Soccer Defections?

So the big news today was that almost half of the Haitian u-17 World Cup team disappeared from the JFK Airport in New York. All of the 13 boys who disappeared were found, but two had made it all the way to Boston. All of them had been taken in by either extended family or the local Haitian communities in NYC and Boston. While it is sad to see young Haitian boys attempt to escape into America due to the tremendous poverty of their home country, it is sad that these young men are trying to do so even though they are some of the elite soccer players in their country. For goodness sake, they are being flown all the way to South Korea to take part in a WORLD CUP tournament. If they play well, they could get signed by professional teams. Who knows. Either way, by trying to become an illegal immigrant to the United States, they were jeapordizing their own future. They were blessed with a gift, I think they should stay the course and see where that takes them. Unfortunately, if they had been Cuban... they would have been granted citizenship... (which two members of the Cuban national team playing in the Gold Cup have already done).

US OPEN CUP FIRST ROUND SCORES
Harrisburg City Islanders (USL2) (0)4 – Aegean Hawks (USASA) (0)0
Ocean City Barons (PDL) (1)1 – Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL2) (0)0
Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL1) (1)1 – Long Island Roughriders (PDL) 0(0)
Western Mass Pioneers (USL2) (0)(1)(1)(1)3 – Danbury United (USASA) (0)(1)(1)(0)2
Richmond Kickers (USL2) (2)4 – Michigan Bucks (PDL) (0)2
Cleveland City Stars (USL2) (2)4 – Kansas City Brass (PDL) 0(0)
Carolina Railhawks (USL1) (3)4 – RWB Adria (USASA) (0)1
Bavarian SC (USASA) (1)1 – Cincinnati Kings (USL2) (0)0
Atlanta Silverbacks (USL1) (4)10 – Azzuri (USASA) (0)0
Charlotte Eagles (USL2) (1)2 - Lynch’s Irish Pub (USASA) (0)0
Charleston Battery (USL1) (3)3 – Central Florida Kraze (PDL) (0)0
El Paso Patriots (PDL) (1)(1)(0)(0)2 (4) – Miami FC (USL1) (0)(2)(0)(0)2 (3)
Minnesota Thunder (USL1) (2)3 – El Paso Indios USA (USASA) (1)2
California Victory (USL1) (1)2 – BYU Cougars (PDL) (0)1
Seattle Sounders (USL1) (4)4 – Banat Arsenal (USASA) (1)1
Portland Timbers (USL1) (2)2 – Bakersfield Brigade (USASA) (0)0

Second Round will look something like this...
Harrisburg City Islanders (USL2) at Ocean City Barons (PDL)
Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL1) at Western Mass Pioneers (USL2)
Richmond Kickers (USL2) at Cleveland City Stars (USL2)
Carolina Railhawks (USL1) at Bavarian SC (USASA)
Atlanta Silverbacks (USL1) at Charlotte Eagles (USL2)
Charleston Battery (USL1) at El Paso Patriots (PDL)
Minnesota Thunder (USL1) at California Victory (USL1)
Seattle Sounders (USL1) at Portland Timbers (USL1)

Odds and Ends
- The USA will play Panama in the Quarterfinals of the Gold Cup on Saturday and 4pm ET.
- Tyrone Marshall was given a three match suspension for his foul on Kenny Cooper. Cooper will miss a couple months with the injury. Marshall was also traded today to Toronto FC.