Thursday Afternoon Union Freekicks: MLS Finally Victorious

Well, it took a number of years, and a couple dozen tries, but an MLS team has finally scored a victory south of the border in CONCACAF Champions League group play as FC Dallas defeated Pumas UNAM 1-0 in Mexico City. It shouldn’t have taken this long, but sincere congratulations to Schellas Hyndman’s side for finally breaking the ice. This afternoon’s open discussion thread for all things Union and MLS.

FC Dallas reaches historic mark with win in Mexico [Richard Casner, FCDallas.com] – Marvin Chavez scored the match’s lone goal in the 65th minute. Dallas will take on Toronto FC next in group play on August 24 at BMO Field; Pumas will visit Pizza Hut Park for the second leg of that matchup on September 21.

Rapids win opener of CONCACAF over Isidro Metapan [John Meyer, The Denver Post] – Macoumba Kandji‘s brace and Andre Akpan‘s eventual game-winner led Colorado to a 3-2 victory in Group B action. The Rapids host Chivas USA on Saturday in MLS action, then return to CONCACAF play travel to Honduras for a Tuesday night matchup with Real España.

Boswell's late goal secures draw for Dynamo [Houston Chronicle] – Bad news for Philadelphia, who is starting to face all sorts of pressure from teams below them in the standings.

Details emerge after bobblehead incident at Sporting game [Terez A. Paylor, The Kansas City Star] – Disgraceful, really. Nothing more to say than that. (Sporting did defeat Portland 3-1 in the actual match, which is more bad news for the Union.)

Jimmy Conrad, an appreciation [Pete Grathoff, The Kansas City Star] – Conrad, who is unfortunately being forced to retire thanks to complications from a concussion he suffered earlier this season, was the core of the then-Kansas City Wizards during his eight seasons there. He deserves every good word written about him.

Nowak connecting with fans through new Twitter account [Kevin Kinkead, philadelphiaunion.com] – It is a pretty remarkable story about Nowak and Twitter, isn't it?

Philadelphia Union host first Supporters Summit [Dave Zeitlin, MLSsoccer.com] – By all accounts, this was a highly successful event, and something that will surely become a regular event. The Union and MLS Commissioner Don Garber get it: this sort of transparency is how you build and sustain a fan base.

Union confident offensive pieces in place for playoff berth [Andy Jasner, philadelphiaunion.com] – Another reminder that intra-MLS trades are allowed through September 15. "At the end of the day, we're happy to add Freddy Adu," Piotr Nowak said, "but we're still looking."