• FIFA President Gianni Infantino continues to push for a further expansion of the men's World Cup, and soccer's international governing body will consider proposals in January that could expand the tournament from 32 teams to 40 or even 48. An expansion wouldn't help the quality of the tournament, which usually has four or five teams that aren't up to speed already.
Soccer short takes
October 15, 2016 at 2:52AM
• La Liga announced that the first Barcelona-Real Madrid game of the year, on Dec. 3, will kick off at 4:15 p.m. It is specifically timed to appeal to viewers in both America and Asia, rather than continental European viewers. After the success of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, both the German Bundesliga and La Liga are pushing for more worldwide attention. But they're starting from way behind.
• This week, the L.A. Galaxy announced that it would fund a girls' development academy, one of the few U.S. Soccer academy programs for girls that will be cost-free for the players. Taking financial concerns out of youth player development is good for all levels of soccer in America, so it's nice to see the Galaxy — winners of a record five MLS Cups — taking the lead.
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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.
