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Thursday night rundown

Thursday night update: Seattle and Miami reach final; EPB, Flach, & Richards advance in Europe

ASN's Brian Sciaretta writes up his thoughts on the news for Thursday night including the Leagues Cup semifinals, European games involving Americans, youth national team rosters, and more
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
August 28, 2025
6:00 PM

HAPPY THURSDAY NIGHT to everyone reading for those in the United States, we are nearly at a long weekend. It’s been a busy week with the USMNT roster dropping but now we get to talk about games, which is always good, and youth national team rosters as two World Cups approach.

For now, we will shift to the Leagues Cup

 

Leagues Cup semifinals

 

Miami gets past Orlando
 

Inter Miami defeated Orlando City 3-1 at home on Wednesday night in the first semifinal. Miami had its big starts back, thus forcing Orlando to be on its game.

But Orlando wasn’t on its game and allowed Miami back into it. They had the opportunities to put this game out of reach, but came up empty. Ivan Angulo missed a 1v1 with the keeper. Orlando actually took the early lead but David Brekalo conceded a penalty which Messi converted, then Messi scored and created two late goals against a 10-man Orlando.

The game wasn’t the best in terms officiating. Angulo was not awarded a penalty in the second half despite the appeals and the Brekalo red and penalty weren’t very obvious but were awarded. It changed the outcome of the game. It is too bad because it took away from what was a good game.

Orlando still has responsibility in this. They had chances to score more, and they were in control of the game enough to score two or more goals. But they didn’t get it done.

Instead, Miami will head to the final against a surging Seattle team.

 

Seattle continues run past LA Galaxy
 

Seattle’s run in this Leagues Cup has been outstanding. It defeated three Liga MX teams in regulation in group play, including a 7-0 win over Cruz Azul, and then past Pumas in a shootout in the quarterfinals.

Now it travelled to California to cruise past the Galaxy 2-0. It’s been a flawless run and it’s has come at a time when Albert Rusnak, Joao Paulo, Jordan Morris, and Stefan Frei have been injured or not at 100%.

When Seattle suffers an injury, someone else steps up. In this case, it has been Osaze DeRosario – the son Dwayne De Rosario – who has been fantastic. Against the Galaxy, he was in great form and scored the second goal of the win with a outstanding individual effort. From what I saw, De Rosario was the best player on the field.



Also of note is Andrew Thomas. The American goalkeeper has been given the chance to play over Stefan Frei (who has missed time due to a concussion but is now back) and has made the most of his chance.  

This was a completely fair result as the Sounders have been better than every team they have faced and should be considered the front runners in the final.

 

Finals and third place game
 

This weekend, the Galaxy will host Orlando in the third-place game. This game has a lot of meaning as the winner will qualify for the Champions Cup. It would be wild if the Galaxy made the Champions Cup through the Leagues Cup one year after winning MLS Cup and in between they win the Wooden Spoon. This could salvage a horrible season.

Seattle hosts the final against Inter Miam. Messi playing for a trophy is always a big deal that draws eyeballs but Seattle will have a lot of support playing at home in a big stadium while looking to cap off an special run where they have been the best team in the tournament.

 

Youth National teams

 

Both the U.S. U-17 team and the U.S. U-20 team have World Cups approaching in the fall and both teams will be in action this September to prepare. Both team’s named strong rosters for the upcoming camps.

The U.S. U-20 team will head to Spain for a pair of friendlies against Morocco on September 5 and September 7. ASN has a separate article on this team.


 

The U.S. U-17 team will head to the Netherlands for two games against the hosts on September 5 and September 8 in Noordwijk, Netherlands. 

The roster is very strong and it features top players such as Mathis Albert, Cavan Sullivan, Chase Adams, and Maximo Carrizo.

The team will also have a camp during the October window before the World Cup roster is chosen.

Here are the 21 players chosen by head coach Gonzalo Segares.



U.S. U-17 roster for September 

GOALKEEPERS (2): William Lodmell (Sporting Lisbon/POR; Lisbon, Portugal), Aidan Stokes (New York Red Bulls; Totowa, N.J.)

DEFENDERS (7): Pedro Guimaraes (Orange County SC; Aliso Viejo, Calif.), Ramiz Hamouda (Birmingham Legion; Lincoln, Neb.), Ryan Hartley (LA Galaxy; Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Ian James (Sporting Kansas City; St. Paul, Minn.), Enrique Martinez (LA Galaxy; Compton, Calif.), Oliver Tan (FC Famalicao/POR; Piedmont, Calif.), Gio Villa (Real Salt Lake; Chicago, Ill.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Máximo Carrizo (New York City FC; Greenwich, Conn.), Kellan LeBlanc (Philadelphia Union; Royersford, Pa.), Luca Moisa (Real Salt Lake; Las Vegas, Nev.), Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United; Holly Springs, Ga.), Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.), Jude Terry (LAFC; San Diego, Calif.), Mateo Tsakiris (LA Galaxy; Saratoga, Calif.)

FORWARDS (5): Chase Adams (Columbus Crew; Naperville, Ill.), Mathis Albert (Borussia Dortmund/GER; El Segundo, Calif.), Nimfasha Berchimas (Charlotte FC; High Point, N.C.), Julian Hall (New York Red Bulls; New York, N.Y.), Jamir Johnson (Philadelphia Union; Huntsville, Ala.)

 

European games

 

Over in Europe, the Champions League, Europa League and Conference Leagues had the second leg of playoffs to determine if they would qualify for the group stages of their respective tournaments.

The big story was the mess in Scotland as every team was bounced from their competitions.

Cameron Carter-Vickers started for Celtic against FC Kairat in Kazakhstan and both legs ended in a 0-0 draw with Kairat winning in a shootout. That was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as Rangers losing 6-0 to Brugge in the second leg and 9-1 on aggregate. Both Old Firm clubs will now play in the Europa League.

Today, Dante Polvara started for Aberdeen in a 3-0 loss to FCSB in Bucharest. This comes after a 2-2 draw in the first leg at home when Polvara scored the equalizing goal. Today didn’t go as well as Aberdeen lost 3-0 and Polvara was subbed out at halftime for a tactical adjustment following a teammate’s red card just before the break. Aberdeen will now shift to the Conference League.  

Also in the Europa League, Erik Palmer-Brown and Panathinaikos played Samsunspor to a 0-0 draw in Turkey after winning the first leg 2-1 in Greece. The American central defender is finally in a good place after injuries robbed him of the past two years. But he now looks to be an important part of Panathinaikos and its defense – which is great to see. He scored the winning goal in the first leg and will now get to play in the group stages.

It was a better situation for Chris Richards who helped Crystal Palace keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against Fredrikstad in Norway on Thursday. This was enough for a 1-0 aggregate win for Palace after a 1-0 result in London. Richards made 12 clearances as Palace sat deep and foiled the Norwegian club’s attack. Palace will now play in the Conference League group stages.

Leon Flach went the full 90 for Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok in a 1-1 draw away at FC Dinamo City in Albania. After winning the first leg 3-0, Flach and Company were able to play smart defense for a 4-1 aggregate win and a spot in the Conference League group stages. Fellow American Aziel Jackson did not play for Jagiellonia Bialystock.

Lennard Maloney made a brief cameo in stoppage time for Mainz in a 4-1 win over Norway’s Rosenborg which was enough for a 5-3 aggregate win and a spot in the Conference League group stages. Maloney still needs to carve out a meaningful role with Mainz.

 

Transfer rumors

 

The transfer window for most European leagues ends on September 1.

There hasn’t been much noise regarding American players in Europe but one report says that AC Milan might end up blocking the proposed Yunus Musah transfer to Atalanta due to the recent injury to Milan midfielder Ardon Jashar.

That would be a big setback for Musah who doesn’t seem to have a clear path to playing time at the moment.

 

 

 

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