Tasty Freeze Snow Cone News

There is a documentary film on Claudio Reyna that has been proposed and worked on over the last several years that is seeing a new push toward possible success. Here is a blog created just for the film: Your Captain Needs You
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The Guardian reports today that New England and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler have been talking about a move. Fowler's agent says the Rev's can't afford him. Hahahahahaha.
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Andrew Hush of Soccer New England checks in with the Revolution who have returned home from training in Bermuda.
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The weird secrets of signing a deal with MLS is starting to wear thin with Conor Casey. From the Toronto Sun.
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Steven Goff at the Washington Post says DC United is looking EVERYWHERE for more players.
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Ipswich midfielder Darren Currie is currently on a 2 week try out with the LA Galaxy.
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Columbus released two more players from their roster yesterday: midfielder Jose Retiz & defender Ivan Becerra. They are now at the league mandated maximumn.
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Metrofanatic chats with NYRB defender Tim Regan.
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The deal for Oakland A's baseball owner Lew Wolff to build a new soccer stadium on the grounds of San Jose State University took another step toward becoming reality yesterday. From the San Jose Mercury News.
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The 6 cities where the new American women's pro league will play in are Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Washington DC, St Louis, & one more to be determined.
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A personal injury lawyer named Dennis sent me an email last night concerning the lawsuit brought by the player who had his leg broken by Hristo Stoichkov in a match v DC United (see yesterdays news for details): The standard in a lawsuit being brought for an injury in a sporting event is that the injured party must prove that the offending party (Stoichkov in this case) was guilty of willful, wanton, reckless or intentional conduct. Ordinary negligence isn't enough to prevail. Thank you Dennis.
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FIFA President Sepp Blatter has told English press that he feels the 2018 World Cup should go to North America or Asia before Europe. From the BBC.
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Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet previews Thursday's CCC matches for the two MLS teams.
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A new Soccernet diary entry from American defender Jay DeMerit at Watford: Remember The Alamo - I am not so sure that is the spirit Jay wants to conjure up, cuz things didn't work out to well for old Davy Crockett and the boys at the Alamo. (Thanks to BQ for sending this our way.)

CONCACAF Champions Cup - The 2nd leg matches are this week. With first leg scores included:
Wed Feb 28
-Marquense v Pachuca (0-2)
-Guadalajara v W Connection (1-2)
Thur Mar 1
-Houston v Punterenas (0-1)
-DC v Olimpia (4-1)
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Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
-Tue Feb 27
Toluca 1-2 Bolivar
Banfield 4-1 El Nacional
Gremio 0-0 Cucuta Deportivo
-A recap of the matches from Yahoo Sports.
-Wed Feb 28
Necaxa - Audax Italiano
Sao Paulo - Alianza Lima
Internacional - Emelec
Velez Sarsfield - Nacional
-Thur Mar 01
America - Libertad
Boca Juniors - Cienciano
Santos - Defensor Sporting
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Mexico v Venezuela tonight in San Diego.
-Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune looks at the facilities for this match, and then spends a minute checking in with Mexi coach Hugo Sanchez's ego.
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English FA Cup replays - 2 last night and another today:
Tuesday scores-
Reading 2-3 Manchester United
Middlesbrough 1-1 West Brom - Boro won 5-4 on PK's.
Wednesday game-
Blackburn v Arsenal
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The Times of London with a feature on the life of young Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas.

Erotic Rug Burn News

From Steven Goff's blog, Soccer Insider: After DC United rookie Guy-Roland Kpene (Ivory Coast) scored during a drill, Ben Olsen shouted out, "That a boy, Drogba!"


The latest wild-ass rumor soaring around MLSville is that Mexican legend & extremely hated (by USA fans) man Cuauhtemoc Blanco is in negotiations with the Chicago Fire! I would love to see him in MLS! The league needs a villain really bad, cuz Clint Mathis just isn't cutting it. On the other hand it would be a million times better if Cuauh was 5 years younger, cuz he is getting pretty damn old and useless.
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We now have details on the USA v China match in San Jose California that was announced yesterday. The game will be played at Spartan Stadium, home to the old San Jose Earthquakes, on Saturday June 2. Kickoff is 3pm central time and the game can be viewed on ESPN2 as usual.
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'Member back about 4 years ago when DC United were playing a preseason match v American University and DC's Hristo Stoichkov savagely tackled an AU player and broke the kids leg quite badly? Well, the kid is now suing the team and Stoichkov for $10 million dollars. I feel really bad for the kid, but I don't see how you win a lawsuit stemming from an injury incurred in the run of play. Maybe a smart reader can clue the rest of us in. From the Washington Post.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger proves that getting former USA coach Bruce Arena to go off on US Soccer president Sunil Gulati is one of the easiest things in the world to do these days. Arena also has words on Eric Wynalda. I like it.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle looks at what the Dynamo must do to succeed in their Champions Cup match Thursday.
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Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald calls MLS BORING! He actually used different words than that, and unlike me, he explains what he means.
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Columbus keeper Jon Busch is the victim of the salary cap and has been cut loose by the team before Thursday's deadline when all teams must be under the wage ceiling. Busch has missed the last two seasons due to nasty knee injuries. Defender Chris Leitch was waived as well. From the Columbus Dispatch.
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Jimmy Conrad is going to sign a new 4 year contract with Kansas City, pretty much ending the speculation of him heading to Europe.
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Holy Cow! The Chicago Sun Times with an offseason Fire article! Midfielder Brian Plotkin says he wants to play more! Who doesn't buddy. Be good in practice and you will see the pitch. Make an impact when you get into the game and you will see more time. That's it. It's not a magic formula. Oh, but you do have to be talented enough too. Don't get me wrong about Plotkin, he is not complaining, just saying what he wants. Cool. Go for it.
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Colorado has a guy training with them who goes by the name of Rambo!
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Coming soon - now with a charming video clip!
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Paul Gardner at the New York Sun gives his thoughts on MLS's Designated Player rule.
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I completely agree with Andrea Canales when she says the USA should give preference to the Gold Cup over Copa America next summer. From Soccer 365.
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Jonah Freedman and Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated give us a photo-essay of their 15 most important Americans in Europe right now. Nice pics.
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Potential USA coaching candidate Gerard Houllier, currently at Lyon, is rumored to be the favorite to head the Australian team.
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Yanks Abroad is reporting that USA U20 midfielder Robbie Rogers has been released from his contract at Dutch club Heerenveen. The story says he is headed home to an MLS team. Which one?
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The draw for the U20 World Championship will be held on Saturday in Toronto.
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USA Women's team stars Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy have been elected into the American Soccer Hall Of Fame. Obviously well deserved. Let me ask this question though - Of the 141 voters for the Hall of Fame, only 137 of them voted for Mia Hamm, so who are the idiots who did not? I really hope word gets out who didn't vote for her so we can all mock them.
-Marc Connolly at the US Players Assoc site says Joe Max Moore should have been on that list too.
-And what about Joy Fawcett ferchrisakes.
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet looks at the financial status of the nearly ready to re-launch women's pro soccer league in America. There are some really interesting names involved here. Not the least of which is Peter Wilt.
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From Charlie Walters "Shooter" column in the St Paul Pioneer Press today: Part of Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games apparently includes early soccer matches at the (University of Minnesota) Gophers' campus stadium, planned to open in 2009. Thanks to Jimmy Legs for sending this to me.
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CONCACAF Champions Cup - The 2nd leg matches are this week. With first leg scores included:
Wed Feb 28
-Marquense v Pachuca (0-2)
-Guadalajara v W Connection (1-2)
Thur Mar 1
-Houston v Punterenas (0-1)
-DC v Olimpia (4-1)
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Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
-Tue Feb 27
Toluca - Bolivar
Banfield - El Nacional
Gremio - Cucuta Deportivo
-Wed Feb 28
Necaxa - Audax Italiano
Sao Paulo - Alianza Lima
Internacional - Emelec
Velez Sarsfield - Nacional
-Thur Mar 01
America - Libertad
Boca Juniors - Cienciano
Santos - Defensor Sporting
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Luis Bueno's weekly Mexican league wrap up from LA Soccer News: Jordana 7 Rewind
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The Mexican fans in San Diego want to have themselves some Blanco. From Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune.
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Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez has called in a much more adventurous & less experienced team (a lot more young players and none of the foreign based players) for their game v Venezuela on Wednesday night. But there are still a few key domestic players not on this roster because Pachuca & Guadalajara are both in the Champions Cup that night, while Toluca, Necaxa & America are all in the Libertadores this week, so he only called a few from those teams. Here is the roster:
G:
Sergio Bernal (UNAM)
Jose de Jesus Corona (UAG)
Guillermo Ochoa (America)
D:
Joaquin Beltran (Necaxa)
Israel Castro (UNAM)
Jose Antonio Castro (America)
Joel Huiqui (Cruz Azul)
Fausto Pinto (Pachuca)
Johnny Magallon (Guadalajara)
Emilio Hassan Viades (Toluca)
M:
Fernando Arce (Morelia)
Cuauhtemoc Blanco (America)
Gerardo Galindo (Necaxa)
Andres Guardado (Atlas)
Israel Lopez (Cruz Azul)
Juan Carlos Medina (Atlas)
Carlos Morales (Toluca)
Ramon Morales (Guadalajara)
Manuel Perez (Atlas)
Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul)
F:
Juan Carlos Cacho (Pachuca)
Francisco Fonseca (UANL)
Francisco Palencia (UNAM)
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FA Cup replay's this week:
-Tuesday
West Brom v Middlesbrough
Reading v Man United
-Wednesday
Blackburn v Arsenal
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the currently faded Argentine golden boy Juan Roman Riquelme. Who's next to step on the big stage?
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Bundesliga leaders Schalke have lost their midfield playmaker Lincoln for 5 games after he was red carded for punching a Bayer Leverkusen player in the face. Foolish boy.
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The African Football Player Of The Year will be announced on Thursday.
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Ghana is hosting next years African Cup of Nations. And Angola has been announced as the host of the 2010 ACN.
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The Gaffer from the excellent EPL Talk website sends his invitation to all of us to submit questions for Watford's American defender Jay DeMerit who will be interviewed this coming Monday for the next episode of the EPL Talk Podcast. Questions can be posted to the Premiership Community page of EPL Talk. The latest podcasted interview is with former Premiership referee Jeff Winter. Check it out now.
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Ken The Keeper gives us an update on his beloved Italian club: Fiorentina won again last weekend and climbed from 11th to 7th place in Serie A. Toni and Mutu both scored again in a 2-0 win over Empoli. They would be in 3rd place now if not for the 15 point deduction. And fans are now allowed back into the stadium in Florence.
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I don't spend any time thinking about Italian club Cagliari, and I doubt very many of you do either, but a prime clue as to the why they never have any success in SerieA could be due to the fact that they just fired another coach, which makes it 26 coaches in the last 14 seasons. So much for stability. Someone close to the owner of the team might suggest that he seek out some form of mental health counseling for his affliction.
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Over the past few weeks I have added several new weblogs to the Fellow Freaks list over there in the right hand column, and I would like you to take special note of some of them today:
-WVHooligan
-The Red Bulls-Eye
-Socca Critics
-Since 96
-Red Bull Rising
-Jen Chang
-If This Is Football
-Galaxyhopping
-Boleiro
-Because I Think Way Too Much About Soccer
-BC Pangie

Walking And Biking News

Fran Totti has missed 6 PK's for Roma this season! SIX! Who is letting this guy take them? After he missed his latest, Totti had a perfectly legitimate excuse: “We’ve known each other a long time (Totti and Reggina keeper Campagnolo). He said to me, ‘I know where you shoot. You’ll send it to my right and I will save it.’ It was a challenge. I thought I’d con him, as he was basically pushing me to send it to the left and I would stick to the right, but he ended up conning me instead. I got angry and swore at him.”


Let's begin with a couple of quick soccer notes from last nights Oscars:
1. During his acceptance speech, Ennio Morricone talked about how excited he was that Ronaldo was back playing in Milan. His translator, Clint Eastwood, was confused by this part and did not relay it to the television audience. But those of us who speak Italian heard it loud and clear. And those of us who are Ronaldo fans had a nice smile on our face.
2. The guy who wrote the music for Babel thanked Ivan Campo of Bolton.
3. What was Pablo Mastroeni doing backstage?
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ADDITION: ESPN is reporting that the USA will play China on June 2 in San Jose California. I am gonna assume that they know what they are talking about seeing as they are the broadcaster for all USA games. More details to follow of course.
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The myth is over - David Beckham's LA Galaxy salary is $5.5 million a year. Thanks to the news services who dug this up. Of course you won't see this in many papers, so just assume everyone you talk to will still spew $50 million a year. Take minute to set em all straight on the subject. Thanks to the Houston Chronicle for the link.
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Houston forward Brian Ching comments on the teams trip to Costa Rica last week, and explains why he did not play in the first leg against Punteranes. Good to know. But why didn't any of the media report this? From his blog.
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Bad news for fans of Chivas USA and their Rookie of the Year star Jonathan Bornstein. He was injured Friday and the word is that he has partially torn ligaments in his left knee. He is expected to miss 6 weeks, which would mean the team would start the season without him. This also means he will miss the two USA games in late March.
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FC Dallas head to Brazil this week to train at the facilities of Paranaense.
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Andrea Canales at the LA Soccer News talks to Los Angeles veteran Cobi Jones about 2007.
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Luis Bueno also of LASN talks to Chivas USA vet Jesse Marsch about his teams new coach, Preki, and the seasons prospects.
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The Salt Lake Tribune with the story of RSL keeper Scott Garlick's quick departure and the "return" of Nick Rimando.
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Colorado assistant coach John Murphy checks in from the team's preseason camp in Pachuca Mexico.
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Ives Galarcep with a story at Soccernet on why Zidane WON'T be playing in MLS.
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Ives also writes for the North Jersey Herald and reports on why the New York Red Bulls deal for Ecuadorian striker Agustin Delgado fell through.
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The LA Galaxy beat Bermuda 4-0 on Friday night on the island. From The Royal Gazette.
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Alex Zotinca has departed Kansas City and joined up with his former teammate Preki who now coaches Chivas USA.
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During a friendly with Fresno over the weekend Chivas USA keeper Brad Guzan got kicked in the face making a save and had to go get his chin stitched up. Do the guys in Fresno not know about pre-season?
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It looks like Conor Casey is very close to having a done deal with Toronto, but now he has a little tweaky thigh muscle injury to deal with. From TO Globe & Mail.
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The TO Globe & Mail also talks to TFC winger Ronnie O'Brien, who says he is happy with his new home.
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Bill Urban at the US Players Assoc looks to see if the big changes in ownership and team management in Kansas City really makes them a Brand New team.
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Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald with yet another story on Cuban forward Maykel Galindo who recently signed with Chivas USA. The city of Miami loves their "escaped" Cuban stories.
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I was interviewed again. This time conducted by Ben from Even Is On. We had a great time talking and I think the interview came out quite well. My head is swelling nicely.
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And in a turnabout, SF at The Offside Rules does an interview with Ben of Even Is On concerning Ben's clothing line, Bumpy Pitch. Ben is partners in the company with recent former MLSer Brian Dunseth.
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The names of the next batch of former greats to be inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame will be announced tomorrow morning. Expect several ladies to be on that list!
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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 - the team had the weekend off, and have not played a league match since Feb 10.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played the full 90 of a 3-1 loss at Carl Zeiss Jena
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - went the full 90 but lost at home 1-2 to Man United. A very tough loss.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - played the final 32 minutes of a 1-0 loss at Roda.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - started as always and helped his team to a 4-2 win over Dortmund. They are in 7th place.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played the whole match but his last place team were wiped out by Everton 3-0. Combine this with 17th place Wigans victory and Watford now sit 11 points from safety with 10 games to play.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on as a 70th minute sub in his team's 1-2 loss to Man United.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - Friedel and his men put a beatdown on stumbling Portsmouth 3-0.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - not a pretty day on the road for Marcus & Co. They lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough.
-Tim Howard - Everton - another clean sheet for Tim-May as they beat last place Watford 3-0.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - was in the nets for a 2-2 draw at home v Bremen. They are still in last place of the Bundesliga and seemed destined to relegation.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - played the whole match, but his team lost again, 1-0 to Wolverhampton. Leeds sit in last place in the Championship Division and seemed destined for relegation. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - started as always and got the first goal v Man United, but they let the league leaders off the hook with a 1-2 loss. BMcB was subbed out in the 80th minute.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - went the full 90 but they lost 1-0 at Wigan.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - was suspended for the match due to too many yellow cards, so he had to watch his teams devastating 4-0 loss to fellow relegation battlers Charlton. Not looking good for West Ham.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - played the first 76 minutes of a 3-1 loss at Carl Zeiss Jena
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Soccernet's secret reporter, The Insider, took in Fulham v Manchester United. These are always really good reports. Check it out.
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Mexico takes on Venezuela Wednesday night in San Diego. Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune with a story on Mexi coach Hugo Sanchez.
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CONCACAF Champions Cup - The 2nd leg matches are this week. With first leg scores included:
Wed Feb 28
-Marquense v Pachuca (0-2)
-Guadalajara v W Connection (1-2)
Thur Mar 1
-Houston v Punterenas (0-1)
-DC v Olimpia (4-1)
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Costa Rica's & Mexico's U20 teams advanced out of CONCACAF Group B to qualify for next summers U-20 World Cup in Canada. They join USA, Panama and Canada from the region.
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Copa Libertadores - here are this weeks matches:
-Tue Feb 27
Toluca - Bolivar
Banfield - El Nacional
Gremio - Cucuta Deportivo
-Wed Feb 28
Necaxa - Audax Italiano
Sao Paulo - Alianza Lima
Internacional - Emelec
Velez Sarsfield - Nacional
-Thur Mar 01
America - Libertad
Boca Juniors - Cienciano
Santos - Defensor Sporting
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UEFA Cup - Here are the round of 16 match ups. Those games will be played March 8 & 15:
Newcastle v AZ Alkmaar
Maccabi Haifa v Espanyol
Rangers v Osasuna
Braga v Tottenham
Sevilla v Shakhtar Donetsk
Lens v Bayer Leverkusen
Paris St Germain v Benfica
Celta de Vigo v Werder Bremen
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English League Cup final: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea - sounds like it was one hell of a game. Sorry I missed it. 3 goals, 3 red cards, and an unconscious John Terry. I hope he is alright.
-The Times was a match report and links to 5 other stories from the match.
-The Guardian on the fight that broke out late in the game and aftermath.
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FA Cup replay's this week:
-Tuesday
West Brom v Middlesbrough
Reading v Man United
-Wednesday
Blackburn v Arsenal
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a weekend match roundup: The mixed gifts of 4 Africans and 1 Brazilian
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Phil Ball uses most of his Soccernet column on what sounded like a terrific Madrid derby. Although we wouldn't know, cuz it wasn't on TV here.
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Lang Whitaker of Sports Illustrated went all the way to Barcelona to discover the "New York Yankees".
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Patrick Barlcay of the Sunday Telegraph on fiscal matters at Chelsea.
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Trinidad & Tobago named Dwight Yorke as their Player Of The Year.
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Inter stormed to their 17th straight Serie A victory - 2-5 over Catania. Inter have not lost in the league this season and have 21 wins and 3 draws on the books so far.
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Striker Martin Palermo of Boca Juniors scored from the midfield stripe v Independiente this weekend. It was a brilliant goal. Here is a You Tube link. And here are some replays and the post goal celebration! Thanks for the link Joe.
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Goal.com interviews new Boca #10 Juan Roman Riquelme.
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The last 3 times I have seen Tottenham play, their new striker Dimitar Berbatov has been nothing short of amazing!
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Not only did Samuel Eto'o return to the starting lineup for Barcelona on Sunday, but he scored and led his team to a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
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FIFA.com interviews Real Madrid's young Argentine sensation Gago.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times goes to Johannesburg South Africa to check in on the progress of World Cup 2010 preparations. Great story.

Great "USA 1 - 1 Italy" Shirts For Sale

A du Nord reader from Columbus Ohio named David sent me this email about some shirts he made and is selling:

Were you, much like myself, in Germany last summer to cheer on the Yanks? Well, as disappointed as I was about the early exit, I was incredibly proud of our gutsy display against Italy, so when I got back to the states I got some t-shirts made to remember the occasion. I still have a few left (L and XL's). They cost me about $20 each to get made, so I've charged people $25 for them (which includes shipping). I'm not really making money on the idea, just wanted to memorialize one of the greatest night's in my life. It's a red T-shirt with navy blue rings around the sleeves and neck and it says on the shirt:

I Was There
Fritz-Walter Stadion
Kaiserslautern, Germany
06.17.06
USA 1 - Italy 1
"We tied with 9 Men"

I put the last quote on there b/c it was what me and my friends kept saying after the game as we were so thrilled to get a point off of Italy with 2 men sent off.

There is an image available of the shirts if you want to see it first. Just send an email and it will be sent to you.

ridenhour_1@yahoo.com

There Is A Lot Of Music In There News

Ladies And Gentlemen! May I have your attention please! We have a new Fat Ronny in the house. Ronaldo has lost his crown! The Spanish press are now calling Ronaldinho fat. Yes you read that right. A big du Nord welcome to The New Fat Ronny.


Dylan Butler at Big Apple Soccer reports that New York coach Bruce Arena has changed track and is now saying his team is NOT going to be signing a big buck player any time soon.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post says goalkeeper Nick Rimando has been traded from New York BACK to Salt Lake. So that makes it three teams in 2 months for Nicky. RSL needed a keeper in a bad way when their starter Scott Garlick retired suddenly on Tuesday.
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The US National Soccer Players Assoc has a Q & A with KC defender Jimmy Conrad.
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MLSnet checks in on the preseason progress of Dallas star striker and bigtime du Nord favorite El Pescadito - Carlos Ruiz.
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Indepth coverage from the Dallas Morning News on FC Dallas re-signing striker Roberto Mina.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on Dynamo backup keeper Zach Wells who stepped into the fray during this weeks Champions Cup match when Pat Onstad got hurt, and then had a great game to save his teams bacon.
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In the latest edition of The Clean Sheet, Tino Palace describes The Perfect Day. This week Tino was paid for writing his column with 2 cans of minced Scrod and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers velcro wallet circa 1988.
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RevsNet with a match report on the New England 3-1 win over Los Angeles in Bermuda. Several of the Revs trial players got to see action.
-And a match report on the same game from The Royal Gazette of Bermuda.
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The Galaxy take on the Bermuda national team tonight. New England midfielder Khano Smith will suit up for his country in this one. From the Bermuda Sun.
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Metrofanatic attended the NYRB practice session yesterday and got interviews with 3 players: Jon Conway, Dave Van Den Bergh & Jeff Parke.
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Steven Goff on his Soccer Insider blog has an interview with American & Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.
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American striker Gabe Ferrari is expected to be on the 18 man roster named for Sampdoria this weekend when they play Milan. He will not start, but he could make his Serie A debut against The Old Fat Ronny.
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Steve Davis at Soccernet with more on the USA bid for World Cup 2018.
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Former Minnesota Thunder & Columbus Crew defender Mark Schulte has become the first signing of new Cleveland team, the City Stars.
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The USA U23 team drew 2-2 with Japanese team Rosso Kumamoto today. Adam Cristman got both the USA goals. Match report from US Soccer. CORRECTION: RK are in the Japanese 3rd division. Thanks to Jin for the info.
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CONCACAF Champions Cup - the final first-round first-leg was match last night:
Pachuca 2-0 Marquense - goals by Damian Alvarez & Gabriel Caballero.
-All 4 second-leg matches are next Wed & Thurs.
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The 2007 Copa Libertadores - the group stage is in full effect. Here are yesterday's scores:
-Thur Feb 22
Caracas 1-0 LDU Quito
Colo Colo 1-2 River Plate
-A report on both matches via Sports Illustrated.
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The UEFA Cup saw 16 teams advance to the next round series: Bayer Leverkusen, Rangers, Espanyol, AZ Alkmaar, Werder Bremen, Maccabi Haifa, Paris St. Germain, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Osasuna, Sevilla, Celta de Vigo, Newcastle United, Braga, Lens & Tottenham Hotspur.
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Big Euro matches this weekend:
Saturday-
Charlton v West Ham - relegation battle in England
Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - the Madrid derby
Sunday-
Arsenal v Chelsea - the English League Cup final
AZ Alkmaar v Ajax - #3 v #2 in Holland
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Two stories today indicate that the 06-07 Inter Mystique may be cracking:
-On top of losing Patrick Viera for a month with a knee injury, Inter have now lost Cambiasso for at least that long with a thigh injury.
-And word has come out that the real reason Adriano did not suit up v Valencia is that he was caught out late celebrating his birthday, drinking and smoking cigarettes. I think this could be the last straw for him at the San Siro. What a fool, just when things were getting on track. I wonder how you say "Dumbass" in Portuguese?
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Some Euro 2008 games will be played on fake grass in Austria at the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim. UEFA.com with the story. Thanks to BQ for sending me this.
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Thanks very much to M at Down The Byline for a video of the Bellamy goal v Barca. Around the 21 second mark you can see the "golf swing". Its not the best video but its what we have to work with. Thanks M.
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The Guardian with the story of one of the unsung innovators of English football - Jimmy Hill. I am not so sure he was much of a hero, but yes he was an innovator.
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Rodrigo Orihuela at the Financial Times reports on the relatively poor state of Uruguayan football today.
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Here is a very sad story from 25 years ago that has flown under most radar. It happened in Moscow when over 300 people were killed at a UEFA Cup match between Spartak and Dutch club Haarlem. The old Soviet government did everything they could to keep it quite. There will be a memorial match to remember the tragedy. From Reuters.

My Dog Has Fleas News

TV commentator Paul Caliguri was calling the Olimpia v DC United game for Fox Soccer Channel last night and said: "This is the biggest game so far in Tommy Soehn's coaching career." NO SHIT SHERLOCK! IT'S ALSO HIS FIRST!

Rumors from England say AEG could be bidding for Manchester City! St Phil is upping the ante!
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I got a lot of great feedback via email and comments on the idea of the USA men wearing pink shirts for a game to support breast cancer awareness. I would love to start a campaign and make this a reality. As a matter of fact I think I might push for our local club, the Minnesota Thunder to do the same. Whadda ya think of that?
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Bobby Convey's season at Reading is over! His recently repaired knee has not fully recovered and he is going to have more surgery to try and fix it all over again. What a huge drag for him. After having a breakout season last year, he has only played in 8 games this season. From Yanks Abroad.
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There is a huge article on near legendary American striker Brian McBride from the Fulham gameday magazine FulTime. Brought to us by the team's website. Excellent feature.
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Both MLS teams opened the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup down in Central America last night. And they did so in completely different fashion:
Puntarenas 1-0 Houston - a rough game on a rough field, but exactly what we have come to expect when American teams go to Central America. We had it all, injuries, acting, yellow cards, red cards, and a late goal.
-Match reports by both Bernardo Fallas - AND - Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle.
-I have seen nothing yet to explain why Brian Ching did not play yesterday. Does anyone know why? I assume its his knee that is still not 100%, but before gametime everything I read said he was going to play.
-What kind of field was that they played on?? It was the worst professional pitch I have ever seen. Some parts were bare. Some parts long & shaggy. Some were flat. Others made the ball roll in different directions. And how about the patch in the right corner of the screen that the TV commentators referred to as "the horseshoe"? What was that? It looked like a big dead spot where someone had left an old car chassis on the ground for a year or two, then moved it right before game time. On top of that the whole place was tiny and dilapidated. Weird, wild and perversely wonderful - Central American soccer.
-To me it looked like Puntarenas were wearing highway construction worker blaze orange vests over white shirts. Not a good look.
Olimpia 1-4 DC United - I did not see this coming. The home side showed a lot of energy and attack, but DC had poise and amazing skill in the form of Christian Gomez!
-Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
-Steven Goff also has other post match thoughts on his weblog.
-Word from Honduras is that Gomez received a big ovation from the Olimpia fans after the game. He was amazing wasn't he.
-I want to say that the singing from the Olimpia fans was awesome. It started before the game, and ended..... well, for all I know they are still singing right now. Amazing.
-Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet with a report on both MLS teams performances.
-Marc Connolly - and - Ian Plenderleith of the Players Assoc think both teams did fairly well for themselves.
-Tonight you can see the last of the first leg matches:
Pachuca v Marquense - live at 8pm central on Fox Soccer Channel.
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Real Salt Lake had two big roster shake ups yesterday. First and most importantly, starting keeper Scott Garlick stepped in out of the clear blue sky and said, "That's it. I retire." Secondly the team decided to release starting right back Kevin Novak who started nearly every game for them last season, and was good too. The team claims he has not recovered well from offseason surgery's. Hmmmmm. Now RSL really has to scramble for a keeper seeing as they traded away last years back up Jay Nolly and recently acquired Nick Rimando. James Edwards of the Desert Morning News with the story.
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Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer reports on the attempted comeback of Craig Capano with Red Bull. He had played for Chicago but has had two knee surgery's over the past two years.
-Lewis also has a great story on a kid from a small college that is getting a shot in the NYRB spring training.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger talks to NYRB coach Bruce Arena about the club v country differences.
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It's gonna be New England v Los Angeles tonight in Bermuda. From the Royal Gazette.
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The Toronto Globe & Mail checks in on the TFC boys at training camp.
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The Toronto Sun with a better story: Where is Conor Casey?
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Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News says that most hardcore Galaxy fans are looking at a whole new world ahead, with team president Alexi Lalas leading the charge to build on their energy.
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It's good to see the Rocky Mountain News with something different (for them) in their soccer coverage. George Tanner does a great Q & A with former Rapids defender Nat Borcher, who currently plays for Odd Grenland in Norway.
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A potential organizer for bringing an MLS team to Phoenix has been very disappointed in the turnout for two exhibitions he promoted in the last week. He concluded: "I am devastated by the turnout. We're not ready." From the Arizona Republic.
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Celtic's Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen wants out, and Frank Yallop would love to have him in LA. I guess this is a little better than Robbie Fowler and Patrik Berger. But not by much. From Soccernet.
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Coming Soon
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Like many other federations US Soccer has announced that they will begin employing their referee's on a full time basis. This is an excellent move. The first four in the program are Jair Marrufo, Ricardo Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn. Includes interviews with all 4 men.
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US Soccer has an interview with Houston & USA U23 defender/midfielder Patrick Ianni, who is in Japan with the U23's playing friendly's this week. Via podcast.
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Ben at Even Is On has two new interviews on hand for us. The first is with Adam Spangler who writes This Is American Soccer - and - the second is with Menno Pot & Jim McGough who run the Ajax USA supporters group.
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All USL First Division games will be available live online this season via pay per view. Great move.
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Copa Libertadores - the group stage is in full effect. Here are this week's matches & scores:
-Wed Feb 21
Nacional 3-1 Internacional - the defending champs get blown out!
Flamengo 3-1 Maracaibo
Parana 2-0 Real Potosi
Cienciano 1-2 Toluca - the third Mexican team to win this week!
Deportivo Pasto 0-1 Santos
-A report from all three matches via Sports Illustrated.
-Thur Feb 22
Caracas - LDU Quito
Colo Colo - River Plate
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Champions League games yesterday:
Wednesday scores-
Roma 0-0 Lyon - no goals were scored, but 11 yellow cards were shown. 8 to Roma. Lyon made accusations that Roma players tried to injure them intentionally.
Inter 2-2 Valencia - as much as I love Inter, I had predicted Valencia as the dark horse to win it all. They got two giant road goals by the two David's, Villa & Silva, to counter home goals by Cambiasso & Maicon.
Barcelona 1-2 Liverpool - Deco scored early for Barca, but the two Street Fighting Men, Craig Bellamy & John Arne Riise got the goals for Liverpool to win a huge one!
Porto 1-1 Chelsea - Chelsea got the road goal from Shevchenko of all people. Raul Meireles had scored early for the home team, but the visitors answered back almost immediately.
-Did ya see Craig Bellamy's "golf swing" celebration after he scored against Barcelona?! WOW WOW WOW! Unbelievable cajones that guy has got. If someone digs up a video clip please send it our way.
-Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune wraps up yesterdays matches.
-Matchday 8 - second leg from this weeks games - will be played in two weeks time on March 6 & 7.
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The war of words between Lille & Manchester United continues to build in fury over the ugliness in the stands and on the field during their Champions League game on Tuesday night in France. From AFP.
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Inter midfielder Patrick Viera will be out of action until around April 1 with a strain in his knee - the terms were very medical and unknown to me so I am not repeating them.
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15 UEFA Cup second leg matches going on today!
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Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated with his brand new World Soccer Power Rankings. Grande!

The Water Is Running News

The USA Women will wear special pink jerseys for the match v Canada on May 12 at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas. The special shirt is to acknowledge Mothers Day, and raise awareness for Breast Cancer. Very cool. Well done ladies. Let's see the men do the same! I'm serious. How cool would that be?

The Daily Mirror fishwrap in London says Robbie Fowler will be joining the New England Rev's. As you can see by this link, the DM do some very deep and detailed reporting for this "story".
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Both MLS teams are in CONCACAF Champions Cup first round, first leg action today. See em on Fox Soccer Channel:
-Puntarenas v Houston - live at 1:30pm central
-Olimpia v DC United - live at 8pm central
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with a Dynamo v Puntarenas preview.
-The nickname of the stadium in Puntarenas is The Magical Pressure Cooker! Excellent!
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post with a DC v Olimpia game preview.
-Jack Bell at the New York Times previews the Houston & DC Champions Cup matches.
-Ian Plenderleith at the US Players Assoc with a look at MLS teams fairly poor showing, with a couple of great exceptions, in the Champions Cup.
-Marc Connolly as the Players Assoc calls today "Opening Day". I like the sound of that.
-Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet with the "struggle" story too.
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A big rumor on LA Galaxy financial news from Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune: A more likely blockbuster announcement from MLS is the jersey sponsorship for David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy. Two sources have confirmed that the bidding is down to Citibank and Herbalife (and, interestingly, not Beckham sponsor adidas). The Citibank offer to have its name across the front of Galaxy shirt, the sources said, is a monster: five years, $49 million. A decision is expected any day. How good does the Beckham signing look now? A COUPLE OF CORRECTIONS: I said, "That money would pay his full salary." I should have said it "could", but it won't cuz he gets a cut of that money (probably a big cut too). And I also said "Another interesting fact is that Herbalife is the vitamin company of Chivas owner Jorge Vergara!" When of course they are NOT. He owns Omnilife, a completely different company. My bad.
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'Member back a couple weeks when LA held those open try outs and 2 dudes made it through? Well one of em got cut. The other is still in training. Expect him to get cut real soon. Then we can completely forget about this stupid story. I bet Frank Yallop wishes he could have that try-out weekend back.
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Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer with more of his interview with Red Bulls new main attraction Claudio Reyna.
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Despite what the Red Bulls owner said yesterday about the team not signing another big money player this season, coach Bruce Arena told Ives Galarcep that a Designated Players signing is expected late this week or early next week!
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There's an article in the New York Times, not directly about the New York Red Bulls, but about the redevelopment of the town of Harrison New Jersey where the Bulls are building their new home.
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New England tops Bermuda 3-1 on the island. From the Rev's home page.
-Match report from Bermuda newspaper The Royal Gazette.
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Bermuda is also hosting the LA Galaxy. The Bermuda Sun with a story on the Gals. Including a picture that makes Nate Jaqua look REALLY skinny.
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Luis Arroyave at the Chicago Tribune with a feature story on the Fire's newly clean-cut #1 keeper Matt Pickens.
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One day after getting punked by the Canadian U20's, TFC is starting to find some firepower. Plenty of good things are going on. From the Toronto Sun.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Toronto Star with a feature on TFC's new forward Abbe Ibrahim, who coach Johnston was very big on back in New York and has now brought him to the great white north.
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Czech midfielder Patrik Berger wants to come play in MLS. Um, yeah, uh, no thanks, we'll take a pass on that.
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The Kansas City Star with the latest on KC stadium developments.
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And a new story from the Houston Chronicle on that city's stadium story.
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Steve Davis at MLSnet with an article on the always "on" Jimmy Conrad!
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Kevin McGeehan at the US Players Assoc asks a very important question before David Beckham arrives in MLS: Can ESPN Cover Beckham Sanely? And we all know the answer to that question is: "Not a frickin chance." They will hype it all up, and then when it is not earth shattering, all the American "sports journalists" will use every column inch they can get their hands on to say "I told you so!" What a cliche.
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The USA U23 team played to a 0-0 draw with their Japanese counterparts in Kumamoto Japan today. The US Soccer site with a match report.
-Japanese paper Daily Yomiuri with a match report as well.
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American midfielder Lee Nguyen will miss the rest of the 2007 season with his Dutch club PSV after having surgery to repair a separated shoulder that was not healing properly.
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The 2007 Copa Libertadores - the group stage is in full effect. Here are this week's matches & scores:
-Tue Feb 20
Alianza Lima 1-2 Necaxa
El Nacional 1-2 America
Libertad 1-0 Banfield
-Report on all three matches via Sports Illustrated.
-Wed Feb 21
Nacional - Internacional
Flamengo - Maracaibo
Parana - Real Potosi
Cienciano - Toluca
-Thur Feb 22
Caracas - LDU Quito
Deportivo Pasto - Santos
Colo Colo - River Plate
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Champions League games yesterday and today:
Tuesday scores-
Celtic 0-0 Milan - how do two teams with lots of injured defenders play to a scoreless draw?
PSV 1-0 Arsenal - great goal by Edison Mendez in a painfully dull game.
Lille 0-1 Man United - Ryan Giggs with a late road goal - which is always great for the aggregate scoreline.
Real Madrid 3-2 Bayern Munich - the game of the day. I can't remember who, but some newspaper predicted this. Bayern's two road goals are bigger than Real's 3 home goals. Scorers were: 2 by Raul and 1 by Van Nistelrooy for RM, with Lucio and Van Bommel for BM.
Wednesday matches-
Roma v Lyon
Inter v Valencia
Barcelona v Liverpool
Porto v Chelsea
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a story on the exciting Real v Bayern match.
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The BBC is reporting that Manchester United fans in Lille narrowly avoided disaster when too many people were crushed into one area of the stands and then police turned on them. Ugly shit.
-Peter Berlin of the IHT follows this story.
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Another BBC story from Manchester, this time from the sky blue part of town, that says there could be a new owner for Man city on the horizon, and unbelievably it could be yet another American! Wow. No names yet though.
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At least 3 and maybe 4 more Serie A stadiums have been brought up to security code in Italy and will be allowed fans back in seats this coming weekend.
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The Guardian gives out some fake awards and Craig Bellamy earns top honors.

My Friend Iko News

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle is in Puntarenas Costa Rica with the Dynamo for their Champions Cup game tomorrow.
-The team knows that they have to be very wary of the curse of the Central American red card.
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Having stolen their opponent's top striker during the offseason, DC United is not expecting a warm welcome in Honduras tomorrow when they take on Olimpia in the Champions Cup. From MLSNet.
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet previews this years CONCACAF Champions Cup.
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CONCACAF Champions Cup first round, first leg matches today and tomorrow. All games can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel:
-Wed Feb 21
Puntarenas v Houston - live at 1:30pm central
Olimpia v DC United - live at 8pm central
-Thur Feb 22
Pachuca v Marquense - live at 8pm central
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Looks like the USA wants to compete with at least England to host the 2018 World Cup. Would FIFA really go 3 tournaments in a row outside Europe? I don't think so. I have predicted 2022 for the USA to host again. But what about 2014? From Steven Goff at the Washington Post.
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I somehow missed this last week. Shawn at The Offside Rules has a great rumor of a big international match on U.S. soil: Brazil v. Argentina. Look for the game to be played in late March .... in Florida, California, or Texas.
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Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer interviews the Austrian man who is Mr. Red Bull. Dietrich Mateschitz is his name.
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James Edwards at the Deseret Morning News talks to new Real Salt Lake midfielder Freddy Adu about his new home and new team. This is a new article. All new stuff.
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Chivas USA has officially signed forward Maykel Galindo. He played the last two seasons for Seattle after defecting from Cuba. The Seattle Times with Galindo's story.
-Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News talks to Galindo about his new team.
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The LA Soccer News team puts Chivas USA veteran midfielder Jesse Marsch On The Spot (Q & A).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And Canales with a feature story on Chivas USA's MLS Rookie Of The Year and new USA sensation Jonathan Bornstein. For Soccer 365
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New England is training in Bermuda and the team's site has a daily journal so we can follow along.
-They take on the Bermuda national team tonight. The local paper The Royal Gazette with a preview.
-And Frank Dell'apa at the Boston Globe says the Rev's are working on getting midfielder Shalrie Joseph a new contract & pay raise. Great idea. In 2005 he was the du Nord MLS Player Of The Year .... and we all know what that means.
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The Toronto Sun looks at who is making the grade, and who isn't, during TFC training camp.
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MLSnet looks in on 2nd year Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty.
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Jeff Bradley's newest First XI: Regrets, I have a few
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The Mad Flopper, Jamie Watson, checks in again with this thoughts from the USA U23 team's trip to Japan.
-And the team's keeper, Chris Seitz, does an interview with US Soccer. Download and listen to the podcast.
-They play the first of 2 games tomorrow, v the Japanese U22 team.
-Japanese paper The Daily Yomiuri previews the match.
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Yanks Abroad talks to young American striker Kamani Hill at Wolfsburg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The 2007 Copa Libertadores - the group stage is in full effect. Here are this week's matches:
-Tue Feb 20
Alianza Lima - Necaxa
El Nacional - America
Libertad - Banfield
-Wed Feb 21
Nacional - Internacional
Flamengo - Maracaibo
Parana - Real Potosi
Cienciano - Toluca
-Thur Feb 22
Caracas - LDU Quito
Deportivo Pasto - Santos
Colo Colo - River Plate
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Champions League games today and tomorrow:
Tuesday-
Celtic v Milan
PSV v Arsenal
Lille v Man United
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Wednesday-
Roma v Lyon
Inter v Valencia
Barcelona v Liverpool
Porto v Chelsea
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated wants to pick one soccer player on the planet who he could become - he chooses Lyon midfielder Juninho! I say, that's an inspired choice. I know it's a silly game, but me, I think I would choose to be Hernan Crespo!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune previews the Champions League by looking at the soap opera's that always surround the world's big clubs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano has finally had his transfer from West Ham to Liverpool approved. There had been confusion over his contract status - ie. Who actually owned the player?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Guardian says that Reading is the next English club just waiting to be snapped up by some Gazillionaire with loose change in his pockets.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Times of London with a look at the first 6 months of Roy Keane's managerial career. It's gone quite well, and he hasn't melted down yet. Amazing.

Trimmed News

Internazionale Milan set a new European domestic league record this weekend by winning their 16th game in a row. 1-0 over Cagliari. The old record was established by Real Madrid 46 years ago. What a feat! And with Roma losing, Inter's lead in Serie A is now at 14 points. The one thing people are not talking about with Inter is their depth. During the game I counted 21 first team players on their roster. That's 21 that could start for most other teams in the world! They take on Valencia in the Champions League this week. This should be a great match up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talked to Chicago Fire coach Dave Sarachan & General Manager John Guppy and have both refuted the reports of AEG, the Fire's owners, talking deal with Zidane. From his blog The Red Card.
-And now Steven Goff at the Washington Post, who started all this, says on his blog that Zidane to Chicago is not looking probable. The key element to the deal is big big bucks. Shocking.
-The question now becomes ... does New York step up for Zidane?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer with a feature on Red Bulls & American star Claudio Reyna's first days with his new team.
-Lewis also has notes from his last day at the team's training sessions in Bradenton Florida.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LA coach Frank Yallop was in Spain this past weekend to watch his new star David Beckham play. What did Frank see? No goals scored for either team, and Becks get a late red card for an ugly slicing tackle from behind.
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Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News gets some chat time with Galaxy captain Landon Donovan, and they talk about the desrires for his team this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Then Canales does the same with Chivas USA midfielder Panchito Mendoza, who has been with the club since Day 1.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The word from Dallas is not good for their new center back Adrian Serioux. He needs knee surgery and will be out about 6 months.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Hush at Soccer New England checks in with Rev's midfielder Andy Dorman. Dorman stepped up his game quite nicely last season, but without Clint Dempsey in the attack, and Pepe Cancela off the bench, the team will need even more from the Welshman.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America interviews New England forward Taylor Twellman.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shawn Mitchell at The Columbus Dispatch with a great feature story on the Crew's new striker Andy Heron, the Costa Rican they acquired from Chicago.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Houston forward Brian Ching with his first post of the new season on his Houston Chronicle blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Glenn Davis of the Chronicle checks in with the Dynamo as they prepare for their first ever international match on Wednesday.
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Tobias Xavier Lopez at the Fort Worth Star Telegram with the story of young Guatemalan Eddie Santeliz who is trying to make the grade at FC Dallas.
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Our pal DJ Walker at 3rd Degree warms our heart with things he hates, in an offseason edition of Stream Of Consciousness: I Hate It
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet implies that the "Beckham Rule" to lure big money players to MLS is already a bust.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On Friday, winger Ansu Toure, who played for my beloved Minnesota Thunder last season, scored another goal during his trial with the New York Red Bulls. But his team lost 3-1. I also confirmed with the Thunder that he is NOT under contract with them. I really hope Toure comes back here to play this season.
-The Thunder officially announced the re-signing of forward Leo Gibson, and the signing of new defender Derek Smith who played the past two seasons with Cincinnati in the Second Division.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The USA U23's went to Japan on Friday and will play some friendly's starting on Wednesday. Three players were cut from and another played add to the team before they left. Cut: Chad Barrett - Chicago, Nico Colaluca - Colorado & Will John - Kansas City. Added: Sal Zizzo - UCLA.
-Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan does an interview prior to departure with the team. Download and listen via podcast.
-Andrea Canales at Soccernet doesn't think this team in Japan will look much like the one that tries to qualify for the Olympics.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here is a great and brutal story from Yanks Abroad about young American striker Rodrigo Hidalgo who was on Ireland on trial at Bohemians. He played in a friendly, ended up taking over the goalkeeper spot midway throughout the game when a teammate got hurt, but got creamed by someone on the other team. Hidalgo ended up with a broken nose, a missing tooth and 22 stitches in his mouth. Damn!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
YA also reports that American striker Jemal Johnson of Wolverhampton is heading out on loan to join Leeds and fellow American Eddie Lewis.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - dressed but watched from the bench as this team won 1-3 at Preston in the FA Cup.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - did not play due to suspension as his team drew 2-2 at home with Duisburg.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - sat on the bench and watched his team lose 0-4 to Tottenham in the FA Cup. I have no idea why he didn't start, cuz they sure could have used him. Their team defense was awful.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - came on as a late sub in his teams 1-2 home loss to Twente.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the entire match as his team won at Leverkusen 0-1.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - started and went about 70 minutes in the FA Cup. Unfortunately for Bobby his team came to life when his sub Stephen Hunt entered the game. They came back with a late goal and a 1-1 draw. It was not Bobby's fault though. He spent his time on the field tracking and double teaming Man U star Cristiano Ronaldo. And I think he did a really good job of it.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 as usual in the center of defense and his team got a last minute goal to win 1-0 over Ipswich in the FA Cup.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on with about 20 minutes left and his team down 1-0. Clint made 2 great crosses into the middle that took amazing saves from the Tottenham netminder to keep the ball out of the net. Unfortunately after the second cross he committed a stupid foul near midfield and Robbie Keane scored his second amazing goal of the game from the free kick. Fulham went on to lose 0-4.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - another clean sheet for Friedel, and this was a big one. At Arsenal in the FA Cup his team drew 0-0 and go to a replay back at their own home field next week.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - watched from the bench as his team came back to snag a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the FA Cup. I am sure he would have loved to play, but he got a well deserved day off.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - the young striker came on as a late sub and helped his team come back to draw league leaders Schalke 2-2 at home.
-Tim Howard - Everton - his team had the weekend off.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - in goal as always but lost 1-0 to Dortmund.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - played the full 90 but lost to Cardiff City 1-0.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - played for about an hour to no avail as his team lost 0-4 to Tottenham in the FA Cup.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - his team had the weekend off.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - his team had the weekend off.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - played the full 90 minutes of a 2-2 home tie with Duisburg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF Champions Cup first round, first leg matches this week. All games can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel:
-Wed Feb 21
Puntarenas v Houston - live at 1:30pm central
Olimpia v DC United - live at 8pm central
-Thur Feb 22
Pachuca v Marquense - live at 8pm central
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Atlas leads the Mexican Clausura. Here are the league standings after 6 games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno at LA Soccer News with his weekly Mexican league wrap up: JORNADA 6 REWIND
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The 2007 Copa Libertadores - the group stage is in full effect. Here are this week's matches:
-Tue Feb 20
Alianza Lima - Necaxa
El Nacional - America
Libertad - Banfield
-Wed Feb 21
Nacional - Internacional
Flamengo - Maracaibo
Parana - Real Potosi
Cienciano - Toluca
-Thur Feb 22
Caracas - LDU Quito
Deportivo Pasto - Santos
Colo Colo - River Plate
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The English FA Cup 5th Round was last weekend, and the winners were: Tottenham, Man City, Chelsea, Watford & Plymouth Argyle.
-The following games ended in draws and will have to be replayed:
Reading v Man U - Feb 27
West Brom v Middlesbrough - Feb 27
Blackburn v Arsenal - Feb 28
-This morning was the draw for the next round, the Quarterfinals, to be played on March 10. Here are those matches:
West Brom-Middlesbrough winner v Reading-Man U winner
Blackburn-Arsenal winner v Man City
Chelsea v Tottenham
Plymouth Argyle v Watford
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tuesday's Champions League games:
Celtic v Milan
PSV v Arsenal
Lille v Man United
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
More excellent prose from Fulham's Moritz Volz. This guy is fantastic in his latest piece for the Times of London: Give me honey and a sticker
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This week's podcast from the EPL Talk weblog is an interview with ESPN's lead Champions League commentator Derek Rae! Excellent. I like his game calls quite a bit.
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Another great podcast is the Football Weekly from the Guardian in England. It's a round table discussion hosted by James Richardson of the weeks games across Europe from a great crew of Guardian writers including everyone's fave "minute by minute" match-tracker Barry Glendenning! Tune in to hear if Barry name checks Vic Mackey, Jimmy McNulty, Jack Bauer, Frank Pembleton, Jane Tennison or some other great TV detective, and uses the word "shit" at some point (he finds a way to include it every week). And in today's episode, Barry wonders if Craig Bellamy brought a caddy to his fight with Liverpeople teammate John Arne Riise.
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One of my all time favorite players, Italian great Roberto Baggio has started his own weblog, and opened it with a note on his 40th birthday. Hooray Baggio. Hooray Buddha. Hooray Birthday. Get busy.
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Craig Waibel's twin brother Iain Dowie has been given the managers job at Coventry City. Beats the hell out of the managers job at a TGI Fridays.
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Ronaldo nabbed a pair of goals for Milan as they stunned Sienna with a goal in the dying seconds of the game to win 4-3. Milan scored early and after that every time they got a goal, Siena answered. There was no time at the end to answer again though.
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Melbourne won the Australian A-League championship blasting Adelaide 6-0!
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The coach of Rosario Central has one of those hilarious 80's style giant fluffy curly mullets. He looks ridiculous. And he sports the Argentine "sexy man" look too, with the jeans, no socks, loafers, untucked dress shirt and sport coat. Oh what a look. He sadly lacks Ricardo LaVolpe's cookie duster mustache though. Don Johnson eat yer heart out.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Egypt & Tottenham's talented headcase Ahmed Hossam aka Mido.
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Simon Kuper needed little time to discover the key to the talent of football players in Cameroon. For the Financial Times.
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Phil Ball with his weekly La Liga column at Soccernet looks at the Barca (who lost)-Eto'o (who didn't even travel to the game) situation: Play it again, Sam

What Do You Think Of Cup Competitions?

My friend Ethan sent me this email, and I thought I should share my response and then elicit yours:

Ethan's email:
I was wondering your opinion on the English Cups this year. The decline of the FA and League Cups has been well documented over the past five years. However, this year's versions seem to be doing better than ever.
I have watched 5 or 6 FA or League Cup matches this year and I haven't been disappointed with any of them. While Premier League matches are too often cagy affairs, the Cups seem to be producing some truly wonderful end-to-end football. As you mentioned, the Boro-Bristol match was fantastic and Wednesday's Arsenal-Bolton match had everything you could ever want in a football match: Attacking flair, defensive saves, route-one passing, total football, managers that hate each other, a red card, missed chances, post striking, and a frenetic pace.
It seems like teams "go for it" more because (maybe) there is almost less on the line than in a given EPL match. You are playing for the next round and maybe a $100,000, not a vital point that could help keep you in the $50 million EPL. Even Bolton seemed to be playing without their customary shell.
Throw in the chance to see Arsenal's youngsters and I think that the Arsenal-Blackburn FA Cup 5th Round tie will be can't-miss viewing for me. Something I definitely can't say about the next Arsenal-Rovers EPL match.

My response:
I like it, but I don't care a whole lot.
I do enjoy the games I see, and mostly when they play at the little tiny stadiums of lower division teams. Those can be particularly great to watch. You can hear all the locals (just like us at a Minnesota Thunder match) hollering all kinds of stupid crap.
But as a whole I don't get too caught up because I feel it's such a personal investment type tournament.
I think if I liked a particular English team it would be much easier to get really fired up for it.
Alas, I don't care much about any of them. Not to say I don't like the top leagues and the quality.
Now if you want to talk about the US Open Cup and our Thunder, that's a whole new topic. I love that stuff, and have gone all over the place top see 'em play. Like KC & LA two years ago for the quarter and semi finals. Glorious.

Ethan follows up with this note mid-day Sunday after the brutally boring Arsenal v Blackburn FA Cup game he had just witnessed:
Well, after suffering through 90 of the most boring minutes in recent football memory, maybe I exaggerated the beauty and excitement of the English Cups. Blackburn could not have played more defensively and unfortunantly got the result they wanted: a 0-0 draw away from home. Maybe the second leg will prove different (just like the open affair against Bolton in the second leg of the last round), but I think that that will depend on the health of McCarthy and Pederson. Without their only decent attacking options, I guess it was little surprise to see Blackburn pack it in. What I just don't get is how Arsenal allowed themselves to be lulled into a snail's pace. They didn't move with any conviction until the last 10 minutes (when they really should have won). If they were out there saving energy for the Champions League, than I say that they should have started all of the youngsters and played with some real conviction. Oh well, I guess that is football; you have to take the ugly with the beautiful.


What do you readers feel about the English FA Cup, the League Cup, of other national league type Cup competitions? Leave a comment.