Fad File Fergy News

One thing that I have seen almost no one mention is that Freddy Adu is back playing for Peter Nowak. Do you think they speak to each other, or is it strictly business. And why don't the journalists ask Nowak about it during press conferences?

~and~

In England this weekend we had Brad Friedel v Kasey Keller in the nets for Blackburn v Fulham. I would have to assume that the old rivals for the #1 USA job have never faced off head to head in a club match before. The win would have to go to Keller for the road draw.


MLS News

Kansas City made it official signing Argentine forward Claudio Lopez. Good move. Here is camera phone pic of Lopez standing in a 75 degree room, and modeling the KC shirt. (from the Wizards Hillcrest Road blog)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com with an article on KC's new man El Piojo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer by Ives reporting that New York winger Dane Richards is injured worse than first thought. He suffered a torn, not strained ligament in his knee and will need surgery. 3 months is how they say he will be out. I bet it's longer than that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at Soccernet with a season preview of Chivas USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times Goal blog on the return of Santino Quaranta to DC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet with an article about DC midfielder Ben Olsen's gradual return to playing form after yet another off season ankle surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune ponders a big question for the Fire - Who will be the new team captain? They have only had 2, Peter Nowak & Chris Armas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Philadelphia Inquirer on the importance of their new MLS teams name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star Soccer blog gets all defensive about TFC's awful field turf playing surface.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Boston Globe has an article on New England's trip to Mexico. Kinda takes a back handed jab at a lack of fans too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MetroWest Daily News with a story on the New England Revolution out in the community meeting kids. This is what its all about man. I remember meeting baseball players when I was a kid, it was so awesome.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas couldn't figure out a way to re-sign forward Roberto Mina after a long injury layoff, so that player have signed with Gimnasia in Argentina.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Electric New Paper of Singapore gives us an update on their countries top soccer player Indra Sahdan who is on an extended try out with Real Salt Lake.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TV Sports Daily gives us their list of "11 MLS players to watch in 08". That's all fine and dandy, but this list is the players that everyone is already watching. Who do they think they are tipping off? Someone who has never seen a game before? And exactly who reads TV Sports Daily?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kyle McCarthy with his usual quality weekly MLS wrap-up/break-down.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pretty cool article by Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star - he gets an inside look at the personal drama of a player being traded from former Wizards defender Nick Garcia who was shipped off to San Jose.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Mar 7
Everton Reserves (England) 1-0 Columbus in Liverpool
Deportivo Moron (YES!) (Argentina) 1-5 Kansas City in Buenos Aires
-Sat Mar 8
Avai (Brazil) 3-1 Dallas at Gonder Stadium in Florianopolis Brazil
Hong Kong Union 2-2 Los Angeles - Hong Kong win 5-4 on PK's.
-Sun Mar 9
Jockey Club Rosario (Brazil) 0-3 Salt Lake in Rosario
-Mon Mar 10
River Plate 1-2 Kansas City in Buenos Aires
-Tue Mar 11
San Luis (Mexico) v Chicago in Mexicali
Unknown Argentine team v Kansas City in Buenos Aires
Central Cordoba v Salt Lake in Rosario
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Was it just me or did David Beckham appear to strain his groin taking his last Penalty Kick on Saturday. No reports of an injury anywhere, and with his desire to play for England I am sure that if he were injured he would keep it as quiet as possible.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Texas Pro Soccer Festival

Houston were declared the champions. I am not sure how it was determined. Both they and DC finished with 2 wins and a the 1-1 draw against each other. The only difference between the two that I can see is that Houston scored 6 goals and DC 4 in the three games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Preseason tournament March 3-9 in San Antonio TX. Here is the official website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Teams:
Chivas USA
DC United
Houston Dynamo
Toronto FC
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Mar 5
Chivas 1-2 DC - Chiv goal by Jorge Flores. DC goals by Quavas Kirk & Cezar.
Houston 4-3 Toronto - Hou goals by Brian Ching(2), Chris Wondolowski & Erik Ustruck. Tor goals by Tony Zairelles, Martin Britton & Kiki Musampa.
-Fri Mar 7
Toronto 0-1 DC - DC goal by Josh Gardner.
Chivas 1-0 Houston - Hou goal by Dwayne De Rosario.
-Sun Mar 9
Toronto 3-2 Chivas - Tor goals by Jeff Cunningham (2, one on PK) & Danny Dichio. Chiv goals by Kiki Musampa (Own Goal) & Ante Razov.
Houston 1-1 DC - Hou goal by Franco Caraccio. DC goal by Cezar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Thursday night in San Antonio, DC's 3 Argentines Marcelo Gallardo, Franco Niell & Gonzalo Peralta took in the San Antonio Spurs NBA game and met their fellow countrymen Manu Ginobli & Fabricio Oberto. They took a picture together. Pretty cool.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

Carlos Pavon formerly of Los Angeles has signed with Real Espana in Honduras.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Is Dunfermline forward Tam McManus about to sign with Colorado?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division & PDL News

My Minnesota Thunder signed controversial striker Ricardo Sanchez who played last season for California. He is a true fire-brand, love him or hate him kinda guy. I used to hate him, and now that he is here, I love him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Portland has signed midfielder Arsene Oka. He was on the New England developmental roster last season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Olympic Team

As expected Jonathan Spector was added to the USA roster for the games. When he will arrive, we do not yet know.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is the 20 man roster for the tournament:
G:
Dominic Cervi - Chicago
Chris Seitz - Salt Lake
D:
Hunter Freeman - New York
Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg
Patrick Ianni - Houston
Michael Orozco - San Luis
Jonathan Spector - West Ham
Nathan Sturgis - Real Salt Lake
Marvell Wynne - Toronto
M:
Freddy Adu - Benfica
Maurice Edu - Toronto
Eddie Gaven - Columbus
Stuart Holden - Houston
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Dax McCarty - Dallas
Sal Zizzo - Hannover
F:
Jozy Altidore - New York
Chad Barrett - Chicago
Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Robbie Findley - Salt Lake
-This video from US Soccer has the players introducing themselves: Qualifying Roster Unveiled
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There were some big surprises left off the team: Arturo Alvarez, Benny Feilhaber & Mike Randolph. Robbie Rogers & Tally Hall were also part of the training camp that did not make the roster.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet feels there are some surprises on this USA team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times with an article on Freddy Adu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America on the USA team captain Sacha Kljestan. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

St Petersburg Times previews the USA for the tournament being held in their neighboring city Tampa.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Tampa Tribune with an article on Freddy Adu as well. The article is written by Bill Ward, sadly that is not Bill Ward the drummer from Black Sabbath - how cool would that have been?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Jozy Altidore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying

Group A Matches & Scores (all games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa FL):
-Tue Mar 11
Panama v Honduras
USA v Cuba - live at 7pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
-Thu Mar 13
Honduras v Cuba
USA v Panama - live at 7pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
-Sat Mar 15
Cuba v Panama
USA v Honduras - live at 6pm central on Fox Soccer Channel

Group B Matches & Scores (all games at Home Deport Center in Carson CA):
-Wed Mar 12
Haiti v Guatemala
Canada v Mexico
-Thu Mar 14
Canada v Haiti
Mexico v Guatemala
-Sun Mar 16
Guatemala v Canada
Mexico v Haiti
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com previews the tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

How'd their recent matches go:
-Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin - on the bench for a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - suspended for Monday game at St Pauli due to yellow Card accumulation.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - was on the bench for his teams 1-1 tie game at Blackburn.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - played all 90 and got back on the goal scoring streak with another in a 3-0 home win over NAC Breda. Note: other reports have called Bradley's goal an own goal by a Breda defender.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played all 90 minutes of a 2-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - still out with knee injury, as team beat Manchester City 2-0 at home.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and went 66 minutes in a 1-1 tie at Blackburn.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - fully back from injury but they had no weekend game - play at Bristol City on Tuesday.
-Joe Enochs - Osnabruck - on the bench as the team beat Erzgebirge Aue 0-1 away from home.
-Gabriel Ferrari - Sampdoria - on the bench for a 1-2 win at Parma.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - went 90 and drew 1-1 at home to Fulham.
-Joshua Grenier - Koblenz - dressed but did not play as they lost at Koln 1-0.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - played all 90 and beat Manchester City 2-0 at home.
-Tim Howard - Everton - played the entire match as usual and got a 0-1 win at Sunderland.
-Nate Jaqua - Rheindorf Altach - started in a 3-2 win over Josko Ried.
-Will John - Randers - came on in the 32nd minute for debut, a 2-1 loss at Brondby in the Danish Cup.
-Eddie Johnson - Fulham - went all 90 minutes in a 1-1 tie at Blackburn.
-Kasey Keller - Fulham - back on the field, going 90 at Blackburn and coming home with a 1-1 tie.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - no weekend game, play at Chelsea on Wednesday.
-Clint Mathis - Ergotolis - tie game at Asteras Tripoli 1-1.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - came off the bench in the 66th minute of a 1-1 tie at Blackburn.
-Lee Nguyen - Randers - debuted and went the full 90, setting up his teams goal on a free kick, but lost 2-1 at Brondby in the Danish Cup.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - started and beat St Truiden 2-1 at home to remain in First place.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - came on in the 78th minute of a 1-1 tie game at Duisburg.
-Matt Pickens - Queens Park Rangers - on the bench for a 2-1 loss at Sheffield Wednesday.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - on the bench for a 0-0 draw at home v Freiburg.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - got a chance to play the entire 90 minutes, but they got pounded 4-0 at Tottenham.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - started and went the distance as they won at home 1-0 over Kickers Offenbach.
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - injured and did not dress of a 3-0 home win over Cesena.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - at St Pauli on Monday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

More games coming this week:
-Cory Gibbs - Charlton at Burnley on Tuesday
-Matt Pickens - QPR v Blackpool on Wednesday
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Freddy Adu will have his 3rd coach of his first season at Benfica. The first coach Fernando Santos was fired after only a couple of weeks, and now the current manager Jose Antonio Camacho has resigned with the team struggling badly. Assistant Fernando Chalana with take over in the interim.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American Soccer Daily reports that after becoming the face of Watford over the past 24 months Jay DeMerit finds himself stuck on the bench. He tells them what he is gonna do about it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ASD also has the info on Danny Szetela's abductor muscle injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis at Soccernet says now is the time for Eddie Johnson to show what he is really made of.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Champions Cup

The action kicks off this week!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Quarterfinals - First Leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 11
Motagua v Pachuca - 11pm central delayed on FSC
-Wed Mar 12
Harbour View v DC - 7pm central on FSC
Municipal v Houston - 9pm central on FSC
-Thu Mar 13
Atlante v Saprissa - 10pm central on FSC
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FMF News

UANL Tigres beat Monterrey 3-2 in the Monterrey derby on Saturday night. You will not be surprised to hear that there were controversially disallowed goals involved. Ah, derby matches!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Mar 11
Chivas Guadalajara v Cucuta Deportivo
Cienciano v Coronel Bolognesi
Bamin Real Potosi v San Lorenzo
-Mar 12
Arsenal v Liga Universitaria Quito
Universidad Catolica v River Plate
Atlas v Maracaibo
-Mar 13
America v Dep Univ San Martin
Lanus v Deportivo Cuenca
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with an article on the teams from Brazil who are being flummoxed by the teams from Uruguay.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Raul scored his 200th goal in a Real Madrid shirt! 200!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball at Soccernet reports on a fairly bleak 7 days all around Spanish futbol.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sid Lowe of the Guardian ponders the awful season Real Zaragoza is having in Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian says coach Claudio Ranieri struggling to satisfy the Old Lady's unreasonable desires. That's Juventus to you and me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Samuel of The Times on the Newcastle-Keegan disaster, and other exciting news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fulham defender Moritz Volz in the Times tells us what it really takes to be a professional football player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Football Italia with the winners & losers from Week 27 in Serie A.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League

Matches & Scores
Round of 16 - 2nd leg matches (with 1st leg scores included):
-Tue Mar 11
Inter v Liverpool (0-2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times with a story on Liverpeople elder Tommy Smith who wants the Reds to get revenge for a loss he suffered in Milan 43 years ago. The old duffer holds a grudge. Good for him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro League Cup Competitions

-English FA Cup-
Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 8
Manchester United 0-1 Portsmouth
Barnsley 1-0 Chelsea
-Sun Mar 9
Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff City
Bristol Rovers 1-5 West Bromwich Albion
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Semifinals will be played the weekend of April 5, both at Wembley Stadium:
Barnsley v Cardiff City
West Bromwich Albion v Portsmouth
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David James, the Portsmouth keeper, writes about his teams big win for The Guardian: Dodgy boots, dodgy kick, but what a result! James always writes great stuff!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend

Scores & Matches:
Real Madrid 2-1 Espanyol - Last week Barcelona lost to Madrid's crosstown rival last, this week it was completely reversed and Madrid beat Barca's crosstown nemesis.
Stuttgart 6-3 Werder Bremen - last years champs (this years bums) got it together and thumped this years contenders (pretenders?).
Lyon 4-2 Bordeaux - #1 beat #2 in France, as the champs showed that even though the race is closer than usual, they are still the team to beat.
Barcelona 1-2 Villarreal - #2 v #3 in Spain.
Napoli 0-2 Roma - a rivalry as old as the hills. And Napoli had not lost at home this season.
Guimaraes 2-0 Sporting Lisbon - big upset as #3 beat #1 in Portugal. This leaves Guimaraes just 2 points behind second place Benfica, but still 16 points behind the leaders.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Reuters with a story on a horrible scene in Cali Colombia where reports say as many as 80 people where hurt during the Cali derby - America v Deportivo. It all started with a controversial Penalty call, players got in a fight, the coaches joined in and not long after the fans of both teams cut loose. The game was called off in the 82nd minute. Another report I read said the fighting continued outside the stadium and that several people were stabbed. Damn. (thanks to Andrew for tipping me off to this story)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Paraguay & Blackburn forward Roque Santa Cruz.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Highlighted Podcast

EPL Talk's new episode "features interviews with two prolific soccer writers. The first interview is with Paul Gardner, the most veteran soccer writer in the US, who is best known for his writings in Soccer America. The second interview is with Martin Rogers, the former Daily Mirror journalist who now writes for Yahoo Sports in the US." Download or listen here.