Some News for Tue May 12
STARTERS
Let's gab on Twitter: dunord
I started following Danny Dichio today. Can't wait to see what the big hero/villain has to say.
MLS
As I had hoped for yesterday, New York forward Macoumba Kandji has been named the leagues Player of the Week.
dN
Steve Davis of Soccernet gives us 10 things to know from Week 8's matches. Must read.
dN
Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog spends "a few minutes with Ben Olsen".
dN
Jack Bell of the New York Times with an article on one of Chivas USA new unsung heroes - left fullback Mariano Trujillo.
dN
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America looks at 3 big name Americans who have come back to play in MLS after European runs. The stories of Clint Mathis, Bobby Convey & Eddie Lewis.
dN
Andrew Rogers at Soccer 365 talks to young Dallas striker prodigy Peri Marosevic.
dN
Seattle has decided to bump up their seating capacity again, this time to 32,000. Wow.
dN
The Trinidad & Tobago Express has new rumors of midfielder T&T Chris Birchall signing with LA, this time with quotes from Brichall himself.
dN
Brian Lewis of the NY Post on the Extra Times blog reports that MLS is expanding the ability of teams to sign players from their own youth academies. New York seems to be in position to make use of the new rules, as they have 2 prospects training with the senior team right now - Johnny Exantus and Dilly Duka.
-Lewis has more on Dilly Duka and the MLS academy system.
-Rutgers University also announced today that Duka will NOT be returning for his Junior year in the fall.
dN
The Oregonian with a very level-headed editorial on the Portland stadium proposal.
dN
Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun says that MLS should consider a 2nd team in the Greater Toronto Area.
dN
I usually stay a long way away from these silly refereeing debates that so many fans looooooooooove to go on and on and about. But this time I have to stand up and say that Tim Weyland has got to go. The last 2 games I have seen him running have turned into stupid ugly messes. Yellow Cards all over the place leading to Red Cards and full-on ugly soccer. Yes I know its the players that are under control but they seriously have no respect for this referee and turn the whole thing into a joke. MLS & US Soccer please remove him from your rotation.
-Jose Romero of the Seattle Times reports that Weyland is currently "under review".
dN
From the "You've Got To Be Kidding Me" department - Soccer Training Info informs us that between the end of the AC Milan season and the opening of the transfer window in David Beckham is going to hold Crossing Clinics for fellow MLS players. Yes you read that right. As John at Soccer Training said to me, this might have made more sense had it been announced on April 1.
THE UNVEILING OF PHILADELPHIA UNION
Ya gotta love the team slogan of "Join Or Die"! Although it would have been a million times cooler if they had come up with it themselves, not just taken it from Ben Franklin.
dN
Many articles in the locals papers about the new team:
-Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News
Payoff time for the soccer faithful
Philadelphia Union kicks off new MLS franchise
Payoff time for soccer faithful
Expanding the franchise
Photo gallery from the big ceremony
-Delaware County Times
Editorial: Soccer arrives kicking & screaming
Fans already on Union bandwagon
Union hopes to speak fans’ language
-Metro International
New kids on the block
USL
The Miami Herald with the story of former MLS All Star centerback Facundo Erpen, who is trying to jumpstart his career with Miami FC.
dN
Soccernet has a Q & A with Austin Aztex coach Adrian Heath.
SOCCER IN AMERICA
The USA U20 team will train for a week at the end of May as they prepare for the World Cup in late summer in Egypt. This is not the final squad. They will play two friendlies against Costa Rica. Here is the roster:
G:
Josh Lambo - FC Dallas
Brian Perk - UCLA
D:
Kyle Davies - FC Dallas
Jorge Flores - Chivas USA
Aaron Maund - Notre Dame
Ike Opara - Wake Forest
Anthony Wallace - FC Dallas
Sheanon Williams - no team
M:
Danny Cruz - Houston Dynamo
Dilly Duka - New York Red Bulls Academy
Jose Gonzalez - Atlante FC
Jared Jeffrey - Club Brugge
Gerson Mayen - Chivas USA
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin
Brian Ownby - U Virginia
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Guillermo Torres - Longview High School
F:
Fuad Ibrahim - Toronto FC
Peri Marosevic - FC Dallas
Tony Taylor - Jacksonville U
NOTE: Guillermo Torres is the younger brother of Pachuca and USA midfielder Jose Francisco Torres.
dN
PR Newswire with an article on Irv Smalls and his growing FC Harlem program. This guy seems really driven to make big things happen. How cool would it be one day for their to be an FC Harlem in MLS?!?! My friend Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer has written about Smalls and FCH several times already.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Tim Howard has set a new record for Everton goalkeepers by holding the opposition scoreless in 16 games so far this season (3 still to go). Fantastic!
dN
Kamani Hill has signed a permanent deal with Guimaraes of Portugal (officially known as Vitoria Sport Clube or Vitoria de Guimaraes) where he has been on a try out for the past month, away from his now former club Wolfsburg in Germany.
-With two games left to play this season Guimaraes sits in the middle of the pack.
dN
Soccer 365 gives us a look at a young midfielder with both USA and Norway citizenship - where will he play his international games - Mikkel Diskerud of Stabaek.
dN
And our friend Greg Seltzer also of Soccer 365 talks with defender Charles Kazlauskas about his team in the Netherlands 2nd division TOP/Oss and their run down the stretch.
dN
Brent Latham at Yanks Abroad talks to Benny Feilhaber about his return to the field after a long time out due to knee surgery.
CONCACAF
Champions League
Final
2nd Leg Match (with 1st Leg score included):
-Tue May 12
Atlante v Cruz Azul (2-0)
MEXICO
All the stadiums will be open for normal business when the Liguilla kicks off on Wednesday night, except UAdG and Chiapas home games which will be closed to all fans still due to the Swine Flu scare.
ENGLAND
Simon Barnes of the Times calls Chelsea's loss at the hands of Barcelona a case of "suicide", not "murder".
dN
Matt Dickinson of the Times calls Didier Drogba the most important player at Chelsea, not Terry or Lampard.
dN
Patrick Barclay of the Times looks at Alex Ferguson's rotation of players at Manchester United and labels it masterful.
EUROPE
The Czech Republic has named Frantisek Straka as their new national team coach.
dN
The Reuters Soccer Blog jumps ahead to next season to examine Schalke and their next coach Felix Magath.
dN
The National of UAE talks to Inter Milan CEO Ernesto Paolillo about the clubs near and distant future - youth.
-Paolillo also says the club assumes coach Jose Mourinho will be back next season.
dN
Another round of games is upon us with midweek matches and we are hardly any closer to crowning a champion. But we do know that Dortmund was knocked out of contention today.
dN
Race for the German Bundesliga 1 title:
63 (+30) Wolfsburg (2 games left to play) - Last: W 3-0 v Dortmund - Next: Sat May 16 at Hannover
63 (+28) Bayern Munich (2 games left to play) - Last: W 3-0 v Bayer Leverkusen - Next: Sat May 16 at Hoffenheim
62 Hertha Berlin (2 games left to play) - Last: W 1-2 at Koln - Next: Sat May 16 v Schalke
58 Stuttgart (3 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Schalke
OUT - 55 (+17) Dortmund (2 games left to play) - Last: L 3-0 at Wolfsburg - Next: Sat May 16 v Arminia Bielefeld
55 (+/-0) Hamburg (3 games left to play) -Next: Wed May 13 v Bochum
dN
Race for the French Ligue 1 title:
68 (+27) Marseille (4 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Nice
68 (+26) Bordeaux (4 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Valenciennes
64 Lyon (3 games left to play) - Last: W 3-1 v Nantes - Next: Sun May 17 at Marseille
60 Paris St Germain (4 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Le Mans
dN
Race for the French Ligue 1 title:
80 Celtic (2 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 17 at Hibernian
79 Rangers (3 games left to play) - Last: W 1-0 v Celtic - Next: Wed May 13 at Hibernian
SOUTH AMERICA
Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated writes about the big comeback of Il Fenomeno - Ronaldo.
COPA LIBERTADORES
Round of 16 1st Leg Matches:
-Thu May 14
Defensor SC (Para) v CA Boca Juniors (Arg)
2nd Leg Matches (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Tue May 12
Caracas v Cuenca (1-2)
Sport Recife v Palmeiras (0-1)
-Wed May 13
Gremio v Universidad San Martin (3-1)
-Thu May 14
Cruzeiro v Universidad de Chile (2-1)
Libertad v Estudiantes (0-3)
-Thu May 21
Boca Juniors v Defensor (-)
AFRICA
The Daily Trust with an article on the Nigerian Super Eagles who are suffering badly from "insider trading" and nepotism. It needs to be fixed or they won't even make it to the World Cup.
WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010
From Kick Off in South Africa: "Unconfirmed reports from the US have it that American R&B singer/songwriter/producer Akon has been hired to produce the 2010 World Cup theme song."
Let's gab on Twitter: dunord
I started following Danny Dichio today. Can't wait to see what the big hero/villain has to say.
MLS
As I had hoped for yesterday, New York forward Macoumba Kandji has been named the leagues Player of the Week.
dN
Steve Davis of Soccernet gives us 10 things to know from Week 8's matches. Must read.
dN
Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog spends "a few minutes with Ben Olsen".
dN
Jack Bell of the New York Times with an article on one of Chivas USA new unsung heroes - left fullback Mariano Trujillo.
dN
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America looks at 3 big name Americans who have come back to play in MLS after European runs. The stories of Clint Mathis, Bobby Convey & Eddie Lewis.
dN
Andrew Rogers at Soccer 365 talks to young Dallas striker prodigy Peri Marosevic.
dN
Seattle has decided to bump up their seating capacity again, this time to 32,000. Wow.
dN
The Trinidad & Tobago Express has new rumors of midfielder T&T Chris Birchall signing with LA, this time with quotes from Brichall himself.
dN
Brian Lewis of the NY Post on the Extra Times blog reports that MLS is expanding the ability of teams to sign players from their own youth academies. New York seems to be in position to make use of the new rules, as they have 2 prospects training with the senior team right now - Johnny Exantus and Dilly Duka.
-Lewis has more on Dilly Duka and the MLS academy system.
-Rutgers University also announced today that Duka will NOT be returning for his Junior year in the fall.
dN
The Oregonian with a very level-headed editorial on the Portland stadium proposal.
dN
Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun says that MLS should consider a 2nd team in the Greater Toronto Area.
dN
I usually stay a long way away from these silly refereeing debates that so many fans looooooooooove to go on and on and about. But this time I have to stand up and say that Tim Weyland has got to go. The last 2 games I have seen him running have turned into stupid ugly messes. Yellow Cards all over the place leading to Red Cards and full-on ugly soccer. Yes I know its the players that are under control but they seriously have no respect for this referee and turn the whole thing into a joke. MLS & US Soccer please remove him from your rotation.
-Jose Romero of the Seattle Times reports that Weyland is currently "under review".
dN
From the "You've Got To Be Kidding Me" department - Soccer Training Info informs us that between the end of the AC Milan season and the opening of the transfer window in David Beckham is going to hold Crossing Clinics for fellow MLS players. Yes you read that right. As John at Soccer Training said to me, this might have made more sense had it been announced on April 1.
THE UNVEILING OF PHILADELPHIA UNION
Ya gotta love the team slogan of "Join Or Die"! Although it would have been a million times cooler if they had come up with it themselves, not just taken it from Ben Franklin.
dN
Many articles in the locals papers about the new team:
-Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News
Payoff time for the soccer faithful
Philadelphia Union kicks off new MLS franchise
Payoff time for soccer faithful
Expanding the franchise
Photo gallery from the big ceremony
-Delaware County Times
Editorial: Soccer arrives kicking & screaming
Fans already on Union bandwagon
Union hopes to speak fans’ language
-Metro International
New kids on the block
USL
The Miami Herald with the story of former MLS All Star centerback Facundo Erpen, who is trying to jumpstart his career with Miami FC.
dN
Soccernet has a Q & A with Austin Aztex coach Adrian Heath.
SOCCER IN AMERICA
The USA U20 team will train for a week at the end of May as they prepare for the World Cup in late summer in Egypt. This is not the final squad. They will play two friendlies against Costa Rica. Here is the roster:
G:
Josh Lambo - FC Dallas
Brian Perk - UCLA
D:
Kyle Davies - FC Dallas
Jorge Flores - Chivas USA
Aaron Maund - Notre Dame
Ike Opara - Wake Forest
Anthony Wallace - FC Dallas
Sheanon Williams - no team
M:
Danny Cruz - Houston Dynamo
Dilly Duka - New York Red Bulls Academy
Jose Gonzalez - Atlante FC
Jared Jeffrey - Club Brugge
Gerson Mayen - Chivas USA
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin
Brian Ownby - U Virginia
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Guillermo Torres - Longview High School
F:
Fuad Ibrahim - Toronto FC
Peri Marosevic - FC Dallas
Tony Taylor - Jacksonville U
NOTE: Guillermo Torres is the younger brother of Pachuca and USA midfielder Jose Francisco Torres.
dN
PR Newswire with an article on Irv Smalls and his growing FC Harlem program. This guy seems really driven to make big things happen. How cool would it be one day for their to be an FC Harlem in MLS?!?! My friend Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer has written about Smalls and FCH several times already.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Tim Howard has set a new record for Everton goalkeepers by holding the opposition scoreless in 16 games so far this season (3 still to go). Fantastic!
dN
Kamani Hill has signed a permanent deal with Guimaraes of Portugal (officially known as Vitoria Sport Clube or Vitoria de Guimaraes) where he has been on a try out for the past month, away from his now former club Wolfsburg in Germany.
-With two games left to play this season Guimaraes sits in the middle of the pack.
dN
Soccer 365 gives us a look at a young midfielder with both USA and Norway citizenship - where will he play his international games - Mikkel Diskerud of Stabaek.
dN
And our friend Greg Seltzer also of Soccer 365 talks with defender Charles Kazlauskas about his team in the Netherlands 2nd division TOP/Oss and their run down the stretch.
dN
Brent Latham at Yanks Abroad talks to Benny Feilhaber about his return to the field after a long time out due to knee surgery.
CONCACAF
Champions League
Final
2nd Leg Match (with 1st Leg score included):
-Tue May 12
Atlante v Cruz Azul (2-0)
MEXICO
All the stadiums will be open for normal business when the Liguilla kicks off on Wednesday night, except UAdG and Chiapas home games which will be closed to all fans still due to the Swine Flu scare.
ENGLAND
Simon Barnes of the Times calls Chelsea's loss at the hands of Barcelona a case of "suicide", not "murder".
dN
Matt Dickinson of the Times calls Didier Drogba the most important player at Chelsea, not Terry or Lampard.
dN
Patrick Barclay of the Times looks at Alex Ferguson's rotation of players at Manchester United and labels it masterful.
EUROPE
The Czech Republic has named Frantisek Straka as their new national team coach.
dN
The Reuters Soccer Blog jumps ahead to next season to examine Schalke and their next coach Felix Magath.
dN
The National of UAE talks to Inter Milan CEO Ernesto Paolillo about the clubs near and distant future - youth.
-Paolillo also says the club assumes coach Jose Mourinho will be back next season.
dN
Another round of games is upon us with midweek matches and we are hardly any closer to crowning a champion. But we do know that Dortmund was knocked out of contention today.
dN
Race for the German Bundesliga 1 title:
63 (+30) Wolfsburg (2 games left to play) - Last: W 3-0 v Dortmund - Next: Sat May 16 at Hannover
63 (+28) Bayern Munich (2 games left to play) - Last: W 3-0 v Bayer Leverkusen - Next: Sat May 16 at Hoffenheim
62 Hertha Berlin (2 games left to play) - Last: W 1-2 at Koln - Next: Sat May 16 v Schalke
58 Stuttgart (3 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Schalke
OUT - 55 (+17) Dortmund (2 games left to play) - Last: L 3-0 at Wolfsburg - Next: Sat May 16 v Arminia Bielefeld
55 (+/-0) Hamburg (3 games left to play) -Next: Wed May 13 v Bochum
dN
Race for the French Ligue 1 title:
68 (+27) Marseille (4 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Nice
68 (+26) Bordeaux (4 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Valenciennes
64 Lyon (3 games left to play) - Last: W 3-1 v Nantes - Next: Sun May 17 at Marseille
60 Paris St Germain (4 games left to play) - Next: Wed May 13 at Le Mans
dN
Race for the French Ligue 1 title:
80 Celtic (2 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 17 at Hibernian
79 Rangers (3 games left to play) - Last: W 1-0 v Celtic - Next: Wed May 13 at Hibernian
SOUTH AMERICA
Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated writes about the big comeback of Il Fenomeno - Ronaldo.
COPA LIBERTADORES
Round of 16 1st Leg Matches:
-Thu May 14
Defensor SC (Para) v CA Boca Juniors (Arg)
2nd Leg Matches (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Tue May 12
Caracas v Cuenca (1-2)
Sport Recife v Palmeiras (0-1)
-Wed May 13
Gremio v Universidad San Martin (3-1)
-Thu May 14
Cruzeiro v Universidad de Chile (2-1)
Libertad v Estudiantes (0-3)
-Thu May 21
Boca Juniors v Defensor (-)
AFRICA
The Daily Trust with an article on the Nigerian Super Eagles who are suffering badly from "insider trading" and nepotism. It needs to be fixed or they won't even make it to the World Cup.
WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010
From Kick Off in South Africa: "Unconfirmed reports from the US have it that American R&B singer/songwriter/producer Akon has been hired to produce the 2010 World Cup theme song."
posted by brucio at 15:49
3 Comments:
when the Sounders played their first game, at the one end there is a 'point' of seating. An odd section. Some Xbox ad was placed over those seats, but they'd make the perfect cheap seats.
http://seattlest.com/attachments/seattle_dan/real3.jpg
that mountain of seats there...
Join or die
Hmm I like
Play or Die
The comments sections of newspapers are usually the first place to look if you want to feel like stabbing yourself, but this well-states reaction to the Oregonian editorial is worth re-posting.
You say: “The MLS had no requirements for a soccer-only stadium”
Truth is: you are absolutely wrong. The commissioner of MLS Don Garber said quite plainly (and I quote) “If the baseball team does not move out of PGE Park, then we won't be able to have an MLS team in Portland". You simply cannot argue with the one man who is the sole decision maker on whether or not to take away Portland’s MLS team. And Qwest field was originally built to MLS specifications as a soccer stadium so you are incorrect in using that exception to prove your case.
You said: We “need to dump another $34 million into PGE Park to shrink its capacity”
Truth is: What the hell are you talking about? The money is not going into shrinking the capacity, but towards building a new set of stands on the east side, adding box seats as well as improved concessions and restrooms.
You said: We will “limit [PGEs] usage”
Truth is: The park will actually be optimized for its uses as a college football stadium and MLS soccer. Instead of a facility that is sub-standard for two of the three sports (soccer and football) that are played there, it will be transformed into the perfect facility for two sports, raising the profile and profitability of those events.
You said: “build an obscenely expensive, $55 million 9,000 seat minor league baseball stadium”
Truth is: you are getting pretty liberal with your use of the word ‘obscene’, especially since it is cheap compared to other ballparks. What we are paying for a new stadium is cheaper than the $70m that most of these parks go for and well below the $750m of a major league baseball park.
You said: The requirement to move the beavers “comes from Paulson.”
Truth is: you are lying. This comes directly from MLS.
You said: “it seems probable that MLS would have awarded Portland a franchise to play at PGE Park along with baseball or at another acceptable venue like an expanded Hillsboro stadium”
Truth is: that’s not true. There were other very strong competing cities willing to build brand new facilities. We were lucky that our overall package made Portland attractive, but people who followed the expansion process know that we would not have secured a franchise with a plan that included long term sharing with the Beavers. And Hillsboro would never have worked because MLS is now following the “Toronto” model of expansion based on their success there with an urban stadium near transit. Keep in mind that another investor tried in 2005 to bring MLS to Hillsboro and was not successful as a result.
You said: The project will be “mostly funded publicly”
Truth is: the exact opposite - the project will mostly be funded privately. But you are using the same false talking points that the anti crowd has been peddling. The truth is that these are bonds, not some sort of public subsidy. The stadiums pay for themselves over time and if they don’t Paulson pays the difference. People who have been suggesting that this will take away from food for the poor or potholes are lying to the public and they know it.
You said: Proponents should provide market data for increases in attendance
Truth is: you then ironically make a claim that “Attendance will certainly not increase at an inconvenient 9,000-seat Lents stadium” without any market data of your own. If you want market data, just look 150 miles to the north were a Seattle team that was in the same league as the Timbers drew and average 3000 fans per game and are now selling out 30,000 seats per game at Qwest field.
You said: “MLS is projected to produce a modest increase in attendance (10,000 for each of 15 games)
Truth is: the analysts used very low attendance numbers to provide an easily credible financial forecast. In reality people believe that attendance will be much higher. We know that Seattle’s attendance jumped 10x (3k to 30k) when they made the same move Portland will in 2011. Since the Timbers already draw about 8500, it is more likely that we’ll average in the 15 to 20k range. But we should appreciate that they are using very conservative forecasts. Salzman has already acknowledge that current MLS season ticket deposits suggests that we will easily meet the attendance forecasts.
You said: “MLS has a salary cap of $2.4 million per team”
Truth is: The MLS salary cap expires this year so this is in no way a valid number for MLS in Portland in 2011. Not only will it be raised as a result of collective bargaining, but MLS teams can pay up to two ‘designated players’ as much as they want.
You said: “most of the incremental jobs created will clearly be low-wage, part-time, seasonal jobs (vendors, etc.)”
Truth is: that’s a pretty insensitive thing for the thousands of people who are struggling to find any job to read. Many people would line up for any of these new jobs but you would keep them unemployed because you don’t think this kind of employment is good enough?! To that, I would expect many of the currently unemployed to just respond “what a [mean-insensitive-out-of-touch-with-the-realities-of-unemployment-person]!”
You said: “Everyone knows it makes no sense to move the Beavers”
Truth is: A citizen task force studied the plan for months and – based on actual analysis – concluded otherwise. PGE Park was originally built for track & field, not baseball, and they play on turf in a facility that doesn’t let in a lot of sunlight, particularly in the spring. It just doesn’t give that type of sunny baseball experience that people actually want. So aside from the careful analysis that suggests the beavers need to move as well as the MLS requirement mentioned earlier, it just makes sense to a lot of people who like the typical baseball experience to move the Beavers. Remember, you can’t sell season tickets if you never sell out the park. When was the last time the Beavers sold out PGE?
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