Also, Canadian Women at Gold Cup, Toronto FC this week, Leeds & Leicester could be right back up

Blue Moon is close to clinching the 2024 Huntsville Indoor League title after coming out with an 11 to 10 win on Tuesday night over Thunder FC.

It was a back-and-forth battle that featured both teams going ahead at different times only to see the game end up tied again, and admittedly a draw would have been a fitting result.

Kudos should be given to the sportsmanship displayed by both teams before, during and after the match. Despite it being a tough and spirited affair, there were no instances of malice to be seen.

In other action on Tuesday, Golazos spanked Your Mum 10-3 and The Eh Team sipped a win over Grape Soda 9 to 6.

With four matches to play, Blue Moon could wrap up the league on March 5 with a victory over Your Mum and losses by both Thunder FC and The Eh Team to Golazos and Grape Soda respectively.

Canadians cruise into Gold Cup quarterfinals

The Canadian Women’s National Team has put their opponents on notice: they’re at the Gold Cup to win.

Following a perfect group stage where they scored 13 and allowed 0 goals, the Canadians’ quarterfinal opponent will be Costa Rica, whom they defeated 3-0 in Group C action. The match goes tonight (Saturday, March 2) at 7 p.m.

Should they beat Costa Rica once again, the Canadians get the unenviable task of facing either the Colombians or host United States in the semi-finals.

Remember last week when I said that the U.S. and Canada were on a collision course to play in the final unless something unforeseen happened? If the answer is “no,” you better start reading every week (subscribe at the end of the column).

Either way, the crazy result happened as for only the second time in history (43 matches between the two sides), the Mexican women’s team topped the United States 2-0 and knocked the Stars and Stripes down the final rankings. The last time Mexico beat the US in women’s play was in 2010.

It was also the first USWNT loss on home soil to a fellow CONCACAF team since 2000, an 80-game unbeaten streak (78 wins, two draws).

The US and Colombia play Sunday night at 8:15 p.m.

So, now, it’s looking like Brazil will have the easier route to the final with the U.S. and Canada battling to be their opponent. Brazil is the late game tonight (March 2) and will play rivals Argentina at 10:15 p.m.

The other quarterfinal will see Mexico against Paraguay at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

All Gold Cup matches can be seen on FuboTV Canada, which does require a subscription.

Interesting Week for Toronto FC

The week began with a solid away opener with things to like (solid effort and good energy) and things not to like (my kingdom for a quality striker).

The 0-0 draw to 2023 Supporters Shield winners Cincinnati would have been a loss if this was last year’s TFC. Solid defensive performance. Loved the energy from most of the team.

Wish TFC had a quality striker to field . . . and on that note, Deandre Kerr could very well be the answer when he returns from injury in the next couple of weeks.

Then there was the news that players were fined, and the club was warned for an incident in the 56^th minute of the draw.

From the Canadian Press:

Major League Soccer fined Richie Laryea, Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne an undisclosed amount “for inciting and/or escalating a mass confrontation” in Sunday’s season opener at FC Cincinnati.

Bernardeschi, Insigne and Laryea rushed over to join captain Jonathan Osorio in debating the play with referee Jonathan Weiner with Osorio eventually pushing Laryea out of the way.

The MLS disciplinary committee also found Toronto in violation of the league’s mass confrontation policy, with an official warning issued to both club and coach John Herdman.

Don’t mind this stance from MLS regarding the refs and surrounding them. It’s become increasingly annoying to see multiple players approach the ref after a call they don’t like (and this happens in nearly every corner of the globe). That’s what the captain is for … leave the duty of communicating with the referee to the one player on each team with an armband and be done with it.

On Thursday, the club announced the signing 23-year-old English Matt Longstaff from Newcastle (he’s the younger brother of Magpies stalwart Sean Longstaff). It’s a low-risk, high reward pick-up for the Reds as Matt is coming off an ACL tear and, prior to the injury, last saw action in December 2022.

While seeing some action for Newcastle early in his career (and having come through their academy), Matt was sent on loan spells to Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen, and EFL 2 sides Mansfield Town and Colchester United. However, he was out of contract since the injury.

Could end up being a significant bit of business if the young man can recapture even most of the form that made Newcastle sign him in the first place.

On the injury note (specifically injury prevention), John Herdman says he’ll be careful with Insigne’s minutes (insinuating he won’t risk him on artificial turf) and likening the skillful Italian to a “Ferrari.”

That means that Insigne’s minutes would be in a substitute role this Sunday in New England, if any at all, with Herdman having an eye on the March 9 home opener at BMO Field.

The gaffer has said from the start he wants to reestablish the home pitch as a fortress, which means having your best 11 healthy for those matches is vital. And really anyone with any nicks or knocks (including Laryea, who has muscle tightness from last Sunday), should be left off the turf fields.

With all the new hybrid grass products (a la BMO Field) and technology available to install quality hybrid and natural turf in stadiums, the completely artificial grass shouldn’t be allowed.

On to Sunday’s prediction.

Though I can see TFC resting some key players, New England played Thursday in CONCACAF Champions Cup action, and they’ll have tired legs or people resting too.

Taking that into account, I’m going with a 1-1 draw in New England on Sunday with Bernadeschi opening his 2024 goalscoring account for TFC.

Leicester and Leeds Going Right Back Up?

Following Leeds United stunning 3-1 victory last week against EFL Championship leaders Leicester City, the gap at the top of the table is now only six points between the Foxes and the Whites.

As my buddy Glen Duffield (an ardent Leeds supporter) reminded me, the EFL is important too.

Of course, some no name team from Ipswich Town is still in the mix, tied with Leeds for second at 72 points, and on a four game win streak.

Leeds on the other hand were undefeated in 12 matches in all competitions before falling 3-2 to Chelsea in the FA Cup midweek. Still, they’re on a quality EFL run, having won 9 straight in the league since a December 29, 2023 away loss to West Brom.

Both Leeds and Leicester were relegated last season from the Premier League, but both clubs are in a great position to go right back up again.

The Foxes will likely stay the course and win the Championship, but Leeds in a fantastic position to keep winning as well and finish in second, which is also an automatic promotion.

Teams 3 through 6 in the Championship table go through a playoff to determine the third and final promotion granted.

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading! We’ll be back next week with more commentary on the beautiful game, including thoughts on the upcoming round of UEFA competitions.