Some News for Mon Jun 22

STARTERS

Simply put, it's a 3 game tournament, not 1 or 2. With that crazy win and Italy loss we get to see our USA team live another day in South Africa. 2 more days actually. The Semifinal round, and then a Final or 3rd place game! How cool is this. Who bet big money on this happening? And if you did, are you now rich enough to buy FC Dallas? Or better yet, my beloved Minnesota Thunder?

dN

ESPN in the United States has purchased a package of La Liga games for next season from GolTV. Gol will continue to be the main outlet for the top Spanish league, but will not share some games. Which means even more people will be watching the most entertaining league in Europe.

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Sky Sports reports that Oguchi Onyewu has agreed to a deal with Fenerbahce in Turkey.

TEAM USA - CONFEDERATIONS CUP

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











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USA Group Stage Matches:
-Mon Jun 15
USA 1-3 Italy - USA goal by Landon Donovan(PK). Ita goals by Giuseppe Rossi(2) & Daniele De Rossi.
Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium - Pretoria
-Thu Jun 18
USA 0-3 Brazil - Braz goals by Felipe Melo, Robinho & Douglas Maicon.
Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium - Pretoria
-Sun Jun 21
USA 3-0 Egypt - USA goals by Charlie Davies, Michael Bradley & Clint Dempsey.
Venue: Royal Bafokeng Stadium - Rustenburg
-Local press from the tournament:
Match report from IOL.
Match report from The Times of Johannesburg.
Match report from Kick Off.
Match report from Sport 24. (And read the comments section if you want to see pure racial hatred in action.)
Post game analysis from FIFA.com
Photos from FIFA.com
-More USA match stories from home turf:
Match report by Jere Longman of the New York Times.
Player ratings by Jack Bell of the New York Times.
Post game analysis by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Post game analysis by Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated.
Player ratings by Greg Seltzer of Soccer365.
Post game analysis by Paul Oberjuerge on his blog.
Post game analysis & player ratings by Robert Wagman of Soccer Times.
Post game quotes by USA coach & players from US Soccer.
Match report by Graham Jones of the LA Times. - In a preview piece Jones called the team every negative thing he could think of, today he reports the win, but does not praise the players, and for that he eats a nice dry crow sandwich.
Match report by Michael Lewis of the NY Daily News.
Match report & player ratings by Ives Galarcep at Soccernet.
Post game analysis by Luke Cyphers of Soccernet.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.

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

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du Nord 3(5) Stars Of The Game
3. Jay DeMerit/Landon Donovan/Clint Dempsey - great games for many different reasons - DeMerit for the never say die attitude. Did you see the tackle he made late in the game when Egypt were showing a glimmer of hope? A real cruncher! Donovan was Donovan. Running his ass off for the O and D, making great passes, being imperfect but passionate. And Dempsey was a guy I was screaming for them to sub off and what does he do? He gets the goal that puts them through in a way only he can!!
2. Charlie Davies - the spark that lit the fuse. When things were looking very average Davies stepped up to hassle the bejesus out of the Egyptian defenders and keeper then tipped the loose ball into the net and starting the whole thing moving in the right direction. He was a nice change of pace up top against a tired team.
1. Michael Bradley - 3 shots, all on frame and the second one bagging a very important goal, not to mention the fact that he seemed to be everywhere in the midfield all game long, and unlike many night he didn't make a wrong move with this passing. On top of all that he broke up more Egyptian possession than I could keep track of.
-NOTE: Hats off to Oguchi Onyewu, & Jonathan Spector who played very well and are almost in the top echelon. While Ricardo Clark, Brad Guzan, Jonathan Bornstein & Jozy Altidore were merely average.

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IOL reports that Jozy Altidore has sent a text message to his Villarreal teammate Capdevila on the Spain team! NOTE: Title of article is ironic.

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AP talks to Sacha Kljestan about getting a Red Card, and the relief he feels as the team advances. Via USA Today.

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AP on life in the USA backline without injured captain Carlos Bocanegra. Via San Diego Union Tribune.

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Brent Latham of Soccernet on what Charlie Davies added to the USA team that had been lacking.

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Horribly funny translations from Italian to English:
-"The extreme Egyptian defender (goalkeeper El Hadary) surrenders only to misfortune when confronted with Davies found him a lawyer that hurts your head with cleats while the ball carom on the body and moves to the network."
-"Make it inevitable goal of Dempsey, who enters the Egyptian defense like butter to put in diving in head."

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USMNT Official Blog

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

CONFEDERATIONS CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2009

FIFA has concocted some crazy scheme to rate the players performances in an Index Ranking. This video tells how the ranking is created (vaguely). Players are judged on a multitude of criteria on a scale of 1 to 10. Spain forward David Villa is at #1 with 9.03. The top USA players are Clint Dempsey #8 with 8.26 and Michael Bradley at #10 with 8.19. Here is best 11 ranking so far:
G:
Mohammed Kassid - Iraq
D:
Basem Abbas - Iraq
Carles Puyol - Spain
Tsepo Masilela - South Africa
Siboniso Gaxa - South Africa
M:
Michael Bradley - USA
Felip Melo - Brazil
Clint Dempsey - USA
Kaka - Brazil
F:
Fernando Torres - Spain
David Villa - Spain
-And the full ranking.
-Does this make any more sense than the FIFA national team rankings? I doubt it.

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The Herald of Johannesburg reviews the tournament so far, in a cultural sense.

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The Boston Globe with a great article about viewing the 3rd group stage game with people from Egypt, USA, Italy and Brazil all at the same place.

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Brazil claim that players rooms have been burglarized during their game against Italy. The same thing supposedly happened to Egypt during their match with Italy, but police are now suggesting that prostitutes hired by the Egyptian players may have been the culprits. During that first incident no damage was done to gain entry to players rooms or safes, and there is said to be surveillance footage to back it up.

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Brazilian centerback Juan suffered an injury to his left leg that will knock him out of the rest of the tournament.

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Tim Vickery of the BBC says that despite criticism that they have given up on the Joga Bonito, today’s Brazil team are strong and they don't care what anyone outside the team thinks about their style.

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Amy Lawrence of the Guardian on the high coaching quality low spotlight appeal of Spain coach Vincente Del Bosque.

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Gazzetta Dello Sport talks to Italy coach Marcello Lippi about the flop his team did.

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Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jun 14
South Africa 0-0 Iraq
New Zealand 0-5 Spain - Spa goals by Fernando Torres(3), Cesc Fabregas & David Villa.
-Mon Jun 15
Brazil 4-3 Egypt - Braz goals by Kaka(2 - one via PK), Luis Fabiano & Juan. Egy goals by Mohamed Zidan & Mohamed Shawky.
USA 1-3 Italy - USA goal by Landon Donovan(PK). Ita goals by Giuseppe Rossi(2) & Daniele De Rossi.
-Wed Jun 17
Spain 1-0 Iraq - Spa goal by David Villa.
South Africa 2-0 New Zealand - SA goals both by Bernard Parker.
-Thu Jun 18
USA 0-3 Brazil - Braz goals by Felipe Melo, Robinho & Douglas Maicon.
Egypt 1-0 Italy - Egy goal by Mohamed Homos.
-Sat Jun 20
Iraq v New Zealand - delayed to Midnight Central Sunday morning on ESPN2
Spain v South Africa - 1:25pm Central on ESPN2
-Sun Jun 21
Italy 0-3 Brazil - Bra goals by Luis Fabiano(2) & Andrea Dossena(OG).
Egypt 0-3 USA - USA goals by Charlie Davies, Michael Bradley & Clint Dempsey.

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Semifinals
-Wed Jun 24
Spain v USA - 1:25pm Central on ESPN
-Thu Jun 25
Brazil v South Africa - 1:25pm Central on ESPN

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Round up of both Group B Round 3 games by FIFA.com

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Day 6 in numbers by FIFA.com

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Standings (after 3 of 3 rounds):
Group A
9 Spain - ADVANCED
5 South Africa - ADVANCED
1 Iraq - OUT
1 New Zealand - OUT
Group B
9 Brazil - ADVANCED
3 USA (-2) (4 goals scored) - ADVANCED
3 Italy (-2) (3 goals scored) - OUT
3 Egypt (-3) - OUT

MLS

MLS Week 14 Matches:
-Wed Jun 17
Seattle Sounders FC 3-3 DC United - SSFC goals by Oswaldo Alonso, Marc Burch(OG) & Fredy Montero. DCU goals by Chris Pontius, Christian Gomez & Tyrone Marshall(OG).
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Attendance: 29,104
-Sat Jun 20
San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 Los Angeles Galaxy - SJE goals by Pablo Campos(PK) & Ryan Johnson. LAG goal by Jovan Kirovski.
Venue: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum - Oakland CA
Attendance: 17,128
New York Red Bulls 1-1 Seattle Sounders FC - NYRB goal by Juan Pablo Angel. SSFC goal by Fredy Montero.
Venue: Giants Stadium - East Rutherford NJ
Attendance: 14,313
FC Dallas 2-1 Columbus Crew - FCD goals by Eric Avila & Kenny Cooper. CC goal by Pablo Richetti(OG).
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: 8,041
Houston Dynamo 1-1 Real Salt Lake - HD goal by Brian Ching. RSL goal by Fabian Espindola.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 17,151
Colorado Rapids 3-0 DC United - CR goals by Omar Cummings(2) & Colin Clark.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Attendance: 11,416

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EJECTIONS:
Jamison Olave - RSL - 2 Yellow Cards

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du Nord's vote for MLS Player Of The Week goes to Colorado Rapids forward Omar Cummings.

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Mike Petke, centerback for the New York Red Bulls, with his latest comments on the teams horrible play lately for Soccernet. This guy is fantastic.

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Houston's Dominic Kinnear is this years coach of the MLS All-Stars as they take on Everton, Wed Jul 29 at Rio Tinto Stadium in the suburbs of Salt Lake City Utah.

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Maria Burns Ortiz of Soccernet on 3 MLS players and their former soccer star fathers.

USL FIRST DIVISION

This Week's Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 18
Cleveland City Stars 1-2 Miami FC Blues
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-0 Charleston Battery
-Fri Jun 19
Montreal Impact 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Cleveland City Stars 0-1 Miami FC Blues
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-0 Charleston Battery
-Sun Jun 21
Austin Aztex 0-2 Rochester Rhinos

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

SUPERLIGA 2009

Luis Bueno of Sports Illustrated feels that this years tournament is a dud before it ever gets started.

dN

The 3rd edition of the highly entertaining, yet somehow useless summer tournament between 4 MLS & 4 FMF sides begins this weekend - Sat Jun 20. All games on TeleFutura.

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Official Site for highlights etc

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Matchday 1 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 20
Chicago Fire 1-0 San Luis - CF goal by Brian McBride.
Venue: Toyota Park – Bridgeview IL
Chivas USA 1-2 UANL Tigres - CUSA goal by Michael Lahoud. UANL goals by Armando Pulido & Jesus Duenas.
Venue: The Home Depot Center – Carson CA
-Sun Jun 21
Kansas City Wizards 0-0 Atlas
Venue: Hermann Stadium – St Louis MO
New England Revolution 4-2 Santos Laguna - NER goals by Jeff Larentowicz, Kenny Mansally, Jay Heaps & Kheli Dube. SL goals by Matias Vuoso & Juan Pablo Rodriguez.
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA

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EJECTIONS:
Eduardo Lillingston - CUSA - 2 Yellow Cards

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(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

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

SOCCER IN AMERICA

The Chronicle Telegram of Ohio reports that Brad Friedel's soccer academy is in a deeper whole then we previously knew - they own $7.5 Million to a bank for starters. Oof.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Danny Szetela and his team Brescia played the 2nd leg of the Serie A promotion/relegation playoff against Livorno. (The 3rd place Serie B team plays the 18th place Serie A team for rel/pro.)
-Sun Jun 14
Brescia 2-2 Livorno
-Sat Jun 20
Livorno 3-0 Brescia - Livorno stay in Serie A winning the series 5-2 on aggregate.
-Szetela and his Brescia team remain in Serie B for next season.

EUROPE

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a great article on Spain's David Villa as he pounds home goals in the Confed Cup, and tries to figure out where he will be playing next club season.

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The AP with an article trying to determine if there is a big problem going on inside Italian soccer that could predict a long dry spell ahead for quality teams. Via USA Today.

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Bayern Munich has signed Croatia midfielder Danijel Pranjic from Heerenveen in the Eredivisie.

SOUTH AMERICA

It's going down to the wire for the Argentina 2009 Clausura Championship. The top 2 teams actually face off on the final weekend. How great is that?

Matches & Scores:
(1 games left to go)
38 Huracan - Last: W 3-0 v Arsenal de Sarandi - Final game: Sun Jun 28 at Velez Sarsfield
37 Velez Sarsfield - Last: D 1-1 at Lanus - Final game: Sun Jun 28 v Huracan
35 Lanus - Last: D 1-1 v Velez Sarsfield - Final game: Sun Jun 28 at San Martin De Tucuman
34 Colon - Last: W 1-3 at Estudiantes La Plata - Final game: Sun Jun 28 v Boca Juniors

WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010

Business Day in South Africa with an editorial on what must happen in the next 12 months for South Africa to host a successful World Cup. There is much to be done.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

AFRICA
-Sat Jun 20
Zambia 0-2 Algeria
Kenya 2-1 Mozambique
Burkina Faso 2-3 Ivory Coast
Morocco 0-0 Togo
Tunisia 0-0 Nigeria
Sudan 0-2 Ghana
-Sun Jun 21
Guinea 2-1 Malawai
Mail 3-1 Benin

dN

Group standings