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Champions League Semifinals! The second & deciding leg matches (with first legs scores included):
Last Night
Villarreal 0-0 Arsenal (0-1) - A flippin dullards delight of a game gives The Arse the 1-0 win on aggregate. I never thought I would see The Arse play such boring crap. And I never thought I would see a team play at home so desperate for a goal and play with so little fire in their belly's (Villa). I watched it all waiting for SOMETHING to happen, and we got a taste of excitement when Lehman saved Riquelme's late PK after a really soft penalty was called. So Arsenal go to the championship while sitting in 5th place in England. Deja-frickin-vu. Maybe Milan will win today and get a chance to choke all over again.
Today
Barcelona - Milan (1-0) - See the second leg on Setanta & ESPN Deportes at 1:30pm central. And re-shown a day later on FSC at 4pm Thursday.
-Player news for today's match:
Barca will not have Lionel Messi who still is out with the messed up hamstring. And defender Oleguer & striker Henrick Larsson are both doubtful with injuries too.
Milan could end up in worse shape. Ambrosini broke his leg last weekend and is out. Kaka & Nesta are both banged up and doubtful too, but I would bet large amounts of cash that they play. Super-Pippo is fully recovered and ready to rock though.
-The Finale is May 17 at Stade de France in Paris.
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Andrea Canales at Soccernet writes more about the possibile MLS-MFL super-league that league officials have hinted at before!
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Still nothing in the Italian papers about a possible Nedved retirement BEFORE the World Cup (or after for that matter).
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The DC United Best 11 of the first decade:
F:
Raul Diaz Arce
Jaime Moreno
M:
Marco Etcheverry
Christian Gomez
John Harkes
Eddie Pope
D:
Jeff Agoos
Carlos Llamosa
Ryan Nelsen
Ben Olsen
G:
Nick Rimando
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New England have lost left sided midfielder Marshall Leonard for the entire season with a torn Achilles tendon.
-More on all the injured Rev's from Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
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The week's First XI by Jeff Bradley stars Salt Lake striker and all time MLS leading goal scorer Jason Kreis.
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Defender Ezra Hendrickson has left Chivas USA and will be reunited with his old LA coach Sigi Schmid in Columbus.
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Captain America plays again and assists on the Man City winner, via Yanks Abroad.
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USA Today has Hannover & USA defender Steve Cherundolo's third "Postcard from Germany".
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Kelly Whiteside of USA Today also writes about the future of USA chief Bruce Arena.
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Marc Connolly on New England midfielder Steve Ralston's last gasp for the USA World Cup team.
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Connolly also writes for MLSnet about all the players that are on the team bubble.
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Goal blab's with USA hopeful & KC star defender Jimmy "I'm smarter, more athletic, and funnier than you, but still can't beat the Thunder" Conrad.
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Don't forget to tune in: See the boss-man Bruce Arena on ESPN Sports Center Tuesday May 2 at 5pm central time announcing his USA World Cup squad!
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New Fellow Freak, from NYC - 116 Street Soccer. Footballing from a lesser authority...
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Please take note - My birthday is coming up on May 3 and I would love one of these or one of these in XXL!
-Here are some of the amazing humans that I share a birthday with:
James Brown
Bing Crosby
Machiavelli
Golda Meir
Sugar Ray Robinson
Pete Seeger
And in case you were wondering, Jack Bell of the New York Times shares his birthday with my old buddy Prince.
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Two from Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune: Arsenal, quintessentially French, heads to Paris - and - Zidane quits on his own terms (Personally I wish Zizou would have left a couple years ago when he was still amazing - he has done almost nothing in the last two+ years.)
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The Fiver, from the Guardian, brought to you here at du Nord by the fine folks at Live Nude Weblog.
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La Copa Libertadores 2006 round of 16 starts immediately with some incredible matchups!! Here are the games & scores (all are two legged knockout games):
A:
April 27 - Newell's Old Boys v Vélez Sarsfield
May 3 - Vélez Sarsfield v Newell's Old Boys
B:
April 27 - Nacional v Internacional
May 3 - Internacional v Nacional
C:
April 26 - River Plate v Corinthians
May 4 - Corinthians v River Plate
D:
April 26 - Palmeiras v São Paulo FC
May 3 - São Paulo FC v Palmeiras
E:
April 25 - Estudiantes LP 2-0 Goiás EC
May 4 - Goiás EC v Estudiantes LP
F:
April 27 - Tigres UANL v Libertad
May 4 - Libertad v Tigres UANL
G:
April 25 - Liga Dep. Universitaria Quito 4-0 Atlético Nacional
May 2 - Atlético Nacional v Liga Dep. Universitaria Quito
H:
April 26 - Chivas Guadalajara v Independiente Santa Fe
May 2 - Independiente Santa Fe v Chivas Guadalajara
-The two matches last night kicking off the knock out stages saw the home teams win easily. Sports Ill with the Tuesday match recaps.
-Three more games tonight will feature almost all of the favorites: Chivas, River, Corinthians & Sao Paulo!
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The UEFA Cup Semifinal second leg matches are on Thursday (with first leg scores included):
Middlesbrough v Steaua (0-1)
Sevilla v Schalke (0-0)
-The final will be May 10 in Eindhoven.