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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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Marseille has purchased Real Madrid left fullback Gabriel Heinze.

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

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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.