Business Card Weekly News

-We got a great email from fab reader Group Of Cake last night. He is a fan of the team that is quickly becoming du Nord's new favorite team, St Pauli! He sent us links to not only the teams homepage, which is very cool and has a few things written in English - like a nice explanation of the teams origins and stadium history - but also to a New York Times story on the city of Hamburg (where St Pauli is located) that features a picture of an apartment building draped in a huge banner that reads "Eat The Rich"! Glory Glory St Pauli! Put your hands up for Hamburg, a lovely city! GOC also is a big fan of two other German clubs: "Kaiserlautern (who have the great FCK emblem on their jerseys) and punk rock Munchen 1860." In actual soccer news, St Pauli sits in 3rd place (top 2 get promoted) of the Regionalia (third) Division. If you remember a few years back, our own Cory Gibbs played for St Pauli, but they got relegated 2 years in a row. Ouch! Hopefully we will hear more St Pauli, Kaiserlautern, and 1860 goodies from Group Of Cake soon.
-One of the clown princes of soccer, Ivan Campo, will miss the rest of the season for his club Bolton after having his foot broken by a terrible tackle. The only good news is that he will have plenty of time to get his hair ready for next season.
-Portsmouth have snapped up Argentine midfielder Andres D'Alessandro from Wolfsburg. Only a few years ago he was considered one of the great young talents, but has fallen way behind fellow Argentines Juan Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi. Maybe this will be a new chance for him.
-BBC is running a live transfer deadline update page.
-Blackburn gets Liverpool striker Florent Sinama Pongolle on loan.
-For the past year or two I have had to listen to fans of The Arse rave about a kid named Quincy Owusu-Abeyie. Well the raving is now offcially over, cuz they sold him to Spartak Moscow. He musta been grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat.
-Yanks Abroad has the news on Lee Nguyen's first appearance in a PSV uniform, playing for the reserve side.
-Remember to tune in on Wednesday night at 9pm central to MTV for the latest episode of Cribs! Its time to see how Landycakes and his babe live! See ya there.
-Crabby Old Ante Razov has been sent packing by Metrostars. All the way to the West Coast and Chivas USA. In the other direction, Chivas USA has shipped striker Thiago Martins to the Mets. Now Ante can play for his fave coach again, Bob Bradley. I think its a good move for Chivas.
-For the last couple of years, US Soccer has been bringing us these fantastic insider video clips of the team at practice, at play, and in the locker room. All excellent. This week they unveiled a new system for showing these videos and its not working very well at all. Its slow, choppy and has poor audio (and that's only IF you can get it to work at all). I have found that sometimes if you wait a very long time, the file will load in and work better, but it never seems to fully load, and most time it never even starts loading. (And just so you know I have a T-3 line. Ultra high speed.) I hope they fix this soon. Cuz its been a fantastic feature, but completely worthless the way it is right now. And let's hope they don't put the same guy in charge of fixing this that was in charge of selling World Cup tickets for the US Soccer Federation.
-Yesterday I said that Jaap Stam was headed from Milan to Ajax. Turns out its not until summer 06.
-I forgot to mention this last week. Sports Illustrated previewed the Ghanain World Cup squad.
-Soccer America wrangles an exclusive, but not all that exciting of an interview with our generalisimo Bruce Arena.
-The also have a profile/interview of Houston coach Dom Kinnear. This one is quite good.
-Last week there was all kinds of excitement among Metrostars fans cuz the team had produced their first player from their youth system to sign with the senior club. Turns out that was all premature. The always quality Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald has the lowdown.
-Luis Bueno on Eddie Pope.
-Rob Hughes writes about the kid at the center of the current war between Manchester United & Chelsea: Sordid twists in tussle over teenager
-In a story that I am very happy about, the Houston Chronicle is reporting that 1836 will play their games on grass as opposed to the turf that was reported earlier. Hooray Grass! Hooray Beer! Hooray 1836! Hooray Mexican-Americans!
-And the Houston Chronicle Week In Review
-A crazy story on Fulham coach Chris Coleman and a quarantine for illness, from Soccernet.
-African Cup of Nations action. Here are the scores and today’s games:
Monday
Tunisia 0-3 Guinea
Zambia 1-0 South Africa
Today's last group stage matches:
Nigeria 2-1 Senegal
Ghana 1-2 Zimbabwe
After today the best 8 teams start the knockout stages. Here are the quarterfinalists:
A1 - Egypt
A2 - Cote D'Ivoire
B1 - Cameroon
B2 - Congo
C1 - Guinea
C2 - Tunisia
D1 - Nigeria
D2 - Senegal
This leaves 3 of the 5 African World Cup teams OUT! Togo, Angola, and Ghana. Not good. The Quarterfinals start Friday. I will list those matches tomorrow.
-The 2006 MLS Cup final will be held again next season at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas. Oh well. Word has it that Bridgeview Stadium in Chicago will host this seasons All-Star Game. Too bad.
-The next three nights will conclude the final round (La Primera Fase) of qualifying for la Copa Libertadores. These are the second games of the two legged playoffs for 12 teams to fill the last 6 spots in the upcoming group stages. Here are those matches:
Tue Jan 31
Universitario v Nacional (PAR) - for group A - tied 2-2
Guadalajara v Colo Colo - for Group D - Guada leads 3-1
Wed Feb 01
Deportivo Tachira v Palmeiras - for group E - Palm leads 2-0
Goias EC - Deportivo Cuenca - for group F - tied 1-1
Thur Feb 2
Independiente Santa Fe - Defensor Sporting - for group B - tied 2-2
Oriente Petrolero - River Plate - for group C - River leads 6-0
The Copa then kicks off next week in full bloom.
-5th Round FA Cup draw (matches will be played Feb 18 & 19):
Preston or Crystal Palace v Coventry or Middlesbrough
Newcastle v Southampton
Aston Villa v Man City
Everton or Chelsea v Colchester
Charlton v Brentford
Liverpool v Man United
Bolton v West Ham
Stoke v Reading or Birmingham
-Very interesting article in the Sacramento Business Journal about a local amateur team called Sacramento Knights being bought by Brazil's Vasco de Gamo. And Vasco has plans.

Goober & the Peas News

-Now that is more like it! USA 5-0 Norway. Taylor Twellman finally gets it going for Team USA with 3 goals. Chris Klein & Eddie Pope added the other two, in a completely, I mean ultra-completely, dominating performance that started early and did not let up. Norway looked about as inept as you possibly could. I would guess that possession was around 75%-25%, and I am not exaggerating for effect.
The starting 11 (and subs):
G: Kevin Hartman
D: Todd Dunivant, Jimmy Conrad, Eddie Pope, Frankie Hejduk
M: Kerry Zavagnin, Pat Noonan, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan
F: Josh Wolff, Taylor Twellman
Subs:
Nate Jaqua for Wolff in the 67th
Santino Quaranta for Dempsey in the 70th
Chris Klein for Noonan in the 77th
Ben Olsen for Zavagnin in the 79th
Brian Ching for Taylor Twellman in the 83rd
Ugo Ihemelu for Pope in the 83rd
Here are some press reports:
US Soccer - match report, photos and video
Yanks Abroad - match report
Soccer Times - match report and player ratings by Robert Wagman
American Soccer News - match report and player ratings by Llew Llewellyn
MLSnet - match report
So Cal Soccer News - match report and player ratings
Los Angeles Times - match report and Todd Dunivant profile by Grahame Jones
LA Daily News - match report and Clint Dempsey profile
Soccernet - player ratings and analysis by Andrea Canales
-Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald on USA youngster Josimer Altidore of Metrostars
-Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle on local boy Lance Watson and his chances of success in MLS.
-Joe Cannon is now going to stay with Colorado and sign a new contract extension rather than be shipped out before his current contract ends.
-Can you believe that Simon Elliot has started every match since he got to Fulham a few weeks ago. And he has looked decent. Plus he has been taking their free kicks and corner kicks. Who knew?!?!?!?!
-Rob Hughes chronicles the Prodigal Snorter's return to Liverpool: Fowler finally back in his love's embrace
-How are things going with the construction of the new stadium in Chicago, you ask? Check this out.
-Grahame Jones of the LA Times talks to Norwegian coach Age Hareide about the first USA World Cup opponent the Czech Republic who eliminated Norway from the competition.
-DC United gets to start fixing last years stumble, as their preseason begins this week. The unstoppable Steve Goff of the Washington Post has some words for us on the topic.
-Jeff Rusnack of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes about the great Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano and Argentina's star midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme.
-Phil Ball writes one of his best columns in a long time and tells us that the Spanish tabloid papers are not as hate-filled as those in England. Sure they're still pretty nasty, but in a more clever way: Mind(less) games?
-Two wild rumors from Matchnight: Jay Jay Okocha to Chicago & Barcelona will tour USA next summer.
-African Cup of Nations action. Here are the scores and today’s games:
Friday:
Ghana 1-0 Senegal
Nigeria 2-0 Zimbabwe
Saturday - the final group matches:
Egypt 3-1 Cote D'Ivoire
Libya 0-0 Morocco
Sunday
Angola 3-2 Togo
Cameroon 2-0 Congo
Monday
Tunisia 0-3 Guinea
Zambia 1-0 South Africa
Tuesday
Nigeria v Senegal
Ghana v Zimbabwe
After Tuesday the best 8 teams start the knockout stages.
-Soccernet's The Insider on Newcastle coach Graeme Souness.
-More from the final round (La Primera Fase) of Copa Libertadores action. This is a two legged playoff for 12 teams to fill the last 6 spots for the group stages. Friday nights first leg score: Defensor Sporting 2-2 Independiente Santa Fe - for group B
All 12 will play the reverse legs this week (I will post that schedule Tuesday), and by Thursday night the groups will be set. Group play kicks off Feb 7.
-More news on St Pauli comes from our pal Dan G. He says the St Pauli fans are known for their staunch Anti-Fascist stand! I love this club more every day! Put your hands up for St Pauli, a lovely city!
-Results from some of the top American's in Europe from the weekend:
Kasey Keller and Monchengladbach were completely dominated 1-3 by leaders Bayern Munich. Several of us gathered to watch this match hoping to see something special. We were very disappointed by Gladbach performance. But we loved Roy Makaay's stunning goal for Bayern. He power-volleyed a long cross out of the air from 18 yards out that Keller had no chance to get. An awesome goal.
Oguchi Onyewu did his part, but the Standard Liege offense was stalled in a 0-0 draw with St Triuden who are one of the worst in Belgium.
Looks like Cory Gibbs may have found a new home in Holland with John O'Brien's squad ADO Den Haag.
Brad Friedel's Blackburn got crushed 4-2 by West Ham in the FA Cup.
Reading drew 1-1 with Birmingham in the FA Cup, but Convey and Hahnemann did not play.
Steve Cherundolo's team Hannover drew 1-1 with Hertha
PSV with DaMarcus Beasley playing 90, beat Den Haag 2-0
-The ugliest man in soccer, Jaap Stam, has left Milan today and signed with Ajax!
-Metrostars team President Alexi Lalas told Sports Business Daily that he thinks MSL should "Americanize" the sport, and one way to do that would be to make the goals bigger. Why does he have to says such garbage? Does he want the fans to hate him?
-Mexican Primera League scores this past weekend:
Veracruz 1-2 UAdeG Tecos
Cruz Azul 1-1 Atlas
Monterrey 1-0 Morelia
Guadalajara 2-2 UNAM Pumas
Sinaloa Dorados 1-1 UANL Tigres
Necaxa 1-0 Chiapas
San Luis 1-3 Toluca
America 2-3 Pachuca
Santos 3-4 Atlante
-It's the Fourth Round of the FA Cup in England this past weekend. Here's the scores:
Stoke 2-1 Walsall
Cheltenham 0-2 Newcastle
Coventry 1-1 Middlesbrough
Reading 1-1 Birmingham
Leicester 0-1 Southampton
Bolton 1-0 Arsenal
Aston Villa 3-1 Port Vale
Brentford 2-1 Sunderland
Man City 1-0 Wigan
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Preston 1-1 Crystal Palace
West Ham 4-2 Blackburn
Colchester 3-1 Derby County
Charlton 2-1 Leyton Orient
Sunday
Portsmouth 1-2 Liverpool
Wolverhampton 0-3 Man United
All tie games are going to be replayed this coming weekend Feb 7 & 8
-I saw a headline in the English newspaper The Independent today: "Anelka claims top clubs are afraid to sign him". And he's is right, they are afraid to sign him. You know why? Cuz he's an idiot, of the highest order, and unless a player is or has been amazing in their career (ie. Roy Keene) no one is interested in spending all that money on an obvious question mark. So good luck to you Nicolas, you goofy malcontented bastard.
-Looks like MLS is gonna kick off season 11 with a rematch of the Cup final - Saturday April 1 it's New England at LA on ESPN2, Live at 10pm central time.
-LATE ADDITION: Our incredibly sharp-witted Minnesota coach Amos Magee checks in for a second time from his travels in Portugal.

Tune In, If You Dare

Don't forget:
Pseudo-USA takes on Norway at 4pm central time Sun Jan 29. See the match live on ESPN2. OK?

?? News

-Cary North Carolina will be home to a brand new First Division team for next year! Read all about it from USL. The team will play their home games at SAS Soccer Park, which is also where Team USA will hold their final trainings on US soil before going to their World Cup headquarters in Hamburg.
-The draw is complete for Euro 2008 Qualifying groups. UEFA.com has the story, the groups and the explanation on how it all will work. The exact schedule is yet to be worked out.
-You know, if I owned a company and my CEO agreed to leave 6 months from now, and I gave him permission to go look for a new job now, while at the same time I was out looking for his replacement, how could I expect my current CEO to do any REAL work? I should expect him to get nothing done. And yet this is what England are doing with their man Sven. I say fire the bastard now before the lethargy & weirdness gets too deep.
-I have already gone on record as saying I like the name and colors of the new Houston 1836. The problem is though, that I don't know my history well enough, where as the local Houston Mexican-American community is well aware of their history and they are prepared to inform me and all my gringo buddies: They do NOT like this name. They say it's insulting. Check out this headline from the local paper Rumbo: AUTOGOL! Which means "own goal" insinuating that the team have shot themselves in the foot. The insult being that 1836 is when the American army defeated the Mexican army in the battle for Texas independence. So they see it as a massive defeat at the hands of Whitey. The irony is incredibly thick considering the fact that one of the main reasons for playing in Houston is to court the Hispanic ie. Mexican-American fan. And now this massive faux pas at day one. This should be an interesting thing to follow.
-Simon Romero a Business section writer for the New York Times give his view on the new Houston name: What's in a Brand Name? Houston Just Found Out
-Talk continues in San Jose for a new team.
-Soccer America has Three Questions for Landycakes.
-In a surprising move, Robbie Fowler has left Manchester City to re-sign with Liverpool!
-More from the final round (La Primera Fase) of Copa Libertadores action. This is a two legged playoff for 12 teams to fill the last 6 spots for the group stages. Last nights first leg scores & upcoming matches:
Thursday:
Deportivo Cuenca 1-1 Goias EC - for group F
River Plate 6-0 Oriente Petrolero - for group C
Friday:
Defensor Sporting v Independiente Santa Fe - for group B
Now everyone will be playing the reverse legs next week.
-The African Cup of Nations action. Here are the scores and today’s games:
Thursday's games:
Zambia 1-2 Guinea - Make that 2 wins for surprising Guinea
Tunisia 2-0 South Africa - my pick rolled over SA and have a goal differential of +5
Friday:
Ghana v Senegal
Nigeria v Zimbabwe
Saturday - the final group matches:
Egypt v Cote D'Ivoire
Libya v Morocco
Sunday
Angola v Togo
Cameroon v Congo
-Keeper Ken sent us these (one - and - two) pic's of St Pauli wearing their winter camouflage shirts!!! Yeah, not the best images, but you get the idea. Pretty funny if you ask me, especially considering the field was covered in snow. Then we got more hot tips on the shirts from Al-Ajax, and the whole line of St Pauli wear. I think its quite rare to see a team with a concern for style. Very nice indeed. Go Pauli Go. Check out the fantastic images of these items: Home shirt, Away shirt, Retro shirt, Warmup jacket, and Socks
-An interview with the now retired US International defender Jeff Agoos from US National Players Assoc
-The USA is looking at playing their final World Cup tune-up match on Memorial Day Weekend in Cleveland.
-Columbus is doing some pretty clever promoting of their team for this new season
-Barcelona lost last night, after winning 18 (!!) straight, 4-2 to Real Zaragoza in the Copa Del Rey.
-German Bundesliga matches resume today and all weekend, after 5 weeks off. They restart with Kasey Keller taking on the league leaders. Here are a couple of big matches to check out:
Friday
Monchengladbach v Bayern
Saturday
Hertha v Hannover
-Mexican Primera League matches this weekend:
Veracruz v UAdeG Tecos
Cruz Azul v Atlas
Monterrey v Morelia
Guadalajara v UNAM Pumas
Sinaloa Dorados v UANL Tigres
Necaxa v Chiapas
San Luis v Toluca
America v Pachuca
Santos v Atlante
-It's the Fourth Round of the FA Cup in England this weekend. Here's the match-ups:
Stoke v Walsall
Cheltenham v Newcastle
Coventry v Middlesbrough
Reading v Birmingham
Leicester v Southampton
Bolton v Arsenal
Aston Villa v Port Vale
Brentford v Sunderland
Man City V Wigan
Everton v Chelsea
Preston v Crystal Palace
West Ham v Blackburn
Colchester v Derby County
Charlton v Leyton Orient
Sunday
Portsmouth v Liverpool
Wolverhampton v Man United
-ESPN will be auditioning a new voice on Sunday when USA plays Norway. Here's the scoop: Dave O'Brien has announced the World Series. Next up: the World Cup. The former Marlins play-by-play voice, who is now one of ESPN/ABC's most valuable announcers, will call the World Cup in Germany this summer. "I asked for it. I think it's going to be a magical experience," said O'Brien, who will make his soccer announcing debut Sunday on the U.S.-Norway men's match (4pm central on ESPN2) in Carson, Calif., working with Marcelo Balboa. "I love `the beautiful game. I played all through high school in New England, then club stuff in college and in summer leagues. I was a spirited, tackling midfielder in school ... and way back then could run all day. And I coach in the rec leagues." That all sounds fine and dandy to me, but please please please please can't we get someone better than Marcelo Balboa. He is horrifyingly dull. Bring back Ty Keogh over this stiff.
-Luis Bueno, one of the good guys, with a lil update on the USA training camp scene for MLSnet.

Smelling Salts As News

-I like the team name Houston 1836 a lot. I like the team colors and badge too. What do you think?
-Frank Dell'apa talks to legendary Italian keeper Walter Zenga about the USA's chances at the World Cup.
-The new head man of my Minnesota Thunder, Amos Magee, is in Portugal, and checks in with a report on his mission. And he name checks the teams supporters section in the article as well!!!!!! The guy is wracking up some huge brownie points!
-Jon Stewart ... On Soccer - from Soccer America
-More of the final round of pre-Copa Libertadores action last night in La Primera Fase. This is a two legged playoff for 12 teams to fill the last 6 spots for the group stages. Last nights first leg scores & upcoming matches:
Wednesday:
Palmeiras 2-0 Deportivo Tachira - for group E
Thursday:
Deportivo Cuenca v Goias EC - for group F
River Plate v Oriente Petrolero - for group C
Friday:
Defensor Sporting - Independiente Santa Fe - for group B
-Metrostars signed scoring midfielder Jordan Cila from Salt Lake.
-The English League Cup second-leg semifinal last night:
Manchester United 2-1 Blackburn - Man U win 3-2 on agg.
Wigan will be their opponent for the Cup final Sunday Feb 26 (CORRECTED - thanks KJ).
-I know this will shock you, but 2 of the most brain-dead players in the world of football got into a scuffle at halftime of the Man U v Blackburn match. Can you guess who? You score 100% if you chose Robbie Savage and Rio Ferdinand. Not too tough, but I understand if you chose Gary Neville instead. An investigation is underway. Both could miss matches. They should both just be kicked out of the league for being complete idiots. But then again, if that was criteria, then I would be out of a job too. So let's take that one back shall we.
-Mexico came from 0-1 down to beat Norway 2-1 last night in San Francisco. Goals were scored by Francisco Fonseca & Luis Ernesto Perez for Mex, and Ole Martin Aarst for Nor. Dylan Hernandez of the San Jose Mercury News writes about the match. The USA faces Norway on Sunday in LA.
-The African Cup of Nations action. Here are the scores and upcoming games:
Wednesday's scores:
Cameroon 2-0 Togo - So Togo is still headed to the World Cup next summer, but have yet to get a point or score a goal here at ACN
Angola 0-0 Congo - And Angola are in the World Cup too. At least they have a point here, and scored in their first match. Not a total disaster, I guess.
Today's games:
Zambia v Guinea
Tunisia v South Africa
Friday:
Ghana v Senegal
Nigeria v Zimbabwe
-St Pauli beat Werder Bremen last night 3-1 in the German League Cup on a field covered in snow. The real news is that St Pauli wore shirts with a winter camouflage design!!! I am trying to find an image. Let me know if you find one.
-Here is some very cool TV for all of you DCU fans in the Washington DC viewing market: United & Comcast SportsNet To Launch 'Brunch with D.C. United' - For the next 10 weeks (leading up to the 06 season opener) they are going to show classic DC United matches every Sunday!
-Austrian and former LA Galaxy midfielder Andres "Andy" Herzog will be one of the main presenters at Fridays drawing for Euro2008.
-LA has offered a new deal to Pando Ramirez, but he has not accepted it, and odds are strong that he will not be returning to the team for this season. I think most Galaxy fans are very glad he scored that winner in the finals, but otherwise feel he was a bum!
-From US Soccer: Good news on the injury front as Eddie Johnson has been diagnosed with a bruised right calf after an x-ray revealed no structural damage. Johnson has experienced considerable improvement over the last two days and is listed as day-to-day. He played less than 30 minutes against Canada, but could play against Norway on Sunday.
-Larry Morgan of the LA Daily News writes about the ageless Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones.
-Big Apple Soccer's Michael Lewis talks to Michael Bradley on his move to Heerenveen in Holland. His new team expects him to take a little time to settle in, play some thing spring especially if there is a glut of injuries, and then compete for a starting position next season.
-Lots of goodies from the Houston Chronicle writers on their teams new name and image: John Lopez, Glenn Davis, and Bernardo Fallas.
-Soccernet on Salt Lakes new #10 Mehdi Ballouchy
-Manchester United are beating the bushes to find one more midfielder before the transfer window closes next week. If any of you talk to Sir Alex, please tip him off to the fact that I am still available, and won't need to get paid as much as Rio does. But I would want to get corn-rows like his.

Sunday Evening With Dan Rather News

-Sometime in the wee hours this morning, we here at du Nord welcomed our 25,000th visitor. What a nice benchmark to hit. I didn't keep track of this stuff from day one, so I have no idea how many people have really been here. (Day 1 was March 7 2005.) One of the other things that never ceases to amaze me is the number of people from other countries outside the United States that come here every day. Since Jan 1 this year I have kept track of the countries where people have visited from. Here is that list:
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Hong Kong
Iceland
Israel
Italy
India
Indonesia
Jamaica
Japan
Latvia
Macedonia
Malaysia
Mexico
Netherlands
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Panama
Philipines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
Serbia and Montenegro
Singapore
Slovakia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Wales
So I just want to say Hello and Thank you to every one for reading, and a special Hello and Thanks to all the foreign readers! Cheers!
-Our man Donovan from the DCenters feels that the new MLS Midwestern 2008 expansion city that Mr Commish Donny Garber was referring to was Cleveland! That's his hunch and he is sticking to it. D is not an idiot so maybe he is on to something here. My Milwaukee guess was only based on the fact that I love Peter Wilt, even though I hate Milwaukee, even though my sweet sister lives there, got it(?), and I wanna see Peter back in MLS where he belongs.
-Houston will be showing off their new team name and colors today. Yesterday we got a lil preview of what is coming - name: 1836, colors: dark blue and orange. I'm busy callin em the Thoity Sixa's. I hear that they will NOT have the kit to show today however. Booooooooooooooooooooo!
-AC Milan striker Alberto Gilardino was named Serie A Player of the Year for 2005. He played the first half of the year at Parma.
-Last night kicked off the La Primera Fase of the Copa Libertadores. This is a two legged playoff for 12 teams to fill the last 6 spots for the group stages. Last nights first leg scores:
Nacional 2-2 Universitario - for group A
Colo Colo 1-3 Guadalajara Chivas - for group D
Here are some more dates coming up for Libertadores Primera Fase matches over the next coupla days:
Wednesday:
Palmeiras v Deportivo Tachira - for group E
Thursday:
Deportivo Cuenca v Goias EC - for group F
River Plate v Oriente Petrolero - for group C
Friday:
Defensor Sporting - Independiente Santa Fe - for group B
-The English League Cup resumed last night with the first of two, second-leg semifinals:
Arsenal 2-1 Wigan - Wigan wins 2-2 on agg. by virtue of the almighty away goal!! Go Wigan Go! Hooray Latics! Hooray Beer!
And tonight is the other second leg semifinal:
Manchester United v Blackburn - tied at 1-1
-African Cup of Nations action. Here are the scores and today’s games:
Tuesday's scores:
Libya 1-2 Cote d'Ivoire - Drogba did play after all, and scored, sending Cote D'Ivoire onto the next round, and Libya out of the competition
Egypt 0-0 Morocco
Today's games:
Angola v Congo
Cameroon v Togo
-A couple of days ago I linked to an Eddie Pope interview from Soccer America. In case you didn't get to read it yet, there are some choice quotes from the USA & Salt Lake veteran defender on the present and future of the American players:
"You think about how big this country is, and we're not even tapping into all the resources we can. The under-18s have 58 kids here. Fifty-eight kids! It's going to be phenomenal."
and
"John Harkes was watching one of our training sessions and said to me, 'The game is moving so much faster than when I remember when you were starting.' The players are faster, they're stronger, the level of play has gotten better, they come into camp fitter, the camps are harder. And that's the way things should be. If they aren't, obviously we're not moving in the right direction as a country. The young players aren't afraid of anything and they're looking to make this team. It's good to see."
-New Team USA video footage from Tuesday's scrimmage v Swedish team Hammarby. Chris Klein was team captain. Chris Rolfe danced thru 5 Hammarby defenders & the keeper to score! Hammarby scored to tie it up. Then Freddy Adu passed perfectly to Pat Noonan on the left who came in 1v1 with the keeper and chipped him for the winner.
-UEFA.com has interview with Sir Alex Ferguson on coaching.
-Andrea Canales of Soccer 365 is trying to figure out why most American soccer crowds are so damn lame! Yes they can be! Timid, quiet, lame! I took my brother to see the USA U-17's a couple years ago, starring Freddy Adu. The game happened to be scheduled right during the middle of the biggest youth soccer tournament in the country, USA Cup, in Blaine Minnesota. They packed the stands with over 10,000 people. My brothers comment was simple: "This is quietest 10,000 people on earth." The place was dead. I was pissed off. These idiots couldn’t even conjure up the steam for a chant of U-S-A, U-S-A. Some fellas in the stands near us started singing and the whole crowd around them turned away from the game and just stared at the singers. Dumbfounded stares! Like a bunch of fuckin cattle. Did I say that I was pissed off! I don’t know what its going to take to change this, but it's almost everywhere and I don't like it. On the other hand, I do love my die-hard friends and their undying passion. We just need a lot more. Then it'll be gorgeous.
-Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer has quality stories, including some excellent Jon Stewart bits from the College Soccer Coaches national convention in Philly last weekend. Stewart was honored by the college coaches with an honorary All-American award.
-Nick Green of the Carson Daily Breeze takes a good look at where the LA Galaxy sit with preseason about to begin.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the old man of Brazil: At 40, Romário can still find excuses for a party
-In case you were wondering: Landycakes got engaged to his girlfriend Bianca Kajlich.

Top of the Tables in Europes Big Leagues

Spain - Primera Division
49 Barcelona
39 Valencia
39 Osasuna
36 Real Madrid
34 Villareal
Weekend scores:
Real Madrid 3-1 Cadiz
Real Betis 0-2 Valencia
Villareal 2-1 Osasuna
Barca 2-0 Alaves

Italy - Serie A
56 Juventus
48 Inter Milan
46 AC Milan
43 Fiorentina
37 Livorno
weekend scores:
Inter 3-0 Palermo
Juve 2-1 Empoli
Livorno 1-1 Treviso
Seina 0-3 Milan
Fior 2-0 Messina

England - Premiership
62 Chelsea
48 Manchester United
44 Liverpool
41 Tottenham
37 Wigan
weekend scores:
Middlesbrough 2-3 Wigan
Tottenham 0-0 Aston Villa
Chelsea 1-1 Charlton
Man U 1-0 Liverpool

Holland - Eredivisie
48 PSV
45 Feyenoord
45 AZ Alkmaar
34 Ajax
34 NEC Nijmegen
weekend scores:
PSV 2-0 Waalwijk
AZ 1-1 Groningen
Twente 2-3 Ajax
Feyenoord 0-0 Roda JC
NEC 5-0 ADO Den Hague

France - Ligue 1
54 Lyon
42 Bordeaux
39 Auxerre
37 Lille
37 Paris St Germain
weekend scores:
Bordeaux 2-1 Strasbourg
Nice 1-0 PSG
Tooulouse 0-0 Lille
Lyon 1-1 Auxerre

Germany - Bundesliga
44 Bayern Munchen
38 Hamburg
36 Werder Bremen
31 Schalke 04
26 Hertha Berlin
weekend scores:
on winter break for one last week

Porpoise News

-Well this really stinks for Cory Gibbs - Yanks Abroad is saying that Feyenoord's new coach Koeman cut Gibbs loose from the team without ever having seen him play or practice. Nice guy that Koeman, he's lucky to have a job. Let's hope he never gets treated like that.
-American Soccer News reports a big player move: Real Salt Lake has acquired U.S. national team and eight-year MLS veteran midfielder Chris Klein and a youth international roster spot from the Wizards in exchange for a portion of an allocation. I think this is a great move for Salt Lake, and I don't know what KC is doing beyond just shaking up a team that underperformed last year.
-Here is what Bob Luder of the KC Star had to say about the trade.
-Don't forget: USA v Norway - Sunday Jan 29 at 4pm central time from the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles - see the game live on ESPN2. Will it be any better than v Canada? It better be. Dammit.
-Jesse Marsch has left Chicago to play for his old coach Bob Bradley, now at Chivas USA in Los Angeles.
-Chicago also released Honduran centerback Samuel Caballero.
-Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News writes about USA Maestro Bruce Arena for the US National Players Assoc.
-Big Apple Soccer says Metrostars have 23, count 'em, 23, foreign players in for trials right now. 23! Coach Mo Johnston wouldn't name any of them, but he sure is a busy man. Good job Ace.
-Brother Frank Dell'apa in the Boston Globe looking at New England's early start to this new season with the Champions Cup looming fast.
-Houston will announce team name and colors tomorrow - here's a lil preview of what is coming - name: 1836, colors: dark blue and orange. I'll call em the Thoity-Sixa's.
-A handful of teams must play a two legged round to get into the group stages of the Copa Libertadores - La Primera Fase - this kicks off today with:
Nacional v Universitario
Colo Colo v Guadalajara Chivas
-Mexico is all set to play Ghana on March 1 at the Hut in Dallas.
-Weekly soccer/Metro column from Frank Giase of the Newark Star-Ledger.
-Allen Hopkins of Fox Soccer Channel, my personal favorite American soccer announcer, rates the teams on their MLS Superdraft picks.
-Excellent Bruce Arena quote as noted by Jen Chang at Soccernet - When asked about the renewed talk of calling up Manchester United's Italian-American youngster Giuseppe Rossi for the USA World Cup squad: "I haven't even spent two seconds thinking about it." I love the coach!
-The English League Cup resumed tonite with the first of two, second-leg semifinals:
Arsenal 2-1 Wigan - Wigan wins 2-2 agg by virtue of the almighty away goal!! Go Wigan Go! Hooray Latics! Hooray Beer!
And tomorrow night is the other second leg semifinal:
Manchester United v Blackburn - tied at 1-1
-In other Man U news - the team has said that Paul Scholes - Scholesie to you - will not play again this year due to double vision in his right eye. The rock band Foreigner warned us about this condition back in the 70's. Scholsies doctors have prescribed "rest" as the best course for full recovery.
-West Ham beat Fulham 2-1. Carlos Bocanegra got torched for what turned out to be the game winner, then Blackmouth saved one off the line to keep his team within striking distance. Great picture of Brian McBride in action.
-The African Cup of Nations is rolling forth hard, with or without you. Here are more scores and matches on the docks:
Monday's games
Nigeria 1-0 Ghana
Zimbabwe 0-2 Senegal
Today's games
Libya 1-2 Cote d'Ivoire - Drogba did play after all, and scored to no avail
Egypt 0-0 Morocco
Wednesday's games
Angola v Congo
Cameroon v Togo
-With all 16 teams now having played a match - here is a review of how each of the teams performed so far.
-Seriously folks, I wanna know, does anyone out there know who the du Nord fan is that does this website: Music Junkies? I have my suspicions, but I gots to know.
-The opening Weekend of the Mexican Clausura saw the champs Toluca win big, the runners up Monterrey lose big, and the perennial favorites mix it up with Chivas losing big, America in a scoreless draw, and Cruz Azul squeaking out a win. Here are all the scores:
UAdG Tecos 2-1 San Luis
Chiapas 3-1 Guadalajara
Toluca 3-1 Necaxa
Atlante 0-0 Sinaloa
Morelia 0-1 Cruz Azul
UANL Tigres 1-1 America
Atlas 2-0 Veracruz
UNAM Pumas 1-0 Santos
Pachuca 3-0 Monterrey

African Nations Cup Flash & Splash

So I found the spot to watch African Nations Cup in Minneapolis:

Holy Land
2513 Central Ave NE (just above Lowry on Central)
612-781-2627

This place is awesome, the food is incredible!
I am so excited that they are showing football.
Come for the olives, stay for the feta.

The Latest And Greatest Nobukazu Takemura News

-USA only manages 0-0 draw with Canada in San Diego. Ugh! The team gets booed off the pitch by pissed off fans. I am glad that one wasn't on TV! Here are a few highlights(?):
Freddy Adu claimed his first cap late in the second half, becoming the youngest American to ever play in an official match. He came on in the 81st minute, and got a yellow card in the 85th ..... for Diving! (The crowd sang out: "You dive like Jamie Watson" for several minutes after that one!) Adu was a replacement in the match for Eddie Johnson who came on in the 56th minute, only to go down with a calf injury less than 30 minutes later. No word on the severity of that injury.
Matt Reis gets his first cap in goal. He is also the 8th American keeper to get a clean sheet in his debut.
The last time the two teams played was July 05 in the Gold Cup with USA winning 2-0. Today the USA had 4 players from that match on its roster (all starters in both matches), while Canada suited & started 8 of 11 from that match, with a 9th starter in this match coming on as a sub in that earlier one.
Here was the USA starting 11 in a 4-3-3 formation:
G: Matt Reis
D: Frankie Hejduk, Jimmy Conrad, Eddie Pope (captain), Heath Pearce
M: Ben Olsen, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey
F: Josh Wolff, Brian Ching, Taylor Twellman
Subs:
Chris Klein for Hejduk - 46th minute
Kerry Zavagnin for Olsen - 46
Chris Rolfe for Wolff - 73
Eddie Johnson for Twellman - 56
Freddy Adu for Johnson - 81
Subs not used:
G: Kevin Hartman
D: Todd Dunivant
From US Soccer Federation: match report and game photos
See: USA v Canada game highlights, a match preview (now a couple days old), Player & Coach post game interviews, & a surprise interview with John O'Brien (at the end he "gets the band back together" - you'll see!). Video from USSF.
Newspaper coverage of the match:
San Diego Union Tribune - Mark Zeigler: match report - and - On Matt Reis
Toronto Globe & Mail: match report
Los Angeles Times - Grahame Jones: match report, in which Jonesy says USA fans booed the team! - and - Ben Olsen, angry USA fans who didn't get world cup tix, and other topics
also from LA Times: Galaxy players on Team USA, - and - Brad Guzan for Team USA, - and - Marvell Wynne & MLS Superdraft
Los Angeles Daily News - Scott French: match report
Orange County Register - Damian Calhoun: match report
AP: match report
Press Enterprise - Joseph D'Hippolito: match report
Yanks Abroad: match report
-The African Nations Cup kicked off Friday. Here are the weekend scores and today’s games:
Friday's score
Egypt 3-0 Lybia - an easy opener for Mido and the hosts
Saturday's scores
Morocco 0-1 Cote d'Ivoire - Chelsea's Drogba scored the only goal on a PK, then supposedly got hurt in the 61st minute.
Cameroon 3-1 Angola - Barcelona's Eto'o with the hat-trick
Togo 0-2 Congo - another World Cup bound team gets smoked
Sunday's scores
Tunisia 4-1 Zambia - The Cup holders got 3 from striker Silva dos Santos to cruise to victory. They are my pick to repeat in a final over hosts Egypt.
South Africa 0-2 Guinea - one of Africa's supposed powers shows how far they have fallen
Monday's games
Nigeria v Ghana
Zimbabwe v Senegal
Tuesday's games
Libya v Cote d'Ivoire
Egypt v Morocco
-Soccernet recaps MLS Superdraft
-Check this out. I saw this headline: "MLS to add scudetto to uniform next season". Huh? I guess I never really new what "scudetto" meant, and it baffled me a bit. I thought it was a Seria A thing. I figured it meant "champion" in Italian, cuz if you win Serie A, they say you have won the scudetto! Until now! Today we get the real meaning: Scudetto literally means "small shield"! And if you win the league, then your team gets to wear a special "shield" on their shirts the next season. So look for it on the 06 Galaxy kit. I think this is an excellent addition to the lore of MLS.
-Does anyone out there know who the du Nord fan is that does this website: Music Junkies? I have my suspicions, but am not exactly sure.
-BQ and I had a chat after Man U's 1-0 win over Liverpool on Sunday and he was commenting on the fact that he knows I am not a Gary Neville fan, but the guy really does do a great job on the field. I agreed. G Neville is very good. But here is why I don’t like the little rat faced bastard (and why is he still trying to grow his very first mustache): Gary Neville ran the length of the pitch to celebrate Rio Ferdinand's last-gasp, match-winning header in front of the Liverpool fans.
-West Ham have signed Norwich striker Dean Ashton.
-How did some of our boys who play in Europe do this weekend:
Bobby Convey & Marcus Hahnemann - Crystal Palace 1-1 Reading - Hahnemann named Man Of The Match
Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege 1-2 Z-Waregem
Brad Friedel - Newcastle 0-1 Blackburn
DaMarcus Beasley - PSV 2-0 RKC Waalwijk - DMB scores after coming on as sub
Claudio Reyna - Bolton 2-0 Man City - Reyna still out after ankle surgery
Eddie Lewis - Leeds 3-0 Sheff Wednesday
Cory Gibbs - Feyenoord 0-0 Roda JC Kerkrade - Gibbs still out from knee surgery, but back to full time training with team
-German Bundesliga matches resume this week after 5 weeks off
-Jonathan Spector talks to Yanks Abroad about playing against Chelsea.
-Phil Ball on Spains top scorers: Pichichi
-As a long time writer covering MLS and USA soccer, Marc Connolly joins us web-loggers with his own version as part of the US National Team Players Assoc.
-Syl Tang at the Financial Times tells about an American who just bought Italian soccer outfitter Lotto
-Gregory Sica previews Argentina's Clausura for Sports Illustrated
-Soccer America profiles The Pope, Eddie Pope aka Popie.
-Fiorentina's Luca Toni leads all European Goal Scorers
-More from Rob Hughes on the African Nations Cup: In a cradle of stars, act is not yet together
-2 Lazio players, Brazilian midfielder Aparecido Cesar & Italiano striker Simone Inzaghi (Pippo's brother), will sign with Inter today.
-Ives Galarcep gives his MLS Superdraft round-up, and talks about all the big trade/transfer rumors that didn't happen, or still might, or never were meant to be.
-USA assistant coach Curt Onalfo is in Egypt scouting Ghana at the African Nations Cup.
-Remember those pics of the new MLS team jerseys that I posted on Friday? My man Matt sent me the link, and it turns out they were screen captures from the tv feed grabbed by another regular reader, Jarrett, that he posted on the internet, only to turn up linked right here! The small world! Jarrett also does a great web-log himself called TriSoccerFan, dedicated to the North Carolina Triangle area. The Triangle is a huge hotbed for soccer action, especially on the college level. One of the newest items on his site is more word on a possible launch of a new First Division team with an ownership group led by the Rochester Raging Rhinos owners in the Triangle city of Cary. They already have that great little stadium there, so it makes perfect sense! Jarrett has the details, and it's pretty cool.
-Nick & Steven from Fox Football Friday & World Soccer Daily interviewed by the Las Vegas Sun
-Former MLS midfielder Devin Barclay is out of soccer completely, enrolled back in college and may even try to walk-on at Ohio State as a football kicker. Good luck dude, and I hope you got rid of that bad hair while you were busy making big changes in your life.

I Was A Fool When I Was News (PM edition)

-Here are the top players selected today in the 2006 MLS Superdraft. All the details at MLS).
-Colorado lost defender Nat Borchers who is off to play for Odd Grenland in Norway. Go Natty Go.
-The Arse finished the deal to sign 16 year old forward Theo Walcott from Southampton for a whole lotta money.
-The African Nations Cup kicked off today with the opening match. This is a great tournament filled with many exciting matches. You really outta go to an African bar or restaurant to see some matches. You will have a blast. A full weekend schedule starts tomorrow, with the champion being crowned on Feb 10. Here is the schedule for this weekend:
Friday
Egypt 3-0 Lybia
Saturday (all times are central)
Morocco v Cote d'Ivoire 6:00am
Cameroon v Angola 9:15am
Togo v Congo 12:00 noon
Sunday
Tunisia v Zambia 9:15am
South Africa v Guinea 12:00 noon
-Justin sent me a link to a story in the Guardian about the USA saying they want Man U boy-striker Guissepie Rossi to try out for the World Cup team. We know that The Bruce asked him to join the USA about 6 months ago and Rossi said no. So is this a new attempt, or old news?
-Yanks Abroad has a few words with Benny Feilhaber of Hamburg.
-LA Times man Grahame Jones on Marvell Wynne.
-Jamie Moreno of DC is going back to his early days with blonde hair!
-I missed this, but several people have sent me emails in the past hour asking if I heard MLS Commissioner Don Garber announce during the Superdraft that in the next 60 days the league would be granting a new expansion team in the Midwest. I can already hear it: "Stand Up If You Hate Milwaukee, Stand Up....."
-The front page at US Soccer today has a video link called "Thurs. Scrimmage". Check it out. Nice.
-After 6 long months of rehab in his home state of Florida, Cory Gibbs is back in Feyenoord with his team to get himself in shape to play again. They hope he is ready sometime in mid-February.
-As always, great MLS & USA scuttlebutt from Soccer America's "Confidential" files.
-Matt sends us a link to these photos (taken by a fan) of the new MLS shirts as worn by players at the MLS Superdraft.
-Simon Kuper sings a song for Beckenbauer: Conquering Kaiser who sweeps us all off our feet
-Houston's team name will be revealed next Wednesday.

I Was A Fool When I Was News (AM edition)

-It'll be a wild MLS day with the Superdraft starting at Noon eastern from Philadelphia. See it on the MLS site on the web, or on FSC TV. (Word has it that ESPN will take over the draft coverage starting next year.)
-Players are moving all over the place. Truth and Rumor. Fact or Fiction. Fast and Furious. In hotrods and by Motorcyle. Here is what is happening already today, and there are some real doozies:
-Eddie Johnson of Dallas is headed to Kansas City in exchange for Josh Wolff! Holy Moly Rocky! Sweet Mother of God is FCD getting ripped off on this one. There better be more to that deal coming up.
-Eddie Gaven of Metrostars to Columbus for striker Edson Buddle! Wow! OK!
-Sigi Schmid makes more players moves with his new Columbus team - Defender Chris Wingert & Keeper Matt Jordan to Colorado, in exchange for draft picks.
-And then sending midfielder Kyle Martino to Houston midfielder Danny O'Rourke.
-Repeating from yesterday, Joe Cannon to Kansas City, which is why Matt Jordan to Colorado is happening. I figured a new keeper had to be going to Colo, cuz back up Byron Foss is way to big of a putz to be put in the nets.
-Frank Dell'apa at the Boston Globe writes about New England coach Steve Nicol's eye for young talent. And that does NOT mean he has an eye for young boys.
-Copa Del Ray - Quarterfinals - 2nd legs played next week. Last nights socre:
Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 Valencia
-Can you believe that the frickin Mexican Premier Division's 2006 Clausura kicks off today and has a full package of games this weekend? Here ya go:
Friday
UAdG Tecos v San Luis
Saturday
Chiapas v Guadalajara Chivas
Toluca v Necaxa
Atlante v Sinaloa Dorados
Morelia v Cruz Azul
UANL Tigres v America
Atlas v Veracruz
Sunday
UNAM Pumas v Santos
Pachuca v Monterrey
-Big Euro Matches This Weekend:
Manchester United v Liverpool - Sunday on PPV
Villareal v Osasuna - Sunday on GolTV
Lyon v Auxerre - #1 v #3
Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao - the Basque derby
-Preki is going to become an assistant coach for Bob Bradley at Chivas USA

Suspension Misbelief News

-There is a "rumor" story running in today’s Denver Post that says keeper Joe Cannon is headed to KC! That would be huge for KC, seeing as keeper is probably their weakest spot on the field.
-Steve Ralston sustained a Qaud-muscle injury at Team USA training camp yesterday. He is listed as day to day. But I am gonna guess and say that he won't play against Canada on Sunday.
-FA Cup - 3rd Round replays last night (these games all ended in ties and are being played again on the opposite teams home field):
Last nights scores:
Man Utd 5-0 Burton
Everton 1-0 Millwall
And here's a list of 4th Round games that will be played on Sat Jan 28.
-Our man Oguchi Onyewu was (for the 2nd year in a row) named to the Belgian Juliper League's Best 11. Onyewu's teammate at Standard, Portugal's Sergio Conceicao, was named the league's Best Player for 05. Here are pictures of some of the other 11 best (and various party guests), complete with babes on arm, arriving at the ceremony for the winners.
-Copa Del Ray - Quarterfinals - 1st leg played Jan 18 & 19, with second legs to be played a week later:
Betis 0-1 Real Madrid
Cadiz 0-2 Espanyol
Deportivo La Coruna v Valencia - to be played Thurs
Atletico Madrid 2-2 Zaragoza - this match was delayed from the early round - with Zara winning the series 3-2 on agg, earning a date with Barcelona in this current round.
-Kasey Keller answers 11 questions from fans at Yanks Abroad.
-Andrea Canales at Soccernet on Marvelous Marvell Wynn.
-From Buzz at 3rd Degree: According to sources at the US Soccer Federation, the US friendly against Guatemala at Pizza Hut Park on February 19th has been chosen to debut the new Nike uniforms that the US will wear for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
-I have to admit that the more I read about England coach Sven Goren Erickson, the less I like the guy. He reminds me of Mr Burns on the Simpsons, but with much better PR skills. Even though that London newspaper tricked him into saying all those things, he did mean what he said, and really should be fired from his job immediately. If my boss said those things about me, I would be pissed off. (She probably does!)
-Last week Metrostars sent young left back Tim Ward packing, with seemingly no regrets, and now young midfielder Michael Bradley has left the club as well, officially signing with Heerenveen in Holland. Good for him!
-Claudio Reyna has signed a 1 year extension to his deal at Manchester City, keeping him there until summer 07.
-Speaking of contracts, Dom Kinnear signed a 2 year extension to his deal as coach of Houston.
-I have to say congratulations to Kristine Lilly on her 300th cap for the USA Women. 300!! That is astonishing. She also scored her 105th international goal in that game! Also truly amazing! Hooray Kristine! Hooray Beer! Hooray Large Bouquets of Flowers! The game saw her team beat Norway 3-1 at the Four Nations Tournament in China.
-Marc Connally does some draft talking with Sigi Schmid for US Nat Players site.
-One of American soccer's few real legends, Walter Bahr, talks to the Philly Inquirer about today’s youth soccer set ups.
-The other day, the Financial Times of London had a big story on the success of Reading in the English Championship Division. All of us Americans read great things about our two boys at the club, Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann. But is that a bias? In reading the FT story they mentioned neither one as the top keys to the team. Interesting how ones nationality can cloud the mind from someone elses version of reality.
-I think we all knew that the talk was silly by San Jose city officials about offering up $80 million to help launch another MLS team in their city. Part of the city government just proved it yesterday by voting 7-0 against one possible source of funding.
-MLS teams will unveil their new kits at the Superdraft on Friday.
-For the last four years Paul Caliguri, last seen by me cleaning up cigarette butts shirtless on the side of the road in Dallas, has been coaching both the Men's & Women's teams at Pomona. Due to growth in the program he will now only be coaching the men, and a new women’s coach will be hired.
-Rob Hughes previews the African Nations Cup: Cup draws talented exiles back to Africa
-Fulham signed Chelsea left back Wayne Bridge on a loan deal for the remainder of the season.
-Miami FC will play their first season at Tropical Park. Capacity is 7000. It is a Track & Field facility with the pitch inside the track. For all my fellow Minnesotan's, it looks much like the National Sports Center here, only more scenic.
-Zath sent us a pic from the MLS combine with Robert Warczka, Bob Gansler, two stud boys, and Sigi Schmid wearing a BIG hat. (Apparently, he farms rice on his off days.) Where can I get one?

I Get What I Want From My News

-Business Disaster In DC. The deal for Global Partners, led by team President Kevin Payne, to buy DC United from AEG has fallen apart, and is now officially off, "by mutual decision." Steve Goff of the Washington Post has the story. This has other repercussions beyond just a new ownership group for the team, as Global were seen as the people who were going to build the new stadium using their real estate project knowledge. And taking it one step further, Global was also recently picked by the Milwaukee group to try and build a stadium with them. Does this effect that deal as well?
-Steve Davis of the Dallas Morning News tries to get US Soccer to talk about their ticket sale debacle, but gets only vague & lame answers.
-Besides trying to get rid of Amado Guevara, Metrostars are also looking to ditch Ante Razov and Eddie Gaven.
-Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis on espn790.com at 9pm central tonight to feature Houston midfielder Dwayne DeRosario. Call ins welcome at 713-212-5790
-FA Cup - 3rd Round replays last night & tonight (these games all ended in ties and are being played again on the opposite teams home field):
Last nights scores:
Reading 3-2 West Brom
Wigan 3-3 Leeds - Wigan wins 4-2 on pk's
Stoke City 1-1 Tamworth - Stoke wins 5-4 on pk's
Birmingham 2-0 Torquay
Middlesbrough 5-2 Nuneaton
Tonights matches:
Man Utd v Burton
Everton v Millwall
The 4th Round will be played on Saturday Jan 28.
-Copa Del Ray - Quarterfinals - 1st leg played Jan 18 & 19, with second legs a week later
Betis v Real Madrid
Cadiz v Espanyol
Deportivo La Coruna v Valencia
Atletico Madrid v Zaragoza
-There is a full slate of Serie A matches today, but none of real merit.
-Brian McBride was named Fulham's Player of the Month for December. Natch.
-Great video interview today with Steve Cherundolo as he takes us around his adopted home of Hanover, from US Soccer.
-Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune on KC & USA defender Jimmy Conrad
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the Congo-Portsmouth striker: LuaLua heads to Africa under double pressure
-Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talks to Chicago's newest (& returning) player Diego Gutierrez.
-With the national coaches convention set to open today in Philadelphia, talks heats up again about getting an MLS team in the City of Brotherly Love.

Sergio Galvan Rey Is Not The King Of News

-Michael Lewis & Big Apple Soccer is reporting that both Metros' Amado Guevara & Dallas' Eddie Johnson are being shopped around by their respective teams as trade or sale bait. Wow, but not shocking. Consider these reasons: As big a handful as Guevara can be for opposing team defenders, he is as much if not more trouble for his teammates and managers to handle; and Eddie Johnson's huge pay checks are going to keep Dallas from adding many more players to their club due to the league's salary cap.
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald also writes about the growing Guevara-Lalas hate-fest.
-The rumor mill is churning hard when it says that Bournemouth in England's League 1 are chasing after New England's goal scoring machine Taylor Twellman. They may well be chasing, but he is way outta their price category.
-Even though he took all of Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup tickets to sell at his own travel agency, Jack Warner, CONCACAF President, and a FIFA Vice President, feels no remorse for his extreme insider actions, and does not have any interest in answering silly journalists even sillier questions. The LA Times has picked up on this story, and it sure would be cool to see a whole lot more people at big name writers do the same. This shouldn't stop with TnT either. The USA ticket distribution was a compelte fiasco as well. Some real paper or magazine outta get digging deep on this story and "out" the total incompetents that are in charge of US Soccer.
-At the Interliga finals on Sunday, Tigres beat Monterrey 2-1 to become champions, guaranteeing them a spot in Copa Libertadores group play, while Guadalajara finished second (beating Veracruz 2-1) and will meet Chilean club Colo Colo in a playoff for another spot in the Cup groups.
-The Copa Libertadores lauches this year on Jan 24. Here are details for the Game Schedule - and - Groups. As well as a list of all the other teams that will be participating.
-USA & LA right back Chris Albright tore a knee ligament training with the USA according to this report from US Soccer: U.S. MNT defender Chris Albright will be sidelined 3-6 weeks after exploratory surgery this morning revealed a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. The tear was repaired by U.S. National Team doctor Bert Mandelbaum in Los Angeles. The 27-year-old defender suffered the injury Jan. 5 during the team's first full day of training camp, and an initial MRI last week revealed no damage.
-In the Big Euro matches this weekend:
Roma pulled the shirt over Milan's eyes, then sucker punched 'em 1-0, to aid in their climb up the Serie A table. Milan fell even further behind Juve and Inter who both won.
Man City wiped out Man Utd 3-1 in the derby. Glory for City, doldrums for United. Cristiano Ronaldo got himself a deserved red card for his frustrated & idiotic lunge at City's Andy Cole.
The Arse destroyed pathetic Middlesbrough 7-0. It was one of the most thorough ass kickings I have seen in years.
Zidane hit for 3 as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-2! Good job old man!
-Sounds like a lot of class was shown during the Barcelona - Bilbao match Sunday. (I am being facetious.)
-Klaas Jan Huntelaar did not get his shot at PSV, so he moved on to light it up for Heerenveen. Now Ajax has paid a record fee for a Dutch player and hope he can turn their season around. Never heard of him? Neither had I. But I bet that doesn't last long.
-Big Apple Soccer talks to new Metro signing, Scottish winger Pater Canero.
-Kicker Magazine in Germany has named American midfielder Benny Feilhaber as the best new player on Hamburg so far this year. Benny is also going as part of the 25 man first team to train in Spain to get ready for the rain, no wait, sorry, to get ready for the second half of the season. Go Benny, it's yer birfday.
-The Premiership has named Manchester United's Wayne Rooney as Player Of The Month & Liverpool's Rafael Benitez as Coach Of The Month, for December.
-UEFA magazine has an interview with Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard.
-Now retired, Mark Chung, who played for 4 different MLS teams, had some great comments for MLSnet.
-Sigi Schmid continues his total overhaul of Columbus. (Did I tell you all that I think Sigi is an excellent coach?) They signed another Chilean, this time forward Sebastian Rozental, who has played for Colo Colo, Universidad Catolica, Grasshoppers, Independiente & Rangers.
-Yura Movsisyan, an 18 year old Armenian from Pasedena is going to get his shot in MLS. He has a pretty good story, and shows that anyone with talent has a shot.
-UEFA officially announced their Fan Picked 2005 Team Of The Year. It's a popularity contest of course, and the biggest clubs always win out. This year only 5 teams were represented.
-From BQ: Boss Hails ‘Top Drawer’ Hahnemann.
-Yanks Abroad has an interview with Josh Wolff of Kansas City who is not a Yank abroad, but one certainly hoping to go abroad in June for the World Cup, and has ambitions of playing in Europe for a club team as well.
-Several new quality USA training camp videos to check out.
-US National Players Assoc has an interview with John Harkes, primarily about youth development systems (which he runs for DC United).
-Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with this weeks soccer column.
-Andrea Canales on MLS Youth Development via Soccernet
-Andrea also talks to Chicago striker partners Chris Rolfe & Nate Jaqua for Soccer 365
-Former San Jose assistant coach John "Beach Boy" Doyle will not be following the team to Houston. He has chosen to live in the Bay Area and take up new pursuits rather than move his family to the teams new city. That stinks for him, but is great for him at the same time. Stick to your guns Johnny.
-Houston Chronicle's Week In Review.
-Phil Ball with his.... La Liga half-term report
-Buzz Carrick from 3rd Degree covered the MLS new player combine this past weekend in LA. Here is his wrap up report.
-Arash Markazi of Sports Illustrated speaks to the one and only Fat Ronny (who just happens to still be my favorite player): Ronaldo stays strong
-Marvel Wynne looks to be the top prospect in this years MLS Superdraft that happens in Philly on Friday.
-Paolo Wanchope, the old star of the Costa Rican national team, is headed back to play for Herediano in his home country after a negative run in Qatar and no luck catching on with an English team.

MLK Day

Hey There
I'm off celebrating the memory of Martin Luther King today.
And so should you be.
So get off the internet and go enjoy the day.
See ya tomorrow,
Bruce

The Wand News

-My pal Andy at the fabulous Minnesota Thunder fan site Blue Sky Soccer, has recently unearthed and published his France 98 World Cup travel journal. It's a very cool read.
-Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet talks to Houston headmaster Oliver Luck about his new team. Did you know that Luck and MLS Commish Don Garber were cronies at NFL Europe?
-The qualifying draw for Euro 2008 will take place on Jan 27.
-The partying is still going on down in Sao Paolo after winning the World Club Championship and their top striker is hitting the road. Marcio Amoroso is signing with AC Milan to replace the dearly departed stiff Christian Vieri.
-The last 2 Italian TIM Cup round of 16 matches were played last night. The scores:
Cittadella 0-0 Lazio - Lazio advances 2-0 on aggregate
Inter 0-0 Parma - Inter advances 1-0 on aggregate
Quarterfinal rounds will be played Jan 25 & Feb 1. The draw will be held soon.
-Soccer Americas' two latest editions of MLS Confidential have lots of great little bits of info. One - and - Two
-Yesterday we had thoughts from Buzz Carrick at 3rd Degree about Interliga. Today we read from another Du Nord favorite Andrea Canales on the subject.
-Interliga finals at the HDC on Sunday, with the two winners qualifying for the Copa Libertadores:
Tigres v Monterrey
Veracruz v Guadalajara
-Miami FC has named Brazilian Chiquinho de Assis as their first ever head coach.
-Big Euro matches this weekend:
Roma v Milan - an old fashioned Italian face off - Sunday on GolTV at 2pm central time.
Man City V Man Utd - the boneheaded derby of all boneheaded derby's - Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel at 6:30am central time.
Blackburn v Bolton - in a mini-derby - Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel at 11am central time.
-The place will only seat 200, but the new grounds for the PSV youth teams is gorgeous. Check it out now.
-Chicago fan site, The Fire Alarm, is reporting a rumor that original team member Jesse Marsch could be joining his old coach Bob Bradley at Chivas USA.
-Rich Fidler of the Hunt Park Insider sits down with Columbus coach Sigi Schmid. Still no word though on when Sigi is going to give birth to his baby.
-Due to an ankle injury, Michael Essien will NOT be playing for Ghana in the African Nations Cup. I bet he plays for Chelsea though.

And Now Here's Herman Munster With Today's Top News

-According to Big Stevie Goff of the Washington Post, the #1 villain in MLS has fled the coop. DC United Midfielder Dema Kovalenko is gone baby! Demon says he is going to play in Ukraine, but no team was mentioned. He seems to be mad cuz DCU wants him to take a pay cut. To Dema, we here at Du Nord say: So long you old leg breakin' son of a gun. Oh, yeah, and a happy F*C* Dallas to ya too. (I predict he will be back in MLS before long.)
-The next big news of the day is from newspapers in the Netherlands reporting that Indiana's young Lee Nguyen has signed with PSV Eindhoven! Fantastic for America's first ever true #10. Mark my words, this guy is for real! Him and DaMarcus training together everyday should be exciting. I think this is a great achievement for Lee and US Soccer. If I were a pun master I would call this a "Win-Nguyen situation".
-Yanks Abroad is also reporting that Heerenveen in the Netherlands is going to offer Michael Bradley a deal to play for them. Also excellent in my book. Not surprisingly Michael Lewis at Big Apple is all over this story too, and says Anderlecht of Belgium are also interested, but Heerenveen has the Cash-ola to get a deal done!
-In Interliga action last night, we saw the final 2 matches of the group stage, and here are those scores:
Morelia 0-1 Veracruz
Monterrey 1-1 Pachuca
Sending Veracruz and Monterrey into the last round with 6 & 5 points respectively compared to Pachuca's4 and Morelia's lowly 1.
There will be two final Interliga matches on Sunday, and those winners will go to the Libertadores Cup this year, along with 2004 Mexican Champs UNAM Pumas. Here are those two games (which will be played at the HDC):
Veracruz v Guadalajara
UANL Tigres v Monterrey
-Last night saw the other semifinal 1st leg of the English League Cup:
Blackburn 1-1 Manchester United - Louis Saha scored for Man U, then Morten Gamst Pedersen replied for Blackburn. Tim Howard DID NOT play for Man U, which can't be good for his World Cup team hopes. The return leg is Wed Jan 25. With Man U holding that precious away goal for any tiebreaker situations.
-Italy's TIM Cup is in the second leg of the round of 16. Here were the scores:
Brescia 3-4 Milan - Milan wins 7-4 on aggregate
Sampdoria 2-1 Cagliari - Samp wins 3-2 on agg.
Roma 2-1 Naploli - Roma wins 5-1 on agg.
Udinese 3-1 Altalanta - Udinese wins 3-2 on agg.
2 more matches tonight to finish the round:
Cittadella v Lazio - Lazio lead 2-0
Inter v Parma - Inter lead 0-1
-Columbus has officially signed Chilean defender Marcos Gonzalez, and also Uganda-born English defender Joel Kitamirike from Dundee United in Scotland.
-US Soccer is finalizing plans for a game on April 11 v Honduras at Legion Field in Birmingham.
-Liverpool signed defender Daniel Agger from Brondby in Denmark.
-Frank Dell'apa on next weeks MLS Superdarft via Soccernet.
-These are the young USA players who have left college or chosen to pass up college and go straight to MLS. They are signed under contracts called Generation Adidas, because of funding for these rosters spots coming from Adidas. Here are this years crop:
Josmer Altidore
Patrick Ianni
Kei Kamarn
Sacha Kljestan
Dax McCarty
Jacob Peterson
Willie Simms
Nathan Sturgis
Blake Wagner
Marvell Wynne
Jed Zayner
-US Soccer has posted a "diary entry" by USA player Chris Rolfe, in which he breaks down his day (Mon Jan 9) at the Team USA training camp.
-Remember back to when Chicago's Andy Herron had his full on melt down during his teams final playoff loss to New England in November? A late Chicago goal was wiped out do to an offside call that Herron disagreed with. (It was the right call.) He went absolutely nuts on the assistant referee who called it, and even appeared to push the guy. He got a red card, but kept arguing even after being sent off. He got his punishment today - 6 game suspension. Wow! That must be close to an MLS record. 6 frickin games! I can see the appeal coming already on that one.
-Buzz from 3rd Degree has gathered his thoughts on the Interliga matches that just took place in Dallas.
-Metrostars made it official with the signing of Scotsman Peter Canero from Dundee United as previously rumored. They also took a step toward more experience by acquiring Chris Henderson from Columbus but gave up young talented defender Tim Ward in exchange. I am not sure I understand this at all. We know Henderson works his ass off, but I am not so sure he adds a whole lot on the field, where Ward seems to have all the upside in the world. We shall see, but I would take Ward in that deal. And so would Sigi Schmid.
-Soccer America Confidential wrote this today: Resigned as they are to playing in Houston this season, several former San Jose players have objected to AEG's pronouncement that they wear San Jose Earthquake attire during the preseason until their Houston garb is ready. An AEG executive, dispatched last month to oversee the closing of team offices and make sure nobody snuck out with so much as a paper clip, informed the players that new Houston uniforms wouldn't be ready in time for the preseason, so for the first couple of months in 2006 they would be wearing San Jose Earthquakes gear. WTF???? Can't they just find them some generic gear to wear?

Up And Down And Down And Up News

-Powerhouse defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni has a torn a quad muscle while at the USA training camp. He is expected to miss up to 2 months, but hopes to be ready when his club Colorado starts their season on April 1. Kerry Zavagnin from Kansas City has been called in to replace Mastroeni. With Chris Armas out with knee ligament surgery this position is suddenly starting to look like a weak spot for our boys. Who fills this extremely crucial role now? Ben Olsen? Brian Carroll? Even Ricardo Clark who many think is the future at this spot is hurt.
-DC United defender Bobby Boswell has also been brought into the USA camp.
-I suggest you check out US Soccer's video page everyday during this camp, cuz they just keep putting up more great stuff for us fans.
-An English dude won $45,000 last weekend when Liverpool's Xavi Alonso scored that goal from his own end of the field (in the last seconds of the 5-3 win over Luton in the FA Cup). The guy had placed a $200 preseason bet as a lark that Alonso could do it. The dudes reaction to it happening: "I though I was going to pass out." Bravo dude. Hooray Beer!
-Interliga last night, final matches of group stage, here are the scores:
UANL Tigres 4-0 Cruz Azul - what a beat down. Tigres now thru to the final matches Sunday. But what has happened to Cruz Azul - I am only slightly kidding when I say that ever since their coach was rescued from the kidnappers they have not played well at all. Odd.
Necaxa 1-1 Guadalajara - Omar Bravo scored 2 minutes into stoppage time for the tie that sends Chivas to the big match on Sunday
And games tonight:
Morelia v Veracruz
Monterrey v Pachuca
-Last night saw the 1st leg of the English League Cup semi-finals, and the score was:
Wigan 1-0 Arsenal - Paul Scharner came on as a sub and headed home the goal. The return leg is Tues Jan 24.
Tonight’s other first leg semi:
Blackburn v Manchester United
-Italy's Tim Cup is in the round of 16, and two second leg matches were played last night, with the other 6 going tonight. Scores and games to be played:
Juventus 4-1 Fiorentina - Del Piero scored 3 and set a new Juve all time goal scoring record with 185 so far. Juve advance 6-3 on agg.
Palermo 5-4 Bari - Palermo advance by the same score after a 0-0 first leg.
Brescia v Milan - Milan lead 3-1
Sampdoria v Cagliari - tied at 1-1, giving Samp the 1 road goal advantage
Roma v Naploli - Roma lead 0-3
Udinese v Altalanta - Atalanta lead 1-0
Cittadella v Lazio - Lazio lead 2-0
Inter v Parma - Inter lead 0-1
-In Fiorentina's loss, goal keeper Sebastian Frey injured his knee and could be out up to 3 months.
-Our all time favorite Metrostars player, Lothar Matthaeus, has bolted as coach of Hungary to take charge at Brazilian club Paranaense. Really? You mean to say he quit on his team? Nooooooooooo! Not possible. Not from Mr. No-One-On-This-Team-Is-In-My-League. I will refuse to believe this until Lothar himself posts a comment with confirmation. Come on big boy, prove 'em all wrong.
-USA star U17 forward Preston Zimmerman has signed with Hamburg in Germany where he will join his USA teammate Benny Feilhaber.
-Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune with his excellent weekly News, Trophies & Red Cards - and - Sidelines.
-Columbus fans can go out to their stadiums party room to watch the MLS Superdraft on the 20th.
-Many players prepping for the MLS draft take part in the official league "try-outs" aka the combine, starting Thursday (and running thru Sunday) at The Home Depot Center in LA. This means even more people playing at that place. Unreal.
-Tonight on the Soccer Hour Radio Show with Glenn Davis the guest will be Houston coach Domminic Kinnear, you can listen on-line at ESPN 709 AM, starting at 9pm central time.
-Looks like Kansas City is going to swap players with Chicago. Veteran midfielder Diego Gutierrez would go to Chicago, and USA Youth National Team midfielder Will John would go to KC. John grew up in the KC area, and his father works for the team.
-Borgetti to Benfica? Stay tuned.

Call Me The News

-Logan's Revenge is off and running with a picture purported to be Nike's layout of World Cup shirts, team by team. And they are not nearly as cookie cutter as last time. As a matter of fact, Team USA kinda has their own cool look! Fangtastic! Let's hope these are not more of the great hoaxes we have been subject too lately.
-Interliga games tonite. The last of the group stages are tonite and tomorrow night. Then on to the two matches with the top 4 teams that will give us the 2 teams headed to Libertadores this year.
UANL Tigres v Cruz Azul
Necaxa v Guadalajara
-USA will play Guatemala on Feb 19 in Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.
-You can catch Landycakes Donovan & his Manhattan Beach house on MTV's Cribs at 9pm central time on Feb 1.
-Today Yanks Abroad is saying that Danny Szetela is in England to train with Reading then Fulham.
-But in more Fulham news, they pulled off what I think is a great move and signed Southampton Finnish keeper Antti Niemi. Their other two goalies, Crossley and Warner, were not even in the same park as their previous man Van Der Sar. This should help.
-Man Utd finalized the signing of left sided defender Patrice Evra from Monaco.
-Salt Lake signed Daniel Torres, a Costa Rican defender from Tromso Norway. Torres also played for Columbus a couple years back.
-Tonite and tomorrow night see the 1st leg of the English League Cup semi-finals:
Tuesday
Wigan v Arsenal
Wednesday
Blackburn v Manchester United
-I want to send out a big round of applause to striker Abdus Ibrahim of Minneapolis suburb Richfield who has entered the USA U17 residency program in Florida for spring semester. He plays his regular football for the club Wings Nationals. Thumbs up Abdus! And thanks to BQ for the spot.
-A note on Team USA training camp posted at Big Soccer by poster Morrissey: Freddy Adu took a knock from Ben Olsen in yesterdays (Sunday) scrimmage and was rested by the trainers for today's (Monday) sessions.
-Steve Goff of the Washington Post reports today that Ben Olsen and Josh Gros have just signed contract extensions with DC United, and that the team is nearing a deal with Dema Kovalenko.
-Soccer365 has a Q & A with American defender Heath Pearce of Nordsjaelland.
-A picture on the PSV website from yesterdays training session shows American midfielder Lee Nguyen back with the club on trial. I think this is a great sign. I would love to see this kid latch on at his age.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the sad fact that many African star players are being pressured by their European club teams not to participate in the African Nations Cup later this month. This is a huge drag, and yet another problem with the money-as-power structure set up in the game. Sons of Africa are balking
-Reminder: the African Cup Of Nations kicks off on Fri Jan 20. You should start scouting your local African neighborhood establishments to see how is gonna be showing the matches.
-Everton seems to have hit a new level of desperation - they are trying to sign pinheaded striker Nicolas Anelka from Fenerbahce.
-Matthew has hooked us up with a link to a conversation with the new owner of the revived San Francisco Seals - Tom Simpson via the US National Soccer Players Assoc site. The team will play in the PDL beginning this coming summer.
-Andrea Canales at Soccer365 talks to Freddy Adu & Ugo Ihemelu about being True Red, White and Blue
-She also has a new story on Chivas USA head honcho Bob Bradley at Soccernet.
-Lothar, a poster at Big Soccer, read an interview with German coach, and California resident, Jurgen Klinsman that was published in a German daily paper. Klinsman had interesting things to say about how USA soccer will fare at the World Cup.
-The Daily Breeze, a suburban LA daily paper, has a long & great article on Home Depot Center and all the teams training there right now - US Men, US Women, 5 other US Women's youth teams, Guadalajara, Chivas USA, and Canada with several other MLS teams on the way). How incredible is that! What a place.
-Frank Dell'apa, of the Boston Globe, on New England's preparations for the Champions Cup.
-Ives Galarcep in the North Jersey Herald on Mets coach Mo Johnston's busy schedule.