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.