Short takes
Jon Marthaler's soccer short takes
January 26, 2019 at 2:27AM
• Goalkeeper Tim Howard announced that 2019 would be his final season, giving American soccer fans one year to say goodbye as he plays out the string with Colorado. Even next to all-time greats Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller, Howard stands out. He's the only American player to regularly play for one of the world's truly big clubs, becoming Manchester United's regular starter in the early 2000s. His 15-save performance against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup will be remembered as the greatest goalkeeping performance in World Cup history.
• Nineteen-year-old American defender Chris Richards made his move to Bayern Munich official this week. Richards had been on loan from FC Dallas to Bayern, but the agreement this week is now permanent. Will he be the next young American star to break through in the Bundesliga?
• Deloitte released its annual list of the 20 soccer clubs that made the most money in 2017-18, and, as usual, all 20 are European. Real Madrid and Barcelona claimed the top two spots, but six of the next eight teams are English. The real shock is that Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham — which finished eighth, 10th, and 13th in the league last year — are also in the top 20.
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Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
