Some News for Wed Jun 30

STARTERS

I look forward to seeing all of you Twin Citians at the US Open Cup game between the Minnesota Thunder and Kansas City Wizards at 7:30 tonight! Let's hope for greatness.

dN

Here it is! The first excerpt from Grant Wahl's forthcoming book on David Beckman was posted today at Sports Illustrated. Oh how those English tabloids are going to have a field day with this one!














MLS

Seattle forward Nate Jaqua has been named Player Of The Week.

dN

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports on last weekends Sounders game which kicked off only 90 minutes after the USA v Brazil game did. Was there any effect on attendance? Why did this situation happen?

dN

New England got their hands on a precious International roster spot today by sending a future draft spot to Kansas City. So who are they signing?

dN

Brian Lewis of the NY Post talks to brand new Red Bulls keeper Bouna Coundoul.
-Lewis also reports on 2 players currently getting a look from the team, one being a European veteran.

dN

Gary Dobson of Sportsnet Canada has been to all of the MLS stadiums and declares Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy UT to be the top dog.

dN

Bloomberg with an article on the return of David Beckman to the league. US Soccer Pres Sunil Gulati says "..there will be some negative reaction from fans."

dN

ESPN Star of Asia has quotes from Pavel Nedved's agent saying he is interested in playing in MLS. Yes please. Other reports says Lazio and Inter want him as well.

dN

Former Colorado & Columbus assistant coach John Murphy has been named the new head coach at Livingston in the Scottish 2nd tier.

dN

The Portland Mercury with more ruffles in the Portland Timbers stadium building saga.

dN

Spencer Checketts, the son of Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, writes some interesting things about his huge passion for sports at In Utah This Week. It's great to see him admit his original feelings on soccer.

dN

This Is American Soccer gives us an article on the person behind the website MLS en Espanyol. We need more diversity like this in the coverage and fanatico backing.

USL FIRST DIVISION

Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer with the very best weekly round up of 1st Division news and note.

LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

3rd Round (round of 16) Matches:
-Tue Jun 30
Minnesota Thunder v Kansas City Wizards - See it live at 7:30pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: National Sports Center - Blaine, MN
New England Revolution v Harrisburg City Islanders
Venue: Veterans Stadium - New Britain, CT
DC United v Ocean City Barons
Venue: Maryland Soccerplex - Boyds, MD
Wilmington Hammerheads v Chicago Fire
Venue: Legion Stadium - Wilmington, NC
Charleston Battery v Chivas USA - See it live at 6:30pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Charleston, SC
Rochester Rhinos v Columbus Crew
Venue: Marina Auto Stadium - Rochester, NY
-Wed Jul 1
Austin Aztex v Houston Dynamo - See it live at 7:30pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: Nelson Field - Austin, TX
Portland Timbers v Seattle Sounders FC - See it live at 9pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: PGE Park - Portland, OR

dN

That final matchup should be a doozy! The old Oregon v Washington rivalry. Long time rivals in the First Division with a true hatred of each other. Can't wait to watch!

dN

Quarterfinals to be played the week of Jul 5.

SUPERLIGA 2009

Official Site

dN

Semifinals Matches:
-Wed Jul 15
New England Revolution v Chicago Fire
Venue: Gillette Stadium
UANL Tigres v Santos Laguna
Venue: TBD

dN

All the games are broadcast on Telefutura.

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

The North & Central American and Caribbean confederation's championship tournament kicks off on July 3. Canada v Jamaica and Costa Rica v El Salvador start the proceedings.

dN

See all the games on FSC & Univision.

TEAM USA

USMNT Official Blog

dN

Gold Cup Roster:
G:
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire (Emergency keeper only)
Troy Perkins - Valerenga
Luis Robles - FC Kaiserslautern
D:
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
Clarence Goodson - IK Start
Jay Heaps - New England Revolution
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaellands
Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock
M:
Davy Arnaud - Kansas City Wizards
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Colin Clark - Colorado Rapids
Sam Cronin - Toronto FC
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Stuart Holden - Houston Dynamo
Logan Pause - Chicago Fire
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
F:
Freddy Adu - AS Monaco
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
Charlie Davies - Hammarby IF
Santino Quaranta - DC United

dN

The Kansas City Kansas talks to Jimmy Conrad about the Gold Cup.

dN

Gold Cup Group Stage Matches:
-Sat Jul 4
USA v Grenada
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
- Jul
USA v Honduras
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
-Sat Jul 11
USA v Haiti
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Being the crackwhore that I can be at times, I missed this great story by Adam Spangler at This is American Soccer from 3 weeks ago: The soccer editor at Sports Illustrated Mark Mravic.

dN

Yesterday ESPN announced their coverage plans for the 2010 World Cup. It is very extensive, and highlighted by full teams of announcers, reporters, and shows produced live from SA. This is a big move for them, and I am really happy to see it. BUT ..... in this release they don't mention having anyone with an actual soccer background as a part of their coverage team. I really hope they fix this ASAP.

US SOCCER NEWS

The US Soccer Players Assoc site has talked to Mexican-American left fullback Edgar Castillo from club America, capped but not tied yet for Mexico, who says he would be interested in switching allegiances and playing for the USA. This is certainly one area of the field that the national team needs more competition, so why not check him out.

USA CONFEDERATIONS CUP WRAP UP

These are a few more articles from the Confed Cup that I want to link to as we put it behind us.

dN

The USA 2-3 loss to Brazil was the most-watched non-World Cup match featuring the USA Men on the ESPN, with 3.945 million viewers.

dN

Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 talks to Jozy Altidore about the tournament. Very good stuff here. "I was disappointed in my play overall. I have to improve if I want to keep a place in this team."

dN

Beau Dure of USA Today on his blog The Netminder looks at the positives and what Team USA has to work on.

dN

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on the importance of the right attitude at this level.

dN

Jere Longman of the New York Times with an article on Landon Donovan's incredible effort in this tournament.

dN

The NY Times blog Goal has a very cool article by an American soldier in Baghdad and how he saw the games.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with an article on Donovan's high quality leadership at this tournament.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Michael Bradley being chased by Everton in England??

dN

Andrew Rogers of Soccer 365 talks to youngster Johann Smith who wants a move back to Europe after being released by Toronto FC.

EUROPE

All Italian league games next season will be played with this new Nike Total 90 Ascente ball.












dN

Ze Germans won the European U21 Championship yesterday, with a 4-0 win over England.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Semifinals
2nd Leg Matches:
-Wed Jul 1
Nacional v Estudiantes (0-1)
-Thu Jul 2
Gremio v Cruzeiro (1-3)

WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010

The AP with quotes from Germany coach Joachim Loew talking about the poor conditions of all the training facilities he has seen in South Africa. "I have not seen a single training field that is even close to European standards."

The du Nord Question & Answer Session With ... Kevin Hartman

Interview conducted and edited by Paul Demko

Kevin Hartman is Major League Soccer's all-time saves leader. He won two league titles with the Los Angeles Galaxy before getting traded to the Kansas City Wizards in 2006. Hartman's team is currently enduring a hectic span with four games in eight days. On Sunday the Wizards got bounced out of Superliga by Santos Laguna. Tonight they will visit the Minnesota Thunder in the U.S. Open Cup. I caught up with Hartman yesterday afternoon at the Hyatt hotel in downtown Minneapolis. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation.

du Nord: Your team is going to be playing its fourth game in ten days. What affect has that had on the squad?

Kevin Hartman: I think we prepared well for it. We were lifting two times a week and that kind of dropped just because of the fact that we were going game to game. We were making sure that we got into ice baths, getting massages. Just making sure that we were concentrating more on the opponents and that we were dialed into what to expect from them in terms of watching video and learning who the characters were on the team that we were going to have to be conscious of.

This is one of the only two opportunities you really have at winning a championship this year. We're on even footing with a lot of the other teams with what we have to deal with. We have huge expectations for the game tomorrow out of ourselves.

dN: What do you know about Minnesota?

KH: We had the opportunity to play Minnesota earlier in the year in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The field that we played on was not necessarily conducive to really, really good soccer. I was actually very very surprised by how well we dealt with it. There's a lot of times when you're with an MLS organization where sometimes the technical side of stuff is a little bit better and you really feel that's going to be your advantage. I really thought that we came out and battled and rolled up our sleeves and did things that you're going to have to do to be successful on a field like that.

I know that Quavas Kirk, a guy that I used to play with at the Galaxy, is there. They have guys that have found success at that level and at higher levels, so we just have to make sure we don't go in there thinking it's a cakewalk.

dN: This is your second season playing at Community America Ballpark. Obviously it's not ideal in that it's a baseball park. What challenges has that presented?

One of the biggest dilemmas it presents is that we're a possession-oriented team and it doesn't necessarily fit that dimension. There's a lot of times where our best opportunities come off of a long punt, a knockdown and a shot. It's frustrating because I think that we really have the ability to play. Teams are just able to really clog things up and make it so difficult. Hopefully as time progresses we're going to figure out the ins and outs of the field and come playoff times it's going to be a huge advantage for us.

One of the huge things it presents is it's not set up necessarily to keep the sun out of your eyes. If it's a seven o'clock game, in the first half the goalkeeper has to deal with the sun. Yesterday we had a 5:30 kickoff so I had it in the second half and it was actually pretty brutal.

dN: You spent most of your adult life in Southern California. How does Kansas City compare?

KH: I'm really excited to be living in my thirties in Kansas City with a family. I'm always excited to take my daughter to the park. They have great parks. They have a wonderful zoo. It's my second year that I'm a Friend of the Zoo. We get to go have season passes and really experience what I think is one of the better zoos around.

With the Internet, if I need to go on Ebay and buy the newest Vans or the limited edition set of sneakers, you can always do it. You don't have to go to Melrose.

It's a little bit slower. If you would go out three Saturdays in a row you would probably see the same group of people. It's pretty small. You don't really have as many different spots that you can go to. In California you can be in Orange County, Newport, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Redondo, Hermosa. There's just so many different scenes.

dN: Kansas City is known for barbque. What's your favorite place?

KH: Oklahoma Joe's is the the best barbque in Kansas City. [NOTE: Oklahoma Joe's gets the full du Nord seal of approval]

dN: What do you usually order?

KH: I usually get the Z-Man. I actually ate the Z Man yesterday, to be honest.

dN: You're in your 13th season as a professional player. How long do you envision playing?

KH: I'm going to play until they tell me it's not good enough anymore. I'm going to continue trying to prepare myself and make sure I give myself the best chance to do it. I feel like I've done enough that warrants being respected, yet at the same time I don't want any favors. I'm not going to take a salary cut that would bring me back to the point where I could make the same amount working at McDonald's.

dN: Where'd you watch USA-Brazil yesterday.

KH: I watched the first half at my house. As I was brushing my teeth, getting ready to go to the game, Brazil scored the goal in the 46th minute. The game pretty much ended as I was doing my pre-game thing.

dN: What did you think of the game?

KH: The first half I thought we were magnificent. I thought that the guys tried to play -- and for me that's exciting. We were organized tactically. We weren't over-concerned with man-to-man marking and we were able to defend in zones. Charlie Davies impressed me. His ability to check back and hold the ball and really give us a release valve so that we could transfer from defense to offense effectively. I thought that the second goal that we scored yesterday was probably one of the better goals in U.S. history. Landon hits an unbelievable ball into open space, makes a great run. As an outsider watching it on TV you can see it developing. It's one thing to see it developing, but it's another to do it against a world-class defense at top speed. It was pretty classy.

dN: You're the all-time MLS saves leader, but you've only gotten five caps for the U.S. national team. Do you feel like you've been overlooked?

KH: I've had a ton of opportunities with the national team. I was in camps probably starting in '99. I played the first two games of 2006 leading up to the World Cup. We played Norway at the Home Depot Center, then we played against Japan up in San Francisco. I felt like I got opportunities. Was it frustrating not to get in and get more opportunities? It's always going to be frustrating. But at the end of the day, I don't feel like I'm dead yet.

dN: According to Wikipedia, you're nickname growing up in Radford, Virginia was Lil' Hink.

I don't know who came up with this. I don't understand how that came about, but it's been up there forever. Does somebody have some documentation? I don't really remember that ever being a nickname. Maybe I'll have to be the one to dispute it on Wikipedia.

dN: You wrote a children's book with your wife, Boots Saves the Day. What prompted that?

KH: Boots Saves the Day came about because I was doing work with the literacy program with Major League Soccer and I found myself in front of kids all the time reading, and the majority of the time I was reading Dr. Seuss books. No matter how much I love Dr. Seuss, I was always taken aback that I was a soccer player and I was reading about something that was totally non-soccer related. I didn't understand what the link was there. So I decided I was going to write a children's book. My wife won an Emmy for some of her graphics for ESPN. So she knows about graphic design and was able to do some of the art for the book.

dN: So the book is soccer related?

KH: It's a book about a small cat who decides that he wants to play soccer. He's presented with the problem that using his front paws in soccer would be a handball. Since he's a four-legged animal he decides to become a goalkeeper.

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Some News For Mon Jun 29

STARTERS

Landon Donovan On if the USA’s run in the tournament gained respect for U.S. Soccer: “... we’re at the point where we don’t want respect, we want to win."

CONFEDERATIONS CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2009

Final match:
-Sun Jun 28
USA 2-3 Brazil - USA goals by Clint Dempsey & Landon Donovan. Braz goals by Luis Fabiano(2) & Lucio.

dN

After the big game yesterday I had the pleasure of appearing on the Major League Soccer Talk podcast recapping the match and the tournament. It was a another great show hosted by Kartik Krishnaiyer, with fellow guests Brian Zygo from 1560 AM Radio The Game in Houston TX, Chris Webb from United Mania, and Chris Reardon from MLST.

dN

Match report and such & such etc:
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post game analysis by Paul Gardner of Soccer America.
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by USA coach and players from US Soccer.
Game photos from US Soccer.
Match report by Jere Longman of the NY Times.
Post game analysis by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune.
Post game analysis and players ratings from The Washington Post blog Soccer Insider.
Post game analysis from the Boston Globe blog Corner Kicks.
Player ratings by Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365.
Post game analysis by John Henderson of the Denver Post.

dN

William Rhoden of the NY Times gives us some "high brow" post game analysis including quotes from many people involved in soccer around America. Is there anything worse than having to read this crap from a major-event-only band-wagon-jumper? Please buddy, save it for swimming, gymnastics and figure skating at the Olympics!

dN

AFP with an article on Clint Dempsey and his impact in the key USA games.

dN

Gareth Wheeler writing for Slam Sports in Canada gives us his view of what our boys accomplished in the past 2 weeks. He does make quite the dramatic error in his examination though when he says that the USA beat Italy at the 06 World Cup. It was a tie.

dN

Embele Awipi of the Salinas Californian gives his thoughts on what the rest of the world made of Team USA.

dN

John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at where the USA needs to go from here. Very good stuff from a guy that I hope writes a lot more soccer as the Union kick off next year.

dN

USMNT Official Blog

dN

du Nord 3(6) Star of the Game:
3. Landon Donovan - The best tournament of his still young career. He gave it everything he had for 5 games, and the last one did nothing put prove how great he is. Tireless energy on both ends of the field, and an exhilarating give and go with Charlie Davies to bag the 2nd USA goal. In most cases he wouldn't be nearly as low as Third Star. What a player!
2. Luis Fabiano - got two huge goals and came close several other times. The USA had no defensive answers for him once he got rolling. But for that matter neither did any other team in this tournament.
1. Rikki Kaka - was absolutely brilliant in the 2nd half with his runs and passing, plus he scored a goal that was not counted. Sheer soccer genius through and through.
Honorable Mentions: Charlie Davies, Jay DeMerit and Ricardo Clark.

dN

Clint Dempsey was awarded the tournaments Bronze Ball for 3rd best overall player (behind Kaka and Luis Fabiano respectively).

dN

Tim Howard was awarded the Golden Glove as the tournaments best goalkeeper!

dN

The majority of the USA team was clearly gassed by the end of the game against Brazil. One of the biggest reasons for that was the limited use of the full 23 player roster. 7 players (including the 3rd keeper) never saw the field at all which shows that the team was never in a place to rest the regulars. 11 others saw less than full time action due to injury suspension and change in tactics. That leaves 6 players that played almost every minute of the tournament. That seems like too much stress to me.

dN

Keep this in mind everyone - Greece won the 2004 European Championship. Where are they today? So don't carried away with this USA performance no matter how much fun it was.

dN

People Magazine even got in on the Confed Cup hype - Meet The Hunks Of US Soccer!

dN

Jere Longman of the NY Times with an article on centerback Jay DeMerit who really made a name for himself on the national team at this tournament.

dN

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian with "5 things we've learned from the Confederations Cup."

MLS

MLS Week 15 Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Toronto FC 2-0 New York Red Bulls - TFC goals by Pablo Vitti & Dwayne De Rosario.
Venue: BMO Field
Attendance: 20,902
Colorado Rapids 1-1 FC Dallas - CR goal by Omar Cummings. FCD goal by David Ferreira.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Good Park
Attendance: 10,583
-Sat Jun 27
Columbus Crew 1-0 New York Red Bulls - CC goal by Chad Marshall.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Attendance: 15,575
Real Salt Lake 3-0 Toronto FC - RSL goals by Yura Movsisyan, Kyle Beckerman & Clint Mathis.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Attendance: 18,188
-Sun Jun 28
Seattle Sounders FC 3-0 Colorado Rapids - SS goals by Fredy Montero & Nate Jaqua(2).
Venue: Qwest Field
Attendance: 32,526
Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 Houston Dynamo - LAG goal by Todd Dunivant.
Venue: Home Depot Center
Attendance: 17,938

dN

Don't look now but Columbus is only 1 point out of first place in the East!

dN

After throwing goalkeeper Jon Conway to the wolves, New York has finally signed former Colorado keeper Bouna Coundoul. (As the 6 year old to my right at the Minnesota Thunder game last Saturday night said, "He's not gonna help.")
-Brian Lewis of the NY Post with more.

dN

Sports YA of South America reports that Colorado is about to add 30 year old Argentine forward Facundo Diz of 2nd Division team CA Platense to it's roster. Includes quotes from the player.

dN

Crosscut Seattle has a surprisingly quite a good Sounders v Colorado match story.

dN

The Seattle Weekly sends a new-comer to a Sounders game. What did they think of it all?

dN

James Edward of the Deseret News on what Clint Mathis has done for RSL since his return to the team last year.

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch with a review of the Crew win over the weekend.

dN

The leagues Top Goal Scorers:
10 Guillermo Barros Schelotto
8 Conor Casey
8 Freddy Montero
7 Kenny Cooper
(with 6 more tied at 6 goals)

USL FIRST DIVISION

Another week and nothing much changes for my Minnesota Thunder. Dead last in the league. Ugh. Another half-assed effort on the part of several players who were being counted on to improve upon last years strong finish. But when nearly half the roster is changed yet again (we go through this year after year) can you really expect cohesion? One describes it for me: Brutal. Now there have been standout players like Nic Platter, Jono Greenfield, Jeremiah Bass and Brian Cvilikas who are doing their best week after week, but even Platter had a poor game by his standards, so what can you do with that. Another guy who showed a ton of heart was new signing Marco Terminesi, who only played a few minutes but seemed to leave flames behind on the turf as he flew around the pitch. (Maybe we need to ask the coach why a guy with this much energy and apparent skill only came on at the very end.) And there are always a few guys who are put in a tough spot making it difficult to show their best, so I don't want to bag on them either. Again though, a great deal of the rest em were just brutally unprofessional. Will the Open Cup change things this week? We can all hope! Then next Saturday they get a chance at revenge on Portland. So opportunities are there for the taking.

dN

This past week's Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 25
Charleston Battery 1-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Jun 27
Cleveland City Stars 2-2 Austin Aztex
Carolina RailHawks 1-2 Puerto Rico Islanders
Minnesota Thunder 1-2 Rochester Rhinos
-Sun Jun 28
Portland Timbers 4-0 Montreal Impact

dN

Standings:
28 Puerto Rico
27 Charleston
26 Portland
24 Carolina
20 Rochester
17 Montreal
16 Miami
- - Out of Playoffs - -
15 Vancouver
12 Austin
10 Cleveland
7 Minnesota

LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

3rd Round (round of 16) Matches:
-Tue Jun 30
Minnesota Thunder v Kansas City Wizards - See it live at 7:30pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: National Sports Center - Blaine, MN
New England Revolution v Harrisburg City Islanders
Venue: Veterans Stadium - New Britain, CT
DC United v Ocean City Barons
Venue: Maryland Soccerplex - Boyds, MD
Wilmington Hammerheads v Chicago Fire
Venue: Legion Stadium - Wilmington, NC
Charleston Battery v Chivas USA - See it live at 6:30pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Charleston, SC
Rochester Rhinos v Columbus Crew
Venue: Marina Auto Stadium - Rochester, NY
-Wed Jul 1
Austin Aztex v Houston Dynamo - See it live at 7:30pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: Nelson Field - Austin, TX
Portland Timbers v Seattle Sounders FC - See it live at 9pm Central on usllive.com
Venue: PGE Park - Portland, OR

dN

Quarterfinals to be played the week of Jul 5.

SUPERLIGA 2009

Official Site

dN

Matchday 3 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 27
Chicago Fire 1-2 UANL Tigres - CF goal by Cuauhtemoc Blanco(PK). UANL goals both by Armando Pulido.
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
Attendance: 9,157
Chivas USA 1-1 San Luis - CUSA goal by Attiba Harris. SL goal by Alfredo Moreno(PK).
Venue: The Home Depot Center – Carson CA
Attendance: ???
-Sun Jun 28
New England Revolution 1-0 Atlas - NER goal by Abdoulie Mansally.
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
Attendance: 7,411
Kansas City Wizards 1-3 Santos Laguna - KCW goal by Claudio Lopez. SL goals by Agustin Herrera, Vicente Vuoso & Juan Pablo Rodriguez.
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark – Kansas City KS
Attendance: 10,385

dN

EJECTIONS:
Gerardo Espinoza - Atlas - Red Card
Johnny Garcia - Santos Laguna - Red Card
Michael Kraus - Kansas City - Red Card

dN

All games are broadcast on Telefutura.

dN

Standings:
(After 3 of 3 Rounds Played)
Group A
6 UANL Tigres - Advance
6 Chicago Fire - Advance
4 San Luis
1 Chivas USA
Group B
7 New England Revolution - Advance
4 Santos Laguna - Advance
2 Kansas City Wizards
2 Atlas

dN

Semifinals
-Wed Jul 15
New England Revolution v Chicago Fire
Venue: Gillette Stadium
UANL Tigres v Santos Laguna
Venue: TBD
-Wed Aug 5
Final
Venue: TBD

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

The North & Central American and Caribbean confederation's championship tournament kicks off on July 3. Canada v Jamaica and Costa Rica v El Salvador start the proceedings.

dN

You will be able to see all the games on FSC!

dN

Andrea Canales at Sports Illustrated gets us started on the USA prospects for the Gold Cup.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

The Lincoln (NE) Star Journal gives USA supporters group the American Outlaws get some nice pub. The love for our team just keeps building.

dN

The Philadelphia Inquirer on the growth of the game we love in America.

USA U20

The USA U20 team is in Cairo, Egypt to play a couple of friendlies against the hosts as a warm up before the World Cup in late September.

dN

Game 1 of a 2 game series sees Mix to the rescue! Mikkel Diskerud aka Mix scores the only goal. And we know the score of Game 2 ended in a tie, but we know almost none of the details yet.

dN

Matches:
-Sat Jun 27
Egypt 0-1 USA - USA goal by Mikkel Diskerud.
Match report from US Soccer.
-Mon Jun 29
Egypt 1-1 USA - Egy goal by ?. USA goal by Tony Taylor(PK).

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Soccer 365 with the latest transfer rumors for both Oguchi Onyewu, and Ricardo Clark.

MEXICO

Gold Cup warm up match:
-Sun Jun 28
Mexico 0-0 Guatemala - in San Diego

dN

Match report by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune.

Some News for Fri Jun 26

STARTERS

Big weekend, cuz not only is the Confederations Cup final this weekend, but we will also crown the Argentine champion!

CONFEDERATIONS CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2009

Twitter from Charlie Davies this afternoon: "Chillin in the hotel. Getting focused for the Final on Sunday vs Brazil! Is there any one better to play in a Final?" No Charlie, it does not!

dN

Final match:
-Sun Jun 28
USA v Brazil - 1:25pm Central on ESPN

dN

I think we can safely assume that Benny Feilhaber will move into the starting lineup against Brazil, replacing the suspended Michael Bradley.

dN

US Soccer has audio of press conference with coach Bradley and captain Carlos Bocanegra. Download or listen here.

dN

US Soccer also has video of players talking about the win over Spain.

dN

US Soccer give us the usual large file of pregame notes and facts. Love it.

dN

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated previews.

dN

AFP on the USA preparations for the rematch with Brazil.

dN

FIFA.com breaks down the 2 semifinal games with stats.

dN

The Guardian of Nigeria with quotes from US players, especially Michael Bradley again lashing out at USA critics some more. I have to say that MB's comments personally piss me off a little - he keeps referring to "everybody" and "nobody" and "no one", but I have always been a huge supporter, and for the most part very positive even on the bad days. There are many many more like me out there, and to be lumped in with people who take every chance to rip the team and coach is insulting. It's not nearly as definitive as he wants to make it out to be.

dN

CentralJersey.com with a post on their local boy done good - Coach Bob Bradley.

dN

Paul Gardner at Soccer America wonders if the USA win over Spain was the biggest in the team's history. What do you think?

dN

The AP points out some pretty strong connections to the state of South Carolina for this USA team. I was very surprised by this story.

dN

USMNT Official Blog

dN

Paul Oberjuerge ranks the top USA victories of all time. How does the win over Spain stack up? His #1 is a great one that many of us have forgotten to mention this week.

MLS

MLS Week 15 Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Toronto FC 2-0 New York Red Bulls - TFC goals by Pablo Vitti & Dwayne De Rosario.
Venue: BMO Field
Attendance: 20,902
Colorado Rapids 1-1 FC Dallas - CR goal by Omar Cummings. FCD goal by David Ferreira.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Good Park
Attendance: 10,583
-Sat Jun 27
Columbus Crew v New York Red Bulls - 6:30pm Central on FSC & FSE
Venue: Crew Stadium
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
-Sun Jun 28
Seattle Sounders FC v Colorado Rapids - 3pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field
Los Angeles Galaxy v Houston Dynamo - 9pm Central on ESPN2 & ESPN Deportes
Venue: Home Depot Center

dN

NY Sports Journalism does a Q & A with David Wright who is VP at MLS & their marketing arm known as Soccer United Marketing (SUM).

dN

DC has released goalkeeper Louis Crayton. He was with the team for 1 years, after signing to help a team that was in desperate goalkeeping trouble. But it seems now that Josh Wicks has upped his game and consistency to the point that Crayton is just a high paid backup, which doesn't fly in a league with such a tiny salary limit.

dN

For their game on Wed night Toronto FC wore pink shirts in support of the fight against breast cancer. Fantastic. The shirts will be auctioned off to raise money. I love it when teams do things like this. In another note, Argentine forward Pablo Vitti finally scored his first MLS goal. It was a beauty, so check out this video.

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Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun on TFC at the midpoint of the season. Big win over New York puts them on the right track. If the season ended today they would make their first playoff appearance.

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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch on the Crew's slow build back to being the dominant force they were last season.

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Michael Arace also of the Dispatch writes about the return of Crew heart Frankie Hejduk to near full health. Arace has a formula for what is inside Frankie that makes him who he is, but Arace forgot the key ingredient that kicks it all off - megadoses of caffeine.

dN

Brian Lewis of the NY Post reports that the NY Red Bulls may be trying to sign another Colombian defender.

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Check it out, NYRB are finally going to get rid of the albatross known as Juan Pietravallo. A midfielder with extraordinary hacking skills, but sadly few soccer skills. The team bought him out of his contract. Fly away little birdy, fly free!

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For whatever reason both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News have articles this week on RSL full back Anthony Beltran who is making a name for himself this season.

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The Philadelphia Business Journal on the Union's search for big dollar sponsors.

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The Patriot News with an article on former DC United midfielder Josh Gros who is now working in the front office of the Union. It was all Peter Nowak's idea.

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Jeff Carlisle of Center Line Soccer reports that the San Jose Earthquakes have released veteran defenders Kelly Gray and Eric Denton.

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Thierry Henry spent a little time in New York this week working to raise money for Steve Nash's causes, so naturally the rumors explode again that Henry will come play for the Red Bulls.

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Doug McIntyre of ESPN Soccernet on the renewed bid by Montreal to join MLS.

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US Soccer gives us audio of the Week 14 Referee Review. Download or listen here.

USL FIRST DIVISION

My Minnesota Thunder announced an international friendly against Comunicaciones of Guatemala for Wed Jul 22 at the NSC Stadium in Blaine MN. Los Cremas have won the league title 22 times, making them the 2nd most successful club in that countries history behind Municipal who have won 26. Comunicaciones last won the league in the 2008 Apertura (Fall) season. Their current best known player is the great Costa Rican forward Rolando Fonseca. They call Guatemala City their home.

dN

This Week's Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 25
Charleston Battery 1-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Jun 27
Cleveland City Stars v Austin Aztex
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Minnesota Thunder v Rochester Rhinos
-Sun Jun 28
Portland Timbers v Montreal Impact

dN

Standings:
27 Charleston
25 Puerto Rico
24 Carolina
23 Portland
17 Rochester
17 Montreal
16 Miami
- - Out of Playoffs - -
15 Vancouver
11 Austin
9 Cleveland
7 Minnesota

SUPERLIGA 2009

Final Group Stage games this weekend.

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Official Site

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Matchday 3 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 27
Chicago Fire v UANL Tigres - 7pm Central
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
Chivas USA v San Luis - 9pm Central
Venue: The Home Depot Center – Carson CA
-Sun Jun 28
New England Revolution v Atlas - 3:30pm Central
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
Kansas City Wizards v Santos Laguna - 5:30pm Central
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark – Kansas City KS

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All games are broadcast on Telefutura.

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Standings:
(After 2 of 3 Rounds Played)
Group A
6 Chicago Fire
3 UANL Tigres
3 San Luis
0 Chivas USA
Group B
4 New England Revolution
2 Kansas City Wizards
2 Atlas
1 Santos Laguna

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

The North & Central American and Caribbean confederation's championship tournament kicks off on July 3. Canada v Jamaica and Costa Rica v El Salvador start the proceedings.

dN

See all the games on FSC!

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Our friend Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk writes today about the role us bloggers play in spreading the love on the USA national team. I am very flattered to be mentioned in this article.

US SOCCER NEWS

The USA U20 team heads to Cairo, Egypt, and played a couple of friendlies against the hosts as a warm up before the World Cup in late September.
Matches:
-Sat Jun 27
Egypt v USA
-Mon Jun 29
Egypt v USA

dN

US Soccer has the team roster, and word that Mix Diskerud had joined the team. He has joint USA/Norway citizenship and has not decided where to put his senior team loyalties yet. He is said to be a promising midfielder. He plays his club football in Norway for Stabaek.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports feels that the time is ripe for Landon Donovan to go to a league that would fit him perfectly - La Liga.

dN

Soccer 365 with the latest rumors on potential transfer deals. The Confed Cup has certainly raised the profile of several players.

MEXICO

The national team plays another Gold Cup warm up match, this time on Sun Jun 28 v Guatemala in San Diego.

SOUTH AMERICA

Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian tells us about the huge problem that Argentine football is having at the hands of gangs. IE. Huracan's miracle season is being ruined.

dN

The title will be determined next weekend, with #1 traveling to #2. [Thanks to Timoteo for the correction on the date]

Argentine Clausura Championship:
(1 games left to go)
38 Huracan - Final Game: Sun Jul 5 at Velez Sarsfield
37 Velez Sarsfield - Final Game: Sun Jul 5 v Huracan
35 Lanus - Final Game: Sun Jul 5 at San Martin De Tucuman

COPA LIBERTADORES

Estudiantes of Argentina won their Semifinal first leg by the slimmest of margins and now have to play a huge game in the second leg to advance. Their star play Juan Sebastian Veron was reportedly injured in the 1st half and was subbed out at the break.

dN

Semifinals
1st Leg Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Cruzeiro 3-1 Gremio - Cruz goals by Wellington Paulista, Porter Wagner & Fabihno. Grem goal by Souza.
-Thu Jun 25
Estudiantes 1-0 Nacional - Est goal by Diego Galvan.
2nd Leg Matches:
-Wed Jul 1
Nacional v Estudiantes (0-1)
-Thu Jul 2
Gremio v Cruzeiro (1-3)

Some News for Thu Jun 25

STARTERS










One of my favorite writers for the past 25 years has died - Steven Wells. Never for the faint of heart, always for the strong of wit and will, I first read his stuff in the English music weekly New Music Express (NME) and later in the Guardian. He died of cancer at age 49. Please have a good thought for his family today. The past few years Swells, as he was known, was living in Philadelphia and regularly contributing to the Philadelphia Weekly. This week his battle with cancer story is on the cover of that paper. Powerful stuff. The Guardian has a very nice remembrance of a guy you really did feel you could call a mate, or arsehole, he didn't mind either one. The NME has a little something today, and promise more next week. RIP Steven, RIP my man!

TEAM USA - CONFEDERATIONS CUP

It will be USA v Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final.

Semifinal Match:
-Wed Jun 24
USA 2-0 Spain - USA goals by Jozy Altidore & Clint Dempsey.

dN

Spanish paper AS reports some horrible news that appears to have gone unnoticed over here: Michael Bradley not only got the Red Card late in the game which will force him to miss the Final, but he also waited for the referee in the tunnel after the match ended and verbally abused him, (link is in Spanish) meaning he will probably incur the wrath of FIFA and get a much longer suspension.

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Reports From South Africa:
Match report from the Mail & Guardian.
Post game quotes by Spain players from the Mail & Guardian.
Match report from Business Day.
Post game analysis by IOL.
Match report from the Johannesburg Times.
Match report from Kick Off.
Post game analysis from FIFA.com.
Match report from The Herald of Zimbabwe.
Match report from Reuters.
Match report from Football 365 Africa.

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Reports From Europe:
Match report from La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Post game analysis by Amy Lawrence of the Guardian.
Post game analysis by Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports.
Match report by Gabriele Marcotti of The Times of London.
Match report from the Independent of England.

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Report From The Middle East
Post game analysis from The National of UAE.

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Reports From The USA:
Post game analysis by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Match report by Jere Longman of the New York Times.
Player ratings by Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times blog Goal.
Match report and Player ratings by Steve Davis at ESPN Soccernet.
Post game analysis by Andrew Hush of ESPN Soccernet.
Match report from the Philadelphia Daily News.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Match report from Bloomberg.
Post game analysis from the Wall Street Journal.
Post game analysis from the Boston Globe blog Corner Kicks.
Match report from the LA Times.
Match report from the Washington Post.
Audio report from NPR's All Things Considered show. (thanks to Gene for this one)

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USMNT Official Blog

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George Vecsey of the New York Times calls the win "a Miracle on Grass."

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Luke Cyphers of Soccernet writes about Carlos Bocanegra's return to the lineup.

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Brent Latham of Soccernet on Jozy Altidore's torching of his Villarreal teammates, especially Joan Capdevila on the goal.

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Fulham FC with an article on their player Clint Dempsey.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer with an article on coach Bob Bradley and his sports connected family.

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IOL on the coming of age of Jozy Altidore.

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A reader named Matthew sent me an email this morning saying that an ESPN commentator last night used the word "twitchily" to describe how Tim Howard made a save yesterday, in reference to Howards affliction with Tourette syndrome. That's pretty low class even for the former jocks at ESPN.

dN

My Italian friend Danielle is very happy to have predicted a USA win over Spain! We shall wait until Friday to see what he has to say about the final.

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Andrew Hallett from Football 365 Africa blogs about how much he enjoyed covering the USA compared to others teams.

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Hallett then talks to Clint Dempsey about the Final.

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The Telegraph of England rates the USA upset compared to other all time shockers. (Take a guess what an English paper would list as the #1 big upset of all time - see if you can guess before you look, and let me know how you do. Hint: the key is England.)

CONFEDERATIONS CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2009

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian breaks down Brazil's 4-2-3-1 formation.

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Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 24
Spain 0-2 USA - USA goals by Jozy Altidore & Clint Dempsey.
-Thu Jun 25
Brazil 1-0 South Africa - Braz goal by Dani Alves.

dN

Final match:
-Sun Jun 28
USA v Brazil - 1:25pm Central on ESPN

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

The confederations championship tournament kicks off on July 3. Canada v Jamaica and Costa Rica v El Salvador start the proceedings.

dN

Word from Chicago and Section 8 is that Jon Busch is the emergency keeper on the USA roster and will not be called in unless he is needed. So he stays with the Fire.

dN

The entire USA roster for the tournament was posted here on du Nord yesterday, so look back a bit to find it.

MLS

MLS Week 15 Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Toronto FC 2-0 New York Red Bulls - TFC goals by Pablo Vitti & Dwayne De Rosario.
Venue: BMO Field
Attendance: 20,902
Colorado Rapids 1-1 FC Dallas - CR goal by Omar Cummings. FCD goal by David Ferreira.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Good Park
Attendance: 10,583

USL FIRST DIVISION

This Week's Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 23
Cleveland City Stars 2-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
Montreal Impact 1-0 Miami FC Blues
-Thu Jun 25
Charleston Battery v Puerto Rico Islanders

dN

Standings:
25 Puerto Rico
24 Charleston
24 Carolina
23 Portland
17 Rochester
17 Montreal
16 Miami
- - Out of Playoffs - -
15 Vancouver
11 Austin
9 Cleveland
7 Minnesota

dN

USL First Division Team of the Week
G:
Bill Gaudette - Puerto Rico - Two shutout wins against Charleston
D:
John Ball - Rochester - Two assists in 2-0 win at Austin
David Hayes - Portland - Goal, assist in 5-1 win over Minnesota
John Krause - Puerto Rico - Goal in 1-0 win over Charleston
Cristiano Dias - Miami - Led team to pair of wins at Cleveland
M:
Matt Watson - Carolina - Goal in 1-1 draw at Austin
Michael Callahan - Austin - Assist in 1-1 draw against Carolina
Kwame Sarkodie - Rochester - Goal in 2-0 win at Austin
F:
George Josten - Portland - Goal, assist in 5-1 win over Minnesota
Paulo Araujo - Miami - Goal, assist in pair of wins at Cleveland
Rocco Placentino - Montreal - Goal, assist in 2-1 win over Vancouver

dN

Goalkeeper Bill Gaudette of the Puerto Rico Islander has been named USL First Division Player of the Week.

SUPERLIGA 2009

Official Site

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Matchday 2 Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 23
Chicago Fire 1-0 Chivas USA - CF goal by Justin Mapp.
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
Attendance: 9,126
San Luis 3-1 UANL Tigres - SL goals by Braulio Luna & Jose Reyes(2). UANL goals by Juan Pablo Garcia Contreras.
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
-Wed Jun 24
New England Revolution 1-1 Kansas City Wizards - NER goals by Kheli Dube. KCW goals by Darrius Barnes(OG).
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
Attendance: 5,378
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report from the Boston Globe.
Santos Laguna 0-0 Atlas - 8pm Central
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA

dN

All games are broadcast on Telefutura.

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EJECTIONS:
Michael Videira - New England - Red Card
Francisco Torres - Santos Laguna - Red Card

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Standings:
(After 2 of 3 Rounds Played)
Group A
6 Chicago Fire
3 UANL Tigres
3 San Luis
0 Chivas USA
Group B
4 New England Revolution
2 Kansas City Wizards
2 Atlas
1 Santos Laguna

dN

Matchday 3 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 27
Chicago Fire v UANL Tigres - 7pm Central
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
Chivas USA v San Luis - 9pm Central
Venue: The Home Depot Center – Carson CA
-Sun Jun 28
New England Revolution v Atlas - 3:30pm Central
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
Kansas City Wizards v Santos Laguna - 5:30pm Central
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark – Kansas City KS

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Stefan Fatsis of Sports Illustrated writes about the struggle the beautiful game still has in making a serious impact in America.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Football Italia talks to American players about joining Serie A teams.

MEXICO

El Tri-Color beat Venezuela 4-0 last night in Atlanta, as they warm up for the Gold Cup. Goals came from Giovani Dos Santos(2), Carlos Vela & Omar Arellano.

ENGLAND

Reuters reports on the financial collapse of Setanta UK who were one of the huge bidders for English Premier League games. (thanks to Joe for his one)
-As a side note to this story - ESPN has bought the UK rights from Setanta at a significantly reduced price.

EUROPE

Rob Smyth of the Guardian has been giving us some history lessons lately, and they are very good. This one looks back at the 1990-91 Sampdoria team that won their only scudetto.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Cruzeiro get off to a great start in the semifinals winning 3-1 at home over fellow Brazilian team Gremio. Match report from Yahoo Sports.
-Yahoo Sports is also reporting an possible incident of racism in this game.

dN

Semifinals
1st Leg Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Cruzeiro 3-1 Gremio - Cruz goals by Wellington Paulista, Porter Wagner & Fabihno. Grem goal by Souza.
-Thu Jun 25
Estudiantes v Nacional
2nd Leg Matches:
-Wed Jul 1
Nacional v Estudiantes
-Thu Jul 2
Gremio v Cruzeiro (1-3)

MIDDLE EAST

4 Iranian national team players who showed solidarity with protestors over the recent elections in their country have all been given a lifetime ban from the team. Ah, tyrants, what a lovely little bunch they are. FIFA is supposedly investigating this allegation.

AFRICA

The Leg-Breaking-Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov has been named the new head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns in Pretoria South Africa.

USA Gold Cup Roster

The first game is against Grenada on Sat Jul 4 at Qwest Field in Seattle.

USA roster:
G:
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
Troy Perkins - Valerenga
Luis Robles - FC Kaiserslautern
D:
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
Clarence Goodson - IK Start
Jay Heaps - New England Revolution
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaellands
Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock
M:
Davy Arnaud - Kansas City Wizards
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Colin Clark - Colorado Rapids
Sam Cronin - Toronto FC
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Stuart Holden - Houston Dynamo
Logan Pause - Chicago Fire
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
F:
Freddy Adu - AS Monaco
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
Charlie Davies - Hammarby IF
Santino Quaranta - DC United

What do you think of this list?

I know right off the top who I don't like seeing here - Jon Busch, Jay Heaps & Heath Pearce.

The rest is fine, but there are several others I would have loved to have seen instead of some who made it.

Some News for Wed Jun 24

What else can you write about on a day like today!!!!!

dN

Confederations Cup Semifinal
-Wed Jun 24
USA 2-0 Spain - USA goals by Jozy Altidore & Clint Dempsey.
Venue: Free State Stadium - Bloemfontain, South Africa

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BBC: "What was starkly apparent on the Free State Stadium pitch, was the superior athleticism of the Americans." (thanks to Joe for that bitchin' line)

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Jozy & Clintinho celebrates the USA goals!
(Pics Stolen from FIFA.com)

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Match report from US Soccer.

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Video highlights and post game reaction from ESPN.

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Post game analysis from FIFA.com

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Match report from the BBC.

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Not only was the Red Card that Michael Bradley received a joke of a call, but it will be very very costly for the final. Dammit all!

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It was Charlie Davies birthday today! Happy Birthday Amigo!

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Jozy torched his Villarreal teammate Joan Capdevila at the top of the box then turned and scored the games first goal.

dN

Spain are just magical to watch, much like some previous Brazilian teams, moving that ball around like its attached to a string, but today they did not have that last touch. No killer flick to get a goal. The USA defenders were insane! Diving every direction to cut off that last pass or shot, and if they didn't get to it then Tim-May Howard sure did. Wow.

dN

du Nord 3 Stars(13) of the Game
3. Michael Bradley, Jonathan Bornstein - Great game but Red Card was deadly & only a few minutes as a sub but since everyone gets a mention he gets the third tier.
2. Carlos Bocanegra, Ricardo Clark, Jonathan Spector, Charlie Davies, Benny Feilhaber - Very good games for the first 4, with solid work and very few errors, while Benny came on late and helped make that 2nd goal happen.
1. Tim Howard, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore - crème de la crème performances by all 6! The saves! The huge stops! The great D! The killer goal! The best of the best! The winning goal! Oh Yeah!

dN

Right after the USA game I had the pleasure of appearing on Major League Soccer Talk with Kartik Krishnaiyer and fellow guest Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports. Martin makes me sound like the amateur that I am. Download or listen here.

dN

Of course now the ultimate insane final would have to be the hosts of South Africa taking on the USA. That sure would be a lot of fun. On the other hand I would love nothing better than our team to get another shot at Brazil and erase that embarrassing memory from last week.

dN

The Championship game:
-Sun Jun 28
USA v winner of South Africa/Brazil - 1:25pm Central on ESPN
Venue: Ellis Park - Johannesburg

See you at the Sweetwater!

dN

Plenty more on Thursday, stay tuned.

Some News for Tue Jun 23

STARTERS

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says that MLS order the Houston Dynamo media department to change credit on a goal last weekend from a Bobby Boswell Own Goal to a Fabian Espindola goal. If this is true it's totally bogus.

TEAM USA - CONFEDERATIONS CUP

See you on Wednesday afternoon at the Sweetwater to watch the Semifinal miracle game for the USA.

dN

Semifinals
-Wed Jun 24
Spain v USA - 1:25pm Central on ESPN & Univision
Venue: Free State Stadium - Mangaung/Bloemfontein

dN

Spain has won 15 games in a row, and has not lost since November of 2006!

dN

The USA will be the best team Spain has played in this tournament.

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NOTE: "Danny Califf has been given permission to depart from camp to attend to a family matter." (Info from US Soccer)

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US Soccer gives us all the stats and info you could ever need leading up to this very big match.

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USMNT Official Blog

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Here is a really nice highlights package from ESPN Sports Center of the USA win over Egypt. Via US Soccer.

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US Soccer gives us a very cool behind the scenes (not so much on the field) minute-by-minute of the USA tracking Brazil's progress against Italy on Sunday. The bench knew the scores every time they updated!

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Paul Gardner of Soccer America analyzes the big USA win over Egypt.

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The San Mateo Daily Journal has a post game commentary.

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Jere Longman of the New York Times tries to see where Team USA is at after a group stage that gave us a poor game, a terrible game, and very good game. Now comes Spain.

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AP with an article on the state of the USA defense. Via the Boston Globe.

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Kick Off says the USA will need an awful lot of heart to overcome their tactical inferiority to Spain.

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Brent Latham at Soccernet previews the USA v Spain game, with good quotes from both teams.

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Jen Chang also of Soccernet gives his preview too.

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Reuters previews the USA. How do they regroup for Spain?

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FIFA.com with a game preview.

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My Italian friend Danielle has predicted a USA win over Spain!

dN

Spain roster:
1 Iker Casillas - G - Real Madrid
2 Raul Albiol - D - Valencia
3 Gerard Pique - D - Barcelona
4 Carlos Marchena - D - Valencia
5 Carles Puyol - D - Barcelona
6 Pablo Hernandez - M - Valencia
7 David Villa - F - Valencia
8 Xavi Hernandez - M - Barcelona
9 Fernando Torres - F - Liverpool
10 Cesc Fabregas - M - Arsenal
11 Joan Capdevila - D - Villarreal
12 Sergio Busquets - M - Barcelona
13 Diego Lopez - G - Villarreal
14 Xabi Alonso - M - Liverpool
15 Sergio Ramos - D - Real Madrid
16 Fernando Llorente - F - Athletic Bilbao
17 Daniel Guiza - F - Fenerbahce
18 Albert Riera - M - Liverpool
19 Alvaro Arbeloa - D - Liverpool
20 Santi Cazorla - M - Villarreal
21 David Silva - M - Valencia
22 Juan Manuel Mata - M - Valencia
23 Pepe Reina - G - Liverpool

CONFEDERATIONS CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2009

Jay Hipps of Center Line Soccer gives us a fans view at the tournament. This is his 2nd report.

dN

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 24
Spain v USA - 1:25pm Central on ESPN & Univision
-Thu Jun 25
Brazil v South Africa - 1:25pm Central on ESPN & Telefutura

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

The confederations championship tournament kicks off just 10 days from now on July 3. Canada v Jamaica and Costa Rica v El Salvador start the proceedings.

dN

Team rosters are not permanent until 24 hours before the first game for each country.

dN

Mexico's roster:
G:
Jose de Jesus Corona - UAdG Tecos
Guillermo Ochoa - America
Oscar Perez - UANL Tigres
D:
Jose Antonio Castro - UANL Tigres
Edgar Duenas - Toluca
Efrain Juarez - UNAM Pumas
Jonny Magallon - Guadalajara
Fausto Pinto - Cruz Azul
Ismael Rodriguez - America
Juan Carlos Valenzuela - America
M:
Israel Castro - UNAM Pumas
Israel Martinez - San Luis
Luis Miguel Noriega - Puebla
Giovani Dos Santos - Tottenham
Gerardo Torrado - Cruz Azul
F:
Omar Arellano - Guadalajara
Pablo Barrera - UNAM Pumas
Omar Bravo - UANLTigres
Jose Maria Cardenas - Pachuca
Carlos Esquivel - Toluca
Alberto Medina - Guadalajara
Miguel Sabah - Morelia
Carlos Vela - Arsenal

dN

Canada's roster:
G:
Kenny Stamatopoulos - Lyn Oslo
Greg Sutton - no club
Joshua Wagenaar - Yeovil Town
D:
Adrian Cann - Esbjerg
Andrew Hainault - Houston Dynamo
Richard Hastings - Inverness
Dejan Jakovic - DC United
Mike Klukowski - Club Brugge
Kevin McKenna - Koln
Paul Stalteri - Monchengladbach
M:
Patrice Bernier - Nordsjaelland
Julian de Guzman - Deportivo La Coruna
Kevin Harmse - Toronto FC
Atiba Hutchinson - Kobenhavn
Will Johnson - Real Salt Lake
Marcel de Jong - Roda JC
Issey Nakajima-Farran - Nordsjaelland
Jaime Peters - Ipswich Town
Chris Pozniak - Dundee
Josh Simpson - Kaiserslautern
F:
Charles Gbeke - Vancouver Whitecaps
Ali Gerba - Toronto FC
Simeon Jackson - Gillingham FC

MLS

MLS Week 15 Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Toronto FC v New York Red Bulls - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field
Colorado Rapids v FC Dallas - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Good Park

dN

Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle talks to Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden about his father who passed away earlier this year. This is a couple of days old, but so what, its a tearjerker.

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch reports: "Expect Frankie Hejduk to start on Saturday." He has been out for a long time with a groin muscle injury.

dN

Soccer America with a profile of a young MLS player: Forward Justin Braun of Chivas USA.

dN

Toronto FC has signed Canadian international Ali Gerba from English League One team Milton Keynes Dons. He will not be able to suit up until the transfer window opens on July 15. "He's not gonna help."
-Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun on Gerba.

dN

Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star looks at what TFC forward Danny Dichio does when he is not playing for the club - more soccer that’s what. He has even become a resident of Canada.

dN

Kristian Dyer of ESPN Soccernet with an article on new TFC centerhack Nick Garcia. They also talk about his off field activities, which are very important to Garcia. And some other USA & MLS bits.

dN

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that the Sounders have again expanded their home seating capacity, but those tickets are just about gone too.

dN

The Salt Lake Tribune says that RSL's tie in Houston last weekend was one that felt more like a loss.

dN

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger on the NY Red Bulls long road trip ahead. He calls it make-or-break.

dN

New York centerback Mike Petke has been suspended an additional 2 games by MLS for verbally abusing a referee. He was given a Red Card at the time which sat him down for 1 game. This is a pretty harsh penalty.

USL FIRST DIVISION

Editorial: I have not commented recently on my beloved Minnesota Thunder. Here's why: You know that point where you just can't even muster up the words? That's about where I am at. But I do have just a few in me.... Right now I just want to strangle many of the players. A few of them are genuine and full of pride, but too many others come off as petty and arrogant. Me me me me me. Grow up guys. Stop for a minute and think about someone else for a change. You signed the deal, no one made you, so get to practice, stop blaming everyone else, dig down deep, take responsibility and make us proud of you. Earn the respect. The fun will come if you open up and let it. If not..... And to some of my fellow fans, I don't want to hear about the good old days. They are long over, the era has passed and the football in America is very different. Now let's go win one.

dN

This Week's Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 23
Cleveland City Stars v Vancouver Whitecaps
Montreal Impact v Miami FC Blues

SUPERLIGA 2009

Official Site

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Matchday 2 Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 23
Chicago Fire v Chivas USA - 7pm Central
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
San Luis v UANL Tigres - 9pm Central
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
-Wed Jun 24
New England Revolution v Kansas City Wizards - 5pm Central
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
Santos Laguna v Atlas - 8pm Central
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA

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All games broadcast live on TeleFutura.

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Nick Firchau of the Chicago Southtown Star previews tonight’s Fire v Chivas USA game.

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The Chicago Tribune also previews.

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Standings:
(After 1 of 3 Rounds Played)
Group A
3 Chicago Fire
3 UANL Tigres
0 Chivas USA
0 San Luis
Group B
3 New England Revolution
1 Kansas City Wizards
1 Atlas
0 Santos Laguna

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Yanks Abroad tells us about 4 Americans who will be in at least the preliminary rounds of European club competition next season: Mikkel Diskerud of Stabaek, Marcus Tracy of Aalborg, Ryan Guy of St Patrick's Athletic and Jamath Schoffner of Kaerjeng 97. Good and obscure, I like it.

ENGLAND

The Times of London has everyone all adrool over Manchester United's (or some other huge spender) new star-of-the-future target, Brazilian Douglas Costa.

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Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda has signed a contract extension through the 2012/13 season.

SOUTH AMERICA

Argentine Clausura Championship:
(1 games left to go)
38 Huracan - Final Game: Sun Jun 28 at Velez Sarsfield
37 Velez Sarsfield - Final Game: Sun Jun 28 v Huracan
35 Lanus - Final Game: Sun Jun 28 at San Martin De Tucuman

COPA LIBERTADORES

Semifinals
1st Leg Matches:
-Wed Jun 24
Estudiantes v Nacional
Cruzeiro v Gremio
2nd Leg Matches:
-Wed Jul 1
Nacional v Estudiantes
Gremio v Cruzeiro

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Final
1st Leg Match:
-Wed Jul 8
2nd Leg Match:
-Wed Jul 15

ASIA

The Wall Street Journal with an article on football under a dictatorship in Myanmar. The game is keeping people's spirits alive. (thanks to Adam for the link)