Qatar to Los Angeles to Tigerville: Soccer everywhere you go
Grab your cleats and hit the pitch, it’s a crazy time for soccer fans.
Soccer fans all around the world have a lot to talk about and look forward to this fall. The world cup is right around the corner, the stakes were high for the MLS championship match, and the North Greenville Men’s and women’s soccer teams competed in the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
The 22nd running of the International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA, world cup is set to begin on Sunday, Nov. 20.
The tournament will be hosted by Qatar and will be played from the 20th through Dec. 18.
This will be the second time in history that the world cup will be held in Asia. Prior to Qatar, the 2002 world cup was hosted by Japan and South Korea. Qatar is also the first Arab country to host the world cup.
For pool play, there will be eight groups, lettered A-H, of four teams for the first round. After pool play, the top 16 teams will move on. The quarter finals will hold eight teams and will go until there is one team left on top.
The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) will have their first match on Monday, Nov. 21 against Wales.
On the national level, the Major League Soccer (MLS) season has come to a dramatic end, as the Los Angeles Football Club defeated the Philadelphia Union in a penalty kick shootout.
The Philadelphia Union entered the championship match as the underdogs. They had a record of 19-10-5, while Los Angeles’ record was 21-4-9, and both teams had finished the season first in their conferences.
Philadelphia had the match in the bag with a 3-2 lead heading into stoppage time. In the ninth minute of stoppage time, Los Angeles scored, tying the match at 3-3, sending them into a penalty kick shootout.
There was no contest here, as the Los Angeles Football Club scored three out of four, while Philadelphia did not score once.
Finally, the North Greenville Men’s and Women’s soccer seasons ended with playoff losses.
The men’s team finished their season in third with a record of 9-6-3.
The Crusaders began playoffs with a dominant win over Lees McRae College at Pepsi Stadium.
They traveled to Bryan Park in Browns Summit, North Carolina, where they fell to the Francis Marion Patriots with a 0-2 loss in the semi-final match.
The women’s soccer team finished their season in second place with a record of 13-4-1.
After a first-round bye, the crusaders defeated Belmont Abbey College 3-1, earning them a spot in the championship match.
NGU fell to UNC Pembroke with a score of 1-3, ending their successful season.
