Birthdays of note: Well-traveled Brazilian striker Jo – because sometimes three letters are just too many – turns 25 today. And Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak (now on loan at Watford) turns 30.
Big, Important story of the Day (one worth following): U.S. under-23 manager Caleb Porter must submit his official Olympic qualifying roster to CONCACAF. He’ll include a (yet unnamed) replacement for Josh Gatt, who was recalled inconveniently to his Norwegian club on Monday.
RASNoD (Random American Soccer Name of the Day): Vladislav Bogicevic
Twitter shot: From U.S. men’s national team manager Jürgen Klinsmann (@J_Klinsmann) –“Congratulations to @FreddyAdu for being named by his teammates captain of the U-23 #USMNT”
Ahead on the blog today*: Thoughts on the Philadelphia Union’s tenuous goalkeeper situation; an MLS coach who is no fan of the unbalanced schedule, and; goal celebration talk.
PST background noise while blogging today: Streaming KEXP out of Seattle (“Where the music matters.”) Because my pals Arlo White and Kyle Martino will be there for this week’s NBCSN broadcast, and because I miss this place for low-key Saturday morning EPL watching, the Pacific Northwest is on my mind.
*Always subject to change; you know how it is