Tuesday, November 04, 2008

New Is The New New News

Chicago's Jon Busch has been named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

~and~

Not what you want to read: "This season the league suffered its first decline in average regular-season attendance and television viewership on ESPN2 in three years." From Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.


MLS Scoreboard

Playoffs
Quarterfinals - 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (1st leg score included):
-Thu Nov 6
Chicago v New England (0-0) - 7:30pm central on ESPN2
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview IL
-Sat Nov 8
Columbus v Kansas City (1-1) - 6:30pm central on HDNet
Chivas v Salt Lake (0-1) - 9:30pm central on FSC
-Sun Nov 9
Houston v New York (1-1) - 2pm central on TeleFutura
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Ives Galarcep for ESPN Soccernet with an article on defender Bakarey Soumare who has decide to play for his native Mali internationally.
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Andrea Canales of Goal.com looks at Soumare's situation.
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Luis Arroyave of the Tribune talks to defender Diego Gutierrez who is retiring when this season ends. He dreams of scoring the game winner in MLS Cup.
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Arroyave on his blog The Red Card has a quick note about Brian McBride's appreciation for traveling supporters.
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CD CHIVAS USA

Forward Alecko Eskandarian will be the in studio guest tonight on Fox Soccer Channel's Fox Football Fone-In. The show airs live at 7pm central time.
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FC DALLAS

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree hands out their 2008 FCD Awards MLS Awards.
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The announced that they signed new contracts with defender Drew Moor & goalkeeper Dario Sala.
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DC UNITED

I missed this one the other day - John Haydon of the Washington Times writes about the pros & cons of keeping head coach Tom Soehn for another season.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Hey! Do you want to wear Davy Arnaud or Lance Watson's cleats? They are up for auction to raise money for a victim of Hurricane Ike. Check it out now.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The teams official blog has a video interview with defenders Jay Heaps and Michael Parkhurst as they prepare for playoff game 2.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer reports that defender Carlos Mendes may be healed from hernia surgery in time to be available on Sunday.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger says the Bulls can win in Houston.
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Metrofanatic tells us that NYRB has done little to support their 2 players who have been suspended for taking banned performance enhancing drugs.
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REAL SALT LAKE

The Sports Network on the late season surge of Yura Movsisyan.
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TORONTO FC

Ben Knight of the Globe & Mail uses Election Day in the US to endorse TFC coach John Carver, but not GM Mo Johnston.
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GENERAL

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America looks at the 6 teams that did NOT make the playoffs. What is the deal with them? Via Sports Illustrated.
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New York forward Juan Pablo Angel has been named Player of the Month for October.
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Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan has been named Player of the Week.
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Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise is not digging the playoff system.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze follows suit with his own disparaging remarks about the playoffs.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says there is no excuse for the poor attendance in week 1 of the playoffs.
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MLS Post Season Awards

Jon Busch of Chicago has been named the leagues Goalkeeper of the Year.
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Michael Parkhurst of New England has been named the leagues Fair Play Award winner.
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MLS Stadium Talk

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle gives us the first update on a potential stadium in that city that we have had in several months. And there is not much new info here either.
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MLS Seattle Expansion News

The LA Times entertainment blog, The Big Picture, has an interview with Sounders owner Joe Roth. He ties Hollywood, politics and soccer all together. (Thanks to JJ Lincoln for this one)
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MLS Expansion News

Sports Illustrated reports that Barcelona are trying to set up a deal whereby a potential new team owned by them would not have to pay US taxes. Hahahahahahahahahahaha.
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USA U17 News

The team is off to France for 3 friendlies.
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Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 5
Bretigny U18 v USA
-Thu Nov 6
France U17 v USA
-Sat Nov 8
Paris St Germain U18 v USA
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Here is the roster:
G:
Samir Badr - Bethesda Roadrunners- Fairfax VA
Earl Edwards - La Jolla Nomads - San Diego CA
Spencer Richey - Crossfire Premier - Seattle WA
D:
Michael Ambrose - Texas Fire - El Paso TX
Julio Arjona - DC United Academy - Germantown MD
Zachary Herold - West Pines United - Port St. Lucie FL
Perry Kitchen - Chicago Magic - Indianapolis IN
Boyd Okwuonu - Tulsa Thunder - Edmond OK
Emilio Orozco - Rampage FC - Oxnard CA
Tyler Polak - Capital Soccer Academy - Lincoln NE
Jared Watts - North Meck Storm - Statesville NC
Eriq Zavaleta - FC Pride - Westfield IN
M:
Dustin Corea - East Side United - Milwaukee OR
Andrew Craven - First Coast Kicks - St. Simons Island GA
Sean Davis - Matchfit Academy - Holmdel NJ
Bryan Duran - Latino Americana - Duncanville TX
Luis Gil - Pateadores - Garden Grove CA
Joseph Gyau - FC DELCO - Silver Spring MD
George Malki - SC Delsol Extreme - Scottsdale AZ
Erik Stephenson - San Diego Surf - Del Mar CA
F:
John Agudelo - New York Red Bull Academy - Barnegat NJ
Stefan Jerome - West Pines United - Davie FL
Jack McInerney - Cobb SC - Alpharetta GA
Soony Saad - Vardar SC - Dearborn MI
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Soccer In America

Steven wells of the Guardian can actually see the growth of soccer in America taking place.
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The blog Unprofessional Foul does an article on our friend-in-soccer Dave Brett Wasser of Historic Soccer Videotapes.
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Americans In Europe

Sean O'Connor of No Short Corners on the departure of Watford's coach and what that might mean for Jay DeMerit.
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The AP talks to Jozy Altidore after his first La Liga goal, on life at Villarreal and about the possibility of being loaned out. Nothing new on a load deal here, same speculation as the day the rumor broke that Villarreal were going to sign him. But quotes from Jozy and his coach are good. Via USA Today. Stolen from The Offside Rules.
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Are you like me and been wondering just where in the world is Bobby Convey hiding? Because he sure doesn't appear to be a part of Reading any more. Yanks Abroad with word from the team itself. Yes BC is alive and kicking.
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UPCOMING MATCHES

UEFA Cup - Matchday 2
-Thu Nov 6
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - at Slavia Praha
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - at Slavia Praha
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - host Sevilla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

Swedish Allsvenskan
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - played all 90 minutes and scored his teams first goal, but they lost 3-6 at home to Malmo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English Premier League
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the full 90 in the goal as always but lost 2-0 at Newcastle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Italian Serie B
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - came on as a sub in the 82nd minute but they lost 2-0 at Livorno.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

German Bundesliga 2
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - played the full 90 and they drew 0-0 at Kaiserslautern.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maradona Mania

The New York Times with a story on the Argentine God of Futbol - Diego Armando Maradona.
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The Guardian reports that the congregants of the Maradonian Church are beyond joyous that their god is going to lead Argentina.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune comments on Maradona's credentials and chance of success.
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His first game in charge will be a Nov 19 friendly at Scotland.
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South American News

Futebol Basileiro Standings after 33 of 38 Rounds:
62 Sao Paulo
61 Palmeiras
60 Gremio
58 Cruzeiro
57 Flamengo
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European News

FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian sees Karim Benzema step up and lead Lyon, plus other news from the past week in Ligue 1.
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ITALY

James Lawton of the Independent feels that the Italians are not taking to Jose Mourinho's style.
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SPAIN

Did you know? Barcelona has won 11 games in a row in all competitions. They host Swiss team Basel in the Champions League today, and then Valladolid in La Liga.
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OTHERS

Reuters reports that the owner of Levski Sofia has made statements that the entire Bulgarian league is run on match fixing.
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UEFA Champions League

Matchday 4
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 4
CFR Cluj v Bordeaux -
Roma v Chelsea - live at 1:45pm central & delayed at 8:15pm central on Setanta & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic
Anorthosis v Inter Milan -
Werder Bremen v Panathinaikos - delayed at 4:40pm & 10pm central on Setanta
Sporting v Shakhtar Donetsk - live at 6:30pm central on Setanta
Barcelona v Basel - live at 1:30pm central & delayed at 9pm central on ESPN Deportes
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes
Marseille v PSV - delayed at 7pm central on ESPN Deportes
-Wed Nov 5
Aalborg v Villarreal - delayed at 3:45pm central on ESPN Deportes
Celtic v Man United - live at 1:30pm central on ESPN2 & delayed at 7pm central on ESPN Deportes
Fiorentina v Bayern Munich -
Lyon v Steaua Bucuresti -
Arsenal v Fenerbahce - live at 1:45pm central & delayed at 8:15pm central on Setanta
Dynamo Kyiv v Porto - delayed at 4:40pm central on Setanta
BATE Borisov v Zenit -
Real Madrid v Juventus - live at 1:30pm central & delayed at 9pm central on ESPN Deportes & delayed at 4pm central on ESPN Classic & delayed at 6:30pm central on Setanta
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Standings
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World News

Grahame Jones of the LA Times gives us a Harpers type list pertaining to soccer.
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Andrew Dixon at Black Athlete with his weekly review of world soccer news, focusing on the USA and Africa.
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Asian News

The Asian Champions League final is all set as Gamba Osaka beat Urawa Red Diamonds 4-2 on aggregate, and Adelaide United beat Bunyodkor 3-1 on aggregate.
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 5
Gamba v Adelaide
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Important Podcast

Kartick Krishnaiyer released his latest episode of Major League Soccer Talk that has a long interview with yours truly unveiling the 2008 du Nord MLS Best 11, talking playoffs and many other topics.
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This Is The End

Regular reader Ben sent me this email, and I know a lot of you dig the online video games etc. This is a league looking for more players for Xpert Eleven:
There are a bunch of people that post at BigSoccer that have started an online football manager game at this website called Xpert Eleven, and we need a couple new teams for the next season. Right now I think we barely have enough for a two-tier promotion-relegation set-up. If you want to join the league here’s the info:
-xperteleven.com
-go to "JOIN" (upper left)
-league: 164818 (aka "BigSoccer YA League")
Have a blast.

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