Moogly Googly Great News

Montreal were big winners last night in the CONCACAF Champions League, beating Joe Public from T&T 2-0 at home. See all the details in the tournaments section.

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If you tune in tonight hoping to see Guillermo Barros Schelotto for Columbus you might be disappointed. He has a hamstring strain and is listed as probable. Damn.

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Time Magazine writes of news to the MLS Players Unions ears: "MLS is swimming in liquidity..." See World New section for Time's list of the Best & Worst Sports Executives list.


MLS Scoreboard

Week 26
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Sep 18
Columbus v New York - 6pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Crew Stadium, Columbus OH
Match preview by Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet.
Match preview by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Pregame audio clips by New York players Seth Stammler & Juan Pietravallo and coach Juan Carlos Osorio from Red Bull Reader.
-Sat Sep 20
Kansas City v Toronto - 7pm central on HDNet
Venue: Community America Ballpark, Kansas City KS
POSTPONED TO OCT 15 Houston v San Jose - game date is being moved due to damage from Hurricane Ike.
Venue: Robertson Stadium, Houston TX
Salt Lake v Chivas - 8pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Rice Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City UT
Colorado v New England - 8pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City CO
Los Angeles v DC - 10pm central on FSC
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
-Sun Sep 21
Chicago v Dallas - 2pm central on TeleFutura
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview IL
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League Standings
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Tribune on his blog The Red Card talks to defender CJ Brown about his season lost to injuries.
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Arroyave also talks to Justin Mapp about his season so far, and his chances with the USA national team.
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COLUMBUS CREW

Even if the Crew win tonight they will not secure a playoff spot.
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FC DALLAS

Steve Davis at Soccernet with a big story telling us all about the man who is the FCD head coach - Schellas Hyndman, martial arts master!
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle feels that postponing this weekends Dynamo v San Jose game was the right move, even though it makes the schedule all the more insanely packed.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Our friend Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk has an audio interview with LAG & USA midfielder Eddie Lewis. Download or listen here.
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The Press Enterprise with an article on the crazy life of back-up keeper Charles Alamo.
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The entire team and staff went out and did a little bowling together. Yes, Landon Donovan won at that too. From the official team blog, with pictures.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with a good article on the teams goalkeeper Jon Conway.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times on how NYRB has turned around what looked like an awful season.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer with an article on newly acquired forward Macoumba Kandji.
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REAL SALT LAKE

SF at The Offside Rules has a fancy video clip from RSL's new stadium. Great stuff. Makes you want to be there for opening day. Believe me, I checked the air fare, and sadly it's outrageous.
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The Salt Lake Tribune looks at RSL's realistic playoff chances, and will the move to a new home interrupt their great home form.
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SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Elliot Almond of the Mercury News wonders if the postponement of this weekends game against Houston will slow the EQuakes momentum any.
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TORONTO FC

Morgan Campbell of the Star reports that while many people have said out loud that they would love to see natural grass at BMO Field, nothing official has taken place regarding this effort. And team ownership says the idea is NOT on their priority list.
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John Molinaro of the CBC reports that TFC is looking for South American players for next season. Join the club.
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Ben Knight of the Globe & Mail blog On Soccer looks at who would win a war for a MLS Franchise between Montreal & Ottawa.
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Sportsnet Canada ponders who the designated player might be that the team goes after for next season.
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GENERAL

Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com sees a renewed relationship between MLS & USL clubs. A good thing.
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MLS Player Of The Year

I think there are only really 2 candidates for this award right now. Many are in the second tier but no one comes close to Steve Ralston & Guillermo Barros Schelotto for me. Landon Donovan would be on this list if his team wasn't so stinky.
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USL First Division News

Golden Boot leaders:
15 Alex Afonso - Miami FC Blues
12 Sebastien Le Toux - Seattle Sounders
11 Macoumba Kandji - Atlanta Silverbacks
11 Eduardo Sebrango-Rodriguez - Vancouver Whitecaps
10 Melvin Tarley - Minnesota Thunder
9 Ricardo Sanchez - Minnesota Thunder
8 Randi Patterson - Charleston Battery
8 Chris Brown - Portland Timbers
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USL First Division Scoreboard

The last of the Regular Season Matches & Scores:
-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
Montreal v Puerto Rico
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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 (30) (+2)
*40 Seattle (29) (+2)
*40 Charleston (29) (-1)
36 Minnesota (29)
- - - - - - - - -
33 Atlanta (28)
%31 Portland (29) (-6)
%31 Miami (29) (-7)
31 Carolina (28) (-11)
(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. While the top 6 as all in but battling for seeding.
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Team USA

AFP report that Germany has joined the USA, Bosnia-Herzegovina & Croatia in the courting of Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic for their national team. He has played on junior national teams for the USA. Via Yahoo Sports.
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Americans In Europe

Yesterday I wrote about Bobby Convey coming on late in the big Reading 6-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. I wrote that he came on in the 67th minute, after all the goals had been scored. But reader Megan sent me a great email with a correction and update. Convey came on earlier than reported and assisted on the last goal. Here is what Megan had to say:
Actually, Convey came on at the restart after the 5th goal, and assisted (I think it was his first touch that put in the cross) Noel Hunt on the 6th goal. I've been seeing some documentation of sub minutes on, for example, Soccernet recently that's been a bit off from what's up on the Reading official site, but for what it's worth, here's the quote from Reading's match report: "And amazingly within seconds of the restart it was six - with his first touch substitute Bobby Convey sped down the left and supplied Noel Hunt with a pinpoint cross for the striker to stroke home his second."
And this from the teams live commentary: "63 mins - Reading substitutions. Hunt and Doyle have earned a rest and Convey and Long replace them. For Wednesday McAllister is replaced by Jimmy Smith. 64 mins - GOAL! Straight from the restart substitute Bobby Convey has space down the left. He sqaures it into Noel Hunt, whose first touch takes him in on goal. He passes it past Grant with consummate ease and it's six. So easy! So, so easy!"
(Megan, that is great stuff. Keep it coming.)
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UPCOMING MATCHES

Americans in the First Round of the UEFA Cup - here are their 1st leg matches:
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes v Twente - Thu Sep 18
-Brad Friedel - Litex Lovech v Aston Villa - Thu Sep 18
-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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Americans in Mexico

Luis Bueno of Sideline Views with a recap of how our players did in Round 8.
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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 0-2 Saprissa - Sap goals by Walter Centeno & Jairo Arrieta.
Attendance: 6,105
Venue: RFK Stadium, Washington DC
San Francisco 1-1 UNAM Pumas - SF goal by Alberto Zapata. UNAM goal by Fernando Espinoza.
Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1 Tauro - PRI goals by Petter Villegas & Kendall Jagdeosingh. Tau goal by Edwin Aguilar.
-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 3-2 Municipal - SL goals by Gregorio Torres, Christian Benitez & Matias Vuoso. Mun goals by Pando Ramirez & Mario Acevedo.
Montreal Impact 2-0 Joe Public - MI goals by Stefano Pesoli & Tony Donatelli.
Match report from the Montreal Gazette.
-Thu Sep 18
Atlante v Olimpia
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CONCACAF News

The Jamaica Observer look at a possible financial crisis for the Jamaican Football Federation. But the JFF say there is no such trouble going on.
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One thing I did not point yesterday: Even though new Jamaican coach John Barnes played internationally for England, he was actaully born in Kingston.
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England News

The Telegraph report that a billionaire from Kuwait could be the Newcastle buyer.
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The Independent reports that even though Manchester United shirt sponsor AIG is in deep deep financial trouble, the club appears to be not effected. Really? Well, since the USA government bailed out AIG maybe it should say "USA" on the front of those shirts from now on. Or maybe my name "BRUCE" since I pay taxes. We could take turns having our name or face on the front of the shirt every game! Brilliant idea! Glad I thought of it.
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Even though Cristiano Ronaldo spent the better part of the summer trying to leave Manchester United, when he made his season debut last night, the home fans not only didn't boo & hiss him, they cheered wildly. Wow.
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European News

ITALY

Gazzetta with an article on Juve midfielder Alessandro Del Piero (a long long time du Nord favorite) who single handedly beat Zenit in the UEFA CL yesterday, and is fired up about Serie A.
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Is this the newest of the Totti jokes?: Serie A has awarded Francesco Totti of Roma the Fair Play award for the 07-08 season. See kids, diving and whining does help you prosper.
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Due to a strong potential for violence, away fans from Roma & Atalanta will not be allowed at matches against Genoa & Roma, respectively, later this month.
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SPAIN

A left thigh muscle injury will keep Real Madrid defensive midfielder Gago out for a month.
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UEFA Champions League

Well, the two teams I had hoped would go on the road and play some nice soccer were Bordeux & Villarreal, but neither did that at all. They were both really disappointing. Sorry if I steered you in the wrong direction.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the "blame-the-ref" game. They are not perfect you know.
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The Telegraph with an article on the Kiev v Arsenal game and says Dinamo's strategy for stopping Theo Walcott was to simply kick the crap out of him.
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Group Stage -Matchday 1
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 16
Chelsea 4-0 Bordeaux - Chel goals by Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Florent Malouda & Nicolas Anelka.
Roma 1-2 CFR Cluj - Roma goal by Christian Panucci. CFR goals both by Juan Culio.
Panathinaikos 0-2 Inter Milan - IM goals by Mancini & Adriano.
Werder Bremen 0-0 Anorthosis
Basel 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk - Bas goal by David Abraham. SD goals by Fernandinho & Jadson.
Barcelona 3-1 Sporting - Barc goals by Rafa Marquez, Samuel Eto'o(PK) & Xavi Hernandez. Spor goal by Tonel.
PSV Eindhoven 0-3 Atletico Madrid - AM goals by Kun Aguero(2) & Maniche.
Olympique Marseille 1-2 Liverpool - OM goal by Lorik Cana. Liv goals both by Steven Gerrard, one via PK.
-Wed Sep 17
Manchester United 0-0 Villarreal
Celtic 0-0 Aalborg
Steaua Bucuresti 0-1 Bayern Munich - BM goal by Daniel Van Buyten.
Lyon 2-2 Fiorentina - Lyon goals by Frederic Piquionne & Karim Benzema. Fior goals both by Alberto Gilardino.
Porto 3-1 Fenerbahce - Port goals by Lisandro Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez & Lino. Fen goal by Daniel Guiza.
Dynamo Kyiv 1-1 Arsenal - DK goal by Ismael Bangoura(PK). Arse goal by William Gallas.
Juventus 1-0 Zenit St Petersburg - Juve goal by Alessandro Del Piero.
Real Madrid 2-0 BATE Borisov - RM goals by Sergio Ramos & Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
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-Matchday 2 is on Sep 30 & Oct 1
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UEFA Cup

First Round 1st leg matches this week. Here is the full schedule.
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2nd leg matches will be played Sep 30 & Oct 2.
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The winners will advance to the Group Stage.
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World News

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated with the World Club Soccer Power Rankings.
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Bill Edgar of The Times blog The Game has 10 rule changes that he thinks would improve the game. I don't agree with all of them, but some are great.
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Time Magazine has a list of the "Best & Worst Sports Executives of 2008." I have no idea how this works or who was included for what reason. But it is a litle interesting to read, even if its completely wacked for website navigation. Sir Alex Ferguson is at #2. Donald P Garber at #14. Roman Abramovich at #18.
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African News

Reuters with an article on players in Senegal who fast during Ramadan. How does it effect their play.
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This Is The End

It was a little over 13 months ago that a major bridge in Minneapolis collapsed. This morning a wholly new bridge opened at 5am. Here is a pretty subtle but cool video clip. From the Star Tribune.