Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., March 3, 2017
The Dallas Cup youth soccer tournament made the world news this week, after 15 members of a Tibetan women's soccer team were denied visas on Friday to attend the tournament, where they were scheduled to lead a parade at the Cotton Bowl. "We were really excited, scared, and had all the possible questions and answers ready in our heart," said one woman in a YouTube video. "But the U.S. Embassy just rejected us. Just like that."
It looks like there will be two MLS teams in the CONCACAF Champions League final four, with FC Dallas taking a 4-0 lead from the first leg into Wednesday night's game at Panama's Árabe Unido, and Vancouver hosting NY Red Bulls in another quarterfinal on Thu., March 2, 9pm on Univision Deportes. The other two spots will belong to Mexican clubs: Pachuca and either Tigres or Pumas.
The U.S. Under-20s took a huge step toward qualifying for the 2017 World Cup on Monday at the CONCACAF Championships in Costa Rica, downing tournament favorite Mexico 1-0. The U.S. was impressive on both ends of the field, holding the three-time defending champs without a shot on goal, scoring the first goal Mexico has allowed in the tournament, and handing them their first loss in the last four tournaments. The last group stage game for the U.S. is Friday against El Salvador; a draw would earn a World Cup spot.
The European Champions League resumes March 7-8, with the second leg games in the round of 16, live on Fox Sports 1 & 2, 1:45pm each day.
• Tue., March 7: Bayern Munich at Arsenal, Real Madrid at Napoli.
• Wed., March 8: Benfica at Dortmund, Paris SG at Barcelona.
Next week: Sevilla-Leicester, Porto-Juventus; Manchester City-Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen-Atletico Madrid.
