I Belong To Jack Sparrow News

MLS players will NOT play for the USA this weekend v China, except those from Chivas USA who have the weekend off from league action. The Euro line up will be augmented with other Euro based Americans not on the Gold Cup roster.
-Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News says Lee Nguyen & Kamani Hill are two of the young foreign based Americans brought in to face China. Hill is at Wolfsburg & Nguyen is at PSV. -The other 4 are Charlie Davies of Hammarby, and 3 Chivas USA players - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch & Ante Razov. (see the full roster below)

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The USA announced two European friendly's for October, but to say the games are underwhelming is an understatement. They play the non-country of Catalonia in Barcelona on Oct 14, and the neutral-country of Switzerland on October 17. I guess the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein & Maldives were sadly all booked. Yes, yes, yes I know Switzerland are rated above our team, but come on!

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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his Red Card blog reports that Chilean legend Marcelo Salas will be in Chicago training with the Fire this week. Could he sign with them?? They need the experience. But I am afraid he is past he "Sell By" date. He was released from his previous club Universidad in Chile back in December. It's not a good sign when your old club in your native country cuts you.


MLS scores from this past weekend:
-New England 3-4 Kansas City - NE goals by Steve Ralston, Taylor Twellman & Shalrie Joseph. KC goals by Davy Arnaud & 3 from Eddie Johnson.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report from the Boston Herald.
Match report from the Kansas City Star.
Post-game story from Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe on the KC offense, and NE defense.
-Columbus 2-2 Toronto - Both Colu goals by Andy Herron. Tor goals by Danny Dichio & Jim Brennan.
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
-DC 2-1 Houston - DC goals by Christian Gomez & Ben Olsen. Hou goal by Dwayne De Rosario
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game notes and quotes from Steven Goff at the Soccer Insider blog.
-Colorado 1-0 Los Angeles - goal by Herculez Gomez.
Match report by Mike Chambers of the Denver Post.
Post-game notes from George Tanner at FC Rocky from the Rocky Mountain News.
-Chivas 2-0 Dallas - goals by Maykel Galindo & Ante Razov.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report from the LA Daily News.
Match report by Joel Aceves of Los Angeles Soccer News
-Chicago 0-0 Salt Lake
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report from Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Match report from the Deseret Morning News.
Match report from the Salt Lake Tribune.
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du Nord's MLS Coaching Hot Seat - I think it's causing some pretty bad blisters thsi week:
1. Dave Sarachan - Chicago
2. Frank Yallop - LA
3. Sigi Schmid - Columbus
4. Dominic Kinnear - Houston
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Not sure if this is a another hater converted, or just convinced, but we will take it any way it happens. A columnist from the Denver Post raves about the Big Dick. Excellent. (thanks to Luke for sending me this)
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Andy Herron of Columbus injured his quad muscle in the match v Toronto and was subbed out in the 38th minute, after scoring his two goals. He was also yellow carded for taking his shirt off.
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David Beckham has been called in to the England squad this week for the Euro qualifiers v Estonia on June 6, and the friendly v Brazil on June 1.
-So what does this mean for his games with the Los Angeles Galaxy should he be successful with England this week? Lot of scheduling chaos, headaches and broken promises for three. But that is the deal, and I say good. LA has put all their eggs in one basket while at the same time declaring they have not. We can see through that one can't we? From Soccernet. (thanks to BQ for the story link)
-Sid Lowe of the Guardian calls Beckham's journey to MLS "semi-retirement". Thanks Sid, glad you have checked things out before opening your mouth. Not that I am so deluded that I think MLS is top flight, but its a lot better than people like Lowe think it is. Shame on him. That is not how a journalist acts. Or is it?
-Also from LA, Billy Witz of the Daily Breeze looks at the impact of Beckham's recall to England.
-Grant Wahl of Sport Illustrated goes to Madrid to look first hand at the Beckham led resurgence of Real Madrid.
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Mexican legend Ramon Ramirez officially retired from Chivas USA on Saturday. He has missed the last season and a half with a knee injury.
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The Chicago Tribune with a feature story anticipating the arrival in their city of Temoc Blanco.
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Chicago's Daily Southtown with an article on the Fire's French forward Pascal Bedrossian.
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The Salt Lake Tribune talks to new RSL forward Alecko Eskandarian who is feeling some pressure trying to replace Jeff Cunningham in the lineup.
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Steve Goff at the Washington Post with an article on DC United player Marc Burch who is making the transition from offense to defense.
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New England had won a couple of games recently without playing very well, but it caught up to them this past weekend when KC stunned them by coming from behind by 2 goals to win. The Boston Herald looks at what the Rev's need to do to get it going in the right direction.
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Pete Gratoff of the Kansas City Star with a story on some of the very lowest paid KC Wizards players.
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The Toronto Sun looks at TFC's new forward pairing of Danny Dichio and Jeff Cunningham. I am gonna call em "Mutt & Jeff".
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald News writes about local Jersey boy Chris Karcz and his chances of sticking with the New York Red Bulls.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says the Dynamo now must look deep to find answers after a horrible start to this season.
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Fallas also looks at the revived careers of Blanco & Beckham as they get closer to playing in MLS.
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Jeff Bradley at MLSnet with his First XI: It Only Takes One
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Steve Davis Soccernet wraps up the weekends MLS action.
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Soccernet's MLS Power Rankings.
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Marc Connolly & Ian Plenderleith of the US Soccer Players Assoc discuss the past weekend's MLS action and latest news.
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Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet watches Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, then begs MLS to go sign him. Are their any soccer writers who have not written about MLS needing Zidane left?
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Don't forget: Sat Jun 2 - USA v China - live at 7pm on ESPN2 from San Jose CA
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US Soccer with video from the first day of this training camp.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated with his look at the USA hiring of Bob Bradley. And Lalas digs out a gem of a fact: No team has ever won a World Cup with a foreign coach!
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The USA roster to meet China:
G:
Brad Guzan - Chivas USA
Tim Howard - Everton
Kasey Keller
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA\
Jay DeMerit - Watford
Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege
Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday
Jonathan Spector - West Ham
M:
DaMarcus Beasley - PSV
Michael Bradley - Heerenveen
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Benny Feilhaber - Hamburg
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Jesse Marsch - Chivas
Lee Nguyen - PSV
F:
Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg
Ante Razov - Chivas USA
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And the China roster to meet the USA:
G:
Zong Lei (Changchun)
Yang Jun (Tianjin)
D:
Xu Yunlong (Beijing)
Zhang Shuai (Beijing)
Zhang Baofeng (Changchun)
Chen Dong (Dalian)
Zhai Yanpeng (Dalian)
Zhang Yaokun (Dalian)
Ji Mingyi (Dalian)
Xin Feng (Shenzhen)
Sun Xiang (no team)
M:
Wang Dong (Changchun)
Du Zhenyu (Changchun)
Zhao Xuri (Dalian)
Cao Yang (Tianjin)
Hao Junmin (Tianjin)
Zheng Bin (Wuhan)
Shao Jiayi (Energie Cottbus)
Li Tie (no team)
F:
Du Wenhui (Beijing)
Wang Peng (Dalian)
Qu Bo (Qingdao)
Dong Fangzhuo (Manchester United)
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times with an article on Chivas USA keeper Brad Guzan who is going to be a part of the USA Gold Cup squad.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger examines USA coach Bob Bradley's relationship with his son Michael who has been named to the Gold Cup roster. Is it nepotism? Some are saying YES quite loudly. I think they are fools cuz the kid has the goods and has already shown it plenty.
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Fox Soccer Channel will have a USA Gold Cup preview showing coming up. Details when they emerge.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog has info, but no real details, on US Soccer's new plan to increase the quality of youth soccer at the highest levels in America. The two biggest ideas are extending the US Soccer academy to younger players, and creating a national youth league.
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USA U20's with 2 friendly's v Canada:
-June 3 in Ottawa
-June 6 in Kingston Ontario
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A couple of nice rumors for Americans in Europe:
-Frank Simek going from Sheffield Wednesday to Everton
-DaMarcus Beasley going from PSV to Rangers.
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USL First Division scores from this past weekend:
Montreal 1-0 Miami
Portland 2-0 California
Vancouver 0-1 Carolina
Charleston 2-0 Atlanta
Minnesota 1-2 Puerto Rico
California 1-2 Seattle
Rochester 2-0 Miami
Portland 0-0 Carolina
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Vancouver had their 16 game unbeaten streak ended by unheralded newcomers Carolina, at home even! Wow!
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My Thunder started their match strong Saturday, but fell apart after taking a 1-0 lead only to lose in the dying minutes 1-2. I would call the effort piss poor. Sad. I really have hopes that this thing gets on track.
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USL 1D Standings:
17 Vancouver
14 Montreal
13 Carolina
12 Rochester
12 Seattle
11 Portland
11 Atlanta
9 Miami
9 Puerto Rico
8 Charleston
5 Minnesota
1 California
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Mexican Clausura Final - Pachuca are the Champions!
-Pachuca beat America 3-2 on aggregate.
-All 5 goals in the final series were scored by 2 players: Juan Carlos Cacho (3) for los Tuzos, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco (2) for los Aguilas.
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Luis Bueno at the Press Enterprise raves about the Champs, Pachuuuuuca! Los Grandes Tuzos!
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Canada's roster for the Gold Cup:
G:
Greg Sutton (Toronto FC)
Joshua Wagenaar (ADO Den Haag)
D:
Adam Braz (Toronto FC)
Marco Reda (Toronto FC)
Andrew Hainault (FK Siad Most)
Gabriel Gervais (Montreal Impact)
Paul Stalteri (Tottenham Hotspur)
M:
Ante Jazic (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Richard Hastings (Inverness CT)
Atiba Hutchinson (FC Kobenhavn)
Patrice Bernier (Tromso I.L.)
Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna)
Kevin Harmse (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Issey Nakajima-Farran (FC Vejle Boldklub)
Antonio Ribeiro (Montreal Impact)
F:
Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo)
Rob Friend (Heerenveen)
Ali Gerba (FC Goteborg)
Iain Hume (Leicester City)
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Copa Libertadores - Semifinals scores and matches:
Wed May 30
Gremio v Santos
Thur May 31
Cucuta v Boca Juniors
Wed June 6
Santos v Gremio
Thur June 7
Boca Juniors v Cucuta
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The German Cup goes to Nurmberg 3-2 over Stuttgart in extra time!
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One big Euro league race left to settle with two teams being eliminated from contention this weekend, and another goes to the end to decide who got relegated:
-La Liga-
(2 left to play in Spain)
Matches:
Real Madrid 3-1 Deportivo La Coruna
Barcelona 1-0 Getafe
Sevilla 3-1 Zaragoza
Valenica 2-3 Villarreal
Standings:
72 Real Madrid
72 Barcelona
70 Sevilla
No games in Spain this coming weekend due to international matches like Euro 08 qualifiers etc.
-Serie A-
THE END for 06/07
Scores:
Ascoli 2-1 Cagliari
Catania 2-0 Chievo
Inter 3-0 Torino
Livorno 4-2 Atalanta
Parma 3-1 Empoli
Reggina 2-0 Milan
Siena 2-1 Lazio
-8 teams were left fighting over 1 relegation spot, here is how it ended:
43 Livorno -13 goal differential
42 Parma -15 gd
41 Catania -22 gd
40 Reginna +2 gd
40 Siena -10 gd
40 Cagliari -11 gd
40 Torino -20 gd
39 Chievo -10 gd
-Relegated: So the Flying Donkey's of Chievo go down along with Messina & Ascoli.
-Inter won the league by 22 points, collecting 97 of a possible 114. Amazing. They finished the season with just 2 losses
-Roma, Lazio and Milan join Inter in next seasons Champions League.
-Fiorentina, Palermo & Empoli will play in the UEFA Cup next season.
-Juventus & Genoa have already been promoted to Serie A for next season. Leaving Napoli, Piacenza, Rimini, Mantova, Brescia, Bologna, Lecce & Albinoleffe fighting over the last spot with 4 matches to play.
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Didier Deschamps has resigned as coach of Juventus. He is expected to replace Gerard Houllier at Lyon. And Marcello Lippi is rumored to return to Juve. While Houllier is rumored to be headed to ????, well, no one really knows yet.
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The top 3 goal scorers in Serie A this season - Il Capocannoniere:
26 Francesco Totti - Roma
20 Cristiano Lucarelli - Livorno
18 Ronaldo Bianchi - Reggina
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The top goal scorer in Portugal was Liedson Muniz of Sporting with 15.
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FIFA has just concluded its annual conference and set out several new ideas and declarations. Read them here. A big one seems to be that official international games will no longer be allowed to be played above 8200 feet in altitude due to health risks. This affects very few places, but the ones being banned are not happy about it. An AP reporr on the altitude ban story from the Lincoln Nebraska Journal Star - why not? (thanks to Joe J for this one)
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But Rob Hughes at the International Herald Tribune becomes the latest to call FIFA on some of their sham business practices. FIFA can be an ugly greedy bunch and I am glad more journalists are stepping up to call it. At times FIFA gets it 100% right, then they manage to turn right around and get it all wrong. The hypocrisy is weird at best.
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Derby County beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the English Championship Division promotion playoffs final to become the 3rd team promoted to the Premiership for next season.
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This weeks interview on EPL talk is with former player Rodney Marsh. He played for Tampa Bay Rowdies, Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City and Fulham. Listen or download here.
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Phil Ball at Soccernet sees 3 horses coming down the stretch together in La Liga, yet there are no games next weekend.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Venezuela & Mallorca star midfielder Juan Arango.
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Ronaldinho was red carded in Barca's 1-0 win over Getafe after he kicked defender David Belenguer. He only got a one game suspension though. So he will play in the last of their two remaining league games.
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Ireland and Bolivia played to a 1-1 draw on Saturday in Boston. Jaime Moreno of DC United played the first half for Bolivia.
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Sparta Prague have won the Czech league title.
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The Brazilian midfielder Diego of Werder Bremen was voted Bundesliga Player Of The Year.
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Lastly, the Times of London hired some scientists to do some sort of analysis of every player in the English Premiership this season and then rank them. Here are the results.
-How did some of our Americans rank? Tim Howard ranked #7 over all and tops at Everton. Brad Friedel was second best at Blackburn at #14. Carlos Bocanegra was the top rated Fulham player at #40. Marcus Hahneman was tops at Reading at #26. DaMarcus Beasley ranked 3rd best at Man City. Oguchi Onyewu was 5th best at Newcastle, maybe showing just how bad they were this season. But Brian McBride ranked very poorly in this system #374 overall.
-Here is the rankings Team Of The Year. And I think this is probably about the best list I have seen yet (I honestly don't know if Primus belongs on this list or not):
G:
Petr Cech Chelsea
D:
Nemanja Vidic - Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United
Ricardo Carvalho - Chelsea
Linvoy Primus - Portsmouth
M
Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
Frank Lampard - Chelsea
Gilberto Silva - Arsenal
Paul Scholes - Manchester United
F
Benny McCarthy - Blackburn Rovers
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United