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.

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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.

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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.
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Official team blog.
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Official team twitter.
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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?
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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).
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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
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Let me know if you are attending so we can make a late night run to Canter's deli together.
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MLS Cup News

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

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch with an article on Guillermo Barros Schelotto who today was named league MVP.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with an article on former Bulls and now Crew star Eddie Gaven.
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Chris DeVille of Columbus Alive looks ahead to Sunday.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer hilariously compares the Bulls players to Superheroes.
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Lewis writing for the NY Daily News talks to Columbus coach Sigi Schmid who has nothing but compliments for the NYRBs.
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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.
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The Staten Island Advance write about their hometown hero John Wolyniec.
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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.)
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MLS Post Season Awards

With no surprise but all credit Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named Most Valuable Player!
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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."
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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.
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USA U20 News

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