Sideline Shindig

by Marissa Blackman Last Updated on 3/16/18 at 6:34 PM EST This is a running tab of all the roster additions and subtractions for USL clubs. I will update this list periodically. An asterisk next to a player's name indicates that the player is on loan from another club. All updates are based on official announcements from each club. Atlanta United 2 AJ Cochran Diego Lopez Jack Metcalf Yosef Samuel Shawn Nicklaw Gaston Cardozo Brian Gambarte Nicolaus Caraux Kevin Barajas Paul Christensen Laurent Kissiedou Andrew Kendall-Moulin Bethlehem Steel FC Matthew Mahoney Chris Nanco Santi Moar James Chambers Brandon Aubrey Omar Holness Brandon Allen Olivier Mbaizo Aidan Apodaca AJ Paterson Prosper Chiluya Mika Catalano Drew Skundrich Charleston Battery Taylor Mueller Kotaro Higashi Quinton Griffith Skylar Thomas Tah Brain Anunga Joe Kuzminsky Jarad van Schaik Neveal Hackshaw Ataulla Guerra Ian Svantesson Nico Rittmeyer Jay Bolt Ryan Arambula O

By Marissa Blackman Brace yourselves because I'm about to go on a little rant! I can't be the only one who notices these things. I like to get my soccer content from a wide variety of sources. I scroll along the meme-based, click bait ridden accounts just much as I prowl through the latest writings from more reputable sources of "news." For the past several weeks, I've been seeing posts showing Cavani and Neymar debating over who will take a kick. They all have captions along the lines of "not everyone is Messi." I get what they're saying. Messi would let Neymar take the kick, but Cavani isn't going for that. Ok. Fine. But...there is something so grammatically terrible about that phrase. It must make sense to somebody, but it racks my brain. There's an even bigger problem with these incessant posts. Neymar has been trying to take a kick for weeks. Cavani has been telling him no for weeks. Cavani has ultimately taken most, if not all, of

by Marissa Blackman USL just keeps growing! The latest expansion team to join the league is Fresno FC, a new club that will join the Western Conference. While Fresno might be new to USL, soccer is certainly not new to the city. There are already two soccer clubs in Fresno. Fresno Freeze competes in WPSL, and Fresno Fuego competes in USL PDL. The two men's club will make a partnership. The Fuego will continue to exist in PDL, and Fresno FC will form a new club in USL. Fresno FC will be the only professional soccer team in the city. The Fuego will join the FFC effective Augst 31st, 2017. Frank Yallop, the former manager of fellow USL side Phoenix Rising FC, is the inaugural manager of Fresno FC. In addition to his time in USL, Yallop has also managed MLS clubs, and he has coached with the Canadian National Team. FFC will not be the only newcomer in the league in 2018. Nashville SC will join the Eastern Conference, and FFC will join the Western Conference. Fresno FC ma

by Marissa Blackman Today, Wilmington Hammerheads FC will embark on the eighth match of its 2017 PDL campaign. The club travels to Greensboro to play the Carolina Dynamo, marking the second match of a four-game away stretch. The Dynamo and the Hammerheads have each played seven games. Both clubs have only won one. The Dynamo has lost one more time than the Hammerheads, and Wilmington has tied one more time than the Dynamo. This slight difference gives the Wilmington one more point than Carolina. The Hammerheads and the Dynamo sit at eighth and tenth respectively in the South Atlantic table. In other exciting news, a standout Wilmington Hammerheads Youth FC player, Cesar Cruz, is traveling with the PDL team. Every game is a chance to write a new record. Both clubs have the opportunity to earn its second win of the season. Please follow us on  Twitter  and like us on  Facebook . We're always looking for more writers. If you'd like to be one, e-mail sidelineshindig@gmail

by Marissa Blackman The South Atlantic Division of PDL has proven to be a showcase of talent and plenty of goals. In two weeks of competition, twenty-five goals have been scored by eight different teams. Carolina Dynamo is the only club that has completed a match without scoring at least once. Tobacco Road FC sits at the top of the table with four points. It is the only club in the South Atlantic Division that has played two matches so far. (Both matches were the first match of the season for the opposing team.) This club is certainly showing its scoring prowess. The Tobacco Road season began with a 2-2 draw against North Carolina FC U23. TRFC scored four goals in a 4-0 demolishing of Carolina Dynamo. Tobacco Road is the only club that has been able to distinguish itself from the pack so far. The rest of the clubs in the division are all tied up, as far as points are concerned. Nashville FC U23 both have three points from their respective season-opening victories. NCFC U23,

by Marissa Blackman The 2017 PDL season kicks off for Wilmington Hammerheads FC with an away match against the Charlotte Eagles. The match will be the first of the season for both clubs. Last season, the Eagles finished at the top of the table and advanced to the playoffs. In the fourteen matches of the regular season, the club earned an 11-2-1 record. The club tallied thirty-four points and only conceded eight times. The club's playoff run ended quickly with 4-0 defeat at the hands of Tri-Cities FC that knocked the club out of the competition. Santiago Moar, who currently plays for USL side Bethlem Steel FC, spent the 2016 season with the Charlotte Eagles. To reach the playoffs, the Hammerheads must finish the season as one of the top two teams in the South Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. There are eleven teams in the South Atlantic Division. The only two clubs in the division that have played a match so far are North Carolina FC U-23 and Tobacco Road FC. T

by Marissa Blackman At the end of the 2016 USL season, the future of professional soccer in Wilmington was very uncertain. There were reports that the Hammerheads would not continue as a USL club, and nothing had been confirmed. Months later, USL PDL welcomed the Wilmington Hammerheads as one of the league's newest clubs. Tonight, the club held a press conference releasing further details about the PDL club.  Wilmington Hammerheads FC is now completely owned and operated by Wilmington Hammerheads Youth FC (WHYFC), the nonprofit youth soccer association affiliated with the club. Decisions for the new PDL club will be made by the WHYFC board of directors.  The team's Head Coach is Kevin Johnson, who currently serves as Director of Soccer Operations for WHYFC. Sean Guderian, a UNCW graduate andWilmington-native who has played at several levels of the local soccer scene, will act as the PDL club's General Manager.  Matches will be played at the University of North

por Hugo Haacke Começando na Europa e se espalhando pelo mundo, hoje, o futebol é o esporte coletivo mais praticado em todo o mundo. Tendo objetivos e regras iguais, o futebol se diferencia de lugar para lugar na sua forma de jogar, torcer e gerenciar. Entre a Europa e a América Latina, onde o futebol é mais popular, há significantes diferenças, tendo como principal referência nesse continente, o Brasil, o país do futebol. A primeira diferença e mais perceptível é a tática e a forma de jogar. No futebol europeu, a velocidade durante a partida inteira é algo natural. Há também características gerais como o costume de manter a linha de quatro no meio de campo e, a estratégia de recomposição do time inteiro, o jogo mais centrado, objetivo e calculado. Já o futebol brasileiro, conforme o tempo passa, os técnicos vêm aproximando a tática de seus times ao futebol europeu – principalmente depois da copa de 1982. Mas em sua essência, o futebol brasileiro sempre se caracterizou por lance

Por Hugo Haacke Afinal, quem foi Arthur Friedenreich? Muitos não o conhecem, mas Friedenreich,  apelidado carinhosamente como ‘El Tigre’, foi o primeiro craque do futebol brasileiro. Conhecidos por muitos,  até hoje, como uma lenda, Arthur Friedenreich conquistou muitos títulos,  e foi o pioneiro do futebol brasileiro sendo um jogador extremamente diferenciado com a bola nos pés. Filho de pai alemão e mãe brasileira, Arthur nasceu no dia 18 de Junho de 1892 na cidade de São Paulo. Pela mistura dos atributos físicos do pai e da mãe, Arthur era alto,  tinha olhos claros, era moreno e tinha cabelos encaracolados. Naquela época, os times de futebol não aceitavam jogadores negros,  mas, por causa de seu sobrenome, Arthur foi bem aceito nos clubes. Sendo paulistano, Arthur participou, em sua maioria, de clubes da cidade de São Paulo. Alguns clubes que ele participou foram: Germânia  (atual Pinheiros), Mackenzie, Ipiranga, Paulistano (clube no qual ele mais ganhou títulos). H