Shop Closed

Hey all.
We closed the shop for the holidays. Come back after the turkey coma wears off to enjoy the best links in all of world football.
And remember, we are all loved. Kinda.
Bruce

Trapped Without A Chucker News

MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis was named CEO of Arsenal Football Club today. Here is the news from the team website. He begins his new job on January 1.

~and~

I have to admit that I am baffled by some writers that are defending the Montreal Impact's low ball bid for a new MLS team. To my way of thinking it's pretty simple - the asking price is $40 Million US. If you don't think a team is worth that much, then don't bid. 5 others seem to think that amount is just fine. Why are the Saputo's of Montreal special? And really, if you read between the lines, they also wanted to subtract the amount of money it would take to upgrade their current stadium to MLS size from their money bid. And Saputo claims that he has no idea why his bid was tossed out so unceremoniously. Now that is what I call being out to lunch.


Some Final Notes From MLS Cup 2008

Just wanted to give a big thumbs up to every one who made the MLS Cup weekend such a great time:

My travel partners:
-AJ and KJ.

My friends who we met up with and rocked all weekend:
-Joe J and Champion DanG.

The friends we met up with for partying:
-Sacha, Arianne and Mark.

The friends we ran into and invited to sit with us at the game:
-Morgan and Jimmy.

Then all the folks I met with some connection to this blog, some were old friends, some new (in roughly the order I encountered them):
-Dave Martinez - the Offside - on our plane
-Mark Fishkin - the King of Fish
-Empire Supporters Club - all the great people I met, sorry I don't remember so many names - except Swampy, how can you forget that!
-Shep Messing - the brilliant broadcaster from MSG & MLSnet, Playgirl Magazine model.
-Greg Lalas - Goal.com, MLSnet, New England Revolution TV
-Peter - MLS Phoenix Rising
-Chivas USA Union Ultras - John & Co. were amazing
-Beau Dure - USA Today, The Netminder
-The guy from the Witness Protection Program who hosted the Supporters Summit
-Angel City Brigade
-Sam Pierron - Kansas City Wizards
-Paul - the Screaming Eagles guy who seems like he is too good for everyone else
-Brian Dunseth - Bumpy Pitch, the Original Winger
-Alexi Lalas - himself
-Shawn Francis - the Offside Rules
-Will Kuhns - MLS
-Susan Marshall - MLS
-Luis Bueno - Press Enterprise, MLSnet, Sports Illustrated, the Touchline
-Grant Wahl - Sports Illustrated
-Jack Bell - New York Times & Goal
-Steven Goff - Washington Post & Soccer Insider
-Bill Archer - Maybe It's Just Me...Kryptonite to Stupid
-Dan Loney, his wife who's name I idiotically forgot & their new daughter Sophia - Dan Loney Says It All
-David Lindholm - Chivas USA
-The gang from the Bleacher Report
-Alex Gutierrez - the Offside
-Jaime Cardenas - now with the LA Galaxy
-Jason Scott - Columbus Crew
-Ives Galarcep - Soccer by Ives & ESPN Soccernet
-Michael Kammerman - US Soccer
-Steve Sirk - Sirk's Notebook
-Shooter, Bill, Steve & Karen, and all the rest of the LA Riot Squad!
-Peter Wilt - Chicago Red Stars
-Dave Denholm - American Soccer Show, Dave Denholm Podcast, ESPN 710
-Andrea Canales - Goal.com

Two others worth mentioning that I saw and kinda interacted with:
-Julie Foudy was getting ready for the ABC pregame TV show when she walked by me, so I stopped her, and told her to "Have some fun!" Huh? What was a I saying that for?
-Drew Carey was marching through the crowd holding a Seattle scarf over his head and looking very anonymous. But I noticed that he was marching straight toward MLS deputy dawg Ivan Gazidis, so I walked over to Carey and slapped him on the shoulder to say Hi. I think I hit him a little too hard, cuz he just looked at me like, "why did you just hit me?", and then kept right on cruising toward Gazidis.

And finally, two guys who helped me with getting the great seats:
-Evan and Dan

A big apology to anyone else I forgot. Drop me an email and I will acknowledge your greatness to the world.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Champions League

The last Group Stage Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 26
Houston Dynamo v Luis Angel Firpo
Match preview by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Pre game analysis by Glenn Davis of the Chronicle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The advancing team will join Marathon, Cruz Azul, UNAM Pumas, Atlante, Montreal Impact, Santos Laguna & Puerto Rico Islanders in the quarterfinals beginning next spring.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Seattle Expansion News

The Sounders added 10 players today via the Expansion Draft. Here they are:
(listed alphabetically, with the order they were picked listed after their former team name)
-Brad Evans - Columbus Crew - 10
-Nate Jaqua - Houston Dynamo - 1
-Stephen King - Chicago Fire - 9
-Jeff Parke - New York Red Bulls - 3
-James Riley - San Jose Earthquake - 8
-Khano Smith - New England Revolution - 5
-Jarrod Smith - Toronto FC - 4
-Nathan Sturgis - Real Salt Lake - 2
-Peter Vagenas - Los Angeles Galaxy - 6
-Tyson Wahl - Kansas City Wizards - 7
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It looks more and more likely that Sigi Schmid who just led Columbus to the title will be the teams first head coach. Schmid is out of contract with Columbus, and negotiations for a new deal have not gone well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

Nick Firchau of the Sun Times gives the Fire supporters known as Section 8 some mainstream attention in their battle to secure the $25,000 they say the team owes them on ticket sales commissions and the loss of a massive banner. The supporters are preparing a lawsuit to be filed against their own team next week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLUMBUS CREW

I am still beating myself over the head for picking Columbus to finish dead last in the East in my preseason picks. What an idiot!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dispatch with photos from the Cup final. Especially check out #17 - shows Chad Marshall right after he scores the game winning goal, rocking the twin devil horns!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You can order a poster of the front page of Monday's Dispatch. This is what it looks like.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch looks at who the Crew need to shore up contracts with this offseason.
-Mitchell on his blog Covering the Crew has more on Schelotto's contract situation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mitchell on his blog with even more team notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Hunter of the Dispatch tries to put some historical perspective on the Cup win.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mitchell on the celebrations once the team returned to Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Arace of the Dispatch writes about the importance of the Cup win to the city of Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arace on his blog with a story from the parking lot before the game kicked off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pat Walsh of Goal.com says that Cbus has many question marks that need answering before we can consider them the immediate favorites for next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales of Goal.com piles some more of that well deserved praise on to Schelotto.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

The team has bought centerback Jamison Olave from Deportivo Cali where they had him on loan from this past season, and have signed him to a 4 year contract.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Word from England is that midfielder Darren Huckerby will be spending time with Lowestoft Town of England's Eastern Counties Football League Premier Division (waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the ladder) to keep in shape during the MLS offseason. He will NOT be playing games for them, just staying in shape.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated with An Ode To Passionate MLS Fans.
-And to add to Greg's list, I have to tip my hat to the LA Riot Squad for turning out in such big numbers and singing very loudly all game long. Then there was the pond of orange just to the east of the Red Bulls fans - 20 odd Houston supporters together at the game even though their team was embarrassed by said Red Bulls. Those Union Ultra's actually provided the drum corp for the Nordecke West. And a couple people I know counted shirts from all 12 other MLS teams who were not in the final - that's cool. Not to forget the dozens decked out in Boca Juniors shirts cheering on their beloved Guille. And finally me, and my friends, and all the other random fans from around the world that turn up at the final every year no matter where it is held and have a glorious 4 day weekend!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of Press Enterprise addresses the leagues changes for next season, and examines the continued weaknesses.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Post Season Awards

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze gives out his own brand of acknowledgments, both positive and negative.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

The Portland area weekly paper Willamette Week with an article on MLS Portland bidder Merritt Paulson.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Cooper & Co who are bidding for a team in St Louis have announced the name of the WPS team, which we all assume will have similar name and colors to any MLS team they may get. The team name is Athletica, and the colors are forest green and navy blue. Interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Youth Soccer News

Chelsea has teamed up with yet another American youth soccer club. This time it's the Los Angeles Futbol Club (LAFC). The clubs name will be changed to LAFC Chelsea. They are based in Simi Valley, CA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune writes what we are all thinking about - which cold weather city will host USA v Mexico on Feb 11 2009?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to little known American goalkeeper Colin Burns of Norwegian club Ljungsklie who just finished his first season as a pro.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexico & FMF News

1st Round 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Sat Nov 29
San Luis v Santos Laguna (3-1)
Atlante v UANL Tigres (1-1)
-Sun Nov 30
Toluca v UAdG Tecos (0-0)
UNAM Pumas v Cruz Azul (0-0)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Sudamericana

Finals
1st leg Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 26
Estudiantes v Internacional
2nd leg Match & Score (with 1st leg score included):
-Wed Dec 3
Internacional v Estudiantes (-)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

England Premiership
-Sat Nov 29
Middlesbrough v Newcastle - the Tyne-Tees derby.
-Sun Nov 30
Manchester City v Manchester United - the Manchester derby.
Chelsea v Arsenal - the 2nd biggest London derby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Italy Serie A
-Sun Nov 30
Roma v Fiorentina - Two teams with a lot of talent but are struggling. With plenty of season left, this could be a turning point.
Inter Milan v Napoli - the top team v the biggest surprise this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spain La Liga
-Sat Nov 29
Sevilla v Barcelona - a challenger takes on the league leader.
Getafe v Real Madrid - a lesser Madrid derby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Germany Bundesliga
-Sat Nov 29
Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich - #2 v #3.
-Sun Nov 30
Stuttgart v Schalke - strong contenders every year lately.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkey Super Lig
-Sat Nov 29
Fenerbahce v Besiktas - old bitter rivals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League

Group Stage Matchday 5 (of 6) Matches & Scores
-Tue Nov 25
Villarreal 0-0 Manchester United
Aalborg 2-1 Celtic - AaB goals by Caca & Gary Caldwell(OG). Celt goal by Barry Robson.
Bayern Munich 3-0 Steaua Bucuresti - BM goals by Miroslav Klose(2) & Luca Toni.
Fiorentina 1-2 Lyon - Fior goal by Alberto Gilardino. Lyon goals by Jean Makoun & Karim Benzema.
Fenerbahce 1-2 Porto - Fen goal by Kazim Kazim. Port goals both by Lisandro.
Arsenal 1-0 Dynamo Kyiv - Arse goal by Nicklas Bendtner.
Zenit 0-0 Juventus
BATE Borisov 0-1 Real Madrid - RM goal by Raul.
-Wed Nov 26
Bordeaux v Chelsea
CFR Cluj v Roma
Inter Milan v Panathinaikos
Anorthosis v Werder Bremen
Shakhtar Donetsk v Basel
Sporting v Barcelona
Atletico Madrid v PSV Eindhoven
Liverpool v Olimpique Marseille
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup

All the Matchday 3 (of 5) games will be played on Thu Nov 27 and are listed here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Exec Gazidis Goes To The Gunners

Major League Soccer deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis has been named the new chief executive of Arsenal Football Club from North London.

He replaces David Dein who left the club 18 months ago.

This is a huge gain for Arsenal, but an even bigger loss for MLS.

I am going to assume that all the MLS muckity mucks knew about his all weekend long at the Cup final and just acted like nothing was going on.

Major League Bike Joust News

So last month Montreal put in a bid for a new MLS franchise in 2011. Then last Friday we got word from MLS commissioner Donald U. Garber that Montreal had withdrawn their bid. A little later we got clarification from MLS that the bid had been rejected. Yesterday in Montreal bidder Joey Saputo of the USL First Division Montreal Impact said he had not withdrawn the bid, and was caught off guard that MLS would make that wild announcement, so he had a press conference to state his case. The Montreal Gazette was there. It turns out they never even bid the full $40 million the league set as the minimum. He thinks it's too much. Why did he bid then? Oops. Guess that ended your bid right there buddy. Over and out from Montreal.


Major League Soccer

Final
Match & Score:
-Sun Nov 23
Columbus Crew 3-1 Red Bull New York - CC goals by Alejandro Moreno, Chad Marshall and Guillermo Barroas Schelotto. NYRB goal by John Wolyniec.
Attendance: 27,000
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA

My thoughts on the final:
-We had some fantastic seats: In the upper deck, just south of the midfield stripe, on the east side, right smack dab in the front row!!! How cool is that! Special thanks to Dan who hooked us up!
-We could not see the jet flyover! They went just east of the stadium, not directly over it. Bastards. I love the jet flyover. The parachuters who dropped in with the game ball are OK.
-I was very happy to see Chris Leitch of NY get booked in the 4th minute for that nasty hack he put on Robbie Rogers. Waaaaaay too many referee's give a stern warning on those early fouls but not the booking, and then the TV announcers usually follow it up by saying something like "The referee made a good decision to give the player a talking to. You can't give out a Yellow that early in the game." Oh really? I think they let people get away with too much crap early in the game!
-New York had 3 clear chances and 2 half chances at goal before Columbus scored the first goal.
-I did not think Alejandro Moreno's shot was going in for goal 1. And when I watched the replay it was almost as if Danny Cepero's tip of the shot game it the spin that took it into the far post. If Denny Terrio had never touched it, I don't know if it would have have gone in.
-That Dane Richards to John Wolyniec combo for NY's only goal was a thing of beauty. It was all about perfect timing on the pass, and perfect placement on the shot. Excellent work!
-But it only took 87 seconds for Columbus to right back down the field and regain the lead!
-Why did NYRB not bring more offense into the game after going down 2-1? Why did Mike Magee not play? They only used 2 subs!!!
-When Schelotto put his shot off the bar I thought that if it had gone in we might be looking at one of the great MLS Cup performances ever by a single player.
-And then Frankie Hejduk makes the spectacular look ugly as Schelotto loops a perfect pass into the box for Frankie to head home. We wondered where Frankie came from on that play. It seemed like he came up from a trap door in the turf! Wow.
-How great was it to see Big Sig get that Cup win in front of his old bosses how canned him back in 2004 when the Galaxy sat in first place! He has risen to the top again, and they have sunk all the way to the bottom below 4 expansion teams!!
-The biggest surprise of the whole game came afterward when I went down deep into the northeast corner of the stadium to feel the celebration of the Columbus Crew fans - there was almost no energy. Yes they were smiling ear to ear, but they could not keep a song or a chant going for more than a line or two and it would die out due to lack of enthusiasm. It was very weird. My friends and I all looked at each other asking "What is going on?" I know that if it was my team there is no way my body would have left me stop singing to dancing for hours much let minutes after the game ended. I don't want to say they were subdued, just not going insane like I expected them to be.
-How about the story of Pat Noonan. Play's through 4 straight MLS Cup losses with New England, leaves the team for Norway in the off season, comes back to MLS in the summer, but signs with Columbus, plays a limited role down the stretch, sits on the bench in the final, but is now finally part of a MLS Cup winning team. More weirdness abounds.
-Columbus did an amazing job of eliminating the threat of Juan Pablo Angel and Dave Van Den Bergh throughout more of the game! That made an enormous difference.

MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

How about that frickin Cuauhtemoc Blanco! He is loaned out to Santos and wastes no time is just tearing it up in leg 1 of the playoffs as he leads them to a 3-1 win over San Luis. Wow!

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Stuart Holden & Geoff Cameron are not available for Wednesday night's CONCACAF Champions League due to Yellow Card accumulation.

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

The Wiz bought forward Adam Cristman from New England. Cristman had a good start this season, then injured his foot and never played again. The Wiz also sent a draft pick to NER as part of the deal.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The Gals signed forward Jovan Kirovski from San Jose, then promptly put him on the list of players that Seattle can pick from in the Expansion Draft on Wednesday. He cost LA a future draft pick of unknown value.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The team has sold forward Adam Cristman to Kansas City. He got off to a good start this season, then injured his foot and never played again. The Rev's will also get a draft pick out of the deal.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

San Jose sent forward Jovan Kirovski off to the LA Galaxy in exchange for a potentil future draft pick.

GENERAL

The set up of teams and the league will change slightly next season. Here are those changes:
-15 teams with the addition of Seattle.
-Games will start the weekend of March 21, a week earlier than this year.
-Playoffs will revert back to 2007 format with the top 2 in the East & West automatically getting spots and the next 4 best records regardless of conference will get in. This year it was 3 from each conf and the 2 next best.
-Roster sizes will change from 28 down to 24, but the senior rosters will increase from 18 to 20, leaving more money for each player -although if those 4 lost roster spots were at the developmental roster minimum that would only add another $50,000 total to be spread around.
-The Reserve Division has been eliminated after 3 years.

MLS Post Season Awards

2008 MLS Best XI:
G:
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
D:
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
Bakary Soumare - Chicago Fire
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
M:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Shalrie Joseph - New England Revolution
Sasha Kljestan - Chivas USA
F:
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy

Here is a MLS backstage video with some of those 11.

The 2008 du Nord Best 11 is listed at the top of the left hand column. Which team of the two do you think would win a match? I think my team would roll!!!!

MLS Seattle Expansion News

David Falk at the Goal Seattle Blog has the first images of the Sounders uniforms for next season. I saw one of them walking around MLS Cup on Sunday myself - it was the woman in the picture with short brown hair and big sunglasses.

SuperLiga

Below are the MLS entrants for next years tournament. We now wait for the FMF to announce their teams.
-Chicago Fire
-Chivas USA
-Kansas City Wizards
-New England Revolution (defending champs)

These MLS teams are the 4 who finished with the best records after the 4 who got a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Team USA

US Soccer has audio of a press conference with coach Bob Bradley and federation president Sunil Gulati after the draw for the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, and the Confederations Cup. Download or listen here.

Here is our teams official schedule so far for 2009:

Friendly
Sat Jan 24 USA v Sweden - Home Depot Center - Carson, CA - 4:30pm central on FSC

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
Wed Feb 11 USA v Mexico - everything else TBA
Sat Mar 28 USA at El Salvador - everything else TBA
Wed Apr 01 USA v Trinidad & Tobago - everything else TBA
Wed Jun 03 USA at Costa Rica - everything else TBA
Sat Jun 06 USA v Honduras - everything else TBA

Confederations Cup - South Africa
Mon Jun 15 USA v Italy - Loftus Versfeld - Tshwane, Pretoria - Time & TV TBA
Thu Jun 18 USA v Brazil - Loftus Versfeld - Tshwane, Pretoria - Time & TV TBA
Sun Jun 21 USA v Egypt - Royal Bafokeng Stadium - Rustenberg - Time & TV TBA

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
Wed Aug 12 USA at Mexico - everything else TBA
Sat Sep 05 USA v El Salvador - everything else TBA
Wed Sep 09 USA at Trinidad & Tobago - everything else TBA
Sat Oct 10 USA at Honduras - everything else TBA
Wed Oct 14 USA v Costa Rica - everything else TBA

USA U20 News

Coach Thomas Rongen had the team in Spain last week for 3 friendlies.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 19
Real Madrid U20 5-3 USA U20 - USA goals by Jorge Flores, Tristan Bowen & Abdusalam Ibrahim.
Match report from US Soccer.
-Thu Nov 20
Atletico Madrid U20 0-0 USA U20
Match report from US Soccer.
-Sat Nov 22
Rayo Vallecano U20 2-0 USA U20
Match report from US Soccer.

The team came home with 0 Wins, 2 loses and 1 Tie. Not so hot. They scored 3 goals, all in the first game, and were blanked in the other two.

Americans In Europe

TRANSFER RUMORS

MLS HQ claims that they have heard nothing from Bayern Munich about a loan deal for Landon Donovan. Huh?

MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who saw the field are listed)

French Ligue 1
-Freddy Adu - Monaco - came on as a 90th minute sub as they won 3-0 over Le Mans.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played all 90 and drew 1-1 at Bordeaux.

Scottish Premier League
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - came on as a 69th minute sub and they won 2-0 at home over Aberdeen.

German Bundesliga 1
-Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - gave it the full 90 but lost 3-1 at Schalke.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full match but got crushed for their efforts at Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0.
-Neven Subotic - Borussia Dortmund - went the distance as they won on the road over Karlsruhe 0-1.
-Sal Zizzo - Hannover - came on as a sub in the 84th minute of a 4-0 loss at Eintract Frankfurt.

German Bundesliga 2
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played the entire match and won 0-1 at Hans Rastock.
-Grover Gibson - Rot Weiss Ahlen - came in as a sub in the 23rd minute and they won 3-0 at home over Ingolstadt.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - played all 90 but lost 1-0 at Augsburg.
-Matt Taylor - Koblenz - played the whole match but drew at Freiburg 1-1.
-David Yelldell - Koblenz - played the whole match but drew at Freiburg 1-1.

Italian Serie B
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - started and went 75 minutes in a 2-1 home win over Vicenza.

Dutch Erstedivisie
-Charles Kazlauskas - TOP Oss - went the full monty but lost 0-3 at RBC Roosendaal.

Belgian Jupiler League
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - played the whole match as always and they won 3-1 at home over Royal Excelsior Mouscron.

Austrian Bundesliga
-Preston Zimmerman - Kapfenberg - started, went 85 minutes, picked up a Yellow Card, and also bagged his 1st goal in a 2-5 win at 1st place Salzburg!

English Premier League
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and went 85 minutes as they drew 0-0 at Liverpool.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the full 90 and got a clean sheet 0-0 at home against Manchester United.
-Tim Howard - Everton - played the full match but lost 1-0 at Wigan.

English Championship Division
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the distance in a 3-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - in the goal as always but lost 1-2 at home against Southampton.
-Eddie Johnson - Cardiff - went the full match but lost 2-1 at Plymouth.

English League One
-Jemal Johnson - MK Dons - started and played 78 minutes, earning a Yellow Card, and scoring the winning goal in a 0-3 decision at Walsall.

Danish SAS Ligaen
-Dan Califf - Midjtylland - played the entire match and won 1-2 at Randers.
-Lee Nguyen - Randers - came on as a sub in the 88th minute but lost 1-2 at home against Midtjylland.
-Jeremiah White - Aarhus - came on as a sub in the 81st minute but lost 3-0 at Kobenhaven.

CONCACAF Champions League

The last Group Stage Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 26
Houston Dynamo v Luis Angel Firpo

A win or draw sends Firpo through, while Houston must win to advance.

The advancing team will join Marathon, Cruz Azul, UNAM Pumas, Atlate, Montreal Impact, Santos Laguna & Puerto Rico Islanders in the quarterfinals begining next spring.

Mexico & FMF News

The Primera Apertura playoffs start this weekend.
1st Round 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 22
Cruz Azul 0-0 UNAM Pumas
UANL Tigres 1-1 Atlante
-Sun Nov 23
UAdG Tecos 0-0 Toluca
Santos Laguna v San Luis

1st Round 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Sat Nov 29
San Luis v Santos Laguna (3-1)
Atlante v UANL Tigres (1-1)
-Sun Nov 30
Toluca v UAdG Tecos (0-0)
UNAM Pumas v Cruz Azul (0-0)

Brazil

Brasileiro Standings, and there are only 2 teams left in the race with 2 games left to play (includes results against final 4 opponents of the season):
71 Sao Paulo (won 3-1 v Figueirense, 1-2 at Vasco da Gama, v Fluminense, at Goias)
66 Gremio (won 2-1 v Coritiba, 4-2 at Vitoria, at Ipatinga, v Atletico MG)
- - - - -
64 Cruzeiro (lost 5-2 at Nautico, 3-2 v Flamengo, at Internacional, v Portuguesa de Desportos)
64 Palmeiras (lost 5-2 at Flamengo, 2-0 v Ipatinga, at Vitoria, v Botafogo)
63 Flamengo (won 5-2 v Palmeiras, 3-2 at Cruzeiro, v Goias, at Atletico Paranaense)

Sao Paulo simply needs 1 point from the last 2 games to clinch the title!

Copa Sudamericana

Semifinals
2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Wed Nov 19
International 4-0 Guadalajara - Int advance 6-0 on aggregate.
-Thu Nov 20
Estudiantes 1-0 Argentinos Juniors - Est adv 2-1 on agg.

Finals It's Argentina v Brazil!
1st leg Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 26
Estudiantes v Internacional
2nd leg Match & Score (with 1st leg score included):
-Wed Dec 3
Internacional v Estudiantes (-)

European News

GERMANY

Unbelievable Hoffenheim win again, taking them back to the top spot, 3 ahead of Bayern & Bayer.

ITALY

I was just tickled pink on Sunday night as we all gathered around the warm glow of the laptop and looked at international scores from the weekend. I had not watched one minute of football due to the rockin n rollin we were doing in LA. So when KJ told that Inter had beaten Juve 1-0 and Milan had been held 2-2 by Torino I was ecstatic!!!! Juventus had won 7 in a row coming into that match too!

SPAIN

The Spain national team is currently on a run of 25 wins and 3 draws since they last lost a game!

UEFA Champions League

Group Stage Matchday 5 (of 6) Matches & Scores
-Tue Nov 25
Villarreal v Manchester United
Aalborg v Celtic
Bayern Munich v Steaua Bucuresti
Fiorentina v Lyon
Fenerbahce v Porto
Arsenal v Dynamo Kyiv
Zenit v Juventus
BATE Borisov v Real Madrid
-Wed Nov 26
Bordeaux v Chelsea
CFR Cluj v Roma
Inter Milan v Panathinaikos
Anorthosis v Werder Bremen
Shakhtar Donetsk v Basel
Sporting v Barcelona
Atletico Madrid v PSV Eindhoven
Liverpool v Olimpique Marseille

Group Standings

UEFA Cup

All the Matchday 3 (of 5) games will be played on Thu Nov 27 and are listed here.

Group Standings

Tales of Interest News

Listen to Shpongle while reading Tales of Interest News (currently touring the mid-west instead of Russia)


A Wild and Crazy Ride
Wow! After countless hours of action, wild swings of emotion, and hundreds of dollars spent the MLS season has finally drawn to a close. What a ride. Almost every team in the league had a shot at getting into the playoffs just a couple weeks from the close of the regular season, and one of those long shots stepped up and made a run powered by a meticulous note taker.

I’m speaking, of course of Osorio. He took a Red Bull that team that he admits did not respond to his training techniques and ideas as well as Chicago did and lead them on a crazy run to the final. Although many people have leveled charges of constant tinkering against Osorio, his obsession with studying every aspect of the game helped level Houston at home and scrape through against Real Salt Lake.

Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, this was the year that Sigi Schmidt’s plan came to fruition. Columbus season was capped with a win that was both pleasing to the eye and exciting. It was a great game for a neutral to watch.

Schelotto showed up in the big game with his brother and his former Boca Juniors coach watching. Three assists from Schelotto helped Columbus weather a first half full of Red Bulls attack before turning up the power and confidence to create a 3-1 win. That's six assists for Schelotto in the post season, 25 total for season.

Game Notes
Pre-game
-Both Padula and Hejduk’s hair was illustrious. I bet for this game they used both shampoo and conditioner.
-How about the difference in dress between Osorio and Sigi? Sigi was ready to head to the beach or a beer pong game while Osorio looked like he was ready for hostile takeover
-What’s with the empty seats? I know there was no Bekman and both Columbus and New York are a long ways away but come on.

1st Half (Warning: These minutes are not official)
9’ I finish my first beer.

10’ Both teams are playing well though Red Bulls are showing better attacking than Columbus. Will Hesmer has already been decisive on incoming crosses while Cepero is yet untested.

14’ Columbus is really weathering the storm, the Red Bulls look very dangerous

19’ Beer number 2 gone.

23’ Angel is showing up big with a great run into the Columbus area

27’ Gaven takes a great shot on goal – I spill most of my beer on my phone (it survived).

29’ Angel almost scores off a great cross by Dane Richards

31’ GOAL! Moreno picks up a great pass by Schelotto and makes a run down the side of the field. Cepero looked out of position. That’s beer number three done!

46’ Despite the goal Cepero is still looking good, handling crosses, and making saves.

Half-Time – 4th beer gone and I can tell there is a lot more life in this game. (Warning: The proceeding minutes are even less official)

51’ GOAL Wolyniec! He makes a great run and toe pokes it into the side netting. The old man has scored his 2nd goal of the season and 2nd in the postseason.

53’ GOAL Marshal! Schelotto curls a corner perfectly into the center of the box and Marshall smashes it home off his face.

56’ The Red Bulls haven’t given up and continue to launch dangerous counter attacks.

63’ 5th beer gone and Angel misses plays a cross that would have been a sure goal.

68’ Richards zooms past Padula and Padula has to foul him to stop a dangerous situation. Yellow for Padula.

72’ Padula and Richards start yelling at each other.

76’ 6th beer gone, Schelotto hits a great ball that slams into the crossbar. He had Cepero beat!

80’ 10 minutes to go. Can Columbus hang on? Can I finish another beer before the game is over? What do I have to eat in the apartment?

82’ GOAL Hejduk! Schelotto chips it into the area for an onrushing Hejduk who pokes it over Cepero and into the goal. Mmmm chips.

92’ Columbus starts bringing in the subs and I sub out my seventh beer.

Post-Game
-It’s dance party time! Lenhart, Padula, and Iro all stage a dance off in the middle of the field. There are tears of joy and tears of despair all around. The trophy is handed out and Don Garber mispronounces Hejduk’s name as Schelotto.

-I find that ranch goes well with cheap pizza and tatter tots.
-However, a glass of Egg Nog was not the right choice immediately after all that ranch. A few beers later my stomach has had it and I pass out early.

YOU READ IT, YOU CAN’T UNREAD IT!
But you can email me at grahamfox@gmail.com

Saturday Extra: Too much to not report!

MLS commissioner Don Garber held his annual State of the League address Friday night at the Board of Governors Meeting, and there is LOTS to report!

The U.S. men's national team will play Sweden in a friendly this January, and the draw for the next round of World Cup Qualifying (UPDATE) and the Confederations Cup is set! See below.

This is Chrös again; Brucio is in Los Angeles for the MLS Cup, which is Sunday at 2:30 p.m. central time at the Home Depot Center and on ABC. Check out yesterday's post for more on that. Hit me up at kingchros@gmail.com if you need anything.

State of the League
1. Garber confirmed on Friday that Montreal has dropped out of the expansion race. It seems like a financial decision. I thought Montreal was a shoe-in, there were no cons to their bid. Hello St. Louis and Miami?

2. Teams will no longer do double-duty in Superliga and Champions League!
-Champions League: Columbus, D.C. United, New York, Houston.
-Superliga: New England, Chivas USA, Kansas City, Chicago.

3. MLS will break for two weeks or decrease its schedule for four, likely in June and July, to accommodate the Gold Cup, Confederations Cup and some qualifying matches.

4. The 15 teams will each play each other home-and-away with two additional games against foes from the other conference next season, for a grand total of a 30-game season.

5. There will be four wildcards in the playoffs next year, as opposed to two this year. This is how they did it in 2007, the last time there was an odd number of teams.

6. Goodbye reserve league: With no more reserve league, the senior rosters will expand to 20 players (from 18 last year). The money will go to other areas, such as the senior team and Generation adidas. Four reserve players will be allowed beyond the salary cap.

7. The season will start one week earlier next year, on March 21.

• Other changes, such as DP details, will have to wait on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players union.

~~~~~

Thoughts

* Wow. Slightly bigger rosters, less competitions and fewer international conflicts. They've been listening, but what can we complain about now??
* I'm not necessarily against the conference system, but doesn't this make it obsolete?
* I'd like to think the extra developmental players can go to USL, earn more money and help improve the quality of that league. We'll see.
* I'm excited to see Columbus in the Champions League, and Chicago in the Superliga. New England in the Superliga is bound for another dud, though.
* The new schedule means more weekday games, but that's a necessary evil, I think.
* It's really a shame that Montreal dropped out. I reviewed the bids a few weeks ago and they were by far the best package. I've never been high on FCB Miami, but who is in their way now?
* Also, if Montreal can't afford it, I hope St. Louis can. The economy there hasn't been great either.

* It looks like this is going to be another fun offseason.

Sources: Major League Soccer, New York Times, Newark Star-Ledger

Other News

Garber also said that MLS has not been in negotiations with Bayern Munich for Landon Donovan's loan. What? I really don't understand this. It's almost embarrassing.

Juan Pablo Angel and Danny Cepero of the New York Red Bulls collided yesterday in training but all accounts say they should be good to go for tomorrow's MLS Cup.

Philadelphia is expected to break ground on its new stadium in Chester, Pa., on Dec. 1, 2008.

Seattle Sounders FC have already sold 18,000 season tickets. Wow!

Steven Goff at the Soccer Insider says D.C. United is going to exercise its option of backup goalie Zach Wells for next season while brining in another keeper to challenge him. Louis Crayton is the No. 1 goalie.

U.S. Men's National Team

Friendly: USA vs. Sweden
Jan. 24, 2009 7:30 p.m. central time
Home Depot Center
Los Angeles
TV: Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision

The Hex is Set:

Feb. 11: Mexico (Wednesday)
March 28: at El Salvador (Saturday)
April 1: Trinidad & Tobago (Wednesday)
June 3: at Costa Rica (Wednesday)
June 6: Honduras (Saturday)
Aug. 12: at Mexico (Wednesday)
Sept. 5: El Salvador (Saturday)
Sept. 9: at Trinidad & Tobago (Wednesday)
Oct. 10: at Honduras (Saturday)
Oct. 14: Costa Rica (Wednesday)

Full CONCACAF qualifying schedule, courtesy of FIFA.

UPDATE: CONFEDERATIONS CUP DRAW

Group 1
South Africa
Iraq
New Zealand
Spain

Group 2
United States of America
Italy
Egypt
Brazil

Oh come on! That is brutally uneven!

The U.S. qualified for the tournament by winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2007. The tournament June 14-28 in South Africa.

More details from FIFA.

Rumors:

One report says the Chicago Fire will get $500,000 for loaning Cuauhtemoc Blanco to Santos Laguna in Mexico, but Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune says that might be wack.

Michael Owen to Chelsea?

I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor News

MLS commissioner Don Garber will speak at the Commissioner's meeting tonight at 6 p.m. central time. Nothing earth shattering is expected, like expansion, but he might talk about roster expansion, the salary cap, developmental players and the future of reserve teams. Soccer America has some ideas. Stay tuned.

For those wondering what the rosters might look like next season, Steven Goff of the Soccer Insider reports that teams might have 24-man rosters with 20 senior players next year, as opposed to the 28-man rosters with 18 senior players that we saw this year.

Jurgen Klinsmann is in already in talks with MLS to extend Landon Donovan's loan move to Bayern Munich. See below. 

Miami Soccer Fan has an interview with potential FCB Miami owner Marcelo Claure that answers just about any question you have about the Miami bid. Claure says he wants his team to start in 2010, and that they will not negotiate. Is Miami going to try to push Philadelphia back to 2011?

Where Are You?

And now, the introduction.

I first met Bruce in the summer of 2007. Our USL team, the Minnesota Thunder, was announcing the Copa Minnesota, an upcoming game between the Galaxy and a “top international opponent” to be named later. I was the no-name reporter and Bruce was the big red-haired guy getting star treatment.

Nonetheless, Bruce gave me his business card, I quickly became a fanatico, the Galaxy ended up playing the Thunder in Copa Minnesota, and Bruce gave me the honor of updating du Nord while he is on the road to MLS Cup 2008. We've still never met in person since that fateful morning at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Anyway, my name is Chrös McDougall, and I am/(was) a newspaper reporter — I covered soccer for the AP bureau in London for four months in 2007 and just got back from the Olympics, among other things — but now I'm doing some freelancing while figuring out where the journalism industry is going. If you have any tips or want to reach me for any reason, please hit me up at kingchros@gmail.com.

Enjoy du Nord!

MLS Cup 2008

Match & Score:
-Sun Nov 23
Columbus Crew v Red Bull New York

2:30p.m. central time on ABC
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Match Preview: Beau Dure of USA Today

MLS Cup Moments and History (video): Soccernet
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bruce, aka du Nord, is on his way to L.A. for the game. See if you can find him there!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official Watch Parties:
The Red Bulls will hold their official viewing party at Nevada Smiths, located on 3rd Avenue between 11th and 12th Steets in Manhattan on Sunday (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET). From Big Apple Soccer.

Studio 35 Cinema and Draft House in Clintonville will have a viewing party for Sunday's game. Doors open at 2:30 and admission is free, from the Columbus Dispatch.

E-mail me at kingchros@gmail.com and I can update this with more watch parties in your city.

MLS News

Columbus Crew
Alejandro Moreno was called up to Venezuela's roster for a friendly this week, but he elected to stay in Columbus instead. In a text message to Columbus Dispatch reporter Shawn Mitchell, Moreno wrote: "I was called in, but now I must be with the Black and Gold."

Steve Davis of Soccernet says that even after the dream season in Columbus, coach Sigi Schmid might not be back next year. Is he heading to Seattle next year?

Have you ever wondered what it's like to go to Columbus Crew game? Columbus Live with an awesome video following the gameday experience at Crew Stadium. It's stuff like this that really shows you how cool this league can be.

The Crew is expecting between 750 and 1,000 fans will make the trip to the Home Depot Center this weekend, Steven Goff at the Soccer Insider reports.

More on Guillermo Barros Schelotto's MVP award from Shawn Mitchell at the Columbus Dispatch.

Red Bull New York
The Red Bulls landed in L.A. on Thursday night and practices for the first time on Friday morning, Big Apple Soccer reports. They had some weather issues and had to delay in Oklahoma.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated talks about the ineptitude of the Red Bulls since their existence, and where they are this weekend.

Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger on Red Bulls goalie Danny Cepero, who came out of nowhere to anchor the the team through the playoffs. The 23-year-old is also a night-student at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school. He was also paid $12,900 this season.

The Five Cs of Cepero? Cool, calm, collected, committed and confident, Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer writes.

Frank Della Femina of the Newark Star-Ledger says Sunday's game will be offense vs. defense, as the Crew's second ranked offense faces off against the Red Bull's red-hot defense.

The Target Man of Goal.com points out the irony of the biggest, most intimidating city having the perennial underdog, cinderella club, but says the Red Bulls have finally made it.

Former Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore is humble as always when talking about his old team. Soccer by Ives correspondent Sulaiman Folarin caught up with him after the World Cup qualifier earlier this week.

~~~~~

Chicago Fire
Cuauhtemoc Blanco is returning to Mexico to play for Santos Laguna during the MLS offseason. Details of the loan were not disclosed but Blanco is expected to be back by the start of the 2009 season.

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune breaks down what this loan might bring on his blog, The Red Card.

Also from Arroyave: "According to Illinois-Chicago coach John Trask, junior midfielder Baggio Husidic and junior goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja could be offered Generation adidas contracts before January's MLS SuperDraft." No further details, really.

FC Dallas

Ives at Soccer by Ives reports that Eintracht Frankfurt of the Bundesliga was one of many European clubs with scouts watching Kenny Cooper at the World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. Cooper has one year left on his contract, but Ives says the negotiations for an extension are stalled.

Houston Dynamo
Sylvia R. Garcia, one of the commissioners making life hard for the Dynamo's stadium effort, finally got back to me:

Thank you for your recent e-mail about proposals for a new stadium for the Houston Dynamo. I will continue to listen to the taxpayers while doing my due diligence and assess what is best for Harris County taxpayers post-Ike and in consideration of our current economic climate.

She'll get back to you too, but only if you e-mail her and *politely* explain why the Dynamo need the stadium. Her address is: Sylvia_Garcia@itc.co.harris.tx.us.

Kansas City Wizards
Nothing new, just more details on the plans for an 18,500-seat stadium that the Wizards hope to open late in the 2010 season. You'd have to be a KC politics enthusiast to unwind the specific details, but basically the city voted yesterday to give some tax money to build a stadium and some other things south of Kansas City at the site of the old Bannister Mall. This is from the KC Star.

Some people might look at this and scoff, thinking Bridgeview, Ill., and Commerce City, Colo., all over again. In the case of Kansas City, I must say this will probably be OK. I've never lived there, but having been there many times I can say that the Chiefs and Royals play well outside of Kansas City and do fine. The only downtown sports venue is the Sprint Center, a basketball/hockey arena with no anchor tenant.

Midwestern sports fans, used to our generally terrible public transit, are used to driving and parking for sports. In the case of KC and STL, I think both stadium plans are close enough to the cities that it won't turn into another Rapids situation. That's just my two cents.

UPDATE: Just got an e-mail from Wizards Press Officer Kyle Rogers who said: "Our stadium will actually be in Kansas City, Missouri, itself. The location is only about 8 minutes from downtown and has 1.2 million people within a 20-minute drive of the site." That should answer some questions.

LA Galaxy

Jurgen Klinsmann hopes Donovan extends the loan, courtesy of Soccernet.

Coach Bruce Arena just returned from a scouting trip to Jamaica, where he watched the qualifier between Jamaica and Canada.

Ives Galarcep of Soccernet says Landon Donovan is "Finally ready for the challenge of Europe."

Does anybody else think the Galaxy are making another mistake in how they deal with Landon Donovan? It's great for Donovan, but what if he doesn't come back? Unless the Galaxy know 100 percent that Donovan will be back, it should have just sold him outright and used the entire offseason to replace him.

That said, when Donovan eventually does want to stay at Munich, who does the Galaxy get to replace him? Knowing the Gals, they'd want a big name. Riquelme, Veron, Davids, Borgetti? What do you think.

A guy named Dilbeck starts a column on the Daily Breeze with, "The David Beckham experiment has been a failure." It's no different than any other column with the same theme, so if you really want to see it you can search for it.

Real Salt Lake
For all the talk of RSL having more exposure then most teams due to Salt Lake City's lack of pro sports teams, it reminds you that we still have a long way to go when you see the Desert News buries RSL news behind the Jazz, BYU, U of Utah, Utah State, Weber State and Southern Utah University on its website. I guess they're not the second most important team in that city after all.

San Jose Earthquakes

Owner Leo Wolff again shows a more reasonable outlook than most. The Mercury News reports that he is looking to build a 15,000-seat stadium that can be expanded to 18,000 for big games, and estimates a rather moderate $40-60M price tag.

"If a game commands 50,000, we could go elsewhere,'' said Wolff, citing Stanford Stadium, Candlestick Park or the Oakland Coliseum. "But we can't build a stadium for one game.''

As much as I am an optimist for MLS and would love to see a bunch of Home Depot Centers around the league, it really doesn't make sense to blow the bank and build a big stadium in a city like San Jose right now. Create some atmosphere, then some demand for tickets. See what happens. Good job here, Lew.

General
Grahame L. Jones of the LA Times writes about MLS players — namely David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Cuauhtemoc Blanco — going on loan during the MLS offseason.

In case you were wondering what English teams the member's of Coldplay support, Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad, via the Hillcrest Road blog lets us know: Chris supports Exeter City, Will likes Southampton while guitarist Johnny Buckland bleeds for San Jose Earthquakes' partner club Tottenham. Conrad was one of fifteen Wizards players who backstage at a recent concert.

Anybody want to update the Wikipedia for these clubs?

MLS Expansion
Steven Goff from the Soccer Insider reports that Miami, Portland, Vancouver and Ottawa will make presentations to the league's board of governors Friday, but says St. Louis, Montreal and Atlanta are in regular contact with MLS too.

~~~~~

With all of this talk about expansion, especially with Barcelona’s bid to Miami, I’d like to share this anecdote.

I spent this summer in Beijing, touring the city and then working at the Olympics. One of my coworkers, Carlyle, was from Mumbai, but he came out to dinner one night in his authentic navy blue Los Angeles Galaxy jersey. Of course it had David Beckham’s name on the back. You can also go to markets in China and buy counterfeit everything, including soccer jerseys. Among the Arsenal, Milan and Real Madrid jerseys, you could also buy L.A. Galaxy and Chicago Fire jerseys.

Isn’t this the direction that MLS should be shooting for? Not the black market part, but expanding its OWN image and brand, not Barcelona’s?

USMNT
George Tanner at the Rocky Mountain News' FC Rocky blog says the crowd that actually showed up for the Yanks game on Wednesday was fantastic.

MLS commissioner Don Garber tells a bunch of USC students that the USMNT can't compete the world's best teams in the World Cup. He also didn't know how many teams are in Interliga or understand Mexico's relegation system. Thanks to Nick Green at his 100 Percent Soccer blog.

Maradona Mania
Diego Maradona says his daughter Giannina was released Thursday from a Madrid hospital, where she was admitted after complaining of pregnancy pains.

OK, I guess that's a bit of a stretch.

England

William Gallas has been stripped of his Arsenal captaincy by manager Arsene Wenger after making public comments about his teammates. He will also be out of this weekend's game at Manchester City.

Steven Gerrard is out for Liverpool against Fulham this weekend due to a groin injury.

Manchester United could be with out Dimitar Berbatov, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney against Aston Villa this weekend.

Italy
Juventus announced plans for a new stadium on the site of Stadio Delle Alpi to open in May 2011. It will seat 40,000 and thankfully not have a running track. Juve has been playing in the 25,442-seat Stadio Olimpico for the past two and a half years. From AP via New York Post.

Scotland

The Celtic fan who ran across the field during Celtic's Champions League game with Manchester United on Nov. 5 was sent to jail for five months and is banned from matches for five years.

Big Matches This Weekend

Italy
Inter Milan vs. Juventus
Former Chelsea bosses Jose Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri face off in a battle of 1 vs. 3 in Serie A.

England
Manchester City vs. Arsenal
Can Man City live up to the hype and severely hurt Arsenal's hopes for Premier League silverware this year?

Aston Villa vs. Manchester United
Villa, the biggest threat to break into the Big Four this season tries to knock off United, one week after defeating Arsenal.

Holland
AZ Alkmaar vs. Ajax
No. 4 vs. No. 1 in the Eredivisie are separated by two points.

France
PSG vs. Lyon
I don't know much about the French league, but this seems like the most interesting match.

Spain
Sevilla vs. Valencia
La Liga's No. 5 vs. No. 3; separated by three points.

Australia
Melbourne Victory 2 - 1 Central Coast Mariners
The A-League's 1-2 already met, thanks to the time difference.

Brazil
Cruzeiro vs. Flamengo
No. 4 vs. No. 3 in a late-season clash

Scotland
I just wanted to point out that after 14 games, Celtic is four points ahead of Rangers and 14 points ahead of third place Hearts. Is there even a point?

World Cup 2010 in South Africa

The South African government has already had to add an extra $136M for stadium construction, and the South African Rand has already fallen about 30 percent against the dollar in recent weeks. Will the economic crisis affect the next World Cup? From AP via Fox Soccer.

Last Word

Finally, as the MLS season comes to a close, I've got to give my recommendations for the "best in the business."

First, we have the trifecta of Soccer by Ives, the Soccer Insider and The Red Card. Ives keeps you updated on all of the big topics during the day with special insight on the New York Red Bulls. Steven Goff, the Insiderfrom the Washington Post, doesn't have quite as much to say, but everything he says is gold, and it's often the first time it's reported. Then Luis Arroyave, the Chicago Tribune soccer reporter and writer of The Red Card, who is the next generation of soccer reporters in this country: he is young, funny, and good. You can really tell that he connects with the players on a level that other reporters don't.

Also, as the MLS season ends and the attention turns to the American's abroad, don't forget to check out Greg Seltzer at No Short Corners and on Soccer365. Seltzer is an American living in Holland and he's got the best contacts for news about every American abroad, not just Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.

Of course this is after you check out du Nord!

Thanks for letting me fill in, Brucio!

Take A Look At Me Now News

As David Hobbs would say, "Nice job boys. Well done." USA brings the kids + Pablo Mastroeni and knocks Guatemala out of World Cup contention 2-0 at a half full Dicks Sporting Goods Park in suburban Denver. Freddy Adu was the star of the show, no doubt about it.

~and~

The rumor mill has it that Bayern Munich will sign Landon Donovan of the LA Galaxy on a loan deal that begins in January and goes to mid-March, and potentially longer. More details hopefully very soon.

~and~

In other MLS loan news - Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his blog The Red Card tells us that Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been loaned to Mexican team Santos Laguna. But the report says it start immediately for the FMF Primera playoffs, and I want know how this is possible seeing as the transfer window does not open until January. ADDITION: I got this clarifying note from Arroyave: According to MLS rules, players can be loaned out at any time as long as it's to another league.


Team USA

Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 19
USA 2-0 Guatemala - USA goals by Kenny Cooper & Freddy Adu.
Attendance: 9,303
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City CO
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report and USA player grades by Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet.
Match report by Brian Forbes of the Denver Post.
Match report by Pat Rooney of the Rocky Mountain News.
Match report from the AP. Via USA Today.
Post game notes Part 1 and Part 2 by George Tanner of the Rocky Mountain News on his blog FC Rocky.
Player grades for USA by Mahoney.
Player grades for USA by Jack Bell of the New York Times blog Goal.
Post game audio of coach Bob Bradley's press conference from US Soccer.
Game photos from the Denver Post.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official team twitter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My notes from the game:
-The team clearly made halftime adjustments and came out to win. They were good in the first half, but they were very good in the second half.
-The USA are in desperate need of a real left back. I am not confident in Heath Pearce or Jonathan Bornstein. Any thoughts?
-John Thorrington made a great run into the box and was hacked down but no penalty was given. Very poor call on the referees part.
-What minute did you have in the Pablo Mastroeni gets a Yellow Card pool?
-And note to John Harkes - the name is pronounced "MASS-tro-en-ee" not "MASS-tree-on-ee". He is not Brett Farve.
-Pablo's Yellow means he is out for the first game of the Hex.
-Where was Charlie Davies? He was the one guy I really wanted to see last night. And why can't ESPN put a list of the available subs on the screen? Is it that hard? Oh, and why no replays of the 3 or 4 off-side calls that went against the USA? We saw none.
-Really disappointing to see such a small crowd from Denver.
-Great to see Freddy Adu get his first Senior team goal. It was a very nice free-kick, not perfect, but very nice. I think a really good goalkeeper could have gotten to it.
-The Guatemala keeper had a pretty decent game, and single handedly kept his team from being embarrassed. The only other guy that showed much of anything was Pando Ramierez and that wasn't much.
-What was Seth Green doing at the game?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord 3 Stars Of The Game

3. Ricardo Clark - He seemed to have that confidence to roam the field more knowing Mastroeni was behind him. Showed some great tackling skill to break up Guatemala's attack before it even got started. And then added to the offense with some real moves and decent passing. Impressive.
2. Kenny Cooper - Everyone finally got what they wanted. And when he scored the people I was with did the Frankencooper! (Arms straight in front of you, legs stiff, then stagger forward and beller like Dr Frankenstein's mute monster!) His goal was really great.
1. Freddy Adu - He was not pushed off the ball like we have seen so many teams do. He made some great passes. He turned up in many different spots on the field, and best of all, he really turned it up a notch in the second half. I like to see players who can adjust and improve during a game. And then he nailed that free kick. Great job Freddy. I love then teenagers (no, not like that).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Major League Soccer Schedule

Cup Final
Match & Score:
-Sun Nov 23
Columbus Crew v Red Bull New York - 2:30pm central time on ABC
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let me know if you are attending so we can make a late night run to Canter's deli together.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Cup News

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com tells us about his favorite MLS Cup games and looks ahead to this next one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Cup Finalists

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch with an article on Guillermo Barros Schelotto who today was named league MVP.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with an article on former Bulls and now Crew star Eddie Gaven.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chris DeVille of Columbus Alive looks ahead to Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer hilariously compares the Bulls players to Superheroes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lewis writing for the NY Daily News talks to Columbus coach Sigi Schmid who has nothing but compliments for the NYRBs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The AP with an article on some of these little known players, like the Miracle Men in the back, that have taken the Bulls in this insane ride.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Staten Island Advance write about their hometown hero John Wolyniec.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dane Richards played the last 12 mintues of the game last night for Jamaica as they beat Canada 3-0 in World Cup qualifying. (all to no avail, as Mexico advanced over them on goal difference.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Post Season Awards

With no surprise but all credit Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named Most Valuable Player!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

The Kansas City Wizards PR machine sent us this piece of good news today: "The Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) approved today tax credits toward The Trails development in Southeast Kansas City, a project proposed by local real estate company LANE4 Property Group that would include a soccer-specific stadium for the Kansas City Wizards."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

The Riverfront Times in St Louis wants to try and name the potential MLS team. I bet these wacky & zaney people they come up with some doozies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

Coach Thomas Rongen has the team in Spain this week for 3 friendlies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 19
Real Madrid U20 5-3 USA U20 - USA goals by Jorge Flores, Tristan Bowen & Abdusalam Ibrahim.
Match report from US Soccer.
-Thu Nov 20
Atletico Madrid U20 0-0 USA U20
Match report from US Soccer.
-Sat Nov 22
Rayo Vallecano U20 v USA U20
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Soccer In America

I noticed last night during the ESPN broadcast of the USA v Guatemala game that they mentioned their international soccer show Press Pass is now FINALLY being shown here in the USA on Mondays and Fridays at 6pm central on ESPN Classic They are also showing a weekly UEFA Champions League show too!
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Americans In Europe

Landon Donovan is featured on the front page of the Bayern Munich website today. But the article is in German which I can only get the gist of. Discussions with MLS over Donovan. But it is exciting times for him.
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TRANSFER RUMORS

Oguchi Onyewu to Marseille in France?
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

The Hexagonal is all set:
-Costa Rica
-El Salvador
-Honduras
-Mexico
-Trinidad & Tobago
-USA
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Not a single surprise on that list
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Schedule

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 19
El Salvador 1-3 Costa Rica - ES goal by Rudy Corrales. CR goals by Roy Myrie(2) & Freddy Fernandez.
Honduras 1-0 Mexico - Hon goal by Ricardo Osorio(OG).
Jamaica 3-0 Canada - Jam goals by Luke Shelton, Marlon King(PK) & Omar Cummings.
Suriname 1-1 Haiti - Sur goal by Wensley Christoph. Hai goal by Leonel Saint-Preux.
Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 Cuba - TNT goals by Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke & Keon Daniel.
USA 2-0 Guatemala - USA goals by Kenny Cooper & Freddy Adu.
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Mexico still managed to get through to the next round even (they Vikingsed their way in) though they had a total meltdown in Honduras. They not only gave up an own goal to lose 1-0, but they had Gerardo Torado (while wearing the captains armband), a bit of a harsh call by the referee, & Carlos Vela, well deserved, Red Carded late in the match. And they had Oswaldo Sanchez in goal instead of Guillermo Ochoa. Could not happen to a nicer bunch.
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With Mexico losing, late in the game they reverted to being some of the worst losers in world football. Check out all these horrible fouls last night against Honduras as just another example. The irony is outrageous when you see pictures of them entering the field carrying one of those FIFA Fair Play banners.
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Freddy Adu scored his first ever senior international goal for the USA!
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Costa Rica, USA, Honduras, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico & El Salvador are the 6 teams moving on to the final group stage of qualifying that is colloquially known as The Hexagon!
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On the morning of Sat Nov 22 we will learning the dates and locations of the Hex matches!
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Group Standings

Group 1 - W-L-T GD
*15 USA 5-1-0 +9
*11 Trinidad & Tobago 3-1-2 +2
5 Guatemala 1-3-2 -1
3 Cuba 1-5-0 -13

Group 2 - W-L-T GD
*12 Honduras 4-2-0 +4
*10 Mexico 3-2-1 +3
10 Jamaica 3-2-1 0
2 Canada 0-4-2 -7

Group 3 - W-L-T GD
*18 Costa Rica 6-0-0 +17
*10 El Salvador 3-2-1 +7
3 Haiti 0-3-3 -9
2 Suriname 0-4-2 -15

* advanced
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Mexico & FMF News

The Primera Apertura playoffs start this weekend.
1st Round 1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 22
Cruz Azul v UNAM Pumas
UANL Tigres v Atlante
-Sun Nov 23
UAdG Tecos v Toluca
Santos Laguna v San Luis
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South America News

Brasileiro Standings with 3 games left to play (including results against last 4 opponents of the season):
68 Sao Paulo (won 3-1 v Figueirense, at Vasco da Gama, v Fluminense, at Goias)
66 Gremio (won 2-1 v Coritiba, at Vitoria, at Ipatinga, v Atletico MG)
63 Flamengo (won 5-2 v Palmeiras, at Cruzeiro, v Goias, at Atletico Paranaense)
61 Cruzeiro (lost 5-2 at Nautico, v Flamengo, at Internacional, v Portuguesa de Desportos)
61 Palmeiras (lost 5-2 at Flamengo, v Ipatinga, at Vitoria, v Botafogo)
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Maradona Mania

The Guardian with a look at Diego's first game in charge. Defense could be a problem.
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Copa Sudamericana

Semifinals
2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Wed Nov 19
International 4-0 Guadalajara - Int advance 6-0 on aggregate - Int goals by Andres D'Alessandro (2 - one via PK) & Nilmar(2).
-Thu Nov 20
Estudiantes v Argentinos Juniors (1-1)
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England News

Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott will be out of action until mid February after needing surgery for a separated shoulder.
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European News

OTHERS

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on the man who may make Serbia into a powerhouse - Raddy Antic.
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The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

Italy
-Sat Nov 22
Juventus v Inter Milan - Derby d'Italia and the battle for the top of the charts continues.
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England
-Sat Nov 22
Aston Villa v Manchester United - a chance for Villa to show if they are for real or not, and Man U just simple can't afford to lose.
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France
-Sat Nov 22
Bordeaux v Rennes - #5 v #3 pits two teams trying to stay with the leaders.
PSG v Lyon - two of the biggest clubs in France always battle it out no matter where they sit in the standings.
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Germany
-Sun Nov 23
Hamburg v Werder Bremen - both are on the verge of drifting out of the chase for the cup.
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Holland
-Sun Nov 23
Alkmaar v Ajax - #4 v #1, as Cryuff & Ajax try to increase their lead at the top.
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Brazil
-Sun Nov 23
Cruzeiro v Flamengo - #4 v #3, and a Cruz loss would knock them out of the title race with only 3 rounds left to go.
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International Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 19
Brazil 6-2 Portugal
Colombia 1-0 Nigeria
Tanzania 1-0 Mozambique
Togo 1-0 Rwanda
Venezuela 0-0 Angola