· 2013180695" tabindex="0">On Monday, Crew forward Dominic Oduro was named MLS Player of the Week for Week 31. Oduro becomes this first Black & Gold player to receive the MLS Player of the Week honors in 2013 and is the first since teammate Federico Higuain did it in successive weeks last season (Week 25 and 26). To read the official release and to review Dominic’s impressive contributions in the 4-2 Crew win in Dallas 2013180696" tabindex="0">on Saturday, check out MLSsoccer.com.
· International soccer coverage of MLS play over the weekend has been strong this week as a bevy of teams in both conferences continue to jostle for playoff positioning. Graham Parker and Richard Farley of the Manchester, England based news source The Guardian, recap Week 31 of MLS and why, “Brian Bliss's squad is the form team,” in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
· Yesterday, the Columbus Crew Reserves wrapped up their 2013 campaign with a 3-1 over the FC Dallas Reserves at the Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco. After trailing 1-0 in the 27th-minute, the Back & Gold would respond by scoring three unanswered in the second half. Read the full game recap and box score.
· While the U.S. Men’s National Team likely cannot improve upon their FIFA World Cup positioning for Brazil in their two remaining qualifiers, Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann sees value in playing his team at full strength. Lingering injuries to Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey have proven to complicate Klinsmann’s plans as the National Team preps for their match against Jamaica next week. Steve Davis of NBC’s ProSoccerTalk examines the current roster situation and how the team has fallen victim to the injury bug of late.
