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USL eCup: FIFA 20 Edition – Power Rankings, Week 1

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 05/11/20, 11:00AM EDT

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Toros surge to the top thanks to combination of top squad, player ahead of Division play kickoff

One week down, one bracket complete, and all change in the Power Rankings.

Rio Grande Valley FC’s Kembo Kibato proved the ideal combination of player and squad, with Brazil lighting up the scoreboard to sit on top of the points leaderboard after the opening 32-team bracket.

Now the question will be whether he can hold onto his crown in Division A, or if a new challenger can rise to defeat him.

With non-players available for action this week, that could mean taking on those with prime eSports experience, with the New York Red Bulls II’s Mike LaBelle one of those potentially lying in wait.

Things get back underway on Monday night as Division C kicks off for the first time, with Division B and Division A following suit on Tuesday night. Check out the schedule for all the action on Twitch here.  

Austin Bold FC Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC El Paso Locomotive FC Greenville Triumph SC Hartford Athletic
Indy Eleven Las Vegas Lights FC LA Galaxy II Loudoun United FC Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC The Miami FC New England Revolution II
New York Red Bulls II North Carolina FC OKC Energy FC Orange County SC Philadelphia Union II Phoenix Rising FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Real Monarchs SLC
Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic FC Saint Louis FC Tacoma Defiance Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tucson FC Tulsa Union Omaha

Biggest Movers

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary

1 Rio Grande Valley FC
Brazil
Charity: Amigos Del Valle
28
Last Week: 29
The Toros are top of the heap after Kembo Kibato’s heroics, if he can make it two bracket titles in a row it sets up a big chance to be the king of the hill when the tournament wraps up next week.
2 Hartford Athletic
Scotland
Charity: Foodshare
17
Last Week: 19
If Tyreke Johnson had kept things closer with Scotland in Saturday’s final against the Toros, you could have made a case for him being No. 1 thanks to a far less talented squad. Great start from the English winger, though.
3 Austin Bold FC
Italy
Charity: Central Texas Food Bank
5
Last Week: 8
Valeri Saramutin ended the preliminary round on an up-note to claim the Third-Place playoff, but is going to need to be more consistent against high-level competition this week in Division A.
4 OKC Energy FC
Portugal
Charity: Energy Assist Foundation

Last Week: 4
After its Rocket League failure, Energy FC has a game and a squad (Portugal) much more to its liking. Frank Lopez looked pretty sharp on the sticks for the most-part as well.
5 Union Omaha
Norway
Charity: Omaha Foundation

Last Week: 5
Doesn’t appear to matter what game we’re going to play, Union Omaha’s going to be a contender. A win against Las Vegas on Tuesday would set up a must-see rematch against Energy FC as well.
6 Saint Louis FC
France
Charity: STL Area Food Bank
1
Last Week: 7
Les Fleurs-de-Lis et Les Bleus? C’est magnifique. There’s a reason Scott Stewart thinks this combination is going to end up among the major contenders with the synergy the city and country bring.
7 New York Red Bulls II
Chile
Charity: Wings For Life
5
Last Week: 2
The Red Bulls II flamed out in the Quarterfinals last week, but if eMLS loanee Mike LaBelle is on the sticks this week then they could get very hot, very fast.
8 Greenville Triumph SC
Poland
Charity: United Way of Greenville County
8
Last Week: 16
There was an element of luck to Greenville’s getting to the Quarterfinals after coming away with victory despite Charlotte recording 10 shots on goal to no avail. It will be interesting to see if Triumph SC can find more with Poland this week, or whether it’s time for relegation.
9 Charlotte Independence
Germany
Charity: Hemby Children's Hospital
6
Last Week: 3
The Independence got pretty unlucky to be eliminated in the Round of 16 by Greenville, and now they’ve got the bad luck of a draw against the Red Bulls II and a potential eMLS pro waiting for them to kick off this week.
10 Phoenix Rising FC
Netherlands
Charity: Local First Arizona

Last Week: 10
Of any team last week, Phoenix gave Rio Grande Valley a game. They might be in Division B to start things off, but from here it looks like they’re a favorite to move up to Division A in Week 3.
11 The Miami FC
England
Charity: Communities in Schools - Miami
6
Last Week: 17
Playing as England, Miami FC’s Romario Williams got knocked off by the auld enemy in Week 1’s Quarterfinals. Now they have to get past STLFC and France to avoid relegation to Division B in Week 3.
12 Las Vegas Lights FC
Uruguay
Charity: Mayor's Fund of Las Vegas
18
Last Week: 30
Lights FC showed a fine up-tick in form from its Rocket League performance to settle into Division A for Week 2. It’s going to be a challenge to get past Union Omaha and Norway to retain that place, though.
13 Philadelphia Union II
Spain
Charity: City Team - Chester
4
Last Week: 9
The Union II had Division A in its sights before it coughed up a lead late against the Red Bulls II in the Round of 16. Redemption should be the goal this week, and with Spain as their squad it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this group in Saturday’s Final.
14 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Belgium
Charity: Pittsburgh Food Bank
18
Last Week: 32
The Hounds looked much sharper on the sticks after the Rocket League debacle, but it did feel like they underperformed with a squad as strong as Belgium in getting eliminated by Union Omaha.
15 Sacramento Republic FC
Mexico
Charity: Raley's Food for Families
7
Last Week: 22
Republic FC pulled off El Tri’s usual trick of getting to the Round of 16 and then getting eliminated. At least they’re safe from relegation this week – like everyone in Liga MX for the next five years – as they await the winner of Colorado Springs and Tampa Bay.
16 Real Monarchs SLC
Switzerland
Charity: RSL Foundation
12
Last Week: 28
The Monarchs did about what you’d expect them to in Week 1, defeating Turkey before falling to a powerful French side. With an avenue to the Quarterfinals against either El Paso or Memphis, they could be in the promoted group to Division A next week.
17 Orange County SC
Cameroon
Charity: OCSC Community Foundation
6
Last Week: 11
Losing a one-goal thriller to Phoenix and the Netherlands in the opening round wasn’t a poor result, but the bad news for OCSC is it’ll have to go through Rising FC to earn promotion if it can beat Charleston in the opening round of Week 2.
18 Birmingham Legion FC
Ireland
Charity: Birmingham Strong Fund
5
Last Week: 23
If Legion FC can maintain the form that gave it a two-goal lead against third-place winner Austin for a full 90 minutes in Division C against Louisville on Monday night, it could be on its way to earning the bracket title and a move up next week.
19 North Carolina FC
Turkey
Charity: NCFC Youth Financial Aid Fund
8
Last Week: 27
Dre Fortune’s credentials got a big thumbs up from Kelsi Steele as the draw was being made. He’ll need all of those skills to repair NCFC’s gaming reputation after it got swept in the group stage of Rocket League.
20 El Paso Locomotive FC
Argentina
Charity: El Pasoans Fighting Hunger
2
Last Week: 18
Locomotive FC has all the ingredients to make a run in Division B this week, especially with Argentina as its squad. The question is who’ll step up to the mark to make Messi and co. sing after last week’s elimination by Scotland?
21 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Colombia
Charity: Feeding Tampa Bay

Last Week: 21
The Rowdies almost had Union Omaha right where they wanted them until a late turnaround lifted Los Buhos to victory. Tampa Bay’s eSports players could come to the fore this week to take aim at Division A.
22 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Paraguay
Charity: Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado
3
Last Week: 25
The Switchbacks got to overtime before being eliminated in the Round of 32 by the Philadelphia Union II, but this looks like an offensively challenged side that’s going to have to be buttoned up defensively to make a dent against Tampa Bay.
23 Charleston Battery
Greece
Charity: MUSC Foundation
11
Last Week: 12
The Battery’s Rocket League success didn’t carry over to FIFA, although it was a pretty well-contested game against Saint Louis FC. A matchup with Orange County to avoid relegation to Division C to open up Week 2 is going to be a challenge, though.
24 LA Galaxy II
Sweden
Charity: Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

Last Week: 24
Los Dos couldn’t get in sync with Sweden and it resulted in defeat to Las Vegas Lights FC in their USL eCup debut. I’m not quire sure who’s going to be the favorite when they meet Tacoma Defiance and Slovenia for promotion to Division B on Monday.
25 New England Revolution II
Russia
Charity: Revolution Charitable Foundation
6
Last Week: 31
The Revolution II are in the opening round of Division B, but if John “JKO” Oliveira takes over the controllers for this week they could be a dark horse for promotion and a big move up these rankings.
26 FC Tulsa
United States
Charity: Tulsa Area United Way
12
Last Week: 14
Sad to say, Tulsa just looked overmatched against OKC Energy FC and Portugal to kick off its USL eCup. They’ve got a much more manageable contest against Indy Eleven and Cote D’Ivoire in Division C on Monday with a chance at promotion on the line.
27 FC Tucson
Czech Republic
Charity: United Way - Tucson
26
Last Week: 1
A 5-0 defeat to open the tournament didn’t look good at the time, but then Rio Grande Valley FC thumped everyone else on its way to the title. A drop was in order, but this week is more likely to tell us how good Tucson is at this game.
28 Tacoma Defiance
Slovenia
Charity: Big Brothers, Big Sisters - Puget Sound
22
Last Week: 6
The Defiance got rocked by Pittsburgh and Belgium in the opening round last week, and having Slovenia isn’t exactly giving them a top-notch option squad-wise. Can they get past Los Dos on Monday?
29 Louisville City FC
Wales
Charity: One Louisville COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund
9
Last Week: 20
Getting the lowest seed available in Wales wasn’t ideal, but there were still some nice moments from Magnus Rasmussen in defeat to Charlotte. They get a matchup with another team with something to prove in Birmingham on Monday.
30 Indy Eleven
Côte D’Ivoire
Charity: Community Health Network Foundation
15
Last Week: 15
Rash challenges left Indy and Cote D’Ivoire with only nine men at the end of its 5-1 drubbing by Miami FC and England, they’ll need a big rebound against Tulsa on Monday night.
31 Memphis 901 FC
Austria
Charity: Mid South Food Bank
5
Last Week: 26
Things just didn’t go to plan for 901 FC against Sacramento, which then proceeded to get thumped in its next outing. Now they have to face Argentina and El Paso with relegation to Division C on the line.
32 Loudoun United FC
Denmark
Charity: Tourism & Hospitality Relief Fund
19
Last Week: 13
Loudoun’s scoreless defeat against the Red Bulls II did not spark any sense of optimism. A matchup with Tucson offers a first chance at redemption on Monday night.

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