Leave The Funky Stuff To James Brown News

MLS Team News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave at The Red Card has a Q & A with John Thorrington. (this ran before the USA v Sweden game on Saturday.)
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Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald talks to Fire players who are ready for preseason training to begin.
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The team has hired USA U18 coach Mike Matkovich as their new assistant coach, replacing Chris Armas.
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FC DALLAS

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree has a Q & A with coach Schellas Hyndmann as the preseason begins.
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DC UNITED

The Honduran forward that DCU has been chasing, Walter Martinez, has been described as "diminutive".
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

The team has re-signed centerback Bobby Boswell.
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They also sent centerback Patrick Ianni to Seattle for a future draft pick.
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In a third roster move, the team signed American goalkeeper Tally Hall from Esbjerg in Denmark.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Beckman scored for Milan, winning 1-4 at Bologna, and for the first time he himself has said that he may not return to LA. "I can't say what will happen. Even if my contract says that I'll be here until March. We'll have to see. At the moment I'm enjoying this experience. I'm at one of the biggest clubs in the world. And having won gives us confidence to continue."
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Big Apple Soccer hears from Juan Pablo Angel who is negotiating a new contract with the team. Give that man a raise.
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Brian Lewis of the NY Post writes that Jorge Rojas will not be going on loan in his native Venezuela.
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REAL SALT LAKE

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com writes about the cancer battle that the wife of midfielder Andy Williams is fighting. They are desperately looking for a bone marrow donor. To help check here.
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SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Jeff Carlisle of Center Line Soccer talks to recently released midfielder Ronnie O'Brien who says he will not play for San Jose again.
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SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

They have acquired centerback Patrick Ianni from Houston for future considerations.
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TORONTO FC

John Molinaro of the CBC poses a very important question - Where will Dwayne De Rosario fit into the offensive structure of the team. Amado Guevara plays the same position as DDR, so what gives?
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Steven Goff at Soccer Insider reports that DC will give a try out to Brazilian centerback Roger, from Fluminense.
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Soccer 365 with some choice rumors today: Ghanaian Sammy Kufour to Chicago, and Trinidad & Tobago forwards Keon Daniel and Gregory Richardson getting try outs with Toronto.
-du Nord reported last September 9th that Kuffour had retired after last playing for Ajax.
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Team USA

Match & Score:
-Sat Jan 24
USA 3-2 Sweden - USA goals all 3 by Sacha Klestan (1 via PK). Swed goals by Daniel Nannskog & Mikael Dahlberg.
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report by Phil Collin at the Daily Breeze.
Match report by Jeff Carlisle at ESPN Soccernet.
Post game notes by Nick Green at 100 Percent Soccer.
Post game coach & player quotes by Green.
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Official team blog
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US Soccer gives us video of game highlights.
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US Soccer gives us video of the post game press conference with Coach Bob Bradley and Sacha Kljestan.
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Stuart Holden was not in the USA line up because he suffered a hip flexor strain.
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Andy Firchau of ESPN Soccernet on the historic nature of Sacha Kljestan's hat trick.
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du Nord 3 Stars Of The Game

3 Alexander Farnerud - Two pinpoint crosses lead to two nice goals. USA outside players take notice: That's how you put a ball into the box.
2 Brian Ching - Strong work from a center forward who got pretty poor service. He drew some key free kicks, then had the magical touch to bring the ball down and set up Kljestan for the third goal.
1 Sacha Kljestan - 3 goals, his first USA goals too. Ttotally commanded the entire game. With out him where would our scoring come from?
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Other Americans of note: Ricardo Clark, Marvell Wynne and Dan Califf.
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Soccer In America

Jen Chang of ESPN Soccernet reviews the past weekend and then takes a few looks ahead for the USA and some MLS players.
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Richard Snowden at Soccer 365 tries to figure out why so many young players are going to Europe instead of MLS.
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Americans In Europe

Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 reports that defender Erik Hort has signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He previously was signed to Sparta Praha, and played in their reserves.
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Landon Donovan at Bayern Munich
Here is what is on the docket for Landon Donovan and Bayern Munich over the next 2 weeks:
-Friendlies:
Bayern Munich 3-0 Bamberg -Sat Jan 17 - the game was played on a snow covered pitch with an orange ball. LD came on at half time already up 2-0 and did not figure in the last goal.
Kaiserslautern 0-2 Bayern Munich - Mon Jan 19 - LD came on as a sub in the 62nd minute and scored on a great glancing header to seal the win.
Bayern Munich 5-0 Mainz - Thu Jan 22 - Came on in the 60th minute and this time Landon bags 2!
-DFB Pokal Round of 16:
Stuttgart v Bayern Munich - Tue Jan 27
-Bundesliga:
Hamburger v Bayern Munich - Fri Jan 30 - live at 1:30pm Central on GolTV.
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Transfer Rumors

The Glasgow Evening Times says that Sacha Kljestan's performance of the USA on Saturday night may have raised the asking price to Celtic considerably! Check out the image showing the size of the headline he got on today's sports page! Wow.
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Most Recent Matches
(only players who saw the field are listed)

French Ligue 1
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played all 90 as they won at home 2-0 over St Etienne in Coupe de France.
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French Ligue 2
-Quentin Westberg - Troyes - played the full match, a rare start, but lost at home 1-2 to Rodez Aveyron in Coupe de France.
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Dutch Erstedivisie
-Charles Kazlauskas - TOP Oss - played all 90 but got destroyed at RKC Waalwijk 5-0. Oof!
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Belgian Jupiler League
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - went the distance as always and they won again, 0-1 at KVC Westerlo.
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English Premier League
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played all 90 and they advance 2-4 at Kettering Town in the FA Cup.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the full match but drew at Doncaster Rovers 0-0 in the FA Cup.
-Tim Howard - Everton - in goal the whole 90 and drew at Liverpool 1-1 in the FA Cup.
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English Championship Division
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - played all 90 and scored the teams first goal as they won 4-3 at home over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.
-Eddie Johnson - Cardiff - came on as a sub in 90th minute as they drew at home 0-0 with Arsenal in the FA Cup.
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

Where will the USA play their other 5 home qualifiers in the Hexagon (game one is in Columbus)? They have already said that they will not play any games on grass or a field that has grass laid over fake turf. That eliminates places like Boston, Portland & Seattle right off the top. Dallas, Salt Lake, Los Angeles and Chicago all have nice MLS stadiums with real grass to they are in. I can't imagine this round going by without a game at RFK in Washington DC either. So where else could the games be held? In the past Cleveland, Hartford and Birmingham have all played host to the USA. What about Houston or Pheonix. The Bay Area. The Carolinas. Anyone with other ideas?
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UNCAF Championship

Central American Championship website
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This 7 team tournament, being hosted by Honduras, will qualify 4 teams for next summers CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Semifinalists are the ones who will advance.
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Group A
6 Honduras +4
4 El Salvador +3
1 Nicaragua -3
0 Belize -4
Group B
6 Costa Rica +5
0 Guatemala -2
0 Panama -3
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Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jan 22
El Salvador 1-1 Nicaragua - El S goal by Carlos Ayala. Nica goal by Marlon Medina.
Honduras 2-1 Belize - Hond goals by Walter Martinez & Amando Guevara(PK). Beli goal by Lisbey Castillo.
-Fri Jan 23
Costa Rica 3-0 Panama - CR goals by Andy Furtado & Alvaro Sanchez.
-Sat Jan 24
Belize 1-4 El Salvador - Beli goal by Jeremy James. El S goals by Alfredo Pacheco (3, one via PK) & Ramon Sanchez.
Honduras 4-1 Nicaragua - Hond goals by Mario Cesar, Danilo Turcios, Saul Martinez & Walter Martinez. Nica goal by Armando Ismael Reyes.
-Sun Jan 25
Guatemala 1-3 Costa Rica - Guat goal by Marco Papa. CR goals by Alvaro Sanchez, Pablo Herrera & Roberto Segura.
-Mon Jan 26
Nicaragua v Belize -
Honduras v El Salvador -
-Tue Jan 27
Panama v Guatemala -
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Honduras and Costa Rica are the first 2 of 4 teams to qualify for the Gold Cup. The 3rd team will qualify Monday and the last team on Tuesday.
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Mexico & FMF News

The Mexican national team plays Sweden on Tuesday night in the DF at Azteca Stadium.
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Round 2
Cruz Azul 4-0 Atlas
San Luis 1-2 Pachuca
Guadalajara 1-0 UAdG
UANL 0-3 Chiapas
Atlante 2-0 Morelia
Juarez 1-1 Monterrey
Puebla 1-0 Necaxa
UNAM 1-0 Santos Laguna
America 2-2 Toluca
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Standings - after 2 played
6 Pachuca +4
6 Chiapas +4
6 UNAM +2
4 Monterrey +4
4 Cruz Azul +4
4 Atlante +2
4 Juarez +1
4 America +1
4 Guadalajara +1
3 Puebla -3
2 Toluca 0
1 San Luis -1
1 Morelia -2
0 UAdG -2
0 Santos Laguna -2
0 Necaxa -2
0 Atlas -5
0 UANL -6
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South America News

ARGENTINA

The Argentina 2009 Clausura kicks off on Sun Feb 8.
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Copa Libertadores

The final play in round of the Libertadores starts on Tuesday. 6 teams will advance to the group stage which begins on Tue Feb 10.
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Pre-Round 1st leg Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 27
El Nacional (Ecuador) v Nacional (Paraguay)
-Wed Jan 28
Independiente Medellin (Colombia) v Penarol (Uruguay)
Universidad de Chile (Chile) v Pachuca (Mexico)
-Thu Jan 29
Sporting Cristal (Peru) v Estudiantes (Argentina)
Deportivo Anzoategui (Venezuela) v Deportivo Cuenca (Ecuador)
Palmeiras (Brazil) v Real Potosi (Bolivia)
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Many games from this tournament can be seen on Fox Sports Espanyol.
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England News

Chelsea's young Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi was arrested on the charge of drunk driving. He was picked up at 5:30am BEFORE the team played Ipswich in the FA Cup. Oh my.
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A full round of Premiership games will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The best looking match of the bunch has #6 Everton hosting #5 Arsenal. Everton is 5 points back though.
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European News

FRANCE

Bordeaux, who are only 1 point behind league leaders Lyon, has given coach Laurent Blanc a two year contract extension.
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Coupe de France
15 teams have advanced to the Round of 16, with one game yet to be played in this round. Here are the teams who advanced: En Avant Guingamp, AC Ajaccio, Lille, Toulouse, Dijon FCO, Lorient, US Boulogne, Rodez AF, AS Vitre, CS Sedan Ardennes, Stade Rennes, Le Mans, Grenoble, Paris St Germain & Monaco.
Round of 32 Match & Score:
-Wed Jan 28
Lyon v Marseille
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GERMANY

DFB Pokal
Round of 16 Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 27
Freiburg v Mainz
Stuttgart v Bayern Munich
Hamburg v 1860 Munich
Carl Zeiss Jena v Schalke
-Wed Feb 28
Bayer Leverkusen v Energie Cottbus
Karlsruher v Wehen Wiesbaden
Wolfsburg v Hansa Rostock
Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen
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ITALY

Coach Jose Mourinho of Inter was sent off in the first half - 39th minute
-Later in the game Adriano threw a punch at a Sampdoria player. The incident was not seen by the refereeing crew and not penalized at the time. But in a postgame review of the match the TV replayed showed the offense and he has been given a 3 game suspension for his actions.
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Copa Italia
Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 4
Napoli v Juventus
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Inter Milan, Sampdoria & Lazio have already advanced to the Semifinals.
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SPAIN

Copa Del Rey
Quarterfinal 2nd leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Wed Jan 28
Sporting Gijon v Athletic Bilbao (0-0)
Barcelona v Espanyol (0-0)
Real Betis v Mallorca (0-1)
Sevilla v Valencia (2-3)
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The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

English FA Cup
-Sat Jan 24
Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham - Man U is through to Round 5, while the Totts fall again in a miserable season.
-Sun Jan 25
Liverpool 1-1 Everton - another Liverpool derby, this one in Cup play, ends in a draw, so that means they will have to play it all over again, but this time at Everton.
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Italy Serie A
-Sat Jan 24
Juventus 1-0 Fiorentina - Juve stay 3 back from Inter, but Fiore all the way to 7th and even out of the UEFA Cup spots.
-Sun Jan 25
Napoli 0-3 Roma - a comprehensive beat down from the Capital team who are making their way up the table toward the Champions League spots.
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Top Of The European Club Standings

Scotland Premier League - 23 played
54 Celtic
50 Rangers
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England Premier League - 22 played
47 Manchester United (only 21 played)
47 Liverpool
45 Chelsea
44 Aston Villa
41 Arsenal
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France Ligue 1 - 21 played
42 Lyon
41 Bordeaux
38 Marseille
37 Rennes
37 Toulouse
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Germany Bundesliga - 17 played
35 Hoffenheim
35 Bayern Munich
33 Hertha Berlin
33 Hamburg
32 Bayer Leverkusen
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Netherlands Eredivisie - 19 played
47 AZ Alkmaar
41 Ajax Amsterdam
40 Twente Enschede
35 Heerenveen
32 PSV Eindhoven
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Italy Serie A - 20 played
46 Inter Milan
43 Juventus
40 AC Milan
36 Genoa
33 Roma
33 Napoli
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Spain La Liga - 20 played
53 Barcelona
41 Real Madrid
38 Sevilla
34 Valencia
34 Villarreal
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Portugal Liga - 15 played
31 Porto
30 Benfica
30 Sporting
27 Leixoes
25 Nacional de Medeira
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African News

Vanguard of Nigeria reports that FIFA are very disappointed in many of the preparations for the U17 World Cup they are hosting at the end of this summer.
-Vanguard reports that the stadium in Lagos is one of the bright spots.
-Vanguard also reports that the man doing the inspections is our good buddy Jack Warner. I wonder what an inspection trip like this costs?
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Middle Eastern News

Dave Zirin of Edge Of Sports writes about soccer and the Israel-Gaza turmoil.
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The Road To World Cup 2010 - South Africa News

South African newspaper Mmegi with an editorial saying the crime rate in their country is still way too high with the World Cup coming up so soon.