Angels Links: Rivalry Week in MLS is here

Rivalry week in MLS brings highly anticipated matchups

It’s another Heineken rivalry week in MLS, with the Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas squaring off, the Hudson River Derby of New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls clashing on Saturday, and another Cascadia rumble of the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders on Sunday (plus there was a bonus match up of Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact in the Canadian Championship final first leg last night). Its sure to be another exciting week. ESPNFC interviewed some members of supporters groups from various teams to find out exactly what these rivalries mean to them.

Another day, another VAR controversy in the Confederations Cup

Video Assistant Referee seems to be taking center stage in the Confederations Cup so far, and that’s not a good thing. This time, there was controversy at the end of the Mexico-New Zealand game, which El Tri won 2-1. A shoving match broke out between several players, and it was chaos on the field for a few minutes on the field. After the scrum, the officials discussed among themselves and gave out yellow cards to various players on each team. But then the referee paused the game again to give out more yellow cards. And its arguable that the most guilty parties on each team all escaped punishment altogether. It’s understandable that there could be some growing pains with VAR, but FIFA will need to work them out quickly if they plan on using VAR for future competitions.

Cameroon got younger after 2014 World Cup, and it’s paying off for them big time

Cameroon had a rough time at the 2014 World Cup, underperforming on the field, and fighting and bickering off of it. Throw in some chaos in the Cameroonian FA (a sadly common theme), and the whole thing was a big mess. New coach Hugo Broos was able to to rid the program of some of the more troublesome players, like Alex Song and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, and replace them with younger, hungrier players. Things turned around as Cameroon won the last African Cup of Nations, and look to make an impact in the Confederations Cup this year.

Bride attends Orlando City game in her wedding dress

You hear tales of devoted fans falling in love at the ballpark/stadium sometimes, sometimes tales of kids named after their parents’ favorite players or stadiums. Over the weekend a couple of Orlando City fans had an interesting after wedding party, they went to City’s match that night against the Montreal Impact, with the wife still in her wedding dress. Now that is dedication right there.

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