Italian National Anthem News

Most Points In MLS Since August 1st:
16 Houston - 5-1-1
14 San Jose - 4-1-2
14 DC - 4-3-2
13 Columbus - 4-1-1
13 New York - 4-2-1
12 Chicago - 4-4-0
9 Colorado - 3-4-0
8 Dallas - 2-3-2
8 New England - 2-3-2
8 Chivas - 2-4-2
7 KC - 2-4-1
5 Toronto - 1-4-2
4 Salt Lake - 1-3-1
3 Los Angeles - 0-3-3

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From reader Jeremy: I’m looking at your list of MLS Attendance from this past weekend and I would just like to point out for the record that last Thursday in a game that was essentially meaningless (the Timbers were all but out of it) we drew 13,500 – more than three of the matches and almost the same as a fourth!


CONCACAF Champions League News

Official CONCACAF website
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All televised games shown on FSC.
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Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 16
DC United v Saprissa - live at 6pm central
San Francisco v UNAM Pumas
Puerto Rico Islanders v Tauro - delayed at 9pm central
-Wed Sep 17
Marathon v Cruz Azul
POSTPONED Houston Dynamo v Luis Angel Firpo - this game is being postponed for now due to the damage done in Houston by Hurricane Ike this past weekend. No word on a new date yet.
Santos Laguna v Municipal
Impact de Montreal v Joe Public - live at 6pm central
-Thu Sep 18
Atlante FC v Olimpia
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Previews:
-Pat Walsh at Goal.com
-Nick Green of the Daily Breeze
-Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle
-John Haydon of the Washington Times
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post
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MLS News

CD CHIVAS USA

The AmeriGoats made four player moves on the day the league froze the rosters for the remainder of the season:
-Bought midfielder Sasha Victorine in a trade from Kansas City
-Signed Brazilian midfielder Dejair from club ABC in his home country.
-Put midfielder Raphael Wicky & defender Lawson Vaughn on the season ending injury list.
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COLORADO RAPIDS

I think it is kind of stunning that the Raps have moved into the 3rd playoff spot in the West. It just shows that it will not take much this season in that conference. On the other hand, you can bet it will go down to the last game on the last day, just like last year.
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COLUMBUS CREW

I am a day late and dollar short as usual on Steve Sirk's Columbus Notebook. Great reading.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on his blog Covering the Crew talks to coach Sigi Smalls about the little things the team is doing to help themselves succeed.
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Mitchell also writes about the Forbes article from the other day, and the Crew says that the article sells them short.
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FC DALLAS

Kenny Cooper tweaked his left ankle on Saturday, but they expect him to be ready for next weekend.
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A little team called Arsenal of North London announce that they have hired former FCD coach Steve Morrow. He will oversee there training partnerships & scouting around the world. Great for him. He is loved at Arsenal. (thanks to Richard for this one)
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DC UNITED

Midfielder Marcelo Gallardo has been diagnosed with a strain of the adductor muscle and will be out another 2 weeks. Not good.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Glenn Davis of the Chronicle looks at the Dynamo youth academy.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The East Valley Tribune of Arizona with a story on 3 locals players at the Galaxy - Greg Vanney, Alan Gordon & Brandon McDonald.
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Soccer America with a profile on rookie midfielder Ely Allen.
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The KC Star says that Beckman's on field impact is next to nothing.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

A big loss has struck the team with midfielder Dave Van Den Bergh needing hernia surgery. He is having the work done on Friday, but will miss up to 3 weeks. He has been the teams most consistent player all season, and will be impossible to replace.
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Finally got their man - forward Macoumba Kandji from Atlanta (USL-1) on loan for the rest of the season.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Ann Killion of the Mercury News on the feistiness that took over in the game against Houston.
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TORONTO FC

The National Post with a video clip of the Toronto Mayor endorsing a grass field at BMO for next season.
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Sportsnet Canada talks to coach John Carver about the teams future - of course he raves.
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Nigel Reed at the CBC says if nothing else TFC has pride to play for the rest of the way.
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The CBC also report that the team has every intention of signing a designated player for next season.
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And lastly the CBC talks to newly acquired defender Hunter Freeman.
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GENERAL

New England midfielder Steve Ralston was named Player Of The Week.
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Steve Davis at MLSnet takes a look at some centerbacks in the league that are really impressing him.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated takes a look at the Forbes article we linked to yesterday.
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Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com wraps up the week that was.
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MLS Expansion News

Bloomberg with more on the owner of the New York Mets looking to land a club in MLS. (thanks to Nick for this link)
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USL First Division News

New York is doing one last mad dash effort to sign Atlanta forward Macoumba Kandji today before MLS rosters are frozen for the rest of the season. This would be a huge boon to Minnesota's playoff hopes if Kandji was gone. I hope the deal gets done. Yes I am selfish.
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Minnesota Thunder

The team is doing a fund raiser for Breast Cancer research at the last home game of the regular season (Sat Sep 20 v Montreal) and will wear a special jersey for the occasion. I will not spoil the surprise for everyone.
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There are also rumblings of the club fielding a PDL team next season.
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USL First Division Scoreboard

Final Regular Season Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 16
Montreal v Puerto Rico
-Wed Sep 17
Miami v Rochester
-Fri Sep 19
Charleston v Carolina
Puerto Rico v Atlanta
-Sat Sep 20
Carolina v Portland
Minnesota v Montreal
Seattle v Vancouver
-Sun Sep 21
Miami v Atlanta
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USL First Division Standings

Points - Team - Games played of 30 (goal difference):
*52 Puerto Rico (28)
*50 Vancouver (29)
*41 Montreal (28) (+7)
*41 Rochester (29) (+4)
*40 Seattle (29) (+2)
*40 Charleston (29) (-1)
36 Minnesota (29)
- - - - - - - - -
33 Atlanta (28)
%31 Portland (29) (-6)
31 Carolina (28) (-11)
%28 Miami (28)
(The top 7 teams advance to the playoffs - with the #1 seed getting a first round buy.)
* clinched playoff spot
% eliminated from playoffs
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3 teams battling for one playoff spot - Minnesota, Atlanta & Carolina.
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Americans In Europe

Tim Howard & Everton v Oguchi Onyewu & Standard on Thursday in the UEFA Cup!
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It's been a while but Jay DeMerit checks in with us on the Soccernet website. What's happenin' Jay?
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UPCOMING MATCHES

Americans in the First Round of the UEFA Cup - here are their 1st leg matches:
-Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin v Saint Patrick's Athletic - Tue Sep 16
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes v Twente - Thu Sep 18
-Brad Friedel - Litex Lovech v Aston Villa - Thu Sep 18
-Ryan Guy - Hertha Berlin v Saint Patrick's Athletic - Tue Sep 16
-Brad Guzan - Litex Lovech v Aston Villa - Thu Sep 18
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg v Rapid Bucuresti - Thu Sep 18
-Tim Howard - Everton v Standard Liege - Thu Sep 18
-Jared Jeffrey - Young Boys v Club Brugge - Thu Sep 18
-Oguchi Onyewu - Everton v Standard Liege - Thu Sep 18
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund v Udinese - Thu Sep 18
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MOST RECENT MATCHES

French Ligue 1
-Freddy Adu - Monaco - came in as a sub in the 79th minute of a 2-0 home win over Lorient.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played all 90 minutes of a 1-1 home tie with Le Havre.
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Scottish Premier League
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - started and played the first half of a 2-1 home win against Kilmarnock.
-Maurice Edu - Rangers - debuted with a starting role and played 65 miutes of a 2-1 home win against Kilmarnock.
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German Bundesliga 1
-Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - dressed by did not play in a 5-1 drubbing at Hannover.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - sat out his teams 5-1 beat down of Monchengladbach.
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund - went the distance, got a Yellow Card and scored yet another goal as they came back from 0-3 down to tie 3-3 against bitter rivals Schalke.
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Italian Serie A, B & C
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - (Serie B) - played all 90 minutes of a 1-1 draw at Bari.
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Belgian Jupiler League
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - led the backline for all 90 as usual in a 2-0 home win over Kortrijk.
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South American News

Colombia has fired national team coach Jorge Luis Pinto. They are in 6th place for World Cup qualifying after 8 of 18 games.
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England News

Well I'll be damned, the FA did overrule the referee and rescinded the Red Card given to Chelsea defender John Terry. See yesterday's post for the details. I just didn't think they would overrule a referee on an opinion call like that.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times with an article on the mercurial Chelsea forward Nicolas Anelka. This guy is a piece of work.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Ivory Coast & Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou.
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It's not safe for guys who look like Newcastle owner Mike Ashley. From the Northern Echo. (thanks to Chros for this one)
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European News

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian looks at week 4 in the Bundesliga, and Hamburg's perch at #1, led by Martin Jol.
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Bild is known for their outlandishness, and they pour fire on the feud between Schalke & Dortmund after the insane derby match last weekend.
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ITALY

This calcio stuff never ceases to amaze/baffle me. Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari purposefully threw up an arm and lightly hit Catania defender Giacomo Tedesco in the face. Tedesco leaped off his feet and threw himself to the ground like he had been shot, or as Muntari later said "He went to ground as if struck by Mohammed Ali!”. All this with the referee standing 10 feet away and looking straight at the pair. Muntari got a Red Card. Tedesco held his face like it might have come unattached from his head. No chance of their being any blood at all. But now what does Muntari get? A 3 game suspension!!! Wow! The suspension is being appealed.
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Football Italia with a recap of Week 2 action.
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OTHERS

Leander Schaerlaeckens at the Guardian gives us insight/round-up on Dutch top flight.
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UEFA Champions League

Kevin McCarra of the Guardian looks the pitfalls that could derail English success in this seasons tournament.
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Group Stage -Matchday 1
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 16
Chelsea v Bordeaux - live at 1:30 on ESPN2
Roma v CFR Cluj
Panathinaikos v Inter Milan - delayed at 4:35pm central on Setanta USA
Werder Bremen v Anorthosis
Basel v Shakhtar Donetsk
Barcelona v Sporting - delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid - delayed at 6:15pm central on Setanta USA
Olympique Marseille v Liverpool - live at 1:40pm central on Setanta USA
-Wed Sep 17
Manchester United v Villarreal - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2
Celtic v Aalborg
Steaua Bucuresti v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Fiorentina
Porto v Fenerbahce - delayed at 4:35pm central on Setanta USA
Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal - live at 1pm central on Setanta USA
Juventus v Zenit St Petersburg - delayed at 6:30pm central on Setanta USA
Real Madrid v BATE Borisov - delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
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-Matchday 2 is on Sep 30 & Oct 1
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UEFA Cup

First Round 1st leg matches start today. Here is the full schedule.