Some News for Mon Jul 13
EXTRA SPECIAL STARTERS
Love Is In The Air!
Our friend Jeremy Olson aka DigitalGopher caught the Montreal Impact in full meltdown mode last Saturday night during a 3-0 loss to our Minnesota Thunder. You might find this hard to believe, but the Thunder scored on the corner kick right after this incident. (Hahahahaha) In the photo you see midfielder Sandro Grande (does anyone know if that translates as "huge idiot"?) choking team captain Mauro Biello, while goalkeeper Matt Jordan pretends an attempted murder is not taking place right in front of him. See this great 9 shot meltdown sequence starting here. And never miss out on the photos by Jeremy from this and many other games right here.
STARTERS
What a race this is going to be! Houston leads MLS with 31 points, but then the next 8 teams are all within 4 points of each other: Seattle at 28, Chivas with 27, both Chicago & Toronto(!) at 25, and then Colorado, DC, Columbus & LA all with 24 points.
dN
Charlie Davies has left Hammarby in Sweden to sign with Sochaux in France. Great move.
TEAM USA GOLD CUP
The USA continued their onerous trend of starting games or halves while mentally still sitting in the locker room. They came out asleep and gave up a goal early to start the game against Costa Rica, Honduras, and Brazil, then came out from half time to give up very early goals again against Brazil and Haiti. This is a serious headcase issue, and one of the few things the coaching staff can hammer into the heads of the players. Let's go guys, 2 months of this crap has to end!
dN
Group Stage Matchday 3:
-Sat Jul 11
USA 2-2 Haiti - USA goals by Davy Arnaud & Stuart Holden. Hai goals Vaniel Sirin by & Mones Chery.
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach and player from US Soccer.
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
dN
du Nord 3(4) Stars of the Game
1. Fabrice Noel & Leonel Saint-Preux - the strong & fast Haitian strikers made life miserable for the USA defenders all game long. These two are not world beaters by any means, both play for USL First Division teams, but they were a serious handful.
2. Mones Chery - what a stonkin goal that dude hit. Wow. Big screaming half volley from the top of the box to the far side netting. Impressive during decent portions of the game as well. And the name!!! Can't beat it.
3. Stuart Holden - The only American to have a complete game. Quality for all 90. He nicely set up Davy Arnaud for goal #1 then lazered a long shot to the upper corner for the tying goal in second half stoppage time. Masterful. He now has 2 goals in 2 caps.
Others of Note: Davy Arnaud did a fantastic job of finishing the first goal for the USA. He was also very good with his energy on offense and defense. And Charlie Davies did not see the field for long but he turned up the pressure considerably even though he didn't get decent service more than a time or two.
dN
Donkey of the Match goes to USA keeper Luis Robles who was horribly out of position for both Panama goals! Sweet & Sour Jesus that was ugly. This may be one of the worst USA goalkeeping performances of all time. Jay Heaps gets an honorable donkey mention for this award also having a direct hand in both Haiti goals. Just brutal as Nathan Explosion would say.
dN
USMNT Official Blog
-Team USA traveled from Boston to Philly via train (YES!). In the words of Santino Quaranata: "This is fantastic. I'm done with flying." (I am with you brother!) Here is some video of that trip.
dN
Up Next:
-Sat Jul 18
USA v Panama
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
dN
Philly.com gets the pregame going with two very old articles from their cities newspapers covering previous USA visits. Great nostalgic look. (thanks to George for sending this our way.)
CONCACAF GOLD CUP
Official Gold Cup Website
The 3 first & second place teams, along with the 2 best third place teams advance to the Quarterfinals.
dN
Mexican coach Javier Aguirre was given a 3 game suspension for kicking Panama's Ricardo Phillips during their game on Thursday night in Houston. If Mexico advance he will miss the Quarterfinal & Semifinal games. If they are elimidated he will miss World Cup qualifying games.
-Also, according to CONCACAF: The [disciplinary] committee took special note of the "exemplary behavior of Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa in attempting to get the spectators to allow the game to restart and in helping lead Ricardo Phillips ... to a safe exit from the playing field."
dN
Group Stage Matches - Matchday 1:
-Fri Jul 3
Canada 1-0 Jamaica
Costa Rica 1-2 El Salvador
-Sat Jul 4
Honduras 1-0 Haiti
Grenada 0-4 USA
-Sun Jul 5
Panama 1-2 Guadeloupe
Nicaragua 0-2 Mexico
dN
Group Stage Matches - Matchday 2:
-Tue Jul 7
Jamaica 0-1 Costa Rica
El Salvador 0-1 Canada
-Wed Jul 8
USA 2-0 Honduras
Haiti 2-0 Grenada
-Thu Jul 9
Mexico 1-1 Panama
Nicaragua 0-2 Guadeloupe
dN
Group Stage Matches - Matchday 3
-Fri Jul 10
Costa Rica 2-2 Canada - CR goals by Andy Herron & Walter Centeno. Can goals by Patrice Berneir & Marcel de Jong.
El Salvador 1-0 Jamaica - Jam goal by Omar Cummings.
Venue: Florida International University Stadium – Miami FL
-Sat Jul 11
USA 2-2 Haiti - USA goals by Davy Arnaud & Stuart Holden. Hai goals Vaniel Sirin by & Mones Chery.
Honduras 4-0 Grenada - Hond goals by Walter Martinez, Roger Espinoza, Melvin Valladares & Carlos Costly.
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
-Sunday, July 12
Panama 4-0 Nicaragua - Pan goals by Blas Perez, Gabriel Gomez & Luis Tejada(2).
Mexico 2-0 Guadeloupe - Mex goals by Gerardo Torrado & M Sabah.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium – Glendale AZ
dN
See all games on FSC & Univision/Galavision.
dN
Standings:
Group A - 3 games played
7 Canada(+2)
4 Costa Rica(0)
3 Jamaica(-1)
3 El Salvador(-1)
Group B - 3 games played
7 USA(+6)
6 Honduras(+3)
4 Haiti(+1)
0 Grenada(-10)
Group C - 3 games played
7 Mexico(+4)
6 Guadeloupe(+1)
4 Panama(+3)
0 Nicaragua(-8)
dN
Quarterfinal Matches:
-Sat Jul 18
Canada v Honduras - 4pm Central
USA v Panama - 7pm Central
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
-Sun Jul 19
Guadeloupe v Costa Rica - 3pm Central
Mexico v Haiti - 6pm Central
Venue: Cowboys Stadium - Arlington TX
dN
Semifinals
-Thu Jul 23
6pm & 9pm Central
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL
dN
Final
-Sun Jul 26
2pm Central
Venue: Giants Stadium - East Rutherford NJ
MLS
MLS Week 17 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 11
Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 Houston Dynamo - SSFC goals by Freddy Montero & Patrick Ianni. HD goal by Brad Davis.
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
New England Revolution 0-0 Kansas City Wizards
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Chicago Fire 0-0 Columbus Crew
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Colorado Rapids 1-0 FC Dallas - CR goal by Kosuke Kimura.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
San Jose Earthquakes 1-3 Toronto FC - SJE goal by Darren Huckerby. TFC goals by Chad Barrett(2) & Pablo Vitti.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Chivas USA 0-1 Los Angeles Galaxy - LAG goal by Edson Buddle.
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
dN
MetroFanatic has a superb Q & A with former MetroStar goalkeeper Mike Ammann. This guy stills pulls no punches, and even though he played for New York a decade ago, he is still very popular.
dN
Due to the timing of the First Round of the CONCACAF Champions League no MLS players from DC, Toronto or New York (hehehe) will be playing for the MLS All Stars.
-That means that Dwayne De Rosario who was picked for the First 11 is already off the team and needs to be replaced.
dN
Did I hear this correctly - Ian Joy is leaving Real Salt Lake and heading back to a team somewhere in Europe? Anyone?
dN
Sexy Becksy trains with the Galaxy for the first time Monday. I bet he and Zizou enjoyed that ugly game on Saturday night.
dN
Grahame Jones of the LA Times has Beckman's response to Landon Donovan.
dN
Toronto FC and BMO Field have lost their license to sell alcoholic beverages for one game after begin caught serving a minor. The suspension of service will take place next weekend v Houston. Here is the official press release.
dN
The Philadelphia Daily News talks to Union coach Peter Nowak about how he is looking to put his new team together.
MLS SUMMER EXHIBITIONS
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 11
Real Salt Lake 1-0 Club America (Mexico) - RSL goal by Javier Morales.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
dN
Match report by Dan Rasmussen of the Deseret News.
USL FIRST DIVISION
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 9
Vancouver Whitecaps 4-0 Minnesota Thunder
-Fri Jul 10
Rochester Rhinos 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Jul 11
Charleston Battery 0-1 Carolina RailHawks
Minnesota Thunder 3-0 Montreal Impact
Austin Aztex 1-2 Portland Timbers
-Sun Jul 12
Cleveland City Stars 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
Miami FC Blues 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
dN
Standings:
31 Puerto Rico
30 Portland(+15)
30 Charleston(+8)
27 Carolina
24 Rochester
20 Miami
18 Vancouver
- - Out of Playoffs - -
17 Montreal
15 Austin
11 Minnesota(-9)
11 Cleveland(-14)
US SOCCER 2009 DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY FINALS
Tournament being held July 10-17 at Home Depot Center in Carson CA.
dN
Here are the scores through the first two rounds (of three): U18 - and - U16.
dN
Standings:
U18 (after 2 of 3 rounds)
Group 1
6 Indiana United Academy
4 IMG Soccer Academy
1 Dallas Texans
0 FC Greater Boston
Group 2
4 PDA(+2)
4 Real Colorado(+1)
3 DC United
0 CASL Chelsea FC Academy
U16 (after 1 of 3 rounds)
Group 1
3 Chicago Magic AS Monaco(+3)
3 Derby County Wolves(+2)
0 FC Dallas(-2)
0 New York Red Bulls(-3)
Group 2
3 Cal Odyssey(+1)
3 PDA(+1)
0 Greensboro Youth Soccer(-1)
0 Washington Premier FC(-1)
dN
The 2 finals will be shown live on the ESPN Classic:
-Thu Jul 16
U18 Final - 9pm Central
-Fri Jul 17
U16 Final - 9pm Central
dN
US Soccer has announced their U16 & U18 Best XI's for 2009. Are these the future stars of American soccer?
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
And the rumor is strong that Jozy Altidore is leaving Villarreal for the new pastures of Olympiakos in Greece. Don't know if this is a sale or another loan, but loan-with-option-to-buy is the most likely scenario.
dN
Eddie Johnson is in preseason training with his team Fulham and scored a nice goal in a friendly the other day. The teams website talks with one of our forgotten sons. And here is the goal (see min. 1:21). (all thanks to BQ)
dN
Soccer By Ives reports on Benny Feilhaber's first preseason match with his club Aarhus. How did he do? Oh, he just scored twice!
AMERICANS IN MEXICO
Edgar Castillo did not play for Club America in their friendly with Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Due to the timing of the First Round of this tournament no MLS players from DC, Toronto or New York (hehehe) will be playing for the MLS All Stars.
dN
There has been a team disqualified from the tournament - Chalatenango of El Salvador has failed to "meet the participation requirements" and therefore removed from the games. They will be replaced by the 2nd place team from El Salvador Luis Angel Firpo. The new team will play home and away v DC United on Jul 28 & Aug 4.
CANADA
Ben Rycroft of Metro Toronto says Canadian soccer has their man to be the national team coach. But should he be the national team coach?
ENGLAND
He doesn't care if he wins, he just wants the really big money. Modern Man himself Carlos Tevez signs with Manchester City.
ENDERS
David Beckham: "In 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism." He can claim it all he wants, but anyone who saw a Galaxy game late last summer and into fall knows that he was not giving it his all for his team on the field. He was clearly uninspired and to me that is the unprofessional. I guess none of the "biggest players in the world" had to worry about him dogging it. When he was needed most he did not show up. End of story.
And he also had this contradictory gem up his sleeve: "In every football player's eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a teammate, especially in the press and not to your face." Kinda like yer doing with these very words DB? They are not being said to your teammates face, so therefore by your only statement you are being unprofessional.
Our friend Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk reviews Grant Wahl's new book The Beckham Experiment. Get your copy at one of America's great independent bookstores like Powell's in Portland.
du Nord will be conducting an interview with author Grant Wahl very soon and have another installment of our Question & Answer Series posted soon after.
Love Is In The Air!
Our friend Jeremy Olson aka DigitalGopher caught the Montreal Impact in full meltdown mode last Saturday night during a 3-0 loss to our Minnesota Thunder. You might find this hard to believe, but the Thunder scored on the corner kick right after this incident. (Hahahahaha) In the photo you see midfielder Sandro Grande (does anyone know if that translates as "huge idiot"?) choking team captain Mauro Biello, while goalkeeper Matt Jordan pretends an attempted murder is not taking place right in front of him. See this great 9 shot meltdown sequence starting here. And never miss out on the photos by Jeremy from this and many other games right here.
STARTERS
What a race this is going to be! Houston leads MLS with 31 points, but then the next 8 teams are all within 4 points of each other: Seattle at 28, Chivas with 27, both Chicago & Toronto(!) at 25, and then Colorado, DC, Columbus & LA all with 24 points.
dN
Charlie Davies has left Hammarby in Sweden to sign with Sochaux in France. Great move.
TEAM USA GOLD CUP
The USA continued their onerous trend of starting games or halves while mentally still sitting in the locker room. They came out asleep and gave up a goal early to start the game against Costa Rica, Honduras, and Brazil, then came out from half time to give up very early goals again against Brazil and Haiti. This is a serious headcase issue, and one of the few things the coaching staff can hammer into the heads of the players. Let's go guys, 2 months of this crap has to end!
dN
Group Stage Matchday 3:
-Sat Jul 11
USA 2-2 Haiti - USA goals by Davy Arnaud & Stuart Holden. Hai goals Vaniel Sirin by & Mones Chery.
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach and player from US Soccer.
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
dN
du Nord 3(4) Stars of the Game
1. Fabrice Noel & Leonel Saint-Preux - the strong & fast Haitian strikers made life miserable for the USA defenders all game long. These two are not world beaters by any means, both play for USL First Division teams, but they were a serious handful.
2. Mones Chery - what a stonkin goal that dude hit. Wow. Big screaming half volley from the top of the box to the far side netting. Impressive during decent portions of the game as well. And the name!!! Can't beat it.
3. Stuart Holden - The only American to have a complete game. Quality for all 90. He nicely set up Davy Arnaud for goal #1 then lazered a long shot to the upper corner for the tying goal in second half stoppage time. Masterful. He now has 2 goals in 2 caps.
Others of Note: Davy Arnaud did a fantastic job of finishing the first goal for the USA. He was also very good with his energy on offense and defense. And Charlie Davies did not see the field for long but he turned up the pressure considerably even though he didn't get decent service more than a time or two.
dN
Donkey of the Match goes to USA keeper Luis Robles who was horribly out of position for both Panama goals! Sweet & Sour Jesus that was ugly. This may be one of the worst USA goalkeeping performances of all time. Jay Heaps gets an honorable donkey mention for this award also having a direct hand in both Haiti goals. Just brutal as Nathan Explosion would say.
dN
USMNT Official Blog
-Team USA traveled from Boston to Philly via train (YES!). In the words of Santino Quaranata: "This is fantastic. I'm done with flying." (I am with you brother!) Here is some video of that trip.
dN
Up Next:
-Sat Jul 18
USA v Panama
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
dN
Philly.com gets the pregame going with two very old articles from their cities newspapers covering previous USA visits. Great nostalgic look. (thanks to George for sending this our way.)
CONCACAF GOLD CUP
Official Gold Cup Website
The 3 first & second place teams, along with the 2 best third place teams advance to the Quarterfinals.
dN
Mexican coach Javier Aguirre was given a 3 game suspension for kicking Panama's Ricardo Phillips during their game on Thursday night in Houston. If Mexico advance he will miss the Quarterfinal & Semifinal games. If they are elimidated he will miss World Cup qualifying games.
-Also, according to CONCACAF: The [disciplinary] committee took special note of the "exemplary behavior of Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa in attempting to get the spectators to allow the game to restart and in helping lead Ricardo Phillips ... to a safe exit from the playing field."
dN
Group Stage Matches - Matchday 1:
-Fri Jul 3
Canada 1-0 Jamaica
Costa Rica 1-2 El Salvador
-Sat Jul 4
Honduras 1-0 Haiti
Grenada 0-4 USA
-Sun Jul 5
Panama 1-2 Guadeloupe
Nicaragua 0-2 Mexico
dN
Group Stage Matches - Matchday 2:
-Tue Jul 7
Jamaica 0-1 Costa Rica
El Salvador 0-1 Canada
-Wed Jul 8
USA 2-0 Honduras
Haiti 2-0 Grenada
-Thu Jul 9
Mexico 1-1 Panama
Nicaragua 0-2 Guadeloupe
dN
Group Stage Matches - Matchday 3
-Fri Jul 10
Costa Rica 2-2 Canada - CR goals by Andy Herron & Walter Centeno. Can goals by Patrice Berneir & Marcel de Jong.
El Salvador 1-0 Jamaica - Jam goal by Omar Cummings.
Venue: Florida International University Stadium – Miami FL
-Sat Jul 11
USA 2-2 Haiti - USA goals by Davy Arnaud & Stuart Holden. Hai goals Vaniel Sirin by & Mones Chery.
Honduras 4-0 Grenada - Hond goals by Walter Martinez, Roger Espinoza, Melvin Valladares & Carlos Costly.
Venue: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough MA
-Sunday, July 12
Panama 4-0 Nicaragua - Pan goals by Blas Perez, Gabriel Gomez & Luis Tejada(2).
Mexico 2-0 Guadeloupe - Mex goals by Gerardo Torrado & M Sabah.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium – Glendale AZ
dN
See all games on FSC & Univision/Galavision.
dN
Standings:
Group A - 3 games played
7 Canada(+2)
4 Costa Rica(0)
3 Jamaica(-1)
3 El Salvador(-1)
Group B - 3 games played
7 USA(+6)
6 Honduras(+3)
4 Haiti(+1)
0 Grenada(-10)
Group C - 3 games played
7 Mexico(+4)
6 Guadeloupe(+1)
4 Panama(+3)
0 Nicaragua(-8)
dN
Quarterfinal Matches:
-Sat Jul 18
Canada v Honduras - 4pm Central
USA v Panama - 7pm Central
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
-Sun Jul 19
Guadeloupe v Costa Rica - 3pm Central
Mexico v Haiti - 6pm Central
Venue: Cowboys Stadium - Arlington TX
dN
Semifinals
-Thu Jul 23
6pm & 9pm Central
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL
dN
Final
-Sun Jul 26
2pm Central
Venue: Giants Stadium - East Rutherford NJ
MLS
MLS Week 17 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 11
Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 Houston Dynamo - SSFC goals by Freddy Montero & Patrick Ianni. HD goal by Brad Davis.
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
New England Revolution 0-0 Kansas City Wizards
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Chicago Fire 0-0 Columbus Crew
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Colorado Rapids 1-0 FC Dallas - CR goal by Kosuke Kimura.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
San Jose Earthquakes 1-3 Toronto FC - SJE goal by Darren Huckerby. TFC goals by Chad Barrett(2) & Pablo Vitti.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Chivas USA 0-1 Los Angeles Galaxy - LAG goal by Edson Buddle.
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
dN
MetroFanatic has a superb Q & A with former MetroStar goalkeeper Mike Ammann. This guy stills pulls no punches, and even though he played for New York a decade ago, he is still very popular.
dN
Due to the timing of the First Round of the CONCACAF Champions League no MLS players from DC, Toronto or New York (hehehe) will be playing for the MLS All Stars.
-That means that Dwayne De Rosario who was picked for the First 11 is already off the team and needs to be replaced.
dN
Did I hear this correctly - Ian Joy is leaving Real Salt Lake and heading back to a team somewhere in Europe? Anyone?
dN
Sexy Becksy trains with the Galaxy for the first time Monday. I bet he and Zizou enjoyed that ugly game on Saturday night.
dN
Grahame Jones of the LA Times has Beckman's response to Landon Donovan.
dN
Toronto FC and BMO Field have lost their license to sell alcoholic beverages for one game after begin caught serving a minor. The suspension of service will take place next weekend v Houston. Here is the official press release.
dN
The Philadelphia Daily News talks to Union coach Peter Nowak about how he is looking to put his new team together.
MLS SUMMER EXHIBITIONS
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 11
Real Salt Lake 1-0 Club America (Mexico) - RSL goal by Javier Morales.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
dN
Match report by Dan Rasmussen of the Deseret News.
USL FIRST DIVISION
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 9
Vancouver Whitecaps 4-0 Minnesota Thunder
-Fri Jul 10
Rochester Rhinos 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Jul 11
Charleston Battery 0-1 Carolina RailHawks
Minnesota Thunder 3-0 Montreal Impact
Austin Aztex 1-2 Portland Timbers
-Sun Jul 12
Cleveland City Stars 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
Miami FC Blues 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
dN
Standings:
31 Puerto Rico
30 Portland(+15)
30 Charleston(+8)
27 Carolina
24 Rochester
20 Miami
18 Vancouver
- - Out of Playoffs - -
17 Montreal
15 Austin
11 Minnesota(-9)
11 Cleveland(-14)
US SOCCER 2009 DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY FINALS
Tournament being held July 10-17 at Home Depot Center in Carson CA.
dN
Here are the scores through the first two rounds (of three): U18 - and - U16.
dN
Standings:
U18 (after 2 of 3 rounds)
Group 1
6 Indiana United Academy
4 IMG Soccer Academy
1 Dallas Texans
0 FC Greater Boston
Group 2
4 PDA(+2)
4 Real Colorado(+1)
3 DC United
0 CASL Chelsea FC Academy
U16 (after 1 of 3 rounds)
Group 1
3 Chicago Magic AS Monaco(+3)
3 Derby County Wolves(+2)
0 FC Dallas(-2)
0 New York Red Bulls(-3)
Group 2
3 Cal Odyssey(+1)
3 PDA(+1)
0 Greensboro Youth Soccer(-1)
0 Washington Premier FC(-1)
dN
The 2 finals will be shown live on the ESPN Classic:
-Thu Jul 16
U18 Final - 9pm Central
-Fri Jul 17
U16 Final - 9pm Central
dN
US Soccer has announced their U16 & U18 Best XI's for 2009. Are these the future stars of American soccer?
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
And the rumor is strong that Jozy Altidore is leaving Villarreal for the new pastures of Olympiakos in Greece. Don't know if this is a sale or another loan, but loan-with-option-to-buy is the most likely scenario.
dN
Eddie Johnson is in preseason training with his team Fulham and scored a nice goal in a friendly the other day. The teams website talks with one of our forgotten sons. And here is the goal (see min. 1:21). (all thanks to BQ)
dN
Soccer By Ives reports on Benny Feilhaber's first preseason match with his club Aarhus. How did he do? Oh, he just scored twice!
AMERICANS IN MEXICO
Edgar Castillo did not play for Club America in their friendly with Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Due to the timing of the First Round of this tournament no MLS players from DC, Toronto or New York (hehehe) will be playing for the MLS All Stars.
dN
There has been a team disqualified from the tournament - Chalatenango of El Salvador has failed to "meet the participation requirements" and therefore removed from the games. They will be replaced by the 2nd place team from El Salvador Luis Angel Firpo. The new team will play home and away v DC United on Jul 28 & Aug 4.
CANADA
Ben Rycroft of Metro Toronto says Canadian soccer has their man to be the national team coach. But should he be the national team coach?
ENGLAND
He doesn't care if he wins, he just wants the really big money. Modern Man himself Carlos Tevez signs with Manchester City.
ENDERS
David Beckham: "In 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism." He can claim it all he wants, but anyone who saw a Galaxy game late last summer and into fall knows that he was not giving it his all for his team on the field. He was clearly uninspired and to me that is the unprofessional. I guess none of the "biggest players in the world" had to worry about him dogging it. When he was needed most he did not show up. End of story.
And he also had this contradictory gem up his sleeve: "In every football player's eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a teammate, especially in the press and not to your face." Kinda like yer doing with these very words DB? They are not being said to your teammates face, so therefore by your only statement you are being unprofessional.
Our friend Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk reviews Grant Wahl's new book The Beckham Experiment. Get your copy at one of America's great independent bookstores like Powell's in Portland.
du Nord will be conducting an interview with author Grant Wahl very soon and have another installment of our Question & Answer Series posted soon after.
posted by brucio at 15:20
4 Comments:
Bruce: Ian Joy is moving to Germany to be with his 3 yr. old daughter. He is currently shopping around for a team.
thank you Arelius
"Eddie Johnson is in preseason training with his team Fulham and scored a nice goal in a friendly the other day. The teams website talks with one of our forgotten sons."
---------
Let's hope Johnson remains "forgotten" as far as the national team is concerned. He is an athlete, not a soccer player. He lacks the skills, the soccer IQ, and the consistent work ethic to represent our country in international play.
Actually I'd like to see EJ regain his form and confidence that he showed early in his career. If he can get back that focus, he'll be a great player to add to the challenging mix.
OTOH, he's more likely a flash in the pan with less skill and drive than Clint Mathis.
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