Tres Wolfian Diet News

Diego Maradona is staying at the same hotel as Team USA. I bet that makes Diego's buddy Hugo a little anxious.


La Copa America:

USA 1-4 Argentina USA goals by Eddie Johnson. Arg goals by Hernan Crespo(2), Pablo Aimar & Carlos Tevez.
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report from Yanks Abroad.
Match report and player ratings by Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
Post-game quote sheet from US Soccer.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post-game analysis by Jen Chang of Soccernet.
Post-game notes by Bernardo Fallas on his Soccer y Futbol blog.
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My thoughts on USA v Argentina:
-The ass kicking that most had predicted was handed out last night. Argentina 4-1 USA. Nothing too surprising. They brought the big guns, we brought a couple of cap pistols. Oof.
-It's odd how I don't find myself too upset about this game, and feel like it means nothing in the big picture.
-Coach Bob Bradley lost for the first time in his 12th game in charge of the USA. His record is now 10-1-1.
-This loss shows again why Team USA needs to play A LOT MORE games out side the cozy confines of the United States.
-Argentina's three subs - Aimar, Tevez & Gago are probably all better than any one the USA has ever produced.
-Ben Olsen was the team last night. The game was over the second he left the field. Many people have been writing that he was tired. But the way he sprinted off the field he didn't look like a tired guy to me.
-It only took 3 minutes for Arg to exploit Olsen's absence and torch the USA for the game winner.
-I am wondering if Kasey Keller is actually 100% healthy. He seems really slow and I would bet that the hip injury that knocked him out of Gladbach is still bothering him.
-The first Arg goal was quite brilliant - all the US players expected a strike on goal from the free kick and pushed up as high as they could, so Riquelme just chipped it over everyone and let it drop into the mess in front of Keller. The Crespo did what he always does. Buries it.
-During the game I could not figure out who the USA captain was. Then I woke up this morning and said to myself, "It must have been Kasey Keller." I just checked and he was.
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du Nord Three Stars of the Game
3. Hernan Crespo - The greatest goal poacher in the world bagged two more.
2. Juan Roman Riquelme – People always pick on this dude and claim he is slow and doing nothing on the field. Well last night all he did was set up 3 of Argentina's 4 goals.
1. Ben Olsen - The only guy from the USA to give it his all and have his all amount to something strong. 1-1 with Captain Caveman on the field, but when he came off the USA got plundered.
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Official Team USA blog.
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Game photos from US Soccer.
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The New York Times with a blog covering Copa America - Goal.
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Group stage match schedule - all matches shown live on GolTV:
Tue Jun 26
-Uruguay 0-3 Peru
-Venezuela 2-2 Bolivia
Wed Jun 27
-Ecuador 2-3 Chile
-Brazil 0-2 Mexico
Thu Jun 28
-Paraguay 5-0 Colombia
-Argentina 4-1 USA
Sat Jun 30
-Bolivia v Uruguay
-Venezuela v Peru
Sun Jul 1
-Brazil v Chile
-Mexico V Ecuador
Mon Jul 2
-USA v Paraguay
-Argentina v Colombia
Tue Jul 3
-Peru v Bolivia
-Venezuela v Uruguay
Wed Jul 4
-Mexico v Chile
-Brazil v Ecuador
Thu Jul 5
-Colombia v USA
-Argentina v Paraguay
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Soccernet with a story on the miserable start to Copa America for Brazil.
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The anti-Chavez people of Venezuela are being heard. From the AP.
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MLS matches & scores this week:
Thu Jun 28
-DC 4-1 Colorado - DC goals by Christian Gomez, Nicholas Addlery, Fred & Luciano Emilio. Colo goal by Jacob Peterson.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Sat Jun 30
-Dallas v Houston - 5pm central on FSC
-Columbus v New York - 7pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
-Chivas v New England - 9:30pm central on Direct Kick
Sun Jul 1
-Chicago v Colorado - 6pm central on Direct Kick
-Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm central on Direct Kick
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Steven Goff on his Soccer Insider blog is reporting that DC & Colorado are swapping defenders with Facundo Erpen heading to Denver and Greg Vanney going to the Capital city.
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John Connolly of the Boston Herald talks to New England's Steve Ralston & Michael Parkhurst who have just returned from the Gold Cup.
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Buzz Carrick at 3rd Degree with his weekly practice session commentary on FC Dallas.
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Dylan Butler of Big Apple Soccer on the Red Bulls acquisition of left back Kevin Goldthwaite.
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Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch says you can take Crew assistant coach Robert Warczyka off the list of potential disgruntled Eastern Division assistant coach that Soccer America reported on early this week. du Nord made a list of all of them to try and figure out who it might be. Here is Hunter's findings: Soccer America reports there is an assistant coach in MLS' Eastern Conference who is unhappy, which is like saying there is a player on the Indians who would like to play more. After all, there are only seven teams in the conference. So when Crew assistant Robert Warzycha was asked whether he was the disgruntled one, he had a good laugh. "No, it's not me," he said. "(Crew coach) Sigi (Schmid) asked me the same thing."
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Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer does a Q & A with Steven Goff of the Washington Post. Goff is the best soccer regular writer we have today.
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USL First Division matches & scores this weekend:
Thu Jun 28
California 0-1 Portland
Seattle 1-0 Miami
Fri Jun 29
Montreal v Puerto Rico
Rochester v Atlanta - live at 7pm central on FSC
Sat Jun 30
Charleston v Vancouver
Portland v Miami
Sun Jul 1
Montreal v California
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USL 1D Standings:
25 Vancouver
24 Rochester
22 Seattle
20 Montreal
19 Seattle
18 Portland
18 Charleston
17 Carolina
15 Puerto Rico
14 Miami
13 Atlanta
11 Minnesota
8 California
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Jesse Erdmann at Blue Sky Soccer with this weeks USL First Division Power Rankings.
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American defender Jay DeMerit of Watford posts Part 1 of a road trip story on Soccernet.
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The U20 World Cup kicks off this weekend - the group stage games are:
(All games live on ESPNU)
-Sat Jun 30 v South Korea - 3:45pm central at Olympic Stadium in Montreal
-Tue Jul 3 v Poland - 3:45pm central at Olympic Stadium in Montreal
-Fri Jul 6 v Brazil - 6:30pm central at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa
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James Edwards at the Deseret Morning News says it's now time for Freddy Adu to make his mark.
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FIFA.com with an article on USA midfielder Michael Bradley.
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USA U20 team blog.
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FIFA U20 World Cup details.
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The Times of London with a story on new Fulham coach Lawrie Sanchez and his rebuilding of the team.
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It looks like the Liverpeople have paid an extraordinary amount to sign Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres. I have a bad feeling about this deal.

Gold & Golder Shades Of Gold News

One of du Nord's favorite soccer writers is Andrea Canales. She had what sounds like an awful run in with a player last weekend. Marcos Gonzalez of Columbus was the culprit. Gonzalez later spoke to the Columbus Dispatch about what happened. I just want to go on record fully supporting Canales and hoping women get more and more chances to shine in sports and journalism, cuz it helps us all. And if I ever come across Gonzalez I will make sure to let him know I think he was out of line.


Ze Copa America:

It's been all action so far. Not a single dull game of the four. And Mexico beating Brazil, what can you say. The two Mexi goals were stunning. But we will always wonder how the game would have turned out if the Brazilian goal in the 7th minute had counted instead of wrongly being called offside. We will never know. Sometimes you gotta be good AND lucky to win. And also, Brazil were terrible. Just terrible.
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated on Mexico's "tremendous" victory.
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In his press conference on Tuesday USA coach Bob Bradley was asked who would be playing at right back against Argentina and he basically said it would be one of the two right backs on the roster - Marvell Wynne or Drew Moor. One of them is in for a serious debut tonight.
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Game preview from US Soccer.
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More official photos from US Soccer in Venezuela.
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And a new video at Studio 90 from today (click on June 28).
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times talks to USA keeper Kasey Keller about where he is headed next in his club career. I have a feeling Keller is gonna have to stand on his head and give a Brazil 97 performance to the USA tonight.
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The official FC Dallas blog has an email from their defender Drew Moor down in Argentina.
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Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet previews USA v Argentina - which goes down tonight.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with a story on Chicago & USA midfielder Justin Mapp.
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Pete Gratoff of the KC Star with a story on Kansas City & USA defender Jimmy Conrad.
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The LA Soccer News does a Q & A with Colorado & USA striker Herculez Gomez about the Copa.
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Luis Bueno at LASN talks to Landon Donovan about how he thinks the USA will handle Copa America.
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Bueno also talks to the 3 Chivas USA players on the USA Copa roster - Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljesten & Jonathan Bornstein. From MLSnet.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle previews Team USA.
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Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune with his Copa preview.
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Former USA coach Bruce Arena tells the Sports Ticker that he is not down with the Copa America.
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US Soccer has a podcast from players Sacha Kljesten & Benny Feilhaber, the clown princes of Team USA.
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Official Team USA blog.
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The New York Times with a blog covering Copa America - Goal.
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Group stage match schedule - all matches shown live on GolTV:
Tue Jun 26
-Uruguay 0-3 Peru
-Venezuela 2-2 Bolivia
Wed Jun 27
-Ecuador 2-3 Chile
-Brazil 0-2 Mexico
Thu Jun 28
-Paraguay v Colombia
-Argentina v USA
Sat Jun 30
-Bolivia v Uruguay
-Venezuela v Peru
Sun Jul 1
-Brazil v Chile
-Mexico V Ecuador
Mon Jul 2
-USA v Paraguay
-Argentina v Colombia
Tue Jul 3
-Peru v Bolivia
-Venezuela v Uruguay
Wed Jul 4
-Mexico v Chile
-Brazil v Ecuador
Thu Jul 5
-Colombia v USA
-Argentina v Paraguay
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MLS matches & scores this week:
Thu Jun 28
-DC v Colorado - 6pm central on ESPN2
Sat Jun 30
-Dallas v Houston - 5pm central on FSC
-Columbus v New York - 7pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
-Chivas v New England - 9:30pm central on Direct Kick
Sun Jul 1
-Chicago v Colorado - 6pm central on Direct Kick
-Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm central on Direct Kick
-LA & Salt Lake are off this week.
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Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet previews tonight's DC v Colo match.
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Beau Dure of USA Today with a couple of articles on the Colorado Rapids - ONE and TWO.
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The Rocky Mountain News previews the Rapids for tonight's game.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post tries to figure out who is available to play for DCU tonight.
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The Washington Times with a story on DCU forward Luciano Emilio and how he is settling into American life.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe says New England right midfielder Steve Ralston has returned to the club from the Gold Cup ready for action.
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The Massachusetts Republican with an article on New England defender Jay Heaps.
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The Salt Lake Tribune with a story on new RSL forward Robbie Findley who bagged 2 goals in his debut.
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Chicago has released French midfielder Pascal Bedrossian. He just never got on a roll.
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USA coach Bob Bradley will be inducted in to the Chicago Fire's honorary Ring Of Fire on Aug 4.
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The New York Red Bulls appear to be revamping a large part of their defense. That cannot be an easy one to pull off midseason. The traded away Todd Dunivant, and have released Taylor Graham & Tim Reagan.
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Those two Cubans who defected during the Gold Cup are in LA to try out with Chivas USA. From the Daily Breeze.
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James Edwards at the Deseret Morning News talks to Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis about the nature of trades.
-The paper also has a list of all 22 trades the team has pulled off since they started in the spring of 05.
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Jeff Bradley at MLSnet uses his First XI column to reveal his votes for the MLS All Stars.
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Ryan Hunt at Sports Illustrated with his weekly MLS Free Kicks.
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Steven Goff on his Soccer Insider blog says Agent Zero might train with DCU!
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Remember a few months back when the sports business world got all excited that Dave Checketts company SCP was gonna buy GolTV. Not gonna happen. Deal over. Next.
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US Open Cup - 2nd Round scores:
-Harrisburg City Islanders 2-1 Ocean City Barons
-Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-1 Western Mass Pioneers
-Richmond Kickers 2-1 Cleveland City Stars
-Carolina RailHawks 4-0 Bavarian SC
-Atlanta Silverbacks 1-0 Charlotte Eagles
-Charleston Battery 1-0 El Paso Patriots
-Minnesota Thunder 0-1 California Victory
-Seattle Sounder 2-1 Portland Timbers
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Sadly my Thunder was eliminated from the Open Cup, and was also the only home team to lose in this round. Just awful.
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Paul Gardner at the New York Sun says the USA has to build on Bruce Arena's platform and the latest Gold Cup success.
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Soccer365 says more and more clubs are calling Benny Feilhaber's agent right now.
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Scotland's Daily Record has some great quotes from our man DaMarcus Beasley as he lands at Rangers.
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The U20 World Cup kicks off this weekend - Here are the 3 USA group stage games:
(All games live on ESPNU)
Sat Jun 30 v South Korea - 3:45pm central at Olympic Stadium in Montreal
Tue Jul 3 v Poland - 3:45pm central at Olympic Stadium in Montreal
Fri Jul 6 v Brazil - 6:30pm central at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa
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FIFA is expecting a sellout of 55,000 for Saturday's doubleheader in Montreal at Olympic Stadium featuring USA v South Korea & Brazil v Poland.
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-USA U20 team blog.
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FIFA U20 World Cup details.
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Jen Chang at Soccernet with a list of 12 players to watch for.
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Dylan Butler at the Queens Times Ledger with a story on USA forward Gabriel Ferrari.
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Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star with an article on Freddy Adu.
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Andrew Rogers at Soccer365 has a Q & A with USA coach Thomas Rongen.
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Canadian Press with a story on Canada's young midfielder Will Johnson who they hope will drive the offense at the World Cup. He like Michael Bradley plays for Heerenveen.
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FIFA has an interview with player Mexico hopes leads them to U20 glory, Giovani dos Santos.
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The Toronto Star has a special section full of U20 World Cup stories - 24 Teams, One Goal
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Mexico is going to play a friendly v Colombia on Wed Aug 22 in Denver at the Big Dick.
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Barcelona defender Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Bayern Munich forward Roy Makaay have left their clubs and signed with Feyenoord in their native Holland.
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You wanna know what kind of a soap opera factory they run at Real Madrid? After 4 years of winning nothing, they hire Fabio Capello who drags them up from the depths of embarrassment, and then they fire him cuz he won the league. There you go. They fired the last guy to win the Spanish league and the Champions League with them too, Del Bosque.
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Ex-Fulham coach and American lover Chris Cookie Coleman has landed himself a new gig. He is now the coach of recently relegated Spanish club Real Sociedad.
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Jamaica have finally won a game on their far east tour, beating Malaysia 0-2.
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The Benelux nations have thrown their hat into the ring for the 2018 World Cup, adding them to the now long list including the USA and England.

Day Off News

I thought I would try something different for a change and give myself the day off.
See ya tomorrow.
Bruce

ps. I will leave you with this 3 minute version of the David Beckham & Reggie Bush commercial from Adidas. (thanks to Joe for sending me this)

The Wetness News

DaMarcus Beasley is expected in Glasgow this week to finalize his deal with Rangers. (See two stories down below.)


And here we go, straight into Copa America:

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the magnitude of the event and high tensions in Venezuela as the tournament kicks off.
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John Meyer of the Denver Post with an article USA & Colorado midfield player Kyle Beckerman.
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald on the USA Copa America team.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated doesn't like the chances of success for our boys in this tournament.
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The Philadelphia Daily News with a USA Copa America preview.
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Official USA blog.
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Reuters with a story saying Mexico are in near chaos mode as they get ready to play Brazil tomorrow.
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Rodrigo Orihuela of the Guardian previews Argentina.
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Tim Vickery at Sports Illustrated previews the Copa. And by "previews" I mean he writes about Argentina & Brazil.
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World Soccer via SI has a Q & A with Argie marvel Carlos Tevez (so good he is not expected to be in his countries first 11).
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And Grant Wahl at SI with a feature story on Venezuela's one soccer star (who most have never heard of) Juan Arango.
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Group stage match schedule - all matches shown live on GolTV & TeleFutura:
Tue Jun 26
-Uruguay v Peru
-Venezuela v Bolivia
Wed Jun 27
-Ecuador v Chile
-Brazil v Mexico
Thu Jun 28
-Paraguay v Colombia
-Argentina v USA
Sat Jun 30
-Bolivia v Uruguay
-Venezuela v Peru
Sun Jul 1
-Brazil v Chile
-Mexico V Ecuador
Mon Jul 2
-USA v Paraguay
-Argentina v Colombia
Tue Jul 3
-Peru v Bolivia
-Venezuela v Uruguay
Wed Jul 4
-Mexico v Chile
-Brazil v Ecuador
Thu Jul 5
-Colombia v USA
-Argentina v Paraguay
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The last of the Gold Cup stories:

Great USA post-Gold Cup Final video from US Soccer.
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The LA Times says coach Hugo Sanchez is taking a vicious beating in the Mexican press.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with his Gold Cup final post-game notes. I missed em yesterday. Hey Luis, you are too much of a Mexican team lover for me!
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Luis Bueno at the Press Enterprise says Mexico is still just Mexico when it comes to the battle with the USA.
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Sunday's Gold Cup final got a 2.5 TV rating at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. The Stanley Cup final got a 1.8 on NBC on a Wednesday in prime time.
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MLS matches & scores this week:
Thu Jun 28
-DC v Colorado - 6pm central on ESPN2
Sat Jun 30
-Dallas v Houston - 5pm central on FSC
-Columbus v New York - 7pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
-Chivas v New England - 9:30pm central on Direct Kick
Sun Jul 1
-Chicago v Colorado - 6pm central on Direct Kick
-Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm central on Direct Kick
-LA & Salt Lake are off this week.
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A big rumor that seems pretty certain to happen has Toronto shipping left back Kevin Goldthwaite to New York for Todd Dunivant. Although Dunivant has been injured quite a bit, I do not see the quality of these two being even when both are healthy.
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New England midfielder Jeff Larentowicz was bashed in the eye v Toronto and is out with blood in his eye. No word on when he will return.
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Houston midfielder Brad Davis is your MLS Player Of The Week.
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3rd Degree with a feature story on FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja who has become one of the biggest fan favorites in the league in just 1/2 a season!
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Nick Green of LA's Daily Breeze with an article on the joke the LA Galaxy has become.
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Toronto has signed T&T forward Collin Samuel from Dundee United (corrected) in Scotland.
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DC United have released defender John Wilson.
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Andrea Canales at Soccer365 with an article on Sigi Schmid and his slowly-building-momentum Columbus Crew.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle looks at the Dynamo's current 5 game winning streak, with 4 of their key starters out of the line up.
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Tony Edwards at the US Soccer Players Assoc takes a look at the type of management team potential San Jose Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff likes to put in place. His Oakland A's are very successful in their own unique way.
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Steve Nicol will coach the MLS All Stars v Celtic on July 19 at the Big Dick in Denver.
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George Tanner of the Rocky Mountain News is taking at look at key Celtic players leading up to the All Star game, on his FC Rocky blog. He starts with keeper Artur Boruc.
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du Nord's MLS Coaching Hot Seat - only two spots right now and you gotta think #1 is red hot:
1. Frank Yallop - LA
2. Fernando Clavijo - Colorado
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du Nord's MLS Rookie Of The Year Watch:
(alphabetical)
Andrew Boyens - Tor
Maurice Edu - Tor
Robbie Findley - Salt Lake
Ty Harden - LA
Michael Harrington - KC
Dane Richards - NY
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MLS Golden Boot Chase:
9 Juan Pablo Angel
9 Eddie Johnson
7 Taylor Twellman
6 Maykel Galindo
6 Luciano Emilio
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US Open Cup - 2nd Round matches today:
-Harrisburg City Islanders v Ocean City Barons
-Rochester Raging Rhinos v Western Mass Pioneers
-Richmond Kickers v Cleveland City Stars
-Carolina RailHawks v Bavarian SC
-Atlanta Silverbacks v Charlotte Eagles
-Charleston Battery v El Paso Patriots
-Minnesota Thunder v California Victory
-Seattle Sounder v Portland Timbers
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The Glasgow Herald & the Glasgow Evening Times both with an article on Rangers new midfielder - our man DaMarcus Beasley. Sssssssssssssssssh. It's still supposed to be a secret that he is signing with Rangers.
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Dylan Butler at Big Apple Soccer talks to USA U20 & Sampdoria forward Gabriel Ferrari.
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Johann Smith of the USA U20 has injured his ankle and been replaced on the roster by Preston Zimmerman of Hamburg.
-The U20's play their first group stage game v South Korea on Saturday.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with an article on USA U20 goalkeeper coach Tim Mulqueen (a Jersey native).
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Giase also writes about U20 captain, Famous Freddy Adu.
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An article from Slam in Canada on one of the people who has been responsible for keeping the lights on in the sport of soccer through the good and bad years.
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Mr Burns look-a-like contest winner Sven Goren Eriksson has been hired as the new man in charge of Manchester City. In his contract it says that he will be allowed to bring his dullness with him.
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Bayern Munich have continued their strong upgrade by signing Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen. Huge signing for them.
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Legendary Romanian player Gheorghe Hagi has been named manager at his old club Steaua Bucharest.

Guest Bathe News

"I knew when I hit it that it was going to go in." - Benny Feilhaber, on his game winner v Mexico!

~and~

"They deserve to be the number 1 team in CONCACAF." - Cuahutemoc Blanco after (suffering from an apparent seizure) in the post Gold Cup final press room.


Gold Cup Finale:
USA 2-1 Mexico - USA goals by Landon Donovan(PK) & Benny Feilhaber, Mex goal by Andres Guardado.
Match report from CONCACAF.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report by Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by Luis Bueno for Sports Illustrated.
Match report by Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Match report from Yanks Abroad.
Match report and player ratings by Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet.
Match report and player ratings from the New York Times.
Players ratings by Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post-game notes, players ratings, and extra Bob Bradley quotes from Goff.
Post-game analysis by John Lopez of the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game analysis by Jen Chang of Soccernet.
Post-game analysis by Glenn Davis on his blog.
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The Chicago Sun Times with a look at the fans in the stands.
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Big article in the Sunday Chicago Tribune on DaMarcus Beasley. Many topics covered including the World Cup and his fued with coach Bruce Arena, and where DMB is playing next season. He knows, but he's not telling.
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du Nord Three (5) Stars Of The Game
3. Tim Howard/Ricardo Clark - Howard save of Bofo shot & Rico's 2nd half energy injection were huge keys to keeping the USA in charge.
2. Nery Castillo/Andres Guardado - What more can you say about these two exciting youngsters. Combined for Mexico's goal and tortured USA defenders all game long. You gotta love their game for future showdowns with our boys.
1. Benny Feilhaber - Many parts of his game were not pretty. But man oh man did he do it right when it counted most. Holy Moly Sweet Little Baby Jesus did he smack that shot to win the game or what. And against Mexico it's just that much sweeter.
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US Soccer with post-game audio & video interviews. Download audio here and video here.
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Official Team USA blog.
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US Soccer photos.
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Official post-game quotes from USA players and coaches.
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Only two Americans made the tournament All-Gold Cup team:
G:
Franck Grandel - Guadeloupe
D:
Felipe Baloy Panama
Richard Hastings - Canada
Frankie Hejduk - USA
Carlos Salcido - Mexico
M:
Walter Centeno - Costa Rica
Julian DeGuzman - CAN - Golden Ball winner
Pablo Mastroeni - USA
Pavel Pardo - Mexico
F:
Carlos Pavon - Honduras - Golden Boot winner
Blas Perez - Panama
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My game notes from USA v Mexico:
-I really hope Mexican left winger Andres Guardado is OK. He and Spector cracked heads, yet Mexico left him on the field. After the game he collapsed and was removed from the field with his neck in a brace. It was really scary looking. From what I have been able to gather, he was taken to the hospital but later released to travel with the team to Venezuela.
-Carlos Bocanegra captained the team again.
-It was cool to see Ricardo Clark come in after half time and have such a great positive influence on the game.
-Right before LD buried his PK the camera got a great shot of Mexikeeper Oswaldo Sanchez blowing kisses to Landy. LD had no reaction for the Mexican trash talker. Take that Oswaldo!
-The goal by Donovan was his 34th international goal. Tying him for the all time USA lead with Eric Wynalda. You can expect him to break that record this fall.
-After scoring the PK Donovan ran toward the corner flag and did an exaggerated swipe of the forehead with his arm to say "Whew, did we need that one or what!"
-After Donovan missed that sitter v Canada on Thurs Beasley made fun of him, only for Beasley to miss an even easier sitter in this game that could have sealed it. LD & DMB were in alone on Sanchez, LD drew out the keeper and passed to DMB who put his shot off the cross bar from 6 yards. He could have walked it into the open net. Damn. DMB said the ball bounced and hit him on the shin.
-That shot of Feilhaber's to win was 1000 X sweeter coming against the Mexicans.
-Of course the Mexican team swarmed the referee after the game complaining of everything under the sun. It's never their fault when they lose, always someone else's.
-Rumor has it that Carlos Salcido walked over to Landon Donovan after the game and asked to exchange shirts. Bravo!
-I met the excellent baseball writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, La Velle E. Neal III (I always thought that was a pretty kick ass name too) at the Sweetwater. What a passionate soccer dude. I had no idea he was a fan of the beautiful game.
-As the medals and trophies were being handed out post game we got to see the honorary Jack Warner on the podium helping with the ceremony's. He was seen pulling the medals out of a big box and handing them to his greasy buddy Sepp Blatter to drape around the players necks. As Jack pulled the medals out he was seen doing the old, "One for you. One for me" routine. Nice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The AP with an article on Kasey Keller and where he might play next season. He got an offer from a team in Iran!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three Mexican players have pulled out of the Copa America saying they need a rest before heading back to Europe for pre-season: Ricardo Osorio, Carlos Salcido & Pavel Pardo. Good move on their part. I would assume that Jared Borgetti will not be on the team as well having suffered that hyper-extended knee in the Gold Cup final.
-Here is the the Mexican roster:
G:
Oswaldo Sanchez - Santos Laguna
Guillermo Ochoa - America
D:
Johnny Magallon - Guadalajara
Fausto Pinto - Pachuca
Rafael Marquez - Barcelona
Israel Castro - Pumas
Gonzalo Pineda - Guadalajara
Jose Antonio Castro - America
Francisco Rodriguez - Guadalajara
M:
Gerardo Torrado - Cruz Azul
Jaime Correa - Pachuca
Ramon Morales - Guadalajara
Jaime Lozano - Tigres
Andres Guardado - Atlas
Fernando Arce - Morelia
F:
Alberto Medina - Guadalajara
Jared Borgetti - Cruz Azul
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - America
Juan Carlos Cacho - Pachuca
Adolfo Bautista - Chiapas
Omar Bravo - Guadalajara
Nery Castillo - Olympiakos
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS matches & scores this week:
-New England 3-0 Toronto - NE goals by Andy Dorman (2) & Pat Noonan.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report from the Boston Globe.
-Colorado 0-1 Dallas - Dal goal by Juan Toja.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report from the Denver Post.
Post-game notes from George Tanner at FC Rockly from the Rocky Mountain News.
-Salt Lake 2-1 DC - RSL both goals by Robbie Findley. DC goal by Luciano Emilio.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News.
Match report from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
-Los Angeles 2-3 Columbus - LA goals by Gavin Glinton & Edson Buddle. Colu goals by Chad Marshall, Ned Grabavoy & Alejandro Moreno.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report from the LA Times.
-Kansas City 0-1 Houston - Hou goal by Patrick Ianni.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2 PK's were saved in the LA v Columbus game. Both in the first half! Will Hesmer saved from Kyle Martino, and Joe Cannon saved from Ned Grabavoy. They were both taken quite weakly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England assistant coach Paul Mariner is said to be a top candidate for the open coaching job in Chicago.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rumor on the street is that LA has sent struggling midfielder Santino Quaranta to Kansas City in exchange for a draft pick next year. Wow his stock fell a long way didn't it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The KC Star with an article on the brand new training facility for the Kansas City Wizards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago won their friendly over Polish club MKS Cracovia 1-0 on Friday night. William Oliveira got the goal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division matches & scores this weekend:
Portland 1-1 Montreal
Rochester 1-1 California
Charleston 2-1 Atlanta
Miami 0-1 Vancouver
Carolina 2-0 Charleston
Seattle 0-1 Montreal
Puerto Rico 0-0 Vancouver
Minnesota 1-0 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
25 Vancouver
24 Rochester
20 Montreal
19 Seattle
18 Charleston
17 Carolina
15 Portland
15 Puerto Rico
14 Miami
13 Atlanta
11 Minnesota
8 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Second Round of the US Open Cup happens Tuesday:
-Harrisburg City Islanders v Ocean City Barons
-Rochester Raging Rhinos v Western Mass Pioneers
-Richmond Kickers v Cleveland City Stars
-Carolina RailHawks v Bavarian SC
-Atlanta Silverbacks v Charlotte Eagles
-Charleston Battery v El Paso Patriots
-Minnesota Thunder v California Victory
-Seattle Sounder v Portland Timbers
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20's beat Chile 2-1 in their final warm up before the World Cup starts for them on Saturday.
-USA goals by Freddy Adu 34 & Robbie Rogers 77. Chile goal by Alexis Sanchez(PK) 80.
-Post-game quotes from USA players and coaches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jamaica got beat again on their Asian tour. This time it was 3-0 to Vietnam. Are you kidding me? What is Bora doing with these guys.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spanish Kings Cup Final
Sevilla 1-0 Getafe goal by Frederic Kanoute, of course.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA announced a new World Cup qualifying system for 2010: There will be 8 groups of six teams & 1 group of five. The 9 group winners are in. The best 8 runners up will play home & away matches for the remaining 4 spots. That makes 13 total teams from Europe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The David Suazo soap opera appears to be over, and Inter have won his services over rivals AC Milan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thierry Henry has departed Arsenal for the Catalan lands of Barcelona. Here are his words to fans on the Arse website.

USA Copa America Roster

First off - there is no Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey or DaMarcus Beasley on this team.
But contrary to word from the coach a month ago, Kasey Keller is on the squad.
There are also a couple of guys with no USA experience at all - Drew Moor, Marvell Wynne & Herculez Gomez.
And then we get a big batch of youngster with very little experience - Brad Guzan, Bobby Boswell, Kyle Beckerman, Eddie Gaven, Sacha Klejsten, Lee Nguyen & Charlie Davies.
Wow!
The group of Jonathan Bornstein, Jay DeMerit, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Justin Mapp & Heath Pearce will have to produce. They MUST step up.
And somehow guys like Jimmy Conrad, Ben Olsen, Eddie Johnson, Taylor Twellman & Danny Califf suddenly become grizzled veterans.
The largest hole that will have to be filled is that this team has only 25 USA goals scored between them.
The challenge is there for whoever wants to take it.
I really hope this doesn't get ugly.

Here is the full roster for Team USA (with caps included):

G:
Brad Guzan - 1
Kasey Keller - 100
D:
Jonathan Bornstein - 7
Bobby Boswell - 2
Dan Califf - 14
Jimmy Conrad - 21
Jay DeMerit - 3
Drew Moor - 0
Heath Pearce - 6
Marvell Wynne - 0
M:
Kyle Beckerman - 1
Ricardo Clark - 6
Benny Feilhaber - 7
Eddie Gaven - 3
Sacha Kljestan - 1
Justin Mapp - 5
Lee Nguyen - 1
Ben Olsen - 34
F:
Charlie Davies - 1
Herculez Gomez - 0
Eddie Johnson - 26
Taylor Twellman - 24

Finally Fixed News

Oh my, the Canadians gotta be losing their minds right about now! But Canadian keeper Pat Onstad is the one who knows how things really are: "We got ourselves in a position to let the referee influence the game. Whether it was a correct call or not is irrelevant. I think we dug ourselves a hole in the last five minutes of the first half."

~and~

Wild LA news from Steven Goff's Soccer Insider blog: Just got off the phone with Santino (Quaranta - LA midfielder). He said he is awaiting word on a trade and did not train with the Galaxy today. He has heard that New York, Kansas City and Colorado are possible destinations. "They're trading everybody, man," he said. "It's a panic. I'm not sure Frank and Alexi are on the same page. It's a bad situation right now."


Solid Gold Cup Action - Matches & Scores:
-Semifinals last night:
USA 2-1 Canada - USA goals by Frankie Hejduk(!) & Landon Donovan(PK), Can goal by Ian Hume.
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report from CONCACAF.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report by Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
(Sorry but all the other Canadian newspapers I check just ran Wire Reports which I usually don't link to.)
Match report and post-game ratings by Ives Galarcep at Soccernet.
Players ratings by Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post-game analysis by John Lopez of the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game analysis by Jen Chang of Soccernet on his blog.
Mexico 1-0 Guadeloupe - Mex goal by Pavel Pardo.
-I have to admit that it was nice to see one of the few Mexican players I like, Pardo, score that great goal. It was a monster shot.
-Final:
Sun Jun 24 - Soldier Field in Chicago-
USA v Mexico - 2pm central on FSC & Univision
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My notes from the USA v Canada match:
-How about that missed shot from Landon Donovan early in second half. That missed open goal shot. A complete miss. Oh it was a beaut. "A swing and a miss", as they say in baseball. The kind where you swing all the way through, then keep spinning around and end up face down in the dirt with a dust cloud around you. It was that bad. It should have been 3-0 game over. But nooooooooo.
-Did you see the Canadian players going nuts on the referee after the game? And did you see that massive moron Adam Braz was right in the middle of it. He has to be one of the stupidest players I have ever personally witnessed. I have seen this dude have 3 or 4 full melt downs over the years. How has he not killed someone. I was dying laughing watching his froth and foam. Adam you are an idiot! And for that I love you.
-Frankie Hejduk & Dwayne De Rosario may have gotten off lightly in the second half. They went up for a head ball together. They both threw elbow, DDR's connected, Frankie swung his arm again, they both went down, DDR got up and slammed a headbutt into Frankie's shoulder blade, Frankie shoved back hard. They got separated and then both were yellow carded. It easily could have been red for both.
-The resulting yellow card means that Hey Dude will miss the final on Sunday for accumulation for yellows.
-Michael Bradley will also miss the final after his 90th minute red card for the lame ass tackle on De Guzman. Where did Bradley learn that move?
-And how did the referee come up with 4 minutes of second half stoppage time. 2 or 3 at most. Certainly not 4.
-That was game #100 for Kasey Keller in a USA shirt.
-I really think Bradley is doing this team a disservice by switching the lineup so many times - pick one and go with it in the big games. It will give the guys more time to settle in together. IE - if Tim Howard is the #1 then why is Keller in goal?
-Brian McBride was in the stands for last nights game.
-The USA defense scared the hell out of my too many times tonight. Especially in the first half. They gave Canada 3 or 4 chances with awful passing and poor decisions. That garbage is what gave Canada the confidence that they were not out of it late. Lets hope they shore this crap up, fast.
-Hume plays for Leicester City in the English Championship Division - aka the 2nd division.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I think Josh at Throughball pretty much sums up all of our feelings about last nights USA v Canada game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord Three Stars Of The Game
3. Landon Donovan - Cool as a cucumber and as brutal as a beat down. He was great with the ball. Tracked back to play defense. Set up Hejduk so effortlessly for the first goal. Calmly banged home the PK for the second goal. But he also got a yellow for diving, and missed a wide open sitter that Beasley said should go directly into the all time top 50 bloppers list.
2. Ian Hume - He didn't even come on until the 64th minute, but wow did he change the game. He was a demon out there. Hockey style rough. But two plays he made were huge. First he cleared a Dempsey header off the line, with a back heal! Then he came forward, but an amazing cut back move on Bocanegra and smashed a shot to the back post and curled around Keller for an awesome goal.
1. Frankie Hejduk - "Preposterous" that was the word one fellow viewer used to describe Frankie's performance. He scored! On a shot he normally puts 15 rows into the stands. Unreal. And he made those wild lunging tackles count. And of course as always he played with 100% effort for 90 full minutes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer with post-game audio & video interviews. Download audio here and video here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official Team USA blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer photos from USA v Canada.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS matches & scores this week:
Wed Jun 20
-Columbus 2-1 Kansas City - Colu goals by Eddie Gaven & Stefani Miglioranzi. KC goal by Jack Jewsbury.
Thu Jun 21
-Houston 4-0 Chivas USA - Hou goals by Brad Davis(3) & Brian Mullan.
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Match report from MLSnet.
Sat Jun 23
-New England v Toronto - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Colorado v Dallas - 8pm central on Direct Kick
-Salt Lake v DC - 8:30pm central on FSC & FSE
-Columbus v Los Angeles - 9:30pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
Sun Jun 24
-Kansas City v Houston - 4pm central on TeleFutura
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Due to the U20 World Cup Toronto FC has to hit the road for the next 6 games. The TO Sun with an article on how they are trying to take that "home" attitude with them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his always interesting "MLS Confidential" column at Soccer America, Ridge Mahoney says that an Eastern Conference assistant coach is totally disgruntled and wants out. No other hints are given. So lets look at the possibilities:
-Chicago - just fired head coach Dave Sarachan and replaced him with top assistant Denis Hamlett. Craig Reynolds & Daryl Shore are the two assts now.
-Columbus - Robert Warzycha, Mike Lapper & Vadim Kirillov are the assistants. Warzycha has been there a while. He could be a candidate for the disgruntled one.
-DC - Mark Simpson & Chad Ashton are the assistants. With a new head coach in Tom Soehn just this season it's hard to see them as the one. And Ashton is brand new to the game. Simpson is a possibility I guess.
-Kansas City - another new head man in Curt Onalfo with 2 new assistants in Kris Kelderman & Chris Henderson. Probably isn't one of them.
-New England - assistant Paul Mariner has been there several years and always seems happy. But maybe, like player Shalrie Joseph, he is unhappy with his compensation package. He is a prime candidate. Gwynne Williams is the other assistan but I have no ideas about him.
-New York - Ritchie Williams & John Harkes the two assistant for Bruce Arena don't seem like they are unhappy.
-Toronto - Bob Gansler is the top assistant at the first year team. You wouldn't think unrest would happen so quick. But maybe he wants to be the head man, and Canada is not for him. The other assistant Mike Matkovich is an unknown to me.
-So my prime candidates for unhappiness are Robert Warzycha, Mike Simpson, Paul Mariner & Bob Gansler. It's probably none of them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jane Havsy of the New Jersey Daily Record says the New York Red Bulls had a special guest at practice yesterday. None other than Milan & Holland star midfielder Clarence Seedorf!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Hush at Soccer New England feels that MLS still has a long way to go.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Honda is set to end is giant sponsorship deal with MLS after a 12 year run. They were one of the original 6 major sponsors of the league. No reasons were given for the decision.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division matches & scores this weekend:
-Thu Jun 21
Portland v Montreal
-Fri Jun 22
Rochester v California
Charleston v Atlanta - live at 7pm central on FSC
-Miami v Vancouver
-Sat Jun 23
Carolina v Charleston
Seattle v Montreal
-Sun Jun 24
Puerto Rico v Vancouver
Minnesota v California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
23 Rochester
21 Vancouver
19 Seattle
16 Montreal
15 Charleston
14 Portland
14 Miami
14 Puerto Rico
14 Carolina
13 Atlanta
8 Minnesota
7 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My Minnesota Thunder will play an exhibition game on Saturday night in Plymouth against AC Milan's junior team.
-The Portland Timbers played that same Milan squad on Tuesday night in front of 11,000 people. Here is a report from the Oregonian.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet with a team-by-team preview of the Copa America.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spanish Kings Cup Final
Sat Jun 23
Sevilla v Getafe at the Bernabeu
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I very much looks like Thierry Henry has left north London to sign with Barcelona.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Galatasaray have signed excellent attacking midfielder Lincoln from Schalke. That is a bit of a surprise I must say.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tiago the Portuguese midfielder from Lyon, and formerly of Chelsea, has signed with Juventus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After a year back in Brazil with Santos Ze Roberto has resigned with Bayern Munich. I guess he missed the food and the weather.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roma signed defender Juan from Bayer Leverkusen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barcelona went to South Africa this week to play a friendly and all the got was a torn knee ligament for captain Carles Puyol. Not much of a holiday gift.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jamaica lost 2-1 to Indonesia last night in Jakarata.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA has lost a court ruling to MasterCard and must pay the credit card company and long time sponsor $90 million dollars. MasterCard sued after learning that FIFA was negotiating with rivals VISA to take over the exclusive contract. Judges at several levels slammed FIFA for their illegal backroom dealings and have now made them pay a heavy price. MasterCard then immediately terminated their contract with FIFA saying there had been "irreparable damage done to the company's trust in the organization."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Trinidad & Tobago Express with several article on the T & T Football Federation & Players struggles:
-Lawyers get involved in the pay dispute.
-A bigger picture look at the local football scene. The good and the bad from everyone, including Jack Warner.
And more reaction to Shaka Hislop's letter to Warner.
-Editorial on what the average person on the street in Port of Spain thinks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian in England is taking an interest in the T&T story as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Warner himself has been saying things like, "I am busy with the Gold Cup" or "I am busy with the FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada", so he does not have time to deal with the T&T players, but he somehow found time to talk to the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper and criticize Caribbean governments for financially supporting cricket. Yes cricket. He called it, "...a dying sport ...". What an odd guy.

Flower Of Life News

We should know the USA roster for Copa America very late tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. The USA will not submit their list to CONMEBOL until after tonight's game v Canada.


Copa Libertadores - Finals - Boca Juniors are the 2007 Libertadores Champions!
Gremio 0-2 Boca Juniors - Boca win 5-0 on aggregate. Juan Roman Riquelme was the hero scoring both goals in the away leg.
-Match report from the AP via Sports Illustrated.
-The Guardian with a report on the Riquelme led victory.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Solid Gold Cup Action:

Matches & Scores:
-Semifinals Tonight:
Thu Jun 21 - Soldier Field in Chicago-
USA v Canada - 6pm central on FSC & TeleFutura
Mexico v Guadeloupe - 9pm central on TeleFutura
-Final:
Sun Jun 24 - Soldier Field in Chicago - 2pm central on FSC & Univision
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer with an audio interview of coach Bob Bradley and players Landon Donovan & Carlos Bocanegra, pre-Canada match. Download or listen here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer has tons of notes, stats and little known facts ahead of tonight's big game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official Team USA blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram talks to Bocanegra about wearing that USA captains armband.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle looks at the 2 Americans & 2 Canadians from the Houston Dynamo that will square off tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with a really good article on USA keeper Tim Howard. Includes an anecdote from Howard's high school basketball days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald says both the USA & Canada are ready to rumble.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe looks at today's GC semifinal match-ups.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dell'apa writing for Soccernet says its no secret that the CONCACAF brass want a USA v Mexico final.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times previews.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with his preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune previews the semi's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ian Plenderleith & J Hutcherson at the US Soccer Players Assoc dissect tonight's field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times on Canada's quickly rising tide.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail previews tonight's USA v Canada, and calls the USA "unsuspecting" of what Canada will bring. Doubtful Larry, highly doubtful.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star previews the match as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Canadian Press talks to LA & Canada left back Ante Jazic about facing his club teammate Landon Donovan tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times with an article on the 4th team tonight - Guadaloupe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Next Thursday at this time we will be immersed in Copa America and getting ready to watch USA v Argentina in the first game. The Argies released their roster today - Holy smokes are we in trouble:
G:
Roberto Abbondanzieri - Getafe
Juan Pablo Carrizo - River Plate
Agustin Orion - San Lorenzo
D:
Roberto Ayala - Valencia
Javier Zanetti - Inter
Nicolas Burdisso - Inter
Hugo Ibarra - Boca Juniors
Daniel Diaz - Boca Juniors
Gabriel Milito - Zaragoza
Gabriel Heinze - Man United
M:
Luis Gonzalez - Porto
Javier Mascherano - Liverpool
Esteban Cambiasso - Inter
Fernando Gago - Real Madrid
Pablo Aimar - Zaragoza
Juan Sebastian Veron - Estudiantes
Juan Roman Riquelme - Boca Juniors
F:
Lionel Messi - Barcelona
Hernan Crespo - Inter
Diego Milito - Zaragoza
Carlos Tevez - West Ham
Rodrigo Palacio - Boca Juniors
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS matches & scores this week:
Wed Jun 20
-Columbus 2-1 Kansas City - Colu goals by Eddie Gaven & Stefani Miglioranzi. KC goal by Jack Jewsbury.
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Match report from MLSnet.
Thu Jun 21
-Houston v Chivas USA - 8pm central on ESPN2
Sat Jun 23
-New England v Toronto - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Colorado v Dallas - 8pm central on Direct Kick
-Salt Lake v DC - 8:30pm central on FSC & FSE
-Columbus v Los Angeles - 9:30pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
Sun Jun 24
-Kansas City v Houston - 4pm central on TeleFutura
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chroncile previews the Dynamo for tonight's match.
-A few other pre-game notes from Fallas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The best up-close info on the firing of Chicago coach Dave Sarachan comes from the blog of Kenn Tomasch. Full pictures and notes and transcripts of remarks from team Pres John Guppy and players CJ Brown & Chris Armas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chicago newspapers with their take on the Sarachan coup:
-Tribune - Luis Arroyave
-Sun Times - Lacy Banks
-Daily Southtown - Nick Firchau
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next Chicago game is a friendly v Cracovia Krakow of Poland on Friday in Bridgeview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep on his Soccer By Ives blog reported that Real Salt Lake has shipped right midfielder Chris Klein to Los Angeles in exchange for young fast striker Robbie Findley, and very talented young midfielder-defender Nathan Sturgis. But the rumors of Sturgis going to Europe soon are running strong. Was this a good deal for either of them? (thanks to Ethan for the heads up)
-James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News with word from Salt Lake on the trade.
-Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News with quotes from LA's Alexi Lalas, and the traded player Chris Klein.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here he is, Carlos Pavon, the newest forward on the LA Galaxy. From Andrea Canales on her Sideline Views blog.
-Canales with a few quotes from the big stringy-haired forward at LA Soccer News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Billy Witz of the Daily Breeze says the LA Galaxy are doing the salary cap shuffle. Ian Russell was released & Santino Quaranta took a pay cut. He also debunks the Landon Donovan trade rumors.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

M, from down KC way, fills in some blanks for us and says the Argentine player Kansas City is interested in is forward Eloy Colombano from the team Defense & Justice. Wow, what a team name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The reason for New England's Joe Franchino being put on the season ending injury list did not have anything to do with his earlier "personal problems". He is going to have surgery on an ankle tendon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News with a story on the return to the Dallas line up of Senor Pescado, Carlos Ruiz, who is dying to get back on a scoring streak for his club.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stephen Brunt of the Toronto Globe & Mail likes the way the pieces are coming together in the Canadian soccer big picture.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet with an article on another European superstar who came to play in LA. Johan Cruyff. Albeit 30 years ago, in another era, and to another league. The best part of the article is a fond remembrance of a bygone time. (thanks to BQ for this one.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Frichau of the Chicago Daily Southtown on the explosion of soccer at the highest level in Chicago this summer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you enjoy the article yesterday from the Houston Chronicle about how cool it is when soccer players take pride in playing for their country? I did. It was uplifting. And as it turns out Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer liked it a lot too. So much so that he sought out the author, who is not a "soccer guy", and asked him some excellent questions. The answers are as good as I had hoped they would be.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dylan Butler at the Queens Times Ledger writes about the possibility of the New York Mets baseball team getting into business with MLS and having a soccer team too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division matches & scores this weekend:
Thu Jun 21
Portland v Montreal
Fri Jun 22
Rochester v California
Charleston v Atlanta - live at 7pm central on FSC
Miami v Vancouver
Sat Jun 23
Carolina v Charleston
Seattle v Montreal
Sun Jun 24
Puerto Rico v Vancouver
Minnesota v California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
23 Rochester
21 Vancouver
19 Seattle
16 Montreal
15 Charleston
14 Portland
14 Miami
14 Puerto Rico
14 Carolina
13 Atlanta
8 Minnesota
7 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jesse Erdmann of Blue Sky Soccer with this weeks First Division Power Rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad talks to American forward Jeremiah White who helped lead Arhus to promotion back into the top league in Denmark for next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London on the new Dutch sensations causing hearts to flutter at the UEFA U21 championship. The best ones name is Drenthe. He plays his club ball for Feyenoord. Remember his name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, here is a picture of Inter President Massimo Moratti. Nothing significant about him, but when you look at the image the question you you have to ask is, "Why does his daughter have her finger in the ear of the old guy sitting in front of her?"

Vampyric Lust For Blood News

Gold Cup Matches & Scores:
-Semifinals:
Thu Jun 21 - Soldier Field in Chicago-
USA v Canada - 6pm central on FSC & TeleFutura
Mexico v Guadeloupe - 9pm central on TeleFutura
-Final:
Sun Jun 24 - Soldier Field in Chicago-
2pm central on FSC & Univision
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official Team USA blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer with more training photos from Tuesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All new video from US Soccer at Studio 90. (click on June 20,2007)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Powers at the Boston Globe with a look at Tim Howard and the overall USA goalkeeper situation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com talks to Landon Donovan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with the 8,451st telling of the Jay DeMerit success story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arroyave also has some inside scoop on USA & Mexico on his Red Card blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News with a story on Michael Bradley.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet previews the two Gold Cup semifinals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune previews the GC semi's too. Also, a team-by-team breakdown.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Slate has a story with pictures on the continued inconsistency in the official look of Team USA. The shirts, the kits, the jerseys. Whatever you wanna call em. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The author finally mentions Sams Army at the end, but forgets to mention the S-A mantra - "Always Wear Red".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun Times with words from Mexicoach Hugo Sanchez.
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With Barcelona's season now over, Mexican defender Rafa Marquez has joined up with the team in Chicago. But Marquez has been out of action for 2 months now with a hamstring injury so don't expect to see him in the first 11 on Thursday.
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MLS matches & scores this week:
Wed Jun 20
-Columbus v Kansas City - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
Thu Jun 21
-Houston v Chivas USA - 8pm central on ESPN2
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Chicago give coach Dave Sarachan the boot today. Assistant coach Denis Hamlett has been given the interim helmet.
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post with a quote from Sarachan. From his Soccer Insider blog.
-Luis Arroyave on his Red Card blog has comments from a clearly pissed off team captain Chris Armas.
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The Peter Nowak to coach Chicago rumors have already started.
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Arroyave has a totally different subject in the Chicago Tribune when he asks a handful of Mexican national teamers about playing in MLS.
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Ian Plenderleith of the US Soccer Players Assoc has a Q & A with Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch is one of the first English speaking journalists in America to talk with the Crew's Argentine star GuillSche - Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
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The Trenton New Jersey Times with a story on hometown boy, Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven, who has not been the success in MLS many had hoped for, but is still young and talented.
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A commentary from the Houston Chronicle on what makes MLS players special in the American professional sporting landscape.
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The Toronto Globe & Mail talks to TFC coach Mo Johnston who defends Alexi Lalas's comments about the English media's portrayal of MLS.
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The rumor mill is churning round & round in KC - former Mexican international forward Daniel Osorno is being linked to the Wizards. He played this Spring for Atlas. There is also a lot of talk from people inside the KC organization about a young Argentine coming in for a serious look. I am not sure how to read these clues posted by a team exec on Big Soccer.
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Another rumor from Argentina connects 37 year old striker Jose Luis Calderon from Estudiantes with the Colorado Rapids.
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Honduran forward Carlos Pavon is expected in LA tomorrow to sign with the Galaxy.
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Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet previews Thursdays Houston v Chivas game.
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Jen Chang at Soccernet blogs on the quality of MLS.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe reports on 2 big rosters moves from the New England Revs. Daniel Hernandez has been released, and Joe Franchino put on the season-ending-injury list. So, the team now has 2 open rosters spots and a fair amount of money to spend. Let the search begin.
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Bob Luder of the KC Star with an article on Kansas City's 2nd year striker Yura Movsisyan, who scored 2 goals last weekend v New York. For some unknown reason I have been pulling for this kid to succeed from day 1. I just have a feeling about him.
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Buzz Carrick at 3rd Degree reports on his weekly visit to FC Dallas training. New forward Ricardinho of Brazil was in attendance (awaiting work visa so me can play).
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Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer talks to Red Bulls defender Carlos Mendes about the teams defensive woes of late.
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Beau Dure at USA Today looks at how Chivas USA has changed their team philosophy over 3 years in existence.
-Dure has more quotes that were left out of the story on his blog.
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Jack Bell at the New York Times talks jersey numbers with Freddy Adu.
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James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News talks to new Salt Lake assistant coach Jeff Cassar.
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Soccer New England looks ahead to this weekends Scottish Head Coaches match up between Steve Nicol of New England and Mo Johnston of Toronto.
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Ryan Hunt of Sports Illustrated with his regular MLS round up - Free Kicks
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Seeing as the teams in MLS have not all played the same number of games (some as few as 9, others are many as 14) the only way to truly gage where they stand against each other is to measure "points per game":
2.00 Kansas City
1.75 New York
1.73 New England
1.70 Chivas
1.70 DC
1.57 Dallas
1.45 Houston
1.25 Colorado
1.18 Toronto
1.17 Chicago
1.00 Los Angeles
0.82 Columbus
0.55 Salt Lake
-And if the playoffs started today, using this chart it would look like this:
-Two East Leaders
2.00 Kansas City
1.75 New York
-Two West Leaders
1.70 Chivas
1.57 Dallas
-Next Four In
1.73 New England
1.70 DC
1.45 Houston
1.25 Colorado
-Last Five Out
1.18 Toronto
1.17 Chicago
1.00 Los Angeles
0.82 Columbus
0.55 Salt Lake
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Someone at the Las Vegas Sun newspaper discovered Big Soccer.
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Bill Urban at the US Soccer Players Assoc says that while business may be booming at MLS HQ, the talent pool of players is just not there to support an expansion of 3 more teams in the next 3 to 4 years.
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Celtic Football Club of Glasgow Scotland is coming for our children. That's right, they are pedophiles of the highest order. No, no, no. Actually they have announced a plan to sent up 30(!), yes 30 soccer academies across the USA & Canada. The weirdest part is that McDonald's heir Joan Kroc is helping them fund it. From the Scotland Daily Record.
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The USA U20 team is in New Jersey getting ready for the World Cup. US Soccer has an update today, and a link to a diary from defender Julian Valentin (who has done this kinda thing several times before).
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The official USA U20 team blog.
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Robert Zeigler at Top Drawer Soccer talks to USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen about getting ready for the WC.
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The Lancaster PA Intelligencer Journal talks to local boy, USA U20-er Valentin.
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The USA U17 team have dropped their first 2 games at the Eight Nations Tournament in South Korea. They lost on Sunday 1-0 to Japan, and yesterday 2-1 to Nigeria. They play their final group stage game on Thursday v New Zealand, who have also lost their first 2 matches. Alex Nimo got the USA goal v Nigeria.
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The Miami Herald is reporting that Cuban soccer player Osvaldo Alonso has defected to America while his team was here for the Gold Cup last week. His teammate Lester More did the same thing several days earlier.
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Copa Libertadores - Finals (first leg score included):
Wed Jun 20 - second leg
Gremio v Boca Juniors (0-3)
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Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian with a preview of tonight's Libertadores finale.
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The BBC with a story saying masked gunmen apparently tried to kill Newcastle & Nigeria striker Obefemi Martins outside Lagos on Monday night. One person with him was injured. Martins has left Nigeria and says he may not be able to return.
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International referee Dave Roberts at Soccernet writes about referees having a bad day and a really bad day.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune is still in South Africa, and he writes about the real cost of the World Cup to this country.
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Grahame Jones makes mention of the ugly mess at the Trinidad & Tobago football Federation between players and executives and swirling around Jack Warner's head, in his column today. Nothing new here, but good none the less. We need as much gasoline poured on this as possible.
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Lastly, my hero Steven Wells of the Guardian, on the power of pink.