Friday, April 11, 2008

Where I Ride News

Forgive me for not putting this at the top yesterday - On Wednesday night in Kansas City, New England became the first road team in MLS this season to win!

~and~

I didn't say this - Grahame Jones of the LA Times was mentioning that Landon Donovan has a new dog that needs some obedience training and then he wrote this: "If he really wants (the dog) to be submissive, Donovan might consider bringing him to see the Galaxy's opponent Sunday because no one rolls over more easily than winless Toronto FC." Ah, good luck next time yer in Toronto GJ!


MLS Scoreboard

Week 3 Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 9
Kansas City 1-3 New England - KC goal by Jack Jewsbury(PK). NE goals by Jack Jewsbury(OG), Sainey Nyassi & Kenny Mansally.
-Attendance: 8,096
-Sat Apr 12
San Jose v Chicago - 3:30pm central on FSC
Columbus v Chivas USA - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
New England v Colorado - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
Kansas City v Houston - 7pm central on HDNet
Dallas v New York - 7:30pm central on Direct Kick
Salt Lake v DC - 8pm central on Direct Kick
Sun Apr 13
Los Angeles v Toronto - 2pm central on TeleFutura
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Ives Galarcep at Soccer By Ives wrote a column lambasting Chicago for their handling of coach Juan Carlos Osorio departure for New York. Galarcep insists that this story have nothing to do with the two teams ongoing squabble over 2 players, Wilman Conde & Lider Marmol who are both Chicago property, who want to play in New York, but Chicago does not want to let them go.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune addresses the previous column on his Red Card blog. (This is good.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Len Ziehm of the Sun Times gives us the scoop on Chicago's opponent, San Jose.
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Nick Firchau of the Southtown Star previews the Fire's weekend match. Defender CJ Brown is still out injured.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLORADO RAPIDS

Colorado has signed Scottish forward Tam McManus from Dunfermline.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian Forbes of the Denver Post with the latest team notes, including the release of defender Dan Gargan. (Note: if Toronto doesn't pick up Gargan then it will prove that the whole organization is taking drugs - even coming off a knee injury he is better than anyone they have.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

FC Dallas Updates has a video interview with players Flecha Roja & Adrian Serioux.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Turns out that Eddie Robinson has been having knee problems this season even before he got kick hard in the leg last weekend. He has already had fluid drained once and may have to do it again. He also told Glenn Davis on the radio the other night that he thought for sure his leg was broken when Rocha of Dallas kicked him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

The KC Star with the latest Wizards notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Andrea Canales at Soccer 365 has an article on LA left fullback Mike Randolph.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe looks at the new crop of players coach Steve Nicol has brought in to fill the holes left by departing players over the past 2 years.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer New England with a story on the Revs 2 young Gambian players Kenny Mansally & Sainey Nyassi.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Juan Pablo Angel is definitely OUT of Saturday's match in Dallas. He has a hamstring injury, and did not travel with the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MetroFanatic with a story on the purgatory Lider Marmol is having to live through. MF are also very proud of their headline: "Burn in Fire? Play with Angel? Marmol stuck in limbo". Nice and biblical.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Forward Jozy Altidore with his latest contribution to the New York Times Goal blog - I'm Ready To Go. No, he is not saying he is ready to leave the team, but that he is healthy and ready to play this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The latest in Red Bulls notes from Brian Lewis of the New York Post on his Extra Time blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beau Dure at USA Today with an article on NYRB coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner has an article on former DC United TV announcer Garth Lagerway who is now the general manager of RSL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune talks to RSL coach Jason Kreis about a frustrating first 2 games of the season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

So this weekend Toronto could line up with a five man midfield of Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Amado Guevara, Laurent Robert & Marvell Wynne. Not bad at all. Now, about that defense.....
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto made two more roster moves today - they signed midfielder Rohan Ricketts from Barnsley in England, and released Collin Samuel "for personal matters." I hate to read things like this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet calls the signing of Amado Guevara a risky move by TFC. But hey, he can't make them worse, right?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Globe & Mail says TFC do not anticipate any problems with Amado Guevara. Well no shit Sherlock, what the hell else are they gonna say to the press??? "We are fully anticipating having a showdown at some point with this player, because that is what happens with Amado everywhere he goes, but until that day comes we look forward to his contributions to our team on the field."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Star has words with TFC coach John Carver about Guevara.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sun looks at how Toronto can corral Donald Bergman in LA this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Beau Dure of USA Today has a great Q & A session with former MLS & USA star goalkeeper Tony Meola. A great read.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas of Goal.com with his 3-5-2 column, focusing on Amado Guevara, New Eng & Seattle. You have to love this line: "It’s the sign of the apocalypse in Toronto"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet with his weekly game previews. (scroll down past Guevara article)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shaka Hislop with his second MLS column for the Guardian: Blanco and Windy City give Revolution away-day blues.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America with an article on MLS teams struggles in Champions Cup & Copa Sudamericana. He has a couple of quotes from MLS chief Don Garber that have been the subject of debate this week, and ridicule from DC coach Tom Soehn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

Steve Pastorino at the US National Soccer Players Assoc feels Seattle is doing everything right so far as they prepare to enter MLS next spring. I personally see the stadium as a major problem down the road.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A fascinating article from Bloomberg about the city of Chester were the new Philadelphia team will make its home. Its not a pretty place, but they are all hoping that this team is one of the things to help turn the town around. (I found this story in J Hutcherson's daily column on the USNSPA site.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

The First Division season kicks off this Saturday!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 12
Miami v Charleston
Vancouver v Montreal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian Costello (a great friend of du Nord who always gives us the updates from the Northwest) has contributed a nice story to This Is American Soccer. Here is his story of a rainy night in Portland at a Timbers friendly against the San Jose Earthquakes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

Coach Thomas Rongen has taken a team to Beja, Portugal for the Campos Verdes International Tournament next week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Apr 15
USA v Northern Ireland
-Apr 16
USA v Cape Verde Islands
-Apr 18
USA v Portugal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roster:
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Zac MacMath - Clearwater Chargers
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - IMG Academy
Victor Cortez - U San Francisco
Tommy Meyer - Scott Gallagher
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Anthony Wallace - FC Dallas
Daniel Wenzel - Wake Forest
M:
Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabak
Jorge Flores - Chivas USA
Abdusalam Ibrahim - FC Dallas
Jared Jeffrey - Club Brugge
Brendan King - Notre Dame
Gerson Mayen - Chivas USA
Andrew Wegner - PA Classics
F:
Vincezno Bernardo - Napoli
Peri Marosevic - U Michigan
Ellis McLoughlin - Hertha Berlin
Alex Nimo - Real Salt Lake
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Paul Gardner at Soccer America has some question about the defection of 7 Cubans during Olympic qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

US Soccer has an audio interview with Watford defender Jay DeMerit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sean O'Conor at American Soccer Daily talks to Readings Bobby Convey about his injuries and the match this weekend against Fulham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexico & FMF News

El Clasico!!
-Sat Apr 12 - Live at 7:30pm central on TeleFutura
Chivas v America - The Goats are way up. The Eagles are way down. Who wins the grudge match?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated with an update on teams in the Mexican league and Copa Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 8
Atlas 3-1 Boca Juniors - Atl goals by Gerardo Flores & Bruno Marioni(2). BJ goal by Sebastian Battaglia.
San Jose 2-4 Cucuta Deportivo - SJ goals by Luis Cerutti & Enrique Parada. Cuc goals by Matias Urbano(3) & Macnelly Torres.
Libertad 3-1 Liga Universitaria Quito - Lib goals by Dante Lopez, Juan Manuel Olivera & Nelson Cuevas. LDUQ goal by Alfonso Obregon.
-Wed Apr 9
Arsenal 2-3 Fluminense - Ars goals by Leonardo Biaggini & Juan Bottaro.
Guadalajara 3-2 Santos - Guad goals by Omar Arellano, Javier Rodriguez & Sergio Santana. Sant goals both by Kleber.
Cienciano 0-3 Flamengo - Flam goals by Renato Augusto, Toro & Juan.
-Thu Apr 10
Colo Colo 2-0 Maracaibo - Colo goals by Gustavo Biscayzacu & Lucas Barrios.
Sportivo Luqueno 1-3 Atletico Nacional - Luq goal by Marco Lazaga. AN goals by Carlos Villagra, Sergio Galvan Rey(PK) & David Cordoba.
Audax Italiano 1-0 Sao Paulo - Aud goal by Renato Ramos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cucuta Deportivo join Atlas, Cruzeiro, Fluminense & LDU Quito in securing 5 of the 16 spots in the knock out rounds.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Stage Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

The Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year nominees have been announced. Here are the finalists:
Emmanuel Adebayor
Cesc Fabregas
Steven Gerrard
David James
Cristiano Ronaldo
Fernando Torres
They also hand out the Young Player of the Year. Here are those nominees:
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Cesc Fabregas
Micah Richards
Cristiano Ronaldo
Fernando Torres
Ashley Young
-No date was given as to when the awards winners will be announced.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA.com with a great article on Chelsea & Germany midfielder Michael Ballack who is attempting to fill in the only hole left on his resume - the Champions League crown. (And in case you were wondering - du Nord loves Ballack!)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As great a season as Fernando Torres is having for Liverpool, 29 goals in all competitions is great, you have to admit that when he scores 22 of those at their home Anfield stadium it does taint the picture a little.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has an article on Sunderland manager Roy Keane who is very close to keeping his team up in the Premiership for next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Reuters has quotes from an interview Thierry Henry gave to French newspaper L'Equipe, and he doesn't sing the praises of his time so far at Barcelona.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

La Gazzetta says this whole "Andriy Shevchenko could return to Milan" stuff is true.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League

Word from Barcelona is that Lionel Messi with be ready to face Man U in the Champions League 2 weeks from now! Yes!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup

Quarterfinal 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Thu Apr 10
Zenit 0-1 Leverkusen - Zenit advance 4-2 on aggregate - Lever goal by Dmitri Bulykin.
Sporting 0-2 Rangers - Rangers adv 2-0 on agg - Ran goals by Jean-Claude Darcheville & Steven Whittaker.
Getafe 3-3 Bayern - series tied 4-4 on agg, Bayern adv 3-1 on the away goals tied breaker - Get goals by Cosmin Contra, Javier Casquero & Braulio. Bay goals by Franck Ribery & Luca Toni(2).
PSV 0-2 Fiorentina - Fior adv 3-1 on agg - Fior goals both by Adrian Mutu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com with the story of Bayern Munchen's near miracle comeback victory - Luca Toni scored a goal in the 120th minute to win it on aggregate. Great quotes from Oliver Kahn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Semifinal 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 24
Bayern v Zenit
Rangers v Fiorentina
Semifinal 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Thu May 1
Zenit v Bayern Munchen
Fiorentina v Rangers
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Euro Club Matches This Weekend

Scores & Matches:
-Sat Apr 12
Juventus v Milan - one of the great Italian rivalries.
Werder Bremen v Schalke - #4 v #2, but are only 1 point apart and fighting fiercely for Champions League spots.
-Sun Apr 13
Manchester United v Arsenal - With a win, Man U can bury Arse's chances of fighting for the title.
Inter v Fiorentina - #1 v #4 with both needing to win to grab bigger or hang on to season end prizes.
Bayer Leverkusen v Stuttgart - sitting in 6th & 5th and battling for the last UEFA Cup place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PSV can win with Dutch league with a win, or an Ajax loss or draw.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Nepal has rehired German Thomas Flath as their national team coach.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bruce, tell us how your really feel about TFC

10:13 PM  
Blogger Mike said...

If Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't win that Player of the Year award, no one will ever take them seriously again. That guy is playing two levels above everyone else in the Premiership this year.

12:34 AM  
Blogger brucio said...

"Bruce, tell us how your really feel about TFC"

their defense is a joke
thats how i really feel

3:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Galarcep insists that this story have nothing to do with the two teams ongoing squabble over 2 players..."
-------

"story have" ?

Come on, any 4th grader can see that "story" is singular, therefore, the verb should be "h-a-s."

Also, try using an apostrophe to show possession.
As in, "the two teams' ongoing squabble"

3:54 PM  
Blogger digchros said...

Something from the Meola interview, regard Alexi Lalas and all the people who think he is so bad for the league.

"No disrespect to anybody, but when Alexi Lalas goes to talk to David Beckham and his agent, they listen. They'll at least entertain the thought. He's still a guy who can pick up the phone and everyone in the world knows who he is. Some other guy who never played before maybe could do a better job but he can't even get the phone call in."

Also, anonymous, I'm pretty sure Ives knows how to write. If you disagree with him so much find something a little more significant than a typo please.

5:33 PM  

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