You Too Can Win At Little Or No Cost News

A huge debt of gratitude goes out to all you readers who nominated du Nord for US Soccer's Best Blog award. I am deeply humbled by this. Thank you! By the way, my nominee was This Is American Soccer.

~and~

Former Man U defender Gerard Pique on manager Alex Ferguson: "The gaffer spoke a very Scottish kind of English that might as well have been Chinese as far as I was concerned. But I wasn't the worst – there are players in the current squad who still don't understand him." Read more great comedy by Barcelona's Pique in the England News section

~and~

Big surprise from Guatemala - I was looking at their roster for the game on Wednesday in Denver v the USA and noticed that Carlos Ruiz was not on that team. I have not been able to find any news links that say he is injured. They are also without their usual first choice keeper Ricardo Trigueno. Amazing to make 2 dramatic changes for such a huge game.


Team USA

Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 19
USA v Guatemala - 7pm central time on ESPN Classic.
Match preview by Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet.
Match preview from Goal.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official team twitter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wow! Never thought I would see this, but US Soccer ripped off the video for Subterranean Homesick Blues to introduce the team roster!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Major League Soccer

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 rock out together.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Cup News

Ives Galarcep at ESPN Soccernet gives the advantage to Columbus. Of course.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Galarcep on Soccer By Ives gives us a transcript from a conference call featuring NYRB coach Juan Carlos Osorio & goalkeeper Danny Cepero, and CC coach Sigi Schmid & fullback Frankie Hejduk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger looks at how both teams got to this point in the season, the pinnacle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Molinaro of the CBC thinks this final could be a real good one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis at ESPN Soccernet gives us 8 things we need to know from the 2 semifinal games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at Goal.com compares and contrasts the two managers - Osorio & Schmid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle tells us about the differences between CC & NYRB.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise with an article on the Big Sig.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Cup Finalists

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch writes about all the teams connections to the LA area.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze talks to Coach Sigi Schmid about his triumphant return to So Cal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times looks at the Columbus Crew who are ready for battle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chris DeVille of Columbus Alive looks back at last Thursday's big win in Cowtown.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider does a Q & A with former Crew manager Greg Andrulis. It is mostly about his current college team, George Mason, but they get in a couple CC questions at the end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lars Lifrak of Soccer 365 has a Q & A with Crew keeper William Hesmer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Three members of the team are away for midweek national team games - Dane Richards for Jamaica, and Daniel Cichero & Jorge Rojas for Venezuela. There is no way this is good for a team playing in a championship game next Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Justin Rodriguez of the Middletown Times Herald-Record in New York state writes about the little interest in his area of the Red Bulls, even among soccer fans. This tells you just how far the league really has to go.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The teams official blog Red Bull Reader has notes from the teams return to practice on Monday and video interviews from after the semifinal win.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Tribune talks to the Fire's little used forward Tomas Frankowski, who has little to nothing nice to say!
-More quotes from Frankowski and coach Dennis Hamlet on Arroyave's blog The Red Card.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arroyave looks back at the Fire season and makes some conclusions toward what next season might bring. He also gives out team post season awards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Firchau of the Southtown Star gives us an idea of what the Fire must do this offseason in order to be better next year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Wow! The Backpost blog that covers the Wiz and the general KC soccer region has several audio interviews with players from the KCW. Great stuff. (Thanks to Down The Byline for the heads up)
Jimmy Conrad - pts 1 & 2
Jimmy Conrad - pts 3 & 4
Kevin Souter - pt 1
Kevin Souter - pt 2
Michael Harrington
Michael Kraus
Chance Myers
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America writes about the great ending to the 08 season for RSL. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Ryan Johnson of SportsNet looks at TFC from the business end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Columbus midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named Player of the Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram feels that Landon Donovan needs to go to Germany and make it work this time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

The San Jose Mercury News looks at the economic crisis and wonders if it will effect the building of a stadium for the Equakes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Seattle Expansion News

Ravi Ubha of the Seattle Post Intelligencer writes about the impact Freddie Ljungberg can make for the new Sounders. Marcus Hahnemann is quoted in the article.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Seattle Times on the teams open tryouts. Think they will find anyone? Doubtful.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

The Telegraph newspaper of Southwestern Illinois says St Louis Cardinals baseball star Albert Pujols is one of the investors in a bid to bring MLS to St Louis.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernie Miklasz of the St Louis Post Dispatch has words about Pujols too.
-Then if you scroll down the comments, Bernie comes back to insist that St L has a big money investor on board. That could seal the deal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The financial backing has been the big issue in St L, and if they have the $$ now as Miklasz says they do, then why haven't we heard about it publicly? Or is this just the first whisper? Honestly, I will believe when I see it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tom Timmerman of the Post Dispatch on Pujols as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I want St Louis!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

College News

The LA Times with a story on a small California College that has been devastated in the past week by Southern California wild fires (some classrooms, dorms etc have been burned to the ground), but with the help from another school are still playing soccer, and winning too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Minnesota Thunder

My team has taken the interim title away from Don Gramenz and officially made him Head Coach. He practically raised the team from the dead last season and got them into the playoffs for the first time in 4 years. We wish him the best of luck.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

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

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 19
Real Madrid U20 v USA U20
-Thu Nov 20
Atletico Madrid U20 v USA U20
-Sat Nov 22
Rayo Vallecano U20 v USA U20
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer does it again. He has a Q & A with new Goal.com editor Andrea Canales, preceded by a heartfelt essay on the struggle to cover soccer in this country. He does it without sounding one bit whiny too. Imagine Jaime Trecker pulling that off. Laughable.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Embele Awipi of Center Line Soccer does a Q & A with former USA great Hugo Perez.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal.com talks to Philadelphia Phillies World Series MVP pitcher Cole Hamels about his love of the beautiful game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Yesterday I asked about Frank Simek's return from an ankle injury, and you the reader responded. The Yorkshire Evening Post had a story at the end of last week on Simek. Great article too! (thanks a ton to Jamie for sending this our way.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TRANSFER RUMORS

The Independent in England report that Landon Donovan may have some company in joining Bayern Munich come January - Russian midfielder Andrei Arshavin wants to play at FC Hollywood too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

German Bundesliga 2
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - started but had an awful game, getting Red Carded in the 64th minute and then losing 6-0 at Kaiserslautern. Double Oof.
-Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - went the distance and won big, 6-0 at home over Hansa Rostock.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Mexico

Luis Bueno of The Touchline tells us how our boys did in the last round of the Apertura.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Champions League

A loyal reader named Jared sent in the list of which teams from the USA qualify for the 2009-10 CCL.
-Four spots are up for grabs:
USA1: MLS Cup Champion (Columbus or New York)
USA2: MLS Supporters Shield Winner (Columbus, but goes to runner up Houston)
USA3: MLS Cup Runner-up (Columbus or New York)
USA4: US Open Cup Champion (DC)
-With Columbus claiming spot #2 and then getting either #1 or #3, they are moved out of spot #2 and the team with the second best regular season record gets that spot - which is Houston.
-Columbus & New York get the automatic bids into the group stage, while DC & Houston will have to play a qualifying round.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

Here is Guatemala's roster to the game in Denver against the USA:
G:
Ricardo Jerez - Rentistas
Luis Pedro Molina - Jalapa
D:
Claudio Albizuris - Municipal
Carlos Castrillo - Comunicaciones
Yoni Flores - Marquense
Wilson Lalin - Suchitepequez
Carlos Mercedes Vasquez - USAC
Cristian Noriega - Municipal
Luis Rodriguez - Xelaju
Jaime Vides - Municipal
M:
Carlos Castillo - Suchitepequez
Carlos Figueroa - Xelaju
Jean Jonathan Marquez - Comunicaciones
Marco Pappa - Chicago Fire
Freddy Thompson - no club
Wilfred Velasquez - Suchitepequez
F:
Mario Acevedo - Municipal
Marvin Avila - Municipal
Mynor Ignacio Lopez Campollo - Xelaju
Pando Ramirez - Municipal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Schedule

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 19
El Salvador v Costa Rica
Honduras v Mexico
Jamaica v Canada
Suriname v Haiti
Trinidad & Tobago v Cuba
USA v Guatemala
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexico & FMF News

Reuters looks at the pressure built up on top of the Mexican national team as they desperately need at least a tie to advance to the Hex.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of Sports Illustrated tell us how Mexico got themselves into this situation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bueno writing on his blog The Touchline links us to the Apertura awards handed out by sports daily newspaper Cancha in Mexico.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

No Chivas. No America. Whaddaya thinka that?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South America News

FIFA.com has a Q & A with exciting Brazil & Barcelona right fullback Dani Alves.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the 2nd time in a week Argentine football "fans" have hi-jacked a bus to take them to a game. This time it was River Plate fans who kidnapped the driver at knife point. Sad to see.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent of England calls the Argentine national team underachievers. That is rich coming from England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maradona Mania

Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian says now we get to see if Diego has the leadership to take Argentina forward.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Sudamericana

Semifinals
2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Wed Nov 19
International v Guadalajara (2-0)
-Thu Nov 20
Estudiantes v Argentinos Juniors (1-1)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times with an article on the man behind the huge money deals of buying and selling Premiership clubs - Keith Harris.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sid Lowe writing for the Telegraph talks to Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, formerly of Manchester United, who says that some players on his old team lived on nothing but burgers and beer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chelsea forward Didier Drogba has been given a 3 game suspension for throwing a coin into the crowd. Someone in the stands had thrown it at him, so he fired it back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Man U manager Alex Ferguson also gets to take a seat away from the field of play. He gets a 2 game suspension for verbally abusing a referee.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on another surprise team in this Bundesliga season - Hertha Berlin. And a round up of the rest of the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

Due to the threat of violence Lazio fans will not be allowed at the game at Atalanta on Sun Nov 30.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the crumbling authority of Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Villarreal has lost forward Joseba Llorente (9 goals in all competitions already this season) for up to a month due to a torn thigh muscle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Paul Doyle of the Guardian gives us a look at what’s going on these days with Ireland and their Italian manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named Player of the Year in Sweden.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA World Cup Qualifying

-Wed Nov 19
San Marino v Czech Republic
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

International Friendlies

-Tue Nov 18
Algeria v Mali
Estonia v Moldova
Gabon v Guinea
-Wed Nov 19
Austria v Turkey
Brazil v Portugal
Colombia v Nigeria
Cyprus v Belarus
Denmark v Wales
Egypt v Benin
France v Uruguay
Germany v England
Ghana v Tunisia
Greece v Italy
Ireland v Poland
Israel v Cote d'Ivoire
Luxembourg v Belgium
Macau v Hong Kong
Malta v Iceland
Moldova v Lithuania
Montenegro v Macedonia
Morocco v Zambia
Netherlands v Sweden
Northern Ireland v Hungary
Oman v Paraguay
Romania v Georgia
Scotland v Argentina
Serbia v Bulgaria
Slovakia v Liechtenstein
Slovenia v Bosnia-Herzegovina
South Africa v Cameroon
Spain v Chile
Switzerland v Finland
Tanzania v Mozambique
Togo v Rwanda
Ukraine v Norway
Venezuela v Angola
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian News

Due to continued bouts of poor sportsmanship, the top professional Chinese league has been removed from television. See kids, violence doesn't pay.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asia World Cup Qualifying

-Wed Nov 19
Bahrain v Australia
Qatar v Japan
Saudi Arabia v Korea Republic
United Arab Emirates v Iran
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oceania World Cup Qualifying

-Wed Nov 19
New Zealand v Fiji