Some News for Mon Sep 28, 2009

QUESTION ON MY MIND

Will Richie Williams be the new head coach at DC United next season?

STARTERS

Tahiti has played in two U20 World Cup group stage games so far and lost them both 8-0. The first was to Spain. OK. But the second was to Venezuela, a country that barely plays the game. Doesn't this bring the whole point of the tournament into question? How do teams like this even get into the tourney?
-It's not unlike Bahrain playing New Zealand for a spot in the senior tournament next year. I don't think its a stretch to say the winner between those two teams will lose at least one game 8-0 in South Africa too.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Some big games coming this week highlighted by Houston v Pachuca.

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Official Web Site, and video highlights from all the games.

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Group Stage
Matchday 5:
-Tue Sep 29
Columbus Crew v Saprissa
Cruz Azul v Puerto Rico Islanders
Arabe Unido v Metapan
-Wed Sep 30
DC United v Jabloteh
UNAM Pumas v W Connection
Houston Dynamo v Pachuca
Real Espana v Comunicaciones
-Thu Oct 1
Marathon v Toluca - postponed due to political turmoil in Honduras

USL FIRST DIVISION PLAYOFFS

The Playoffs!

Quarterfinal Round
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Sun Sep 27
Carolina 0-0 Vancouver - Van advance 1-0 on aggregate.
Puerto Rico 4-1 Rochester - PR advance 5-3 on aggregate.
Charleston 1-2 Montreal - Mon advance 4-1 on aggregate.

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Semifinal Round
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu Oct 1
Vancouver v Portland
Montreal v Puerto Rico
2nd Leg
-Sun Oct 4
Portland v Vancouver
Puerto Rico v Montreal

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All the games can be seen at USLlive.com.

MLS

Official Web Site

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Week 28
Matches & Scores
-Wed Sep 23
Colorado Rapids 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes - CR goal by Conor Casey(PK). SJE goal by Chris Wondolowski(PK).
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Attendance: 6,234
-Sat Sep 26
Columbus Crew 2-0 Los Angeles Galaxy - CC goals by Eddie Gaven & Steven Lenhart.
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Attendance: 20,966
New England Revolution 2-1 Seattle Sounders FC - NER goals both by Shalrie Joseph (1 via PK). SS goal by Fredy Montero.
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Attendance: 15,961
Kansas City Wizards 0-0 Colorado Rapids
Venue: Community America Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 9,784
FC Dallas 3-0 Real Salt Lake - FCD goals by Jeff Cunningham(2) & David Ferreira.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: "mystery meat"
Chicago Fire 2-2 Toronto FC - CF goals by Nick Garcia(OG) & Brian McBride. TFC goals by Dwayne De Rosario & Chad Barrett.
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Attendance: 16,890
Chivas USA 1-1 New York Red Bulls - CUSA goal by Sacha Kljestan. NYRB goal by Juan Pablo Angel.
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 14,211
-Sun Sep 27
DC United 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes - DCU goal by Jaime Moreno. SJE goals by Ramon Sanchez & Ryan Johnston.
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attendance: 14,375

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Houston did not play during this round.

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No Ejections in the 8 games last week. Amazing!

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New England midfielder/striker/superstar Shalrie Joseph was named Player of the Week.

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But New England lost Steve Ralston for the rest of the season with a blown out knee. Ugh! This is one of the great players in the history of the league and for the 2nd year in a row an injury has taken him down. Damn!

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With their convincing win Columbus clinches a playoff spot and takes over the lead for the Supporters Shield by 3 points over Houston, and the Crew have a game in hand.

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San Jose had not won on the road for 15 months! DC is really hurting now.

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After a comeback win at home New England moved into playoff spot #8, dumping DC out.

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Jaime Moreno and Jeff Cunningham are going toe to toe these days in the goals-scored-all-time category. Moreno got #130 this weekend (8 this year), while JC rolled with 2 more bringing his career total to 119 (15 on the season).

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Brian Ching got a new contract extension from Houston.

USA U20 TEAM @ U20 WORLD CUP

Official team blog

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Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 26
USA 0-3 Germany - Ger goals by Semih Aydilek(PK), Florian Jungwirth & Manuel Schaeffler.
Match report by Paul Kennedy of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Kennedy.
Match report by Brent Latham of Yanks Abroad.
-Tue Sep 29
USA v Cameroon - 11:45am Central on ESPN2
-Fri Oct 2
USA v South Korea - 11:45am Central on ESPN2

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My thoughts after game 1:
-USA lose 3-0 to Germany, and if the announcer is to be believed Germ had 20 players held out by club teams - so this is a B team for them.
-My real question is - Who picked this team?
-Rongen is a mystifying coach. I'm never satisfied with him in charge. His DC United, Chivas USA & USA U20 are all mismanaged underachievers.
-A friend-in-football sent me a note says that Rongen is a very good guy and an entertaining TV announcer. Fair enough. But my dad is a good guy too, and an entertaining non-TV announcer, and I would never want him near my U20 team.
-Why didn't the USA bring any fullbacks to Egypt? Centerback Davies started on the left, and midfield wingers Mayen and Flores played there during the game too!
-They only brought 5 defenders & now 2 are hurt.
-They only brought 2 forwards as well.
-So that means they have 11 midfielders on the roster.

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Brent Latham of Yanks Abroad looks at what the USA does now to turn this ship around. No knee jerk reactions here, thankfully.

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Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated tells us all to keep our shirts on, things will be just fine, if far from perfect.

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Here is the USA roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3):
Sean Johnson (Central Florida; Lilburn, Ga.)
Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wis.)
Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (5):
Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami FC; Syracuse, N.Y.)
Kyle Davies (FC Dallas; Danville, Calif.)
Aaron Maund (Notre Dame; Dorchester, Mass.)
Ike Opara (Wake Forest; Durham, N.C.)
Sheanon Williams (Unattached; Boston, Mass.)

MIDFIELDERS (11):
Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin, Miami)
Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo; Glendale, Ariz.)
Mikkel Diskerud (Stabak; Oslo, Norway)
Dilly Duka (Rutgers; Montville, N.J.)
Jorge Flores (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.)
Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge; Richardson, Texas)
Gerson Mayen (Chivas USA; Los Angeles)
Brian Ownby (Virginia; Glen Allen, Va.)
Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas)
Brek Shea (FC Dallas; College Station, Texas)
Michael Stephens (UCLA; Naperville, Ill.)

FORWARDS (2):
Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas; Rockford, Ill.)
Tony Taylor (Jacksonville; Jacksonville, Fla.)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

ENGLAND - Premiership
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - came on as a sub in the 83rd minute as they were badly beaten 6-1 at Liverpool.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 but they lost 0-1 at home against Arsenal.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - played the entire match losing 2-1 at Blackburn.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the full 90 and they won 0-1 at Portsmouth.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Leeds - went the distance as they won 0-1 on the road at Milton Keynes.
Jemal Johnson - Milton Keynes - went the full 90, got a Yellow Card, and lost 0-1 at home to Leeds.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - Started and played 76 minutes as they drew at Swindon Town 1-1.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played the entire match but lost 1-0 at Bordeaux.
Charlie Davies - Sochaux - went the distance but lost 2-1 at Nancy.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - came on as a sub at half time but lost 3-0 at Freiburg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance in a 4-2 loss at Wolfsburg.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Kenny Cooper - 1860 Munich - played the full 90 but could only draw 0-0 at home against Paderborn.
Matt Taylor - Frankfurt - came on in the 73rd minute, but they lost 3-0 at Energie Cottbus.
David Yelldell - Koblenz - went the distance and drew 1-1 at Augsburg.

IRELAND - Premier Division
Ryan Guy - St Patrick's Athletic - went the full match as they drew 1-1 at Cork.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - started, played 83 minutes, and scored the first goal as they won 1-3 at Emmen.

NORWAY - Tippeligaen
Hunter Freeman - Start - played the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Sandefjord.
Clarence Goodson - Start - played the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Sandefjord.
Tyrel Lacey - Lyn Oslo - went the distance in goal but lost 0-1 at home to Tromso.
Troy Perkins - Valerenga - played the entire game as usual and won 0-2 at Bodo Glimt.

NORWAY - Adeccoligaen
Joe Lapira - Nybergsund - started and played 64 minutes as they drew 3-3 at Mjondalen.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Ryan Miller - Ljungskile - went the full 90 and they won 3-0 at home over Falkenbergs.
Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile - played the full 90 as they won 3-0 at home over Falkenbergs.

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Coming Up:

DENMARK - Superliga
Benny Feilhaber - AGF Aarhus - Mon Sep 28 at Esbjerg
Jeremiah White - AGF Aarhus - Mon Sep 28 at Esbjerg

ENGLAND - Premiership
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Mon Sep 28 at Manchester City

PORTUGAL
Kamani Hill - Guimaraes - Mon Sep 28 v Uniao de Leiria

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Mon Sep 28 at GAIS
Ryan Raybould - Gelfe - Tue Sep 29 at Brommapajkarna

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Matchday 2
-Thu Oct 1
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - v Basel
Tim Howard - Everton - at BATE Borisov
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - v Basel

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

For the 2nd weekend in a row it was rough on the Americans as no one won.

PRIMERA DIVISION
Edgar Castillo - UANL Tigres - went the full 90, drawing a Yellow Card, and losing 2-1 at Atlas.
Michael Orozco - San Luis - started and played 59 minutes, picking up and Yellow Card, and losing 0-3 at home to Chiapas.
Jose Francisco Torres - Pachuca - played the entire game, but got beat 4-0 at Santos Laguna.
Marco Vidal - Indios Juarez - watched from the bench as they lost 1-2 at home against UAdG Tecos.

THE WIDE WORLD OF FOOTBALL

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times on the weird, shady and business side of football, behind closed doors.

ENGLAND

FIFA.com has a Q & A with Chelsea's German captain Michael Ballack.

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John Ashdown of the Guardian gives us 5 things we learned from the weekends games in the Premiership.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Barcelona who keep winning, and are spying on their own board of directors, plus the rest of La Liga.

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Phil Ball of ESPN Soccernet tells us about Real Madrid current and past, both professionally and personally.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on Schalke's powerful derby win over Dortmund and the rest of the Bundesliga.

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Fiorentina and the rest of Serie A.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES FROM LAST WEEKEND

-Sat Sep 26
Sampdoria 0-1 Inter - Samp makes a huge statement and also goes to #1 while Inter are stuck in 3rd place.
Hamburg 1-0 Bayern Munich - Ham makes a great effort to stay at #1, tied on points with Leverkusen. Bayern drop back to 7th.
Porto 1-0 Sporting - leaving the 2 always-challengers in 3rd & 5th, but way behind leaders Braga!
-Sun Sep 27
Bordeaux 1-0 Stade Rennes - Bord stay at #1 ahead of Lyon, but Rennes drop down from 4th to 5th.
AEK Athens 0-1 Panathinaikos - Pana stay at #1 with a road win over one of their biggest rivals.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Official Web Site

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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Matchday 2
-Tue Sep 29
Fiorentina v Liverpool
Debreceni v Lyon
Rubin Kazan v Inter
Barcelona v Dynamo Kyiv
Unirea Urziceni v Stuttgart
Rangers v Sevilla
Arsenal v Olympiacos
AZ Alkmaar v Standard Liege
-Wed Sep 30
Bayern Munich v Juventus
Bordeaux v Maccabi Haifa
CSKA Moskva v Besiktas
Manchester United v Wolfsburg
Milan v Zurich
Real Madrid v Marseille
APOEL v Chelsea
Porto v Atletico Madrid

ARGENTINA

Estudiantes beat Boca Juniors 2-1 this weekend to stay at #1 after 6 rounds.

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Top 5 Standings:
16 Estudiantes La Plata
14 Velez Sarsfield
14 Banfield
13 Rosario Central
12 Argentinos Juniors

U20 WORLD CUP EGYPT 2009

FIFA.com's tournament news feed.

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Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Sep 24
Egypt 4-1 Trinidad & Tobago - Egy goals by Afroto, Hussam Arafat(2) & Mohamed Talaat. T&T goal by Jean Luc Rochford.
-Fri Sep 25
Paraguay 0-0 Italy
Nigeria 0-1 Venezuela - Ven goal by Yonathan Del Valle.
Spain 8-0 Tahiti - Spain goals by Aaron Niguez(2), Emilio Nsue(2), Fran Merida, Kike(2) & Ander Herrera.
-Sat Sep 26
USA 0-3 Germany - Ger goals by Semih Aydilek(PK), Florian Jungwirth & Manuel Schaeffler.
Cameroon 2-0 South Korea - Cam goals by Andre Akono Effa & Germain Tiko.
Ghana 2-1 Uzbekistan - Gha goals by Ransford Osei & Dominic Adiyiah. Uzb goal by Sherzodbek Karimov.
England 0-1 Uruguay - Uru goal by Tabare Viudez.
-Sun Sep 27
Brazil 5-0 Costa Rica - Bra goals by Alan Kardec(2), Giuliano, Alex Teixeira & Rafael.
Czechia 2-1 Australia - Michael Rabusic & Tomas Pekhart(PK). Aus goal by James Holland(PK).
UAE 2-2 South Africa - UAE goals by Al Kamali Hamdan Ismaeel(PK) & Al Musabi Theyab Awana. SA goals both by Kermit Erasmus.
Honduras 3-0 Hungaria - Hon goals by Mario Roberto Martinez(2) & Arnold Peralta.
-Mon Sep 28
Italy 2-1 Trinidad & Tobago - Ita goals by Michaelangelo Albertazzi & Silvano Raggio. T&T goal by Juma Clarence.
Egypt 1-2 Paraguay - Egy goal by Afroto. Par goals by Federico Santander & Aldo Paniagua.
Nigeria 0-2 Spain - Spa goals both by Fran Merida(one via PK).
Tahiti 0-8 Venezuela - Ven goals by Jose Rondon(3, one via PK), Yonathan Del Valle(3), Jose Manuel Velazquez & Oscar Rojas.
-Tue Sep 29
South Korea v Germany
USA v Cameroon
Uruguay v Uzbekistan
Ghana v England

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See all the games live on ESPN2, ESPN Classic or ESPN360.com.

ENDERS

Viewers in the USA can now see UEFA Champions League, and English Premier League highlights on the internet via Hulu. (Thanks to JJ for this)