Friday, November 07, 2008

Starting Standing Up Straighter News

In MLS regular season attendance this season, the 2 bottom teams were of course Kansas City & San Jose who play in stadiums that have a capacity under 11,000. But to me the real news comes in the fact that two of the next three worst attended teams - Dallas & Columbus - are both owned by the Hunt family. A family that at one time was headed by Lamar Hunt who has been a patron saint to soccer in America for decades. But honestly, what does this say about the current state of the Hunt Sports Group run by his two sons? Yes they have done great things in the past for the game we all love. Now though? I don't like what I am seeing.

~and~

Last night you saw what all MLS stadiums should look like during games. Chicago's Toyota Park was rocking! Thank you Fire fans.


MLS Scoreboard

Playoffs
Quarterfinals - 2nd Leg Matches & Scores (1st leg score included):
-Thu Nov 6
Chicago 3-0 New England - Chicago advance 3-0 on aggregate - CF goals by Chris Rolfe, Wilman Conde & Gonzalo Segares.
Attendance: 17,312
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview IL
Match report by Nick Firchau of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald.
Post game notes by Arroyave on his blog The Red Card.
-Sat Nov 8
Columbus v Kansas City (1-1) - 6:30pm central on HDNet
Venue: Crew Stadium, Columbus OH
Chivas v Salt Lake (0-1) - 9:30pm central on FSC
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
-Sun Nov 9
Houston v New York (1-1) - 2pm central on TeleFutura
Venue: Robertson Stadium, Houston TX
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EJECTIONS:
Chris Albright - New England - two Yellow Cards
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You could really see that game change last night when New England destroyer Jeff Larentowicz left the game with what looked to be a bad ankle injury. I am not saying that Chicago wouldn't have eventually worn New England out, because I think they would have, but when players go out like that you can feel some energy leave a team that already has their 2 best players watching from the sideline.
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Tribune talks to Chicago's former long time team captain and now assistant coach Chris Armas who still misses not being in the line up.
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In case you missed it yesterday, Arroyave had a great running blog from yesterday morning right up to kick off. It created an atmosphere even just reading from far away. I like it.
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Andrea Canales at Goal.com feels that Blanco, unlike many foreign imports to the league, knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he signed with Chicago.
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CD CHIVAS USA

Phil Collin of the LA Daily News says that CUSA know they are under a lot of pressure to win on Saturday.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer does a Q & A with Jonathan Bornstein.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times writes about the long, tough and still not fruitful season for coach Preki.
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This is so absurd that its hilarious - LA "Somebody's" on video wishing Chivas "good luck". Tommy Lasorda could not be an less genuine.
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COLORADO RAPIDS

Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com looks at what the signs tell us is ahead for the Raps.
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COLUMBUS CREW

Michael Arace of the Dispatch comments on what it would mean to Columbus if the Crew were to win it all. He's getting a little ahead of himself here, this is the story you write the week of the final.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch talks to newly awarded MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall.
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Mitchell then takes a look at the bad side of things - somehow the teams average attendance actually went down this season, even though the team played great.
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Goal.com does a Q & A with Robbie Rogers.
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FC DALLAS

Dallas has named Pablo Richetti as their Defender of the Year, and Kenny Cooper as their Most Valuable Player.
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The teams official blog tells us about 3 players in for a try out.
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DC UNITED

Jaime Moreno had knee surgery to clean up little things that had been bothering him. He will be ready for preseason.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Very interesting tidbit from Beau Dure of USA Today on just another reason that Houston is such a well run team on and off the field: "The team worked with the NFL's Texans on the timing of their press conferences this week, ensuring the presence of every Houston TV station, English and Spanish, at the Dynamo gathering."
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Randy Covitz of the Star talks to the Wiz people who know what a great playoff run can do for support from the people of KC.
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Herculez Gomez will not play this weekend due to a Red Card suspension.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Grahame Jones of the Times reads between the lines of what fired team president Alexi Lalas had to say about his former team on ESPN2 last night during the telecast of the Chicago v New England game.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Monique Walker of the Globe talked to captain Steve Ralston about how painful its been sitting out with a broken leg as his team struggled.
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Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives asks question about the future of the Rev's from head coach on down. What will happen during this off season?
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to midfielder Mike Magee who is ready for action after missing last the first leg due to illness.
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Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives with some notes on the Bulls before they fly to Houston for Sunday's game.
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REAL SALT LAKE

James Edward of the Deseret News feels that the RSL defense is going to be needed to get them through to the semifinals.
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Beau Dure of USA Today with an article on the RSL players he calls the teams spark - Yura Movsisyan.
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SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Eastern Daily Press of Eastern England talks to Darren Huckerby who is back in England, excited to see Norwich play, and has nothing but good things to say about MLS and living in San Jose.
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TORONTO FC

Dean McNulty of the Sun with an article on some frauds passing themselves off as TFC Scouts - beware - and some words with young Twin Cities striker Abdusalam Ibrahim.
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Carl Robinson writing for his hometown paper The County Times fills us in on the end of the season departure for all the players of TFC.
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GENERAL

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated looks at how the top teams are dealing with so many extra games that are on their schedule.
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Steve Davis at MLSnet tells us what to watch for in this weekends big games.
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

David Mosse of ESPN Soccernet checks in with the Alessandro Del Piero to TFC and Ze Roberto to FCD rumors.
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Soccer 365 unearthed a rumor that America forward German Villa could sign with Chicago for next year. He would be 36 by the time next season kicks off.
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MLS Stadium Talk

Down The Byline has a link to some very exciting looking news for the Kansas City Wizards stadium project.
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MLS Expansion News

The New York Times looks at Portland's bid for an MLS team.
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USL First Division News

Jeff DiVernonica of ESPN Soccernet compares the success of First Division teams in the CONCACAF Champions League to their cousins from MLS who for the most part have really struggled.
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Team USA

Ives Galarcep at ESPN Soccernet talks to the head of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee South Africa. Galarcep has quotes from USA CONCACAF rep Chuck Blazer, and US Soccer fed president Sunil Gulati.
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USA U17 News

The team is in France for 3 friendlies.
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 5
Bretigny U18 0-2 USA U17 - USA goals by John Agudelo & Dustin Corea.
-Thu Nov 6
France U17 2-0 USA U17 - Fran goals by Benjamin Jeannot & Christopher Missilou.
-Sat Nov 8
Paris St Germaine U18 v USA U17
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Soccer In America

ESPN The Magazine sees a new connection between soccer & politics in this country.
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Americans In Europe

FIFA.com talks to Carlos Bocanegra about his move to Rennes and his role as captain of Team USA.
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The BBC talks to the Aston Villa coach about Brad Guzan after his big performance last night.
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Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to Gregg Berhalter about life in Munich and his future after playing is over.
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Mike Woitalla of Soccer America is the latest to explore the Neven Subotic national team saga.
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TRANSFER RUMORS

The London Informer has words with Clint Dempsey who says he is not going out on loan in January, but could leave Fulham next summer if he does not have a regular place in the team.
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MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who saw the field are listed)

UEFA Cup - Matchday 2
-Thu Nov 6
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - got the start over Brad Friedel, made 9 saves, was booked for time wasting late, and won 0-1 on the road. Fantastic for the Worm.
Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - went the distance as they got all 3 points 1-0 over Sevilla at home.
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Maradona Mania

The BBC with photos of El Diego attending a Manchester United training session.
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South American News

Highly touted young coach Diego Simeone has resigned as manager of River Plate. One season away from winning the title, they currently sit in last place and will be relegated unless a near miracle happens. Last night they were also knocked out of the semifinals of Copa Sudamericana.
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Copa Sudamericana

Quarterfinal Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Thu Nov 6
Boca Juniors (Arg) 1-2 International (Braz) - Inter advance 4-1 on aggregate.
Guadalajara (Mex) 2-2 River Plate (Arg) - Guada advance 4-3 on aggregate.
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The winners join the 2 already qualified teams, Argentinos Juniors & Estudiantes, in the Semifinals.
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England News

The first round of the FA Cup gets going this weekend with lower division teams facing off. Here are all the matchups.
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European News

GERMANY

The Bundesliga site has a Q & A with former Germany & Monchengladbach star player Rainer Bonhof.
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Big Euro League Top Goal Scorers

English Premiership - 11 games
8 Amr Zaki - Wigan
8 Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea
6 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
6 Robinho - Manchester City
5 Nine Players Tied
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Spanish Liga - 9 games
10 David Villa - Valencia
9 Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona
6 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
6 Mate Bilic - Sporting Gijon
5 Raul Gonzalez - Real Madrid
5 Gonzalo Higuain - Real Madrid
5 Negrado - Almeria
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German Bundesliga - 11 games
13 Vedad Ibisevic - Hoffenheim
8 Patrick Helmes - Bayer Leverkusen
8 Artur Wichniarek - Arminia Bielefeld
7 Milivoje Novakovic - Koln
7 Claudio Pizarro - Werder Bremen
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Italian Serie A - 10 games
7 Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
6 Diego Milito - Genoa
6 Mauro Zarate - Lazio
6 Fabrizio Miccoli - Palermo
6 Six Players Tied
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French Ligue 1 - 12 games
8 Karim Benzema - Lyon
6 Loic Remy - Nice
6 Fernando Cavenaghi - Bordeaux
6 Steve Savidan - Caen
6 Guillaume Hoarau - Paris St Germain
5 Four Players Tied
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Big Club Matches Around The World This Mid-Week

England Premier League
-Sat Nov 8
Arsenal v Manchester United - the biggest rivalry in England over the past decade. These games can get pretty wild.
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Turkey Super Lig
-Sun Nov 9
Fenerbahce v Galatasaray - one of the craziest derbys of all time!
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Italy Serie A
-Sun Nov 9
Inter Milan v Udinese - #3 meets the surprise #2 with a lot at stake for Inter.
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Russia Premier
-Sun Nov 9
Spartak Moscow v Lokomotiv Moscow - yet another weekend with a Moscow derby.
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Greece Super League
-Sun Nov 9
Panathinaikos v Olympiacos - the old rivals square off.
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Brazil Brasileiro
-Sun Nov 9
Palmeiras v Gremio - #2 v #3
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German Bundesliga
-Sun Nov 9
Schalke v Bayern Munich - #4 v #3 as they try to keep pace with Hoffenheim and Leverkusen.
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UEFA Cup

Matchday 2 was played on Thursday and the results can be found here.
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The Road To World Cup 2010 - South Africa News

George Vecsey of the New York Times looks at South Africa's preparations for the big month in summer '10.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So if RiverPlate gest relegated, does that mean the SuperClasico with Boca Juniors doesn't hapen?

11:35 AM  
Blogger brucio said...

yes

5:45 PM  

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