Thieves You Can Catch News
George Senior kicks out the first ball before the Dynamo v Galaxy match last night. Maybe he's the reason the defending champs couldn't even get 17,000 out to their home opener. (thanks to Alex who sent me this)
MLS Opening Weekend Scorecard:
Colorado 2-1 DC United - Colo goals by Herculez Gomez (huge congrats to him, cuz I pick on him a lot) & Roberto Brown. DC goal by Luciano Emilio. Match reports by John Meyer of the Denver Post & Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Salt Lake 2-2 Dallas - both Salt Lake goals by Jeff Cunningham. Dallas goals by Kenny Cooper & Carlos Ruiz. Match reports from James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News, and Scott Taylor of the Dallas Morning News.
Columbus 0-0 New York - Match reports from Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch & Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Chicago 1-0 New England - Chicago goal by Logan Pause (although it sure looked like a James Riley own goal to me and I was sitting right behind the goal). Match reports from Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune, and Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Chivas USA 2-0 Toronto - Chivas goals by Ante Razov & Sacha Kljesten. Match reports from Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise, and Stephen Brunt of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Houston 0-0 Los Angeles - Match reports from Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle, and Grahame Jones of the Los Angeles Times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The du Nord Player Of The Week - Sacha Kljesten - Chivas USA
-Hhe launched the teams first goal with a great ball over the top to a lightning fast Maykel Galindo who then dropped it off for Ante Ravoz to score his 99th goal. Then with time winding down Kljesten drove up the middle of the field, dipped to his right and unleashed a shot from 20 yards out that beat the Toronto keeper to the back post. As much for his offense though, SK deserves the award for his great positioning on defense, constantly breaking up TFC's flow and then starting the attack the other direction was excellent and creative passing. A star in the making. Probably his best game as a pro.
My notes on the games:
-Both DC & Houston seemed to be suffering from post CONCACAF Champions Cup loss hangovers.
-Pat Onstad was back in the line up for Houston after injuring his calf during the first round CCC match in Costa Rica.
-Jonathan Bornstein made a surprise return to the Chivas USA line up only 6 weeks after knee surgery. He was not great, but he was definitely good. He is an exciting player.
-After seeing Justin Mapp in person again I can attest to the fact that he has clearly taken the next step up the quality level ladder. His speedy dribbling, crossing and shooting all look very dangerous.
-Freddy Adu looked good for RSL with some good moves, and nice quick accurate passing. He drew several ooh's and ah's from the home crowd.
-Jeff Cunningham starts the season wearing shirt #90 to reflect his goal total - then adds 2 more in Week 1.
-Ante Razov scored and sits at 99 career goals. He will become the third MLS player to hit 100, after Jason Kries and Jaime Moreno.
-Luciano Emilio bagged his 4th goal already for DCU. He got 3 in the CCC and now his first in the regular league. He has already earned his salary.
-Kenny Cutler of RSL has some wickedly nasty "I drive a Trans Am and it's 1978" hair.
-Carlos Ruiz of Dallas looks really strong. His layoff for Kenny Cooper's goal was perfect, and he nearly did the same thing with 2 or 3 other teammates who could not find the back of the net. Then he scrapped hard for the goal that stole em a road point.
-Matt Pickens was saved by the bar on a shot by New England's Taylor Twellman, then he came up with three more huge saves on a free kick also by Twellman and 2 good shots by Andy Dorman (the second of which I thought for sure was going in) to iron out the clean sheet.
-Ian Russell who was completely out of MLS all last season, because no teams picked him up, was a starter for the Galaxy in Houston.
-Those new blue kits for the Red Bulls look exactly like the ones New England wears. Awful. Come on, Red Bulls should wear Red! Duh.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis at Soccernet rounds up the first weekends games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chivas USA supporters group Legion 1908 rolled out their new giant flag this weekend. It is most impressive! (Photo from Luis Bueno)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The jokes are going to be out in full force when word spreads around that Claudio Reyna was hurt in his first official game with the Red Bulls. He and winger Dave Richards collided at high speed going for a ball in front of the Columbus goal. Reyna took a knee to the thigh. It looked very painful. Up until that moment he was definitely showing his quality.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This weeks podcast interview from EPL Talk is with the great man behind the most important soccer website in America - Oliver Tse of SoccerTV.com. This is the place you can get the details on every soccer match broadcast on television in our country. I use the site several times per week. It is the only soccer site that I find indispensable. Tse also makes a "major announcement" about the site during this interview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There was an online chat session this morning with DC United President Kevin Payne, hosted by the Washington Post. Check out the Q & A here. (thanks to Jeff for sending this to us)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Soccernet MLS Power Rankings, complete with snarky comments. Excellent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One of the best weblogs on the planet, The DCenters, is 2 years old now! Hooray Beer! Hooray fans! Hooray DC! If yer a DC United fan then this site is a daily must-read. And most MLS fans can enjoy this site everyday too. I do.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Columbus is planning to build a new practice facility and representatives from 17 area communities turned up at the meeting to express their interest. Not bad. From the Columbus Dispatch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Another great article by Mitchell at the Columbus Dispatch about the groundbreaking knee surgery undertaken by Crew midlfielder Duncan Oughton. The doctors had to fully replace knee cartilage so they took some from another part of his body, grew it to the proper size and attached it like new. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of Man United had the same surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News reports on the bitchin "celebrity" VIP entrance that has been built at the Home Deport Center. That way the guys in Smash Mouth & Nickelback, or one of the stars of Scrubs won't have to wait in line with you and me to get in the gates. Maybe I could get one of them to sneak in some contraband for me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A reader named Larry sent me a link to Norm Chads latest anti-MLS column from over the weekend. I considered laying out a heavy slagging commentary, but I realized it just fuels the fire of idiots like Chad. So I am not going to link to him, and I suggest others don't even read his crap or others like him. Turn off the Jim Rome show when it comes on. Fuck Frank de Ford. The faster these jerkoffs go away the better. Let's ignore them from now on. This is the last time you will ever see their names in print at du Nord. Amen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DCU are chasing Virginia Beach striker Nicholas Adderly of Jamaica. Since VB shockingly folded last week, all the player contracts were voided and the guys are now free agents.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There is a new blog in Portland to celebrate MLS and track a possible new MLS team in that town - its obviously called Portland Timbers MLS. Let's hope they would secure the Timbers name if they get a new team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Carlos Bocanegra scores in two games over the weekend for Fulham! So let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - had a two match weekend starting Friday with a 0-0 draw with Charlton where he did not leave the bench, and today they went to Fulham and won 1-3 with DaMarcus netting the 2nd goal for his team. He also got booked and was then subbed out in the 81st minute. His team are now at 40 points and seemingly safe from relegation troubles.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - take on Karlsruhe tonight.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - two matches this weekend, and two brutal beatings. Carlos went the distance in each as Friday it was a 4-1 loss to Everton, after Carlos scored the first goal his team gave up a quad. Then today they lost 1-3 to Man City with Carlos stunningly scoring again! But all is not well at Fulham as they are suddenly only 4 points above the relegation teams.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - did not play in a 1-1 draw with at home to ADO Den Haag. Is he hurt or his his coach insane?
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - played the full match in the center of defense for a wild 4-6 win at Silkeborg. Doesn't sound like too good of a defensive game, but 3 points is 3 points.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played 90 at right back in this teams 1-2 home loss to Bayern Munich.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - two weekend matches in which Jay played the entire game at centerback. They got routed 4-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, then turned the tables with a nice 4-2 win over Portsmouth today.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - two weekend losses, to Everton 4-1 in which he was an unused sub, and today 1-3 to Man City where he replaced Wayne Routledge in the 73rd minute.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played in goal as usual but lost 1-2 to Aston Villa. He saved a PK to keep it as close as it was. The game was Friedel's 108th consecutive appearance in the Premiership!
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - a tough 1-2 home loss to surging Liverpool. Hahnemann went the distance as usual in goal.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - he did not play in his team 3-2 win over Mainz.
-Tim Howard - Everton - two matches this weekend - started on Friday v Fulham and after conceding the first goal on a header by Carlos Bocanegra they stormed back to win 4-1. Then today they played Bolton and drew 1-1 on the road.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - started in the goal and played the whole match as usual but lost yet again, this time to Schalke 2-0.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - 2 weekend matches with Eddie going the 90 in both, winning Saturday 2-1 over Plymouth, and losing 2-1 at Colchester today. The loss kicks them back into the relegation zone, 3 points from safety.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - two games over the weekend saw Brian go the full 90 in each, but they were losing efforts 4-1 at Everton, and 1-3 at home v Man City.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - two games this weekend, Gooch can on as a 84th minute sub Friday to help preserve a 1-2 win at Sheffield United, and then started and played the full match in a 0-0 home draw v Arsenal. He had a great shot on goal that saved by Lehmann.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - still out hurt. His team drew 1-1 with Esbjerg.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - he missed both games this weekend as he finished a 3 match suspension. His team won at 1-2 at Cardiff on Saturday, and beat Ipswich 2-0 today.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - West Ham - came on as a half time sub as his team shocked Arsenal at the Emirates stadium 0-1. It was the first home defeat at the new place for the Arse. It also keeps West Ham just 3 points from a safety spot.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - take on Karlsruhe tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In a shocker, the Haiti and Honduras U17 teams from CONCACAF have qualified for next summers World Youth Cup in South Korea. They beat out the other two teams in their group, Mexico and El Salvador. This is a huge loss for the Mexican youth team who are the defending U17 World Champions. The USA is part of the other CONCACAF group who will play a qualifying tournament in Jamaica later this month. Five teams, Jamaica, USA, Canada, Costa Ric and Trinidad & Tobago, will compete for three spots.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno's Mexican league Jornada 14 Roundup, from LA Soccer News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Apr 10
Cerro Porteno - Deportes Tolima
Real Potosi - Parana
Emelec - Internacional
Apr 11
Cucuta Deportivo - Gremio
Libertad - America
Audax Italiano - Necaxa
Apr 12
Bolivar - Toluca
Nacional - Velez Sarsfield
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo & Caracas have already qualified for the next round with all teams still having at least one more round of the group stage to play and some others have two.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Champions League quarterfinal second legs - Matchday 10 - this week (with first leg scores included):
Tuesday-
Manchester United v Roma (1-2)
Valencia v Chelsea (1-1)
Wednesday-
Bayern v Milan (2-2)
Liverpool v PSV (3-0)
-The Semifinals, Matchday 11 & 12, will be April 24/25 & May 1/2.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A wild weekend in the some of the big leagues of Europe brought all the meaningful title races that much closer.
-In Spain, Barcelona lost to Zaragoza 1-0, Sevilla drew 0-0 with Racing Santander & Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-0 leaving the table like this with 9 games to play:
56 Barca
55 Sevilla
54 Real Madrid
50 Zaragoza
50 Valencia
-England saw leaders Man U lose to Plymouth 2-1 and 2nd place Chelsea win 1-0 over Tottenham. So the top two spots in EPL looks like this with 6 games to play:
78 Manchester United
75 Chelsea
The two teams play each other on Wednesday May 9 at Chelsea. Oooooooh weeeeeeeee.
-The Bundesliga stays tight but unchanged with 6 games to play as Schalke beat Gladbach 2-0, Werder beat Nurnberg 1-0, Stuttgart win at Hamburg 4-2, and Bayern win 2-1 at Hannover.
56 Schalke
54 Werder Bremen
52 Stuttgart
50 Bayern Munich
-In Holland the top 3 got closer together with 3 games left as leader PSV lost 2-1 at NEC Nijmegen, AZ won at NAC Breda 4-1 and Ajax drew 2-2 at RKC Waalwijk. Unfortunately none of those 3 play each other in the final weeks. That would have been even more fun.
68 PSV
66 AZ Alkmaar
66 Ajax
-Both France and Italy have been over for months with Lyon leading by 17 points, and Inter leading by 18 points and have not lost a league game yet this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports on a team struggling badly in La Liga: Athletic Bilbao gets an Easter gift. (They are only 2 points above relegation.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sid Lowe of the Guardian writes about one of my favorite teams to watch this season, Real Zaragoza, who stuck it to Barcelona this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Simon Kuper at the Financial Times writes about sports violence and why football gets all the blame.
MLS Opening Weekend Scorecard:
Colorado 2-1 DC United - Colo goals by Herculez Gomez (huge congrats to him, cuz I pick on him a lot) & Roberto Brown. DC goal by Luciano Emilio. Match reports by John Meyer of the Denver Post & Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Salt Lake 2-2 Dallas - both Salt Lake goals by Jeff Cunningham. Dallas goals by Kenny Cooper & Carlos Ruiz. Match reports from James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News, and Scott Taylor of the Dallas Morning News.
Columbus 0-0 New York - Match reports from Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch & Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Chicago 1-0 New England - Chicago goal by Logan Pause (although it sure looked like a James Riley own goal to me and I was sitting right behind the goal). Match reports from Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune, and Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Chivas USA 2-0 Toronto - Chivas goals by Ante Razov & Sacha Kljesten. Match reports from Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise, and Stephen Brunt of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Houston 0-0 Los Angeles - Match reports from Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle, and Grahame Jones of the Los Angeles Times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The du Nord Player Of The Week - Sacha Kljesten - Chivas USA
-Hhe launched the teams first goal with a great ball over the top to a lightning fast Maykel Galindo who then dropped it off for Ante Ravoz to score his 99th goal. Then with time winding down Kljesten drove up the middle of the field, dipped to his right and unleashed a shot from 20 yards out that beat the Toronto keeper to the back post. As much for his offense though, SK deserves the award for his great positioning on defense, constantly breaking up TFC's flow and then starting the attack the other direction was excellent and creative passing. A star in the making. Probably his best game as a pro.
My notes on the games:
-Both DC & Houston seemed to be suffering from post CONCACAF Champions Cup loss hangovers.
-Pat Onstad was back in the line up for Houston after injuring his calf during the first round CCC match in Costa Rica.
-Jonathan Bornstein made a surprise return to the Chivas USA line up only 6 weeks after knee surgery. He was not great, but he was definitely good. He is an exciting player.
-After seeing Justin Mapp in person again I can attest to the fact that he has clearly taken the next step up the quality level ladder. His speedy dribbling, crossing and shooting all look very dangerous.
-Freddy Adu looked good for RSL with some good moves, and nice quick accurate passing. He drew several ooh's and ah's from the home crowd.
-Jeff Cunningham starts the season wearing shirt #90 to reflect his goal total - then adds 2 more in Week 1.
-Ante Razov scored and sits at 99 career goals. He will become the third MLS player to hit 100, after Jason Kries and Jaime Moreno.
-Luciano Emilio bagged his 4th goal already for DCU. He got 3 in the CCC and now his first in the regular league. He has already earned his salary.
-Kenny Cutler of RSL has some wickedly nasty "I drive a Trans Am and it's 1978" hair.
-Carlos Ruiz of Dallas looks really strong. His layoff for Kenny Cooper's goal was perfect, and he nearly did the same thing with 2 or 3 other teammates who could not find the back of the net. Then he scrapped hard for the goal that stole em a road point.
-Matt Pickens was saved by the bar on a shot by New England's Taylor Twellman, then he came up with three more huge saves on a free kick also by Twellman and 2 good shots by Andy Dorman (the second of which I thought for sure was going in) to iron out the clean sheet.
-Ian Russell who was completely out of MLS all last season, because no teams picked him up, was a starter for the Galaxy in Houston.
-Those new blue kits for the Red Bulls look exactly like the ones New England wears. Awful. Come on, Red Bulls should wear Red! Duh.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis at Soccernet rounds up the first weekends games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chivas USA supporters group Legion 1908 rolled out their new giant flag this weekend. It is most impressive! (Photo from Luis Bueno)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The jokes are going to be out in full force when word spreads around that Claudio Reyna was hurt in his first official game with the Red Bulls. He and winger Dave Richards collided at high speed going for a ball in front of the Columbus goal. Reyna took a knee to the thigh. It looked very painful. Up until that moment he was definitely showing his quality.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This weeks podcast interview from EPL Talk is with the great man behind the most important soccer website in America - Oliver Tse of SoccerTV.com. This is the place you can get the details on every soccer match broadcast on television in our country. I use the site several times per week. It is the only soccer site that I find indispensable. Tse also makes a "major announcement" about the site during this interview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There was an online chat session this morning with DC United President Kevin Payne, hosted by the Washington Post. Check out the Q & A here. (thanks to Jeff for sending this to us)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Soccernet MLS Power Rankings, complete with snarky comments. Excellent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One of the best weblogs on the planet, The DCenters, is 2 years old now! Hooray Beer! Hooray fans! Hooray DC! If yer a DC United fan then this site is a daily must-read. And most MLS fans can enjoy this site everyday too. I do.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Columbus is planning to build a new practice facility and representatives from 17 area communities turned up at the meeting to express their interest. Not bad. From the Columbus Dispatch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Another great article by Mitchell at the Columbus Dispatch about the groundbreaking knee surgery undertaken by Crew midlfielder Duncan Oughton. The doctors had to fully replace knee cartilage so they took some from another part of his body, grew it to the proper size and attached it like new. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of Man United had the same surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News reports on the bitchin "celebrity" VIP entrance that has been built at the Home Deport Center. That way the guys in Smash Mouth & Nickelback, or one of the stars of Scrubs won't have to wait in line with you and me to get in the gates. Maybe I could get one of them to sneak in some contraband for me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A reader named Larry sent me a link to Norm Chads latest anti-MLS column from over the weekend. I considered laying out a heavy slagging commentary, but I realized it just fuels the fire of idiots like Chad. So I am not going to link to him, and I suggest others don't even read his crap or others like him. Turn off the Jim Rome show when it comes on. Fuck Frank de Ford. The faster these jerkoffs go away the better. Let's ignore them from now on. This is the last time you will ever see their names in print at du Nord. Amen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
DCU are chasing Virginia Beach striker Nicholas Adderly of Jamaica. Since VB shockingly folded last week, all the player contracts were voided and the guys are now free agents.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There is a new blog in Portland to celebrate MLS and track a possible new MLS team in that town - its obviously called Portland Timbers MLS. Let's hope they would secure the Timbers name if they get a new team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Carlos Bocanegra scores in two games over the weekend for Fulham! So let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - had a two match weekend starting Friday with a 0-0 draw with Charlton where he did not leave the bench, and today they went to Fulham and won 1-3 with DaMarcus netting the 2nd goal for his team. He also got booked and was then subbed out in the 81st minute. His team are now at 40 points and seemingly safe from relegation troubles.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - take on Karlsruhe tonight.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - two matches this weekend, and two brutal beatings. Carlos went the distance in each as Friday it was a 4-1 loss to Everton, after Carlos scored the first goal his team gave up a quad. Then today they lost 1-3 to Man City with Carlos stunningly scoring again! But all is not well at Fulham as they are suddenly only 4 points above the relegation teams.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - did not play in a 1-1 draw with at home to ADO Den Haag. Is he hurt or his his coach insane?
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - played the full match in the center of defense for a wild 4-6 win at Silkeborg. Doesn't sound like too good of a defensive game, but 3 points is 3 points.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played 90 at right back in this teams 1-2 home loss to Bayern Munich.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - two weekend matches in which Jay played the entire game at centerback. They got routed 4-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, then turned the tables with a nice 4-2 win over Portsmouth today.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - two weekend losses, to Everton 4-1 in which he was an unused sub, and today 1-3 to Man City where he replaced Wayne Routledge in the 73rd minute.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played in goal as usual but lost 1-2 to Aston Villa. He saved a PK to keep it as close as it was. The game was Friedel's 108th consecutive appearance in the Premiership!
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - a tough 1-2 home loss to surging Liverpool. Hahnemann went the distance as usual in goal.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - he did not play in his team 3-2 win over Mainz.
-Tim Howard - Everton - two matches this weekend - started on Friday v Fulham and after conceding the first goal on a header by Carlos Bocanegra they stormed back to win 4-1. Then today they played Bolton and drew 1-1 on the road.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - started in the goal and played the whole match as usual but lost yet again, this time to Schalke 2-0.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - 2 weekend matches with Eddie going the 90 in both, winning Saturday 2-1 over Plymouth, and losing 2-1 at Colchester today. The loss kicks them back into the relegation zone, 3 points from safety.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - two games over the weekend saw Brian go the full 90 in each, but they were losing efforts 4-1 at Everton, and 1-3 at home v Man City.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - two games this weekend, Gooch can on as a 84th minute sub Friday to help preserve a 1-2 win at Sheffield United, and then started and played the full match in a 0-0 home draw v Arsenal. He had a great shot on goal that saved by Lehmann.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - still out hurt. His team drew 1-1 with Esbjerg.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - he missed both games this weekend as he finished a 3 match suspension. His team won at 1-2 at Cardiff on Saturday, and beat Ipswich 2-0 today.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - West Ham - came on as a half time sub as his team shocked Arsenal at the Emirates stadium 0-1. It was the first home defeat at the new place for the Arse. It also keeps West Ham just 3 points from a safety spot.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - take on Karlsruhe tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In a shocker, the Haiti and Honduras U17 teams from CONCACAF have qualified for next summers World Youth Cup in South Korea. They beat out the other two teams in their group, Mexico and El Salvador. This is a huge loss for the Mexican youth team who are the defending U17 World Champions. The USA is part of the other CONCACAF group who will play a qualifying tournament in Jamaica later this month. Five teams, Jamaica, USA, Canada, Costa Ric and Trinidad & Tobago, will compete for three spots.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luis Bueno's Mexican league Jornada 14 Roundup, from LA Soccer News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Apr 10
Cerro Porteno - Deportes Tolima
Real Potosi - Parana
Emelec - Internacional
Apr 11
Cucuta Deportivo - Gremio
Libertad - America
Audax Italiano - Necaxa
Apr 12
Bolivar - Toluca
Nacional - Velez Sarsfield
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo & Caracas have already qualified for the next round with all teams still having at least one more round of the group stage to play and some others have two.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Champions League quarterfinal second legs - Matchday 10 - this week (with first leg scores included):
Tuesday-
Manchester United v Roma (1-2)
Valencia v Chelsea (1-1)
Wednesday-
Bayern v Milan (2-2)
Liverpool v PSV (3-0)
-The Semifinals, Matchday 11 & 12, will be April 24/25 & May 1/2.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A wild weekend in the some of the big leagues of Europe brought all the meaningful title races that much closer.
-In Spain, Barcelona lost to Zaragoza 1-0, Sevilla drew 0-0 with Racing Santander & Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-0 leaving the table like this with 9 games to play:
56 Barca
55 Sevilla
54 Real Madrid
50 Zaragoza
50 Valencia
-England saw leaders Man U lose to Plymouth 2-1 and 2nd place Chelsea win 1-0 over Tottenham. So the top two spots in EPL looks like this with 6 games to play:
78 Manchester United
75 Chelsea
The two teams play each other on Wednesday May 9 at Chelsea. Oooooooh weeeeeeeee.
-The Bundesliga stays tight but unchanged with 6 games to play as Schalke beat Gladbach 2-0, Werder beat Nurnberg 1-0, Stuttgart win at Hamburg 4-2, and Bayern win 2-1 at Hannover.
56 Schalke
54 Werder Bremen
52 Stuttgart
50 Bayern Munich
-In Holland the top 3 got closer together with 3 games left as leader PSV lost 2-1 at NEC Nijmegen, AZ won at NAC Breda 4-1 and Ajax drew 2-2 at RKC Waalwijk. Unfortunately none of those 3 play each other in the final weeks. That would have been even more fun.
68 PSV
66 AZ Alkmaar
66 Ajax
-Both France and Italy have been over for months with Lyon leading by 17 points, and Inter leading by 18 points and have not lost a league game yet this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports on a team struggling badly in La Liga: Athletic Bilbao gets an Easter gift. (They are only 2 points above relegation.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sid Lowe of the Guardian writes about one of my favorite teams to watch this season, Real Zaragoza, who stuck it to Barcelona this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Simon Kuper at the Financial Times writes about sports violence and why football gets all the blame.
posted by brucio at 16:42
4 Comments:
so, what's ollie's "major announcement"?
Brucio,
Sometimes you say really irrational things.
Why are you blaming former President Bush for the Dynamo only having 17,000 at their Opening Game ?
That doesn't even make sense in the context of a 'joke.'
Yeah, I think the nonsensical nature of the statement was the point. As in, it doesn't make any sense that the defending champs couldn't get 17K to their first game after the championship. So why not arbitrary reason X.
think gibberish my friends
gibberish
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