Not Today

Sorry all, but I am off to cheesehead country today.
See you next week!!!!!

To And Fro News

The 93rd US Open Cup Final:
Chicago 3-1 Los Angeles - Nate Jaqua scored early for Chicago in a goal mouth scramble, then Andy Herron doubled the lead on a great header to the far post off a Justin Mappinho cross, letting Chicago roll thru the first half. But LA came out smokin in the second half and Alan Gordon headed the score in half. Very late in the game with LA desperately looking for another goal, Tony Sanneh stormed down the left wing and fed Thiago a perfect centering pass for the Cup sealing goal for Chicago! Both teams played their asses off and tackled as hard as they could. A really fun and action packed game for sure. This is Chicago's 4th US Open Cup title! And the team has only been around 9 years! Not bad at all.
Match Reports:
-Chicago Tribune
-Chicago Daily Southtown
-Chicago Sun Times
-LA Daily News
-LA soccer News
-Soccernet
-US Soccer
-MLSnet
-US Players Association
-MLSnet has the video highlights of the game
-Andrea Canales of the LA Soccer News was impressed with the Chicago fans.
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The Denver Post says Colorado keeper Joe Cannon hears every word you speak.
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Jeff Agoos has been hired as technical director of the New York Red Bulls.
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It looks like Toronto is going to make the giant mistake of installing fake grass in their brand new stadium, and players are not happy about it. From the Toronto Globe and Mail.
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The Salt Lake Tribune says government officials in Utah are going to put the screws to Real Salt Lake about the teams finances before signing off on any money toward building a stadium. And you thought you heard the deal was done. Hahahahahahaha.
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In Kansas City stadium-building-news, the Johnson County Sun has always had excellent in-depth articles about the real factors, with today adding 3 more stories to the heap:
Some chant, 'Ole, ole-ole-ole!' Others snort, 'No way!'
Information key to public arena
Star Bonds
-The Kansas City Star says details of the plan are wanted by voters.
-And KC Star columnist Mike Hendricks chimes in as well.
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Andrews Rogers of Soccer365 talks to USA U17 star in the making Dan Wenzel about the game and his life.
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Tino Palace's The Clean Sheet from MLSnet: Fire In The Hole!
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Due to popularity ESPN is going to re-show the New York Cosmos documentary film - Once In A Life Time - on Wed Oct 18 at 7pm central time.
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MLS matches coming up this Saturday:
New England v Colorado - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
Houston v DC United - 10pm central on Fox Soccer Channel (shown delayed due to broadcast of the USL First Division final)
Kansas City v Salt Lake - 7:30pm central on Direct Kick
Los Angeles v Chivas USA - 9:30pm central on Direct Kick
New York v Chicago - 6:30pm central on HDNet
Columbus v Dallas - no tv
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USL First Division Championship is this Saturday night
Rochester v Vancouver
See it live at 6pm on Fox Soccer Channel
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UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 results:
Wednesday scores-
-Levski 1-3 Chelsea - A triple banger for Drogba lead Chelsea. Maryan Ognyanov got the consolation prize for Levski just before the final bell.
-Bremen 1-1 Barcelona - An own goal by Barca's Puyol gave Bremen the dream scoreline until Messi tied it in the last minutes of play.
-Spartak Moskva 1-1 Sporting - Denis Boyarintsev scored very early for Spartak, but Nani equalized for Sporting at the hour mark.
-Internazionale 0-2 Bayern Munich - Claudio Pizarro & Lukas Podolski got huge late road goals in defeating one of the pre-tournament favorites on their own turf. Inter had both Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Fabio Grosso sent off for 2 yellow cards. Idiots.
-Liverpool 3-2 Galatasaray - Two for Dieter Crouch and one for Luis Garthia gave Liverpool the home win over the Turks, who got both their goals from Umit Karan to make it closer than it should have been.
-Bordeaux 0-1 PSV - Mika Vayrynen got the huge road goal for PSV.
-Shakhtar 2-2 Olympiacos - Michalis Konstantinou & Nery Alberto Castillo both scored go ahead goals for the road team, but Shaktar got tying goals from Matuzalem & Ciprian Marica. Oly keeper Antonios Nikopolidis kept the visitors from getting blown out and then they actually stole a point.
-Valencia 2-1 Roma - The Bats got goals from Miguel Angel Angulo & David Villa around a Roma PK goal from Totti.
Tuesday scores-
-Real Madrid 5-1 Dynamo Kyiv - Two goals from new papa Ruud Van Nistelrooy, two from Raul, and one more from Jose Antonio Reyes led the slaughter. Artem Milevsky got the only Kyiv goal early in the second half. Honestly up to a point it was not nearly as a bad a beating as the score shows.
-Steaua 0-3 Lyon - Huge road goals from Fred, Tiago and Karim Benzema.
-Benfica 0-1 Manchester United - Louis Saha with a great road goal winner. Benfica played too good to lose.
-Celtic 1-0 Kobenhavn - Kenny Miller scored for Celtic on a PK.
-CSKA Moskva 1-0 Hamburg - another bizarrely named Brazilian Dudu got the games only goal.
-Arsenal 2-0 Porto - Tierry Henry & Alexander Hleb got the goals for the home side.
-AEK 1-1 Anderlecht - Nicolas Frutos scored first for the road team, but AEK answered back almost immediately with a goal by Julio Cesar for the draw.
-Lille 0-0 Milan
-See the Champions League highlight show on Friday at 1pm central on ESPN2
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the dancing-stick-robot-boy: Crouch swoops to conquer
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Barcelona star forward Samuel Eto'o ripped up his right knee in the Champions League game v Bremen yesterday and will need surgery to repair it. They expect him to miss at least 3 and up to 5 months.

Zen Master-In-Training News

3rd Degree: I always thought [Dallas midfielder Marcelo] Saragosa had great teeth and now I know why...his dad is a dentist.

The 93rd US Open Cup Final is tonight:
Chicago v Los Angeles - live at 7pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
I will be watching at the Nomad in Minneapolis if you wanna meet up.
-Chicago has won the Open Cup 3 times
-LA has won the Open Cup 2 times, and are the defending Cup holders
-Both teams entered the tournament in the 4th round. Chicago beat Kansas City 2-0, New England 2-1, and DC United 3-0 to get to the final. Los Angeles beat Dallas Roma 2-0, Colorado 3-1, and Houston 3-1 to get the chance to defend their title.
-Chicago beat LA 2-1 on Saturday at Bridgeview in regular league play, but LA were the superior team on the pitch.
-Match previews:
Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Tribune
Soccernet
LA Soccer News
USA Today
-US Soccer has a podcast with Galaxy midfielder Quavas Kirk previewing the match.
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The English rumor mill lit up American style today when The Sun reported: "Reading hope to sign DC United's American wonderkid Freddy Adu on loan in January with a view to a permanent £5m deal." Ok, but I thought players could not sign a contract in Europe until they were 18, which Freddy won't be until next June.
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3rd Degree with a feature story on FC Dallas's Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Saragosa.
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The KC Star with a feature on Kansas City striker Scott Sealy who is turning into the real thing up top.
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Jeff Bradley's MLSnet column First XI: Face the facts
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There aren't many of them around, but Jack Bell of the New York Times talks to an actual USA soccer old schooler about the current coaching search.
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Steve Goff of the Washington Post looks at all the yellow and red card suspension that DC United have been piling up lately. There have been a ton of them, and many have been for pretty dumb reasons.
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Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet talks to Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo who joins the barking chorus saying MLS has to align its schedule to meet the international calendar. I say that's just not possible with our winters.
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Andrea Canales at Soccer365 sees the return to the Chivas USA lineup of keeper Brad Guzan as another step in his growth.
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A little update on plans for an MLS expansion team in the Cleveland area. 2 articles - ONE - and - TWO. Nothing substantial here, but tidbits are always good.
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Here's the official press release from FC Dallas on their new partnership with Brazilian club Paranaense.
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Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc talks to young American midfielder Lee Nguyen at PSV Eindhoven in Holland.
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UEFA Champions League Matchday 2
Tuesday scores-
-Real Madrid 5-1 Dynamo Kyiv - Two goals from new papa Ruud Van Nistelrooy, two from Raul, and one more from Jose Antonio Reyes led the slaughter. Artem Milevsky got the only Kyiv goal early in the second half. Honestly up to a point it was not nearly as a bad a beating as the score shows.
-Steaua 0-3 Lyon - Huge road goals from Fred, Tiago and Karim Benzema.
-Benfica 0-1 Manchester United - Louis Saha with a great road goal winner. Benfica played too good to lose.
-Celtic 1-0 Kobenhavn - Kenny Miller scored for Celtic on a PK.
-CSKA Moskva 1-0 Hamburg - another bizarrely named Brazilian, Dudu, got the games only goal.
-Arsenal 2-0 Porto - Tierry Henry & Alexander Hleb got the goals for the home side.
-AEK 1-1 Anderlecht - Nicolas Frutos scored first for the road team, but AEK answered back almost immediately with a goal by Julio Cesar for the draw.
-Lille 0-0 Milan
Wednesday games-
-Levski v Chelsea - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 6pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Bremen v Barcelona - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
-Spartak Moskva v Sporting
-Internazionale v Bayern Munich - delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on Setanta
-Liverpool v Galatasaray - live at 1:30pm central on Setanta
-Bordeaux v PSV - delayed to Thursday at 1pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Shakhtar v Olympiacos
-Valencia v Roma - delayed at 6pm central on Setanta & delayed at 11pm central on ESPN Deportes
-See the Champions League highlight show on Friday at 1pm central on ESPN2
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on Lyon's glorious Brazilian midfield star: Juninho wins with rhythm, not pace and power
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One of my least favorite players in all of football is Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes and he took himself to new lows yesterday v Benfica when he called the referee a fag. What a moron. Some people are rightly upset with him.
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The USL First Division Championship is Saturday:
Rochester v Vancouver - See it live at 6pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
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Chris Agnello, the Portland Timbers' coach and general manager, has resigned both positions in a move that surprised his staff and former players. - The Oregonian. Former player and current assistant coach Gavin Wilkinson has been handed the reigns to the company horse and buggy.
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Odds are very good that Montreal keeper Greg Sutton is headed to FC Toronto for their MLS debut next season.
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Wow! Boca Juniors are seriously considering building a new stadium to replace La Bombonera!
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Sepp Blatter, the Pres of FIFA, needs to badly change the subject from scandal, and so he has announced that world soccer needs to rid itself of the penalty kick shootout to decide major games. Agreed, but how to do it?

Gnip Gnop News

Now we are getting somewhere - Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about MLS! Yes! It's a story about the relative value of DC's Jaime Moreno compared to Chelsea's Andriy Shevchenko: Moreno's worth measured in goals
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There's an excellent article by Pam Schmid in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune about the changing face of Minnesota high school soccer. The recent influx of foreigners has exploded the game in style and diversity. I know a kid at Minneapolis Southwest from Sudan who is very shy, but incredibly talented.
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald on the Red Bulls newest player, Markus Schopp, and how much they are paying him.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle checks out all the playoff possibilities coming from this next weekends MLS games.
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And then Fallas's regular Week In Review.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer gets out the high powered microscope and examines the current state of New York Red Bulls.
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The Deseret Morning News with a nice feature on Salt Lakes two talented rookies - Mehdi Balloucy & Willis Forko!
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DJ Walker's always entertaining Stream of Consciousness: Real Salt Lake at FC Dallas
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Scott French of the LA Daily News talks to Chivas USA wonderboy Jonathan Bornstein about his teams chances for a massive double whammy this weekend - clinching a playoff spot, and eliminating his boyhood favorites the LA Galaxy from the playoff hunt.
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Christian Gomez of DC United has been named MLS Player Of The Week.
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Here's another photo (aerial this time) of the new Colorado stadium in suburban Denver. I love that roof. But sadly, the surroundings look even bleaker than Frisco TX.
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Do you have a bomb shelter at your house? If not you might want to think about building one, because odds are very good right now that a big old satellite is about to come crashing down from outer space. How do I know? Cuz SIRIUS Satellite Radio just gave Giorgio Chinaglia & Charlie Stillitano a radio program of their own. Frightening. Now this is something the fundamentalist nutjobs of all colors should occupy their time with and team up to fight. These two dudes are purely satanic.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe looks at what New England has to do to shore up their lame attendance and win back fans.
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Dan Loney's latest for American Soccer News: Parity v. Playoffs
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The 93rd US Open Cup Final on Wednesday night:
Chicago v Los Angeles - live at 7pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
-Chicago has won the Open Cup 3 times
-LA has won the Open Cup 2 times, and are the defending Cup holders
-Both teams entered the tournament in the 4th round. Chicago beat Kansas City 2-0, New England 2-1, and DC United 3-0 to get to the final. Los Angeles beat Dallas Roma 2-0, Colorado 3-1, and Houston 3-1 to get the chance to defend their title.
-Chicago beat LA 2-1 on Saturday at Bridgeview in regular league play, but LA were the superior team on the pitch.
-Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with a match preview.
-Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise says: US Open Cup Needs Boost - I couldn't agree more with you Luis.
-US Soccer has a press conference with representatives from both teams that you can hear via podcast.
-US Soccer also has the Top 5 Reasons why each team will win the Cup.
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UEFA Champions League Matchday 2
Tuesday-
-Real Madrid v Dynamo Kyiv - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic & delayed to 4pm central on Setanta
-Steaua v Lyon - delayed at 3pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Benfica v Manchester United - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Celtic v Kobenhavn
-CSKA Moskva v Hamburg
-Arsenal v Porto - live at 1:30pm central on Setanta & delayed at 10pm central on ESPN Deportes
-AEK v Anderlecht
-Lille v Milan - delayed at 6pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed to 8pm central on Setanta & delayed to Thurs at 6pm on Fox Soccer Channel
Wednesday-
-Levski v Chelsea - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 6pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Bremen v Barcelona - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
-Spartak Moskva v Sporting
-Internazionale v Bayern Munich - delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on Setanta
-Liverpool v Galatasaray - live at 1:30pm central on Setanta
-Bordeaux v PSV - delayed to Thursday at 1pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Shakhtar v Olympiacos
-Valencia v Roma - delayed at 6pm central on Setanta & delayed at 11pm central on ESPN Deportes
-See the Champions League highlight show on Friday at 1pm central on ESPN2
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The USL First Division Championship:
Rochester v Vancouver next Saturday - September 30
See it live at 6pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
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Soccernet has a great article in their Champions League section that starts off: "I have a confession. I love Filippo Inzaghi." Hahahahahahahahaha. Fantastic. The Milan striker is a guilty pleasure of mine too. Super Pippo is the ultimate goal poacher.
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Hey! Congrats! Ruud van Nistelrooy's wife gave birth to a daughter yesterday. Cigars for everyone! But remember, smoking is bad, m'kay.
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Another FIFA big wig is in trouble - the President of the South American federation CONMEBOL, Nicolas Leoz, has been accused of taking bribes.

A Twitchy Little Bastard News

MLS Soccer last Saturday:
DC 4-3 New York - DC's Jaime Moreno took some time off from the club early in the week to heal some injuries, then came into the game in the second half and then proceeded to rip the New York defense to shreds. Carlos Mendes with an own goal gave DC the first lead. Amado Guevara tied the score on a PK after Facundo Erpen handled the ball in the box. In the second half, Jaime Moreno fed Christian Gomez for the DC lead, but then Erpen was sent off for stomping NY forward John Wolyniec right in front of the referee. 10 man DC poured it on though and completed 16 PASSES IN A ROW (!) with Ben Olsen slipping a pass to Moreno for the third goal. But NY came back with a free kick blast and goal #2 for Guevara to keep it close. DC got a killing 4th goal on a huge drive by Matias Donnet for his first ever MLS goal. Jozy Altidore got a late one to make it interesting for NY. Wild wild affair.
New England 1-1 Kansas City - Clint Dempsey scored on a suicide dive header for NE, but KC played decent and got one back from Scott Sealy.
Dallas 2-1 Salt Lake - Dallas come out smokin' and got two great early goals on a header by El Pescadito, and a nice soft chip from Kenny Cooper that should be the goal of the week. All this before RSL was even awake yet. Salt Lake did come on better in the second half and afro-ed Jeff Cunningham got his league leading 16th goal of the year. Unfortunately JC left the game shortly after that with a hamstring strain and that was it for the Salt Lake attack. The win assured Dallas of their playoff spot.
Chicago 2-1 Los Angeles - Again LA has outplayed their opponent and lost down the stretch when they basically had to win. Chicago clinched a playoff spot too. Chris Rolfe (33 seconds in) & Andy Herron (game winning PK) scored for Chicago, with Landon Donovan scoring a scorcher for LA.
Chivas 1-0 Colorado - Francisco Mendoza scored for Chivas. And with the results from other games Chivas, can you believe this, has moved into 2nd place in the West! They are all but guaranteed a post season spot. Mexican veteran player Johnny Garcia made his Chivas debut in the 69th minute. Colorado's attack stinks. Even Melvin Tarley couldn't save 'em.
Columbus 1-1 Houston - DDR scored again for Houston, but Jason Geary got it back for Columbus. Not good enough for either team though who both needed wins for the playoff run - Houston to get a better seed, and Columbus to have any hope of qualifying at all.
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The TV broadcast did not catch this, but injured Dallas keeper Dario Sala was in the stands with the Inferno banging a drum during the match v Salt Lake on Saturday night. That makes him an awesome player! (But the video proof says he's a terrible drummer!!) 'Member Christian Gomez doing the same last year for DC? Hooray Drums! Boo Creepy Foot Doctor!
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Ian Plenderleith of Matchnight with his DC v NY post-match analysis.
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Playoff potential, update - Still no teams are elimidated. Chicago & Dallas both clinched spots in the playoffs & DC clinched home field for both rounds. If the season ended today, New York, Columubus, Salt Lake & Los Angeles would be out.
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KC and their General Manager Curt Johnson will part ways at seasons end. The new team owners and Johnson could not reach an agreement on a new contract. Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star has the full story.
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Our man Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated talks to New York's growing potential star right back Marvell Wynne, who has been coming on strong in the past few weeks. I have been waiting for someone out there to write this story.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle talks to Dynamo star Dwayne DeRosario about the present (playoffs and MVP awards) and the future (Toronto?).
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MLS have finally officially announced an agreement with Univision, Galavision & Telefutura to begin televising league games in Spanish starting next season. Lots of little details in the press release. This sets up the league to be paid fees for TV deals by ABC/ESPN, HDNet, Fox Soccer Channel & Univision. Amazing.
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They seem to be loving Mo Johnston in Toronto. Slam Sports is gaga for the new coach.
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FC Dallas have announced a partnership with another foreign team. Last spring they formed a partnership with UANL Tigres in Mexico, and last Friday finalized a deal to do the same with Paranaense in Brazil. Like the Tigres deal with will play yearly home and away matches with Para and exchange youth players, loan players, coaches and ideas. Great move. They are now looking for a European partner. I think they should find an African and Asian partner too.
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Kristian Dyer of Soccernet writes about the Phoenix-like rising of former Metrostars head honcho Nick Sakiewicz, with the ground breaking of Red Bull Park. "Nick" shows his sense of humor too.
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Dyer also has a great Q & A with USA & Everton keeper Tim Howard, also for Soccernet.
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The city of Fort Lauderdale Florida is contemplating tearing down Lockhart Stadium, former home of the Ft Lauderdale Strikers and Miami Fusion, to build a new facility for the Baltimore Orioles spring training.
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The KC Star says that the supporters and opponents of the newly proposed soccer stadium in suburban Kansas City are beginning to seriously line up their arguments in their a battle for spending public money. Ugliness will ensue.
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Chicago has a bit of a goalkeeper dilemma brewing with both veteran Zach Thornton and fairly recent newcomer Matt Pickens both healthy. From the Chicago Tribune.
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Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News on the pleasure-addiction-bestfriend-countdracula-bringerofjoy-destroyerofhope-mr.ed that is Big Soccer.
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Canales also has a story on Chivas USA President Antonio Cue and whether or not the club has truly been a success yet in the USA, for Soccernet.
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Jeff Agoos looks at the MLS playoff race, for the US Players Assoc.
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The USL First Division Championship Playoff Semifinals:
Friday-
Vancouver 0-0 Montreal
Rochester 1-0 Charleston - goal by Greg Howes. (How come I have never seen this guy play good before? People say he is talented, but I have seen him in at least 5 or 6 games over the years and not once has he done anything. Weird huh.)
Sunday-
Charleston 0-0 Rochester - Rochester advance to the final 1-0 on agg.
Montreal 0-2 Vancouver - Both goals were scored in overtime as both teams failed to score in two 90 minute games. Vancouver now goes for the title.
-The Final will be one game:
Rochester v Vancouver next Saturday - September 30 (Why isn't this a two legged final?)
See it live at 6pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
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How did our favorite Americans do in European club league action over the weekend:
-Kasey Keller - got another shutout for Gladbach as they beat Dortmund 1-0 at home.
-Oguchi Onyewu - his Standard Liege got a 1-0 win over away team Cercle Brugge.
-Claudio Reyna & DaMarcus Beasley - Man City won at home 2-0 over struggling West Ham, with Reyna coming on for the last 10 minutes and Beasley watching from the bench.
-Brian McBride & Carlos Bocanegra - Their Fulham played strong but could not stop the Chelsea steamroller. Boca started and went 77 minutes, and came off when McBride went on to no avail.
-Brad Friedel - kept a clean sheet in a 0-1 at Middlesbrough.
-Steve Cherundolo - played the entire game for Hannover in a 1-1 tie at home against Leverkusen.
-Jay DeMerit - JD played the whole match as his team got a 1-1 draw with Wigan who actually looked like the better team.
-Tim Howard - his Everton was robbed on a clearly offside goal for Newcastle in a 1-1 draw on the road.
-Marcus Hahnemann & Bobby Convey - their Reading played decent for a while and scored the first goal early in the second half, but Man U poured it on and looked like they would win. Somehow Reading gritted it out and got the 1-1 draw. Both our boys played the full 90.
-Michael Bradley - played the last 20 minutes on the road with Heerenveen, but they lost 1-0 to Utrecht on a very late (stoppage time) PK.
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Marcus Hahnemann talks to Yanks Abroad about the USA coaching vacancy.
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UEFA Champions League Matchday 2
Tuesday-
-Real Madrid v Dynamo Kyiv - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic & delayed to 4pm central on Setanta
-Steaua v Lyon - delayed at 3pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Benfica v Manchester United - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Celtic v Kobenhavn
-CSKA Moskva v Hamburg
-Arsenal v Porto - live at 1:30pm central on Setanta & delayed at 10pm central on ESPN Deportes
-AEK v Anderlecht
-Lille v Milan - delayed at 6pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed to 8pm central on Setanta & delayed to Thurs at 6pm on Fox Soccer Channel
Wednesday-
-Levski v Chelsea - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 6pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Bremen v Barcelona - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
-Spartak Moskva v Sporting
-Internazionale v Bayern Munich - delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on Setanta
-Liverpool v Galatasaray - live at 1:30pm central on Setanta
-Bordeaux v PSV - delayed to Thursday at 1pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Shakhtar v Olympiacos
-Valencia v Roma - delayed at 6pm central on Setanta & delayed at 11pm central on ESPN Deportes
-See the Champions League highlight show on Friday at 1pm central on ESPN2
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Holy hell, this is sad - Uruguayan striker Dario Silva who played last year at Portsmouth was in a terrible car accident on Sunday and has had the bottom half of his right leg amputated. The doctors have induced him into a coma to help his body recover from the shock. That is truly horrible.
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Superultraegoloudmouth Hugo Sanchez has taken over as coach of Necaxa in Mexico who fired Enrique Lopez Zarza on Saturday.
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In his weekly La Liga column for Soccernet, Phil Balls goes to see some old pals: Friends United
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the styles of two elite managers - Arsenal's Arsene Wenger & Real Madrid's Fabio Capello: With finesse or with granite
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Hernan Crespo was AWESOME for Inter on Saturday in their 4-3 win over Chievo. They led 4-0 when he came off the pitch after scoring two mirror image goals from both sides of the 18 yard box from extremely tight angles. I think he is a massively underrated player right now. His teams other two goals by Stankovic and Samuel were also amazing. You should search them out online or watch the GolTV Serie A highlight show.
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US Open Cup final on Wednesday night - Chicago v Los Angeles - live at 7pm central on Fox Soccer Channel.

No More Carefree Free News

MLS Soccer Saturday:
-DC v New York - 6:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
-New England v Kansas City - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Dallas v Salt Lake - 7:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Chicago v Los Angeles - 7:30pm central on HDNet
-Chivas v Colorado - 9pm central on Direct Kick
-Columbus v Houston - no TV
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New York forward Mike Magee was given an additional one game suspension by MLS for punching Columbus's Kei Kamara in their game last weekend. He already sat out the one game due to the red card, but now will also miss the match in DC this Saturday.
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After reading both 3rd Degree and the Dallas Morning News it seems pretty clear that Shaka Hislop will start in goal for FC Dallas this weekend.
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I am not sure what this is all about, but for the third week in a row Landon Donovan has done an interview talking about his tough World Cup experience, however, in this one he does not talk about his chances of every playing for a European club again. By Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
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And then Landy talks to Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News about LA's two upcoming matches v Chicago. Both in Chicago, the first one an MLS tilt on Saturday, and the second is the US Open Cup Final next Wednesday!
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The LA Daily News looks at the stretch run for Chivas USA.
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Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News with a story on Chivas USA defender Carlos Llamosa, who nearly everyone (including me) thought was done a couple years ago. But No! He's ALIIIIIVE!
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Venezuela has called Houston forward Alejandro Moreno in for a national team match v Uruguay next Wednesday.
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According to Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle: Toluca forward Bruno Marioni, Mexico's leading scorer with 10 goals in the current Apertura season, said he'd like to play in MLS. "As early as next season." Sounds cool to me. He's an Argentine.
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Luis Arroyave who covers soccer for the Chicago Tribune now has his own soccer blog (not a very original name, but what the hell): The Red Card
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Ian Plenderleith's new column: Arena Still 'The Boss'; New Gridiron-Inspired Rules for MLS
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The LA Soccer News has held their second soccer roundtable discussion with some of the best soccer writers in Southern California - Luis Bueno and Andrea Canales of LASoccerNews.com, Larry Morgan of the San Gabriel Valley News and Matt Zimmerman of the Long Beach Press-Telegram - this time the topic is: Who should be the next USA national team coach?
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ADDITION: Ives Galarcep at Soccernet says the best candidates for the US Soccer manager position are right here at home.
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ADDITION: Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated gives his top 8 choices to lead Team USA.
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Peter Wilt was on Big Soccer again yesterday saying that things in Milwaukee are still positive and moving forward for a potential MLS expansion team in the near future. It's not moving at the speed he would like, but at least still moving. Good to hear.
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The more I look at pictures of the new stadium in Toronto the more it reminds me of the stadium in Columbus.
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DJ Walker turns his Stream Of Consciousness from the game to the movies, and its a doozy: Once in a Lifetime
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The USL First Division Championship Playoff Semifinals:
Fri Sept 22-
Vancouver v Montreal
Rochester v Charleston
Sun Sept 24-
Charleston v Rochester
Montreal v Vancouver
~ ~ ~ ~
Romario is done in Miami, and looks to be headed to Australia to try and reach 1000 goals next season. Why isn't he headed to MLS????
~ ~ ~ ~
Twin Cities player Adbusalam Ibrahim scored for the USA U17 team that beat Canada 2-1 yesterday in Bradenton Florida. Abdu attends the USA Residency Program school in Bradenton.
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Big Euro matches this weekend:
Fulham v Chelsea - yet another London derby - at this point we could have one almost every week.
Barcelona v Valencia
Hamburg v Werder Bremen - both need to win really really bad.
Celtic v Rangers - the classic Old Firm match up.
Lyon v Lille - Lille beat the 5-times-running French champs both times they met last season.
~ ~ ~ ~
The 32 teams who participated in last seasons Champions League split over 436 million euros between them. Unreal. The breakdown was factored on how far you got in the competition and the size of your television audience, i.e. English and German teams got bigger TV cuts. In the end Arsenal got the most with 35.05 million & winner Barcelona got 31.65 million.
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My pick for the next great Brazilain player - Anderson - make a note that you read it here first (well not first, but you know...) - he currently plays for Porto in Portugal, and will be signing for Barcelona.
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UEFA.com has a Q & A with Lyon manager Gerard Houllier.
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Coming next week - the US Open Cup final and Champions League Matchday 2.

The Lunch Shift News

From the Columbus Dispatch: [Columbus coach Sigi] Schmid strode onto the practice field shirtless yesterday.

MLS match last night:
New York 0-2 New England - The Rev played an excellent game, scoring timely goals and letting New York aimlessly pass the ball around midfield all they wanted to. Taylor Twellman got the first goal after a quick restart led to a great counter attack 15 minutes into the game, and Andy Dorman got the second just after the half started by pouncing on the rebound of a great Clint Dempsey free kick. Dorman had a really good game in the middle of the park, and taking Joe Franchino off the wing did wonders for the teams passing accuracy. Only newcomer Markus Schopp looked good for the Red Bulls. He came on at half time and showed his talent immediately. But it wasn't nearly enough. Marvell Wynne looked like he is getting the idea of playing on the right wing too.
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald with a match report.
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It looks like very bad news for New England midfielder Shalrie Joseph. He missed last nights game after severely cutting his hand in some sort of barroom altercation last week. Word now is that the cut is so bad he had to have surgery and could be out a month, only coming back for the playoffs. Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe has details.
-Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated also comments on the story.
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This is excellent: Andrea Canales & Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News, Larry Morgan of the LA Daily News, and Matt Zimmerman of the Long Beach Press Telegram talk LA Galaxy soccer in a roundtable discussion. We need more of this!
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Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet looks at the surging Chicago Fire.
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It's official - BMO Field in Toronto
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Larry Morgan of the LA Daily News looks at Galaxy Pres Alexi Lalas's first 6 months on the job, and the teams chances to make the playoffs.
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Jeff Bradley's First XI, from MLSnet: Swamps Of Jersey
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I have been waiting for this story to appear all week - The Columbus Dispatch talks to the Crew about the 2 reds cards their players received against New York that were obvious fouls and one was probably a yellow card, but neither deserved red. The team is pissed off about it, big time. No surprise.
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The USL First Division Championship Playoff Semifinals are this weekend:
Fri Sept 22-
Vancouver v Montreal
Rochester v Charleston
Sun Sept 24-
Charleston v Rochester
Montreal v Vancouver
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Jonah Freedman's newest World Soccer Power Rankings for Sports Illustrated.
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See our man Kasey Keller on TV tomorrow:
Moenchengladbach v Borussia Dortmund - Friday Sept 22 at 1:30pm central on GolTV
~ ~ ~ ~
Roma 0-1 Inter - who else but Hernan Crespo (a big du Nord fave no matter whose shirt he is wearing) scores the huge road goal to get Inter back on track.
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For the second season in a row Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has scored a goal from past the midfield stripe! He did it again last night v Newcastle. Awesome!
~ ~ ~ ~
ADDITION: From UEFA.com comes an interview with Bayern Munchen manager Felix Magath.
~ ~ ~ ~
ADDITION: And UEFA.com also has an interview with Real Madrid Sporting Director (and former star player) Predrag Mijatovic.
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Coming next week - the US Open Cup final and Champions League Matchday 2.

Wonderful World News

See it tonight: Once in a Lifetime: the Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos on ESPN2 Wednesday, September 20 at 8pm central.

Yesterday they held the big ceremonies for the groundbreaking at the new Red Bull Park in Harrison New Jersey - future home of the New York Red Bulls:
-MLSnet has the whole thing on video. (Be warned, this video contains a whole lotta white guys with Jersey accents slapping each other on the back.)
-Jack Bell of the New York Times was on hand.
-North Jersey Herald looks at the new stadium in comparison to other facilities in the New York area.
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald has his say too.
-The Jersey Journal recaps the event.
-NYNJSoccer calls it an unforgettable experience.
-Red Bulls keeper and Kearny New Jersey native Tony Meola talks to MLSnet about what this stadium means.
-Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer was on hand and has these words.
-And Lewis talks about the much maligned former Metrostars executive Nick Sakiewicz who drove this whole thing to finally get done.
-Fan site Metrofanatic looks at the whole ordeal.
-Mr. Fish from the Kin Of Fish now has photos from his "first-hand account of the Red Bull Park Groundbreaking".
-The stadium's official site. (Thanks Joe)
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MLS midweek game on Wednesday:
New York v New England - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep previews that game tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Glove previews that match too, saying New England's Shalrie Joseph will not play after cutting his hand on broken glass during an "altercation". No more word on that one, but I expect we will hear more in the coming days. New signing, striker Jose Abundis will suit up.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to New York's new Austrian midfielder Markus Schopp.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jim Dow of RevsNet interviews the newest Revolutionary, striker Jose Abundis.
~ ~ ~ ~
Boston Herald with a feature on New England midfielder Joe Franchino.
~ ~ ~ ~
Several people have emailed me to talk about the recent Landon Donovan interview from Reuters, so I thought I should link to it. He talks more about how great his life is, and how going back to Europe would be nearly out of the question.
~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune tries to figure out what the hell is going on with KC's very high priced striker Eddie Johnson.
~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis at Soccernet is pimping Houston midfielder Dwayne DeRosario for MLS Most Valuable Player.
~ ~ ~ ~
And Frank Dell'apa says Bruce Arena wants to be a catalyst to push MLS forward in its over all league quality & structure.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Salt Lake Tribune says that if Real Salt Lake wants to make the playoffs they are going to have to "do it again", just like last weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~
Mark Zeigler's weekly column for the San Diego Union Tribune focuses on The Cosmos movie that is on TV tonight. Plus other goodies as usual.
~ ~ ~ ~
So the story goes that when DaMarcus Beasley stepped on the field for his first Manchester City appearance last Saturday he made a giant mistake by wearing his red shoes. Noooooooooooooooooo! That's Man U colors amigo. The crowd began to chant "blue boots, blue boots, blue boots." Wisely he came out onto the pitch to start the second half wearing the right color shoes. End of story.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad talks to American defender Jay DeMerit of Watford about the teams start to their Premiership season.
~ ~ ~ ~
Roma v Inter - the first really big Serie A match of the season is today - live at 1:30pm central on GolTV
~ ~ ~ ~
The big splash in the English tabloids these days is about club managers taking under the table kickbacks from players agents for buying their players on the transfer market. Sam Allardyce of Bolton is the man several agents have pointed their finger at. Is this illegal? I am not sure what the problem is? If a manager takes money to sign a player who stinks then it will only make his team stink and he loses his job. The BBC has even gotten in to the mud slinging with an "expose" on the matter. My favorite part of this whole saga is the fact that the term used for these supposed bribes is "bung". What is that? The only other person I have heard use the word bung is Beavis.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at FIFA's Jack Warner troubles: The stench of corruption

See Youse Guys News

Don't miss it: Once in a Lifetime - the Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos on ESPN2 Wednesday, September 20 at 8pm central.
~ ~ ~ ~
The New York Red Bulls officially break ground on their new stadium in Harrison, New Jersey today. Several local papers have stories concerning this( and other Red Bulls topics):
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald: Red Bulls will break ground on stadium today
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald: Franchise needs to attract all fans
-Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger: Dig it! Red Bull Park takes root at long last
~ ~ ~ ~
Mr. Fish from the Kin Of Fish with his "first-hand account of the Red Bull Park Groundbreaking today".
~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe talks to New York manager Bruce Arena about the midweek game v New England. And other things, naturally.
~ ~ ~ ~
Colorado goalkeeper Joe Cannon was named MLS Player Of The Week.
~ ~ ~ ~
The latest update on Kansas City's stadium building saga, from the KC Star.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with a feature on the second ugliest man in MLS - Craig Waibel. (I don't need to tell you who the ugliest is.)
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And the Chronicle's Week In Review.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Deseret Morning News with a feature on Salt Lake striker Jason Kreis, the MLS all time leader in goals scored with 107 & counting, who they say is having one of his best years ever. Now I would say that '99 was his best year, by far (18 goals & 15 assists), but who am I to quibble.
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Luis Bueno with word on Chivas striker Paco Palencia's knee injury, for LA Soccer News.
~ ~ ~ ~
Cam Weaver, the co-leading goal scorer in the First Division for Seattle this year is on trial at Colorado.
~ ~ ~ ~
The US Players Assoc has a Q & A with DC United forward Alecko Eskandarian. (I missed this one last Friday.)
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And US Soccer has a Q & A with Blackburn keeper (and one of du Nord's all time favorite USA players) Brad Friedel.
~ ~ ~ ~
MLS midweek game on Wednesday:
New York v New England - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~
USL First Division semifinals preview.
~ ~ ~ ~
Gabriel Cuomo, brother of Weezer's very own Rivers Cuomo, but no relation to Mario Cuomo, Perry Como or Jocko Homo, is playing for German team Wurges in the 4th division.
~ ~ ~ ~
Most of us know about the young American midfielder at Hamburg - Benny Feilhaber, but there is another young American there with him - forward Preston Zimmerman. Andrea Canales tells the story for Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~
And Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet writes about Lew Wolff, the potential owner of a new club in the Bay Area. Wolff owns the Oakland A's baseball team. I think he is going to make this work.
~ ~ ~ ~
And this secretly popped up at MLSnet. Looks pretty official to me. Do you know the way to San Jose?
~ ~ ~ ~
The first really big Serie A match of the season is tomorrow:
Roma v Inter - Wed Sept 20 - live at 1:30pm central on GolTV
~ ~ ~ ~
Even in Brazilian soccer the color of your skin makes a difference. From the New York Times.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Warner says he was set up! Framed! Besmirched! By a fellow FIFA official none the less! Of course he was! He doesn't have a crooked bone in his body! Free Jack Warner! Free Jack Warner! Free Jack Warner! Free Jack Warner! From the Guardian.

Backing Up The Truck News

MLS scores from the weekend:
New York 1-0 Columbus - The only goal of the match by 16 year old Josi Altidore was a bomb! 3 red cards in this match - the 2 to Columbus were a joke, but the 1 to Mike Magee of NY was for a punch that will see him on the bench for several games I presume. Colum keeper Gaudette also stopped a PK from Djorkaeff!
Salt Lake 3-2 Dallas - Salt Lake goes down to 10 men and is down a goal after 2 by Dallas' Carlos Ruiz, but storm back with goals by Andy Williams, Chris Klein and Jason Kreis (his 107th goal all time).
Los Angeles 0-0 Colorado - Huh? They played a game?
Chicago 1-0 DC - DC also had 2 sent off, Brian Namoff for 2 yellow cards (one of which was a joke) and Josh Gros for a foul that was definitely not a red card. Andy Herron got the game winner.
Houston 0-0 Chivas - What game?
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MLS Standings - top 4 from each division advance to playoffs:
East-
52 DC
41 Chicago
35 New England
33 Kansas City
- - - - - -
32 New York
26 Columbus
West-
46 Dallas
40 Houston
39 Chivas
39 Colorado
- - - - - - -
36 Salt Lake
33 Los Angeles
~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle says Houston's Dwayne DeRosario looks likely to be playing in Europe come January.
~ ~ ~ ~
A couple more moves to announce from last Friday's MLS roster deadline:
-Los Angeles signed Charleston Battery forward Gavin Glinton. He had played in LA for a short while a couple of seasons ago. The move will not happen until Glinton's team Charleston is eliminated or wins the First Division title playoffs.
-Los Angeles signed Portland Timbers midfielder Mike Randolph.
-New York has officially signed Austrian midfielder Markus Schopp from Red Bull Salzburg. He is 32 years old, and the former captain of the Austrian national team.
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The Chicago Tribune takes a look at Chicago's loudest fans - Section 8.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jen Chang of Soccernet lists the qualifications for coaching Team USA, and says Sven is NOT the person for the job.
~ ~ ~ ~
The new grass is growing in Colorado stadium!
~ ~ ~ ~
Here are the match-ups for the First Division Championship Playoffs:
Quarterfinals:
Fri Sept 15-
Charleston 2-2 Puerto Rico
Vancouver 4-1 Miami
Sun Sept 17-
Puerto Rico 0-1 Charleston - Charl win 3-2 on agg
Miami 0-2 Vancouver - Vanc wins 6-1 on agg
Semifinals:
Fri Sept 22-
Vancouver v Montreal
Rochester v Charleston
Sun Sept 24-
Charleston v Rochester
Montreal v Vancouver
Finals:
Weekend of Sept 29 - time and place to be determined
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The USL Second Division has announced that a new team will play in the league next year from the island nation of Bermuda! And the team will be partially owned by former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater!
~ ~ ~ ~
How did our Americans do in Europe this weekend:
-DaMarcus Beasley made his Manchester City debut, but lost 4-2 to Blackburn. He came on in the 35th minute.
-Claudio Reyna did not play for Man City.
-Brad Freidel was of course the goalkeeper for Blackburn.
-Bobby Convey set up the first goal for Reading (16 seconds into the match no less) in a 2-1 road win over fellow promotee's Sheffield United.
-Marcus Hahnemann was, as always, manning the net for Reading.
-Tim Howard got no help from his defenders and Everton drew 2-2 with Wigan.
-Brian McBride played 66 minutes for Fulham who drew 0-0 with Tottenham.
-CORRECTION: The game report I read said that Carlos Bocanegra rode the pine for Fulham, but then I saw the game highlights on TV last night and there he was on the field. So he played, and they kept a clean sheet - great for Carlos!
-Jay DeMerit came on at half time in Watfords 0-0 tie with Aston Villa.
-Kasey Keller and Monchengladbach got stuffed 4-2 at new promoted Alemannia Aachen.
-Young Benny Feilhaber sat on the bench for Hamburg in their 1-0 loss at Borussia Dortmund. This was his first time ever called up to the senior team.
-Steve Cherundolo and Hannover won on the road 2-1 at Wolfsburg.
-Oguchi Onyewu and Liege beat Brussels 2-1.
~ ~ ~ ~
I would have to imagine that Man City manager Stuart Pierce is on his last chance after last years terrible season ending, and this years terrible season start. They have 4 points from 5 games and sit in 17th place. On the other hand when you figure that 9th place Newcastle only have 6 points it might not be so bad.
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Phil Ball of Soccernet looks at Sevilla's refusal to cut a cheap TV deal: I predict a riot
~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated writes about the sadly minuscule shelf life of Mexican club managers.
~ ~ ~ ~
You can now see all the Champions League matches on-line via Pay Per View from UEFA.
~ ~ ~ ~
The top 3 teams in the German Bundesliga all lost this past weekend:
Bayern Munich lost to Arminia Bielefeld 2-1
Werder Bremen lost 3-2 to Stuttgart
Hamburg lost 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund
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Greg Lalas insists that Serie A is more popular than ever, for Sports Illustrated. I think winning the World Cup might have a little to do with it, scandal or not.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jonathan Woodgate's Real Madrid saga has ended. Middlesbrough who had him on loan, have made the deal permanent.

Fowl Mouthed News

Bruce Arena apologizes to Sunil Gulati: "In business, in sports, people don't always agree. We accept that. I don't necessarily agree with Sunil's vision, but Sunil and I go way back, and I think he's a real good person and he's going to be a good president. He's a competent person, and if my remarks infer that he's not competent and a quality guy, that's wrong."

ESPN2 is showing Once in a Lifetime: the Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos on Wednesday, September 20 at 8pm central.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell of the New York Times says the US Soccer Federation have added former England manager Sven Goren Erickson to their list of potential new coaches for Team USA. If they hired him I think I would puke. They might as well re-hire Steve Sampson.
~ ~ ~ ~
MLS games this weekend:
Saturday-
New York v Columbus - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
Salt Lake v Dallas - 8pm central on HDNet
Los Angeles v Colorado
Sunday-
Chicago v DC - 3pm central on ESPN2
Houston v Chivas - 7:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
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Beau Dure of USA Today with a weekend MLS match preview, and potential playoff implications.
~ ~ ~ ~
As today's MLS roster deadline hits I am sure there will be a few teams making moves. Here are the first two -if there are more later then I will add them in:
-New England have added two players to their roster - Mexican forward Jose Manuel Abundis Sandoval & Ivory Coast midfielder Touoly Arsene Oka. Frank Dell'apa at the Boston Globe has the details.
-DC United have signed Ugandan forward Robert Ssejjemba from USL Second Division champs Richmond. He was also named 2nd Div player of the year. From Steve Goff at the Washington Post.
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Check out DJ Walker's always top frickin notch Stream Of Consciousness - Chivas v Dallas
~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to New York keeper Tony Meola about being replaced in the starting lineup by red hot John Conway. Lewis also previews the Red Bulls match v Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~
Dan Loney of American Soccer News comments on Bruce Arena's comments.
~ ~ ~ ~
This weekend the Chicago Fire will honor the old Chicago Sting team who won the NASL title 25 years ago. Former Sting players and coaches will attend the ceremony. Both the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune have articles on the reunion event.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ian Plenderleith of Matchnight wants the MLS playoffs to start NOW!
~ ~ ~ ~
Here are the match-ups for the First Division Championship Playoffs:
Quarterfinals:
Fri Sept 15-
Charleston v Puerto Rico
Vancouver v Miami
Sun Sept 17-
Puerto Rico v Charleston
Miami v Vancouver
Semifinals:
Fri Sept 22 & Sun Sept 24-
Montreal v Vancouver/Miami winner
Rochester v Charleston/Puerto Rico winner
Finals:
Weekend of Sept 29 - time and place to be determined
~ ~ ~ ~
Big Euro matches this weekend:
-Manchester United v Arsenal - see it live Sunday at 10am central on FSC
-Chelsea v Liverpool - who cares if the coaches shake hands.
-Tottenham v Fulham - another of the London derby's.
-PSV v Feyenoord - always the potential for wild ugliness.
~ ~ ~ ~
This maybe the most insane thing I have ever seen in soccer! Earlier this week I read about a ball kid putting a ball into the goal and the referee counting it, but seeing it with my own eyes, its completely insane. And you gotta admit that You Tube might be the greatest invention of all time (well, right after butter).

Sorta Really Not Such Hot News

Deseret Morning News: Real Salt Lake's Atiba Harris has made more than his fair share of bonehead decisions this year.

ADDITION: Bruce Arena apologizes to Sunil Gulati, US Soccer Pres, by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated!
~ ~ ~ ~
Scores from the most exciting club action on earth. Champions League Match Day 1, Group Stage:
-See the new Champions League Highlight Show on ESPN2 - Friday at 1pm central
Wednesday-
Dynamo Kyiv 1-4 Steaua Bucharesti - the visitors scored first in the 3rd minute by Sorin Ghionea, then Serhiy Rebrov tied it for Kyiv, but Valentin Badea & Nicolae Dica (who bagged 2) rattled off 3 unanswered for Steaua's road win.
Lyon 2-0 Real Madrid - goals by one named wonders Fred & Tiago.
Manchester United 3-2 Celtic - Celtics Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored first, then Manchester United took the lead on 2 from Louis Saha (one a PK). Celtic tied it on a free kick by Shunsuke Nakamura, but Man U's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got the big winner.
Kobenhavn 0-0 Benfica
Porto 0-0 CSKA Moskva
Hamburg 1-2 Arsenal - HSV keeper Sascha Kirschstein was red carded early and Gilberto scored the PK for The Arse. Tomas Rosicky got Arsenal's second, but Hamberg got one back in injury time from Boubacar Sanogo.
Anderlecht 1-1 Lille - Nicolas Pareja scored first for the home side but Nicolas Fauvergue tied it late for Lille.
Milan 3-0 AEK - goals scored by Super-Pippo Inzaghi, Yoann Gourcuff & Kaka on a penalty.
-Soccernet with an overview of all Wednesdays action.
Tuesday-
Chelsea 2-0 Bremen
Barcelona 5-0 Levski
Sporting 1-0 Inter
Bayern 4-0 Spartak Moskva
Galatasaray 0-0 Bordeaux
PSV 0-0 Liverpool
Olympiacos 2-4 Valencia
Roma 4-0 Shakhtar
-Matchday 2 is Sept 26 & 27
~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Wednesday night scores:
New England 1-1 DC - A game of two halves. DC dominated and scored thru Josh Gros on a rebounded Freddy Adu shot in the first half. And New England steamrolled in the second half and got a great goal from Clint Dempsey off a Taylor Twellman header. Now if both teams could play like that for 90 minutes we would have a game, and for that matter a league.
Dallas 0-1 Chivas - Juan Pablo Garcia with the road winning goal. Dallas didn't really do diddley squat the whole game, even after Jesus Morales got sent off in the second half.
Colorado 1-0 Chicago - Jim Curtain returned to the Chicago defense for the first time since May, and scored an own goal to lose the game! Who does he think he is? Jonathan Woodgate?
~ ~ ~ ~
James Edwards at the Deseret Morning News with a story on Salt Lake rookie bumbler Atiba Harris.
~ ~ ~ ~
And the Salt Lake Tribune shows that Real Salt Lake is a bit of a three ring circus - with the freak show included.
~ ~ ~ ~
Larry Morgan of the LA Daily News on the desperate situation the Los Angeles Galaxy find themselves to be in, playoff wise.
~ ~ ~ ~
Young American hotshot forward Robbie Rogers, who recently joined Michael Bradley at Heerenveen in Holland, talks to US Soccer. You can download or listen to the podcast here.
~ ~ ~ ~
The University of Virgina student paper - The Cavalier Daily - with a story on their former coach Bruce Arena.
~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle looks at the quality of Houston area soccer youth.
~ ~ ~ ~
IC Liverpool with a story on the return to form of USA & Everton keeper Tim Howard! His coach David Moyes hopes our man Tim-may can keep it going.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad talks to American defender Zak Whitbread about his fairly miserable Millwall team.
~ ~ ~ ~
Argentine star midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme has announced his international retirement. Bummer. He is young enough that maybe he will reconsider.
~ ~ ~ ~
Man U's South Corean midfielder Park Ji-sung will be out of action for about 3 months after he had surgery to repair ligament damage in his left ankle.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ricardo Seyton at Sports Illustrated with a story on new hardnosed Brazilian coach Dunga.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Spanish press took Real Madrid & Italian star defender Fabio Cannavaro apart after Real played horribly against Lyon yesterday in the Champions League.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the great success of Lyon for the 6th straight year.

The Supposed Staying Power Of Old Pants News

Jurgen Klinsmann said yesterday that he may be back to coaching for the next World Cup. He did not elaborate any further than that, but a rumor out of Germany says he may be coaching an AFRICAN team. From AFP.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yesterday saw the start of the Champions League Group Stage with Match Day 1, with more games today:
Yesterdays scores-
Chelsea 2-0 Bremen - goals by Michael's Essien & Ballack.
Barcelona 5-0 Levski - goals by Iniesta, Giuly, Puyol, Eto'o & Ronaldinho.
Sporting 1-0 Inter - Marco Caneira with the winner.
Bayern 4-0 Spartak Moskva - goals by Pizarro, Santa Cruz, Schweinsteiger & Salihamidzic.
Galatasaray 0-0 Bordeaux
PSV 0-0 Liverpool
Olympiacos 2-4 Valencia - Liverpool sure could have used some of the 3 goals their former player Morientes scored for Valencia. Albiol also scored for Valencia. while Konstantinou & Castillo scored for the home team.
Roma 4-0 Shakhtar - Goals by Taddei, Totti, De Rossi & Pizarro all coming after the 65th minute.
-Soccernet with an overview of all yesterdays action.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a story on two less storied players who had a huge impact in the Champions League yesterday: 2 journeymen glory in their moment in the sun
Todays matches-
Dynamo Kyiv v Steaua Bucharesti
Lyon v Real Madrid - Live at 1:30pm central on ESPN Deportes
Manchester United v Celtic - Live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Kobenhavn v Benfica - Live at 1:30pm central on Setanta Closed Circuit
Porto v CSKA Moskva - Same Day Delayed at 6pm central on Setanta
Hamburg v Arsenal - Live at 1:30pm central on Setanta
Anderlecht v Lille
Milan v AEK - Same Day Delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes
-And ALL-NEW in America this season: Champions League Highlight Show on ESPN2 - Friday at 1pm central
-Matchday 2 is Sept 26 & 27
~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell of the New York Times conducts an extensive Q & A with New York coach Bruce Arena. Excellent as always from Arena. He seems really angry with US Soccer Fed President Sunil Gulati. There must be 3 or 4 digs at Gulati in this thing.
~ ~ ~ ~
Then Bell's weekly column focuses on the Barcelona-UNICEF deal.
~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer has more details on Red Bull Park and says the price tag is an astonishing $220 million!
~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe says we are definitely seeing the last days of New England midfielder Clint Dempsey in MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Goff of the Washington Post with a profile on young Jamaican-American DC United midfielder Stephen DeRoux.
~ ~ ~ ~
Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram says Dallas defender Greg Vanney may be headed to Toronto next season.
~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis of the Dallas Morning News looks back at the huge pre-season move FC Dallas made at forward (getting rid of Eddie Johnson & bringing in Kenny Cooper) that is paying off down the stretch.
~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune examines the current impressive winning streak of the Chicago Fire.
~ ~ ~ ~
Brad Rock of the Deseret Morning News with a feature story on Salt Lake striker & league goal scoring leader, the misunderstood Jeff Cunningham.
~ ~ ~ ~
Red Bulls TV announcer Shep Messing addresses Amado Guevara's red card for touching the referee last weekend in New England, from MSGNetwork.com.
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Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc asks the age old question in American sports - should the award be Most Valuable Player or Player Of The Year, or should there be two awards?
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Andrea Canales at Soccer365 with a nice anecdote about an unfortunate parent of an impressionable soccer playing kid. And that's the good part of the story.
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MLS Midweek games tonight:
New England v DC - 630pm on Direct Kick - DC forward Alecko Eskandarian will not play tonight due to a sore knee. Pat Noonan will most likely miss the game for New England with a strained hip flexor.
Dallas v Chivas - 730pm on Direct Kick - Dallas can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win.
Colorado v Chicago - no TV - Chicago will try to continue it's magic on the road, while Colorado must try to stay in the playoff race.
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Yanks Abroad talks to Heerenveen coach Gertjan Verbeek about young American midfielder Michael Bradley, who the coach sees great promise from.
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Yanks Abroad also checks in with American keeper Marcus Hahnemann of Reading to see how the start to his first Premiership season has gone.
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More on Jack Warner's alleged illegal World Cup ticket sales from the Independent in England.
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A former Cameroon coach, Frenchman Claude Leroy, has been hired as the new coach of Ghana.