Friday, May 01, 2009

Some News for Fri May 1

STARTERS

Hook up the Twitter: dunord

dN

Bill King of Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal with an in-depth look at the marketing of Team Mexico here in the United States. It is big big big money! And MLS subdivision SUM is steering the ship. There is no doubt who the most popular soccer team in the United States is.
-One thing in this article bothers me though - They show a survey conducted by ESPN Deportes that shows MLS interest from Hispanic fans is dropping, when anecdotal evidence points to the exact opposite.

MLS

The incredible story of KC coach Curt Onalfo and his family narrowly avoiding disaster in a huge car accident! Wow!

dN

I am back on track with Steve Sirk and his always great Notebook full of Columbus Crew anecdotes, facts and figures, etc. Great stuff.

dN

Mike Petke, centerback for Red Bull New York, writing for ESPN Soccernet, tells the teams fans to stick with them, they are getting it going in the right direction. He promises. Well, no he doesn't, but I wanted to say that for him.

dN

It's time to start reading Penthouse for the articles! Our partner in crime SF of The Offside Rules joins a round table discussion of MLS with players Juan Pablo Angel & Taylor Twellman and writer/broadcaster Greg Lalas.

dN

Chicago Fire forward Brian McBride has been named MLS Player of the Month for April

dN

Buzz Carrick gives us the latest from FC Dallas after his trip this week to their practice facility. It must be brutal going to practice sessions of a team with 4 points from 6 games.

dN

Jeff Bradley writing for MLSnet wonders if 09 is the year of the Goat.

dN

Colorado Rapids fan site No Fan Alone has an audio interview with the teams left midfielder Colin Clark. Download or listen here.

dN

Jared Montz's blog has an audio Q & A with RSL left winger Will Johnson. Download or listen here.

dN

MLS Week 7 Matches
-Sat May 2
Toronto v Columbus - 3pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field, Toronto ON
DC v Dallas - 6:30pm Central on FSC
Venue: RFK Stadium, Washington DC
Chicago v Seattle - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park, Bridgeview IL
Colorado v Salt Lake - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City CO
San Jose v Chivas - 9:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara CA
Los Angeles v New York - 9:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
-Sun May 3
New England v Houston - 2pm Central on Telefutura
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA

Kansas City is on the bye week.

USL

My team opens their home season this weekend:
-Sat May 2
Minnesota Thunder v Vancouver Whitecaps - 7pm Central at the National Sports Center in Blaine
-Don't forget - $5 gets you in the gate, and the new beer garden is pitchside. Plus your kids can get in all season long for just one 20 dollar bill.

US OPEN CUP

Once all the leagues have finished their "qualifying rounds" there will be 8 team each from MLS, USL 1st Division, USL 2nd Division, USL PDL & USASA in the official tournament.

The "draw" will be held on Wed May 27
And here is the match schedule:
-Rounds 1 and 2 will take place on or around Jun 9 and 16 respectively, without MLS teams involved.
-Round 3 on or around Jun 30, with MLS teams added in.
-Quarterfinals on or around Jul 7
-Semifinals Jul 21 & 22
-Final Sep 2

dN

MLS 2nd Round Qualifying Matches
-Wed May 20
DC v New York - see, I told you DC would win the "coin toss".
-Date TBD
Seattle v Colorado

TEAM USA

Justin Rodriquez at ESPN Soccernet tracks down all the players from the USA U17 World Cup teams in 1999 and 2001. A fascinating looks at the former blue chip American prospects. (NOTE: We linked to the 1999 article when it came out several months back.)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Holy Smokes! The West Ham website has an article on Jonathan Spector's recent concussion, which was much more serious than any of us knew. Thanks to Jeff for the link!

ENGLAND

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports looks at new British tax laws that could derail the English Premiership success and Champions League domination.

dN

Colorado billionaire Stan Kroenke is now Arsenal's biggest stock holder.

dN

Patrick Barclay of The Times of London wonders if Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink won't change course and stay on at Chelsea after all.

dN

Race for the English Premier League title:
77 Manchester United (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 at Middlesbrough
74 Liverpool (4 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 v Newcastle
71 Chelsea (4 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 v Fulham

EUROPE

The big talk in Italy this week is that the top clubs are nearing a decision in which they abandon Serie A, and the Italian league to set up their own top flight ala the English Premiership. Here is some info from Football Italia.

dN

The Reuters Soccer Blog with an article on German miracle team Hoffenheim who finished in 1st place at the midseason break, but have taken a tumble down the table since the restart. Where did the glory and joy go?

dN

Poor little old Lothar Matthaus. For as great a player he was in Germany, he sure is a crappy coach. He was fired again from his umpteenth job, this time by Maccabi Netanya in Israel.

dN

Juventus will have a full stadium of fans after-all this weekend. They had been found guilty of their fans chanting racist abuse, but the team has appealed the ruling and will get a hearing on May 15.

dN

Italian paper Gazzetto dello Sport had a great picture today comparing Inter manager Jose Mourinho to Chuck Norris as Walker Texas Ranger!!!












dN

Race for the Spanish Primera Division title:
82 Barcelona (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 at Real Madrid
78 Real Madrid (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 v Barcelona

Race for the German Bundesliga 1 title:
57 Wolfsburg (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 v Hoffenheim
55 Hertha Berlin (5 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 at Hamburg
54 Bayern Munich (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 v Monchengladbach
54 Stuttgart (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 at Arminia Bielefeld
54 Hamburg (5 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 v Hertha Berlin
-Duetsche Welle with an article on the incredibly tight finish.

Race for the Italian Serie A title:
74 Inter (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 v Lazio
67 Milan (5 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 at Catania
65 Juventus (5 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 v Lecce

Race for the French Ligue 1 title:
67 Marseille (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 v Toulouse
65 Bordeaux (5 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 v Sochaux
61 Lyon (5 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 2 at Valenciennes
60 Paris St Germain (5 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 3 v Rennes

dN

Other Cup competitions around Europe:

Greek Cup Final
-Sat May 2
AEK Athens v Olympiacos

SOUTH AMERICA

It looks like Adriano, who had his contract with Inter terminated a few weeks ago, is going to sign with Flamengo in his native Brazil, the club where he got back in shape after his hiatus last season.

COPA LIBERTADORES

The group stage ended last night, and reigning champs LDU de Quito didn't advance, so we will have a new winner this year!

dN

Originally the two Mexican teams left in the tournament, San Luis & Guadalajara, were going to move their next home games to Bogota, but the country of Colombia has denied them permission to play in their country due to the Swine Flu scare. What happens now??

dN

Here are the Round of 16 match-ups (including 5 from Brazil):
1st Leg Matches
-Tue May 5
SE Palmeiras (Braz) v SC Recife (aka Sport) (Braz)
-Wed May 6
San Luis FC (Mex) v Club Nacional (Uru)
Guadalajara Chivas (Mex) v Sao Paulo FC (Braz)
Universidad San Martin de Porres (Peru) v Gremio Porto Alegrense (Braz)
-Thu May 7
CD Cuenca (Ecua) v Caracas FC (Ven)
Estudiantes de La Plata (Arg) v Club Libertad (Para)
Defensor SC (Para) v CA Boca Juniors (Arg)
CF Universidad de Chile (Chil) v Cruzeiro EC (Braz)

2nd Leg Matches
-Tue May 12
Sport Recife v Palmeiras
Caracas v Cuenca
-Wed May 13
Nacional v San Luis
Gremio v Universidad San Martin
Sao Paulo v Guadalajara
-Thu May 14
Boca Juniors v Defensor
Cruzeiro v Universidad de Chile
Libertad v Estudiantes

MIDDLE EAST

Beitar of Jerusalem has been found guilty of their fans chanting racist abuse and have been deducted 1 point in the standings and will be forced to play their next home game in an empty stadium.

AFRICA

Frenchman Henri Michel has been signed as the coach of Algeria.

WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010

John Molinaro of the CBC tells us who the 10 top breakout stars will be 14 months from now at the World Cup. Guess who the youngest player on the list is?

ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated gives us his rankings of the best club teams in the world, right now.

ENDERS

In Greece, when Olympiacos and Panathanikos face off its know as The Derby of the Eternal Enemies. Beautifully ominous!

1 Comments:

Anonymous Evan said...

Ha! Juventus NEVER has a full stadium!

10:13 PM  

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