MLS Midseason Awards + USMNT lose another star! How will they cope in the Gold Cup?
Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros give us their MLS midseason awards including Team of the Season, MVP, Newcomer of the Year and more! Does Messi deserve MLS MVP so far? If not, who's the frontrunner?
Advertisement
Christian and Alexis finish up their MLS midseason awards. Who is their Young Player of the Year? Have the LA Galaxy or Atlanta United been the bigger disappointment so far?
Later, Christian and Alexis react to the latest USMNT roster change that sees Sergiño Dest join a group of USMNT stars that will be missing this Gold Cup. What does this mean for the UMSNT in the competition and can some of the fringe players on the team step up and a make a claim for their spot? The USWNT also has their international break. Did any newcomers stake their claim for a spot in 2027?
(6:00) - MLS team of the midseason choices
(13:00) - Who's the MLS MVP frontrunner?
Advertisement
(16:00) - Coach of the Year, Newcomer of the Year & more
(32:00) - Young Player of the Year, Best Moment & more
(44:00) - USMNT Gold Cup roster update: who's going to step up?
(50:45) - USWNT international break round-up🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube
Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
29 minutes ago
- New York Times
Cruz Azul spokesperson: Marsch ‘out of line' for Whitecaps poisoning allegation
A Cruz Azul spokesperson has labeled Canada manager Jesse Marsch's accusations as 'out of line,' after Marsch claimed that Vancouver Whitecaps players were 'poisoned' during the MLS side's trip to Mexico City for the Concacaf Champions Cup final. Cruz Azul won the match 5-0 on Sunday night in a dominant performance in which Vancouver failed to register a single shot. On Thursday, the Whitecaps said in a statement that a 'significant number' of players and staff had fallen ill upon the team's return to Canada. Advertisement The Athletic reported that only seven of the 26 players who traveled to Mexico City had not presented any symptoms. On Thursday, Vancouver sporting director Axel Schuster avoided any assumptions that Cruz Azul had anything to do with the outbreak. 'Not only have we lost the game, we also have picked up some form of a virus and are dealing with that right now,' Schuster told reporters. 'I don't think it's right to speculate anything before we have more proof.' But on Friday, Marsch, whose Canada roster for this summer's Concacaf Gold Cup features three Whitecaps players, did not mince words when he told a group of reporters in Toronto his feelings about the situation. 'It's for me, appalling that this is the second year in a row that Concacaf and the powers that be have allowed an MLS team to go down to Mexico for a big final and get poisoned,' Marsch said. 'It's ridiculous. Something has to be done to protect these environments.' 'Look, in the past when you would go down there, I remember being with the U.S. national team and club teams going down to Mexico, it was 'will the fire alarm be pulled in the middle of the night? Will there be dancing and singing?' And those are somewhat spirited, competitive advantages that are created when you go down to Mexico. But poisoning the team is another, is another version,' Marsch said. 'Look I don't have any proof here that this (happened) but it's not random,' he added. 'It's not random that two years in a row this has happened. If I were the Vancouver Whitecaps, if I were the Columbus Crew, if I were MLS, I would be absolutely angry that this has been allowed to happen.' Whitecaps players Sam Adekugbe, Ali Ahmed, and Jayden Nelson are Canadian internationals and were among the players who fell ill. 'When all three of (Nelson, Adekugbe and Ahmed) are sick, it's clear. It wasn't just, 'Ah, I don't feel so great'. There was talk of whether it was an infectious virus but in the end, I don't want to speak but I think the results are that it was food poisoning.' Advertisement Vancouver traveled to Mexico City with its own chefs and sent additional staff members to Mexico prior to the final to ensure that preparations were satisfactory. This is normal across all sports, but it took on added importance after the Columbus Crew were defeated 3-0 in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final to Pachuca. That match was also played in Mexico and several Crew players suffered a similar stomach illness the day prior and the day of the final. 'We're very confident that our setup is good,' Schuster told DH Sports on May 30, the day before the loss to Cruz Azul. 'Nothing will get in our way to play with the best performance on Sunday.' The Cruz Azul spokesperson told The Athletic on Friday that Marsch's comments sounded like 'damage control' following the Whitecaps' humiliating defeat. He added that Cruz Azul does not participate in any logistical planning, including meals, for visiting teams. Clubs from around the world play competitive matches in Mexico without incident, the spokesperson added – the Whitecaps themselves played at Monterrey and Pumas UNAM en route to the final. The hotel where Vancouver stayed in Mexico City is one that is used consistently by several first division Liga MX teams, including Club América. While Vancouver officials believe that the players and staff members became ill following a post-game meal that did not take place at their team hotel, Schuster was asked on Thursday if any players felt ill before Sunday's final. 'In hindsight, everyone felt ill during the game,' he said with a laugh. 'It feels like something happened after the game,' he continued. 'And then on the flight it was somehow transmitted. But now I'm a little bit in the speculation that I didn't really want to go to, so my answer to that is that it is unlikely that it was already there during the game.' Advertisement Schuster was asked if the post-game meal was the source of the virus. 'I really don't want to speculate because it also leads to accusations,' he said. 'Who was responsible for that? Was it provided by our opponent or whoever? We had actually two post-match meals. I don't even know because I wasn't at the airport, because there was more food provided at the airport again. 'So yeah, the only thing I can say is that in our first short little research, it is interesting that in all groups, players, staff, traveling party, national team players, it was more or less 50% (who got sick). The people who haven't been there after the game are 100% healthy.'
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Hilary Knight eager to introduce PWHL and women's hockey to her new team in Seattle
As Hilary Knight winds down her international career, the four-time Olympian and long-time face of U.S. women's hockey is hardly done making inroads in her sport. Next up for the 35-year-old during a trailblazing career — in which she stood up to USA Hockey in demanding better wages and helped found the PWHL — is introducing the women's game to a new frontier as part of the league's expansion into the Pacific Northwest. 'Yeah, I guess it's sort of how my career's gone. I'm more of a builder in many ways,' Knight said with a laugh on Friday, two days after becoming the first player agreeing to sign with the PWHL's new team in Seattle . 'Ecstatic. It's an incredible honor to be part of this group and to have this opportunity. I think it's pivotal, it's important,' added the PWHL MVP finalist. 'And to have a hand in that at the ground level is an extreme honor.' And don't be fooled by Knight agreeing to sign a one-year deal. Though she's already announced the 2026 Winter Games will be her fifth and final Olympics, Knight said she is committed to continuing her pro career in Seattle beyond the PWHL's third season. 'The term doesn't really reflect my commitment or my promise to what we want to build and be a part of in the city of Seattle,' she said. The additions of Seattle and Vancouver grow the league to eight teams, and expands the PWHL's reach fully across the continent. In switching coasts, Knight bids farewell to her longtime ties to Boston, which go well beyond the two years she spent serving as captain of the PWHL Fleet. Before her college days at Wisconsin, Knight attended a prep school in New England, and later spent six years playing in Boston for its CWHL and NWHL franchises. Seattle brings Knight much closer to her offseason home in Sun Valley, Idaho, and to where she's enjoyed several fond memories . The foremost came in 2022, when she was wowed by the 14,551 fans inside the NHL Kraken's arena for a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series game. And she was back in the same arena in January with 12,608 fans on hand to watch Boston play Montreal to open the PWHL's nine-game neutral-site Takeover Tour series. 'When the league announced that Seattle was gonna be an expansion franchise, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, whoever has an opportunity to get out there, it's just going to be an amazing setup and wonderful fan base,'' Knight said. 'I think things aligned for me personally in the right way. And I cannot wait for puck drop.' Knight is coming off a stellar season in which her 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) were tied for the league lead with New York rookie Sarah Fillier. She also captained the U.S. to win its 11th gold medal and her 10th at the women's world championships in April. Knight will already have some familiar faces joining her in Seattle, following the signings of U.S. national team members Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter. The 31-year-old Carpenter agreed to a one-year contract on Friday. She spent her first two seasons in New York and ranks third on the PWHL career list with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) in 50 games. Seattle filled out its fourth and fifth spots with Ottawa forward Danielle Serdachny and goaltender Corinne Schroeder, who signed a two-year contract. The all-time PWHL leader in shutouts spent the past two seasons with New York. The signing period runs through Sunday followed by both teams filling out their rosters to 12 players in the expansion draft on Monday. All eight teams will then take part in the PWHL draft on June 24. Knight reflected on how upon finishing college in 2012 there were few options for women to continue pursing hockey careers outside of their respective national teams. The CWHL didn't pay its players salaries, while the NWHL did but endured several hiccups and was eventually bought out to establish the PWHL in 2023. 'We all wanted this 20, 30, 100 years ago,' Knight said of the PWHL. 'I'm just so grateful for all the people that came before us to be able to have this league,' she added. 'I think we're in really good hands with where we started Year 1 and where we're going. And what an amazing hit out of the park to be able to expand in Year 3.' ___ AP women's hockey:
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Hilary Knight eager to introduce PWHL and women's hockey to her new team in Seattle
As Hilary Knight winds down her international career, the four-time Olympian and long-time face of U.S. women's hockey is hardly done making inroads in her sport. Next up for the 35-year-old during a trailblazing career — in which she stood up to USA Hockey in demanding better wages and helped found the PWHL — is introducing the women's game to a new frontier as part of the league's expansion into the Pacific Northwest. 'Yeah, I guess it's sort of how my career's gone. I'm more of a builder in many ways,' Knight said with a laugh on Friday, two days after becoming the first player agreeing to sign with the PWHL's new team in Seattle. 'Ecstatic. It's an incredible honor to be part of this group and to have this opportunity. I think it's pivotal, it's important,' added the PWHL MVP finalist. 'And to have a hand in that at the ground level is an extreme honor.' And don't be fooled by Knight agreeing to sign a one-year deal. Though she's already announced the 2026 Winter Games will be her fifth and final Olympics, Knight said she is committed to continuing her pro career in Seattle beyond the PWHL's third season. 'The term doesn't really reflect my commitment or my promise to what we want to build and be a part of in the city of Seattle,' she said. The additions of Seattle and Vancouver grow the league to eight teams, and expands the PWHL's reach fully across the continent. In switching coasts, Knight bids farewell to her longtime ties to Boston, which go well beyond the two years she spent serving as captain of the PWHL Fleet. Before her college days at Wisconsin, Knight attended a prep school in New England, and later spent six years playing in Boston for its CWHL and NWHL franchises. Seattle brings Knight much closer to her offseason home in Sun Valley, Idaho, and to where she's enjoyed several fond memories. The foremost came in 2022, when she was wowed by the 14,551 fans inside the NHL Kraken's arena for a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series game. And she was back in the same arena in January with 12,608 fans on hand to watch Boston play Montreal to open the PWHL's nine-game neutral-site Takeover Tour series. 'When the league announced that Seattle was gonna be an expansion franchise, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, whoever has an opportunity to get out there, it's just going to be an amazing setup and wonderful fan base,'' Knight said. 'I think things aligned for me personally in the right way. And I cannot wait for puck drop.' Knight is coming off a stellar season in which her 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) were tied for the league lead with New York rookie Sarah Fillier. She also captained the U.S. to win its 11th gold medal and her 10th at the women's world championships in April. Knight will already have some familiar faces joining her in Seattle, following the signings of U.S. national team members Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter. The 31-year-old Carpenter became the latest addition in agreeing to a one-year contract on Friday. She spent her first two seasons in New York and ranks third on the PWHL career list with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) in 50 games. Carpenter fills Seattle's fourth of a maximum five signing spots, rounded out by Ottawa forward Danielle Serdachny. Vancouver, meantime, has already signed five players. The signing period runs through Sunday followed by both teams filling out their rosters to 12 players in the expansion draft on Monday. All eight teams will then take part in the PWHL draft on June 24. Knight reflected on how upon finishing college in 2012 there were few options for women to continue pursing hockey careers outside of their respective national teams. The CWHL didn't pay its players salaries, while the NWHL did but endured several hiccups and was eventually bought out to establish the PWHL in 2023. 'We all wanted this 20, 30, 100 years ago,' Knight said of the PWHL. 'I'm just so grateful for all the people that came before us to be able to have this league,' she added. 'I think we're in really good hands with where we started Year 1 and where we're going. And what an amazing hit out of the park to be able to expand in Year 3.'
