Live From Your Home Town Team Coverage News

Get yourself a little holiday sumpin' sumpin' from a friend of every soccer fan in America - Billy Mays.

~and~

For all you American soccer fans heading to Mexico City next August, you should watch the new episode (Mon Jan 5) of Anothy Bourdain's No Reservations. He visits the DF.

~and~

DC United forward Jaime Moreno commenting on himself: "Everything is good about me!" Fantastic. I could not agree more!


MLS Team News

CD CHIVAS USA

Luis Bueno on his blog The Touchline gives us the scoop on reports from Gaudalajara where Francisco Mendoza is training with the mother Goats. He had this to say about the differences between the leagues: "Tactically it is 100 percent different. In MLS, there is absolutely zero tactical work. Here, there is a lot more tactical work. In addition, there are players here who are more capable technically and tactically." Ouch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Jaime Moreno writing for the New York Times blog Goal gives us his DCU all-time Best 11.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com looks at the set up of MLS that makes it very hard for Houston to compete with other clubs for a player like Luis Landin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Jose Romero of the Times blog Sounders FC Blog talks to Seattle Seahawks NFL player Baraka Atkins about his love of the beautiful game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Soccer 365's Grapevine has new rumors about Ante Razov, Kamani Hill, and Lee Nguyen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Former Real Madrid centerback Ivan Helguera is that latest old timer associated with the LA Galaxy in the Euro-rumor-press.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Royal Gazette of Bermuda links their native midfielder Sammy deGraff with a tryout in Kansas City. He is currently with USL Second Division team Bermuda Hogges.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer News

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet looks forward to 2009 with the USA's teams.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

Another guy not on the USA January Camp roster - Kyle Beckerman. Maybe he has a surfing commitment in Costa Rica to deal with.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And you can add KC left fullback Michael Harrington to the list too. We need to check out every possible left back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

The U20 team played 2 friendlies that I missed telling you about:
-Sat Dec 20
USA 2-0 Haiti - USA goals by Abdusalam Ibrahim & Daniel Cruz.
-Mon Dec 22
USA 1-0 Canada - USA goal by Sam Garza.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

26 players were brought into this camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider tells us today that one of those players - Bryan Arguez was one of 4 who were dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U17 News

Andrew Rogers at Soccer 365 talks to head coach Wilmar Cabrera to get us an update on the USA U17 team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise writes about what made him a die hard soccer fan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Goal.com gives us a little insight on Freddy Adu's situation at Monaco. With quotes from the teams coach Ricardo Gomes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TRANSFER RUMORS

Soccer 365's Grapevine has new rumors about Kamani Hill and Lee Nguyen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer at S365 has the latest on possible movement for Sal Zizzo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

HONDURAS

4 MLS players have been called into the Honduran national team January camp as they prepare for World Cup qualifiers:
-Mauricio Castro - New England
-Roger Espinoza - Kansas City
-Ivan Guerrero - DC
-Amado Guevara - Toronto
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carlos Pavon, formerly of the LA Galaxy is on the roster, and Ramon Nunez who used to play for FC Dallas & Chivas USA is in the squad too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like the upcoming USA camp, these players are all either on winter break or season break, no big European league players are on the list, but will be for the actual matches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South America News

I am stunned today to find out that Juan Sebastian Veron has been named Footballer Of The Year in South America! His club team is Estudiantes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

After giving up a goal last weekend Ricardo Fuller of Stoke smacked his own teammate Andy Griffin upside the head, for which he has now been given a 3 game suspension.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Gazzetta dello Sport of Italy gives us their list of the most talented U21's playing club football in Europe right now. Neven Subotic makes it high up on the list. While Freddy & Jozy get their mentions too. Here is their first 11:
G:
Rui Patricio - Sporting - Portugal
D:
Rafael da Silva - Manchester United - Brazil
Micah Richards - Manchester City - England
Matthias Jaissle - Hoffenheim - Germany
Marcelo - Real Madrid - Brazil
M:
Theo Walcott - Arsenal - England
Sergi Busquets - Barcelona - Spain
Mesut Ozil - Werder Bremen - Germany
Angel Di Maria - Benfica - Argentina
F:
Bojan Krkic - Barcelona - Spain
Kun Aguero - Atletico Madrid - Argentina
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

A full slate in England for the FA Cup 3rd round. Here are all those Matches & Scores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Barney Ronay of the Guardian follows up yesterdays Heroes posting with today's Villains Of 2008. Worth reading just for the creepy picture of Angela Merkel, who has nice shoes.

The 2008 du Nord World Best 11

Dani Alves
Andrei Arshavin
Samuel Eto'o
Brad Friedel
Xavi Hernandez
Frank Lampard
Douglas Maicon
Lionel Messi
Frank Ribery
Cristiano Ronaldo
Nemanja Vidic

Remember Times Of Strength News

MLS Team News

CD CHIVAS USA

Former coach Hans Westerhof has been relieved of his duties as head coach of Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle says the team has lost out on signing Mexican forward Luis Angel Landin. And a few other team notes.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Soccernet with words from the AC Milan doctors who say Beckman is fit enough to play until he is 38. Just ask Paolo Maldini.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The Chronicle of Zimbabwe talks to their native son Kheli Dube about his career.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rev's TV announcer Brad Feldman took his family too Barcelona for Christmas - Brilliant idea! And here is his story, from the teams official blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

MetroFanatic reports that NYRB has lost another of Juan Carlos Osorio's mid-season imports - young centerback Diego Jimenez has returned to UAdG Tecos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

JCO really brought in a bumper crop of losers last year didn't he. Wow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The team has hired a goalkeeping coach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Midfielder Carl Robinson writing for his hometown County Times in Wales, sends out a little Christmas cheer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

MLSnet gives us their picks for the Best 11 games of the 08 season. You can watch highlights of them all!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated tells us about some Argentines who are possibly headed to MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

January camp for players out of season begins on the 4th and concludes with a game against Sweden on the 24th at Home Depot Center.
-Here is the roster:
G:
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
William Hesmer - Columbus Crew
Troy Perkins - Valerenga
Matt Pickens - no club
D:
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Danny Califf - Midtjylland
Sean Franklin - Los Angeles Galaxy
Cory Gibbs - Colorado Rapids
Clarence Goodson - Start
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Chris Wingert - Real Salt Lake
Marvell Wynne - Toronto
M:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
Brian Carroll - Columbus Crew
Ricardo Clark - Houston Dynamo
Eddie Gaven - Columbus Crew
Stuart Holden - Houston Dynamo
Jack Jewsbury - Kansas City Wizards
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
John Thorrington - Chicago Fire
F:
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Kenny Cooper - Dallas
Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Chris Rolfe - Chicago Fire
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Who is not on this list that should be? The MLS players that spring to mind for me are Davy Arnaud, Edson Buddle, Conor Casey, Jimmy Conrad, Pablo Mastroeni, Drew Moor & Michael Parkhurst.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze rounds up the year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

TRANSFER RUMORS

Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 tells us about the chance of Bobby Boswell heading to Antalyaspor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

England Premiership Tue Dec 30
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance and got a clean sheet winning 0-1 at Hull.
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InterLiga

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle previews this weekends Inter Liga action in Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

The BBC reports on Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's arrest for assault over the weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with his thoughts on Gerrard.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent with an article on Chelsea forward Didier Drogba who admits that after losing both the Premier & Champions league titles last spring he completely lost his love of the game. From watching him this past week he appears to be getting it back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

ITALY

Gazzetta della Sport give us the best young players currently in Serie A. It is an impressive list.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated weighs in on the end of the year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times Goal blog reviews the year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barney Ronay of the Guardian with his sports heroes of 2008. There are some classic moments here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com give us a cool look at 2008 with stats, and not the boring ones.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle tells us what to look forward to in 2009.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports with the top stories of 2008.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian News

Reuters reports on how some in Vietnam celebrate after winning the Southeast Asian Championship - death & destruction.

Up The Gear News

Clint Dempsey was the star of the weekend as he scored both goals in Fulham's 2-2 tie with Chelsea. His first was a fantastic backward side-volley flick, with the second coming in the 89th minute.

~and~

Jonathan Spector returned from a hip injury finally, made the bench for West Ham on Sunday, and even made an appearance as a sub in the dying moments of the game! This is great news. We need more American defenders getting playing time in top leagues.

~and~

I have always wondered why Landon Donovan wasn't the perfect player for Arsenal?


MLS Team News

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch with the huge news Crew fans were thinking would not come to them - the leagues defender of the year Chad Marshall turns down Europe to re-sign with the Crew. Wow! I am very surprised by this one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Hunter of the Dispatch hands out a giant batch of year end awards, and several go the Crews way including player, coach, team and fans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

The team signed left fullback & team captain Wade Barrett to a new contract. They also re-signed assistant coach John Spencer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The Gals have signed veteran Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts from Village United.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The Revs signed midfielder Michael Videira, a former draft pick of theirs that spent last year in Scotland at Hamilton.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the Olympian feels that the new Sounders had a great 2008 even though they didn't play a game yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com has New Year resolutions for MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Haydon of the Washington Post with a 2008 review.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram wraps up 08 too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales wonders what happened to the theory that New England assistant Paul Mariner was on the verge of getting a head coaches job.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

The whispers of Spanish centerback David Belenguer from Getafe coming to MLS won't go away. But I gotta tell ya, he is old. So let's hope this one does not happen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And no-team Ghanaian midfielder Steven Appiah says an offer from MLS teams makes him "laugh very loud". Ouch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

The Houston Chronicle reports on a hugely unexpected move where county commissioners have pledged $10 million needed to build a stadium for the Dynamo in downtown Houston!!! This was a major hurdle that many thought was being passed off with out public discussion taking place. I cant wait to go to MLS Cup there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

A writer for the Hillsboro Argus in Oregon has his Christmas wish list, and at the top is a MLS team for Portland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Steve Davis of ESPN Soccernet lists him Top 10 most influence people in our countries soccer hierarchy today. Did I make the list? Surely! No? Damn. How does this list not have someone from ESPN on it?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet with his year in review.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Allen Ramsey of Goal.com with his top list of 08, which is mostly America-centric.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kenya Brown at Yanks Abroad with is wishes for 2009.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Ives Galarcep at ESPN Soccernet gives us the horrible news that Borussia Dortmund centerback Neven Subotic has decided that his senior international career with be with his native Serbia and not his naturalized United State. Dammit!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The National newspaper in the United Arab Emirates with an article on Landon Donovan arriving in Dubai to train with Bayern Munich. Beckman and the LA Galaxy are part of the article too. Bayern play a match in Abu Dhabi against the club called Al Jazira on Jan 10.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Hush of ESPN Soccernet does a Q & A with Clint Dempsey, in two parts - PART 1 - PART 2.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TRANSFER RUMORS

Are DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu both already over at Rangers? Neither has played much at all much less even been on the bench this first half of the season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The same goes for Bobby Convey at Reading who has rarely been on the game day roster all season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally you have to ask about the loan of Eddie Johnson from Fulham to Cardiff City, where he is still sitting on the bench, but barely seeing any action. How much longer will that go on before he is sent back to Fulham, and then where?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While we were being told that Monchengladbach were a potential bidder for Oguchi Onyewu, it was really his defensive partner Bonfim Dante (a Brazilian, natch) that they wanted, and have now signed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

~Boxing Day Matches~
England Premiership
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full match in the midfield as they drew 0-0 at Tottenham.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - played the whole match as usual and drew 2-2 at home against Arsenal.
-Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance winning 0-1 at Middlesbrough.

England Championship
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played the whole match but they lost at hom 2-4 to Bristol City.

England League One
-Jemal Johnson - Milton Keynes - started and played 69 minutes as they won 1-2 at Bristol Rovers.
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall - played the entire match as they lost 1-0 at Peterborough United.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~Regular Weekend Matches~
England Premiership
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 and scored BOTH GOALS, drawing a Yellow Card for removing his shirt after the 2nd one that came in the 89th minute, as they drew 2-2 at home against Chelsea.
-Tim Howard - Everton - went the full 90 as they won easily 3-0 at home over Sunderland.
-Jonathan Spector - returned from a long injury lay off as a sub in the 89th minute, and they won 2-1 at home over Stoke.

England Championship
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played the whole 90, got a Yellow Card, and they drew 0-0 at QPR.

England League One
-Jemal Johnson - Milton Keynes - started and played 80 minutes of a 2-0 home win over Southend United.
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall - played the full 90 as they drew 1-1 at home against Yeovil Town.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

Honduras will host the 7 team UNCAF Championship that sends Central American qualifiers to the Gold Cup. The games run Jan 22 to Feb 1.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group A
Honduras
Nicaragua
Belize
El Salvador

Group B
Costa Rica
Panama
Guatemala
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Full list of matches coming soon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexico & FMF News

Soccer By Ives with an article on the possible new trend of Mexicans who recently went to Europe but are now heading back home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter Liga

It's almost time for Inter Liga 2009, the tournament that sends Mexican teams to South America's Copa Libertadores tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 2
Venue: Pizza Hut Park, Dallas TX
Toluca v Morelia
UAdG Tecos v Pachuca
-Sat Jan 3
Venue: Robertson Stadium, Houston TX
UANL Tigres v Atlas
Guadalajara Chivas v Club America
-Mon Jan 5
Venue: Robertson Stadium, Houston TX
UAdG Tecos v Morelia
Toluca v Pachuca
-Tue Jan 6
Venue: Pizza Hut Park, Dallas TX
UANL Tigres v Club America
Guadalajara Chivas v Atlas
-Thu Jan 8
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Morelia v Pachuca
Toluca v UAdG Tecos
-Fri Jan 9
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Atlas v Club America
UANL Tigres v Guadalajara Chivas
-Sun Jan 11
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Finals
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South America News

The Miami Herald with a story on the Uruguayan season that ended in brutal violence and cancellation of the season all together. That is sad to read about.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Stevie G from Liverpool spent Sunday night in the pokey after being arrested in a bar fight! Oops.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Molinaro of the CBC says that Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is on a level of his own among English managers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin McCarra of the Guardian looks at the new democracy in the Premiership, and the impact of Fabio Capello.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dominic Fifield of the Guardian calls this Premiership season the most competitive ever. (Yet there will be no real surprise winner.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Ashdown of the Guardian reviews the weekend in the English leagues not called Premier.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Saturday Comes asks the same question that I always ask - If Boxing Day is such a big day for matches, then how come we never see any big matchups. It's all about money.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

From the BBC comes an article on this idea - The Atlantic League - comprised of the top teams from Scotland, Portugal, Holland and Scandinavia. What do you think of that idea?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GERMANY

The Bundesliga website has a Q & A with Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl. A mention of Michael Bradley.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Italy and Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gazzetta dello Sport has a Q & A with Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NETHERLANDS

Leander Schaerlaeckens of the Guardian reviews the last round in 08 of the Eredivisie.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

The New York Times with an article on the great turnaround so far this season at Barcelona.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barcelona will do some pre-seasoning next summer in America again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Top Of The European Club Standings & Top Goal Scorers

England 20 of 38 games played
45 Liverpool
42 Chelsea
38 Manchester United (18 played)
35 Arsenal
35 Aston Villa (19 played)
-Goals
14 Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea
11 Robinho - Manchester City
10 Amr Zaki - Wigan
9 Gabriel Agbonlahor - Aston Villa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Martin Rogers gives us his 2008 World Best XI. And other stuff too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated with the new World Soccer Club Power Rankings as the year closes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun with his wishes for 2009.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 gives us his Christams Wishlist.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African News

Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal has been named Togo's Footballer Of The Year.

Happy Friggin' Holidays!

Just want to wish you and yours the happiest of holidays.

I am going to stop into the Highbury in Milwaukee on Boxing Day, so if you are in the area come on by and say hello..

Don't know when the company truck will roll in with the next news post, so go enjoy several days off like me.

All the best,
Bruce

Crash The Gate To The Floor News

Argentina News

The 3 team playoff for the Apertura title is all set. They finished tied at #1 on points and the league does not use tie breakers to settle the difference - they play the games on the field! And neutral fields at that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 17
San Lorenzo 2-1 Tigre - SL goals by Pablo Barrientos & Gonzalo Bergessio. Tig goal by Leandro Lazzaro.
-Sat Dec 20
Boca Juniors 3-1 San Lorenzo - Boca goals by Lucas Viati, Rodrigo Palacio & Cristian Manuel Chavez. SL goal by Santiago Hernan Solari.
-Tue Dec 23
Tigre v Boca Juniors - played at Estadio President Peron, in Cordoba, home of AC Cordoba. - Live at 4:30pm central on FSC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So what happens if Tigre wins on Tuesday and all 3 teams end up with 1 win and 1 loss. Then, unlike the regular season they will use goal differential as the first tie breaker.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal Differential:
-Boca Juniors (+2) - 1 played
-Tigre (-1) - 1 played
-San Lorenzo (-1) - 2 played
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated on the new phenomena of Brazilian and Argentine football co-mingling. We could be on to something quite cool here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times blog Goal with a look at this unique playoff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Team News

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on target="new" ONCLICK="out=false"the promotion of Robert Warzycha from assistant to head coach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Hunter of Dispatch on the failings to re-sign Sigi Schmid, and the decent 2nd choice of Warzycha.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Richard Snowden of Soccer 365 on Kenny Cooper's potential move out of MLS and back to Europe. And Landon Donovan to head back to Germany as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle says the Dynamo are pushing hard to sign Mexican forward Luis Landin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The team has also cut loose back up keeper Tony Caig who was one of the worst the league has ever seen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Richard Snowden of Soccer 365 on Landon Donovan's potential move out of MLS to Germany. And Kenny Cooper to head back to Europe as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The team has announced that their former First Division coach Brian Schmetzer, the original Stray Cat himself, will be an assistant coach to Sigi Schmid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sammamish Review, a small town newspaper in Washington state, has an article on Schmid, who's brother lives in the town.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Gerry Dobson of Sports Net speculates on the start of 09.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer tells us about how the league HQ is handling the tough economy.
-What about some of the clubs themselves.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS College Draft Talk

Brian Lewis of the NY Post on his blog Extra Times writes about former NYRB Academy player Matt Kassel who may leave Maryland early and sign with MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

The Coventry Telegraph with word of a possible Scottish target forward for San Jose.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One time Korean star Ahn Jung-hwan is supposedly being sought after by a more than one MLS team. I find that hard to believe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle on the staggering inability of the city of Houston government officials to step up and help make a new stadium a reality.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

Ives Galarcep at ESPN Soccernet lists who he thinks will be included in the annual January Team USA training camp. They usually gather in LA the weekend after the 1st, and this year conclude with a Jan 24 match at the Home Depot Center v Sweden (who will be playing mostly their domestic players as well.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U17 News

Kristian Dyer at ESPN Soccernet with an article on goalkeeper coach Paul Grafer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Andrew Dixon at the US National Soccer Players Assoc hands out his thumbs DOWN for 2008. Right on the money.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 talks to Alejandro Bedoya who has just signed with Orebro in Sweden. Charlie Davies of Hammarby has been a big help to the newcomer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

English Premier League
-Tim Howard - Everton - played all 90 and got another shut out as they drew 0-0 at home against Chelsea.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

Sports Net with an article on what it costs the CSA to fly their players around the world and put them up in hotels for the World Cup qualifiers. Julian de Guzman found room for complaint, but no one else did.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Looks like it is worst case scenario on the injury front for Arsenal midfielder and captain Cesc Fabregas. His knee injury will need surgery and keep him off the field until the final month of the season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times looks at the arrival of Beckman in Italy, and the Englishmen who went before him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports grades the Prem teams at the midway point of the season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England has lined up a friendly in February against Spain in Seville.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

SPAIN

Stumbling Almeria has hired world class blowhard Mexican Hugo Sanchez as their new head coach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spain will join forces with Portugal for a joint 2018 World Cup bid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spain has lined up a friendly in February against England in Seville.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

Premiership
-Fri Dec 26
Aston Villa v Arsenal - a clash of title hopefuls
Tottenham v Fulham - a London derby
-Sun Dec 28
Fulham v Chelsea - yes, another London derby
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scottish Premier League
-Sat Dec 27
Rangers v Celtic - the final Old Firm derby of the calendar year.

It's Making Friedman Look Rather Foolish News

Manchester United are the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup champions.


Argentina News

The 3 team playoff for the Apertura title is all set. They finished tied at #1 on points and the league does not use tie breakers to settle the difference - they play the games on the field! And neutral fields at that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So what happens if Tigre wins on Tuesday and all 3 teams end up with 1 win and 1 loss. Then, unlike the regular season they will use goal differential as the first tie breaker.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 17
San Lorenzo 2-1 Tigre - SL goals by Pablo Barrientos & Gonzalo Bergessio. Tig goal by Leandro Lazzaro.
-Sat Dec 20
Boca Juniors 3-1 San Lorenzo - Boca goals by Lucas Viati, Rodrigo Palacio & Cristian Manuel Chavez. SL goal by Santiago Hernan Solari.
-Tue Dec 23
Tigre v Boca Juniors - played at Estadio President Peron, in Cordoba, home of AC Cordoba. - Live at 4:30pm central on FSC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal Differential:
-Boca Juniors (+2) - 1 played
-Tigre (-1) - 1 played
-San Lorenzo (-1) - 2 played
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You think these games might not be too serious? - Go take a look at how many Yellow Cards were handed out in this game, not to mention 2 Red Cards!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Team News

CD CHIVAS USA

Midfielder Francisco Mendoza is heading south to train with the mother team in January.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew made it official by handing the team over to long time assistant Robert Warzycha.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Midfielder Victor Sikora who was not re-signed by FCD has now singed a short term deal with Perth in the A-League.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The FCD official blog gives us Eric Avila's personal notes on the trip he just took to England with a young MLS select team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Midfielder Roger Espinoza has been called into the Honduran national team camp.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now retired midfielder Kerry Zavagnin has been hired by the team as an assistant coach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on Beckman's introduction at AC Milan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Erik Stover, the man who went from being GM of Red Bull Park to GM of the New York Red Bulls in just 5 short months, answers viewer mail on the teams official blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Down goes Freddie! Down goes Freddie! The teams DP Freddie Ljungberg is out of action for up to 3 months after having hip surgery. Didn't see this coming did you? (Wink.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jose Romero of the Times, Gary Washburn of the Post Intelligencer, and Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune on Ljungberg's injury.
-Romero on his SSFC blog posts a note from Ljungberg's surgeon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Morgan Campbell of the Star stirs the controversy pot on why Dwayne DeRosario has not been introduced as a new player by TFC. Is something bad brewing?!?!? And of course Mo Johnston is having none of it!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turns out Campbell wasn't the first to ask these questions? - Gerry Dobson of Sportsnet was.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ryan Johnson of Sportsnet writes more about DeRo and various other conspiracy theories of his own.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal reports that SUM & ESPN have sold their MLS foreign TV rights to a distribution company for an astonishing "Eight-Figure deal". Yes that is a minimun of $10 Million. Great news.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa at ESPN Soccernet jumps forward 1 year in time to when the MLS & Players Union collective bargaining agreement comes to an end. What will happen?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes about ways MLS is cutting back financially, but not as drastically as some leagues.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS College Draft Talk

Bill Ward of Black Sabbath and the Tampa Bay Tribune writes about all the young gifted Tampa area players who look bound for MLS or are already there. Supernaut indeed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider brings us the saga of Ghanaian midfielder Stephen Appiah and MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Old worn out Mexican striker Jared Borgetti to Chivas USA or Dallas? That is the rumor from Soccer365's Grapevine.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Michele Kaufman of the Miami Herald with her soccer letter to Santa Claus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated writes about the Iron Man and Trailblazer that is Brad Friedel.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian Lewis of the NY Post on his blog Extra Time has more raving for Brad Friedel.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DaMarcus Beasley didn't play again this past weekend, but his car sure did. Vandals trashed his Mercedes. Who leaves a nearly $75,000 car parked outside??? (Thanks to Bart for the heads up.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to Jeremiah White about life at Aarhus in Denmark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UPCOMING MATCHES

English Premier League
-Tim Howard - Everton - hosts Chelsea on Monday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

French Ligue 1
-Freddy Adu - Monaco - came on as a 75th minute sub, earned a Yellow Card in the 76th, and they lost 3-4 at home to Bordeaux. They were up 3-0 at one point, and 3-2 when Freddy came on. Oof.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - went the full 90, and got a Yellow Card, but they won on the road 1-2 over Lorient. They also move back up to 3rd place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Italian Serie B
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - started, played 89 minutes, and got a Yellow Card, as they won 1-0 at home over Grosseto.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dutch Erstedivisie
-Charles Kazlauskas - TOP Oss - played the full match but lost at home 1-2 to FC Eindhoven.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Belgian Jupiler League
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - went the distance and won 2-1 at home over Gent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English Premier League
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90, scoring his teams 3rd goal, as they won 3-0 at home over Middlesbrough.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - played the entire match and won 0-1 at West Ham. They are in THIRD place in England!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English Championship Division
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - came back from injury as a 59th minute sub, but they lost at Derby County 1-0.
-Eddie Johnson - Cardiff - subbed on in the final minute, as they won at home 2-0 over Sheffield Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English League One
-Jemal Johnson - MK Dons - played all 90 minutes and they beat Leeds at home 3-1.
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall - came on as a half time sub and the drew 0-0 at home against Crewe Alexandra.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

Saprissa won the Costa Rican championship for the 28th time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun reflects on 2008 in Canadian soccer, then takes a glimpse forward.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tottenham has released defender Paul Stalteri from his contract immediately. Where is he headed? TFC? Nope, it's Monchengladbach in Germany.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South America News

The Uruguayian season has been suspended indefinitely due to fan violence. There is no word on if or how the rest of the season will be finished.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colo Colo won the Chilean championship for the 28th time!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

America won the Colombian championship for the 13th time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BRAZIL

John Haydon of the Washington Times on the river of Brazilian players that sign with teams in Europe every year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Goalkeeper David James writing for the Guardian says the reason everyone is making a big deal about Paul Ince is because he is English.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas suffered a strained medial ligament in his knee. There is no word as to the severity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Samuel of the Times has a derisive chuckle over the price being asked for West Ham United Football Club.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian rounds up the week for the English leagues not called Premiership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

FRANCE

Nike has acquired the rights to outfit the French national team AFTER teh 2010 World Cup. Adidas has been their provider.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune takes in a Siena v Catania match. What a great first hand story!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Beckman's grand entrance at Milan and the rest of the week in Serie A.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roma forward Francesco Totti will be out of action for a month with a strained thigh muscle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands & Belgium will enter a bid to co-host the World Cup for 2018 & 2022 in hopes of landing one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Leeander Schaerlaeckens of the Guardian introduces us to Mario Been the man on the bench leading NEC Breda to new heights, and all the other games from around the Eredivisie too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

Phil Ball of ESPN Soccernet calls it a day from Spain. I will miss his columns greatly. Let's hope for more from somewhere, sometime soon. There are also some links to his finer works intermingled.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sid Lowe of the Guardian tells us about Mallorca who are in trouble on and off the field, and the rest of La Liga this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

La Liga
-Sat Dec 20
Real Madrid 1-0 Valencia - Yes the perennial title contenders won, knocking Valencia down to 4th place, but RM are still 12 points behind leaders Barca and sit in 5th place.
-Sun Dec 21
Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona - nothing changes in Spain as Barca dominate everyone!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Premiership
-Sun Dec 21
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool - a stalemate hurts the Arse move than the Liver.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eredivisie
-Sun Dec 21
PSV 1-0 Feyenoord - PSV stay at #4 but their rivals tumbled down to #13, a disaster for them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkish Super Lig
-Sun Dec 21
Galatasaray 4-2 Besiktas - the old rivals did battle leaving Gala in 3rd place, and 5 points ahead of their foe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA Club World Cup

Manchester United are the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup champions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official web site
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 11
Adelaide United 2-1 Waitakere United - AU goals by Daniel Mullen & Travis Dodd. WU goal by Paul Seaman.
-Fri Dec 12
Al Ahly 2-4 Pachuca - AlA goals by Fausto Pinto(OG) & Flavio. Pach goals by Luis Montes, Damian Alvarez & Chaco Gimenez(2).
Sun Dec 14
Adelaide 0-1 Gamba Osaka - GO goal by Yasuhito Endo.
Wed Dec 17 - Semifinal
Pachuca 0-2 Liga de Quito - LDQ goals by Claudio Bieler & Luis Bolanos.
-Thu Dec 18 - Semifinal
Gamba Osaka 3-5 Manchester United - GO goals by Masato Yamazaki, Yasuhito Endo(PK) & Hideo Hashimoto. MU goals by Nemanja Vidic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney(2) & Darren Fletcher.
-Sun Dec 21 - Final
Liga de Quito 0-1 Manchester United - ManU goal by Wayne Rooney.

Did You Try This Grape Juice News

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Match Ups:
Atletico Madrid v Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting v Bayern Munich
-1st leg matches to be played Feb 24 & 25, with 2nd legs on Mar 10 & 11.

~and~

You have to be in awe of the USA Women's teamed who beat China last night in Detroit 1-0 to end 2008 with 33 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. What a staggering record. Congrats to the team - you are humbling!


MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

Goal.com talks to Chris Rolfe about an unsatisfying last season, and ahead to the next.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CD CHIVAS USA

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com examines the words of owner Jorge Vergara about changes on the horizon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

DC's best ever player Marco Etcheverry has been hired as head coach of Aucas in Ecuador. The team is the cross town rival of current South American's champs Liga de Quito.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle looks at the teams open roster spots and salary cap room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Keith Costigan of Fox Soccer Channel does a Q & A with coach Curt Onalfo.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Goal.com translates quotes by midfielder Jorge Rojas from an interview he did in his native Venezuela about his team and MLS in general.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Otaga Daily Times with an article on their hometown player, centerback Andrew Boyens.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Goal.com has a Q & A with Tech Dir Chris Henderson.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Tacoma News Tribune talks to 2 former Sounders coaches to get their feelings on the hiring of Sigi Schmid to run this new team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David Falk in the Examiner links to a radio interview of Post Intelligencer columnist Art Thiel saying positive things about the Sounders on the local PBS affiliate. Theil has changed his tune from old time curmudgeon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated looks at the young Mexican's being courted with more and more fervor by MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS College Draft Talk

The league has done away with it's second part of the draft that they called the "Supplemental Draft". So any player who does not get picked in the Super Draft is free to try out with any team or teams. Most freedom for players makes this a good move in my book.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle writes that the Dynamo are going after Mexican striker Luis Angel Landin who currently suits up for Morelia. They tried to sign him 2 years ago from Pachuca.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer 365's Grapevine has all of today's rumors.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

College News

Doug McIntyre of ESPN Soccernet reviews the year in the college game, handing out his own awards and naming a Best 11.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Tom Timmerman of the St Louis Dispatch reports that regardless of the city landing a MLS team, the Tony Glavin Soccer Club who run the St Louis Lions in the PDL, is strongly considering putting a new top on their pyramid for 2010, and starting a First Division team to complete their big youth set up. I love it. Great move! Let's hope it happens.
-Here are details from the club's website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer News

Tim Howard has been named US Soccer's Male Athlete of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sacha Kljestan has been named US Soccer's Young Male Athlete of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

Steve Davis of ESPN Soccernet feels Columbus was the only choice to host USA v Mexico.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

More boys crying wolf again today over the future national team prospects of Neven Subotic - one report says he is going to play of Serbia, and the next refutes that. What am reading the Sun of London. Come on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TRANSFER RUMORS

Soccer 365's Grapevine has all of today's rumors.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UPCOMING MATCHES

UEFA Cup - Round of 32
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - 1st leg v CSKA Moscow on Thu Feb 26.
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - 1st leg v CSKA Moscow on Thu Feb 26.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - 1st leg at Braga on Thu Feb 26.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

Serie B
-Danny Szetela - Brescia - started and played 88 minutes as they won at home 1-0 over Grosseto.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Erstedivisie
-Charles Kazlauskas - TOP/Oss - went the full 90 but lost at home 1-2 to FC Eindhoven.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - went the full 90 but lost 3-1 at Hamburg. Had already qualified for the next round though.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - played all 90 minutes but lost 3-0 at Stuttgart. Had already qualified for the next round though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mexico & FMF News

Long time star defender Claudio Suarez writing for the New York Times blog Goal gives us his all time Mexican Best 11.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

America has bought midfielder Pavel Pardo from Stuttgart. He returns to his native Mexico after 3 season in Germany. He played most of career for American prior to heading to Europe in 2006.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ARGENTINA

The 3 team playoff for the Apertura title is all set. They finished tied at #1 on points and the league does not use tie breakers to settle the difference - they play the games on the field! And neutral fields at that.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 17
San Lorenzo 2-1 Tigre - SL goals by Pablo Barrientos & Gonzalo Bergessio. Tig goal by Leandro Lazzaro.
-Sat Dec 20
Boca Juniors v San Lorenzo - played at Estadio President Peron, in Cordoba, home of AC Cordoba.
-Tue Dec 23
Tigre v Boca Juniors - played at Estadio President Peron, in Cordoba, home of AC Cordoba.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

San Lorenzo can win the crown with a victory over Boca on Saturday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Tigre players had a meltdown in added time when things went against them - ie. a Red Card to their keeper for pushing an opponent in the face.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Barney Ronay of the Guardian reports that a very minor league team, Garforth Town, has signed former Brazilian star Cafu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

SPAIN

Xavi Hernandez has signed a contract extension with Barcelona through the 2014 season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

La Liga
-Sat Dec 20
Real Madrid v Valencia - Real are just hoping to stay in it, and Valen want to help bury them.
-Sun Dec 21
Villarreal v Barcelona - Villa are one team in recent years that have consistently given Barca trouble.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Premiership
-Sun Dec 21
Arsenal v Liverpool - Are these teams really going to be in the title chase to the end?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eredivisie
-Sun Dec 21
PSV v Feyenoord - Two big clubs always create sparks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkish Super Lig
-Sun Dec 21
Galatasaray v Besiktas - one of those great old Turkish rivalry matches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League

Reports say that the winner of this seasons Champions League will make $156 Million US!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Doyle of the Guardian on the Round of 16 draw - Headlined by Jose Mourinho v Alex Ferguson again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup

Here are the results from Matchday 5.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And here are the matchups for the Round of 32, set to be played Feb 26.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at formations - Why has the 4-2-3-1 become more popular than the 4-4-2?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA Club World Cup

The FIFA Club World Cup from Japan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official web site
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 11
Adelaide United 2-1 Waitakere United - AU goals by Daniel Mullen & Travis Dodd. WU goal by Paul Seaman.
-Fri Dec 12
Al Ahly 2-4 Pachuca - AlA goals by Fausto Pinto(OG) & Flavio. Pach goals by Luis Montes, Damian Alvarez & Chaco Gimenez(2).
Sun Dec 14
Adelaide 0-1 Gamba Osaka - GO goal by Yasuhito Endo.
Wed Dec 17 - Semifinal
Pachuca 0-2 Liga de Quito - LDQ goals by Claudio Bieler & Luis Bolanos.
-Thu Dec 18 - Semifinal
Gamba Osaka 3-5 Manchester United - GO goals by Masato Yamazaki, Yasuhito Endo(PK) & Hideo Hashimoto. MU goals by Nemanja Vidic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney(2) & Darren Fletcher.
-Sun Dec 21 - Final
Liga de Quito v Manchester United - live at 4:30am central on Fox Soccer Channel
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At around the 70 minute mark Manchester United led Gamba Osaka2-0. Then Gamba scored one, which just pissed off Man U who rattled off 3 more of their own in about 5 minutes. Finally Gamba got their other two in the dying moments. What a weird game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Africa World Cup Qualifying

Liberian keeper Melvin King has been found to have tested positive to a banned substance and will suffer a 5 month suspension from all of world football.

Yes, There Are No Bananas.

There are no bananas today.

Waiting So Long News

La Gazzetta asks Fabio Capello what he wants for Christmas: "A painting, like always. In the letter I write to Santa Claus I put down three contemporary artists: Cy Twombly, an American, Georg Baselitz, a German, and the Englishman Peter Doig." I love it. See the rest of his Q & A in the Italy section.

~and~

Neven Subotic to Napoli? See Americans in Europe - Transfer Rumors for the details from Goal.com.

~and~

The MLS season kicks off in 92 days!


MLS Team News

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

On the teams blog fullback Amaechi Igwe gives us some insight on his trip to England with the MLS Generation Adidas team last week. thanks to Ross for laying this on us
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives with an article on Matt Kassel who came up through the Red Bulls academy, spent the last season at Maryland (played a big role in winning the NCAA championship) and will most likely sign with MLS. Where will be end up playing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com wonders if the expectations on Sigi Schmid and the Sounders are already to high. Yes they are Kyle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Plenty from the 2 local daily papers on the hiring of Schmid.
The Times:
-Sounders coach Sigi Schmid brings championship experience to new club by Jose Miguel Romero
-Sounders strike gold in getting Sigi Schmid as coach by Steve Kelly
-More from today's announcement by Jose Romero
-Sigi Schmid's contract by Jose Romero
The Post Intelligencer:
-Sounders started at top for this hire by Art Theil
-Schmid moved by Seattle family ties by Gary Washburn
-Sounders FC makes giant hire in Schmid by Gary Washburn
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Morgan Campbell of the Star on the papers TFC blog tries to rationally look at the deal that brought Dwayne DeRosario home to Toronto. Was it a good deal for TFC?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carl Robinson, writing for his hometown newspaper County Times in Wales, confirms that he has reached an agreement on a new contract with TFC!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Soccer 365's Grapevine lines up a Costa Rican centerback for Seattle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

College News

The Soccer America 2008 Men's College Player Of The Year is Steve Zakuani from the Akron Zips!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer News

US Soccer gives us audio of DaMarcus Beasley talking about the USA-Mexico rivalry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you get your US Soccer gift wrap? I didn't see this item coming from our federation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Soccer 365 talks to Ethan Zahn about his massive 550 mile dribble to raise money for his organization Grassroot Soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise writes about the Americans who are succeeding in Europe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 reports that Frank Simek's hamstring injury is a bad one - he will be out until late January.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TRANSFER RUMORS

Goal.com reports that in a stunning move Neven Subotic will leave Borussia Dortmund for Napoli! Did you see this one coming?
-But when you want the truth, you go to people you trust - Greg Seltzer at No Short Corners reports that this story is "100% rubbish."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UPCOMING MATCHES

UEFA Cup
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - at Hamburg on Wed Dec 17
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - at Hamburg on Wed Dec 17
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - at Stuttgart on Thu Dec 18
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South America News

ARGENTINA

The 3 team playoff for the Apertura title is all set. They finished tied at #1 on points and the league does not use tie breakers to settle the difference - they play the games on the field! And neutral fields at that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 17
San Lorenzo V Tigre - played at Estadio Jose Amalfitani, in Buenos Aires, home of Velez Sarsfield
-Sat Dec 20
Boca Juniors v San Lorenzo - played at Estadio President Peron, in Cordoba, home of AC Cordoba.
-Tue Dec 23
Tigre v Boca Juniors - played at Estadio President Peron, in Cordoba, home of AC Cordoba.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Joel Richards of the Guardian previews the big playoff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated previews too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian tells the tale of two very old clubs from Rosario - Central and Newell's Old Boys.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Just 10 months after having his leg horribly broken, Arsenal forward Eduardo de Silva played in a reserve match last night. Wow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. They talk financial crisis, foreign players and a couple other topics.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Former Bolton & Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has been hired to take over the whip at Blackburn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Wilson at the Guardian wonders how Paul Ince got the Blackburn job in the first place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune talks to England coach Fabio Capello who quickly realized his teams problems were mostly psychological.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Smyth of the Guardian sees similarity between Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United, and that teams failed signing of Juan Sebastian Veron.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian wonders if Hatem Ben Arfa who left Lyon last summer for Marseille will help his new team unseat his old team at the top of the French football pyramid. And the rest of Ligue 1 from last week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com gives us a historic look at Freddy Adu's squad - Monaco.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

La Gazzetta does a very good Q & A with Fabio Capello, on all kinds of topics.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

John Molinaro of the CBC reviews his recently ended trip to Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup

Matchday 5 will take place on Wed Dec 17 & Thu Dec 18. Here are those Matches & Scores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group Standings
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Reuters rewinds 2008 for us.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA Club World Cup

The FIFA Club World Cup from Japan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official web site
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 11
Adelaide United 2-1 Waitakere United - AU goals by Daniel Mullen & Travis Dodd. WU goal by Paul Seaman.
-Fri Dec 12
Al Ahly 2-4 Pachuca - AlA goals by Fausto Pinto(OG) & Flavio. Pach goals by Luis Montes, Damian Alvarez & Chaco Gimenez(2).
Sun Dec 14
Adelaide 0-1 Gamba Osaka - GO goal by Yasuhito Endo.
Wed Dec 17 - Semifinal
Pachuca 0-2 Liga de Quito - LDQ goals by Claudio Bieler & Luis Bolanos.
-Thu Dec 18 - Semifinal
Gamba Osaka v Manchester United - live at 4:30am central on Fox Soccer Channel
-Sun Dec 21 - Final
Liga de Quito v Winner 2 - live at 4:30am central on Fox Soccer Channel
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Everyone saw Pachuca's huge comeback effort as a sign that they were ready to roll over Liga and into the finals today. But obviously the Copa Libertadores champs from Ecuador had their own magic ready. Liga goes to the final, and the folks at Charlie's Polloria must be in heaven today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ESPN Soccernet with an article on the surprise Libertadores champs at the CWC - Liga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Samuel of the Times writes about the mess that the CWC can seem to be. You know it's all about money and FIFA ego's right?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Road To World Cup 2010 - South Africa News

Business Day in Zimbabwe with an article on how war/poverty/famine/disease in Zimbabwe cannot help but effect South Africa's World Cup, despite strange words to the contrary by the top executive of the local organizing committee. Can you say "delusional." The cold hearted bastard named Danny Jordaan went so far as to make this statement: “Those people barely have the energy to walk, how they can be a threat to us? I can’t understand."