Disco Lay-day News

Nearly two weeks ago there was a Q & A with MLS Commissioner Don Garber in the New York Times done by Jack Bell. I don't think this interview has gotten nearly enough attention. There is a lot of important stuff in here. If you are a MLS fan, this is a must read.

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The Copa Sudamericana final series starts tonight. It's America of Mexico v Arsenal of Argentina. Should be a great match up. The second leg in next Wednesday. See details below.


MLSnet has produced a list of their favorite games of the 2007 season, with video highlights to back it up. Great viewing.
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Absolutely no-one was selected yesterday in the MLS waiver draft. Not too surprising really. See yesterday's du Nord for the list of players available.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog gives us the low down on a change in the "foreign player" rules for MLS next season (it's a very positive couple of moves), and the latest on DC United's contract negotiations with midfielder extraordinaire Christian Gomez.
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Jozy Altidore with his newest blog entry for the New York Times Goal. He writes about Europe, or rather doesn't, and the USA Olympic team which is training right now in Los Angeles.
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2 more guest bloggers at Luis Arroyave's Red Card blog: a player from a Chicago indoor league team, and another Chicago Tribune writer who is a big Fire fan.
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Have I told you how surprisingly good I think Marcelo Balboa's radio show in Denver is. You can listen to it at the link in the right column under Podcasts. He gets really good guests, and they ask real questions. I seriously suggest you listen in.
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MLSnet with a story on Dallas forward Kenny Cooper who is working on his college degree at SMU during his free time.
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Wellington New Zealand let kids out of schools today to go watch the Galaxy practice. over 16,000 of them turned up to watch. Video here.
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The latest design of Red Bull Park. Most impressive.
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J Hutcherson of the US Soccer Players Assoc gives his thoughts on the significance of the re-design of Red Bull Park – mainly removing the concert stage. Remember though, Home Depot Center doesn't have a stage either.
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Reuters with more from MLS's Don Garber, today he and other top American sports executives talk about the strong health of their leagues even in a shaky economy.
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Greg Lalas at Goal.com with his latest column: The 3-5-2.
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Ben Knight at the Toronto Globe & Mail On Soccer blog goes through MLS team by team and examines their team name. I think he gets two things wrong, one we shouldn't have any teams called FC cuz we don't call it Football, we call it Soccer (hi there Joe). And two, he doesn't seem to understand where the Kansas City nickname Wizards comes from. It's the Wizard of Oz and Kansas dude. Otherwise, I like all the thoughts on those names.
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An English woman from BellaOnline tries to describe the inner workings of MLS to her fellow non-Americans. Interesting.
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MLS Off-season Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Nov 29
Fresno Fuego 3-1 Chivas USA
Match report from the Fresno Bee.
-Fri Nov 30
T & T Pro League Foreign All-Stars v FC Dallas - Shaka Hislop Tribute tournament in Trinidad & Tobago
-Sat Dec 1
Wellington Phoenix v Los Angeles Galaxy - in New Zealand
-Sun Dec 2
T & T Pro League Local All-Stars v FC Dallas - Shaka Hislop Tribute tournament in Trinidad & Tobago
Chivas USA v Mexican Soccer Legends - Benefit match for flood victims in Tabasco & Chiapas.
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The Trinidad & Tobago Express gives us the latest on the Shaka Hislop Tribute tournament.
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The latest official news on Dallas' trip to T&T from the FC Dallas Updates site. Including a story about the strong earthquake that hit the Caribbean yesterday (video of coaches & players talking about it).
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FC Dallas Updates also has some video of their guys recreating Paul Caligiuri's "shot heard round the world" goal that happened in Trinidad & Tobago.
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Dallas and the TT Pro League have also begun an official agreement to work together to develop teams and players etc.
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MLS & SUM officially announced the Pan-Pacific tournament yesterday. Here is the video press conference. If you didn't read about this tournament a couple weeks ago here on du Nord then just watch this. Here is the official website. Another thing that I found to be pretty humorous is that the sponsor of the tournament is a Japanese company called MLJ that makes totally blinged-out car rims. I didn't see that one being affiliated with soccer in America any time soon, but I guess that time is now.
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MLS/Generation Adidas team in Spain
Matches & Scores
-Mon Nov 25
Rayo Vallecano Reserves 0-1 MLS-GA
-Thu Nov 29
Real Madrid Reserves 0-0 MLS-GA
This is a team that is traveling across Spain playing matches right now. All the players are from the leagues special Generation Adidas program. (see Tuesday's edition of du Nord for team roster)
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USL 2nd Division announces their league format for 2008.
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Rangers FC have confirmed the worst for USA & Rangers midfielder DaMarcus Beasley - his knee is badly damaged. He is headed home to the USA to have the surgery. They don't expect him back this season. Damn it!
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Yanks Abroad with an article pondering the significance of Real Madrid courting a young American potential star player.
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USA U20 Friendlies in Argentina
for 3 games. But their first game got canceled. So they set up another one with Boca Juniors U20's. The tied 1-1. Amobi Okugo got the USA goal.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 26
Boca Juniors 1-1 USA - USA goal by Amobi Okugo.
-Thu Nov 28
Argentina 1-1 USA - USA goal by Jorge Flores.
-Sat Dec 1
Uruguay v USA
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Jorge Flores who scored that goal for the USA U20's against Argentina is the kid who won the reality TV show contest to play for Chivas USA last spring! This guy is for real! What an amazing story! I guess these kinds of player are out there. I love it.
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The semifinalists have been announced for the 2007 Hermann Trophy. This is the Player Of The Year award for college. Included on the list is Joseph Lapira who won it last year.
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Doug McIntyre of Soccernet previews the NCAA round of 16 games being played this weekend. See du Nord update from the last couple of days for the bracket.
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The Peoria Journal Star in Illinois with an article on their local college team Bradley, and their former player, now defender for DC United - Brian Namoff.
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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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Mexican Premiera Playoffs
-Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Guadalajara 1-0 Atlante - goal by Ramon Morales.
-Thu Nov 29
UNAM Pumas 3-0 Santos Laguna - goals by Ignacio Scocco(2) & Hector Moreno.
-Sat Dec 1
Atlante v Guadalajara - 9pm central on TeleFutura
-Sun Dec 2
Santos Laguna v UNAM Pumas - 5pm central on Azteca America
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The Bermuda Sun talks to their national team coach Keith Tucker about the current state of his team. The play Cayman Islands in the first round of World Cup Qualifying next February.
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Argentine Apertura
Now with 1 game left in the season, it's down to two teams battling for the title, and it will end on Saturday:
37 Lanus
34 Tigre
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Tigre 2-1 Boca Juniors
Lanus 4-0 Gimnasia
-Sat Dec 2
Boca Juniors v Lanus
Argentinos Juniors v Tigre
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UEFA Cup - Matchday 3
-Thu Nov 29
Zenit 2-2 Nurnberg
AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Larissa
Lokomotiv Moskva 0-1 Kobenhavn
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Aberdeen
Elfsborg 1-3 Mlad Boleslav
AEK 1-1 Fiorentina
Hamburg 3-0 Rennes
Brann 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb
Sparta Praha 0-0 Spartak Moskva
Zurich 2-0 Toulouse
Braga 1-1 Bayern Munich
Bolton 1-1 Aris
Getafe 1-2 Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Tottenham 3-2 Aalborg
Panionios 0-3 Galatasaray
Helsingborg 3-0 Austria Wien
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Here are the UEFA Cup group standings after 3 of 5 rounds.
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Three Americans are playing matches in the UEFA Cup:
-Dan Califf - Aalborg - played all 90 minutes as team captain but lost 3-2 at Tottenham.
-Ramiro Corrales - Brann - started and went the distance in a 2-1 home win over Dinamo Zagreb.
-Tim Howard - team had a buy this round.
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Big Euro matches this weekend:
-Sat Dec 1
Chelsea v West Ham - another of the many London derbies that always seem to work.
Espanyol v Barcelona - the Barcelona derby!
Milan v Juventus - one of the great old wars.
Werder Bremen v Hamburger - #2 v #3 in die Bundesliga.
Benfica v Porto - a very big one in Portugal, with #2 hosting #1.
-Sun Dec 2
Fiorentina v Inter - top of the table battle.
Roma v Udinese - #3 v #4 in Serie A.
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The English tabloid rumor mill is churning with word that American Tom Hicks is already prepared to sell his stock in Liverpool due to disagreements with manager Rafael Benetiz. This story sounds like a complete joke to me.
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The Daily Mail of England talks to Sunderland coach & Man U/Ireland legend Roy Keane about the 7-1 pasting they took last weekend at Everton. It's a feeling Keane has never experienced before.
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Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian raves about the return of THE #10 shirt to Boca Juniors - Juan Roman Riquelme.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Mohamed Abdalah, coach of the Sudan national team.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times with articles on 2 different countries who will be represented next summer in the European Championship: Host Switzerland and defending champs Greece. Plus a third story on his personal reminiscences of Euro's past.
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Football Italia talks to Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu about his team, his season so far and his teammate Christian Vieri.
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Goal.com's Starting XI: The Most Exotic Stadiums In The World. Too bad they didn't include pictures of all of them, almost a useless list without the images. But I guess I can go look em up. I would add two stadiums to that list - Allianz Arena in Munich, and the Chocolate Box in Buenos Aires. There is a third stadium that I have seen pictures of that looks ancient and is set in amazing vista, but I can't remember what it's called or if it's in Spain or Portugal so no use including it. I bet there is some amazing stadium in Transylvania too. Don't know why I think that, just do.
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South Africa has not included forward Benni McCarthy on there African Nations Cup roster. I would assume you will see several players with big European contracts to skip this tournament. I am curious to see which big names demand to go home and play for their country!
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Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka & Lionel Messi are the 3 finalists for the FIFA World Player Of The Year.

Brunch At Krakatoa News

Ball Meets Face


Reuters has more with MLS honcho Don Garber today. This time they talk about cell phone & wireless device content.
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More than a handful of MLS players have been left off their teams roster and will be fair game for other teams in the league to snap up today in yet another draft. The 2 most prominent names on that list are: Ramon Nunez - Chivas USA & Carlos Pavon - LA.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger gives us an update on Red Bull Park. Are they really gonna start building the thing next week? That is the word, but then again so is "grease".
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The Toronto Star checks in on what TFC coach Mo Johnston is up to right now.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle on why the Dynamo are great off the field as well as on.
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The San Jose Mercury with a report on SJ coach Frank Yallop hiring his first assistant coach - his former player Ian Russell.
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Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated writes that San Jose is also trying to lure 3 American's home from Europe: Ramiro Corrales, Dan Califf & Kamani Hill.
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Updates from FC Dallas on their trip to Trinidad & Tobago.
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MLSnet reviews the past season of the Colorado Rapids. And asks 5 big questions for next season.
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And MLSnet reviews the past season of the Chicago Fire. And asks 5 big questions for next season.
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The Washington Post says that DC United are looking in Prince George's County at 2 possible sites for their new stadium. In this article it states that team owner Victor MacFarlane said they are losing $10 million a season.
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MLS Off-season Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Nov 29
Fresno Fuego v Chivas USA
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The USL First Division will play with 11 teams this season, and alter some of their league formats. All the details here.
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Lots more upsets last night in the NCAA Championship tournament. The top seeded team Boston College were knocked out. Here is the full bracket. Third round games will happen this weekend.
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The Glasgow Evening Standard reports that DaMarcus Beasley's knee injury is bad. They speculate that it's real bad. but let's wait for confirmation on this one.
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Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet reviews USA coach Bob Bradley's first year in charge.
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Andrew Wiebe of the Daily Kansan looks ahead at the qualifying path to the 2010 World Cup for the USA.
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American Soccer Daily with an article on Kamani Hill who is no longer wanted by Wolfsburg and will need to find a new home in the January transfer window. He says he does not want to play in MLS right now.
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ASD also talks to Benny Feilhaber about Derby's new manager Paul Jewell.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post with his as usual excellent notes.
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USA U20 team is in Argentina for 3 games. But their first game got canceled. So they set up another one with Boca Juniors U20’s. The tied 1-1. Amobi Okugo got the USA goal.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 26
Boca Juniors 1-1 USA
-Thu Nov 28
Argentina v USA
-Sat Dec 1
Uruguay v USA
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The FIFA Club World Cup starts December 7 and ends on the 16th in Japan. Much more on this next week. Here are the teams: Etoile Sportive du Sahel, Urawa Red Diamonds, AC Milan, Pachuca & Boca Juniors. Sepahan & Waitakere United will start the tournament. Here is the bracket.
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Champions League - Matchday 5
-Tue Nov 27
#Stuttgart 3-2 Rangers - Stut goals by Cacau, Pavel Pardo & Ciprian Marica. Ran goals by Charlie Adam & Barry Ferguson.
Lyon 2-2 *Barcelona - Lyon goals both by Juninho Pernambucano (1 via PK). Barc goals by Andres Iniesta & Lionel Messi(PK).
#Dynamo Kyiv 1-4 *Roma - Dyn goal by Ismael Bangoura. Roma goals by Christian Panucci, Ludovic Giuly & 2 by Mirko Vucinic.
*Manchester United 2-1 #Sporting - Man U goals by Carlos Tevez & Cristiano Ronaldo. Spor goal by Abel.
#CSKA Moskva 0-1 PSV Eindhoven - goal by Jefferson Farfan.
*Inter Milan 3-0 Fenerbahce - goal by Julio Cruz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Luis Antonio Jimenez.
*Sevilla 3-1 *Arsenal - Sev goals by Seydou Keita, Luis Fabiano & Frederic Kanoute(PK). Arse goal by Eduardo da Silva.
#Steaua Bucuresti 1-1 #Slavia Praha - Stea goal by Valentin Badea. Slav goal by Zdenek Senkerik.
-Wed Nov 28
Besiktas 2-1 Marseille - Bes goals by Rodrigo Tello & Bobo. Mars goal by Taye Taiwo.
Liverpool 4-1 Porto - Liv goals by Fernando Torres(2), Steven Gerrard(pk) & Peter Crouch.
Rosenborg 0-4 *Chelsea - Chel goals by Didier Drogba(2), Alex & Joe Cole.
Valencia 0-0 Schalke
Werder Bremen 3-2 Real Madrid - Brem goals by Markus Rosenborg, Boubacar Sanogo & Aaron Hunt. Mad goals by Robinho & Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
Lazio 1-2 Olympiakos - Laz goal by Goran Pandev. Oly goal by Luciano Galletti & Darko Kovacevic.
#Benfica 1-1 *Milan - Ben goal by Maxi Pereira. Mil goal by Andrea Pirlo.
Celtic 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk - Cel goals by Jiri Jarosik & Massimo Donati. Shak goal by Brandao.
*Advanced
#Elimidated
-Chelsea & Milan join Barcelona, Roma, Inter, Sevilla, Man U & Arsenal as the teams qualified for the knock out stages. The remaining 8 spots are still up for grabs.
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CL Group Standings.
-Groups A & C will be the most exciting on Matchday 6 as all 4 teams are capable of advancing on the last day! Very cool.
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Two Americans are playing matches in the Champions League:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came off the bench very late to try and help steal the win, but only played 2+ minutes in the 1-1 draw. Unfortunately this one point means that his team has been eliminated from the CL.
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - started and put in the corner for his teams second goal, but was injured in the 49th minute and replaced as they lost 3-2 at Stuttgart.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune recaps yesterdays CL matches, and focuses on Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez's feud with the team owners.
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Mexican Premiera Playoffs
-Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Guadalajara 1-0 Atlante - goal by Ramon Morales.
-Thu Nov 29
UNAM Pumas v Santos Laguna - 9pm central on Galavision
-Sat Dec 1
Atlante v Guadalajara - 9pm central on TeleFutura
-Sun Dec 2
Santos Laguna v UNAM Pumas - 5pm central on Azteca America
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Argentine Apertura
Now with 1 game left in the season, it's down to two teams battling for the title, and it will end on Saturday:
37 Lanus
34 Tigre
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Tigre 2-1 Boca Juniors
Lanus 4-0 Gimnasia
-Sat Dec 2
Boca Juniors v Lanus
Argentinos Juniors v Tigre
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UEFA Cup - Matchday 3
-Thu Nov 29
Zenit v Nurnberg
AZ Alkmaar v Larissa
Lokomotiv Moskva v Kobenhavn
Atletico Madrid v Aberdeen
Elfsborg v Mlad Boleslav
AEK v Fiorentina
Hamburg v Rennes
Brann v Dinamo Zagreb
Sparta Praha v Spartak Moskva
Zurich v Toulouse
Braga v Bayern Munich
Bolton v Aris
Getafe v Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Tottenham v Aalborg
Panionios v Galatasaray
Helsingborg v Austria Wien
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Three Americans are playing matches in the UEFA Cup:
-Dan Califf - Aalborg - at Tottenham
-Ramiro Corrales - Brann - v Dinamo Zagreb
-Tim Howard - team has this round off.
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Four more Americans played league matches in England & Germany last night:
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - back from the knee injury, he played all 90 minutes but they lost 1-2 at home to Burnley.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played as usual in goal, but something must have gone dramatically wrong as they lost 0-4 at home to Aston Villa. Wow.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - went the full 90 and won 1-0 over Barnsley.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - got the usual start and played the whole of a 0-0 road draw at Kaiserslautern.
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The Guardian is running a series of photo-shopped images of what the England players will be doing next summer when the rest of the best in Europe will be playing in the Euro championship. For whatever reason this image, and especially Wayne Rooney had me laughing very very hard.
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The Guardian also has the story on the arrest of Portsmouth coach Harry Rednapp for financial corruption ie. under the table payoffs to agents & players for contracts. Happy Harry says he is completely innocent. They also arrested the teams former American owner Milan Mandaric, and current chief executive Peter Storrie.
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Interesting note: There were more Scots than English playing in the Champions League this week.
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World Soccer has an article of the power & prestige of AC Milan under owner Silvio Berlusconi. Via Sports Illustrated.
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Juvenutus' patron, Lapo Elkann, has ripped Inter, saying their winning the Serie A title last year was a fake. This coming from a man who's team has been convicted of buying league titles. Hahahahahahahahaha.
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The New York Times Goal blog with an article on Ronaldo's (and his new hairdo) return to the AC Milan lineup. But reports from Italy this morning say he may have injured a calf muscle now.
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France Football magazine's Ballon d'Or will be handed out on Sunday. This is the award for European Footballer Of The Year. It's no secret that Rikki Kaka of Milan will be named the winner. I am OK with that, even though he is second or third best behind Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi, Kaka is still very special.
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Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated with the World Club Soccer Power Rankings. I am happy about #1, but I disagree. I say it's the Arse.
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And finally today, Mike Collett of Reuters says that we should expect something "spectacular" awaiting us in South Africa for the WC2010. I can't wait.

Leopard In The Sand News

DaMarcus Beasley was injured in Rangers Champions League match at Stuttgart last night. Rangers coach Walter Smith comments: "DaMarcus Beasley looks like he has quite a serious (knee) injury, but we're not quite certain what it is yet."
-The Glasgow Evening Times fears its ligament damage to his right knee. With quotes from DMB.

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Portsmouth manager Harry "bobblehead" Rednapp has been arrested by London police as part of the investigation in to financial corruption in the English Football Association! Wow.

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The poster for the 2010 South Africa World Cup has been released. It's as classy as I had hoped, and much better than the stuff we have had at the last few WC's. (thanks to BQ for this)

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I have been very vocal in saying that MLS should double their salary cap. I am not saying they should go wild and take all the reigns off, because I firmly believe in steady-as-we-go, but they are only raising it 4% for next year. 2.25 Million per team for 2008. Simply not enough.


Frank Dell'apa at Soccernet says the idea of the style of head coaches is changing in MLS.
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Two more guest bloggers on the Red Card blog: USA & Watford defender Jay DeMerit with more of his always great stuff & some dude who works at the Chicago Tribune & suffers mightily as a Newcastle fan.
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Dave Lifton at the US Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with former USA & MLS great (now retired) Eddie Pope.
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George Tanner at FC Rocky reports that Colorado's Mexican international Daniel Osorno has retired. Didn't he do that before last season?
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Metrofanatic with a rumor that defender Jorge Francisco Vargas of Chile is headed to New York, via the sister club in Austria. Let's hope he is not as old and worn out as Marcus Schopp was.
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Metrofanatic also gives us the hotlist of candidates for the Red Bull coaching job, and there is a name on it that I had no heard before.
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Reuters talks to MLS goomba Don Garber about the Beckham deal, and what it has already brought to the league. [LINK CORRECTED] Plus he talks about what the near future holds for foreign signings. Good stuff. Too bad he didn't say these things at the Supporters Summit on MLS weekend - he was lame at that and looked like it was the last place on earth he wanted to be.
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Kenn Tomasch at kenn.com blog has a Q & A with Dr. Joe Machnik who is in charge of "On-Field Competition" for MLS. I think this means he deals with the referees.
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Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune looks at the fading chances of landing a MLS in that city [LINK CORRECTED].
-Plus his weekly Sidelines
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MLS/Generation Adidas team in Spain
Matches & Scores
-Mon Nov 25
Rayo Vallecano Reserves 0-1 MLS-GA
-Fri Nov 30
Real Madrid Reserves v MLS-GA
This is a team that is traveling across Spain playing matches right now. All the players are from the leagues special Generation Adidas program. (see Tuesday's edition of du Nord for team roster)
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MLS Off-season Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Nov 30
T & T Pro League Foreign All-Stars v FC Dallas - Shaka Hislop Tribute tournament in Trinidad & Tobago
-Sat Dec 1
Wellington Phoenix v Los Angeles Galaxy - in New Zealand
-Sun Dec 2
T & T Pro League Local All-Stars v FC Dallas - Shaka Hislop Tribute tournament in Trinidad & Tobago
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FC Dallas Updates has the teams roster that will be traveling to play in T & T.
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The USA U23 team will gather in LA on Saturday to begin their first preparations for Olympic qualifying next spring. 22 players are on the roster coached by Petr Nowak, and they will conclude this camp with 2 games in China on December 13 & 16. Very few of the young Europe based players were called in because they are in season. So will any of them be released for the qualifiers? I bet it will be tough to get some of them.
-Roster:
G:
Zac MacMath - Clearwater Chargers
Chris Seitz - Salt Lake
D:
Hunter Freeman - New York
Patrick Ianni - Houston
Jon Leathers - Furman
Mike Randolph - Los Angeles
Nathan Sturgis - Salt Lake
Tim Ward - Columbus
Marvell Wynne - Toronto
M:
Arturo Alvarez - Dallas
Maurice Edu - Toronto
Eddie Gaven - Columbus
Michael Harrington - Kansas City
Stuart Holden - Houston
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Dax McCarty - Dallas
F:
Josmer Altidore - New York
Adam Cristman - New England
Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Robbie Findley - Salt Lake
Robbie Rogers - Columbus
Sal Zizzo - Hannover
-There is only 1 college player on this team, and interestingly enough he is the only one who I don't know. Can anyone tell us more about Jon Leathers, beside the fact that his name rocks!
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Former Wigan manager Paul Jewell has been named new boss at Derby for Americans Eddie Lewis & Benny Feilhaber.
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The Bermuda Sun talks to local talent Khano Smith of the New England Revs about his countries chances in World Cup qualifying.
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Champions League - Matchday 5
-Tue Nov 27
#Stuttgart 3-2 Rangers - Stut goals by Cacau, Pavel Pardo & Ciprian Marica. Ran goals by Charlie Adam & Barry Ferguson.
Lyon 2-2 *Barcelona - Lyon goals both by Juninho Pernambucano (1 via PK). Barc goals by Andres Iniesta & Lionel Messi(PK).
#Dynamo Kyiv 1-4 *Roma - Dyn goal by Ismael Bangoura. Roma goals by Christian Panucci, Ludovic Giuly & 2 by Mirko Vucinic.
*Manchester United 2-1 #Sporting - Man U goals by Carlos Tevez & Cristiano Ronaldo. Spor goal by Abel.
#CSKA Moskva 0-1 PSV Eindhoven - goal by Jefferson Farfan.
*Inter Milan 3-0 Fenerbahce - goal by Julio Cruz, Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Luis Antonio Jimenez.
*Sevilla 3-1 *Arsenal - Sev goals by Seydou Keita, Luis Fabiano & Frederic Kanoute(PK). Arse goal by Eduardo da Silva.
#Steaua Bucuresti 1-1 #Slavia Praha - Stea goal by Valentin Badea. Slav goal by Zdenek Senkerik.
-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
*Advance
#Elimidated
-So, Barcelona, Roma, Inter & Sevilla join Man U & Arsenal as the team qualified for the knock out stages, leaving only 2 spots left to fight over in these 4 groups.
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Did ya see that look on Cristiano Ronaldo's face when he nailed that free kick in stoppage time to with the CL match for Man U yesterday. Wow. What a shot. What an expression. Video clip here.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with his views on yesterdays Champions League action. He was impressed by that young Serbian kid, Bojan Krkic at Barcelona.
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Two Americans are playing matches in the Champions League:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - v Milan
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - started and put in the corner for his teams second goal, but was injured in the 49th minute and replaced as they lost 3-2 at Stuttgart.
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Mexican Premiera Playoffs
-Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 28
Guadalajara v Atlante - 9pm central on TeleFutura
-Thu Nov 29
UNAM Pumas v Santos Laguna - 9pm central on Galavision
-Sat Dec 1
Atlante v Guadalajara - 9pm central on TeleFutura
-Sun Dec 2
Santos Laguna v UNAM Pumas - 5pm central on Azteca America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup games tomorrow, and I will have details then.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Saudi Arabian striker and national team captain Yasser Al Qahtani, who plays for Al Hilal in SA, was named Asian Player Of The Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David Conn at the Guardian talks to UEFA Pres Michel Platini, who feels there is a serious crisis right around the corner for English football. Platini is also anti-big business/football. I understand many of the points here, but it’s like the record companies complaining about digitized music files. It’s too late to "fix" it. The genie is out of the bottle, there is no putting the cork back in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America examines the South African team that just faced the USA (0-1 loss) & Canada (2-0 win) in friendlies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally some things are making some sense in the Juan Roman Riquelme transfer saga - he will leave Villareal for Boca Juniors in the January transfer window. So you can forget about him playing in the World Club Championship next month.

We See Very Little News

Fox Soccer Channel will show a feature on the Houston Dynamo and their back to back MLS Cup wins - Dynamo Dynasty. The debut airing is Thu Nov 29 at 10pm central.

~and~

Over 24,000 tickets have already been sold for USA v Mexico in Houston on Feb 6.

~and~

Here is the guy who wants to buy the Houston Dynamo. (thank you, thank you, thank you Joe)

~and~

Seattle season ticket sales have now passed the 8000 mark.


Steve Davis at Soccernet gives us the top 5 stories to follow this MLS off-season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC Dallas assistant coach Oscar Pareja has left the team to join the new staff at the USA U17 Residency program in Bradenton. The team has named their other assistants to coach Wilmer Cabrera as well: Brian Maisonneuve (returning), Paul Caffrey & Paul Grafer.
-Pareja posted a note to team, staff, fans etc. on the FC Dallas Updates blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick at 3rd Degree takes in a Dallas practice session this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America looks at the players San Jose has picked up so far, and some news out of Columbus on players being released.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Kansas City Kansan with a story on the re-jigging going on at the new home of the Wizards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today's New York Red Bull coaching search rumor has them chasing after Chivas USA boss Preki.
-Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times covers the story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas midfielder Arturo Alvarez has been in France on trial at Bordeaux.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Houston forward Joseph Ngwenya is in Germany on trial at Alemannia Aachen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave's Red Card blog has Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz of RedEye as the non-soccer-fan soccer fan as today's guest blogger.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Bradley at MLSnet uses the First XI to Give Thanks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS with a series of stories on what the teams in the league need to do this offseason to improve their standing. They start with Toronto.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS & Adidas has put together a team that is traveling across Spain playing matches right now. All the players are from the leagues special Generation Adidas program.
-Their first match was last night against Rayo Vallecano Reserves. MLSGA won it 0-1 on a Nate Sturgis goal.
-The next match is against Real Madrid Reserves.
-Roster:
G:
Chris Seitz
D:
Hunter Freeman
Patrick Ianni
Amaechi Igwe
Tim Ward
Marvell Wynne
Jed Zayner
M:
Nico Colaluca
Bakary Soumare
Nathan Sturgis
F:
David Arvizu
Chad Barrett
Kei Kamara
Jacob Petersen
Willie Sims
-Coaches:
Dominic Kinnear
John Spencer
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Off-season Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 27
Sydney 5-3 LA Galaxy - 80,000 attended the match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer talks to young American winger Sal Zizzo about his still early days at Hannover.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at the Sideline Views blog gives us all the dates in 2008 & 2009 for CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald News says the USA path to South Africa should be a simple straight-forward one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger on the same qualifying topic.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday with an article on this weekends Shaka Hislop Tribute tournament, featuring FC Dallas & others.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two Americans are playing matches in the Champions League:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - v Milan
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - at Stuttgart
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times writes about FIFA pres Sepp Blatter's disapproval of Brazilian players populating all the worlds leagues and some even becoming citizens of new countries for football purposes only. And other world soccer notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beginning in 2009, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales & Scotland will play a tournament every other year called The Celtic Cup. The plan is to play it every other year. Excellent idea.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun writes about the failure of England in Euro 08 qualifying. Even though the headline says "British", the story is about England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a good story on World Soccer, politics, and the real life players involved in all of it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with a French Ligue Un roundup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The BBC with the story of a serious gaff at the England v Croatia game last week, where an English guy sang the Croat national anthem and got some word wrong, somehow making the proclamation of having a huge member. Then a few idiotic English fans booed the anthem when it was over. From funny to classless in 60 seconds. You poor dimwitted dumbasses. But the penis part is pretty funny.

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.

~and~

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.

~and~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet weighs in on Jozy Altidore's new future.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

AP via USA Today has an article on Alexi Lalas, the one man marketing machine. Some would call him a hot-air factory.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com tries to figure out if MLS is giving LA and Landon Donovan special treatment, again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Annapolis Capital Gazette with a nice personal reflection on the history of DC United.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Hush at MLSnet talks to New England midfielder Andy Dorman and his decision to leave the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at Soccernet writes about the LA Galaxy and their first days under new bossman Ruuuuuuuuud Gullit, in Australia Tuesday & New Zealand Friday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Associated Press with a story on MLS's drive for more South American players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet examines San Jose's first 10 players acquired through the expansion draft.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Puget Sound Business Journal with an article on the particulars of the new Seattle franchise.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff on his Soccer Insider blog with some great MLS rumors, and more rumors.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Rusnak of the Sun Sentinel in South Florida looks at the interest MLS is again showing Miami. And why?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Vancouver Sun talks to Whitecaps pres Bob Lenarduzzi about the teams near and distant future.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram examines the year 2007 for the USA men's soccer team. The positives & the concerns.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Freddy's goal, via You Tube.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 2nd round of the NCAA tournament happens Wednesday night from coast to coast. Here are the matchups.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Sudamericana Final
-Fri Nov 30 - First Leg
Club America v Arsenal de Sarandi
-Wed Dec 5 - Second Leg
Arsenal v America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two Americans are playing matches in the Champions League:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica v Milan
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers at Stuttgart
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com talks to Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti and the upcoming World Club Championship.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Spain & Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Football Italia with this weeks Winners, Losers, Goals & numbers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rest of the World's qualifying set ups from FIFA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Top writers from the Guardian review top leagues around Europe:
-Sid Lowe in Spain.
-Raphael Honigstein in Germany.
-Paulo Bandini in Italy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball of Soccernet digs it all up on Edmilson, Barca, Athletes for Christ and the rest of La Liga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fulham defender Moritz Volz with a new entry in his online diary. He is great at this thing called blogging.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David James writing for the Observer says don't blame the keeper for England's mess.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated does a great Q & A session with France & Barca star Thierry Henry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sadly, the wife of Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli has passed away after a long battle with cancer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Closed For Thanksgiving Holiday

Here in America we celebrate a holiday called Thanksgiving. You can go to Wikipedia and look up the meaning behind it. For me it's a serious day off. And therefore you will not be seeing any du Nord for Thursday.

And since most of is tag Friday along with the Thursday holiday, I guess I will take off 2 in a row, just cuz I can.

Now get out and have some fun.

Bruce

Capital Rally War Cry News

England are OUT of Euro 2008. They lost at home today to Croatia 2-3, and Russia won 0-1 at Andora, sending the Ruskies through and the Crumpet Eaters packing.

~and~

Also today, Sweden, Portugal & Turkey joined Russia and the 12 already qualified for the tournament next summer in Switzerland & Austria.

~and~

I forgot to mention yesterday that the Houston fans had a smoke bomb that went off when Ngwenya scored that was as awesome a smoke bomb as I have ever seen. It was massive. I mean absolutely massive. And it just kept going and going and going. I was blown away. I salute you! (you can see the amount of smoke this thing kicks out at around the 30 second mark of this video clip)

~and~

Colombia beat Argentina in South American World Cup Qualifiers! See details below.


Houston fans are encouraging all of us to drop a note to Houston Mayor White and tell him to get a soccer stadium built in the Bayou City. Here is his email address: mayor@cityofhouston.net
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Houston Chronicle with an article and video of the Dynamo homecoming celebration after winning the Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Chron talks to Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear and some players about going for 3.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe talks to New England coach Steve Nicol about his offseason plans to improve the team. The teams expects that midfielder Andy Dorman will move on, mostly likely somewhere in Great Britain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chivas USA has signed defender Claudio Suarez for another season, which CS has said will be his last as a professional. Good for him, and the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Soccer poster DCUtd has some translation of a La Prensa interview with DC striker Luciano Emilio. He wants a big raise, and DC have said no so far.
-But Steven Goff of the Washington Post says DC has picked up the option on Luci's contract for next year, and the player is going nowhere.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I want to give a tip of the hat in the direction of a new Kansas City Wizards focused blog called Oz City. Last week they had a post speculating on a possible tweaking of colors for the Wiz next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In case you haven't heard the news, Colorado has rewarded coach Fernando Clavijo with another year on the job after a nearly unwatchable 2007. Ugh.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times has an interview with MLS Commissioner Don Garber. And the Goal blog has the full transcript of the Q & A.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The LA Galaxy has stolen a great idea from FC Dallas and started a blog for their team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green of the LA Daily News with his weekly column - LA needs consistency.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated names David Beckham as his Sportsman Of The Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Commish Donny Garber mentioned over the weekend that people from the German Bundesliga were in DC to meet with MLS officials. An article about that meeting has turned up on die Bundesliga website, in English.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pete Grathoff of the KC Star with an update on Kansas City stadium talk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder also of KC Star has an article (from last week) on a local boy done good, Doug Quinn who is the president of MLS's marketing company - SUM.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer of American Soccer Daily dropped me a line to let us know that American forward Kamani Hill was NOT released by Wolfsburg. Although it might happen in the January transfer window. Hill does not want to leave the club.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Philadelphia Daily News has an update and some quotes from their home town boy, Reading's Bobby Convey.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Dixon of the US Soccer Players Assoc says the US is desperate for some real forwards, not the fake ones like Dempsey & Donovan who constantly play out of position. I don't want to dis Dixon here, but duuuuuuuuuuh. Isn't that just about every countries problem outside of the top 5 or so?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clemente Lisi also at the USSPA says the real success in USA soccer this year were the international road wins. Agreed. And I would add to that the fact that the team just played a much tougher overall schedule.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On another USSPA front, the organization feels they have been slighted by MLS to such an extent that USSPA has decided to stop covering the league except to report directly on USA team players. Oof.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

West Ham United of London has signed a deal with the USL to work with the American minor leagues in finding talent, and eventually field a team in the in one of the league's divisions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times previews the Mexican Premiera quarterfinals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated also previews the Mexican playoffs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexican Premiera Playoffs
Quarterfinal first leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 21
Cruz Azul v Atlante
San Luis v Guadalajara
-Thu Nov 22
Morelia v Santos Laguna
UNAM Pumas v Toluca
Quarterfinal second leg Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 24
Guadalajara v San Luis
Atlante v Cruz Azul
-Sun Nov 25
Toluca v UNAM Pumas
Santos Laguna v Morelia
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South America World Cup Qualifiers
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 20
Venezuela 5-3 Bolivia - Venez goals by Daniel Armismendi(2), Alejandro Guerra & Giancarlo Maldonado(2). Bol goals by Marcelo Martins(2) & Juan Carlos Arce.
Colombia 2-1 Argentina - Col goals by Ruben Dario Bustos & Dayro Moreno. Arg goal by Lionel Messi.
-Wed Nov 21
Brazil v Uruguay
Ecuador v Peru
Chile v Paraguay
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Argentine forward Carlos Tevez was Red Carded in last nights loss to Colombia for kicking another player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro 2008 Qualifiers - The last day of matches and 4 teams will qualify today.
-Wed Nov 21
Serbia v Poland
Portugal v Finland
Azerbaijan v Belgium
Armenia v Kazakhstan
Ukraine v France
Italy v Faroe Islands
Georgia v Lithuania
Turkey v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Malta v Norway
Hungary v Greece
San Marino v Slovakia
Cyprus v Czech Republic
Israel v Macedonia FYR
Andorra v Russia
Sweden v Latvia
Spain v Northern Ireland
Denmark v Iceland
Slovenia v Bulgaria
Romania v Albania
Belarus v Netherlands
England v Croatia
Germany v Wales
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with an article on Northern Ireland & Fulham striker David Healy. He scores tons for NI, so why not for F?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA has a Q & A with Ivory Coast coach Uli Stielike.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun writes about the constant disagreements that go on between FIFA and the worlds soccer clubs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with an article on former Fulham coach Chris Cookie Coleman who has had a rough ride at his new Spanish team Real Sociedad. Its actually been worse than rough, its been scandalous.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Inter Milan is about to sign a new contract making him the highest salaried player in the world, making about $16 million a year. But I have to point out that this is nothing compared to what several American athletes make. A-Rod at 25 mill, KG at 22. What does Tom Brady get paid? Peyton Manning? Kobie Bryant? Kurt Schilling? Damn.
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Lastly, a new Indian top flight soccer league kicks off this Saturday. The I-League will consist of 10 teams. Here they are:
-Air India - Mumbai
-Churchill Brothers SC - Goa
-Dempo SC - Goa
-East Bengal Club - Kolkata
-JCT - Phagwara, Punjab
-Mahindra United - Mumbai
-Mohun Bagan - Kolkata
-Salgaocar SC - Goa
-Sporting Clube de Goa - Goa
-Viva Kerala - Kochin
Who you got your money on? I think I gotta go with my boys at East Bengal.

San Jose Claim First 10 Players In Expansion Draft

Here are the original 10 for the new Earthquakes:

Ryan Cochrane - D - Houston Dynamo
Clarence Goodson - D - Dallas
Ned Grabavoy - M - Columbus
James Riley - D - New England
Joe Vide - M - New York
Ivan Guerrero - M - Chicago
Brian Carroll - M - DC
Jason Hernandez - D - Chivas
Gavin Glinton - F - Los Angeles
Chris Pozniak - M - Toronto

That is a pretty damn good list outside of Hernandez & Pozniak.

Back In The New York Groove News

A gigantic thank you goes out to Shawn Francis from the Offsides Rule for helping me out and creating yesterday's du Nord post. He did a fantastic job. And we all owe him at least hug or something. Well, you know.

~and~

The 13th MLS Cup will be held in Los Angeles on Nov 23, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson CA. See you there, It's gonna be a huge one!

~and~

How come the MLS announcement of their 2007 Best 11 got so little fan fare? I have seen almost nothing about it. Here is the team: Brad Guzan, Michael Parkhurst, Eddie Robinson, Jonathan Bornstein, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Christian Gomez, Shalrie Joseph, Dwayne De Rosario, Ben Olsen, Luciano Emilio & Juan Pablo Angel. I think they got some of these wrong, but popularity over quality is hard for a league to resist.

~and~

A special episode of The Dynamo Power Hour radio show with Glenn Davis - Tonight at 8pm central. Featuring the MLS Cup Champions. You can listen live on the radio in Houston on 710am or online at 790AM.com. Guests include team president Oliver Luck, coach Dominic Kinnear, midfielder Stuart Holden and hopefully more. Call in to ask a question at 713-212-5790.

~and~

To me the most interesting piece of news from MLS Cup final weekend was that CONCACAF is going to launch it's own version of the Champions League. Steve Goff of the Washington Post has some good info about it on his Soccer Insider blog.


MLS Cup Finals
New England 1-2 Houston - NE goal by Taylor Twellman. Hou goals by Joseph Ngwenya & Dwayne De Rosario.
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DDR was also named the games Most Valuable Player. Most deserved. He has become one of, if not the best big game player is this leagues history. Amazing guy.
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My notes from the game:
-Ching was out and now too is New England. On the canvas for the 4th time. Luckily in MLS there is no 3 knock down rule of they wouldn't have even gotten this far. I can't imagine how painful it is to be a Revs fan right now. Ugly ugly ugly. As a kid I was a Minnesota Vikings fan, and they managed to lose 4 Super Bowls before I was even 20 years old. It was not good. And I honestly don't think the team has ever recovered from it. Somehow I think New England will be a little tougher to knock completely off the upper reaches of Mount Emeless.
-I still haven't see the replay of the game yet, but there was a wild scene down on the field right before Houston scored the game winner: New England had a decent chance on goal and a defensive mistake by Brad Davis & DDR made it possible. As the teams headed back the other way BD & DDR could be seen screaming at each other for several seconds. But moments later there was Davis lashing in a fantastic cross and DDR getting his head on it and beautifully finishing it off. The two players ran to opposite sides of the field to celebrate with various teammates, then made their way down the sidelines to get ready for the next kickoff, and at the last moment made a huge run toward each other and ended in a big big hug! Excellent to see.
-An amazing feat Khano Smith pulled off by NOT getting a Red Card after throwing a head butt at Craig Waibel, who I can only assume said something very unsavory in Smith's direction. KS got the Yellow, and shortly after he stupidly was seen pushing Houston's Joseph Ngwenya off the field when he was substituted.
-Those of us in attendance had no idea why Steve Ralston was taken off, but I figured it had to be because he asked out. Turns out he was cramping up and couldn't go any further. What a drag for one of the leagues all time best.
-After that game NE defender Jay Heaps could not get off that field fast enough. I glanced to my left as the match ended and he was already over the end board and blazing a trail to the tunnel to get him the hell out of there. I would hate to have that feeling.
-Can anyone explain to me why Adam Cristman wasn't added to the field for New England in the later minutes of that game. He scored 6 or 7 goals during the season and is a very big guy in stature. Surely he could have helped. Why oh why would you leave this guy on the bench when you are in extreme desperation mode?
-This game was #371 for Steve Ralston, the largest number ever for a professional player in America.
-I can't forget to mention that Pat Noonan played probably his best game of the season for New England. His touch was fantastic all game long.
-I have to say I was a little disappointed to hear the DC United fans in the stand chanting "Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring...." Ok, the first time they did it, it was kinda funny, but the second time is what bothered me, cuz this was no boring game at all. Poor sports. And sadly not the first time I have thought this about the DC United fans lately.
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The whole weekend in the DC metro area was a great deal of fun.
-Thanks goes out to Kim and the Screaming Eagles for all the fan events. (Too bad about the A/V troubles at the Supporters Summit though.)
-Special thanks has to go out Neil Beuthe at US Soccer, and D & company from the DCenters for helping bring in the great crowd to watch USA at South Africa on Saturday morning at Summers in Arlington. What a great success that was.
-Gotta give a wave to several excellent people I met and/or talked to over the three days:
-Bill from Class VI
-Eric Salsbery from AYL Soccer
-Ives Galarcep from the North Jersey Herald News
-Luis Arroyave from the Chicago Tribune
-Frank Dell'apa from the Boston Globe
-Jen Chang from ESPN Soccernet
-The American Outlaws
-Dave Lifton from the Screaming Eagles podcast
-Zach Walker from DC United
-Eddie Rock & Ben Dickey from Libero
-Chris Wilson & Brad Kessler from the Columbus Crew front office
-All the du Nord readers I met! You were awesome!
-And lastly an extra special huge thanks to all my traveling partner friends who made the trip a blast - Paul, Kevin A, Tom, Kevin J, Keith, Andy, Ethan, Reagan, Pat & Crystal.
-If I forgot anyone I will just blame it on the Ibogaine. It can do that to a fella.
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MLSnet has post game-notes from both Michael Lewis and Steve Davis.
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Dave Lifton of the Screaming Eagles podcast has a special post-MLS Cup final edition. See link in the right hand column for podcasts.
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Kyle MCarthy at Goal.com writes about the Houston Dynamo championship, and calls them one of the best ever in MLS. I don't think there is any doubt about that.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated on the magic of the Houston Dynamo.
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Don Cuddy of Soccer365 says New England's biggest need for next season is depth.
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New York Red Bull has officially bought out the remaining 50% that AEG still controlled in building Red Bull park in New Jersey.
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald News with articles yesterday and today on the Red Bulls coaching search.
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The Red Card blog, by Luis Arroyave, has a guest blogger today and it is Chicago Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez. He writes about his friend and now former teammate Chris Armas who retired.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arroyave also has a huge story in Sunday Chicago Tribune on Fire midfielder Bakary Soumare from Mali. It is a very massive feature on his life. Excellent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rumors from San Jose says that they will sign Galaxy forward Carlos Pavon. But why?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As of yesterday Seattle has taken deposits on 6500 season tickets. Wow.
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Lars Lifrak of Soccer365 writes an article on the Seattle team name that gives a pretty strong hint from the insiders that Sounders will NOT be the new teams name. Huge mistake.
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Lifrak also does a Q & A with one of Seattle's owners, Drew Carey.
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MLS has given special considerations to 3 teams who have long time league players on their books who make a lot of money but won't qualify as Designated Players next season. Dallas & Carlos Ruiz, Kansas City & Eddie Johnson and Los Angeles & Landon Donovan. I am not surprised at all that the league would figure out a way to help these teams keep these players on their rosters for next year.
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Cleetus is back in LA! Clint Mathis was traded by New York back to the team where he started his MLS career, The LA Galaxy. NY got a third round draft pick as compensation.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with news on the New York search for a new head coach, which initially sees them trying to steal Juan Carlos Osorio away from Chicago.
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By my calculations there are less that 75 days until will see MLS teams back in pre-season training. Excellent. Let the rumor mongering begin.
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North American Club Friendlies
-Sat Nov 17
Guadalajara Chivas 2-1 Chivas USA - Benefit match for the victims of the Tabasco flood. - Guada goals by Sergio Santana & Edgar Solis. C-USA goal by Claudio Suarez(PK).
-Fri Nov 30
TT Pro League Foreign All-Stars v FC Dallas - the Shaka Hislop Tribute Cup in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
-Sun Dec 2
TT Pro League Local All-Stars v FC Dallas - the Shaka Hislop Tribute Cup in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
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Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup
South Africa 0-1 USA - goal by Steve Cherundolo.
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The du Nord Three Stars Of The Game
3. Subusiso Zuma - He didn't have great success on the field but for some reason I loved watching this South African striker play. The bleached out hair didn't hurt either, cuz he wore it well. Again,I don't think he had any real dangerous chances, but I sure enjoyed watching him move around the field and dance with that ball.
2. Maurice Edu - Looks like a seasoned veteran out there. Better than Benny Fielhaber in the both of the last two USA games, and that is saying something. Great assist, unrelenting defense, and some very good passing. He looks like the real deal.
1. Steve Cherundolo - What a monster goal that was from Stevie C. Top shelf near side, the keeper looked baffled. Awesome.
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My notes from the game:
-First and foremost, I watched it at Summers in Arlington VA with over 160 other USA fans and had a blast. Thanks go out to Neil Buethe helping to make it possible, and to D and the gang from the DCenters for co-hosting and spreading the word.
-Bob Bradley used all 17 players that he brought to South Africa. That was pretty cool.
-Steve Cherundolo's goal for the USA was just outstanding. Maurice Edu gave him a great pass as he streaked past everyone on the right wing, then cut straight at the keeper and put it top shelf near side. There was no stopping that one!
-The fans were a great to watch on TV. Especially the big guy with the women’s bra and wig on. Gutsy outfit. And, why were so many fans wearing big oversized glasses? Was that a Mandela thing?
-The first half for the USA looked pretty good. But the second half with 6 subs was ugly and dull. They also had no real offensive threat, and I doubt they had a shot on goal. That was not so cool.
-The one second half sub who really stood out to me was Sacha Kljestan. The team was scrambling for any kind of possession until he entered in the 73rd minute. He was a big help in slowing it down, and then killing it off in the end. He looked really confident out there.
-Great to see Jozy Altidore get his first cap. He didn't get to do much, but he certainly helped hold the ball at the end and kill the match.
-And Freddy Adu got his first start. Some moments on the ball looked excellent.
-It was really fun hearing TV commentator Max Bretos repeat the last name of South Africa midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala over and over again, like it was a 60's Girl Group pop song title.
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Official Team USA blog.
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Audio, video, images & words from US Soccer:
-Game photos.
-Match report.
-Behind the Scenes video.
-Audio of interview with Steve Cherundolo & Oguchi Onyewu post-game.
-Audio of USA post-game press conference.
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US Soccer has announced the finalists for both Men's & Women's Player & Young Player Of The Year awards. Vote now.
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Sports Network with a good overview of 2007 for Bob Bradley and Team USA. Via the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
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Coach Thomas Rongen will take a USA U20 team to Argentina, for training and 3 games, on Friday.
Matches & Scores:
Nov 26 v Paraguay
Nov 28 v Argentina
Dec 1 v Uruguay
Roster:
G:
Josh Lambo - Middleton WI
Larry Jackson - East Palo Alto CA
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Syracuse NY
Victor Cortez - U of San Francisco
Kyle Davies - Southampton FC
Ian Kalis - Plano TX
Chris Klute - Grand Prairie TX
Aubrey Perry - Ocoee FL
Kofi Sarkodie - Huber Heights OH
Anthony Wallace - FC Dallas
M:
Bryan Arguez - DC United
Pablito Cruz - Azusa CA
Jorge Flores - Chivas USA
Andrew Giallombardo - Southampton FC
Abdusalam Ibrahim - FC Dallas
Amobi Okugo - Sacramento CA
F:
Charles Renken Edwardsville IL
Ben Speas - Stow OH
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American forward Kamani Hill has been released by his German club Wolfsburg.
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In the Mexican Premiera Playoffs both America & Pachuca were knocked out in the first round! Wow! Morelia & Cruz Azul move on to meet the other 6 in the Quarterfinals starting on Wednesday. I will post the schedule tomorrow.
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First Round first leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 14
Pachuca 0-2 Cruz Azul - goals both by Julio Cesar Dominguez.
-Thu Nov 15
Morelia 3-0 America
First Round Second leg Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 17
Cruz Azul 4-0 Pachuca - Cruz Azul takes out the champs 6-0 on aggregate and advance to the last 8.
-Sun Nov 18
America 1-0 Morelia - Monarcas pull the huge upset and beat America 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the last 8.
Quarterfinal first leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 21
Cruz Azul v Atlante
San Luis v Guadalajara
-Thu Nov 22
Morelia v Santos Laguna
UNAM Pumas v Toluca
Quarterfinal second leg Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 24
Guadalajara v San Luis
Atlante v Cruz Azul
-Sun Nov 25
Toluca v UNAM Pumas
Santos Laguna v Morelia
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South America World Cup Qualifiers
Another round today Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 20
Brazil v Uruguay
Ecuador v Peru
Venezuela v Bolivia
Colombia v Argentina
Chile v Paraguay
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The Gaffer at EPL Talk has a fantastic podcast interview with one of my teenage years idols - Toby Charles. TC hosted a show on PBS in the 70's that introduced many of us to the beautiful game - Soccer Made In Germany. The show was a weekly recap of German league game action. Without it I would never been able to so effortlessly pronounce Borussia Monchengladbach.
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3 Iraq players & 1 asst coach have all defected from their country while the U23 team was playing a match in Australia, and have asked for asylum.
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Reuters with a story on Italy's new version of Castel di Sangro. I love stories like this.
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Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez has quit the team after getting beat yet again. They were quite a good team not too long ago.
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As Germany was smoking Cyprus 4-0 the home fans were heckling their own keeper, Jens Lehmann, and in typical Jens fashion he flipped em all the bird. Of course he denies he did that, but I think this picture pretty much says it all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada lost 2-0 in South Africa today, against a team that was fairly different in make up to the one that lost 0-1 to the USA on Saturday. Many of the best SA players had already headed back to their Euro teams.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times looks at the state of South Africa in this week when the World Cup Qualifing draws will be held in that country.
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Soccernet has a Q & A with Inter Milan forward Julio Cruz aka The Gardener.
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Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian shows massive love for long time Argentine star Javier Zanetti.
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Gavin Hamilton of World Soccer raves about Argentina's forgotten man Juan Roman Riquelme.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated also raves about Riquelme and looks at Argentinas road ahead in qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says Russia's sports teams still carry the burden of success from the Soviet days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

12 teams have now qualified for Euro 2008, with the 4 others all to be settled on Wednesday. Those 12 are: Poland, Greece, Croatia, Romania, Netherlands, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and the co-hosts Switzerland & Austria.