Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., July 17, 2020
Live Soccer Is Back in Austin! Beer Hall!!
Austin Bold resume their USL Championship season this Friday, July 17, with an 8pm home game against OKC Energy. No fans will be allowed for this or next week's games, but all USL games are available on ESPN+. Looking forward to seeing Sonny G and the gang, if only from afar for now.
Austin FC made a couple of fun announcements this week, tabbing former U.S. international (and Nederland native) Davy Arnaud as assistant coach, and releasing photos and other details of the stadium's Beer Hall: 18 taps, 20 large-screen TVs, and a video wall in a 400-capacity space overlooking the north endzone.
MLS Is Back: After a shaky start – two teams withdrawn and four games postponed or canceled in the first five days, after a raft of positive COVID tests – the MIB Tournament has stabilized, with 1,227 players, coaches, refs, and other members of the MLS delegation all testing negative over the weekend. The fact that that's the headline news tells you something about the level of play so far, but TV ratings are good, and I'm enjoying the presentation with enhanced live sound and no fake crowd noise. The group stage continues daily through July 23 on ESPN, FS1, and Univision.
The North Carolina Courage breezed through the group stage of the NWSL Challenge Cup with four straight wins; quarterfinals are this Fri.-Sat., with semifinals Wednesday on CBS All Access; this'd be a good time to take CBS up on their 7-day free trial.
