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."