Some News for Fri Jul 31

STARTERS

Adios Frankencooper! Kenny Cooper of FC Dallas has been sold to Munich 1860! Fantastic for the big guy! If I am not mistaken this would make his the 4th American to play for 1860: Taylor Twellman, Gregg Berhalter and Josh Wolff proceeded him.

dN

One of the true old timers of English football Sir Bobby Robson has passed away. Rest well. The Guardian remembers him.

dN

Twitter from Freddy Adu: "training with benfica tomorrow. Im excited and cant wait to start training. Im not 100% if im staying or not. I want to but u never know."

dN

Someone has posted the MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement between league and players on the internet for all to see. (Thanks to BD for this one)

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

New York doesn't get the win, but they did go on the road and get a 2-2 draw. However, they had a 2-1 lead at the 70 minute mark. Tough luck. But those away goals do come in handy so times.

dN

Preliminary Round 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue Jul 28
DC United (USA) 1-1 Luis Angel Firpo (El Sal) - DCU goal by Jaime Moreno(PK). LAF goal by Mario Benitez.
Pachuca (Mex) 3-0 Jalapa (Guate) - Pach goals by Juan Carlos Cacho, Gabriel Caballero & Chaco Gimenez.
-Wed Jul 29
Toronto FC (Can) 0-1 Puerto Rico Islanders (PR) - PRI goal by Kendall Jagdeosingh.
San Francisco (Pana) 2-0 San Juan Jabloteh (TnT) - SF goals by Carlos Vilarete(PK) & Temistocles Perez.
Liberia Mia (CR) 3-0 Real Espana (Hond) - Lib goals by Michael Umana(PK) & Alejandro Alpizar(2).
-Thu Jul 30
W Connection (TnT) 2-2 New York Red Bulls (USA) - WC goals by Jonathan Fana Farias & Hughton Hector. NYRB goals by Ernst Obster & Elijah Joseph(OG).
Herediano (CR) 2-6 Cruz Azul (Mex) - Here goals by Andy Herron & Cristhian Montero. CA goals by Javier Orozco(3), Alejandro Vela, Emmanuel Villa & Pablo Zeballos.
Olimpia (Hond) 2-1 Arabe Unido (Pana) - Oli goals by Jocimar Nacimento & Everaldo Ferreira. AU goal by Orlando Rodriguez.

dN

After their debacle last night Herediano fired their coach Ronald Mora this morning.

dN

2nd Leg Matches are all next week. We will post the schedule on Monday.

dN

The winners of these series move into the group stage.

MLS

MLS Week 20 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 1
New England Revolution v Toronto FC - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Houston Dynamo v D.C. United - 7:30pm Central on FSC & FSE
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
FC Dallas v Kansas City Wizards - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Chicago Fire v Real Salt Lake - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Colorado Rapids v Columbus Crew - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
-Sun Aug 2
San Jose Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders FC - 2pm Central on Telefutura
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA

dN

Landon Donovan has been named MLS July Player of the Month. Is that award anything like the prestige of being named Miss July for Penthouse?

dN

Julian de Guzman has officially told Toronto, Thanks, but No Thanks, on their contract offer. Since his contract expired at the end of last season with Deportivo la Coruna he has been looking for a new team, and wants to stay in Europe.

dN

Monique Walker of the Boston Globe looks ahead for the Revolution who are as healthy as they have been all year, and play 5 of their next 6 games at home!

dN

Chicago's Southtown Star looks at the Fire's defense and says they are ready to lead the team.

dN

The Southtown Star also talks to Chicago forward Brian McBride about the shoulder surgery he just had.

dN

Chicago Fire Confidential does a Q & A with the team's Logan Pause & Gonzalo Segares about the Gold Cup and the Fire's season.

dN

Columbus should have Gold Cuppers Chad Marshall & Robbie Rogers back, along with finally healthy Alejandro Moreno.

dN

The Denver Post feels it's now or never for Colorado to make a serious run at being a playoff team.

dN

George Tanner at Colorado Soccer Now does a Q & A with Rapids left sided midfielder Colin Clark.

dN

Dan Rasmussen of the Deseret News talks to RSL owner Dave Checketts who said that the All Star game on Wednesday night shows that their new stadium is a success.

dN

Rasmussen also talks to RSL general manager Garth Lagerway about what his team needs to do to make sure they get in the playoffs.

dN

Michel C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune says RSL needs Kyle Beckerman to lead them to the playoffs. Personally, while I think Beckerman is a good MLS player, I am not so sure he is the guy to do that. He has not exactly had a career full of winning.

dN

Then Lewis on the papers RSL blog shows us Checketts buffoonish side revealing that Big Dave wants MLS to go back to settling games with The Shootout!

dN

Both the Kansas City Star and Kansas City Kansan have articles on the Wizards new signing Zoltan Hercegfalvi from Hungary. The team's technical director Peter Vermes acts as his translator.

dN

KC legend Jimmy Conrad answers viewer mail on his own website.

dN

The LA Times is reporting that Bex has back problems. Maybe my Mom will start calling him Backman now.

dN

Jose Romero of the Seattle Times with two things on the papers blog:
-New left fullback Leonardo Gonzalez is in the house.
-Brad Evans is back from the Gold Cup, and says it was a great experience.

dN

The Columbus Dispatch took an informal survey of several MLS coaches, former players and media members asking: Who are the Top 5 Players in MLS History? The answers pretty close to right on the money.

dN

Soccer America profiles a young MLS talent, San Jose's Mike Zaher.

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Soccer by Ives takes a look at the new players signed into the league in this transfer window, so far.

dN

US Soccer gives us audio of their Week 19 MLS Referee Review. Download or listen here.

MLS SUMMER EXHIBITIONS

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 1
LA Galaxy v Barcelona (Spain) - 10pm Central on FSC
Venue: Rose Bowl - Pasadena CA

dN

They figure well over 80,000 will attend this game. Wow.

dN

The LA Riot Squad have promised to give Beckham the business again at this game. Bex response: "I wish I had the time to make banners." What a dumbass.

dN

Grahame Jones of the LA Times is "dazzled" by shiny baubles like Barcelona.

USL FIRST DIVISION

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 30
Charleston Battery 1-0 Austin Aztex
-Fri Jul 31
Rochester Rhinos 1-3 Vancouver Whitecaps
-Sat Aug 1
Cleveland City Stars v Vancouver Whitecaps
Carolina RailHawks v Austin Aztex
Miami FC Blues v Montreal Impact
Minnesota Thunder v Portland Timbers

dN

Standings (with goal differential):
38 Charleston(+10)
35 Portland(+18)
35 Puerto Rico(+4)
33 Carolina(+9)
29 Rochester(+5)
24 Vancouver(+4)
24 Miami (-5)
- - Out of Playoffs - -
22 Montreal(-2)
14 Minnesota(-9)
14 Austin(-14) - had 2 points deducted for suspended player
12 Cleveland(-20)

TEAM USA

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet looks ahead 12 days to the big USA game in Mexico City. History is not on our side.

USA U18 TEAM

The team is in Belfast Northern Ireland for the annual Milk Cup. Here is the game schedule and team roster:

Matches:
-Mon Jul 27
USA 1-2 Denmark - USA goal by Will Bates.
-Wed Jul 29
USA 1-1 Germany
-Fri Jul 31
Placement Game - 5th/6th Place
USA 1-1 Israel - USA win 5-4 on Penalty's

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

John Haydon of the Washington Times talks to Brad Guzan about a second season as backup to Brad Friedel at Aston Villa.

dN

Game Action:

CROATIA - 1.HNL
-Sat Aug 1
Johann Smith - Rijeka - at Varteks

DENMARK - Superliga
-Sun Aug 2
Dan Califf - Midtjylland - at Brondby
Marcus Tracy - AaB - at Koge
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - v Randers
-Mon Aug 3
Benny Feilhaber - AGF - v Odense
Jeremiah White - AGF - v Odense

FRANCE - Coupe de la Ligue
-Sat Aug 1
Quentin Westburg - Troyes - v Nantes

GERMANY - DFB Pokal
-Fri Jul 31
Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern - won 0-1 at Eintract Braunschweig
-Sat Aug 1
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - at FSV Frankfurt
Grover Gibson - Rot Weiss Ahlen - at Wacker Burghausen
Matt Taylor - Frankfurt - v Monchengladbach
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - at Germania Dattenfeld
-Sun Aug 2
David Yelldell - Koblenz - at Concordia Hamburg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - at Eintracht Trier

IRELAND - Premier Division
-Sun Aug 2
Ryan Guy - St Patrick's Athletic - v Dundalk

NORWAY - Tippeligaen
-Sat Aug 1
Hunter Freeman - Start - at Molde
Clarence Goodson - Start - at Molde
Brian Waltrip - Molde - v Start
-Sun Aug 2
Matthew Allen - Sandefjord - at Bodo Glimt
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - v Aalesunds
Troy Perkins - Valerenga - at Stromsgodset

NORWAY - Adeccoligaen
-Sun Aug 2
Jay Needham - Alta - v Sogndal
Chris Rodd - Bryne - v Skeid Oslo

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
-Mon Aug 3
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - v Orgryte
Ryan Raybould - Gelfe - v Djurgardens

SWEDEN - Superettan
-Sun Aug 2
Sam Brill - Ljungskile - v Sirius Uppsala
Ryan Miller - Ljungskile - v Sirius Uppsala
Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile - v Sirius Uppsala

EUROPE

Wolfsburg has bought forward Obafemi Martins from Newcastle.

AUSTRALIA

From AFP: "Footballers in Australia found guilty of diving face a two-match ban under new disciplinary measures announced by Football Federation Australia." I love it. I hope it's a huge success and it sweeps the world of football by storm!

ENDERS

The National Premier Soccer League here in America (amatuer), is playing their Final Four championship tournament in Madison WI this weekend. And the league is providing a live audio webcast of the games. I know video would be nice, but don't get picky on me. You can check out all the info right here. Good luck to all the teams.

Some News for Thu Jul 30

STARTERS

Shaquille O'Neil wants a piece of Beckman, and is constantly haranguing him on Twitter. Here's is today's message: THE_REAL_SHAQ: Its official, today is david beckham is scared of shaq, day, he should b scared, he can never score a goal on me

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Puerto Rico Islanders did it again! Toronto is the inaugural USL First Division victim this year, going down 0-1 at home to Puerto Rico, who used every stalling tactic known to mankind to hold down an improbable win.

dN

Preliminary Round 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue Jul 28
DC United (USA) 1-1 Luis Angel Firpo (El Sal) - DCU goal by Jaime Moreno(PK). LAF goal by Mario Benitez.
Pachuca (Mex) 3-0 Jalapa (Guate) - Pach goals by Juan Carlos Cacho, Gabriel Caballero & Chaco Gimenez.
-Wed Jul 29
Toronto FC (Can) 0-1 Puerto Rico Islanders (PR) - PRI goal by Kendall Jagdeosingh.
Match report by Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star.
Match report by Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun.
Match report by Paul Attfield of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
San Francisco (Pana) 2-0 San Juan Jabloteh (TnT) - SF goals by Carlos Vilarete(PK) & Temistocles Perez.
Liberia Mia (CR) 3-0 Real Espana (Hond) - Lib goals by Michael Umana(PK) & Alejandro Alpizar(2).
-Thu Jul 30
W Connection (TnT) v New York Red Bulls (USA) - 7pm on FSC
Herediano (CR) v Cruz Azul (Mex) - 9pm
Olimpia (Hond) v Arabe Unido (Pana) - 9pm

dN

The winners of these series move into the group stage.

dN

If Toronto were a rock band, then last night they choked on their own vomit. They survived, but it's leaving a very bad taste in their mouth today.

dN

Ryan Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that in defeat Toronto may have found a great one, 18 year old Gambian centerback Emmanuel Gomez.
-However, I have to take issue with something Johnston wrote: "Fans were right to throw (glasses of water) on the field in the dying moments..." No chance! Never ever is that acceptable. And I think its dumb to write such a thing, especially in Toronto where they have been throwing things at opposing players since day 1. The team should be given a sharp warning immediately, and then fined every time it happens again. At some point if it doesn't stop you do what Europe has turned to - play a home game in an empty stadium. That should do the trick. (Editors note: I see where Johnston went back later and added a line about "not throwing things on the field". Good move.)

MLS ALL-STAR GAME

One word: Tim-May! The MLS All-Stars suffered their first ever loss last night, tying Everton 1-1 in regulation, and losing 4-3 on Penalty Kicks. It was a very entertaining game. Between Tim Howard and Landon Donovan you can see that our national team is in good hands for the rest of World Cup qualifying, as they were both superb.

dN

Match:
-Wed Jul 29
MLS All-Stars 1-1 Everton (England) - Ever wins game - on PK's. MLS goal by Brad Davis. Ever goal by Luis Saha.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
Attendance:
Game MVP: Tim Howard

dN

The game ended tied so they immediately went to Penalty Kicks to determine the winner, and the most exciting part of that was seeing Kasey Keller face off against his successor Tim Howard. Great drama.

dN

The 2 Salt Lake City daily newspapers have the best post-game coverage.
Salt Lake Tribune:
Howard's PK stops propel Everton to win by Michael C Lewis.
MLS All-Stars' loss mars a perfect night by Kurt Kragthorpe.
Beckerman gets the first star turn by Michael C Lewis.
Midfielder Williams grateful for support as his wife battles leukemia by Tony James
Deseret News:
A Shootout In Sandy by James Edward.
Former understudy bests Keller in All-Star shootout by James Edward.
RSL players get in on the action by Michael Black.
Soccer can find niche in America by Brad Rock. No shit Sherlock.

dN

The Everton official website on Howards outstanding performance.
-Words from Howard himself.

dN

On a bad note: Seattle midfielder Freddie Ljungberg was taken to the hospital last night after suffering from an extreme migraine headache, which was so bad at one point that it affected his vision. No wonder he fluffed that last PK.

MLS

New York has released left sided winger Khano Smith.

dN

Seattle has Moroccan outside midfielder Rida Douliazale in for look. He has been playing for Wydad Casablanca but appears to be without a team at this time.

dN

Soccer 365 talks to Colorado captain Pablo Mastroeni about what his team must do to continue their upward climb in the league.

MLS EXPANSION

Fans in Miami are taking it upon themselves to get their city a MLS team. Screw the doubters! Here is what they have to say:
Since Miami soccer fans have been kicked around by critics, Major League Soccer and timid investors, we’ve decided to let our voices be heard and our intentions known. We’re launching a campaign to acquire as many “season ticket dedications” as possible for a potential Major League Soccer team in Miami. A “season ticket dedication” is basically a pledge that if Miami does get a Major League Soccer team, you will buy season tickets. We need as many season ticket dedications as possible to enhance support for our case of getting an MLS team in the near future. If you want to do more than just sign up for a season ticket dedication, send an e-mail to all your friends to get them to sign up or join the Ultras at our events as we will be canvassing the local soccer community trying to get dedications.
To join them go here. (thanks to Tommy for the heads up)

MLS COACHES HOT SEAT

Are there coaches who would not be surprises if they were fired in the near future? No. Who might they be?

1. Juan Carlos Osorio - New York
2. Frank Yallop - San Jose
3. Tom Soehn - DC United
4. Denis Hamlet - Chicago
5. Curt Onalfo - Kansas City
6. Jason Kreis - Salt Lake

USL FIRST DIVISION

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 30
Charleston Battery v Austin Aztex
-Fri Jul 31
Rochester Rhinos v Vancouver Whitecaps
-Sat Aug 1
Cleveland City Stars v Vancouver Whitecaps
Carolina RailHawks v Austin Aztex
Miami FC Blues v Montreal Impact
Minnesota Thunder v Portland Timbers

dN

Standings (with goal differential):
35 Portland(+18)
35 Charleston(+9)
35 Puerto Rico(+4)
33 Carolina(+9)
29 Rochester(+7)
24 Miami (-5)
22 Vancouver(+2)
- - Out of Playoffs - -
22 Montreal(-2)
16 Austin(-13)
14 Minnesota(-9)
12 Cleveland(-20)

USA U17 TEAM

Justin Rodriguez of ESPN Soccernet reports on Jack McInerney, one of the top dogs for the current USA U17 team.

USA U18 TEAM

The team is in Belfast Northern Ireland for the annual Milk Cup. Here is the game schedule and team roster:

Matches:
-Mon Jul 27
USA 1-2 Denmark - USA goal by Will Bates.
-Wed Jul 29
USA v Germany
-Fri Jul 31
Placement Game (against team from other group - N Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel)

USA U20 TEAM

The team takes part in the Copa Ciudad de Rosario.

Matches:
-Sat Jul 25
USA 2-0 CA Tiro Federal - USA goals both by Jorge Flores.
-Mon Jul 27
USA 0-0 Uruguay - USA wins 5-4 on Penalty Kicks.
-Wed Jul 29
USA 1-3 Australia - according to reports from Australia the USA lead 1-0 in the 84th minute. Wow, what the hell happened?

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated talks to Oguchi Onyewu about his first days at AC Milan.
-My thoughts on Onyewu so far: Three preseason games at AC Milan for Oguchi Onyewu, and three performances he will want to forget. Last night against Bayern Munich was the worst yet, having a direct role in giving up two goals in a 4-1 loss. Off. The Milan fans will be ruthless about this. But I want him to succeed so bad, so let's end this for now.

dN

Paul Kennedy at Soccer America tells about the senior debut for fullback Eric Lichaj at Aston Villa. He has been with their youth teams and reserves for the past couple of seasons. Sounds like he is off to a very good start.

dN

Yanks Abroad talks to Marcus Tracy about his first full season at Aalborg in Denmark.

dN

It looks like centerback Zak Whitbread is headed from Millwall in England's League One to Peterborough United in the Championship division. But this is not a 100% done deal yet.

dN

Game Action:

UEFA Champions League - 3rd qualifying round - First Leg
-Mix Diskerud - Stabaek - lost 3-1 at FC Kobenhavn. - Second Leg is at home on Tue Aug 4.

UEFA Europa League - 3rd qualifying round - First Leg
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and went 83 minutes as they won 0-3 on the road over FK Vetra. - Second Leg is at home on Thu Aug 6.
-Ryan Guy - St Patrick's Athletic - started and played the entire match as the won 1-0 at home against PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara. - Second Leg is on the road on Thu Aug 6.
-Eddie Johnson - Fulham - was on the bench but did not play as they won 0-3 on the road over FK Vetra. - Second Leg is at home on Thu Aug 6.
-Troy Perkins - Valerenga - played the entire match but they lost at home 1-2 to PAOK. - Second Leg is on the road on Thu Aug 6.
-Johann Smith - Rijeka - came on as a sub in the 17th minute but lost 1-2 at home to FC Metalist Kharkiv. - Second Leg is on the road on Thu Aug 6.

MEXICO

Mexican Nery Castillo has been sent out on loan by his club Shakhtar Donetsk to Dnipro Dnipropetrovskm another team in Ukraine. Has any player in the world been on more teams in the past few years than this guy. He must be one hell of a team player.

ENGLAND

The Guardian Football Weekly podcast returns to the net next Thu, Aug 6. Hooray Beer. And stay thirsty my friends.

dN

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alanso has told the team that he wants to leave. Real Madrid has been drooling over him for weeks.

EUROPE

Serie A has finally released their 09-10 schedule. The opening round will be played on Sun Aug 23. Week 2 is a real doozy with Milan hosting Inter, and Roma hosting Juventus!

dN

Barcelona is not loaning midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb to Inter Milan after all. He is going to Stuttgart instead.

dN

The Reuters Football Blog is asking a question that I think many of us have wondered about: Why did Barcelona pay so much for Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

dN

The preseason German tournament DFB Pokal gets underway on July 31.

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Sports Illustrated previews the upcoming Italian Serie A season with a bleak outlook.

dN

Marseille has purchased Real Madrid left fullback Gabriel Heinze.

dN

Real Madrid has bought back their one time youth player, fullback/centerback Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool.

dN

Galatasaray has purchased Manchester City midfielder Elano.

SOUTH AMERICA

Reuters is reporting that Bolivar has been stripped of the Bolivian title they won this spring because they were using an ineligible player. Real Potosi have been named Champions now. Congrats to them.

Some News for Wed Jul 29

SPECIAL NOTE FROM NBC REGARDING MEXICO V USA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER ON AUG 12

Match: Wed Aug 12 Mexico v USA - 3pm Central time on mun2

NOTICE: According to NBC Universal TV, the obscure channel mun2 will be free for the day of the game via your regular cable or satellite system.

STARTERS

Mexico has released a 20 player roster for the game on Aug 12 v USA. See it below in the Mexico section.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Preliminary Round 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue Jul 28
DC United (USA) 1-1 Luis Angel Firpo (El Sal) - DCU goal by Jaime Moreno(PK). LAF goal by Mario Benitez.
Match report from the Washington Times.
Match report from the Washington Post.
Pachuca (Mex) 3-0 Jalapa (Guate) - Pach goals by Juan Carlos Cacho, Gabriel Caballero & Chaco Gimenez.
-Wed Jul 29
Toronto FC (Can) v Puerto Rico Islanders (PR) - 7pm Central on FSC
San Francisco (Pana) v San Juan Jabloteh (TnT) - 7pm Central
Liberia (CR) v Real Espana (Hond) - 9pm Central
-Thu Jul 30
W Connection (TnT) v New York Red Bulls (USA) - 7pm Central on FSC
Herediano (CR) v Cruz Azul (Mex) - 9pm Central
Olimpia (Hond) v Arabe Unido (Pana) - 9pm Central

The winners of these series move into the group stage.

dN

Yet another wretched performance from DC United in the CCL. They have now played 7 games in this tournament (last year and this) and have yet to win a game (5 losses and 2 draws right?). What the hell is going on with the club that has by far the most experience in the entire league with international matches. Something has to give.

dN

Ben Rycroft of Metro-Toronto previews tonight’s TFC v PRI game.

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The Toronto Star previews TFC v Puerto Rico.

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Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun looks at TFC's injury list.

dN

The Trinidad & Tobago Guardian previews San Juan Jabloteh's match in Panama tonight.

dN

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer previews the New York trip to face W Connection on Thursday, with quotes from coach and players.

MLS ALL-STAR GAME

Match:
-Wed Jul 29
MLS All-Stars v Everton (England) - 8:30pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT

dN

There is a very strong chance that Landon Donovan will not play tonight due to a strained left calf muscle.

dN

Can anyone tell me why Will Johnson is on this team??? Baffling!

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports examines the importance of the All Star game in this summer of heavy soccer schedules from leagues to cups to internationals to visiting friendlies.

dN

AP talks to Kasey Keller about his career and his new league. Via ESPN Soccernet.

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The Liverpool Echo talks to Everton manager David Moyes who wants to end the MLS All Star's perfect record.

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Michael Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune previews the game mainly from the side of the RSL players on the roster.

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James Edward of the Deseret News previews tonight's game.

dN

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on the Dynamo's 4 All Stars: Geoff Cameron, Brad Davis, Stuart Holden, and coach Dominic Kinnear.
-Fallas on his blog Soccer y Futbol has more from Cameron, about fellow centerback Bobby Boswell. I especially agree with Boswell deserving to be on this All Star squad more than Cameron.

dN

Jose Romero of the Seattle Times on the Sounders Fredy Montero & Jhon Kennedy Hurtado - All Stars and the Colombian dynamic duo.
-Romero on the papers Sounders blog also has some video of last nights All Star event, and a plethora of notes on Sounders players.
-And Romero is predicting this starting lineup (3-4):
Keller
Conde-Marshall-Cameron
Holden-Ljungberg-Beckerman-Davis
Blanco-Casey-Montero

dN

Check out these very cool customized shoes Stuart Holden will be wearing tonight:









I have been thinking about doing this myself lately - you can pick all the colors, and other details you can customize all you want. Check it out here. They have several different styles of shoes to choose from too. I am looking at the Stan Smiths.

MLS

Toronto is adding approximately 1000 more seats (movable bleachers) in the north end of BMO Field. Nice.

dN

James Edward of the Deseret News talks to Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller who got to go for a ride in a Navy Blue Angels stunt jet. Wow.

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch on the best player in the league, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who will not be at the All Star game due to injury.

dN

A couple of old-timey writers from the Philadelphia Inquirer kick around the idea of the popularity of MLS, while mainly just kicking MLS, and ignoring their own role in changing perceptions.

dN

And the Philadelphia Daily News is no better with their very poorly researched article on the popularity of the MLS game. Did these bunch of idiots (I will not call them journalists because that would assume they know how to do their job properly) all get together and decide to publish this crap on the same day? They do share a website! [CORRECTION: They are not "owned by the same company", as I initially wrote. Thanks to BD for the knowledge!]

dN

The Seattle Times with an article on the announcer for the Sounders, who comes from a basketball background, but is catching up quick.

dN

According to The Bay Soccer, San Jose has signed 34 year old Brazilian centerback Andre Luiz (Moreira) from Jaguares of Chiapas in Mexico.
-Add this to the signing of El Salvadoran midfielder Ramon Sanchez who debuted with the club last weekend, and the Quakes are finally making some positive roster moves. But it may be way too late for this season.

Colorado has released left winger Terry Cooke. And taking his place on the roster is Scottish wide midfielder Jamie Smith, from Aberdeen in the SPL. The teams official blog has words from coach Gary Smith. So it's basically one player taking anothers spot on the field.

MLS EXPANSION

Kristian Dyer of ESPN Soccernet looks at how Philadelphia will follow in the expansion wake of highly successful Seattle.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Eric Wynalda has replaced Steven Cohen as co-host (along with Nick Webster) of Fox Soccer Channel's Monday night live call-in show Fox Football Fone-in. Will this make you more or less likely to watch? For me it's easy, I never liked the show with Cohen so I will at least check it out.
-The Liverpool people who have been leading a boycott of Cohen after he repeatedly said things they take offense too over the Hillsboro tragedy are very happy today.

dN

Luckily for us and our sanity today, the Wall Street Journal has published a much more upbeat and well researched article on the state of the game in our country. The only misstep with this article is quoting Sepp Blatter who over the years has proven he is clueless about the game in our country. (IE: Just last week Blatter said that MLS plays most of their games in NFL stadiums.)

dN

Jonathan Tannenbaum of Philly.com on the probability of Philadelphia's Lincoln Field hosting a World Cup game.

USA U18 TEAM

The team has headed to Belfast Northern Ireland for the annual Milk Cup.

Matches:
-Mon Jul 27
USA 1-2 Denmark - USA goal by Will Bates.
-Wed Jul 29
USA 1-1 Germany - USA goal by ???.
-Fri Jul 31
Placement Game - 5th/6th Place
USA v Israel

USA U20 TEAM

The team takes part in the Copa Ciudad de Rosario.

Matches:
-Sat Jul 25
USA 2-0 CA Tiro Federal - USA goals both by Jorge Flores.
-Mon Jul 27
USA 0-0 Uruguay - USA wins 5-4 on Penalty Kicks.
-Wed Jul 29
USA v Australia

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Regular reader HDP says that Italian press is reporting Ricardo Clark will sign with Livorno at the end of the MLS season, and can report when the January transfer window opens. Livorno are no longer interested in Landon Donovan due to price.

dN

In-Game Action:

Mix Diskerud - Stabaek
UEFA Champions League - 3rd qualifying round
First Leg
-Wed Jul 29
L 3-1 at FC Kobenhavn (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Second Leg
-Tue Aug 4
v FC Kobenhavn

dN

Clint Dempsey & Eddie Johnson - Fulham
UEFA Europa League - 3rd qualifying round
First Leg
-Thu Jul 30
at FK Vetra (Vilnius, Lithuanian)
Second Leg
-Thu Aug 6
v FK Vetra

dN

Johann Smith - Rijeka
UEFA Europa League - 3rd round qualifying
First Leg
-Thu Jul 30
FC Metalist Kharkiv (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
Second Leg
-Thu Aug 6
FC Metalist Kharkiv

dN

Ryan Guy - St Patrick's Athletic
UEFA Europa League - 3rd round qualifying
First Leg
-Thu Jul 30
PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara (Samara, Russia)
Second Leg
-Thu Aug 6
PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara

dN

Brian West - Fredrikstad - Is he still actually there?
UEFA Europa League - 3rd round qualifying
First Leg
-Thu Jul 30
v KKS Lech Poznan (Poznan, Poland)
Second Leg
-Thu Aug 6
at KKS Lech Poznan

CONCACAF

The Federation has announced the full list of award winners from the just ended Gold Cup:

Most Valuable Player Award:
Giovani dos Santos (MEX)

Golden Boot Award:
Mighel Sabah (MEX)

Best Goalkeeper Award:
Keilor Navas (CRC)

Fair Play Award:
United States

All-Tournament Team
G:
Keilor Navas (CRC)
Guillermo Ochoa (MEX)
D:
Mike Klukowski (CAN)
Freddy Fernandez (CRC)
Fausto Pinto (MEX)
Luis Moreno (PAN)
Clarence Goodson (USA)
Chad Marshall (USA)
M:
Julian de Guzman (CAN)
Celso Borges (CRC)
Stephane Auvray (GLP)
Gerardo Torrado (MEX)
Giovani dos Santos (MEX)
Stuart Holden (USA)
F:
Alvaro Saborio (CRC)
Walter Martinez (HON)
Miguel Sabah (MEX)
Kenny Cooper (USA)

MEXICO

The national team roster has been announced for the next World Cup qualifier on Wed Aug 12 at home v USA:
G:
Jose de Jesus Corona - Cruz Azul
Guillermo Ochoa - Club America
D:
Jose Antonio Castro - UANL Tigres
Aaron Galindo - Guadalajara Chivas
Efrain Juarez - UNAM Pumas
Jonny Magallon - Guadalajara Chivas
Rafa Marquez - Barcelona
Ricardo Osorio - Stuttgart
Oscar Rojas - Club America
Carlos Salcido - PSV Eindhoven
M:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Israel Castro - UNAM Pumas
Andres Guardado - Deportivo La Coruna
Gerardo Torrado - Cruz Azul
F:
Nery Castillo - Shakhtar Donetsk
Guillermo Franco - no club
Alberto Medina - Guadalajara Chivas
Miguel Sabah - Morelia Monarcas
Giovani dos Santos - Tottenham Hotspur
Carlos Vela - Arsenal

ENGLAND

Man City continue to spend buying centerback Kolo Toure from Arsenal.

EUROPE

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on Russian team Dynamo Moscow, who are searching for a way into the elite of Europe.

dN

FIFA.com has a Q & A with fullback Gianluca Zambrotta who is back in Italy with AC Milan. And he ranks Messi above Zidane, Ronaldinho & Kaka!

dN

FYI - the new Inter strike partners Samuel Eto'o & Diego Milito scores 32 & 24 goals respectively last season. Beware.

UEFA CHAMPIONS & EUROPA LEAGUES

Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round, First Leg matches are Tue & Wed - here are the matches and results.

dN

Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round, First Leg matches are Thu - here are the matches and results.

SOUTH AMERICA

When Saturday Comes takes a look at the rise of the national team in Chile. They have been lead by former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa, who is quite the character.
-After 14 of the 18 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers have been played Chile sits in second place behind Brazil. Even more amazing is that they are doing it with a cast of little known players.

ENDERS

Me & my TV broadcasting hero - Shepp Messing! Do you think I'll ever get to pose for Playgirl?






























Photo taken in fall '09 at the Home Depot Center during the MLS Cup. Provided by my pal KJ.

Some News for Tue Jul 28

STARTERS

I got an email from the folks at NBC Universal last night telling me that the August 12 Mexico v USA World Cup Qualifying game on mun2 (channel name) should be available to EVERYONE with cable or satellite. Here is their message: "NBC Universal has made mun2 free for the day of the game, August 12. To get mun2 call your cable, satellite or telco provider."
-Do we trust our local cable companies to come through with this?? Let's all hope it works. But I know some of you will be angry that day.

dN

USA forward Brian Ching to Mexico after humiliating 5-0 loss, looking ahead to Aug 12 Mex v USA World Cup qualifying match: "If they think that game is going to be anything like this, they've got another thing coming. It's not going to be hard to carry over these emotions."

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Here we go with year 2 of the new tournament. Matches begin tonight!

dN

Preliminary Round 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue Jul 28
DC United (USA) v Luis Angel Firpo (El Sal) - 7pm Central on FSC
Pachuca (Mex) v Jalapa (Guate) - 9pm Central
-Wed Jul 29
Toronto FC (Can) v Puerto Rico Islanders (PR) - 7pm on FSC
San Francisco (Pana) v San Juan Jabloteh (TnT) - 7pm
Liberia (CR) v Real Espana (Hond) - 9pm
-Thu Jul 30
W Connection (TnT) v New York Red Bulls (USA) - 7pm on FSC
Herediano (CR) v Cruz Azul (Mex) - 9pm
Olimpia (Hond) v Arabe Unido (Pana) - 9pm

dN

The Washington Post previews tonight's DC v Firpo game.

dN

Don Girrard of the Toronto Star previews TFC v Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

dN

Ryan Johnston of Sportsnet on TFC's growing injury list.

dN

Johnston also talks to TFC manager Chris Cummins about this game against PR.

dN

Brian Lewis of the NY Post talks to Red Bulls technical director Jeff Agoos about the teams dire need for success in the CCL.

MLS ALL-STAR GAME

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune gives us this cool piece of info on their RSL blog:
"Javier Morales will become the latest RSL player to honor teammate Andy Williams by wearing his jersey number. Morales will wear No. 77 in the MLS All-Star Game. The gesture is meant as a show of support for Williams, whose wife Marcia has been battling leukemia."

dN

Match:
-Wed Jul 29
MLS All-Stars v Everton (England) - 8:30pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT

dN

From Jose Romero of the Seattle Times on his blog:
"LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan in remained in Los Angeles Monday and Tuesday in order to rest and get treatment on a strained left calf muscle. He will join the MLS All-Stars on Wednesday and is expected to be able to play against Everton."

dN

Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune with an article on RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman who has just returned from Team USA and the Gold Cup in time for the All Star Game.

dN

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on that city hosting next years All Star game.

dN

James Edward of the Deseret News on the MLS star power.

dN

Edward also reports on the Real Salt Lake players on the All Star team that will get to play in front of their home fans.

dN

Dan Rassmussen of the Deseret News calls Everton manager David Moyes one of the best.

dN

The Liverpool Echo talks to Everton's American keeper Tim Howard about the teams season ahead - especially the new big money from Manchester City.

dN

Here are the other 14 MLS players that have been given 2009 All-Star status but will not take part in the match:
G:
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Donovan Ricketts - Los Angeles Galaxy
D:
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Frankie Hejduk - Columbus Crew
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
M:
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
Shalrie Joseph - New England Revolution
Dwayne De Rosario - Toronto FC
Ricardo Clark - Houston Dynamo
Paulo Nagamura - Chivas USA
Amado Guevara - Toronto FC
F:
Brian McBride - Chicago Fire
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls

dN

These players should have been recognized as well - they have been great so far this season:
Bobby Boswell - Houston Dynamo
Omar Cummings - Colorado Rapids
Robbie Findley - Real Salt Lake
Ryan Johnson - San Jose Earthquakes
Clint Mathis - Real Salt Lake
Bryan Namoff - DC United

MLS

The person from the LA Riot Squad that jumped on the field to answer David Beckman's call for a challenge and was then banned for life from Home Depot center has had that ban removed at the request of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Mr Beckman. Nice. The guy was still an idiot (I am referring to both of them.)

dN

Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald makes the case for the Chicago Fire to clean house at the end of this season. All reasonable ideas that I can see happening.

dN

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer reports that to no one's surprised Red Bulls forward and captain Juan Pablo Angel is very upset about the plight of his team.

dN

Kansas City has signed 29 year old Hungarian forward Zoltan Hercegfalvi from Honved FC in Hungary. He will be known as Zoltan on his shirt. All Hail Zoltan! Oh, sorry that's Voltron.

Adam Cristman finally made his KC debut last weekend coming on as a sub in the 63rd minute.

dN

Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun with a review of the league up to this point in the season, and a look toward the playoffs.

dN

Jose Romero of the Seattle Times sees the 4 All Stars for Seattle Sounders as another sign of a great first year.

dN

Jack Bell of the NY Times talks to Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg about his first season in MLS so far. And some other league notes.

dN

Brian Lewis of the NY Post with the latest Red Bulls news.

dN

A local KC blogger, non-soccer, attends the KC v LA game last Saturday and gives his perspective on the night. Interesting perspective. (Thanks to K for this one)

MLS EXPANSION

Ben Rycroft of Metro-Toronto expects the announcement of Montreal as team 19 any day now.

USL FIRST DIVISION

Forward Gregory Richardson of Carolina has been named the USL-1 Player of the Week.

dN

Here is the Team of the Week:
G:
Bill Gaudette - Puerto Rico - Five saves in 0-0 draw at Portland
D:
Matt Bobo - Charleston - Goal in 2-1 win over Carolina
Stephen Keel - Portland - Led team in 0-0 draw against Puerto Rico
Nigel Henry - Puerto Rico - Led team in 0-0 draw at Portland
M:
Tyrell Burgess - Vancouver - Assist in 4-2 win over Puerto Rico
AJ Godbolt - Austin - Goal, assist in 2-2 draw against Montreal
Ciaran O'Brien - Montreal - Two assists in 4-1 win over Cleveland
Tiger Fitzpatrick - Rochester - Two assists in 4-1 win over Cleveland
F:
Gifton Noel-Williams - Austin - Goal, assist in 2-2 draw against Montreal
Gregory Richardson - Carolina - Three goals in 4-0 win over Miami
Paulo Araujo - Miami - Two goals in 2-1 win at Minnesota

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Beau Dure of USA Today on his blog The Netminder does Q & A with Bob Ley of ESPN who will be one of the World Cup US market coverage hosts from South Africa next summer.

TEAM USA

Phil Schoen (nice guy - good commentator) and Marcelo Balboa (nice guy - dull commentator) have been hired to announce the Mexico v USA World Cup qualifier next month. They will NOT be at the game, they will be somewhere here in the USA calling it off a TV screen. Lame.

dN

USMNT Official Blog

USA U18 TEAM

The team has headed to Belfast Northern Ireland for the annual Milk Cup. Here is the USA game schedule:

Matches:
-Mon Jul 27
USA 1-2 Denmark - USA goal by Will Bates.
-Wed Jul 29
USA v Germany
-Fri Jul 31
Placement Game (against team from other group - N Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel)

USA U20 TEAM

The team takes part in the Copa Ciudad de Rosario.

Matches:
-Sat Jul 25
USA 2-0 CA Tiro Federal - USA goals both by Jorge Flores.
-Mon Jul 27
USA 0-0 Uruguay - USA wins 5-4 on Penalty Kicks.
-Wed Jul 29
USA v Australia

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle reports that while Houston is talking to Livorno about selling Ricardo Clark, the initial offer has been turned down. I guess that means Clark will walk when the season ends because his contract expires on Dec 31.

dN

Clint Dempsey & Eddie Johnson with Fulham jump into UEFA Europa League action this week as they travel to FK Vetra of Vilnius, Lithuanian on Thursday for their First Leg match.

ENGLAND

EPL Talk as a treat for Chelsea fans, an audio interview with centerback John Terry and manager Carlo Ancelotti, from Dallas TX.

EUROPE

Jeffrey Marcus of the NY Times blog Goal takes a shot at breaking down the Eto'o for Ibrahimovic swap between Barca and Inter.

UEFA CHAMPIONS & EUROPA LEAGUES

Celtic, Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos & Sporting are the biggest names to joining the Champions League today.

Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round, First Leg matches are Tue & Wed - here are the matches and results.

dN

Fulham, Steaua, Galatasaray, PSV, Roma, Lille, Fenerbahce, Athletic Bilbao & Hamburg are the biggest names to joining the Europa League this round.

Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round, First Leg matches are Thu - here are the matches and results.

ASIA

Ever wondered what the running track around some fields is really used for? The Chinese League has added a new wrinkle to their matches. It's called "Let's Chase the Ref." (thanks to JJ for this one)

ENDERS

Our friends at Bumpy Pitch have a bitchin' new shirt (called A View From The Shed End) hitting the streets for all you soccer-underground music fans:
"The shirt is inspired by the punk rock and soccer scenes of the late 1970's / 80's in London. The graphic depicts a classic punk in the Shed End of Stamford Bridge with the terrace end of the stadium directly across from him. We worked on the shirt with an artist named Nick Egan who is from London and was a fixture on the punk scene during this time. He also designed record covers, t-shirts and clothing for the likes of The Clash, the Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. It touches on how soccer and music inspire one another and the culture around them, and I hope this continues to show the lifestyle and culture of the sport."

Some News for Mon Jul 27

STARTERS

The streak is over. Mexico beats the USA in America for the first time in ages. And Holy Moly did they win! That second 45 minutes was brutal for any USA player or fan. Wow. The first Mexigoal was on a completely bogus Penalty call, and then the dyke colapsyed for our team. It was ugly stuff from minute 55 on. And the result is exactly what I hoped did not happen. It gives Mexico new confidence going into next months World Cup Qualifier. Yes, it will be a very different USA team, but it will be a fairly similar Mexican squad.

dN

Is Ricardo Clark of Houston out the door to Livorno in Italy?? Hmmmmm. They can spend money to get him today, or pay nothing to get him in January. My money is on January.

dN

This, my friends, is the best goal in MLS this season by far! Claudio Lopez! Last time I saw something that spectacular it was Dwayne De Rosario burning Zach Thornton. And as my friend Paul said after seeing this goal, LA keeper Donovan Ricketts didn't go off injured after this, he went off embarrassed. I said he probably left the stadium immediately, went to a car rental agency, got a vehicle and is still driving back to LA.

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

Official Gold Cup Website

dN

Final
-Sun Jul 26
USA 0-5 Mexico - Mex goals by Gerardo Torrado(PK), Giovani Dos Santos, Carlos Vela, Jose Castro & Guillermo Franco.
Venue: Giants Stadium - East Rutherford NJ
Attendance: 79,156
Ejections: Jay Heaps - USA - Two Yellow cards.

dN

Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach & players from US Soccer.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by Brian Lewis of the NY Post.
Match report by Jere Longman of the NY Times.
Post game analysis by Brent Latham of Yanks Abroad.
Post game analysis by Andrea Canales at Sports Illustrated.

dN

The 79,156 in attendance was the largest ever soccer crowd at Giants Stadium.

dN

du Nord 3 Stars of the Game
3. Troy Perkins - without him it could have been even worse. The only guy who gave it a full 90.
2. Carlos Vela - came on at half time for Mexico and changed the whole game with his speed, style and unpredictability.
1. Giovanni Dos Santos - sure I hate him, and he is a spoiled child, but you have to admit that he tore the USA defense to shreds in those last 35 minutes.

TEAM USA GOLD CUP

My thoughts, and those of a couple other people too:

I want to say this with it being an excuse: That was not a foul that was given a Penalty against the USA. No foul at all. Bogus.

dN

My biggest problem with this game was again the mental weakness of the team. No matter who the players are, no matter what type of game it is, and no matter where it is played, we have still seen way too many moments of mental weakness. Just going back over the last 2 months we have seen the team fall apart for a full 90 minutes down in Costa Rica, the start of the game v Honduras, the second half against Italy, the start of the game against Brazil, a week later in the second half against Brazil again, the start of the second half against Panama, and today the final third of the game against Mexico. That is very troubling to me.

dN

In the end you can only say that is was a completely humiliating loss for the USA, and some serious look at tournament decision making should be taken up.

dN

The loss ended the USA's record streak of 58 games at home without a loss against CONCACAF teams.

dN

Our friend AdSL did some research on big USA losses and came back with this sad info:
USSoccer says that this was the first time since Czechoslovakia in 1990 that the US let in 5 goals, but that was a 5-1 loss. To find the last time we lost by 5, you have to go back to June of 1985, when we lost 0-5 to England in Los Angeles. To find a worse result, you have to go all the way back to 1979 when we lost 6-0 to France in East Rutherford NJ.

dN

The USA has played 13 games in the past 54 days. Wow! That's one every 4 days.

dN

Jay Greenbuerg of the NY Post says Bob Bradley deserves our respect. He has mine.

dN

USMNT Official Blog

dN

Jere Longman of the NY Times with an article on Houston midfielder Stuart Holden and his contributions to the team during this tournament. (posted before the Final)

MLS

Some big moves in the standings this weekend:
-Columbus leaps to the top in the East. It has taken them to Week 19 to climb back to where they ended last season.
-Los Angeles & Colorado both move up in the Wild Card spots, knocking Toronto back out of the playoff picture for now.
-And don't look now, but New England who have struggled with injuries all season are only a few points out of the last playoff spot, and they have a couple of games in hand on everyone.

dN

MLS Week 19 Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 24
Real Salt Lake 4-2 FC Dallas - RSL goals by Yura Movsisyan(2), Robbie Findley(PK) & Daniel Torres(OG). FCD goals by Jeff Cunningham & Dave Van Den Bergh.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
Attendance: 18.822
-Sat Jul 25
Seattle Sounders FC 0-0 Chicago Fire
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Attendance: 32,405
Columbus Crew 3-2 Toronto FC - CC goals by Eddie Gaven, Steven Lenhart & Jason Garey. TFC goals by Dwayne De Rosario & Ali Gerba.
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Attendance: 13,775
Houston Dynamo 0-1 New England Revolution - NER goal by Kheli Dube.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 15,179
Kansas City Wizards 1-1 Los Angeles Galaxy - KCW goal by Claudio Lopez. LAG goal by Landon Donovan.
Venue: Community America Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 11,906
Colorado Rapids 4-0 New York Red Bulls - CR goals by Jacob Peterson, Pat Noonan, Nick LaBrocca & Mehdi Ballouchy.
Venue: Dicks Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Attendance: 16,816
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 DC United - SJE goals by Ryan Johnson & Cornell Glen(PK). DCU goals by Christian Gomez(2 - one via PK).
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Attendance: 9,022

dN

EJECTIONS:
Coach Jason Kreis - RSL - Red Card
Drew Moor - FCD - Red Card
John Thorrington - CF - 2 Yellow Cards
Freddie Ljungberg - SSFC - 2 Yellow Cards
Sinisa Ubiparapovic - NYRB - Red Card

dN

Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan has been named the league's Player of the Week.

dN

Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer turns an old adage sideways: You usually hear people say "It's easier to fire the coach than the whole team!" Well Lewis says "Fire the coach, AND the entire team."

dN

Some chucklehead at the Kansas City Star informs us what is wrong with MLS and how the problems can be fixed. Wow, this guy is a genius. We have never seen this level of brilliance around soccer parts before.

dN

Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated on the return of Danny Szetela to MLS (DC United) from a stint in Spain and Italy. Plus word on Arturo Alvarez of San Jose switching national team alliances to El Salvador.

dN

The Salt Lake Tribune on the evolution of Landon Donovan.

dN

The Washington Post blog Soccer Insider has a Q & A with DC United owner Will Chang about a stadium for his team.

dN

I hear we are about to see Joseph Ngwenya back in Houston Dynamo hunting orange real soon. Or is that highway construction orange?

dN

Our main man Claude Wormbridge in London who runs the fine Fulham blog Craven Cottage Newsround sent us this odd/interesting link to a Seattle sports blog called USS Mariner, which examines the legal text on the back of Seattle Sounders game tickets. Check this out:
The ticket holder will not transmit or aid in transmitting any picture, account or description (whether text, data or visual) in any media now or hereafter existing of all or any part of the Events.
So technically I shouldn't even be telling you this, or giving you the scores on any Sounders home matches. Shame on me. They are weird.

dN

MLS Top Goal Scorers:
10 Guillermo Barros Schelotto
9 Fredy Montero
8 Landon Donovan
8 Conor Casey
7 Dwayne De Rosario
7 Robbie Findley
7 Ryan Johnson
7 Juan Pablo Angel
7 Kenny Cooper

THE BEX MELTDOWN

Bexy-poo got into it with yet another fan, this time during the game in Kansas City on Saturday night. Obviously that massive $1000 fine from the league on Friday did not teach him a lession. Shall we go for $2000 this time. I doubt it very much.
-The LA Weekly with a decent summary of incident #2.

MLS ALL-STAR GAME

Match:
-Wed Jul 29
MLS All-Stars v Everton (England) - 8:30pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT

dN

Everton lost 1-0 to River Plate of Argentina in Edmonton Alberta on Saturday night.
-Tim Howard did not play.
-Attendance was a sad 15,800 in a 60k seater.

dN

3 changes have taken place on the MLS All-Star Roster:
-Will Johnson midfielder from Real Salt Lake replaces Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching.
-Bakary Soumare defender from Chicago Fire replaces New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph.
-Zach Thornton goalkeeper from Chivas USA replaces Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

dN

And here's the rest of the roster:
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC - GK
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo - D
Wilman Conde - Chicago Fire - D
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado - Seattle Sounders FC - D
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew - D
Davy Arnaud - Kansas City Wizards - M
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake - M
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire - M
Brad Davis - Houston Dynamo - M
Stuart Holden - Houston Dynamo - M
Freddie Ljungberg - Seattle Sounders FC -
Javier Morales - Real Salt Lake - M
Conor Casey - Colorado Rapids - F
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy - F
Fredy Montero - Seattle Sounders FC - F

dN

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune talks to MLS All Stars to get their view on the quality of this team. And what players new to the league think of the whole deal.

dN

Salt Lake Trib with other notes on the game, including Donovan on Beckman.

dN

MLS has announced that the 2010 All Star game will take place in the swealtering heat and humidity of Houston. Wear linen.
-Does this mean the 2010 MLS Cup goes to the brand new Red Bull Arena in New Jersey?

USL FIRST DIVISION

It's now a three way jam up at the top. I guess that makes Charleston the Lucky Pierre.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Thu, July 23, 2009
Portland Timbers 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Fri, July 24, 2009
Charleston Battery 2-1 Carolina RailHawks
Minnesota Thunder 1-2 Miami FC Blues
-Sat, July 25, 2009
Rochester Rhinos 4-1 Cleveland City Stars
Austin Aztex 2-2 Montreal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps 4-2 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Jul 26
Carolina RailHawks 4-0 Miami FC Blues

dN

Standings (with goal differential):
35 Portland(+18)
35 Charleston(+9)
35 Puerto Rico(+4)
33 Carolina(+9)
29 Rochester(+7)
24 Miami (-5)
22 Vancouver(+2)
- - Out of Playoffs - -
22 Montreal(-2)
16 Austin(-13)
14 Minnesota(-9)
12 Cleveland(-20)

SOCCER IN AMERICA

US Soccer gives us word of FIFA Honcho Sepp Blatter's visit to America this past weekend. He has his two main bo-bo's in tow: CONCACAF President Jack Warner & FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke. Whoooo-Wee! Presumably Blatter is taking the countries temperature for football, and judging whether or not we are worthy of hosting another World Cup. I would assume he has a guy or two that walks a few hundred feet behind him & his posse collecting the bags of money. I kid, I kid. That would never happen. Come on you cynical people. Sepp, his gang, and our Honcho's Sunil Gulati & Don Garber, also get a sit down with Prez Obama. How big is that? (Thanks to Maia for the heads up.)

USA U17 TEAM

The USA has won the 2009 Campeoes da Copa Macae Sub 17 in Brazil!

dN

Although, it must be said that the USA was in the tournament against 11 Brazilian club teams. So yes it's a trophy, but.....

dN

Semifinal Matches:
-Sat Jul 25
USA 3-0 Fluminense
Flamengo 2-2 Funorte - Fun win it 4-3 on PK's.

dN

Final Match:
-Sun Jul 26
USA 0-0 Funorte - USA wins it 4-2 on Penalty Kicks after a scoreless match.
-Funote EC is a small club based in the state of Minas Gerais. The team was only established in 2002, and became professional in 2007. Their top team plays in the 2nd division of their state competition - Campeonato Mineiro.

USA U18 TEAM

The team has headed to Belfast Northern Ireland for the annual Milk Cup. Here is the game schedule and team roster:

dN

Matches:
-Mon Jul 27
USA v Denmark
-Wed Jul 29
USA v Germany
-Fri Jul 31
Placement Game (against team from other group - N Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel)

USA U20 TEAM

The team takes part in the Copa Ciudad de Rosario.

dN

Matches:
-Mon Jul 27
USA v Uruguay
-Wed Jul 29
USA v Australia

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Big games for Benny Feilhaber and Ale Bedoya! See below for details.

dN

Weekend Game Action:
SWEDEN - Allsvenskan
-Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - scored 2 huge goals in the final 7 minutes of the match to give his team a 2-2 road draw at Hacken. Awesome!
DENMARK - Superliga
-Dan Califf - Midtjylland - started and played 70 minutues in a bad 4-0 road loss at Silkeborg.
-Benny Feilhaber - AGF - started and was subbed off in 2nd half stoppage time after he had snagged the game winning goal in a 2-3 road win over Randers!
-Marcus Tracy - AaB - game against Nordsjaelland was postponed.
NORWAY - Tippeligaen
-Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - came on as a sub in the 77th minute as they drew on the road at Start.
-Hunter Freeman - Start - started and went the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at home against Stabaek.
NORWAY - Adeccoligaen
-Joe Lapira - Nybergsund - started and went 77 minutes in a 1-5 home drubbing at the hands of Honefoss.
-Jay Needham - Alta - started and played 83 minutes of a huge 0-4 road win at Stavanger.
-Connor Tobin - Nybergsund - played the full 90 but they lost badly, 1-5 at home against Honefoss.
CROATIA
-Johann Smith - Rijeka - won 6-0 at home over Lokomotiva, with all 6 goals scored by Ahmed Sharbini. Can you believe that!?
SWEDEN - Superettan
-Ryan Miller - Ljungskile - went the full 90, and got a Yellow Card, in a 3-2 road win over Qviding Goteborg.
-Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile - went the full 90 in a 3-2 road win over Qviding Goteborg.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Edgar Castillo has been loaned out by Club America to UANL Tigres for the 09 Clausura. I did not realize this until I was doing research today.

dN

Soccer America with a roundup of our boys in action south of the border, as the league kicks off the new season.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Nigel Reed of the CBC previews Toronto's match by telling all Canadians to get behind this team.

dN

Preliminary Round 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue Jul 28
DC United (USA) v Luis Angel Firpo (El Sal) - 7pm Central on FSC
Pachuca (Mex) v Jalapa (Guate) - 9pm Central
-Wed Jul 29
Toronto FC (Can) v Puerto Rico Islanders (PR) - 7pm on FSC
San Francisco (Pana) v San Juan Jabloteh (TnT) - 7pm
Liberia (CR) v Real Espana (Hond) - 9pm
-Thu Jul 30
W Connection (TnT) v New York Red Bulls (USA) - 7pm on FSC
Herediano (CR) v Cruz Azul (Mex) - 9pm
Olimpia (Hond) v Arabe Unido (Pana) - 9pm

MEXICO

14 of the 18 teams kicked off the FMF Primera Division Clausura season.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 24
UAdG Tecos 2-3 Pachuca
-Sat Jul 25
Cruz Azul 0-2 Chiapas Jaguares
UANL Tigres 1-1 Puebla
Indios Juarez 0-0 Monterrey
Atlas 1-0 UNAM Pumas
-Sun Jul 26
Morelia 1-1 Santos Laguna
Toluca 4-3 Guadalajara

EUROPE

Another huge player transfer deal has been completed: Inter Milan has sold forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona for 46 Million Euros plus forward Samuel Eto'o, and a one year loan for midfielder Alexander Hleb. Wow. I think Inter got the good end of this stick. What do you think?















dN

Here are the new season start dates for the bigger leagues in Europe:
-Holland - Fri Jul 31
-Germany - Fri Aug 7
-France - Sat Aug 8
-Turkey - Sun Aug 9
-England - Sat Aug 15
-Scotland - Sat Aug 15
-Portugal - sun Aug 16
-Spain - Sun Aug 30
-Italy - date still not set

dN

32 year old Francesco Totti of Roma has signed a new 5 year contract.

dN

Marseille has signed forward Fernando Morientes from Valencia.

WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE

Some of the worlds biggest clubs come to America for preseason training and exhibition matches.

dN

Matches & Scores
-Sun Jul 19
Club America 1-1 Inter Milan - CA win it 5-4 on Penalties. CA goal by Juan Carlos Silva. IM goal by Ivan Cordoba.
-Tue Jul 21
Chelsea 2-0 Inter Milan - Chel goals by Didier Drogba & Frank Lampard(PK).
Venue: Rose Bowl - Pasadena CA
-Wed Jul 22
AC Milan 1-2 Club America - ACM goal by Super Pippo Inzaghi. CA goals by Enrique Esqueda & Daniel Marquez.
Venue: Georgia Dome - Atlanta GA
-Fri Jul 24
AC Milan 1-2 Chelsea - ACM goal by Clarence Seedorf. Chel goals by didier Drogba & Yuri Zhirkov.
Venue: M&T Bank Stadium - Baltimore MD
-Sun Jul 26
AC Milan 0-2 Inter Milan - IM goals both by Diego Milito.
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
-Sun Jul 26
Chelsea 2-0 Club America - Chel goals by Franco Di Santo & Flourent Malouda.
Venue: Cowboys Stadium - Arlington TX

ENDERS

Tickets to USA v El Salvador World Cup qualifier on Sep 5 in Sandy UT at Rio Tinto Stadium are about to go on sale.