My Nephew Said My Mom Is Creepy News

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MLS Scoreboard

Playoffs
Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 30
New England 0-0 Chicago
Attendance: 5,221 (Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice)
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Match report by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report from the Providence Journal.
Match report from the Attleboro Sun Chronicle.
Match report from the Chicago Sun Times. Also written by McCarthy.
Match report from Chicago's Daily Herald.
Post game notes by Arroyave on his blog The Red Card.
Post game video interviews of NER coach and players from the teams official blog.
New York v Houston - 4pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ
Salt Lake v Chivas - 5pm central on FSC
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy UT
Kansas City v Columbus - 7pm central on HDNet
Venue: Community America Ballpark, Kansas City KS
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MLS News

CD CHIVAS USA

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer has a Q & A with defender Carey Talley.
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The Deseret News with an article on the little known kid from Utah, Justin Braun, who not only made the Chivas USA but has contributed top during a season riddle with injured forwards. A great story. And now he comes home to face RSL in the playoffs.
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The team has lost Chivas forward Atiba Harris for at least game 1 of the playoffs due to a thigh muscle injury suffered at practice.
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COLUMBUS CREW

Great picture of team captain Frankie Hejduk hoisting the Supporters Shield with the fans of the Nordecke. From the teams official blog.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America wonders if Columbus can repeat their regular season form in the playoffs.
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DC UNITED

DCU named Clyde Simms as their Defender of the Year, and Jaime Moreno as their MVP.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider breaks down the season Simms had in minutes played, and what his worth is in the money they pay for him, then compares it to a guy like Gallardo.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Randy Covitz of the Star looks at the moment this season when the Wiz turned the page on the struggling.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Soccer By Ives adds some more thoughts to the idea of Landon Donovan moving to Europe.
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Jeff Carlisle of Center Line Soccer was on the media conference call announcing the loan of Beckman to Milan. Here are the highlights of that call. A couple of interesting things here.
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Andrea Canales at Goal.com thinks the Milan move could be a "blessing in disguise" for LAG.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

5,221 in attendance for a playoff game. I am anxious to hear the excuses.
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Both Monique Walker of the Boston Globe and Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald with stories on Chris Tierney who got the start at left fullback last night, and handled himself quite well. He even had some quality moments going forward. Is he going to be another one of those unknowns that Nicol and Mariner have found that turns into a class player?
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Seth Stammler is out of the playoffs. He had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. Not what they needed.
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Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer talks to NYRB technical director Jeff Agoos about the future of manager Juan Carlos Osorio.
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Stefan Bondy of the Herald News on the teams second chance in the playoffs.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with an article on keeper Danny Cepero who is going to have to step up and be huge if this team has any hopes of surviving the first round of the playoffs against Houston.
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The team has named Kevin Goldthwaite are their Defender of the Year, and Juan Pablo Angel as their MVP.
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REAL SALT LAKE

James Edward of the Deseret News looks at the RSL players who DO have lots of playoff experience.
-Edwards has a couple more player quotes on the papers RSL blog.
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TORONTO FC

Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail blog On Soccer gives big praise to all TFC fans! I agree! Even though you have an erector set stadium, with hideous fake turf, a godawful team, and an even worse general manager, you are top-notch A-1 supporters. And yes You Do Deserve Better! Thank you for raising the standard of MLS fandom.
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Ryan Johnston of Sports Net in Canada considers the Designated Player option for TFC.
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John Molinaro of the CBC looks at what Designated Players have done for other teams.
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Cafu: "I am studying offers from MLS, but also from Palmeiras and Corinthians."
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MLS Seattle Expansion News

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com looks at the signing of Freddie Luneburg and thinks - mistake. Could not agree with you more Kyle.
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Americans In Europe

Ravi Ubha of ESPN Soccernet with an article on Lee Nguyen who is starting to see more and more playing time at Randers in Denmark.
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CONCACAF News

FIFA.com has an article on Costa Rica & Saprissa leader Walter Centeno.
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FIFA.com has an article on the man who has seemingly brought Trinidad & Tobago back from the dead - 40 year old Russell Latapy.
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CONCACAF Champions League

Official CCL website
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Matchday 6
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Firpo 1-1 Houston - LAF goal by Fernando Leguizamon. HD goal by Stuart Holden.
Olimpia 4-0 Joe Public - Oli goals by Allan Kardeck Dos Santos(2), Oscar Boniek Garcia & Nestor Fabian Silva.
Atlante 2-1 Montreal - Atl goals by Gabriel Pereyra & Clemente Ovalle. MI goal by Joey Gjertsen.
-Wed Oct 29
Pumas 6-0 San Francisco - UNAM goals by Paco Palencia(2), Bravo, David Toledo, Javier Cortes & Fernando Santana.
DC 2-4 Marathon - DCU goals by Francis Doe & Greg Janicki. Mara goals by Saul Martinez, Mario Berrios, Milton Nunez & Marvin Chavez.
Saprissa 1-0 Cruz Azul - Sap goal by Alejandro Alpizar.
Tauro 2-2 Puerto Rico - Tau goals both by Brunette Hay(one via PK). PRI goals by Osei Telesford & Fabrice Noel.
-Thu Oct 30
Municipal 4-4 Santos Laguna - Muni goals by Pando Ramirez(3 - two via PK) & Carlos Cesar Leguizamon. SL goals by Agustin Herrera(3 - also two via PK) & Oribe Peralta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Make Up Games:
-Wed Nov 5
Marathon v Saprissa
-Wed Nov 26
Houston v Firpo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
Group A
10 Cruz Azul (6)
10 Saprissa (5)
10 Marathon (5)
% 1 DC (6)
Group B
*12 UNAM Pumas (6)
8 Firpo (5)
6 Houston (5)
% 2 San Francisco (6)
Group C
* 11 Montreal (6)
* 11 Atlante (6)
% 8 Olimpia (6)
% 3 Joe Public (6)
Group D
*10 Santos Laguna (6)
*8 Puerto Rico (6)
%8 Tauro (6)
%6 Municipal (6)

* Advanced
% Elimidated
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UNAM Pumas, Montreal Impact, Atlante, Santos Laguna & Puerto Rico Islanders have advanced to the knock out stage next spring, with 3 more teams left to join them.
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Mexico & FMF News

The LA Times blog The Fabulous Forum reports that due to the sinking US economy the Mexican Soccer Federation, which has been run on the US Dollar, will begin using the Mexican Peso as its currency. Wow.
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South American News

Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian says Maradona's presence alone may be enough to inspire Argentina to true greatness.
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The New York Times blog Goal tells us what Diego Maradona means to Argentina.
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England News

Matt Hughes of the Times reports that money is so tight at Chelsea now that the team will have to sell players in order to buy new ones.
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European News

GERMANY

The Bundesliga website has an article on the player who is most responsible for the strong start to the season by Hoffenheim - its the unlikely Vedad Ibisevic.
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Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian writes about the rough start to the season for a team that is supposed to be a title contender, Werder Bremen.
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Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni has tried to come back too early from a torn stomach muscle and will now be out another 2-3 weeks.
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ITALY

Gazzetta reports that just like the last 2 seasons Inter forward Adriano cannot live life without a constant party that comes before football. So he is already in the doghouse of new coach Jose Mourinho and will most likely be gone for good come January. It's sad when someone that talented cannot hold it together.
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RUSSIA

Zenit has extended the contract of coach Dick Advocaat for another year.
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SCOTLAND

Ewan Murray of the Guardian looks at the return of Barry Ferguson (thanks for the email Barry) to the Rangers line up. Is this the player to take them over the top?
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Big Club Matches Around The World This Mid-Week

England Premier
-Sat Nov 1
Manchester United v Hull - Hull have another huge test after failing at home against Chelsea.
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Italy Serie A
-Sat Nov 1
Juventus v Roma - a bitter old rivalry
-Sat Nov 2
AC Milan v Napoli - another old rivalry, helped by a revival in Naples
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Holland Eredivisie
-Sat Nov 1
NAC Breda v Groningen - 2 surprise teams right up at the top fighting it out.
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Russia Premier
-Sat Nov 1
CSKA Moscow v Spartak Moscow - another Moscow derby
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Argentina Primera
-Sun Nov 2
Boca Juniors v San Lorenzo - #3 hosts #1
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Brazil Brasileiro
-Sun Nov 2
Fluminense v Vasco da Gama - another of the big Rio derby's.
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African News

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian with a tribute to one of Africa's all time great players - Robert Mensah. Wilson does it again, digging up a truly great story!
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This Is The End

Amazing video footage promoting FIFA Street 3 game. (thanks to JJ for this)

Getting Away With It All My Life News

I knew he wouldn't waste any time.... Luis Bueno has already started up a new blog The Touchline. We get an update on our Americans in Mexico right off the bat too! The allure of the blog was too strong to keep him away. Check it out now.

~and~

DC United lost at home 2-4 to Marathon of Honduras last night, and finished the 6 game group stage with just 1 point. That is quite embarrassing, not just for the team but for all of MLS.

~and~

AC Milan & LA Galaxy have come to an agreement for a loan deal on Beckman. No details beyond "starts in January and ends sometime before the start of the 2009 MLS season. There is also some vague wording about a "technical partnership" formed between the two teams. Ok. Here is all the Galaxy will tell us.


MLS Scoreboard

Playoffs
Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 30
New England v Chicago - 6:30pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Match preview by Nick Firchau of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match preview by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
-Sat Nov 1
New York v Houston - 4pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ
Salt Lake v Chivas - 5pm central on FSC
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy UT
Kansas City v Columbus - 7pm central on HDNet
Venue: Community America Ballpark, Kansas City KS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis at MLSnet previews the 4 series.
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Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com previews all the quarterfinals.
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Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports gives us his picks for best playoff sub-plots.
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Pete Grathoff of the the Kansas City Star previews the playoff series.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times blog The Fabulous Forum lists all the former Galaxy players in the playoffs this season.
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated with his preview of the road to the cup.
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MY PREDICTION: Somewhere deep in the dusty corners of my mind I hear a whisper telling me that the final on Sun Nov 23 at the Home Depot Center in Carson CA will be contested between Chicago and Houston. And I sense a three-peat winner coming on.
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Beau Dure of USA Today with an article on Brian McBride. Includes an amazing "mouse over" graphic detailing McBrides facial injuries!
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CD CHIVAS USA

The CUSA press office gives us news on the health of Maykel Galindo: Forward Maykel Galindo successfully underwent surgery today for a bilateral sports hernia which has kept him sidelined for much of the season. The procedure was performed by Dr. William C. Meyers at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Galindo could be out up to three months. The surgery is Galindo’s third in 2008, following sports hernia surgeries in Milwaukee on Jan. 9 and June 11.
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COLUMBUS CREW

The New York Times with an article on Crew coach Sigi Schmid and his rise back to the top of the ranks in USA coaches circles.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on his blog Covering the Crew has the complete transcript of the conversation he and columnist Michael Arace had with team owner Clark Hunt about the future of the team.
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FC DALLAS

Even though their season is over, Buzz Carrick makes it out to FCD training for one last time this year - Practice Observations.
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Carrick then breaks down the entire team and grades them player by player. The average grade he hands out is a B-. But to me a team who doesn't even make the playoffs in this league is in C- territory at best. Sorry, Buzz, but I think your grades are too generous.
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Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News looks ahead to next season at FCD.
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DC UNITED

Both Santino Quaranta & Francis Doe were Red Carded (both got 2 Yellows) in the Champions League loss last night.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

The Back Post blog has an audio clip with Herculez Gomez talking about the incidents with the New England players last Saturday night.
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The team has lowered their ticket prices from 10-33% on all seats for the 2009 season if you buy season tickets. Not bad.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Khano Smith saw his suspension become 3 games for his Red Card foul on KC's Herculez Gomez last weekend. He got 1 for the Card, and 2 more for the deliberateness.
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Monique Walker of the Globe with an article on forward Kheli Dube who had himself a very decent first year as a pro. It can't be easy to start your pro career at age 24 either.
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Rich Thompson of the Herald with an article on goalkeeper Matt Ries, who is really going to have to step up and lead this team if they want to advance in the playoffs with other key players missing.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Metrofanatic asks a simple question about coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Will he find redemption this weekend or not?
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Soccer By Ives reports that the teams "Mr. Do-It-All" Seth Stammler is having knee problems that may affect his ability to play this weekend against Houston.
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SBI also talks to winger Dane Richards about taking on the Dynamo.
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REAL SALT LAKE

James Edward of the Deseret News talks to RSL players about what its going to take to beat Chivas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael C Lewis of the Tribune talks to defender Nat Borchers about playing expansion rivals Chivas in the playoffs. Seems fitting doesn't it.
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Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to midfielder Kyle Beckerman about the teams first ever trip to the postseason.
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TORONTO FC

Nigel Reed of the CBC gives a review of the season ended for TFC.
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John Molinaro of the CBC reports that TFC ownership is meeting to decide on whether or not they want to pursue a Designated Player.
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Carl Robinson writes for this hometown paper about the conclusion of the season.
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GENERAL

Let's take a look at just how bad my Pre-Season prediction were for final standings in the two conferences (actual finishing spot included). George Tanner at FC Rocky posted these:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1 DC (6)
2 New England (3)
3 New York (5)
4 Chicago (2)
5 Kansas City (4)
6 Toronto (7)
7 Columbus (1)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1 Houston (1)
2 Salt Lake (3)
3 Los Angeles (6)
4 Chivas USA (2)
5 Dallas (5)
6 Colorado (4)
7 San Jose (7)
-My East picks were a disaster! But the West I got almost dead on (except for LA and a few other minor adjustments). My real bungle was Columbus. Oh how wrong I was. Did you have them winning the East and the Supporters Shield? I didn't think so. And then there is DC. I don't know if it got it wrong, so much as they were just really disappointing.
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Again this year MLS is sending a squad of young players who are all signed to a Generation Adidas contract to London to play 3 games. The dates are in mid-December. No other details available.
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Andrea Canales at Goal.com writes about when sticking up for your teammates goes too far.
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MLS Post Season Awards

Here is how I voted for the official MLS awards:
-Best XI (must be in a 3-5-2) - slightly different than the du Nord Best 11 because of formation.
G-Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
D-Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
D-Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
D-Gonzalo Seagares - Chicago Fire
M-Sasha Kljestan - chivas USA
M-Javier Morales - Real Salt Lake
M-Steve Ralston - New England Revolution
M-Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
M-Dave Van Den Bergh - New York Red Bulls
F-Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
F-Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Other awards:
-Coach of the Year: Sigi Schmid
-Comeback Player of the Year: Conor Casey
-Visa Defender of the Year: Chad Marshall
-Fair Play Award: Cuauhtemoc Blanco
-Panasonic Goalkeeper of the Year: Pat Onstad
-Volkswagen Most Valuable Player: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
-Newcomer of the Year: Darren Huckerby
-Public Relations Award: Kansas Cit Wizards
-adidas Referee of the Year: Jair Marufo
-Gatorade Rookie of the Year: Geoff Cameron
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider reveals his picks for MLS official postseason awards.
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Beau Dure of USA Today on his blog The Netminder tells us who he voted for in the MLS official postseason awards, and makes up a few of his own.
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MLS Seattle Expansion News

Lars Lifrak of Soccer 365 does a Q & A with goalkeeper Kasey Keller who grew up in Washington state.
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Soccer In America

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports tells us more about Ethan Zohn and his Grassroot Soccer organizations drive to help fight AIDS in Africa.
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MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who made the field are listed)

Wed Oct 29
-Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - got his first ever start at Villa, but they were wiped out 5-0 at Polideportivo Ejido in the Copa Del Rey.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - went the full match and won 1-0 at home against Koblenz.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played the whole match and drew 0-0 at Valenciennes.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played all 90 but lost 3-0 at Hertha.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - came on as a sub in the 61st minute and sparked his team to a 2-1 win at home over Halmstad.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on as a sub in the 73rd minute as they beat Wigan 2-0 at home.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance as usual and shut out his old club Blackburn 3-0 at home.
-Tim Howard - Everton - went the full 90 and won 0-1 at Bolton.
-Lee Nguyen - Randers - started and went 75 minutes as they lost 3-2 at Horsens in the Danish Landspokal (League Cup).
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund - played the full game and won 1-0 at Koln.
-Matt Taylor - Koblenz - came on as a sub in the 72nd minute but lost 1-0 at 1860 Munich.
-Jeremiah White - Aarhus - came on as a sub in the 63rd minute but lost 1-0 at Odense in the Danish Landspokal (League Cup).
-David Yelldell - Koblenz - went the distance but lost 1-0 at 1860 Munich.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

The Guardian reports that the Jamaican FA owes the English FA around $200,000. The deubt is over 2 years old.
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CONCACAF Champions League

Official CCL website
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matchday 6
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Firpo 1-1 Houston - LAF goal by Fernando Leguizamon. HD goal by Stuart Holden.
Olimpia 4-0 Joe Public - Oli goals by Allan Kardeck Dos Santos(2), Oscar Boniek Garcia & Nestor Fabian Silva.
Atlante 2-1 Montreal - Atl goals by Gabriel Pereyra & Clemente Ovalle. MI goal by Joey Gjertsen.
-Wed Oct 29
Pumas 6-0 San Francisco - UNAM goals by Paco Palencia(2), Bravo, David Toledo, Javier Cortes & Fernando Santana.
DC 2-4 Marathon - DCU goals by Francis Doe & Greg Janicki. Mara goals by Saul Martinez, Mario Berrios, Milton Nunez & Marvin Chavez.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by John Haydon of the Washinton Times.
Post game notes and DCU player ratings by Goff on his blog Soccer Insider.
Saprissa 1-0 Cruz Azul - Sap goal by Alejandro Alpizar.
Tauro 2-2 Puerto Rico - Tau goals both by Brunette Hay(one via PK). PRI goals by Osei Telesford & Fabrice Noel.
-Thu Oct 30
Municipal v Santos Laguna
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Make Up Games:
-Wed Nov 5
Marathon v Saprissa
-Wed Nov 26
Houston v Firpo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
Group A
10 Cruz Azul (6)
10 Saprissa (5)
10 Marathon (5)
% 1 DC (6)
Group B
*12 UNAM Pumas (6)
8 Firpo (5)
6 Houston (5)
% 2 San Francisco (6)
Group C
* 11 Montreal (6)
* 11 Atlante (6)
% 8 Olimpia (6)
% 3 Joe Public (6)
Group D
*9 Santos Laguna (5)
*8 Puerto Rico (6)
%8 Tauro (6)
%5 Municipal (5)

* Advanced
% Elimidated
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Puerto Rico held the tie breaker over Tauro by beating them 2-1 in their first meeting of the stage.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UNAM Pumas, Montreal Impact, Atlante, Santos Laguna & Puerto Rico Islanders have advanced to the knock out stage next spring, with 3 more teams left to join them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South American News

Boca Juniors president Pedro Pompilio died of a heart attack on Thursday at the age of 55. Very sad.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent with a big story on the roller coaster life of Maradona, who just started yet another chapter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on Argentina's unabashed love affair with little Diego.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Tottenham are looking to follow their north London neighbors Arsenal and build a new stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho will be out of action for 1-2 weeks with a thigh injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Telegraph tells us about their picks for the 5 best all time matches in the North London derby. The game ended in a wild 4-4 draw last night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian with a midweek round up of Ligue Un. Are Bordeaux really title challengers? They are in first place! No one beyond Lyon has seen that spot in a very long time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GERMANY

The AP with an article on the surprising first place team in the Bundesliga - Hoffenheim. Via The Rocky Mountain News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

Gazzetta rates the Serie A team performances for Round 9.
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Football Italia has a review of Round 9 matches from this midweek.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian on Jose Mourinho's inability to make his mark so far at Inter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

Real Madrid's potential star midfielder Ruben de la Red collapsed on the field today during a Copa del Rey match against Real Union. He was conscious when they transported him to the hospital.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Club Matches Around The World This Mid-Week

England Premiership
-Wed Oct 29
Hull 0-3 Chelsea - the new boys got taken down a peg but the masters. Chelsea stay at #2 while Hull drop from 3 to 5.
Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham - a barn burner in the biggest London derby, with last place Spurs getting 2 in the last minute of play to grab a point.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Italy Serie A
-Wed Oct 29
Fiorentina 0-0 Inter Milan - one team would like to get close to the league title, and the other demands it, but neither are earning it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Netherlands Eredivisie
-Wed Oct 29
Sparta 2-1 Feyenoord - the perrenial underdogs win at home in the Rotterdam derby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brazil Brasileiro
-Wed Oct 29
Cruzeiro 3-0 Gremio - the rout brought Cruz up to within a point of Gremio, but both were leapfrogged by Sao Paulo who are the new #1.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illstrated gives us the newest World Club Power Rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Smyth of the Guardian looks back to the 19994 World Cup in the USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

23 players have been nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)
Sergio Aguero (Argentina)
Andrei Arshavin (Russia)
Michael Ballack (Germany)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Iker Casillas (Spain)
Deco (Portugal)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Samuel Eto`o (Cameroon)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain)
Steven Gerrard (England)
Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Ricardo Kaka (Brazil)
Frank Lampard (England)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Franck Ribery (France)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
John Terry (England)
Fernando Torres (Spain)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Holland)
David Villa (Spain)

2008 du Nord MLS Best 11

Here it is, the 2008 du Nord MLS Best 11, listed in alphabetical order. They would line up in a 3-5-2.


Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Javier Morales - Real Salt Lake
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Steve Ralston - New England Revolution
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
Gonzalo Seagares - Chicago Fire
Dave Van Den Bergh - New York Red Bulls

The Question Is Moot News

Could it possibly be true? Diego Maradona will be named coach of the Argentine national team today? Really? I assumed it was a joke. From the Buenos Aires Herald.

~and~

Maradona's 1st day of training: "OK everyone! Gather 'round. Down on one knee. First of all, Welcome. Now, is your cocaine, so we can go run around like maniacs for 15 or 20 minutes until the buzz wears off and we need to crash a bit. After that we will practice putting the ball in the net with our hands. Lionel, you can sit that one out since you seem to have perfected it already. Then we will conclude today's lesson with a talk on comradeship from brother Fidel."

~and~

The Houston Dynamo reserve team went in place of the regulars down to play Luis Angel Firpo in the CONCACAF Champions League last night and came away with a 1-1 draw. They had the lead and controled the game until very late when goalkeeper Tony Caig had yet another mistake and cost them 2 points and advancement. They now have to win on the last matchday (a make up date) on Nov 26 in Houston when they play the same Firpo team who only needs a draw to advance. See more in the CCL section.


MLS Scoreboard

Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 30
New England v Chicago - 6:30pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
-Sat Nov 1
New York v Houston - 4pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ
Salt Lake v Chivas - 5pm central on FSC
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy UT
Kansas City v Columbus - 7pm central on HDNet
Venue: Community America Ballpark, Kansas City KS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dallas Morning News with a playoff preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Tribune feels like it might be "do it NOW or start over next season" for the Fire in the postseason.
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Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald says the Fire are certainly not going to take the Rev's lightly even with the massive amounts of injuries and suspensions.
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CD CHIVAS USA

Ivan Orozco of the San Diego Union Tribune with an article on the amazing Claudio Suarez. Is he set to retire after this season ends? Ah, no!
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COLUMBUS CREW

Michael Arace of the Dispatch talks to Crew owner Clark Hunt about a new investor in the team, and that rumor of them moving to Vegas.
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DC UNITED

-A preamble to the following article.
Steven Goff of the Washington Post reviews the season ended, the theme being "what went wrong".
-Goff finishes it all off with a player by player assessment.
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Craig Stouffer of the DC Examiner has a 5 part DCU season review on his blog The Pitch.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Goal.com has a Q & A with Houston manager Dominic Kinnear.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Randy Covitz of the Star with an article on the teams big dollar player Claudio Lopez, who until recently was not earning his pay. Can he lift them to glory now??
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Grahame Jones of the Times writes about the likely full body overhaul that will go down in Galaxyland this off season.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Monique Walker of the Globe writes about the Rev's series with the Fire without Taylor Twellman.
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The Attleboro Sun Times in Massachuesetts looks at the absolute frustration the Rev's are facing as the playoffs begin.
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REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the Tribune and James Edward of the Deseret News both say the team are hungry for playoff success, and not just satisfied to have 2 more games on the schedule.
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Lewis also examines the journey of Jason Kries as coach of this team.
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TORONTO FC

The team has named midfielder Carl Robinson as their MVP (shows what I know), and Marvell Wynne as their Defender of the Year.
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The TFC website has video of coach John Carver addressing media questions now that the season is officially over.
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GENERAL

The MLS Cup trophy is all new this year and has been re-named the Phillip Anschutz trophy. The new trophy looks much classier than the old one.
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Beau Dure of USA Today gives us his MLS post season awards list.
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Cafu to MLS?
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MLS Seattle Expansion News

If I ran the Seattle Sounders I would ask New England for permission to speak with Steve Nicol about becoming their first head coach.
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The Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Seattle Times on the press conference introducing Freddie Ljungberg.
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Video from the introductory press conference.
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Sports Illustrated with an article saying Ljungberg will have a bigger impact on MLS than Beckman. What is the criteria? Because if we are talking marketing then 1000 Freddie Ljungberg will not have as big an impact as 1 Beckman. On the field he will have to be a pretty good player to top Beckman, who was decent.
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MLS Expansion News

Bloomberg tells us about George Gillett's financial interest in taking the Montreal Impact to MLS.
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Soccer In America

The Toronto Globe & Mail reports that TFC owners MLSE are in negotiations to buy GolTV. But less than 2 years ago RSL owner Dave Checketts tried to do the same thing and Major League Soccer shut the deal down. What happens this time?
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Americans In Europe

Jozy Atlidore with his first blog post in a long time for the NY Times Goal. He is getting his first start today in the Copa del Rey!
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Anyone know the whereabouts of Bobby Convey? It has been quite a while since he saw the field for Reading, and I have heard nothing about any injuries.
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Frank Simek made his season debut last night in a 0-1 home loss to Plymouth. He came on as a substitute in the 57th minute. He had been out of action since last spring with a serious ankle injury. This is such great news for him.
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Jay DeMerit is also back from injury and went the full 90 for Watford last night.
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UPCOMING MATCHES

Wed Oct 29
-Freddie Adu - Monaco v Nancy Lorraine
-Jozy Altidore - Villarreal at Polideportivo Ejido - Copa Del Rey
-Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin v Hannover
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich v Koblenz
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes at Valenciennes
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby v Halmstad
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham v Wigan
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa v Blackburn
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa v Blackburn
-Tim Howard - Everton at Bolton
-Lee Nguyen - Randers at Horsens - Danish Landspokal (League Cup)
-Ryan Raybould - Gefle at Kalmar
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund at Koln
-Matt Taylor - Koblenz at 1860 Munich
-Jeremiah White - Aarhus at Odense - Danish Landspokal (League Cup)
-David Yelldell - Koblenz at 1860 Munich
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MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who made the field are listed)

Tue Oct 28
-Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - started and went 58 minutes in a 3-0 loss at Wolfsburg.
-Colin Burns - Ljungskile - played all 90 in goal but lost 1-3 at home against Malmo.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 in a 2-0 road loss at Preston.
-Maurice Edu - Rangers - went the full 90 in a League Cup (not FA Cup) match and they won 2-0 at home over Hamilton.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - went the distance as always but lost 1-0 at Burnley.
-Eddie Johnson - Cardiff - came on as a sub in the 79th minute and they won 2-0 at home over Blackpool.
-Jemal Johnson - MK Dons - came on as a 76th minute sub and they won 1-2 at Leyton Orient.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - finally back on the pitch as a 57th minute sub but they lost 0-1 at home to Plymouth.
-Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile - played all 90, got a Yellow Card, and lost 1-3 at home against Malmo.
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall - started but was subbed off at halftime, and the team went on to win 1-0 at home over Hereford.
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CONCACAF Champions League

Official CCL website
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Matchday 6
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Firpo 1-1 Houston - LAF goal by Fernando Leguizamon. HD goal by Stuart Holden.
Match report (a short one) from the Houston Chronicle.
Post game notes from Glenn Davis on his blog The Soccer Hour.
Olimpia 4-0 Joe Public - Oli goals by Allan Kardeck Dos Santos(2), Oscar Boniek Garcia & Nestor Fabian Silva.
Atlante 2-1 Montreal - Atl goals by Gabriel Pereyra & Clemente Ovalle. MI goal by Joey Gjertsen.
-Wed Oct 29
Pumas v San Francisco
DC v Marathon
Match preview by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Saprissa v Cruz Azul
Tauro v Puerto Rico
-Thu Oct 30
Municipal v Santos Laguna
-Wed Nov 5
Marathon v Saprissa
-Wed Nov 26
Houston v Firpo
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Standings (games played):
Group A
10 Cruz Azul (5)
7 Saprissa (4)
7 Marathon (4)
% 1 DC (5)
Group B
9 UNAM Pumas (5)
8 Firpo (5)
6 Houston (5)
% 2 San Francisco (5)
Group C
* 11 Montreal (6)
* 11 Atlante (6)
% 8 Olimpia (6)
% 3 Joe Public (6)
Group D
9 Santos Laguna (5)
7 Puerto Rico (5)
7 Tauro (5)
5 Municipal (5)
* Advanced
% Elimidated
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Canada & CSA News

Ben Knight on the Toronto Globe & Mail blog On Soccer sees the CSA hit a new low even for them. Stunning.
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South American News

Even Al Jazeera carries the glorious news on Maradona.
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Tim Vickery at the BBC tells us what he thinks of the Maradona move.
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Reuters with a story on the real Ronaldo who talks about rehabbing his damaged knee. He says "I couldn't have got any fatter." Hahahahahaha. Now he has to find a team that wants him. He wants to play for Brazil again too.
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Big Club Matches Around The World This Mid-Week

England Premiership
-Wed Oct 29
Hull v Chelsea - the two teams tied for 2nd place, one a contender, the other a shocker.
Arsenal v Tottenham - the biggest London derby.
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Italy Serie A
-Wed Oct 29
Fiorentina v Inter Milan - one team would like to get close to the league title, and the other demands it.
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Netherlands Eredivisie
-Wed Oct 29
Sparta v Feyenoord - the Rotterdam derby.
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Brazil Brasileiro
-Wed Oct 29
Cruzeiro v Gremio - #2 v #1.
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World News

Nigeria has now stepped forward again and says they CAN host the U17 World Cup next summer. Only 2 weeks ago they told FIFA that they could not afford to host. No word from FIFA yet on what they plan to do.

Jeepers That Was Fast News

Taylor Twellman is OUT. He has continued to suffer concussion symptoms since his clash with LA keeper Steve Cronin back in late August. So the team is taking him out of commission until he is fully recovered. That would certainly explain his lack of being his normal self in the past several games. We all thought it was due to overall team tiredness and injury depletion, but this explains some of it too. Very sad to see. But I am glad he is dealing with it properly. Here is the official news release from the team.


MLS Scoreboard

Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 30
New England v Chicago - 6:30pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
-Sat Nov 1
New York v Houston - 4pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ
Salt Lake v Chivas - 5pm central on FSC
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy UT
Kansas City v Columbus - 7pm central on HDNet
Venue: Community America Ballpark, Kansas City KS
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle previews the first round series v NYRB.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune looks ahead to Fire v Revs.
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Michael Lewis of the NY Daily News previews New York v Houston.
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Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet previews the Western Conference playoff matchups.
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Ives Galarcep of ESPN Soccernet previews the Eastern Conference playoff matchups.
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MLS News

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch reports on the team handing out post season awards. Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named Most Valuable Player, no surprise there.
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DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider has some season ending DCU notes.
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Goff also has a Q & A with midfielder Ben Olson who has been out all season with ankle troubles.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle says mostly reserves will line up tonight to face El Salvador's Luis Angel Firpo in the Champions League. It looks like even head coach Dominic Kinnear will stay at home for this one.
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Glenn Davis of the Chronicle pitches the Dynamo for dynasty status.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says Beckman has failed to live up to the hype.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze looks ahead to next year with the Galaxy.
-An a few more team notes on his blog 100 Percent Soccer.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Midfielder Shalrie Joseph apologized for his comments after their game on Saturday night. He had stated that the team went after Herculez Gomez on purpose because he had injured Steve Ralston 2 weeks prior. Here is the apology from Jospeh and a statement from the team concerning that apology:
-STATEMENT FROM NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER SHALRIE JOSEPH: "I want to apologize for my comments after our game on Saturday night against Kansas City. I was still caught up in the heat of the match. I regret implying that we were looking for payback. I know my comments don’t reflect the feelings of my teammates or the club."
-STATEMENT FROM THE NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION: “We apologize for Shalrie Joseph’s comments following our match on Saturday night. There was no concerted effort to single out any player on Kansas City’s squad. We would never condone such behavior or actions.”
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I would not be surprised if the league punished Joseph for his initial remarks, because while he did apologize, anyone who watched the game could clearly see that some of the New England players did target Gomez for retribution.
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REAL SALT LAKE

A local news reporter in SLC tries to figure out how much extra playoffs games and potential international matches next season could mean financially to RSL.
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TORONTO FC

John Molinaro of the CBC hands out post season grades for TFC by positions, coaching, management and overall.
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GENERAL

Steve Davis at MLSnet with a look at the Crew attack and other MLS thoughts.
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Pat Walsh of Goal.com notices that many of the leagues top goal scorers this season are not in the playoffs.
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Andrea Canales of Goal.com talks to the just retired Greg Vanney who looks at a league getting younger and doesn't like what he sees. To me he kind of sounds like a guy who is a little bitter because he physically can't keep up anymore.
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MLS Exhibition Matches

Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Portland Timbers (USL1) v Toronto FC
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise writes about the possibility of Landon Donovan going back to Europe this winter.
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MLS Expansion News

The Echo of Essex England has quotes from Fredrik Ljungberg about signing with Seattle.
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Matthew Gaschk of the Seattle Post Intelligencer on the Ljungberg signing.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America examines the choice Seattle has made in signing Ljungberg, and who their first head coach might be - there are some interesting bits of info here.
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Team USA

The dates are set for The Hexagon - next years last round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers:
Wed Feb 11
Sat Mar 28
Wed Apr 1
Sat Jun 6
Wed Jun 10
Wed Aug 12
Sat Sep 5
Wed Sep 9
Sat Oct 10
Wed Oct 14
-But the USA has been given permission to play games on Wed Jun 3 & Sun Jun 7 instead of 6 & 10 due to participation in the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa from June 14-28.
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USA U20 News

Coach Thomas Rongen will take a team to Spain and play matches against club teams Nov 15-23. All opponents and dates to be announced. Here is the roster:
G:
Earl Edwards - LA Jolla Nomads
Josh Lambo - FC Dallas
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - IMG Academy
Anthony Arena - Crossfire Premier
Kyle Davies - Southampton
Zarek Valentin - PA Classics
Anthony Wallace - FC Dallas
M:
Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin
Jorge Flores - Chivas USA
Gregory Garza - Sporting Lisbon
Josh Hernandez - FC Dallas Juniors
Jared Jeffrey - Club Brugge
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin
Giuseppe Nazzani - Bologna
F:
Vincenzo Bernardo - Napoli
Tristan Bowen - Los Angeles Galaxy
Abdusalam Ibrahim - Toronto FC
Jose Torres - Loros de Colina
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Americans In Europe

Nice little quip on the Craven Cottage Newsround from Fulham manager Roy Hodgson talking about Clint Dempsey. And then there is this photo of contortionist Deuce taking the shot to score. (thanks to BQ for this link)
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UPCOMING MATCHES

Tue Oct 28
-Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach at Wolfsburg
-Colin Burns - Ljungskile v Malmo
-Bobby Convey - Reading at Burnley
-Grover Gibson - Ahlen at Alemania Aachen
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading at Burnley
-Eddie Johnson - Cardiff v Blackpool
-Jemal Johnson - MK Dons at Leyton Orient
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock v Greuther Furth
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wed v Plymouth
-Danny Szetela - Brescia v Salernitana
-Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile v Malmo
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall v Hereford
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Wed Oct 29
-Freddie Adu - Monaco v Nancy Lorraine
-Jozy Altidore - Villarreal at Polideportivo Ejido - Copa Del Rey
-Bryan Arguez - Hertha Berlin v Hannover
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich v Koblenz
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes at Valenciennes
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby v Halmstad
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham v Wigan
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa v Blackburn
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa v Blackburn
-Tim Howard - Everton at Bolton
-Ryan Raybould - Gefle at Kalmar
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund at Koln
-Matt Taylor - Koblenz at 1860 Munich
-David Yelldell - Koblenz at 1860 Munich
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CONCACAF Champions League

Official CCL website
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Matchday 6
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Firpo v Houston
Olimpia v Joe Public
Atlante v Montreal
-Wed Oct 29
Pumas v San Francisco
DC v Marathon
Saprissa v Cruz Azul
Tauro v Puerto Rico
-Thu Oct 30
Municipal v Santos Laguna
-Wed Nov 5
Marathon v Saprissa
-Wed Nov 26
Houston v Firpo
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Standings (games played):
Group A
10 Cruz Azul (5)
7 Saprissa (4)
7 Marathon (4)
% 1 DC (5)
Group B
9 UNAM Pumas (5)
7 Firpo (4)
5 Houston (4)
% 2 San Francisco (5)
Group C
* 11 Montreal (5)
* 8 Atlante (5)
5 Olimpia (5)
% 3 Joe Public (5)
Group D
9 Santos Laguna (5)
7 Puerto Rico (5)
7 Tauro (5)
5 Municipal (5)
* Advanced
% Elimidated
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England News

The Times snags an all too rare interview with Man U coaching legend Sir Alex Ferguson. A wide range of topics is covered.
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Former Arsenal captain and current Portsmouth assistant coach Tony Adams has been handed the wheel of the Portsmouth company truck replacing Harry Redknapp who left to take the reigns at Tottenham last Friday.
-Redknapp attended an awards ceremony back in Portsmouth last night was booed and heckled by his former fans.
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Sid Lowe of the Guardian compares Tottenhams way-too-hands-on chairman Daniel Levy with the equally absurd and unsuccessful Jesus Gil late of Atletico Madrid.
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European News

John Molinaro of the CBC says the Balon D'or should be given to Paolo Maldini out of respect for his career achievements.
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FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian on the weekend in Ligue 1, and how Marseille's Hatim Ben Arfa is about to get a rude lesson in life. And the rest of the leauge.
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GERMANY

Raphel Honigstein of the Guardian tells us about the miracle of Hoffenheim. He says they "Party like it's 1899!" Hilarious. And more on the Bundesliga.
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The Deutsche Welle blog Ballspeil says the big money scouts from around Europe are already checking out the undervalued talent at Bundesliga #1 Hoffenheim.
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ITALY

Gazzetta rates the Serie A team performances from Round 8.
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Football Italia with a review of Round 8 in Serie A, with Round 9 happening already on Wednesday.
-Roma have already suffered more defeats in the first eight rounds than throughout all of last season and are hovering one tiny point above the relegation zone. Wow!
-It's a buzz cut for Jose.
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Sunday was the first time in 60 home games that Inter did not score a goal.
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SPAIN

The 1st leg of the Fourth Round of the Copa del Rey is this week. Here are the matches.
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OTHERS

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian tells us about the abhorant owner of Steaua Bucharest. They have had 9 managers in the 5 years he owned the team, and most were not fired because they did not win.
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Big Club Matches Around The World This Mid-Week

England Premiership
-Wed Oct 29
Hull v Chelsea - the two teams tied for 2nd place, one a contender, the other a shocker.
Arsenal v Tottenham - the biggest London derby.
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Italy Serie A
-Wed Oct 29
Fiorentina v Inter Milan - one team would like to get close to the league title, and the other demands it.
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Netherlands Eredivisie
-Wed Oct 29
Sparta v Feyenoord - the Rotterdam derby.
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Brazil Brasileiro
-Wed Oct 29
Cruzeiro v Gremio - #2 v #1.
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Middle Eastern News

The Guardian on the rebirth of the Palestinian football assoc.

Tearing Paper Into Strips News

MLS Scoreboard

Week 31 - The last round of the regular season.
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 23
Chicago 5-1 New York - CF goals by Chris Rolfe(3), Brian McBride & Daniel Woolard. NYRB goals by Juan Pablo Angel & Bakary Soumare(OG).
Attendance: 13,274
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview IL
-Sat Oct 25
New England 1-3 Kansas City - NER goal by Jeff Larentowicz. KCW goals by Claudio Lopez(PK), Davy Arnaud & Michael Parkhurst(OG).
Attendance: 16,764
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
Match report from the Worchester Telegram.
Match report from the Kansas City Star, also written by Kyle McCarthy.
Post game notes and KC coach & player quotes from the teams official blog Hillcrest Road.
Colorado 1-1 Salt Lake - CR goal by Conor Casey. RSL goal by Yura Movsysian.
Attendance: 16,047
Venue: Dick's Sporting Good Park, Commerce City CO
Match report by Brian Forbes of the Denver Post.
Match report by Pat Rooney of the Rocky Mountain News.
Match report by Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret News.
Player grades for Salt Lake by Edwards on the Deseret's RSL blog
San Jose 2-0 Toronto - SJE goals by Ryan Cochrane & Shea Salinas.
Attendance: 10,526
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara CA
Match report by Elliot Almond of the San Jose Mercury News.
Match report by Jeff Carlisle of Center Line Soccer.
Chivas 1-1 Houston - CUSA goal by Jim Curtain. HD goal by Dwayne DeRosario(PK).
Attendance: 18,165
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Phil Collin of the LA Daily News.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Post game notes by Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer.
Post game analysis by Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise. (Ignore the headline, it is pure fiction)
-Sun Oct 26
Los Angeles 2-2 Dallas - LAG goals by Edson Buddle & Landon Donovan(PK). FCD goals by Drew Moor & Victor Sikora.
Attendance: 27,000
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Match report by Phil Collin of the LA Daily News.
Match report by Luis Bueno for the Dallas Morning News.
Post game notes by Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer.
Post game notes from the Galaxy's official team blog.
Columbus 1-0 DC - CC goal by Brad Evans.
Attendance: 19,591
Venue: Crew Stadium, Columbus OH
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Post game notes by Goff on his blog Soccer Insider.
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EJECTIONS:
-Gabriel Badilla - New England - Red Card
-Khano Smith - New England - Red Card
-Dan Kennedy - Chivas - Red Card
-Alvaro Pires - Los Angeles - Red Card
-Aaron Pitchkolan - Dallas - 2 Yellow Cards
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Badilla, Smith & Kennedy will all miss the first game of the playoffs due to their Red Cards. And I would not be surprised to see Smith get a second game because of the serious intent to injure that he delivered with his vicious tackle on KC's Herculez Gomez. Gomez walked away fine.
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Final Regular Season Standings
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Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinals - 1st Leg
-Thu Oct 30
New England v Chicago - 6:30pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
-Sat Nov 1
New York v Houston - 4pm central on Direct Kick
Venue: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford NJ
Salt Lake v Chivas - 5pm central on FSC
Venue: Rio Tinot Stadium, Sandy UT
Kansas City v Columbus - 7pm central on HDNet
Venue: Community America Ballpark, Kansas City KS
Quarterfinals - 2nd Leg
-Thu Nov 6
Chicago v New England - 7:30pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview IL
-Sat Nov 8
Columbus v Kansas City - 6:30pm central on HDNet
Chivas v Salt Lake - 9:30pm central on FSC
-Sun Nov 9
Houston v New York - 2pm central on TeleFutura
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Chicago has named goalkeeper Jon Busch their Most Valuable Player, and Bakary Soumare as their Defender of the Year.
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COLORADO RAPIDS

Losing your playoff spot in the 90th minute. Too painful to consider.
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Brian Forbes of the Denver Post wonders if interim head coach Gary Smith will be offered the full time job. Defender Mike Petke says: "If he does not get this full-time job, then somebody up there has a screw loose." By "up there" do you think he is referring to a deity?
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COLUMBUS CREW

Michael Arace of the Dispatch looks at the season ended, the team and fans, and the postseason ahead. A great article!
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The Crew website has a Q & A with General Manager Mark McCullers about the dramatic turnaround this season.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch examines the factors that went into turning it around as well.
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FC DALLAS

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram looks at FCD's season of "misses".
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Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News looks at the season just completed by the teams Designated Player Duilio Davino. I think that for the second year in a row they have overpaid for an over the hill guy who didn't sell a single extra ticket. And isn't that what a DP should be all about? On the other hand Davino knows he must do better, and that is the sign of a true pro. I say, give him another shot to prove it, and if late July rolls around next year and he still isn't cutting it, then adios muchacho.
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Aparicio looks at how FCD managed to miss the playoffs this season. And what are they going to do to fix it.
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Lopez also writes about the now ended career of Bobby Rhine.
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DC UNITED

"Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber today fined D.C. United President and CEO Kevin Payne $5,000 due to inappropriate conduct directed at an official after the D.C. United at LA Galaxy match on Sept. 20, 2008."
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Out of the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Not good. Will coach Tom Soehn be back next season. Doubtful.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

The team finishes the regular season unbeaten in their last 9 league games.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle looks ahead to the series with the Red Bulls.
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The Dynamo won the Reserve Division title with a record of 9-1-2. Colorado had won the first two, so it's now a new teams chance to lead in the development game.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Grahame Jones of the LA Times says Landon Donovan is readying to leave MLS, "IF" anyone wants him, and "IF" the right deal can be made for him and the league and a new team etc etc.
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Long time defender Greg Vanney retired after yesterday's game.
-Jones of the LA Times writes about Vanney.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer talks to the retiring Vanney after the game. He has several interesting things to say.
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Paul Gardner of Soccer America has nothing but nasty things to say about Beckman and the way he has gone about trying to land a loan deal, not to mention flying all over the globe on personal endeavors throughout the season, while claiming to be all about the Galaxy. He also puts a boot to ESPN for good measure. I don't usually find myself agreeing with Gardner but today I give a thumbs up.
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The LA Times has quotes from Beckham's first press conference since the news of his Milan plan snuck out. He says he will be back in LA for sure.
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LA Times readers react to Beckham's proposed move to Milan.
How does last place feel. Tied with an expansion team. Oof. You can bet that Frank Yallop is having the last laugh now.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times blog Goal talks to commish Donald S Garber about the Beckman loan, and says the only way it will go through is if the Galaxy are happy with the deal.
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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated feels like many of us do, that Beckham is out of line.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The team has named Steve Ralston as their Most Valuable Player, and Michael Parkhurst as their Defender of the Year.
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Midfielder Shalrie Joseph on teammate Khano Smith trying to destroy KC's Herculez Gomez with a wild tackle that resulted in Smith getting a Red Card: “The guy ended Ralston’s regular season. He didn’t get a yellow. He didn’t get suspended, fined or nothing. We knew coming in that we definitely wanted to give him payback. We made him know that we didn’t appreciate what he did to one of our teammates.” Could not have been spoken more moronically clear. What an idiot. (A Rev's fan saw it this way: "Gomez foul was just a foul, not really with malice (certainly not done to break a leg), Khano's was with intent to injure." Ahh, blue tinted glasses!) Watch and decide for yourself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Then the coach Steve Nicol turns around and complains about the other Red Card his team got, this time for hauling down a KC player as he went in alone on goal: "You can argue that it is a penalty, that it isn't a penalty, but, for me, the referee shows a complete lack of understanding in the situation," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "This is the last regular-season game. Both teams are in the playoffs. If somebody deserves to be sent off, then send them off and they'll miss [a game in] the playoffs. To send Badilla off just shows a lack of understanding and we really shouldn't be too surprised because the last time Kevin Stott was here, he did the exact same thing. He showed a lack of understanding on Shalrie Joseph, so if we ever see Kevin Stott again, it won't be too soon." Nicol also comes off like an idiot. An idiot packed inside a nicely wrapped box of Sour Grapes. If his players showed some discipline the referee would not have to have made those two calls. They were both easy Red Cards in an neutral fans mind. Again, sorry Rev's fans, I know how you are gonna see this one.
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Monique Walker of the Boston Globe talks to the team about the length of the season. In 02 they played 28 games, this season its 40 and counting. But compared to most leagues around the world our season is short.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Walker also looks ahead to the series with the hated rivals the Chicago Fire.
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New England players were all given commemorative watches by the teams ownership for winning SuperLiga. I bet they would have rather had the money!
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RED BULL NEW YORK

The Red Bulls Vikingsed their way into the playoffs. Never a good sign.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to coach Juan Carlos Osorio about the "new season" in the playoffs.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger looks at the Bulls shot in the playoffs.
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REAL SALT LAKE

James Edward of the Deseret News talks to two RSL originals about what it means to qualify for the playoffs.
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The Salt Lake Tribune with 3 articles from the historic win:
-RSL's tie sure feels like a win
-RSL coach: "That's stuff history is made of."
-Win not a guilty pleasure
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SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Jay Hipps of Center Line Soccer can't help but compare his re-animated teams inaugural season with that of their hated enemy the LS Galaxy.
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By the way, one of the guys shitcanned by Tottenham at the end of last week was GM Damien Comolli who put together the "partnership" between Spurs and the Equakes. What happens now? See more on the Tottenham blow up in the England News section below.
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TORONTO FC
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gareth Wheeler of the Sun looks at what TFC needs to do to improve next season.
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GENERAL

Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe was named Player of the Week. I would hope so.
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Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com breaks down the last week of the MLS regular season.
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Steve Davis of ESPN Soccernet with 5 things to note from MLS Week 31.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider with his weekly review, The Good, The Bad, and The Coyote Ugly.
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MLS Exhibition Matches

Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Portland Timbers (USL1) v Toronto FC
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MLS Golden Boot

This years winner is: Landon Donovan of Los Angeles with 20 goals. He also came very close to being the first player in league history to score 20 and get credit for more than 10 assists. He had 9. If his team was any good he would be a serious contender for league MVP, instead he is a distant 2nd to Schelotto.
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Top 8 Goal Scorers:
20 Landon Donovan
18 Kenny Cooper
15 Edson Buddle
14 Juan Pablo Angel
13 Brian Ching
11 Luciano Emilio
11 Conor Casey
10 Jaime Moreno
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And here are those top hander-outers of assistes's:
19 Guillermo Barros Schelotto
15 Javier Morales
12 Terry Cooke
11 Cuauhtemoc Blanco
10 David Beckham
10 Jaime Moreno
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MLS Expansion News

Stunningly the Seattle Sounders are about to spend Designated Player money on a guy who can barely run anymore. Swedish midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg who is only 31 peaked with Arsenal in the spring of 2002. He went to West Ham at the beginning of last season but was let go this summer when they realized he had nothing left in the tank, although in the press releases they deny this was the reason for ending his contract after 1 of 4 years. He played his last game for Sweden this summer saying he wanted to concentrate on West Ham but we now know how long that lasted. And somehow he is getting DP money? Reported to be $2.5 million a year, which is more than all the other DP's cept Becks. Are you serious? And even at his peak would he really sell that many tickets? They will introduce him on Tuesday.
-The Seattle Times reports on Ljungberg.
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A website called Prost Amerika has a Q & A with sounders GM Adrian Hanauer.
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The league released the rules for the Seattle expansion draft. It will be held on Wed Nov 26. Teams can only lose 1 player.
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USA U17 News

Justin Rodriquez of ESPN Soccernet tells us all about another of the potentially brilliant young USA players, 16 year old striker Stefan Jerome.
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Soccer In America

My good friend Brian Quarstad has officially launched his new soccer blog - Inside Minnesota Soccer. It features interviews, game stories, opinions etc from all things Minnesota soccer related, and this includes people from far and wide who come in contact or connection our great state and its soccer. Good luck to you BQ.
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You wanna go for the new record and play a 35 hours game? (thanks to Banecek for this one)
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Americans In Europe

While Frank Simek did not see the field this weekend for Sheffield Wednesday he was on the bench for the first time since last spring when he suffered a serious ankle injury. Great for him.
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Ravi Ubha of ESPN Soccernet tells us about Dan Califf and his new team Midtylland.
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Soccernet also has an article on Carlos Bocanegra and his first season in France.
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The Scotsman has several quotes from Maurice Edu on life at Rangers, in an article about the return to the field of Barry Ferguson.
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Sporting Life has more from Edu.
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Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to Kamani Hill about his try out at Bodo/Glimt in Norway, which has been extended.
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MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only those who took the field are listed)

French Ligue 1
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - went the full 90 and drew 2-2 at home against Le Mans.
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Scottish Premier League
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - started and went 75 minutes in a 1-3 win at Hamilton.
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German Bundesliga 1
-Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - started and played 77 minutes of a1-0 home win over Karlsruhe.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full match, got a Yellow Card and they drew 1-1 at home to Werder Bremen.
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund - played the entire match and they tied Hertha Berlin 1-1 at home.
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German Bundesliga 2
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - went the full 90, got a Yellow Card and won 0-2 at Osnabruck.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - came on in the 70th minute of a 0-0 draw at Frankfurt.
-Matt Taylor - Koblenz - started and went 59 minutes of a 1-1 home draw against Nurnberg.
-David Yelldell - Koblenz - played the whole game in the nets and drew 1-1 at home against Nurnberg.
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Dutch Erstedivisie
-Charles Kazlauskas - TOP Oss - went the full 90 minutes but lost at Excelsior 2-1.
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Belgian Jupiler League
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played the whole match as they went to Racing Genk and tied 0-0.
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Austrian Bundesliga
-Preston Zimmerman - Kapfenberg - went the full match but got drilled 7-3 at Salzburg.
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English Premier League
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on as a sub in the 71st minute and got the tying goal in the 87th as they drew 1-1 at Portsmouth.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - the whole game as usual in the nets and whooped Wigan 0-4 on the road.
-Tim Howard - Everton - played all 90 and drew 1-1 at home against Manchester United.
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English Championship Division
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - went all 90 and kept a clean sheet in a scoreless home draw with QPR.
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English League One
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall - played the full match, got a Yellow Card and lost 3-2 at Scunthorpe.
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Danish SAS Ligaen
-Dan Califf - Midjtylland - went the distance but got smoked 3-0 at Brondby.
-Tally Hall - Esbjerg - at home against Sonderjyske on Monday.
-Lee Nguyen - Randers - came on in the 53rd minute, got booked, and drew at home 2-2 with AaB.
-Jeremiah White - Aarhus - started and was subbed out only in the dying seconds of stoppage time as they won 2-1 at home over Vejle.
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Norwegian Tippeligaen
-Troy Perkins - Valerenga - played the whole game as always, but went to Stabaek and got savaged 6-2.
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Norwegian Adeccoligaen
-Clarence Goodson - Start - came on as a sub in the 72nd minute and scored 5 minutes later, but they lost 3-2 at Odd Grenland.
-Joe Lapira - Nybergsund - started and went 69 minutes as they lost 1-0 at Notodden.
-Jay Needham - Alta - played all 90, assisted on a goal, and won big 7-2 at home over Hodd.
-Kyle Veris - Hodd - started and went 69 mintues, as they got thumped 7-2 at Alta.
-Cam Weaver - Haugesund - went the distance and scored 2 goals, 30th & 90th minutes, and they won 2-4 on the road over Sandnes.
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Swedish Allsvenskan
-Colin Burns - Ljungskile - at home against Malmo on Monday.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - went the full 90 but lost 3-0 at Gelfe.
-Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile - at home against Malmo on Monday.
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CONCACAF Champions League

Official CCL website
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matchday 6
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 28
Firpo v Houston
Olimpia v Joe Public
Atlante v Montreal
-Wed Oct 29
Pumas v San Francisco
DC v Marathon
Saprissa v Cruz Azul
Tauro v Puerto Rico
-Thu Oct 30
Municipal v Santos Laguna
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POSTPONED DUE TO FLOODING - TO BE PLAYED ON WED NOV 5 Marathon v Saprissa
POSTPONED DUE TO HURRICANE IKE - TO BE PLAYED ON WED NOV 26 Houston v Firpo
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated writes about the strength of the Mexican teams in the CCL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
Group A
10 Cruz Azul (5)
7 Saprissa (4)
7 Marathon (4)
% 1 DC (5)
Group B
9 UNAM Pumas (5)
7 Firpo (4)
5 Houston (4)
% 2 San Francisco (5)
Group C
* 11 Montreal (5)
* 8 Atlante (5)
5 Olimpia (5)
% 3 Joe Public (5)
Group D
9 Santos Laguna (5)
7 Puerto Rico (5)
7 Tauro (5)
5 Municipal (5)
* Advanced
% Elimidated
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Chelsea had not lost in 86 consecutive home games until Sunday when the Liverpeople got them 0-1. That was one hell of a run.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tottenham finally fired coach Juande Ramos after starting the season with 2 points from 8 games. They have hired Portsmouth main man Harry "Bobblehead" Redknapp as they new boss and he promptly guided them to a win in his first day on the job - RESULTS! They also got rid of some executive staff and all the assistant coaches. House cleaning indeed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hull City meanwhile continue to be the big surprise in England, staying in 3rd spot, and tied on points with 2nd place Chelsea, who are 3 points behind leaders Liverpool.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Robinho bags all 3 as Man City beat crappy Stoke 3-0.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was reading the other day that the top 10 richest people in Russia had lost a combine US$250 Billion in the past month or so of world wide economic plummet. So I was not surprised to see this in the Observer: Duncan Castles says Chelsea are looking to cut their overhead in any way possible.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Castles also interviews Chelsea boss Big Phil about his times so far at Stamford Bridge. He is loving it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with a round up of the Championship, League One and League Two.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David James in the Observer says the Premiership needs huge support from the fans if they are to survive the financial crunch. I ask, what is the Premiership going to do for those fans?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Lawton of the Independent went to Everton to see them play Man United, and what he saw was a very uninterested Cristiano Ronaldo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian says Napoli are the great story of the early season in Serie A. Keep your eyes on Argentine forward Lavezzi - an awesome player!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian says that UEFA boss Michel Platini should be a lot more concerned with Juventus only drawing 25,000 for a match against Real Madrid in the Champions League, then how many foreigners play in the English Premiership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has an article on coach Walter Zenga who is doing a great job at Catania.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com does a Q & A with Juve midfield legend Pavel Nedved.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters reports that Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino will be suspended for the teams next two matches after it was determined that in scoring goal against Palermo on Monday he used his arm intentionally to put the ball in the net. But the referee called the goal good. The Palermo players were even more insenced when Gilardino celebrated the goal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NETHERLANDS

Leander Schaerlaickens of the Guardian looks at the shocking new top teams in the Eredivisie: Gronigen, Breda & Alkmaar. Not to mention Twente & Heerenveen.
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SPAIN

Barcelona were up 5-0 after just 37 minutes at home against Almería on Saturday. They have now won 9 in a row in all competitions. They are the worlds #1 now!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball of ESPN Soccernet says Barcelona are again dreaming of achieving sheer brilliance. And the rest of the news from the Spanish top flight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sid Lowe of the Guardian sees the wild ride in Villarreal as they tied Atlectico 4-4!!! The three big Spanish sports daily papers all called it "madness". And all the other crazy games from La Liga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Stabaek has won their first ever Norwegian league title! Congrats to them!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Club Matches Around The World This Week

England Premiership
-Sat Oct 25
Sunderland 2-1 Newcastle - the Tyne-Wear derby.
-Sun Oct 26
Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool - the 2 big teams at the top of the table went head to head and the Liverpeople pulled off a huge upset to go to the top. It was the first loss for Chelsea at home in over 4 YEARS!
West Ham 0-2 Arsenal - a lesser London derby (one of many).
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Denmark SAS Ligaen
-Sun Oct 26
Copenhagen 0-0 Odense - the draw leaves them at #2 & #1 respectively.
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France Ligue Un
-Sun Oct 26
Olympique Marseille 2-4 Paris St Germain - the very old & bitter rivalry goes to the visitors.
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German Bundesliga
-Fri Oct 24
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Koln - the Rhine derby.
-Sun Oct 26
Hoffenheim 3-0 Hamburg - the surprising upstarts jump to #1, while the Hamburglers drop to #3.

Italy Serie A
-Sat Oct 25
Juventus 1-0 Torino - the Turin derby.
-Sun Oct 26
Lazio 0-1 Napoli - like an 80's classic.
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Spain La Liga
-Sun Oct 26
Villarreal 4-4 Atletico Madrid - these potential contenders had the shootout at the OK Corral.
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Mexico Primera
-Sun Oct 26
America 1-2 Guadalajara - El Classico, the biggest North American derby, and the road team keeps the homeboys at the bottom of the group.
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Russia Premier League
-Mon Oct 27
Dinamo Moscow v CSKA Moscow - a Moscow derby pitting #3 v #2
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World News

The international players organization FIFPro has named Cristiano Ronaldo the Player of the Year. No surprise. It only will be if he DOESN'T sweep all "best of" awards.
-The FIFPro Best 11:
G:
Iker Casillas
D:
Rio Ferdinand
Carlos Puyol
Sergio Ramos
John Terry
M:
Steven Gerrard
Xavi Hernandez
Ricky Kaka
Cristiano Ronaldo
F:
Fernando Torres
Lionel Messi
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Middle Eastern News

The Toronto Star with an article on the historic match that took place in Palestine this weekend. Thank you Star for not running a crappy wire report!