GETTING INTER TROUBLE
Serie A giants Inter Milan have won a key battle in a
trademark infringement lawsuit against MLS expansion
side Inter Miami. The Italian club appears to have
overcome the significant legal threshold of “likely
confusion”, which could ultimately lead to the Miami MLS
franchise changing their name.UNION DUES
The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) has been accused of
engaging in a "false narrative" regarding the pursuit of
equal pay for U.S. women's national team players by the
union representing the U.S. men's national team. The U.S.
National Soccer Team Players Association (USNTSPA)
issued a strong statement alleging discrimination by the
USSF and criticizing it for "resisting" equal pay.SEE YA, BUDDY
Ex-Montreal Impact
striker Didier Drogba
wished his former
colleague Ignacio Piatti
good luck on his new
journey, as the-35-year
old returned to boyhood
club San Lorenzo.
Drogba, mostly known
for his glorious Premier
League career with
Chelsea, also said on
Instagram that he plans
to visit Piatti in Argentina
sometime in the future.CANADA PROUD
Christine Sinclair as honored Tuesday at the B.C. Sports
Hall of Fame for becoming the all-time leading goal-
scorer in international soccer, breaking Abby Wambach's
record with her 185th career goal for Canada. Sinclair was
greeted with a post-match champagne shower from her
teammates and the Burnaby, B.C. native was inundated
with congratulations, and well wishes from all over the
world.IT'S NOT A BALL
Entering the third trimester
of her pregnancy didn’t hold
star striker Alex Morgan
back from joining the U.S.
women’s national team
at training in California.
Although she’s limited
to zero impact and low-
intensity drills, Morgan still
suited up and trained lightly
with the team in Carson. The
striker has been open about
the fact that she hopes to
return to the team for the
Olympics at the end of July
after her April due date.CAESARS UNITED
D.C. United have finalized a sleeve
sponsorship deal with casino
giants Caesars Entertainment.
Sources familiar with the ongoing
talks between Caesars and D.C.
United said back in November
that the partnership between
the gambling operator and the
MLS club would also include the
addition of a Caesars-operated
sports betting facility at Audi Field.GE WHIZZ
The new Toronto FC jersey
includes a sleeve patch featuring
GE Appliances Canada, the club’s
first and exclusive major appliance
partner in May 2019. As part of the
multi-year partnership, all Toronto
FC home and away jerseys until
the 2023 season will include a
GE Appliances patch on the right
sleeve. The jersey is the club’s first
shirt sleeve partner and will see
the return to light grey for the first
time since 2009. GE Appliances
is also committed to supporting
the Canadian soccer community
through programs with Toronto FC
Juniors and Toronto FC Academy.TECH OVER BID
Major League Soccer and US Soccer have jointly entered
into a partnership that will see sports data and artificial
intelligence specialist Stats Perform serve as the exclusive
global data provider for both the US top flight and
the country’s national governing body. Under the deal,
Stats Perform will exclusively collect and analyze official
data for all MLS, US Open Cup and men’s and women’s
national team games, which it will then distribute to
global broadcast, media and betting companies, as well as
professional teams.WHO’S IDEA?
Chicago Fire fans are
having a tough time
finding out posts related
to their favorite team on
Twitter. Tweets with the
#ChicagoFire hashtag are
commonly associated with
Chicago Fire the TV series
instead of the football club.
Ever since the rebrand,
fans have been widely
complaining about the new name and not being able to
find the club with the #ChicagoFire hashtag sparked more
discontent among the club’s fans.AROUND NORTH AMERICA
“I think the American public, and the
media, did a really poor job, even to this
day, of articulating what happened, and
the real world of those things. It’s all part
of the sport. You don’t win all the time. If
I’m not mistaken, in the last World Cup,
Italy wasn’t in it, and Holland wasn’t in it.
And we’re not in it, so wake up and deal
with it. It’s all part of it.” – New England
Revolutions head coach Bruce Arena
looks back at USMNT’s failed World Cup
qualification campaign when he was in
charge of the Stars and Stripes.“Always in the back of my mind I would
try to potentially return. It’s good to
finally be back here” – Anton Walkes
expresses his delight after returning to
Atlanta United ahead of the new MLS
season. Walkes had previously played for
Atlanta in 2017 on loan from Tottenham
Hotspur.“It’s very good that there are players
like Fernando [Meza] and Pity in MLS,
because they are going to raise the level
of MLS; now there are many players that
want to be in MLS, including Mexicans.
We are proving that the difference
between Liga MX and MLS is closing,
now that MLS has much more quality”- Much of the 2020 offseason in Major
League Soccer has involved players
departing Liga MX for clubs north of the
border, and Atlanta United head coach
Frank de Boer has some thoughts on what
it means for the league’s long-term future.- Atlanta United
have won five
of their seven
home games
in the MLS
Cup Playoffs
(2L - one in
penalties). In the
seven matches,
they have
conceded a total
of two goals. - Brian White
scored six of
his nine goals
(67.7%) away
from home in
2019 – among
players with
as many goals,
only three
scored a higher
percentage on
the road. - Diego Valeri
has recorded
5+ assists in
each of his
seven seasons
since joining
MLS. Since 2010
no player has
recorded as
many seasons of
5+ assists. - FC Dallas have
scored multiple
headed goals
in a MLS match
six times since
2010. Three of
the six games
have come
against Seattle. - Franco Escobar
has more career
goals in the MLS
Cup Playoffs (3)
than he does
in the regular
season (2).
- Atlanta United
DID YOU
KNOW?