Thursday, November 30, 2006

Paint Chip News

Fulham manager Chris Coleman on his teams 2-1 win over Arsenal last night: "That's the best performance since I have been here."

Remember that big rumor of a press conference today....? Well, it's happened. But it was just to announce locations for Gold Cup matches next summer. Here are the details on which stadiums will host games June 6-24:
Chicago - Soldier Field (final)
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough
Reliant Stadium - Houston
Giants Stadium - East Rutherford
Home Depot Center - Carson
Orange Bowl - Miami
~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer365 has a Q & A with Kansas City striker Scott Sealy.
~ ~ ~ ~
There is a really strong new soccer blog dedicated exclusively to Toronto. It's called Toronto MLS FC, and it's packed with lots of good rumors and leads and info. Excellent stuff! I have encouraged them to pep up that name though.
~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet says that the growing number of MLS team playing on fake turf is "disturbing". I guess. I'm always more curious as to what the players think (and all we ever really get from them is second hand opinions, never direct quotes), than mustacheod writers.
~ ~ ~ ~
Chivas USA will play Necaxa on Friday night in Mexico. The game will also be the farewell match for Necaxa coach Hugo Sanchez who has taken over the Mexican national team head spot.
~ ~ ~ ~
A group of select MLS youngsters will journey to England starting this weekend for a series of friendly's against English reserve teams. Despite this being a fantastic idea, MLSnet has decided that the best way to announce this story is to use the most retarded picture of Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Klejsten they can find. Good job gang. He looks like an early member of Black Flag. Maybe that look is an LA thing.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yesterday I ran a link from the Salt Lake Tribune saying things were moving forward on the stadium front for Real Salt Lake. Today that city's other newspaper the Deseret Morning News says the stadium deal is going nowhere, fast.
~ ~ ~ ~
More dribblings on a potential stadium being built in suburban Cleveland. From the Plain Dealer.
~ ~ ~ ~
NCAA Semifinals. Single elimidation. Here are the match-ups for Friday in St Louis:
UCLA v Virginia - 5pm central - shown live on ESPN2
UC Santa Barbara v Wake Forest - 7:30pm central - shown delayed at 1am central Saturday morning on ESPNU.
-The final, also played in St Louis, on Sun Dec 3, will be shown live Sunday the 3rd at 2pm central on ESPN2.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rumors swirling that the USA is going to line up matches in May with both Scotland and Ireland here in the states.
~ ~ ~ ~
Our great loyal reader and friend BQ sent me a note the other day pointing out that if you go to the official EPL homepage the banner across the top features the images of 6 players and 2 of them are Americans - Tim Howard and Brian McBride! Cheers mates!
~ ~ ~ ~
Some of our favorite Americans had mid-week league matches in England . Let's check in and see how they did:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - out with injury, team beat Villa 1-3.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - Did not get to play, due to a hamstring strain suffered last Saturday v Reading, but his team had a huge 2-1 win over London rivals Arsenal.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - painfully lost to fellow relegation dwellers Sheffield United 0-1 at home. Jay played the entire match to no avail.
-Tim Howard - Everton - his team lost 3-0 at Manchester United, but Tim-may was not allowed to play for Everton seeing as he is on loan to them from Man U. Too bad, it's pretty obvious he is helping his current club immensely.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - played the first 72 minutes in a 2-1 loss at Burnley.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - Awesome game for BMB scoring the first goal (4 on the season) in a huge 2-1 victory over city rivals Arsenal. He was replaced in the 76th minute.
-Claudio Reyna - Manchester City - started and went 90 in a huge 1-3 road win at surprisingly strong Aston Villa.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad with an update on USA & Reading midfielder Bobby Convey's knee injury.
-The Times of London says he may need surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~
YA also catch up with Benny Fielhaber at Hamburg.
~ ~ ~ ~
USA & Kansas City striker Eddie Johnson has finished his stint training with Reading, but no deal is imminent according to manager Steve Coppell.
~ ~ ~ ~
Another young American, Michael Bradley, played the full 90 in a 1-3 road win over Vitesse last night in Holland.
~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer New England is reporting that LA midfielder Kyle Martino is now on trial at Leeds.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura semifinals round (2 legs):
Last nights score-
Pachuca 1-1 Toluca - Bruno Marioni scored in the 55th minute for Toluca, but the home team managed to tie it up in the 71st on a goal by Luis Angel Landin.
Thur Nov 30-
Guadalajara v America - live at 9pm central on TeleFutura
Sun Dec 3-
Toluca v Pachuca - live at noon central on Univision
America v Guadalajara - live at 8pm central on Univision
~ ~ ~ ~
Big Euro matches coming this weekend:
Fri
Sporting v Benfica - #2 v #4 in a classic old rivalry
Sat
Arsenal v Tottenham - always the ultimate London derby
Werder Bremen v Hertha Berlin - #2 v #5 with 3 points between them
Sun
Nancy v Lille - #5 v #2 with only 1 point between them - actually there are only 2 points separating #2-9 in France
~ ~ ~ ~
Fox Soccer Channel is going to broadcast the FIFA World Club Championship from Japan Dec 10-17.
~ ~ ~ ~
Our pal Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated with his newest and always excellent World Power Rankings. He starts off with lots of hot MLS talk this week too.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Black Bat News

The BBC talks to Sir Alex Ferguson about the chances of USA & on-loan Everton keeper Tim Howard coming back to play at Man U.
~ ~ ~ ~
English website Clubcall says Fulham has agreed on a fee for New England midfielder Clint Dempsey, now they just have to get the details straight on getting him a UK work permit.
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Rogers at Soccer 365 says Freddy Adu is about to hop ship from Manchester United and head for Madrid to talk turkey with Real!
~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Arroyave at The Red Card is reporting that Chicago's Toyota Park will NOT be hosting MLS Cup 2007.
~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno at LA Soccer News says Chivas USA is going to decide the fate of almost-always-injured John O'Brien at their club this week.
~ ~ ~ ~
According to Yanks Abroad, former Chicago Fire forward Nate Jaqua is in Europe talking to several clubs right now.
~ ~ ~ ~
I think it is pretty much set in stone that former USA & KC manager Bob Gansler will be a big part of Mo Johnston's Toronto coaching staff. That way Bob can step in quickly when Mo chokes.
~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer talks to Amado Guevara about his new team in LA - Chivas.
-Matt Zimmerman of the Long Beach Press-Telegram talks to both Guevara and Chivas USA manager Bob Bradley.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy cleared another political hurdle to allow Real Salt Lake to begin building their stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~
Paul Gardner has written a conspiracy piece for Soccer America claiming that Bruce Arena is nothing more than an empty suit who is being told who to sign by Red Bull drink company upper management. Hahahahahaha.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Dallas Morning News says there is now a short list of candidates for the open FC Dallas manager's job. Here is their list of 4:
-SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman
-FC Dallas assistant coach Steve Morrow
-NYRB Technical Director Jeff Agoos
-DC United assistant coach Tom Soehn
-And 3rd Degree verifies this list.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley's latest First XI from MLSnet: Making a list
~ ~ ~ ~
The initial list of players for the winter '07 MLS combine has been released. (More players will be added to this list as we get closer to the Jan 5 date.) The combine is held each year to give selected young players an audition for coaches from all MLS teams. This years combine will take place at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale FL.
~ ~ ~ ~
USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen and USA U17 coach John Hackworth both talk to US Soccer about their draws for their respective World Championship qualifying tournaments. Via podcasts.
~ ~ ~ ~
NCAA Semifinals. Single elimidation. Here are the match-ups for Friday in St Louis:
UCLA v Virginia - 5pm central - shown live on ESPN2
UC Santa Barbara v Wake Forest - 7:30pm central - shown delayed at 1am central Saturday morning on ESPNU.
-The final, also played in St Louis, on Sun Dec 3, will be shown live Sunday the 3rd at 2pm central on ESPN2.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura semifinals round (2 legs):
Wed Nov 29-
Pachuca v Toluca - live at 7pm central on Azteca America
Thur Nov 30-
Guadalajara v America - live at 9pm central on TeleFutura
Sun Dec 3-
Toluca v Pachuca - live at noon central on Univision
America v Guadalajara - live at 8pm central on Univision
-Luis Bueno from the Press-Enterprise looks at the intense rivalry between playoff opponents America & Guadalajara.
~ ~ ~ ~
If you are like me, and thought the winners of the World Cup Golden Ball and France Football Ballon D'or were bogus, then get a load of the FIFA World Player Of The Year finalists: Zinedine Zidane, Fabio Cannavaro & Ronaldinho. One out of three isn't bad I guess.
~ ~ ~ ~
Sports Illustrated with two looks at the Shevchenko-Chelsea Blues. One from Greg Lalas - AND - the other from Gabriel Marcotti.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell of the New York Times with an article on Arsenal's young Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Eboue.
~ ~ ~ ~
Another New York Times writer, Elaine Sciolino, looks at the incident in Paris last week where a PSG fan was shot and killed by a cop after a racial melee. The article has details on that story, and further thoughts on racism all over French and European football.
-Reuters is reporting that until further notice the Paris police have closed the end of the Parc de Princes stadium where the ultra's sit.
~ ~ ~ ~
West Ham let the players dole out punishment to teammate Carlos Tevez for leaving the stadium after being subbed out last weekend. The fine his pals chose? Wear a Brazil shirt during training for two weeks!!!!
~ ~ ~ ~
The Guardian's Marcela Mora y Araujo reports on a different kind of star rising in Argentina. Meaning, he is not being called the new Maradona, or even the new Batistuta for that matter.
~ ~ ~ ~
John Berwin at Soccernet talks to the already legendary Ronaldinho about his past, present and future!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Let's Rid Ourselves Of These Pesky Teeth News

Portsmouth keeper David James paid 250 Pounds for that fuckin haircut! That's over $480 US Dollars! AAAAAHHHHH! Are you kidding me? He has now said this: "I went to a lady in Exeter who did a great job but after seeing it over the weekend I might shave it off."

More rumor mongering to start the post: USA & Hannover defender Steve Cherundolo has told German TV channel Premiere that Klinsi is getting the USA managers job. From Eurosport.
~ ~ ~ ~
There is also a rumor floating around that either MLS or US Soccer is going to hold a "major" press conference on Thursday morning. No idea what it might be about. Could be anything really. No word on if this is actually true either.
~ ~ ~ ~
I don't know if you any of you read this from yesterday, but I think it says a lot about the great skills of US Soccer President Sunil Gulati (without ever even touching on him or the USA coaching situation). Great article on How To Hire A Manager written by one of my fave's Simon Kuper at the Financial Times of London.
~ ~ ~ ~
Claudio Reyna told the Man City website that the rumors of him returning to the USA and play in MLS are just that, RUMORS!
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales of Soccernet talks to LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan about his totally forgettable 2006.
~ ~ ~ ~
Paul Gardner of the New York Sun looks at the type of player the worlds best teams look for these days.
~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe on the chances of Clint Dempsey ending up playing in England come the new year. I really hope MLS does not sell him for any less than $4million (I think he is worth more than that.) If he was currently playing in a European country his price would be $10 million.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Guardian talks to DC coach Peter Nowak about the many factors involved in the possibility of Freddy Adu going to Manchester United.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald says the New York Red Bulls are headed for a complete overhaul of their roster. I thought Arena said he wasn't going to do this?
~ ~ ~ ~
Ives also checks in with former Metrostar Michael Bradley, currently gaining big momentum playing at Heerenveen in Holland. And later says Adios to Amado Guevara.
~ ~ ~ ~
Several stories on the Amado Guevara trade:
-Luis Bueno from the So Cal Press-Enterprise looks at Chivas USA's acquisition of Guevara.
-And writing for the LA Soccer News Bueno says getting Guevara was Chivas's top priority.
-Jack Bell of the New York Times also talks to Arena about dumping Guevara.
-Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer talks to Arena too. Arena admits, "It’s a big gamble."
~ ~ ~ ~
Jim Dow of Revs Net takes a look ahead at what might become of his beloved New England Revolution.
~ ~ ~ ~
Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star talks to new Kansas City coach Curt Onalfo.
-Did you know that Onalfo was born in Sao Paulo?
~ ~ ~ ~
Word has it that Toronto has officially signed Montreal keeper Greg Sutton and will announce it later in the week.
~ ~ ~ ~
Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle takes an early look at the Dynamo's first opponent in the CONCACAF Champions Cup - Puntarenas of Costa Rica.
~ ~ ~ ~
Kristian Dyer & Jason Endres conduct an extensive Q & A session with Red Bull New York Managing Director Marc de Grandpre for Metrofanatic.
~ ~ ~ ~
You ever heard of Kevin Mesa? Me neither. But he is an American and he just signed with Schaffhausen in Switzerland's top division. Very cool. Dylan Butler of Big Apple Soccer talks to him.
~ ~ ~ ~
Another young American is making a big move to Europe. 16 year old Brandon Manzonelli from the fabled St Louis club Scott Gallagher has signed a youth deal with Spain's Villareal. Excellent for him. I hope it goes well.
~ ~ ~ ~
It now looks like former LA Galaxy & Columbus Crew midfielder Simon Elliot will miss the entire EPL season with Fulham. He first suffered a calf injury in preseason, and now has suffered an achilles injury in rehab. Damn.
~ ~ ~ ~
American defender Gregg Berhalter scored the winner for his Bundesliga2 team 1860 in a 2-1 victory over Koblenz.
~ ~ ~ ~
NCAA Semifinals. Single elimidation. Here are the matchups for Friday in St Louis:
UCLA v Virginia - 5pm central - shown live on ESPN2
UC Santa Barbara v Wake Forest - 7:30pm central - shown delayed at 1am central Saturday morning on ESPNU.
-The final, also played in St Louis, on Sun Dec 3, will be shown live Sunday the 3rd at 2pm central on ESPN2.
-The St Louis Post Dispatch previews the College Final Four participants Wake Forest - AND - UCLA.
-Soccernet with a preview of the four teams in the semi's.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura semifinals round (2 legs):
Wed Nov 29-
Pachuca v Toluca - live at 7pm central on Azteca America
Thur Nov 30-
Guadalajara v America - live at 9pm central on TeleFutura
Sun Dec 3-
Toluca v Pachuca - live at noon central on Univision
America v Guadalajara - live at 8pm central on Univision
~ ~ ~ ~
James Richardson of the Guardian looks at Inter Milan's impressive win at Palermo last Sunday and wants to know if if they can be stopped.
~ ~ ~ ~
And Kevin McCarra of the Guardian says that despite all the players, Chelsea still have big holes that need filling in their lineup.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says people all over the world watched Man U v Chelsea last Sunday live on TV. What does it all mean in terms of marketing the worlds game.
~ ~ ~ ~
Phil Ball of Soccernet gives us some of the local TV announcing flavor of La Liga: Domestic Delights

Monday, November 27, 2006

Go Back Now News

France Football's Ballon d'Or or Golden Ball award was announced today, and the winner, not surprisingly, is defender Fabio Cannavaro of Italy, and for many years Juventus, and now Real Madrid. Big du Nord congrats to him. But I don't think he should have won this award. I think he got the sympathy vote because he should have won the similar award at the World Cup. To my way of thinking, Thierry Henry or Ronaldinho probably should have won this.
-Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated scrutinizes the winner.
~ ~ ~ ~
UK rumor mongers The Mirror are reporting that the Glazer family are going to buy the Los Angeles Galaxy and tie them to Manchester United! This does not sound good to me at all.
~ ~ ~ ~
Grahame Jones at the LA Times is convinced that Juergen Klinsmann is going to be named USA coach. And here is how Jonesy thinks things will move when this happens.
~ ~ ~ ~
Big Apple Soccer has reported that New York Red Bulls star midfielder Amado Guevara is gone. The team shipped him to the west coast and Chivas USA, in exchange for the goats Designated Player allocation, giving NYRB 2 of those coveted high priced slots on their roster for next season. New York also get a 3rd round selection in the Superdraft for him.
~ ~ ~ ~
And rumors out of Mexico say Chivas USA striker Paco Palencia is all set to return to his home country and sign with UANL Tigres for next season.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Kansas City Wizards announced former USA assistant coach Curt Onalfo as their new head man today. From the KC Star.
-Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc comments on the hiring.
~ ~ ~ ~
The USA women beat Mexico last week in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semi finals to secure their place in next summers World Cup. They then beat Canada in the Cup final last night 2-1.
~ ~ ~ ~
DC United midfielder Brian Carroll is on to his second European club trial session, this time with Olympique Marseille in France. He had been on trial at Alemannia Aachen in the Bundesliga but no deal was offered.
~ ~ ~ ~
New England defender Avery John is on a trial with Leeds.
~ ~ ~ ~
New England also declined to extend the contract of Mexican forward Jose Manuel Abundis. Abundis was deeply offended when he did not see the pitch in the MLS Cup final.
~ ~ ~ ~
Former Chicago Fire star Lubos Kubik has been named manager of tiny English team Torquay United. They play in League Two, and currently sit in last place. Someone can correct me, but I think that this is the very bottom of the barrel in the English Football Association hierarchy.
~ ~ ~ ~
The matchups for next years CONCACAF Champions Cup have been set. Houston go on the road for the 1st leg to face Puntarenas of Costa Rica, and DC United go on the road first to meet Olimpia of Honduras. First leg games will be played Feb 20-22, with return legs Feb 27-Mar 1. Here is the full bracket. (Some spots are still not filled.)
-The Chronicle is reporting that Houston won't have their regular stadium available for their home leg.
~ ~ ~ ~
A small town Canadian newspaper has a Q & A with one of Canada's premier soccer analysts, Dick Howard. It's quite good, and nice to hear from one of our northern opinionators. Maybe one of our Canadian readers can fill us in on exactly who Howard is.
~ ~ ~ ~
The New York Red Bulls have signed former Colorado defender Eric Denton from the league's waiver pool (ie. players released by a team, but still under contract to the league).
~ ~ ~ ~
The Toronto Globe & Mail talks to Toronto FC coach Moey Johnston about his newest and lesser known players.
~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle looks at soccer fans from around the world and see's a lot of troubles.
~ ~ ~ ~
Marcus Hahnemann has signed a new contract with Reading that will keep him with the club until the end of the 2008 season.
-Hahnemann also does a Q & A with Soccer365.
~ ~ ~ ~
The CONCACAF qualifying round draws have been determined for both the U17 & U20 World Championships. The USA U20's will be paired with Guatemala, Haiti & Panama. Two teams from that group will advance to the world finals in Canada in July. The qualifiers will take place in Panama on January 17-21. As for the U17's, the will be placed in a group consisting of Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. Those qualifying matches will take place in Jamaica on April 18-26. Three teams from that group will advance to the finals in South Korea mid-August.
~ ~ ~ ~
NCAA quarterfinals. Single elimidation. Here are the results:
Virginia 3-2 Notre Dame
Wake Forest 3-1 Santa Clara
Northwestern 3-2 Santa Barbara
Duke 3-2 UCLA - in overtime
-The Semifinals & Finals will be played Dec 1 & 3 in St Louis.
-Here are the semifinal matches on Friday the 1st:
UCLA v Virginia - 5pm central - shown live on ESPN2
UC Santa Barbara v Wake Forest - 7:30pm central - shown delayed at 1am central Saturday morning on ESPNU.
-The final will be shown live Sunday the 3rd at 2pm central on ESPN2.
~ ~ ~ ~
The names of the 3 finalists for College Soccer's Hermann Trophy (Player Of The Year) have been announced. The winner will be named on Saturday Dec 2:
Jay Needham - SMU - defender
Charlie Davies - Boston College - forward
Joseph Lapira - Notre Dame - forward
~ ~ ~ ~
Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - still out injured as his team lost to Liverpool 1-0.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - came on as a sub in central defense after going down to 10 men, played their asses off, but lost to Reading 0-1.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - got the start in the midfield but lost to AZ Alkmaar 1-3.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the full 90 at right back as his team beat Mainz 1-0.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - still out with the knee injury but his team beat Fulham 0-1.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - did not play a match this weekend, but are at home to Sheff U on Tues.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - the team did not play a match this weekend.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - got a huge win while being outplayed by 10 men in beating Fulham 0-1.
-Tim Howard - Everton - in goal but drew 1-1 at Charlton.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - out with the shoulder injury as his team lost to Stuttgart 1-0.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - got the game winning goal while playing the full 90 back in midfield in a 1-2 win at Plymouth. He also got the assist on their first goal. Was named MOTM. The points also get them out of the relegation zone. Awesome for Eddie!
-Brian McBride - Fulham - played extremely hard for team with only 10 men but lost to Reading 0-1.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played the full 90 and won at Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen 1-3.
-Claudio Reyna - Manchester City - went the full 90 in midfield while losing to Liverpool 1-0.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - started again and beat Sheffield United 1-0.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura playoffs, quarterfinals round (2 legs):
First Legs-
Guadalajara 2-0 Cruz Azul
Monterrey 0-0 Toluca
Atlas 1-3 America
Pachuca 1-1 UNAM
Second Legs-
Cruz Azul 2-2 Guadalajara - Guada win 4-2 on agg.
UNAM 0-1 Pachuca - Pachuca win 2-1 on agg.
America 3-3 Atlas - America win 6-4 on agg.
Toluca 2-1 Monterrey - Toluca win 2-1 on agg.
-So the Semifinals will be (exact dates and times still to be set):
Pachuca v Toluca
America v Guadalajara
~ ~ ~ ~
Midfielder Alexander Hleb has been named Player Of The Year in his native Belarus. He plays his club ball for Arsenal. This is the 4th time in 5 years he has won the award. So who won it that other year?
~ ~ ~ ~
2 big Euro matches from this past weekend:
-Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea - nothings changed at the top spots then in England.
-Palermo 1-2 Inter Milan - a massive road win for #1 Inter over #2 Palermo. Astonishingly Inter have not lost in 34 straight league games, and their lead in Serie A is 4 points over new #2 Roma.
~ ~ ~ ~
Matchday 6 in the Champions League, the final day of the group stage, takes place on Dec 5 & 6 with only 6 of 16 spots left open for the knockout stage. Inter Milan & Chelsea both went through on Matchday 5 joining Bayern Munich, PSV, Celtic, Liverpool, Valencia, Lyon, Real Madrid & Milan.
The big games include Manchester United v Benfica with Man U only needing a tie to move on. Porto v Arsenal with both sitting on 10 points and CSKA Moska at 8.
Barcelona v Werder Bremen battling for the second spot in their group.
Should be some great stuff. Let's hope we get decent games to watch here in America. I am really not interested in seeing any of the teams who are already thru.
~ ~ ~ ~
Milan's season just hit a deeper hole as goalkeeper Dida injured the quad tendon in his left knee & will be out for around three months. And their back up is dodgy at best.
~ ~ ~ ~
Matt Hermann at the Guardian reports on the brutal season being undertaken by Hamburg in the Bundesliga. They were supposed to be really good if not great this season. But mostly they stink. And when they don't stink they have terrible luck.
~ ~ ~ ~
Another European team has had to hop the subway to the match after their team bus got stuck in traffic. This time it happened to Coventry City in London on the way to play QPR. Kinda surreal, but I love it.
~ ~ ~ ~
As much as I love the play of Argentine Carlos Tevez he has proven beyond a doubt that he is a spoiled brat. Several times over the past two years at his old club Corinthians he stormed out of team practices or just didn't show up for games or training. He has now gone and done it again at his new club West Ham. He got subbed off on Saturday, so he threw a fit and went off the field, into his car and drove away. He will get hammered for it by the team too (all pun intended). He has since apologized, but...... what's the deal dude?
~ ~ ~ ~
Did ya see the new haircut on Portsmouth keeper David James? (The BBC expertly shows his long series of really bad looks.) Come on buddy, you can do better than this. I'm thinking he must have lost a bet of some sort, and was forced to sport it in public. Why else would anyone do it. His new look will certainly give the hairdo's of Chelsea's Drogba & Palermo's Amuari a run for worst of the season.
~ ~ ~ ~
Simon Kuper of the Financial Times looks at the way teams hire their managers. In terms of business, he calls their methods moronic. Excellent. I will read that.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the crazy & bad news coming lately from Paris St Germain, then looks at one of their most prodigal sons, the also troubled Nikolas Anekla, who burned his old club Arsenal on their arse this weekend for his latest team Bolton.
~ ~ ~ ~
Lastly, did you see the insane goal Ronaldinho scored against Villareal Saturday. This is why he is the best. Awesome!

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Off Duty

Hey all,
I forgot to mention that I would not be posting today or Friday cuz I am off enjoying the long holiday weekend with my family. We just ate a massive meal, so now I gotta take a nice nap.
See ya Monday dorks,
Bruce

PS. If yer in the Twin Cities you should come and watch Man U v Chelsea with us on Sunday morning (10am) at the Sweetwater in St Paul.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

No Sleep 'til Hammersmith News

Over 400,000 people were in attendance at last nights 8 UEFA Champions League games! That's over 50,000 per game on average.

This, my friends, is what the whole world need a lot more of: Lincoln England U10 team sponsored by Motorhead!!!! The only thing you need is the Ace of Spades! (Thanks to Sean for this great story.)
~ ~ ~ ~
American defender Cory Gibbs played the first 45 minutes of a reserve match for Charlton last night. It's his first field action since knee surgery to repair damage he sustained in USA pre-World Cup training. From Yanks Abroad with quotes.
~ ~ ~ ~
Colorado waived former Minnesota Thunder striker Melvin Tarley. This is the second year in a row that the Thunder sold Tarley to an MLS team only to see him cut at seasons end. (Last year was Salt Lake's turn.) Let's hope he get's another shot with someone, maybe even back here.
~ ~ ~ ~
New York waived 4 big names from their roster: Peter Canero, Steve Jolley, Chris Henderson & Tony Meola. None was a surprise though.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Toronto Globe & Mail says TFC has traded defender Tim Regan (they call him Tom), just acquired last week from Chivas USA in the expansion draft, to NYRB for forward Edson Buddle. I have not seen a word of this anywhere official yet.
-Oh, wait...... the US Players Assoc confirms the trade.
~ ~ ~ ~
LA GM Alexi Lalas can't seem to keep his mouth shut. He talks to the BBC about Freddy Adu.
~ ~ ~ ~
MLSnet hosted an online chat session with Houston President Oliver Luck.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley's First XI: A time to give thanks (Including a very very happenin' shout out to du Nord! You are welcome Senor Bradley!)
~ ~ ~ ~
Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo joins US Soccer Pres Sunil Gulati in refuting that Jose Pekerman has been hired as the next USA coach. Clavijo was rumored to be the assistant to the Peker Man. Clavijo also tells Soccer America that he is headed out on a South American scouting trip. Others might see this as a trip to meet up with Pekerman.
~ ~ ~ ~
DC defender David Stokes is on trial at St Pauli in Germany. I know St Pauli have fallen in quality over the past few years, but if they sign Stokes then they are in much worse shape than I thought.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep with an article on the recent success of New York Red Bull's youth teams. For the North Jersey Herald.
~ ~ ~ ~
American Jay DeMerit of Watford has his second posting about life at a Premiership club, for Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Reading Evening Post talks to American keeper Marcus Hahnemann about his countryman and Reading trialist Eddie Johnson.
~ ~ ~ ~
The latest from Paul Gardner at the New York Sun: NCAA Soccer a Dead End for MLS Talent
~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell's weekly New York Times column focuses on Notre Dame soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Hush of Soccer New England says young American striker Charlie Davies has several European offers to mull over. He is currently on trial with Ajax in the Netherlands.
~ ~ ~ ~
NCAA quarterfinals this weekend. Single elimidation. Here are the matches:
Fri 24th
Virginia v Notre Dame
Wake Forest v Santa Clara
Sat 25th
Northwestern v Santa Barbara
Sun 26th
Duke v UCLA
-The Semifinals & Finals will be played Dec 1 & 3 in St Louis.
~ ~ ~ ~
Champions League Matchday 5 is Tuesday Nov 21 & Wednesday Nov 22. Here is the schedule:
Tue Nov 21 Scores:
AEK Athens 1-0 AC Milan - Oooooooh hoooooo! The Greeks win on a Julio Cesar free kick goal.
Celtic 1-0 Manchester United - Shunsuke Nakamura with a killer free kick and the win for the Catholics of Scotland. Louis Saha missed a PK for Man U. Outside of Man U fans, I think the rest of the world loves watching them lose.
CSKA Moskva 0-2 Porto - Ricardo Quaresma & Lucho Gonzalez with the goals in the big road win.
Arsenal 3-1 Hamburg - Rafael van der Vaart scored very early for struggling Hamburg, but the Arse opened a can of whoop-ass with second half goals by Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Eboue, and Julio Baptista.
-UEFA.com are slobbering all over Arsenal dream-teen Theo Walcott after he came on and ignited the Gunners to victory.
Real Madrid 2-2 Lyon - Lyon went up early on two easy goals by John Carew & Florent Malouda, but this is not the same old Real Madrid and they fought back to tie on goals by Mahamadou Diarra & Ruud Van Nistelrooy. RVN did miss a penalty kick though that would have given his club the win.
Benfica 3-1 Kobenhavn - Three crushing goals by Leo & Fabrizio Miccoli (he got 2), before Marcus Allback got a very late conselation goal for the Danish team.
Steaua 1-1 Dynamo Kyiv - Florin Cernat scored first for Kyiv, but Nicolae Dica tied it up.
Lille 2-2 Anderlecht - Twice the French team led on goals by Peter Odemwingie & Nicolas Fauvergue, but each time Ander responded with goals by Mbo Mpenza.
-The results gave Celtic & Milan births into the round of 16. They become the 7th & 8th to qualify so far, joining Bayern, Liverpool, Lyon, Real Madrid, PSV & Valencia.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews last nights matches.
Wed Nov 22 games & TV sched:
ESPN2
-No games - there is a conflict with some kind of low level college basketball tournament that will supersede showing a real sporting event.
ESPN Classic
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - delayed at 4pm
ESPN Deportes
-Spartak Moskva v Bayern Munich - live at 11:25am
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - live at 1:30pm
-Inter Milan v Sporting - delayed at 10pm
Setanta
-Liverpeople v PSV Eindhoven - live at 1pm & delayed at 8pm
-Valencia v Olympiacos - delayed at 4pm & delayed at 10pm
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - delayed at 6pm
Thur Nov 23 - more delayed games from Wed
ESPN2
-Werder Bremen v Chelsea - delayed at 12:30am
ESPN Deportes
-Werder Bremen v Chelsea - delayed at 1am
-Liverpeople v PSV Eindhoven - delayed at 11am
-Benfica v Kobenhavn - delayed at 1pm
-Valencia v Olympiacos - delayed at 3pm
Fri Nov 24
ESPN2
-Highlights Show - 9am
-You can see the full schedule and standings here.
~ ~ ~ ~
Two Americans will play in the UEFA Cup today as Brad Friedel and Blackburn go to Feyenoord, and Michael Bradley and Heerenveen travel to Parma.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura playoffs, quarterfinals round (2 legs):
First Legs-
Wed 22nd
Guadalajara v Cruz Azul
Thur 23rd
Monterrey v Toluca
Atlas v America
Fri 24th
Pachuca v UNAM
Second Legs-
Sat 25th
Cruz Azul v Guadalajara
Sun 26th
UNAM v Pachuca
America v Atlas
Toluca v Monterrey
-Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune previews the Mexican playoffs.
~ ~ ~ ~
In an odd twist of the fate, Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated has voted for Zinedine Zindane as the Sportsman Of The Year. To find out why, read on.

Me Friends News

Lenny Bruce: "Anyone can invent a wheel."

Here is a big reason why I don't have any desire to see MLS follow the European trend of big clubs dominating - 18 months ago Manchester United was sold for 800 million pounds, and today West Ham was sold for 10 times less - 85 million pounds. They play in the same league? No wonder West Ham has absolutely no chance of EVER winning the title. What is the point? Not to mention Real Madrid selling their own TV rights for over a billion dollars!
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at this very subject.
~ ~ ~ ~
Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated on the status of Clint Dempsey's move to Europe in January. Dempsey just fired his agent too. Has anyone asked what happens if he doesn't get a good offer and MLS turns down the transfer like they did last summer? Does he go all Mathis on us?
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Hush of Soccer New England talks to Rev's coach Steve Nicol about next season.
~ ~ ~ ~
Metrofanatic is reporting a strong rumor that Amado Guevara is on his way to Chivas USA from NYRB.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald looks at the value of Claudio Reyna leaving England to come home and play for the Red Bulls of NY/NJ. He makes a lot of good points.
~ ~ ~ ~
Red Bulls midfielder Mark Lisi is retiring due to long term injuries. Also by Ives.
~ ~ ~ ~
Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc asks 20 questions about the just finished MLS season. Then answers them himself.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet with a 2006 MLS season review.
~ ~ ~ ~
USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen is not pleased with the progress his boys are making. From Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~
USA keeper Marcus Hahnemann has started discussing a contract extension with his club team Reading.
~ ~ ~ ~
This rolled into my inbox today: New York City FC. Interesting. I am not sure how official this is though.
~ ~ ~ ~
Next up, it's the NCAA quarterfinals. Single elimidation. Here are the matches:
Fri 24th
Virginia v Notre Dame
Wake Forest v Santa Clara
Sat 25th
Northwestern v Santa Barbara
Sun 26th
Duke v UCLA
-The Semifinals & Finals will be played Dec 1 & 3 in St Louis.
~ ~ ~ ~
Boston College star striker Charlie Davies has left the school and is in Holland on trial with Ajax! He has the potential to be a great one.
~ ~ ~ ~
Champions League Matchday 5 is today & tomorrow. Here is the schedule:
Tues Nov 21:
-CSKA Moskva v Porto
-AEK Athens v AC Milan
-Celtic v Manchester United
-CSKA Moskva v Porto
-Arsenal v Hamburg
-Real Madrid v Lyon
-Benfica v Kobenhavn
-Steaua v Dynamo Kyiv
Wed Nov 22 TV sched:
ESPN2
-No games - there is a conflict with some kind of low level college basketball tournament that will supersede showing a real sporting event.
ESPN Classic
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - delayed at 4pm
ESPN Deportes
-Spartak Moskva v Bayern Munich - live at 11:25am
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - live at 1:30pm
-Inter Milan v Sporting - delayed at 10pm
Setanta
-Liverpeople v PSV Eindhoven - live at 1pm & delayed at 8pm
-Valencia v Olympiacos - delayed at 4pm & delayed at 10pm
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - delayed at 6pm
Thur Nov 23 - more delayed games from Wed
ESPN2
-Werder Bremen v Chelsea - delayed at 12:30am
ESPN Deportes
-Werder Bremen v Chelsea - delayed at 1am
-Liverpeople v PSV Eindhoven - delayed at 11am
-Benfica v Kobenhavn - delayed at 1pm
-Valencia v Olympiacos - delayed at 3pm
Fri Nov 24
ESPN2
-Highlights Show - 9am
-You can see the full schedule and standings here
-Paul Doyle at the Guardian asks: Can Lyon Win The Champions League?
-Kevin McCarra, also from the Guardian, examines the quiet success of coach Gordon Strachan at Celtic.
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Downie of Soccernet writes about Werder Bremen's Brazilian star midfielder Diego who is playing in the deep shadow of Kaka and Robinho for his country.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura playoffs, quarterfinals round (2 legs):
First Legs-
Wed 22nd
Guadalajara v Cruz Azul
Thur 23rd
Monterrey v Toluca
Atlas v America
Fri 24th
Pachuca v UNAM
Second Legs-
Sat 25th
Cruz Azul v Guadalajara
Sun 26th
UNAM v Pachuca
America v Atlas
Toluca v Monterrey
~ ~ ~ ~
Mexico's new coach Hugo Sanchez is a licensed dentist!!!
~ ~ ~ ~
Both Roberto Carlos (until '08) & Jose Maria Gutierrez aka Guti (until '10) have signed contract extensions with Real Madrid.
~ ~ ~ ~
Many of the biggest clubs in Europe are trying to buy the signature of young Argentine Gonzalo Higuain from River Plate. Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated talks to him about his plans.
~ ~ ~ ~
And Sports Illustrated have named Zinedine Zidane as their "Turkey Of The Year". He beat out such notables as the US Ryder Cup Team, Floyd Landis, Ricky Williams, Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens. That is large company.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Forever Together News

Not too surprisingly, US Soccer President Sunil Gulati says he made absolutely no comments to Mexican tabloid newspaper La Opinion about hiring Jose Pekerman. The newspaper quoted Gulati as saying they offered the Pek a deal. He says there is no truth to that what so ever. I would tend to believe Gulati 100% of the time over a newspaper that says Zidane is going to play in MLS next year.
~ ~ ~ ~
The two groups for next summers MLS v FMF Superliga tournament have been announced. No other details that I can find on actual format. Word has it that the MSL teams were picked as US Open Cup finalists (Chicago & Los Angeles), and MLS regular season conference champions (DC United & FC Dallas). Somehow leaving MLS Cup finalists Houston & New England on the outs. Here are the groups:
Group A
Dallas
Guadalajara
Los Angeles
Cruz Azul
Group B
DC United
America
Chicago
Morelia
~ ~ ~ ~
The USA Women will play Mexico on Wednesday night in LA at the Home Depot Center with the winner advancing to next summers World Cup. You will be able to see the game live on FSC at 9pm central.
~ ~ ~ ~
After Toronto selected 10 players in the MLS expansion draft, they made some trades to further add to their roster. No one was surprised when they initially selected Canadian Adrian Serioux from Houston, but they shocked people by turning right around and trading him to Dallas for right winger Ronnie O'Brien (who had requested a trade away from Dallas). How do you think Serioux feels about that one? The team made two other moves, the first, letting Jason Kries stay in Salt Lake in exchange for transfer market allocation funds. Secondly they made a somewhat similar move by sending former NY midfielder Danny O'Rourke and former KC goalkeeper Will Hesmer to Columbus for more allocation money. (Why does it seem like Columbus now has 27 goalkeepers on their roster?). From the Toronto Globe & Mail.
-Details on the Kries deal from James Edwards at the Deseret Morning News.
-Details on the Ronnie O'Brien trade from Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
-Details on the Columbus moves from Shawn Mitchell at the Columbus Dispatch.
-Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet reviews Toronto's draft.
-Los Angeles GM Alexi Lalas explains why his team left Paulo Nagamura available for Toronto to snap up. By Andrea Canales at the LA Soccer News.
~ ~ ~ ~
One thing I really don't understand about the Dallas trade for Adrian Serioux is that they already have two top notch players in Serioux's position, Simo Valakari & Richard Mulrooney. Not to mention a whole slew of central defenders if they want him to play there. Yet they have no one to take Ronnie O's place on the right wing. Odd move.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ricardo Seyton of Sports Illustrated talks to Real Madrid striker Fat Ronny about the possibility of playing in New York next season.
~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle is a great proponent of the beautiful game, and prior to the MLS Cup finale he made an impassioned plea to all Houston area soccer clubs to take that Sunday off from games and sit their players down to watch the local Dynamo in the championship game. Or better yet, get tix and head to Dallas in person. It was a great idea from Davis but a lot of local clubs didn't hear his plea. In yesterdays Houston Chronicle he told them about the great opportunity that they missed out on.
~ ~ ~ ~
Houston striker Brian Ching thanks the fans on his blog.
~ ~ ~ ~
Houston defender Eddie Robinson does a Q & A with his hometown newspaper the Greensboro (North Carolina) News-Record.
~ ~ ~ ~
Columbus striker Joseph Ngwenya is currently in Spain on trial with Getafe.
~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis at Soccernet looks at Houston star Dwayne De Rosario's next move. Will he be around when the league kicks off next April?
~ ~ ~ ~
Dan Loney at American Soccer News writes his last column of '06 by reviewing last week's Cup final, and of course already looking down the road to next year.
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales of the LA Soccer News looks at the potential arrival of David Beckham in La-La-Land.
~ ~ ~ ~
3rd Degree has a top 10 chart of candidates for the open FC Dallas managers position. It's a very good run down as usual from 3rd Degree.
~ ~ ~ ~
Chivas USA will travel to Mexico next week for a friendly v Necaxa on Dec. 1.
~ ~ ~ ~
US Soccer has a Q & A with former USA captain & Man City midfielder Claudio Reyna.
~ ~ ~ ~
US college soccer moves on to the quarterfinals next weekend. Defending champions Maryland were ousted in an upset loss to Notre Dame. Perennial powerhouse Indiana was also knocked out by Santa Clara. But #1 Duke and #2 Wake Forest are still sitting at opposite ends of the brackets looking at a December showdown for the title. Not to discount some of the good looking teams in their path like #4 Virginia & #8 UCLA. Here are the matches:
Duke v UCLA
Virginia v Notre Dame
Northwestern v Santa Barbara
Wake Forest v Santa Clara
-The Semifinals & Finals will be played Dec 1 & 3 in St Louis.
-Maria Burns of Soccernet previews the last 8.
~ ~ ~ ~
Even though Maryland lost this weekend, they still broke the all time NCAA attendance record. They drew just over 40,000 fans this season. Very very cool.
~ ~ ~ ~
Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - Did not dress for his teams 3-1 win over Fulham.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - Started but was subbed out at half time for goal scorer Collins John in a 3-1 loss to Man City.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - Came on for the last 5 minutes of a 0-2 win at RKC Waalwijk.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - Started and played his usual full game in the center of defense but could only get a 1-1 road draw at Vejle.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Started as usual at right back and went the full match in a 0-1 road win at Monchengladbach. This win gets Hannover off the bottom finally and their minds off relegation, for now.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - Still out with the bad knee. His team won 2-0 over last place Charlton.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - Hero & goat action for DeMerit as he played the whole game in 2-1 loss to Portsmouth. He got his teams first goal on a wide open header, but with seconds left to play he blatantly grabbed and pulled down Pompey striker Kanu which led to a PK and the game winning goal. Sad day for Jay.
-Benny Feilhaber - Hamburg - Did not play in a 0-0 draw with Mainz. Things could also get ugly for the Hamburg coach as the loss drops them into the relegation zone.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - Started in goal as usual, took an early lead but gave it up on a PK as his team went down to 10 men. Hung on for a point which isn't all bad. 1-1 v Tottenham.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - Shut out another team, 2-0 over Charlton.
-Tim Howard - Everton - Another clean sheet for Tim-may in goal. A 1-0 win over Bolton has them in 7th place.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - Recovered from the shoulder injury that pulled him out of last weekends game early, but lost 0-1 to Hannover.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - Moved back into the starting spot on the left side of midfield, was subbed out at the 70 minute mark, and lost 0-3 at home to Southampton. Not good for Eddie.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - Started but was subbed out at half time in a 3-1 loss to Man City
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - Captained the team but lost 1-2 to Sint-Truidense. Bummer dude.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - Did his usual 90 minutes at left back in a big 4-0 win over Horsens.
-Claudio Reyna - Manchester City - Is on a roll with another start and a full 90 minutes in a 3-1 win over Fulham!
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Played the full 90 in defender but lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
-Are there other US Internationals you want me to follow weekly? Drop me a line if you do.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad talked to former Colorado defender Nat Borchers about a rugged season with Norwegian team Odd Grenland.
~ ~ ~ ~
Here are the Mexican Apertura first leg playoffs scores:
Midweek first legs:
Veracruz 1-2 Guadalajara
Chiapas 1-0 Toluca
Weekend second legs:
Guadalajara 4-0 Veracruz
Toluca 2-0 Chiapas
-Guada (6-1) & Toluca (2-1) advance on aggregate to the next round.
-Here are the quarterfinal match ups:
Cruz Azul v Guadalajara
UNAM Pumas v Pachuca
America v Atlas
Toluca v Monterrey
-Times and dates are still yet to be finalized.
~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno of Sports Illustrated is convinced that new coach Hugo Sanchez will lift Mexico to the next level. I think Sanchez will bomb. The job had been offered to at least 2 others before Hugo gladly excepted. (You see, he was free after being recently fired by Necaxa following a really lousy job he did there.)
~ ~ ~ ~
With a 1-1 draw Sao Paulo has won Brazil's 2006 Brasileiro title! They are 8 points clear of second place Internacional with only 2 rounds left to play.
~ ~ ~ ~
A new massive tome called simply "Pele" hits the book stores. It's 720 pages long, is beautifully packaged, and contains every Pele factoid you can imagine. There were only 2500 copies made, and the cheap ones will run you $3000. The $11,000 edition is sold out! The New York Times reviews.
~ ~ ~ ~
Champions League Matchday 5 is Tuesday Nov 21 & Wednesday Nov 22. Here is the US TV schedule:
Tue Nov 21
ESPN2
-Celtic v Manchester United - live at 1:30pm
ESPN Classic
-Real Madrid v Lyon - delayed at 4pm
ESPN Deportes
-CSKA Moskva v Porto - live at 11:25am
-Real Madrid v Lyon - live at 1:30pm & delayed at 8pm
-AEK Athens v AC Milan - delayed at 345pm
-Celtic v Manchester United - delayed at 6pm
-Arsenal v Hamburg - delayed at 11pm
Setanta
-CSKA Moskva v Porto -live at 11:10am & delayed at 6pm & delayed at 12 midnight
-Arsenal v Hamburg - live at 1:30 & delayed at 8pm
-Real Madrid v Lyon - delayed at 4pm & delayed at 10pm
Wed Nov 22
ESPN2
-No games - there is a conflict with some kind of low level college basketball tournament that will supersede showing a real sporting event.
ESPN Classic
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - delayed at 4pm
ESPN Deportes
-Spartak Moskva v Bayern Munich - live at 11:25am
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - live at 1:30pm
-Inter Milan v Sporting - delayed at 10pm
Setanta
-Liverpeople v PSV Eindhoven - live at 1pm & delayed at 8pm
-Valencia v Olympiacos - delayed at 4pm & delayed at 10pm
-Levski Sofia v Barcelona - delayed at 6pm
Thur Nov 23 - more delayed games from Wed
ESPN2
-Werder Bremen v Chelsea - delayed at 12:30am
ESPN Deportes
-Werder Bremen v Chelsea - delayed at 1am
-Liverpeople v PSV Eindhoven - delayed at 11am
-Benfica v Kobenhavn - delayed at 1pm
-Valencia v Olympiacos - delayed at 3pm
Fri Nov 24
ESPN2
-Highlights Show - 9am
-You can see the full schedule and standings here
~ ~ ~ ~
CSKA Moscow have won their 2nd straight Russian Premier League championship.
~ ~ ~ ~
Matt Hermann of the Guardian looks at what got Schalke to the top of the Bundesliga.
~ ~ ~ ~
Phil Ball of Soccernet takes us back to the glory days of Ferenc Puskas and Real Madrid in the 50's & 60's, plus his usual La Liga weekend review: The beer-bellied genius
~ ~ ~ ~
Jack Bell of the New York Times with an obituary for Ferenc Puskas.
~ ~ ~ ~
Peter Chapman at the Financial Times reviews an "exhaustive study" of global football by David Goldblatt called "The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football" Looks interesting to me.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Hoi News

There is an article in today's edition of the Mexican tabloid newspaper La Opinion saying Jose Pekerman of Argentina has been offered the USA coaching job, and Fernando Clavijo will be his main assistant.
~ ~ ~ ~
Toronto has picked their players in the "Expansion" draft. Compared to the players Chivas USA & Real Salt Lake got to choose 2 years ago, I think this is a slightly better bunch to begin building with. Here you go:
Jose Cancela - New England
Rod Dyachenko - DC United
Will Hesmer - Kansas City
Nate Jaqua - Chicago
Ritchie Kotschau - Columbus
Jason Kreis - Salt Lake
Paulo Nagamura - Los Angeles
Danny O'Rourke - New York
Tim Regan - Chivas
Adrian Serioux - Houston
~ ~ ~ ~
The Toronto Globe & Mail talks to TFC coach Mo Johnston about what type of players he wants from today's draft.
~ ~ ~ ~
DC United coach Petr Nowak lays his thoughts about Freddy Adu on the table. Direct and to the point. Excellent reading from MLSnet.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America looks at the long, trying & in-the-end great season for Houston coach Dominic Kinnear.
~ ~ ~ ~
By winning the MLS Cup, Houston becomes the other American team, along with Supporters Shield winners DC United, to qualify for next years CONCACAF Champions Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~
FC Dallas owner Clark Hunt tells Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Telegram that he does not see his team using their Designated Player spot to sign an older star power Euro player.
~ ~ ~ ~
Real Salt Lake has become the first MLS team to sell the front of their shirt to a sponsor. It's to some company called XanGo. Their website says they make a mangosteen (different from mango) fruit energy drink. Sounds better then that Red Bull drink crap to me.
~ ~ ~ ~
The USA U20's beat Guatemala 2-1 in a friendly in Boca Raton FL yesterday. Coach Thomas Rongen & player Freddy Adu have a post-game interview available via podcast, and the US Soccer site has video highlights too. Guatemala scored first to apply lots of pressure on the home team. Then, if you can believe it, Freddy scored on a header(!) to tie the match. The Gaute keeper then gave up an incredibly soft goal to Anthony Wallace for the winner.
~ ~ ~ ~
Brian Straus of the US Players Assoc writes about his likes and dislikes in MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~
Another Roundtable discussion from the fine folks at the LA Soccer News talking about the next USA coach.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad has a long chat with former New England and current Aalesund (Norway) keeper Adin Brown, aka the Lumberjack.
~ ~ ~ ~
American striker Kamani Hill who has been playing at UCLA just signed a deal with Wolfsburg that starts after the Bundesliga winter break. Great for him!
~ ~ ~ ~
The BBC with a feature on the soccer Academy Brad Friedel has started in his hometown of Cleveland.
-Sports Illustrated also has a Q & A with Friedel.
~ ~ ~ ~
The CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup starts on Sunday. These games are the regions qualifying tournament for next summers Women's World Cup in China. 2 teams will go.
~ ~ ~ ~
Here are the Mexican Apertura first leg playoffs scores, and weekend schedule:
Scores-
Veracruz 1-2 Guadalajara
Chiapas 1-0 Toluca
Games-
Guadalajara v Veracruz - Saturday
Toluca v Chiapas - Sunday
-The winners meet up with the 6 other qualifiers for games starting next Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~
Hungarian star Ferenc Puskas has passed away. Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian says Puskas was better than Beckenbauer, Best, Platini & Zidane! That is quite a list. Here's another chance for us neophytes to learn more football (& world) history.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with words on the great Hungarian as well: Puskas star of greatest Hungary and Real Madrid teams
~ ~ ~ ~
Soccernet has recently started their own weekly podcast on the world of football. I have not heard it yet, so I can't comment. But I just downloaded it today for listening. You should do it too.
~ ~ ~ ~
Big Euro matches this weekend:
Bayern v Stuttgart - the old strangler v the current Bundesliga #1.
Sevilla v Valencia - #2 v #6 in a very tight race - 5 points separate the top 6 teams.
Feyenoord v AZ Alkmaar - #5 v #3, as Feye seek to get back in the top echelon.
Chelsea v West Ham - a minor London derby.
~ ~ ~ ~
Don't miss out - Champions League Matchday 5 is next week, Tue the 21st & Wed the 22nd.
Here is a rundown on the status of the groups:
Group A - still wide open, Levski is out
Group B - Bayern is through, Spartak is out
Group C - Liverpeople & PSV are through
Group D - Valencia are through, Olympiacos & Shaktar are out
Group E - Lyon & Madrid at through
Group F - still wide open, no one is out
Group G - still open, Hamburg it out
Group H - still open, Anderlecht is out
-You can see the full schedule and standings here.
-We will list the TV schedule on Monday.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Industrial Due Date News

New England Coach Steve Nicol on losing in the MLS Cup final for the 3rd time in 5 years: "I can't tell you how bad it feels."
- AND -
Houston midfielder Dwayne De Rosario on his immediate plans after winning his 3rd MLS crown, and first in Houston: "I'm gonna go get drunk, get wasted, and that's about it."

Breaking News: Mexico has named Hugo Sanchez to coach their national team.
And 2 other new CONCACAF coaches to announce:
-Bora! Bora! Bora! Bora Milutinovic has been named the new coach of the Jamaican Reggae Boyz.
-Alexandre Guimaraes who coached Costa Rica to the last two World Cups has taken over the same job with Panama.
~ ~ ~ ~
The entire Houston Dynamo organization has taken a vacation in Las Vegas this week. Party on dudes!
~ ~ ~ ~
KC striker Eddie Johnson is headed to Reading for a trial next week.
~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle writes about Dynamo youngster Stuart Holden who made a huge PK in the final.
~ ~ ~ ~
MLSnet hosted an internet radio show all last week leading up to the Cup final, featuring Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Conrad. And what you really need to listen to is the final games post match show that those fellas did. It's really excellent! And I'm not kidding. Lots of guests and interviews, all very fresh from the match. And with this show not on traditional TV and radio, everyone loosened up a little bit morethan normal. Guests included Don Garber, Eric Wynalda, a really unhappy Taylor Twellman, a really excited Kenny Dalglish, my buddy Craig Waibel, Greg Lalas, Glenn Davis, and Sunil Gulati. They even talked to Liverpeople legend Kenny Dalglish who's son started the match for the champs of Houston. If you want a taste of what the show is all about, Jimmy Conrad described Brian Ching's goal as a "kick in the nuts" to New England.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley's MLS season ending report - First XI: Another season in the books
~ ~ ~ ~
New England's Taylor Twellman will head to Germany tomorrow to undergo hernia surgery for the second straight year.
~ ~ ~ ~
4 Soccernet stories, from MLS Cup, to the aftermath, and the look ahead:
-Jeff Carlisle reviews the Cup final and Houston's big win.
-Frank Dell'apa searches for answers on what New England does now.
-Steve Davis looks at MLS's new Designated Player Rule, and the role of the new team owners in the league that pushed this idea forward.
-Jen Chang, then asks the obvious question.... Will David Beckham sign?
~ ~ ~ ~
Fox Soccer Channel is going to significantly upgrade their MLS broadcasts for the 2007 season.
-The biggest step will be adding live pre-game & post-game shows to their Saturday night matches! As a fan I am ecstatic, and say "It's about frickin' time! Thank you FSC!
-A great move they made this year and will continue next season is that their commentators will be live at the venues, not calling them via a monitor back in LA.
-As was also the case this year, Max Bretos & Christopher Sullivan will be the game commentators. I know many don't dig Max, but I think he is pretty great, even though he can "drift" a little. I love his genuine passion for the game. I think Sullivan is an amazing if odd resource of player and cultural knowledge who does a great job too.
-Bobby McMahon at Fox Soccer Report will also host 3 new weekly segments: A weekend game preview (on a night yet to be determined), a Sunday night weekend match recap, and a Wednesday night highlights, news and notes show called Pulse.
All fantastic news.
~ ~ ~ ~
Colorado's new home is starting to look very close to being ready for action.
~ ~ ~ ~
Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated talks to Freddy Adu about the next moves in his life.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ian Plenderleith writing for the Guardian tries to tell anticipating Manchester United fans whether or not Freddy Adu is any good.
~ ~ ~ ~
Celtic have publicly stated that they will try again in January to sign New England midfielder Shalrie Joseph after having their bid turned down back in the August transfer window. They offered just under $2 million for him then, but will have to come up with more.
~ ~ ~ ~
Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc talks to NASL era player, and former USA international Winston DuBose.
~ ~ ~ ~
The USA U20's beat Guatemala 2-1 in Boca Raton, FL last night on come from behind goals by Freddy Adu and Anthony Wallace.
-Two USA U20 players from European clubs have podcast interviews at the US Soccer site - Forward Johann Smith of Bolton, - and - Defender Neven Subotic of Mainz.
-The site also has video highlights of recent USA U17 (including a great pivot and shoot by Abdusalam Ibrahim from the Twin Cities) & U20 games.
~ ~ ~ ~
Three big upsets last night in the NCAA tournament as seeded teams lost to unseeded teams - #6 West Virginia lost 1-2 to UNC Greensboro, #14 North Carolina lost 0-1 to Old Dominion, and the biggest of all, #3 SMU lost 1-3 to Santa Barbara. The next round of games will be played this coming Saturday & Sunday, with Notre Dame v Maryland being the biggest.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jonah Freedman's all new World Soccer Power Rankings, from Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~
One of du Nord's favorite players, Seba Deisler of Bayern Munich, is finally ready to re-take the field after his knee injury almost 9 months ago. He could play this weekend against first place Stuttgart. Many pundits have wondered who would be the player to step up an replace Michael Ballack, and I think this could be that guy.
~ ~ ~ ~
In a Euro 2008 qualifying stunner Cyprus drew 1-1 with Germany!
-Here are the scores from all 7 qualifiers yesterday.
~ ~ ~ ~
Patrick Vieira got his 100th cap for France last night in a 1-0 friendly win over Greece.
~ ~ ~ ~
I know you are all very excited for the next month's World Club Championship. The 6 featured teams are:
Barcelona of Spain - UEFA
Club America of Mexico - CONCACAF
Internacional of Brazil - CONMEBOL
Auckland City of New Zealand - Oceania
Cheonbuk Motors of South Korea - AFC
Al Ahli of Egypt - Africa
-Tournament details to follow. Maybe.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the Israeli star at West Ham, Yossi Benayoun, and what that role carries with it in the wider world.
-Hughes also reviews Portugal's Euro 2008 qualifying win: An Evening Of Light And Shadow
~ ~ ~ ~
Since the two Reading players, Ibrahima Sonko & Stephen Hunt, collided with two Chelsea goalkeepers, Petr Cech & Claudio Cudicini, a couple of weeks back, causing serious injuries for the 2 keepers, both Reading players been receiving death threats. Aren't the English fans just great? Don't ya just love their "passion" for the game. Sad.
~ ~ ~ ~
Another insane story from England has Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny going out on the town, getting in a fight, and GETTING HIS EYEBROW BITTEN OFF!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
~ ~ ~ ~
Extremely wealthy American George Gillett, who also owns the Montreal Canadiens NHL team, is the latest person linked to a possible purchase of the Liverpeople.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Happy Party Fun News

The Houston Dynamo got a hero's welcome back in their home town. Video included.
~ ~ ~ ~
The USA will play their first game with a new coach, whoever the hell that might be, against Denmark, Sat Jan 20 in LA at the Home Depot Center. The game will be live on ESPN2 at 4pm central.
-And they have not announced it yet, but it's known that the team will also play on Feb 7 in Phoenix v Mexico.
~ ~ ~ ~
Former Kansas City star Peter Vermes has been hired back by his old club to the new position of Technical Director. The KC Star has more details.
~ ~ ~ ~
KC have also moved on to their next plan for building a new stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~
Scott Anthony at the Guardian with a report from the MLS Cup final.
~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales looks at American player development. For Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~
On Friday, MLS's newest team in Toronto will have the chance to stock it's roster with players from the other 12 teams in the league. Each team was allowed to "protect" 11 players on their current roster, leaving the others exposed for picking. But each team can only lose 1 player from their list. While it is a crap shot for teams leaving some players vulnerable, the risk is not massive.
-There are a few names that surprised me and a few that didn't. Here are the noteworthy:
Adrian Serioux
Andy Williams
Avery John
Bo Oshoniyi
Clint Mathis
Cobi Jones
Craig Waibel
Daniel Hernandez
Dave Van Den Bergh
Edson Buddle
Greg Vanney
Jason Kreis
Joe Franchino
Jon Busch
Jose Cancela
Matias Donnet
Mike Petke
Nate Jaqua
Nick Rimando
Tony Meola
Zach Thornton
~ ~ ~ ~
Toronto FC tells the Globe & Mail that high priced players are not on their initial agenda for building a team.
~ ~ ~ ~
Got a note yesterday from reader dc dan pointing out a Toronto FC brochure which states that they will host the 2008 MLS All Star Game. I also noticed on the back page that the stands used in the photo have roofs over them. All the current photos from BMO Field have no covers, but maybe this is in the works. That would be a fantastic move on their part.
~ ~ ~ ~
Fox Soccer Channel has acquired the rights to broadcast the Gold Cup next summer.
~ ~ ~ ~
Yanks Abroad had a note today saying USA & Reading midfielder Bobby Convey has been in the US getting rest and rehab for his injured knee. They expect him back very soon.
~ ~ ~ ~
YA also talks to American defender Cory Gibbs about the firing of his coach Ian Dowie at Charlton.
~ ~ ~ ~
UEFA.com with a feature on USA & Hamburg midfielder Benny Feilhaber!
~ ~ ~ ~
Young Mr Feilhaber also talks to Jack Bell at the New York Times.
-Bell's Q & A with Benny.
~ ~ ~ ~
The Mexican Apertura playoffs start today, with 7th-10th place teams vying for 2 spots to be added in with the top 6 for the second round.
-Today & Saturday it's Veracruz v Guadalajara
-Tomorrow & Sunday it's Chiapas v Toluca
-The top 6 are: Cruz Azul, UNAM Pumas, America, Atlas, Monterrey & Pachuca. The next round of matches gets going next Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~
A handful of national teams are playing Euro 2008 qualifying matches today. Many others are playing friendly's. The next round of matches will not happen until Feb 7 07.
~ ~ ~ ~
Barcelona & Argentina wonder-boy Lionel Messi has sustained a broken metatarsal bone in his foot (same injury that has sidelined many players in the past few years). He is going to miss about 3 months of action.
Newer Posts Older Posts