Blink As Fast As You Can News

A major television station in Mexico has started a campaign [FIXED - WHEW!] to inspire their national team next week v our boys. The station is saying "Enough Is Enough". They want a win. Now. To that I quote the words of Mr Robert Smith: "There's Never Enough"!

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Like many have rumored for months, Mo Johnston is no longer coach of Toronto. He has been kick upstairs to the Director Of Soccer position, and will be replaced on the sidelines by Luton Town (English First Division) assistant coach John Carver (no, not THAT John Carver). He has never been a head coach anywhere before, but was short term interim boss at both Newcastle and Leeds. Here is the press release from TFC. Both New England headman Steve Nicol and his assistant Paul Mariner are known to have turned this job down. And they had the right man for this job in Bob Gansler but let him go at the end of last season.

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Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger after Beckman had trained with his squad for three weeks: "We were all amazed how good he was."

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An amazing looking 26 part documentary series called Football's Hidden Story is available for free via the internet. It tells of "the impact that football has had on individuals and communities all around the world." Shot in HD.


MLS News

The Toronto Star with a story on the shift in TFC management.
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Morgan Campbell of the Star on the start of TFC training camp.
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A little mention in today's Chicago Southtown Star is big news - Fire to expand Section 8! That is the supporters section, and they are adding another full section to it. Fantastic news.
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Columbus has fallen and it can't get up - Despite this article to the contrary, written by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch, at the last minute their deal to sign Polish striker Maciej Zurawski was kyboshed and Greek team Larissa snapped him up. Good job MLS.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to Claudio Reyna of the New York Red Bulls about his teams newest coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
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The Kansas City Wizards official team blog Hillcrest Road has a Q & A with draft pick Jonathan Leathers.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America looks at DC's new swarm of South American imports. via Sports Illustrated.
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Ives Galarcep at Soccernet on the powerful new-look DCU.
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James Edward of the Deseret Morning News with an article on Salt Lake's promising first year player Anthony Beltran. They always call him Tony, but when ever I have heard him say his own name he always says Anthony. So that's what I am going with.
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Mike Biglin of the MetroWest Daily News looks at the first day of training camp for New England.
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The Cape Cod Times says Matt Reis and Chris Albright are a couple of funny guys at the Rev's practice sessions. Do you think I'm funny? Do I amuse you? Do I make you laugh? And some more info on players missing so far.
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The latest from the FC Dallas Update on player arrivals in Dallas for the start of training camp this weekend. There are a few little things in there if you dig deep.
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Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News with a story on new FC Dallas assistant coach Jorge Alvial. The native of Chile was formerly a scout for Chelsea.
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Bob Luder of the KC Star says the Wizards may move away from their traditional 4-4-2 this season. Let's hear a shout-out for the 3-6-1!?!
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on the opening of Dynamo preseason.
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Of course someone on Big Soccer unearthed this gem: MLS has officially registered the web domain "mlsinphilly.com". Nothing there, yet.
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The stories from both the local Philly papers:
-The Daily News
-The Inquirer
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The local NBC affiliate in Philadelphia had these images and pictures of the proposed stadium site. It looks to me like they are ready to start work asap, although I have no idea when they were taken.
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MLSnet with the story from Philly.
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And here is the league's official statement from MLS HQ.
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And finally a video feed from the Philly press conference. But he warned - Politician Speaking - so beware of back slapping, phony hearty chuckles, and smoke blowing.
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Martin Rogers at Yahoo Sports with his MLS (and a couple others) transfer window winners and losers.
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Dave Lifton at the US Soccer Players Assoc gives his thoughts on the value of college soccer to MLS.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune got some Chicago Fire and Chicago soccer related luminaries to make Super Bowl predictions.
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Fox Soccer's weekly soccer news round up - Side Kicks.
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MLS Rumor City

Soccer By Ives is saying that New York is chasing a foreign forward. Very little else known.
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So what the hell is going on with Christian Gomez and Colorado? Are they trying to figure out if he is worth the money? COME ON YOU TIGHTWAD IDIOTS! HE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE YOU HAVE EVER HAD ON YOUR TEAM WEARING THE #1O SHIRT! EVER! YES, BETTER THAN EL PIBE WHEN HE WAS THERE! JUST PAY HIM ALREADY!
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USL First Division & PDL
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So when did Miami FC become Miami Blues?
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The San Jose Mercury News says that 10 members of last years San Jose Frogs PDL team were selected in the MLS Superdraft & supplement draft 2 weeks ago. That is incredible!
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USA

Training in Carson CA in preparation for next weeks match v Mexico - Wed Feb 6 at 8pm central from Houston TX on ESPN2.
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Official team blog.
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The Team USA blog gives us midfielder Ricardo Clark answering fans questions.
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US Soccer gives us a new training session video from the pre-Mexico camp.
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Kristian Dyer at ESPN with an article on the least known person currently at the USA training camp - Jeremiah White.
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Robert Burns of Fox Soccer on the USA-Mexico rivalry.
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Here is the Mexico roster for the match next Wednesday:
G:
Luis Michel
Moises Munoz
Guillermo Ochoa
D:
Israel Castro
Jonny Magallon
Rafael Marquez
Fausto Pinto
Oscar Rojas
Carlos Salcido
M:
Fernando Arce
Andres Guardado
Antonio Naelson
Pavel Pardo
Gerardo Torrado
F:
Adolfo Bautista
Juan Carlos Cacho
Giovanni dos Santos
Antonio de Nigris
Carlos Vela
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US Soccer News

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated is not down with the new CONCACAF Champions League.
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying

FIFA.com previews the very first qualifier from CONCACAF on Saturday. Its Bermuda v Cayman. But Bermuda is without their star player, New England's Khano Smith, who is still recovering from groin surgery.
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Yesterday Cuba named German Reinhold Fanz as their new head coach. His last job was 2 years ago as coach Bonner in Germany's lower division Oberliga.
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Matches & Scores:
-Sun Feb 3
Bermuda v Cayman Islands
-Wed Feb 6
Belize v St Kitts & Nevis
Nicaragua v Netherlands Antilles
Dominica v Barbados
El Salvador v Anguilla
Turks & Caicos v St Lucia
Aruba v Antigua & Barbuda
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Ben Knight from the On Soccer blog at the Toronto Globe & Mail tells us that Canada beat Martinique 1-0 in a friendly the other night. Did you know they played?
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Copa Libertadores

The final qualifying round begins this week.
1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 29
Arsenal 2-0 Mineros
-Wed Jan 30
Cruzeiro 3-1 Cerro Porteno.
Atlas 2-0 La Paz
-Thu Jan 31
Olmedo 1-0 Lanus - goal by Estuardo Quinonez.
Ciencciano 1-0 Montevideo Wanderers - goal by Masakatsu Sawa.
-Thu Feb 7
Chico v Audax Italiano

2nd leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Tue Feb 5
Mineros v Arsenal (0-2)
Lanus v Olmedo (0-1)
-Wed Feb 6
La Paz v Atlas (0-2)
Cerro Porteno v Cruzeiro (1-3)
-Thu Feb 7
Montevideo Wanderers v Cienciano (0-1)
-Tue Feb 12
Audax Italiano v Chico
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Again this tournament will only be available in the USA via Fox Sports En Espanyol. Damn. I want English language coverage, and I want it now!
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Americans In Europe

Ravi Ubha at Soccernet talks to Eddie Johnson about the move to Fulham.
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Kartik Krishnaiyer of the American Soccer Spot blog draws a developmental comparison between Jonathan Spector & Michael Bradley.
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American Soccer Daily talks to Randers coach Colin Todd about the teams signing of 2 Americans this week - Lee Nguyen & Will John.
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Aberdeen did not offer a contract to Joseph LaPira. Does this mean he heads to Toronto.
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European Cup Competitions

Copa Del Rey
2nd leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Wed Jan 30
Atlectico Madrid 3-2 Valencia - series ends tied 3-3, so Valencia advance on away goals tie breaker.
Mallorca 2-1 Getafe - - series ends tied 2-2, so Getafe advance on away goals tie breaker.
-Thu Jan 31
Athletic Bilbao 3-3 Racing Santander -RS adv. 5-3 on agg.
Barcelona 1-0 Villareal (0-0) - Barca adv 1-0 on agg.

The Semifinals will line up like this:
-Wed Feb 27 - 1st leg
Barcelona v Valencia
Getafe v Racing Santander
-Wed Mar 19 - 2nd leg
Valencia v Barcelona
Racing Santander v Getafe
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Big Euro Matches This Weekend
-Sat Feb 2
Manchester City v Arsenal - Man City needs to stay in the pack for Champions League spots, and The Arse need to stay at the top with Man U.
-Sun Feb 3
Fiorentina v Milan - Fiorentina trying to stay in the Champions League race, and Milan tries to catch them.
Ajax v Feyenoord - Ajax with their second big game in 5 days. They sit at #2 and are tied on points with #3 Feye.
Cercle Brugge v Standard Liege - #3 v #2 in Belgium.
Schalke v Stuttagrt - historic rivals always means great bad blood.
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European News

Barcelona's & Spain's powerful team leader Carles Puyol has suffered a torn leg muscle and will be out at least 4 weeks. The injury happened in the cup match v Villarreal on Wednesday.
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Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on the return of die Bundesliga after their winter break.
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John Molinaro of the CBC's Planet Soccer blog says Juve striker David Trezeguet does not get the praise he deserves.
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Milan pitbull Gennaro Gattuso has suffered a thigh muscle strain that will sideline him for a month. It was originally thought to be much worse.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times with his latest bit of personal football reminiscence - Zen and the liberating art of some old Dutch masters.
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Canadian defender Paul Stalteri has been loaned by Tottenham to Fulham.
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African Cup of Nations

Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Sun Feb 3
Ghana v Nigeria - 11am central time
Ivory Coast v Guinea - 2:30pm central time
-Mon Feb 4
Egypt v Angola
Tunisia v Cameroon
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You can watch all the games for a fee or see video highlights for free at Telesud.
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Andrew Hush at Soccernet previews the Quarterfinals in two articles: Part 1 - and - Part 2.
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Business Day on South Africa's departure from the tournament.
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Kickoff.com says that Nigerian players & their families have had their lives threatened after "poor" performances.
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Kickoff.com also looks at the home support that is carrying Ghana. Of course it is, the home team wins this tournament quite often, not to mention how well home teams have succeed at the World Cup etc.
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This Day says Nigerian captain Kanu is injured but will play through the pain to lead his team to glory.
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The Accra Daily Mail wonders what Ghana's strategy will be against Nigeria.
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The Ghanaian Chronicle says the Ghana v Nigeria match is "a battle fit for the gods."
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The reason Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul played for Senegal yesterday is that their long time first team keeper, their captain El Hadji Diouf and a third teammate stayed out partying the other night and were dropped from the team. Great for Coundoul, but very said for Senegal.
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Paul Doyle of the Guardian on the suspended Senegalese.
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Doyle also, having just arrived in Ghana, describes the incredible scene all around him. Fantastic reading.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated with a look at Nigeria. Will they have what it takes to knock out the hosts?
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Lalas also writes a column for Goal.com. This weeks 3-5-2 is Africarrific.
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Time Magazine gets in on the story of all the African players leaving their clubs to play for their country in the ACN. via Sports Illustrated.
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The Reuters Soccer Blog laments that fact that even though the citizens of Ghana are crazy for the tournament, they are not getting in to see games in stadiums that are not nearly full.
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Finally, here is one way to ensure the Soccer Gods are on your side - Reuters is reporting that the Egyptian team has sacrificed a cow at their training session today! Where are the pictures when you really need them?