Zip_ME87

Olympic Trials: De Grasse, Drouin, Barber and more secure spots

Sunderland continue pursuit of DeAndre Yedlin move

Cincinnati’s Stevenson Wins USL Goal of the Month Aodhan Quinn had 1 of the other 2 goals that Eric's was up against.

Dillon Serna done for 2016 season due to blown ACL in last week's USOC match. http://view-from-the-couch.blogspot.com/2016/07/dillon-serna-done-for-season.html Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

3 MLS matches on July 4th, and not one of them was televised nationally.

Emmanuel Sabbi Finally, we come to Sabbi. Maybe the best player on this roster, and almost certainly the best forward. In an attacking sense, the U20s will probably be heavily reliant on Sabbi at next year’s U20 World Cup barring something unforeseen. He’s one of the few players in this group you can pick out as a sure pick for 2017, and at least right now there isn’t a better forward in the U20 pool. He’s uniquely talented on ball, can work his way around central defenders with his own movement and is positively lethal in the box. The question with Sabbi is always service. He can create for himself, but he needs a central attacking midfielder to push him into more dangerous positions since he has a tendency to drift. Whether that’s FC Dallas’ Weston McKennie or rising UCLA sophomore Jackson Yueill or maybe even Akale, keep an eye out for who’s doing the majority of feeding on Sabbi’s shots. It matters. All the nuts and bolts aside, Sabbi is earmarked for big things in U.S. Soccer. He has the potential to be a special striker with as varied and unique a skill set as any No. 9 in the system. After a strong Dallas Cup with the U20s earlier this year, we’ll see if the NTC is the venue where Sabbi becomes an even bigger name than he is now. I'm looking forward to seeing Emmanuel Sabbi hook up with the midfield talent we have as well as our other forwards.

The confirmation that I think many have been awaiting via GoZips.com... Adam Najem Set to Return to Zips for Senior Season

This is a week old, but nice to see that not only local USMNT player & former Zip Darlington is a LeBron/Cavs fan, but also ...

I don't know why they would. The man who ceremoniously handed LeBron the trophy, symbolizing the last Cleveland major sports championship in 1964, was born in Georgia and played college football at Syracuse.

Emmanuel Sabbi invited to U20 Invitational http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/06/24/16/07/160624-u20mnt-ramos-names-21-player-u20mnt-roster-for-2016-ntc-invitational GOALKEEPERS (2): Jonathan Klinsmann (University of California; Newport Beach, Calif.), JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown; Alamo, Calif.) DEFENDERS (9): Hugo Arellano (LA Galaxy; Norwalk, Calif.), Marcello Borges (Michigan; Kearny, N.J.), Marlon Fossey (Fulham FC; Surbiton, Great Britain), Aaron Herrera (New Mexico; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Andrew Lombard (Northeastern; Montclair, N.J.), Tommy Redding (Orlando City SC; Oviedo, Fla.), Miles Robinson (Syracuse; Arlington, Mass.), Auston Trusty (Bethlehem Steel; Media, Pa.) MIDFIELDERS (6): Mukwelle Akale (Villarreal CF; Minneapolis, Minn.), Luca De La Torre (Fulham FC; San Diego, Calif.), Weston McKinnie (FC Dallas; Little Elm, Texas), Eryk Williamson (Maryland; Alexandria, Va.), Jackson Yueill (UCLA; Bloomington, Minn.) FORWARDS (5): Coy Craft (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Jeremy Ebobisse (Duke; Bethesda, Md.), Victor Mansaray (Seattle Sounders FC; Des Moines, Wash.), Emmanuel Sabbi (Chicago Magic, Libertyville, Ill.), Sebastian Saucedo (Veracruz; Casa Grande, Ariz.)

Before getting too wrapped up in "what about next season", perhaps we should live in the moment & enjoy and savor this. It's been a looooooong time coming and is so sweet in the way it happened...home town boy delivers and coming back from 3-1 deficit among others. THANKS LEBRON and the CLEVELAND CAVALIERS.

Tonight's starting lineup in AFC Cleveland's 6-1 friendly win. The 4 Zips were all subbed out in the 29th minute.

Darlington Nagbe is ready to play in Copa America semifinals if called upon ...Jermaine Jones was issued a red card against Ecuador, while Bobby Wood and Alejandro Bedoya earned their second yellow cards in the game. All three players will all be suspended for the USA's semifinal match, unless U.S. Soccer can successfully appeal any of the cards. The suspensions could open up a spot for Nagbe, who could fill a void in the midfield as either a starter or an important late game substitute. If Nagbe plays, it might be the toughest challenge of his career as the USA is likely to end up having to face No. 1-world ranked Argentina. "It would be great," Nagbe said. "We've been sitting here waiting patiently, but the group has been doing well, so there hasn't been a need for changes before, but now with some suspensions, whether it's me or other guys, we're all excited."...

Thu, Jun 16, 2016 Catholic Central High School FINAL Cincinnati Dutch Lions 0 Michigan Bucks 1 1st Period 32:00 Michigan Bucks Goal: B. Fitzpatrick - Assist: A. Najem http://www.uslpdl.com/game/show/13188242

It appears that UA may have gotten a little attention with some of its own marketing.

I like the term "Akron Boys", also (in the sense of their university affiliation). I was commenting that I think it plays well to a national audience of potential recruits that UA is not solely regional, but great soccer players from anywhere thrive at the University of Akron, a "National Powerhouse".

You couldn't buy better publicity for Mens Soccer recruiting in the USA. That DeAndre is from Seattle; Porter played for a Big Ten school and is head coach of an MLS team on the West Coast; Perry Kitchen is from Indiana all helps potential recruits see that UA is not just local. Darlington is the only "Ohio boy", and he's originally from Liberia and only recently got his US citizenship (living an American dream). By the way, not shown in the online video is that there was a nice lead up in studio with a great background as the story was being introduced.

I posted this in another thread, but I think it deserves a thread of its own. This was in Fox Sports 1 pregame show tonight prior to USAvParaguay broadcast.