Monday, March 17, 2008

Type ZYX Blood News

Adios Mexico!! We hardly knew ye. Massive ego coach Hugo Sanchez and his Mexicano Olympic team were knocked out of qualifying in the group stage. Ouch. What does this mean for Hugo's job? I cannot imagine that his gets him fired, but it does shorten the leash.

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Kansas City gettin down with some TV advertising. Good job! (thanks to Anthony for this) [Mike was kind enough to inform us that this is LAST years ad campaign - oh well]


MLS News

Grahame Jones of the LA Times feels the Galaxy look a little thin on personnel as the season gets closer.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe checks in on New England as their preseason trek takes them to New Orleans for a pair of match v Marathon, and Dell'apa gives us a Honduran soccer primer.
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RevsNet looks at the quiet influx of new talent to New England.
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Mike Biglin of Metro West Daily News looks at the Rev's second year forward Adam Cristman and what his role might be on the team this season.
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The Jamaica Gleaner with an article on their native defender Shavar Thomas and his long wait for a new visa to rejoin his club team Chivas USA in LA.
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Andrea Canales of Soccernet gives a season preview of Chivas USA.
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While Ives Galarcep does the same for the New York Red Bulls.
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Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports writes about New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio and the big job in front of him.
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Former Salt Lake trialist Indra Sahdan Daud of Singapore talks to his local newspaper The Electric New Paper about his try out, and not receiving a contract offer after a month with RSL.
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John Haydon of the Washington Times writes about the young English midfielder Dan Stratford who hoping to change the streak of English failure at DC United.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch with an article on the Crew's newest forward with MLS experience - Nico Hernandez, who they acquired from Colorado.
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Mitchell with several Crew notes on his Covering The Crew blog.
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James Edward of the Deseret Morning News takes a closer look at all the changes going on with Real Salt Lake, on and off the field.
-Check out this incredible picture of construction on RSL's stadium with the gorgeous mountains in the back ground. Wow.
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Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News with a story on the "all new Dario Sala", goalkeeper for Dallas.
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Bob Luder of the KC Star says Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad is out to prove that he and his team are of a high quality this season.
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MLS Preseason Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Mar 14
New England 4-0 Marathon (Honduras) in New Orleans
-Sat Mar 15
Dallas 0-0 Los Angeles at PHP
Chivas USA 2-1 San Diego State at HDC
-Sun Mar 16
New England 0-0 Marathon (Honduras) in New Orleans
Fresno Fuego 0-4 Chivas USA in Fresno
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The Fresno Bee with a match report of Fresno v Chivas.
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3rd Degree with post game analysis of Dallas v LA.
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Steve Davis of Soccernet on the Dallas v LA game.
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Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram was in attendance at Pizza Hut Park and gives us this report.
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The Dallas Morning News covered the Dallas v LA game too.
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The Times of London with an article on an England assistant coach who took in the game in Dallas to check on the progress being made by Damon Beckford.
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FC Dallas received a note from England representative Franco Baldini after the match. Read it here at FC Dallas Updates.
-FCD Updates had many other good newsy tidbits after the game as well.
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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 1-0 Toronto - lightning shortened the game to 77 minutes.
New York 1-1 Charleston - weather caused them to move the game to Sunday.
-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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The Charleston Post & Courier with a match report of Charl v NYRB.
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More game reports and news at the Charleston Battery website.
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MLS Rumors - Don't Tease Me Bro

Two more get tryouts with Toronto: outside midfielder Martin Brittain of English League Two club Walsall & defender Marco Velez from the Puerto Rico Islanders.
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USL First Division & PDL News

Soccernet editor Jen Chang is in Charleston and is going to train with the Battery and tell us all just exactly how hard that task is.
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USA Olympic Team

Official team blog.
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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).
-Sat Mar 15
Cuba 1-4 Panama - Cuba goal by Leonel Duarte. Pan goals by Edwin Aguilar(2), Nelson Barahona & a Cuba Own Goal.
USA 1-0 Honduras - USA goal by Eddie Gaven(PK).
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by USA players and coach from US Soccer.
Match photos from US Soccer.
Post game video from US Soccer.
Match report from the Bradenton Herald.
Post game analysis by Ives Galarcep of Soccernet.

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 1-2 Haiti - Can goal by Tyler Rosenlund. Hait goals by Alain Gustave & Leonel Saint Preux.
Mexico 1-2 Guatemala - Mix goal by Edgar Castillo. Guat goals by Carlos villa & Maynor Ignacio Lopez.
-Sun Mar 16
Guatemala 0-5 Canada - Can goals by Will Johnson(2), Tosaint Ricketts(2) & Kyle Hall.
Mexico 5-1 Haiti - Mex goals by Cesar Villaluz, Edgar Andrade, Santiago Fernandez, Enrique Esquade & Luis Angel Landin. Hait goal by Leonel Saint Preux.
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Semifinal Matches & Scores (all games at LP Field in Nashville TN):
-Thu Mar 20
Guatemala v Honduras
USA v Canada

Final Matches & Scores (all games at LP Field in Nashville TN):
-Sun Mar 23
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Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times on Mexico's ouster from the tournament.
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What a couple of big Mexican newspapers are saying about Hugo today. Via FIFA.com
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Just so you know, Mexico missed a PK in this game, and was facing a team down to 9 men. Wow.
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Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald writes an open letter to the Cuban defectors, and praises their bravery.
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Jeff Rusnack of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes about the defection of the 7 Cuban players and one coach during this tournament.
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The US Nation Soccer Players Assoc says USA Olympic team coach Peter Nowak is doing exactly what he said he was going to do, get the team qualified in any way possible. No promises of anything beautiful or fabulous, just results. On that he is delivering.
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US Soccer has a new video from Studio 90, full of updates from last weekend and the days ahead in qualifying. Which is actually quite a bit like Studio 54. If only you knew what went on behind the scenes at Studio 90. Sadly though, Bianca Jaeger is not there.
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Americans In Europe

du Nord's AIE of the Week: Brian McBride - got a huge goal for Fulham in a 1-0 win over Everton. They still sit in the relegation zone but now another 3 points will tie them with the team in 17th. This was also an amazing game because 6 Americans took the field.
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How'd their recent matches go:
-Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin - did not dress for his teams 0-0 road draw with Hansa Rostock.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played all 90 and got his teams goal on a Penalty Kick, but could only tie Mainz 1-1 at home.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - came off the bench in the 74th minute and beat Everton 1-0 at home.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - played the full game as they won 0-1 at Groningen.
-Dan Califf - Aalborg - started and went 90, earned a Yellow Card and drew 1-1 at Odense. to start the second half of the season. He will be suspended for the next game due to Yellow Card accumulation.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance in a 2-2 home tie with Arminia Bielefeld.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - did not dress for his teams 2-1 loss at Liverpool.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came off the bench in the 88th minute as they beat Everton 1-0 at home.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played all 90 in a 0-0 home tied with Stoke City.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - did not dress for his teams 0-1 home loss to Manchester United.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - as usual in the goal but lost 2-1 at West Ham.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - played the entire games as always but lost 2-1 at Liverpool.
-Tally Hall - Esbjerg - was on the bench for his teams 0-4 road win at Viborg.
-Tim Howard - Everton - spent the whole game in the nets but lost 1-0 at Fulham.
-Nate Jaqua - Rheindorf Altach - went the entire 90 and they drew 1-1 at Wacker Tirol. No one who followed his MLS career will be surprised to read he got a Yellow Card.
-Will John - Randers - did not dress as the team lost 3-1 at Brondby.
-Eddie Johnson - Fulham - went the distance in a 1-0 victory over Everton at home.
-Kasey Keller - Fulham - played the full match and got a big 1-0 home win over Everton.
-Eddie Lewis - Derby County - played his damnedest for all 90 but lost 0-1 at home to Manchester United.
-Clint Mathis - Ergotolis - did not play but the team got 3 more important points, beating Veria 2-0 at home.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - started and played 88 minutes, scored the games only goal as they won 1-0 over Everton.
-Lee Nguyen - Randers - did not dress as the team lost 3-1 at Brondby.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - went the full 90 and got a 1-2 road win at Germinal Beerschot.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - did not dress for his teams 0-0 home tie with Hertha.
-Matt Pickens - Queens Park Rangers - on the bench for a 3-1 home win over Scunthorpe.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - played a full 90 minutes in a 2-1 win over Blackburn.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - played all 90 of a 1-1 road draw at Munich 1860.
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - did not play in his teams 1-1 draw at Mantova.
-Jeremiah White - Aarhus - started and went 90 in a 0-0 road draw at Horsens.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - played 90 minutes in a 1-1 tie at home with Mainz.
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CONCACAF Champions Cup

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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Jaime Moreno will NOT play on Tuesday for DC United due to his hamstring strain.
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The Jamaica Gleaner says 2 Harbour View players were not allowed to come to the USA with their team after being denied visa's.
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South American News

The New York Times Goal blog looks at the nastiness of violence surrounding the game in Argentina. There was some real ugly stuff between fellow supporters of Boca Juniors over the weekend. With lots of links to stories of violence from all over the country.
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Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 18
Audax Italiano v Atletico Nacional
Estudiantes v Danubio
Caracas v Cruzeiro
-Wed Mar 19
San Jose v Santos
Flamengo v Nacional
Libertad v Fluminense
-Thu Mar 20
Deportivo Cuenca - Lanus
Sportivo Luqueno v Sao Paulo
Colo Colo v Boca Juniors
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Group Stage Standings
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European News

In Scotland, Rangers won the League Cup beating Dundee 3-2 on Penalty Kicks after regulation and extra time ended tied at 2-2.
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Frightening stupidity has surfaced with Real Betis fans again. Last year when they took on their inner-city nemesis Sevilla a fan threw a bottle that hit Sev coach Juande Ramos in the head. This time a fan has thrown a bottle and hit Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Armando right in the face. He needed stitches to patch him up. The referee called the game off in the 71st minute with Bilbao up 1-2. I have heard that fans in the stand rounded up the bottle thrower and handed him over to security. Good for them. But what a fool that guy is. The main part of the story from Reuters.
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Football Italia's week 28 round up from Serie A.
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Lots of stuff from the Guardian today:
-David James, goalkeeper for Portsmouth, talks about his old Pack-A-Day cigarette habit.
-Sid Lowe calls this the worst La Liga season in memory.
-Raphael Honigstein sees Bayern Munich fall flat on their face, again.
-Paolo Bandini looks at Roma who are doing everything in their power to keep the race for the Scudetto alive.
-Paul Wilson says that Fabio Capello may not be able to pull off what he wants to with England due to the players he has to chose from.
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World Soccer calls Milan teenager Alexandre Pato the real thing. Via Sports Illustrated.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated takes in some Serie B while in Sicily. Besides the good view, how was it?
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Phil Ball of Soccernet makes a trip back to his home country but still takes in all the Liga action he could want.
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Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend

Valencia 1-2 Sevilla - two teams with tons of great players who are totally underachieving. The win gets Sevilla within striking distance of next years Champs League.
Roma 2-1 Milan - like two giant rams butting heads in Italy, and Milan goes home with only a headache.
Zenit St Petersburg 0-0 Spartak Moscow - last seasons #1 opens the new season v last seasons #2. Nothing ever gets settled on the first day anyways.
Juventus 1-0 Napoli - practically a medieval rivalry.
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World News

FIFA.com has a Q & A with 170 times capped Egyptian Hossam Hassan who has take off the players shirt and become a coach.

2 Comments:

Blogger Mike said...

Just a note, but that Wizards commercial you link is actually from last year.

9:29 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

of course it is, hhahahahahahahaha
thanks mike

8:58 AM  

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