• Another potential candidate for Minnesota United in MLS is former Loons star Miguel Ibarra, who shot to fame when he was called up to the U.S. men's national team while with Minnesota. In 1½ seasons with Club León in Mexico, Ibarra, right, has failed to break through. He hasn't made an appearance yet in the fall Liga MX season, in which León is on its second manager. Minnesota would be near the back of the line for priority to sign him to MLS, but if those hurdles could be overcome, Ibarra's homecoming could be an excellent story.
Soccer short takes
October 22, 2016 at 5:10AM
• Sunday's U.S. women's national team friendly against Switzerland at U.S. Bank Stadium might feature a number of players from outside the team's famous core. Five players earned their first international caps in the team's 4-0 victory over the Swiss on Wednesday. The team has six more on its roster who still seek their international debuts.
• Three MLS teams — Dallas, New York and Vancouver — have qualified for the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League, which are set to begin on Feb. 27. No MLS team has won the competition, and given that MLS will be in preseason while others are in midseason, these teams will struggle to change that.
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Everything came so easily for Iga Swiatek during a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Emma Raducanu on Saturday in the only Australian Open women's third-round match between two past Grand Slam champions — if you thought that meant it would be close, you'd have been rather wrong — that this was how she described it:
