You Got Yer Socks On Backwards News

653 days to till the World Cup

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Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated looks back at the Olympics: "(Kobe) Bryant has been following soccer closely in Beijing, attending at least three different games. When he went to the Brazil-Argentina men's semifinal he even sat in the common-man seats instead of the VIP section. "I didn't want to sit in the VIP section. I wanted to sit with the crazies," Bryant said. "It was awesome. Awesome. I had a chance to just be a fan.""


CONCACAF Champions League News

Official CONCACAF website.
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The Preliminary Round - 1st Leg
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 26
Joe Public (T&T) v New England Revolution - 7pm central on FSC
Match preview by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
Match preview from the Trinidad & Tobago Express.
Match preview from the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.
Match preview from Soccer 365.
Tauro (Panama) v Chivas USA - 9pm central on FSC
Match preview from the LA Times.
Cruz Azul v Hankook Verdes (Belize) - 12 midnight central on FSC
-Wed Aug 27
Montreal Impact v Real Esteli (Nicaragua) - 7pm central on FSC
Alajuelense (Costa Rico) v Puerto Rico Islanders - 9pm central on FSC
Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) v Marathon (Honduras)
-Thu Aug 28
Harbour View (Jamaica) v UNAM Pumas - 7pm central on FSC
Match preview from the Jamaica Observer.
Jalapa (Guatemala) v San Francisco (Panama)
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Steve Davis of Soccernet previews the games this week.
-More preview from David Mosse at Soccernet.
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Nick Green of the LA Daily News previews the new and fairly anonymous tournament.
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Kyle McCarthy - and - Pat Walsh of Goal.com with their thoughts on the CCL.
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MLS Scoreboard

League Standings
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

The team has named local sports industry veteran Dave Greeley as their new President.
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COLORADO RAPIDS

Class VI has a Q & A with a team marketing exec.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle say the Dynamo are frustrated after getting stomped in New Jersey and just want to get on with the next game. Sunday night at home v Chicago.
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TORONTO FC

Morgan Campbell of the Star says coach John Carver has taken the team on a 2 day "retreat".
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And guess what? Carlos Ruiz made it to Toronto!!!! Hooray Hooters! Hooray Beer! Boo Gustavo Cabrera!
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GENERAL

Luis Bueno at the Press Enterprise look ahead to the Western Conference playoff possibilities.
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Steve Davis for MLSnet checks out the transfer window and which teams improved the most.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times with his weekly soccer column - Extra Time.
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Team USA

FIFA.com does a Q & A with Steve Cherundolo about World Cup Qualifying, but doesn't ask him about being Red Carded in Guatemala. Huh?
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Americans In Europe

Rangers website with an article on their new signing Maurice Edu as he gets ready for this weekends first big European derby of the new season - The Old Firm! Edu could make his debut in this match.
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The Glasgow Evening Times on Edu's arrival.
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Wales On Line talks to new Cardiff striker Eddie Johnson.
-EJ will make his debut today in the Carling Cup.
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UEFA Champions League:
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - The 2nd leg will be played on Aug 27 in Liverpool, tied 0-0.
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UEFA Cup (all Thu Aug 28):
-Brian Arguez - Hertha Berlin - take on NK Ljubljana of Slovenia
-Carlos Bocanegra - Stade Rennais - take on Stabaek of Norway
-Dan Califf - Midtjylland - take on Manchester City of England
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - take on Hafnarfjordur of Iceland
-Ryan Guy - St Patricks Athletic - take on Elfsborg of Sweden
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - take on Hafnarfjordur of Iceland
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English Carling Cup
2nd Round Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 26
Bobby Convey - Reading v Luton Town
Jay DeMerit - Watford v Darlington
Marcus Hahnemann - Reading v Luton Town
Eddie Johnson - Cardiff City v Milton Keynes
Jemal Johnson - Cardiff City v Milton Keynes
-Wed Aug 27
Clint Dempsey - Fulham v Leicester City
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South American News

Boca Juniors long time star forward Martin Palermo has blown out his right knee which will require surgery and many months of rehab. The team does not expect him to play again until next spring. (thanks to Joe J for this one)
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England News

It looks like the transfer saga for Real Madrid forward Robinho is over - he is of to Chelsea.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the Chelsea spinning drama door - Sheva out, Robi in.
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Martin Samuel of the Times says Steven Gerrard MUST step up and deliver for England.
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Paul Doyle of the Guardian looks at the last grasp of this seasons transfer window in England.
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FIFA.com does a Q & A with Arsenal's young French striker Samir Nasri.
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European News

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the final few frantic days of this summers transfer period.
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FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian looks at the mess at Nantes - crazy owner, terrible team, coach with no support of management, the death of fans, and the heart attack of defender during a practice session. They sound cursed!
-Coach Michel Der Zakarian was fired today.
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Lyon has sold forward Milan Baros to Galatasaray.
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GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian tells us about one of the wilder football success stories in recent times - Hoffenheim. After 2 games this season they are the team in the Bundesliga with 2 wins. (It's a town of less than 40,000.)
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Bild takes the long slow route to Hoffenheim to tell us what is going on.
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Bild also reports that after rough times at both Bayern Munich & Chelsea for Claudio Pizarro, he is ready for the challenge at Werder Bremen.
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ITALY

Gazzetta dello Sport give us a preview of the new Inter Milan.
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Andrei Shevchenko finally ends a long painfully couple of years at Chelsea (why did he stick around so long?) and goes back to AC Milan where he enjoyed his heyday.
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Milan has also brought in Arsenal's big clumsy centerback Philippe Senderos a long deal.
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OTHERS

Remember last month when that team in Uzbekistan claimed that they were going to sign Samuel Eto'o? Well, we all knew that was silly, but they did signed a big name. Really. Rivaldo.
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Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian tell us all about a team from Belarus called BATE. They are on the verge of making it to the group stage of the Champions League.
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The Guardian looks at Ajax and new coach Marco Van Basten as the Eredivisie launches another season this weekend.
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UEFA Champions League

Third Qualifying Round - 2nd leg
Matches & Scores (including 1st leg score):
-Tue Aug 26
Panathinaikos v Sparta Praha (2-1)
Artmedia v Juventus (0-4)
-Wed Aug 27
Slavia Praha v Fiorentina (0-2)
Dynamo Kyiv v Spartak Moskva (4-1)
BATE v Levski Sofia (1-0)
Dinamo Zagreb v Shakhtar Donetsk (0-2)
Olympiacos v Anorthosis Famagusta (0-3)
Kaunas v AaB (0-2)
Steaua Buchuresti v Galatasaray (2-2)
Olympique Marseille v Brann (1-0)
Atletico Madrid v Schalke (0-1)
Arsenal v Twente (2-0)
Fenerbahce v Partizan Belgrade (2-2)
Liverpool v Standard Liege (0-0)
Basel v Guimaraes Vitoria (0-0)
Wisla Krakow v Barcelona (0-4)
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World News

Ravi Ubha of the Seattle Post Intelligencer with his weekly world soccer news round up.
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Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated wraps up is Olympic experience with a look at Chinese fans.
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The Road To World Cup 2010 - South Africa News

Sports Illustrated checks in to see how South African preparations are going. Slow.