Friday, March 14, 2008

Enjoy A Burro Burrito Today News

Yes, I think it's a Penalty!

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A Cuban assistant coach has joined the ranks of the defectors in Tampa. The total is now 7 players and 1 coach.

~and~

Fulham's website has a video, of advertisement quality, begging the fans to support them and help the team rise up and avoid relegation. It's a little over the top on the melodrama, but not bad. (thanks to Brian for this)


MLS News

MetroFanatic has a picture of a new Red Bulls billboard featuring Jozy Altidore in New York City. Cool.
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Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune looks at Real Salt Lake's worldwide search for players.
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Lewis also looks at last years frustration and how it can make this years team stronger.
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Steve Pastorino also writing for the Salt Lake Tribune, is Real Salt Lake's former General Manager and he lends his insights to look at the teams new foreign signings.
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MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 13
Dallas 4-2 U Tulsa at PHP
Tristan Suarez (Argentina) 1-1 Kansas City in Buenos Aires
-Fri Mar 14
New England v Marathon (Honduras) in New Orleans
Estudiantes (Argentina) v Kansas City in Buenos Aires
Bermuda (National team) v Colorado in Bermuda National Sports Center
-Sat Mar 15
Dallas v Los Angeles at PHP
Chivas USA v San Diego State at HDC
Ohio Dominican U v Columbus in Columbus
-Sun Mar 16
New Orleans v New England in New Orleans
Fresno Fuego v Chivas USA
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John Connolly of the Boston Herald looks at New England's games in New Orleans this weekend.
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Carolina Challenge Cup

-Preseason Tournament March 15-22 in Charleston South Carolina
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Teams:
Charleston Battery
New York Red Bulls
San Jose Earthquakes
Toronto FC
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Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 15
San Jose v Toronto
New York v Charleston
-Wed Mar 19
New York v Toronto
San Jose v Charleston
-Sat Mar 22
Toronto v Charleston
San Jose v New York
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MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

Forward Indra Sahdan Daud, captain of the Singapore national team was not offered a contract by Salt Lake after a month long trial.
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Soccer By Ives is reporting that Columbus is about to sign an Argentine centerback, Gino Padula, from Montpellier in France.
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New York has acquired defender Scott Palguta from Rochester on a loan deal.
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England is sending their #2 Franco Baldini to Dallas to check on the progress of their former captain Daniel Bleckdom.
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Talented Colombian midfielder Victor Danilo Pacheco from the club Boyaca Chico is going to Toronto (this comes right from Chico's own website). The club is said to be in very bad financial shape, so they let the player out of his contract. Another report says another Chico player, forward Leonardo Mine Pole, is headed to Toronto FC as well, but there is no real word on that. USA Residency Academy coach Wilmer Cabrera once played for Chico.
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Other word from TFC land is that Kiki Musampa is no longer in the teams plans. Seems he wanted more money than they were willing to pay.
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USL First Division & PDL News

My Minnesota Thunder has signed midfielder Tighe Dombrowski. He played for the old San Jose Earthquakes, and most recently in Sweden at Start.
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USA Olympic Team

Official team blog.
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US Soccer's video show Studio 90 comes to us from Tampa, and features an interview with Dax McCarty, and other goodies.
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CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying

Group A Matches & Scores (all games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa FL):
-Tue Mar 11
Panama 0-1 Honduras -Hon goal by Hendry Thomas.
USA 1-1 Cuba - USA goal by Freddy Adu. Cuba goal by Roberto Linares.
-Thu Mar 13
Honduras 2-0 Cuba - Hon goals by Marvin Sanchez & Hendry Thomas.
USA 1-0 Panama - USA goal by Freddy Adu(PK).
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report from the St Petersburg Times.
Match report from the Tampa Tribune.
Match report from the Bradenton Herald.
Match report from the New York Times.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America.
Post game analysis by Ives Galarcep at Soccernet.
Post game quotes from USA coach and players via US Soccer.
Game photos from US Soccer.
Behind the scenes post game & player interview video from US Soccer.
Post game press conference audio from coach Peter Nowak and midfielder Sacha Klejstan from US Soccer.
Players ratings for Team USA from Goal.com
-Sat Mar 15
Cuba v Panama
USA v Honduras - live at 6pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
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Group B Matches & Scores (all games at Home Deport Center in Carson CA):
-Wed Mar 12
Haiti 0-1 Guatemala - Guat goal by Marvin Avila.
Canada 1-1 Mexico - Can goal by Will Johnson. Mex goal by Luis Landin.
-Fri Mar 14
Canada v Haiti
Mexico v Guatemala
-Sun Mar 16
Guatemala v Canada
Mexico v Haiti
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The top 2 teams from each group will meet in the semifinals: A1 v B2 & B1 v A2.

Semifinal Matches & Scores (all games at LP Field in Nashville TN):
-Thu Mar 20

Final Matches & Scores (all games at LP Field in Nashville TN):
-Sun Mar 23
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to USA striker Jozy Altidore who says he was pulled from Tuesdays game due to a stomach ailment, not injury. I think that means he had "the runs."
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated wonders why after 3 matches played the USA & Mexico only have 2 draws, 1 win and 3 total goals between them.
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My notes from USA v Panama:
-It was far from a pretty or entertaining game. But the USA did grind out the win they needed. And that in itself is good.
-Lots of changes from Game 1 on the field for our boys. 5 new starters, and 2 holdovers in new positions.
-As a matter of fact, all 4 defensive spots were changed. Marvell Wynne came on at rightback for Kamani Hill. Michael Orozco was at centerback for Patrick Ianni. Maurice Edu from defensive midfield slid back to centerback for Nathan Sturgis. And Sturgis slid out to leftback in place of Hunter Freeman.
-The USA defense did not give Panama a single quality look at goal.
-The USA team just looked a lot tougher over all. This was my first chance to see Michael Orozco and he is just what I had heard he was, a strong presence at centerback. I like him (and he wore the #3 which is always a brilliant move if you want me to like you). But I gotta say, there was one exception to the toughness - Eddie Gaven is a wimp out there. He is just so soft with his passes and defense and attack. Its kinda sad to see cuz I know he has talent, but.....
-Panama had some real bruisers out there too. Their team captain looked like a linebacker. But he was also a very cool calm head. Several times when things got tense and the two teams looked like they were ready to duke it out, he was always right in the middle getting his teammates out of there. I like that guys attitude - rugged yet smart.
-Dax McCarty had another strong game in the center of midfield. He and Sacha Klejstan were a decent combo behind Freddy Adu, except that for about the first 40 minutes of the second half I forgot Klejstan was out there, so maybe it wasn't such a good combo.
-The only real sub for the USA was Sal Zizzo in the 65th or so minute. He was immediately effective with his speed and attacking attitude - the team was falling into too much of a bunker at that point. Great job by him.
-The other two USA subs were Robbie Findley & Charlie Davies, but they didn't come on until after the 90th minute, and really had no impact on the game at all.
-Like the first game, I thought the referee did a good solid consistent job.
-Several USA players who needed to deliver upped their game. Maurice Edu, Jozy Altidore and Nathan Sturgis all improved.
-Goal keeper Chris Seitz was not really tested, and he did good covering the crosses. His distribution is really good, not just cranking it up the field all the time.
-Panama defense collapsed on Freddy & Jozy every time they touched the ball.
-The USA still needs to move the ball a lot faster and sharper though. Too many guys held the ball way too long and had it easily taken away. And so many passes were not nearly strong enough and were intercepted or guys received them with defenders already crawling over their back. This needs to improve for the team to advance to Beijing.
-I was again disturbed at seeing guys playing out of their normal positions. But luckily it was only two this game as compared to five in game 1. Nowak had central midfielders Maurice Edu & Nathan Sturgis at centerback & left fullback respectively. Luckily they both more than held their own.
-For game 3 I would make two changes, First I would start Sal Zizzo over Eddie Gaven. And second I would sub in attackers earlier.
-Several times during last nights game, TV cameras showed USA senior team coach Bob Bradley in the stands, and I noticed he was wearing an earpiece of some kind. I wonder who he was getting orders from. Aliens? Putin? Chavez? Cheney? Bruce?
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The Miami Herald with the story on the Cuban team that played the entire 90 minutes with 10 men, due to the defections and a Red Card.
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Andrea Canales on her Sideline Views blog has the story of an unintentionally funny exchange between Mexicoach Hugo Sanchez and a reporter from San Diego.
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Americans In Europe

Ravi Ubha of Soccernet talks to young forward Gabriel Ferrari who has been a reserve player at Sampdoria in Italy, but is now training with the first team and has actually on the bench a couple times in the last month or so.
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Goal.com's weekly Starting XI column - 11 little known Americans who play in Europe.
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying

FIFA.com with a profile on another small CONCACAF nation - Aruba.
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CONCACAF Champions Cup

Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 11
Motagua 0-0 Pachuca
-Wed Mar 12
Harbour View 1-1 DC - Harb goal by Lovell Palmer. Dc goal by Devon McTavish.
Municipal 0-0 Houston
-Thu Mar 13
Atlante 2-1 Saprissa - Atl goals by Gabriel Pereyra & Christian Bermudez. Sup goal by Walter Centeno.
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Quarterfinals - 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Tue Mar 18
DC v Harbour View (1-1)
-Wed Mar 19
Pachuca v Motagua (0-0)
Houston v Municipal (0-0)
-Thu Mar 20
Saprissa v Atlante (1-2)
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NOTE: There is no away-goals tie breaker used in this tournament.
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FMF News

El Clasico Joven - the Young Classic - two huge Mexico City clubs
-Sun Mar 16
Cruz Azul v America
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Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Mar 11
Chivas Guadalajara 0-1 Cucuta Deportivo - Cuc goal by Matias Urbano.
Cienciano 1-0 Coronel Bolognesi - Cien goal by Carlos Solis.
Bamin Real Potosi 2-3 San Lorenzo - Pot goals by Matias Loayza & Alvaro Pintos. San goals by Bernando Romeo, Cristian Chavez & Aureliano Torres(PK).
-Mar 12
Arsenal 0-1 Liga Universitaria Quito - Quito goal by Patricio Urrutia (PK).
Universidad Catolica 1-2 River Plate - Cat goal by Roberto Gutierrez. Riv goals by Sebastian Abreu & Mauro Rosales.
Atlas 3-0 Maracaibo - Atl goals by Gerardo Flores, Jorge Achucarro & Bruno Marioni.
-Mar 13
America 3-1 Dep Univ San Martin - Amer goals by Daniel Marquez, Rodrigo Inigo & Salvador Cabanas. Dep goal by Roberto Silva.
Lanus 0-0 Deportivo Cuenca
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Group Stage Standings
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European News

Russian club Zenit of St Petersburg has adamantly denied that their fans racially abused players from Marseille during the UEFA Cup game this week. But I have to say that I find their argument a bit baffling. Read it yourself and see what you think.
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Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times Goal blog fills us in on the kick off of the new Russian season today with a game played in Chechnya.
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UEFA Champions League

The draw for the Quarterfinals was held Friday, and here are the results:
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-Apr 1 & 2 First Leg
Arsenal v Liverpool
Fenerbahce v Chelsea
Roma v Manchester United
Schalke v Barcelona
-Apr 8 & 9 Second Leg
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Paul Doyle of the Guardian gives his analysis of the draw (mainly for the English teams).
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UEFA Cup

Round of 16 - 2nd leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Wed Mar 12
Bayern 1-2 Anderlecht - Bay adv 6-2 on agg.
Hamburg 3-2 Leverkusen - series ends tied 3-3, with Lev adv on the away goals tie breaker.
Getafe 1-0 Benfica - Get adv 3-1 on agg.
Everton 2-0 Fiorentina - series ends tied 2-2, with Fior adv 4-2 on PK's.
PSV 0-1 Tottenham - series ends tied 1-1, with PSV adv 6-5 on PK's.
Zenit 2-0 Marseille - series ends tied 3-3, with Zen adv on the away goals tie breaker.
-Thu Mar 13
Sporting 2-1 Bolton - Sporting adv 3-2 on agg.
Werder 1-2 Rangers - Rangers adv 4-1 on agg.
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Quarterfinal 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 3
Leverkusen v Zenit
Rangers v Sporting
Bayern v Getafe
Fiorentina v PSV
Quarterfinal 1st leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Thu Apr 10
Zenit v Leverkusen
Sporting v Rangers
Getafe v Bayern
PSV v Fiorentina
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Semifinals Apr 24 & May 1

Final May 14
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Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend

-Sat Mar 15
Valencia v Sevilla - two teams with tons of great players who are totally underachieving.
Roma v Milan - like two giant rams butting heads in Italy.
-Sun Mar 16
Zenit St Petersburg v Spartak Moscow - last seasons #1 opens the new season v last seasons #2.
Juventus v Napoli - practically an old world rivalry.
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World News

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram ranks the 10 players he feels have been the most hyped in modern football. #1 is an easy guess.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know there will be few interested, but IF you live in the Twin Cites and IF you support Fulham, and If your not too hung over from Saturdays St. Paty's day, I'll be down at The Local around 8:30 with a few other Fulham supporters watching the Fulham v Everton game. Come and watch with me if you really want to get up that early and see me do a Mr. Rogers and slip into my lucky Fulham slippers which I've been told I must wear. Yikes!

7:24 PM  
Blogger Greg Seltzer said...

Hey Bruce... Tighe Dombrowski played for IK Sirius and not IK Start, which is in Norway. :)

6:44 AM  
Blogger pau grande said...

That last article by Xavier Lopez is inane. Cryuff was overhyped? Maradona was overhyped? Maybe the Star Telegram should consider hiring a soccer writer based on more than a Latin surname. Perhaps a writer who is versed on a player's full career and not just how they played in the World Cup; or maybe if the writer doesn't know enough about the subject he's writing on his editor could suggest he do some research.

12:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bleckdom? Damn near killed em.

2:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

pau grande, read the beginning of the article again. It doesn't say "overhyped," it just says "hyped." As the first sentence says, sometimes the player deserves it.

2:51 PM  

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