Roll Over Mahler News

Soccernet has a story on Fulham's desperate needs in the transfer market starting next week, and mentions two players they are going after, but the story does not mention Clint Dempsey. The two listed are Roma forward Vincenzo Montella and Odd Grenland defender Per Nilsson.
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Well, Costa Rican striker Paolo Wanchope will NOT be playing in MLS next season. He has signed with FC Tokyo in Japan.
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Marc Connolly at the US Players Assoc gives us his US Best XI for 2006. Rock on.
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The dynamic duo from the LA Soccer News, Luis Bueno & Andrea Canales, sit down with fellow writers Matt Zimmerman of the Long Beach Press Telegram and Miguel Melendez of the Orange County Register for a roundtable recap of the year 2006.
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New England have re-signed two players to new contracts - Pat Noonan and Joe Franchino. Frank Dell'apa at the Boston Globe with a story on Noonan.
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A reader named Nic sent me a note saying that he has seen DC prospect Ruy (pronounced ROO-ee) play down in Brazil, and that Ruy is indeed a right wingback or full back - this is the classic Brazilian outside defender position made famous in recent years by the likes of Cafu and Roberto Carlos. So my not-so-tough guess was right. Now we have to wait and see if his signing is for real or not, but it looks pretty certain. Some have said he looks like Earnie Stewart, I think he looks like this: Ruy Attacks.
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Sahar Milani at the US Players Assoc has a Q & A with Colorado defender Hunter Freeman. I don't have a definitive reason to explain my feelings on this, but something tells me that Freeman could turn out to be a good player.
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Chivas USA have released players Jesus Morales and Johnnie Garcia.
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At 7pm on Thurs Jan 11 FSC is going to broadcast a live two hour show called "Center Circle at the NSCAA Convention". It will take place at the national coaching convention which has recently been the home of the MLS Superdraft. The show, hosted by du Nord favorite Max Bretos, will be about the future of soccer in America. Gist of the story from Business Wire.
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Chelsea captain John Terry has undergone a lumbar disc surgery and will be out at least a couple of weeks, maybe more.
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The Guardian's Football Weekly has a year-end podcast that wraps up 2006. Download and listen.
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One of my old fave's, Steven Wells of the Guardian, really lets ABC/ESPN have it for their inane announcers during the World Cup in his 2006 Swells Awardz.
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Italpress asks seven Serie A coaches the same 5 questions.
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FIFA.com talks to young German star striker Lukas Podolski about his amazing 2006.

Deeply Greenish News

Andrea Canales at Soccer365 with a feature on Clint Dempsey - Guts And Glory
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And in other Clint Dempsey news, the Deuce is engaged!
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The word sneaking up from Brazil via Globe Sporte is that DC United is going to sign a guy named Ruy Bueno Neto from Botafogo. The team website says he plays the Lateris position, but I am not sure what that means. It seems to me like it might mean outside back. But I really don't know. From the pictures I have seen, his most distinguished feature is his large head. It reminds me of the aliens in Mars Attacks.
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In other DC news, they have announced that John Maessner will take over as their Director of Youth Development. He replaces John Harkes who went to NYRB as Bruce Arena's assistant.
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And for those of you that don't know about this yet - Dan Stienberg at the Washington Post always has great insider DC United stuff on his D.C. Sports Bog. Totally worth reading, even just for the funny shit he writes!
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Colorado is installing the seats in the new stadium - snazzy!
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Buzz Carrick who does the great FC Dallas site 3rd Degree has been hired by ESPN's Soccernet to be their Mel Kiper for the MLS Superdraft. He breaks down the top prospects for goalkeepers and defenders, so far. More to come.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle looks at the grooming of assistant coaches in MLS to become club leaders.
-Also wanted to tip you off to the fact that the website Glenn Davis uses to promote his radio show "The Soccer Hour" has become a blog too. Check it out now.
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Robert Wagman at Soccer Times looks at the USA U20 team and how he thinks it will shape up.
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I have recently been hipped to a great blog called EPL Talk. Tons of great insights, interviews and features on the top English league. In mid November they had a podcast of an interview with young American forward Johann Smith of Bolton. Great stuff. Thanks Gaffer!
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Jonah Freedman with his final World Soccer Power Rankings of 2006, from Sports Illustrated. And there is a new #1!
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Gabriele Marcotti, also of SI, talks to one of du Nord's favorite players - Hernan Crespo!! They talk about Inter (of course), Milan, Chelsea, Lazio and Argentina.
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The draw for next summers Copa America will be held on February 6.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a 2006 year end wrap up.

Non Plus News

Time to give tribute where real tribute is due: Chicago Fire fan Dan Parry walked the walk when it came to caring about his fellow humans, but was sadly killed in a hit & run car accident on Monday morning. From the Chicago Tribune.
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Yanks Abroad says Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens has been added to the upcoming Team USA training camp, replacing Brad Guzan who hurt his back with the MLS select team in England a couple weeks ago.
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US Soccer awarded their Players and Young Players Of The Year yesterday. The winners:
-Player Of The Year:
Oguchi Onyewu
Kristine Lilly
-Young Player Of The Year:
Jozy Altidore
Danesha Adams
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Steven Goff at the Washington Post says a deal by DC United to sign Boca Juniors star striker Martin Palermo is "unlikely to occur." Damn. I was hoping for that one.
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Andrea Canales at Soccernet says the signs all say Beckham is on his way to MLS.
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Canales also talks to LA Galaxy midfielder/defender Nathan Sturgis about his busy upcoming year with his club and the USA U20's. For LA Soccer News
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Rumors are now linking Chivas USA striker Paco Palencia with UNAM Pumas in Mexico.
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New England have signed their defensive midfielder Daniel Hernandez to a new contract.
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Los Angeles have re-signed forward Santino Quaranta.
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Carlos Mendes of New York had hernia surgery. That is probably why he did not get invited to Team USA camp.
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Houston has given coach Dom Kinnear a new two year contract.
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Pete Gratoff of the Kansas City Star does a Q & A with former KC coach and now Toronto assistant Bob Gansler. (From last week.)
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New Colorado striker Herculez Gomez talks to the Las Vegas Sun about his new home.
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Ives Galarcep at Soccernet makes his MLS Eastern and Western Conference wish lists this Christmas.
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MLS players and coaches tell MLSnet about the worst Christmas gifts they have ever received!
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The New York Times with a story on advertising on the front of MLS shirts, by Jack Bell.
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Real Salt Lake has hooked up with a local club in Tampa Florida as a part of their youth development system. From the Business Journal. Thanks to Ethan for tipping me off to this story.
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Big Apple Soccer is reporting a Portuguese story that says Luis Figo is going to sign with Saudi club Al Ittihad as opposed to a possible MLS team.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated looks at the high standard Brian McBride is setting for future Americans in Europe.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with his year end wrap up.
-The story is continued on his weblog Red Card, with a great tale of a between cities trip he took during the World Cup last summer.
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Arroyave also talks to Chicago striker Chad Barrett about his recent trip to England with the young MLS select team.
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Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise reviews US Soccer in 2006.
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Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune hands out his 2006 soccer awards.
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USA U20 team hopefuls Tim Ward and Danny Szetela talk to US Soccer in an interview you can hear via podcast.
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Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - an unused sub in Saturdays 2-0 loss at Bolton, and did not dress for Tuesdays 1-0 win over Sheff U.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - Played the whole game in a 0-0 draw with West Ham on Saturday. Started against Charlton today and he smashed a header off the bar which McBride slammed home for the first goal in a 2-2 draw. Got burned for Charlton's first goal though.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - With his family watching from the statnds he went the full 90 and laid off passes that led to both his teams goals in a 2-0 win over Excelsior of Rotterdam.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - Played as usual but saw his team blanked on Saturday 2-0 at the Liverpeople. Then played their asses off but lost 1-2 v Arsenal on Boxing Day. Jay got torched by Robin Van Persie for the winning goal. Note to Jay: He only goes left! (I know, I know, I should try it sometime - It aint so easy.)
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - got completely fried 6-2 by Arsenal on Saturday, but came back very very strong to shut out Liverpeople 0-1 on Boxing Day.
-Cory Gibbs - Charlton - Is still not in the gameday line ups, but could possibly see action in the next week, with yet another new manager, Alan Pardew, and two more games coming up.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - Lost to Everton 0-2 on Saturday, and drew 2-2 with Chelsea on Boxing Day.
-Tim Howard - Everton - Beat Reading 0-2 Saturday. Got another clean sheet 0-0 against Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - Drew 0-0 with Hull City with Eddie playing left back. Lost 2-0 at Sunderland on Boxing Day.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - Played the whole game in a 0-0 draw with West Ham on Saturday. Started against Charlton today and slammed home the first goal after Bocanegra smashed a header off the bar, in a 2-2 draw.
-Claudio Reyna - Manchester City - did not dress for either Saturdays 2-0 loss at Bolton, or Tuesdays 1-0 win over Sheff U. Hamstring injury they say.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Played the whole game in a 0-0 draw with Fulham on Saturday. Started on Boxing Day but was subbed out in the 69th minute of a 1-2 loss to Portsmouth.
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I missed this last week during my illness, but Jay DeMerit has a new article for Soccernet: It's lonely at the bottom
-On another DeMerit note, I was out yesterday watching Arsenal v Watford and someone later told that me that some of DeMerit's friends and relatives where there watching with us. Cheers.
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USA & Reading midfielder Bobby Convey talks to Yanks Abroad about his recovery progress after knee surgery, or lack thereof.
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YA also talks to Danny Califf about his excitement at being called into the Team USA January camp.
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The always excellent Brian at the False 45th has a friend who is the Team USA equipment manager and has some cool soccer related "end of 06" remembrances.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a story (from 10 days ago) on the role of "youth" in today's world soccer spectrum.
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Hughes also writes about Inter's Brazlian striker Adriano who until last Saturday had not scored a goal in 9 months! Yes you read that right, 9 months. And they pay him how much?
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Charlton have fired coach Les Reed after about 8 games and hired Alan Pardew, who was fired last week by cross town rivals West Ham.
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Ricardo Lavolpe will now get his Marlboro Money from Velez Sarsfield. Last week Lavolpe lead Boca Juniors to a humiliating stumble from a big lead late in the season into a second place finish in the Argentine Apertura and was forced to resign his job. The team then turned to Miguel Angel Russo who had been coach of Sarsfield. Now Lavolpe has that mans old job. Next year Ricardo will be weighting tables at a Chi Chi's in Booneville Missouri for cartons of Kent Extra Longs.
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Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez has split from league champions Chivas de Guadalajara to sign with last place Santos Laguna. It's all about the Pesos for Oswaldo.
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Kikin Fonseca is back in Mexico with Tigres after a disastrous 4 months in Portugal at Benfica. He never really saw the field in that time.
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated writes about the next 4 stars of Mexican soccer.
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Kevin Palmer of Soccernet calls Samuel Etoo the lost spirit of Barcelona.
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The Guardian/Observer with an indepth look at and interview with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
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Eduardo Da Silva was named Croatian Player Of The Year. He has such a nice old fashion Croatian name doesn't he?
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The draw was held last week for the 07 Copa Libertadores. Games begin Jan 24.
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Cucuta Deportivo of Colombia won their first ever league title. They were founded in 1924!
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Colo Colo have won their 25th Chilean championship.
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Cienciano won the Peru championship.
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Lastly, BQ sent me this link from Insane Soccer to a video of the top 3 goals of the first half of the season from each of the big Euro leagues. Enjoy it.

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

I want to give all you readers in the Twin Cities area a heads up that a great film is coming to our town and you should not miss it.

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
Directed by Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno
Showing at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
February 9-11 2007
Fri Feb 9 at 7:30pm
Sat Feb 10 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Sun Feb 11 at 2:00pm

This is the film of a Real Madrid v Villareal match where the producers used 17 cameras to follow only Zidane for the full 90 minutes. It will give you an amazing feel for how a true master of the game navigates the pitch for the entire match. Zidane himself narrates with a soundtrack by indie band Mogwai.

Nothing

Sorry folks, but nothing for Monday and Tuesday this week cuz I am celebrating the holidays with my family and friends. See you Wednesday.

Blinding News

ADDITION: More huge DC United news! The house cleaning continues as forward Alecko Eskandarian is shipped north to Toronto for cash. Read the story from the Toronto Star. Thanks to Jeff at Blackdogred for the heads up.
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DC United formally introduces their 5th head coach Tom Soehn, and say its full steam ahead. From Steve Goff of the Washington Post.
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And beyond all the rumors that fly, The Wash Post has more solid news on a possible stadium for DC.
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The US Players Assoc has two conversations with players today:
-Marc Connolly talks to Chicago forward Chris Rolfe just as he is set to join the USA training camp on Jan 2.
-A Q & A with du Nord's hero & Houston's rumbling defender Craig Waibel.
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I didn't see this week's edition of GolTV's American Soccer until last night, but they had Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo on the set and he said that he has talked to both Mexican Jared Borgetti and Costa Rican Paulo Wanchope about coming to his team for next season.
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Mexican tabloids have reported the Chivas USA midfielder Juan Pablo Garcia has signed not with a European club, but with Tigres back in Mexico. I wonder if this is some of the same newspapers that said Paco Palencia signed with Tigres a couple weeks ago, and now we hear that is NOT true. Stand by.
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USL announced three new teams in the Second Division next season:
Cleveland City Stars
Crystal Palace USA - yes they are the English clubs affiliate
Bermuda - the Island nation fields a team co-owned by former Man City star striker Shaun Goater!
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There is a full slate of English Premiership matches all weekend long and right thru New Years Day. Unfortunately most of them are fairly pedestrian games. No real head clashes to speak of. Everyone will just try to grind out points and we will watch cuz very little else is on. One thing to watch for is if American defender Cory Gibbs takes the field for Charlton. The team is really banged up, beyond just being terrible. They need all the help they can get, and Gibbs needs to see the field badly. He has not played since he hurt his knee v Morocco while getting ready for the World Cup last May. Keep yer eyes open.
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I will be spending a good part of Dec 26 at The Local in downtown Minneapolis hanging out with friends and wathing EPL games. Come and join us please. I love seeing folks I know, and meeting new people. Just ask around for me.
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Not much in the way of big Euro matches this weekend, but there will be two in Holland:
Sat
Feyenoord v v Sparta Rotterdam - The Rotterdam derby, I bet this one has seen some wild days over the years!
Tue
Feyenoord v PSV - old rivals with PSV at the top of the table
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Sevilla took the lead in Spain going into the Christmas and New Year break (with a game in hand) as they wiped out Deportivo La Coruna 4-0, while Barcelona returned from Japan to be tied 1-1 by Athletico Madrid, and Real Madrid was smoked at home 0-3 by Recreativo Huelva (ooohweeeee, I bet Capello was excited about that)!!! We have a race! The standings now look like this
37 Sevilla
34 Barcelona
32 Real Madrid
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In just a couple hours here I am gonna head south to see my whole family for Christmas. I will not be back until next Wednesday. So in the mean time I want you all to have a Merry Christmas (Feliz Navidad), or a great weekend, whichever way you slice it. Take care, Bruce.

I Can't Stand It Any More More News

The big news of the day has DC United coach Peter Nowak not staying with the team! The two sides had been negotiating a contract but that is off. He is now set to join Bob Bradley at Team USA! WOW! Did ya see that coming? Maybe. He did play for Bradley in Chicago, and they had great success together. DC assistant Tom Soehn is set to take over the job now. The best source for the full story, no doubt, is Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
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Bob Bradley announces the roster of players for his first Team USA training camp & games beginning on January 2. (*There have already been changes/additions to this list due to injury etc & you should expect more before its all over.)
-Here is that team, by position:
G:
Joe Cannon
Brad Guzan
Troy Perkins
Matt Reis
D:
Chris Albright
Bobby Boswell
Jonathan Bornstein
Danny Califf*
Jimmy Conrad
Todd Dunivant*
Bryan Namoff
Michael Parkhurst
Heath Pearce
Dasan Robinson
Eddie Robinson
M:
Kyle Beckerman
Brian Carroll
Ricardo Clark
Clint Dempsey
Joshua Gros
Sacha Kljestan
Justin Mapp
Pablo Mastroeni
Brian Mullan
Pat Noonan
F:
Kenny Cooper
Alecko Eskandarian
Landon Donovan
Nate Jaqua
Eddie Johnson*
Chris Rolfe
-But 3 names that are not on that list or have been replaced already:
Brian Ching - Nothing official but I would guess he is getting that knee back to 100%. He had surgery mid-season and rumors always said it never fully healed, but he played on.
Jose Burciaga - Why no love for him? He is only the most offense minded left back in the league and on the du Nord First XI, who I guess is losing out to Bradley's guy Bornstein.
Taylor Twellman - replaced because he has not fully recovered from post season hernia surgery.
-And some others who could be there:
Ugo Ihemelu
Santino Quaranta
Chad Barrett
Brad Davis
Eddie Gaven
Chad Marshall
Carlos Mendes
Davy Arnaud
Drew Moor
Kevin Novak
Matt Pickens
-A couple of older players that did not surprise me by being left off: Steve Ralston, Jeff Cunningham & Ben Olsen.
-Many real young guys are not here because they are with the USA U20 team.
-It's not really surprising that nearly every player on that roster is from MLS. Heath Pearce was originally the only non-US based player. He was available cuz his team, Nordssjaelland, is on winter break in Denmark. Now Danny Califf has been added. His team Aalborg is on break too. There aren't really many others with time off ahead. The only 2 possibilities who might deserve a shot that I could think of were Adin Brown & Nat Borchers. Did I miss anyone else?
-Bradley does a Q & A with USA Today, but doesn't say much more than he did last week when he was hired.
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Steve Davis at Soccernet examines this USA roster.
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Speaking of Adin Brown, Yanks Abroad talks to him about his just completed Norwegian season with Aalesund, in which he helped them get promoted back to the top division.
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Many USA U20's are in Florida right now still auditioning for roster spots for the World Championship qualifying run that happens soon (January I think). They had a game yesterday and beat Canada 2-0 in Bradenton.
-Video interview with New York Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore (surgically repaired thumb and all.)
-Podcast of an interview with Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Quavas Kirk.
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Andrea Canales at Soccer365 looks at what the real future holds for those players eligible for the U20's.
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Chicago's Bridgeview Stadium - Toyota Park - is "Soccer Specific" no more. A lacrosse team is going to play there.
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Kansas City has hired Chris Henderson as an assistant coach. I guess that means his playing days are over. He was never the greatest talent, but he was a supreme athlete with an awesome attitude.
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DC traded defender Brandon to Colorado for draft picks. Good move for him, but DC is looking really thin back there now. He has been their #1 back up the last two years.
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Rumor has it that Paco Palencia might be back at Chivas USA for next season after all.
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What do you make of this rumor of Boca Junior's forward Mad Martin Palermo heading to DC United! How cool would that be? I say, bring it home baby! It would be huge.
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The top American goalkeeping prospect to come along since Tim Howard is Chris Seitz. He just finished his second season at Maryland, but has decided to leave them and turn professional. He is weighing all options and all offers now.
-His teammate Maurice Edu is leaving school a year early to go pro as well. He was named an All-American this year.
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USL First Division rookie of the year, Cam Weaver, from the Seattle Sounders, has signed a deal to play for Haugesund in Norway starting in January.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times with his tribute to the recently departed modern era pioneers of American soccer Lamar Hunt and Ahmet Ertugun.
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Several great people have written to correct to me, and say that Hugo Perez will be the ASSISTANT coach for the California Victory of the USL First Division. Glenn van Straatum will be the head man. Thanks to everyone for the help on that one.
-Also on a Cali Victory note, the highly controversial owner Dmirty Piterman has posed for a very odd, and if I could say, disturbing, picture for a Spanish newspaper. Thanks to Matthew for this insane pic. It could be what caused my illness.
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Another piece of USL 1st Div news I heard, says the league will expand the playoffs from 6 teams to 8. That sucks. I like the way it was.
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Joe Lapira of Notre Dame was named the top player in college soccer this year, but this picture makes he think he might have been named the top college soccer player in 1974!
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Did you see Internacional beat Barca 1-0 for the World Club title? Good for them.
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Boca Juniors sold big-potential midfielder Fernando Gago to Real Madrid for way too much money.
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FIFA likes the quick changes they have seen from the Iranian football federation and reinstated them into international competition. I bet money was involved?
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Colombia is going to challenge Brazil's bid to host the 2014 World Cup. Fat chance of that happening. But it will put pressure on Brazil to up their bid.
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I am sure there is plenty more news out there, but this is all I could find the energy to muster up for now. Yes I am still ill, but feeling a little better. Thanks for all the well wishes! I really appreciate it.

Ooooooooooooooooh

More sickness. The worst.

Down And Out Day 2

Sorry, still sick.
It's so uncool to feel this way.
Hopefully tomorrow, but no promises.

Oh, one thing though: I did see Fulham beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on Monday, and right after our man McBride scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Fulham, the camera zoomed in on his celebration as he said to teammate Tomas Radzinski, who gave him the pass, "That was a great fuckin ball baby!" I rewound it and watched it about 8 times laughing my ass off as much as a sick man can. I love the beautiful game, and I love my DVR.

Out Of Commission

Hey there,
I am sorry to say that there will be no du Nord update today, cuz I am sick as a dog. It's taken a lot of strength just to type this lil note. Back to bed for me.
See ya soon,
Bruce

Beef Burrito, With Extra Beef, Hold The Tortilla News

Chelsea striker extraordinaire Didier Drogba to Jack Bell of the New York Times: I like this team D.C. United. They are good and strong.

We have lost yet another American soccer groundbreaker. Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun, who founded the New York Cosmos (along with his brother Nesuhi and Warner Bros. Pres Steve Ross) died yesterday at 83. Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer with more.
-I met Ahmet one time in the early 90's, (I worked in the music biz for a long time at Warner Bros.), and thanked him for the Cosmos. He was very gracious, but seemed surprised that someone at a music biz event in America remembered.
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Kevin Hartman's agent Ron Waxman confirmed with Andrea Canales of the Los Angeles Soccer News that the keeper has been sent to Kansas City. No other details were available.
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Yanks Abroad talks to USA & Charlton defender Cory Gibbs about his long recovery from knee surgery.
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GolTV is reporting that the California Victory of the USL First Division have hired former USA & NASL midfielder Hugo Perez as their first head coach.
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Boston College star striker Charlie Davies is going to sign with Hammarby of Sweden.
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Steve Goff of the Washington Post on the official MLS announcement that the 2007 MLS Cup final will be held at RFK in DC.
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Colorado has acquired defender Brandon Prideaux from DC United for a couple of 3rd round draft picks.
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Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News talks to Chivas USA young sensational midfielder Sacha Kljestan about the departure of his coach Bob Bradley.
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And Andrea Canales at LASN talks to Galaxy honcho Alexi Lalas (and other team exec's) about what additional moves the team is making to improve them on the field for next year.
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Jen Chang of Soccernet looks at the current crop of USA U17's - How good are can they be?
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A Seton Hall student is already on his way to becoming a player agent. I love his go-for-it attitude. Cool story. I hope there are hundreds more out there with this kind of gumption and dreams.
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Jack Bell at the New York Times does the Q & A dance with Chelsea & Cote d'Ivoire striker Didier Drogba.
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The Toronto Globe and Mail is reporting a completely crazy scheduling mess-from-hell - The Grand Prix of Toronto AND a U20 World Cup match are planned for the same day at Toronto's Exhibition Place. Both sides have set TV schedules and sold tickets without the other knowing about it, and say they can't change the date now. Technically, the soccer stadium is inside the race area! Let's see how they fix this one.
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Goal.com says English tabloids have tagged Man U asst coach Carlos Queiroz as the top choice for the USA managers job.
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The draw was held this morning for the UEFA Champions League first knock out round. Here are the match ups
Feb 20 - return leg Mar 7
PSV v Arsenal
Lille v Man United
Real Madrid v Bayern
Celtic v Milan
Feb 21 - return leg Mar 6
Roma v Lyon
Barcelona v Liverpeople
Inter v Valencia
Porto v Chelsea
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Big Euro matches this weekend:
Sat
Arsenal v Portsmouth - should be a shootout between two great offenses.
Real Zaragoza v Valencia - two more offensive powerhouses who are red hot. Do not miss.
Fiorentina v Milan - two big clubs, two awful seasons.
Sun
Roma v Palermo - #2 v #3 in Italy.
Lens v Lyon - on paper it's #2 v #1, but there are 14 points between them right now.
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The FIFA World Club Championship from Japan. Here is the schedule/scores:
Sun Dec 10
Auckland City 0-2 Al Ahly - goals by Flavio & Mohamed Aboutrika.
Mon Dec 11
Jeonbuk 0-1 America - the lone tally by Ricardo Rojas.
Wed Dec 13
Al Ahly 1-2 Internacional - Internacional sensation Pato scored first only to have Ahly tie it on a goal by Flavio. Super-sub Luiz Adriano won it for the South American champs. By the way, Pato is all the rage at this tournament. He is a 17 year old that every big club is chasing. His name means The Duck. Get used to hearing it.
Thur Dec 14
America 0-4 Barcelona - a complete pasting by the UEFA champs. Goals by Eidur Gudjohnsen, Rafa Marquez, Ronaldinho & Deco.
Fri Dec 15
Auckland City 0-3 Jeonbuk Motors - 5th place game - goals by Lee Hyun Seung, Kim Hyeung Bum & Ze Carlo(PK).
Sat Dec 16
Al Ahly v America - 3rd place game -
Sun Dec 17
Internacional v Barcelona - championship game
-See all the matches on Fox Soccer Channel
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times says he knows it's time to hang up his football boots.
~ ~ ~ ~
Manchester United have signed their keeper Edwin Van Der Sar to a new one year contract extension, making the return of Tim Howard from a loan to Everton all the more remote.
~ ~ ~ ~
The FIFA World Player Of The Year award will be handed out on Monday. The three finalists are Fabio Cannavaro, Ronaldinho & Zinedine Zidane.
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I want to end the week by sending a special hello and welcome to our readers today from 38 states and 4 Canadian provinces, and our international readers today from Medellin, Barcelona, Zagreb, Dublin, Brisbane, Verona, London, Seoul, Chalai, Lyon, Waterloo, Blonay, Stoke and Milan.

Walter Cronkite Party Animal News

In very sad news, the greatest pioneer of soccer in America, Lamar Hunt, has passed away. He had been suffering from cancer and was 74. To put it in perspective for me, that's the same age as my dad. Hunt was a big name in the days of the NASL and refused to let him dream die. He helped found MLS and owned the Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, and until recently the Kansas City Wizards. He built the first soccer stadium in the league in Columbus and followed that up with Pizza Hut Park stadium in Dallas. The US Open Cup is even named after him - officially titled The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. He was also one of the guiding lights of the NFL, and is the guy credited with inventing the Super Bowl. Now that is huge! He will be massively missed.
-Stories on his life and death from:
Columbus Dispatch
Kansas City Star
Dallas Morning News
Fort Worth Star Telegram
MLS Press Release
Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet
3rd Degree
-Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer with Lamar Hunt's top 10 most memorable soccer experiences. It's excellent.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune says that soccer in America needs to chase it's own path, not follow the dreams of Eurosnobs. Hear! Hear! Hooray Beer!
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Happy New Year - sorta - The always brilliant Josh at ThroughBall.com has discovered that Landon Donovan has a gift registry for his upcoming New Years Eve wedding! Josh wants to buy Landycakes a gift. Let's all help Josh do just that. I say we get 'em a pizza stone.
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Real Salt Lake makes it official in signing Panama striker Luis Tejada. He is signed a one year loan deal, with an option to buy. From the Deseret Morning News.
-Are You Loyal? with photos from the press conference. For a dude who's nickname is Fatty, Tejada looks anything but.
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So what's the word on the Kevin Hartman to KC deal? Still nothing official yet.
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MLSnet gives us a recap on the league's select team of young players who went to England and played some exhibition matches.
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AllAfrica.com is reporting that 25 year old Angolan national team defensive midfielder Marco Joaquim aka Miloy will be coming to the USA and having a try out with New York Red Bulls right around Xmas. He was on his countries World Cup team last summer, but is currently without a club. (What does that say about him?). Thanks to Bob for the link.
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MetroFanatic takes an excellently placed cheap shot at former Metro/Red Bulls coach Mo Johnston regarding a former short-lived and possibly returning NYRB player Danilo da Silva.
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On his weblog, Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with a deeper explanation and more detail on his story of Toluca striker Bruno Marioni's interest in coming to play in MLS. Excellent stuff.
-Houston team president Oliver Luck then talked to Marioni about his interest in possibly joining the team.
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And Glenn Davis of the Chronicle with his views on the leagues new Designated Player rule.
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In case you have not seen it, the bracket is available for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. If DC wins their first round they could face Guadalajara Chivas in round two, and if Houston wins they could face Pachuca.
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Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated with the all new latest and greatest World Soccer Power Rankings. It's more excitingly global than ever!
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The FIFA World Club Championship from Japan. Here is the schedule/scores:
Sun Dec 10
Auckland City 0-2 Al Ahly - goals by Flavio & Mohamed Aboutrika.
Mon Dec 11
Jeonbuk 0-1 America - the lone tally by Ricardo Rojas.
Wed Dec 13
Al Ahly 1-2 Internacional - Internacional sensation Pato scored first only to have Ahly tie it on a goal by Flavio. Super-sub Luiz Adriano won it for the South American champs. By the way, Pato is all the rage at this tournament. He is a 17 year old that every big club is chasing. His name means The Duck. Get used to hearing it.
Thur Dec 14
America 0-4 Barcelona - a complete pasting by the UEFA champs. Goals by Eidur Gudjohnsen, Rafa Marquez, Ronaldinho & Deco.
Fri Dec 15
game 1 loser v game 2 loser - 5th place game
Sat Dec 16
semifinal 1 loser v semifinal 2 loser - 3rd place game
Sun Dec 17
semifinal 1 winner v semifinal 2 winner - championship game
-See all the matches on Fox Soccer Channel
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You can go to UEFA.com and vote, from their nominees, for the UEFA Team Of The Year. Here are the du Nord picks:
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Peter Cech
D
Daniel Alves
Roberto Ayala
Carles Puyol
Phillip Lahm
M
Lionel Messi
Claude Makelele
Kaka
Ronaldinho
F
Samuel Etoo
Thierry Henry
C
Frank Rijkaard
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Pachuca went to Santiago Chile and beat Colo Colo 1-2 on their own turf to win the final of the Copa SudaAmericana 3-2 on aggregate last night. The first leg in Mexico was a 1-1 draw.
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Real Madrid have signed young Argentine striker & star-in-the-making Gonzalo Higuain from River Plate.
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Is German & Werder Bremen star forward Miroslav Klose really going to sign with Juventus for next season? Even though they have no chance of playing in the Champions League? Really?
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Oh Boca Boca Boca Boca Boca! What are we going to do with you? Boca Juniors and coach Ricardo LaVolpe completely blew it. The mighty Estudiantes de la Plata charged up the table late in the season, caught Boca on the last day, and came from a goal down to win the Championship playoff last night 2-1! It was a sight to behold. The Estu fans losing their minds on one side of the stadium, and the Boca fans heaving up their guts on the other side. Wow! As the final minutes of added time ticked away and Boca could barely even connect a pass or control a dribble, TV announcer Max Bretos put it succinctly: Boca look like they just stumbled out of a tavern! Indeed! Can you imagine the Estu party last night. I have no doubt it's still raging right now.
-After the loss Boca Juniors coach, and former Mexico coach, Ricardo LaVolpe resigned. Where is he going to get cigarette money now?

Rotten Old Freaks News

LATE ADDITION: It looks like the LA Galaxy has sent keeper Kevin Hartman to Kansas City for future Super-draft picks. More later. Thanks to Joe for the tip-off.
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LA Soccer News is reporting that in a Canadian TV interview Toronto coach Mo Jo said he had sold striker Nate Jaqua to the LA Galaxy. No one else would confirm this. And Jaqua has been searching for a team in Europe. So who knows. Stay tuned.
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The 2007 MLS Cup final will be played in our nations capital at RFK Stadium.
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According to Chris Courtney & Robert Wagman of SoccerTimes the Real Madrid bid for USA & Standard Liege defender Oguchi Onyewu is a very serious and "fabulous offer".
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Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated asks himself and then answers 5 questions about the Freddy Adu move to Real Salt Lake.
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The Deseret Morning News on Freddy's first day in SLC.
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The Salt Lake Tribune talks to Adu's new teammates.
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Lya Wodraska of the SL Trib examines why these guys like Adu, Mathis & Cunningham are attracted to RSL coach John Ellinger.
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Kali at the Real Salt Lake Blog was at the Freddy Adu press conference in SLC and has a great report on the event.
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Several people have been asking, via the comments and emails: what does the appearance of Freddy Adu mean to the Salt Lake on-field line up. The Salt Lake Trib tries to answer that. Thanks to the anonymous reader who sent this link.
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Ives Galarcep for Soccernet says DC United got a lot for Adu.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times on the Freddy Adu story.
-Bell also has two juicy bits of info: 1) MLS has been offered $2.5 million from Fulham for New England midfielder Clint Dempsey. (That is not nearly enough in my opinion - $4 million is the number I see.) And 2) Italian Serie B team Brescia is hunting for Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni. (He should definitely NOT go there.)
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle looks at the youth system the Dynamo hope to build.
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Fallas is also reporting that Houston will NOT participate in the MLS v FMF tourney next summer.
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Eurosport says that by mutual consent Paulo Wanchope has ended his contract with Rosario Central in Argentina. That means he is free to do as he pleases regarding a new team. New York? Los Angeles? DC? Anyone in MLS watching this?
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Bob Hunter at the Columbus Dispatch says that what the Crew needs right now is a healthy dose of Brian McBride. And who exactly is going to get him the ball Bob? Joseph Ngwenya? I don't think so.
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Is DC United assistant Tommy Soehn headed to LA to run Chivas USA?
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New England will train in two different spots outside the USA in this winters upcoming preseason. They will return for the 3rd consecutive year to Bermuda Feb 16-24, and then go to Cancun Mexico Mar 8-16.
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Former Minnesota Thunder and Kansas City Wizards defender Brian Roberts has retired from the game and taken a job with the Wizards Front Office working with the youth system.
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Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc talks to USA & 1860 Munich defender Gregg Berhalter.
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The College of William & Mary newspaper says that former New England keeper Adin Brown has won a Player Of The Year award with his club Aalesund in Norway.
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The FIFA World Club Championship from Japan. Here is the schedule/scores:
Sun Dec 10
Auckland City 0-2 Al Ahly - goals by Flavio & Mohamed Aboutrika.
Mon Dec 11
Jeonbuk 0-1 America - the lone tally by Ricardo Rojas.
Wed Dec 13
Al Ahly 1-2 Internacional - Internacional sensation Pato scored the games first goal, only to have Ahly tie it on a goal by Flavio. Super-sub Luiz Adriano won it for the South American champs. By the way, Pato is all the rage at this tournament. He is a 17 year old that every big club is chasing. His name means The Duck. Get used to hearing it.
Thur Dec 14
America v Barcelona (UEFA)
Fri Dec 15
game 1 loser v game 2 loser - 5th place game
Sat Dec 16
semifinal 1 loser v semifinal 2 loser - 3rd place game
Sun Dec 17
semifinal 1 winner v semifinal 2 winner - championship game
-See all the matches on Fox Soccer Channel
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Colombia has hired club Cucuta Deportivo coach Jorge Luis Pinto to become the new head man of their national team.
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The LA Times with the heavy story of Chilean futbol, the Pinochet era, his death and the Colo Colo v La U derby. Intense to say the least. Thanks to Demko for this one.
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This is the best image I could find with Wayne Rooney attending the Knicks game the other night. As you can see he is flanked by his girlfriend, and new co-star Jimmy Fallon. Yes, the brilliant Wayne-O was in NYC working on a buddy movie with Jimmy. It's to be an action-adventure style remake of a combo-plotted Dumb & Dumber and Bad Boys, of course called Dumb Boys, directed by Jerry Bruckheimer.
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In a move highly endorsed by du Nord, the English FA has asked FIFA to allow them to use post-game video reviews to dole out punishment for DIVING! Great idea.

Blinded By The Mice News

I am gonna re-post this today at the top of the page and strongly suggest that every one of you fans of US Soccer take some time and listen. It's the press conference Sunil Gulati held to announce Bob Bradley as the new USA manager. It dispells 98% of all the rumors floating around. It will also show you that Bradley is clearly an interim coach, yet at the same time a major candidate for the full time job. Many people have been dogging Gulati's methods of hiring the coach. I think he is doing a great job and needs to be given every opportunity to do it right. Yes, I have drank the kool-aid.
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Steven Goff at the Washington Post has as good a grip on the Freddy Adu trade as anyone.
-The Salt Lake City papers chime in too: Deseret Morning News with two, Checketts perfect in his timing - AND - RSL makes trade for Adu, and another from the Salt Lake Tribune, D.C. deals teenage star Adu to RSL.
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Andrea Canales at Soccernet with her thoughts on Adu to RSL.
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Frank Dell'apa also at Soccernet says maybe the Adu expectations in Salt Lake will be more realistic.
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Dallas and Columbus owner Lamar Hunt is in a Dallas hospital fighting for his life, From AP.
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Stories on the hiring of Steve Morrow at FC Dallas from both the Dallas Morning News, Old hand sees a new day for FCD, and the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Morrow plans aggressive style for FC Dallas.
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Video of an interview with Bob Bradley on ESPN News.
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald with his very positive thoughts on the hiring of Bob Bradley by Team USA.
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Steve Davis at Soccernet says the interim coach route is the way to go right now.
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The cover story of the new issue of Soccer America is - The Great Dynamo -written by Ridge Mahoney, celebrating the 2006 MLS Cup winners. I am also told that there is a very cool plug for du Nord in a year end wrap up story. So a huge du Nord thanks to those awesome folks at Soccer America, and a thanks to Kevin A. for tipping me off to the mention!
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Kansas City is definitely searching for a place to build their new stadium, but did you know that in the meantime their former home Arrowhead stadium is not going to be available to them, due to renovations? Yes they are currently beating the bushes looking for a temporary home field. Here is the latest news on the search from the KC Star. (Let's just hope they don't pick that awful place where I got maced a couple years ago after my Thunder beat the Wiz in the Open Cup.)
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Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated talks to Freddy Adu about his trial at Manchester United.
-One long time American soccer writer said to me in an email that he felt that The Swoosh played a big role in making that trial happen.
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In other Real Salt Lake news, Are You Loyal? is reporting that the team will sign Panamaniac striker Luis Tejada, who currently plays for Plaza Amador in his home country. This dude sounds like a handful in more ways then one - his nickname is el Gordito (fatty) and he supposedly got the boot this year from Columbian team Once Caldas for disciplinary reasons. Good luck to Ellinger with this guy. He better be a hot shit striker.
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AYL? also has pictures of Freddy's arrival in Salt Lake last night. And even though they say he was all smiles, he is only smiling in 1 of these 7 pics.
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Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd has said that American defender Jay Demerit is next in line to become captain of the team!!
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The FIFA World Club Championship from Japan. Here is the schedule/scores:
Sun Dec 10
Auckland City 0-2 Al Ahly - goals by Flavio & Mohamed Aboutrika.
Mon Dec 11
Jeonbuk 0-1 America - the lone tally by Ricardo Rojas.
Wed Dec 13
Al Ahly v Internacional (CONMEBOL)
Thur Dec 14
America v Barcelona (UEFA)
Fri Dec 15
game 1 loser v game 2 loser - 5th place game
Sat Dec 16
semifinal 1 loser v semifinal 2 loser - 3rd place game
Sun Dec 17
semifinal 1 winner v semifinal 2 winner - championship game
-See all the matches on Fox Soccer Channel
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A reader named JB left a note yesterday about an amazing goal scored against Tim Howard lst weekend. He said we needed to find it, cuz it was amazing! Well I found it, and it is amazing. The goal was by Matt Taylor of Portsmouth, who has been on a real tear lately. Check it out now. Thanks JB.
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Nice to see FIFA take some action on something they are doing negatively - They fired the top 4 executives involved in the Mastercard dealings and subsequent lawsuit.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports that the amount of money rolling into the English games these days is staggering. What will this really mean for the game on the pitch itself (the only thing that really matters)?
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Former Charlton coach Alan Curbishley has been hired by West Ham to replace the fired Alan Pardew.
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File under Huh?: Wayne Rooney was in New York City yesterday and went to the Knicks v Celtics NBA game at MSG last night!

Oh Yeah Sure Becky News

It's not April Fools Day so it must be true, but Ives Galarcep is reporting that DC United have shipped potential star and potential summer transfer Freddy Adu to Real Salt Lake!!! Holy Shite! Stay tuned for more on this wild one.
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FC Dallas have named their assistant coach Steve Morrow as their new head man. From 3rd Degree.
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Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet asks some Bob Bradley What if?'s.
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And Andrea Canales at Soccernet says that if Bradley is an "interim" coach, then the search is still on-going for the real coach. Some very good insights.
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Princeton University is very proud that their 1980 grad is the new USA manager.
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US Soccer has audio and video regarding the Bob Bradley hiring. Two podcast, Sunil Gulati's announcement - AND - Bob Bradley answers questions. And people react to the hiring via video.
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The US Soccer Players Association has a great look back at the first roster Bruce Arena called up for Team USA after he took charge of the program 8 years ago. Interesting list.
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The Players Assoc also has a Q & A with Colorado defender Mike Petke.
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More from US Soccer with several video clips from the recently completed youth tournament - the Nike Friendlies. Coaches, players and game highlights.
-The USA U17's played Brazil to a pair of 2-2 draws over the last few days. In the second match our local Twin Cities rising star Abdusalam Ibrahim scored!!! (See it in the highlights linked above.) Read a report of the two matches here.
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MLSnet gives us the latest from Tino Palace - The Clean Sheet: Chivas loss is U.S. gain
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle checks in on MLS players with local Houston roots.
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Here is something I find quite interesting: While the two Salt Lake newspapers are busy running story after story about the Real Salt Lake dealings with loval politicians on a stadium, local fan weblog Are You Loyal? has been actually reporting team news. As in, the sport. The game of soccer. The players. The only thing that really counts. The two supposedly legit news sources in town have not let anyone know that the team has released 4 players this offseason (3 a week or so ago and another today). So leave it to real fans (all pun intended) to give us the actual scoop. Here are the 4 the team has released: Douglas Sequeira, Cameron Knowles, Jake Besagno, and Seth Trembly (today). That's fairly big news about Sequeira seeing as he played in the last World Cup for Costa Rica and can't get a steady place in the RSL first 11. The site also says the team is going to announce a player acquisition today too. Stay tuned. Thanks to AYL? for the actual team news.
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Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News talks to some of the LA Galaxy players about the changes going on with their roster this offseason.
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An editorial in yesterdays Cleveland Plain Dealer ponders a soccer stadium in the community.
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In a massively excellent move, the Barra Brava from DC United showed up at a Washington Capitals hockey game the other night! Oh yeah, we love that action. Dan from the DC Sports Bog has the lowdown, on the good and bad of the night!
-And another note from Dan at the Bog - DC's Shawn Kuykendall has decided he needed to destroy his life, and that of his helpless sister, by dancing and lip-syncing to a hideous Elton John xmas tune and putting the video up on YouTube. Deeply disturbing.
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OUCH! The Sunday Herald of Scotland compares Freddy Adu to Anna Kournikova!
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Mexican Apertura Final was yesterday afternoon (1st leg score included):
Toluca 1-2 Guadalajara (1-1) - Guada wins 2-3 on aggregate.
-So, Chivas finally get another title. They say its been 10 years since the last one for the most popular team in Mexico. Toluca got on the board early when my fave Mexican player Vicente Sanchez whipped in a cross to Bruno Marioni to head home. With the lead at home all they had to do was hold on. But The Goats came back strong in the second half with a header by Francisco Rodriguez off a free kick, and then a trade mark strike from Bofo Bautista (the king of goofy brilliance) for the win. Hooray Goat meat. Hooray Tecate.
-Bernardo Fallas with news on the big win for Chivas, from the Houston Chronicle.
-Fallas also reports that star Toluca striker and FMF Apertura leading scorer Bruno Marioni is interested in playing in MLS. Awesome to hear.
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Insanity reigned supreme in Argentina yesterday as season long leaders Boca Juniors blew the title on the last day by losing 1-2 at home to Lanus, and second place Estudiantes winning 2-0 over Sarandi Arsenal. So this will force a playoff on Wednesday night between Boca and Estu which should be one hell of a showdown! I am excited to watch this one.
-During the Boca loss the camera kept showing Diego Maradona in the crowd just losing his mind. Then they would cut to Boca coach (and ex-Mexico coach) Ricardo Lavolpe on the bench just shaking his head in stunned disbelief. Then they would show the Boca faithful in shocked grief. It was great TV.
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Some of our favorite Americans in Europe had absolutely brutal weekend matches, especially in England. This is how went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - he saw the light of day coming on as a sub for the injured Micah Richards in the 76th minute. But he made no difference as they lost the Manchester derby 3-1 to United.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - drew 1-1 at Hansa Rostock.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - still out with the hamstring injury. Maybe lucky for him as they lost 4-0 to the Liverpeople. Expected to rejoin practice sessions this week.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - unused sub in teams 1-0 win over Roda JC Kerkrade.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the whole match in a 1-1 home tie with Arminia Bielefeld.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played the full 90 as his team drew 0-0 at home against Reading.
-Benny Feilhaber - Hamburg - unused sub in 0-0 home draw with Nurnberg.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - started as usual but got crushed 1-3 at home by ugly Newcastle.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - another clean sheet for Mr. Clean, but they drew 0-0 at Watford.
-Tim Howard - Everton - played in goal as usual, but got beat 2-0 by the most surprising team in England, Portsmouth.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - started and played the whole match as usual in a 1-1 home draw with Mainz.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - started and was subbed out in the 90th minute of a 0-1 home loss to Derby.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - started, but was mercifully subbed out in the 72nd minute of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the Liverpeople.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played the full match and helped his team come from way back to earn a 4-4 tie with Brugge. At one point they were down 3-0 and again 4-1.
-Claudio Reyna - Manchester City - he got hurt AGAIN! Started the Manchester derby but was subbed out because of an injured hamstring at half time. He got a yellow card and they lost 3-1. No word on the severity of the injury.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - started but was subbed out in the 61st in a 4-0 drubbing at Bolton. Another defender came on for Jonathan which means either he got hurt or the coach was uphappy with his play. Either way, a bad day. Coach got the boot today (see below).
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Yanks Abroad let's their readers ask 11 questions of USA & Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley.
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One of the least anticipated soccer events of the year kicked off this past weekend. Yes, its the second annual FIFA World Club Championship from Japan. Here is the schedule/scores:
Sun Dec 10
Auckland City 0-2 Al Ahly - goals by Flavio & Mohamed Aboutrika.
Mon Dec 11
Jeonbuk 0-1 America - the lone tally by Ricardo Rojas.
Wed Dec 13
Al Ahly v Internacional (CONMEBOL)
Thur Dec 14
America v Barcelona (UEFA)
Fri Dec 15
game 1 loser v game 2 loser - 5th place game
Sat Dec 16
semifinal 1 loser v semifinal 2 loser - 3rd place game
Sun Dec 17
semifinal 1 winner v semifinal 2 winner - championship game
-See all the matches on Fox Soccer Channel
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I have been wondering where Chelsea's Joe Cole has been hiding lately, turns out he suffered a broken foot two weeks ago, and will miss at least another 2 to 3 weeks.
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After a miserable start to the season, West Ham have given coach Alan Pardew the boot.
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If you are a regular reader of du Nord then you will appreciate one of the great snarky t-shirt designs of all time, from the excellent Joe's Button Factory.
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The draw for the Champions League knock out rounds will take place this Friday, Dec 15.
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Phil Ball of Soccernet wants to know how many teams are truly chasing the title in Spain this season: Two horses or three?
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Major Euro League standings:
Spain
33 Barca
31 Sevilla
29 Real Madrid
England
44 Man Utd
36 Chelsea
28 Portsmouth
28 Liverpeople
Italy
39 Inter
32 Roma
31 Palermo
Germany
33 Werder
33 Schalke
31 Stuttgart
30 Bayern
Portugal
31 Porto
29 Sporting
23 Braga
23 Benfica
France
46 Lyon
32 Lens
30 Lille
30 Sochaux
Holland
43 PSV
36 Alkmaar
35 Ajax
Scotland
47 Celtic
31 Rangers
31 Aberdeen

Cash On The Barrelhead News

US Soccer makes it official - Bob Bradley takes the wheel of the company truck.
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Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated with his thoughts on the USA-Klinsi-Bradley affair.
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Here is some really juicy scuttlebutt stolen from BigSoccer.com.
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Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America says Bradley is definitely out at Chivas USA, and even if he is replaced as top dog at US Soccer he will continue to work for them at some level.
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At Soccernet Jeff Carlisle says US Soccer is taking a step backward, while Ives Gallarcep is saying Bradley may seem second string to some, but he has the tools to make it work.
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Andrea Canales at Soccer365 examines the Bradley prospectus.
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So who does Chivas USA hire as their coach? How about Steve Sampson? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! I had to do that. Oh, that is funny. Oh, holy shit that is scary. Stop, make me stop. Please.

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OK! Enough of the Bob Bradley show for now. There is actually some other really interesting news out there today…
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The Colorado Rapids recently showed off proto-types of their new kit at a private reception. I don't know what to think of them. I guess I liked the old dark green they first had. But these are not bad, just kinda dull.
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Bob from The Offside sent me a link from Persian Football saying the LA Galaxy have invited the Iranian national team to LA for games next May. Very interesting. I like it. Thanks Bob.
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MLSnet gives us the latest from Jeff Bradley - First XI: Unsolved mysteries
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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch looks at the possibility of an MLS team in the Cleveland area, and how that would affect the Columbus Crew.
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Ian Plenderleith unearths some great looking new soccer books with an American bent. Excellent info here.
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As the USA U20 team gets ready for World Cup qualifying, several potential players will gather in Florida next week for a 10 day camp. Coach Thomas Rongen has called in the following roster:
G
Brian Perk - UCLA
Steve Sandbo - SMU
Chris Seitz - Maryland
D
Tony Beltran - UCLA
Matt Besler - Notre Dame
Kyle Davies - Ballistic United
Amaechi Igwe - Santa Clara
Ofori Sarkodi - Indiana
Nathan Sturgis - Los Angeles Galaxy
Julian Valentin - Wake Forest
Blake Wagner - FC Dallas
Anthony Wallace - South Florida
Tim Ward - Columbus Crew
M
Freddy Adu - DC United
Bryan Arguez - West Kendal Optimists
Alejandro Bedoya - Fairleigh Dickinson
Quavas Kirk - Los Angeles Galaxy
Dax McCarty - FC Dallas
Danny Szetela - Columbus Crew
Jonathan Villanueva - Virginia
F
Andre Akpan - Harvard
Jozy Altidore - New York Red Bulls
Mike Grella - Duke
Jeremy Hall - Maryland
Rodrigo Hidalgo - South Florida
Sal Zizzo - UCLA
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Mexican Apertura Finals kicked off last night (2nd & final leg on Sunday):
1st Leg score-
Guadalajara 1-1 Toluca - a very choppy, rough & tumble game from start to finish. Chivas was robbed of a penalty early, then took the lead on a great header by Omar Bravo. But Toluca controlled a lot of the second half and got a deserved goal from Bruno Marioni in the 76th minute. This gives the definite advantage to the Red Devils for the 2nd leg.
-Match Report from Reuters
2nd Leg Sunday Dec 10th-
Toluca v Guadalajara - live at 12noon central on Univision.
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Some very interesting news from SoccerTV.com concerning last Sunday night's America v Chivas semifinal game: The 2nd Leg of the Mexican First Division Torneo Apertura semifinal series between Club America of Mexico City and Chivas Guadalajara recorded the highest U.S. television viewership for a professional club soccer match (a soccer match NOT involving national teams) in the past 12 years, according to data collected by Nielsen Media Research as part of the Nielsen Television Index (NTI) national general market television rating system. The Club America-Chivas Guadalajara match, dubbed the superclasico because the match pits the two biggest professional soccer clubs in Mexico, drew 2.048 million U.S. TV households a 1.8 rating.
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated says the Mexican league is looking very strong & deep in talent these days.
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Big Euro matches this weekend:
Saturday-
Manchester United v Manchester City - the old trusty Manchester derby pits the red side of town v the blue side of town, the prawn sandwich eaters v the Oasis fans.
Sevilla v Real Madrid - #3 v #2 in Spain, and they are only 2 and 1 point off Barca's lead. This should be a doozy.
Sunday-
Chelsea v Arsenal - the newest big London derby
Lazio v Roma - the Roman derby. One of the biggest and oldest and sometimes ugliest.
Ajax v AZ Alkmaar - #3 v #2, and with PSV now opening up a 5 point lead ahead of them both, they both need to win this one to stay close.
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South Africa's two biggest clubs Kaizer Chiefs & Orlando Pirates with face off on Saturday at Johannesburg's 80,000 seat Soccer City stadium and then the stadium will close to be rebuilt for the World Cup. This stadium is said to be the key to South Africa's World Cup plans. Local officials hope the match goes off without a hitch.
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One of the least anticipated soccer events of the year kicks off this weekend. Yes, its the second annual FIFA World Club Championship from Japan. You can see the games on Fox Soccer Channel. Here is the schedule (check listings for broadcast times):
Sun Dec 10
Auckland City (Oceania) v Al Ahly (Africa)
Mon Dec 11
Jeonbuk (Asia) v America (CONCACAF)
Wed Dec 13
game 1 winner v Internacional (CONMEBOL)
Thur Dec 14
game 2 winner v Barcelona (UEFA)
Fri Dec 15
game 1 loser v game 2 loser - 5th place game
Sat Dec 16
semifinal 1 loser v semifinal 2 loser - 3rd place game
Sun Dec 17
semifinal 1 winner v semifinal 2 winner - championship game
-See all the matches on Fox Soccer Channel
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The AP is reporting that ESPN has bought the rights to show Euro 2008 in the USA. Included in the deal is 2 games to be shown on ABC. WOWZER!!!
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UEFA.com talks to Henrik Larsson about his upcoming short-term loan deal with Manchester United.
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UEFA also has an article written by Kaka himself, talking about the first 4 months of this season.
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Nikola Zigic who has been tearing it up recently for Racing Santander has been named Serbian Footballer Of The Year.
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The Telegraph of England has a very long Q & A session with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. You will enjoy this. And that's not an order, it's a promise.

Builder Bob?

ESPN is running a ticker on all their television networks saying US Soccer has hired Bob Bradley to be the new USA manager. I have to say that this news does not excite me all that much. But we shall see what happens next.

UPDATE: To make this story even more sadistic, Jonah Freedman is reporting for Sports Illustrated that Bradley is indeed the man, but will only be an interim coach! WTF? Who is in charge of this mess? This makes no sense to me at all, and frankly makes me question the whole story. I really hate the rumor mill, cuz it makes me feel insane! Don't be surprised if I flip out.

MORE UPDATE: US Soccer has posted the following statement on their webiste: U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati will conduct a media conference call on Friday to make an important announcement regarding the U.S. Men’s National Team’s search for a new head coach.
Take special notice of the fact that it says the announcement is regarding the "search", not the hiring. Does this make the Bob Bradley story even more questionable? Stay tuned fellow freaks.

Hammer Time News

From today's edition of the Guardian (of England): London is on a shortlist of five cities being considered to host an NFL game next year. Nail-biting, isn't it? Shall we send them Watford v Charlton in return?

After all the huffing and puffing the house has fallen down with Juergen Klinsmann on the outside looking in. He will NOT be the next USA coach. Allen Hopkins of Soccernet breaks the story.
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And now for a correction: Yesterday I wrote that Josh Wolff could return to KC & MLS next June - Wrong em boyo! That would be June 08! Good luck at 1860 Mr Wolff, I hope your new teams wins promotion and next season is spent playing the big boys of the Bundesliga.
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US Soccer has a fluff Q & A with USA U17 forward Abdusalam Ibrahim, who is currently at the USA Residency school in Florida and hails from a suburb (Richfield) of my town - Minneapolis. Even though this piece says little of anything about the boy, I am still excited for him.
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American striker Charlie Davies is on trial at Ajax.
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A Young MLS Select-Team is playing a series of exhibition throughout England this week. Here is the game schedule:
-MLS 2-0 QPR Reserves - Colorado's Jacob Peterson & New York's David Arvizu got the goals.
-MLS 0-1 Coventry City Reserves - no scorers
-MLS 3-0 Watford Reserves - goals by Chicago's Chad Barrett, Columbus's Kei Kamara & Salt Lakes's Nik Besagno. Soccer New England with a quick game recap.
-Dec 8 v Chelsea Reserves - canceled
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with some fascinating insight into the hiring process of the new coach for Dallas.
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Chivas USA has dumped expensive risk John O'Brien from their roster. He is free to join whoever he wants. Sad news, but not surprising seeing as he was injured the whole time he was with them. I really hope he gets fixed.
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Steve Goff of the Washington Post writes today that DC United is renegotiating the contract of league MVP Christian Gomez to give him a raise.
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Word is going around that Bodo-Glimt of Norway have signed Colorado forward Thiago Martins.
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Kansas City did not pick up the contract option year on keeper Bo Oshoniyi. So who does KC have that LA might want?
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The Toronto Star is wondering when and where TFC will find its Canadian star players.
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USA Space Shuttle astronaut Joan Higginbotham is taking her Houston Dynamo "Men In Orange" scarf with her into space today!!!
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer gives us an update on construction at Red Bull Park.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune comes up with his own top 10 hit list of Designated Players for the Chicago Fire to chase.
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The LA Times tracks all the David Beckham rumors swirling around the globe.
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A couple of Americans in England took ugly stumbles in league games last night, but a youngster in Germany helped his team do something right for a change:
-Benny Feilhaber - Hamburg - In a crazy Champions League match his team trailed 2-1 when Benny came on in the 69th minute at Left Back! His team then rallied for a 3-2 win over CSKA Moskva to finally get a win on their last day in the competition (they were eliminated early in the group stages). They really needed this win.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - Played in goal as usual and took a 2-1 lead only to surrender 2 more road goals and lose 3-2 at Newcastle. A big step back after some great defensive performances recently. Teammate Convey is still out with the knee injury.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Another loss. Spector played as always in defense but was credited with an own goal that deflected off his side in a 0-2 home loss to Wigan. An ugly season so far for West Ham.
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Here is the full text of the Q & A Jonathan Spector did with Jack Bell of the New York Times. Good reading.
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Todd11 at Big Soccer is translating a German newspaper article that says American forward Conor Casey wants out of Mainz as soon as possible. Could he be MLS bound.
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Paul Gardner of the New York Sun is not impressed with play in the Premiership these days, and says the biggest problem is relegation, and the massive amount of money that vanishes when it happens to your team!
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UEFA CL M6 scores from yesterday (the last round of the group stages.):
Dynamo Kyiv 2-2 Real Madrid* - DK's Maksim Shatskikh scored 2 goals in the first half hour and they looked to be cruising to a nice win when Ronaldo strolled on the pitch and scored 2 in the last 5 minutes for a draw. I love Ronny! And I am wearing a t-shirt with his face on it today in his honor!
Lyon* 1-1 Steaua - Nicolae Dica scored in the 2nd minute for Steaua, but Alou Diarra tied it up less than 10 minutes later.
Man United* 3-1 Benfica - Benfica got on the board first with a huge goal from Nelson. But this only seemed to anger Man U instead of scaring them (like in previous years) and Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs & Louis Saha all scored to steam roll the Portuguese team.
Kobenhavn 3-1 Celtic* - Atiba Hutchinson, Jesper Gronkjaer & Marcus Allback gave the home team a 3-0 lead before Jiri Jarosik got one back for Celtic.
Porto* 0-0 Arsenal* - I can't believe I watched that crap, but both teams advanced so I am sure they are happy. Can they give me 2 hours of my life back now please?
Hamburg 3-2 CSKA Moskva - Ivica Olic gave CSKA the lead 23 minutes in on a PK, only to see Besart Berisha tie the game moments later. Just after the hour mark CSKA again got the lead on a goal by Yuri Zhirkov. But Hamburg finally woke up and started playing like many thought they would, but haven't, all season long. Rafael van der Vaart hit a giant blast for a goal with only 5 minutes to play, and then assisted on the game winner by Boubacar Sanogo in added time.
Anderlecht 2-2 AEK - Ander led 2-0 on goals by Anthony Vanden Borre & Nicolas Frutos, only to see AEK grab 2 back by Vassilios Lakis & Bruno Cirillo for the draw.
Milan* 0-2 Lille* - the French team scored two enormous road goals, by Peter Odemwingie & Kader Keita, to win and advance!
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports on the nights events: Self-appointed elite has its way in Champions League
-So here is the list of teams who are moving on (in the next round teams who finished first in their groups will only play teams who finished second). Third place teams move on to the UEFA Cup:
First Seeds-
Chelsea
Bayern
Liverpeople
Valencia
Lyon
Man U
Arsenal
Milan
Second Seeds-
Barca
Inter
PSV
Roma
Real Madrid
Celtic
Porto
Lille
UEFA Cup bound-
Bremen
Spartak
Bourdeaux
Shakhtar
Steaua
Benfica
CSKA
AEK
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Mexican Apertura Finals kick off tonight (& finishes Sunday):
1st Leg Thursday Dec 7th-
Guadalajara v Toluca - live at 9pm central on TeleFutura.
2nd Leg Sunday Dec 10th-
Toluca v Guadalajara - live at 12noon central on Univision.
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Andre Shevchenko says he is ready to bail on Chelsea. Chelsea deny it. But how do you deny what he said. Maybe it was out of context, or a really really poor translation. We shall see.
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Yesterday I ran a blurb on T & T squad Joe Public winning the country's club title. Then good friend KJ drops a note raining on our parade by informing us that Joe Public are owned by Public Enemy #1 - Jack Warner. Aint that a bitch. No more Hooray's for you Joe, or Jack. Boo creepy foot doctor!
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Arsenal striker extraordinaire Thierry Henry has launched his own charity organization, THe One 4 All Foundation, to fight racism. Good job man! I am with you all the way. Tommy Hilfiger will also be launching a line of clothing to go with this.
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How do you celebrate after scoring a goal?
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FIFA are in big trouble with the law. A US district court judge has issued a ruling finding them in breach of contract with Mastercard. At first it doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal, but as our friend-of-du-Nord Justin Fox at CNNMoney-Fortune mag points out in his article, there is some really harsh stuff in this ruling. That's not good news for FIFA. What I think the judgement really finds is the overall lack of morals at FIFA. Thanks Justin.