Jumpin' Up 'n' Down News
One sentence in the middle of an article from Reading about injuries to their team as they approach a game this weekend v Everton: "Bobby Convey played for the USA in midweek and has stayed over there to have an injection in his knee, so he will miss out." Could this explain why Convey was a whole lotta nothing v Mexico?
~and~
How did Liverpool find a way to lose to Barnsley at home in the FA Cup? I think the Barnsley fans are ecstatic, the Liverpool fans are stunned into silence, and the rest of us are laughing hard. Barnsley currently sit in 14th place in the Championship Division.
~and~
Joao Pinto to Toronto??? See the MLS Rumor City section below.
~and~
Dallas youngster Brek Shea sports a hair style that can only be described as "I Lost A Bet".
~and~
Milan's odd goalkeeper Nelson Dida was actually injured while sitting on the bench this weekend. I wonder if he was hurt as bad as when the fan "slapped" him in Glasgow? The actual word is that he threw his back out. Wow.
MLS News
Chicago defender Wilman Conde has now told the world he wants to leave the team and go to New York and play for the man who brought him to America, Juan Carlos Osorio. The story goes that he told the team back in December he wanted out. Luis Arroyave has several installments of this story on his Red Card blog:
-Conde Wants Out
-More On Conde
-Now What?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer By Ives with a more New York-centric angle on the Conde story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In another Fire note, Arroyave reports that Fabrice Pancrate will not be signing with the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales of Soccernet looks at the start to a whole new era in LA and maybe even MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com looks around MLS and gives us a good round up of the top stories.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
New England has officially announced the re-signing of the two 19 year old players from Gambia that were with the team in the second half of last season - Abdoulie Mansally & Sainey Nyassi.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Embele Awipi of the Salinas Californian talks to new San Jose fullback Ramiro Corrales.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jozy Altidore, forward for the New York Red Bulls, checks in with us via the New York Times Goal blog about the vacation the team is giving him now before a heavy year ahead sets in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Hush at Soccernet thinks the quality of players leaving MLS this offseason is not being matched with talent coming into the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis of MLSnet give us the weekly news round up - Five-A-Side
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Greg Lalas of Goal.com is back from Africa and gives us his thoughts on players leaving MLS for Scandinavia: The 3-5-2 - Europe Only in Name
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Houston Chronicle says the city of Houston is trying to buy a piece of land in their downtown for a soccer stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer looks at the New York MetroStars/Red Bulls connection to Colombian players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
James Edward of the Deseret Morning News with a story on Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley.
-Edward also has an update from training camp.
-Assistant coach Robin Fraser fills in on defense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The San Francisco Chronicle talks to San Jose coach Frank Yallop about his brand new team so far.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales for the US Soccer Players Assoc checks in on the Chivas USA preseason camp as they attempt to progress from last seasons success.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Grahame Jones of the LA Times on the Galaxy & Beckman's start of preseason and a trip to Hawaii.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sunday Mail in Scotland talks to New England manager Steve Nicol.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Delaware County Times in suburban Philadelphia has an article on the mayor of Chester and his hopes for completing a stadium and luring an MLS expansion team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Washington Post with the latest stadium funding update. There seems to be one almost every other day right now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Preseason Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 16
Columbus 2-0 U South Florida in Bradenton FL
San Jose 0-0 Houston at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco
Kansas City 0-2 Toronto (split squad for KC) in Bradenton FL
Kansas City 1-1 Chicago (split squad for KC) in Bradenton FL
Dallas 2-0 U Memphis at PHP
Bermuda 6-1 New England in Bermuda against the national team
Chivas USA 0-4 Japan U23 at HDC
Salt Lake 3-1 Florida International U in Sunrise FL
Colorado 3-0 Marathon (Honduras)
-Mon Feb 18
Chivas USA 1-0 DC at HDC
-Wed Feb 20
Chicago v Toronto in Bradenton FL
Chivas USA v UC Riverside at HDC
Bermuda Select XI v New England in Bermuda
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The San Jose Mercury News with an article on Saturday's Earthquakes 0-0 Dynamo match. The only real news of the game is that Brian Ching was shown two Yellow Cards and an early trip to the showers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Pan Pacific Tournament kicks off on Wednesday in Hawaii and the games can be seen on ESPN Classic. I will post the schedule on Tuesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sydney Morning Herald with an article on a young Australian goalkeeper who just had a try out with the LA Galaxy and is new headed to Colorado for the same. He talks a lot about the Beckman star power machine.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Honolulu Star Bulletin talks to native son Brian Ching about coming home with his Houston team to play in the exhibition tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Honolulu Advertiser wonders what the tournament will do for the local soccer scene.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dave Brett Wasser of the excellent Historic Soccer Videotapes reports for the New York Times Goal blog from the Pan Pacific Tournament in Hawaii. Here is his preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Two more New England preseason games added to the schedule:
-Mon Mar 3
Pioneros de Cancun (Mexico 2nd Div) v New England in Cancun
-Wed Mar 5
Atlante (Mexico) v New England in Cancun
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Royal Gazette of Bermuda with a match report from their national teams game v New England on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The RG with an article on their native son and New England winger Khano Smith.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Rumor City
James Edward of the Deseret Morning News now has a blog, and his first entry is a whopper - former Portuguese star Joao Pinto is on his way to Toronto with a deal already on the table. That is a big name. Too bad he past his "Sell By" date.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated is reporting that San Jose is going to sign Argentine forward Federico Arias. Many teams have been listed as "former" for this player, but it looks as though he played last spring for Coronel Bolognesi in Peru, and is currently on the roster of AC Martina in the Italian Serie C1.
-Here is a picture of him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rumors are saying that the two groups for SuperLiga next summer will be lined up like this:
Group 1: Atlante, Chivas USA, New England, UNAM
Group 2: DC, Guadalajara, Houston, Pachuca
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hayden Tinto of the Trinidad & Tobago club Caledonia in on a try out with San Jose.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Former Houston forward Paul Dalglish has signed with Kilmarnock in Scotland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Do any of you think its just a coincidence that Oscar de la Hoya has a scheduled a boxing match to take place at the Home Depot Center that is owned by AEG at the same time that there are rumors flying that de la Hoya's company may be negotiating to buy the Houston Dynamo team from AEG? Interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had a thought, if Castro is being brought in to play on the left side of midfield does this push Khano Smith back to his natural forward position?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Former Manchester City midfielder Kiki Musampa is in training camp with Toronto hoping to win a spot. He currently plays for AZ Alkmaar in his native Holland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times on the Sideline Views blog reports that Guadalajara Chivas and Barcelona as again talking of playing a summer match at the LA Coliseum.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer By Ives says Toronto is interested in Colombian attacking midfielder Johnnier Montano. If you can read this article and figure out who he last played for then you are a better person than I.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
New England's new Honduran midfielder Mauricio Castro is known as Pipo. Big news huh? I only deliver the finest.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And ex-Fulham forward Steve Marlett is in camp with Chicago.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It has been bandied about recently, but now there is a newspaper article saying that Brazilian forward Reinaldo who plays for Queensland in Australia is headed to MLS. Which team you ask? Get in line behind Colorado & Salt Lake.
-The same article also mentions that New York is the potential new home of another Brazilian at Queensland in Australia - midfielder Marchinho.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
San Jose has former Colorado forward, and Haitian refuge, Fabrice Noel on a tryout.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
USL First Division & PDL
Minnesota Thunder press release: The Minnesota Thunder announced today the signing of Jamaican native, Stephen deRoux, pending USSF approval, and New Zealand International, Andrew Barron, pending USSF approval and international clearance. Deroux has spent the last three seasons with DC United of Major League Soccer while Barron has played for Team Wellington and Canterbury United of the New Zealand Football Championship.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
US Soccer News
Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram does a short Q & A with US Soccer Pres Sunil Gulati.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The US Soccer Winter Developmental Academy tournament is going on at Pizza Hut Park in suburban Dallas yesterday and today. Read, watch & listen all about it here. 88 of the best youth club teams from across the country are participating. Odds are very strong that the USA stars of the near future are playing here. You can get game highlights, video clips and photos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The event has a good blog too, including some nice video clips.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And here is an audio interview with MLS referee Jair Morufo who is working the tournament as preseason prep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Americans In Europe
How'd their recent matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came on in the 72nd minute as they won 0-2 at Naval 1 Degree Maio.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - started but got a second Yellow Card in the 50th minute and then they lost 0-1 at home to Hoffenheim.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - played the whole match but they were tied 2-2 at Heracles Almelo, which dropped the team from 2nd to 5th place. Bradley got a Yellow Card in the 36th minute.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance but got destroyed at home 0-3 by Bayern Munich. Cherundolo was given a Yellow Card in the 86th minute for a rough tackle.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - the team had no game this weekend.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - still out injured, as the team drew 2-2 at Charlton.
-Joe Enochs - Osnabruck - came on in the 79th minute of a 1-3 win at Paderborn.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - the team had no game this weekend.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - the team had no game this weekend.
-Joshua Grenier - Koblenz - played all 90 but they were held 1-1 at home v St Pauli. Was given a Yellow Card.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - the team had no game this weekend.
-Tim Howard - Everton - the team had no game this weekend.
-Nate Jaqua - Rheindorf Altach - made his debut, starting, going all 90 and even scoring his teams goal in a 1-1 road draw at Vienna Magna.
-Eddie Johnson - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Kasey Keller - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - the team had no game this weekend.
-Clint Mathis - Ergotolis - came on as a sub in the 79th minute but they lost 1-0 at Olympiacos.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played all 90 and the team moved into a tie for 1st place after beating league leaders Club Brugge 1-2 on the road.
-Matt Pickens - Queens Park Rangers - the team had no game this weekend.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - was on the bench but did not play as they won 0-1 at Greuther Furth.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - the team had no game this weekend. Play Coventry on Tuesday.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - play at Monchengladbach on Monday.
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - did not play as the team lost 2-1 at Messina.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - started and went 65 minutes as they lost 0-1 at home to Hoffenheim.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Bradley will be suspended from next weekend's home game v NEC Nijmegen due to Yellow Card accumulation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
American Soccer Daily report that Freddy Adu suffered some kind of back injury late in his teams win this weekend. A later follow up article says things are OK.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Fulham website has a good video interview with their manager Roy Hodgson talking about his new players like Eddie Johnson, and those returning from injury like Brian McBride, and former Columbus midfielder Simon Elliot. (thanks to Brian for that)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So now that Chris Coleman is back coaching in England, at Coventry, will he resume his pursuit of American players like he did when he ran Fulham?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jay DeMerit has been named permanent Captain of Watford!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here is some news that a few of us have been waiting to read for a long time now - Corey Gibbs is back on the training field for Charlton. If you remember - he hurt his knee about 2 weeks before the 2006 World Cup, took over a year to recover, and then promptly broke his foot in a reserve game as he got back into game shape. What a horrible 2 years its been for a promising center back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After making the bench (but not playing) 2 weeks ago Sal Zizzo at Hannover was not so lucky this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccernet reports that with 14 days between games Blackburn made a trip for some training in the sun of Orlando FL. (The ugly self aggrandizing part of this article is that Soccernet is owned by Disney, which is where Blackburn trained, and their facility is mentioned in the article without acknowledging the connection between the two parties - pretty lame.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF News
Trinidad & Tobago have said that they are inviting Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley into their team for a friendly on Mar 19 v El Salvador. Findley has trained with the senior USA team and even played a few minutes last fall in the Switzerland match, and recently been training with the USA Olympic team, so now I guess is the time he has to chose which country he will play for.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail blog On Soccer gives us the best reasons why a Canadian league is just not workable at this times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Copa Libertadores
Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 19
Audax Italiano v Sportivo Luqueno
Chivas Guadalajara v San Jose
Coronel Bolognesi v Nacional
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
European News
FIFA has warned the national government of Spain that if they interfere in the business of the Spanish football federation, then Spain will be banned from all international competitions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Are Bordeaux the team to end Lyon's run of 6 consecutive Ligue 1 titles in France? They won 0-6 at Monaco on Sunday and are now just 1 point back. They are coached by former France defensive star Laurent Blanc. They travel to the league leaders on March 8.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Guardian with a handful from around the continent:
-Paolo Bandini looks at Inter's shot in the Champions League, now that Serie is theirs.
-Sid Lowe on the luck of the highly suspicious penalty call for Barcelona. And this was after Real Madrid had lost at Betis.
-Raphael Honigstein on Die Bundesliga, Energie Cottbus and the German Chancelloresse.
-David Pleat breaks down how Manchester United brokedown Arsenal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Luca Toni has 22 goals in 25 games in all competitions this season for Bayern Munich! Is that right?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Football Italia with the winners and losers from Weeks 23 in Serie A.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Football Italia also reports that for the first time all year Hernan Crespo has come out and said he is unhappy with so little playing time at Inter this season. I love Crespo but this is just really really bad timing. And right after he got a start and played 85 minutes. Not the way to win over your coaches heart.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Phil Ball at Soccernet with the words of Spanish legend Alfredo Di Stefano, and the rest of La Liga from the weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The excellent Guillem Balague of the Times talks to Liverpool & Spain forward Fernando Torres. Great stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Telegraph talks to German legend Franz Beckenbauer who doesn't think the idea of English club teams playing matches around the world is such a bad idea. See, maybe I am not so stupid after all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A player from Valenciennes in France went after a fan of rival Metz who yelled a racist slur at him. The player has now filed charges with local police. Good for him. It's time to put the moron's in their place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Champions League
Round of 16 - 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 19
Schalke v Porto - live at 1:45pm central on Setanta Premium
Liverpool v Inter - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Roma v Real Madrid - delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
Olympiacos v Chelsea - live at 1:45pm central on Setanta
-Wed Feb 20
Arsenal v Milan - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Celtic v Barcelona - delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
Lyon v Manchester United - delayed at 5pm central on Setanta
Fenerbahce v Sevilla - live at 1:45pm central on Setanta
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Telegraph gives us the Top 5 European cup successes for British clubs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated writes about the resumption of the Champions League tomorrow and says "beware the underdogs".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Euro League Cup Competitions
English FA Cup
5th Round (16 teams) Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 16
Bristol Rovers 1-0 Southampton
Cardiff 2-0 Wolverhampton
Chelsea 3-1 Huddersfield
Coventry 0-5 West Bromich
Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley
Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal
Preston 0-1 Portsmouth
Sheffield United 0-0 Middlesbrough - They will replay the game on Feb 27 at Middlesbrough.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The draw was held this morning for the Quarterfinals. Those games will be played March 8 & 9. Here are the matchups:
Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff
Manchester United v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the triumph and tragedy of the FA Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend
Scores & Matches:
Juventus 1-0 Roma - the win puts Juve just 1 point out of 2nd place.
Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal - Ouch! With this win Man U marches on in the FA Cup, but Arsenal still leads the Premiership by 5 points. Which spot would you rather be in?
Club Brugge 1-2 Standard Liege - leaves them now tied at the top.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
World News
The Guardian with an article on the quality of football in India's top league. The verdict - not good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FIFA.com has a Q & A with Turkey coach Fatih Terim.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Belgium & the Netherlands have officially made a joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One time prodigy Adriano now playing back in Brazil for Sao Paolo has been given an extra game suspension after being Red Carded for headbutting Santos midfielder Domingos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Greg Lalas of Goal.com was singing the praises of a world soccer ranking system called Elo. I have been raving about this thing for a couple of years and its great to see someone of his profile agree with me. It's put together by the people who do the world chess rankings, which on logic alone has to make it about Eleventy Million times more accurate than those baffling FIFA rankings. On the other hand they too have the United States all the way down at #28, and I know there are not 27 teams around the globe better. I mean, can you honestly tell me that any of these teams from 14-27 are noticeably better? They are not.
Greece
Egypt
Colombia
Paraguay
Ghana
Poland
Denmark
Turkey
Switzerland
Uruguay
Sweden
Cote d'Ivoire
Bulgaria
Cameroon
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Australian A-League final is all set for this Sun Feb 24:
Central Coast v Newcastle
~and~
How did Liverpool find a way to lose to Barnsley at home in the FA Cup? I think the Barnsley fans are ecstatic, the Liverpool fans are stunned into silence, and the rest of us are laughing hard. Barnsley currently sit in 14th place in the Championship Division.
~and~
Joao Pinto to Toronto??? See the MLS Rumor City section below.
~and~
Dallas youngster Brek Shea sports a hair style that can only be described as "I Lost A Bet".
~and~
Milan's odd goalkeeper Nelson Dida was actually injured while sitting on the bench this weekend. I wonder if he was hurt as bad as when the fan "slapped" him in Glasgow? The actual word is that he threw his back out. Wow.
MLS News
Chicago defender Wilman Conde has now told the world he wants to leave the team and go to New York and play for the man who brought him to America, Juan Carlos Osorio. The story goes that he told the team back in December he wanted out. Luis Arroyave has several installments of this story on his Red Card blog:
-Conde Wants Out
-More On Conde
-Now What?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer By Ives with a more New York-centric angle on the Conde story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In another Fire note, Arroyave reports that Fabrice Pancrate will not be signing with the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales of Soccernet looks at the start to a whole new era in LA and maybe even MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com looks around MLS and gives us a good round up of the top stories.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
New England has officially announced the re-signing of the two 19 year old players from Gambia that were with the team in the second half of last season - Abdoulie Mansally & Sainey Nyassi.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Embele Awipi of the Salinas Californian talks to new San Jose fullback Ramiro Corrales.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jozy Altidore, forward for the New York Red Bulls, checks in with us via the New York Times Goal blog about the vacation the team is giving him now before a heavy year ahead sets in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrew Hush at Soccernet thinks the quality of players leaving MLS this offseason is not being matched with talent coming into the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Steve Davis of MLSnet give us the weekly news round up - Five-A-Side
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Greg Lalas of Goal.com is back from Africa and gives us his thoughts on players leaving MLS for Scandinavia: The 3-5-2 - Europe Only in Name
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Houston Chronicle says the city of Houston is trying to buy a piece of land in their downtown for a soccer stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer looks at the New York MetroStars/Red Bulls connection to Colombian players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
James Edward of the Deseret Morning News with a story on Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley.
-Edward also has an update from training camp.
-Assistant coach Robin Fraser fills in on defense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The San Francisco Chronicle talks to San Jose coach Frank Yallop about his brand new team so far.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Canales for the US Soccer Players Assoc checks in on the Chivas USA preseason camp as they attempt to progress from last seasons success.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Grahame Jones of the LA Times on the Galaxy & Beckman's start of preseason and a trip to Hawaii.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sunday Mail in Scotland talks to New England manager Steve Nicol.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Delaware County Times in suburban Philadelphia has an article on the mayor of Chester and his hopes for completing a stadium and luring an MLS expansion team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Washington Post with the latest stadium funding update. There seems to be one almost every other day right now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Preseason Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 16
Columbus 2-0 U South Florida in Bradenton FL
San Jose 0-0 Houston at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco
Kansas City 0-2 Toronto (split squad for KC) in Bradenton FL
Kansas City 1-1 Chicago (split squad for KC) in Bradenton FL
Dallas 2-0 U Memphis at PHP
Bermuda 6-1 New England in Bermuda against the national team
Chivas USA 0-4 Japan U23 at HDC
Salt Lake 3-1 Florida International U in Sunrise FL
Colorado 3-0 Marathon (Honduras)
-Mon Feb 18
Chivas USA 1-0 DC at HDC
-Wed Feb 20
Chicago v Toronto in Bradenton FL
Chivas USA v UC Riverside at HDC
Bermuda Select XI v New England in Bermuda
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The San Jose Mercury News with an article on Saturday's Earthquakes 0-0 Dynamo match. The only real news of the game is that Brian Ching was shown two Yellow Cards and an early trip to the showers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Pan Pacific Tournament kicks off on Wednesday in Hawaii and the games can be seen on ESPN Classic. I will post the schedule on Tuesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sydney Morning Herald with an article on a young Australian goalkeeper who just had a try out with the LA Galaxy and is new headed to Colorado for the same. He talks a lot about the Beckman star power machine.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Honolulu Star Bulletin talks to native son Brian Ching about coming home with his Houston team to play in the exhibition tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Honolulu Advertiser wonders what the tournament will do for the local soccer scene.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dave Brett Wasser of the excellent Historic Soccer Videotapes reports for the New York Times Goal blog from the Pan Pacific Tournament in Hawaii. Here is his preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Two more New England preseason games added to the schedule:
-Mon Mar 3
Pioneros de Cancun (Mexico 2nd Div) v New England in Cancun
-Wed Mar 5
Atlante (Mexico) v New England in Cancun
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Royal Gazette of Bermuda with a match report from their national teams game v New England on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The RG with an article on their native son and New England winger Khano Smith.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Rumor City
James Edward of the Deseret Morning News now has a blog, and his first entry is a whopper - former Portuguese star Joao Pinto is on his way to Toronto with a deal already on the table. That is a big name. Too bad he past his "Sell By" date.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated is reporting that San Jose is going to sign Argentine forward Federico Arias. Many teams have been listed as "former" for this player, but it looks as though he played last spring for Coronel Bolognesi in Peru, and is currently on the roster of AC Martina in the Italian Serie C1.
-Here is a picture of him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rumors are saying that the two groups for SuperLiga next summer will be lined up like this:
Group 1: Atlante, Chivas USA, New England, UNAM
Group 2: DC, Guadalajara, Houston, Pachuca
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hayden Tinto of the Trinidad & Tobago club Caledonia in on a try out with San Jose.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Former Houston forward Paul Dalglish has signed with Kilmarnock in Scotland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Do any of you think its just a coincidence that Oscar de la Hoya has a scheduled a boxing match to take place at the Home Depot Center that is owned by AEG at the same time that there are rumors flying that de la Hoya's company may be negotiating to buy the Houston Dynamo team from AEG? Interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had a thought, if Castro is being brought in to play on the left side of midfield does this push Khano Smith back to his natural forward position?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Former Manchester City midfielder Kiki Musampa is in training camp with Toronto hoping to win a spot. He currently plays for AZ Alkmaar in his native Holland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times on the Sideline Views blog reports that Guadalajara Chivas and Barcelona as again talking of playing a summer match at the LA Coliseum.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer By Ives says Toronto is interested in Colombian attacking midfielder Johnnier Montano. If you can read this article and figure out who he last played for then you are a better person than I.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
New England's new Honduran midfielder Mauricio Castro is known as Pipo. Big news huh? I only deliver the finest.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And ex-Fulham forward Steve Marlett is in camp with Chicago.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It has been bandied about recently, but now there is a newspaper article saying that Brazilian forward Reinaldo who plays for Queensland in Australia is headed to MLS. Which team you ask? Get in line behind Colorado & Salt Lake.
-The same article also mentions that New York is the potential new home of another Brazilian at Queensland in Australia - midfielder Marchinho.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
San Jose has former Colorado forward, and Haitian refuge, Fabrice Noel on a tryout.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
USL First Division & PDL
Minnesota Thunder press release: The Minnesota Thunder announced today the signing of Jamaican native, Stephen deRoux, pending USSF approval, and New Zealand International, Andrew Barron, pending USSF approval and international clearance. Deroux has spent the last three seasons with DC United of Major League Soccer while Barron has played for Team Wellington and Canterbury United of the New Zealand Football Championship.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
US Soccer News
Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram does a short Q & A with US Soccer Pres Sunil Gulati.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The US Soccer Winter Developmental Academy tournament is going on at Pizza Hut Park in suburban Dallas yesterday and today. Read, watch & listen all about it here. 88 of the best youth club teams from across the country are participating. Odds are very strong that the USA stars of the near future are playing here. You can get game highlights, video clips and photos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The event has a good blog too, including some nice video clips.
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And here is an audio interview with MLS referee Jair Morufo who is working the tournament as preseason prep.
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Americans In Europe
How'd their recent matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came on in the 72nd minute as they won 0-2 at Naval 1 Degree Maio.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - started but got a second Yellow Card in the 50th minute and then they lost 0-1 at home to Hoffenheim.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - played the whole match but they were tied 2-2 at Heracles Almelo, which dropped the team from 2nd to 5th place. Bradley got a Yellow Card in the 36th minute.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance but got destroyed at home 0-3 by Bayern Munich. Cherundolo was given a Yellow Card in the 86th minute for a rough tackle.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - the team had no game this weekend.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - still out injured, as the team drew 2-2 at Charlton.
-Joe Enochs - Osnabruck - came on in the 79th minute of a 1-3 win at Paderborn.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - the team had no game this weekend.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - the team had no game this weekend.
-Joshua Grenier - Koblenz - played all 90 but they were held 1-1 at home v St Pauli. Was given a Yellow Card.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - the team had no game this weekend.
-Tim Howard - Everton - the team had no game this weekend.
-Nate Jaqua - Rheindorf Altach - made his debut, starting, going all 90 and even scoring his teams goal in a 1-1 road draw at Vienna Magna.
-Eddie Johnson - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Kasey Keller - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - the team had no game this weekend.
-Clint Mathis - Ergotolis - came on as a sub in the 79th minute but they lost 1-0 at Olympiacos.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played all 90 and the team moved into a tie for 1st place after beating league leaders Club Brugge 1-2 on the road.
-Matt Pickens - Queens Park Rangers - the team had no game this weekend.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - was on the bench but did not play as they won 0-1 at Greuther Furth.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - the team had no game this weekend. Play Coventry on Tuesday.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - the team had no game this weekend.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - play at Monchengladbach on Monday.
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - did not play as the team lost 2-1 at Messina.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - started and went 65 minutes as they lost 0-1 at home to Hoffenheim.
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Michael Bradley will be suspended from next weekend's home game v NEC Nijmegen due to Yellow Card accumulation.
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American Soccer Daily report that Freddy Adu suffered some kind of back injury late in his teams win this weekend. A later follow up article says things are OK.
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The Fulham website has a good video interview with their manager Roy Hodgson talking about his new players like Eddie Johnson, and those returning from injury like Brian McBride, and former Columbus midfielder Simon Elliot. (thanks to Brian for that)
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So now that Chris Coleman is back coaching in England, at Coventry, will he resume his pursuit of American players like he did when he ran Fulham?
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Jay DeMerit has been named permanent Captain of Watford!
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Here is some news that a few of us have been waiting to read for a long time now - Corey Gibbs is back on the training field for Charlton. If you remember - he hurt his knee about 2 weeks before the 2006 World Cup, took over a year to recover, and then promptly broke his foot in a reserve game as he got back into game shape. What a horrible 2 years its been for a promising center back.
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After making the bench (but not playing) 2 weeks ago Sal Zizzo at Hannover was not so lucky this weekend.
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Soccernet reports that with 14 days between games Blackburn made a trip for some training in the sun of Orlando FL. (The ugly self aggrandizing part of this article is that Soccernet is owned by Disney, which is where Blackburn trained, and their facility is mentioned in the article without acknowledging the connection between the two parties - pretty lame.)
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CONCACAF News
Trinidad & Tobago have said that they are inviting Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley into their team for a friendly on Mar 19 v El Salvador. Findley has trained with the senior USA team and even played a few minutes last fall in the Switzerland match, and recently been training with the USA Olympic team, so now I guess is the time he has to chose which country he will play for.
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Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail blog On Soccer gives us the best reasons why a Canadian league is just not workable at this times.
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Copa Libertadores
Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 19
Audax Italiano v Sportivo Luqueno
Chivas Guadalajara v San Jose
Coronel Bolognesi v Nacional
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Group Stage Standings
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European News
FIFA has warned the national government of Spain that if they interfere in the business of the Spanish football federation, then Spain will be banned from all international competitions.
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Are Bordeaux the team to end Lyon's run of 6 consecutive Ligue 1 titles in France? They won 0-6 at Monaco on Sunday and are now just 1 point back. They are coached by former France defensive star Laurent Blanc. They travel to the league leaders on March 8.
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The Guardian with a handful from around the continent:
-Paolo Bandini looks at Inter's shot in the Champions League, now that Serie is theirs.
-Sid Lowe on the luck of the highly suspicious penalty call for Barcelona. And this was after Real Madrid had lost at Betis.
-Raphael Honigstein on Die Bundesliga, Energie Cottbus and the German Chancelloresse.
-David Pleat breaks down how Manchester United brokedown Arsenal.
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Luca Toni has 22 goals in 25 games in all competitions this season for Bayern Munich! Is that right?
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Football Italia with the winners and losers from Weeks 23 in Serie A.
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Football Italia also reports that for the first time all year Hernan Crespo has come out and said he is unhappy with so little playing time at Inter this season. I love Crespo but this is just really really bad timing. And right after he got a start and played 85 minutes. Not the way to win over your coaches heart.
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Phil Ball at Soccernet with the words of Spanish legend Alfredo Di Stefano, and the rest of La Liga from the weekend.
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The excellent Guillem Balague of the Times talks to Liverpool & Spain forward Fernando Torres. Great stuff.
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The Telegraph talks to German legend Franz Beckenbauer who doesn't think the idea of English club teams playing matches around the world is such a bad idea. See, maybe I am not so stupid after all.
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A player from Valenciennes in France went after a fan of rival Metz who yelled a racist slur at him. The player has now filed charges with local police. Good for him. It's time to put the moron's in their place.
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Champions League
Round of 16 - 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 19
Schalke v Porto - live at 1:45pm central on Setanta Premium
Liverpool v Inter - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Roma v Real Madrid - delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
Olympiacos v Chelsea - live at 1:45pm central on Setanta
-Wed Feb 20
Arsenal v Milan - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Celtic v Barcelona - delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
Lyon v Manchester United - delayed at 5pm central on Setanta
Fenerbahce v Sevilla - live at 1:45pm central on Setanta
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The Telegraph gives us the Top 5 European cup successes for British clubs.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated writes about the resumption of the Champions League tomorrow and says "beware the underdogs".
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Euro League Cup Competitions
English FA Cup
5th Round (16 teams) Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 16
Bristol Rovers 1-0 Southampton
Cardiff 2-0 Wolverhampton
Chelsea 3-1 Huddersfield
Coventry 0-5 West Bromich
Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley
Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal
Preston 0-1 Portsmouth
Sheffield United 0-0 Middlesbrough - They will replay the game on Feb 27 at Middlesbrough.
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The draw was held this morning for the Quarterfinals. Those games will be played March 8 & 9. Here are the matchups:
Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff
Manchester United v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the triumph and tragedy of the FA Cup.
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Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend
Scores & Matches:
Juventus 1-0 Roma - the win puts Juve just 1 point out of 2nd place.
Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal - Ouch! With this win Man U marches on in the FA Cup, but Arsenal still leads the Premiership by 5 points. Which spot would you rather be in?
Club Brugge 1-2 Standard Liege - leaves them now tied at the top.
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World News
The Guardian with an article on the quality of football in India's top league. The verdict - not good.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Turkey coach Fatih Terim.
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Belgium & the Netherlands have officially made a joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
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One time prodigy Adriano now playing back in Brazil for Sao Paolo has been given an extra game suspension after being Red Carded for headbutting Santos midfielder Domingos.
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Greg Lalas of Goal.com was singing the praises of a world soccer ranking system called Elo. I have been raving about this thing for a couple of years and its great to see someone of his profile agree with me. It's put together by the people who do the world chess rankings, which on logic alone has to make it about Eleventy Million times more accurate than those baffling FIFA rankings. On the other hand they too have the United States all the way down at #28, and I know there are not 27 teams around the globe better. I mean, can you honestly tell me that any of these teams from 14-27 are noticeably better? They are not.
Greece
Egypt
Colombia
Paraguay
Ghana
Poland
Denmark
Turkey
Switzerland
Uruguay
Sweden
Cote d'Ivoire
Bulgaria
Cameroon
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The Australian A-League final is all set for this Sun Feb 24:
Central Coast v Newcastle
posted by brucio at 16:30
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