Summer is ready when you are.
Copa America call-ups sting D.C. United and Kansas City ahead of MLS match - WaPo: Looks like we'll get to see Kofi Opare and Alhaji Kamara on the field tonight.
MLS Preview and Prediction: Sporting Kansas City vs DC United - MLSGB: Across the pond, they predict a 1-1 draw.
D.C. United-Sporting Kansas City Preview - Yahoo Sports: The Sporks are 1-3-1 in their last five home games, even with Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, who won't be there tonight as patriotic duty calls.
First Place Washington Spirit in Houston Friday Night for Rematch Against Dash — Washington Spirit: The Spirit will be without Crystal Dunn who is at U.S. camp prepping for the Olympics. This will be a real test for the rest of the Spirit, and you can watch it all on Youtube at 8:30 tonight.
‘Pelé’: This look at soccer star’s rise has a sunny kick | The Seattle Times: This flick is available on On-Demand. I watched it a couple weekends ago. Highly recommend it for your late elementary school aged children. However, Vincent D'Onofrio's Brazilian accent as legendary CFB coach Feola was akin to Kevin Costner's English accent in the Robin Hood movie Prince of Thieves. But it's a great feel-good movie (with the obvious cameo and the usual story arc except true) for anyone who wants to understand Pele.
MLS fails to make positive impression on TV ratings during big soccer weekend - World Soccer Talk: 190,000 people watched the D.C. United and Philadelphia Union match last week -- more than those who watched either of the USMNT's friendlies.
Sebastian Giovinco's Italy snub hurts MLS's plans to be a 'league of choice' - ESPN FC: I don't get it. Giovinco seems way better than Italy's usual suspects at forward.
In Abkhazia, proto-states, non-nations gather for their own soccer World Cup - CSMonitor.com: The CONIFA Cup is just wonderful, and it's the subject of today's poll. For those of you who aren't in on it, it's the FIFA for all the countries that aren't recognized as such: dependencies, unrecognized nations, minority groups, stateless peoples, distinct geographic regions, and micronations not affiliated with FIFA. It is awesome, like the obscure superheroes who might have made surprise appearances on Superfriends on rare Saturday mornings. Group stage matches start this weekend, for the four groups of three teams each that made it to the 2016 CONIFA World Cup. Pick your fave below. (P.S. Are we sure Marcus Halsti was not called up for Sapmi, rather than Finland?) (P.P.S. The Romani People were originally slated to be the twelfth team, but the players couldn't get travel documents in time. So Padania has stepped in to take their place. Crazy.)
Spanish soccer league trying to gain foothold in US — PHOTOS | Las Vegas Review-Journal: Why they hitch themselves to NASL, I don't exactly understand. But it's great for NASL. We can't all be MLS cities.
Mike Francesa spends eight minutes saying he doesn't care about soccer - Awful Announcing: A ridiculous man.
Travel in Major League Soccer poses unique set of challenges for players | OregonLive.com: "When asked about something that they would change if they were MLS Commissioner for a day, five percent of MLS players told ESPN that the No. 1 thing they would change is the rules around charter flights."
And your Friday Freedom Kicks treat is a fun video of the silliest red cards in MLS history.
Commentariat, conifa!