Jump Up & Down News

Can I be honest here and tell you all what I am dreading most - A Houston v New England MLS Cup final rematch.

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Michael Parkhurst of New England has been named MLS Defender Of The Year. My pick would have been for Eddie Robinson.

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Vote for the MLS Goal Of The Year. There are 10 nominees.

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The Sydney Morning Herald says there will be a tournament next February in Hawaii called the Pan-Pacific Championship featuring 2 MLS teams, and Australian A-League team and a Japanese J-League team.

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Sadly, it looks as though DC United midfielder Joshua Gros is going to be forced to retire from the game due to the regularity and severity of head concussions he has been suffering lately. This is really too bad. Best of luck Josh! Reported on the Soccer Insider.


MLS Playoffs
Second Leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
DC 2-2 Chicago - the Fire advance 3-2 on aggregate - DC goals by Clyde Simms & Christian Gomez. Chic goals by Chad Barrett & Chris Rolfe.
-Attendance was 19,438
Houston 4-1 Dallas - tied 2-2 after regulation, Houston score 2 in extra time to win 4-2 on aggregate - Hou goals by Stuart Holden, Brian Ching(2) & Brad Davis. Dal goal by Carlos Ruiz.
-Attendance was 30,088
Match report from the Dallas Morning News.
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game notes from the DMN.
Post-game notes by Fallas.
New England 1-0 New York - New England advance 1-0 on aggregate - NE goal by Taylor Twellman.
-Attendance was 10,116 - but there was a frickin Hurricane passing by.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report by Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Match report by Kyle McCarthy for the MetroWest Daily News.
Match report from Soccer New England.
Post-game analysis & New England player quotes by Thompson at the Herald.
Chivas 0-0 Kansas City - Kansas City advance 1-0 on aggregate, from goal in first leg.
-Attendance: 19,711
Match report by Billy Witz of the Daily Breeze.
Match report by Ivan Orozco of the LA Daily News.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise.
Match report from the Kansas City Star.
Post-game analysis by Andrea Canales at Soccernet.
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So the Semifinals look like this:
-Thu Nov 8
New England v Chicago - 6:30pm central on ESPN2
-Sat Nov 10
Houston v Kansas City - 7:30pm central on FSC, FSE & HDNet
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Despite a Hurricane causing wild wind and rain in New England on Saturday night, the 4 second leg first round playoff games averaged attendance of 19,838.
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Steve Davis at Soccernet with "10 things about the first round" of playoffs.
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Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com reviews the 4 second leg matches.
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DJ Walker's infamous Stream Of Consciousness: FC Dallas at Houston Dynamo, Game 2.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle on Brian Ching's great performance for Houston on Friday night.
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The Press Enterprise on Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman's return to So Cal and his win over Chivas.
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Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown on the job Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio has done since his hiring mid-season.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe on New England's early preparations for facing Chicago on Thursday night.
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Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun Times looks ahead to New England v Chicago.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his Red Card blog says that Fire midfielder Justin Mapp may be healthy enough to play on Thursday night.
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Ives Galarcep reporting on the firing of New York coach Bruce Arena says team captain Claudio Reyna had a falling out with Arena early in the season!
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Metrofanatic with some select quotes from New York Red Bulls president Marc de Grandpre's press conference after firing Arena. There is some real delusion going on here.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times on Arena's firing.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer on Arena too.
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Frank Yallop has left the LA Galaxy to go back to the revived San Jose Earthquakes, a team he won 2 MLS cups coaching.
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Billy Witz of the Daily Breeze on Yallop's departure.
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Martin Rogers at Yahoo Sports looks at what went wrong in LA for Yallop.
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England's Daily Mail tabloid says that England coach Steve McClaren is a candidate for the LA Galaxy coaching job. Sure he is. And so am I. And so is Bud Grant.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times with some Chivas USA post-season analysis.
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Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News looks ahead to next season for FC Dallas.
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The Rocky Mountain News has a Q & A with Colorado managing director Jeff Plush.
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Ives Galarcep is reporting that Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul has been called in to play for the Senegal national team.
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Dallas GM Michael Hitchcock wrote a letter to FCD fans and posted it on the teams blog.
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Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram tells us why this was such a great year for MLS.
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Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post Sports Bog goes into the stands with his video camera after DC was knocked out by Chicago. I feel sorry for those fans who blame the referees, cuz it just makes them look kinda pathetic.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post on the DC United playoff failures.
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With an expansion draft looming, Goff ponders on who DC will protect & expose. From the Soccer Insider. Goff also reported that Juan Sebastian Veron might still be on DC's wish list.
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John Haydon of the Washington Times looks back at the now finished season of DC United.
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FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
From Brazil
Our USA team is there but not one of the favorites. (thanks to Ethan for sending us this link and being excited about the event.
USA Group B Matches & Scores:
-USA 4-8 Spain
-USA 7-6 Iran
-Tue Nov 6 v Portugal
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The USA U18 team drew 1-1 with Scotland on Sunday in their final game of the Limoges tournament in France. Bryan Dominguez got the USA goal. The team finished 0-2-1.
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Andrew Hush of Soccer New England on how the USA needs to build its entire soccer program.
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Americans in Europe - how'd their recent matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - was on the bench to begin, then came on in the 83rd minute of his teams 1-2 road win at Pacos de Ferreria.
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - played all 90 in his teams 2-0 win over Inverness.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played the full 90 in a 0-0 draw at Wehen.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - suspended this game v Reading due to yellow card accumulation, but his team won 3-1 at home.
-Nat Borchers - Odd Grenland - did not play in his teams 2-0 win over Fredrikstad.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - started and went the full 90 in his teams excellent 2-1 home win over perennial powerhouse PSV.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - played the entire match but lost 1-0 at Randers. It was the teams first loss since August 19.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went all 90 as usual and they won 2-1 over Dortmund.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - came on as a 76th minute sub in his teams 3-1 loss at Fulham.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - their season is over until spring.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - started but only lasted 10 minutes as a calf injury took him down, and team followed suit losing 0-3 at home to West Bromich Albion.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 and in the 72nd minute scored the game winner, poking in a loose ball, as they won 3-1 over Reading.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - did not dress for the 2-0 loss at Aston Villa.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - held the Liverpeople to a 0-0 draw at home.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - went the distance in his teams 3-1 loss at Fulham.
-Tim Howard - Everton - started as keeper as usual and helped his team win 3-1 over Birmingham.
-Ian Joy - St Pauli - came on in the 57th minute as the team drew 1-1 at Hoffenheim.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - did not dress for the 2-0 loss at Aston Villa.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played 90 but again they drew, 0-0 at Mouscron.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - came on in the 59th minute, to play in the midfielder (see story below), but lost 1-0 at Werder Bremen.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - back from injury and straight back to 90 minutes of action as they won 1-2 at Plymouth.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - came on in the 50th minute to play in the midfield, then saved a shot off the line and helped preserve a 1-1 draw at home v Bolton.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - did not play due an ankle injury as the team drew 1-1 at Paderborn.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - did not play in his teams 2-0 loss at Odd Grenland.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - came on in the 83rd minute of a 0-0 draw at Wehen.
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Another great primal scream picture of USA & Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey after scoring the winning goal v Reading on Saturday. And a story on Deuce from the Fulham website.
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And the English rumor mill says Fulham wants New England centerback Michael Parkhurst.
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Yanks Abroad talks to USA & Hansa Rostock defender Heath Pierce who has actually played his clubs last two matches in midfield.
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Big Euro club matches this weekend:
-Sat Nov 3
Arsenal 2-2 Manchester United - #1 v #2 in England, tied on points at 26.
Sevilla 2-0 Real Madrid - who wants to be #1, well we all know Real does, but does Sevilla & their brand new coach?
Fenerbahce 2-1 Besiktas - can you imagine what Turkish derby days are like? Wow, I get its good.
Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 FC Moscow - #1 v #3 with only 2 rounds left to play.
-Sun Nov 4
Juventus 1-1 Inter - The Derby d’Italia will be Inter's chance to put a huge dent in Juve's psyche and season.
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Russian Premier League
-Standings after 29 rounds (of 30):
-Only two teams left in the race.
58 Zenit St Petersburg
56 Spartak Moscow
-Next Saturday will see the final games of the season:
Zenit at Saturn Moscow
Spartak v Dinamo
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The Top 5 Teams in the Top 4 Leagues:
-Premiership
27 Arsenal
27 Manchester United
24 Chelsea
22 Portsmouth
22 Blackburn
-La Liga
25 Real Madrid
24 Barcelona
24 Villareal
21 Valencia
20 Atletico Madrid
-Serie A
25 Inter Milan
23 Fiorentina
22 Roma
21 Juventus
19 Udinese
-Bundesliga
28 Bayern Munich
26 Hamburg
24 Werder Bremen
23 Karlsruhe
21 Hannover
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UEFA Champions League - back this week with Matchday 4:
-Tue Nov 6
Liverpool v Besiktas
Porto v Marseille
Valencia v Rosenborg
Schalke v Chelsea
Lazio v Bremen
Olympiakos v Real Madrid
Celtic v Benfica
Shakhtar v Milan
-Wed Nov 7
Lyon v Stuttgart
Barcelona v Rangers
Manchester United v Dynamo Kyiv
Sporting v Roma
Internazionale v CSKA Moskva
Fenerbahce v PSV
Steaua v Sevilla
Slavia v Arsenal
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Costa do Sol won the Mozambique league championship.
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Toluca, Santos Laguna, Atlante, Guadalajara & San Luis have all qualified for the Mexican league playoffs. With one round to go UNAN, Pachuca, America, Cruz Azul & Morelia are battling for the final 3 spots.
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World Soccer with a story on AC Milan who feel they have the qualities to achieve all their goals this season, despite a fairly poor Serie A start. Via Sports Illustrated.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Cameroon & Espanyol goalkeeper Idriss Kameni.
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Several goodies from The Guardian:
-Sid Lowe says Real Madrid lost and then did a lot of whining about it. Plus a review of the rest of La Liga.
-Raphael Honigstein on die Bundesliga.
-Paulo Bandidi on the Derby D'Italia & Serie A.
-A rave report on Man United youngster Anderson.
-And Portsmouth keeper David James on players taking out insurance on themselves.
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The real Ronaldo looks to make his season debut for Milan tomorrow in the Champions League.
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The highs & lows and all that stuff from the weekend in Serie A. From Football Italia.
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Duncan Castles of the Observer does an interview with recently fired Tottenham manager Martin Jol.
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Pavel Nedved of Juventus kicked Luis Figo of Inter so hard on Sunday that he broke his fibula. Damn dude.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on some of the huge club matches played this weekend.
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Every USA fans favorite whipping boy Giuseppe Rossi of Villareal torn the meniscus in the right knee and will miss at least a month.