MLS

MLS won the battle of the All-Stars. But it didn't come easy.

Matt Turner was the hero, making two crucial saves in the penalty shootout as the MLS All-Stars defeated the Liga MX All-Stars 3-2 in penalties after the game ended 1-1 in regulation at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

Those saves, combined with an Erik Lira miss for Liga MX, bailed out the MLS All-Stars in a major way after Nani and Eduard Atuesta each botched their efforts in the shootout. 

That Ricardo Pepi—a dual-national who reportedly has chosen to play for the United States in his international career—scored the ultimate winner will only throw fire on the USMNT vs. El Tri rivalry. 

Jonathan Rodriguez scored for Mexico in regulation, while Jesus David Murillo was the lone MLS player to tally in the opening 90. 

Rodriguez's 20th-minute goal opened the scoring, as he brilliantly chested down a long pass into the box and took a fantastic first touch to cut back inside before slipping the ball into the back of the net:

But in the 53rd minute, Murillo found the equalizer with a fantastic header:

The game was open and competitive, if not a bit sloppy in the final third, as both sides had plenty of chances denied, either by last-ditch defending, solid saves from the respective keepers or a few very heavy touches. 

It appeared as though the MLS All-Stars were going to take an early lead in the eighth minute, as Diego Rossi came free on the break and lifted a beautiful chip toward goal. But an incredible clearance on that attempt—followed by a block on Gustavo Bou's shot off the rebound—kept the MLS All-Stars off the board. 

Wednesday's game came amidst growing buzz that the two leagues could consider a merger in the future, creating a North American super league that would be quite dynamic, given the financial structure and television markets of the MLS and the superior popularity and fanbase of Liga MX. 

"I think the potential in the United States and Mexico is enormous, each country by itself," FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters in March. "But, of course, if you could bring those two together, that would be incredible, and that could quite well be the best league in the world."

"If it makes sense at the right time, then we’ll take that step," MLS president Don Garber told Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times in June. 

It would potentially be a giant league, with the MLS soon to expand to 30 teams and Liga MX having 18. It's hard to imagine teams from either league agreeing to a relegation format that would see some of them bumped down a division. 

But seeing the All-Stars from both leagues going at it in an entertaining game on Wednesday night, with the Los Angeles crowd absolutely rocking for both teams, was a pretty good indication that a merger could make sense down the line, despite the potential complications. 

The best players from across Major League Soccer will take a break from their busy regular-season schedules on Wednesday to face off with the Liga MX All-Star Team at the 2021 MLS All-Star Game. 

The showdown between the top stars from the two North American domestic leagues is a first for the event, which served as an exhibition between the MLS All-Stars and European teams in previous years. 

Wednesday's match at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles comes at a different time of the season for both sets of players. MLS is in the heart of its regular season, while Liga MX recently started up its new campaign. 

Liga MX has been the dominant league of the two for most of MLS' existence. Mexican teams have a firm hold on the CONCACAF Champions League, but the talent gap appears to be closing. 

The closing gap in talent may be the best takeaway from Wednesday's game since it is an exhibition at its heart, and there will be a lot of moving parts on both sides over 90 minutes. 

MLS All-Star Game Info

Date: Wednesday, August 25

Start Time: 9:30 p.m. ET 

TV: FS1

Live Stream: Fox

The best part of Wednesday's exhibition will be to see some of the top North American and international superstars on the pitch at one time. 

MLS' roster is headlined by Nani and Golden Boot leader Raul Ruidiaz. United States men's national team players Matt Turner, Miles Robinson, Sebastian Lletget and Cristian Roldan will also be on display.

The MLS squad carries the more diverse set of players since the league has done a good job of attracting top-tier talent from other countries while developing American players. 

The mix of MLS' best players will be on display from back to front. Robinson and Walker Zimmerman have grown through the league to be USMNT contributors, while Ruidiaz, Nani and Gustavo Bou have come into the league as high-priced international signings and thrived. 

Liga MX's All-Star Team is comprised mainly of Mexico internationals. Guillermo Ochoa and Rogelio Funes Mori are two of the El Tri stars who will be on display on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for MLS, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez and Carlos Vela, the league's two biggest Mexican stars, are unavailable for the All-Star Game.

The All-Star Game has typically been a low-scoring affair for the home side since the squad has a limited number of training sessions to mesh as a group.

Individual quality can still shine through, but there should not be an expectation for a free-flowing beautiful 90 minutes of soccer. After all, this is an exhibition match. 

The introduction of the Liga MX All-Stars as an opponent over a European club on a preseason tour should add some punch to the matchup, but do not expect the intensity of a regular-season MLS or Liga MX match. 

In the second half, players will be shuttling in and out on a handful of instances to manage the loads of the starters and to get as many All-Stars in the game as possible. 

Those factors could lead to a choppy overall 90 minutes, and it may require a single moment of individual brilliance to win the contest. 

Prediction: Liga MX 1, MLS 0

Patrick Mahomes is furthering his commitment to Kansas City.

The Chiefs quarterback, who is already a part owner of MLB's Royals, was announced as a new investor in Sporting KC on Tuesday.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join Sporting Kansas City’s ownership team and strengthen my connection to the fans and the city I love,” Mahomes said in a statement. “Sporting is a community-oriented club and I am excited to continue supporting the growth of soccer in Kansas City.”

Mahomes' fiancee, Brittany Matthews, is also a part owner of the Kansas City NWSL team.

Sporting KC is coming off a 2020 season that saw it win the Western Conference in the regular season before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Former MLS executive Karine Travieso is suing the United States soccer league for race discrimination and retaliation, saying "she was removed from job duties, excluded from meetings and unjustly blamed for other employee's mistakes after speaking at a Juneteenth event in 2020," according to a report from TMZ Sports.

She says that at the Juneteenth event in question, she called out the MLS for a lack of diversity in prominent positions and the need for bias training in the workplace.

Travieso, who is Black, says at the event she shared that one of her bosses once implied that a 2 Chainz MLS All-Star Concert in 2018 would require additional security because Black people would be in attendance.

She says she also shared that she felt she couldn't speak with her bosses about issues of race and noted that there was "little to no Black representation in the decision-making positions and upper echelon of MLS."

In the lawsuit, Travieso says she encouraged MLS decision-makers to release a statement regarding the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which they eventually did, but only after several days.

MLS released a statement in response to the lawsuit, per TMZ:

Ms. Travieso's allegations have no merit as her job, along with her entire department and 20 percent of League Office positions, was eliminated in November of 2020 as a result of the dramatic impact of the pandemic on Major League Soccer's business.

Ms. Travieso was not removed from her job duties for any other reason. Major League Soccer is committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment and takes these allegations very seriously.

We are constantly working to ensure our employees feel safe and supported in the workplace.

Travieso is seeking damages in the lawsuit.

CF Montreal forward Erik Hurtado was traded to the Columbus Crew for $200,000 in general allocation money on Thursday after he chose not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The 30-year-old from Virginia signed a one-year deal with Montreal last February that included a second-year option. He now heads to his fourth MLS club after previous stints with Sporting Kansas City and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 

Said CF Montreal sporting director Olivier Renard:

“There was some interest in Erik during the past few weeks and we listened to the offers, even though we were satisfied with Erik’s work. Because he’s not vaccinated against Covid-19, his situation was problematic and we started considering a trade when we got the confirmation that the team could return to Montreal. Before proceeding, Erik also confirmed that he was not comfortable taking the vaccine, so we concluded this deal, which we felt was very satisfactory. We would like to thank Erik for his professionalism and wish him good luck in his career.”

In seven games for Montreal, the forward started twice and recorded one assist. 

Major League Soccer released findings Monday from its investigation into an allegation of racist comments directed at Portland Timbers star Diego Chara by a Minnesota United player, with the league saying it was unable to confirm the allegation:

MLS said it interviewed the match official, players and reviewed tape but "could not corroborate or refute the allegation."

A June 26 match between the Timbers and Minnesota was stopped in the 65th minute as Portland players told game officials a Minnesota player had directed racist language at Chara. The match later resumed, with Minnesota winning 1-0. 

No action was taken on the field, leading to criticism from Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese.

“I am very, extremely disappointed that we have to deal with situations like this that should not happen in any sport,” Savarese told reporters. “There was a discriminatory word that was said to one of our players that cannot have any place in any sport, or anywhere.”

MLS did not identify the player who was investigated. However, United coach Adrian Heath publicly identified Franco Fragapane as the player last week.

"I'll repeat what I said: Fraga vehemently denies he did it and we believe him," Heath told reporters.