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.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
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).
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad let's their readers ask 11 questions of USA & Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley.
~ ~ ~ ~
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
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
After a miserable start to the season, West Ham have given coach Alan Pardew the boot.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
The draw for the Champions League knock out rounds will take place this Friday, Dec 15.
~ ~ ~ ~
Phil Ball of Soccernet wants to know how many teams are truly chasing the title in Spain this season: Two horses or three?
~ ~ ~ ~
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
~ ~ ~ ~
FC Dallas have named their assistant coach Steve Morrow as their new head man. From 3rd Degree.
~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet asks some Bob Bradley What if?'s.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
Princeton University is very proud that their 1980 grad is the new USA manager.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Players Assoc also has a Q & A with Colorado defender Mike Petke.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
MLSnet gives us the latest from Tino Palace - The Clean Sheet: Chivas loss is U.S. gain
~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle checks in on MLS players with local Houston roots.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News talks to some of the LA Galaxy players about the changes going on with their roster this offseason.
~ ~ ~ ~
An editorial in yesterdays Cleveland Plain Dealer ponders a soccer stadium in the community.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
OUCH! The Sunday Herald of Scotland compares Freddy Adu to Anna Kournikova!
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
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).
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad let's their readers ask 11 questions of USA & Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley.
~ ~ ~ ~
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
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
After a miserable start to the season, West Ham have given coach Alan Pardew the boot.
~ ~ ~ ~
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.
~ ~ ~ ~
The draw for the Champions League knock out rounds will take place this Friday, Dec 15.
~ ~ ~ ~
Phil Ball of Soccernet wants to know how many teams are truly chasing the title in Spain this season: Two horses or three?
~ ~ ~ ~
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
posted by brucio at 15:48
5 Comments:
MLSnet.com has posted an article confirming the Adu trade to Salt Lake. Quite a shocker.
Did you see the goal the meet Tim--may over the weekend, it will be a goal of the year candidate in the EPL - mid-air volley from right around the center circle, ridiculous shot, nothing TH could do. Also Essien's goal for Chelsea was amazing if you can find a link to it, yes A Cole commited a foul just moments before the get the ball, but the goal was so good I don't mind the ref missing the call.
ooops, typo, that should be ....'that beat...'
stop me if you've heard this one before: DC United signs the youngest player in MLS history, a left-footed midfielder. Given the amount of hype surrounding this soccer prodigy, he understandbly underachieves with DC for a few seasons. A big money deal to an English Premier League club is close to completion but it falls through. He then moves on to a lesser league and a lesser club but gains regular first team experience and becomes a fixture for the US Men's National Team. Freddy Adu? No, it's Bobby Convey
I was at the first MLS game that Bobby Convey played and having seen him play quite a few times for DC United I am still rather amazed that he has become the soccer star that so many people say he is. To be fair, however, I haven't seen him play much for Reading recently. Let's hope Freddy enjoys similar success.
Great trade for DC. They unload two underpeforming players with high salaries, get a major allocation, and some cash from a future Freddy sale. Now let's get another forward and an attacking midfielder. I see Jaime coming off the bench more and more in the upcoming season.
Great trade for Freddy. He gets a regular starting role in probably whatever position he would like to have, as opposed to seeing little if any playing time in a major European team. Even though Freddy featured regularly for DC last season you always had the feeling that Freddy's place in a Peter Nowak starting lineup was tenuous at best.
Huge gamble for RSL. It'll be a major success if Freddy stays for two seasons. But if he succumbs to the temptation to head to Europe for more stardom or more likely a substitute or reserve team role then it'll be disastrous for them.
Oh, and don't you think RSL is just kicking themselves for inking a jersey deal with XanGo a few weeks back? A Freddy team is tailor made to have a Freddy sponsor. Sierra Mist in particular seems like it would work perfectly on the front of an RSL jersey.
What is XanGo? I looked it up when the article came out a month ago and I think it's an energy drink / health drink / vitamin thingee. I've never seen a XanGo product in the DC area.
i have never seen xango either
but then again i dont exactly go looking in the "energy drink" sections when i shop either
i am a coca-cola man myself
i think the deal is good for both teams and it was time for a new home for freddy
in a way, dc basically sold freddy for an undisclosed amount (with rights to a cut of any sell-on money salt lake gets) and the two teams swapped back up keepers in the same deal
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