IT’S A SLOWER TIME RIGHT NOW and ASN took a few days off for the holidays but to not stay completely dormant through Christmas, we have an ASN morning update to roll your way with some thoughts and news on American soccer – both domestically and abroad.

Let’s start abroad where there were games

European rundown

Johnny Cardoso scored the only goal for Real Betis in a 1-0 win over HJK Helsinki. It wasn’t a good game from Real Betis, but they still advanced to the Round of 16 in the Conference League with 10 points from six games. Cardoso should send the HJK goalkeeper a Christmas card for setting up the goal.

Finland is actually the prison escape capital of the world, and it’s not even a crime to escape from prison.

HJK Helsinki, however, tries to apply this freedom to football and fails. They can’t even escape their own box & are punished with a #WPIOOTBGW pic.twitter.com/F6b1oOFNaN

— When Playing It Out of the Back Goes Wrong (@wpiootbgw) December 19, 2024

George Bello played well for LASK on Thursday, but the club was eliminated from the Conference League after its 1-1 draw at home to Vikingur Reykjavik. It's been a disappointing season for LASK both domestically and in Europe.

Matthew Olosunde pops up every now and than on a match sheet for The New Saints in Wales but he rarely plays. Such was the case on Thursday when he went as an unused sub in a 3-2 loss to NK Celje in Slovenia. TNS were eliminated from the Conference League with the result. 

Lennard Maloney is injured for Heidenheim but the club advanced to the Round of 16 of the Conference League despite its 1-1 draw with St. Gallen on Thursday. It's a tough tournament for Heidenheim which is likely to be in a dire relegation battle ahead in the Bundesliga.

Erik Palmer-Brown was not in the squad but Panathinaikos are through to the final 16 of the Conference League after a 4-0 romp over Dinamo Minsk.

CONFERENCE LEAGUE ADVANCED: Lennard Maloney, Johnny Cardoso, Erik Palmer-Brown

The Europa League wrapped up last week. Tanner Tessmann was the only American to play with regularity. He was a late sub in a 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, where Timmy Chandler went as an unused sub. Eintracht also advanced, as did PAOK of Greece who have Jonathan Gomez, who was unregistered for the first stage of the tournament.

EUROPA LEAGUE ADVANCED: Tanner Tessmann, Timmy Chandler, Jonathan Gomez.

The Champions League was far more successful as every American player advanced and there are a number of players who will take part who play regularly. The only drawback is that none of the players saw their teams finish in the top eight for a quarterfinal spot. Instead, they will be in the playoff round.

In total, 13 American players are in the playoffs.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ADVANCED TO PLAYOFF: Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Cole Campbell (Borussia Dortmund), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Juventus), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Auston Trusty (Celitc), Malik Tillman (PSV), Ricardo Pepi (PSV), Richard Ledezma (PSV), Sergino Dest (PSV)

Club World Cup schedule set

FIFA has set the Club World Cup schedule. You can read it on their website.

For the two American teams, it is a massive challenge.

The Seattle Sounders are in Group B

• Sunday, June 15: Sounders vs. Botafogo: Lumen Field, Seattle
• Thursday, June 19: Sounders vs. Atletico Madrid: Lumen Field, Seattle
• Monday, June 23: Sounders vs. Paris St. Germain: Lumen Field, Seattle

Inter Miami are in Group A

• Saturday, June 14: Inter Miami vs. Al Ahly FC: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
• Thursday, June 19: Inter Miami vs. Porto: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
• Monday, June 23: Inter Miami vs. SE Palmeiras: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami

The benefit that both teams have is that they are in midseason. It will be tough, but fun as no one really knows what to expect. It’s too bad that Columbus or the Galaxy couldn’t have been able to represent the league.

MLS Schedule released

The 2025 MLS Schedule has been released and Soccer America has a nice outline of it.

It is essentially the Year of the Cups and MLS is going to have to figure it out. Club World Cup, Gold Cup, Leagues Cup, and more teams in the U.S. Open Cup.

The season starts on February 22 with Inter Miami hosting NYCFC. Decision day is then on October 18.

On April 19, Inter Miami will face Columbus in the first ever MLS game in Cleveland at Huntington Bank Field, the home of the Cleveland Browns (who are owned by Dee and Jimmy Haslam, who also own the Crew).