Some News for Tue May 5

STARTERS

Feliz Cinco de Mayo mi Amigos!

UEFA Champions League

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UEFA Champions League

Semifinals Second Leg Matches (with First Leg scores included):
-Tue May 5
Arsenal v Manchester United (0-1) - 1:30 Central on ESPN2
-Wed May 6
Chelsea v Barcelona (0-0) - 1:30 Central on ESPN2

MLS

How come so few are giving Chivas USA any credit for their early season dominance? No one is raving about them that's for sure. Is it because they are doing it nearly star-free? The goalkeeper formerly known as Snack Thornton is really getting the job done for them!

dN

Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer with a new article on Pepe Pinton, the man who was at the helm of the fabled New York Cosmos when the team took its final breathe. He now wants to revive the team, at least in name, via MLS.

dN

This round gets an early start!

MLS Week 8 Matches
-Wed May 6
Kansas City v DC - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Salt Lake v Los Angeles - 8pm Central on Direct Kick

dN

Salt Lake will be without their Field General Javier Morales and their Stone Wall Jamison Olave for the mid-week game. Olave was Red Carded last round and has to sit out, while Morales has been suspended for throwing an elbow at Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni that went undetected by match referees.

dN

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with a big article on the drive to get a stadium built in Houston.

USL

First Division Standings
10 Carolina
8 Vancouver
7 Rochester
7 Puerto Rico
6 Charleston
6 Miami
5 Austin
4 Portland
2 Minnesota
1 Montreal
0 Cleveland

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Thaindian News reports that the US Soccer Federation is going to assist India with organizing it's national football program. Obviously US Soccer President Sunil Gulati, who is of Indian decent, is behind this help.
-US Soccer spokesperson Neil Buethe told du Nord, "in the past we’ve worked with all CONCACAF countries to help them run their federations better."

The Bundesliga has announced that GolTV in the USA will continue to broadcast the games from the top German league thru the 2011-12 season.

MEXICO

Again this coming weekend all Primera league games will be played in empty stadiums.

CANADA

Canadian Championship match:
-Wed May 6
Toronto v Vancouver

ENGLAND

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian believes quite strongly that France & Bayern Munich star left midfielder Franck Ribery is headed to Manchester United this summer as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo.

dN

Race for the English Premier League title:
80 Manchester United (4 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 10 v Manchester City
77 Liverpool (3 games left to play) - Next: Sat May 9 at West Ham
74 Chelsea (3 games left to play) - Next: Sun May 10 at Arsenal

EUROPE

Spanish footballing expert Guillem Balague is one of my favorite commentators on the game. I recently discovered his website. Today he rounds up the current view of La Liga for us, in a way that only Phil Ball has for me in the past. (But sadly without Ball's famous socio-political insights.)

dN

Didier Deschamps has been hired as coach of Marseille for next season. Current coach Eric Gerets has said he will resign no matter how the season ends.
-Paris Saint-Germain has also announced that their coach Paul Le Guen will not be back next season.

dN

Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian tells us all about the duel for #1 in France between Bordeaux and Marsielle, and the rest of the news from Ligue 1.

dN

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian looks at the astonishing 5 team race for the Bundesliga crown! Wolfsburg, Bayern, Hertha, Stuttgart & Hamburg are just 5 points apart with 4 games to play. This is how all the big leagues should look!

dN

Handelsblad with an article on football in the Netherlands during World War II.

dN

Alessandro Del Piero's wife Sonia gave birth to a daughter named Dorotea today!

dN

Jonathan Wilson of The Guardian on the preparations going down in Ukraine for Euro 2012.

dN

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the pain game many players are up against every week.

dN

The top goal scorers from the continents top leagues:
27 Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona
25 Diego Forlan - Atletico Madrid
25 David Villa - Valencia
23 Grafite - Wolfsburg
23 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
21 Marco Di Vaio - Bologna
21 Andre-Pierre Gignac
21 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Inter
19 Edin Dzeko - Wolfsburg
19 Mario Gomez - Stuttgart
19 Patrick Helmes - Bayer Leverkusen
19 Diego Milito - Genoa
18 Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
17 Guillaume Hoarau
17 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
16 Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea

COPA LIBERTADORES

Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated previews this round, featuring 5 teams from Brazil.

dN

Round of 16 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue May 5
SE Palmeiras (Braz) v SC Recife (aka Sport) (Braz)
-Wed May 6
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)
CF Universidad de Chile (Chil) v Cruzeiro EC (Braz)

Delayed:
-Thu May 14
Defensor SC (Para) v CA Boca Juniors (Arg)

Matches Postponed due to Swine Flu scare
-Dates TBD
San Luis FC (Mex) v Club Nacional (Uru)
Guadalajara Chivas (Mex) v Sao Paulo FC (Braz)

ASIA

The war of words between Asian confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam and the man challenging for his job Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, is threatening to tear the union apart. Both are accusing each other of hidden agenda's, and have strong backing. The vote for the position takes place on Friday. Who know where this saga goes next. Surprisingly the FIFA executives seem to be letting this one settle itself on a level playing field.

AFRICA

Richard Kavuma of the Guardian tells how difficult it is for people in Uganda to take their domestic league seriously when they can watch the English Premiership on TV. Its the same all over the world, including right here in America.

WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010

Keir Radnedge of Sports Features gives us an update from FIFA on prep for the Confed Cup in late June this year, and the WC a year later.

dN















The roof is now being put on the World Cup centerpiece stadium in Johannesburg. It will not be ready for the Confed Cup.