2026 World Cup top 25 goals

Remember when I said Cape Verde's Lopes-Cabral goal would be the goal of the tournament?

See?... I know what I am talking about ..... occasionally.

World Cup final - what was that garbage?

So, a week has gone by and I guess I will finally post something about the World Cup final.

I won't say much, you already know what I'm thinking. What the hell was that?

I watched the whole game, from start to finish. I know, I'm surprised too. And my wife watched it with me, and she pretty much knows nothing about soccer. I did take her to a few RSL games while we were dating back around 2005, 2006, but she really knows nothing about the game.

All she kept saying though was stuff like, "Argentina plays dirty", "Oh, I don't like Messi" and "How long is this game going to last?". 

Yeah, it was a grueling game to watch, and it was even worse watching it with someone who was not immune to the ugliness that soccer games sometimes become.

I have for a long time now been saying Messi is crap, that he is not the GOAT, far far from it. It takes me back to the World Cup final in 2014 when Messi was starting to get a lot of hype and Argentina took on Germany in the final. Messi sucked that game !!!!

I was screaming "how can they say this guy is the world's best?" !

Back then they didn't call him the GOAT, actually I don't think that term was really in use yet. But they were saying he was the world's best.

Anyway, he proved it then and he proved it again just now, he is not. So let's stop saying that he is, shall we?

So the world cup is over, I'm glad Spain won. There is no way Argentina deserved to win that game the way that they played.

It is okay to forget about soccer now, seriously. It was fun there for a little bit but we need to come back to our senses now. Oh, I saw a reel on Instagram the other day, it said something like "I decided to give MLS a chance after watching the world cup and then I saw this."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FA1_HaqcTY

Watch the above video of the highlights from the recent Chicago Fire @ Miami game, watch what happens about 47 seconds into the highlights.

Yeah, c'mon guys, let's move on. 

There are plenty of bullfights to watch on Onetoro TV for those who are ready to put the childish games away and watch something that matters. 

P.S. 

I posted a video from Jim Rome as you can see up above, he has never been a soccer fan (although it sounds like he as been cutting soccer some slack lately) but really rips things apart now like no one else can. 

I watched two soccer games! ..... and Pamplona is ticking me off

Well well, I guess miracles will never cease, I actually watched two soccer games in their entirety. 

So on Saturday, after I got home from work, I was too beat to do any yard work. Plus it was just too damn hot. So I plopped myself on the couch in front of the tv, not to watch soccer, or bullfights, but to watch a movie. Nothing in particular, just a movie. So I went to Netflix, I went to Prime, I went to Disney, I even went as so far to go to Tubi. What the hell is Tubi?

Anyway, I found a couple of movies and started to watch them but within 10 minutes I turned them both off, they were lame. Both of them were horror films but lost my interest quickly. It is hard to find a good horror film these days.

So, I wandered over to the World Cup. Why am I doing this I asked myself. Because there is absolutely nothing else to do I responded.

So I did, I watch all of England vs Norway, and then I watched all of Argentina vs Switzerland. And both games went into extra time so it was a hell of a lot of soccer to sit through!

First, why are they playing games in Miami? Humidity people, the humidity!

Anyway, England vs Argentina is going to be a game for the ages. Spain vs France will be good too. Did this bring me back into the soccer ranks? No, no it didn't. But whatever, I'll watch it when I have to I guess. But never MLS, never. 

On to Pamplona. Pamplona is kind of ticking me off I need to say. 

There are so many damn people trying to run with the bulls it is insane. There are always a lot of people but every year it seems to get worse. And these damn people that don't follow the rules and giving mostly Americans a bad name, as if we didn't already have a bad name. 

First off, I said I would post a YouTube link to the channel that shows the bullruns the most. That is RTVE Play. They do two videos a day of note, one that is the run as it happens, and the other is a highlight video a few hours later. The highlight video is fun to watch because you can see all the runners fighting each other, not to get away from the bulls but trying to somehow get in front of the bulls, (which is the idea after all.) But the runners grab each other, push each other, tug on each other's shirts, push and shove. I would be mad as hell if I were running with the bulls only to have some jerk off come out of nowhere and shove me to the side. Madness.

Here are some links from the first day, if you watch one then it is easy to start finding the videos from the other days in your feed. They just start coming up naturally.

Live video from Day 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TutmbSQi19c

Highlight video from Day 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcDSeBnS15M

Anyway, back to me being ticked off. 

First, way too many people. Look at this photo.

The sea of people on the left of the photo aren't even runners, they are just trying to catch a glimpse. Most of them aren't even going to be able to see anything! Go have breakfast, what the hell are you doing? Then of course the runners on the right, how can you even hope to run next to a bull with that many people? Huh, how!? 

They need to start limiting how many people can run, seriously.

Anyway, on to Americans making fools of themselves. Check this guy out.

This dumb ass painted his face like the Joker and ran with the bulls. Now, some people might say "how awesome, good for him. He's having fun!"

No, not good for him. It is strictly against the rules to run in any type of costume. Also, 100% no recording devises, no phones, no cameras, no headsets, nothing. It is too dangerous being out there with the bulls and you need to be completely focused on the bulls, not on your camera. 

Don't believe me? Check this photo out, (warning, kind of graphic image)

So this guy was just minding his own business, ended up on the ground with some other runners, now he has a bull's horn buried deep within his arm. Yikes. This is serious stuff people.

So, back to the Joker. He got away with running his first day, but got carried away by the police after the run and while he was hanging around in the plaza de toros with others. I'm sure he was given a fine and told he could not run anymore.

Well, the next day, he was back again, just this time without the face paint but still with the green hair. The police nabbed him quickly and escorted him off of the course. They may have fined him again. According to this photo it says he can be fined up to 6000 Euros.

I hope they do fine him, I hope they make him very unwelcome in Pamplona.

See, the problem is with people like this is they make it about themselves. They want to be the center of attention however when it comes to the bulls and the fairs in Spain, the bulls are the center of attention. They are the ones that are going to be put to death in the plaza that afternoon. Why make it about yourself? The world of the bulls is about the bulls, its not about you Ugly American.

And lastly, there is a girl that is lucky to be alive today. I don't know if she is American or not, but I wouldn't doubt it. Here is a link to today's highlight video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGAzV9Ygm6o

At the 5:00 mark, the video starts to show runners and bulls in the dreaded "callejon" that leads into the bullring. This is a very dangerous part of the course because it narrows and becomes somewhat of a bottleneck. 

Today's bulls were from the dreaded Miura ranch. They are very big, and with huge horns. 

So this girl ends up on the ground in the callejon along with a bunch of other runners. At the 5:08 mark, she starts to do something you should never do, start to get up. At the 5:13 mark she is getting up and has a bull running at full force right next to her. She is damn lucky nothing happened, she escaped death. Oh, and the worst part of it, she had a phone in her hand. What is it with these damn kids and their phones? She was clearly breaking the rules and almost paid with her life.

One of the main rules you have to follow, and anyone that has done any reading on how to run with the bulls would know this, is you never get up if you fall down. Stay on the ground and wait for other runners to tell you it is ok to get up.

Why?

Because if you get up while a bull is coming you are a sitting duck.

That is how the American Matthew Peter Tassio got killed on July 13th, 1995, 31 years ago today.

For more information on that sad day please see this post from my bullfight blog where I talk about it a little bit and provide two photos from that day.

http://blogplazadetoros.blogspot.com/2022/03/my-review-of-book-bulls-before.html

So, Pamplona has just one more day to go, and the World Cup has just a few more games to go. Let's get this all over with so I can get on with my life.

World Cup comes to an end ..... Pamplona begins

Well, that's enough of that. The World Cup has come to an end, time to move on to more important things,  the running of the bulls in Pamplona! The first run will be tomorrow morning with bulls from the Fuente Ymbro ranch.

But before we talk bulls, a couple of thoughts about the games.

Yesterday for awhile I thought I was doing pretty good, I predicted Brazil would get beat and I was correct. One thing I noticed about Brazil was their lack of flair, they just didn't play that old style of Brazilian football, you know, "Joga Bonito". 

Remember this commercial?

I definitely did not get this feeling at all from this year's Brazil team. This year's team was boring I thought, lacking any creativity, oh well.

Next, Mexico.

Boy was I wrong. I thought maybe they would go all the way. Nope, England took care of them pretty handily last night. Maybe I did jinx them, or maybe I just don't know what I am talking about.

Finally, USA.

Ugh.... I watched most of today's game, boy did the US fall apart. Too many mistakes and Belgium made them pay for those mistakes. It was almost like a high school team playing a college team, there was a clear difference.

For that I blame the closed league of MLS. We just are not on par at all with the European leagues and hence we put out sub par players. When are we going to learn? Probably never. 

I can't and won't support MLS as long as the league stays the way it is. It just sucks. That is why I will start following USL once they start up their pro/rel system. I think it is still a year or two away, I haven't really read up on it lately. I'll get around to it.

Now, the bulls.

Pamplona has begun! Tomorrow will be the first running of the bulls. I will post a link tomorrow to whatever Spanish tv channel will be posting the action. It usually is RTE.

There was one bullfight today, a corrida de rejoneo. They traditionally do a horseback bullfight to start the festival which they did today, and tomorrow will be the regular bullfights using the bulls that have run through the streets of the city the morning of.

OneToro TV is carrying I think 4 or the 8 bullfights, which of course I will be watching live when I can. If I can't watch them live then I will watch them later at night once I am tucked comfortably in my bed.

The bull runs I will watch during the day when I have a moment, they only take a few minutes to watch.

This year is a special year, it is the 100 anniversary of the publishing of Hemingway's book "The Sun Also Rises" which basically put Pamplona on the worldwide map. 

(from Google)

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway's first major novel (1926), follows a group of disillusioned American and British expatriates in post-World War I Europe, chronicling their travels from Paris to Spain for the Pamplona bullfights. Narrated by the war-wounded journalist Jake Barnes, the story explores themes of love, loss, and disillusionment through his hopeless love for the independent Lady Brett Ashley, a relationship complicated by his impotence and her promiscuity, all while capturing the "Lost Generation's" search for meaning through drinking, partying, and bullfighting. The novel is famous for its terse, minimalist prose style and its poignant portrayal of a generation scarred by war.

Hemingway made Pamplona's fiesta famous worldwide, before his novel the fiesta was only a regional one. Now maybe only Rio's Carnival is more famous. 

Anyway, all is right with the world when the bulls stampede through the streets. 

Here is a video I posted 14 years ago to YouTube from ESPN2's coverage of the running of the bulls. It is from sometime in the early 2000's if I remember right. It was almost impossible to find videos of the runs back then, thankfully ESPN2 for a few years did some broadcasts from there.

(why it is age restricted I have no idea, just click on the link and you can watch it on YouTube.)

 

World Cup update - some quick thoughts

Well, the World Cup is in full force right now, we are in the thick of it I guess you could say.

I suppose it is a good time to give some quick thoughts, nothing too in depth or people might think I care. 

I was pretty much done with the tournament after a few days, it was annoying seeing my Instagram feed full of people "discovering America" and all the wonderful things we have here. The food, the free refills on the drinks, the natural beauty, the rodeos and baseball games, the beer up in Boston being consumed till there was no more by the Scots. Whatever, give me a break, this stuff has always been here. You only discover it now thanks to the World Cup? Lame.

Also, people saying that they love soccer now, and they never thought it could be so much fun to watch. Mmm... ok. In an earlier post I mentioned how one of the things I hated most about being a soccer fan was how people will watch soccer once every four years when the World Cup is played but then they can't be bothered to go see a MLS game in their backyard. I can't deal with it, I'm sorry, I just can't deal with it.

Biggest annoyance, all these damn people in the stands where their phones in the air filming themselves watching the games so they can put it up on TikTok as soon as their team scores a goal. A$$ holes. Who gives a damn about you in the stands celebrating a goal? It reminds me of my cousin who I loathe, when she took her daughters to a Taylor Swift concert and all they did was put up videos of themselves singing along to her songs. It was all I could do to not punch her in the face the next time I saw her. Just watch the damn game! With your own eyes, not through your phone! The action is right in front of you, enjoy it, take it in, you don't need to record it. Godfrey, these people.

Now, a few quick thoughts on the three teams I was following.

I was sad to see Panama exit the tournament without scoring a goal. I was pulling for them, they were my underdog team.

Mexico! They are killing it, no one has scored on them yet. They look very strong.

Brazil, they are doing well but I don't see them going much farther in the tournament. They haven't looked that great. And I have some Brazilian coworkers who are super annoying so to see Brazil get beat would secretly make me happy.

Uniforms, or "kits" if you want to Euro-pose.

The uniform I liked the best was by far the light blue kit of the DR Congo. It looked so good on the pitch. I was sad to see the Congo exit the tournament but they have given the world a wake up call.

Also, an honorable mention to Colombia. I love their traditional colored uniform.

Goal of the tournament? 

Well, I haven't seen all the goals but of the tournament but of the ones I have seen this stunner by Cape Verde's Lopes Cabral is the goal of the tournament. A work of art.

Finally, to wrap it up for now. Who do I think is going to win the tournament?

I hope I don't jinx them, I make so many bad decisions in my life I am like George Costanza where I just need to do the opposite since every decision I make is the incorrect one, but I am going to go with .... drum roll please ....

Mexico! 

They seem unstoppable at the moment, I would love to see them win it all. 

I know we are rivals, but I like Mexico. I want Mexico to win.

Surfing Utah Lake

 

Tomorrow the World Cup begins! I guess I should post something.

Well well, here we are, on the eve of the World Cup. I guess I should post something. 

Do I care the World Cup starts tomorrow? No, not in the slightest.

Will I watch any of the games? No, no I won't. At least not live I won't. My plan is just to catch the game highlights on YouTube. That way I can get all the action packed into 10 to 15 minutes. Ain't nobody got time anymore to sit down and watch a full 90 minutes, I got weeds to pull out in the yard.

Several posts ago I mentioned that my plan for the World Cup was to pick just a couple of teams and kind of follow them and them only through the tournament. So that is what I'm going to do, otherwise if I were to watch more games people might start to think I care about soccer again. 

So what teams am I going to follow? Drum roll please ...........

I have picked three:

1. Mexico

2. Brazil

3. Panama

I would like to see all three of these teams do well, Mexico especially since they are one of the host nations. But also because I think their fans deserve it.

Brazil I would like to see do well simply because things are always more fun to watch if Brazil is doing well.

And Panama, I would like to see them get a victory this time, maybe even make it out of the group stage. That would be amazing. It would take a miracle but you never know.

And what about the US? I don't know, whatever they do they do. I'm not a bangwagon kind of guy. That is what always used to bug the hell out me back in the day, everyone that would get all excited for the US National team but then couldn't care less about MLS. Now, I don't care, whatever floats your boat.

I'm sure everyone probably already has their plan on how they are going to follow the tournament. Website wise I think ESPN has the easiest page to follow. I looked the other day at several websites such has FIFA's official site, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, even Wikipedia. But ESPN's seemed the easiest to navigate. Here is a link if you need (I'm sure you don't but take it anyway)

https://www.espn.com/soccer/schedule/_/league/fifa.world

And finally, here are a couple of images I thought were helpful. One is of the teams and their groups and one that breaks down the teams by tiers. That one , the tiers, is actually fun to look at and go through. (Again, y'all probably have this all broken down already, but just in case.)

So, everyone enjoy the tournament, or not. Whatever.

The flag making days

So, back in the day, I was 100% RSL, through and through. They could do no wrong, neither could MLS.

Before the team had even played its first game I was in with the Loyalists, (actually the Loyalists was my name suggestion for the team's first supporter's group, well, "Checketts' Loyalists," and then we shortened it to just the Loyalists) and all was right with the world. 

RSL was going to rule the soccer world we thought, we were going to have an exclusive partnership with Real Madrid, they were going to come to Utah to play a friendly match every other year, etc. etc. You know the story.  

What could I do to help the team? The team needs my support, without me the team won't survive. I must do something. Flags, yes flags! I will make flags.

And so I did, I went to work in my tiny Loyalists workshop and started making flags. Well, I would go get the material and such, and my mom and grandma would sew them together for me. Seriously, a grown ass man had his mom and grandma sewing flags together to take to RSL games!

Believe it or not I recently asked my mom about it and she had nothing but fond memories of sewing the flags together with her mom, (my grandma) seeing as several years later grandma passed away at the ripe old age of 92. It is a memory she will always have. 

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago for Easter I was up in the Ogden area visiting mom and dad. We kept one of the flags in a dusty corner of the garage, it has sat there since the end of my RSL fandom. I guess it has been sitting there collecting dust for about 15 years. I always thought I should throw the flag away but just never got around to it, however mom mentioned she doesn't want me to, she said she wants it there in the corner of the garage where it has always been. Funny.

So after we had had our Easter egg hunt for the grand kids, and the hot dogs and hamburgers had been consumed, I got the last surviving flag out (I had made four flags originally) and waived it around awhile and beheld it in all its glory. 

This was the last of the four flags, this one was the "Utah State RSL flag"

 

A quick history of the flags;

The first one was the "RSL Romanian flag". 

For this one I got four Romanian flags, overlaid the red stripes, and sewed it together. This was the flag that was featured on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune the day RSL played their inaugural game at Rice Eccles.

 

The second flag was "Ol' Beauty", this was the one I liked the best actually. I took a blue twin size bed sheet, cut it in half if I remember correctly, and then sewed some red on the end, and then some yellow on the end of the red. I don't have a photo of this one but it looked something like this.

And finally, flag number 3 was "Big Bertha". This one was made with a red queen size bed sheet, again I think I cut it in half, sewed yellow on the end, and then sewed white on the end of that and took a giant blue marker, maybe two or three markers if memory serves me, and did a blue and white checkerboard. Everyone loved this one in the Loyalists section, I think they really liked the checkerboard. It looked cool when it was waiving, I have to admit. The team mascot even borrowed it a couple of times.

Anyway, good times. Good times indeed. 

Eventually I sold flags number 2 and 3 to some teenagers in the parking lot of Rice Eccles after a season ending game I think. I was kind of done with them and they came up to me and offered to buy them so I gave in. I don't know whatever happened to flag number 1. 

Flag number 4, the "Utah State RSL flag" still exists, my niece even recorded me waiving it. It is heavier and harder to waive than I remember.

Maybe I will post the video here soon. I don't know, so much effort required to blog about a sport I don't even really care about anymore.

I did try to watch a game the other day, Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid. Champions League I guess. I couldn't make it more than 10 minutes and then I turned the channel, I was almost falling asleep.

So I went over to Netflix and watched a couple of episodes of Black Sails. 

I have already watched the four season series two or three times now, and even own the series on dvd. It is convenient though to watch it on Netflix while it is available, sadly it says it is leaving soon. 

If you haven't seen it though you should watch it. Insanely good it is.

However you can't watch it with kids around, it is not the same as Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, not even close!

Landon Donovan: Why the USMNT is Not a Legit Contender on the World Stage - The Rich Eisen Show

So this popped up on my YouTube feed for some bizarre reason, a clip of Landon Donovan on the Rich Eisen show.

Back when I was a soccer fan I never liked Donovan, we always called him "hair club." I thought he took a dive way too often and I hated that. I hated players diving all the time, it was one of the main reasons I left the game.

I have to say though that Donovan comes across very mature and dare I say wise in the following clip. I might even change my opinion of him, that is if I were to care anymore about soccer and MLS.

Anyway, enjoy the clip, he says some good things.

Morante de la Puebla returns to the plaza and all is right with the world again

Today was traditionally one of the biggest days of the year in the bullfight world, Resurrection Sunday. And no place is more at the center of that biggest day than Sevilla, where someone once described Sevilla as "so intensely Catholic it makes Rome look like a secular outpost."

Not to be left out though Madrid also held a bullfight, as well as Arles, France. Oh yeah, in case you didn't know bullfights are held in the south of France as well. Nimes, Arles, Dax, and Mont-de-Marsan being the places that come to mind the most.

Anyway, in addition to it being one of the biggest days of the year it was made even more so with the return of Sevilla's favorite son, Morante de la Puebla. I guess he just could not stay away from the bulls. And I would have to agree with him, once the bullfight bug bites you and you are infected it is hard to get away. I tell myself every year that I need to concentrate on other things but as the weather warms, the flowers start to bloom, and the grass turns green, I can't help but hit the bullfight news sites and see what is going on. 

And apparently it was a good day, with the news sites reporting that Morante cut two ears from his second bull, Peru's boy king Andres Roca Rey cut one ear from his second bull, and David de Miranda also cutting an ear from his second bull.

So, another Spring has sprung, fighting bulls dot the rolling green hills of Spain's many ranches, and all is right with the world again.

I watched a soccer game!

Well, I kind of watched a soccer game, last Sunday I watched the last 30 minutes of Roma @ Napoli.

There was nothing on, I was being a couch potato, and I stumbled across the game. I asked myself, should I watch it? Should I see what I have been missing these past several years since my exit from soccer fandom? So I left it there and watched the last 30 minutes.

Ugh.... I haven't missed anything. Roma was ahead 2 - 1, and then Napoli scored, and the game ended 2 - 2. 

I was utterly uninspired. 

Anyway, y'all that enjoy it I wish you continued success with it.

On a brighter note, I was on the website TeePublic looking for bullfight graphics, and I had typed in "Madrid" to see what would come up.

As I was scrolling through a lot of bad designs, and only one or two on bullfighting, I saw this one; (excuse the watermarks)

 

I laughed out loud and said, "now that is funny as hell."

Even though I'm no longer a soccer fan I would not fault myself if I got that printed on a coffee mug or something. If you haven't ever ordered anything off TeePublic you can get designs on hoodies, coffee mugs, hats, etc. 

Anyway, here is the link for this design if you are interested. 

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/85891398-football-ronaldo-and-messi

Beginning of year post

2026 has started off great! 

At least things are better than at the end of last year. My plan of staying away from things that were dragging me down last year has worked, my life so far anyway is much less chaotic. 

I've stayed away from Netflix and all the other garbage. I don't think I have even watched one movie so far this year. I have watched some of Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse show or whatever the hell it is. There is an episode on Easter Island which caught my eye, I need to go back and watch it again. I was falling asleep through some of it I think. 

The bullfights, I occasionally looked at the news sites just to see what is going on by I am not obsessed like I have been in years past. One bit of interesting news however, Morante de la Puebla seems like he can't stay away and will be coming back to at least perform at a few fights in Sevilla, Easter Sunday and a couple of the Spring Fair ones as well. Most likely a couple in the fall also. Bullfight aficionados rejoice!

Super Bowl, I did not watch even one minute. I caught a highlight or two and it turned out to be a snoozer anyway. 

Soccer, yawn. Not interested. I did do a quick news check on the USL's plans for promotion/relegation and they are still a go but not until around 2027 or 2028. So I have plenty of time until I need to make a decision on whether I care anymore or not. 

Anyway, hopefully we get snow soon. Damn, what an awful winter. There are some storms on the way, hopefully they are enough to get us back on the right track, at least somewhat. I have no faith at all in Utahns to reduce their water usage, over the past few years no one in my neighborhood has taken out any of their lawn like they should. I've been trying to set an example though, I have taken out probably almost 50%, and plan on taking some more out this year. 

That is going to be another stress point for me, neighbors who let their sprinklers run almost everyday when they need to be ripping out lawn instead. Don't these damn people pay attention to the world around them? Maybe it will take the Great Salt Lake drying up completely before they understand. 

I'm not going to let it stress me out though, at least not to the point it causes chaos in my mind.

On a lighter note, I've found a new interest. Well, something maybe to plan a trip around in the future. I've been to Buenos Aires a few times, but I've never taken in a polo match while there. I think I need to do that sometime, looks like something I could get used to.

End of year post

Well, 2025 is done, thank the Lord.

2025 was rough on a personal level, I am hoping for a better 2026. (Nothing life threatening, everyone in my circle is healthy, it was just a bummer of a year it seems. Maybe you felt that way too.)

As I have been driving around for work the past couple of days I have been taking a personal inventory, we probably all do that a little bit. And I was shocked at how out of control my life seems to be, I have just too much sh*t going on. So I thought about it and decided I need to get back to basics, I need to live a more minimal life. 

To hell with sports, to hell with Netflix, to hell with bullfighting (yeah, kind of a shocker for me to say that.) to hell with a lot of stuff. I need to see what is gobbling up my time and see if I can't get rid of it. 

You might be saying, "good luck with that, it"s impossible." But I really need to figure it out, I need to try and enjoy life again.

Anyway, below I have posted a New York Times article about the abrupt retirement of Morante de la Puebla. It was a surprise, nobody expected it, and he did it after a triumphant October afternoon in the bullring of Madrid. After this article I am going to try and put the bullfighting aside, and see if clears my mind some. 

What about soccer you ask?, the World Cup is coming up!

Nope, not interested, not even in the slightest. I can just see the posers now, everyone hopping on the soccer bandwagon. It will be enough to make me vomit. I was thinking the other day though that when the time comes, maybe, and I really mean maybe, I will choose one team and just follow them and see how they do through the tournament. Japan perhaps, or maybe Brazil. I don't know, we will see. 

What about the USL and their first season with promotion and relegation? Yeah, probably when Spring rolls around I will start to look at that just a little. Again, I don't want anything to occupy too much of my mind and time, I need to minimize, remember?, minimalism is the goal for 2026!

So, time for bed, time to sleep. No New Year's partying for me, I am way too old for that. 

Peace y'all.

Blood and Tears as Spain’s Troubled Bullfighting Star Hangs Up His Cape

(by Jason Horowitz nytimes.com November 12, 2025)

José Antonio Morante Camacho, arguably the greatest bullfighter of his generation, lay flat on his back in the middle of the arena.

A 1,220-pound bull had just flipped him in the air, prompting a gasp from the sold-out crowd in Madrid’s Las Ventas, Spain’s most hallowed bullfighting ring.

As the 46-year-old, known across the Spanish-speaking world as Morante de la Puebla, did a mental scan of his scarred body, other matadors rushed to carry him off. Brought safely to the ring’s red perimeter wall, he got up, grimaced and walked off the pain. He eventually returned to the fight, drawing the bull close with elegant sweeps of his cape that elicited cries of olé.

When it was over, the bull was dead, the rare prize of its ears were hoisted in Mr. Morante’s hands and a blizzard of white handkerchiefs waved in appreciation.

The bullfighter embraced Spain’s leading far-right politician, bathed in a shower of flowers, Spanish flags and cigars. He turned back to the center of the ring where, with tears on his weathered face, he removed a symbolic pigtail, clipped to the back of his hair. Everyone weeping along with him knew what that meant. Morante de la Puebla was calling it quits.

“I felt an artistic exhaustion,” Mr. Morante said a few days after the Oct. 12 fight, in an interview at his riverside farm in La Puebla del Río, his hometown outside Seville in southern Spain. In whispered, languid sentences, Mr. Morante, wearing a wool Gucci suit and fedora, said he felt no lessening of his skills and that his career had been “upwards, upwards, upwards.” But, he said, “I’ve decided to stop before I fall.”

The withdrawal of Mr. Morante deprives bullfighting aficionados of a legend admired for his artistry, courage and imagination. Impresarios say they will miss his ability to fill the seats and the end of a rivalry with a rising Peruvian matinee idol. The leader of the nationalist Vox party, Santiago Abascal, had in Mr. Morante a direct line to die-hard fans of an increasingly polarizing and conservative-coded pastime.

But even many of the Spaniards who want to follow the example of some regions and ban bullfighting across the country appreciated Mr. Morante as a rare original, not just for his Elvis impersonator mutton chops and psychedelic rock band outfits but for his bravery in publicly wrestling with mental health problems.

“It exists, and I don’t like to deceive anyone,” he said as he sipped coffee to wash down medication that he said sapped his strength and caused fluctuations in his weight. He talked about his experience with electroshock therapy, his diagnosis of depersonalization, bouts of weeping and his decision to spend much of the year in Portugal, because, he said, “my doctor is there.” And while he acknowledged that fans thank him for destigmatizing mental illness, he added with a quivering smile that “it’s harder to stand in front of a bull.”

He and his family still live in his hometown, where locals drink beers under bullheads and photos of him in a bar that bears his name.

His farm by the river has a bull ring and a ballroom annex featuring taxidermized bullheads, antique bullfighting posters and lighted vitrines displaying his sequined matador costumes. His living room is decorated with the heads and tails of his greatest triumphs, shrines to some of Spain’s most storied matadors and sculptures of cherubs and saints.

A plate featuring Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco hangs by the kitchen counter, near scores of bronze trophies and a stack of his trademark pink and green capes, stained with blood and branded Morante de la Puebla. The place had filled up over the years, he said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

Mr. Morante grew up close by in a small house marked with a plaque above a narrow door and exposed electric wiring. As a child, he said, he faked sleep as his father, who lugged sacks of rice in a nearby factory, carried him into the arena, a ruse designed to avoid paying for a second ticket. Once inside, Mr. Morante said he would open his eyes and soak up “a divine place.”

At home, he stuck a sausage on the end of a stick draped with a red muleta cape and pretended that the family’s dog, Paloma, was a bull. His mother yelled at him, but by 6 years old, he confronted his first young cow in a local corral, and suffered his first collision. But then he got up. “I felt that something unstoppable surged in my blood,” he said.

He dropped out of school and forged papers at age 14 to participate in the ring. At 17 he debuted, against his mother’s wishes, as a matador. He recalled his youthful “beauty” and success. But by the time he was 20, he said, his mother was weeping at his plan to marry a girl from the town, and leave home. That was the day, he said, that he suffered a mental crisis.

“I looked in the mirror. I didn’t seem like myself,” he explained. He began to weep uncontrollably, he said, and felt as though he was living outside his own body. A doctor diagnosed him with depression and a dissociative disorder, and soon after, he said, he received electroshock therapy in Miami, where a friend suggested medicine was more advanced. It helped a little, he said, but his condition remained.

In 2008, after three years of marriage and the birth of a son, he split from his first wife. He said he grew accustomed to the solitude caused by his condition, which was only compounded by the solitude of facing down bulls in the ring. Nevertheless, his career blossomed. While Mr. Morante spoke with envy about the sponsorships and stratospheric salaries of soccer stars, he earned — and spent — millions.

In 2010, he remarried. But as his family expanded with two daughters, the election of a left-wing government clearly antagonistic to bullfighting imperiled his profession.

Mr. Morante said he went “asking for a little help,” from Mr. Abascal, the hard-right leader who, he said, “doesn’t know much” about bullfighting, but who eagerly went to bat for a hero to his political base. “Show the deep Spain,” Mr. Abascal texted Mr. Morante during the interview at the farm.

Mr. Morante’s triumphs helped bring in bigger crowds, and bullfighting became more popular with younger conservatives. But his personal demons haunted him.

Confidantes in town said his mood swung wildly depending on how he did in the ring. He sat out some bullfights, and in others, he dispatched bulls he didn’t like the look of with efficient, lackluster performances.

He eventually got back on track with the help of Pedro Jorge Marqués, a childhood friend from Portugal who had become a dentist and his manager and who lived with Mr. Morante’s mother when in Puebla.

But during Mr. Morante’s absences, other stars rose, including the young Peruvian bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey. This summer, the two had words in the ring, and Mr. Rey infuriated Mr. Morante by telling him to take it easy: “Maestro, smoke a cigar slowly.”

Mr. Morante, who admitted, with a puff on a Cuban, that cigars relaxed him, said he decided a rivalry was good “only if it’s noble and in front of the bull.” The two had made up, he said, but added he had no interest in seeing “Afternoons of Solitude,” an award-winning documentary focused on Mr. Rey, who, he said, “looked for” attention.

On Oct. 12, Mr. Morante assured that all attention focused on him. He said he had made a deal with God that if he triumphed in Madrid he would call it a day. “The combination of my mental health issues, the suffering, it wasn’t a joyful situation,” he said. “But it was one of satisfaction. For having fulfilled a dream.”

And as if in a dream, thousands of young, preppy bullfighting fans stormed the ring and carried him out on their shoulders through the arena’s famous gate of triumph, though their ripping at his shimmering matador costume for souvenirs, he said, was “very distressing.” The evening ended with him on the balcony of a famous Madrid hotel blowing kisses to the crowd in a special silk striped nightgown that he had packed, he said, “just in case” he triumphed and went out in style.

The problem now, he said, was that he had no other interests. “Nothing” he said. “Nothing.” Contrary to bullfighting gossip, he said, he and his wife were still together, though, he added with a shrug, “I don’t know until when.” A local farmer who dropped off a couple of golden pheasants to raise on the farm began to weep when Mr. Morante signed for him one of the capes stacked in the kitchen.

“What else am I going to do with them?” Mr. Morante said.

His weary eyes instead lit up when Mr. Marqués told him promoters were already plotting to bring him back.

“I had a dream about that,” Mr. Morante said, adding, “let’s not call it a complete retirement. It’s a rest.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/world/europe/spain-bullfighting-morante-camacho.html

The obligatory logo explanation

 

The Cosmos return – with a new home, new league and old ideals

Once the glitziest name in US soccer, the Cosmos are back in Paterson, New Jersey, with a historic stadium, a grassroots ethos and ambitions to build a real club from the ground up

(theguardian.com 7-13-25)

There’s a new New York Cosmos in town – in the town of Paterson, New Jersey, to be precise. One of the most storied names in American soccer has hit the reset button, finding a new league, a new city and a refreshed, community-first approach.

While many high-profile new teams in US sports are parachuted in at the top of their league’s hierarchy, this Cosmos revival feels different – some of that by design, some by necessity. Thursday’s announcement at the newly restored Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson offered longtime fans and curious onlookers a glimpse into this fresh direction, and the reasons behind it.

The message was clear in the location alone: nestled above the Great Falls of the Passaic River, embedded in a National Historical Park. It’s echoed in the club’s starting point – USL League One, the third and lowest tier of professional soccer in the US – a more stable launchpad from which to build organically. And perhaps most significantly, this iteration of the Cosmos finally has a home stadium to call its own – characterful, scenic, historic – something previous, more nomadic versions never had.

Two major themes run parallel through this reboot. The first is rooted in Paterson itself: a proudly local but cosmopolitan city, where the new Cosmos aim to foster grassroots involvement not just in soccer but in a wide range of activities.

The second is the name. Despite years of dormancy and false starts, the New York Cosmos remain one of the most recognisable brands in American soccer. Its association with Pelé helped cement that global profile, and further star power – Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto – ensured it endured.

But this version wants to be more than a brand; it aims to be a club in the truest sense, something still rare in the franchise-heavy landscape of American sports. The plan includes a professional women’s team and space for other sports and community activities, from rugby and cricket to dance and chess. Like traditional sporting institutions around the world – the Clube de Regatas of Brazil or European multisport clubs – the new Cosmos will not be just a soccer team.

“This is the perfect community for it,” Cosmos CEO Erik Stover tells the Guardian. “It’s so diverse, with people from all over the world and diverse interests, so it makes perfect sense here.

“Proper clubs have multiple sports. People from the community are volunteering, helping with the cricket club, the track club, the tennis club, whatever it is.

“For us, professional soccer will be at the top of the pyramid. But what really matters is that grassroots foundation.”

The team will retain the official name New York Cosmos, but with its identity deeply rooted in Paterson, it will often be referred to simply as the Cosmos.

“The aim is community first,” says Stover. “To build sustainably, to invest in local people – whether that’s players or front office – and to grow slowly and deliberately.”

Finding a home stadium in the New York metropolitan area is no easy feat – which is why so many “New York” teams, including the Red Bulls and both NFL franchises, play across the Hudson in New Jersey. For the Cosmos, Hinchliffe isn’t just a home – it’s central to the club’s revival.

New majority owner and chairperson Baye Adofo-Wilson, a Paterson native who led the stadium’s redevelopment, spoke of creating pathways to the professional game at a time when soccer has become increasingly pay-to-play.

“More superstars are going to come out of Paterson, Passaic County, North Jersey, who will lead future generations,” he said at the unveiling. “We want people to be able to afford this. When I was growing up, a lot of these sports were free – but they no longer are.

“Often kids don’t have access. What we really want to do is make sure we have a club that’s affordable for kids, but also exciting and dynamic – reflective of the diversity of North Jersey. A lot of people are running away from diversity at this point. We’re going to run toward it.”

There may not yet be stars on the field, but there is one in the front office: Giuseppe Rossi, the former Italy international and North Jersey native, is both investing in the club and serving as Head of Soccer.

“He’s lived it,” says Stover. “If he didn’t have that Italian passport that let him go to Europe at 12 – and he was stuck in Clifton, New Jersey, dealing with pay-to-play – who knows? Maybe he doesn’t make it to Villarreal, Fiorentina, the Azzurri.

“He understands those challenges better than anyone. He can talk to kids on their level, because he’s walked the same path. He made it to the top – and he knows what it takes.”

For Cosmos fans, there’s optimism – even if the team is starting from the bottom. It may be a far cry from the glitzy NASL days of packed stadiums and marquee names, but with the USL planning a promotion and relegation system and a new Division I to run alongside MLS, there’s a realistic path for the Cosmos to climb.

“It’s not an accident the Cosmos are entering USL now,” says Stover. “Fifteen years ago, the soccer landscape in this country was very different. Now, USL is working on promotion and relegation – and where that ends up, who knows?

“But what matters is that a club like ours has a path to grow, to compete, to win championships – like we did three times in five years in NASL.

“I’ve been around the world and spoken to so many sports executives, and I think one big reason soccer in the US isn’t where it could be is that we’ve locked so many communities out of the game. We need to make it more inclusive.”

Whatever the future holds, fans were simply glad to have their team back. Even after years of inactivity, many never stopped believing. A handful were there at Thursday’s announcement, exchanging emotional glances across the room at the Charles J Muth Museum at Hinchliffe Stadium, as New Jersey governor Phil Murphy made it official.

The Cosmos are back. And while they may look different this time, their spirit remains unmistakable.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jul/13/new-york-cosmos-paterson-usl-return

New York Cosmos return to North Jersey, set for 2026 USL League One debut

(uslleagueone.com 7-29-25)

The famed New York Cosmos are returning to the field—and returning to North Jersey—in early 2026.

The Cosmos will return to competition for the 2026 season and compete in USL League One, a growing league in the third tier of the U.S. professional soccer pyramid. The Cosmos' new home will be Hinchliffe Stadium, a National Historic Landmark in Paterson, N.J. Hinchliffe Stadium once was home to Negro League baseball teams like the New York Black Yankees, the New York Cubans and the Newark Eagles. Twenty members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame played at Hinchliffe Stadium, including Paterson's own Larry Doby.

Hinchliffe Stadium was renovated, restored and reopened in 2023 as a 7,800-seat, multi-sport venue that anchors a $110 million initiative which includes senior housing, a child care facility, the Muth Museum dedicated to Negro League baseball, and a parking garage. Hinchliffe Stadium will also be home to the Cosmos' first women’s team, as well as a soccer museum dedicated to Cosmos history.

"Hinchliffe Stadium is an economic driver for the region," said Mr. Adofo-Wilson, a Paterson native who is the co-owner and developer of Hinchliffe Stadium and the new majority owner and Chairperson of the Cosmos. "Bringing the Cosmos to Hinchliffe Stadium will give us an additional anchor for Hinchliffe Stadium, the City of Paterson and North Jersey. It will also give young people in our region the opportunity to watch exciting, affordable professional sports in their backyard."

"Since acquiring the New York Cosmos in 2017, our primary goal has always been to preserve the rich history of America's most iconic soccer club," said Thomas Larsen, the Cosmos' last general manager. "It is extremely gratifying to know that new generations of fans will be able to experience the excitement of Cosmos soccer at a revitalized venue overlooking the New York City skyline and within a league structure that rewards on-the-field success through promotion and relegation."

The Cosmos last played in New Jersey from 1977 through 1984, when the likes of Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia helped draw massive crowds to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

"As we stand just three days away from the FIFA Club World Cup Final, a little over two weeks away from the Premier League Summer Series, and look ahead to the excitement that awaits us in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there's no better time or place to announce the return of the New York Cosmos to Northern New Jersey," New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at an event on July 10. "I am thankful to all of the wonderful leaders and our partners in the legislature whose support makes moments like these possible. From national championship-winning teams to global soccer events and the rebirth of storied clubs, together we are quickly transforming New Jersey into the soccer capital of the world."

Mr. Adofo-Wilson will be joined on the club's board by Vice Chairman and Head of Soccer Giuseppe Rossi, a product of nearby Clifton, N.J., who starred for Villarreal CF, ACF Fiorentina and the Italy national team before ending a long and successful playing career in 2023. Sapna Shah, a New York-based entrepreneur and angel investor whose work with Red Giraffe Advisors focuses on sports organizations with minority founders, also lends her expertise.

The club's day-to-day operations will be managed by CEO Erik Stover, an award-winning sports executive who served as the Cosmos' chief operating officer for nearly a decade (2012-21). Mr. Stover is a long-time North Jersey resident, and his professional ties to the region include stints as managing director of the New York Red Bulls (2008-11) and Assistant VP, Operations of Giants Stadium (2000-05).

The Cosmos' Paterson era will be defined by proactive commitment to the community and a mission to embody the ambition and diversity of Passaic County and North Jersey, one of the country's most cosmopolitan and talent-rich regions. Under Mr. Rossi's direction, the club intends to prioritize youth player development, while championing inclusivity and access in and around Hinchliffe Stadium and across the American soccer landscape.

"I grew up here, and I still play here. There's talent everywhere, and many of these kids have great potential but aren't getting a real chance like they would in other footballing nations," Mr. Rossi said. "One of our goals is to give those young men and women an opportunity to sign a professional contract and to develop in a first-class environment."

"In anticipation of the World Cup returning to the United States next year, we are profoundly proud to announce the arrival of the most famous American soccer club to Paterson," Paterson Mayor André Sayegh said. "The New York Cosmos once featured the greatest player of all time, Pelé, and energized Giants Stadium for years. Now, the team will have the same impact on the historic Hinchliffe Stadium."

In conjunction with next year's return to competition, the Cosmos will sport a refreshed version of the iconic blade-and-ball logo conceived in 1971 by artist Wayland Moore (with colors chosen by founding General Manager Clive Toye). Unveiled July 10, the modernized badge remains unmistakably Cosmos and was designed by Mark Jenkinson and Shawn Francis. The Cosmos' uniforms and training gear will be introduced in the months to come. They'll be produced in partnership with New York City's Capelli Sports.

North Jersey Pro Soccer has acquired the Cosmos' intellectual and physical property, history and heritage from New York Cosmos LLC, an entity controlled by Rocco B. Commisso since January 2017. New York Cosmos LLC will retain a minority ownership stake in the club.

https://www.uslleagueone.com/news_article/show/1343422

Traditional "end of soccer season" post

So soccer is over in Utah until Spring arrives, and that is a good thing. We don't need to be messing around with soccer in the Fall in Utah. There are more important things to worry about, like cleaning out my garage in preparation for winter.

This winter is going to be the one, the one where I get the garage cleaned out to the point where there is plenty of room to pull the cars in and walk effortlessly to the door with my hands full or groceries and not have to feel like I am walking through a maze of boxes and bikes. 

I already have a leg up on my neighbors, they can't even park their cars in their garages due to too much junk. At least I have always been able to fit my cars in the garage. But this year I am going to put them all to shame, while they walk through the snow on their drive way with arms full of groceries I will pull into my clean garage and bask in my awesomeness. 

With regards to soccer, below I posted KSL articles about RSL trying to make a big deal about how they have qualified for "5 straight playoffs" and the Monarchs trying to make themselves feel better about finishing almost last in their league.

From the Monarch's article:

Through the second half of the season, Utah finished with 10 results in the final 13 matches.

"We feel like if we can keep this momentum going, we can be a playoff contender," Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said.

"Hitting rock bottom is OK; it gives us a great foundation to end on," he added.

Wow, "hitting rock bottom is OK"?

I guess, whatever. 

With regards to RSL, I usually don't think about them but I stumbled upon a RSL conversation on ESPN 700's the Drive with Spence Checketts the other day. He had on some guy from RSL, someone from the front office, I can't remember who it was. But anyway, they were talking about the season, the playoffs, blah blah blah, whatever.

Basically the conversation ended up focusing on what MLS teams have to do to break out and get to the finals when it comes to players. Do they spend big and get a Messi or someone like him, or do they focus on more homegrown talent?

Then the RSL guy was saying how RSL used to do a good job with its academy and focusing on homegrown talent but something went array during the Deloy Hansen years. Something like that.

Then Spence said something that made me laugh out loud.

He compared RSL to a team like Everton in the EPL.

He said something to the affect that RSL is always in the middle, good enough to get into the playoffs but not good enough to get to the finals, kind of like an Everton in the EPL.

I had to smile because that is the problem with MLS. Am I the only one that sees it? It feels like I am.

In a real soccer league like the EPL, or pretty much every other league in the world, just staying in the league is an accomplishment. Not getting relegated is an achievement because the competition in you league is fierce.

But when you have a closed league like MLS with 30 teams your season is a failure if you don't reach the finals, or at least the semi-finals. 

So yeah, you are doomed and your fans are going to get bored if you aren't at the top every year.

That is why I am slightly excited to start paying attention to the USL. 

There is a little soccer flame burning in me again perhaps.

Ohhhh, I even toyed with the idea of someone starting a low level USL team in Provo perhaps and then watching them grow and move up the ranks. Then one day they would win promotion to USL's top tier and we would have two top tier teams in Utah. 

Well, that is if you consider MLS top tier. 

RSL fails to advance in playoffs for 4th consecutive season, falling 3-1 in Portland wild card game

(ksl.com 10-23-25)

Major League Soccer and its playoff structure have changed a lot over the last four years, but one thing has remained the same: Real Salt Lake can't make it beyond its first matchup.

The Claret and Cobalt fell 3-1 in Wednesday's single-elimination wild card game in Portland to make it four straight opening matchup exits since the team advanced all the way to the Western Conference final in 2021.

RSL qualified for the postseason by the skin of its teeth in the first place, squeaking into the final wild card spot on a tiebreaker with San Jose and Colorado. The Timbers, on the other hand, fell from being in the top four for most of the season to eighth place and had home-field advantage in the wild card game.

The home team was the aggressor in the first half, opening up a 2-0 lead through 36 minutes on a brace from veteran Chilean striker Felipe Mora.

Justen Glad got one back for RSL with his first goal of the season just three minutes later, but a series of close chances fell short over the remaining 50 minutes and Portland sealed the win with a third goal in the 82nd minute.

The closest chance for the road team was a free-kick goal by Brayan Vera in the 76th minute that was called off due to a foul on Rwan Cruz, who was subbed on for Zavier Gozo in the 65th minute. William Agada also came on at that time for Victor Olatunji, who scored both goals in the Decision Day draw that got RSL into the playoffs.

"I think it's a microcosm of how our season's been," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "We have 20-some odd chances on goal and can't seem to make the play that tips the scales. Whether it's a crossbar, Victor not sliding across the front of the goal on a ball that's rolling in front or Rwan fouling on Vera's free kick."

The missed opportunities and "moments," as Mastroeni puts it, started to add up for RSL and resulted in yet another disappointing end to a season for the team with the longest active playoff streak in the league.

While the result and disappointment are still "fresh," in Mastroeni's words, the manager who has made the postseason every year at the helm of RSL acknowledged there will be "some tough decisions to make" in the coming weeks.

"We'll get together in the next couple of days with Kurt (Schmid) and Jason (Kreis) and figure out how to best move forward," Mastroeni said of meeting with the team's top brass.

Players with expiring contracts at the end of 2025 include: Vera, Agada, Braian Ojeda, DeAndre Yedlin, Alex Katranis, Sam Junqua, Philip Quinton, Noel Caliskan and Johnny Russell; though Ojeda, Vera, Yedlin, Katranis and Quinton all have club options, should the team decide to bring them back in 2026.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51394214/rsl-fails-to-advance-in-playoffs-for-4th-consecutive-season-falling-3-1-in-portland-wild-card-game

RSL qualifies for MLS-best 5th consecutive playoffs with 2-2 draw in St. Louis

(ksl.com 10-18-25)

Real Salt Lake rebounded from a disastrous first half of the season to rattle off eight of its 12 wins over the final 17 games to squeak into the ninth and final Western Conference playoff spot on MLS Decision Day on Saturday.

"I think the spirit of the group overrides some of the things that haven't gone right," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "And tonight, I think, was a great display of resilience, of execution and coming up trumps; when really there's no reason — with the season that we had — to believe in ourselves."

The team entered the day in the final playoff spot and could guarantee its league-best fifth consecutive postseason appearance with a win on the road against the already-eliminated St. Louis City.

A first-half brace from Victor Olatunji had RSL well on its way with a 2-0 lead through 32 minutes, but a penalty from Eduard Lowen just before halftime brought St. Louis within one, 2-1, at the break.

Joao Klauss tied the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, and late leads from fellow playoff hopefuls Colorado and San Jose made the final minutes at Energizer Park a little tense for Mastroeni and company, who had already endured 90-plus minutes of pouring rain in St. Louis.

LAFC equalized against Colorado at 2-2, though, and RSL held onto a valuable point with the 2-2 draw, keeping the Rapids, Earthquakes and RSL all tied at 41 points at the end of the night. The first tiebreaker for playoff qualification was total wins, with RSL holding the slight edge with 12 to the other two teams' 11.

Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral came up big, once again, completing his first season in Utah playing every single minute of every game, and putting up five saves on 27 St. Louis shots to hold the home team to two goals, despite a 3.5-1 lead in expected goals.

"I feel we play as a family, and we just love each other," Olatunji said of his short time in Utah since joining the squad in August. "We trust and play like what we want. So far, so good. I love being here."

The margin in the standings was about as thin as it could have been for the Claret and Cobalt, who became the team with the most losses to qualify for the playoffs in MLS history at a 12-17-5 (win-loss-draw) record.

Mastroeni has now made the playoffs in each of his five seasons at the helm of RSL, fulfilling a promise he made to fans after a tough month of August when the team lost all three of its matches.

"In 2021, it took until the last game (to make the playoffs)," Mastroeni said on Aug. 23. "Even if it takes until the last second of the final game, we're going to make it."

RSL will travel to Portland to face the eighth-seeded Timbers in a single-elimination wild card game on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MDT.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51392193/rsl-qualifies-for-mls-best-5th-consecutive-playoffs-with-2-2-draw-in-st-louis