The Valley Was Gorgeous News

The USA has been eliminated from the Copa America by not finishing top 2 in their group and cannot finish as one of the top 2 third place teams.

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Eric Wynalda has a signed a contract to play the remainder of the season for the Bakersfield Brigade in the PDL!

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The MLS All Star starting 11 have been announced for next weeks game v Celtic (July 19). They are: Eddie Johnson, Juan Pablo Angel, Jimmy Conrad, Jonathan Bornstein, Michael Parkhurst, Matt Reis, Shalrie Joseph, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Christian Gomez & Juan Toja. That is a great first team. New England coach Steve Nicol will manage the squad.


Un Copa America:

Tonight is the USA's last game at this Copa. They take on Colombia at 5:30pm central time.
-You should expect to see Brad Guzan take to the goal mouth protector position.
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There is a brand new exclusive audio interview with USA coach Bradley from US Soccer.
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Brand new video from Studio 90 - click on July 5, 2007. Features an interview with some USA fans down in Venezuela including my friend and neighbor Andy! YES!
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Team USA blog.
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For all of you out there who like to see the USA players barechested, US Soccer has photos of the team in the pool.
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There is also official team video from after the Paraguay match.
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet previews tonight's last dance.
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Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated answers reader mail about Team USA. Wahl also makes a very lame attempt to brown nose ME! Hahahahaha. Really though, I owe Grant a lot for championing this blog! Thank you, man.
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Drew Moor with the USA team in Venezuela checks in for a third time with FC Dallas Updates during the Copa America trip. He got his first cap against Paraguay too.
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Ken Pendleton at the US Soccer Players Assoc embraces the young guys of Team USA and the idea of taking them to Venezuela. (Me too.)
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Looks like Soccernet is getting more into the podcast thing, which is great, and they have an interview with USA & Watford defender Jay DeMerit. Listen or download here.
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More strife in the Mexico camp as goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (who I think is pretty fantastic) and coach Hugo Sanchez go at it over playing time - lack there of. But at least they are advancing to the next round.
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Luis Bueno has a pretty solid rumor on his Sideline Views blog that Mexican left winger Andres Guardado is about to move from Atlas to PSV. Great move.
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Is this a father-son team, or a mother-daughter team?
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Group stage match schedule - all matches shown live on GolTV & TeleFutura:
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 0-1 Uruguay
-Venezuela 2-0 Peru
Sun Jul 1
-Brazil 3-0 Chile
-Mexico 2-1 Ecuador
Mon Jul 2
-USA 1-3 Paraguay
-Argentina 4-2 Colombia
Tue Jul 3
-Peru 2-2 Bolivia
-Venezuela 0-0 Uruguay
Wed Jul 4
-Mexico 0-0 Chile
-Brazil 1-0 Ecuador
Thu Jul 5
-Colombia v USA
-Argentina v Paraguay
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Group Standings:
A - 3 played
5 Venezuela - ADVANCE
4 Peru - ADVANCE
4 Uruguay - ADVANCE
2 Bolivia - OUT
B - 3 played
7 Mexico - ADVANCE
6 Brazil - ADVANCE
4 Chile - ADVANCE
0 Ecuador - OUT
C - 2 played
6 Paraguay - ADVANCE
6 Argentina - ADVANCE
0 USA - OUT
0 Colombia - OUT
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This week's MLS games:
-Wed Jul 4
KC 0-1 DC - DC goal by Luciano Emilio.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Pete Gratoff of the KC Star.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Post game notes, quotes and player ratings from Goff on his Soccer Insider blog.
Post-game notes from the KC Star.
Dallas 2-0 Chivas - Dal goals by Ramon Nunez & Birdman Oduro.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Tobias "ToLo" Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Match report by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Colorado 0-0 Columbus
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report from the Rocky Mountain News.
Match report by John Meyer of the Denver Post.
Post-game wrap up from the Columbus Dispatch
Salt Lake 1-2 Toronto - RSL goal by Alecko Eskandarian(PK). Tor goals by Jeff Cunningham & Collin Samuel(PK).
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News.
Match report Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Post-game notes by Edwards.
LA 2-0 Chicago - LA goals both by Landon Donovan(2 PK's).
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Billy Witz of the LA Daily News.
Match report from the LA Times.
-Thu Jul 5
Houston v New York - 7 central on ESPN2
-Sat Jul 7
Columbus v Salt Lake - 6:30 central on Direct Kick
New England v Chivas - 6:30 central on HDNet & Direct Kick
Chicago v Toronto - 7:30 central on FSC & FSE
LA v KC - 9:30 central on Direct Kick
-Sun Jul 8
Columbus v New York - 7:00 central on Direct Kick
Houston v DC - 7:30 central on Direct Kick
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A couple of my notes from Wednesday's MLS games:
-Colorado midfielder Daniel Wasson cut his hair into a mohawk and bleached it white. Then he colored the right side of his head red, and the left side blue. Red, White and Blue for Independence day. Sadly it didn't look very good.
-Jeff Cunningham of Toronto now has 96 career goals.
-The Chicago TV announcers felt that LA midfielder Kyle Martino took a dive on both of the PK calls he got.
-Chicago had NO shots on goal! NONE!
-I love the Birdman.
-Luciano Emilio has scored in 5 straight games.
-Carlos Pavon looked pretty good in his LA debut. He is one strong dude.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chroncile reports that Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis has torn meniscus in this right knee that is going to require surgery. It is unknown how long he will be out. And a preview of tonight's game.
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Dylan Butler at Big Apple Soccer talks to Red Bulls defender Hunter Freeman who is finally back on the pitch after 2 months out injured.
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Beau Dure of USA Today with an article on everyone's favorite whipping boy, Clint Mathis.
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Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet with a preview of tonight's Houston v New York match.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with an article on the man that Fire fans can't stand - team president John Guppy.
-Arroyave also talks to one of the potential new owners, former player Frank Klopas. From his Red Card blog.
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The Chapel Hill News with a very good article on soon to retire All-American defender Eddie Pope of Real Salt Lake.
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The LA Daily News with an article on the Galaxy's roster Merry-Go-Round.
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LA has lost defensive midfielder Kevin Harmse for at least a month with a knee sprain.
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The Orange County Register was a story on the trade by LA of Nate Jaqua to Houston for Kelly Gray.
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DC United are planning a tribute match for former midfield star Marco Etcheverry. The game will be played on October 20th in conjunction with a DC league match.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post with an article on new DC defender Greg Vanney.
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Pete Gratoff of the KC Star with an article on the Wizards Argentine midfielder Carlos Marinelli. (Story is 2 days old.)
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Mike Biglin of the Metro West Daily News looks at the New England stumble at Chivas last week, and how they are gonna get it rolling again.
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Columbus Alive with a midseason review of the Columbus Crew.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times looks at the never ending MLS conflict of club v country.
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Bell also has a story on the Times Goal blog about Frankie Hejduk.
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Ryan Nelson has signed a new 5 year deal with Blackburn. He was at one time the captain of DC United.
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USL First Division matches & scores this weekend:
-Tue Jul 3
Rochester 0-1 Seattle
Carolina 0-0 Vancouver
-Wed Jul 4
Atlanta 3-2 Charleston
California 1-3 Miami
-Fri Jul 6
Rochester v Carolina - Live on FSC at 7pm central.
-Sat Jul 7
Charleston v Puerto Rico
Atlanta v Vancouver
California v Portland
-Sun Jul 8
Montreal v Carolina
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USL 1D Standings:
27 Vancouver
25 Seattle
24 Rochester
23 Montreal
21 Portland
19 Charleston
19 Atlanta
18 Carolina
17 Miami
15 Puerto Rico
11 Minnesota
11 California
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The Minnesota Thunder player an exhibition this weekend v The Sons Of Italy (whoever the hell they are) on Saturday July 7 in Burnsville.
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Tony Edwards at the US Soccer Players Assoc takes a look at recent TV viewing numbers and what the growth of it all really means for soccer in America.
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The U20 World Cup - USA group stage games are:
(All games live on ESPNU)
-USA 1-1 South Korea
-USA 6-1 Poland - Pol goal by ?. USA goals by Freddy Adu(3), Danny Szetela(2) & Jozy Altidore.
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report from Soccernet.
Match report and post game quotes from Top Drawer Soccer.
-Fri Jul 6 v Brazil - 6:30pm central at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa
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My notes on the USA-Pol game:
After being out hustled and out smarted by South Korea in their first group stage game at the U20 World Cup, the USA came out last night v Poland and proceeded to give up a lazy goal in the 4th minute. But that turned out to be their only misstep as they fired up some serious jets to comprehensively destroy the Poles 6-1! Freddy Adu played the best game of his life and scored a hat-trick. His first two goals were masterpiece strikes. The whole team rolled with confidence. It was what we expected from this team. They now take on Brazil (who beat South Korea 3-2 last night) in the final group stage game on Friday at 3:45 central time in Ottawa. The USA lead the group with 4 points, Poland with 3, Brazil with 3 & S Korea with 1.
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Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer has a link to video of all the goals from the USA v Poland game.
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USA U20 team blog.
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The Toronto Star with an article on little known Canadian goal scoring machine Tosaint Ricketts. He plays at UW-Green Bay of all places.
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Japan & Nigeria have become the first two teams to advance to the knock out stages.
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FIFA U20 World Cup details.
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In a big surprise Manchester United have become the leading team trying to sign Carlos Tevez from West Ham.
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The Asian Cup kicks off on Saturday. Here is the first day of matches:
Jul 7
-Thailand v Iraq
-Australia v Oman
-Vietnam v UAE
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The Telegraph of London says that Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke is still hunting after Arsenal.
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FIFA.com interviews long long long time Sweden coach Lars Lagerback.
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Lastly, more great stuff from Steven Wells at the Guardian. This time he looks at American's indifference to international competitions. Excellent article.