Let Me Out News

I don't like this: Richard Groff, who is tied in to the new Philadelphia team in some way, was being interviewed on Marcelo Balboa's radio show From The Pitch on Tuesday night and insinuated that the new Philly stadium will NOT have grass, but rather an artificial surface. Boooooooooooo

~and~

Happy 7th Birthday to Taylor Twellman - born in the great city of Minneapolis!

~and~

FIFA has recognized a disputed USA goal by Landon Donovan as official, so now its written in stone that he is the all-time goal scoring leader at 35 and counting. He is 25 years old. The man in second place Eric Wynalda played for Team USA into his 30's. Donovan could double his current total before he is through.


Philadelphia

Coverage of the official announcement of the new team from local newspapers:
-Philadelphia Inquirer-
MLS announces Philadelphia expansion team
Major League Soccer celebrates in Chester
How will Chester play to MLS fans?
Soccer community welcomes new team

-Philadelphia Daily News-
With MLS expansion, curtain opens on revival of soccer, Chester
Philly scores big goal with MLS expansion

-The Delco Times-
Score a goal for Chester
That's one giant leap for Chester
Sakiewicz’s blueprint gives soccer a chance
Stadium’s fiscal height may give taxpayers vertigo
New soccer team brings hope
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet recognizes supporters group Sons Of Ben as being instrumental in getting their new team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America on the Philly expansion. via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is an aerial view map of exactly where the stadium will be built. Right on the Delaware River, in that vacant area next to the Commodore Bridge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You can get season tickets at 1-877-MLS-2010.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The new teams home on the web.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

Tom Timmerman of the St Louis Post Dispatch talks to MLS commish Donald Garber who says: "We'd like St. Louis to be our next team."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OK, So if St Louis is looking to try and be #17, then who will get that precious 18th team?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Both John Haydon of the Washington Times and Steven Goff of the Washington Post have stories on former prodigy Santino Quaranta who is without a team, but training with and trying to become a member of DC United again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Connolly of the Boston Herald catches up with New England veteran midfielder Steve Ralston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Salt Lake GM Garth Lagerway had a Q & A with fans last night. Audio of the conversation is available at AYL Soccer. And a poster on Big Soccer called neophyte had a very nice recap of things that were said. Some are quite interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dan Steinberg the creator of the DC Sports Bog has several new posts on DC United. All with that great off-beat wit. (It's been a long winter without Steinberg's DCU updates.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on the introduction of new Dynamo part-owner Oscar De La Hoya.
-Fallas on his Soccer y Futbol blog has some interesting insights into AEG's continued role in Houston.
-Glenn Davis also of the Chron, writing on his The Soccer Hour blog, with more words on De La Hoya.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chronicle has a Q & A with De La Hoya.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal.com listed their Starting XI of 2008 MLS MVP candidates.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Feb 29
Chivas USA v UC Riverside at HDC
-Sat Mar 1
FC Seoul (S Korea) v Los Angeles at World Cup Stadium in Seoul South Korea
Chivas USA v Fresno Fuego at TBD
Red Bull Salzburg Juniors v New York in Salzburg as part of a double header with the senior Salzburg teams regular home league match.
San Jose State U v San Jose
-Mon Mar 3
Paranaense Reserves (Brazil) v Dallas at CAPTC in Curtiba Brazil
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division & PDL

An article in the Kitsap Sun says that one of the owners of the Seattle Sounders who will NOT be a part of the MLS team wants to keep the team alive and find a new home for them in the region. (thanks to Goal Seattle for us toward this one)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Great post at the Craven Cottage Newsround about Eddie Johnson starting for Fulham this weekend. (thanks to BQ for this one)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Daily Mail with an article on the return to action for Brian McBride at Fulham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American Soccer Daily talks to Dan Califf about his future at Danish club Aalborg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Feb 26
Dep Univ San Martin 0-1 Universidad Catolica - goal by Dario Botinelli.
Estudiantes 0-0 Lanus
Caracas 2-1 Bamin Real Potosi - Car goals by Emilio Renteria & Ronald Vargas. Bam goal by Gonzal Galindo.
-Feb 27
Atletico Nacional 1-1 Sao Paulo - Nac goal by David cordoba. SP goal by Miranda.
River Plate 2-1 America - RP goal by Radamel Falcao Garcia. Amer goal by Salvador Cabanas.
Flamengo 2-1 Cienciano - Flam goal by Suazo & Marcinho. Cien goal by Gustavo Vasallo.
-Feb 28
Cucuta Deportivo 0-0 San Jose
Maracaibo 1-3 Colo Colo - Mara goal by Heiber Diaz. Colo goals by Gonzalo Fierro, Gustavo Biscayzacu & an Own Goal by Gregory Lancken.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Liverpool and midfielder Javier Mascerano have confirmed that they reached a new contract. He is now no longer on load to them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend

Scores & Matches:
-Sat Mar 1
West Ham v Chelsea - another of the many London derbies. This is an oldie.
Boavista v Porto - the Porto derby, with the namesake team sitting at #1 in the league. Oh how Boa would love to knock them down.
-Sun Mar 2
Sporting Lisbon v Benfica - aaahhhhh, the Lisbon derby. Should be a fun one.
Besiktas v Galatasaray - #3 hosts #1 in Turkey.
AEK Athens v Panathinaikos - and #3 hosts #1 in Greece too.
Juventus v Fiorentina - battling it for that last Champions League spot.
Schalke v Bayern Munich - last years champs currently sit in 5th place and desperately want to rejoin the top tier. Bayern are numero uno by 4 points.

At One Time The 2nd Largest In The British Empire News

Philadelphia

MLS is proud to introduce to you, team #16, or 18 if you count the 2 that went bye bye, Philadelphia! They will begin play in 2010 (and boy will they stink that first year).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Philadelphia Inquirer on the build of to the big day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Delco Times on the announcement.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Delco Times editorial on the new team and stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Delco with reaction from local soccer fans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Inquirer also has an article on a true American soccer legend and Pennsylvania native, Walter Bahr.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Inquirer's college sports blogger gives us his view on soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is the official press release from MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You can get season tickets at 1-877-MLS-2010.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Home on the web.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

The San Jose Mercury News with an article on new Earthquakes midfielder Ronnie O'Brien.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail blog On Soccer checks in from TFC practice under the temporary dome/bubble at BMO Field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sportsnet of Ontario with some thoughts on TFC dumping Ronnie O.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sportsnet also takes in a TFC practice session. With comments from coach John Carver and GM Mo Johnston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The San Francisco Chronicle with a story on two big time sports dudes just hangin out pickin each others nose, I mean brain - Billy Beane, Oakland A's GM & San Jose Earthquakes part owner AND the next Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann. Need I say more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on the unveiling of a new forward for the Dynamo - Argentine Franco Caraccio. They got him on a loan deal from Arsenal de Sarandi. From everything you read this kid sounds green, not a veteran like the two forwards they lost.
-Fallas with a few more Caraccio & Dynamo notes on his Soccer y Futbol blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Connolly of the Boston Herald has an article on new Revolution defender Chris Albright.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scotland's Daily Record has an article and interview with new Salt Lake forward Kenny Deuchar. Article comes complete with inane British tabloid headline.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with an article on Deuchar's move to RSL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post did a heavy interview with Santino Quaranta for Friday's paper. He gives us a teaser of it on his Soccer Insider blog. At one time not long ago Quaranta was a prodigy. Now days he is a bust.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch on the newest Crew forward Nico Hernandez.
-Mitchell reports on his Covering The Crew blog that the team has released midfielder Ricardo Virtuoso.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with some updates on the Galaxy, plus other world soccer news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports gave his list of the Top 20 MLS players a couple weeks back. Seems that he took quite a beating over it. Hahahaha (I am laughing with you Martin, not at you). Here is his reply.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes about Dallas's next training camp stop - Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3rd Degree has a photo slideshow from the FC Dallas 2008 jersey unveiling.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington City Paper lays out the Pro's and Con's of building a soccer stadium in the District of Columbia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 27
Dorados (Mexico) 1-1 Chicago in Sinaloa
-Fri Feb 29
Chivas USA v UC Riverside at HDC
-Sat Mar 1
FC Seoul (S Korea) v Los Angeles at World Cup Stadium in Seoul South Korea
Chivas USA v Fresno Fuego at TBD
Red Bull Salzburg Juniors v New York in Salzburg as part of a double header with the senior Salzburg teams regular home league match.
San Jose State U v San Jose
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago match report from the Fires homepage.
-The stadium in Culiacan was SOLD OUT!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer and Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives are going to Salzburg to cover the Red Bulls training camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

Luis Arroyave of the Red Card reports that the reason Chicago defender Wilman Conde is not with the team in Mexico is due to visa troubles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rumor going around about why Kevin Harmse and Kelly Gray did not go to Asia with the LA Galaxy is that they, like Kyle Martino, are on the chopping block.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division & PDL

Salt Lake no more than cut defender Willis Forko loose and Vancouver snap him up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Seattle have re-signed goalkeeper Chris Eylander.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Portland may have lost goalkeeper Josh Wicks to Los Angeles.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Olympic Team

Jozy Altidore checks in via the New York Times Goal blog to tell us about getting ready for Olympic qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Here is some great news - Soccer By Ives reports that Cory Gibbs played in Charlton's reserve match!!! Do you realize that Gibbs signed with Charlton nearly 2 years ago, but has still never played a real match for them??? Staggering.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wednesday games:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - started and went 55 minutes in a 2-0 home win over Moreirense in the Taca de Portugal.
-Greg Berhalter - Munich 1860 - played all 120 minutes, yes regular time + extra time, in the Pokal semifinals, but lost 1-0 to city rivals Bayern Munich on a PK in the dying seconds.
-Nate Jaqua - Rheindorf Altach - played all 90 minutes but were thumped 4-0 at Red Bull Salzburg.
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - came on as a 74th minute sub in his teams 0-1 road win at Ascoli.
-Josh Wolff - Munich 1860 - was on the bench but did not play in the 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Pokal semifinals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That must have been a very painful loss for 1860. Losing in the last seconds of extra time on a Penalty. 120 minutes of scoreless soccer against your most bitter rivals - that's no way to go out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Dep Univ San Martin 0-1 Universidad Catolica - goal by Dario Botinelli.
Estudiantes 0-0 Lanus
Caracas 2-1 Bamin Real Potosi - Car goals by Emilio Renteria & Ronald Vargas. Bam goal by Gonzal Galindo.
-Wed Feb 27
Atletico Nacional 1-1 Sao Paulo - Nac goal by David cordoba. SP goal by Miranda.
River Plate 2-1 America - RP goal by Radamel Falcao Garcia. Amer goal by Salvador Cabanas.
Flamengo 2-1 Cienciano - Flam goal by Suazo & Marcinho. Cien goal by Gustavo Vasallo.
-Thu Feb 28
Cucuta Deportivo v San Jose
Maracaibo v Colo Colo
Cruzeiro v Caracas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated writes about Argentine teams getting off to a bad start in Libertadores. But dude, we're just getting going man, give em some room to breathe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

The loudest and most frenzifying rumor in England today is that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard will take over as Chelsea coach after this season.
-Dr Sid Lowe of the Guardian pours fuel on that fire.
-Many other reports say no, no, no. Not so fast tough guy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rikki Kaka has signed a contract extension at AC Milan through the 2013 season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Juventus 0-0 Torino - the Turin derby ends goalless.
-Wed Feb 27
Inter 1-1 Roma
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with an article on one of the unsung heroes of world football - Inter's Javier Zanetti.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian gives us the low down on Inter's come back last night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times has the story of Queens Park Rangers slithery looking owner Flavio Briatore. The first part of the story is all Formula 1, but then they get to QPR.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World Soccer has a Q & A with Sevilla & Brazil forward Luis Fabiano, who is having a breakout season. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Telegraph with an article on Tottenham's wishes to build themselves a new home stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro League Cup Competitions

-French Coupe de la Ligue-
Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Paris Saint Germain 3-2 Auxerre
-Wed Feb 27
Le Mans 4-5 Lens
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-German DFB Pokal-
Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Hoffenheim
Stuttgart 2-2 Carl Zeiss Jena Jena adv 5-4 on PK's.
-Wed Feb 27
Bayern Munchen 1-0 1860 Munchen
Wolfsburg 2-1 Hamburger
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-Copa Del Rey-
Semifinal 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 27
Barcelona 1-1 Valencia
-Thu Feb 28
Getafe v Racing Santander
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-English FA Cup-
Quarterfinal Replay Matches & Scores:
Middlesbrough 1-0 Sheffield United
-The Quarterfinal round will be played the weekend of Mar 8 & 9.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Liberia has named German Antoine Hey as the new national team coach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Marina Hyde of the Guardian seems as sick of FIFA as the rest of us.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This Is The End

"Ma'am, I am going to have to ask you to please step away from the Chenoweth."

I Heart Horse$hite News

Yuppers, It is finally real! Jeff Gammage of the Philadelphia Inquirer confirms that there is a 2pm eastern press conference in the suburb of Chester to announce a new MLS team for Philadelphia. MLS HQ has confirmed this as well!

~and~

I was wondering why the USA Olympic team has not played a single game leading up to qualifying? Seems pretty odd doesn't it?

~and~

I have no idea how in the world I missed this, and shame on all you readers for someone not bringing it to my attention - done of du Nord's favorite soccer writers Simon Kuper has been writing a series for Channel 4 on the collision of soccer players and politics. He is in the process of naming his Political Football First XI. The latest addition is the very controversial Paolo Di Canio.


MLS News

The Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily Mail website has a video of a good story and interview with the leader of the drive to bring MLS to Philadelphia - Nick Sakiewicz. (about 1:30 in)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another story in the Inquirer says the time is now for soccer in Philadelphia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Houston will formally introduce new Argentine forward Franco Caraccio today. He is 21 years old and has been playing for Arsenal de Sarandi.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports says that despite getting whooped 6-1 by Gamba last weekend, everything is cool in Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with the latest updates on new Dynamo investor Oscar De La Hoya. Expect the deal to be final on Friday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Four regular members of the LA Galaxy did not go to Asia with the rest of the team - Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, Kelly Gray and Kevin Harmse. Buddle dislocated his collar bone in Hawaii. Donovan has tendonitis in his right knee, and the other two are for reasons unknown.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Oberjuerge of the LA Daily News feels that Ruud Gullit has what it takes to lead the Galaxy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree gives us his weekly notes from FC Dallas training.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune with an article on new RSL signing, Kenny Deuchar. He is a Scottish forward from Gretna. 3 or 4 years ago he was quite the goal scoring machine, but injuries have brought him back down to earth the past 2 seasons. He is also a medical doctor.
-The article notes that the team is "excited about adding an imposing presence to its stable of quick-but-small forwards". Um, Helloooooooo? Yura Movsysian anyone? The team has been raving about him all training camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Deseret Morning News on Dr Goal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Electric New Paper of Singapore gives us the latest update on their native son Indra Sahdan and his try out with Salt Lake. I like how candid these stories have been.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Daily Utah Chronicle looks at the offseason additions to RSL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dave Lifton at the US National Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with new Salt Lake defender Nat Borchers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adam Smartschan of the Cape Cod Times talks to New England players and coaches about their recent training in Bermuda.
-Taylor Twellman was back to training at full speed with the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star has a story on the newest Wizzer, rookie defender Chance Myers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Topeka (Kansas) Capital-Journal with a good long article on the Kansas City Wizards as they prepare for 2008 and beyond.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Keith Costigan of Fox Soccer Channel does a Q & A with Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star with an article on TFC midfielder Maurice Edu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com with an article on former MetroStars forward Sergio Galvan Rey - The King Of Goals. Remember him and his distinct lack of goals at the Meadowlands?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Dallas 0-0 SMU
-Wed Feb 27
Dorados (Mexico) v Chicago in Sinaloa
-Fri Feb 29
Chivas USA v UC Riverside at HDC
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The LA Galaxy match in Hong Kong on Mar 9 may not happen because there is a stadium booking conflict.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

MLS Rumors is reporting that the new Philly team will be called Philadelphia Independence FC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer By Ives reports this morning that Columbus has acquired forward Nico Hernandez from Colorado, in exchange for young defender Tim Ward. Nico was really good two years ago, but last year not so much. People say Ward has a lot of potential. Let's see if these moves help.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas appears to be closing in on signing forward Reinaldo Navia from Argentine team Racing. He is Peruvian.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the Kansas City Star with the latest update on the Wizards pursuit of Argentine forward Claudio Lopez. Right now he is playing for Racing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ben Knight of the On Soccer blog from the Toronto Globe & Mail updates us on the Ronnie O'Brien trade story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun talks to TFC general manager Mo Johnston who says that the team has NOT traded Ronnie O'Brien away. They why did Ronnie go around the lockerroom and say goodbye to everyone. Plus some other smaller TFC news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernie Miklasz who is a columnist for the St Louis Post Dispatch dropped this nugget about the St Louis MLS bid ownership on to the newspapers message boards: "(Jeff) Cooper has lined up additional investors. He's closing in on a deal, trying to decide between three or four proposals. He also has a GM and coach in his sights." Wow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From FC Dallas Updates: Polish defender Mariusz Mowlik joined the team on Monday for a try out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colorado is still quietly working on a deal bring Brazilian forward Reinaldo from Australian club the Queensland Roar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Ravi Ubha of Soccernet talks to Clint Dempsey about the struggling season for Fulham Football Club.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tuesday night game:
-Matt Pickens - Queens Park Rangers - on the bench for a 0-0 road draw at Barnsley.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

FIFA.com has an article on Shalrie Joseph, Jason Roberts and their national team of Grenada - the Spice Boyz.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dean McNulty writing about the independent organization called the Canadian Soccer Federation that is pushing as hard as they can to get the official soccer organization, Canadian Soccer Association, to improve dramatically. Don't let Jack Warner get wind of what you are doing or he will turn you over to Sepp Blatter and make you play by the bizarro rules.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FMF

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune writes about a new club just across the border in Tijuana - they are called Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente. What a great name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Feb 26
Dep Univ San Martin 0-1 Universidad Catolica - goal by Dario Botinelli.
Estudiantes 0-0 Lanus
Caracas 2-1 Bamin Real Potosi - Car goals by Emilio Renteria & Ronald Vargas. Bam goal by Gonzal Galindo.
-Feb 27
Atletico Nacional v Sao Paulo
River Plate v America
Flamengo v Cienciano
-Feb 28
Cucuta Deportivo v San Jose
Maracaibo v Colo Colo
Cruzeiro v Caracas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

The Times with an article that says in Europe as a whole, Spanish futbol is preferred to English futbah.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Juventus 0-0 Torino - the Turin derby ends goalless.
-Wed Feb 27
Inter v Roma
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not play for Inter tonight due to lingering knee problem.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro League Cup Competitions

-French Coupe de la Ligue-
Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Paris Saint Germain 3-2 Auxerre
-Wed Feb 27
Le Mans v Lens
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-German DFB Pokal-
Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Hoffenheim
Stuttgart 2-2 Carl Zeiss Jena Jena adv 5-4 on PK's.
-Wed Feb 27
Bayern Munchen v 1860 Munchen
Wolfsburg v Hamburger
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-Copa Del Rey-
Semifinal 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 27
Barcelona v Valencia
-Thu Feb 28
Getafe v Racing Santander
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

The Guardian with an article on Israel and how they play in Europe instead of Asia like all the countries around them. Hell, even Africa makes more sense than Europe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Australian A-League named Joel Griffiths of the Newcastle Jets as their Player Of The Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ravi Ubha of the Seattle Post Intelligencer with his quality world soccer news recap.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with his weekly world soccer news wrapup.

USA Olympic Qualifying Roster

The initial USA Olympic qualifying team roster was announced last night. They begin training on Mar 1 in Bradenton FL, with the first game on Mar 11 (also 13 & 15) in Tampa. This roster will be cut to 20 on Mar 9, and then 18 of them will suit up on game days.

-The roster:
G:
Dominic Cervi - Chicago
Tally Hall - Esbjerg
Chris Seitz - Salt Lake
D:
Maurice Edu - Toronto
Hunter Freeman - New York
Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg
Patrick Ianni - Houston
Michael Orozco - San Luis
Mike Randolph - Los Angeles
Nathan Sturgis - Salt Lake
Marvell Wynne - Toronto
M:
Arturo Alvarez - Dallas
Benny Feilhaber - Derby
Eddie Gaven - Columbus
Stuart Holden - Houston
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Dax McCarty - Dallas
Robbie Rogers - Columbus
Sal Zizzo - Hannover
F:
Freddy Adu - Benfica
Jozy Altidore - New York
Chad Barrett - Chicago
Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Robbie Findley - Salt Lake

-Three things that jump out at me right away:
1. No Jonathan Spector - we were told that he did not join the USA senior team for the game against Mexico last earlier thing month so that he could be a part of this tournament. Could he be arriving at the last minute just for the games?
2. No Michael Bradley - this is not much of a surprise because he is such an important part of his club Heerenveen. You think there is any chance he plays in the games? I don't.
3. There are three players who have been converted to defense on this roster: midfielder Maurice Edu, midfielder Nathan Sturgis and forward Kamani Hill.

Anything else of interest that you notice?

Anyone not listed here who should have been?

Getting Back To Basic Plus News

In the first hour of Glenn Davis's Houston Dynamo Power Hour radio show last night, Glenn did an interview with new team financial partner Oscar De La Hoya. Listen here. Fantastic!

~and~

Did Toronto really send Ronnie O'Brien to San Jose in exchange for Chris Pozniak? See Rumor section below for more

~and~

After a great deal of fan disgruntlement and finally some bad publicity to push them to act, MLS has found a new online company to run their MLS Gear store. Let's all hope we have a 1000% increase in satisfaction. Here is info on the company that is taking over.

~and~

A conversation between former French national team stars Christophe Dugarry and some guy called ZiZou: "Apart from me, was Ronaldo the best player you ever played with?" asked Dugarry. "Apart from you, he was the best," dead-panned Zidane.


MLS News

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle gives us today's update on the sale of the Houston Dynamo to Oscar De La Hoya & Co.
-The Chronicle with a stadium update as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fallas also writes about any possible fallout from Houston's asskicking at the hands of Gamba over the weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times talks to Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan about his failed transfer to Aston Villa in January. Plus other soccer news.
More from Bell on Guzan at the NY Times Goal blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze with an article on Chivas USA forward & Cuban defector Maykel Galindo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at MLSnet talks to Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein about his offseason "excursion" to Tel Aviv.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe gives us some info on New England's training sessions in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico that are going on right now. And a few other team notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com checks in on the Kansas City preseason team upgrades.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pat Walsh also of Goal.com looks at 4 big changes in the league during the offseason.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with an article on one of two new goalkeepers DC United acquired over the offseason - Jose Carvallo of Peru. How did the team find him? His mother contacted them!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at the Herald News with a look at what New York is still in need of on their roster.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I had a couple of observation on the LA Galaxy from the two games in Hawaii: 1. Goalkeeper Steve Cronin is not ready to be a full time starter. And 2. That big Brazilian midfielder could be something. What was his nickname? Was it El Buffalo?
-Check out this picture of Abel Xavier jogging with Israel Sesay. Just a slight difference in size. And Xavier's hair appears wilder than ever.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most MLS teams have their 2008 shirts ready for pre-order. No giant drastic changes for anyone, but two are interestingly different: Columbus, and Dallas's 2nd shirt.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Mon Feb 25
Ventura County Fusion 0-1 Columbus at Buena High in Ventura
-Tue Feb 26
Dallas v SMU
-Wed Feb 27
Dorados (Mexico) v Chicago in Sinaloa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Columbus lost to a PDL team last night, ugh.
-The Ventura County Star has a match report from the Ventura v Columbus game.
-The VCR with even more following the match.
-Columbus lined up three trialists on the opposition team, to get them some game action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pan-Pacific Championship

Our main man Dave Brett Wassar was in Hawaii and filed blog posts for the New York Times Goal: Lessons From Hawaii
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise reviews the Pan Pacific Cup - Prognosis Negative.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle takes a critical look at the Pan Pacific tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Honolulu Advertiser looks at the possible future of the Pan Pacific Championship. Has quotes from MLS goomba Donald Garber.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is video of Houston & Sydney players doing some "paddle surfing" in Hawaii. funny thing is, I have never even heard of the 2 guys they have from Houston! Then Ching gets into the action. OK.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

I know Ronnie O'Brien has never been called the ultimate teammate, and he has had some bad knee injury problems, but the story going around is that Toronto has shipped him off to San Jose in exchange for Chris Pozniak. Huh? TFC got rid of Pozniak the expansion draft. Are you kidding me? When ROB played last year TFC were at their best, by a mile. Who are TFC taking roster-move lessons from? John Ellinger? Oh, right, it's Mo Johnston. Somehow worse than Ellinger. What is going on?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Apple Soccer reports that the Red Bulls have included 2 trialists in their trip to train in Austria: Mexican midfielder Jose De Jesus Mendoza and Rochester leftback Scott Palguta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave on his Red Card blog gives us a little taste of Blanco-mania that is going down in Culiacan as Chicago begins training in Mexico. Let's hope we get to read a lot more about this stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal.com says Real Salt Lake has extended the try out of Singapore striker Indra Sahdan for another 2 weeks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer By Ives is reporting, not too surprisingly, that Diego Serna will not be offered a contract with the New York Red Bulls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sporting Life is reporting that a Scottish forward from Gretna named Kenny Deuchar is transferring to Real Salt Lake. The man is also a doctor, just in case that makes a difference.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Olympic Team

The Olympic qualifying roster was supposed to be announced on Monday but has been pushed back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times reports that forward Jozy Altidore did not go with his club New York Red Bulls to train in Austria meaning that he will instead join the Olympic team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

The Fulham team website has a Q & A with Eddie Johnson.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

How'd their Monday matches go:
-Joshua Grenier - Koblenz - came on as a last seconds sub as they won 2-3 at Kaiserslautern.
-Tim Howard - Everton - played all 90 as usual and won big, 2-0 at Manchester City.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - did not play, and they lost at home 2-3 to Koblenz.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After nabbing 2 goals in 2 games for his new team Rheindorf Altach, Nate Jaqua has been called "a penalty-area cobra with a lion's heart" by a local paper. Their league must be awful, cuz he just isn't that good. But it's fantastic for Jaqua!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FMF

Top teams after 7 Rounds of the 08 Clausura:
15 Guadalajara
14 Toluca
12 Santos Laguna
11 Cruz Azul
10 Puebla
10 Monterrey
10 Necaxa
10 San Luis
-Others of note: Previous league winner Atlante sits with 9 points as does the hot team of the past few seasons Pachuca and perennial champs America have 7.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Top FMF Goal Scorers:
6 Omar Bravo - Guadalajara
6 Humberto Suazo - Monterrey
5 Giancarlo Maldanado - Atlante
4 Alfredo Moreno - San Luis
4 Sergio Santana - Guadalajara
4 Nicolas Olivera - Puebla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Feb 26
Dep Univ San Martin v Universidad Catolica
Estudiantes LP v Lanus
Caracas v Bamin Real Potosi
-Feb 27
Atletico Nacional v Sao Paulo
River Plate v America
Flamengo v Cienciano
-Feb 28
Cucuta Deportivo v San Jose
Maracaibo v Colo Colo
Cruzeiro v Caracas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

I missed this one a few weeks back - the Observer Sports Monthly does an interview (which in England seems to mean a long story with a couple of quotes) with Argentina & Barcelona star forward Lionel Messi. At just 20 years old I think he might be the best player in the world right now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Real Madrid have now lost 3 league games in a row, 6 games in all competitions in 2008, and their 11 point La Liga lead over Barcelona is down to 2 points. Not to mention that Barca are now on a serious roll.
-The Reuters blog wonders, what is going on?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about Real Madrid's mental melt down v Getafe last weekend. It was a doozy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters Soccer Blog has an article on Lyon forward Kazim Benzema, and think he could become the most expensive player even sold.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters also have a story of 2 really bad displays of racism at matches in France over the weekend. At one game players tossed Anti-Racism shirts into the crowd only to have one section tear them up, throw them back and then give the Nazi salute. Damn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball at Soccernet reports on this week in La Liga, and Valencia's court case with one of their own players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Former Manchester United goal scoring machine Andy Cole has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Glasgow Daily Herald with a feature story on Rangers coach Walter Smith.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian has a look at French club Le Mans who are making an attempt to get back into the top-of-the-table battle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter's top goal scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been playing on an injured knee lately, and the team is finally going to shelve him to get him better. Is it too late for the Champions League?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Italian Serie A will play a full slate of games midweek, with the biggie of biggie being #1 Inter hosting #2 Roma.
-Another big Serie A game on tap TODAY is the Turin derby - Juventus v Torino.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro League Cup Competitions

French Coupe de la Ligue
Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 26
Paris Saint Germain v Auxerre
-Wed Feb 27
Le Mans v Lens
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Top Goal Scorers In Europe’s Big Leagues

-La Liga-
19 Luis Fabiano - Sevilla
14 Diego Milito - Zaragoza
13 Raul Gonzalez - Real Madrid
13 Kahveci Nihat - Villarreal
12 Ruud van Nistelrooy - Real Madrid
12 Joseba Llorente - Valladolid

-Bundesliga-
13 Luca Toni - Bayern Munich
12 Mario Gomez - Stuttgart
11 Marko Pantelic - Hertha
11 Mladen Petric - Borussia Dortmund
10 Rafael Van der Vaart - Hamburg
10 Diego - Werder Bremen
10 Ivan Olic - Hamburg

-Serie A-
15 David Trezeguet - Juventus
15 Marco Borriello - Genoa
14 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Inter Milan
14 Adrian Mutu - Fiorentina
11 Alessandro Del Pierro - Juventus
11 Francesco Tavano - Livorno
11 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese

-Eredivisie-
23 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - Ajax
18 Blaise N'Kufo - Twente
13 Robin Nelisse - Utrecht
13 Roy Makaay - Feyenoord
13 Michael Bradley - Heerenveen
12 Danny Koevermans - PSV

-Premiership-
21 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
19 Emmanuel Adebayor - Arsenal
15 Fernando Torres - Liverpool
13 Benjani Mwaruwari - Manchester City
12 Robbie Keane - Tottenham

-Ligue Un-
16 Karim Benzema - Lyon
12 Mamadou Niang - Marseille
11 David Bellion - Bordeaux
11 Tulio De Melo - Le Mans
10 Johan Elmander - Toulouse
10 Bafetimbi Gomis - St Etienne
10 Daniel Niculae - Auxerre

-Portuguese Liga-
13 Lisandro Lopez - Porto
9 Roland Linz - Braga
8 Joao Paulo - Uniao Leiria
7 Ariza Makukula - Maritimo
7 Oscar Cardozo - Benfica

2008 UEFA European Championship

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian wonders where Eduardo's broken leg leaves Croatia for the tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

FIFA .com talks to Jay Jay Okocha as Nigeria gets ready to find a successor to fired coach Berti Vogts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian takes a look at the current state of Brazilian club Santos.

Big Houston Breaking News

Business Journal is reporting that Brener International Group LLC (a real estate & investment company) and Golden Boy Promotions Inc. (champion boxer Oscar de la Hoya's company), have bought 50% of the Houston Dynamo.

No price was given, but the article says the Dynamo are valued at $40-50 million.

At this time, current owners AEG will continue to run the team, and will also push forward on building a stadium.

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle now has more. And says the sale is still being worked out.

It's Just So Gnarly Dude News

Oh Nelly, what an ass kicking Gamba laid on the Dynamo in the Pan Pacific Championship final!! Have you ever seen a Dominic Kinnear team get beat like that ??? (see MLS Preseason Section below)

~and~

Could things be any worse for Americans playing in England's top division right now? Not much. Of the twelve 9 are currently sitting in the relegation zone, 1 is having a great year, 1 is having a year we have come to expect, and the other 10 are not impressing anyone. There are no real signs that Derby, Fulham or Reading are going to turn it around either. I find it a little embarrassing as a fan, trying to defend our boys.


MLS News

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe with an article on the fast preseason start for New England's 2nd year forward Kenny Mansally from Gambia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram checks in on FC Dallas preseason.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the Kansas City checks in with his local club, the Wizards concerning their preseason form.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Haydon of the Washington Times checks in with DC United and spring training.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune on RSL's acquisition of midfielder Dema Kovalenko from NYRB.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail On Soccer blog gives his reasons why Joao Pinto was not the man for Toronto FC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch talks to new Crew Technical Director Brian Bliss.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet gives us all the positives for MLS expansion in Philadelphia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Delco Times of Philly looks ahead to MLS in their city with a Sunday paper feature: Recipe For Success
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist with his thoughts on a MLS team in his city.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal Seattle scanned and posted an article from a magazine called Washington CEO, about the new Seattle MLS team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Rusnak of Southern Florida's Sun Sentinel has some details on a potential MLS team in Miami. Some very interesting stuff in here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Feb 22
San Jose 2-1 Columbus Crew at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
Colorado 2-2 Salt Lake in Fort Lauderdale FL
-Sat Feb 23
Columbus 2-1 Chivas USA in Valencia CA
Dallas 4-0 West Texas A & M at PHP
-Sun Feb 24
San Jose 0-0 DC at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
-Mon Feb 25
Ventura County Fusion v Columbus at Buena High in Ventura
-Tue Feb 26
Dallas v SMU
-Wed Feb 27
Dorados (Mexico) v Chicago in Sinaloa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I think this picture shows San Jose's new uniform. And check out that DC United shirt, some sorta training gear I assume.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pan-Pacific Championship

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 23 (actually early Sunday morning central time)
Championship: Osaka Gamba 6-1 Houston - Osa goals by Bare(4), Lucas & Masato Yamazaki. Hou goal by Ricardo Clark.
Third Place: Los Angeles 2-1 Sydney - LA goals by Ely Allen & Josh Tudela. Syd goal by Brendan Renaud.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet gives us the 411 on Houston's near historic beat down.
-The loss sure gives Houston a lot of questions to ask themselves.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To make it even worse for Houston, they scored first in that title match! And they looked great for 15 minutes. Then they just stopped playing. Did they think it was going to be as easy as playing Sydney? Wrong em boyo! That big Brazilian forward Bare was amazing. Is he that good, or was Houston that bad? They made him look like an All-World First 11 player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carlisle also mentions that LA forward Carlos Ruiz took the field as part of a LA v Houston reserve match on Friday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with a funny (intentional?) comment from Beckman after the consolation win, and some other soccer world news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two different places I found listed the attendance on Saturday night at 23,000. But I have not seen anything officially listed at all. It did look like more people than Wednesday night which was credited at 15,000 but reports said was really more like half that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune reports on his Red Card blog that defender Wilman Conde did not travel with Chicago to their training camp in Mexico this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3rd Degree is reporting that Dallas midfielder Juan Toja left a preseason game v West Texas A&M with a bruised left knee. How bad is it?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Is that Santino Quaranta back training with his old club DC United? He was released by New York after last season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Salt Lake has released defender Ritchie Kotschau.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

French striker Steve Marlett is still training with Chicago, so at least he must not be terrible.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell on his Covering The Crew blog reports that Cuban defector Osvaldo Alonso is getting a try out with Columbus. He came to America last summer with his countries Gold Cup team and left in the middle to seek asylum.
-Mitchell also reported that the Crew were close to signing Sandro Jose da Silva, but apparently things have changed. They also have Sierra Leone forward Mamadu Bah on a try out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is still lot of talk about Costan Rican forward Argenis Fernandez joining New England from Santos in Brazil, but very few if any facts have arrived to supplement.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Offside hears a rumor about LA trying to get young goalkeeper Chris Seitz from Salt Lake. I bet RSL would swap him for Beckman or Landy, but nothing else.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with a look at one of the USA's fastest rising stars, Maurice Edu. via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Olympic Team

American Soccer Daily give us THEIR break down of the roster for qualifying that starts in 16 days. Coach Peter Nowak will start a training camp on or around Mar 1.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune has an interview with actor Will Ferrell about, you know, funny stuff, and some soccer too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

How'd their recent matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came on in the 83rd minute and the team tied 1-1 at home with Braga.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - was suspended after last weeks Red Card, and the team drew 0-0 at Koln.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - was on the bench for the teams 0-1 home loss to West Ham.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - went the full 90 but lost again this week, 2-3 at home to Nijmegen. 2 weeks ago they were in 2nd place, but now they are in 6th.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went all 90 but lost 2-1 at Bochum and Cherundolo scored an Own Goal for Bochum's first.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - did not suit up for the teams 1-2 home loss to Aston Villa
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and played 76 minutes, replaced by Eddie Johnson, as the team lost 0-1 at home to West Ham.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - came off the bench in the 81st minute as the team got a 0-0 home tie with Preston.
-Joe Enochs - Osnabruck - warmed the bench in a 2-2 home tied with 1st place Monchengladbach.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - did not dress for the teams 2-0 loss at Wigan.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played all 90 and led his team to a 4-1 home derby win over Bolton.
-Cory Gibbs - Charlton - out injured, but finally training again.
-Joshua Grenier - Koblenz - at Kaiserslautern today.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - went the full 90 but lost again, this time 1-2 at home to Aston Villa.
-Tim Howard - Everton - at Manchester City today.
-Nate Jaqua - Rheindorf Altach - started and scored again, this time the game winner to beat Rapid Vienna 2-1 at home.
-Eddie Johnson - Fulham - made his debut in the 76th minute replacing Clint Dempsey, but the team lost 0-1 at home to west Ham.
-Kasey Keller - Fulham - was on the bench for the teams 0-1 home loss to West Ham.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - was on the bench but did not play in the teams 2-0 road loss at Wigan.
-Clint Mathis - Ergotolis - did not start, lost at Panionios 2-1.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - already back to full 90 minute performance level, but they lost 0-1 at home to West Ham.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - went all 90 as usual but the team could only get a 0-0 tie at home v Genk, and dropped back out of their 1st place tie.
-Matt Pickens - Queens Park Rangers - on the bench for his teams 1-1 home draw with Sheffield United.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - at home versus Koblenz today.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - still out with the ankle injury, but the team beat Cardiff 1-0 at home.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - came on in the 90th minute to help preserve a 0-1 road win at Fulham.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - played all 90 minutes at centerback in a 2-2 home tie with Carl Zeiss Jena.
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - did not play as the team won at home 2-0 over Bologna.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - came on as a sub in the 77th minute as they drew 0-0 at Koln.
-Sal Zizzo - Hannover - on the bench but did not play in the teams 2-1 loss at Bochum.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

Here is a slightly odd friendly that I just read about: Mexico v Ghana on Mar 26 in London.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Toronto Sun talks to another respected soccer person in Canada, Bob Iarusci, who is very upset with the way their national federation is being run. He better watch out or Jack Warner will be after him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:-Feb 26
Dep Univ San Martin v Universidad Catolica
Estudiantes LP v Lanus
Caracas v Bamin Real Potosi
-Feb 27
Atletico Nacional v Sao Paulo
River Plate v America
Flamengo v Cienciano
-Feb 28
Cucuta Deportivo v San Jose
Maracaibo v Colo Colo
Cruzeiro v Caracas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tim Vickery of the BBC analizes the first 2 weeks of Libertdores action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

If you really need to see the horrific photos of the broken leg of Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva then go ahead and search for them. But I am not gonna link to em. It's just way too nasty. He could be out a year, and will definitely miss Euro 08 for Croatia. Damn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Taylor of Birmingham who broke Eduardo's leg is reportedly getting death threats from Croatians. I don't know if I believe this. The English tabloid hysteria has made me cautious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times with a feature story on Arsenal midfield prodigy-turned-star Cesc Fabregas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Football Italia with the Winners and Losers from Week 24.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu strained knee ligaments and will be out a month.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several from The Times:
-The Game blog has Part 2 of their podcast interview with Frank Lampard and Gianluca Vialli.
-Guillem Balague with a great article on Tottenham coach Juande Ramos.
-Martin Samuel looks at the continued slide into the bottom of the cess-pit for former England star Paul Gascoigne.
-Fulham midfielder Moritz Volz continues with his excellent insights - this time its on the craziness of goalkeepers. He fails to mention his own teammate Kasey Kellers love of the heavy metal music.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several more from The Guardian:
-Sid Lowe reports that Barcelona's yo-yo is headed back "up" in Spain, while Madrid's goes down.
-Paolo Bandini says Juventus are now bitching that EVERYONE has ganged up against them. Awwwwwwwwww.
-Raphael Honistein writes about big money beginning to make decisions for die Bundesliga, and weekend league buffoonery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Werder Bremen star playmaker Diego was Red Carded and suspended for an additional 2 games for retaliating after rough foul by a Frankfurt player. The ref usually sees the first guy in an angry shoving match, but somehow he ALWAYS sees the second guy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English League/Carling Cup - Final

-Sun Feb 24 at Wembley Stadium
Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea - Tot goals by Dimitar Berbatov & Jonathan Woodgate. Chel goal by Didier Drogba.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Great job by Spurs & their defender Jonathan Woodgate! How nice is it to see someone else win in England for a change. The football in that country is so predictable that I can barely watch anything more than highlights. And that bums me out. But Woodgate who scored the game winner deserves extra praise because after 3 or 4 seasons in a row out with injuries most of us wrote him off and openly mocked him. I know I did. Go huge thumbs up to him personally.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But the Daily Mail with some really trashy pictures of Tottenham players later that night all messed up and getting tossed out of a nightclub for acting like idiots.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Key Euro League Club Matches This Weekend

Scores & Matches:
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Schalke - Bayer making their move at a good time.
Fulham 0-1 West Ham - a smaller London derby.
Sevilla 5-0 Zaragoza - one of the big underachievers makes their move.
Bayern Munchen 1-1 Hamburg - #1 v #3 stalemate.
Blackburn 4-1 Bolton - the "We are both just North of Manchester, and hate each other in a small town way" derby.
Roma 1-0 Fiorentina - the opposite momentum of these two teams continues.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

FIFA.com does a Q & A with Jorge Fossati, the coach of the Qatar national team. They are currently recruiting players to come to their country, get expedited citizenship, and play for the national team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adnan Hamad who coached Iraq to the Asian Cup title last year has been rehired.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets News

The Newcastle Jets beat the Central Coast Mariners 1-0 to win the Australian A-League championship!!! Congrats Newc's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Central Coast's goalkeeper was suspended for 15 months after the matching for hitting the referee. The keeper thought the ref missed a hand ball call and flipped out. See ya in the 09 season buddy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This Is The End

Martin Rogers and Ian Edwards of Yahoo Sports have a soccer blog now. Good stuff. Check out this back and forth between Landon Donovan and David Beckham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some awesome "roofball" video footage, from the folks who make FIFA Streetball. (thanks to Mr. CP for this great stuff)

Tri-lateral Commission On Three Wheeled Choppers News

Thinking back on it, I am still stunned that Salt Lake lost their match to Lynn University. I have never heard of Lynn. Have you? I know its preseason and it simply does not matter in the big picture. But I think it does. When a big game comes up and the chips are down will there be one player on the field who does not quite have 100% confidence in their mind that had planted at this game. It could happen. Lynn, damn, come on guys.

~and~

USL VP Tim Holt addresses First Division expansion: "Omaha (NE), Tulsa (OK), San Antonio (TX), Tampa (FL), Phoenix (AZ), Boise (ID), Oklahoma City (OK), Albuquerque (NM), Memphis (TN), and Birmingham (AL). We are currently in advanced discussions with interested parties in several of these markets."

~and~

Colorado & Salt Lake will stage a practice version of the Rocky Mountain Cup battle tonight when they meet in a preseason match in Florida. Is it wrong of me to hope a fight breaks out?


MLS News

The Delco Times of suburban Philly talks to MLS HQ who say that Feb 28 is certainly NOT set in stone, and several things still need to be settled before a new team can be announced.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Salt Lake acquired veteran midfielder Dema Kovalenko in exchange for a future draft pick to be determined. Hmmm. Always good to have veteran midfielders, but don't they have quite a few guys in the middle already?
-Here are their current 7: Kyle Beckerman, Mathias Cordoba, Kenny Cutler (does his mustache count as an extra player?), Javier Morales, Nathan Sturgis, Carey Talley & Andy Williams. This does not bode well for Kenny Cutler (or his cookie duster).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers at Yahoo Sports says LA is gonna play Beckman at his natural position this season - right midfield. Good move.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chicago Fire has officially signed Polish forward Tomasz Frankowski from Wolverhampton in England. Press release.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Haydon of the Washington Times looks at the role defensive midfielder Clyde Simms will play for DC United this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Pastorino at the US National Soccer Players Assoc talks to Chicago's new Technical Director Frank Klopas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Apple Soccer figures that the New York Red Bulls have quite a bit of free space under the salary cap.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BAS also reports that JP Dellacamera will NOT be calling Red Bulls games this year for local TV because his contract with ESPN will not allow it. Damn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza broke his foot practice Wednesday. He will probably be out for a month.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Connolly of the Boston Herald previews the next segment of New England's preseason schedule - they head to Cancun.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with a great breakdown of 3 potential new MLS stadiums - Philadelphia, Houston and DC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Feb 22
San Jose v Columbus Crew at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
Colorado v Salt Lake in Fort Lauderdale FL
-Sat Feb 23
Columbus v Chivas USA in Santa Clarita CA
Dallas v West Texas A & M at PHP
-Sun Feb 24
San Jose v DC at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
-Mon Feb 25
Ventura County Fusion v Columbus at Buena High in Ventura
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pan-Pacific Championship

From Honolulu Hawaii, with all games to be shown on ESPN Classic. Here's the official website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 23 (actually early Sunday morning central time)
Championship: Osaka Gamba v Houston - live at 12:30am central time on ESPN Classic
Third Place: Los Angeles v Sydney - delayed at 2:30am central time on ESPN Classic
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of Soccernet previews the final.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle reports on his Soccer y Futbol blog that Dwayne De Rosario will most likely NOT play Saturday after straining a muscle on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our friend Dave Brett Wasser at the New York Times Goal blog writes about the NON-excitement in Honolulu over the Pan Pacific Championship.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jen Chang at Soccernet with his thoughts on the Pan-Pacific.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

Japanese forward Takayuki Suzuki has ended a tryout with Chivas USA, and is now getting one with San Jose. He even scored in a scrimmage v Cal Poly San Lius Obispo last night. (thanks to BP at the Soccer Spin for the heads up)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There has been a lot of talk about New York playing a friendly in early August v Barcelona. But it's not true.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto is now saying that they have 1500 fans traveling to Columbus for the season opener. Wow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Say "Goodnight" Grandpa - New York cut loose forward Francis Grandpa Doe today. Damn.
-The Red Bulls also ended the try out of former player Diego Serna.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division & PDL

USL Executive VP & COO Tim Holt held an online Q & A with fans this week. Here is Part 1 of the transcript.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New team in 2009 from Austin TX has hired former longtime English player and coach Adrian Heath to be their first ever manager. Austin Aztex press release.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Portland Tribune with a story on new Timbers forward Chris Brown. He is a Portland native (Dirty Stinky Hippy) who has spent the last several years with several different MLS teams.
-Portland also re-signed key players Andrew Gregor (midfielder) & Cameron Knowles (defender).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

Ian Plenderleith at the US National Soccer Players Assoc continues his position by position run down of the most capable players in the USA pool. Today - centerbacks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Midweek Game Action:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - did not get off the bench but the team score twice in the dying moments to draw 2-2 at Nurnberg and advance on aggregate in the UEFA Cup.
-Tim Howard - Everton - also in the UEFA Cup Tim-may played all 90 and stomped Brann 6-1. They advance 8-1 on aggregate.
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Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 19
Audax Italiano 1-2 Sportivo Luqueno - Aud goal by Miguel Angel Romero. Luq goals by Roberto Servin & Luis Nunez.
Chivas Guadalajara 2-0 San Jose - goal by Edgar Solis & Sergio Santana(PK).
Coronel Bolognesi 0-1 Nacional - goal by Bruno Fornaroli.
-Wed Feb 20
Liga Universitaria Quito 0-0 Fluminense
Arsenal 1-0 Libertad - goal by Luciano Leguizamon.
America 2-1 Universidad Catolica - Amer goals by Salvador Cabanas & Federico Higuain. UC goal by Dario Botinelli.
Maracaibo 1-1 Boca Juniors - Mar goal by Miguel Mea Vitali. Boca goal by Sebastian Battaglia.
-Thu Feb 21
Atlas 3-0 Colo Colo - goals by Bruno Marioni, Diego Colotto & Juan Carlos Medina.
Deportivo Cuenca 0-0 Danubio
San Lorenzo 0-0 Cruzeiro
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Group Stage Standings
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European News

Johan Cryuff's first move as the new Technical Director at Ajax is to hire Marco Van Basten as the new manager for next season. Van Basten will be in charge of Holland for Euro 08, then start his new job in Amsterdam.
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This weeks The Game podcast features a joint interview with Chelsea & England midfielder Frank Lampard together with former Italian great Gianluca Vialli.
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UEFA Champions League

Did you see the Celtic fans EXPLODE when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored that first goal v Barcelona. It was incredible!!! So intense. I loved it. That's what it's like when genuine fans, and not corporate partners, get all tickets.
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The reaction by the 2 players in the background of this picture is very typical of what you see every time the guy in foreground of the picture does what he is doing. He is something that I like to refer to as "The Best In The World".
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Football Italia talks to Fabio Capello about how the 3 Italian teams did in the Champions League this week.
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UEFA Cup

Bolton fans got beat up by Spanish police in Madrid during and after their game last night. The fans claim innocence. The police say there were provoked. One thing we do know, one side was armed and had the law on their side. Does the other side even stand a chance? Not likely.
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English League/Carling Cup - Final

-Sun Feb 24 at Wembley Stadium
Tottenham v Chelsea
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I asked an Arsenal fan which of his arch rivals he was pulling for. He said, "Can they both lose?"
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Key Euro League Club Matches This Weekend

Scores & Matches:
-Sat Feb 23
Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke - #4 v a surging #5
Fulham v West Ham - a London derby
Sevilla v Zaragoza - two big underachievers try to make their move upward
-Sun Feb 24
Bayern Munchen v Hamburg - #1 v #3 in Germany
Blackburn v Bolton - the "We are both just North of Manchester, and hate each other in a small town way" derby
Roma v Fiorentina - long time rivals sees them with opposite momentum right now. Roma up, Fiore down.
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World News

The French national team announced that they are switching their shirt making alliance from Adidas to Nike. But that won't happen until 2011.
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Goal.com with their weekly column of soccer news bits and other seemingly random shit - Starting XI: Things We Wouldn't Bet Our Houses On.