On the pitch
Soccer weekly recap: Dynamo makes playoffs; U.S. fails in World Cup bid
Oct 16, 2017, 7:10 am
Tyler Deric and the Houston Dynamo are back in the playoffs. Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
The week began with some World Cup qualifiers wrapping up, and with 23 of the 32 teams now confirmed for next summer’s competition. The rest will be figured out next month as players return to their clubs.
World Cup Qualifying
The biggest surprise in qualifying came in CONCACAF where the United States failed to qualify for their first World Cup since 1986. The USA lost 2-1 at Trinidad & Tobago while Panama (2-1 over Costa Rica) and Honduras (3-2 over Mexico) both won at home. The results mean Panama qualifies directly to their first World Cup while Honduras will play a playoff series next month against Australia.
Lionel Messi scored his first hat-trick in CONMEBOL qualifying to send Argentina to the World Cup, helping his country to a 3-1 win in Ecuador. Peru and Colombia drew one apiece, assuring Peru the playoff against New Zealand while Colombia goes through directly. The surprise in South America was the elimination of Chile, losing 3-0 at Brazil. Chile would have probably been a favorite in next year’s spectacle had they gone through.
Qualified: Russia, Brazil, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Belgium, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Germany, England, Spain, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Poland, Egypt, Iceland, Serbia, Portugal, France, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, Panama.
FIFA U-17 World Cup
There is hope yet for the United States as the under-17 national team impressed Monday morning with an emphatic 5-0 win over Paraguay. Timothy Weah, the son of former Liberian footballer and ex Ballon d’Or Winner George Weah, scored a hat-trick to send the “Baby Nats” to the quarterfinals on Saturday.
English Premier League
The EPL returned with a stellar matchup opening the weekend as Liverpool and Manchester United battled to a 0-0 draw. United goalkeeper David De Gea was the talk of the match as his heroics helped save a point for his side. Meanwhile, Manchester City took advantage to steer two points clear of United at the top of the table after a 7-2 beating of Stoke City. The stunners came in the form of Chelsea’s 2-1 loss at Crystal Palace and Arsenal’s 2-1 loss at Watford.
La Liga
The biggest match of the weekend was league leaders FC Barcelona on the road against Atletico Madrid. The two played to a 1-1 draw thanks to goals from Saul and Luis Suarez and keeps Barça at the top of the table. The result hurts Atletico who go down to fourth as Real Madrid won 2-1 at Getafe. Other important results were Athletic Bilbao’s 1-0 win over Sevilla and Valencia’s 6-2 win at Real Betis.
Bundesliga
Christian Pulisic’s Dortmund suffered a costly 3-2 defeat at Red Bull Leipzig. The win puts Leipzig in third and, more importantly, allowed FC Bayern Munich to jump up to second after their 5-0 win over Freiburg. Dortmund now only holds a two point lead over Munich after the shocking loss at home, which broke a 41-match unbeaten streak. Mönchengladbach was another winner, moving up to 5th after a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen.
Ligue 1
It was a big weekend for Paris Saint Germain as they begin to build a good cushion at the top of the table. The weekend started Friday as second-place Monaco lost 3-2 at Lyon. Paris was on the road as Dijon and came away with a scrappy 2-1 win thanks to a double from Belgian Thomas Meunier. St-Étienne’s 3-1 win over Metz catapulted them to third place as Marseille and Nantes each picked up a draw.
Serie A
Napoli is the only remaining undefeated club in one of Europe’s top leagues as they defeat Roma at their place 1-0 to remain a perfect 8-0-0 to start the season. That record is still only enough to be two points clear of second-place Inter Milan who won the Milan Derby 3-2 over AC Milan. Lazio also picked up a pivotal win as they stunned Juventus 2-1 on the road to jump over them to third in the table.
Major League Soccer
Four spots were clinched in the MLS Cup Playoffs over the weekend, all in the Western Conference: Portland, Seattle, Kansas City and Houston. The biggest blow was to FC Dallas who not only failed to clinch but also got jumped in the table by the San Jose Earthquakes. San Jose, Dallas and Real Salt Lake are battling for the last playoff spot, to be decided this weekend.
In the East all spots have been secured and the seedlings remain the same for the moment. The most emotional moment of the weekend came as Kaká played his final home match in Orlando, who lost 1-0 to Columbus in the Brazilian’s farewell. The regular season concludes this weekend and all matches will air simultaneously at 3 p.m. CT.
National Women’s Soccer League
The top-tier of women’s professional soccer came to a conclusion on Saturday afternoon in as the NWSL Championship match took place in Orlando. Lindsey Horan’s goal in the 50th minute was the deciding moment in the Portland Thorns 1-0 win over North Carolina Courage. It is Portland’s second NWSL title, tying the most by a club in the five-year-old league.
MVP of the Week - Tyler Deric
Klein High School product Tyler Deric had an incredible nine saves in the Houston Dynamo’s 0-0 draw at Sporting Kansas City. Because of other results, the Dynamo would have qualified to the playoffs regardless of the result. Even so, Deric’s heroics to deny SKC a win come out with the point sets up the Dynamo to be in play for the 3rd or 4th seed in the Western Conference. Currently in 5th, the Dynamo would have to open the playoffs on the road (where they’ve only won once all season) and moving up a spot would mean the difference in hosting their opening playoff match.
Upcoming games (All Times CT):
Tuesday, Oct. 17:
1:45 p.m. - Real Madrid vs. Tottenham (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - Spartak Moskow vs. Sevilla (ESPN Deportes)
1:45 p.m. - RB Leipzig vs FC Porto (FOX Soccer Facebook)
Wednesday, Oct. 18:
1:45 p.m. - Barcelona vs. Olympiakos (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - Benfica vs. Manchester United (Fox Soccer Facebook/FOX Deportes)
1:45 p.m. - Juventus vs Sporting CP (FOX Deportes Facebook)
Saturday, Oct. 21:
6:30 a.m. - Chelsea vs. Watford (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - Huddersfield vs. Manchester United
9:00 a.m. - Manchester City vs. Burnley
Sunday, Oct. 22:
7:30 a.m. - Everton vs. Arsenal (NBC Sports)
10:00 a.m. - Tottenham vs. Liverpool (NBC Sports)
3:00 p.m. - MLS Decision Day (ESPN)
3:00 p.m. - Houston Dynamo vs. Chicago Fire (KUBE 57)
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
_____________________________________________
*Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!