Skippin' Class News

The rumors of Michael Parkhurst to Fulham, and Jozy Altidore to Real Madrid (and now Atletico Madrid) continue to grow and grow.

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It didn't take long for Frank Yallop & San Jose to start moving players - they shipped former DC United midfielder Brian Carroll to Columbus, in exchange for forward Kei Kamara. They also sent a 4th round draft pick to Chivas USA for back up keeper Preston Burpo.

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So how exactly is Juan Roman Riquelme going to be transferred by Villareal to Boca Juniors right now? All the worlds press are saying its a done deal. What about the transfer window? I say it doesn't happen now. Later, maybe. Now, no chance.


Young USA & New York striker Jozy Altidore writes for the New York Times Goal blog about his trip home for Thanksgiving. Sure he writes like he is 18, which he is, but he doesn't avoid talking about his trip to South Africa and his first USA cap, or all the Real Madrid rumors. I love this guy.
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Ives Galarcep at Soccernet weighs in on Jozy Altidore's new future.
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Dallas coach Steve Morrow on why the team decided to leave defender Clarence Goodson unprotected in the expansion draft (he was taken by San Jose): "...he was out of contract, and both he and his agent indicated that a move abroad was a strong option. The new contract proposal to remain at FCD was more than we were willing to pay." From FC Dallas Updates.
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AP via USA Today has an article on Alexi Lalas, the one man marketing machine. Some would call him a hot-air factory.
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Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com tries to figure out if MLS is giving LA and Landon Donovan special treatment, again.
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The Annapolis Capital Gazette with a nice personal reflection on the history of DC United.
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Andrew Hush at MLSnet talks to New England midfielder Andy Dorman and his decision to leave the team.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says MLS is urging AEG to sell the Houston Dynamo, and a group led by OSCAR DE LA HOYA is interested! ODLH? Are you kidding me? That could be really cool. Much cooler than Christian Laitner owning a part of DC United, and at least as cool as Drew Carey owning a part of Seattle.
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Andrea Canales at Soccernet writes about the LA Galaxy and their first days under new bossman Ruuuuuuuuud Gullit, in Australia Tuesday & New Zealand Friday.
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The Associated Press with a story on MLS's drive for more South American players.
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet examines San Jose's first 10 players acquired through the expansion draft.
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Jesse Marsch of Chivas USA is the guest blogger today on Luis Arroyave's Red Card blog. Much like former teammate Diego Gutierrez last week, Marsch uses the space to rave about Chris Armas.
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The Puget Sound Business Journal with an article on the particulars of the new Seattle franchise.
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Steven Goff on his Soccer Insider blog with some great MLS rumors, and more rumors.
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Last week the former great Turkish player Hakan Sukur was rumored to be MLS bound, and now its another Turk past his prime, Ozalan Alpay.
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer with no less than 8 articles in their Sunday edition on Brad Friedel's Premier Soccer Academy in suburban Cleveland. Plus pictures, graphics & video. Good stuff! But I would have liked to see some in-depth reporting on the who is on staff to coach to the kids. This place looks amazing too. Well done Plain Dealer.
-'Soccer kids' draw attention
-Goal-Orientated
-Economic impact
-Learning part of the equation
-Missing home can be problem
-Good eating habits essential
-Training recipes
-The Players in the First Class
-Layouts, maps, details, etc
-Video
-Photos
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle on the importance of stadiums for MLS teams. And of course he says now is the time for Houston to step up.
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Jeff Rusnak of the Sun Sentinel in South Florida looks at the interest MLS is again showing Miami. And why?
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In all the crush, haze & lunacy of the past few weeks, I missed this great report from the Copa Minnesota match in which our beloved Minnesota Thunder lost to the LA Galaxy on PK's. The game ended 1-1, and 3-2 on penalties. Brian Quarstad has this podcast for us to download or listen here. Plus several other interviews with players and coaches on both teams.
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The Vancouver Sun talks to Whitecaps pres Bob Lenarduzzi about the teams near and distant future.
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The Guardian with a feature story on USA & Fulham midfielder Clint Demspey and his not so easy, and at times depressing life growing up. Many of us already know this story, but I am sure there are way more of you who don't and will appreciate the quality in which it is written. (thanks to all of you who sent this my way, I really appreciate it)
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Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram examines the year 2007 for the USA men's soccer team. The positives & the concerns.
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FIFA.com has an interview with USA & Fulham keeper Kasey Keller who is in South Africa for the World Cup Qualifying draw this weekend. Video included. Keller is assisting with the draw alongside world greats George Weah, Marcel Dessaily, Abedi Pele, Lucas Redebi, Christian Karembeu & Ali Daei.
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The USA has almost learned their first opponent for 2010 World Cup Qualifying. Next June (dates tbd) they will face the winner of the prior Barbados v Dominica match up. If our boys win that, then they will advance to the first of two group stages to find our regions 3.5 qualifiers for South Africa (3 automatic, and a 4th to face a playoff with #5 from South America for another spot).
-US Soccer with quotes from USA manager Bob Bradley and team captain Carlos Bocanegra about the draw.
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Here is the full CONCACAF draw. Including analysis and quotes from coaches - with Hugo Sanchez again making a fool of himself calling his team the strongest in the region. Note to Hugo: you might wanna check the scores from this decade buddy, cuz you are clearly second best in CONCACAF now.
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Americans in Europe - how'd their recent matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came on in the 63rd minute and bagged his teams final goal in a big 1-3 road win at Academica.
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - played the whole match helping his team to a 1-3 win at Falkirk.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played all 90 of a 2-2 draw at Freiburg.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - dressed but did not leave the bench in his teams 2-2 home tie with Blackburn.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - played all 90 minutes in a 3-2 losing effort at De Graafschap.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - went the distance in a 1-0 win over Midtjylland.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - did not dress due to injury for his teams 2-3 home loss to Schalke.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - back in the starting lineup finally, going the distance, making a difference for his team, but still losing 2-1 at Manchester City.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played all 90 as usual, was dangerous as usual and his team gave up another late lead to draw 2-2 at home with Blackburn, as usual.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - made his Derby debut in the 84th minute, but lost 0-2 at home to Chelsea.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - started and helped his team to a 2-2 draw at Fulham.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - went the distance as usual in goal but lost 2-1 at Manchester City.
-Tim Howard - Everton - started as always in goal and played the whole match as his team demolished Sunderland 7-1.
-Ian Joy - St Pauli - played the whole match but only drew 0-0 at Erzgebirge Aue.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - did not dress for his teams 0-2 home loss to Chelsea.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played all 90 minutes of a league cup match which they won at home 3-0 over KVSK from Lommel.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - came on in the 68th minute of his teams 2-0 loss at Hamburg.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - played all 90 and drew 0-0 at QPR.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - came on in the 82nd minute but could not help his team hold the lead and settled for a 1-1 home draw with Tottenham.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - play at Kaiserslautern on Monday.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - came on in the 69th minute of a 2-2 tie at Freiburg.
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Freddy's goal, via You Tube.
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Dan Callif and Aalborg travel to Tottenham on Thursday in the UEFA Cup which will be shown live in the USA on Fox Soccer Channel. It will be cool to see DC on TV in America.
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Eddie Lewis and Benny Feilhaber will have a new boss at Derby County as their coach Billy Davies was relieved of his duties today. (thanks to BQ for this one)
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The 2nd round of the NCAA tournament happens Wednesday night from coast to coast. Here are the matchups.
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Mexican Premiera Playoffs
-Quarterfinal First Leg Matches & Scores:
San Luis 1-1 Guadalajara
Cruz Azul 0-1 Atlante
Morelia 0-2 Santos Laguna
UNAM Pumas 2-0 Toluca
-Quarterfinal Second Leg Matches & Scores:
Guadalajara 1-0 San Luis - Chivas advance 2-1 on aggregate. (And I must say that their goal was one of the worst PK's I have ever seen given. Sad.)
Atlante 2-1 Cruz Azul - Atlante adv 3-1 on agg.
Santos Laguna 3-2 Morelia - Santos adv 5-2 on agg.
Toluca 1-1 UNAM Pumas - Pumas adv 3-1 on agg.
-Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Guadalajara v Atlante
UNAM Pumas v Santos Laguna
-Sat Dec 1
Atlante v Guadalajara
Santos Laguna v UNAM Pumas
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Copa Sudamericana Final
-Fri Nov 30 - First Leg
Club America v Arsenal de Sarandi
-Wed Dec 5 - Second Leg
Arsenal v America
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The Top 5 Teams in Europe's Top 4 Leagues:
-Premiership
33 Arsenal
30 Manchester United
29 Manchester City
28 Chelsea
27 Liverpool
-La Liga
29 Real Madrid
28 Villareal
27 Barcelona
25 Espanyol
24 Atletico Madrid
-Serie A
28 Inter Milan
25 Juventus
25 Roma
25 Udinese
24 Fiorentina
-Bundesliga
31 Bayern Munich
30 Werder Bremen
30 Hamburg
26 Karlsruhe
24 Bayer Leverkusen
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Argentine Apertura
With 2 games left in the season, three team battle for the title, and it could be all over by Wednesday night:
34 Lanus
31 Tigre
30 Boca Juniors
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Tigre v Boca Juniors
Lanus v Gimnasia
-Sat Dec 2
Boca Juniors v Lanus
Argentinos Juniors v Tigre
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The Soweto derby
-Sat Nov 24
Kaizer Chiefs 2-2 Orlando Pirates - this year played in Durban to coincide with the World Cup Qualifying draw. Kaiz goals by Mabhudi Khenyeza & Arthur Zwane. Orl goals both by Excellent Walaza.
-The South Africa Sunday Times talks to German legend Franz Beckenbauer about his impressions of the match, which he attended.
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Champions League - Matchday 5
-Tue Nov 27
#Stuttgart v Rangers
Lyon v Barcelona - 4pm central on ESPN Classic
#Dynamo Kyiv v Roma
*Manchester United v Sporting - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
#CSKA Moskva v PSV Eindhoven
Inter Milan v Fenerbahce - 5:30pm central on Setanta
Sevilla v *Arsenal - 1pm central on Setanta
#Steaua Bucuresti v Slavia Praha
-Wed Nov 28
Besiktas v Marseille
Liverpool v Porto - 1:30pm central on Setanta
Rosenborg v Chelsea - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Valencia v Schalke
Werder Bremen v Real Madrid - 4pm central on ESPN Classic
Lazio v Olympiakos - 4pm central on Setanta
Benfica v Milan
Celtic v Shakhtar Donetsk
*Qualified for the knock out rounds.
#Eliminated from the knock out rounds.
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Two Americans are playing matches in the Champions League:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica v Milan
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers at Stuttgart
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Andrew Jennings of Transparency in Sport, the man who has been tracking all the foul deeds of Mr Jack Warner, is now investigating a behind the scene's at FIFA's latest war involving el Presidente Sepp Blatter and FIFA's brand new General Secretary Jerome Valcke, who appear to be involved in a case of Blackmail! The matter is from the 2001 collapse of FIFA's broadcast partner ISL-ISSM where several top FIFA officials were accused of being paid huge sums of money prior to ISSM going bankrupt and leaving vast fortunes unaccounted for and large bills unpaid, not to mention lack of services promised & undelivered. To make matters worse, Valcke's new appointment appears to reward him even after he is the man who led FIFA marketing negotiations with VISA that turned into a major lawsuit won by FIFA's present credit card partner MasterCard. FIFA was fined $90 million for wrong doing, yet Valcke gets a new, even better job at FIFA. The stories at FIFA just get worse and worse .... just wait until you read about who runs the organization's current TV-Marketing partner.
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FIFA.com talks to Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti and the upcoming World Club Championship.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Spain & Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
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Football Italia with this weeks Winners, Losers, Goals & numbers.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times on the Goal blog with an article on the demise of England on the world stage. I am not so sure I agree with this one.
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The rest of the World's qualifying set ups from FIFA.
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Top writers from the Guardian review top leagues around Europe:
-Sid Lowe in Spain.
-Raphael Honigstein in Germany.
-Paulo Bandini in Italy.
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Phil Ball of Soccernet digs it all up on Edmilson, Barca, Athletes for Christ and the rest of La Liga.
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Fulham defender Moritz Volz with a new entry in his online diary. He is great at this thing called blogging.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says it didn't take England long, after their Euro 08 qualifying debacle, to sort out their scapegoats.
-And Hughes also writes about the players on that team, and what they do next.
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David James writing for the Observer says don't blame the keeper for England's mess.
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Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated does a great Q & A session with France & Barca star Thierry Henry.
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Sadly, the wife of Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli has passed away after a long battle with cancer.
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A stadium at a 3rd Division game in Brazil has had a portion of one stand collapse killing several people. Oh, this is just awful. From Reuters. (Thanks to Joe for this one)
-The New York Times with a horrible photo of the small part of the stands that crumbled away.