Breakfast Links - September 7, 2022

It’s already been a bust week in Houston soccer. Let’s get right to the Breakfast Links.

Houston

Well well well, the very unexpected to some and to others what they have been asking for a long time has finally happened, Paulo Nagamura has been sacked. Paulo, who was just hired earlier this year didn't even get to see the end of the season before Pat Onstad and the front office decided he wasn't the man for the job moving forward. Kenny Bundy, Dynamo 2 head coach, will take over for the last 5 final games of the season as the interim coach for the organization. But what does this mean for the Dynamo moving forward? Also, don't forget to check out the newest episode of the Dynamo Theory Podcast and hear some of the boys give their takes and thoughts of this monumental decision.

Former NWSL player Alex Singer was announced as the first ever general manager for the Houston Dash and she met with the media yesterday. “I truly believe that there’s no ceiling here,” Singer said. ‘I think we have very big goals for not only this season, but for next season and for seasons to come. And I think we’re going to take that one step at a time, but we’re starting off there. I’m lucky to be walking into a situation where we have a lot of talent on and off the pitch.” Currently the Dash sit only 2 points away from the first place team in the NWSL, San Diego Wave FC, and keep pushing for a good spot for when the playoffs eventually come around.

Major League Soccer

Today is the day when a new U.S. Open Cup champion will be named. Orlando City will be hosting Sacramento Republic FC tonight at 7:00pm on ESPN+. Sacramento has had an immaculate run, leaving behind San Jose, LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City, and now look to end the dream of another MLS team and earn a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. How crazy it would be for a USL Championship side to be competing in a continental tournament?

Around the World

UEFA Champions League is back baby, and a lot very interesting games were played yesterday and some great match ups are on tap today.

Yesterday, Dinamo beat Chelsea (and cost Thomas Tuchel his job). All it took was a great run and a beautiful finish by Mislav Orsic to put the game 1-0 and then for the “BAD BLUE BOYS” to get the 3 points from the Blues. What a beauty of a goal!

2 bangers from Mbappe gave the slight victory to PSG over Juventus. Man City was doing Man City things as they beat a beaten down Sevilla 4-0. Real Madrid went to Ireland and scored 3 on Celtic. Other match ups from yesterday:

Borussia Dortmund 3 -0 FC Copenhagen

Benfica 2 - 1 Maccabi Haifa

FC Salzburg 1 - AC Milan

RB Leipzig 1 - 4 Shakhtar Donetsk

Today we have:

Ajax Amsterdam v Rangers

Eintracht Frankfurt v Sporting CP

Atletico Madrid v FC Porto

Barcelona v Viktoria Plzen

Club Brugge v Bayer Leverkusen

Internazionale v Bayern Munich

Napoli v Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur v Marseille