Max Indefinitely Suspended And Other News

 I've been quiet for the last week because I've been on vacation in Washington DC.  I figured I'd catch up on the Galaxy and USOC games tonight and then be back to the regular schedule going into the Philly game on Friday.

Well, Max apparently had other plans.  If you haven't followed the breaking news today Max has been named along with many others in an investigation in his native Brazil into match-fixing across the globe.  16 people, including 7 active players, have been charged.  Upwards of 120 players are under investigation, including Max.  Specifically he's accused of taking approximately $12,000 to get booked in last September's game against the Galaxy.  He came off the bench in that match and in less than 90 seconds he was given a yellow card (though to be fair, it was a weak call that was largely because the game was getting out of control and the ref was trying to calm things down).

It appears Max was approached and agreed to not only make sure to pick up a card in that game, but also to be available to do something similar in future matches.  He also reportedly recommended Zeca, then playing with Houston, as somebody who could be approached as well.  Zeca allegedly said he wasn't expected to play in the game they wanted him to take a card in, but he would find somebody on the Dynamo who would be willing to take a bribe and get back to the organizers of this match-fixing (no report if that ever happened or not).  Zeca is now back playing in Brazil after his option was declined at the end of last season.

The team and league released statements this evening saying Max has been suspended until the investigation is complete and he has been removed from all team activities.

There's really only three options here, and two of them seem quite unlikely at this point:

1. Max was never involved, at worst he was approached and turned them down, and he never took any more or fixed anything in a game.  That seems highly unlikely with the info that's come out today but its possible.  If so he'll be reinstated and we'll move on.
2. Max was involved and fixed that game, maybe recommended Zeca, but he was doing it because some family member back in Brazil was being threatened in some way and he felt like he had no option.  I think this is even less likely, but it would explain why somebody on a $300K contract would risk his career for $12K.  Of course, somebody who willingly does this doesn't think he's going to get caught so they may not see it as a risk.  I think this is even more unlikely than him not doing it at all, but we can't rule it out.  If this is the case there's probably a road back for him but he'll still have a lengthy suspension and he may not come back in MLS.
3. The information we have is largely correct, he did it, and he got caught.  This seems highly likely based on the information we have right now.  If so that's it.  His Rapids/MLS career is certainly over, and there's a very good chance he'll never play another minute professionally as FIFA will likely issue some sort of lifetime (or near enough) ban for fixing games.

As of 7pm on May 10th, 2023 my expectation is that we'll never see Max in a Rapids uniform again.  If new information comes out I may adjust that prediction, but the team is going to have to figure out what the midfield looks like without Price, without Bassett for some unknown length of time, and without Max.  Its going to be a lot of Leyva and Priso this month.

Since we started with the most recent news we'll just keep moving backwards in time until we're caught up.  The day started with two pieces of good news.  First, Darren Yapi was named to the U.S. U-20 World Cup roster that starts next Saturday in Argentina.  I'm not sure when Yapi has to report but my guess is that he'll leave after Saturday's game against Philly.  The tournament goes through mid-June so he may be gone for a while.  Congrats Darren!

Second, the Rapids announced that they're retooling the north part of the stadium into a field-level party deck.  The work is expected to be done by the 4th of July game.  The initial idea sounded something like The Rooftop at Coors Field but the details reveal this is still going to be a more expensive ticket than most in the stadium, so I'm not sure they're going to get that same vibe.  Still, its good to see some investment going into the stadium.

Going back to last night, a big win in Sacramento!  For the first time since 2017 the Rapids are into the Round of 16 with their 4-2 win over the Republic.  Jonathan Lewis repeated what he did against the Hailstorm by putting the Rapids up in the first 5 minutes and they never trailed.  A little disappointing to give up two goals but it was a patchwork back-line of a couple of starters and a couple reserves that obviously hadn't worked together very much.  Unlike prior Rapids teams this side didn't get their heads down when Sacramento clawed back into the game and levelled it at 2 after halftime, instead they went back and retook the lead right away and never let the Republic get another headwind.

After tonight's games the USSF will hold the draw for the rest of the USOC tomorrow  The 16 remaining teams will be placed into a bracket 'March Madness' style, and that will dictate the games from now until the final.  The Round of 16 games will be played May 23rd & 24th.  That means that Colorado will have a match every weekend and every midweek from May 6th to June 3rd, a total of 8 matches in that time.  If they win their Round of 16 game the quarterfinals will be June 6th or 7th, which would extend the run to June 10th with 10 games in 39 days.

Finally we get to the league match on Saturday in LA, where the Rapids ran the Galaxy into the ground.  Connor Ronan has a hat-trick of assists in his best game so far as a Rapid and the win moved Colorado into a tie for the last playoff spot (but they lose the tiebreaker to Portland).  Combined with the USOC wins the Rapids are now on a 9 game undefeated streak and have not allowed more than two goals in a game since the season opener in Seattle.  If we can fix our offense (harder now, with the Max news) we might actually be competitive the rest of the season.

OK, this is long enough.  Back tomorrow after the Open Cup draw, plus with any updates on the investigation into Max.  With so many games this month I'll pretty much be writing a game preview, writing a game review, or watching a game every evening so don't expect much analysis beyond that.