By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

After many disappointing results and matches leading up to the Round of 32 Match, the Loons would look to turn the page and set their sights on advancing in the Open Cup further. Kickoff was at 7:30PM which has become a primetime kickoff for most fixtures with MLS and U.S. Soccer Federation scheduling this year.

After an enticing game against Vancouver, the Loons would fall short once again with a 3-2 loss. A first goal from newly signed South Korean striker, Jeong Sang-bin, in Minnesota colors and a first goal of the season for captain Michael Boxall. Vancouver’s goals came from Brian White and Simon Becher.

With coming off the road loss, the Loons would be at home at Allianz Field. Only half the stadium was used plus the supporters section but it was still a decent crowd for a midweek match.

The Loons and Philadelphia Union would play a highly competitive first half with neither side striking first. Good to see the higher intensity and better game flow as Loons have been pretty lackadaisical as of late. The second half would be even more exciting with both teams exchanging chances. The drama would ensue when the 68th minute came and South African Striker Bongokuhle Hlongwane got a diving header and sent the ball through the hands of Philadelphia Union’s André Blake.

In the 73rd minute, Honduran midfielder Joseph Rosales received a fantastic play in which Hlongwane dribbled the defenders and dished it off to Rosales for a slotted shot into the right corner. 2-0 for the Loons!

The excitement wouldn’t last for long when the Union’s Chris Donovan got one back and it was 2-1 Loons in the 78th minute. As the clock neared closer to the 90 minutes, it became clear that Loons fans were becoming nervy. It’s been an unfortunate statistic this season that in the closing of the 90 minutes the Loons can’t hold on. Kai Wagner, the substitute defender, would smash it home in the 90+4th minute to get the game at 2-2 and send it to overtime.

Disappointing how the Loons blew the lead being up 2-0. But in the first half of extra time, Hlongwane would rejuvenate the Loons with another goal, thus being in the 103rd minute. Loons and Philly would go at it further with both sides pushing themselves and fighting to stay alive.

Disaster struck again for the Loons when in the 120th minute, and once again near the end of the match, Kai Wagner would bag his second and end Loons celebrations for the moment. It would send it to penalties!

The Loons thankfully won the first kick and got it down on the side of the supporters section for the penalty shootout. Franco Fragapane would get the first kick for the Loons and Dániel Gazdag equalizing with his kick. Second round, Will Trapp and Jack Elliot would get their second kick as well. In the third set, Kervin Arriaga and Matthew Real would miss their shots. The fourth set, Rosales and Torres would get theirs. The fifth set, Dunbar and Carranza would get theirs! Heavy drama as it would still be tied and now it would be sent to sudden death penalty shots.

Kallman and Rafanello would get theirs for the sixth round. Boxall and Lowe would also get theirs for the seventh round. In the eighth round, Tapias would get his shot for the Loons and back up goalkeeper Clint Irwin who got the start to give rest to the main goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair would deny the man who saved Philly before; Kai Wagner would be ultimately denied on the incredible penalty save made by Irwin and Loons would survive another day and get the only win of the season at home to sing “Wonderwall”.

They advance to the Round of 16 and will be facing Houston Dynamo in Houston on 5/23 for a 7:30 kickoff with streaming to most likely be through the BR Football YouTube channel.

The Loons would return to regular MLS play by traveling on the road to Sporting KC on Saturday 5/13. With a quick turnaround, the Loons would be lackluster and concede 3 goals to unfortunately lose 3-0.

They most recently played on Wednesday 5/17 back at Allianz. The game started out fast paced with much running. The Loons looked more energized and more collective in their play.

The play of the game would come in the 14th minute, early on when a costly mistake from Houston’s left back, Escobar, passed it back, which went through the Houston team and made it to the Loons, and Bongokuhle Hlongwane tucked it past Houston’s goalkeeper Steve Clark and into the right corner. 1-0 to the Loons!

The rest of the first half would have its chances and many were almost point blank on a few attempts. The second half would be quite physical and fast paced as Houston pushed for an equalizer. Thankfully there was no equalizer and the Loons held on despite at least 3 minutes of stoppage time and the ref letting play continue for Houston as they seemed to want to make it more interesting.

Our second home win of the season, but the first win in MLS at home for the season. Loons survive by narrow margins and take all three points to move from 9th into 7th spot with 15 points.

They take on the Portland Timbers on the road this weekend with a 9:30PM kickoff on Apple TV+ which is the streaming service for all things MLS! The Loons will head to Houston to play in the Round of 16 matchup next Tuesday at 7:30PM as well, before they return to Allianz the following Saturday 5/27 to play Real Salt Lake (RSL)!

By Aeden Evenson-McDermott

On the evening of the home opener at Allianz Field, the Loons and Red Bulls would duel it out in the snowy conditions Saturday night. With the field having a good covering of snow, and the snow coming down during pregame and into the first half, the field became slippery and slick in many places. The grounds crew were using leaf blowers to dust away the snow in the goal keeper boxes while the rest of the field was nearly covered.

With the MLS season in full force, and already in its third week for most clubs, the Loons would be coming off a bye week. It allowed for players to rest up and recover from a couple early knocks and injuries. Players like Luis Amarilla would also finalize his paperwork for his green card as he is a Paraguayan International. With an open training session last week, which brought much enjoyment to an excited fan base, players did different ball drills and worked out to get the final preparations ready.

The previous week, which kicked off the MLS season for most clubs (not LAFC or LA Galaxy due to the inclement weather), had the Loons take on FC Dallas on the road. The Loons were successful and accomplished the task of picking up all 3 points after an early goal in the second half from Mender Garcia, which led to the final score of 1-0 for the Loons.

With the Loons turning the next page in the past two weeks, Snowy Allianz Field would captivate the attention of many as it would bring back memories of the snowy homeopeners in the early years of Minnesota United FC a few years back.

Both sides would kick off when the referee blew the whistle. It was primarily a test of how the sides would adapt to the pitch being covered with snow and how this would transfer to how they would play. The wintry conditions also made the usual matchball get a change as they used the orange winter variant of the Upcoming Women’s World Cup Ball, so it would be easier to see in the snow.

Red Bulls would wear their traditional red and white kits and the Loons would finally debut their long awaited Northern Lights kit which is stunning.

Striker Bongokuhle Hlongwane would get a nice shot and would retrieve the rebound to power his big shot into the back of the net. An early 1-0 lead to the Loons but would they be able to sustain it?

With both sides exchanging a few chances, and with many poor calls by the officials, it was a slow first half despite Hlongwane’s goal.

With a lot of the snow still on the pitch, groundskeepers were actively working at halftime to clear away the snow as it had still been piled up. As the second half moved on, the snow would stop coming down and also the fields melted off, but it was still slippery in places with slush being an issue. It was nice to see the green field at least!

The second half would start out in flying fashion with the Red Bulls getting a quick equalizer to put it back to 1-1! The ball from the corner kick, taken by Red Bulls John Tolkin, meandered its way to the jumping head of Andres Reyes which required a split second snap of the head to guide the ball into the back of the net, which even MNUFC goalkeeper Dayne St.Clair’s fast reflexes stood no chance.

New York would show more dominance and create some decent chances and United would as well, but both sides could not get the breakthrough for the win and +3 points.

A hard worked game by both sides saw New York get their second draw of the season and the Loons now with a win and a tie.

New York will face the Columbus Crew in Red Bull Stadium while the Loons will travel to face Colorado. Both games are on this coming Saturday and are available along with every other MLS game to stream on Apple TV+.

It will be a big week for teams as they train and work on getting the chemistry better. It’s also important to note, from a Minnesota United perspective, that the club is in active negotiations and are progressing in talks to sign young South Korean player Jeong Sang-bin as a U-22 Initiative signing. He was developed in the Korean league and then went to Wolverhampton and they sent him on loan in the 21/22 season to Grasshoppers in the Swiss top flight league.

We are in desperate need of another striker, as getting goals will be hard this year, as we don’t have the striking force needed to be a top mainstream team. Hopefully, the addition of Jeong Sang-bin will be vital in getting more goals and provide an extra depth piece to the existing roster!

By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

Following the semifinal clash between Argentina and Croatia on December 13, Croatia would set their eyes on a piece of silverware to end the tournament with. This would be the 3rd place bronze medal.

On December 14, Morocco faced France and lost which matched them up to play Croatia for the third place game. It would ultimately be a rematch from the first group stage game as they tied 0-0 towards the beginning of the World Cup.

A big hats off to Morocco on being the first African team to make it this far in a World Cup. Most counted Croatia out before the tournament started but they once again persevered and showed they could medal in back to back World Cups.

On Saturday, December 17, the stage was set for a showdown at the Khalifa International Stadium which would compose itself of 44,000+ supporters in attendance.

It would kick off with the 10 first minutes being an absolute drama to see. A free kick early for the Croats had Modrić fake the kick with Majer following up to swing the ball over the top to Perišić who cocked his neck which headed it furthermore to the outstretched rising star and young talent center back, Joško Gvardiol, who would perfectly connect the force of the ball into the back of the net.

1-0 to Croatia! The lead wouldn’t last for long as Morocco would respond when the deflected ball went through the defenders and fell into Archaf Dari’s path and he headed it through the hands of Croatian goalkeeper Livaković. 1-1 and it was a game!

Later on though, in the first half, just before halftime, Croatia’s Mislav Orsić had an incredible first touch kick that was chipped over the keeper and dinked off the inner near post of the goal and it to the net. 2-1 to the Croatians!

The rest of the second half would be less entertaining with both sides each exchanging posessional turns but none resulting in a score. It was dramatic at times with both sides holding their breaths as each took chances on the counter attacks along the wings.

At the end of the 90 minutes of regulation, Croatia’s World Cup dreams would be fulfilled. They didn’t ultimately get first or second place like their World Cup in 2018, but they have much to be proud of. Modrić, who’s 37, is likely going to retire from international duty within the next year, so it was a nice send off for him as he has done so much for the team and country.

After Argentina beat Croatia and France beat Morocco their sights would be set on the ultimate prize. The World Cup trophy! The trophy touched by greats but revered for all could be Messi’s or it could be Mbappé’s. Who would achieve greater success?

The first half kicked off with Argentina being the more dominant side and exposing the French team near the goal. In the 23rd minute, Argentina’s Lionel Messi would convert the early penalty to give the Argentines the early lead. 1-0!

A little bit later, a second goal would be added as Angel Dí Maria would slot his goal and make it 2-0 Argentina. The excitefulness quieted down a bit but Argentina still remained in the driver’s seat.

France would show more quality as they picked up chances along the stretch. It would all turn in their favor when in the 80th minute, Mbappé would discreetly put the ball just through Martinez’s hands and into the net. 2-1.

The craziest turn of events would only be beginning and a minute later, Mbappé found himself on the end of another immaculate ball whipped in, and which he would convert through a sideways bicycle kick and into the back of the net! 2-2 and all was tied up.

This would prompt an additional 30 minutes of extra time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes. An early shout for a penalty, into extra time, on the edge of the box had many raising their eyebrows as to why that wasn’t a penalty for France?

Furthermore, Argentina would scramble down the field and Messi would score another decisive goal in the 108th minute to give Argentina the 3-2 advantage. If you didn’t think that put the nail in the coffin, you were in for a treat!

France wouldn’t go down without a fight and Mbappé would bag a hat trick of goals, when he bagged the third one, which again was another penalty in the 118th minute of extra time!

Now, since it was 3-3, and it would be the end of the 120 minutes total, it would be going to penalties!

Messi and Mbappé would each convert their first penalties of the shootout. Dybala of Argentina would convert his while Coman of France would miss his. This followed by Paredes scoring his and Tchouameni missing his. Muani of France would make his to keep his team alive but seconds later Montiel of Argentina would rise to the occasion and ultimately seal the fate of France, thus Argentina winning the World Cup!

A deep breath and sigh of relief after such an intense final match!

Messi is the GOAT and certainly deserves this after the incredible career he’s had. His brilliance never disappoints and alway shows how he has so much to prove and still has gas left in the tank for his aging legs.

Back to back medals for Croatia and France and a third World Cup trophy in the books for Argentina!

In terms of the play at The Qatar World Cup, it certainly didn’t disappoint. I would make the case that this was the best World Cup final ever, although I wouldn’t say it was the best World Cup.

Congrats to all the teams on making it a memorable World Cup to watch, and here’s to a good World Cup in North America in 2026, and it remains to be seen after that (the 2030 World Cup has yet to be announced).

With the World Cup coverage now ended, more articles will be coming out on transfers and the resuming of club football!

By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

After narrowly escaping the Groups stages with the 0-0 tie with Belgium, Croatia would feature in the Round of 16 against Japan on December 5th. In the first half, Japan would be adventurous and have a more free flow approach. Just before halftime, Daizen Maeda scored a goal that was deflected and bounced through the Croatian defense for the 1-0 lead.

Just after halftime, and in the 55th minute, Croatia’s Dejan Lovren crossed an on point ball which found its way to forward Ivan Perišić who excitingly got the breakthrough with a thrasher header, which was beautifully perfected and put into the bottom right corner of the goal. Both teams would go back and forth between possessions. Croatia would reclaim and take the midfield and be more physically dominant.

After the Croatia goal, Japan would rise to the occasion and wouldn’t go down too easily. Wataru Endo would test goalkeeper Dominik Livaković with a shot fired from way outside the box which for sure stung the hands of Livaković.

As the game drew to a close of the 90 minutes regulation, it would be sent to an additional 30 minutes of extra time. With no score in the additional 30 minutes it would be the first penalty shootout of the 2022 Qatar World Cup to decide the winner.

Following 2018’s World Cup, Croatia was pretty dominant when it came to a penalty shootout. The first two penalties for Japan were saved and Croatia came through and converted theirs. A clutch performance by Croatia’s keeper Livaković would send them on to the next round of the quarterfinals.

On December 9, Croatia would turn their attention to the epic finale of facing Brazil. With the odds stacked against them, and many counting the Croats out, it would have to be a spectacular performance to hold Brazil at bay.

Croatia came out ready to play with a refined passing game and the upper hand in the possession. Croatia wasn’t intimidated by the pace of Brazil and stood firm. The first half was pretty back and fourth but the second half would contain more drama.

When the ball came in and there were claims of a handball on right back Josip Juranović, VAR (video assistant referee) got involved but quickly shut the down the possibility of a penalty.

In the rest of the second half, Livaković would be busy as he would have to eliminate the ball getting to the back of the net. Croatia held their breath as the moments ticking down to the 90 minutes of regulation occurred.

It would be an additional 30 minutes of extra time. Both sides would exchange opportunities and go on the attack. Just before the end of the first period of extra time, Brazil’s Neymar dribbled his way and eloquently slotted the ball into Livaković’s net. 1-0 to Brazil.

Croatia would need to channel their inner belief to get the equalizer and take it to penalties. Croatia came out strong for the second period of extra time and would make Brazil play into Croatia’s hands and style of play.

With the inability of giving up hope and surrendering, Bruno Petković would have a powerful shot which took a deflection off a Brazilian defender, and went past goalkeeper Alisson in the 117 minute. 1-1!

It would send it to penalties once again and Croatia would need to stand tall.

Rodrygo would be denied on the first penalty kick by Livaković. Nikola Vlašić, Casemiro, Lovro Majer, Pedro, and Croatia captain Luka Modrić would all convert theirs with Croatia having the 3-2 lead.

Marquinhos of Brazil would need to step up in order to keep the Brazil dream alive. A poor run up would lead to Marquinhos hitting the front side of the post and the ball going out. Such a big missed opportunity which would cost them the game as Croatia’s Mislav Oršić got the deciseful winner!

Brazil would be kicking themselves and left asking themselves questions. Why didn’t Neymar step up to take the penalty? Following the game, Brazil’s manager Tite would resign and leave the team.

On December 13, Croatia played Argentina for the semi final clash. Modrić vs Messi. Two incredible players with much history. Croatia would again be the underdogs. After a successful run of the World Cup so far, Croatia would come out flat footed and discombobulated in many ways against Argentina. Croatia had much of the possession in the first half but Modrić was limited in his abilities by the play of Argentina.

An early penalty in the 34th minute would start the unraveling for them. The referee was quite poor with many calls but this, in my opinion, was not a penalty. Julián Alvarez of Argentina was going for the ball and actually initiated the contact by running into Livaković. The ref gave Livaković a yellow which was totally a joke, in many ways, because if you give a penalty you can’t do a card as well. Anyways, Messi of course would smash the ball into the upper part of the goal and give Argentina the lead.

A few minutes later, in the 39th minute Alvarez would dribble himself down the field and weave his way through the Croatian defense and score to make it 2-0 going into halftime.

The second half was a bit more composed for Croatia but Argentina was still quite dominant. In the 69th minute Messi would dribble Croatian sensation center back Joško Gvardiol down the field and dump the ball off to Alvarez with another great feed to ultimately make it 3-0. It was a costly defeat and unfortunate for such a great Croatian team through the World Cup.

Another great player, the captain, the heart and soul, the savior, of the team, Luka Modrić would have his last go at the World Cup but would fall short.

Congrats to Argentina and more importantly Messi! Argentina faces France for the World Cup final on Sunday the 18th, at 9 am on FOX, while Croatia will make a run for the bronze medal as they take on Morocco on Saturday the 17th, at 9 am on FOX as well. Should be an exciting weekend and hopefully a good roundup of the 2022 Qatar World Cup!

Be on the lookout for the recap of the final, and 3rd place game, of the World Cup as well!