Three Puerto Rican Teams Removed from the USL Pro

I'm taking a break from the USL Pro Weekly Observations to talk about some devastating news came out today. The three USL Pro teams based in Puerto Rico, River Plate Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico United, and Sevilla FC Puerto Rico were removed from the league. Yes, they didn't leave, they were removed.

The Puerto Rican teams failed to meet some of the standards of the USL. 2 of the 3 teams suffered major economic problems and medical stituation that forced the USL to remove the PRSL teams from the league.

USL CEO Alec Papadakis had this to say on the situation:

"In the best interests of USL PRO and its teams, it was necessary to remove the three PRSL teams. USL PRO has established high standards which are an integral component of the league model, and we are determined to preserve the integrity of these standards on and off the field. Dealing proactively with this situation allows us to reset our daily focus on supporting the efforts of our USL PRO teams in maintaining the league’s position as the strongest, best operated domestic league below MLS.”

There signs of this from the beginning of the season, especially in the case of Puerto Rico United.

An anonymous commenter on this blog posted this on one of my articles on April 20th:

"To say Puerto Rico United is a mess is an understatement! Been speaking to their players. Their owner is a joke, a phony and a habitual liar. He promises uniforms, places to live, player signings, and paychecks. He has come through on NOTHING!! These players have hung in there for the love of the game and a chance to play USL football. Players have been there for many weeks and NOT ONE HAS SEEN A SINGLE CENT. He shows occasionally and makes a promise to, THE NEXT DAY, pay them, move them into decent housing, and get them decent uniforms. He has done this repeatedly . He has broken these promises EVERY time he's made them. League officials need to step in and stop this player abuse or risk the integrity and reputation of the entire league."

Strong words.

Each team will still play 24 regular season matches, but some tweaking of the schedules will have to be made. So we might be seeing some teams more than twice.

Besides that, the main effect this will have on the Battery will be who we play on one of our nationally televised games. July 1st we were supposed to play Puerto Rico United, but this will not happen. We'll have to wait and see who we play, and if this game will still be televised, but I assume it will be.

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USL Pro: Week 1 Observations

Well we have finished the first round of games for this brand new, USL Pro season. Yesterday we saw the Richmond Kickers take on Orlando City SC, and River Plate Puerto Rico play Sevilla FC Puerto Rico.

In the first game of the day, Richmond defeated Orlando City 2-0 in front of 1,650 spectators at City Stadium. The first goal came when Ryan Heins earned a penalty in the 39th minute. Stanley Nyazamba stepped up for Richmond and slotted it home. This would give Richmond a 1-0 lead at the half.

Richmond would dominate the chances in the second half, and the Kickers added to their tally in the 83rd minute, when Matt Delicate scored off a cross Sascha Görres. Richmond would walk off the pitch with their first win of the young season.

At 8:00 PM EST, River Plate hosted Sevilla FC in the first International game of the season, and this game proved to be the more exciting of the two. Sevilla opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, when Ryan Massoud connected with a cross from Erik Hort, which would send Sevilla in to the locker rooms with a half-time lead.

River Plate came out of the half swinging, and scored on a give-and-go between Peter Villegas and Matias Arce, with Villegas finishing to the left for an equalizer. Sevilla would take the lead in the 71st minute, when Nick Cardenas connected on another corner from Erik Hort.

The lead wouldn't last long, as Yaikel Perez headed in a cross from Julio Maya to tie the game at 2-2.

This would be the final score, as both teams would earn their first points of the season.

Here are some of my observations from this pair of games:

• Richmond Leading the League: Well technically anyway. The Kickers came out and put it on Orlando City, and really just dominated the game. Richmond had 15 shots to Orlando's 5, and had 6 corners, to Orlando's 1. It really was a dominating performance by Richmond. Now we'll see how this game effects the standings at the end of the year, but head-to-head, it looks like Richmond's the better team.
• International Division Could be a Close Race: Now that's a lot to take away from a 2-2 draw, but the sides looked to be even on the day. If you read my preview of the International Division, you'll see that I had Sevilla finishing 3rd and River Plate finishing in 1st. We'll see how Barracuda FC play, but we could see a very tight race in the International Division.
• USL Live Successful Debut: The River Plate-Sevilla FC game was the first game to be broadcast live on USLLive.com. I'm happy to see this being successful, and hopefully we can see this carried on to the seasons ahead.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

USL Pro Preview: Wrap-up

In the last three days, I have given you all, my thoughts on how the teams in the USL Pro will finish in their divisions. Here's a recap of how I had them finishing.

International:

1. River Plate Puerto Rico

2. Antigua Barracuda FC

3. Sevilla FC Puerto Rico

4. Los Angeles Blues

5. Puerto Rico United

National:

1. Rochester Rhinos

2. Pittsburgh Riverhounds

3. Harrisburg City Islanders

4. Dayton Dutch Lions

5. FC New York

American:

1. Charleston Battery

2. Richmond Kickers

3. Orlando City SC

4. Charlotte Eagles

5. Wilmington Hammerheads

The American Division is easily the toughest, with the National and International being about equal for second place, but if forced, I would have to give the edge to the National Division.

The full league table, will determine who gets home field advantage in the Semi-finals and Finals of the playoffs. This is because in the First Round, home field is determined by how the teams finish in their division (Excluding the 2 vs. 2 match up, see below). Here's how I think the full league table will end up:

League:

1. Charleston Battery

2. Rochester Rhinos

3. Richmond Kickers

4. River Plate Puerto Rico

5. Orlando City SC

6. Pittsburgh Riverhounds

7. Antigua Barracuda FC

8. Harrisburg City Islanders

9. Sevilla FC Puerto Rico

10. Charlotte Eagles

11. Dayton Dutch Lions

12. Wilmington Hammerheads

13. Los Angeles Blues

14. Puerto Rico United

15. FC New York

If you have been keeping up with the USL Pro, then you know the playoff format, but if not here is a recap.

As you can see it is pretty obvious where the teams will fall in the playoff system if they finish how I predicted, but here is the playoffs set up, along with my predictions, round by round.

First Round (Winners in bold, Home team on left):

River Plate Puerto Rico vs. Antigua Barracuda FC

Rochester Rhinos vs. Harrisburg City Islanders

Charleston Battery vs. Orlando City SC

Richmond Kickers vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds

The first round should be all chalk, with the exception of my one upset to watch for; Pittsburgh over Richmond. Seed wise this wouldn't be, but Richmond would be playing at home and probably finish higher in the League Table, so I consider it an upset. The one that I won't predict, but I'll mention is Orlando over Charleston. Orlando has a team that could to go deep in the playoffs.

Semi-Finals (Winners in bold, Home team on left):

Charleston Battery vs. River Plate Puerto Rico

Rochester Rhinos vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds

And the chalk keeps coming. Charleston handles the International champs, while Rochester takes care of business up in New York. The rematch of the USL Second Division Championship game is not meant to be, and the Championship will be played between the Rhinos and the Battery at Blackbaud Stadium

Finals (Winners in bold, Home team on left):

Charleston Battery vs. Rochester Rhinos

This one was a tough decision. Obviously I'm a little bias towards the Battery, but I really do think that they are the best team. Charleston has the depth, experience, and even the youth to build a championship team this season. Charleston celebrates a second consecutive championship, while Rochester will have to wait another year for their first trophy since 2001.

I will be making as many posts as possible this USL Pro season, with my thoughts and predictions, as well as previews for most Charleston Battery games and recaps of as many of those games as I can.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com

USL Pro Preview: International Division

The first year of the USL Pro will definitely be an interesting one. With the 15 team league being divided into 3 divisions, I will cover each one separately in the lead up to the first game on Saturday, April 2nd. First up, the International Division:

The International Division is the most intriguing of the 3. The teams include 3 in Puerto Rico, 1 in Antigua, and 1 in Los Angeles. This puts a lot of space between the teams, and long distance travel will be a factor for all five.

All of the teams have played out their preseason schedules, filled out their rosters, and prepared for the season. And here's how I think they will finish.

5: Puerto Rico United: It could be a long season for Puerto Rico United. The main weapon for United is 22 year old, Andrés Cabrero. He has scored 0 goals in 20 games at a professional level both in Puerto Rico and Serbia, but has scored 2 goals in 8 appearances for the Puerto Rico U20 National Team, as well as 1 goal in 10 appearances for the Senior Team. Colombian midfield Carlos Gutiérrez will be the leader of the team and will have to lead a team that doesn't look like it will be very successful.

4: Los Angeles Blues: The only team west of the Mississippi in the USL Pro, will have to overcome a lot of long distance travel this season. The Blues are brand new, and this will be their competitive debut. The team has a lot of young talent, especially on the attack. This includes 23 Jaime Chavez, who scored 21 goals in 31 appearances for Hollywood United in the PDL last year, as well as Israel Sesay who had 3 assists in 14 appearances for the United States U17 team from 2006-2008. The defense will be led by former Galaxy player Mike Randolph, and Welsh defender Gareth Evans.

3. Sevilla FC Puerto Rico: Sevilla FC will be playing a sixth season as club, and will be joining the USL Pro after playing in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. Forward Christopher Megaloudis, son of head coach Michael Megaloudis, will head the attack of Sevilla and has scored 5 goals in 9 appearances for the Puerto Rican National Team. Megaloudis had a short stint with MLS side, New York Red Bulls. Goalkeeper David Sierra is good, and was with the Real Madrid reserves for 6 years, and played in the lower divisions of Spain for many years.

2. Antigua Barracuda FC: I think that Antigua could be this year's surprise. Antigua's team is made up mostly of players on the Antigua and Barbuda National Team. Forward Peter Byers is a great addition to the team. He has scored 12 goals in 24 appearances for the National Team. He has experience at the top USL level, as he played with the Montreal Impact for 3 seasons, scoring 9 goals in 39 appearances. Tamorley Thomas who has scored 5 goals in 18 appearances for the Antigua and Barbuda National Team will also have to step up for the Barracudas. Captain George Dublin will have to play well on the back line to help brand new keeper, Miguel Baez.

1. River Plate Puerto Rico: River Plate seems to be the consensus for the champion of the International Division, and I have to agree. Cuban Julio César Maya Cruz will be a key to their offense, he scored 22 goals in 30 appearances for Sevilla FC Puerto Rico in the 2009 season. Veteran midfielder Petter Villegas will have to be a leader for the otherwise young team. They looked very good in a preseason win against the Puerto Rico Islanders, and could make a good run in the playoffs. They also played well in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship and have a chance to be playing in the next edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.