. (I suspect thanks to the disgraceful US performances of the last month the conversation about the national team is going to extend far beyond the final whistle in the Confederations Cup)

The third annual Superliga begins tomorrow.

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The Montreal Impact (USL First Division) will face Club Atlético River Plate from Argentina in a friendly on August 4th, 2009 at Saputo Stadium.

"We are glad to add this international game to our calendar," said Montreal Impact and Saputo Stadium President Joey Saputo. "River Plate is a great club in South America, among the two most prestigious in Argentina.

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No Suazo = No Hope for Honduras?

For all the spinning going on in US Soccer circles the last few days' minimal attention has been paid to the opponent tonight, Honduras, and their own woes. While Honduras still has Amado Guevara and Carlo Costly at full speed, Wilson Palacios will be playing the first match since the tragic death of his brother, while David Suazo, perhaps the most skilled player in CONCACAF, and Julio De Leon an outstanding midfielder from Parma in Serie A will miss the match due to injury and suspension respectively.

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The Vancouver Whitecaps have much to prove as they are now preparing themselves for entry into the MLS in 2012. The Whitecaps weren't able to thwart the Toronto FC in the first Canadian Championship games, but they did manage to beat the Montreal Impact last night.

Vancouver Whitecaps

The Montreal Impact are the reigning champions of last years Nutrilite Canadian Championship but that doesn't seem to be working in their favour this year.

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By now, this is old news. Joey Saputo is stepping it up, and it's for real this time. He's asking for $25 million in government funding to expand the 13,000 seat Saputo Stadium in order to get into MLS. If he can get this, and rekindle things with the league, Montréal will have to be all but in, right? Click to continue reading...

Courtesy of The Canadian Press:

MONTREAL — The Montreal Impact is seeking $25 million in government funding to expand its stadium and strengthen its bid for a Major League Soccer franchise.

Joey Saputo, president of the United Soccer Leagues club, said the decision was inspired by government funding of stadiums to be used by the two teams recently granted franchises by MLS for 2011 - Vancouver and Portland, Ore.

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Last evening in Montreal at Saputo Stadium Canada lost to Honduras and almost insured that Canada will now miss its Seventh straight World Cup tallying up 28 years since Canada has appeared in a World Cup.(Mexico 86 being the last)This news is stark in contrast to the reality that Concacaf is one of the easiest federations to gain access to the Worlds most important sporting event. Click to continue reading...

According to Martin Rogers' latest MLS expansion update from Yahoo! sports, Montreal and Vancouver seem to be two of the frontrunner's for 2011 MLS expansion, with a lot of focus on the City of Saints.
According to the piece, "Joey Saputo, owner of United Soccer League side Montreal Impact, is determined to secure an MLS license and already has some infrastructure in place. Click to continue reading...

The Canadian men's team wants to make their first world cup appearance since 1986 and they think playing at Montreal's Saputo Stadium is the way to do it.
Tonight sees them take to the Saputo grass pitch for the first time as they try to finish off St Vincent & the Grenadines in the return leg of a two-game series and many players think this field will give them what they need to win. Click to continue reading...

MLS commissioner Don Garber thinks the league could grow beyond the 18 teams saying, "our sense is that we could have quite a few more than that." This is the most direct indication yet as to the future expansion plans for the league.
Originally it appeared like MLS would hold off on expanded past 16 teams in order to allow the local (US & Canada) talent pool to grow. Click to continue reading...

You know the more I look into this whole expansion to Montreal, the more I get behind it. Sure, I think it should still be a few more years away but after seeing the final product of the new Saputo Stadium today, I'm thinking an expansion bid for the city could come sooner than that. As [...] Click to continue reading...