Thursday, May 08, 2008

The Score For Forbidden Planet Is Great News

Club America pulled off a stunning upset in the Copa Libertadores last night. After losing 2-4 at home to Flamengo, they roared back to win 0-3 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro! Even bigger when you consider that they are having their worst season EVER in the Mexican Clausura! I am blown away by this win!

~and~

Barcelona team president Joan Laporta has made it official and announced youth team coach Pep Guardiola as the new manager of Barcelona, replacing Frank Rijkaard!!

~and~

I got several emails from people saying that they too have problems with the MLS website crashing their browser. It appears as though we all use FireFox. One of the people had a connection to MLS HQ and let them know about the problem, which they acknowledged and had heard about from others. Let's hope they fix it asap.

~and~

New England coach Steve Nicol after his teams 0-3 loss to Chicago last Saturday: "I thought we were consistent, consistently bad."

~and~

Sven to coach Mexico??? It's a hot rumor!


MLS Scoreboard

Week 7
Matches & Scores:
-Thu May 8
DC v Chicago - 6:30pm central on ESPN2
Match preview by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Match preview by Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner.
Match preview by Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
-Sat May 10
Houston v Colorado - 7:30pm central on FSC
Salt Lake v Dallas - 8pm central on Direct TV
San Jose v Columbus - 9pm central on Direct TV
Los Angeles v New York - 9:30pm central on HDNet
-Sun May 10
Chivas USA v New England - 2pm central on TeleFutura
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Serving suspensions this week:
Roger Espinoza - Kansas City - 1 game
Claudio Suarez - Chivas USA - 1 game
Jason Kries - Salt Lake coach - 1 game
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
15 Columbus (6)
13 Chicago (6)
10 Kansas City (7)
10 Toronto (6)
10 New England (7)
8 New York (5)
6 DC (6)
Western Conference
9 Colorado (6)
9 Dallas (6)
8 Los Angeles (6)
5 Chivas USA (6)
5 Salt Lake (6)
4 San Jose (5)
4 Houston (6)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with an article on coach Denis Hamlett.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Len Zeihm of the Sun Times with an article on the rise from the ashes by John Thorrington.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speaking of Thorrington, he was the guest writer on Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune's blog the Red Card.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arroyave also on the blog gives us health updates on defender Wilman Conde and forward Tomas Frankowski.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Firchau of the Southtown Star with an article on Chris Rolfe who gives the team a huge lift, when he isn't injured. He just won MLS Goal of the Week too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLORADO RAPIDS

Class VI has a Q & A with coach Fernando Clavijo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Buzz Carrick at 3rd Degree with this weeks Practice Observations.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner talks to Ben Olsen who says there is not way he is going to retire now without doing everything he can to get his ankles working properly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with some Dynamo notes, including the signing of former DC forward Guy Roland Kpene, and Brad Davis is still injured.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star talks to former Wizzer Chris Klein about his famous teammate Douglas Braverman.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

MetroFanatic with an article on young defender Eric Brunner who is one of those players caught between the brutally low paying developmental roster and finding an open spot on the senior roster.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Claudio Reyna suffered a calf injury in last weeks game up in Toronto and will not travel to LA with the team this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stefan Bondy of the Herald News with an article on a player very few thought would catch on, but has succeeded nicely, Jeff Parke.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Coach Jason Kreis has found himself on the wrong end of an argument with the league over referees. He has been complaining long and loud about the quality and today the league suspended him for one game, and fined him. Ouch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Elliot Almond of the Mercury News says the EQuakes are not done searching for ways to improve the offense, and have 2 Brazilians trying out right now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports gives it another shot ranking the Top 20 MLS Players - his previous list caused a lot of arguing all over the US soccer nation. No doubt this list will do the same.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America looks at all the players who have gone to Germany to undergo Dr Ulrike Muschaweck's revolutionary hernia surgery. It used to take months to recover, but now just weeks or days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Business Wire reports that AEG has bought part of Oscar de la Hoya's boxing company Golden Boy Promotions. So did they pay anything, or was the shares of Houston Dynamo the price?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rookie Of The Year

Here is our first look at the early season candidates (alphabetically):
-Tony Beltran - Real Salt Lake
-Danleigh Borman - New York Red Bulls
-Sean Franklin - Los Angeles Galaxy
-Stephen King - Chicago Fire
-Brandon MacDonald - Los Angeles Galaxy
-Chance Myers [FIXED] - Kansas City Wizards
-Shea Salinas - San Jose Earthquakes
-Luke Sassano - New York Red Bulls
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did we miss anyone?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with two articles on a new twist for a Dynamo Stadium. Texas Southern University wants to get in on the action, and they have $$ to spend. One - and - Two.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Ann Ramzy of Soccernet with the week in review, and she gives my Thunder no love at all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Seattle Post Intelligencer on the Sounders of today and tomorrow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Thu May 8
Portland v Rochester
-Fri May 9
Charleston v Miami
-Sat May 10
Carolina v Atlanta
Minnesota v Montreal
Seattle v Portland
Vancouver v Rochester
-Wed May 14
Charleston v Montreal
Seattle v Rochester
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer News

An audio interview with US Soccer's Technical Director John Hackworth.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

The USA U20 team is heading to England to play a trio of games against the reserves teams of some big English clubs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 7
Bolton Reserves 0-2 USA - USA goals by Jorge Flores & Chris Agorsor. USA played 56 minutes with 10 men.
Match report from US Soccer.
-Thu May 8
Manchester United Reserves v USA
-Sat May 10
Liverpool Reserves v USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

US Soccer has an audio interview with Clint Dempsey, looking at the big Fulham match ahead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Fulham website has an interview with Kasey Keller about the All-Or-Nothing match on Sunday at Portsmouth.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sean O'Connor of American Soccer Daily with an article on Frank Simek at Sheffield Wednesday who is recovering from ankle surgery, and watched his team narrowly avoid relegation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Charlie Davies scored a goal as his Hammarby won the Stockholm derby 0-2 at Djurgardens. Davies also got a yellow card late in the game for taking off his shirt after his goal.
-American Soccer Daily has a match report.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

New national team rankings are out. Here are the regions top 6 teams via FIFA and ELO:
Mexico - 17 - 10
USA - 21 - 18
Honduras - 36 - 41
Canada - 62 - 56
Panama - 67 - 67
Costa Rica - 77 - 52
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canadian National Team News

Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail blog On Soccer gives us the good & bad from the Canadian Soccer Assoc - nothing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexico & FMF News

Torneo Clausura 2008 Liguilla is all set:
Top 2 from each of the 3 groups go through, then the next 4 best records regardless of group will playoff in the first round for 2 spots in the final 8. All games are home & away throughout the championship run.
-The 3 leaders are: Toluca, Santos Laguna & Guadalajara.
-2nd places belong to : Chiapas, Monterrey & Cruz Azul.
-And the next 4 are: San Luis, Necaxa, Pachuca & Atlas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First round 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 7
Pachuca 0-1 San Luis
-Thu May 8
Atlas v Necaxa
First round 2nd leg Matches & Scores (1st leg scores included):
-Sat May 10
San Luis v Pachua (1-0)
-Sun May 11
Necaxa v Atlas (-)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These 2 winners will advance to be paired off with the top 6 who got a buy in this round.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South American News

Gregory Sica at Sports Illustrated looks at why Argentine teams no longer totally dominate the Libertadores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Round of 16, 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (1st leg scores included):
-Tue May 6
Fluminense 1-0 Atletico Nacional - Flum adv 3-1 on agg. Flum goal by Roger.
Atlas 2-2 Lanus (1-0) - Atl adv 3-2 on agg. Atl goals by Bruno Marioni & Ulises Mendivil. Lan goals by Jose Sand & Lautaro Acosta.
Estudiantes 2-1 LDU Quito - LDU adv 3-2 on agg. Est goals by Agustin Alayes & Ezequiel Maggiolo. LDU goal by Luis Bolanos.
-Wed May 7
Sao Paulo 2-0 Nacional - SP adv 2-0 on agg. SP goals by Adriano & Dagoberto.
Cruzeiro 1-2 Boca Juniors - Boca adv 4-2 on agg. Cruz goal by Wagner. Boca goals by Rodrigo Palacio & Martin Palermo.
Flamengo 0-3 America - Amer adv 5-4 on agg. Amer goals by Salvador Cabanas(2) & Enrique Esqueda.
-Thu May 8
River Plate v San Lorenzo (1-2)
Cucuta Deportivo v Santos (0-2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Quarterfinal matchups (games to be played week of May 14 & 21):
Fluminense v Sao Paulo
Atlas v Boca Juniors
America v Cucuta/Santos winner
River Plate/San Lorenzo winner v LDU Quito
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is the full bracket for the rest of the tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

The Telegraph gives us 5 things we won't miss about Reading, Fulham or Birmingham should they get relegated from the Premiership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English Championship Division Promotion Playoffs

In case you missed it, West Bromich Albion & Stoke have been promoted to the Premiership for next season. Hull, Bristol City, Crystal Palace & Watford will play off for the third and final spot.
Playoff 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 10
Crystal Palace (5th) v Bristol City (4th)
-Sun May 11
Watford (6th) v Hull (1st)
Playoff 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg results included):
-Tue May 13
Bristol City v Crystal Palace (-)
-Wed May 14
Hull v Watford (-)
Playoff Final Match & Score:
-Sat May 24
3rd-6th Winner v 4th-5th Winner
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Reuters on the end of days for coach Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona. A youth coach from within their system, Josep "Pep Guardiola" Sala will be promoted to the top mans job.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro League Cup Competitions

-Coupe de France- Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 6
Amiens 0-1 Paris St Germain
-Wed May 7
Lyon 1-0 Sedan Ardennes
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So it will be old foes Lyon and PSG squaring off for the Cup title.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-Coppa Italia- Semifinals
2nd leg Matches & Scores (with first leg scores included):
-Wed May 7
Lazio 0-2 Inter - Inter advance 2-0 on aggregate.
-Thu May 8
Catania 1-1 Roma -Roma adv 2-1 on agg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the 57th year in a row Inter & Roma will face off for the Coppa.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Euro Club Matches This Week

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 7
Real Madrid 4-1 Barcelona - the newly crowned league champions embarrassed their rivals! You can expect massive changes at Barca.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sid Lowe of the Guardian says Real Madrid handed Barca "the mother of all embarrassments."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Poland coach Leo Beenhakker.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Ravi Ubha at the Seattle Post Intelligencer with a world news round up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African News

The Reuters Soccer Blog with an article on the dearth of qualified coaches in Africa.

4 Comments:

Blogger Mike said...

Add me to the list of people who've had MLSNet crash my browser. Plus, I can't get their media player to work to watch highlights, unless I go into the QuickKicks section and use the different embedded player on that page. I sent MLS an email about it, and they forwarded me to Major League Baseball, who runs the MLS video stuff. Not ony were they completely unhelpful, but at the bottom of their email it said they were help for MLB.com and MLS.com. Unfortunately, as we all know , it's MLSNet.com. MLS.com is a real estate website. I found that to be a nice big F*ck you from Major League Baseball.

9:16 AM  
Blogger Mike said...

Oh, and yes, I'm also using Firefox, on a Mac. Is everybody else on Macs or PCs?

9:27 AM  
Blogger Martin Hajovsky said...

Hey, since when did the Electric Light Orchestra start ranking national soccer teams? First Brian May becomes an astronomer and now Jeff Lynne's gone all international football on us? What's next, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant combine to own a French rugby squad? When will it end?

1:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also run Firefox, but I haven't had any problems with MLSnet for some time. I'm on a PC; running FF on a Mac may be you guys' issue, or it may be the combination of FF and your security software. Before I switched to ZoneAlarm, FF and Norton Internet Security wouldn't display the MLSnet front page correctly (but it didn't crash my browser). Everything's fine with FF and ZoneAlarm now, but that combination does prevent me from viewing the Wall Street Journal's site. WSJ tech support has tried to help, but no luck -- I have to shut down ZoneAlarm to view wsj.com.

1:24 PM  

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