Fly Right Past The Stop News

This question has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now - If Cuauhtemoc Blanco could be loaned out to Mexican club Santos Laguna immediately, then why are Beckman and Donovan not loaned out to Milan and Bayern immediately?


Copa Sudamericana

Finals
2nd leg Match & Score (with 1st leg score included):
-Wed Dec 3
Internacional v Estudiantes (1-0)
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MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

Our main man Dan G sent us this hilarious video clip of Blanco v New England this past season, in which the editors do a very goofy voice-over in Spanish, then add tons of wacky sound effects. The best part is the voice they use for Blanco. Great stuff.
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COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on the re-signing of Guille.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Down the Byline hands out season grades for the Wiz players.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Metrofanatic has some thoughts on the team haggling with Dave Van Den Bergh over a new contract. Needless to say, this is a not a pro-NYRB article.
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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger talks to coach Juan Carlos Osorio who again says he is going nowhere.
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Osorio also says that both Jorge Rojas & Juan Pietravallo are staying. Gabriel [CORRECTED] Cichero was already released.
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Ives Galarcep at Soccer by Ives tells us how he would improve the Red Bulls.
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SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Goalkeeper Joe Cannon has been deemed to expensive and will not have the option on his contract picked up. The team will try to sign him at a lower price, but he is basically a free agent who can do anywhere with out a transfer fee.
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The Mercury News has the details on the Equakes selling off a portion of the team to the San Jose Sharks NHL team.
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TORONTO FC

Danny Dichio with hair. (thanks Ethan)
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GENERAL

Andrea Canales at Goal.com looks at what the end of the leagues Reserve division means for developing players.
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Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com casts his view over all of MLS. One of his topics in the contract of New York midfielder Dave Van Den Bergh - what is going on?
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Slam Sports looks at the players who could be headed to Europe. Not much new here.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle likes the idea of 8 MLS teams being in regional tournaments next year. Me too.
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MLS Generation Adidas Team

Again this year the league will send a select team of their best young talent to England for a week of matches, training, and taking in the big time professional culture of world football.
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Matches & Scores:
-Mon Dec 8
West Ham Reserves v MLS-GA
-Wed Dec 10
Chelsea Reserves v MLS-GA
-Thu Dec 11
Aston Villa Reserves v MLS-GA
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MLS Exhibition Matches

-Sat Dec 6
Oceania All Stars v Los Angeles Galaxy - in Auckland New Zealand - on TV here live at 12:30am on FSC
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Steven Goff on his blog Soccer Insider has a couple of juicy ones - Joe Cannon and Bobby Convey.
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MLS Expansion News

The Financial Post of Canada has a headline that says the Vancouver big may be in jeopardy, but the article says nothing of the sort. They have lots of hurdles ahead of them, but they are moving forward. Why do headlines like that need to be written? I supposed it's to help Joey Saputo save a little face.
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College News

Sportsnet tells us that top MLS college draft prospect O'Brian White had knee surgery for a torn ACL.
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USL First Division News

Our friend Brian Quarstad at Inside Minnesota Soccer has Part 1 of his offseason look into the USL, which seems to be in near constant flux over the years. So keeping up is a helluva job.
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Brand new First Div team Austin Aztex announced that they have formed a Partnership with Monterrey in Mexico. Here is the teams official press release.
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Minnesota Thunder

The Thunder will officially announce their new PDL team on Thursday. The team will be based about 90 miles south of the Twin Cities metro area in Rochester MN, and be known as the Rochester Thunder.
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USA U17 News

The always popular Nike Friendlies take place in Florida this weekend. Here are the USA opponents.
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Matches & Scores:
-Fri Dec 5
USA v Brazil - 1:30 pm central on FSC
USA v Australia - 4pm central on FSC
-Sun Dec 7
USA v Brazil - 4pm central on FSC
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Americans In Europe

ESPN Soccernet does the Q & A with Freddy Adu. And it's not a fluffy interview either.
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Yanks Abroad talks to Adu about the first few months at Monaco, and asks him if he will ever start seeing regular playing time.
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YA also talks to little known American Andrew Jacobson who signed with Lorient in France over a year ago but has never really played. Is his time coming?
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MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who saw the field are listed)

Wed Dec 3
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - v Tottenham - Carling Cup quarterfinals
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard Liege - v Sampdoria - UEFA Cup
Thu Dec 4
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - v MSK Zilina - UEFA Cup
-Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - v MSK Zilina - UEFA Cup
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CONCACAF News

The Caribbean Championship kicks off today in Jamaica. The teams are split into 2 groups and play a round robin format within that group. The top 2 from each group move on to the semifinals, and also qualify for next summers Gold Cup.
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Group 1
Antigua & Barbuda
Cuba
Guadeloupe
Haiti
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Group 2
Barbados
Grenada
Jamaica
Trinidad & Tobago
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Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 3
Trinidad & Tobago v Grenada
Jamaica v Barbados
-Thu Dec 4
Guadeloupe v Cuba
Haiti v Antigua & Barbuda
-Fri Dec 5
Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago
Jamaica v Grenada
-Sat Dec 6
Haiti v Guadeloupe
Cuba v Antigua & Barbuda
-Sun Dec 7
Grenada v Barbados
Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
-Mon Dec 8
Antigua & Barbuda v Guadeloupe
Cuba v Haiti
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Both the Jamaica Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer preview the Reggae Boyz chances in this tournament.
-Dane Richards of the New York Red Bulls, Omar Cummings of the Colorado Rapids, Tyrone Marshall of Toronto FC and Andy Williams from Real Salt Lake are all on the Jamaica roster.
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Mexico & FMF News

Apertura Semifinals
1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 3
Cruz Azul v Atlante
-Thu Dec 4
Santos Laguna v Toluca
2nd leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included)
-Sat Dec 6
Atlante v Cruz Azul
-Sun Dec 7
Toluca v Santos Laguna
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4 days after playing the USA in LA, Sweden will travel north to Oakland and take on Mexico at McAfee Stadium, Wed Jan 28.
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England News

The Telegraph gives us an inside look at the beyond extravagant life of Liverpool & England midfielder Steven Gerrard, and what he wants to accomplish on the field.
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The Independent reports on the insane amount of money that Manchester City is supposedly ready to spend on players come January. Why does this smell like a total disaster to me?
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The Independent also tells us what Patrick Viera thinks of Roy Keane after a few years have passed in their intense rivalry.
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Sport Magazine does a Q & A with Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
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European News

GERMANY

Deutsche Welle's blog Ballspeil sees Hertha Berlin sitting at #3 in the charts and asks - What the hell is going on here?
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Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune writes about the man behind Hoffenheim, Dietmar Hopp.
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ITALY

Coppa Italia Match & Score:
-Wed Dec 3
AC Milan v Lazio
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SPAIN

Real Madrid has officially signed Dutch striker Klass Jan Huntelaar from Ajax. Is he the next Ruud Van Nistelrooy or the next Dirk Kuyt?
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UEFA Cup

Matchday 4 (of 5) games are being played this week on Wed 3 & Thu 4. Here are those matches.
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Group Standings

Jack Warner/Sepp Blatter/FIFA Idiocy & Scandal News

Andrew Jennings tells us that despite a court ruling Slappy Jack has still not paid the Trinidad & Tobago players their bonuses from the 2006 World Cup. This is very sad news indeed.
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The Voice talks to Warner who is very defiant over many things including International dates & Roy Keane. He then goes on to make remarks about players of African heritage. I have a feeling that if I wrote those remarks I would be labeled a racist.
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African News

I missed this story from USA Today last week - a look back at football in South Africa at the time of apartheid.
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Middle Eastern News

Columbus News Service with an article on a small team in Israel comprised of both Arabs and Israeli. The story of Abu Ghosh-Mevaseret. Thanks to Andrew for sending this my way.
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The Road To World Cup 2010 - South Africa News

John Powers of the Boston Globe checks in on the 5 Regions qualifying processes to see where everyone stands.