🇺🇸 State of the Union: All-MLS Concacaf semi, Higuaín stats, VAR change | OneFootball

Good morning, USA! Here is the top news coming out of the country, keeping you up to date on everything you need to know to get your Wednesday started.

Concacaf semis to make history

All eyes should be on Seattle this evening, with the Sounders hosting NYCFC in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Who will take advantage?

MLS moving VAR to a centralized location

In an effort to bring more consistency to the league, MLS will now make VAR decisions from a centralized location.

According to NYCFC play-by-play analyst Glenn Crooks through a source, this is set to start beginning on April 23.

Crooks claims in the video below that MLS ran tests over the weekend during two games at an Atlanta-based site, which has not been confirmed as the permanent hub.

Nearly half a million watch the NWSL’s SoCal Clásico

It’s no secret that women’s football is on the rise and viewers on Saturday were treated to a beauty of a match.

According to Meg Linehan, 456,000 people tuned in to watch the San Diego Wave take down Angel City 4-2 in the NWSL Challenge Cup’s group stage, in large part thanks to an Alex Morgan brace.

The match drew nearly four times the viewers as the Los Angeles Galaxy – Portland Timbers clash on Sunday night, who only pulled in 123,000 people on FS1.

🦅 Americans Abroad

Sergiño Dest has not travelled to Frankfurt as Barcelona enter the Europa League quarter-finals, with AS saying the USMNT full-back could return on 18 April against Cádiz.

Dest missed out on the last three games of World Cup qualifying with a biceps femoris muscle injury.

📊 A numbers game

On Tuesday, the father of Gonzalo Higuaín claimed that the 34-year-old has told him he will retire at the end of the MLS season, though the striker claims it’s all a big misunderstanding.

Anyway, the Argentine has been harshly criticised since arriving in MLS 18 months ago but 15 goals and nine assists in 44 games for the club is a rather decent production.

Still, he hasn’t been able to help Inter Miami scale great heights; with Higuaín has been on the pitch, the Herons have stumbled to a record of 13 wins, six draws, and 25 losses.

👕 Throwback rack

The hair. The contrasting sky blue and green. The endless swag. Oh yeah. We love Carlos Valderrama in the 1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny home kit.

Before dissolving in 2002, the Mutiny won the first-ever MLS Supporter’s Shield wearing these beauties.

📆 What’s going on today?

There’s the Concacaf Champions League tonight but that isn’t all!

Before then, tune into the Uefa Champions League, with Christian Pulisic expected to feature for Chelsea against Real Madrid.

US Open Cup second-round action also continues!