Cry For The Late Change News

I want to go back over some things I wrote yesterday about the dismissal of Alexi Lalas by Los Angeles. I said only negative things. But he deserves a ton of credit for being one of the biggest supporters of soccer in American and MLS in particular. He has a voice and knows how to use it. The Press love to talk to him, and he never lets us down. For that reason alone I hope he is a big part of this league for a long long time. Thank you Alexi, and best of luck.

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Only 8 days until the USA goes to Guatemala to start the 1st group stage of World Cup qualifying. (Wed Aug 20 at 9pm central on ESPN2.) Guatemala has announced their roster. You can see it in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying section.

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AEG president Tim Leiweke, owner of the Los Angeles Galaxy, talking about the firing of Lalas & Gullit: "Unfortunately, you can't fire 22 players." Many more enlightening quotes in the Los Angeles Galaxy section.


USA Men's Olympic Team

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 7
Japan 0-1 USA - USA goal by Stuart Holden.
Attendance: 37,177
Venue: Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin
-Sun Aug 10
Netherlands 2-2 USA - Neth goals by Ryan Babel & Gerald Sibon. USA goals by Sacha Kljestan & Jozy Altidore.
Attendance: 45,016
Venue: Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin
-Wed Aug 13
Nigeria v USA - 4am central on USA Network
Venue: Workers Stadium, Beijing
Match preview video from US Soccer.
Match preview by Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
Match preview from Yanks Abroad.
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US Soccer has an audio interview with left fullback Marvell Wynne.
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Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on the slow and steady growth in the talents of Freddy Adu.
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Group B Standings:
4 USA (GD +1 - GS 3)
4 Nigeria (GD +1 - GS 2)
2 Netherlands
0 Japan
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Official team blog
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NBC Olympic soccer website
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Group Standings
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Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated on his blog talks about his love of soccer and his love of the Olympics, but his not-so-excited feelings for Olympic soccer.
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The Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks to New England technical director Mike Burns about his days on the USA Olympic team back in 92.
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US Open Cup

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 12
DC United v New England Revolution
Venue: RFK Stadium, Washington DC
Charleston Battery v Seattle Sounders
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston SC
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No TV for these two games, US Soccer should be ashamed of themselves for letting this great tournament slip so far off the radar.
-The US Open Cup site has info on audio options for the NER v DCU game, and online video options for the CB v SS game.
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DC United will be without Marc Burch who is suspended due to a Red Card in the previous round, and Marcelo Gallardo who is still recovering from hernia surgery.
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Jay Heaps, Steve Ralston & Matt Reis did not travel with the Revs to DC for the game. Reis has not played any Open Cup games this season, but no reason was given for the exclusion of the other two.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post feels that DCU might be worn out before tonights big Open Cup match.
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Monique Walker of the Boston Globe on the Rev's needing their squad depth to make it through this stretch of the season.
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Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald on Revs backup keeper Doug Warren who will get a shot to show what he has got tonight. He has played all of the Open Cup matches for the team this season.
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Here are the 4 possible scenarios for the Final:
-Wed Sep 3 - Seattle v DC - Qwest Field, Seattle WA - 10pm central
-Wed Sep 3 - DC v Charleston - RFK Stadium, Washington DC - 6:30pm central
-Mon Sep 15 - Seattle v New England - Qwest Field, Seattle WA - 9pm central
-Mon Sep 22 - Charleston v New England - Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston SC - 6pm central
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MLS Scoreboard

Week 21
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 14
Chivas USA v Los Angeles - 10pm on ESPN2
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
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League Standings
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Sebastian Perez Ferreiro of Sports Illustrated Latino talks to Cuauhtemoc Blanco about his life in MLS and beyond.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle looks at the Dynamo schedule and says this is the kind of line up you want to see in the Dog Days of the summer.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

The local NPR affiliate in KC had an hour of soccer talk yesterday. They talk Wizards and Chivas USA, and KCW technical director Peter Vermes is their guest. Great stuff. Download or listen to the audio here. (thanks to Kyle for the heads up)
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Graham Jones of the LA Times with all the gory quotes from AEG President Tim Leiweke on the failings of his team and the cleanout of his top management people.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze has an article on the whole messy scene. And Green puts the biggest blame where is should be placed - on Leiweke and AEG's shoulders.
-And on his blog 100 Percent Soccer Green links to a video interview with Leiweke from an LA local news channel.
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Green puts out the names of Bruce Arena, Sigi Schmid and Peter Nowak as possibilities to run the spaceship.
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Richard Snowden at Soccer365 turns his glare on Tim Leiweke too, because this season and regime is not the beginning of failure in LA. Then Snowden finds a rainbow after the storm.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America wonders where LA turns to now for leadership.
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Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on the "Galaxy unrest".
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Looking back at anti-Gullit statements made by released defender Abel Xavier that were credited to sour grapes, do we need to see Xavier as right on the money?
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The Revs have come to terms with Saprissa to buy defender Gabriel Badilla. They now just need the magical work permit etc.
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives with big rumors on Eddie Lewis now going to LA, who have passed on Cory Gibbs who's rights will now revert to Colorado. So where will he play? And again I have to ask, is he healthy? Great move for LA to land Lewis if that deal get's done cuz left mid is one of their giant holes.
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USL First Division News

USL First & Second Teams Of The Week.
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I think Ricardo Sanchez of Minnesota should have been the runaway Player of the Week - his 3 big goals lead the team to 2 very important wins. And they were all incredible goals!
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Minnesota Thunder

Brain Quarstad at Blue Sky Soccer has 2 new audio interviews on line. The first is from the teams now former player, forward Aaron Paye, who has just been traded to Atlanta. And the second interview is with interim head coach Don Gramenz about the teams change in fortunes over the past couple of weeks. Things are looking up.
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USA U20 News

2 Friendlies this week in Sunrise FL
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 12
USA v Guatemala
-Thu Aug 14
USA v Guatemala
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Americans In Europe

Greg Seltzer at Soccer365 talks to Bobby Convey about a new season for Reading, and one in which they need to redeem themselves.
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Seltzer talks to Dan Califf about his new Danish club Midjtylland and the season ahead.
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Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege host Liverpool on Wednesday in the Champions League.
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RECENT MATCHES

Belgian Supercup
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - went all 90 and scored TWO goals as they beat Anderlecht 3-1 in the seasons-kickoff-eve game.
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Norwegian Tippeligaen
-Adin Brown - Aalesunds - didn't play and they lost 1-2 at home to Stabaek.
-Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - not in the game day roster as they beat Aalesunds at home 2-1.
-Troy Perkins - Valerenga - played all 90 as usual but could only draw 1-1 at Hamarkamaratene.
-Brian Waltrip - Molde - not on the bench and they lost 3-1 at Rosenborg.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - did not suit up as they won 2-0 at home over Tromso.
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Norwegian Adeccoligaen
-Clarence Goodson - Start - went the distance as they won 1-2 at Alta.
-Joe Lapira - Nybergsund - saw all 90 dreadful minutes up close as they lost 6-1 at Honefoss.
-Jay Needham - Alta - played all 90 minutes but lost 1-2 at home to Start.
-Chris Rodd - Bryne - sadly played the entirety of a 7-0 drubbing at Notodden.
-Kyle Veris - Hodd - back from injury but did not play as they lost 0-2 at Sandefjord.
-Cam Weaver - Haugesund - played the whole match as they drew 1-1 at Odd Grenland.
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Others
-Ryan Guy - St Patricks Athletic - (League of Ireland) - went the full 90 but lost 0-1 at home to Drogheda United.
-Chris Knopoka - Bohemians - (League of Ireland) - was on the bench but did not play in a 1-0 home win over Cork City.
-Nate Weiss - Longford Town - (League of Ireland 2) - did not suit up as they lost at home 0-1 to Kildare County.
-Damon Wilson - Kapfenberg - (Austrian Bundesliga) - did not play as they lost at home 1-3 to Sturm Graz.
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TRANSFER RUMORS

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider gives us the latest on where Benny Feilhaber just might end up playing this season.
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

Guatemala has announced a 19 man roster for next weeks game against the USA:
G:
Ricardo Trigueno - Petapa
Luis Pedro Molina - Jalapa
D:
Carlos Gallardo - Comunicaciones
Carlos Castrillo - Comunicaciones
Yony Flores - Marquense
Cristian Noriega - Municipal
Jaime Vides - Municipal
Luis Rodriguez - Xelaju
Gustavo Cabrera - Aarhus
M:
Fredy Garcia - Municipal
Pando Ramirez - Municipal
Mario Rodriguez - Municipal
Gonzalo Romero - Municipal
Jean Marquez - Comunicaciones
Abner Trigueros - Comunicaciones
Jose Contreras - Arsenal de Sarandi
Fredy Thompson - no club
F:
Dwight Pezzarossi - Comunicaciones
Carlos Ruiz - Los Angeles Galaxy
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Mexico & FMF News

Graciela Resendiz of Soccernet y ESPN Deportes brings us up to date with the start of the Apertura.
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Olympic Soccer News

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Netherlands forward Roy Makaay about the Olympics so far, and his own future.
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David Mosse of Soccernet with his good views on Olympic play so far.
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FIFA's Olympic News Site
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Olympic Soccer Scoreboard

Men's Olympic Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 7
Australia 1-1 Serbia
Argentina 2-1 Cote d'Ivoire
Japan 0-1 USA
Netherlands 0-0 Nigeria
Belgium 1-0 Brazil
China 1-1 New Zealand
Honduras 3-0 Italy
Cameroon 1-1 S Korea
-Sun Aug 10
Argentina 1-0 Australia
Cote d'Ivoire 4-2 Serbia
Japan 1-2 Nigeria
Netherlands 2-2 USA - 6:45am central on USA Network
Brazil 5-0 New Zealand
Belgium 2-0 China
Cameroon 1-0 Honduras
Italy 3-0 S Korea
-Wed Aug 13
Argentina v Serbia
Australia v Cote d'Ivoire
Nigeria v USA - 4am central on USA Network
Japan v Netherlands
Brazil v China
Belgium v New Zealand
Honduras v S Korea
Cameroon v Italy
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Men's Group Standings
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Argentina, Brazil & Italy have qualified for the Men's knock out rounds.
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Women's Olympic Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Wed Aug 6
Argentina 1-2 Canada
China 2-1 Sweden
Germany 0-0 Brazil
N Korea 1-0 Nigeria
Japan 2-2 New Zealand
Norway 2-0 USA
-Sat Aug 9
Sweden 1-0 Argentina
Canada 1-1 China
Nigeria 0-1 Germany
Brazil 2-1 N Korea
USA 1-0 Japan
New Zealand 0-1 Norway
-Tue Aug 12
China 2-0 Argentina
Sweden 2-1 Canada
N Korea 0-1 Germany
Nigeria 1-3 Brazil
Norway 1-5 Japan
USA 4-0 New Zealand
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Women's Group Standings
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Women's Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 15
Brazil v Norway
Sweden v Germany
China v Japan
USA v Canada
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South American News

Jose Paolo Guerrero of Peru has been given a 6 game ban from CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying for insulting the referee during a qualifying match in Uruguay.
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England News

The Guardian with their Premiership team-by-team season previews:
-Arsenal
-Aston Villa
-Blackburn
-Bolton
-Chelsea
-Everton
-Fulham
-Hull City
-Liverpool
-Manchester City
-Manchester United
-Middlesbrough
NEW-Newcastle
NEW-Portsmouth
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Kevin McCarra of the Guardian makes the argument that Arsenal & Liverpool are simply no match for Man U & Chelsea.
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The Independent with an article on the disaster brewing at Manchester City where Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra may be extradited to his home land on fraud charges, and his giant bankroll appears to be gone.
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European News

FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian gives us a rundown of week 1 in Ligue 1.
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SPAIN

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola wants forward Samuel Eto'o to stay with the team.
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UEFA Champions League

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian tells us about the renewal of rivalry that was a great one during the Soviet Union era - Dynamo Kyiv v Spartak Moscow. They face off in this round of the Champions League.
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Arsenal will be without star midfielder Cesc Fabregas against Twente on Wednesday due to a hamstring strain.
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Third Qualifying Round - 1st leg
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 12
Fiorentina v Slavia Praha
-Wed Aug 13
Sparta Praha v Panathinaikos
Spartak Moskva v Dynamo Kyiv
Levski Sofia v BATE
Shakhtar Donetsk v Dinamo Zagreb
Anorthosis Famagusta v Olympiacos
AaB v Kaunas
Galatasaray v Steaua Buchuresti
Juventus v Artmedia
Brann v Olympique Marseille
Schalke v Atletico Madrid
Twente v Arsenal
Partizan Belgrade v Fenerbahce
Standard Liege v Liverpool
Guimaraes Vitoria v Basel
Barcelona v Wisla Krakow
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2nd leg matches on Aug 26/27
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UEFA Cup

Second Qualifying Round - 1st leg matches Aug 14. 2nd leg matches on Aug 28. Here are the matches.