Now Is The Time For This Partying News

Landon Donovan scored for Bayern Munich in a friendly today against Al Wheda in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. See details in American's In Europe.

The USA v Mexico World Cup qualifier on Wed Feb 11 in Columbus OH is all set to kick off at 7pm local time (Eastern), and can be seen on TV via ESPN2.


MLS Team News

COLORADO RAPIDS

Paul Bravo has been named the teams Technical Director.
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COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew preseason training:
Sun Jan 25: Player physicals in Columbus
Mon Jan 26 - Wed Feb 4: Training in Columbus
Fri Feb 6 - Wed Feb 18: Training and games in Bradenton FL
Fri Feb 20 - Tue Feb 24: Training in Columbus
Thu Feb 26 - Fri Mar 6: Training and games in England
Sun Mar 1: Match v Everton Reserves (EPL)
Thu Mar 5: Match v Liverpool Reserves (EPL)
Sat Mar 7 - Mon Mar 9: Training in Columbus
Tue Mar 10 - Sun Mar 15: Training and games in Austin TX
Sat Mar 14: Match v Austin Aztex (USL-1)
Mon Mar 16 - Fri Mar 20: Training in Columbus
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FC DALLAS

FCD announces their preseason plans:
Fri Jan 16 - Tue Jan 20: Players will start arriving
Wed Jan 21 - Sun Feb 15: training in Frisco TX at Pizza Hut Park
Mon Feb 16 - Sun Feb 22: training in Fort Lauderdale FL
Wed Feb 25 - Fri Mar 6: training in Curitiba, Brazil at the complex of Clube Atletico Paranaense
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DC UNITED

Steven Goff on his blog Soccer Insider reports that defender Gonzalo Peralta will not be back for the 09 season. I wonder about the prospects for his non-brother Gonzalo Martinez?
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

The News Record newspaper of Greensboro, NC with an article on defender Eddie Robinson who is being inducted into their local youth soccer Hall of Fame.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

The Wiz has done the double - kept forward Claudio Lopez, AND gotten him to take a big salary cut!
-The Star has a small article on the deal.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The Gals signed midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi from the Columbus Crew. He was previously with the team 2 years ago.
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Paul Bravo has stepped down as the team's Director of Soccer to take a similar job with Colorado.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The Revs have released their preseason schedule:
Sat Jan 31: Report date
Mon Feb 2 - Sun Feb 22: conditioning and training in Boston area
Mon Feb 23 - Sun Mar 1: training in Austin TX
Sat Feb 28: Match v Austin Aztex (USL-1)
Wed Mar 4 - Sun Mar 8: training in Greensboro NC
Sat Mar 7: Match v Wake Forest (NCAA)
Sun Mar 8 - Sun Mar 15: training in Cary NC
Sat Mar 14: Match v Carolina RailHawks (USL-1)
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SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Jose Romero of the Times checks in on the teams search for the #1 over all draft pick.
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Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune looks at the draft too.
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Romero also reports on the papers Sounders FC blog that the just retired Ezra Hendrickson will be added to the team's coaching staff. Very cool.
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The teams preseason training looks like this:
Wed Jan 21 - Sat Jan 31: Training in Seattle area at Virginia Mason Athletic Center
Tue Feb 3 - Sat Feb 14: - Training at
Oxnard College in Oxnard CA
Wed Feb 18: Training in Seattle at Qwest Field
Thu Feb 19: Training location tbd
Tue Feb 24 - Thu Mar 5: Training in Argentina, details tba
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TORONTO FC

Ryan Johnstone of Sportsnet tells us why he thinks TFC has not announced Dwayne DeRosario as their newest player. Money.
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Johnstone also tells us why Canadian Julian de Guzman is not headed for TFC any time soon.
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GENERAL

Missed this one last week - Great stuff:
Steve Davis at MLSnet with 5 things we need to pay attention to around the league this week. #5 has some especially interesting info - a stadium in Miami!
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The Times of India with a story on Indian players looking to get a shot in MLS. Thanks to Bart for this one!
-The interesting thing about his article is that I just happen to know the player agent who is mentioned. So I dropped him a note and asked about the validity of the story. He said it's not an accurate description of the situation: "While MLS is a market the players asked me to pursue, they will likely have more opportunities in Denmark or Sweden. Ultimately, the players are under contract with clubs in India and it's important that we respect their role in this process."
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Jen Chang of ESPN Soccernet with some notes for a Monday.
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Beau Dure of USA Today has created a MLS Transaction Tracker. Excellent.
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MLS College Draft Talk

Steve Davis of ESPN Soccernet says that if teams only scout college players at the combine, they may not get what they were hoping for.
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Ives Galarcep of ESPN Soccernet really likes this years group of Generation Adidas development contract players.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with an article on one of those Generation Adidas players - Baggio Husidic.
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Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald takes in the combine in Ft Lauderdale. But mainly some Barcelona-Miami info.
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Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun with an article on the once heralded Jamaican-Canadian forward O'Brian White who has suffered through injuries in his final year of college.
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Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com is not seeing a lot of talent at this years player combine. But it has to be better than last year, doesn't it?
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All the best pre-draft news can be found at 3rd Degree.
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MLS Exhibition Matches

Our main man SF of The Offside Rules has a very interesting link to a charity match schedule for Sun Jun 14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Is this for real? A World All-Star team will take on the NY Red Bulls. It is called All-Stars for Hope. And there are many big big names connected to it.
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Again this year the LA Galaxy will host a 4 team preseason tournament:
2009 Pan-Pacific Championship
Feb 18 & 21 at Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Teams:
-Los Angeles Galaxy
-Oita Trinita - Japan
-Shandong Luneng Taishan - China
-Suwon Bluewings - South Korea
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives gives us two articles on deals that are swirling. New York - and - Toronto.
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Steven Goff at the Soccer Insider with new player rumors involving LA and DC.
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Could Andrew Jacobson who stiffed DC last year to sign with Lorient in France (and they he got hurt and never played) be headed back to the USA and DC?
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MLS Stadium Talk

The Delco Times with 2 more articles on Philly stadium building issues:
-Councilman vows ‘no’ vote on stadium bonds
-Kicking and screaming over soccer stadium bond issue
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Street & Smith's Sport Business Journal with an article on stadium building and few notes on projects in DC & KC.
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College News

Marcus Tracy of Wake Forest has been named the winner of the 2008 Hermann Trophy, given to the best Division I player each year.
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USL First Division News

Minnesota Thunder

Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer has a chat with the world famous Buzz Lagos, the man who founded the Minnesota Thunder and for a very long time was the head coach. What is he up to these days? Listen to the interview here or download now.
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Team USA

Official Team blog, live from the January training camp.
-Q & A with fullback Jonathan Bornstein.
-Video glimpse of a practice in progress.
-Video interview with goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
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-"Sean Franklin will miss training again with a groin strain." another centerback down.
-"Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy will train with the team in the absence of Troy Perkins (see below for explanation.)"
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Defenders are falling like flies:
-"The hamstring strain suffered by Geoff Cameron has forced him to leave camp and return to Houston for rehabilitation. Recovery is expected to take 2-3 weeks."
-"Chad Marshall has been forced to withdraw from the national team camp in order to continue treatment on an injured right knee."
Who do they add now? Or do they?
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And:
-"Troy Perkins takes a five-day hiatus from camp starting today when he returns to Norway for a three-day team bonding trip with Valerenga."
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The Kansas City Wizards official team blog Hillcrest Road has a Q & A with their midfielder Jack Jewsbury who checks in from the USA camp.
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Goal.com has a video interview with John Thorrington, who at 29 is an old man at this training camp.
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Andrea Canales on the Goal.com blog with a story of how humility may just be the key.
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USA U18 News

The team is headed to the Australian Youth Olympic Festival for a series of matches. Here is the schedule and roster.
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Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jan 15
USA v Chile
-Fri Jan 16
USA v China
-Sun Jan 18
USA v Australia
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Americans In Europe

In his 2nd preseason friendly match with Bayern Munich, Landon Donovan came on at half time and scored his first goal for the team. They won 3-1 over Al Wheda in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. LD also had two shots miss the target and a header go off the crossbar.
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The Bayern Munich website had both pregame and postgame articles on Landon Donovan's debut too, in a friendly that they won 3-2 over Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
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Ravi Ubha of ESPN Soccernet with an article on the progress of Danny Szetela at Brescia in Italy's Serie B.
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The Times of London lists their picks for football's top 50 rising stars. You will be stunned to see where Jozy Altidore lands on the list!
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Yanks Abroad talks to Benny Feilhaber about his recovery from knee surgery.
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Bild has a video interview with Landon Donovan who speaks German in this one, to go along with his English and Spanish that we are used to. (scroll down the page a bit)
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TRANSFER RUMORS

Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 reports that Wake Forest college star Marcus Tracy has signed with Aalborg in Denmark.
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Seltzer also reports that it is looking more and more likely that Lee Nguyen will sign with Vietnamese team Hoang Anh Gia Lai. Wow.
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Goal.com with a mention of Freddy Adu catching the eye of Juventus coach Clauio Ranieri.
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MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who saw the field are listed)

English League One
-Jemal Johnson - Milton Keynes - went the full 90, and got a Yellow Card as they drew 1-1 at home against Colchester United.
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English Championship
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 but lost bad, 4-0 at Reading.
-Eddie Johnson - Cardiff - game against Derby was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
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English League One
-Zak Whitbread - Millwall - game against Cheltenham was postponed due to frozen turf.
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English Premiership
Sat Jan 10
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - the game v Blackburn was postponed due to a frozen field.
-Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - played all 90 and won 2-1 at home in the derby v West Brom.
-Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance as usual and won 2-0 at home over Hull City.
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French Ligue 1
Sat Jan 10
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - plays all 90 and they win again 1-0 at home against Grenoble.
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Americans In Mexico

Andrea Canales at Sports Illustrated on Jose Francisco Torres who chose to play for Team USA instead of Mexico.
-Canales has left over quotes from Torres on the Goal.com blog.
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Canada & CSA News

Julian De Guzman was named the Canadian Soccer Association Player Of The Year.
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ESPN Soccernet talks to de Guzman who is actively seeking a new team.
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Mexico & FMF News

Monterrey has fired coach Ricardo Lavolpe, and the new season starts this coming weekend!
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Here are the Clausura opening round Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 16
UAdG v Indios Juarez
-Sat Jan 17
Chiapas v Atlas
Monterrey v Puebla
Guadalajara v Cruz Azul
Morelia v San Luis
Necaxa v UNAM
-Sun Jan 18
Toluca v Atlante
Pachuca v UANL
Santos Laguna v America
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INTERLIGA

Guadalajara and Pachuca have won the tournament that sends Mexican teams to South America's Copa Libertadores tournament.
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Official website.
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The top 2 teams in each group advanced to the final with A1 taking on B2 and B1 playing A2. The winners go to the Libertadores.
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Thanks to Neal for help on the attendance numbers.
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Finals Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jan 11
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 27,000
Pachuca 3-3 Atlas - Pach wins 10-9 on Penalty Kicks after the ended tied - Pach goals by Edgar Benitez(2) & Christian Gimenez. Atl goals by Gonzalo Vargas, Leobardo Lopez(OG) Jorge Achucarro.
Guadalajara 1-1 Morelia - Guad wins 4-2 on Penalty Kicks after the ended tied - Guad goal by Marco Fabian. Mor goal by Carlos Ochoa(OG).
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Copa Libertadores

We kick off any day now with the 2009 edition of South America's club championship. Last season it was won by the unlikely club from Ecuador - Liga de Universidad Quito aka LDU Quito aka Liga!
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Pre-Round Matches & Scores (2 legs):
-1st leg Dates TBA
Independiente Medellin (Colombia) v Penarol (Uruguay)
Sporting Cristal (Peru) v Estudiantes (Argentina)
El Nacional (Ecuador) v Nacional (Paraguay)
Deportivo Anzoategui (Venezuela) v Deportivo Cuenca (Ecuador)
Palmeiras (Brazil) v Real Potosi (Bolivia)
Universidad de Chile (Chile) v Pachuca (Mexico)
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Group play will begin the week after the second leg games are played (the first week of Feb.)
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And here are those groupings for round robin style play:
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Group 1
Colo Colo (Chile)
Sport Recife (Brazil)
LDU Quito (Ecuador)
Palmeiras (Brazil)/Real Potosi (Bolivia) winner
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Group 2
Guarani (Paraguay)
Deportivo Tachira (Venezuela)
Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Deportivo Anzoategui (Venezuela)/Deportivo Cuenca (Ecuador) winner
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Group 3
Nacional (Uruguay)
San Martin (Peru)
River Plate (Argentina)
El Nacional(Ecuador)/Nacional(Paraguay) winner
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Group 4
Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)
America Cali (Colombia)
Sal Paulo (Brazil)
Independiente Medellin (Colombia)/Penarol (Uruguay) winner
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Group 5
Universitario de Sucre (Bolivia)
Deportivo Quito (Ecuador)
Cruzeiro (Brazil)
Sporting Cristal (Peru)/Estudiantes (Argentina) winner
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Group 6
Everton (Chile)
Caracas (Venezuela)
Lanus (Argentina)
Guadalajara (Mexico)
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Group 7
Aurora (Bolivia)
Boyaca Chico (Colombia)
Gremio (Brazil)
Universidad de Chile (Chile)/Pachuca (Mexico) winner
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Group 8
Libertad (Paraguay)
Universitario (Peru)
San Lorenzo (Argentina)
San Luis (Mexico)
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England News

Manchester United kept their 8th consecutive clean sheet in league play. While Chelsea lost on the road for the first time in 22 league games.
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But Wigan has been the biggest surprise in England lately, winning 6 out of the last 7! Amazing run right, but who did they beat? In reverse order: Tottenham home, Bolton away, Newcastle home, Blackburn home, lost to Arsenal away, West Brom home & Everton home. I only see one quality win there - Everton.
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David James, Portsmouth goalkeeper, writes for the Observer about the January transfer window which is doing crazy things to his team.
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John Haydon of the Washington Times on the rise of Aston Villa.
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Matt Hughes of the Times looks at the verbal war started by Liverpeople coach Rafa Benitez toward Man U coach Alex Ferguson. Hughes thinks Benitez should look to Jose Mourinho for inspiration if he wants to win this one.
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Paul Doyle of the Guardian calls Benitez a control freak.
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The Telegraph with an article on long serving Manchester United star Ryan Giggs.
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Patrick Barclay of the Telegraph ponders life at Chelsea if Roman Abramovich and his financial crises melt down.
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Duncan Castles of the Observer says Chelsea are selling off, loaning out or releasing much of their expensive young academy players.
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Paul Wilson of the Observer looks at the international array of players assembled at Wigan by coach Steve Bruce.
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And the Observer also has a big interview with a legend of English football - Bobby Charlton.
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All the English January transfers via The BBC.
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FA CUP

3rd Round replays of tie games are this week.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 13
Bristol City v Portsmouth
Norwich v Charlton
Peterborough United v West Brom
Crewe Alexandra v Millwall
Burnley v Queens Park Rangers
Crystal Palace v Leicester City
-Wed Jan 14
Newcastle v Hull City
Southend United v Chelsea
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European News

GERMANY

The Spoiler with a very funny story - Franck Ribery highjacked the Bayern Munich team bus with all the players on board and took it for a spin in Abu Dhabi!!! The locals were not impressed. He smashed up some road signs too!
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The Bayern Munich team website has a 2 part Q & A with head coach Juergen Klinsmann. Part 1 - and - Part 2.
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ITALY

With a Juve win and an Inter draw the lead is back down to 4 points again.
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David Beckham started and went 89 minutes for Milan as they drew 2-2 at Roma.
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Alberto Cerruti of Gazzetta dello Sports reviews the Serie A team performances this weekend - Genoa gets the highest marks.
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Football Italia has a wrap up of Round 18 in Serie A.
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Paolo Bandini of the Guardian with the first game at Milan for Beckham where Pato stole the show, and the rest of Serie A.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with Inter midfielder Dejan Stankovic.
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Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu will be out for at least a month as he has had a recurrence of a dislocated elbow. Ouch.
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COPA ITALIA

The final 2 Round of 16 matches will be played this week.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 13
Inter v Genoa
-Wed Jan 14
Juventus v Catania
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Udinese, Sampdoria, Napoli, Roma, Torino & Lazio have already advanced to the Quarterfinals.
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SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on questions being asked about Sevilla's manager, and the rest of La Liga.
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Eduardo Alvarez of ESPN Soccernet on the gifts that La Liga gave us this past week.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a look at the wild and wooly Valencia v Villarreal 3-3 draw this past weekend.
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UEFA has told Real Madrid that both Klaas Jan Huntelaar & Lassana Diarra are NOT eligible for the team's Champions League roster because they played for Ajax & Portsmouth respectively in the UEFA Cup already this season.
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COPA DEL REY
Round of 16 First leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jan 8
Osasuna 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Mallorca 3-1 Almeria
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Round of 16 Second leg Matches & Scores (with First leg scores included):
-Wed Jan 14
Barcelona v Atletico Madrid (3-1)
Espanyol v Polideportivo Ejido (2-3)
Valencia v Racing Santander (1-1)
Real Valladolid v Sporting Gijon (1-3)
Real Betis v Real Union Club du Irun (1-0)
Deportivo La Coruna v Sevilla (1-2)
Almeria v Mallorca (1-3)
-Thu Jan 15
Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna (1-1)
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The Weekends Biggest Club Matches From Around The World

England Premier League
Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom - a lesser Birmingham derby.
Man United 3-0 Chelsea - a massive encounter, completely dominated by Man U!
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Spain La Liga
Valencia 3-3 Villarreal - the Valencian derby, where both needed a win badly, and neither got their wish.
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France Ligue 1
Bordeaux 4-0 Paris St Germain - two teams near the top battle it out and PSG get crushed as pretenders. Bordeaux are now just 1 point behind Lyon in first place.
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Italy Serie A
Roma 2-2 Milan - the point keeps Roma languishing in 11th, and Milan neutral in 3rd,
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Top Of The European Club Standings & Top Goal Scorers

Spain Primera - 18 of 38 games played
47 Barcelona
35 Real Madrid
35 Sevilla
34 Valencia
30 Atletico Madrid
Goals
16 Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona
14 David Villa - Valencia
12 Diego Forlan - Atletico Madrid
11 Gonzalo Higuain - Real Madrid
11 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
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England Premier League - 21 of 38 games played
46 Liverpool
42 Chelsea
41 Manchester United (only 19 games played)
41 Aston Villa
38 Arsenal
Goals
14 Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea
11 Robinho - Manchester City
10 Amr Zaki - Wigan
9 Gabriel Agbonlahor - Aston Villa
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France Ligue 1 - 20 of 38 games played
39 Lyon
38 Bordeaux
37 Rennes
35 Marseille
34 Toulouse
Goals
12 Fernando Cavenaghi - Bordeaux
12 Andre Pierre Gignac - Toulouse
11 Guillaume Hoarau - Paris St Germain
10 Karim Benzema - Lyon
9 Michel Fernandes Bastos - Lille
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Germany Bundesliga - 17 of 34 games played
35 Hoffenheim
35 Bayern Munich
33 Hertha Berlin
33 Hamburger
32 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals
18 Vedad Ibisevic - Hoffenheim
12 Patrick Helmes - Bayer Leverkusen
11 Grafite - Wolfsburg
10 Claudio Pizarro - Werder Bremen
10 Milivoje Novakovic - Koln
10 Artur Wichniarek - Arminia Bielefeld
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Italy Serie A - 18 of 38 games played
43 Inter Milan
39 Juventus
34 AC Milan
33 Napoli
32 Genoa
Goals
13 Marco Di Vaio - Bologna
12 Diego Milito - Genoa
12 Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
11 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Inter Milan
11 Amauri - Juventus
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Netherlands Eredivisie - 17 of 34 games played
41 AZ Alkmaar
38 Ajax
34 Twente Enschede
30 PSV
29 NAC Breda
Goals
15 Mounir El Hamdaoui - AZ Alkmaar
13 Frank Demouge - Willem II Tilburg
13 Marcus Berg - Groningen
12 Matthew Amoah - NAC Breda
10 Daniel Pranjic - Heerenveen
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Portugal Liga - 14 of 30 games played
29 Sporting
29 Benfica
28 Porto
26 Leixos
24 Nacional de Madeira
Goals
9 Nene - Nacional de Madeira
8 Mobido William - Pacos de Ferreira
7 Wesley - Leixos
6 Albert Ze Meyong - Braga
6 Liedson - Sporting
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World News

The Times of London with their picks for Football's top 50 rising stars.
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The 2008 FIFA World Player Of The Year

Today, Mon Jan 12, was the big day. The Winners:
-Men - Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United/Portugal
-Women - Marta - Los Angeles Sol/Brazil
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African News

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes that no matter how times moves forward, Whites still rule the sports world in South Africa.
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The award ceremony for the African Footballer of the Year has been delayed again, this time until Feb 10. They are trying to get a date when all 5 finalists can be there.
Finalists:
-Mohamed Aboutrika - Al Ahly/Egypt
-Emmanuel Adebayor - Arsenal/Togo
-Didier Drogba - Chelsea/Ivory Coast
-Michael Essien - Chelsea/Ghana
-Amr Zaki - Wigan/Egypt
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The winner should be Aboutrika, but stranger things have happened (like last year).
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Important Podcast

I spent over an hours talking all things MLS and USA with our friend Kartik Krishnaiyer for his latest edition of the Major League Soccer Talk Podcast. It's #59. Listen here or download now.