Fa Fa Fa Fa, Fa Fa, Fa Fa, News

You really need to listen to this Bob Bradley press conference from yesterday, seriously, cuz he says some fantastic things that I know will not make the newspapers and web sites. At one point Gulati explains that these philosophies are what earned him the job. The really good stuff never does. That's why I have become addicted to listening to these things.
-Paul Kennedy at Soccer America writes about Bradley's team building ideas. I am glad to see some press picking up on what he had to say.
-Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer on Bradley's career so far.
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
-Ronald Blum of the Associated Press.
-Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
-Robert Wagman at Soccer Times.
-USA & LA star striker Landon Donovan talks to Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News about the hiring.
-USA & Watford defender Jay DeMerit tells Yanks Abroad that Bradley is the right man for the job.
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MLS schedule this week (all times central):
-Wed May 16
Toronto 1-0 Houston - goal by scrappy little Andy Welsh. He didn't do much right all night, except he got his totally unmarked shoulder to a perfect Ronnie O'Brien cross and it was lights out.
Match report by Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun.
Match report by Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star.
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Fan analysis from the Toronto Star.
-Thur May 17
Chicago v Dallas - 7pm - ESPN2
-Sat May 19
Toronto v DC - 2:30pm - Direct Kick
New York v Columbus - 6:30pm - Direct Kick
Houston v New England - 7:30pm - FSC
Colorado v Kansas City - 8pm - HDNet
-Sun May 18
Chivas v LA - 4pm - Telefutura
Dallas v Salt Lake - 6pm - Direct Kick
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet previews tonight's MLS match between Chicago & Dallas.
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Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times previews tonight's Chic v Dal game.
-Chris Rolfe looks doubtful to play for Chicago due to a sprained ankle.
-Pascal Bedrossian could get his first start for the Fire tonight in the midfield.
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My game notes from Tor v Hou:
-It looked like they got about 13-14,000 out for a Wednesday night in the rain. Not bad at all. About double most any other MLS city and about the same as DCU would draw.
-After Toronto scored they played some serious bunker ball. How many Houston shots hit a defender and bounded away harmlessly? A lot.
-Toronto's first clean sheet. Welcome to the league.
-Houston had no real imagination against that bunker.
-Maurice Edu & Carl Robinson neutralized Dwayne De Rosario & Ricardo Clarke.
-New Houston forward Jopseph Ngwenya had two great chances in alone on Sutton, but didn't put either one on net. Very poor. At least make the keeper save the ball on a wet night.
-Going back to last weekends Tor v Chicago game - even though the Toronto crowd is good and loud, they can't sing together like the Chicago fans can. Section 8 sounded great on the road. I was told 200 fans traveled north for that one, and their coordination blew TO fans out of the stadium.
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Two Chicago Fire related notes from Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his Red Card blog - 1. Diego Gutierrez WAS bitten by Danny Dichio last weekend, and 2. Tony Sanneh is holding talks with DC United about joining the team.
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How has Toronto's Danny Dichio avoided further suspension after we all saw him BITE Diego Gutierrez? How? And how did Chicago's Matt Pickens not get a suspension for kicking Dichio to start the whole rumble? How? Can someone explain this to me?
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle talks about how important a downtown stadium would be in Houston, after he has been to Toronto twice. Good story.
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The Dallas Morning News says that things are getting colder at FCD for Carlos Ruiz. Not good news. But coach Steve Morrow insists that there is no problem. Morrow has to, that way Ruiz is still worth something when they trade him.
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Tobias Xavier Lopez with the story of Dallas's new Argentine midfielder Pablo Richetti. Nice story.
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LA Soccer News has a Q & A with Galaxy midfielder Santino Quaranta.
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Long-time & multi-team MLS defender Richie Kotschau is training with Salt Lake.
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du Nord MLS Rookie Of The Year watch (alpha):
Andrew Boyens - Tor
Adam Cristman - NE
Maurice Edu - Tor
Robbie Findley - LA
Ty Harden - LA
Michael Harrington - KC
Aaron Hohlbein - KC
Guy-Roland Kpene - DC
Dane Richards - NY
Wells Thompson - NE
(Am I missing anyone?)
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Ian Plenderleith at the US Soccer Players Assoc looks at the success in Toronto with the new stadium and their fans etc. He calls it un-American. Hahahahahaha. Good one!
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DJ Walker's latest Stream Of Consciousness: KC Road Trip Edition - And I got a little misty eyed when I saw that I was mentioned in the story!
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Hooray Beer! Boo Large Headed Friend!
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Ryan Hunt at Sports Illustrated with his latest MLS notes, musings and power rankings.
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Chivas USA has announced their front of shirt sponsor. It's Mexican paint company Comex. Here's a picture.
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The New England Rev's homepage has an A-Z questionnaire with defender James Riley. Kinda fluffy.
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You need to go to Marc Connolly's blog and scroll down to the entry called "Cab Ride Tales" (sorry no direct links). Great story about the '54 World Cup.
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The newest USL First Division Power Rankings by Jesse Erdmann are now posted at Blue Sky Soccer.
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The USL now has a section where you can basically design your own team shirts. Check it out now!
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The USA U17's have been drawn into group E for the U17 World Cup late summer in South Korea. They will play:
-Aug 20 in Changwon v Tajikistan
-Aug 23 in Changwon v Tunisia
-Aug 26 in Cheonan v Belgium
-See all of the FIFA U17 World Cup details here.
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Yanks Abroad says USA & Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann will not take part in either the Gold Cup or Copa America. The decision was made BEFORE he broke his hand last weekend.
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The Reading Evening Post also talks to Hahnemann and we get the grim details about the broken bones. Not good.
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YA has an interview with American defender Zak Whitbread of Millwall.
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Word from the Craven Cottage Newsround is that Fulham has released Canadian striker Tomas Radzinski. This could be great news for fans of Toronto FC. (thank to BQ for the link)
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This just in: Chelsea v Club America at Stanford Stadium on July 14.
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Mexican Clausura Semifinals:
Thur May 17 - first leg
-Cruz Azul v Pachuca - 6pm
-America v Guadalajara - 8:30pm
Sun May 20 - second leg
-Guadalajara v America - 6pm
-Pachuca v Cruz Azul - 8pm
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Copa Libertadores - Quarterfinals - first leg matches:
Tue May 15
Cucuta Deportivo 2-0 Nacional
Wed May 16
Defensor Sporting 2-0 Gremio
America 0-0 Santos
-Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
Thur May 17
Boca Juniors v Libertad
-Second leg matches:
Tue May 22
Nacional v Cucucat Deportivo (0-2)
Wed May 23
Gremio v Defensor Sporting (0-2)
Santos v America (0-0)
Thur May 24
Libertad v Boca Juniors
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English Championship Division promotion playoffs first round second leg games. One of these 4 will get promoted (with first leg scores included):
Tue May 15
-Derby 2-3 Southampton - tied 4-4 on aggregate, with Derby winning 4-3 on PK's.
Wed May 16
-West Bromich Albion 1-0 Wolverhampton - West Brom win 4-2 on aggregate.
-The final round will be Derby v West Brom on Monday May 28, with the winner going up to the Premiership.
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UEFA Cup final:
Sevilla 2-2 Espanyol - Sevilla took the lead twice only to have Espanyol come back, but finally Sevilla grabbed the title by winning 3-1 on PK's after extra time.
-Sev goals by Adriano Correia & Frederic Kanoute. Esp goals by Albert Riera & Jonatas.
-Esp played with 10 men from the 68th minute on, after Moises Hurtado got his second yellow.
-The hero was Sev keeper Andres Palop who saved 3(!!) penalty kicks. Wow! 3!!!! Amazing.
Match report from UEFA.com.
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The Italian Cup Final, second leg match (with first leg score included):
Thurs May 17
Inter v Roma (2-6)
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Didier Drogba was the EPL Golden Boot winner for most goals scored this season. Here are the top three:
20 Didier Drogba - Chelsea
18 Benni McCarthy - Blackburn
17 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
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Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated with his latest World Power Rankings.
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Lastly, you need to listen to this weeks (well, every week actually) edition of the EPL Talk podcast. They always have great guests. This week its with a guy named Peter who does an internet radio show called Divers & Cheats. Peter has a strong love of the English game, even though he is an American, but what he really searches for is the fringes of football from all around the world. He likes the odd story just like I do. And again, EPL Talk Podcast is excellent listening every week.