I Just Got My Degree From The Techniques In Alcohol Management Academy, But My First Priority Is The News

-One of the Twin Cities favorite sons, Manny Lagos, has retired from the beautiful game. We loved Manuel around these parts. Good luck amigo.
-Big Apple Soccer have the scoop today that Metrostars keeper Jonny Walker is on his way to Columbus, and the Mets will sign Tony Meola as their backup to Zach Wells, but Metro will have to work that out with Kansas City first.
-I was reading a little blurb about Chicago's new stadium in Bridgeview, and after months and months of Chicago team officials insisting that the stadium would open "next spring", the actual date is now set for July 1 2006. Liars.
-Paranese bombed Chivas of Guadalajara 3-0 last night in Copa Libertadores semifinal first leg showdown. I am still pissed that Chivas is missing 7 guys from their team due to the Confed Cup. The MFM should have seen this coming and sorted it out before it came to this. Now they look like fools. Leg two is next week in Guadalajara, but fat chance at a comeback.
-Remember at the end of the USA v Costa Rica match last month when Douglas Segeira cheap shotted Steve Cherundolo with that nasty slide tackle to the nether regions? Well yesterday FIFA gave Dougy boy a 3 match ban for it! Good to know. Anyone remember what Rafa Marquez got for the headbutt-punch-kick combo he laid on Cobi Jones? He deserved about a year for that one.
-USA roster for the Gold Cup.
-Colorado Rapids have released a list of their Ten Year team. You know, the best eleven players from the teams first ten years of existence. As I have stated before on this page, their first 11 is quite good, but that second team is a frickin joke.
-The draw for the initial rounds of next seasons Champions League have taken place. Have a look-see.

They Call It "Motion Video"

Special thanks to Anthony for pointing out these great video interviews via ESPN in the Motion Video department!
The latest are from: Alexi Lalas, Tommy Smyth, Tony Sanneh, etc etc.
I was trying to find a direct link to the Motion Video section, but its not happening right now, so just go to the USA section of ESPN Soccernet and look to the mid-lower far right hand section of the page. Its all right there. Go Nuts.

Hiccup.......Hiccup.......Hiccup.......News

-US Soccer UK has a big scoop this morning - Eddie Lewis has left Preston to sign with Leeds! The Leeds website has some words from the coach on Eddie.
-Sao Paolo executed perfectly last night in their home leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinal beating River Plate 2-0. Goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni scored on a PK for his 13th goal of the year!!! The keeper with 13! Huge! The second leg is next week in Buenos Aires.
-Paranaense plays Chivas de Guadalajara in their first leg of the other semifinal tonight in Brazil.
-The weekend of August 13th sees the kickoff of the next English Premier League season. Here are the games for that first week:
Arsenal v Newcastle
Aston Villa v Bolton
Everton v Man United
Fulham v Birmingham
Man City v West Brom
Middlesbrough v Liverpool
Portsmouth v Spurs
Sunderland v Charlton
West Ham v Blackburn
Wigan v Chelsea
-Mexico and Brazil both played their games to draws and advanced to the semi-finals of that bogus Confederations Cup. (By the way - Chivas is missing 7 players from their Libertadores squad who were forced to play at the Confed by Sepp Blatter under threat of suspension). Mexico 0-0 Greece & Brazil 2-2 Japan were the scores.
So the semifinals stack up line this:
Sat June 25 - Germany v Brazil - 11am central live on Fox Soccer Channel
Sun June 26 - Mexico v Argentina - 11am central live on Fox Soccer Channel
-In Wednesday night MLS games: New England stuffed Columbus 3-1 at Crew Stadium. The Rev looked like a whole team again last night. Noonan bagged two, both from Clint Dempsey assisteses, and then Nacogdoches himself scored on another trademark flying diving header. Dallas 2-1 Chivas USA, & RSL 1-1 LA. Jamie Watson scored for RSL just like I said he would.
-The Boston Globe has an excellent feature story on ESPN Champions League announcer Derek Rae. I wish he could do more games for USA and MLS. Great Scot: Rae on top of world
-One of the great looking USA prospects at the World Youth Championship was Marvell Wynne. The Associated Press has a feature on him. Baseball in his blood, but soccer is the love for Marvell Wynne
-Canada have announced their Gold Cup roster
-In addition to playing LA at the HDC, it looks like Real Madrid will also play Chivas of Guadalajara in Chicago at Soldier Field on July 16, as part of a double header with Chicago taking on Columbus.

Roberto Duran Was Supposed To Make An Appearance At The Minnesota Thunder Match Last Saturday Night, But He Was A No Show. That's Not News, This Is.

-Jimmy Conrad stops by to show once again that not all athletes are thick as a brick. More important: Defender or Keeper? Jimmy is also known to be funny and sexy, but I wouldn't know about that.
-Did swollen heads play a roll in the USA's 3-1 loss to Italy yesterday in the round of 16 at the U20 World Youth Championship? We will never know, but give the credit to Italy for making a halftime adjustment and then making it count. That kid Pelle sure can dribble the ball, and after several old duffer style shots he really connected with a beauty. At least some MLS teams get their players back earlier than expected. Have a nice flight home today.
-Young master soccerer Freddy Adu sums up his thoughts on his performance at the WYC: "I was terrible in this tournament." Well said dude. AP rips him a new one as well.
-Other WYC scores yesterday: Japan 0-1 Morocco, Brazil 1-0 Syria, & China 2-3 Germany
-Today's games: Nigeria v Ukraine, Netherlands v Chile, Colombia v Argentina, & Spain v Turkey
-Cory Gibbs had surgery to clean up some minor meniscus damage to his left knee and will start rehabing right away in an attempt to be ready for the start of Feyenoord's pre-season training in mid-July.
-Details are beginning to emerge on who is going to be the new owners of DC United. The always quality Steven Goff of the Washington Post has the story: United To Name Buyers
-Minnesota Thunder midfielder Jeff Matteo was again named to the First Division team of the week.
-Tonite tonite tonite! Copa Libertadores Semifinal #1: Sao Paulo v River Plate (first leg).
-Germany and Argentina tied 2-2 at the Confed Cup. Kevin Kuranyi & Gerald Asamoah scored for Germany. Juan Riquelme & Esteban Cambiasso for Argentina.
-The other Confed game yesterday had Tunisia beating Australia 2-0. Today its Mexico v Greece & Brazil v Japan.
-Manchester United has officially signed Park Ji-sung from PSV. He's a pretty good player.
-Top MLS Goal Scorers:
8 Jeff Cunningham - Colorado
7 Carlos Ruiz - FC Dallas
6 Landon Donovan - Los Angeles
6 Nate Jaqua - Chicago
6 Jamie Moreno - DC United
6 Taylor Twellman - New England
6 Clint Dempsey - New England
6 Christian Gomez - DC United
6 Amado Guevara - Metrostars
6 Eddie Johnson - FC Dallas
6 Pat Noonan - New England
6 Ronnie O'’Brien - FC Dallas
-Athletic Bilbao's left sided defender Asier Del Horno has signed with Chelsea.
-A former phenom returns to his African roots by Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune
-Rumors are swirling that Jonny Walker is on the outs at Metrostars and is about to be released. Opening the door for a return of Tony Meola. Tony shaves his legs.
-It is looking like the Real Madrid v LA Galaxy match will be played July 18 at HDC. But its not set in stone yet.

I Bet It's Great Fishing Weather, But I Am Gonna Do The News Instead

-Over in little Dutch Boy land at the U20 World Championship, while the USA was winning the group of death, how did the rest of the CONCACAF teams do? Canada, Honduras & Panama combined record was 0-8-1. Not good.
-Make sure you watch those USA boys against Italy today
-Other U20 WYC games today:
Morocco v Japan
Brazil v Syria
China v Germany
-Not surprisingly, Jeff Cunningham was the MLS Player of the Week. He got 3 against the stinky Goats, and 1 earlier in the week against Galaxy. His team won 'em both. I am not a big fan of his playing, but I am a strong proponent of having him on the field if he is on your squad, cuz this is what he does.
-MLS midweek matches tomorrow:
Columbus v New England
FC Dallas v Chivas USA
Real Salt Lake v Los Angeles
-A two great looking MLS TV games coming up this weekend:
New England v Metrostars at 630pm central time on FSC from Gillette Stadium - Are the Rev slipping? Are the Metro firing up?
San Jose v Los Angeles at 9pm central time on ESPN2 from Spartan Stadium - the return of Landycakes to the city he abandon! They are already booing him and the game isn't for 4 more days. Ya gotta love fans who hold a grudge.
-Soccernet has been posting a weekly USL wrap up from the previous weekends games. I like it. Here is the latest.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

A totally meaningless tournament which takes place in the USA
Starts July 6 & finishes July 17

Group A
Columbia
Honduras
Panama
Trinidad & Tobago

Group B
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
United States

Group C
Guatemala
Jamaica
Mexico
South Africa

See the full American TV viewing schedule

USA group stage matches:
(All first round matches shown live central time on Telefutura)
Thu Jul 7 945pm v Cuba from Qwest Field in Seattle
Sat Jul 9 345pm v Canada from Qwest Field in Seattle
Tue Jul 12 605pm v Costa Rica from Gillette Stadium in Boston

News For Straight Women, Gay Men, And All Others Too

-U20 World Youth Championship - the group stage is over! Let the real games begin.
FIFA names the 14 best players from the 1st stage: Fourteen nuggets in Netherlands
Its pretty damn cool that our boys won the toughest group, over Argentina and Germany. They also did not concede a goal.
The best players for the USA so far have been: Marvell Wynne, Benny Feilhaber, Freddy Adu, Chad Barrett, and Nathan Sturgis.
So here are the next two rounds of matches:
Tue June 21
USA v Italy
Morocco v Japan
Brazil v Syria
China v Germany
Wed June 22
Nigeria v Ukraine
Netherlands v China
Columbia v Argentina
Spain v Turkey
Fri June 24
USA-Ita v Mor-Jap
Bra-Syr v Chn-Ger
Sat June 25
Nig-Ukr v Net-Chl
Col-Arg v Spa-Tur
-Confederations Cup - Mexico took the legs out from under Brazil 1-0 yesterday once they stopped diving and cheap shotting (their specialty sometimes). Jared Borgetti scored with another of his trademark flying headers. Borgetti, keeper Oswaldo Sanchez, and winger Ramone Morales all played fantastic.
After the match, Brazil's coach announced that Ronaldo will return to the team in the coming months. They sure could have used his amazing talent yesterday. But that still won't help with the Roque Jr. problem. Wow, is that guy terrible or what?!?!?! He couldn't get a start in MLS even with a semi-famous name!
Other matches: Germany 3-0 Tunisia & Argentina 4-2 Australia. The final Sunday match was Greece 0-1 Japan.
-African World Cup Qualifying scores:
Sat June 18
Senegal 2-2 Togo
Zambia 2-1 Mali
Burkina Faso 2-0 Congo
South Africa 0-2 Ghana
Uganda 1-0 Cape Verde Islands
Gabon 3-0 Rwanda
Nigeria 1-1 Angola
Kenya 0-0 Morocco
Malawi 1-3 Botswana
Sun June 19
Liberia 0-2 Republic of Congo
Cameroon 1-0 Libya
Ivory Coast 2-0 Egypt
Algeria 2-2 Zimbabwe
-MLS Week 12 Scores:
Chicago 1-1 Kansas City
Metrostars 3-2 Columbus
DC United 2-0 New England
FC Dallas 1-0 Los Angeles
San Jose 3-0 Real Salt Lake
Chivas USA 1-3 Colorado
-I kept screaming for Colorado to get Jeff Cunningham onto the field more. He made a lot of substitution and scored almost every time. He got the start yesterday against the worst team in the history of MLS, Chivas USA, and only scored 3.
-David Stokes continues to be terrible.
-Preki!! - what else can I say!
-Who woulda guessed: DC's Josh Gros was a Marine! (I suppose the hair cut was a bit of a giveaway)
-Some great MLS goals this past weekend: Buddle, Cornell Glen, two from Razov, Preki, Jaime Moreno!, Kelly Gray, Mark Chung, & Cunninghams 3! Hit this page to see em all
-Real Salt Lake as finally made it official and joined their fellow newcomers Chivas in the "We Are An Awful Team" category.
-You should listen to the full game highlights (or better yet the full game) for San Jose cuz they have the mighty Ray Hudson on the microphone giving us some fantastic stuff. He calls Kelly Gray an Intimidating Torpedo, and Wade Barrett The Elastic Man. I love Ray.
-Jamie Watson needs to get more playing time for Real Salt Lake. The Old Trio of Washington, Kries, and Mathis is not the answer.
-Brian Ching played and scored for the San Jose reserves this weekend. Looks like he is almost ready to return.
-Our old boy Jonesy drinks more of the Purple Kool-Aid and again climbs aboard the good ship MLS. MLS Owners Face Thinking Cap Time. "They want ways to pump up product, maybe even bending salary rules to get marquee players." By Grahame L. Jones, Los Angeles Times Saturday June 18
-And lastly, Totti got married - straight women and gay men commence weeping.

Mostly Scores But Some News Too

-West Bromwich Albion will play both LA Galaxy & Chivas USA in preseason exhibitions. The match against LA is at HDC on July 20 & Chivas in Santa Barbara on the 26th.
-In yesterdays Confederations Cup matches, Brazil gut punched Greece, 3-0 (so much for Greece being a defensive machine!), and Mexico came from behind to beat Japan 2-1. Adriano, Robinho & Juninho scored for Brazil. Atsushi Yanagisawa scored the lone goal for Japan, while Zinha & Jose Fonseca scored for Mexico.
This weekends games: Germany v Tunisia & Australia v Argentina on Saturday, Brazil v Mexico & Greece v Japan on Sunday.
You can see that Mexico v Brazil match on Sunday at 1:30pm central on Univision.
-Q & A with USA U20 defender Marvell Wynne via US Soccer. This kid has some serious potential.
-Last nights concluding Copa Libertadores quarterfinal match saw River Plate beat Banfield 3-2, winning the series 4-3 on aggregate. River Plate will now face Sao Paulo in the two-leg semifinal. Chivas of Guadalajara plays Atletico Paranaense in the other semifinal. The matches will be played June 22 y 29.
Boca had a terrible time the previous night, not only did they get knocked out cold by Chivas, but a fight broke out on the field, fans threw all kinds of stuff from the stands, and their coach spit in a Chivas players face, then resigned in disgrace! Bummer dudes.
-English Premier League kicks off the 05-06 season on August 13.
-Defender Mauricio Pellegrino has been released by Liverpool.
-U20 World Youth Championship. No matches were played on Thursday, but Friday and Saturday bring the end Group play. Here's what's instore: (Columbia, Spain, China & home team Holland have already qualified for the second round.)
Friday 17th
Turkey v Ukraine
China v Panama
Spain v Honduras
Morocco v Chile
Saturday 18th
Japan v Australia
Netherlands v Benin
Argentina v Germany
USA v Egypt
Italy v Canada
Columbia v Syria
Brazil v S Korea
Nigeria v Switzerland
By the way, the Benin team nickname is Baby Squirrels!
-MLS Matches on Saturday:
Chicago v Kansas City 3pm central on ESPN2 (come join me at the Nomad to watch it)
Metrostars v Columbus
DC United v New England 6:30pm on FSC
FC Dallas v Los Angeles
San Jose v Real Salt Lake 9pm on HDNet
Chivas v Colorado

Attention College Students - You Must Consolidate Your Student Loans By July 1. But Read This News First.

-Ooooooooooh Mama Mia!!!! Inter Forza! Neruzurri Forza! Glory Glory Glory. Inter 1 - Roma 0 last night for the Coppa Italia (3-0 aggregate). I am happy! So are they!
-Crabby old Grahame Jones of the LA Times seems to have come around a little on American soccer and MLS. Today he has a nice scoop, announcing that not just Chelsea, but also AC Milan and Real Madrid will play matches in the USA next month against MLS teams!
Addition: Sum United Marketing, the promoters, have now sent out a press release, with game dates included.
-Confederations Cup:
Argentina 2-1 Tunisia
Germany 4-3 Australia
Today it's the Brazilian offense (not on display two weeks ago vs Argentina) vs the Greek Defense. A possible classic. And also Japan vs Mexico. I hope the Mexi's blast em!
-Scores from the World Youth Championship:
Japan 1-1 Benin
Australia 0-3 Netherlands
Canada 0-2 Colombia
Italy 1-2 Syria
Switzerland 0-1 Brazil
Nigeria 1-2 South Korea
-Copa Libertadoes: Paranaense beat Santos 2-0 and advance to the semifinals with 5-2 aggregate win. Chivas of Guadalajara will be their opponent next Wednesday.
In the 3rd quarterfinal matchup. Tigres beat Sao Paulo 2-1, but lost 5-2 on aggregate. Sao Paulo will face the winner of River Plate and Banfield who face off tonite tied at 1-1. River is the home team tonite, so bet heavily on them to advance.
-Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak! Hoooooooooooooohck! Choooooooooooooke! Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarf! Galaxy lose again on the road! What a bunch of head cases! This time its mighty Joe Cannon, the best keeper in MLS by a mile, and his Colorodeons who do it 1-0 while finishing the game with only 9 men. YES! 9 MEN beat LA! Mastroeni red carded in the 18th minute, and then Melamed in the 60th.
-DC finally got some goals and outlasted Chicago 4-3 in what must have been a very fun match to see in person. I love watching Christian Gomez play and he did it again. But why on earth does DC pay Stokes! He is the worst. Almost every defender in the First Division is better than this guy!
-Laurent Robert has left Newcastle for Portsmouth.
-The Dallas Morning News has a very cool panoramic view of the new stadium in Frisco. I still cannot believe they named it Pizza Hut Park! That is awful, and I am not sure why, but it sounds kinda low rent. The one question that remains with me in this whole deal, is why no roof? Its Dallas. It gets real hot! The roof would be great, and it sure works in LA for noise.

Buzz Carrick and The 3rd Degrees - New Wave Savants? No. A Great Fan Site, With A Great Don Garber Story.

3rd Degree is a top notch FC Dallas fan site always ripe with insider stuff. Yesterday the man behind the site, Buzz Carrick, was present at a press conference in Dallas with MLS Commish Donny "I love the Clash" Garber! Buzz provides us with a little of his insight and a "full" transcript of the event. It's pretty damn good reading (as the site always is, even if Buzz never did that interview for me with Dallas asst coach Marco Feruzzi like he twice promised me he would).

US Open Cup 1st Round Scores

Last night all the first round matches were played.
The scores:
Richmond Kickers Future 3-0 Baltimore Colts
Ocean City Barons 3-0 Greek American Atlas
Roma 5-2 Azzuri FC
Des Moines Menace 1-1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (Des Moines wins 4-2 on pks)
Reggae Boyz 4-2 Cincinnati Kings
Chicago Fire Premier 4-1 AAC Eagles
El Paso Patriots 3-1 Orange County Blue Star
Sonoma County Sol 2-2 Salinas Valley Samba (Salinas wins 6-5 on pks)

And here are the 2nd Round matchups, to be played June 29
The Minnesota Thunder have a home match with the always tough Chicago Fire Premier.

US Open Cup

1st Round matches are being played coast to coast this evening. See the full line up here.
The draw for the 2nd round was done last week, and my Minnesota Thunder will play the winner of Chicago Fire Premier and AAC Eagles (also from the Chicago area).
That 2nd rounder will be in St Paul at the Jimmy on June 29 (two weeks from today).

Al Franken Is In The News As A Possible Senatorial Campaign In Minnesota Approaches. That's Not News. This Is News.

-Its the final match for Coppa Italia 2005 tonight! Inter v Roma at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. Inter has 2 glorious away goals from the first match. I am excited. Go Nerazurri Go!
-As I watched the 0-0 USA Germany match yesterday (U20 World Youth Championship) I couldn't tell if it was as dreadful looking as my eyes were telling me it was. The first 35 minutes were lively, which made for great viewing. Then with 10 minutes to go in the first half the air seemed to go out. And the second half picked up right where the first half ended until Germany attempted to make some real threats at the end, but nothing much came of that either. One thing though - I had been to the dentist and had work done which filled me with pain. Maybe that was it. Good luck USA v Egypt!
-In other U20 WYC news - Argentina beat Egypt 2-0. So now the Group D standings look like this:
team - win - draw - loss - goal diff - points
Germany 1 - 1 - 0 - +2 - 4
USA 1 - 1 - 0 - +1 - 4
Argentina 1 - 0 - 1 - +1 - 3
Egypt 0 - 0 - 2 - -4 - 0
Get all the info on the whole shebang from FIFA's special website.
-San Jose has picked up Kelly Gray from Chicago. Gray can play midfield or defense.
-In the second leg Copa Libertadores match last night, Chivas of Guadalajara held Boca Juniors to a 0-0 draw and advanced to the semifinal with a 4-0 aggregate victory! Tonight it will be Santos v Paranaense & Tigres v Sao Paulo for 2 more spots in the semi's.
-You know the FIFA rankings are a joke when Germany falls out of the top 20.
-Newcastle have signed Scott Parker from Chelsea, who had signed him from Charlton, but rarely showed him the field.
-Atlanta Silverbacks have fired coach David Vaudreuil. During his 39 games in charge the team won 17, drew 6, and lost 16.
-According to Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News, Quakes' Owners Doing Team More Harm Than Good. I would have to say that I agree with her, but if their intent is to sell the team to Mexicans who want to gut the roster, then why not empty the cupboards now while the items on the shelf still have some value.
-LA Galaxy play in Colorado tonight. I think this will be the start of 4 in a row on the road for them. Can they win any of 'em? History says no. Can history be rewritten?. Steve Sampson better hope so.
-And DC United is at Chicago tonight. DC hasn't scored since Tet, if I remember correctly. Come on! This would be a great game if both teams played well.
-West Ham have signed Roy Carroll from Man U.
-We all know talk is cheap (just read the crap I write every day), but I think it was good for Tim Leiweke of Metrostars owners AEG to say this about the New Jersey team: "We haven't given our best shot and I'm embarrassed by that."
-Rob Hughes tells the international version of the Freddy Adu is a savior story: Aging Saviors Failed, So U.S. Tries Adu
-Its not soccer, but its pretty cool - Asafa Powell from Jamaica has broken the 3 year old record in the 100 meters. Its now down to 9.77 seconds!
-The weekly "All-American XI" on Big Soccer is always fun to read. Don't know why I haven't pimped it out to you sooner. Here's Week 11.

The Hands Of Stone Will Be There!!

This Saturday night my beloved Minnesota Thunder are at home to take on Puerto Rico in a First Division showdown. But the real main event may be the fact that none other than Roberto Duran is going to be making an appearance at the match! Why Roberto Duran you ask? I have no idea!

Come All Ye Joyriders And Moonpiers, Let Us Gather Round And Ponderously Support The News

-Let me quickly address this whole "Micro-chip in the ball" dealio. IT WILL NOT WORK! The rule states that the entire ball must cross the goal line for it to be a score. How in the hell will a chip know when its all the way across. And how can they possible set sensors in and around a goal to read the chip when you have balls flying around nets all game long that will be banging into the sensors and knocking them out of whack. Who ever is behind this idea has never had a garage door opener that wont work because the stupid sensors are slightly out of alignment.
-3 Mexico players, Alberto Medina, Ramon Morales & Omar Bravo, all of Guadalajara Chivas, are being threatened with suspension by Seppy Blatter if they choose to play for their club this week in the Copa Libertadores rather than with their country in the Confederations Cup. What a frickin mess. I don't know the right answer, but the Copa Libertadores seems a lot more prestigious then a fake tournament set up by FIFA for purely financial benefit. But we all know Sepp rules with some bizarro book of ideas.
-What does this say about San Jose? Alexi Lalas, who was hired to stabilize the team during the turmoil caused by having no real meaningful ownership, has left the team and been named General Manager of Metrostars. The great thing about this for Mets fans is that they no longer have to put up with the moronically arrogant Nick Sakiewicz being in charge. Nicki has been moved to a "corporate position". And of course we can expect an announcement on a new Mets stadium within 7-14 days (a brand new window - seeing as the old line was 30-60 or 60-90 days for the last two years). Anyway you slice it though, this really does spell doom for the team in San Jose.
Here is the exact transcript of the media conference call introducing Lalas in his new position
-USA plays Germany today in the U20 World Youth Championship. Below are some really interesting numbers from US Soccer about the USA's performance throughout the years in this tournament:
5- This is the fifth time the USA has won their opening match in the FIFA World Youth Championship as the U20s also secured three points from the get go in 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2003. In all four of those previous tournaments the USA failed to get points in their second match as they lost each time, but in each instance they advanced to the second round.
11- The USA has faced UEFA teams 11 times in the World Youth Championship, coming away with only two wins, eight losses and one draw. One of the two victories was against East Germany in Saudi Arabia in 1999, a 2-0 win.
12- Number of international wins USA head coach Sigi Schmid has compiled in 13 games for a 12-1-0 record since taking over the U20s in November of 2004. The team’s only loss was to South Korea in South Korea earlier this March.
The first two stats don't bode well for the USA today against Germany, but the Sigi factor could turn the tide. I think it will be one hell of a match.
-Remember Davor Suker's amazing performance for Croatia at the 98 World Cup. He played brilliantly even though he was forced to wear that red and white table cloth for a team jersey. Since retiring from the beautiful game Sukor has become a player agent. But this weekend his business parther was killed execution style. The belief is that his partner was also a loan shark and his hard hand tactics caught up with him underworld style.
-Petr Cech of Chelsea was named Czech Repulic Player Of The Year.
-Will Pizza Hut really be the name on the new Dallas Stadium? Thats kinda depressing.
-Not surprisingly, Zach Wells is named the MLS Player Of The Week for week 11. That was a no brainer.
-Some potentially good news for KC: TWO GROUPS HAVE MADE BIDS TO BUY TEAM - Hunt receives local offers

Copa Libertadores Quarterfinals

Second leg matches this week:

14th Boca Juniors v Guadalajara (Guada leads 4-0)
15th Santos v Atletico Paranaese (Athletico leads 3-2, Santos with 2 away goals)
15th Tigres UNAL v Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo leads 4-0, all away goals!)
16th River Plate v Banfield (tied 1-1, River with an away goal)

Unsequestered News For You

-Inter are a step away from their first trophy since '89. They beat Roma 2-0 at the Olimpico. The mighty Adriano scored both. The second and final leg is Wednesday in Milan at San Siro. But Adriano, Javier Zanetti, and Juan Sebastian Veron will miss the game to play for their countries in the Confederations Cup.
-Feature Story in the LA Times by Grahame L. Jones on Landon Donovan:
Man Of Steel - Donovan has played almost every minute of every World Cup qualifier, but more is expected of him.
-Teddy Sheringham resigned for one year with West Ham.
-Non soccer article from the main man: Race For Athletes Makes Colleges Dumber And Dumber By Simon Kuper
-Bordeaux have signed Vladimir Smicer away from Liverpool.
-Did you see the footage of El Pescadito rolling his ankle during Dallas' 2-0 loss in Chicago. I have done that before, and its incredibly painful. It hurts me just to watch it.

MLS Single Table For Week 12

25 New England Revolution
24 FC Dallas
23 Los Angeles Galaxy
22 Chicago Fire
17 Kansas City Wizards
17 Metrostars
15 San Jose Earthquakes
13 DC United*
13 Columbus Crew*
11 Real Salt Lake
8 Colorado Rapids*
6 Chivas USA*

*currently out of playoff spots

2005 U20 World Youth Championship in Holland - Match Day 1 Scores

Group F
Brazil 0-0 Nigeria
S Korea 1-2 Switzerland
Group E
Columbia 2-0 Italy
Syria 1-1 Canada
Group D
Argentina 0-1 USA
Germany 2-0 Egypt
Group C
Spain 3-1 Morocco
Honduras 0-7 Chile
Group B
Turkey 1-2 China
Ukraine 3-1 Panama
Group A
Benin 1-1 Australia
Netherlands 2-1 Japan

Rankings & Reasonings for Friday June 10

01 FC Dallas - Last week I said that I just couldn't move a team out of first place when they don't lose. I am a liar! And that rule is now gone. New England has tied three in a row, where Dallas has won three in a row. And they have done it without El Pescadito & the Grown Ass Man (what a great sitcom that would make)! Now can they do it again versus their arch rival in Chicago.
02 New England - Sorry dudes. Three ties in a row is one too many for me. Twellman is now down, but the other menaces are back. They go to KC with something to prove!
03 Los Angeles - Didn't destroy Metro like they should have. Pando and Lando are back for offense, and they need revenge on RSL for the embarrassing loss a couple weeks ago. I smell victory, but not napalm type victory.
04 Chicago - The got screamed at by Sarachin at half time last week for being 2-1 down to Chivas at home. So they put up 4 and gave up 0 in the second half. I am still not convinced he is a head coach. But we shall see this week. Its a biggie!
05 Kansas City - Come on guys. Are you dull or duller? You have the tools, now stop acting like them, and kick some ass. Wolf-man is back.
06 San Jose - Remember when I was rambling on & on about the San Jose defense being too old to compete. Well since the old dudes Weibel & Dayak got injured and the young dudes Robinson & Califf have replaced them, the team has posted 2 shutouts, and allowed only 1 goal in the 3 matches. Not bad. Now they just have to find someone to score when Ching & Mullen are out. People talk about how Cerritos, DeRosario & Moreno are good players - well, I would like to see that.
07 Metrostars - No Eddie Gaven this week, so the guys who are supposed to already be stars need to stand up and get real. And what about Razov? And what about Jonny Walker?
08 DC United - They are playing exactly like they did last year at this time. They had an excuse then, so what is deal now? I say its that lame defense.
09 Real Salt Lake - OK Cleetus, its time for you to do something for your boy Ellinger. He needs you dude. Grow a spine or something. Starting Dante Washington is not the answer. And if they are gonna play Nik Besagno then why not give Jamie Watson a shot up top. At least Watson plays with some cocky fire in him.
10 Colorado - See Columbus review from last week - don't change anything from it
11 Columbus - Still suck
12 Chivas USA - Is that smell what I think it is?

I Love A Good Alien Robot Voice. I Wonder What It Would Sound Like Reading The News?

-Roma have signed Ghanian Samuel Kuffour away from Bayern Munchen. Another defender, Robert Kovac has also signed with Roma. He was with Juve. CORRECTION: Thanks to Bill for kicking me in the head and pointing out that Kovac has signed with Juve, not Roma.
-Ronald Koeman who got the boot from Ajax midway through last season has become the new coach of Benfica.
-Usually these daily updates from US Soccer about their teams leading up to big games is filled with old news & dumb trivia, if any news at all. Surprisingly this page for the U20 team at the World Championship actually has some original info. Sure some of it is goofy shit. But its pretty good stuff for US Soccer.
-Remember the bald headed bone crushing defensive midfielder who played great for Mexico a few years ago? Gerardo Torrado. Have you, like me, been wondering what exactly happened to him? Well he has been playing in Spain for Racing de Santander, but now it looks like he is trying to get back into his national team by signing with Cruz Azul. Good for him. Not so good for other teams offensive playmakers.
-Diti Hamann signed a new one year contract with Liverpool.
-And you probably already heard this, but UEFA are going to give England a 5th Champions League spot for next year so Liverpool can defend their title. The other teams in the tourney are: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, & Everton.
-Ya know, its kind of funny when you think about an MLS club like Colorado, and you know you probably can't name more than 5 or 6 guys of real quality off the top of your head who have ever played for this team. Yet they released their "10th Anniversary Team" this week, and its actually quite a good team of players. On the other hand, they tried to name a "2nd Team" and its a complete joke! Chris Carrieri made the 2nd team list!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahaha.
-Looks like the Crew are going to sign KC midfielder Steven Armstrong. I always liked his play, and wished my Thunder would have picked him up last year when KC dropped him.
-Glenn Davis had a pretty good story the other day in the Houston Chronicle about the ongoing San Jose saga, and a little on the San Antonio & Kansas City saga's too.
-Last years loan of Juan Roman Riquelme from Barca to Villareal has become a full transfer. This is great news for Villareal as they try and do some damage in the Champions League next year for the first time ever. BTW, did you see that free kick JRR slammed home the other night for Argentina in the demolition job they pulled on Brazil? Wow! Why can't he always be that good?
-The other Argentinean star from the big win over Brazil was Hernan Crespo. He is going to be loaned by Chelsea to AC Milan for a second season.
-My favorite young American defender Chad Marshall will not be on the field for Columbus this weekend (one more reason not to watch that hideous looking match up between them and Colorado). "He had a ligament torn off of his finger in the game on Saturday night....." The match was against Chile's Universidad Catolica. That has to hurt badly. I have broken several fingers over the years and know how much that sucks.

So After 5 Rounds Of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, Here's Where We Stand On Points

13 Mexico
12 USA
7 Costa Rica
4 Guatemala
4 Trinidad & Tobago
2 Panama

Wednesdays World Cup Qualifying Scores From Around The World

AFA
N Korea 0-2 Japan
Saudi Arabia 3-0 Uzbekistan
Kuwait 0-4 S Korea
Iran 1-0 Bahrain

CONCACAF
Costa Rica 3-2 Guatemala
Panama 0-3 USA
Mexico 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago

UEFA
Kazakhstan 0-6 Turkey
Finland 0-4 Netherlands
Belarus 0-0 Scotland
Spain 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Greece 0-1 Ukraine
Romania 3-0 Armenia
Denmark 3-1 Albania
Estonia 0-1 Portugal
Czech Republic 6-1 Macedonia
Latvia 1-0 Liechtenstein
Iceland 4-1 Malta
Faroe Islands 0-2 Ireland
Luxembourg 0-4 Slovakia

COMNEBOL
Argentina 3-1 Brazil
Chile 2-1 Venezuela
Colombia 3-0 Ecuador
Paraguay 4-1 Bolivia

My Leg Is Itching. Could It Be The News That Is Causing This?

-Quietly, but not too surprisingly, current team President Kevin Payne and a group of investors are near a purchase of DC United from AEG.
-Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Argentina are all in the Big One.
-One time USA national team defender and current Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo was elected into the US soccer Hall of Fame. He joins this years class also starring Marcelo Balboa, John Harkes & Tab Ramos.
-Rob Hughes: A somber memory at the World Cup parties. A World Cup Qualifying worldwide review, with a splash of cold reality on top.
-How gruesome will it be tomorrow afternoon watching Columbus v Colorado?

Sung To The Tune Of Amazing Grace

3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil, 3 Nil!!

Have You Ever Heard The Music Of Konono No. 1? Well You Really Should, And You Should Also Read This News.

-At an empty stadium in Thailand, Japan defeated North Korea 2-0 to clinch a birth in the 2006 World Cup. North Korea was forced to give up the home match to neutral turf after their fans rioted when they lost to Iran. That cute lil Korean Dictator must be devastated.
-In tonites marquee match-up it's Argentina v Brazil. Road teams have been known to play defensively, so what has Brazil decided to do for this one? Start 4 strikers: Robinho, Adriano, Kaka and Ronaldinho. So much for conservatism. I wish every country in the world played this way.
-According to Soccer America, both Brad Friedel at Blackburn and Marcus Hahnemann at Reading played every minute of every game for their clubs this past season!
-Peru & Uruguay drew 0-0 last night in WCQ.
-Rafa Marquez will not play tonite for Mexico when they take on Trinidad and Tobago in Monterey. He hurt his groin. Too bad Cobi Jones didn't get to inflict the injury.
-The weather forecast for tonites Panama v USA match: Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Sounds lovely.

Coppa Italia Final

Inter v Roma
Sun June 12 - 1st leg in Rome at Olimpico
Wed June 15 - 2nd leg in Milan at San Siro

The Sensational News. Unrockable.

-Two guys not making the trip to Panama with the USA for tomorrows match are Cory Gibbs (bum knee) & Eddie Johnson (bum toe). Oguchi Onyewu also has a knee situation, but he is with the team. Greg Vanney rejoined the roster.
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post has a story on what Bobby Convey has gotten himself in to over the last year. Convey Is Regaining His Status
-Looks like two of the biggest radar dishes in North America are being moved from the swamp lands of New Jersey to a Fairgrounds in Ohio. Huh? Oh, that was funny wasn't it. Yes, yes, John Wolyniec was swapped by Metrostars to Columbus for Ante Razov. That deal either says that Woly has really risen in value or Razov has really dropped in value. I don't know which one it is, or I guess it could be a bit of both.
-In what must be the most uninspiring week in MLS history, Nate Jacqua has been named the Player Of The Week for week 10.
-In case you didn't hear this news yesterday - Taylor Twellman injured the same hamstring on Saturday that kept him on the New England sidelines for 6 weeks last season.

See The FIFA U20 World Youth Championship

Watch the USA on Fox Soccer Channel
(all times central)
First Round - Group Stage
Sat June 11 v Argentina 10:30am live + 7pm replay
Tue June 14 v Germany 1:30pm live + 10pm replay
Sat June 18 v Egypt 6:30am live + 12pm & 4pm replays

Monday Morning News

-We all know that Kasey Keller made it possible for the USA to have a big 3-0 victory over Costa Rica. The guy had 4 amazing 2nd half saves. He was easily my Man Of The Match.
CONCACAF scores from Saturday:
USA 3-0 Costa Rica
Guatemala 0-2 Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 Panama
Wednesday Matches:
Panama v USA
Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago
Costa Rico v Guatemala
-Almost better for me was the fact that my Minnesota Thunder went on a brutal 3 games in 4 days road trip to Puerto Rico, Charleston, & Atlanta, and head home today with 7 points in their pocket! 7! They jump up to second in the First Division table!
-Edwin van der Sar has left Fulham to play for Man U.
-The biggest surprise team in South American Qualifying is Ecuador who slapped Argentina 2-0 in WCQ! While main rivals Brazil breezed past Paraguay 4-1. Brazil and Argentina meet up on Wednesday in Buenos Aires. But Argentina still leads COMNEBOL qualifying by 1 point over Brazil and 5 points over Ecuador.
Other Weekend COMNEBOL results:
Chile 3-1 Bolivia
Venezuela 1-1 Uruguay
The rest of this weeks matches:
Argentina v Brazil
Chile v Venezuela
Paraguay v Bolivia
Colombia v Ecuador
Peru v Uruguay
-Our boy Conor Casey & his German club Mainz pulled a real rabbit out of a hat and won a spot in next years UEFA Cup via nomination in something called the UEFA Fair Play lottery. Two clubs get in the competition this way. It seems kinda hokey, but I bet Mainz doesn't think so.
-Douglas Sequiera's year is just getting worse by the day. First he signs for Chivas USA with dreams of stunning MLS ringing in his ears. Well the team is now 1-9-2 and on their second coach. His Costa Rica team was planning to stroll thru World Cup Qualifying and get to Germany 06 early. They are on their 2nd coach this year and 3rd in two years, they got thumped in Salt Lake City Saturday and Sequiera got burn by Donovan for the first USA goal, and a red card for his dubious efforts late in the match. Tough days buddy.
-The USA U20 team is now in Holland preparing for the World Youth Championship. The first game is Sat June 11 vs Argentina. Earnie Stewart dropped by the USA practice the other day. Very cool of him.
-There are times when we think that a past ugliness is over and done with. Take for example all the hatred displayed by various factions (both national and religious) in the former Yugoslavia. That war between tribes is supposedly over, but if you dig a few pages into the news sections you will see that clearly it is not. And this weekend it included Serbians stoning Croatians after a World Cup Qualifying match. This shit is pretty painful to watch. I can't even imagine how deep the hatred must go with these people.
-A Rush For Qualifying Points by Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune

Did You Wanna See Some Scores?

Some Weekend Scores From World Cup Qualifying:

AFRICA
Benin 1-4 Cameroon
Cape Verde 1-2 South Africa
Egypt 6-1 Sudan
Togo 4-1 Zambia
Angola 2-1 Algeria
Botswana 1-3 Tunisia
Morocco 4-1 Malawi
Republic of Congo 0-0 Senegal
Mali 4-1 Liberia
Congo 4-0 Uganda
Ghana 2-1 Burkina Faso
Libya 0-0 Ivory Coast
Rwanda 1-1 Nigeria
Zimbabwe 1-0 Gabon
Guinea 1-0 Kenya
Nigeria 1-1 Rwanda

EUROPE
Macedonia 2-1 Armenia
Azerbaijan 3-0 Poland
Armenia 1-2 Macedonia
Czech Republic 8-1 Andorra
Netherlands 2-0 Romania
Albania 3-2 Georgia
Turkey 0-0 Greece
Ukraine 2-0 Kazakhstan
Estonia 2-0 Liechtenstein
Portugal 2-0 Slovakia
Russia 2-0 Latvia
Faeroe Islands 1-3 Switzerland
Ireland 2-2 Israel
Belarus 1-1 Slovenia
Norway 0-0 Italy
Scotland 2 -0 Moldova
San Marino 1-3 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Serbia-Montenegro 0-0 Belgium
Spain 1-0 Lithuania
Bulgaria 1 -3 Croatia
Iceland 2-3 Hungary
Sweden 6-0 Malta

ASIA
Saudi Arabia 3-0 Kuwait
Uzbekistan 1-1 South Korea
Bahrain 0-1 Japan
Iran 1-0 North Korea

Asian & African World Cup Qualifiers Today

Asia World Cup Qualifiers:
Bahrain 0-1 Japan
Iran 1-0 North Korea
Uzbekistan 1-1 South Korea
Saudi Arabia 3-0 Kuwait
African World Cup Qualifiers:
Libya 0-0 Ivory Coast

Grant Wahl - Kasey In The Net

Keller talks about his return to international play
by Grant Wahl
for Sports Illustrated's Inside Soccer

Rankings & Reasonings for Friday June 3

01 TIE New England & FC Dallas - I cannot replace NE at the top cuz they did not lose, but they are only treading water right now while FCD are clawing up and up. I really hope they can both keep this up for a while and then meet for a real thrasher of a match soon.
03 Los Angeles - They seem like the deepest team in the league right now. Their reserve squad is 4-0 too. But they could really use an official top notch goal scorer.
04 Chicago - They must be dong it with magic. I still never see much out of them, but the points are piling up. And they get the Goats at home this weekend.
05 San Jose - Like Chicago they are a bit of a mystery. The tools are there, and I have said before how much I like the younger guys in the back line. Believe me when I say that Onstad will be their achilles.
06 Kansas City - I think they are gonna sit back and wait for late in the year to make their run. The players and coaches know how to get it done. They should be taking time to play more of their youngs guys now while they can get away with it. But thats not really Gansler-ball now is it.
07 Metrostars - With Bob Bradley as the coach I am really hoping that this is their year. I love all the young guys, then add Guevara and Youri to the fun.
08 DC United - Could madness strike this team at some point and it all blows up. Like Bowyer and Dyer in the middle of a match. What a weird team. I still laugh when I think about the reporters hounding Nowak for the name of the Argentine defender he wants to sign, and he snaps back: "Diego Maradona!"
09 Real Salt Lake - Blah blah blah blah Ellinger, blah Mathis, blah blah Kries, blah blah blah Countess blah, Field Turf blah blah.
10 Colorado - See Salt Lake review but change names to Clavijo, Mastroeni, Cunningham, Cannon, and Altitude.
11 Columbus - Suck
12 Chivas USA - New coach makes no difference. I read somewhere this week that Cuadros was a decent young player..... Are you kidding me? He's terrible. And that old bum they put in goal is terrible too.


This Weekends Matches:
Chicago v Chivas USA
New England v Kansas City
Real Salt Lake v FC Dallas
Los Angeles v Metrostars
San Jose v DC United
Which leaves Colorado & Columbus with the weekend off to cry it out of their systems, then get up and fight next week.

My Back Muscles Are Kinda Tight, So Maybe This News Will Loosen Them Up A Bit

-Not quite sure how I missed this one last week, but Man U have released Roy Carroll from the club, meaning they will get no compensation from the club who signs him.
-CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers on Saturday June 4 & Wednesday June 8. All 6 teams are in action, and here's the schedule:
Sat Jun 4
USA v Costa Rica
Guatemala v Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago v Panama
Wed Jun 8
Panama v USA
Costa Rica v Guatemala
Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago
-Carlos Ruiz will not be available for Guatemala on Saturday due to suspension. But that may not matter as he is suffering from an undetermined foot injury. If he is healthy he could play for FC Dallas on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
-Patrick Kluivert is going back to Spain, this time to play for Valencia after one fairly unproductive year with Newcastle.
-The last 2 Qualifying matches for this years US Open Cup are set for next Wednesday. See the full tournament brackets at the Open Cup site. My team, Minnesota Thunder will enter in the 2nd round.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the Chelsea-Ashley Cole mess. Lawyers Smell Blood As Star Is Punished
-Feyenoord striker Salomon Kalou has been named Most Talented Player of the Year in the Eredivisie.
-Really good interview with Steve Cherundolo by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Zeigler is another one of those unsung soccer heroes of the American daily newspaper grinder. For Mt. Carmel High grad Steve Cherundolo, Germany is home sweet home
-Copa Libertadores first leg quarterfinals
Guadalajara Chivas 4-0 Boca Juniors
Banfield 1-1 River Plate
-J Hutcherson from the Soccer Daily found this little nugget about a new USA & MLS TV rights deal with ESPN. There are no real details given though. ESPN IN US SOCCER DEAL
-Oh, and while yer at it, get your next home mortgage from Tony Meola (and Alex Zontinca's wife)!
LATE ADDITION:
More news on Carlos Ruiz - He was just named MLS Player Of The Month for May! Way to go lil fishy.

Get Off Your Ass And Read!

I strongly urge you to read what my fellow no-nothing big-mouths have to say regarding the gorgeously beautiful game! They, like me, have no idea what they are really writing about. But I think we come off quite well adjusted. Please pleasure yourself to our words.

...off the post!

We Call it SOCCER

FOOTBALLS ARE ROUND!

Ramblings of a Soccer Junky

Now go lay down and take a well deserved nap.

I Just Ate Sesame Chicken, Now Here's Some News

-From USA Today: "John O'Brien is most likely not going to be part of the game because he's been away too long. And after bowling last night, that would be expecting too much of the young man" said Arena.
-I guess the coach was the difference for Chivas - new coach, tie game. And Old Ramon even scored. He makes Preki, Agoos & Pope look young and spry. Hey look, they have 5 points now! New England and Dallas are only 16 ahead of them.
-If you go to the USA Soccer page you can watch a video clip from yesterdays practice. The team played Real Salt Lake and won 4-0. The coolest part was seeing Run DMB out there at full speed!
-Last nights Copa Libertadores first leg quarterfinal results:
Atletico Paranaense 3-2 Santos
Sao Paulo 4-0 Tigres
Second leg matches are on June 15
-LA of the Galaxy will be without a lot of players this weekend. Should be a good test of Sampsons coaching skillz. Donovan & Cobi with USA, Michael Umana with Costa Rica, Pando Ramirez with Guatemala, Tyrone Marshall, with Jamaica, and then Chris Albright has a knee injury, Joseph Ngwenya had hernia surgery, & Alan Gordon has a hip injury. OUCH! That is what we call dipping deep in to the well.

MLS Week 10

STANDINGS
21 New England
21 FC Dallas
19 Los Angeles
16 Chicago
15 Kansas City
15 MetroStars
13 San Jose
11 DC United
11 Real Salt Lake
10 Columbus
08 Colorado
04 Chivas USA

SCORING
7 Carlos Ruiz - Dallas
6 Taylor Twellman - New England
5 Clint Dempsey - New England
5 Landon Donovan - Los Angeles
5 Amado Guevara - Metrostars

A Couple More Excellent Reads For Today

FC Dallas Lays Out Plans For Talent Pipeline
Steve Davis
Dallas Morning News
Dallas finally starts its own youth program. But instead of starting small they are diving in full bore.

United's Unpolished Diamond
Steven Goff
Washington Post
There is quality lurking deep down the DC United bench. Nana Kuffor came to United last summer straight from rural Ghana. They say his talent potential is scary.

Rob Hughes

from the International Herald Tribune
A Weary Ronaldo Will Be Back

Great News and Terrible News

-The Good and The Bad line up for El Pescadito. Carlos Ruiz was named MLS Player Of The Week, and had an insane bicycle kick goal on Saturday. But he also got a cast put on his foot. He will have an MRI done today. He will not play this weekend for Dallas, and could miss the next Guatemalan World Cup Qualifier next Wednesday. No word on how he got hurt. 3rd Degree is the best place for all the details, cuz they care.
-Eliseo Quintanilla was released by DC United per his request.
-Rafael van der Vaart signed with Hamburg. He had been with Ajax.
-With the match tied 1-1 in second half added time, Amado Guevara curled a gorgeous shot into the far corner of the goal to give Metro their first home win of the year by beating Chicago. Coach Bob Bradley was pretty damn excited on the sidelines, something you rarely if ever see from him. The look on Chicago keeper Zack Thornton's face was remarkable too. He stood there for quite a while with sweat streaming down his face, head cocked off to one side, looking simply stunned.