Tag: NYCFC

Messi to miss another MLS game as Inter Miami star aims for Monterrey clash

The 36-year-old will miss his fifth straight match on Saturday

Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Inter Miami’s match against New York City FC on Saturday, but the club is hopeful he’ll be fit for Wednesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal first leg against Monterrey.

Messi has been sidelined for four matches now with a hamstring issue, missing two MLS games with Inter Miami and also sitting out both of Argentina’s friendlies over the international break.

After suffering the injury on March 14, the Argentina superstar won’t be ready in time for Saturday’s MLS match at Chase Stadium.

“Leo is working with the physios,” assistant coach Javeier Morales told reporters on Friday. “He is ruled out for tomorrow, he will not be available because we will be trying to do our best so that he can play at home next Wednesday against Monterrey.”

With Messi sidelined, Miami defeated D.C. United on March 16 in the nation’s capital, before falling to a heavy 4-0 defeat in a match at the New York Red Bulls a week later.

Miami currently sits second in the Eastern Conference table with a record of 3W-1D-2L.

The matchup with Monterrey represents a huge test for Miami, which has only faced a Liga MX team once since Messi’s arrival. That came in Messi’s debut, which saw him score a last-second free kick to defeat Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup in July.

Monterrey will be a formidable opponent for the Herons, as Los Rayados currently top the Liga MX table.

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Rutgers men’s soccer: Former Scarlet Knight MD Myers is making a transfer move from New York City FC

Rutgers men’s soccer alum MD Myers is heading to the USL.

MD Myers was transferred by New York City FC to the Charleston Battery on Thursday, bringing the former Rutgers star to one of the best teams in the USL.

The Battery play in the USL Championship, one level down from MLS. For the former Rutgers forward, it is a step up in competition and could lead to a move to MLS if he continues the high-level he showed in 2023.

Prior to joining NYCFC, Myers played one year with Rutgers in 2022 as a transfer addition but it was certainly memorable. He scored 14 goals for the Scarlet Knights and helped them to capture the Big Ten Tournament, the first in program history.

He was selected No. 66 overall in the 2023 MLS Super Draft.

Last season for NYCFCII, the reserve team that plays in MLS Next Pro, Myers had 19 goals and five assists in 28 games played. He made the MLS Next Pro Best XI and tied for the developmental league as the leading scorer.

Myers has a nose for goal and is a sound finisher. His movement off the ball, with the ability to play off the defender’s back shoulder, is a hallmark of his game.

At Rutgers, he was routinely man-marked by the opposition and frequently drew two defenders when he was in the box.

Inter Miami vs. NYCFC: How to watch Messi in MLS

A key match for both sides in the race for MLS’s final few playoff spots

Inter Miami, whether or not Lionel Messi is available, is facing an absolutely crucial game against New York City FC in pursuit of an MLS playoff spot.

Messi’s status is the big mystery, with the Argentine superstar taking the pitch Friday to “test it out” at training for the Herons. The 36-year-old has missed four of Miami’s last five matches, and his lone appearance in that stretch saw him substituted off after 37 minutes with a recurrence of what the club has maintained is a problem with old scar tissue.

In his absence, Miami’s previously red-hot form has cooled significantly. The Herons had previously gone unbeaten in Messi’s first 11 appearances since a blockbuster summer move to MLS, and the club has not lost a match in which the iconic attacker has appeared.

However, in the four games Messi played no part in since this injury cropped up, Miami has won just once, most recently losing the U.S. Open Cup final at home to the Houston Dynamo.

NYCFC, meanwhile, is the rare MLS playoff bubble team rounding into form. Nick Cushing’s side seemed to be losing touch with the pack, but has gone five games without a loss and conceding just one goal in the process.

That form is terrible news for Miami, who sit five points behind the Bronx-based club for the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.

Here is everything you need to know to watch Miami take on NYCFC.

How to watch Inter Miami vs. NYCFC

When: Saturday, September 30

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: DRV PNK Stadium

Channel/streaming: Apple TV

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Messi taking it ‘day-by-day’ as he aims to play in vital NYCFC game

The Herons face a crucial test on Saturday as they aim to make a late playoff push

Lionel Messi will test his fitness at training on Friday ahead of a crucial game on Saturday against New York City FC, according to Inter Miami assistant coach Javier Morales.

Messi has missed three of Inter Miami’s past four games while battling what head coach Tata Martino has called “muscular fatigue” and “old scar tissue.”

The latest match Messi was forced to sit out was Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final, which Inter Miami lost 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo at home.

Martino insisted after the game that Messi would not be lost for the rest of the season, with five games remaining in Miami’s regular-season campaign.

The club’s attention will now turn toward an increasingly difficult push for a playoff berth. Any realistic hope of making the postseason will start with a win over NYCFC, which currently occupies the ninth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference.

Speaking to the media ahead of Saturday’s game, Morales said that Messi was still holding out hope he could play a part at DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday.

“We are taking it day-by-day,” he said. “We were trying up until the last moment for the final but he couldn’t make it. It’s communication with the medical staff and with him to see how he’s feeling. Now he is going to train and test it out.”

As for Jordi Alba, though, the news was less encouraging.

“Jordi is different, it’s a little longer than Leo,” Morales said. “It’s a hamstring injury and he’ll be out for this weekend.”

Like Messi, Alba’s most recent appearance came in last week’s game against Toronto FC, in which both former Barcelona stars were removed before halftime due to injury.

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This MLS playoff race is an absolute mess

Put on your boots, because we’re about to wade into a mess

The race for the MLS playoffs is promising that Decision Day will be as bonkers as it ever has been.

The final day of the regular season is less than a month away, with 28 of the league’s 29 teams set for two breathless rounds of simultaneous kickoffs, one for each conference (sorry D.C. United, you’re just going to have to follow along at home).

There’s an old MLS truism that a team just needs to stay in touch until late August or so, and that if said team can start to heat up around Labor Day, you’re looking at a major threat coming from what on paper is a low playoff seed. Plenty of teams with multiple MLS Cups in their trophy case have at least one season where they followed this plan to a tee.

However, in 2023 it’s not so much about getting hot at the right time as simply ending up next to an empty seat during a poorly-played game of musical chairs. Seven teams have clinched their playoff berths already, and two more are simply abysmal.

That leaves 20 teams vying for 11 postseason spots in what is an extraordinarily forgiving set-up. The problem is that almost none of this group seems able to get a solid hold on their invite to the big dance.

Put on your boots, because we’re about to wade into a mess:

Bronx-born Red Bulls star Fernandez steps up on derby days: ‘New York is always going to be red’

The Red Bulls homegrown spoke to Pro Soccer Wire about his unique scoring record against New York City FC

New York Red Bulls midfielder Omir Fernandez has built up a pretty impressive scoring record against his club’s biggest rival, New York City FC.

Fernandez is likely to start on Saturday afternoon when the Red Bulls travel to Yankee Stadium for the regular season’s second installment of the Hudson River Derby. With four career goals against NYCFC — three of which are game-winners — it is easy to see why he should be a lock for the starting XI.

Considering that Fernandez has 13 career goals in MLS, it is a pretty impressive scoring rate.

As a player and as a person, Fernandez is low key and rarely rattled. Much like his playing style, there is a certain glide to Fernandez’s persona that seems much more California than his Bronx upbringing. He is affable and upbeat, so his deep emotion for the rivalry between his Red Bulls and NYCFC is a bit out of character.

He admits that on derby days, he gets amped. That might just explain the 24-year-old’s scoring record against NYCFC.

“It means a lot to me. I have said it many times that I am not a big fan of that team. I always have extra motivation of wanting to prove them wrong and wanting to beat them every single time that we play them,” Fernandez told Pro Soccer Wire.

“I think it brings the best out of the whole team as well and I have just been fortunate enough to get the goals, and hope that it continues on Saturday.”

Growing up in the same borough where he will play on Saturday, there is a different beat to this match for Fernandez. He came up through the Red Bulls Academy system, progressing to playing collegiately at Wake Forest before signing a homegrown deal with the Red Bulls.

There was never a doubt that he wanted to represent the Red Bulls, even if NYCFC was closer to his home. His soccer home, he says, was established in 1996 when MLS was launched.

The banter at the heart of the rivalry is that NYCFC is located in New York City, unlike the Red Bulls who are on the other side of the Hudson River. Not surprisingly, Fernandez isn’t bothered by that talking point even though he grew up close to Yankee Stadium.

“The New York Red Bulls have been here since the very beginning of the league. They are one of the original clubs and for many people growing up, that was the true team in New York,” Fernandez said.

“I don’t agree with people claiming that New York is blue just because of this new team coming in. I have always supported the Red Bulls and will continue to always claim that New York is always going to be red.”

In the micro, the derby match is always a heated one between these two sides, no matter the date or what the league table might say.

But for both clubs, this is an important match on the macro level for the playoff picture.

The Red Bulls are five points shy of the playoff line in the Eastern Conference. NYCFC is four points away.

“It is coming towards the end of the season, where every game counts now. There is at least seven or eight games left that are really important and every single game is important,” Fernandez said.

“It just happened that this next game we are playing is a derby away from home. This can be the start of a good push that we need to be able to make it to the playoffs.”

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Former Rutgers men’s soccer star MD Myers can’t stop scoring in MLS Next Pro

MD Myers continues his hot streak in MLS Next Pro.

MD Myers continued his hot run in MLS Next Pro, scoring the equalizer for New York City FC II in a shootout loss at the Chicago Fire II. The former Rutgers star forward has enjoyed an incredibly successful first season of professional soccer with NYCFC.

In fact, after his goal on Wednesday night, Myers now leads MLS Next Pro with 16 goals on the season. Given his form his season, his recent performances could see him knocking on the door of a first-team call-up.

Myers has six goals in the last three games, this latest was a stoppage-time header off a corner kick.

MLS Next Pro is in its first season as the developmental/reserve league for MLS.

 

In his one season at Rutgers, Myers spearheaded an attack that led Rutgers to win the Big Ten Tournament and earn a place in the NCAA Tournament.

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He scored 13 goals and had seven assists in the regular season and was the unanimous selection as the Big Ten Player of the Year.

NYCFC took him in the third round of the MLS Super Draft.

Following the late equalizer from Myers, NYCFC II lost to the Fire II in a shootout.

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Atlas Twitter account having normal one, cites Hitler in complaint over offside call

This is just one great big yikes

There is a long, winding and tortuous road that must be travelled to get from “being mad about an offside call” to a final destination of “citing Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels,” but the Atlas FC Twitter account took that cursed journey on Monday.

Nothing good will come from utilizing the Third Reich to get your point across about a Leagues Cup game, but the Liga MX club tried anyway when discussing a call from the previous night’s game against NYCFC.

Did we mention the call actually went in favor of Atlas and also that it won the match? Those facts are both beside the point and yet still even more mind-blowing when examining a tweet that — to be clear — referenced two of the principal architects of World War 2 and the Holocaust.

With Atlas leading 1-0 in Sunday’s match, NYCFC appeared to notch a late equalizer through Justin Haak. After a VAR review, however, the goal was disallowed and Atlas would hold on for the win.

The protests against that call were apparently too much for the Atlas Twitter account to take, as it opted to use Hitler and his chief propagandist to make a very normal and salient point about analysts breaking down the offside call.

Several hours after it was posted, Atlas would delete the tweet and issue an apology.

To all social media managers (and just, people): Unless you are talking specifically about World War 2 and/or the Holocaust, the Nazi references are probably a bad idea!

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New MLS stadiums: Future sites and rumors

MLS’s construction push continues apace

Over the last eight years, MLS has really upped its game in terms of stadiums.

Between new expansion teams coming into the league and existing clubs building new homes, MLS has found itself in 12 new venues over that time period. Of that group, 11 are soccer-specific, meaning the league has never had better conditions on gameday than it has right now.

If anything, MLS’s pace in terms of building stadiums has accelerated of late, with five new arenas opening since the start of 2021. That push will continue in the years to come, with projects in Miami and New York City in progress and expansion in San Diego bringing another new venue into the league.

Here are MLS’s future stadiums.

NYCFC unveils first renderings of new 25,000-seat stadium

The club is aiming to be in New York City’s first soccer-specific stadium by the 2027 season

The post-Yankee Stadium era for New York City FC is drawing closer.

The club’s next step in its long-awaited transition to a soccer-specific stadium came on Wednesday, when the first renderings of its new 25,000-seat venue were released.

In November the club struck a deal to build the privately funded stadium in the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens, just across the street from the New York Mets’ home of Citi Field.

The $780 million stadium is part of what is being dubbed the Willets Point Revitalization Plan, which also includes an affordable housing development, 40,000 square feet of public open space, a school, a hotel, and ground-floor retail shops.

NYCFC is aiming for the stadium, which will be the first soccer-specific venue within New York City, to be complete in time for the 2027 MLS season.

That would end a 12-season run at Yankee Stadium, which has served as NYCFC’s home since its 2015 expansion season. Due to various conflicts with the stadium’s primary tenant, the New York Yankees, the MLS club has been forced to play home games at several other venues over the years. That includes last season’s playoff opener against Inter Miami, which was moved to Citi Field at the last second.

According to NYCFC, the renderings — which, we should stress, may not end up exactly representing the stadium’s final design — showcase an “iconic, activated cube entranceway that will serve as a warm, experiential welcome to fans and community members alike. On match days, the cube will be illuminated with vibrant imagery inspiring a dynamic experience from the moment you approach NYCFC’s new home.”

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