Thursday, July 26, 2007

Nobody's Home For Supper News

Here is the full transcript of the interview USA manager Bob Bradley did with Jack Bell of the New York Times.

~and~

Our good friend Demko spoke with former US International player Tony Sanneh about his joining up with the Minnesota Thunder, and where he hopes it will lead to. From the Balls blog at City Pages.


SuperLiga - MLS v FMF - More absolutely phenomenal play in the 3rd & 4th matches! WOW!
-See all the matches En Vivo on TeleFutura.
Round 1 matches & scores:
FC Dallas 1-1 Chivas Guadalajara - Dal goal by Arturo Alvarez. Guad goal by Antonio Olvera.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Pachuca - LA goals by Alan Gordon & Landon Donovan. Pach goal by Rafael Marquez.
-Wed Jul 25
DC United 1-1 Monarcas Morelia - DC goal by Christian Gomez. Mor goal by Diego Martinez.
My match notes:
-Both Emilio & Fred missed perfect chances to score into an open net for DC.
-DC's Gomez hit one hell of a curling free kick to open the scoring. The best camera angle was from behind the goal. Beautiful.
-Luis Landin of Morelia played great last spring for Pachuca in the Champions Cup v Houston. He was sold to Morelia this summer.
-But Landin's only real mark on the game was getting red carded in the second half. Like Drew Moor of Dallas the night before, he was ejected for retaliating to an ugly foul - Bobby Boswell kicked him really really hard and got a yellow card, but Landin came up with both guns blazing and the ref standing right there. Adios Muchacho.
-You just knew watching this one that even with 10 men Morelia were going to get the tying goal. And they did with a powerful blast from the right side of the box by Diego Martinez who shot a laser beam to the back post.
-Throughout most of the game DC's Josh Gros had the touch of a hoofed animal.
Match report from SuperLiga.com.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report from the Washington Times.
Post-game notes from Goff on his Soccer Insider blog.
Houston 1-0 Club America - Hou goal by Nate Jaqua.
My match notes:
-A roughly played game by both teams, but mostly fair.
-For such a powerful looking guy, America's Salvidor Cabanas gets knocked down by a stiff breeze.
-Houston's Stuart Holden had a tremendous cross in to the box for Nate Jaqua to tap in for the games only goal.
-Throughout most of the game Jaqua had the heading ability of a horned animal.
-DDR's touch was off too.
-America's #7, Castroman, wore the tightest, nastiest shorts I have ever seen on a soccer field. They looked like he was wet down and they were pasted on. Oof.
-America's Davino played the same role as Reynoso of Chivas the night before - Cheap Shot Extraordinaire. The whacks he put on Joseph Ngwenya only got him yellow carded in second half stoppage time. What a goon.
-The referee didn't make either team stand more than 7 or 8 yards back on any free kicks. It was kinda weird.
-The last 20 minutes Houston put on a defensive clinic. They defended with all 10 field players covering every inch of the pitch. It was impressive and stifled America completely when you would have thought they would be pouring on the offensive pressure at that point.
Match report from SuperLiga.com.
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game notes by Fallas.
Even more post-game notes by Fallas at the Soccer y Futbal blog.
-Round 2 matches:
Sat Jul 28
FC Dallas v Pachuca - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas, 7:00 central
Los Angeles Galaxy v Chivas Guadalajara - The Coliseum, Los Angeles CA - 9:00 central
Sun Jul 29
DC United v Club America - RFK Stadium - Washington DC - 7:00 central
Houston Dynamo v Monarcas Morelia - Roberston Stadium - Houston TX - 9:00 central
-Round 3 matches are Tue Jul 31 & Wed Aug 1.
-Semifinals Tue Aug 14 & Wed Aug 15.
-Final Wed Aug 29.
Standings:
Group A
3-Los Angeles Galaxy
1-Chivas Guadalajara
1-FC Dallas
0-Pachuca
Group B
3-Houston Dynamo
1-DC United
1-Morelia Monarcas
0-Club America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beau Dure of USA Today with his take on SuperLiga.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America likes what he has seen so far in the SuperLiga action.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle loves SuperLiga.
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MLS
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 26
New York v Chivas USA - 6pm central on ESPN2
-Sat Jul 28
Salt Lake v New England - 8:30pm central on FSC & FSE
-Sun Jul 29
Toronto v Chicago - 2pm central on TeleFutura & CBC
Kansas City v Chivas USA - 6pm central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet previews tonight's Chivas USA v New York Red Bulls match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The man with only the very best insider scoop Grant Wahl is back with more on that miracle Iraqi squad, Freddy Adu's transfer and more more more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ivan Orozco of the Daily Breeze reports that Chivas USA is NOT chasing Juan Sebastian Veron down in Argentina. So does this mean CUSA and DC United were never pursuing him? I suspect they were and probably still are, but he has a high price tag which will make it difficult. I don't think this story is over. Chivas could really use this kind of injection though.
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider has a transcript of a very guarded conversation with DC United Pres Kevin Payne.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a rumor hopping around that says Toronto midfielder Carl Robinson may want to go back to Wolverhampton when this MLS season is over.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto coach Mo Johnston has said that goalkeeper Greg Sutton may not return this season after suffering a serious concussion during the Gold Cup. I really hate to hear about head injuries. Let's hope it gets well soon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer looks at the New York forward situation. They have 3 healthy and capable players for two spots - Angel, Wolyniec & Altidore. So who sits out? I would bet on it being Altidore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald with a story similar to Lewis's, about the Red Bulls choices to start tonight's game.
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Columbus Alive chats with Crew forward Alejadro Moreno.
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Online magazine MetroActive with an article from San Jose on the return of the Earthquakes. This is a really good man on the street type story. None of the boring journalism that gets in the way of fandom! Hahahaha.
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Kevin McGeehan at the US Soccer Players Assoc tells DC United to stop dicking around and get hardcore about a stadium deal.
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Soccer New England tries to figure out why the Revolution are one of only 2 MLS teams without a Youth Development program yet.
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du Nord's MLS Coaching Hot Seat - it is burning hot warm!
1. Fernando Clavijo - Colorado
2. Frank Yallop - LA
3. Jason Kries - Salt Lake
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord's MLS Team Of The Moment - Who has been tearing it up in the past few days or week.
F:
Eddie Johnson
Joseph Ngwenya
M:
Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Andy Dorman
Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Shalrie Joseph
D:
Abel Xavier
Chad Marshall
Wade Barrett
Craig Waibel
G:
Ray Burse
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS International Friendly's
Matches& Scores this week:
Wed Jul 25
Chicago v Santos Laguna - Canceled
-According to the local newspaper, The Monitor: a torrential downpour that lasted several hours and turned the Coyote Stadium field into a small deserted island.
Toronto 2-4 Aston Villa
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Match report by Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star.
Match report from Aston Villa's website.
Sat Jul 28
Columbus v Aston Villa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the Chicago Fire v Celtic match on Sunday the Section 8 supporters paid tribute to one of their comrades who was killed last winter by a hit and run driver. His name is Dan Parry. Not only was he a huge Chicago fan, but also a Celtic supporter. So this game made perfect sense to pay tribute to him. Another fan named Joel sent me a note with a sampling of how they honored Dan last Sunday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview:
-We were able to get Dan's family out to the match from Erie PA.
-We got a beautiful banner made to hang above the supporters section.
-S8C made a Fire/Celtic Dan Parry Commemorative Scarf a portion of the proceeds of which went to Fire Works For Kids. These scarves sold out completely on match day. A raving success.
-A Memorial Stadium Brick was made in his name. The cost of which went straight to FWFK. His family and friends held a gathering after the match to visit the brick, it was very touching.
-We were able to get the Fire front office to agree to playing You'll Never Walk Alone in place of the MLS anthem at the start of the match. Section 8 sang it and raised their commemorative scarves in Dan's honor.
-There was a memorial message on the electronic sideboards at the 55th minute.
-Section 8 observed a one minute Moment of Silence during said electronic message at the 55th minute. This was huge. It was all done by the fans, there was no PA announcement, just word of mouth in the lead up to the game. I was so impressed and proud of Section 8 for doing something so far from the normal routine and with such honest and good intentions. When the minute was up the section spontaneously went into another rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone. It was truly awesome.
All these things together made for a fine tribute to a helluva guy. The day meant so much to his family and friends and really served as an excellent opportunity to publicly honor him and to celebrate the bonds in our Fire fan and Section 8 community. Dan's family traveled from Erie and was able to see that their son had left a legacy in Chicago and in our Fire supporter family. That was just excellent. I think it gives everybody a very healthy way to move forward knowing that we did right by our bhoy.

What an awesome remembrance. Thanks to Dan G for telling me about his, and Joel for the details.
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USA defender Frank Simek has signed a new 3 year contract extension with Sheffield Wednesday in the English Championship Division.
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USL First Division
Matches & scores this week:
Thu Jul 26
Minnesota v California
Portland v Atlanta
Fri Jul 27
Vancouver v Seattle - live at 10pm central on FSC
Sat Jul 28
Carolina v Miami
Rochester v Minnesota
California v Puerto Rico
Tue Jul 31
Charleston v Miami
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jesse Erdmann of Blue Sky Soccer with this weeks USL First Division Power Rankings.
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The Oregonian with the story of how the Portland Timber front office and their main supporters section Timbers Army have kissed and made up after a year plus of agitation from both sides. Portland take on English Championship Division team Preston North End on Saturday night. (thanks to Brian for sending me this.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
36 Portland
31 Seattle
28 Montreal
27 Vancouver
27 Rochester
26 Puerto Rico
25 Atlanta
24 Miami
23 Charleston
19 Carolina
16 California
15 Minnesota
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

icLiverpool talk with Alexi Lalas about USA & Everton keeper Tim Howard. I guess Lalas will now talk to anyone about anything.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A new summer exhibition tournament kicks off this weekend in Chicago. It's called the Chicago Trophy. The game will be played at Soldier Field, and feature 4 international club teams who are in their pre-season. The teams are Sevilla from Spain, Toluca from Mexico, Wilsa Krakow from Poland and Reggina from Italy. I think it's pretty cool. But why are they not playing this thing in Bridgeview (stupid people in charge probably).
Schedule (both days are double header games):
-Fri Jul 27
Reggina v Wisla
Sevilla v Toluca
-Sun Jul 29
Reggina v Toluca
Sevilla v Wisla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talks to Sevilla coach Juande Ramos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

German preseason Liga Pokal
-Semifinals:
Nurmberg 2-4 Schalke
Bayern Munich 2-0 Stuttgart
-Final:
Sat Jul 28
Schalke v Bayern Munich - in Leipzig
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
Final:
-Sun Jul 29
Iraq v Saudi Arabia - 7:30am central time on Setanta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times with a story on the joy of the people of Iraq as their team goes to the Asian Cup Final. Then the assholes bent on destroying everything set off car bombs amongst the celebrators. Cowards. Some fantastic pictures too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Russian Premier League
-Standings after round 17 (of 30):
32 Spartak Moscow
30 FC Moscow
30 Zenit St Petersburg
26 Dinamo Moscow
25 CSKA Moscow
23 FK Rubin Kazan
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League - 1st Qualifying Round, aggregate scores, winners in bold:
Khazar Lenkoran 2-4 Dinamo Zagreb
APOEL 2-3 BATE Borisov
Olimpi Rustavi 0-3 Astana
Zeta 5-4 Kaunas
Murata 1-4 Tampere United
Linfield 0-1 Elfsborg
TNS 4-4 Ventspils - Vents advance on away goals tie breaker
Marsaxlokk 1-9 Sarajevo
Sheriff 5-0 Ranger's
Hafnarfjordur 4-1 Torshavn
Domzale 3-1 Tirana
Pobeda 0-1 Levadia Tallinn
Derry 0-2 Pyunik
Dudelange 5-7 Zilina
-The 2nd Qaulifying Round takes place on Jul 1 & Aug 8. Here are those match ups:
Pyunick v Shakhtar Donetsk
Crvena Zvezda v Levadia Tallinn
Rangers v Zeta
Debrecini v Elfsborg
Zaglebie Lubin v Steau Bucuresti
Genk v Sarajevo
Ventspils v Salzburg
Astana v Rosenborg
Hafnarfjordur v BATE Borisov
Kobenhavn v Beitar Jerusalem
Zilina v Slavia Praha
Tampere United v Levski Sofia
Domzale v Dinamo Zagreb
Besiktas v Sheriff
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Benfica & Portugal star winger Simao has transfered to Atletico Madrid.
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Getafe has signed excellent Boca Juniors defender Daniel Diaz.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter Milan has signed Roma defender Cristian "The Masked Man" Chivu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com with a story on long time Argentine defender Roberto Ayala who has announced his retirement from the international game. His new club team, Zaragoza, is happy to hear that I'm sure.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Just a heads up that the U17 World Cup is headed our way in late August from South Korea. The USA will play their first match on Aug 20 v Tajikistan. Belgium & Tunisia are also in their Group E.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since i dont have telefutura on my cable package I was pleased to find out that you can watch the matches online at Superliga.com or through mlsnet with english commentary. Just thought i would let anyone know with the same problem

5:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Didn't Chivas trade their Designated Player spot to NY for Amado? If so, how would they go about getting Veron? MLS shenanigans?

6:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ray Burse! Nice call. I thought he was fantastic the other night for Dallas, especially considering it was his first game.

6:07 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Bruce thanks for the Dan Parry tribute write up, it was a great day. Wish you could have been here for it.

Unfortunately, and sadly, a few days after this amazing display of unity and reverence in our Fire family we were struck by the news that another one of our mambers, a young guy who was a huge supporter and frequent capo, had passed away. We will all miss him. Brandon Kitchens RIP.

4:46 PM  

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