RailHawks sign Thuram

The RailHawks have signed defender Lilian Thuram.

Well, no they haven't.

The RailHawks did visit with Thuram, though, and presented him with a RailHawks jersey. The former France international paid a visit to the Carolina RailHawks offices Wednesday at WakeMed Soccer Park.

RailHawks coach Martin Rennie (jokingly) asked Thuram if he was interested in coming out of retirement in order to play for the RailHawks. He was flattered by the offer, but laughed it off.

Thuram is visiting the Triangle this week. On Tuesday, he delivered a lecture at Duke University that centered on sport, racism, immigration, and the work of his foundation, Fondation Lilian Thuram. Thuram was to give a similar lecture at N.C. Central in Durham Wednesday afternoon.

Prior to that engagement, Thuram came to WakeMed Soccer Park in order to watch some of the ACC men’s soccer tournament. Before the ACC quarterfinals kicked off, Thuram posed for photos with RailHawks players and staff.

Thuram was a member of France’s 1998 World Cup and 2000 European championship teams and he retired from international duty as his country’s most capped player (142). His professional career spanned 15 seasons with AS Monaco, Parma, Juventus and Barcelona.

Dawn of a new day

After weeks of everything being up in the air, it appears things are beginning to settle.

The RailHawks will play in a new league beginning in 2010.

Thoughts?

Wellman's Q&A

The big question on everyone's mind (so it seems) is, "What's going on?"

As of right now, there is no clear answer, and we'll have to leave it at that.

But to get caught up, read this. RailHawks President Brian Wellman had a lengthy Q&A with the The Independent's David Fellerath that should catch you up on what's happening during this offseason.

Carolina-Vancouver highlights

All is well

After the RailHawks fell 1-0 in the opening leg of the quarterfinals against Vancouver last night, the inclination might be to panic. But it's not quite that time. Knowing that some surely would feel that way, I asked Martin Rennie last night would he might say in order to talk anyone off the ledge.

“Even if it was 0-0, everyone would think that’s fantastic, but we’d still have to score at home,” he said. “We still have to do the same thing now. Lots of times, if a team loses 1-0 away from home, they feel confident going in to the next game. It’s not anything to get scared about. We know what we have to do.”

It's not ideal to come back to Cary down a goal, but at the very least, the RailHawks need to be up a goal after 90 minutes to force overtime in Sunday's return leg. Win by two in regulation, and there's no need for OT.

That's not a terribly tall order, especially with Gregory Richardson, Joseph Kabwe and Sallieu Bundu rested and ready to go come Sunday.

All is well, really, not in the delusional Kevin Bacon sort of way.

Carolina-Vancouver highlights

Vancouver's cut the highlights from last night's match. Here's what you missed.

Homefield advantage

The three higher seeded teams in the USL-1 quarterfinals all chose to play the first leg of their respective series on the road.

If any are going to advance to the semifinals, they all must climb out of a hole.

In Thursday's opener's, No. 2 Carolina lost 1-0 at No. 7 Vancouver, No. 3 Puerto Rico lost 2-1 at No. 6 Rochester and No. 4 Charleston lost 2-0 at No. 5 Montreal.

Let's quickly assess and rank which of the three higher seeds has the best chance of coming back.

1. Carolina

I like the RailHawks for three reasons:

• They were one of the best home teams in the USL-1 all season (11-2-2, 32 goals for, 8 goals against)
• Vancouver struggled mightily on the road (2-7-6, 16 goals for, 21 goals against)
• Gregory Richardson, Joseph Kabwe and Sallieu Bundu will all be rested and on the attack

Those three things should make you feel good about Sunday. However, there is one minor concern. The RailHawks need to win Sunday by two goals. In 18 matches against the six other playoff teams earlier this year, the RailHawks won one of them by two goals. The good news is that match was recently (Sept. 12). The bad news is that is wasn't against Vancouver (it was Montreal).

2. Puerto Rico

I like Puerto Rico's chances to move on, but I wouldn't be surprised if Rochester snagged the series. The Islanders were the best home team in USL-1 this year (11-1-2, 29 goals for, 11 goals allowed), but Rochester was arguably the best road team (8-5-2, 19 goals for, 11 allowed). Rochester was on of only three teams to take a point from Puerto Rico, but that was in April. Puerto Rico beat the Rhinos 2-0 in Bayamon three weeks ago.

But Puerto Rico has got to be wiped out, mentally and physically. Sunday's return leg will be their fourth match in eight days and ninth in 19. Earlier this week, they were (for all intents and purposes) eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League, and now they face a one-goal deficit in the USL-1 playoffs. Throw on top of that that they will be without Cristian Arrieta, one of the best defenders in the league because he drew a red card Thursday night.

But, one year ago, the Islanders faced a similar quandary and came out on top. They fell 2-0 in the opening leg of the semifinals to Rochester, went back to Puerto Ric0 and won 3-0 in overtime to advance to the final.

3. Charleston

I don't like Charleston's chances at all, but that's more a testament to Montreal. The Impact are 4-1-1 this month and playing well. The Battery is a modest 2-2-1 during the same time, but it seems things went off the track when goalkeeper Dusty Hudock's season was ended by a knee injury.

In order to advance, Charleston needs to win by three goals Sunday. They beat one team by three goals all year (Cleveland) and the scored three goals in a game twice (Cleveland, Minnesota). Furthermore, in four games against Montreal this year, the Battery have scored only one goal.

Thoughts on Thursday's opening legs? Who's got the best chance to move on? Who's dead in the water? What are your expecations for Sunday's return legs?

Looking back at Carolina-Vancouver

The RailHawks begin the USL-1 postseason tonight at 10:30 p.m. at Vancouver (watch it on USLLive or follow it on Twitter @RailHawksFC).

What's in store for tonight? A look back at the season's three regular season meetings might offer us a glimpse. They played each other three times in four weeks, including home and away in the space of four days in mid-August. Their matches featured five goals from 77 shots and 50fouls.

In the first match, on July 17 at WakeMed Soccer Park, Gregory Richardson made a splash in his official debut with the RailHawks, scoring a goal in the 44th minute to put the RailHawks up 1-0 (the goal was later changed to a Vancouver own-goal). Sallieu Bundu scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 65th minute. Vancouver's Charles Gbeke drew on back in the 90th minute for the Whitecaps.



In the second match, on Aug. 15 at Swangard Stadium, the RailHawks allowed a season-high 22 shots, but goalkeeper Caleb Patterson stonewalled the Whitecaps, recording seven saves as the match finished a scoreless draw.



In the final match, on Aug. 18 at WakeMed Soccer Park, Andriy Budnyy rescued a point with his 87th-minute equalizer. The Whitecaps had taken a 1-0 lead in the 66th minute on Marcus Haber's goal.

Atrocious officiating

Referees have it rough, and sometimes they don't make it any easier on themselves. USL officials have given us all plenty to gripe about, but we can take some slice of solace in knowing they're aren't nearly as bad as their Brazilian second division counterparts.

Play away

After finishing second during the regular season, the RailHawks didn't really catch a break with the seventh-seeded team as their quarterfinal opponent -- Vancouver.

In fact, despite being the highest seed in the quarterfinals, the RailHawks got arguably the worst draw of any team. The difficulty in the opponent is not the quality of the team, because all seven teams in the playoff field are strong sides. The trouble is with the travel that comes with facing the Whitecaps.

No one will log more miles in the quarterfinals than the RailHawks.

Carolina left for Vancouver on Tuesday, will play Thursday, travel back to Cary on Friday and play the Whitecaps again on Sunday. Given that the RailHawks had the choice when to play at home, you might wonder why Martin Rennie didn't choose to play at WakeMed Soccer Park first, which would have forced Vancouver to travel across the country twice instead of Carolina doing it twice.

“I just think it’s always better to have your second game at home," Rennie said. " At that point, you know exactly what you’re doing, and we’ve got a lot of reasons to be confident. Away from home, we’ve done well as well, five wins and five ties on the road is good. We’ve been playing well and we're hard to beat on the road."

Indeed, the RailHawks faired quite well on the road. Their 20 away points were fourth-most in the league, and they managed a 0-0 draw at Vancouver earlier this season. At home, the RailHawks went 11-2-2, and their 35 points earned were second only to Puerto Rico's 36.

Another benefit of playing the return leg at home is if the teams are tied on aggregate after 180 minutes, they go to overtime and then penalty kicks if it's tied after extra time. In a tense situation like that, you're bound to be more comfortable at home. Regardless of the result in the first leg, you're going to feel infinitely more confident about winning the series where you're most comfortable.

Rennie also pointed out that the other two high seeds chose to hit the road first (No. 3 Puerto Rico at No. 6 Rochester, No. 4 Charleston at No. 5 Montreal).

And the travel may not mean anything anyway.

In 2007, Seattle came to Cary and beat the RailHawks in the opening leg 1-0, then downed them 2-0 in the return leg three days later. In the second round, they went to Puerto Rico first, won 2-1. In the return leg at Seattle, Puerto Rico evened the aggregate (3-3), but the Sounders prevailed 4-2 in a shootout. The Sounders went on to win the championship.

Last season, third-seeded Montreal traveled to Seattle first and lost 2-1. The Impact returned to Saputo Stadium two days later and won 3-1 to advance 4-3 on aggregate. In the semifinals, Vancouver went to Montreal first, lost 1-0, went back to Vancouver two days later and won 2-0 to advance 2-1 on aggregate. The Whitecaps went on to win the championship.

So, if you're Martin Rennie, what would you do?