Big Stanley's Flapjack Eating Contest News

I will see you tomorrow at The Local in downtown Minneapolis to see USA v Poland? Right? 1pm central time is the kickoff. I look forward to it.
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ADDITION: Demko tips us off that El Capitano Americano Claudio Reyna has made his return to the field of play for Manc City. Last night he played 60 minutes for the reserve team in a 2-0 win over Bolton Reserves. Fantastic to see.
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The USA team visited hospitals while in Germany. A reader from Athens named Jeremy sent this my way. From the military's newspaper Stars & Stripes: U.S. men’s soccer team pays visit to Landstuhl, Ramstein
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There is brand new MUST see video from US Soccer - Showing the teams visit to the military hospitals! Powerful. - AND - Kasey Keller's Castle! Yes, he lives in a castle in Germany! It has a MOAT!.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer checks in from Germany with two stories: Uplifting Visit - and - Home Away From Home
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Marc Connolly on Bobby Convey's progress as a pro for US Players Assoc.
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Frank Dell'apa and Michael Lewis both preview USA v Poland for Soccernet.
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald now claims that Amado Guevara has changed his color completely. Ives says Amado no longer hates the Metros, he loves them. Come on Ives, which way does the wind blow? Or are you just trying to be controversial?
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From my main man Kevin A in Madison - he, like I, hates Milwaukee, but loves Peter Wilt!!!!!! Hahahahaha: Milwaukee Pro Soccer & Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association Draft Landmark Partnership. I am standing and hating Milwuakee as I type this.
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Right now is your chance to vote for the MLS goal of the decade. There are 5 choices. I don't want to influence the voting, but I think you should choose the 2003 Carlos Ruiz August 9 Los Angeles v Columbus goal! Vote today.
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NYNJSoccer talks to Metro Eddie Gaven.
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As Real Madrid try to figure out what is going so wrong for them, their President Florentino Perez decides to fall on the grenade. Rob Hughes of the International Herland Tribune autopsies the remains: Pérez accepts blame and quits Real Madrid
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Bernardo Fallas with the Houston Chronicles Week In Review.
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Robbie Keane, one of very favorite strikers, has been named the new Captain of Ireland.
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Milan & Brazil left back Cafu recently had minor knee surgery. Turns out he also had his tonsils removed and got a nose job at the same time. Could that possibly be true? Could your body take all that at once? Insane.
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Really crappy defender Brian (correction) Dunseth (not Craig Dunseth, a top member of the Halfway R-3 FFA at the World Dairy Expo) has left Chivas USA, walked 100 feet down the hall, and joined the Los Angeles Galaxy. Good luck dude.
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One of my all-time faves, Ronaldo, has scored 96 goals in his 3 1/2 seasons at Real Madrid. 96! Call him fat if you want, but that is amazing.
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The 2nd leg of the 2nd semi final in the Copa Del Rey between Deportivo La Coruna & Espanyol will be played on March 15th in Coruna. The game was delayed due to Espanyol being in the UEFA Cup, but they were elmidated last week. Espanyol leads from the first leg 2-1. The final is April 12, with this winner facing Real Zaragoza.
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Not surprisingly, Peter Cech has been named 2005 Czech Footballer of the Year.
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Michael Ballack of Bayern Munich has denied that he will sign with Chelsea this summer, but says he has had serious talks with JEF United in Japan & FC Sheriff in Moldova.
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Metrostars have signed two international players. Adrian Serioux of Canada, and Elie Ikangu of France. Serioux had been at Millwall in England, with Ikangu playing at Harve in France.
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Nick Green of the Carson Daily Breeze with a fairly harsh, but not out of line, critique of Galaxy youngster Memo Gonzalez who seems to be losing his way at only 20 years old.
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There are a whole slew of International Friendly's on the board this week. In all, 30 of the 32 World Cup teams are in action. (The 2 that are not playing matches are Australia & Togo. The least they could have done, was play each other.) Two teams are playing today (with the other 28 going tomorrow.
Today:
Japan 2-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina - Zvejzdan Misimovic & Emir Sphahic scored for B-H, while Naohiro Takahara & Hidetoshi Nakata scored for Japan.
Trinidad & Tobago v Iceland - in England
Tomorrow:
Angola v Korea Republic
Argentina v Croatia
Brazil v Russia
Costa Rica v Iran
Cote D'Ivoire v Spain
Croatia v Argentina
Czech Republic v Turkey
Ecuador v Netherlands
England v Uruguay
France v Slovakia
Germany v Italy
Ghana v Mexico
Italy v Germany
Iran v Costa Rica
Korea Republic v Angola
Mexico v Ghana
Netherlands v Ecuador
Paraguay v Wales
Poland v USA - in Germany
Portugal v Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia v Portugal
Serbia & Montenegro v Tunisia
Spain v Cote D'Ivoire
Sweden v Ireland
Switzerland v Scotland
Tunisia v Serbia & Montenegro
Ukraine v Azerbaijan
USA v Poland - in Germany
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A couple young men from my city, Minneapolis, will be joining up with the USA U15 team at the Home Depot Center for a few weeks training, and 8 matches. They are Goalkeeper Keegan Gunderson of Circle Pines & Forward Abdus Ibrahim of Richfield (who is also in the Residency Program in Bradenton). Good luck boys. I hope you have a great time.
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Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This week’s matches and scores:
Tue Feb 28
Union Espanola - The Strongest - Grupo 3
Wed Mar 01
Caracas FC - Sao Paulo FC - Grupo 1
Thur Mar 02
Palmeiras - Atletico Nacional - Grupo 7
Paulista FC - Libertad - Grupo 8

Mega Bitchin' Scrabble News

OK, so who is up for skipping out on work and watching USA v Poland at 1pm central time on Wed at the Local in downtown Minneapolis? Join me won't you!
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How did the big big big matches go last weekend in Europe:
AZ Alkmaar 1-2 PSV - PSV's road win over the title challengers puts them in a great spot to win the league again. After being a close race all season, suddenly the lead is 11 points over AZ in third, and 7 over 2nd place Feyenoord. The bad news is that our guy DaMarcus Beasley seems to have fallen in to the dog house. For the third game in a row he did not start, and barely played at all. Two weekends ago he came on in the 61st for Kone at Vitesse. He did not see the pitch in the Champions League home loss to Lyon, and this past weekend he came on in the 78th minute for Vennegoor of Hesselink. Beaz now sits behind Farfan, Vennegoor and Kone on the depth chart. Bad news bears dude.
Wigan 0-4 Man United - Man U win the "little cup" in a game that was not even as close the score. Wigan played decent during the first 10 ten minutes of each half, but the other 35 of each was nearly 100% dominance by Man U. I watched the match with about 20 Man U fans, and whether or not that was a good idea, I still had a good time. I did get a cheap shot in on them though; Near the end of the match, the camera was panning around the Man U bench as the players smiled and shook hands etc, then they showed Paul Scholes. I said "Do you think he knows the score is not 8-0?" Hahahahahahahahaha! Sorry. It's like a nervous tick for me, I HAVE to lip off.
Chivas 1-0 America - the home boys get the win in North Americas biggest match of the club year. America really do look like a mess right now.
Lazio 0-2 Roma - Even though these teams have some despicable fans, those people sure make the stadium come alive with color and sound! Lazio had the better run of the whole game, but have no one who can finish for them. Roma on the other hand let Lazio play into their hand, shut them down and got 2 hard earned goals to show why they have now won an incredible 11 Serie A games in a row! A new record. Amazing. Too many camera shots of Totti though. I am sick of that guy. And no I don't feel sorry for him at all. It's called karma, and it can be nasty.
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How did some of our other potential World Cup bound Americans do with their European clubs over the past weekend:
Oguchi Onyewu manhandled the entire Club Brugge team and scored the tying goal for his team Standard Liege as they got a point on the road in Belgium. Liege has 47 points and sits in 2nd place with Anderlecht at #1 at 49 points. Brugge is third with 47 also.
Kasey Keller and Gladbach got slapped around by red hot Werder Bremen 2-0. Gladbach could really use some more quality defenders.
Bobby Convey & Marcus Hahnemann at Reading – A 2-1 win over Preston keeps their lead at 12 points. Convey made the cross into the box which the keeper bumbled and was scooped in for the first goal.
Eddie Lewis scored for Leeds in a 2-1 win over Luton. I can't wait to see what Wednesday brings for Eddie & the USA.
Greg Berhalter was suspended and did not play for Energie Cottbus.
Brian McBride & Carlos Bocanegra of Fulham lost a tough one 2-1 to Bolton. They took the lead, then were caught in a goal mouth scramble at the end of the half. Bocanegra contributed to the madness in that scramble that resulted in an own goal against Fulham. Bolton handed out a typically rugged beating and got the home winner in the second half.
Steve Cherundolo played the full 90 in his team Hannover's 2-1 loss to Wolfsburg. I don't know what else to write.
Jonathan Spector is slowly creeping up my World Cup squad list as he played another full 90 for Charlton at the much sought after left back spot. His team drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.
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Yanks Abroad has more on the DaMarcus Beasley odyssey.
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Andrea Canales at Soccernet looks at the USA squad preparing for Poland on Wednesday.
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US Soccer has nice photos of the boys training in Germany before Wednesdays match. The team is using the facilities of FC Kaiserslautern. The guys definitely look like they are in good spirits.
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The US team is calling Ramstein Air Base their home during this trip to Germany. It's about 15 miles from Kaiserslautern.
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Our fearless leader Bruce Arena talks to the British League Managers Association about his team and their World Cup chances.
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Colorado is well underway in building their new stadium just outside Denver. Here are some fresh photos. First one shows the stadium (right in the middle) as they dig down for the foundation. Here is a closer shot. And 2 more detail shots - one - and - two.
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Speaking of pictures of new club attributes. Here is a shot from the Metrostars new Pride & Passion Pub (taken by Jamison, and posted at BigSoccer)
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Expect a new name out of Houston this week.
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Glasgow Sunday Herald feature on new Metro Scottish defender Peter Canero.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times calls out FIFA on their boorish business tactics.
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Remember last fall when the MLS playoffs were going on and San Jose lost their first game on the road to Los Angeles. Suddenly everyone was up in arms saying this two-legged playoff was not fair and not a true home field advantage to the higher seeded team. Well let's take a look at a few examples of it working pretty well in 2-legged knockout tournaments: UEFA Cup just had 16 match-ups, and the home team for the second leg won 11 times! In The Champions Cup, the home team is set up to claim the victory in all four match-ups with a lead or a tie going into the second leg. And the Champions League is looking like 7 of the 8 teams with second legs at home are set to go thru, cuz they have a lead or are tied right now, and the one team who is trailing is Juve who got 2 away goals in the first leg, which is huge. So as far as I am concerned, I love the two legged knock outs, and think they are great. All MLS needs to tweak is to add "the away goals rule" and we are all set for next fall. Carry on.
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Miraculously Brad Friedel and Blackburn are in 5th place in the English Premiership! How have they done it?? Well many things naturally, but they beat The Arse 1-0 to literally put them into 5th place! Incredible!
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Carlos Valderama interview at FIFA.com
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FIFA.com reviews the first leg of New England v La Liga and previews the second leg.
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American defender Cory Gibbs is still making his way back from 2 knee surgeries, and will play another reserve match for his team ADO Den Haag tonight.
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St Pauli drew 0-0 at Rot-Oberhausen.
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Two from Rob Hughes at the International Herald Tribune: United wins first trophy for Glazers - and - Racist Spanish fans push Eto'o to edge
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Andrew Rogers of the Soccer Times writes about the high quality effort that Marcus Hahnemann has given Reading in the nets.
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The Times of London "describe" the Glazer brothers trip to the team dressing room after Man U won the Carling Cup.
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The new issue of the UEFA Champions League magazine is out. Read these stories:
Deco delight for Barcelona - they claim Deco is the real maestro of Barca
Scolari plots Portugal progress - ya gotta love a guy called Big Phil (On the other hand, I have a cousin who was called Little Phil, and that's NOT very cool.)
Preud'homme's high Standard - the technical director of Oguchi Onyewu's club team is a goalkeeping legend and now getting it going behind the scenes
La dolce vita? - the racism in Rome has an enemy and it is getting stronger everyday (Roberto Benigni is part of the camp fighting the demons)
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Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This week’s matches and scores:
Tue Feb 28
Union Espanola - The Strongest - Grupo 3
Wed Mar 01
Caracas FC - Sao Paulo FC - Grupo 1
Thur Mar 02
Palmeiras - Atletico Nacional - Grupo 7
Paulista FC - Libertad - Grupo 8
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Here's the current Mexican Clausura Single Table (after 7 of the 17 rounds):
16 Chiapas
16 Pachuca
13 Cruz Azul
12 UAG Tecos
11 Necaxa
11 Altante
11 Atlas
10 Sinaloa
9 Toluca
9 UNAM Pumas
9 Guadalajara
8 America
8 Morelia
7 UANL Tigres
7 Monterrey
6 San Luis
4 Santos
4 Veracruz
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Romanian 2nd division team Arad sold a player to 4th division team Regal Horia for 15 kilograms of meat! I hope they know what kind of meat they are getting.

Hartley's Charlton v Villa Redux

Hello dear readers,
Here's just another new attempt to diversify my investments at du Nord.
This is a match report from regular reader, and part time blogger Hartley on his beloved English team Charlton. (He also supports Kansas City, but we will try not to mock him too badly for that.)

Charlton Athletic 0-0 Aston Villa

The good news is that Jonathan Spector got the start and played the full 90. By all accounts, Spector played well again, though he had some moments in the second half as Aston Villa pushed in an effort to steal the points. Spector has started four Premiership matches in a row and continues to improve. Alan Curbishley's staff seems to know something about training outside defenders -- just look at the improvement of Luke Young over the past couple of seasons. Here's hoping Spector continues to excel and gets a chance with the US National team in its upcoming match with Poland.

Also good news is that during a time when the Addicks usually start a springtime swoon, the team seems to be holding steady. Though Charlton will most likely not finish in any European spot, they also will not be near any relegation battles.

Bad news is that this match had few if any highlights. It was a tale of two halves as the Addicks had a few chances in the first half and the Villians came close in the second. It's a shame Darren Bent couldn't show a few more flashes and get one in the nets -- especially since Sven was in attendance at the Valley.

Some may be wondering if the Addicks are missing Danny Murphy since selling the malcontent middleman to Hotspur. Not really. The Charlton midfield seems to be struggling with keeping its width and providing some service to the Bents up front. What the Addicks are really missing is some dangerous outside play from Jerome Thomas and Dennis Rommedahl. Get either or both back and the Addicks attack will immediately become more potent.

Tall Paul At The Mall In A Small Shawl News

The CONCACAF Champions Cup 2006 launched Wednesday. Here's last nights score:
Los Angeles 0-0 Saprissa
All four 2nd (return) leg matches will be played on Wednesday March 8 and will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel.
Some press from LA's draw last night:
LA Daily News - match report from Larry Morgan
Soccer365 - match report by Andrea Canales
MLSnet - I am not really sure why, but there are 2 match reports (One - and - Two), both by Greg Daurio
LA Times - match report from The Jonesy.
Carson Daily News - match report by Nick Green
So Cal Press-Enterprise - mini match report from Luis Bueno
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Some bad news that came out of last nights LA-Sap match was the fact that Todd Dunivant has an injured hip flexor that will take him out of the USA v Poland match next week in Germany. No word yet on who will replace him. My guess is Hejduk.
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I missed this yesterday, so it's not all that relevant today, but Soccer365 has Andrea Canales previewing the 2 US sides in the Champions Cup, with quotes from LA coaches and players.
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Steven Goff who covers DC United for the Washington Post did an online Chat Session with readers the other day. He is a great writer, with excellent insight into DCU. Today Goff even showed that he is a smartass: when asked who his favorite USA player of all time is, he replied "Ted Eck!" Brilliant!
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Yanks Abroad talk to ADO defender Cory Gibbs who says he is "hungry for action". That makes two of us.
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Kristian Dyer has been writing up a storm this winter for NYNJSoccer. It's been really great stuff too. Today you can read Six Questions For Alexi Lalas.
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Columbus is in Cyprus for the next week preparing for the MLS season. While there they will play Dynamo Kiev, a Polish First Division team, and a Cyprus team.
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There's a profile of Columbus keeper Jonny Walker from the US Players Assoc.
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Pat Noonan's hamstring injury will keep him out of the New England and USA line ups for about a month.
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Bob Luder of the KC Star welcomes their cities newest star, Eddie Johnson.
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Jimmy Conrad & Kerry Zavagnin also talk to the KC Star about being with Team USA.
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Jonah Freedman is back this week with his "controversial" world club rankings for Sports Illustrated. Now, when I say controversial, of course you know I mean, "who cares." Really, it's just Freedman,s opinion right? But some folks still get all worked up into a heavy lather and want to argue this stuff. Dude, its his freakin opinion. He's entitled to it. It’s subjective. Look it up. On the other hand, Freedman is a fan of du Nord, so how could his picks possibly be wrong.
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More of Fulham coach Chris Coleman absolutely slobbering over our man Brian McBride. "He's one of the best team players I've ever witnessed."
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Actor Drew Carey is a huge USA soccer supporter as many of you know. Yesterday he appeared on Fox News's Bill O'Reilly Factor. He was wearing his USA scarf, and even though O'Reilly wanted to talk political dirt, Drew was mostly giving love to the beautiful game. It's not great, but if you have 5 free minutes....
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Today Bayern & German star Michael Ballack is said to be headed to play for Inter next year. Which team will be next? Grasshoppers? Or maybe Robin Hood? How about Joe Public?
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Metrostars new great hope, Marvell Wynne, is going to Germany to see the worlds greatest hernia repair doctor. Wynne got hurt a couple of days ago.
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Big matches this weekend:
AZ Alkmaar v PSV - #3 hosts #1 on Sunday in one of the few European leagues that actually has a tight race still in progress, the Eredivisie.
Wigan v Man United - the English Carling Cup final Sunday.
America v Chivas - the granddaddy of Mexican grudge matches can be seen on Univision at 5pm central on Sunday.
Lazio v Roma - the Roman derby - always war, ugliness, and madness. Sunday too.
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Does someone out there have Boston Globe and Soccernet writer Frank Dell'apa's email address? Could you please drop me an email with it. Thanks.
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Franz Beckenbauer was in NYC yesterday promoting the World Cup. (If any of you see him on the street, can you ask him where my flippin’ tickets are?) Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer says Even Franzie admits it was a handball. (And no, this story was not a fantasy.)
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Soccer365 talks to Colorado Head Honcho Fernando Clavijo.
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Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life - Thanks to JH for this one
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Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This week’s matches and scores:
Tue Feb 21
Estudiantes LP 4-3 Sporting Cristal - Grupo 2
Newell's Old Boys 2-0 Unión Española - Grupo 3
Tigres UANL 5-4 Deportivo Cali - Grupo 4
Wed Feb 22
Goiás EC 2-0 The Strongest - Grupo 3
Corinthians 2-2 Universidad Católica - Grupo 4
Pumas UNAM 0-1 UA Maracaibo - Grupo 6
Thur Feb 23
Internacional 3-0 Nacional - Grupo 6
Rosario Central 0-2 Cerro Porteño - Grupo 7
Next Week:
Tue Feb 28
Union Espanola - The Strongest - Grupo 3
Wed Mar 01
Caracas FC - Sao Paulo FC - Grupo 1
Thur Mar 02
Palmeiras - Atletico Nacional - Grupo 7
Paulista FC - Libertad - Grupo 8
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UEFA Cup knock out stage second legs scores, and who won the two legged race:
Palermo 1-0 Slavia - 2-2 on aggregate, Palm winning with 1 away goal
Rapid Bucuresti 2-0 Hertha - Rapid win 3-0 on agg
Levski 2-0 Artmedia - Lev win 3-0 on agg
Hamburg 2-0 Thun - Ham win 3-0 on agg
Shakhtar 0-0 Lille - Lille win 2-3 on agg
Steaua 0-1 Heerenveen - 3-3 on agg, Steaua winning with 2 away goals
Strasbourg 0-0 Litex - Stras win 2-0 on agg
Middlesbrough 0-1 Stuttgart - 2-2 on agg, Midd winning with 2 away goals
AZ 2-1 Betis - Betis win 3-2 on agg in extra time
Lens 1-0 Udinese - Udi win 3-1 on agg
Marseille 2-1 Bolton - Mars win 2-1 on agg
Monaco 1-1 Basel - Basel win 2-1 on agg
Roma 2-1 Club Brugge - Roma win 4-2 on agg
Sevilla 2-0 Lokomotiv Moskva - Sev win 3-0 on agg
Espanyol 0-3 Schalke - Schalke win 5-1 on agg
Zenit 2-1 Rosenborg - Zenit win 4-1 on agg
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My Russka-loving pal Sean is a huge Zenit supporter, so he must be incredibly thrilled with his team. I will attempt to get him to write up a lil somethin' somethin' on his boyz.

Never Mind Me News

The CONCACAF Champions Cup 2006 launched last night and continues tonight. You can see all but 1 match of the whole tournament on Fox Soccer Channel. Here are the 8 teams first leg schedules, scores, and TV times:
Last night scores:
Olimpia 0-2 Toluca - Rodrigo Diaz y Jose Cruzalta scored for the Mexican Clausura champs.
Portmore United 1-2 Club America - Remeel Wolfe opened the scoring for Portmore, but Christian Gimenez & Aaron Padilla tied & won it for los Aguiles.
New England 0-0 Alajuelense - no goals
Tonight
Los Angeles v Saprissa - 10:00PM Central
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Frank Dell'apa was in Bermuda covering New England for the Boston Globe. He had two articles one on the game itself & the second on Pat Noonan's injury.
Soccer New England has post-game quotes from NE coaches and players.
The local Bermuda Royal Gazette had their writer on the scene too.
The Gazette also have a story on their homeboy Khano Smith who is a reserve forward for NE.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times has a preview of the LA Galaxy v Saprissa game tonight.
So does Soccernet's Jeff Carlisle.
Same goes for Larry Morgan of the LA Daily News.
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20 USA players were named to the roster for the team that will take on Poland next Wednesday in Kaiserslautern Germany. Here they are, by position:
G: Tim Howard, Kasey Keller
D: Gregg Berhalter, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Todd Dunivant, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector
M: DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Chris Klein Pablo Mastroeni, Kerry Zavagnin
F: Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Taylor Twellman, Josh Wolff
Some things to note about this roster:
No Marcus Hahnemann. I bet the Reading coach asked Arena to let the man rest.
But Reading's Bobby Convey is not rested.
Eddie Lewis is listed as a defender.
Defenders Todd Dunivant and Jonathan Spector make the squad. That is very big for both of them.
No Cory Gibbs. I would think that him just returning from injury probably played a part in him staying with his club ADO Den Haug.
Pablo Mastroeni is healthy and on the team. Excellent.
Kerry Zavagnin's recent performances got him this shot.
Deuce Demspey makes the grade. Very cool.
Pat Noonan was originally on this list, but got hurt last night v Alajuelense and has been replaced by Chris Klein.
And the four forwards that I expect to be at the World Cup are all here.
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Associated Press says that Big Time Scumbag Jack Warner is now being investigated by the Trinidad & Tobago government for more fraud beyond the World Cup ticket scam he tried to pull. Being a FIFA executive has given him a lot of unearned power and the latest investigation is about stadium building contracts that were awarded to Warner’s buddies at twice the cost of a normal stadium. I would love to see some international regulators get involved and rip FIFA apart too. These people all stink.
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Marc Connolly of US Players Assoc has a classic moment from the Olympics on his weblog yesterday: American Carl Swenson miraculously upsets German favorite Tobias Angerer to win the Gold in the 50-kilometer cross-country event on the final day of the Olympics. His breathless interview with an NBC correspondent immediately afterwards starts out with this: "That was for the hand ball in '02."!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carl you are a genius! All hail Carl Swenson. Hooray Carl, Hooray Beer. American Beer, not German Beer. (CORRECTION: Now you get to see my true boneheaded side come shining through. Somehow when I read Marc's column I missed the sentence when he said "There's still time for the Winter Olympics to make an impact back here in the States. As long as these five things happen..." So this whole thing is a fantasy. Damn, I so wish it was true. I've been had again. Thanks to the kind souls who helped me screw my head back on straight.)
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Columbus has signed defender Rusty Pierce who played (would you classify what he did as playing?) with Salt Lake last year.
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The Nashville City Paper is reporting that Team USA will play the first of their 3 World Cup warm up matches on May 23rd in Nashville at the Coliseum. No opponent was named. Rumor has it that the team will also play matches on May 26 and May 28, which will mimic the turnaround time between the 3 group stage matches in Germany.
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The Metrostars have announced that they will open The Pride & Passion pub at Giant Stadium for this season. It will be interesting to see what kind of place this really is. Will it be a real pub? You will have to be a season ticket holder to get in. The pub will host a Grand Opening party on Feb 25 for everyone to check the place out.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle talks to Man U striker Ruud Van Nistlerooy.
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Jeff Bradley restarts his First XI column at MLSnet with a Josh Wolff sit down.
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Jamaican International Robert Scarlett was cut loose by Salt Lake.
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UEFA Champions League action last night, - the 2 legged knockout matches (return legs played March 7 & 8). Here are the match-ups, and some scores:
Last night:
Chelsea 1-2 Barcelona - I saw this one and it was wild. Chelsea controlled the first half, but a terrible call by the referee changed everything. He sent Del Horno off for Chelsea on a hard deliberate "professional" foul that should have been yellow. As Demko would say, "These referees giving out red card for questionable calls just ruin the whole game." Agreed. The second half started with the 10 Chelsea players dominating Barca and finally getting their goal at the hour mark. It came from a free kick that ended up being an own goal by Motta. 10 minutes later though Barca had the favor returned as they got an own goal from John Terry to even the score. Then the virtual rain came down on Chelsea's head as Barca turned up the pressure immensely looking for the win. 10 minutes later they had it with Eto'o doing his magic for sweet road victory. Lionel Messi had a great game for Barca. I think this kid might steal the show at the World Cup for Argentina. Look out.
Rangers 2-2 Villarreal - Juan Roman Riquelme returned for Villa after two months downed by injury to score one and set up the other, but Rangers got an own goal in the closing minutes for the draw. Villa's 2 road goals will probably be enough to make a difference though.
Bremen 3-2 Juventus - The German underdogs stuffed the big dogs, with Johan Micoud getting the winner for Werder in added time, after Borowski had tied it with 3 minutes of regular time left. Nedved and Trezegut had scored to give Juve the 1-2 lead. I really thought Juventus would walk away with this.
Ajax 2-2 Inter - The home side were up by 2 in the first 20 minutes of the match and seemed to be cruising to a stunning win. But Inter got their act together, sent the fat lady back to her dressing room, and took over the second half of the game, Cruz, Stankovic and Figo dominated Ajax and got the draw, not to mention the important away goals to take back home.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune watched the same game I did: Messi mesmerizes, Mourinho moans
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Phil Ball's weekly column for Soccernet focus's on the Spaniards & Brits in the Champions League: Britain v Spain (sort of)
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Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This weeks matches and scores:
Tue Feb 21
Estudiantes LP 4-3 Sporting Cristal - Grupo 2
Newell's Old Boys 2-0 Unión Española - Grupo 3
Tigres UANL 5-4 Deportivo Cali - Grupo 4
Wed Feb 22
Goiás EC 2-0 The Strongest - Grupo 3
Corinthians 2-2 Universidad Católica - Grupo 4
Pumas UNAM 0-1 UA Maracaibo - Grupo 6
Thur Feb 23
Internacional - Nacional - Grupo 6
Rosario Central - Cerro Porteño - Grupo 7
~ ~ ~
Soccernet has a round up of Wednesday's Libertadores matches.
~ ~ ~
UEFA Cup knock out stage second legs today (first leg score in parenthesis):
Palermo v Slavia (1-2)
Rapid Bucuresti v Hertha (1-0)
Levski v Artmedia (1-0)
Hamburg v Thun (1-0)
Shakhtar v Lille (2-3)
Steaua v Heerenveen (3-2)
Strasbourg v Litex (2-0)
Middlesbrough v Stuttgart (2-1)
Zenit v Rosenborg (2-0)
AZ v Betis (0-2)
Lens v Udinese (0-3)
Marseille v Bolton (0-0)
Monaco v Basel (0-1)
Roma v Club Brugge (2-1)
Sevilla v Lokomotiv Moskva (1-0)
Espanyol v Schalke (1-2)

These Days News

The CONCACAF Champions Cup 2006 launches tonight and Thursday. You can see all but 1 match of the whole tournament on Fox Soccer Channel. Here are the 8 teams schedules and TV times:
First Legs
Wed Feb 22
Olimpia v Toluca - 6:30PM Central
Portmore United v Club America - 8:30PM Central
New England v Alajuelense - no TV - Live audio commentary on the Revolution-LD Alajuelense match at 6 p.m. Wednesday is available through Revolution Soccer.
Thur Feb 23
Los Angeles v Saprissa - Thu Feb 23 10:00PM Central
~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa scouts New England's opponent Alajuelense, who I learned today are referred to as "Liga", for tonights CC match. This article of his is from the Boston Globe.
~ ~ ~
MLSnet also has previews for both MLS teams in the CC. New England - and - Los Angeles.
~ ~ ~
Holy Uptight Germans Batman! Kasey Keller gets fined by the Bundesliga for singing with fans after their victory last Saturday. Wow! What is that all about? Germans, please eat some bran flakes and loosen up a bit!
~ ~ ~
Listen in to The Soccer Hour With Glenn Davis - Tonight (Wednesday) at 9pm central on ESPN 790 AM, if you are in the Houston area, or at ESPN790 on the web. Glenn's guests will be none other than the woman who lead the charge against the name "1836" - Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, AND, USA & Kansas City striker extraordinaire Eddie Johnson! They will be taking your calls at 713-212-5790.
~ ~ ~
Mid-Atlantic Soccer chat with DC United boss Peter Nowak about many things, but not "The Incident".
~ ~ ~
The same people then have a Q&A session with the 3 DCU Argentines - Gomez, Erpen & Filomeno.
~ ~ ~
USL First Division team Atlanta has now officially embarked on "phase 2" of their new stadium building project. They expect the new home to hold 15,000. Awesome.
~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer says the Metrostars are still searching for 3 starters.
~ ~ ~
Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talks to Chicago boy Jay DeMerit about life at Watford in England's Championship Division.
~ ~ ~
Soccer365 has Andrea Canales talk to former Fire-Men and now Goats, Ante Razov & Jesse Marsch.
~ ~ ~
While Mark Zeigler covers the Olympics in Turin for the San Diego Union Tribune, he takes time to check in on The Old Lady, Juventus, also of Turin. And he also writes his regular weekly Trophies, Red Cards & Sidelines column.
~ ~ ~
More Heath Pearce talk, this time from Jack Bell at the New York Times. I am glad Heath is getting all this publicity and even gladder that he is a left back. But I just wish he was a better player RIGHT NOW (man). The USA needs a left back desperately.
~ ~ ~
Young attacker Will John has joined his home town team Kansas City for his second MLS season. MLSnet has a profile on the man.
~ ~ ~
NYNJSoccer learns all about DC United comeback striker Alecko Eskandarian.
~ ~ ~
Inter, who dropped to 3rd in Italy last weekend after a 0-0 draw with Livorno, have had star Adriano banned for the next two matches after he slapped Livorno defender Alessandro Grandoni in the face during the match. Idiot!
~ ~ ~
Bora Milutinovic did NOT get the job coaching Togo for the World Cup. The job went instead to German Otto Pfister.
~ ~ ~
UEFA Champions League action last night, - the 2 legged knockout matches (return legs in 2 weeks). Here are the match-ups, and some scores:
Yesterday:
Bayern 1-1 Milan - Ballack thundered Bayern into the lead with a huge shot, but Milan and Shevckenko got a bogus penalty to snag a draw. Bayern deserved better, even though Milan was attacking like crazy.
Benfica 1-0 Liverpool - The champs got a taste of their own medicine. Benfica sat back and dared Liverpool to open up, which of course they did not. So it took at goal in the 85th minute off a headed free kick to snatch the big win for the home underdogs.
Real Madrid 0-1 Arsenal - All the pundits said RM were going to roll over the Arse. But RM played nervous and "not to lose". And when you have Henry on your team, you always have a chance. He burned the home team more than once and got the victory with the all important away goal! Touche!
PSV 0-1 Lyon - Oh boy, PSV had about 6 great chances in the first half to score and they blew it. The second half was a stalemate with Lyon doing a great job of stuffing PSV back into the middle of the field. Then Lyon got their chance on a free kick, and Juninho did his magic with a tremendous free kick for the winner (and the huge away goal)! Foolishly PSV coach Gus Hiddink chose not to use the Jitterbug DaMarcus Beasley at all.
Today:
Chelsea v Barcelona on ESPN2 at 1:30pm central time
Rangers v Villarreal
Bremen v Juventus
Ajax v Inter
~ ~ ~
I read a quote this morning from PSV coach Gus Hiddink where he said that inexperience really cost his team in their loss to Lyon last night, but he had a guy warming up the whole second half who scored 4 goals last year in the Champions League, but chose not to use him. Yes that was DaMarcus Beasley. In my book that makes it a pretty lame excuse by Gus. He shortchanged his own team for some reason. The mirror Gus, the mirror. Use it for self examination.
~ ~ ~
And even more enlightening for DMB is an article that will appear today in the Dutch magazine Voetbal International. DaMarcus has plenty to say about PSV, and he is not happy. BigSoccer poster "Johan Derksen" translates part of the story.
~ ~ ~
Jonathan Woodgate played less than 9 minutes for Real Madrid in the Champions League yesterday before re-injuring his thigh. Wow. This is pretty bad. He has missed most of the last 2 years with this reoccurring injury. And he needs a haircut too.
~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes on Thierry, The Arse, & the (cough cough) Galacticos: Real dawdles, and Henry executes, in the International Herald Tribune.
~ ~ ~
Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This weeks matches and scores:
Tue Feb 21
Estudiantes LP 4-3 Sporting Cristal - Grupo 2
Newell's Old Boys 2-0 Unión Española - Grupo 3
Tigres UANL 5-4 Deportivo Cali - Grupo 4
Wed Feb 22
Goiás EC - The Strongest - Grupo 3
Corinthians - Universidad Católica - Grupo 4
Pumas UNAM - UA Maracaibo - Grupo 6
Thur Feb 23
Internacional - Nacional - Grupo 6
Rosario Central - Cerro Porteño - Grupo 7
~ ~ ~
Soccerway has capsule reviews of all three of last nights Libertadores games! Thank you SW.
~ ~ ~
UEFA.com's Q&A with Real Madrid's baby boy Robinho.
~ ~ ~
UEFA.com has a story on the Netherlands current coach and legendary Euro player Marco Van Basten.
~ ~ ~
Our friend Lance lays some more great info on us - in the spirit of Lyon's Brazilian striker Fred, we now have a Brazilain named in a way you could call the Anti-Fred, Creedance Clearwater Couto, who plays for Lierse in Belgium.
~ ~ ~
Lance also sent me a link to an excellent indepth fan run German soccer site - Abseits (which means "offside" in German).
~ ~ ~
My email pal Zach is a huge fan of Subbuteo. If you are like me, you don't know much about it, but use your ignorance to fear it is like Soccer Dungeons & Dragons. Of course it's not, but I looooooove to judge things that I know nothing about. Zach is a master, and he tells me, thus I am telling you, that we should all take a moment to check out American Subbuteo. So do it, dude.

Is Your Nose Runnin' Cuzza The News?

Add another USA pre-World Cup match to your schedule: USA v Jamaica - Cary, NC - SAS Soccer Park - Tues Apr 11, 7pm
~ ~ ~
The USA Roster for the March 1 match v Poland in Germany will be announced on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~
As always, lots of good game clips and interviews from the USA 4-0 Guatemala match at US Socccer.
~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad is reporting that USA center back Cory Gibbs played the full 90 for the ADO reserves last night in Holland. Also a mention of Michael Bradley.
~ ~ ~
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America hands out his USA Players Report Card for the match v Guatemala.
~ ~ ~
What did the Guatemalan's think of the USA in their match? MLSnet has some quotes.
~ ~ ~
Lars Lifrak of Soccer365 does a Q&A with new Metrostar defender Taylor Graham.
~ ~ ~
Soccernet has an interview with our man DaMarcus Beasley, who is oozing with confidence. I like ooze.
~ ~ ~
The PSV home page has an interview the goalkeeper of their Champions League opponent, Lyon's Gregory Coupet.
~ ~ ~
Word came in last night that Frank Dell'apa's mustache is in Bermuda for the Champions Cup match, and working on its tan. It would be nice to get word straight from Frank's mustache itself. By the way, the man attached to the famous mustache is Frank Dell'apa, who covers soccer for the Boston Globe. He does an excellent job. Here is his report from Bermuda where he is with his mustache covering New England's preseason training & their Champions Cup tangle with Alajuelense, and will write more from there I'm sure.
~ ~ ~
The Columbus Dispatch reports on the preseason progress of one of my favorite MLS strikers, Columbus' Edson Buddle. You may remember he had a real struggle with the personal demons last year. I hope he is in a better place to deal with them now. Good luck Edson. Hooray Rootbeer!
~ ~ ~
The Mid-Atlantic Soccer Report talk to 3 DC United players: John Wilson, Clyde Simms and Brandon Prideaux.
~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes: Champions League as welcome respite
~ ~ ~
St Pauli's American defender Ian Joy answers 11 questions from the readers of Yanks Abroad.
~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald writes about oddly enigmatic Columbus midfielder Danny Szetela.
~ ~ ~
3rd Degree is reporting that FC Dallas will bring in Argentine Marcus Charras on loan from Quilmes. He plays left back and/or left midfield.
~ ~ ~
Houston Chronicle's Week In Review
~ ~ ~
The CONCACAF Champions Cup 2006 launches tomorrow and Thursday. You can see all but 1 match of the whole tournament on Fox Soccer Channel. Here are the 8 teams:
First Legs
Wed Feb 22
Olimpia v Toluca - 6:30PM Central
Portmore United v Club America - 8:30PM Central
New England v Alajuelense - no TV - Live audio commentary on the Revolution-LD Alajuelense match at 6 p.m. Wednesday is available through www.revolutionsoccer.net.
Thur Feb 23
Los Angeles v Saprissa - Thu Feb 23 10:00PM Central
~ ~ ~
The mighty UEFA Champions League is back, and now we get to the nitty gritty - 2 legged knockout matches this week, with return legs played two weeks later. Here are the match-ups, and there are some doozy's:
Today:
Bayern v Milan
Benfica v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Arsenal on ESPN2 at 1:30pm central time
PSV v Lyon
Tomorrow:
Chelsea v Barcelona on ESPN2 at 1:30pm central time
Rangers v Villarreal
Bremen v Juventus
Ajax v Inter
~ ~ ~
Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This weeks matches and scores:
Tue Feb 21
Estudiantes LP - Sporting Cristal - Grupo 2
Newell's Old Boys - Unión Española - Grupo 3
Tigres UANL - Deportivo Cali - Grupo 4
Wed Feb 22
Goiás EC - The Strongest - Grupo 3
Corinthians - Universidad Católica - Grupo 4
Pumas UNAM - UA Maracaibo - Grupo 6
Thur Feb 23
Internacional - Nacional - Grupo 6
Rosario Central - Cerro Porteño - Grupo 7

Technical Knock Out News

-USA 4-0 Guatemala: another thorough whooping by the boys in the new blue uni's. The TV dudes gave the Man of the Match to Eddie Johnson for some odd reason. Here are my Three Stars of the Game:
3) Eddie Pope - his defense again was outstanding, he cut off nearly every chance Guatemala mounted. The play were he raced back and completely stuffed Pando Ramirez said it all. And El Pescadito didn't get a sniff of the goal.
2) Ben Olsen - he hit that first goal that got the team rolling. It was a 25 yard bomb that blew the Guate keeper away. What a shot. Captain Caveman also played great on both sides of the ball with quality passing and excellent defense, helping to keep Guate from ever really getting their offense going at all.
1) Chris Klein - the right winger, who I have always thought deserved a better chance with Team USA, set up the first two goals, and then scored the 4th one himself. He is a great passer and crosser and proved it again yesterday.
And here is a round up of game coverage:
3rd Degree - Match Report by Ed Buzan
ESPN Soccernet - match report & player ratings by Steve Davis
Soccer Times - Match Report & Player Analysis by Robert Wagman
LA Times - Short Match Report by Sir Grahame Nosedevoidofun
Houston Chronicle - Match Report featuring analysis of Brian Ching & other notes by Bernardo Fallas.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram - match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez
Dallas Morning News - match report by Steve Davis
Yanks Abroad - Match Report by Rich Fidler.
USA Today - Match Report from the AP.
American Soccer News - match report by Francisco Valdivia
MLSnet - match report by Scott Joiner
Matchnight - match notes by Scott Viar
~ ~ ~
-The next USA match is Wednesday March 1 in Kaiserslautern Germany v Poland. It will be shown live on ESPN2 at 1pm central time.
~ ~ ~
-DC United coach Peter Nowak has been accused by Real Salt Lake of using a racial slur against a player on trial with them, during a preseason match. Salt Lake coach John Ellinger made the accusation about remarks made toward Atiba Harris. Nowak, DC United management & DC United players all deny it happened, and say it was a misunderstanding. The excellent Washington Post reporter Steven Goff has the whole story. Neither of the two Salt Lake City newspapers have anything on the story.
~ ~ ~
-One of my favorite Fellow Freaks, Donovan from The DCenters, has two excellent posts on the Peter Nowak saga that you should read: One - and - Two. Quality.
~ ~ ~
-Glenn Davis in the Houston Chronicle: During name flap, let's not lose sight of game's strides
~ ~ ~
-We need a preseason update on Frank Dell'apa's mustache. Any readers seen how its doing?
~ ~ ~
-Italy & Roma star Francesco Totti sustained a broken ankle & ligament damage on Sunday. It could jearpordize his World Cup! AFP has a detailed article on his injury and the surgery needed to repair the damage. (It was not ALL horribly wrong for Roma though, they won a Serie A record 10th game in a row, beating Empoli 1-0. But that's probably of little consequence to them right now.)
~ ~ ~
-Speaking of broken bones - did you see that ugly mess that happened to Man U's Alan Smith. Oooof. Dislocated ankle and broken shin bone. Oh man that must have hurt. I am not a fan of Mr Smith, but that was sad to see. Good luck man.
~ ~ ~
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune comments on the nastiness of Smith's broken bones: Hope crumples on one bad break
~ ~ ~
-How did our top Americans & their respective clubs fair in Europe this past weekend? Let's review:
Well Well Well! Reading finally got beat! For the first time since the opening game of the Championship season (August 6) Reading have gone down to defeat. 3-2 to Luton. Bobby Convey set up the first goal with one of his deadly crosses, but was replaced in the 64th minute. Marcus Hahnemann did not have a good day in goal either.
Kasey Keller and 'Gladbach beat Cologne 2-0.
Stevie Cherundolo & Hannover almost beat Bayern, but drew 1-1 when that Bayern bollacker Michael Ballack scored just before the 90th minute.
The Watford-Leeds battle for 3rd place in the English Championship teetered back toward Watford this week as they beat B&H 0-1, while Leeds drew 1-1 at Leicester. Defender Jay DeMerit & winger Eddie Lewis went the full 90 for their respective teams.
PSV, with DaMarcus Beasley subbing in at the 60th minute came from behind to win 1-3 at Vitesse. Jefferson Farfan scored 2 more for PSV giving him 17 on the season. They play Lyon in the Champions League tomorrow.
Oguchi Onyewu and his Standard Liege absolutely hammered Cercle 7 – 1 in Belgium.
~ ~ ~
-Soccernet has a Q&A with Chicago's Chris Rolfe.
~ ~ ~
-The CONCACAF Champions Cup 2006 launches tomorrow and Wednesday. You can see all but 1 match of the whole tournament on Fox Soccer Channel. Here are the 8 teams first leg matches (return matches in a weeks time or so):
Tue Feb 22
Olimpia v Toluca - 6:30PM Central
Portmore United v Club America - 8:30PM Central
New England v Alajuelense - no TV - but there is live audio at 5pm central from Revolution Soccer.
Wed Feb 23
Los Angeles v Saprissa - Thu Feb 23 10:00PM Central
~ ~ ~
-Kyle McCarthy previews New England & LA in the Cup for the US Players Assoc.
~ ~ ~
-As New England prepares for this big match, they are stationed in Bermuda and will play their "home" leg on the island. Yesterday they took on the Bermuda national team as a warm up and beat them 0-3. Deuce Dempsey scored 2. The Royal Gazette of Bermuda has the full story.
~ ~ ~
-Salt Lake is really cleaning house after that awful first season last year. In the offseason they got rid of Clint Mathis, D.J. Countess and Brian Dunseth, and last week during preseason training camp they cut loose 7 more players - Tiger Fitzpatrick, Melvin Tarley (who they bought from my Minnesota Thunder late last year), Michael Lookingland, Sergio Flores, Luke Kreamalmeyer, Jake Besagno, & Robert Scarlett.
~ ~ ~
-And the Salt Lake Tribune has a feature story on RSL's recovering striker & one of MLS's all time goal scoring leaders Jason Kreis.
~ ~ ~
-Barcelona had lost two in a row, and not surprisingly it happened while Ronaldinho was suspended for 2 games. But he was back Saturday and led them to a 5-1 stomping of Betis. This is why many people, including me, say he is the best in the world right now.
~ ~ ~
-The mighty UEFA Champions League is back, and now we get the nitty gritty - 2 legged knockout matches starting this week, with return legs played two weeks later. Here are the match-ups, and there are some doozies:
Tuesday Feb 21:
Bayern v Milan
Benfica v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Arsenal on ESPN2 at 1:30pm central time
PSV v Lyon
Wednesday Feb 22:
Chelsea v Barcelona on ESPN2 at 1:30pm central time
Rangers v Villarreal
Bremen v Juventus
Ajax v Inter
~ ~ ~
-Sports Illustrated's Gabriel Marcotti previews Chelsea v Barca.
~ ~ ~
-St Pauli drew 1-1 with Fortuna and now sit in 2nd place in Germany's Regionalliga. If they finish in this spot they will be promoted to the Bundesliga 2.
~ ~ ~
-Columbus Dispatch has a feature story on former Columbus player, interim manager & current assistant coach Robert Warzycha.
~ ~ ~
-The Oregonian with a story on young USA defender Heath Pearce.
~ ~ ~
-Fifth Round of the English FA Cup was this weekend. Here are the scores from matches:
Saturday:
Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United
Bolton 0-0 West Ham (replay on Tue Mar 7)
Charlton 3-1 Brentford
Newcastle 1-0 Southampton
Sunday:
Preston 0-2 Middlesbrough
Stoke 0-1 Birmingham
Chelsea 3-1 Colchester
Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City (replay Wed Mar 8)
Sadly all the little clubs are gone, and we are left with Premiership teams to duke it out.
So here is the draw for the 6th round:
Charlton v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa or Manchester City v Bolton or West Ham
Chelsea v Newcastle United
Birmingham v Liverpool
~ ~ ~
-Copa Libertadores Group stage!! This weeks matches:
Tue Feb 21
Estudiantes LP - Sporting Cristal - Grupo 2
Newell's Old Boys - Unión Española - Grupo 3
Tigres UANL - Deportivo Cali - Grupo 4
Wed Feb 22
Goiás EC - The Strongest - Grupo 3
Corinthians - Universidad Católica - Grupo 4
Pumas UNAM - UA Maracaibo - Grupo 6
Thur Feb 23
Internacional - Nacional - Grupo 6
Rosario Central - Cerro Porteño - Grupo 7
~ ~ ~
-Let's finish today with the unqualified brilliance of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho: "Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists." Does this mean that my dream of someday meeting and falling in love with a hot & sexy bio-chemist is gone???? Say it isn't so Jose!

Wiener News

-Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer Rumor Alert: Eddie Gaven from Metro to LA for Todd Dunivant. This makes no frickin sense to me at all. First off, why would LA give up a proven starter for a guy with tons of potential but who stalled out last year. And secondly, I thought Metro needed forwards?
- - -
-FIFA has actually done something right!!!! They issued a statement that Vice President Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago is in violation of their code of ethics over his scam to corner all of his countries World Cup tickets and sell them only thru his own travel agency. They called his actions a "conflict of interest." Let's hope they do more than send out a press release. They claim that they will decide what to do next at their March 16 meeting.
- - -
-In case you didn't notice, in the left hand column under my list of "Fellow Freaks" is my line up for team USA at the World Cup. This is a list of who I would bring to Germany if it was a perfect world and I ran the show.
- - -
-Not too surprisingly, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon & Barcelona was named African Footballer of the Year. This is the third year in a row he has won the award.
- - -
-Last week before and after the USA 3-2 win over Japan, the Japanese coach, Brazilian Zico, showed little or no respect to the US team or it's players. He seemed mostly disinterested. But this week as they are back in Japan and preparing to play Finland on Saturday he said this to say about the US team: "That was the most sustained pressure we have been under since I became coach (in 2002)." That's a little better buddy, cuz I watched that game and yer boyz got their asses handed to 'em.
- - -
-Don't forget to watch: USA v Guatemala - Sun Feb 19 at 1pm central on ESPN2, live from Pizza Hut Park in Dallas.
- - -
-Soccernet has a preview of the match.
- - -
-Ridge Mahoney of USA Today also previews the match.
- - -
-The Rotterdam derby is on Sunday with Feyenoord taking on Sparta.
- - -
-USA right back (corrected) Steve Cherundolo and his club team Hannover sit in 6th place in Germany and have a huge home game on Saturday v 1st place Bayern Munchen.
- - -
-Ives Galarcep says the real reason Dallas shipped Eddie Johnson to KC is that no one at FC Dallas liked him & they wanted him gone. Ouch.
- - -
-There is an American playing in the English Championship Division that I have rarely, if ever, mentioned. That is Mr Jay DeMerit, a defender at Watford (who currently sit in 4th place). Soccer America had a nice juicy bit of info on him this week: Jay DeMerit, the unheralded Wisconsin product who became a regular defender for Watford after joining the English second-tier club in 2004, is ready to play for the U.S. national team, according to his coach, Adrian Boothroyd. "Jay has shown that he has the ability to be a top-class player and I have contacted Bruce Arena and recommended that he takes a close look at him. Jay has shown that he is capable of playing at a higher level, I really think he could make a meaningful contribution to the American squad this summer in Germany." The 26-year-old central defender has made 21 appearances this season for the club that is poised to qualify for the Premier League promotion playoffs. Maybe he will get the call from Coach Arena in the next few weeks as the USA plays two games on German soil in March: the 1st v Poland at Kaiserslautern, and the 22nd v Germany in Dortmund.
- - -
-Robert Wagman of Soccer Times on the USA Big Bossman: Arena still doesn't get the respect he deserves
- - -
The US National Players Assoc has three features: 1) DaMarcus Beasley of PSV, 2) Landon Donovan of Los Angeles Galaxy, & 3) Diego Gutierrez of Chicago Fire.
- - -
-Gregory Sica from Sports Illustrated writes about the overwhelming depth of striker that Argentina has: Pick your poison
- - -
-Salt Lake's Desert News' James Edwards has a feature on striker Jeff Cunningham.
- - -
-Captain America, Claudio Reyna, has started some fitness training at Man City after the broken foot kept him out for almost 2 months.
- - -
-Fifth Round of the English FA Cup is this weekend. Here are the matches:
Saturday:
Liverpool v Manchester United
Bolton v West Ham
Charlton v Brentford
Newcastle v Southampton
Sunday:
Preston v Middlesbrough
Stoke v Birmingham
Chelsea v Colchester
Aston Villa v Manchester City
- - -
-UEFA Cup resumed with 2 legged knockout matches starting Wednesday & last night with return legs played next week. Here are the scores:
Last night:
Stuttgart 1-2 Middlesbrough
Slavia 2-1 Palermo
Thun 1-0 Hamburg
- - -
-Copa Libertadores!! There was even a big upset last night as River Plate went down! The matches:
Last night:
Libertad 2-0 River Plate - Grupo 8
Universitario 1-2 Liga Dep. Universitaria - Grupo 5
UA Maracaibo 1-1 Internacional - Grupo 6

The du Nord Interview - Andrea Canales

It's everything you would expect, and we are proud to bring it to you. Gripping, Searing, & Soul Searching? No! Not even close. Some fluff and a little personal insight? Sure, why not. We talk to our favorite people inside the world of soccer (who will answer our emails)! Meet Andrea Canales. Journalist covering the beautiful game these days for Soccer365 & ESPN's Soccernet. Read the answers to all 8, yes EIGHT, questions (quite possibly the 8 biggest questions anyone has ever asked):

1 What city do you call home?

AC: Los Angeles

2 Who is your personal favorite soccer team?

AC: Boca Juniors

3 Who is your favorite player of all time? And who is your current favorite player?

AC: Probably Daniel Passarella. I'm a fan of solid defense and team play. Ronaldinho is magic on the ball, though.
Locally, Herculez Gomez was a lot of fun to watch this past year - partly because no one saw him coming.

4 Do you have a strong interest in anything that is quite different from soccer?

AC: I love theater. I read a lot. Anytime I get a chance to travel, I'll take it.

5 Where is your favorite place to eat in America? And how would you describe the food there?

AC: That really depends on my mood. If I'm feeling chic, then Blowfish in West Hollywood serves up tasty sushi in a trendy atmosphere. The Arroyo Chophouse in Pasadena dishes up an excellent steak. For hanging out at a table with friends, nothing beats a pitcher of sangria and Cuban food at the original Cha Cha Cha's on the corner of Melrose and Virgil. It's hard to top the simple pleasure of an In-N-Out burger, though, unless it's with a Tommy's chiliburger instead. Zankou and Roscoe's do completely opposite things with chicken, and they're both divine. The pastrami at Langer's Deli is great. I've got to quit here, because there are still the all the Thai, Ethiopian, Mexican, Persian, Salvadorean, Indian, etc. places I love. I don't usually get great food when I travel. Mostly to save money, I keep it simple and safe. Eating in Los Angeles is like sampling tastes of the world, though.

6 What is the last great piece of music you heard?

AC: I respect music groups more for quality of output than just one song, so I have to go with U2. I also like Ozomatli. It's not deep and meaningful, but a lot of the reggaeton music out now always cheers me up. When I want to feel moody, Miles Davis, Jeff Buckley and the Smiths.

7 What is the last great book you read?

AC: Cry the Beloved Country - all those planning to go to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup should check out this powerful story of the elements that are still struggling there today first. An awareness of some of the history makes any trip more meaningful.

8 Say you have a crisp new $100 bill in your pocket...What would you do with it?

AC: I'd probably finally upgrade to a good digital recorder and move my microcassete one to backup duty.


And with that we must say goodbye and thank you Andrea, you have been a tough but fair sport.

Stark Raving Lunatic News

-Regular reader BQ implored me to listen to the podcast of Big USA Bossman Bruce Arena's press conference pre-Guatemala & pre-World Cup. And as usual BQ was dead right. The podcast is so much better than reading the quotes on paper/screen. And Arena says a lot more then they put in the Press Release Quotes. Go Listen NOW!
- - -
-Here is the USA roster for the match v Guatemala on Sunday in Dallas. (Remember, all the New England & Los Angeles players have been released so they can go play for their clubs in the Champions Cup next week.):
G:
*Brad Guzan
Zach Wells
D:
Bobby Boswell
*Jimmy Conrad
*Frankie Hejduk
*Heath Pearce
*Eddie Pope
M:
Brian Carroll
*Chris Klein
Kyle Martino
*Ben Olsen
Santino Quaranta
*Kerry Zavagnin
F:
*Eddie Johnson
*Chris Rolfe
*Josh Wolff
Brian Ching
* players I think will start the match.
- - -
-Do you think Deuce Dempsey is on fire right now? Check this out: He joined New England down in Bermuda on Monday. Last night they played the Bermuda U17's, winning 8-1 with Dempsey scoring 5! Yes FIVE! I know they are just kids, but still, 5!
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-We don't hear nearly enough from Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl, but when we do he almost always jacks it out of the park. He is my favorite American soccer writer, and today he talks about the new US kit and many other topics that tickle his fancy.
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-Our Bobby Convey talks to the BBC about the Reading success story.
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-US Soccer has new video clips of interviews with defender Eddie Pope & Canadian coach Frank Yallop.
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-The little-heard-from Jeff Bradley writes about the role of the foreign player in MLS for the US Players Assoc.
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-Grahame Jones of the LA Times on Eddie Johnson's slow return from injury.
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-More on all this Houston team name bullshit from the Houston Chronicle's Bernardo Fallas.
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-While the Chronicle's Glenn Davis reports on DaMarcus Beasley's importance to team USA.
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-There is a rumor screaming around that internets thing about the man Bora Milutinovic coaching Togo in the World Cup. That would make them his 6th team! No confirmation though.
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-NYNJSoccer speak with Metrostars Youth Director (and former player) Giovanni Savarese.
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-The African Footballer Of The Year is to be named some time today. The 3 finalists are: Last years winner Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon & Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Cote D'Ivoire & Chelsea), and Michael Essien (Ghana & Chelsea).
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-Eddie Lewis and Leeds beat Watford 2-1 in a very important English Championship Division match last night. The 3 points jump Leeds back into 3rd place over Watford, with 62 points to the Hornets 61.
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-I know that yesterday I said that the Champions League resumes next week, and that the return legs were the following week. Chad pointed out that the return legs will played two weeks after the 1st legs. I knew that, but it still doesn't always transfer from my brain to my fingers as I type this stuff up. The first legs are Feb 21 & 22, and the return legs are Mar 7 & 8. Thanks Chad!
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-A lot of people rave about Mexican goal keeper Oswaldo Sanchez, but from what I have seen, he is a talented guy that can be rattled and thrown off his game. The USA v Mexico match in Columbus was a perfect example. During warm ups he was very unsatisfied with every single little thing around his goal. The US players got in his face a little, and never backed down, which really bugged him. Then there were the USA fans, they even got to him. He had a fit when streamers rained down on his goal. The volume of the fans and chanting distracted him. And once that first goal went in he was a goner. At one point he ran all the way out to midfield to argue with the referee, not to mention scrapping with his won defenders. Why am I writing all this crap? Last night his Mexico faced South Korea in Oakland, and Oswaldo was responsible for the game winning goal by the Koreans (1-0). On the bad play, he stopped a shot, but he cleared the ball with a little flick to a defender standing near the top of the box which was easily stolen by a Korean who smashed it home for the winner. Case closed. I really think he can be a liability for Mexico at the World Cup.
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-UEFA Cup resumed with 2 legged knockout matches starting yesterday with return legs played next week. Here are the scores & the schedule:
Last night:
Litex 0-2 Strasbourg
Schalke 2-1 Espanyol
Heerenveen 1-3 Steaua
Basel 1-0 Monaco
Betis 2-0 AZ Alkmaar
Rosenborg 0-2 Zenit
Bolton 0-0 Marseille
Lokomotiv Moskva 0-1 Sevilla
Artmedia 0-1 Levski
Club Brugge 1-2 Roma
Hertha 0-1 Rapid Bucuresti
Lille 3-2 Shakhtar
Udinese 3-0 Lens
Today:
Stuttgart v Middlesbrough
Slavia v Palermo
Thun v Hamburg
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-Copa Libertadores!! This Weeks matches:
Last night:
Independiente Santa Fe 2-2 Bolívar - Grupo 2
Deportivo Cali 0-1 Corinthians - Grupo 4
Cerro Porteño 0-0 Palmeiras - Grupo 7
Thursday:
Libertad - River Plate - Grupo 8
Universitario - Liga Dep. Universitaria - Grupo 5
UA Maracaibo - Internacional - Grupo 6
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-The Spanish Copa del Rey is racing toward the finish line and the last semifinal match is to be played soon. Why no exact date you ask? Number 1, because it's Spain, and number 2, because Espanyol are in the UEFA Cup leaving very few open dates for them. I would assume we will know a date fairly soon for this match:
Deportivo La Coruna v Espanyol - Esp leads 2-1, but the away goal that Depor snagged could be huge.
So it's gonna be Real Zaragoza (6-5 winners over Real Madrid) v that winner in the 2006 Copa del Rey Final!

Pinocchio's Bestests News

-This is Eric Cantona interrupting your transmissions!
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-It is official, Houston 1836 is going to change their team name. People are responding to this name change crap at the Chronicle's web site, and they are pissed as hell! I believe they should be. 1836 was the only name from the teams choices that was not corny. It actually had real meaning to the city itself! I have nothing against the Mexican people who say they are offended, I love them and their country, but this this Houston, not Guadalajara, and Mexicans also fought to free themselves as Texans.
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-Call Glenn Davis' radio show in Houston tonite, and let em know how you feel: "The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis" at 830pm central Wednesday on 790 AM (espn790.com) features Houston coach Dominic Kinnear and a World Cup update from Berlin.
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-Yanks Abroad talks about success with USA & PSV midfielder/striker DaMarcus Beasley.
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-I still cannot believe that Dallas got no players in the trade to KC for Eddie Johnson. Yes they got money, but they should have at least gotten a young prospect in return for someone as amazing as the Grown-Ass-Man. Great job by KC to snag this guy! (For the last 3 seasons I have made the trek to KC for the MLS season opener, and I plan to again this year. Now I get to see an even better team. They will play Sigi's Crew on April 1.) Another thing about all of this that really bums me out, is why can't the league get to a level where they don't have to take away a great player from a team like this. We have already seen 2 great teams dismantled in MLS because of too much success leading to big paychecks - DC United & Chicago. Will New England be next? They sure have the players and the winning to find themselves in a bad spot a year or two down the road. That would stink, like this does.
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-Eddie Johnson tells the KC Star that he is excited to play for his new team. (As if a media savy guy like him would say something else....)
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-In a sheet of quotes supplied by US Soccer, our big bossman Bruce Arena raves about Landycakes & other things pre-Guatemala & pre-World Cup. There is also a podcast of the press conference that you can download, and listen to while you ride the bus home from school.
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-The always excellent Steven Goff of the Washington Post has an indepth look at the return of DC's Alecko Eskandarian from a serious concussion.
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-I was looking at ESPN TV schedules for the upcoming UEFA Champions League matches. Next week they are showing Real Madrid v The Arse on Tuesday, and Chelsea v Barcelona on Wednesday. BUUUUUUT, the following week (for the return legs) they do not have any games on their schedule because they are showing the World Classic Baseball Tournament!!! You have been warned.
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-Andrea Canales of Soccer365 takes the field by storm. (editors note: Something I noticed as I watched the USA v Japan match, was there were a lot more USA fans at that match then I figured there would be, and Canales confirms that in this article. So I guess I owe the soccer fans of the Bay Area an apology for disparaging them last week. Thumbs Up!)
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-Also watch du Nord tomorrow for our first ever interview. It's with the above mentioned Andrea Canales. Will it be hard hitting and soul searching? No! Of Course Not! It will be light & fluffy. Like me.
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-The biggest surprise in the early part of the English Premiership season was clearly Wigan, but the team who was right behind them has carried on to be the surprise of the middle of the season, that's West Ham. They sit in 6th place with 41 points, ahead of Wigan. The team has veterans and young players mixed together that give them a present and an excellent future. UEFA.com has a very good story on the team.
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-Remember how much crap the USA team got for that fashion shoot they did in the New York Times four years ago. I personally never thought it was all that bad. It's fashion, dude! But the homophobes came out in droves and called the guys every name you can imagine. This year the MLS stars are doing some fashion modeling for Maxim magazine. Maxim is a "guys" mag. You know, "for real men". So it probably won't cause nearly as much stir, but I bet it won't look too radically different than the NYT one. MLSnet has a story and a video clip of the action.
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-The Mid-Atlantic Soccer Report has words with some of the DC United gang: Brian Namoff, Josh Gros & asst coach Tommy Soehn - and - Head Coach Peter Nowack & Freddy Adu.
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-You know how some people have this saying, "ABMU - Anyone But Man U"? Well I happen to have my own variation, "ABTA - Anyone But The Arse". It sure was fun watching them lose last night.
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-Here's a funny pluckin' tidbit from American Soccer News: Real Salt Lake and fried chicken chain KFC have reached an agreement, whereby KFC’s 33 restaurants in Utah will be the exclusive sponsor and distributor of $12 tickets in Sections E40 and E41, which will now be known as the KFC Colonel's Corner. Now I wanna see the Meat Lovers section at Pizza Hut Park!!
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-Reading drew 1-1 with second place Sheffield United last night to maintain their 12 point lead in the English Championship Division. Reading could have won the game when Bobby Convey (who set up the first goal) drew a penalty in the last seconds of the game, but the Sheff Utd keeper came up with a huge stop on Dave Kitson. Marcus Hahnemann made many big saves to keep his team level through long patches of the second half when Sheff Utd dominated. Neil Warnock, Sheff Utd boss claims that Bobby Convey taunted him after drawing the PK. See the full story & match report in the Guardian.
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-The African Footballer Of The Year will be named on Thursday. The 3 finalists are: Last years winner Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon & Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Cote D'Ivoire & Chelsea), and Michael Essien (Ghana & Chelsea).
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-UEFA Cup resumes with 2 legged knockout matches starting today. (Return legs played next week.) Here is the sched:
Today:
Litex v Strasbourg
Schalke v Espanyol
Heerenveen v Steaua
Basel v Monaco
Betis v AZ Alkmaar
Rosenborg v Zenit
Bolton v Marseille
Lokomotiv v Moskva
Artmedia v Levski
Club Brugge v Roma
Hertha v Rapid Bucuresti
Lille v Shakhtar
Udinese v Lens
Tomorrow:
Stuttgart v Middlesbrough
Slavia v Palermo
Thun v Hamburg
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-The second leg of the Spanish Copa del Rey Semifinals were last night and tonight.
Last nights match:
Read Madrid 4-0 Real Zaragoza - almost almost almost, they almost pulled off the unthinkable. Madrid had to win 5-0 to turn the table on Zara after losing 6-1 in the first leg. 5-0 would have tied the score and given them the win on the away goals tied breaker. But alas it was all for naught. Zaragoza go thru to the final!
Tonight:
Deportivo La Coruna v Espanyol - Esp leads 2-1, but the away goal that Depor snagged could be huge.
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-Copa Libertadores!! This Weeks matches:
Last night:
Nacional 1-1 Paulista - Grupo 8
Union Espanola 0-2 Goias - Grupo 3
Velez Sarsfield 3-0 Rocha - Grupo 5
Tonight:
Independiente Santa Fe - Bolívar - Grupo 2
Deportivo Cali - Corinthians - Grupo 4
Cerro Porteño - Palmeiras - Grupo 7
Thursday:
Libertad - River Plate - Grupo 8
Universitario - Liga Dep. Universitaria - Grupo 5
UA Maracaibo - Internacional - Grupo 6