Gloves Help With Steering News

SuperLiga

Official website
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Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 29
Houston 2-0 Pachuca - HD goals by Bobby Bowell & Corey Ashe.
Attendance: 16,679
Venue: Robertson Stadium, Houston TX
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Post game notes by Glenn Davis of the Chronicle on his blog The Soccer Hour.
Post game notes by Fallas in the Chron.
Post game notes & Houston player ratings by Fallas on his blog Soccer y Futbol.
(In Spanish) Match report from El Sol de Hidalgo in Pachuca.
(In Spanish) Match report from Sintesis in Pachuca.
-Wed Jul 30
New England v Atlante - 7pm central on TeleFutura
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Match preview by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match preview from the Attleboro (MA) Sun Chronicle.
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Michael Parkhurst will not be with New England tonight as he is in Hong Kong with the USA preparing for the Olympics.
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My notes from Houston v Pachuca:
-Pachuca clearly missed their maestro Chaco Gimenez. He was out due to Yellow Card accumulation in the group stage. I hate that 2 Yellows in a three game series can get you suspended. That is a joke.
-Pachuca was also robbed of a goal. They came out flying to start the second half and Gabriel Caballero scored on a tap in but was called Offside. He sure looked even with last defender to me. These are the type of calls where officials get into trouble. When it is that close they should put the flags and whistles into their pocket.
-Houston was without starting centerback Eddie Robinson due to food poisoning, and defender Patrick Ianni & midfielder Stuart Holden who are with the USA Olympic team.
-Again the field at Houston's Robertson Stadium was embarrassing. In the previous SuperLiga games played there it was worn down to dirt and sand with a few patches of green. So they tore it all out and put in new grass about 10 days ago. But it looked like they never watered it after laying it down. It was dry, sandy and patched together in a very ugly way. Not to mention all the bumps. Was it better than before? Maybe. But honestly, it was bad, and the people who run the stadium and the tournament should be called out on it. This is the semifinal of a tournament we are told is important. It sure didn't look like it, again. To make it worse, tonight’s semifinal won't even be played on grass, but instead it'll be that awful fake stuff. Yes I am turning into a turf-nazi.
-Nate Jaqua & Kei Kamara made their return and debut with Houston, respectively. Both added to the depth and took pressure off the other players.
-The two outside midfielders, Brian Mullan & Corey Ashe hooking up for the second goal was classic Houston play.
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The Final is on Tue Aug 5. The location will be New England if they win, and Houston if Atlante win.
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald wonders if the deal to bring in Brian McBride is too rich for the teams future.
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The South Jersey Courier Post with an article on their hometown boy, midfielder Stephen King.
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New left midfielder Marco Pappa has acquired his work permit and will be eligible to play in the friendly against Everton tonight.
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FC DALLAS

FCD management has done everything in their power to persuade Kenny Cooper to stay. A hefty pay raise was thought to be #1 on that list.
-Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News reports that Cooper is not leaving Dallas any time soon.
-Wales Online reports that Cooper is not signing with Cardiff City and will stay in Dallas, with a new contract worth $400,000 a year. That would make him a designated player wouldn't it?
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DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post ponders DCU falling flat on their face at home lately. They are in the midst of their worst home streak ever.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Bob Luder of the Star with an article on the teams youth players.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Monique Walker of the Boston Globe says the Revs are rested and ready for tonight.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives gives us an update after visiting Red Bulls practice today.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger on the Red Bull blues.
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REAL SALT LAKE

Steve Pastorino, the former General Manager at RSL, writing for the US Soccer Players Assoc, got a tour of the brand new stadium in Sandy and gives us his glowing impressions.
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James Edward of the Deseret News says RSL are still searching for one more player.
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TORONTO FC

Last week on Jimmy Conrad's radio show defender Todd Dunivant told Conrad that he had just complete ankle surgery and would not be back again this year.
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GENERAL

Andrew Dixon at the US Soccer Players Assoc thinks MLS commish Donald M Garber heaped a little too much praise on Toronto during his All Star game speech. Yes their fans have snapped up ticket and Reds gear at an impressive rate, but what have they done on the field to earn any praise?
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MLS Friendlies

-Wed Jul 30
Chicago v Everton (England)
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The Liverpool Echo on Everton's preseason preparations here in America.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on Everton's training in Chicago.
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MLS Expansion News

The Seattle Post Intelligencer on what the Sounders are doing right, with huge excitement about the team 8 months before they even kick off in MLS.
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The National Post on one of Vancouver's financial backers not named Steve Nash.
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Former MLS Player News

Former New England defender Tony Lochead is getting a look from Middlesbrough in England. He will have had to have improved considerably to have any chance at succeeding in the Premiership. I would be shocked if this happened.
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USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 29
Miami 1-2 Vancouver
-Fri Aug 1
Atlanta v Charleston
Puerto Rico v Seattle
Carolina v Vancouver
-Sat Aug
Minnesota v Portland
-Sun Aug 3
Charleston v Vancouver
Puerto Rico v Carolina
Rochester v Atlanta
-Tue Aug 5
Atlanta v Vancouver
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USL First Division Standings

Standings (games played):
31 Charleston (18) (GD +8)
31 Vancouver (17) (GD +3)
30 Puerto Rico (17)
28 Rochester (19)
26 Seattle (20)
23 Miami (21) (GD -3)
23 Portland (20) (GD -4)
21 Atlanta (16) (GD -5)
21 Carolina (19) (GD -8)
20 Minnesota (19)
19 Montreal (18)
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USA Olympic Team

The South China Morning Post with an article on Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore.
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Patrick Ianni writes a "journal" for his hometown paper, the Lodi News Sentinel in California.
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ING Cup Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 30
USA 0-0 Cote d'Ivoire
Match report from US Soccer.
-Sat Aug 2
USA v Cameroon
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USA Lineup and Subs against Ivory Coast:
18-Brad Guzan; 2-Marvell Wynne, 15-Michael Parkhurst, 6-Maurice Edu, 3-Michael Orozco; 16-Sacha Kljestan (10-Benny Feilhaber, 46), 4-Michael Bradley (13-Patrick Ianni, 89), 11-Freddy Adu (5-Dax McCarty, 46), 7-Stuart Holden (8-Danny Szetela, 46); 17-Brian McBride (capt.) (14-Robbie Rogers, 46), 12-Jozy Altidore (9-Charlie Davies, 46)
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From what I have been able to read today it looks like the USA gave a very weak offensive performance. Their only shot on goal was a blooped header from Jozy Altidore that gave the keeper no troubles at all. While Brad Guzan twice had to make huge saves to keep the score at zeros. A dedicated reader from the Philippines, Bart, saw the game on TV there and said of the USA: "The English announcers on Star Sports (who were otherwise generally supportive of the Yanks) called them disappointing."
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I have a question - Why would the game be shown in the Philippines and yet you can't see it here?
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Official team blog.
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US Soccer with video of the team training in Hong Kong.
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US Soccer has quotes from coaches and players. These are a couple of days old now.
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USA U20 News

Our boys are taking part in the annual Milk Cup in Northern Ireland.
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Matches & Scores:
-Mon Jul 28
USA 1-3 Northern Ireland - USA goal by Johnny Flynn(OG).
Match report from the Milk Cup website.
-Wed Jul 30
USA v Wales
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Belgium, Chile & Israel make up the other group.
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The final will be played on Fri Aug 1.
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Americans In Europe

London's Daily Mail talks to Brad Friedel who says one reason he signed with Aston Villa is that team owner Randy Lerner also owns his beloved hometown Cleveland Browns.
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Goalkeeper Patrick Lane has signed a deal to play for Cercle of Brugge in Belgium. He had been training at Brad Friedel's Premier Soccer Academy.
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Olympic Soccer News

Here is a candidate for World Wide Goal Of The Year - South Korean goalkeeper shoots from his own box and scores at the other end of the field against Ivory Coast in an Olympic warm-up match! Via You Tube. (Thanks to Bart for this gem)
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England News

Joey Barton may have gotten out of jail, and he may still have a contract with his club Newcastle, but his shoe sponsor Nike has dropped him as an endorser. My only question is this - What took them so long?
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The Guardian runs an article from 42 years ago today - England wins the World Cup.
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And another chapter from the Guardian Book Of Football - Brilliant, brave and as big as the Beatles, George is the Best
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European News

FRANCE

Paris St Germain won the French Cup title last season, but won't get to defend it this upcoming season. Why? Because of continued bad behavior by their fans. Notoriously racist & hate filled, the fans hung banners in their stadium during the Cup finals insulting the region where their opponent Lens hail from.
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ITALY

ESPN Magazine puts all of Ronaldinho's failings down to hookers.
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Milan has included Paolo Maldini on their roster as they head to Russia for the Moscow Tournament. They will play games against Chelsea, Lokomotiv Moscow & Sevilla. So much for retiring.
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UEFA Champions League

Second Qualifying Round - 1st leg
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 29
Brann (Bergen, Norway) 1-0 Ventspils (Latvia)
Inter Baku (Azerbaijan) 1-1 Partizan (Belgrade, Serbia)
Drogheda (Ireland) 1-2 Dynamo Kyiv (Kiev, Ukraine)
-Wed Aug 30
Rangers (Glasgow Scotland) 0-0 Kaunas (Lithuania)
Tampere United (Finland) 1-3 Artmedia (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Sheriff (Tiraspol, Moldova) 0-1 Sparta Praha (Czech Republic)
AaB (Aalborg, Denmark) 5-0 Modrica Maxima (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Beitar Jerusalem (Israel) 2-1 Wisla Krakow (Poland)
Fenerbahce (Istanbul, Turkey) 2-0 MTK Hungaria (Budapest, Hungary)
IFK Goteborg (Sweden) 1-1 Basel (Switzerland)
Anderlecht (Montignies-sur-Sambre, Belgium) 1-2 BATE (Borisov, Belarus)
Anorthosis Famagusta (Larnaca, Cyprus) 3-0 Rapid Wien (Vienna, Austria)
Panathinaikos (Athens, Greece) 3-0 Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)
Domzale (Slovenia) 0-3 Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
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2nd leg matches on Aug 5 & 6.
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World News

Ravi Ubha of the Seattle Post Intelligencer with his weekly news roundup - The Beautiful Game.
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Jack Warner/Sepp Blatter/FIFA Idiocy & Scandal News

Andrew Jennings at the Telegraph with the latest from the court proceedings surrounding the collapse of media company ISL and the losses of 100's of millions of dollars in 2001. The court in Switzerland had found FIFA to be guilty of "misleading" detectives in the investigation. FIFA has said they will appeal.