My Own Personal Pharmacy News

Here at the University of Minnesota, where I work, our campus newspaper The Minnesota Daily ran an editorial advocating the launch of a men's soccer program. The state of Minnesota doesn't have any Division 1 programs, and seeing as this school is one of the 10 biggest in the country, it makes sense to have one here. It's about time someone starts beating the drum.


MLS scores from this weekend:
-Toronto 0-1 Kansas City - goal by Eddie Johnson
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Match report by Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star.
Post-game analysis by Stephen Brunt of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Post-game analysis by Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star.
-Columbus 1-0 DC - goal by Ezra Hendrickson
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Post-game analysis by Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog.
-Los Angeles 3-1 Chivas USA - LA goals by Landon Donovan, Kevin Harmse & Cobi Jones. Chivas goal by Claudio Suarez.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Joel Aceves of LA Soccer News.
Match report by Phil Collin of the LA Daily News.
-Dallas 0-1 New England - goal by Taylor Twellman
Match report by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
-Houston 0-1 Chicago - goal by Chris Rolfe
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Match report from the Chicago Sun Times.
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The du Nord MLS Player Of The Week - Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
-He captained his team to their 8th win in the 10th edition of the fraudulently named Super Classico. (Not so Super on Chivas's part anyway.) None the less. The man we call Landy-Cakes was superb. Very early on, Los Angeles applied good pressure that led to Chivas committing a keeper-defender duel-self-takedown leaving LD a clear ball to pounce on and slam home for goal #1. Several more times in the first half Donovan dropped into midfield to help out his young central duo of Sturgis-Harmes to totally stifle Marsch & Guevara of the Goatboys. El Dee also used his superior speed to cause chaos from sideline to sideline, yet in the 17th minute he sat at the top of the box with his back to goal and played post up striker. Harmes charged toward him and worked a perfect give & go as Donovan drew 3 defenders leaving Harmes clear in on goal, allowing him to calmly slot home at the near post for goal #2. Chivas tried to apply pressure for the next 60 odd minutes, but could not get more than a couple decent shots. A scrambled home goal gave Chivas new life at 2-1, but Donovan answered again but taking a ball 65 yards at breath-taking speed, hurdling Lawson Vaughn (who bragged before the game that he could stick with LD's speed), and drawing the defense & keeper to his side of the box so he could slip a ball across them all for streaking teammate Cobi Jones to bury into an open net. Game over. 3-1 to LA. All scored or set up perfectly by the man we love to hate. And I do love him. Those assists and goal make Donovan the 11th player in MLS history to register 50 goals & 50 assists, and he is only 25! Great match from a true captain on the night.
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My MLS notes:
TFC v KC
-It was the first ever MLS game in Toronto, the home opener for Toronto FC, and the debut of sold out BMO (pronounced Bee-Mo) Field.
-It was the also the first time that I had ever seen anything broadcast on CBC.
-Mitch Peacock from the Fox Soccer Report was the sideline reporter for the match.
-The announcers were some old English wanker and former Canadian national team keeper Craig Forrest.
-The national anthems (USA & Canada) were sung by a guy from the musical We Will Rock You. He twice forgot the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner. The crowed roared each time he blew it.
-As soon as I saw referee Mauricio Navarro stroll out on to the pitch I knew we were in for a long whistle filled affair. He loves to blow that thing constantly. He must have been ignored as a child.
-Toronto moved Maurice Edu into the middle of the field were he belongs, not on the wing like last game.
-KC's Argentine midfielder Carlos Marinelli only lasted 15 minutes on the field till his hamstring gave out.
-A yellow card was given to new TFC striker Danny Dichio for a hard charge on KC keeper Kevin Hartman. It was a pretty serious cheap shot on a keeper out of the box trying to clear the ball. The announcers went on at length about how it was NOT a foul at all, but rather a simple challenge for the ball. I guarantee you if Eddie Johnson had done that to Greg Sutton they would have been screaming for Johnson's head. Hypocrits.
-The camera shots are not the greatest. several times we cannot see the corner flags.
-TFC put a lot of pressure on KC but could not capitalize. Jack Jewsbury cleared a shot off the KC goal line.
-For the first time, late in the game, you could really hear TFC fans singing. They have been loud and occasionally chanting in short bursts, but the microphones are not detecting constant singing like I expected to hear. But finally we hear "All we are saying, is give us a goal"! Excellent.
-Eddie Johnson had several good chances but put his shots straight at the keeper every time.
-Until....the 81st, when Johnson cuts inside and beats Sutton to the near post for the game winner.
-Decent start in Toronto for the fans (not so much the team). Let's see em keep it up all summer.
-Ronnie O'Brien will help TFC a lot if he can stay healthy.
Lumbus v DC
-Dante Washington was one of the Columbus TV announcers, and he is reeeeeeeeealy mellow. He will also be playing for Columbus in their next reserve league game. They are really desperate I guess.
-Fred2 & Devin McTavish got their first starts for DCU.
-The main announcer Dwight Burgess kept calling Ricardo Virtuoso, Virch-ee-oso.
-Great Crew goal in the 28th minute after a Brian Carroll giveaway. Ned Grabavoy charges in, then swings it wide left to Jospeh Ngwenya who rips the ball across to Ezra Hendrickson who's first shot is blocked but he gets the rebound and does not miss again.
-Burgess says Ezra is 400 years old and 12 feet tall!
-Luciano Emilio got a yellow card for using his hand to put the ball into the net.
-And Christin Gomez got later got a yellow for a dive in the box. Excellent.
-Carroll pulled at half time.
-DC brought some of their great fans on the road, and they are much louder than the home fans.
-DC applied a lot of possession and pressure, but could not break through.
-Columbus counter attacked quite well.
-The game was delayed in the 84th minute for over twenty minutes due to a thunder storm, and lightning strikes in the area of the stadium.
-Columbus killed it off after that.
-Both Joseph Ngwenya and keeper Andy Gruenebaum had solid games for the Crew.
LA v Chivas
-During the pregame show, Colonel Sanders was standing behind the FSC live set. Good to see the Chicken God on hand.
-The FSC pregame show was also still plagued by interviews with no sound. Ugly.
-After LA scored early Chivas really turned it up, but saves from Joe Cannon kept em at bay.
-The crowd at the HDC was late arriving. But I have to ask, with the two teams being from LA why didn't we see overflow tickets sold to the the grass hill. Sad to see the demand for tickets dip.
-Right before Claudio Suarez scored for Chivas, Ante Razov had put a header off the post. It could have been #101.
-FSC misses a Landon Donovan breakaway attempt while showing replays of NOTHING!
-Off camera Amado Guevara who had been subbed off for Chivas was red carded for apparently shoving an assistant referee after Cobi Jones's game clinching goal. Oh, that is bad. He will get a suspension for that one. Andy Herron got 6 games two years ago for a similar stunt.
-I read on LASN that Chivas is now 0-27-8 when its opponent scores first!
Dall v NE
-Michael Parkhurts makes his season debut for New Eng after injury. Pat Noonan also gets his first start.
-Bobby Rhine starts for Alex Yi at the right back spot for Dallas.
-The Telefutura announcers were cracking Jimmy Buffett jokes. Apparently he just played a concert at PHP.
-The best part of the ultra-tiny crowd in Dallas is that everyone in attendance gets to personally meet each other. How nice.
-I am seeing lots of yellow shoes in the league. Taylor Twellman in this game. Joe Cannon of LA and Jonny Bornstein of Chivas also sporting them.
(sorry - more notes later - gotta run)
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The MLS Coaches Hot Seat - Who will be the first one fired in 07?
1. Tom Soehn - DC United - leaps to the top of the table after another awful loss.
2. John Ellinger - Real Salt Lake - stinking it up for the third straight year. How will they do tonight v dreaded rivals Colorado.
3. Mo Johnston - Toronto FC - I know they are an expansion team, so no wins is not shocking, but no ties and NO GOALS either! Ugh.
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LA coach Frank Yallop told Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News that there is "No chance" of Zinedine Zidane coming to play in LA. Does this boost the chances of him coming to Chicago as I think he might, or not? But then again we all know that there is really no chance of "No chance" ever being 100%.
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The San Francisco Chronicle talks to potential San Jose Earthquakes re-animator Lew Wolff about the stadium deal at San Jose State University that fell apart last week. Several myths debunked.
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I have been trying to figure out why MLS teams have backed away from signing goalkeeper Kasey Keller. I have my own theories brewing. Namely that he raised his asking price after MLS invented the Designated Player rule. Do you have any theories?
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MLS game tonight:
Monday April 30
-Salt Lake v Colorado - 8pm central time on Direct Kick
-Match preview from the Deseret Morning News.
-The Rocky Mountain News says Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni is healthy and ready to return to Salt Lake and torment the fans of Real Salt Lake again.
-The Salt Lake Tribune with articles on two RSL youngsters - goalkeeper Chris Seitz who will get the start - and - defender Nik Besagno who is yearning for a chance to get on the field regularly after 2 years in the reserves.
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USL First Division scores from last weekend:
-Atlanta 3-1 Minnesota
-Miami 3-2 Seattle
-Charleston 2-3 Montreal
-Carolina 0-0 Atlanta
-Vancouver 2-2 California
-Puerto Rico 0-0 Seattle
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I am really disappointed by my hometown team the Minnesota Thunder. They opened with 3 games on the road, and came away with an acceptable 2 points, but they have not looked very good doing it. There are bright spots, but I am not pleased with the overall effort shown. Let's hope this coming Sunday when they open at home they take all of our frustrations out on last seasons champs from Vancouver.
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The USA U16 team finished 3rd on Friday in the Ballymena International Tournament in Northern Ireland.
Third place game:
USA 5-1 Israel - USA goals by Ryan Finley (2), Ben Speas, Amobi Okugo, Eder Arreola. Israel goal by Guy Lipka.
Group Stage games:
USA 1-1 Scotland - USA goal by Parker Walsh.
USA 3-2 Czech Republic - USA goals by Dersu Abolfathi, Kofi Sarkodie & Ryan Finley.
USA 1-2 Republic of Ireland - USA goal by Gale Agbossoumonde.
-The host country lost to their southern cousins 3-0. That has got to be bitter.
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CONCACAF U17 World Championship Group B Qualifying Tournament kicked off yesterday in Kingston Jamaica. Here is the match schedule:
Sat April 28
-Costa Rica 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago - goals by Jorge Castro & Diego Brenes.
-Jamaica 0-3 Canada - goals by Daniel Tannous, Jarek Whiteman & William Hyde
Mon April 30
-Canada v Costa Rica
-Trinidad & Tobago v USA - 7pm
Wed May 2
-USA v Canada - 5pm
-Jamaica v Costa Rica
Fri May 4
-Canada v Trinidad & Tobago
-Jamaica v USA - 7pm
Sun May 6
-USA v Costa Rica - 5pm
-Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
-The top 3 from this group will advance to the finals in Korea in late summer.
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US Soccer with the latest info on the USA team at this tournament.
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US Soccer has interviews with USA U17 team captain Mykell Bates & coach John Hackworth previewing the qualifying tournament. Listen or download via podcast.
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And the team has an official blog too.
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Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - did not dress due to his ongoing hamstring injury, for 0-2 home loss to Aston Villa.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - started and played the full game in a 2-1 loss at Koblenz.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - started and went 90 in a 3-1 loss at Arsenal. They are now only 1 point above relegation.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - came on in the 68th minute with the scored tied at 1, and helped his team pound Feyenoord 5-1!
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - went 90 in the center of defense of a 2-0 win over Vejle.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - started at right back as usual in a 2-1 win at Mainz.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - started and went the full 90 of a 4-0 win over Brommapojkarna in the Stockholm derby.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - with nothing left to play for, he was given the day off from a 1-0 loss at Sheffield United.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came off the bench in the 59th minute but lost 3-1 at Arsenal. They are now only 1 point above relegation.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - went the distance in a 4-1 win over Charlton.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - take on Newcastle today.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - came on in the 70th minute as they tied Nurnberg 1-1.
-Tim Howard - Everton - not allowed to play against Man United because of his season long loan deal. His team lost 2-4.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - did not play due to hip injury as his team got beat 1-0 by Stuttgart. They are now all but relegated.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - started and played 77 minutes as Leeds drew 1-1 at home to Ipswich. They too are all but relegated.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - started and went 59 minutes in a 3-1 loss at Arsenal. They are now only 1 point above relegation.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - take on Reading today.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - played the whole of a 2-3 win at Horsens.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - started and went 86 minutes in a 2-0 loss to Birmingham.
-Jonathan Spector - came on in the 83rd minute of his teams huge 0-3 win at Wigan. This win brings them level on points with Wigan, but behind on goal difference at the top of the relegation battle.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - came in the 84th minute of a 2-0 win over Viking.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - did not dress due to injury for his team 2-1 loss at Koblenz.
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I think we can expect to see Eddie Lewis in MLS when the transfer window opens on June 15. His Leeds team is 3 points into the relegation zone with only one game to play, and -9 in goal differential. In other words they are doomed. Can you believe Leeds, the mighty Leeds, are going to the third division?? They were in the Champions League only 4 or 5 years ago.
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By now it's obvious to everyone that Fulham firing coach Chris Coleman and hiring Laurie Sanchez has done nothing at all to halt their slide toward the relegation zone. Sanchez has lost all three games in charge.
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And when was the last time Brian McBride scored for Fulham? He had a great first half to the season, but they ran him dry. He looks tired.
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USA U20 forward Johann Smith got his first goal this weekend for Carlisle United.
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Yanks Abroad talked to USA & Watford defender Jay DeMerit about getting promoted and now relegated after one season in the EPL.
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This weeks EPL Talk podcast interview is with one of the main writers at the US Players Association website, Ian Plenderleith. He is an Englishman that lives in the DC area and has covered DC United for a long time, among other writing gigs.
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Copa Libertadores:
-This week begins the round of 16 in the knock out stages.
1st Legs:
Wed May 2-
Caracas v Santos
America v Colo Colo
Defensor Sporting v Flamengo
Sao Paulo v Gremio
Boca Juniors v Velez Sarsfield
Thu May 3-
Parana v Libertad
Nacional v Necaxa
Cucuta Deportivo v Toluca
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Luis Bueno at LA Soccer News with a look at the last regular season matches in his Mexican league Jornada 17 Roundup.
-Omar Bravo of Chivas scored 11 goals to win the Clausura golden boot.
-I will have the playoff match-ups asap.
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PSV are the 2007 Champions in Holland!
The Dutch Eredivisie ended in a tie! Wow! So the title was settled on goal difference, and it came down to a one goal advantage after 34 games!
This weekends scores (AZ Alkmaar were eliminated when they lost):
-Excelsior 3-2 AZ Alkmaar
-PSV 5-1 Vitesse Arnhem
-Willem II Tilburg 0-2 Ajax
Two finished with 75 points:
1. 75 PSV +50 goal difference
2. 75 Ajax +49 goal difference
3. 72 AZ Alkmaar
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Some of the other big Euro league races are really tight too. Here are the weekend's matches and standings:
-La Liga: - Everything stayed the same.
Scores:
Barcelona 1-0 Levante
Sevilla 3-1 Espanyol
Athletic Bilbao 1-4 Real Madrid
Valenica 2-0 Recreativo Huelva
Osansuna 2-2 Zaragoza
Standings:
62 Barcelona
61 Sevilla
60 Real Madrid
56 Valencia
54 Zaragoza
(6 left to play in Spain)
-Bundesliga: - Big move for Stuttgart as their opponents at the top all lost, and Bayern Munich were eliminated from the race.
Scores:
Bochum 2-1 Schalke
Armenia Bielefeld 3-2 Werder Bremen
Borussia Monchengladbach 0-1 Stuttgart
Standings:
62 Schalke
61 Stuttgart
60 Werder Bremen
(3 left to play in Germany)
-England: - Chelsea choked again with a draw.
Scores:
Everton 2-4 Manchester United
Chelsea 2-2 Bolton
Standings:
85 Man United
80 Chelsea
(3 games left to play)
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Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has surprised everyone by resigning as the teams coach immediately. There are a couple of rumors floating that he will take over as manager of Manchester City or Newcastle. But many things stand in the way of either of those happening right now. Or maybe he will get the England job?!?! The Guardian with the story & some speculation.
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Birmingham and Sunderland have secured promotion to next seasons English Premier League. The next 4 teams will play off for the third and final promotion spot. The Championship Division still has one round left to play before the playoff teams are fully determined (Derby is in, with the other 3 coming next weekend).
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In France, goalkeeper Fabian Barthes led his team Nantes to relegation after 44 straight years in the top flight. Depressing.
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Phil Ball at Soccernet is trying to translate the weekends La Liga scores - Pigs May Fly.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A session with Spain & Barca forward Javier Saviola.

Fly Me To The News

Why isn't Dave Dir the head coach in Salt Lake or Toronto? Seriously!


MLS scores from mid-week:
Thurs April 26
-Dallas 0-1 New York - goal by Hunter Freeman.
Match Report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Match report by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News
More post-game notes & analysis from Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
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My notes from Thursday's MLS match:
-It sure looked like a gorgeous weather night in Dallas, but I am sure there is some excuse why only a handful of people showed up to see the 2 top teams in MLS go at it. OK fine, its a Thursday night. So what. That is an old excuse that does not work for me any more. Let's start having NO EXCUSES.
-(Of course the attendance was nowhere near as heinous as that empty fish bowl in KC the night before - embarrassing for the new owners in their home opener.)
-Why was so little respect shown to Dallas in the pregame. They didn't even introduce the team in that fancy ESPN way like they did New York. Bogus.
-The announcers said a huge tree fell on Dallas keeper Shaka Hislop's house this week. Is that a bad omen? It sure is a drag.
-I figured out exactly who Juan Carlos Toja looks like - guitarist Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap. "It goes to 11"!
-Toja has committed the most fouls in the league this season. I like him. Interestingly Toja replaced Simo Valakari on the Dallas roster and Simo was always the top fouler in the league.
-Announcer Dave O'Brien made some completely moronic mention of the kid who plays Harry Potter in the movies being the same age as Jozy Altidore. DAVE, PLEASE STOP IT! WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YER LITTLE TRIVIA! NO ONE DOES! GIVE IT UP!
-Dallas only had one first half shot and it was a dribbler in the 45th minute.
-How have Carlos Mendez & Jeff Parke become such a solid center pairing in defense for New York? It could be the fact that this is their 3rd season together. Other than that, I have no idea how they are getting it done. Sure the midfielders help them alot, but I think it might be voodoo.
-I loved it when ESPN2 announcer Tommy Smyth called New York the Metrostars!
-The footwork and distribution of NY keeper Ronald Wattereus has got to be a very big steadying comfort to his defenders.
-They showed an old picture of Bruce Arena and announcer Eric Wynalda said, "Is that Tommy Hilfiger at a bar mitzvah?" I always thought BA looked like TH.
-The Dallas back line did a great job of smothering NY lone striker Jozy Altidore.
-Dallas defender Clarence Goodson got away with an obvious hand ball in the box on a corner kick.
-In the 79th minute NY left wing Dave Van Den Bergh got off two successive crosses into the box and Hunter Freeman buried the second one for his first ever MLS goal. Huge, powerful shot!
-Speedy Dominic Oduro almost made something happen late for Dallas. He could be a good one very soon.
-New York has now set a new MLS record by starting the season with 4 clean sheets.
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A reader named Randy posted this comment on Ives Galarcep's Soccer by Ives blog, and I just had to share it, cuz I agree:
Obviously it's early, but Bruce Arena clearly knows what he's doing. Some coaches can ID talent (see Clavio, F.), some can motivate (see Novak, P.) and some can get their guys to buy into the team concept (see Kinnear, D. and Yallop, F), but Arena can do it all. He's definitely at the head of the class in MLS coaching.
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MLS games this weekend (all times are central):
Saturday April 28
-Toronto v Kansas City - 1130am on HDNet & Direct Kick
-Columbus v DC - 630pm on Direct Kick
-Los Angeles v Chivas USA - 930pm on FSC
Sunday April 29
-Dallas v New England - 2pm on Telefutura
-Houston v Chicago - 6pm on Direct Kick
Monday April 30
-Salt Lake v Colorado - 8pm on Direct Kick
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(I had written stuff here about the latest in Salt Lake stadium controversies. But I knew at the time I wrote it that the issue was not important to the soccer on the field and I should just stay away from it. Unfortunately I let my brain get in the way and I wrote a critical rant. As a day or two went by I realized it was all pointless so I have taken it down.)
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Both Houston & DC United are gonna wear special Virginia Tech inspired maroon shirts this weekend in tribute, then auction them off afterward. Go to the team homepages for details.
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Steven Goff at the Soccer Insider blog is saying that Facundo Erpen will not start in the back for DC United this weekend. It will be Devin McTavish in a possible 4 man back line with Bobby Boswell in the middle, Joshua Gros on the left and Brian Namoff on the right. Although I would get they still go with 3 in the back. I have always thought Namoff was way better on the right. As a matter of fact I named him to the du Nord best 11 two years in a row at right back, not left. And Fred2 will probably get his shot in the DCU first 11 too.
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Luis Arroyave on his blog The Red Card says Chicago's Justin Mapp most likely will not play this weekend in Houston, due to a hamstring injury.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe looks at New England's lack of success in Dallas at Pizza Hut Park, where they are headed for Sunday's game.
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Don Cuddy at Soccer365 has a Q & A with New England midfielder & captain Steve Ralston.
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Rookie Chris Seitz will get the start in goal this weekend for Salt Lake against Colorado. The two teams actually play twice this weekend, Saturday in the Open Cup and then Monday in the league. I would assume Seitz will play in both unless game #1 goes horribly wrong or he gets hurt. From the Deseret Morning News.
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Several stories from Luis Bueno of the LA Soccer News ahead of this weekends LA derby:
-How Chivas will try to stop Landon Donovan. Defender Lawson Vaughn thinks he has the speed to stay with Landy.
-A look back at the 9 previous meetings between the two sides. LA holds a dominating 7-1-1 record.
-Rookie forward Laurent Merlin tried hard to make the Galaxy roster but was eventually cut, and then made the Chivas roster. He wants to play in this game very badly.
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Do you remember when Chivas was coached by William H. Macy's stunt double Hans Westerhoff?
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Phil Collin at the LA Daily Breeze says Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan who will miss the Classico on Saturday feels bad about the tackle on Andy Williams of RSL that got him a red card suspension. Plus other Chivas pre-derby notes.
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Collin at the Breeze also talks to new Chivas midfielder Amado Guevara.
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Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston tells Larry Millson at the Toronto Globe & Mail that the goals will come.
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Dean McNulty says TFC will shuffle their lineup for the home opener. OK. I guess. Did they have someone on the bench better than the starters over the last 3 games that will make that kind of difference?
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The Toronto Star looks at the unveiling of BMO Field.
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Yellow Card Journalism with a photo of BMO Field from outside, which I have not seen before. Top notch.
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Brian Forbes of the Denver Post takes a look at Colorado's trade of Joe Cannon to LA for Herculez Gomez & Ugo Ihemelu. Who got the better deal so far?
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New Dallas Argentine midfielder Pablo Richetti received his visa papers yesterday and has flown to his homeland to have them stamped. He will be back for training next week and ready to play soon after.
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If you have been wondering where Columbus defender Chad Marshall has been - Concussion. Nothing to be messed around with.
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Walt Wheeler at the Hunt Park Insider reports on the arrival of Guillermo Barros Schelotto in Columbus. And other recent Crew news.
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I forgot to mention yesterday that I thought Brian Roberts did a really good job calling the KC v Toronto game on TV. Congrats to him. He played for my Minnesota Thunder for a season before going to play in KC. He retired from the field after last season and now works in the KC front office besides the TV gig.
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The Philadelphia Daily News with a brief update on the possibility of an MLS team landing in Philly.
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I rocked the house last night with Zach from the Eleven Devils blog. We got some chow and then moshed like crazed goons to the electro-goth-rock of VNV-Nation at Ground Zero. The band wore beaver pelt outfits. And we rocked. Hard. It was heavenly. I love meeting the fellow bloggers from other cities. Zach was in the area from Portland covering bike racing.
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As I wrote yesterday, the Kansas City supporters have been given a new section for their home at Arrowhead Stadium. It's near midfield on the north side. A great spot. A reader named M posted his thoughts on the new spot in yesterday's comments (go check it out), and another reader, James, emailed me his thoughts (thank you very much):
Seems to be a brilliant idea so far... (based on one game.)
The old regime in KC tried to keep us separated from the "regular" fans. The new ownership/FO has placed us right between GA & the "sideline reserve" seats with the hope that the fans around us will join in with the supporters group.
It seemed to work well on Wednesday night... but you've got to think that a Wednesday night game in a downpour probably skews the crowd towards the hardcore end of the scale. We'll see how it goes May 5th when the soccer moms make their return to Arrowhead.
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Andrea Canales at Soccer365 kicks up the MLS calendar debate again. Should the league play in summer or winter? You all know what I think.
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Another small town America newspaper guy steps up to praise the beautiful game. This one from the Russelville Arkansas Courier News! Thank you!
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Where is Tino Palace with the Clean Sheet. We miss you Tino! Come back soon.
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USL First Division Schedule this weekend:
Fri
-Atlanta v Minnesota - see the game at 7pm central time live on FSC.
-Miami v Seattle
Sat
-Charleston v Montreal
-Carolina v Atlanta
-Vancouver v California
Sun
-Puerto Rico v Seattle
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Jesse Erdmann has posted his latest USL First Division Power Rankings at Blue Sky Soccer. Excellent. He also previews this weekend's games, and gives us a primer on the new team from San Francisco - The California Victory.
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USA U16 team in the Ballymena International Tournament:
Mon - USA 1-1 Scotland - USA goal by Parker Walsh.
Tue - USA 3-2 Czech Republic - USA goals by Dersu Abolfathi, Kofi Sarkodie & Ryan Finley.
Wed - USA 1-2 Republic of Ireland - USA goal by Gale Agbossoumonde.
Fri - April 26 v Israel - for 3rd place trophy
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CONCACAF U17 World Championship Group B Qualifying Tournament.
-All games will be played in Kingston Jamaica.
-The top 3 from this group will advance to the finals in Korea in late summer.
-Here is the match schedule:
Sat April 28
-Costa Rica v Trinidad & Tobago
-Jamaica v Canada
Mon April 30
-Canada v Costa Rica
-Trinidad & Tobago v USA
Wed May 2
-USA v Canada
-Jamaica v Costa Rica
Fri May 4
-Canada v Trinidad & Tobago
-Jamaica v USA
Sun May 6
-USA v Costa Rica
-Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated previews the final weekend of the Mexican Clausura, then previews the playoffs to follow. Plus he has some thoughts on the Mexican teams in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final and the Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - this was the final week of the group stage:
Apr 24
Gremio 1-0 Cerro Porteno
Deportes Tolima 3-4 Cucuta Deportivo
Apr 25
Necaxa 2-0 Alianza Lima
Sao Paulo 2-2 Audax Italiano
River Plate 1-0 Colo Colo
LDU Quito 3-1 Caracas
Apr 26
Toluca 3-0 Cienciano
Boca Juniors 7-0 Bolivar
-Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
-Toluca & Boca Juniors advanced last night. So the field for the next round is now complete.
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo, Caracas, Libertad, America, Parana, Nacional, Velez Sarsfield, Defensor Sporting, Gremio, Cucuta, Necaxa & Sao Paulo had already advanced to the knock out stages.
-Knock out match ups TBD, with games played on May 2 & 9.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup semifinal first leg matches last night:
Espanyol 3-0 Werder Bremen - goals by Moises Hurtado, Walter Pandiani & Ferran Corominas. Bremen had goalkeeper Tim Wiese sent off.
Osasuna 1-0 Sevilla - Roberto Soldado with the games only goal
-Return leg matches in 7 days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This is it for the Eredivisie title! Last games this weekend, and its all tied up between 3 teams! (They are separated only by goal difference.) The slight edge goes to PSV cuz they have a home match while the other two are on the road. Here are their matches:
-Excelsior v AZ Alkmaar
-PSV v Vitesse Arnhem
-Willem II Tilburg v Ajax
All three have 72 points.
-AZ Alkmaar - +53 goal difference
-Ajax - +47 goal difference
-PSV - +46 goal difference
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some of the other big Euro league races are really tight too. Here are the weekend's matches and standings:
-La Liga:
-Barcelona v Levante
-Sevilla v Espanyol
-Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid
-Valenica v Recreativo Huelva
-Osansuna v Zaragoza
59 Barcelona
58 Sevilla
57 Real Madrid
53 Valencia
53 Zaragoza
(7 left to play in Spain)
-Bundesliga:
-Bochum v Schalke
-Armenia Bielefeld v Werder Bremen
-Borussia Monchengladbach v Stuttgart
-Bayern Munich v Hamburger
62 Schalke
60 Werder Bremen
58 Stuttgart
53 Bayern Munich
(4 left to play in Germany)
-England:
-Everton v Manchester United
-Chelsea v Bolton
82 Man United
79 Chelsea
(4 games left to play)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another big game this weekend is in Italy - The Roman derby - Roma v Lazio on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has decided to forego the rest of this season so he can have surgery on a long lingering groin injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A disgruntled AC Milan fan has put the teams goalkeeper Dida up for sale on Ebay. Yes!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Werder Bremen are very pissed off at striker Miroslav Klose after they found out he was having secret meetings with Bayern Munich. Will there be repercussions?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

West Ham United have been handed a staggering 5.5 Million Pound fine by the English Football Association for their crooked backroom dealings last summer in signing the two Argentine players, Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano. From the Times of London.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rumor mill in England says American Paul Allen is interested in buying Southampton. No, not the city, the team. But he could afford the city too. He is an original Microsoft guy, and owns the NFL Seattle Seahawks & NBA Portland Jail Blazers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester United will tour Asia next summer as part of their preseason training.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The excellent Kevin McCarra of the Guardian asks us this question - "What do Carlos Bocanegra, Hameur Bouazza, Emile Heskey and 48 others have in common?" The answer - "They've all got more Premiership goals than Chelsea striker Andrei Shevchenko this season."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Check this out - "You can become the owner/manager of a UK football club." That's what the banner says anyway. It's nuts. Put down your 35 Pounds, and join 50,000 fanatics in the bid to buy a club. Then the signings and line ups will be voted on democratically. Yeah right. I love it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, any regular reader of the LA Times sports section for the last decade or so knows the name Mike Penner. Sports columnist, soccer fan, etc. Yesterday he wrote the stunning story that he is going away for a short while, and when he returns he will be Christine Daniels. He is making a gender transformation. It is an amazing story of someone with more guts than most of us can even imagine. Good luck Christine.
-Not surprisingly the Times got a lot of reader response.

Screamin' Like Old Bloody News

Two soccer related documentary films, The Power Of The Game - and - Sons Of Sakhnin United, make their debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City this weekend. Both look incredible. Please let me know if you plan on seeing them. Power Of The Game is 6 stories of soccer & society from around the globe leading up to and tying together last summers World Cup. Sons Of Sakhnin United is about a multi-ethnic soccer team in Israel who must not only try to win on the field but face even bigger obstacles off.


MLS mid-week games:
Wed April 25
-Kansas City 3-0 Toronto - goals by Eddie Johnson, Kerry Zavagnin & Yura Movsisyan.
Match report by Bob Luder of the KC Star.
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail
Thurs April 26
-Dallas v New York - 7pm on ESPN2
Preview from Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My notes from Wed's KC v TFC MLS match:
-It really poured rain throughout the first half, but stopped in the second. The field held strong. I have always thought KC's Arrowhead Stadium had a nice surface.
-I did not realize this, but Jimmy Conrad is KC's captain, not surprisingly.
-It's great to see that KC has moved their main supporters section from the southeast corner of the stadium, to the north side middle. Much like the 2 main DC United supporters sections at RFK. What an excellent move by the team. I would be curious to know how the fans feel about this.
-New KC midfielder Carlos Marinelli had an impressive start for his team. His passing was crisp and adventurous. Hopefully this is not a fluke. The league needs more guys with this kind of skill.
-#1 over all draft pick Maurice Edu got his first start for Toronto.
-Edu is playing on the right side of midfield in front of newly acquired right back Marvell Wynne, who was last years #1 overall draft choice. That is great on the resume, but it's a lot of inexperience for the right side of the field.
-The other new Toronto acquisition, Kevin Goldthwaite started the game at left back.
-The referee, Andrew Chapin, is the spitting image of Tim Blake Nelson's Delmar character from O Brother Where Are Thou?
-KC's first goal came from a great right sided cross by Sasha Victorine (has he started the season well or what?) to Eddie Johnson who headed home after easily splitting two defenders. Very poor marking.
-Toronto did play much better as the 1st half wore on and the second half began, but they just can't score off only half decent chances.
-Alecko Eskandarian is doing his best to be dangerous up top for TFC. But he sure isn't getting much help.
-KC regained control after about 10 minutes and then promptly scored again. This time Eddie Johnson cruised into the box with the ball at his feet causing mass chaos. Kerry Zavagnin scored his first goal in what seem like forever in the middle of the mad scramble. (Let me put it this way, your team is in rough shape when Zavagnin is camped out in your box and scores.)
-KC brought in sub Yura Movsysian. He looks like a young Christian Vieri.
-And then Movsysian scored his first goal! He cruised into the box on Marvell Wynne's defensive side, just like Johnson did, then just power smashed the ball past Toronto keeper Greg Sutton.
-I will give Toronto credit in this game for never stopping playing hard. The first two matches I think they gave up a bit. This game they did not.
-So far TFC is 0 wins and 3 losses with 9 goals conceded and none scored. Ouch. Tough way to start, but not real shocking. It's called expansion.
-KC keeper Kevin Hartman set a new MLS record with his 63rd clean sheet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's another one of those ridiculous looking Bobby Boswell dresses up as a Sexy Tiger pics. Stolen from Soccernista (and yes we are busy slapping each other on the back, telling each other we are brilliant).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A 17 year old intern at American Soccer News covered the last New York Red Bulls game, and gives a fairly entertaining insiders view of the press box and all the backstage action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kristian Dyer at Soccernet does the Q & A with New York head honcho Bruce Arena. Very cool.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer talks to NYRB defender Hunter Freeman who will do battle again tonight with Dallas forward Kenny Cooper. Last week Freeman got the better of Cooper. Turns out they played on the same youth team for 2 years. This could be a great personal rivalry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune looks at how New York's young standout Jozy Altidore can avoid some of the Freddy Adu over-hyping pitfalls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beau Dure of USA Today looks at the Red Bulls red hot start to the season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald says the real star of the Red Bulls has been their defense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes about NYRB captain Claudio Reyna aka Captain America.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dallas Morning News with the latest on the visa approval wait for new Dallas midfielder Pablo Ricchetti, plus other FCD news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Looks like defender Michael Parkhurst is recovered from his shoulder injury and ready to travel this weekend when New England heads to Dallas on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dylan Butler of the Queens Times Ledger tells the New England management to stop screwing around and pay midfielder Shalrie Joseph the big bucks he deserves or let him go to someone who will. I will say though, I think Butler is wrong about the amount of money Celtic offered for Joseph. I think $1 million was the top amount not $2 mill, which is still insultingly low. Cough up $3 million and a deal would be done, any less than that is nonsense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LA Soccer News has a Q & A with Chivas USA first year English forward John Cunliffe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Slam Sports in Canada with a look at the history of soccer in Toronto and the lead up to Saturday's first ever home game for Toronto FC. I hope it's a great day for the squad and the fans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle is pretty convinced that Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be disruptive to team chemistry when he arrives in Chicago. I think Glenn should give it a rest for now and just wait to see what happens.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(I had written stuff here about the latest in Salt Lake stadium controversies. But I knew at the time I wrote it that the issue was not important to the soccer on the field and I should just stay away from it. Unfortunately I let my brain get in the way and I wrote a critical rant. As a day or two went by I realized it was all pointless so I have taken it down.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas is host of a new edition of the MLSnet online video show Extra Time. Seems like it's made for beginners to me, but check it out, cuz I might be super jaded.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno & Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News, and Miguel Melendez of the Orange County Register with a roundtable discussion of this early MLS season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Examiner with an article on the slew of new South American players in MLS this season. Should make Paul Gardner at least a little bit happy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This is cool to see - a small town South Dakota newspaper with an editorial about the rise of the real football in America! From the Black Hills Pioneer. You also gotta love that the author's name is Richard Lewis.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Demko at Blue Sky Soccer talks to Minnesota Thunder coach Amos Magee about his team, and their second road trip of season, this one to Atlanta, for Friday nights game that can be seen on FSC at 7pm central time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup - MLS qualifier matches and scores:
Saturday April 28
-Salt Lake v Colorado
Tuesday May 8
-Los Angeles v New York
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News is not pleased with how US Soccer & MLS are treating the US Open Cup. Me neither.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U16 team in the Ballymena International Tournament:
-Team USA is in Group B along with Scotland, Czech Rep & Ireland.
-Group A is Canada, Finland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland.
-Here is the USA group schedule & scores:
Mon - USA 1-1 Scotland - USA goal by Parker Walsh.
Tue - USA 3-2 Czech Republic - USA goals by Dersu Abolfathi, Kofi Sarkodie & Ryan Finley.
Wed - USA 1-2 Republic of Ireland - USA goal by Gale Agbossoumonde.
Fri - April 26 v Israel - for 3rd place trophy
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF U17 World Championship Group B Qualifying Tournament.
-All games will be played in Kingston Jamaica.
-The top 3 from this group will advance to the finals in Korea in late summer.
-Here is the match schedule:
Sat April 28
-Costa Rica v Trinidad & Tobago
-Jamaica v Canada
Mon April 30
-Canada v Costa Rica
-Trinidad & Tobago v USA
Wed May 2
-USA v Canada
-Jamaica v Costa Rica
Fri May 4
-Canada v Trinidad & Tobago
-Jamaica v USA
Sun May 6
-USA v Costa Rica
-Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America does a Q & A with midfielder Sunny Guadarrama who plays for the reserve team of Santos Laguna in Mexico. Sonny has played for some USA youth teams, and currently plays for Mexico's U20 team. He will play for which ever senior side that calls him first. His brother Willy plays for Kansas City. Good stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com talks to USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen about the team he will take to the Youth World Cup this summer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Big Soccer poster called Scotty transcribed an Italian magazine interview with American soccer fans favorite whipping boy Giuseppe Rossi. He talks about growing up in America, feeling Italian, passing on Team USA, and other topics.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet looks at 3 young Italian-Americans, including Rossi, playing in Italy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American keeper Brad Friedel tells the BBC that he will do whatever it takes to make sure his Blackburn team gets back into European competition next season. Unfortunately they are 7 points out (and 3 teams back) right now, with only 4 games to play. Those are not good odds.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The CONCACAF Champions Cup final:
-Pachuca 0-0 Guadalajara -the series ended tied 2-2 on aggregate, so the game went to PKs, with Alberto Medina of Chivas missing and giving Pachuca the win 7-6.
-Huge congrats to Pachuca who have converted this gringo into a fan. Now I gotta find me a Pachuca t-shirt. XXL please.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - this is the final week of the group stage:
Apr 24
Gremio 1-0 Cerro Porteno
Deportes Tolima 3-4 Cucuta Deportivo
Apr 25
Necaxa 2-0 Alianza Lima
Sao Paulo 2-2 Audax Italiano
River Plate 1-0 Colo Colo
LDU Quito 3-1 Caracas
-Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
Apr 26
Toluca - Cienciano
Boca Juniors - Bolivar
-Necaxa & Sao Paulo advanced last night.
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo, Caracas, Libertad, America, Parana, Nacional, Velez Sarsfield, Defensor Sporting, Gremio & Cucuta have already advanced to the knock out stages. The last 2 will join them tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League Semifinals - Matchday 11 scores:
-Tues April 24
Manchester United 3-2 AC Milan - Man U goals by Cristiano Ronaldo & 2 for Wayne Rooney. Both Milan goals by Rikki Kaka.
-Wed April 25
Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool - goal by Joe Cole.
-Second leg matches are next week on Tues & Wed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you know - Didier Drogba has played in 55 of Chelsea's 57 games in all competitions this season. And he has scored 31 goals. Phenomenal!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews last nights Champions League match, and basically says what most of us already know, Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is lacking in class.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup semifinal first leg matches:
Thursday
Espanyol v Werder Bremen
Osasuna v Sevilla
-Return leg matches in 7 days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I missed this one the other day from Hughes at the IHT: Egyptian club Al Ahly celebrated their 100th anniversary this week. And to make sure the party was right, they paid a lot of money for Barcelona to fly down on Tuesday night and play against them in a friendly. Barca is like the Harlem Globetrotters or something. (thanks to Matth for sending me this)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has signed a one year contract extension to play again next season for Arsenal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with an article on former World Player Of The Year, MLS Chicago & DC player, ex-Bulgarian national team coach, and now Celta de Vigo coach, yes, it's the fun loving psychotic leg breaker himself Hristo Stoichkov.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It looks like Sports Illustrated has done some kind of deal to post stories on their website from World Soccer magazine. Here is one about Sevilla striker Fredi Kanoute who is having an excellent season.
-Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated tells du Nord "...we'll be running about 4 stories from World Soccer per month." Excellent. He said the connection comes via this angle - "World Soccer is a part of London-based IPC Media, which SI's parent company (Time Inc.) also owns". Ah yes, Time Warner, a company I am all too familiar with.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After many months of back and forth and hurrying up just to wait some more, Middlesbrough have officially signed defender Jonathan Woodgate, who had been on loan to them this season from Real Madrid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Young Bayern Munich & Germany striker Lukas Podolski has torn up the cartilage in his left knee and will probably be out of action for the next 6 months.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The date is set: Ireland v Ecuador - Wed May 23 at Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, my hero, the real Ronaldo, on the Simpsons!

Only The Fully Bonded News

Colorado midfielder Kyle Beckerman comments on the Dallas fans: "I didn’t hear them. They were pretty weak. The adult fans are pretty weak. The kids are good but the adult fans were pretty weak. They’re a weak, weak bunch." Now that is funny. I laughed very hard as I read it! Brilliant. Thanks Kyle. No offense intended on my part to the Dallas fans either. I just think that is a hilarious remark.


MLS games coming up tonight and tomorrow:
Wed April 25
-Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm on Direct Kick - hope opener for the Zards.
Thurs April 26
-Dallas v New York - 7pm on ESPN2 - this could be a firecracker of a match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star with a KC game preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail checks in with TFC as they continue to tinker with roster and line ups. They have back to back home and away league matches v Kansas City starting tonight and finishing with their home opener on Saturday. That should be first game in TO should be huuuuuuuuge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star talks to the TFC's new defender, speed-demon Marvell Wynne.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun with a match preview, and story on the return to KC of TFC coach Mo Johnston (former player) and his assistant Bob Gansler (former head coach).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andy Herron of Columbus was given a 4 game suspension for the elbow he threw into the face of New England's Jay Heaps last Saturday. He was also fined. Shalrie Joseph of New England was fined for a push to the face of Herron after the elbow incident. And Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljesten was suspended for 2 games and fined for his foul on Salt Lakes Andy Williams that left Williams with a badly bruised ankle. Details of the punishment and video clips of the incidents are here. I wonder if Andy Herron still insists that one of his teammates threw the elbow. What an idiot. And I think Joseph deserved a red card for what he did as well. He should have been suspended for 1 game too. We have all seen plenty of red cards for a face push like that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Take a look at the 5 man Red Bull attack and try to tell me they don't have a chance to win it all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And another picture of pure joy - stolen from the official FC Dallas blog - Carlos Ruiz brings his dog "Savage" to practice with him!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC United have officially signed 25 year old Jamaican forward Nicholas Addlery to their roster. More offense will not solve defense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The excellent blog From College To The Pros is keeping track of the contestants for 2007 MLS Rookie Of The Year. I agree with their list. Dane Richards of New York sits in first place on my list after 3 weeks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune examines the chances of San Diego fielding an MLS team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Bradley's column at MLSnet - First XI: Early alarm bells
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with his column Corner Kicks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sports Illustrated's MLS Free Kicks column, including Power Rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer looks at the early season attendance numbers and perceptions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Richard Snowden, aka Neil from the Young Ones, is back at Soccer 365 with his thoughts on the early MLS season. He likes it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup - MLS qualifier matches and scores. (The 4 teams who did not make the playoffs last year get underway first, then take on the 6th & 7th teams.):
Tuesday April 24
-Columbus 0-1 Los Angeles - Nate Jaqua with the lone goal.
Match report by Andrea Canales of the LA Soccer News.
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Crew.
-Next Round matches:
Saturday April 28
-Salt Lake v Colorado
Date TBD
-Los Angeles v New York
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian Quarstad at Blue Sky Soccer has a wide ranging Q & A with former MLS & USA player Manny Lagos, who is currently the Director of Soccer Operations for the Minnesota Thunder. Great stuff from the man who played for New York, Chicago, Tampa, San Jose and Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U17 ’91 team in the Ballymena International Tournament.
Team USA is in Group B along with Scotland, Czech Rep & Ireland.
Group A is Canada, Finland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland.
Here is the USA group schedule & scores:
Mon - USA 1-1 Scotland - USA goal by Parker Walsh
Tue - USA 3-2 Czech Republic - USA goals by Dersu Abolfathi, Ryan Finley & Kofi Sarkodie
Wed - Apr 25 v Republic of Ireland
Fri - Trophy games TBD, based on finish in group stage, ie. 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The full USA U17 team will head to Jamaica this weekend for CONCACAF qualifying for the World Youth Championship next August in South Korea.
Coach John Hackworth has announced his team roster:
G:
Josh Lambo (Middleton WI) - Chicago Magic
Zac MacMath (St Petersburg FL) - Clearwater Chargers
D
Mykell Bates (Roseville CA) - River City Clash
Tommy Meyer (St Louis MO) - Scott Gallagher
Howard Turk (Fairfax VA) - SYA Force
Sheanon Williams (Boston MA) - FC Greater Boston Bolts
Brandon Zimmerman (Pasco WA) - Crossfire Premier
M:
Alex Dixon (Humble TX) - Texans FC
Bryan Dominguez (Atlanta GA) - Condorde Fire
Greg Garza (Grapevine TX) - Dallas Texans
Jared Jeffrey (Dallas TX) - Dallas Texans
Brendan King (Naperville IL) - Chicago Magic
Nick Millington (Raleigh NC) - CASL
Jesse Paredes (Los Angeles CA) - ISC Strikers
Dane Shea (College Station TX) - Texans FC
Daniel Wenzel (Federal Way WA) - FC United
F:
Abdusalam Ibrahim (Richfield MN) - FC Dallas
Ellis McLoughlin (Seattle WA) - Crossfire Premier
Alex Nimo (Portland OR) - FC Portland Academy
Billy Schuler (Allentown NJ) - Matchfit Academy FC
-Matches:
Sun Apr 30 v Trinidad & Tobago
Wed May 02 v Canada
Fri May 04 v Jamaica
Sun May 06 v Costa Rica
-Three teams from this group will advance to the big tournament.
-Honduras and Haiti have already qualified from the other CONCACAF group. Defending champs Mexico were knocked out in qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Newcastle have officially passed on signing USA defender Oguchi Onyewu beyond this seasons loan. He is now free to seek another club.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA & Charlton defender Cory Gibbs is nearing that point in the long road back from knee surgery where he can train again. Yanks Abroad talks to him about his situation with the team, progress so far, and plans for the future. Do not expect to see him with Team USA for either tournament this summer though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tonight is the CONCACAF Champions Cup final!
Second leg match (with first leg score included):
-Pachuca v Guadalajara (2-2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - this is the final week of the group stage - matches and scores:
Apr 24
Gremio 1-0 Cerro Porteno
Deportes Tolima 3-4 Cucuta Deportivo
Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
Apr 25
Necaxa - Alianza Lima
Sao Paulo - Audax Italiano
River Plate - Colo Colo
LDU Quito - Caracas
Apr 26
Toluca - Cienciano
Boca Juniors - Bolivar
-Gremio & Cucuta advanced last night.
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo, Caracas, Libertad, America, Parana, Nacional, Velez Sarsfield & Defensor Sporting have already advanced to the knock out stages. The last 4 will join them this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League Semifinals - Matchday 11:
Tues April 24
Manchester United 3-2 AC Milan - Man U goals by Cristiano Ronaldo & 2 for Wayne Rooney. Both Milan goals by Rikki Kaka.
Wed April 25
Chelsea v Liverpool - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did Kaka torture Man U in that first half or what? But where was he in the second half? He did have some chances, but his teammates didn't help much. Aaaaah. The million dollar question, which only Man U stood up to answer. The 90 minute game can kill you if you only play 89. Take a bow Wayne Rooney.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with his views on last nights Champions League match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Ballack is out of today's first leg match for Chelsea with an ankle injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ian Plenderleith at the US Players Assoc gives credit to David Beckham for the way he handled his treatment by Real Madrid after signing with the LA Galaxy and being publicly dissed by his coach and team executives.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, if some dude in England or Spain did this we would all be spazzing out, but since it happened in Germany it's like no one is even aware that it happened! The awesome midfielder Diego of Werder Bremen catches the Aachen keeper out of his net and puts in a goal from about 75 yards! Amazing!

Stop - Start - Stutter News

From everything I can tell, Chicago is the destination of Zidane should he sign with AEG, not Los Angeles.


MLS games coming up mid-week:
Wed April 25
-Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm on Direct Kick
Thurs April 26
-Dallas v New York - 7pm on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I have 2 MLS observations today:
-Jason Kreis is not cutting it as a defensive midfielder for Salt Lake. He is not providing enough cover for the defenders, and not enough push forward for the offense. I know he is the team captain, but they have to make a change. But what do they do?
-Which team is gonna hit the panic button and sign Kasey Keller? Colorado or Salt Lake. They both could use him badly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS has named Chivas USA forward Maykel Galindo as the Player Of The Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Very interesting stat from Soccer America: New York's Clint Mathis' red card last weekend was the seventh of his MLS career, tying Ivan McKinley's all-time MLS record.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still no word on whether or not Columbus forward Andy Herron will be punished for that awful elbow he laid on the face of New England's Jay Heaps, but Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe says it was discovered later that Heaps suffered a concussion in the incident. To make things worse, Herron denied he hit Heaps, and even told Heaps after the game that someone else did it! Insane. It's all on tape buddy. Or maybe Herron has a split personality, and "the other one" did it. Could be.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto, aka Bill, is in Columbus to take a physical exam, sign his contract and meet his new teammates & fans. He will be in attendance at the US Open Cup match tonight. He will not be able to play until his work permit is finalized which usually takes a couple of weeks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Newest Red Bull Juan Pablo Angel is also in the USA and is awaiting his work visa too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The hype machine around Red Bulls young striker Jozy Altidore builds with every great game he plays. Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald gets a jump on the inevitable "Jozy to Europe" speculation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer examines the team depth of the Red Bulls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe joins in heaping praise on Bruce Arena for the early season success of his Red Bulls. I agree, he is a GREAT coach. And he has an even GREATER name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turns out RSL's Andy Williams did not break his leg in a bad tackle by Sacha Klejsten. Lucky, very lucky. But he will miss at least a month with a bad sprain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In other injury news, it looks like Chivas USA defender Carlos Llamosa will miss the rest of the season after tearing up his knee. At his age, does this mean he is done for good? He was a top notch and beloved player at his peak.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News talks to the 3rd player to hit 100 goals in MLS - Ante Razov, who did it last weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle talks to Dynamo coach Dom Kinnear about his teams struggles through 3 games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star looks at the lack of MLS coverage on Canadian television. TFC coach Mo Johnston says his players don't know much about the other teams in the league, cuz they can't watch em.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dean McNutly of the Toronto Sun checks in with TFC coach Johnston to see if he is set with his roster for now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Last week I posted a note that Chicago Fire fans in "Section 8" were going to be searched for smoke bombs, flairs, beer etc when entering Toyota Park, but at the last minute on Saturday the plan was abandoned. The Chicago Daily Southtown with the story on why that security plan was pulled. It's a good one. And it's nice to see someone stick up for the fans. My twin brother from a different mother Ben Burton is quoted in the story too! Excellent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Windy City Soccer with an article on Chicago Fire second year defender Dasan Robinson who played a big role in his teams win over KC on Saturday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green of the LA Daily News makes the claim that both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA are lacking credibility with their fans these days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis at Soccernet with a review of Week 3 in MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Houston Chronicle Week In Review.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup - MLS qualifiers. (The 4 teams who did not make the playoffs last year get underway first.) Here are those two games:
Tuesday April 24
-Columbus v Los Angeles (winner takes on New York)
Saturday April 28
-Salt Lake v Colorado
-Next round dates still to be determined.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several players are out injured for LA tonight: Quavas Kirk Tyrone Marshall & Santino Quaranta. Defender Troy Roberts is out long term and will be having hip surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Hampton Roads Pilot newspaper with a story on the sadly silent Virginia Beach soccer stadium, since the Mariners folded a month ago.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The USA U17 ’91 team is once again playing in the Ballymena International Tournament in Northern Ireland.
-Team USA is in Group B along with Scotland, Czech Rep & Ireland.
-Group A is Canada, Finland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland.
-Here is the USA group schedule & scores:
Monday - USA 1-1 Scotland - USA goal by Parker Walsh on an assist by Dersu Albolfathi.
Tuesday - April 24 v Czech Republic
Wednesday - April 25 v Republic of Ireland
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is the roster for the USA U20 team that will play a friendly v Argentina on May 15.
G:
Alec Dufty (Evansville)
Chris Seitz (Salt Lake)
D:
Amaechi Igwe (New England)
Quavas Kirk (Los Angeles)
Jesus Padilla (Guadalajara)
Nathan Sturgis (Los Angeles)
Julian Valentin (Wake Forest)
Tim Ward (Columbus)
M:
Freddy Adu (Salt Lake)
Jalil Anibaba (Davis HS, CA)
Bryan Arguez (DC United)
Rodrigo Lopez (Chivas USA)
Danny Szetela (Columbus)
F:
Josmer Altidore (New York)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus)
Johann Smith (Carlisle United)
-It's still real early though, so expect changes to this roster.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad talks to DaMarcus Beasley who says he is done at PSV and wants to stay at Man City.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

YA also looks at the unfortunately long list of Americans who could get relegated in England this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Last Friday Soccernet posted an update to USA & Watford defender Jay DeMerit's blog. I have to say that this kinda thing on websites is the best! Way better than another opinion piece on the" topic of the week". But Soccernet does such a lousy job of promoting Jay. I go to their site nearly every single day, and yest somehow missed this one. It should be loud and proud. So if anyone from Soccernet reads this, we want MORE JAY DEMERIT, promoted properly, and we want less wire reports listed at the top of the page!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kristian Dyer at Soccernet checks in with USA & Reading midfielder Bobby Convey who is recovering from knee surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Champions Cup final second leg match (with first leg score included):
Wed Apr 25-
Pachuca v Guadalajara (2-2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - this is the final week of the group stage:
Apr 24
Gremio - Cerro Porteno
Deportes Tolima - Cucuta Deportivo
Apr 25
Necaxa - Alianza Lima
Sao Paulo - Audax Italiano
River Plate - Colo Colo
LDU Quito - Caracas
Apr 26
Toluca - Cienciano
Boca Juniors - Bolivar
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo, Caracas, Libertad, America, Parana, Nacional, Velez Sarsfield & Defensor Sporting have advanced to the knock out stages. 6 more will join them this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League Semifinals - Matchday 11:
Tues April 24
Manchester United v AC Milan - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Wed April 25
Chelsea v Liverpool - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I don't know what is dumber in this article - the picture of David Beckham wearing a Cincinnati Reds hat or the news that former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has named her daughter Bluebell. I guess I gotta go with the poor daughter's name being the dumber of the two. At least Beckyspoo can take the hat off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Post has a review of the Zidane film that just showed in DC. You can search back through du Nord for a lot of coverage of the film when it played in my city, Minneapolis. This review is from an artistic point of view, and I think it's pretty right on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If find this is kinda odd, but Sports Illustrated has a Q & A with ESPN announcer Tommy Smyth. Odd in the fact that SI & ESPN are competing corporate sports giants.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David James got his 142nd career clean sheet in the Premiership last weekend, breaking the old record held by long time Arsenal & England keeper David Seaman.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ghana & Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien was arrested at 5am Monday morning on suspicion of drunk driving. Not good. And not at 5am. Oof.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Portugeuse soccer legend Eusebio has had heart surgery to unclog blocked arteries.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London has a few words with new Liverpool owner Tom Hicks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Czech & Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Portsmouth are looking to build a new stadium. They have played in their current home, Fratton Park, for 108 years. I took in my first English game at that place. The place was horrible then (although I loved every second of it), and that was 20 years ago.

Tricky Mercedes Lube & Oil Change News

Weekend MLS action:
New York 1-0 Houston - goal by Jozy Altidore.
-Match report by Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
-Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Chicago 2-1 Kansas City - Chic goals by Chad Barrett & Chris Rolfe. KC goal by Carlos Marinelli (PK).
-Match report by Luis Arroyave from the Chicago Tribune.
-Match report from the Kansas City Star.
Chivas USA 4-0 Salt Lake - Chivas goals by Maykel Galindo (2), Ante Razov and Matt Taylor.
-Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
-Match report by Bob Holtzman of the LA Daily News.
-Match report by James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News.
Dallas 3-1 Colorado - Dallas goals by Ramon Nunez (2) & Dominic Oduro. Colorado goal by Jovan Kirovski.
-Match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram
-Match report from the Dallas Morning News.
-Match report from the Rocky Mountain News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord MLS Player Of The Week - Ramon Nunez of FC Dallas.
-Until the last game of the weekend I was struggling to find a player who deserved this award. But Nunez just took it and ran away from the rest. Nunez got his teams first two goals and probably had his best game as a professional. The first goal came on a counter attack with Dax McCarty storming up the center channel unchallenged and laying off a pass to Ramon on his left. Nunez faked like he was going to the end line then cut inside so sharp that he sent defender Brandon Prideaux tumbling. RN stopped on a dime and sliced a perfect shot inside the near post. Gorgeous. Prideaux ended up coming out of the game after injuring his knee on the play. Nunez continued to make great passes and set up his teammates. In the 78th minute of a tight game Nunez's scored again. This time on a perfect free kick from about 24 yards out. Nunez had been hacked down by Rapids defender Pablo Mastroeni who got a yellow card for his efforts. It was another gorgeous shot. RN was subbed out a few minutes later to a big ovation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My MLS notes:
-Why didn't Brian Ching start for Houston in New York. We got the old "the fake turf is bad for his knee" excuse. Then why did they put him in after they fell behind?
-New York right wing Dane Richards looked good again this week. But went out late with some sort of leg injury. His speed helps him get past defenders with relative ease. He made Houston left back Wade Barrett look bad several times.
-One of Richard's crosses was knocked down by the arm of Dwayne De Rosario. DDR saw yellow, but why not red? It was deliberate and it was in the box. No it was not a shot on goal. A PK was given.
-Pat Onstad saved that PK taken very poorly by Clint Mathis.
-Not long after that, Mathis resumed the "Cleetus" persona and put his cleats to Houston defender Ryan Cochran's leg. Mathis got the red card. It should have been yellow, but it was a lousy foul for Cleetus to commit, so I can't really argue. Boo Cleetus, Hooray Clint.
-In the 2nd half with only 10 men, NY went right at Houston and it paid off after several good passes led to right back Hunter Freeman cruising in to the middle of the field and making a sharp pass to forward Jozy Altidore in the box. Altidore spun quickly away from defender Eddie Robison and smashed a right footed shot past Onstad for the games only goal. It was most excellent.
-NY played some great solid simple defense with all 10 players helping out
-But Houston had no spark at all for the entire 90 minutes. What was up with that? Dwyane De Rosario has looked very uninterested in this team, except for a few minutes here and there, in all 7 matches (CCC & MLS) the team has played so far.
-Richard Mulrooney had an OK outing for his new team.
-Very quietly FSC rolled out some new graphics that I like a lot. It showed distance to goal on free kicks, and a circle showing a 10 yard radius around the ball before free kicks are taken. Both good.
-Maykel Galindo opened his Chivas USA scoring account only 27 seconds into the game v Real Salt Lake. RSL keeper Nick Rimando made it really easy, as he came all the way out to the left edge of the penalty area for no apparent reason (he had defenders around to help out). Galindo just went around Nicky and shot into the open net. Great job.
-Galindo scored again 10 minutes later, again abusing the left side of the RSL defense and again shooting to the back post. The RSL defense was just terrible on this play.
-The Chivas USA announcer kept saying it was Galindo's first professional goals. I guess Seattle didn't pay him the last two seasons when he was scoring goals for them.
-I am also sick of hearing from Chivas announcers about what a great supporters group Legion 1908 is. It look likes about 10 guys in wrestling masks. But at least they show up and make noise, compared to the rest of the non-existent Chivas crowd. I though Chivas was gonna tap into that great LA Mexican population?!?!
-Right after the 2nd goal RSL took Freddy Adu off the left side and moved Chris Klein over there to support the defenders better.
-Ante Razov got his 100th career goal and C-USA's 3rd. Great team passing helped by more awful RSL defending led to a good cross that Ante headed home.
-Andy Williams came on in the 2nd half for RSL to try and add more offense, but went off with a potentially broken leg after a bad tackle by Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan. Damn.
-RSL's defense was so bad that even Matt Taylor got a goal. Taylor has been quality enough to last into this 3rd season at Chivas, but his shooting skills are so bad he is lucky to have a job. Good for him not giving up. I have to assume he works very hard in practice and is a great teammate. Why else do you keep a striker that gets in great spots and misses his shots so badly so consistently.
-They say the Dallas v Colorado game was a sell out, but I saw several blocks of empty seats. Why is that? I have seen it all too often. I wanna see packed stands before they scream "Sold Out"!
-Dax McCarty had a good game in the center of the Dallas midfield. Unlike the first two games, in this one he was sending most of his passes forward. He is a very good passer of the ball, but was too conservative in previous games, only going sideways and backward. Great to see.
-McCarty set up his teams first goal, with a great run down the center channel and then laying off to Ramon Nunez who beat a defender and the keeper for goal #1.
-Colorado tied that game up when a long ball was played over the top and Jovan Kirovski very obviously reached up with his arm to corral the ball and then chipped the keeper to score. How did the ref and side assistant both miss this call? See the tape, then you figure out how they missed it.
-I think I saw literary monster DJ Walker in the stands, at least twice.
-Chris Gbandi put in a perfect cross and some how FrankenCooper missed an open net. He slid in and put it wide.
-Nunez's 2nd goal came on a great free kick.
-Nunez also got his American green card this past week too!
-Later Dominic Oduro flew down the left wing, passed in to FrankenCooper who held the ball, drew defenders & the keeper, then passed back to Oduro who scored his teams third.
-After scoring the whole team piled on Oduro, who then got up hurt.
-Conor Casey made his Colorado debut to no effect.
-Dallas keeper Shaka Hislop is looking mighty old and slow out there. Maybe its more like he is out of shape.
-I did not see the Chicago v KC game cuz it was on HDNet and I don't get that channel. Oh well. I am sure there were highlights galore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS games coming up mid-week:
Wed April 25
-Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm on Direct Kick
Thurs April 26
-Dallas v New York - 7pm on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DJ Walker's Stream of Consciousness: Colorado Rapids vs FC Dallas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS's biggest financial investor Phil Anschutz is featured in a big article in the Sunday New York Times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with a story on Chivas USA's Cubano defector striker Maykel Galindo. (From Saturday - thanks to Joe for sending me this)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Red Bulls have not given up a goal in 3 games. Dylan Butler at Big Apple Soccer looks for the key.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post reports on the Soccer Insider that "DCU will wear maroon jerseys Saturday at Columbus in honor of the Virginia Tech victims (the goalies will wear orange)".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle talks to Dynamo Canadian goalkeeper Pat Onstad about the growth of soccer in the USA during his long career.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago has signed Brazilian Willem Oliviera.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales of the LA Soccer News talks to Chivas USA forward Ante Razov about hitting the 100 goal plateau.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After some more bad goal keeping blunders Real Salt Lake has to seriously consider replacing Nick Rimando. I say it's Kasey Keller time. Spend the money you cheap punks. James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News looks into it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail gets an injury update on TFC midfielder Ronnie O'Brien.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bill Urban at the US Players Assoc writes about the growing dislike between Dallas and Colorado - he calls it rivalry. I think it could grow into much more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet's weekly MLS Power Rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup - MLS qualifiers. (The 4 teams who did not make the playoffs last year get underway first.) Here are those two games:
Tuesday April 24
-Columbus v Los Angeles (winner takes on New York Red Bulls)
Saturday April 28
-Salt Lake v Colorado
-Next round dates still to be determined.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division scores last weekend:
Charleston 0-0 Minnesota
Carolina 1-1 Minnesota
Atlanta 2-2 Montreal
Portland 3-1 Puerto Rico
Vancouver 1-0 Seattle
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My Minnesota Thunder finished a long weekend with 2 draws on the road. Not bad considering they only got 4 points on the road all of last season. Next match comes Friday night in Atlanta, and wouldn't you know it, they are on FSC again this week too. Excellent. Are you becoming a fan yet? You oughta be.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA will travel to Sweden on Aug 22 to play the host country in a friendly at Ullevi stadium in Goteborg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The USA U17 ’91 team will once again play in the Ballymena International Tournament in Northern Ireland. Brian Maisonnueve will coach the team. Roster tba. Team USA is in Group B along with Scotland, Czech Rep & Ireland. Group A is Canada, Finland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland. Here is the USA group schedule:
April 23 Scotland
April 24 Czech Republic
April 25 Republic of Ireland
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And our full USA U17 team begins their World Championship qualifying on Saturday the 28th in Jamaica.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

EPL Talk has an interview with ESPN commentator Tommy Smyth. Tommy was one of 23 kids in his family growing up! 23!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sadly American defender Jay DeMerit and his club Watford have become the first team relegated from the Premiership back to the Championship Division this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The most dramatic game of the weekend for an American happened to Marcus Hahnemann & Reading. They gave up an own goal to go down 1-0 with only 16 minutes left at Bolton. But somehow they stormed back with 3 huge goals (2 from Kevin Doyle & 1 from Stephen Hunt) to win in 1-3. Wow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad has 11 questions from readers for American forward Gabriel Ferrari of Sampdoria.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chuck Culpepper of the LA Times with a nearly-end-of-the-season look at the Americans in the EPL. (thanks to Joe J for sending me this one)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - started, but came off after only 33 minutes of a 1-1 draw at Watford. Yanks Abroad is reporting it was a hamstring injury, while other game reports said it was after a collision.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played the whole game in a 3-1 win over Cologne.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - played the full 90 at centerback in a 1-1 draw v Blackburn.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - went the distance at centerback in a 0-2 win at Viborg.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - started and played the whole game as usual in a 1-0 win over Monchengladbach.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - Yanks abroad says he looks to get the start on Tuesday night in the Stockholm derby v AIK.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played the whole match at center back but drew 1-1 at home v Man City. This single point was not enough to keep them from being relegated back to the Championship Division.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on in the 83rd minute of a 1-1 draw v Blackburn.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played the full 90 in goal for a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - in goal for the full match as usual in a 1-3 win at Bolton.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - did not play due to injury.
-Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole game in goal of a 1-0 loss at West Ham.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - out with hip injury as his team lost 1-0 at Hannover.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - started and went 80 + minutes in a 1-0 loss to Southampton. Leeds still sit 1 point into the relegation zone with 2 games to go.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - played the full 90 at forward in a 1-1 draw v Blackburn.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - was injured and did not dress for his teams 0-0 draw at home with Chelsea.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - started and went the distance in his team 2-1 win over Odense.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - started and went the distance in a 2-1 win over Coventry.
-Jonathan Spector - dressed but did not play in a 1-0 win over Everton.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - did not dress in his teams 3-3 draw at Aalesund.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - did not play due to injury as his team won 3-1 over Cologne.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Champions Cup final second leg match (with first leg score included):
Wed Apr 25-
Pachuca v Guadalajara (2-2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at the LA Soccer News reviews the past weekends Mexican league matches with his Jornada 16 Rewind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

'Member last month when we said that Canada would be announcing a new coach in a few weeks? Well, false alarm. It's looking bad up there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - this is the final week of the group stage:
Apr 24
Gremio - Cerro Porteno
Deportes Tolima - Cucuta Deportivo
Apr 25
Necaxa - Alianza Lima
Sao Paulo - Audax Italiano
River Plate - Colo Colo
LDU Quito - Caracas
Apr 26
Toluca - Cienciano
Boca Juniors - Bolivar
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo, Caracas, Libertad, America, Parana, Nacional, Velez Sarsfield & Defensor Sporting have advanced to the knock out stages. 6 more will join them this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League Semifinals - Matchday 11:
Tues April 24
Manchester United v AC Milan - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Wed April 25
Chelsea v Liverpool - 1:30pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester United will be without many injured players for the first leg v Milan - Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Mikael Silvestre, Louis Saha, Ji-Sung Park & Kieran Richardson. There is a good chance that Patrice Evra is not going to be healthy either.
-Milan looks fully healthy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some of the big Euro league races are really tight. Here are the weekend's scores and new standings:
-Eredivisie is all tied up with 3 teams at the top and 1 match left to play:
scores - FC Utrecht 1-1 PSV, AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Heerenveen, Ajax 5-2 Sparta Rotterdam
72 AZ Alkmaar (53 goal difference)
72 Ajax (47 goal difference)
72 PSV (46 goal difference)
(1 left to play) Next Sunday-
Excelsior v AZ Alkmaar
PSV Eindhoven v Vitesse Arnhem
Willem II Tilburg v Ajax Amsterdam
-La Liga: Villareal 2-0 Barcelona, Sevilla 4-1 Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid 2-0 Valenica, Zaragoza 2-0 Celta de Vigo
59 Barcelona
58 Sevilla
57 Real Madrid
53 Valencia
53 Zaragoza
(7 left to play in Spain)
-Bundesliga: Schalke 2-0 Energie Cottbus, Werder Bremen 3-1 Alemania Aachen, Stuttgart 2-0 Bayern Munich
62 Schalke
60 Werder Bremen
58 Stuttgart
53 Bayern Munich
(4 left to play in Germany)
-England: Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough, Newcastle 0-0 Chelsea
82 Man United
79 Chelsea
(4 games left to play)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA.com with a story on one of the men who saw the skills in Cristiano Ronaldo at a very young age. (thanks to BQ for sending us this)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Man U's Ronaldo has been named both Player Of The Year & Young Player Of The Year by his peers in England.
-Here is the full Team Of The Year:
G:
David James (Portsmouth)
D:
Michael Essien (Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
Matt Taylor (Portsmouth)
M:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Mikel Arteta (Everton)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
F:
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)
-I have two questions about this list:
1. How can a midfielder like Essien be named in the defense? I know he played some games back there, but he was less than top notch when he did. I guess they just wanted him on the best 11 list and this is where he could fit in. Lame choice.
2. I know Matt Taylor of Portsmouth is listed as a defender, but all of his heroics this season came when he was playing in the midfield. He is simply not a great defender, but has one hell of a shot when he is playing near the front. Again lame choice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By virtue of winning 1-2 at Siena on Sunday, Inter Milan have claimed the 06-07 Serie A scudetto. They are 16 points ahead of Roma with 5 games to play. I love Inter, and I should be excited, but I am not. This whole season has been such a sham with teams being deducted points, and getting demoted etc. I just can't get very fired up about the title. Marco Matterazzi being the guy who scored both goals in the clincher doesn't make me happy either. Anyone but him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Celtic officially sealed up a second straight Scottish title this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lyon nabbed their 6th consecutive French Ligue 1 title. 6 in a row!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Observer in England with an article on the return to action of Man United striker Alan Smith after long term injury problems.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet's The Insider was at the fabled North London derby. That's Tottenham v Arsenal to you.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times with a story on South Africa's preparations for World Cup 2010.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball at Soccernet with his usual excellent round up of all things Spanish.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Simon Kuper with a story on Milan & Italy midfielder Gennaro Gattuso. I want to like Gattuso very much, but over the last few years he has proven to also be another in a long dense line of flopping, diving, whining Italians. Sad.