Revolution defender Peyton Miller called into US under-20 national team
A Unionville, Conn. native, Miller made his first appearance for the U20 team in a friendly at Chile on Oct. 12, 2024, and tallied his first goal against the South Korea U20 squad on Nov. 16, 2024.
Miller's previous international experience includes a spot on the US roster for the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup in Indonesia, starting in two of his four appearances in tournament play. The defender also previously saw action for the United States at both the U16 and U15 levels.
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The Revolution Academy product has started in nine of his 10 appearances during the 2025 MLS season, and New England is 5-1-4 in those contests. Miller and the Revolution defense have allowed 14 goals this season, tied for the second fewest in MLS.
Miller is one of three Revolution players representing their national teams next week, along with midfielder Allan Oyirwoth (Uganda) and forward/winger
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What MLS can learn from the J League's growth in Japan
Major League Soccer has plenty to celebrate in its 30th season as the top domestic competition of the United States and Canada. Average attendance is as high as ever, and sponsors are flocking in record amounts to capitalize on the presence of global stars such as Lionel Messi, and the general growth of soccer in the US. Yet not all is well. Fan frustration continues to mount on a variety of issues. Media exposure is declining in the wake of a 10-year, $2.5bn media rights deal with Apple. Competition is mounting in the form of the USL, which plans to start a Division I league and institute promotion and relegation for the first time in the modern era of US soccer. And the possibility of a switch to the international fall-to-spring calendar has left supporters of northern clubs bewildered. Advertisement Many of the challenges MLS faces are born of its successes and rooted in the environment of the North American sports market, in which business interests more often than not reign supreme. But as MLS prepares to shape its future, commissioner Don Garber and his fellow executives would do well to look to Japan, where their J League counterparts have charted a different path to relevance in a country similarly reluctant to accept soccer. Related: An increasingly multicultural Japan have qualified for the 2026 World Cup Development first The 1994 World Cup was in some ways the genesis of both leagues: MLS was established as a condition for the US hosting the tournament, while the J League's 1992 founding came as Japan sought to improve its playing level and qualify for the World Cup for the first time (they eventually did so for the 1998 edition). Advertisement But while MLS started with 10 brand-new franchises under a single entity system, the J League's Original 10 were almost entirely established company teams that professionalized and adapted home town identities, representing the league's desire for each club to establish strong local relationships. 'I think what we've done better than the US is developing players,' J League chairman Yoshikazu Nonomura told the Guardian on 15 May – coincidentally, the anniversary of the league's inaugural kickoff in 1993. 'We've looked at how to get kids to play and create a professional pathway, and that's something that local clubs, schools and the Japanese soccer community have worked very hard to accomplish.' Those efforts have borne fruit: Japan have appeared in every men's World Cup since 1998 and were the first non-host to qualify for the 2026 edition in North America. The J League has expanded from 10 teams to 60 across three divisions since its formation, but lags far behind its European and pan-American peers when it comes to broadcast and sponsorship revenues as well as transfer-related income. 'Our challenge now is figuring out how to expand our business side,' Nonomura said. 'MLS has done really well as a business, but now they're figuring out how to build the base [of its developmental pyramid]. I think we both have an opportunity to succeed.' Post-Messi roadmap If the attention surrounding Messi's journey with Inter Miami feels familiar to Japanese soccer insiders, it's because the J League has been down this path before with another Barcelona legend, after the arrival of Andrés Iniesta at Vissel Kobe in 2018. Advertisement The former Spain captain's arrival sparked a wave of global interest in Japanese soccer and higher attendances across the country, even as Vissel – who had also signed German star Lukas Podolski and would later bring on David Villa – struggled to achieve consistent results on the pitch. While the Covic-19 pandemic meant the J League was unable to capitalize on 2019's record attendance it has successfully rebuilt its crowds despite the lack of a replacement superstar – something Nonomura chalks up to increased media investments that have seen domestic exposure quadruple in the post-Iniesta era, particularly in areas with second and third-division clubs that lack the top flight's resources. A core of that strategy has been to increase the number of games shown on television. That required negotiations with streaming service Dazn, the J League's official broadcaster since 2017, and like Apple a company that primarily deals in digital streaming. Today, J League games appear on Dazn as well as regional public broadcasters. Related: American investment in soccer will soon face a stern opponent: itself Advertisement 'I told Dazn that if they want to grow [their subscribers] they need to raise the level of interest, and to do that they have to raise the number of games on TV,' Nonomura said. 'Now there are more rural clubs that are seeing audience ratings of 5-10% and becoming major content pillars for local media.' Pandemic-era rules requiring clubs to collect attendees' contact information spurred the development of another key tool: A unified ticketing system backed by an app that allows the J League to centralize its marketing data. Free ticket giveaways geared to first-time viewers have paid dividends, with 30% of such recipients for games at Tokyo's National Stadium going on to attend additional matches during the 2023 season, according to the league. 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In the end, just one team voted against the move. 'It was because we'd been debating this for 20 years – the idea that the calendar had to change in order for the league to grow – that we felt it was necessary to share this information with as many people as possible,' Nonomura said. 'And I think that because we made that effort, the number of people against the move decreased.' Related: MLS Year 30: A league at a philosophical crossroads as World Cups loom If MLS does go forward with the switch, Nonomura believes, they'll have an advantage in terms of the amount of funding they can invest toward the transition. But he insists that fans should be a part of the conversation. Advertisement 'I like that in the US you can take on new challenges quickly, but when it comes to very weighty matters [the discussion] shouldn't remain within the league,' he said. 'If you believe that fans and supporters are important stakeholders, I think you need to tell them what's being discussed and what you're aiming to achieve.' Establishing that trust is something Nonomura focused on in his nine years as president of Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, the J League's northernmost club and among its best-known abroad thanks to the signings of Southeast Asian stars such as Le Cong Vinh and Chanathip Songkrasin. 'In order to win you need enthusiasm from your fans, and in that sense they're like club staff. When we were in the J2, we'd go to Sapporo Dome and present our financial situation and say, 'This is what our revenue looks like now, but to raise it over the next five years we need your support to help win games,' and that's how we built our base. In that sense, to grow the J League it's very important that our fans be aligned with the direction we want to take.' Together in the top five Though he admits that he is 'envious' of MLS's financial power, Nonomura sees a future in which both the North American circuit and the J League can stand together among the best leagues in the world. Advertisement '[MLS] is refreshing because it's a different approach to traditional soccer culture like promotion/relegation and a focus on building up grassroots,' he said. 'It's motivating, in a way. But I'm sure they look at what we're doing in Japan and see things they're envious about. 'I think if we maintain a good relationship and continue to grow, right now the top five leagues are in Europe, but one day maybe it will be three from Europe, plus [MLS] and the J League.' One gap that the J League hopes to narrow with MLS in the next few years is in the boardroom: The league established Sports Human Capital, its own business school, in 2016 under then-chair Mitsuru Murai. Nonomura himself – a former player, TV commentator, club president and now chair – is emblematic of how Japanese soccer has raised its initial crop of sporting executives nearly from scratch, in contrast to MLS's ability to draw from deep ranks of talent across the American sports business landscape, including Garber, who was once the senior VP of NFL International. 'The league's reached adulthood, but there's lots of ways we can still grow,' Nonomura said. 'After all, I'm 53, and there were so many things I didn't understand at 32 that I do now.'
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2 hours ago
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Vancouver Whitecaps play for country, city and league in Concacaf Champions Cup final
In his post-election victory speech late on the night of 28 April, Canada's prime minister Mark Carney celebrated a momentous political comeback by reinforcing what he felt were the country's three core values: humility, ambition and unity. But in the face of constant threats, gleeful taunts and mounting tension, there was also a warning to the United States. Advertisement 'President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never ever happen.' Related: LAFC stuns Club América in extra time to qualify for Club World Cup Two nights later at Chase Stadium, about 40 minutes south of Trump's Xanadu at Mar-a-Lago, an unfancied but spirited and confident Vancouver Whitecaps outfit embarrassed the garish glitz of Inter Miami – rather deliciously, with the help of a couple of Americans – and easily booked their place in the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup for the very first time, becoming only the third Canadian side ever to qualify for the decider. 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Leaning into the patriotism and community seen in recent months, Schuster is pushing hard for a new, privately funded downtown venue for the Whitecaps at the city's landmark PNE fairgrounds site, a stone's throw from Empire Stadium, the original home of the Whitecaps. The team's current base at BC Place is owned by the province and greatly restricts the club's revenue streams and commercial opportunities. A shiny asset is one distinct way of enticing new ownership to keep the team where it is and the City of Vancouver has confirmed that 'high level discussions' have already happened. Advertisement 'Maybe it's the Canadian way: to do good things but not speak about them very much and we haven't always told our stories,' Schuster says. 'There are enough people who believe in this club being a major asset to our community and to the soccer landscape in Canada and believe that it's worthwhile to fight for it, to keep it alive and keep it in Vancouver.' After a long stint in the Bundesliga and influential roles at Mainz and Schalke, Schuster took the Vancouver job just as a global pandemic brought everything to a halt. Since then, he's overseen an impressive rise. Three visits to the playoffs, a mammoth increase in attendance, a litany of domestic cup success and all achieved on an always-conservative budget. In 2024, the club paid $17.4m in salaries to leave them comfortably mid-range in MLS. In contrast, Inter Miami splashed out $41.7m, while cross-country rivals Toronto FC racked up an outlay of $31.8m. Look closely, though, and Vancouver boasts a perfectly proportioned roster between small, medium and big earners. But perhaps Schuster's most impressive achievement has been ensuring off-field distractions and all of the worry, concerns and anxiety that come with an uncertain future, have not seeped on to the field or into the front office. 'It hasn't always been easy to be a Whitecaps employee and wear our badge,' he admits. 'When the news broke that the club was for sale, it was easy to say 'Look, nothing will change. We'll have the best ever season, we'll be the most attractive club in MLS that everyone wants to own.' But it's something else to fill those words with real life.' Advertisement Winning has, at least for now, seemed to ease that instability. Related: Pochettino turns to an unlikely savior for USMNT's struggles: MLS 'There were a lot of questions,' Schuster said. ''Will this club still be here?' 'Why should we sign this sponsorship deal with you?' And we told those people: 'Come with us because everything will be great'. After the second leg in Miami, I was so happy because I could feel how much it meant to everyone. To give them these special moments made me super happy. It was like we all got rewarded for everything.' Schuster felt the 2024 season had been a 'missed opportunity' of sorts and that a fresh approach could unlock something new in the group. In Sørensen, he found a coach that has managed to get career-best performances out of players up and down the roster – a big reason why the team has excelled as much in continental competition as it has in MLS, where most teams involved in both tend to struggle in one or the other. We'll make it very clear that we are not just one of 30 MLS teams. We are one team from British Columbia in Canada. - Axel Schuster Advertisement 'There were two main criteria that our new coach needed to have: firstly, that he was a developer with a track record of improving players and not just young players,' Schuster says. 'Secondly, we didn't want a coach who would say, 'Some of these players won't fit my plans and I'll need one or two transfer windows to build a team'. We wanted someone who looked at the existing group and knew what to do with them to make it successful from the first day.' Under Sørensen's watch, certain players have stepped up and the group has adapted impressively to the loss of talisman Ryan Gauld, sidelined since early March with a knee injury. While the likes of Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter have garnered much of the focus given their call-ups to the US national team, Schuster pinpoints the developments of Ali Ahmed and Tristan Blackmon as examples of Sorensen's coaching nous. 'Ali doesn't have that many years of being in a professional environment and Jesper has simplified his game, focusing on key areas rather than on his overall profile,' Schuster says. 'Tristan Blackmon has made big progress. In all of our stats, he's the best defender in MLS. You always felt he had the skills to be a top defender but maybe wasn't using them in the right way. But his consistency this year has been unbelievable.' Despite the positivity this season, Schuster admits that he hardly ever enjoys watching games. Advertisement Related: What MLS can learn from the J League's growth in Japan 'Even the second leg win over Inter Miami took a long time before I really believed it was done,' he says with a laugh. 'During the game there is nothing to enjoy. I can't watch with a lot of people around me, at least people I don't know, because I get pretty active about what we could do better and should do better.' Schuster will certainly take some enjoyment from Sunday's Concacaf Champions Cup final against Mexican heavyweights Cruz Azul. Because on this particular international stage at this particular time, the Vancouver Whitecaps will not represent Major League Soccer. They'll represent the humility, ambition and unity of an entire nation. 'For us, we are proud to be Canadians,' Schuster says. 'Our players can appreciate living in this country and this province. I have a player who told me that at some point he might be ready to play in a more challenging league. But then he said, 'My family feels so good and so safe here and that's even more important than where I play'. So we also represent that. This is what we think is right. This is how a country, a city, a province should be. It's what we stand for. We will go there as proud Canadians and we will have the Maple Leaf everywhere. And we'll make it very clear that we are not just one of 30 MLS teams. We are one team from British Columbia in Canada.'
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Highlights: LA Galaxy 2-0 Real Salt Lake (MLS)
Dream season for unbeaten Vancouver Whitecaps could get even dreamier If you haven't heard about the Vancouver Whitecaps yet this season, you probably will this weekend. The soccer club is at the top of the Major League Soccer standings and has a shot at becoming the best in all of North and Central America and the Caribbean. As CBC News' Chad Pawson reports, the team is preparing for its big match in Mexico City this weekend. 2:21 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
