Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Belong To The Breadbasket News

Many people are asking me what "The Designated Players" thing in the right hand column is really all about. I could not have written the answer more succinctly than my comrade Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer did.


US Open Cup

3rd Round Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 1
Crystal Palace Baltimore v New York Red Bulls
Match preview from the Annapolis Capital.
Match preview from the Washington Examiner.
Match preview by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match preview from the Herald News.
New England Revolution v Richmond Kickers
Match preview from the Richmond Times Dispatch.
Chicago Fire v Cleveland City Stars
Match preview by Nick Firchau of the Chicago Sun Times & Southtown Star.
DC United v Rochester Rhinos
Match preview by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match preview by Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner.
Match preview from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
FC Dallas v Miami FC Blues
Match preview by Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News.
Charleston Battery v Houston Dynamo
Match preview from the Charleston Post & Courier.
Match preview by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Carolina Railhawks v Kansas City Wizards
Match preview from the Raleigh News & Observer.
Match preview by Bob Luder of the KC Star.
Seattle Sounders v CD Chivas USA
Match preview by Matthew Gaschk of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Match preview from the Seattle Times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Scoreboard

Week 15
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 3
Salt Lake v Houston - 9pm central on ESPN2 & ESPN Deportes
-Fri Jul 4
Dallas v Kansas City - 6pm central on HDNet
Colorado v New York - 8:30pm central on Direct Kick
Los Angeles v New England - 9:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Sat Jul 5
Columbus v Chicago - 7pm central on FSC & FSE
Chivas USA v San Jose - 9:30pm central on FSC & FSE
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto & DC have the week off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
30 New England
26 Columbus
22 DC
21 Toronto
20 Chicago (GD +9)
20 New York (GD -3)
16 Kansas City
Western Conference
21 Los Angeles
19 Salt Lake (GD -1)
19 Houston (GD -2)
18 Chivas
17 Dallas
16 Colorado
12 San Jose
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Goal Differential is the first tie breaker)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord MLS Player Of The Week

Marcelo Gallardo - Midfielder - DC United
How easy was this call? Have you watched him the past couple of weeks. Wow. He finally has mastered this team and is not turning up the notches on their victims. He may have had 3 or 4 on Sunday if his finishing was a little better. But right now he seems to be everywhere in the attack. Do you need someone to relieve pressure? There he is. Do you need a quick give and go? There he is. Do you need a long ball over the top? There he is. He moves from side to side and goal box to midfield with a sleepy stealth. He goes out of the TV picture, and then turns up seconds later in EXACTLY the right spot. Amazing. Sure he clobbered Landon Donovan and should have been Red Carded, and a couple weeks back he semi-head butted Brandon Prideaux of Chicago and could have seen Red for that too. Even more so, I was unsure if he was ready to commit to this league early on. But with each passing week I ask myself, Christian who?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

It has been almost 4 full games since the Fire scored a goal. What the hell is going on? We all know Chad Barrett struggles mightily, but what about the rest of them. Is this just their slump, and when they bust out it will be back to 2 or 3 goals a game again?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on the blog Covering The Crew says the team has been chasing former New England forward Pat Noonan, but MLS can't come to a contract agreement with the player. Really though, it's not even that simple.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Tobias Lopez of Fort Worth Star Telegram with a story on 2 very young FCD players that many have pegged for greatness. Brek Shea 18 & Josh Lambo 17.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America's MLS Confidential gives us some insight into Ben Olsen's return to the field from long term ankle injuries. And Olsen's connection with Santino Quaranta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Times sends one of their mainstream sports guys out to RFK and the DC v LA game. I think he came away knowing what the best ticket in town looks like.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle with the latest news and notes around Dynamoville.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Bob Luder of the Star on the teams re-acquisition of forward Josh Wolff, from 1860 Munich.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

SF at The Offside Rules shows us Beck's new car. Damn. Even I am impressed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze looks at the Galaxy's up and down form, and how it pretty much parallel's the entire league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise talks to New England right fullback Chris Albright about his days playing for the Galaxy, and then being unceremoniously shipped away. Huge mistake by the team!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger on the Bulls tight schedule ahead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

AYL Soccer's great video show is back - Double Talk - this time it's Matias Mantilla v Kenny Cutler, where the two players face off on the same questions via split screen. Great stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Nigel Reed of the CBC looks at what it's going to take for TFC to get some real road juice going.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

The League has named Steve Ralston, midfielder for New England, as the Player Of The Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree says Rosenborg of Norway is the team that bid for Dallas forward Kenny Cooper, and had it rejected. Will they up the offer?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Has New York gotten a young Venezuelan defender on loan? Word is that Gabriel Cichero is coming to the Red Bulls from Deportvio Italia of Caracas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Week 11 Players & Teams of the Week for both First & Second divisions. Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Steele was named Player of the Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 3
Atlanta v Minnesota
Carolina v Seattle
-Fri Jul 4
Miami v Puerto Rico
-Sat Jul 5
Charleston v Seattle
Rochester v Vancouver
-Sun Jul 6
Montreal v Puerto Rico
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Standings

Standings (games played):
24 Charleston (13)
23 Vancouver (12)
21 Portland (16)
19 Seattle (13)
17 Atlanta (13)
17 Carolina (14)
16 Minnesota (14)
16 Miami (16)
15 Montreal (13)
15 Puerto Rico (11)
11 Rochester (12)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Marc Stein of ESPN on his blog describes the sensation of playing in last weeks Steve Nash - Claudio Reyna charity match. Yes, they let a journalist in. Includes some video too!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

So how are our American boys doing in this seasons top Norwegian league:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings:
24 Stabaek
22 Fredrikstad - Brian West
18 Bodo Glimt
17 Lyn Oslo
16 Stromsgodset IF
16 Brann Bergen
16 Viking Stavanger
15 Rosenborg Trondheim
15 Tromso
14 Valerenga Oslo - Troy Perkins
11 Molde - Brian Waltrip
10 Aalesund - Adin Brown & Pat Noonan
9 Lillestrom
6 HamKam
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad has a great run down from Norway of who played and what their impact was. There are several guys in the 2nd division in Norway too, that are mentioned in this article.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

Embele Awipi of the Salinas Californian wonders why our region can't put on a tournament as exciting as the European competition.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

Canada has set their 3 home qualifiers for the next round:
-Aug 20
In Toronto v Jamaica
-Sept 6
In Montreal v Honduras
-Oct 15
In Edmonton v Mexico
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So CONCACAF is going to let them play on that nasty fake turf??
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

The fourth of six games between Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal to determine their countries entrant in the CONCACAF Champions League takes place this week:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Jul 1
Toronto V Vancouver
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star says TFC will not take this game lightly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Peter Mallett of the Toronto Globe & Star with a match preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
6 Montreal (3)
3 Toronto (1)
0 Vancouver (2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Final 2nd Leg Match & Score (with 1st leg score included):
-Wed Jul 2
Fluminense v LDU Quito (2-4)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated says the win by either team will be a Libertadores shocker compared to who was favored to win it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com with an article on Flu who believe they can comeback and win the title at home. So do I.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com also talks to Liga captain Patricio Urrutia about leading his team to victory.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times tells us more about LDU Quito aka Liga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of Liga's best players this season has been Joffre Guerron, and he is all set to join Getafe in Spain with this tournament ends.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Well, Joey Barton met himself a judge with a kind kind heart. He got a suspended jail sentence for admitting he beat up a teammate. He has already proven himself to be a multiple offender for violence so he should really consider himself a lucky bastard.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis, writing for a magazine called American Way, give us a great look at Sunderland's battle against relegation at the end of last season, and just how awful relegation can be. Excellent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cristiano Ronaldo is on vacation and he loooooooves the paparazzi. (Great picture)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

SPAIN

Barcelona has secured the services of Sevilla's wide ranging right fullback Daniel Alves!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FRANCE

Sport Magazine does a Q & A with Eric Cantona. Yes, he really does think that highly of himself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

Gazetta dello Sport attends the introduction of new/old Italy manager Marcelo Lippi. He plans to pick up right where he left off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ronaldo's contract with Milan ended on June 30. So technically, he is free to roam.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter coach Jose Mourinho says they will not sign Frank Lampard.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian with a story of haplessness, Berti Vogts coaching talent, Bosnia and World Cup qualifying. Great chaos!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gavin Hamilton of World Soccer does a Q & A with now ex-Holland coach Marco Van Basten.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League

I don't know if you even want to read this or not, but the draw happened today for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, First & Second qualifying rounds!
The First Round First leg will be played Jul 15 &16, with the Second leg on Jul 22 & 23.
Matches:
Linfield (NIR) v NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Valetta (MLT) v Artmedia Petrzalka (SVK)
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v NSI Runavik (FRO)
Santa Coloma (AND) v Kaunus (LTU)
Murata (SMR) v Goteborg (SWE)
Llanelli (WAL) v Ventspils (LVA)
Anorthosis Famugusta (CYP) v Pyunik (ARM)
Inter Baki (AZE) v Rabotnicki (MKD)
Tampere United (FIN) v Buducnost Podgorica (MNE)
F91 Dudelange (LUX) v Domzale (SVN)
Dinamo Tirana (ALB) v Modrica (BIH)
Aktobe (KAZ) v Sheriff (MDA)
Drogheda United FC (IRL) v Levadia Tallinn (EST)
BATE Borisov (BLR) v Valur Reykjavík (ISL)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Second Qualifying Round will take place on Jul 29 & 30, and Aug 5 & 6, with the following 14 teams joining in:
-Rangers
-Brann
-Partizan
-Rapid Wien
-Panathinaikos
-Basel
-Sparta Spraha
-Dinamo Kyiv
-Anderlecht
-Beitar Jerusalem
-Wisla Krakow
-Fenerbahce
-Budapest
-Aalborg
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Euro 2008 Championship

Pitch Invasion looks at what the corporatization of big soccer events means for the average fan like you and me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer America with their Best XI list from the just ended tournament. I agree with 10 of the 11. For some reason I am still unsure of Sergio Ramos. So I would drop him off and add Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An editorial in the Washington Post about the nationalism of the Euro tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports with his All-Euro team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports that the sites of the next 3 major tournaments - South Africa 2010, Poland & Ukraine 2012 & Brazil 2014 - are all on very shaky ground.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This guys will be making the trip up to God's country from CT for the Montreal game. If only there were Impact games on saturdays I would have made the trip up to see the stadium sooner.

Reid

12:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its just right that Joey Barton plays in a black & white striped kit. Now all he needs is leg irons..

1:41 PM  
Blogger kj said...

Interesting that Canada hosts Honduras in Montreal the day after the Impact host the Thunder.

Hm, now I'm reconsidering spending NW miles to go to Europe about that time. Maybe I'll go see the Thunder and also see Canada. Hmmm.

3:31 PM  

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