Three Hard Ones News

Again Steven Wells of the Guardian nails it! We all get pissed off every time the English cracks jokes at our expense over soccer. Turns out Wells feels the joke is on the English not us. He says that we Yanks who love the game love it as much as any Englishman, and that it's time his countrymen shut up and move on. This joke is over. YES!

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Mike H at My Soccer Blog takes up the torch in the Anti-Jack Warner crusade. The head of CONCACAF and a FIFA exec is a massively crooked weasel whose own native Trinidad & Tobago federation debacle is proof enough that this guy has to go. Come on everyone. Let's get rid of this scum once and for all.

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DaMarcus Beasley posted his own note on the Team USA blog: "I've heard a lot of rumors out there about me leaving the U.S. camp during the Gold Cup to pursue a possible transfer, and I felt like I needed to clear things up. First of all, I want all the fans to know that I am 100 percent focused on helping our team defend the Gold Cup title. We have played well so far, and I think the best is still yet to come for the U.S. team. But to set the record straight, I haven't signed with any team, nor has there been any deal reached with a club. It's true that Rangers are interested, as well as several other teams, but at this point nothing is set in stone. I am still a PSV player, and we will worry about my club situation after the Gold Cup. Right now, it's time to get ready for training." (Personally, I think his agent wrote that note, but hey, thanks for keeping us up to date amigo. Best of luck.)


All The Gold Cup Action:

The Boston Globe with a story on young American midfielder Benny Feilhaber.
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Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America gives us a look at the next USA opponent - Panama. (Commence singing Van Halen song now.)
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Mahoney also wrote an article on the renewed stardom in England, at Everton now, for American keeper Tim Howard. I somehow missed this one a couple weeks ago. Good stuff. (thank to BQ for unearthing it for us)
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Mike Biglin at the MetroWest Daily News writes about Howard as well.
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Andrew Hush at Soccer New England calls USA & New England midfielder Steve Ralston the "Ultimate Professional".
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune previews all the weekend Gold Cup matches.
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet previews the quarterfinals as well.
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Pre-match notes on the Panama game from US Soccer. (features a link to a video clip from the 2005 USA trip to Panama for World Cup qualifying - excellent stuff - I can't wait for the qualifiers to begin next winter!)
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Read the USA team blog.
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Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune also writes about the Mexican players making a splash in Euro leagues.
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Bernardo Falls fo the Houston Chronicle looks at Mexico's bumpy ride under coach Hugo Sanchez.
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(Stolen from Luis Bueno's Sideline Views blog) Contaco Deportivo asked Costa Rican striker Rolando Fonseca about the current strength of Mexico: "The landscape is changing. The top team in CONCACAF isn't Mexico anymore. For me, the giant is the United States."
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Gold Cup Matches & Scores:
(all times central)
-Quarterfinals:
Sat Jun 16 - Gillett Stadium in Foxborough-
S1 - Canada v Guatemala - 12noon on TeleFutura
S2 - USA v Panama - 3pm on Univision & FSC
Sun Jun 17 - Reliant Stadium in Houston-
S3 - Honduras v Guadeloupe - 2pm on Univision
S4 - Mexico v Costa Rica - 5pm on TeleFutura
-Semifinals:
Thu Jun 21 - Soldier Field in Chicago-
S1 v S2 - 6pm on TeleFutura
S3 v S4 - 9pm on TeleFutura
-Final:
Sun Jun 24 - Soldier Field in Chicago-
2pm on Univision & FSC
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MLS games & scores this weekend:
(all times central)
Thur June 14-
-Salt Lake 0-1 Dallas - Dal goal by Dominic "Birdman" Oduro.
Match report by James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News.
Match report from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Match report from the Dallas Morning News.
Post-game analysis by Brad Rock of the Deseret Morning News.
Sat June 16-
-New England v Columbus - 5:30pm on FSC & FSE
-DC v Chicago - 6:30pm on HDNet
-New York v Kansas City - 6:30pm on Direct Kick
-Chivas v Colorado - 9:30pm on Direct Kick
Sun June 17
-Toronto v Dallas - 12:00pm on Telefutura & CBC
-Los Angeles v Salt Lake - 7pm on Direct Kick
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I wrote a few notes during that RSL v Dallas game, but I am only going to share one of them with you:
-Real Salt Lake stinks!
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The Chicago Sun Times looks at the incredibly shorthanded Chicago Fire team.
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The Denver Post with a profile on the career of Colorado midfielder Jose Cancela.
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Luis Bueno & Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News talk to LA Galaxy midfielder about his team acquiring his former Columbus teammate, forward Edson Buddle, this week.
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Metrofanatic is very pleased with the $1,593,750 spent on Juan Pablo Angel. Very pleased indeed.
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There have been rumors of the LA Galaxy chasing after Honduran striker Carlos Pavon, but Bernado Fallas of the Houston Chronicle asked the forward about it and Pavon says its just rumors.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post reports on this blog, Soccer Insider, that DCU midfielder, MLS Player Of The Week & Goal Scorer Of The Week, Benny Olsen got a buzz cut.
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du Nord's MLS Coaching Hot Seat:
1. Frank Yallop - LA
2. Sigi Schmid - Columbus
3. Dave Sarachan - Chicago
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du Nord's MLS Rookie Of The Year watch:
(alphabetical)
Andrew Boyens - Tor
Maurice Edu - Tor
Ty Harden - LA
Michael Harrington - KC
Dane Richards - NY
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MLS Golden Boot chase:
9 Eddie Johnson
7 Juan Pablo Angel
7 Taylor Twellman
5 Maykel Galindo
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USL First Division games this weekend:
Fri Jun 15
-Carolina v Seattle - 7pm central on FSC
-Montreal v Charleston
Sat Jun 16
-Atlanta v California
-Minnesota v Miami
Sun Jun 17
-Rochester v Charleston
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Glenn Davis on his blog does a short Q & A with American forward Josh Wolff who is playing in Munich for 1860 these days.
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The roster for the USA U-20 World Cup was announced today:
G:
Chris Seitz – Sale Lake
Brian Perk - UCLA
Steve Sandbo - SMU
D:
Nathan Sturgis – Los Angeles
Tim Ward - Columbus
Amaechi Igwe – New England
Julian Valentin - Wake Forest
Ofori Sarkodie - Indiana
Tony Beltran - UCLA
Anthony Wallace - Dallas
M:
Michael Bradley - Heerenveen
Danny Szetela - Columbus
Dax McCarty - Dallas
Freddy Adu – Salt Lake
Bryan Arguez – DC
Sal Zizzo - UCLA
F:
Jozy Altidore – New York
Robbie Rogers - Columbus
Johann Smith - Bolton
Gabriel Ferrari - Sampdoria
Andre Akpan - Harvard
-US Soccer has an audio interview with coach Thomas Rongen about his roster of players. Download or listen here.
-All the USA games and knockout round game will be shown on ESPNU, which I luckily have!
-The team begins training this Sunday and plays a warm up game on Sat Jun 23 v Chile at Giants Stadium in NJ.
-The group stage games are:
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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Brazil has announced their squad as well for the U20 WC. Soccer America says they look very strong.
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The Toronto Star with an article on young TFC striker Andrea Lombardo who hopes to lead the Canada U20's to World Cup glory.
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The New York Times reports on the 13 Haiti U20 players who vanished during at layover at JFK airport on the way to a match in South Korea. The word spread that the players were defecting. But two days later they have all returned to the team. But will they be headed to the World cup in Canada with their teammates?
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-Spanish La Liga- The only Euro league race left this season. And this is the last week.
-Matches:
Real Madrid v Mallorca - 2pm central on GolTV
Barcelona at Gimnastic
Sevilla v Villareal
-Standings:
73 Real Madrid - lead on head to head record v Barca
73 Barcelona
71 Sevilla
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Fulham defender Moritz Volz checks in from a trip to New York, raving about the city, on his excellent blog. He needs to write more, cuz he is good at it. (thanks to BQ for the heads up)
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The Times of London says that a match fixing scandal could be emerging in Portugal.