Soccer Watch

Local action is over for the year (except for high schools and rec leagues), but plenty to play for on the international scene this week.

The U.S. finishes group play in the U-17 Women's World Cup against Germany at 2pm Wed., Nov. 21 (on FS2), trying to become the first American team to advance out of the group stage since that competition started in 2008... The U-20 Men, meanwhile, have clinched a spot in next year's U-20 World Cup by advancing to the championship final in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, playing Mexico at 6pm Wednesday on Univision Deportes.

Major League Soccer's conference finals are set for this coming Sunday, Nov. 25: Atlanta United vs. NY Red Bulls at 4pm and Portland vs. Kansas City at 6:30pm, with the return legs at 6:30 and 8:30pm on Thursday, Nov. 29; all on ESPN and FS1.

European Champions League group stage matchday five of six is next week: Tue.-Wed., Nov. 27-28, noon & 2pm on TNT. Wednesday's second game is likely the highlight: London's Spurs need a win against Inter Milan to stay alive in the competition... England, Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland each won their groups in the first edition of the UEFA Nations League; they advance to the final four in June.

The U.S. Men wrapped up the year with a last-second 1-0 loss to Italy on Tuesday. Expect an announcement soon on a new head coach (likely Columbus Crew coach Gregg Berhalter) to replace interim head Dave Sarachan.

Austin Bold FC have added a couple of familiar names to their roster recently: It'll be good to see local products Kris Tyrpak and Sonny Guadarrama back in Austin again.