Giant Surge In Worldwide Shandy Drinking News

How great is Lionel Messi?!?!? In the words of Shep Messing: "Wow!"


Check out the Red Bull Park webcam!
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A note on the deal to bring Brazilian striker Fred2 to DC United is that his current contract with Melbourne does not end until June 30 even though their season is already over. Will this effect the deal?
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Word on the street says DCU keeper Troy Perkins will be recovered from his thigh muscle injury and start in the net v Chivas this week. Let's hope the injury does not make a reappearance.
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Blckdgrd has a nice picture of Barry Bonds wearing a DCU shirt.
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But the biggest DC news of the day from Steven Goff at his Soccer Insider blog is that both Bobby Boswell and Christian Gomez are going to see the WWE tonight.
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There is a rumor going around about a "big" announcement tomorrow featuring brass from MLS & the Bundesliga. The press conference will take place in Miami! What is this about?
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Steve Davis at MLSnet talks to LA star Landon Donovan about next summers international tournaments (his comments will surprise you) and several other MLS notes. Good stuff. I missed this one from last Friday, and I miss Steve Davis not having a regular writing gig.
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Luis Bueno & Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News check in with LA midfielder Kyle Martino. Will he be injured most of the season again? Or will he actually contribute to his team on the field? Coach Frank Yallop must like something about Martino cuz a lot of other players who seemed to have more potential got shipped out during this offseason.
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Bill Urban takes a deep look at the heavy LA Galaxy schedule and wonders just how seriously are they taking the MLS regular season? Hell, how about asking if MLS is taking their own regular season serious.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune takes a look at potential new Chicago Fire player Cuauhtemoc Blanco. This rumor will not go away, and in fact is getting stronger.
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Pioneer Cup - Dallas 0-3 Columbus - the score line was slightly surprising considering who was the home team. Goals by Joseph Ngwenya, Kai Kamara & Aaron Campbell.
-Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram with his match report and a look at the whole idea of the Pioneer Cup.
-Match report from the Dallas Morning News.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle writes about the Dynamo's upcoming Champions Cup match.
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The question marks that have always followed Salt Lake's new striker Luis Tejada are quickly on display with his new team. Is he talented? Oh yes. Is he a team player? History says no. Let's see if John Ellinger can get his attention. From the Deseret Morning News.
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The New England website has a video clip from the teams recent training run down in Bermuda.
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Andrew Hush talks to New England defender Jay Heaps about the cruel & harsh ending to his 2006 season, and what is next for him in 07. From MLSnet.
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New England are training in Cancun Mexico right now and have two matches this week against 2nd Division teams:
Tuesday v Inter Playa del Carmen
Thursday v Pioneros de Cancun
-The following week they train in New Orleans and will play two matches there also:
Sun Mar 25 v Olimpia of Honduras
Wed Mar 28 v New Orleans Shell Shockers (of the PDL)
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Luis Bueno at LA Soccer News talks to Chivas USA forward Ante Razov about the upcoming season.
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The CBC talks to new Toronto goalkeeper Jon Busch.
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The Toronto Star busts out that tired old Edson Buddle was named after Pele story. Followed by a decent slightly offbeat Q & A with Eddy.
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TFC was held to a 0-0 draw by the USA U17 team this past weekend. Ouch. Those are 15 & 16 year olds!
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Many great readers told us the meaning of the name of the new Chicago Fire supporters group led by women - the Shandy Sisters. From Dave & Nicole: "Shandy is a drink in the UK: half beer + half lemonade (ie sprite) = Shandy!" I knew you all would know. Thanks.
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Coming Soon - featuring a brand new goofy self-aggrandizing/deprecating video clip.
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Tino Palace's latest episode of The Clean Sheet: Planet LA Has The Blues. For this column Tino was paid with 3 six-packs of 7-11 brand Iced Decaf Non-Fat Frappuccino.
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Good article from Michelle Kaufman at the Miami Herald - US Soccer gets down to the business of mining South Florida for youth potential.
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The Fiji national team will be training in the USA in mid April and is trying to set up matches v RSL and KC (not looking good), but they will play the RL reserves in a match just before RSL and KC square off in a US Open Cup match on April 18 in Salt Lake City.
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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 - played the last 1/2 hour of a 2-0 FA Cup loss to Blackburn. Things aren't looking good for Man City coach Stuart Pearce.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - suspended for 3 games for a nasty act in last weeks game that went undetected by the ref but was seen on post game video replay. Yanks Abroad has details.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - his team had the weekend off.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - came on for the final moments of a 1-0 win over RKC Waalwijk.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - started in the center of defense for this match that kicked off the 2nd half of the season in all wrong ways, losing 0-2 to Viborg. It was worse for Califf too, he got red carded in the 49th minute for fouling as the last man back.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played right back as usual in a 1-1 draw with league leaders Schalke.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 at centerback as his team advanced to the semifinals of the FA Cup, winning 0-1 at Plymouth Argyle.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - his team had the weekend off.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - kept a clean sheet v Man City 2-0 in the FA Cup.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - his team had the weekend off.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - dressed but did not play in a 0-0 game v Stuttgart.
-Tim Howard - Everton - his team had the weekend off.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - played the whole match in goal as usual in a big 3-1 win over Hertha.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - played the full 90 in a 1-0 win over Luton Town.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - his team had the weekend off.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - his team had the weekend off.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - went 90 at right back as usual, but also started the second half of the Denmark season badley suffering a 2-0 loss at Brondby.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - his team had the weekend off.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - missing this weeks game v Kaiserslautern due to a muscle strain.
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The Yorkshire Evening Post talks to young American defender Frankie Simek of Sheffield Wednesday. They ask about his dream of playing for the USA.
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And the Lancashire Telegraph has a Q & A with one time USA prodigy Danny Karbassiyoon about his career ending injury.
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Around 14,000 tickets have been sold for the March 25 USA v Ecuador match in Tampa.
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I traveled with BQ last Saturday over to Madison to see the Minnesota Thunder play some matches at the UW indoor football facility. The team predominantly consisted of guest guys who are on the far fringes and hoping for that one moment to impress the coaches. Three players under contract were also included - new signing Sasah Gotsmanov, returning striker Leo Gibson, and returning from surgery defender Kevin Friedland. BQ with a report on the event. From Blue Sky Soccer. (Sorry, but the page is loading in a little slow right now, so please be patient.)
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This past weekends Mexican league review from LA Soccer News: Jornada 9 Roundup.
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Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Mar 13
Alianza Lima - Audax Italiano
Cucuta Deportivo - Cerro Porteno
Maracaibo - Real Potosi
Mar 14
Parana - Flamengo
Toluca - Boca Juniors
Velez Sarsfield - Internacional
Santos - Gimnasia
Mar 15
Deportivo Pasto - Defensor Sporting
LDU Quito - River Plate
Deportes Tolima - Gremio
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Scores from the Big Euro matches this past weekend:
Barca 3-3 Real Madrid - the home team came back three times to level, the last being in injury time with only 10 men. Game highlights on You Tube via Gol TV - Phil & Ray with the call. "As cool as a salmon sandwich"
-Our main man Jack Bell of the New York Times was in attendance for that wild derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Here's his match report for the International Herald Tribune.
-Naturally Phil Ball uses his weekly La Liga column at Soccernet to rave about the "classic clasico".
-Sid Lowe of the Guardian with his match report.
Inter 2-1 Milan - Ronaldo scored the opener despite the massive amount of hatred that poured down on his head from Inter fans, but the home team stormed back like they have all season (except in the Champions League where they looked totally average) on goals by Julio Cruz - his first touch of the game – and Zlatan Ibrahimovich. It was the first time Inter has beaten Milan twice in one season in over 20 years.
Bayern Munich 1-1 Werder Bremen - Bayern looked amazing to start the game, but Bremen gave em everything they could handle and proved they are the better side.
Celtic 0-1 Rangers - it's kinda sad that less and less people around the world care about this match up.
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Scores from the 6th round of the English FA Cup this past weekend:
Middlesbrough 2-2 Man United - will replay the match on Monday March 19
Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham - will replay the match on Monday March 19
Blackburn 2-0 Man City
Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Watford
-They held the draw for the semi finals this morning, and here is how it falls out - to be played Saturday April 14:
Blackburn v winner of Chelsea/Tottenham
Watford v winner of Middlesbrough/Manchester United
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the relative health (unhealth?) of the games biggest stars.
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Lukacs from out in SLC sent me a link to some photos from inside the new Wembley stadium. Whoever took those has real flair for an angle. I like it. They are from the Guardian.
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Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian with a hilarious article on Werder Bremen midfielder Torsten "I did not use my arm to keep the ball out of the net in the 02 World Cup v the USA" Frings. At one point in his life Torsten had a pet raccoon!
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I heard an interview with Sid Lowe of the Guardian in which he described last weeks Inter-Valencia Champions League post match fight as a scene out of Benny Hill. Can't you just hear that music as David Navarro punches Burdisso and then runs around with the Inter players chasing him! I laughed my ass of when he said it!
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Simon Kuper with an article on the life and career of Romario. From the Financial Times.
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Remember the Korean dude who scored against the USA at the 02 WC and then did the speed skating celebration, and later in the same WC he scored v Italy only to be cut by his Italian club team the next day? FIFA.com has an interview with South Korean striker Ahn Jung-Hwan.
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It looks like PSV centerback Alex may have torn a thigh muscle and be out for the rest of the season. Huge loss for them.
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Michael Essien has just signed a new 5 year contract with Chelsea. Damn he is good.
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Did you know? Everton spent the last week training in New York City. Don't know where, but maybe someone can tell us. Oddly interesting. The teams website gives very little info other than the fact that the trip "provide[ed] a change of scenery."
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Lastly, I was reading an article in the New York Times yesterday on the idea that many people feel the "emphasis of entertainment over talent" is ruining the NBA. It describes the regular season as "unwatchable", and quoted the author of a new book, “We are not developing basketball players and basketball teams. We’re developing stars.” MLS is a long way from the NBA, but I find so much of this stuff relevant. And the star power of David Beckham is not lost in this either.