Some News for Tue Sep 1, 2009

QUESTION ON MY MIND

How did Arturo Alvarez get FIFA clearance so quickly to change from the USA to El Salvador? And conversely why is it taking so long for the same to happen with Jermaine Jones and Edgar Castillo to the USA?

STARTERS

Phil Ball is back! ESPN Soccernet's best writer is back after a year off, and again covering Spain's la Liga. Fantastic. Here is his season kickoff article.

TEAM USA

The Salt Lake Tribune with several artices on the USA:
-World Cup qualifier not the end of RSL's aspirations
-Kragthorpe: World's soccer coaches deal with the heat
-Kragthorpe: U.S. soccer is bigger than MLS suggests
-RSL star aims to capitalize on shot
-U.S. has made big strides since '94
-Coach a good second choice
-Coach rewards Findley for strong performance with RSL
-Brazil's give-and-take boosts U.S. soccer

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Michael Black of the Deseret News catches us up with the teams training in Park City UT.

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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with a big article on Jonathan Spector. Via Sports Illustrated. I would love to see a lot more stories of this size written about the key players.

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Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet says the USA knows exactly what to expect from El Salvador.

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Real Salt Lake backup keeper Chris Seitz is training with the USA this week.

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Official Team Blog

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Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 5
USA v El Salvador
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy, UT
-Wed Sep 9
Trinidad & Tobago v USA
Venue: Hasley Crawford Stadium - Port of Spain, Trinidad

MLS

Official Web Site

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Mike Petke writing for ESPN Soccernet tells us just what the hell is going on with his team in New York. Great stuff again from Petke. He has become our new go-to player replacing the too infrequent Jimmy Conrad at the top of the charts.

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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to former Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio about why he resigned 2 weeks ago.

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Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger wonders how New York will go about selecting their next coach.

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Jack Bell of the New York Times writes about the New York team giving themselves yet another "Do-Over".

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Bell also writes about the Red Bulls not just getting a good coach, but how about a solid organization wide game plan for this team, and then sticking too it.

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Kristian Dyer at ESPN Soccernet with an article on the trials and tribulations of a hard life for Houston forward Kei Kamara. I think I saw somewhere that it is Kei's birthday today too. Happy B-day Kei!

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Ryan Johnston of Sportsnet writes about the TFC coaching turntable.

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Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star says its win or go home for TFC from here on out.

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Bryan Alvarez of Soccer America with a profile of Houston's Geoff Cameron.

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The Wall Street Journal acknowledges what has brought the LA Galaxy back to respectability - defense. Not Beckham as many would have you believing.
-Did you see how happy LA coach Bruce Arena looked after beating Chivas last Saturday. Seriously, I haven't seen him that smiley in years! Good for him.

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Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald ranks the MLS coaches. I disagree with two of these picks. I bet you do to.

MLS EXPANSION

The CBC with new news from Ottawa.

MLS COACHES HOT SEAT

It's currently three who appear to be in trouble, and I don't see much difference in the severity of their plight:

1a. Tom Soehn - DC United
1b. Chris Cummins - Toronto FC
1c. Frank Yallop - San Jose

LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

Final Match:
-Wed Sep 2
DC United v Seattle Sounders FC
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC

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Seattle centerback Jhon Kennedy Hurtado won't play due to suspension.

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US Soccer has tons of facts, news and notes pertaining to the final.

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John Haydon of the Washington Times on the final.

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Don Ruiz of The Olympian with an article on the big game.

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Jose Romero of the Seattle Times previews the importance of the match for the organizations who run the two clubs.

USL NEWS

The CBC with an article from Ottawa on a bid from that city for a new First Division team.

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Inside Minnesota Soccer with the 2nd part of their look at the future of USL.

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IMS reports on USL naming new league executives.

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Ben Rycroft of Metro News Toronto thinks the USL Team Owners Association are bluffing.

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Paul Kennedy of Soccer America covers the entire story in briefer terms.

USL FIRST DIVISION

Official Web Site

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Carolina RailHawks midfielder Joseph Kabwe has been named Player of the Week

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Here is the USL First Division Team of the Week:
G:
Steve Cronin - Portland - Three saves in 0-0 draw at Charleston
D:
Shaun Pejic - Vancouver - Led team in 1-1 draw against Rochester
Stephen Keel - Portland - Led team in 0-0 draw at Charleston
Adam Braz - Montreal - Assist in 1-1 draw against Carolina
M:
Kyle Brown - Austin - Assist in 1-0 win against Miami
Scott Buete - Charleston - Led team in 0-0 draw against Portland
Joseph Kabwe - Carolina - Three goals, assist in 9-0 win against Miami
Ze Roberto - Rochester - Goal in 1-1 draw at Vancouver
Domenic Mediate - Puerto Rico - Assist in 3-1 win over Minnesota
F:
Marco Terminesi - Minnesota - Two goals, assist in 3-0 win over Cleveland
John Cunliffe - Carolina - Two goals in home win and road draw

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze says there is no such thing as too much soccer on TV in our country.

US SOCCER NEWS

Steve Davis at ESPN Soccernet wonders why more people don't go to the USA World Cup qualifying games. This Saturday in Salt Lake City is still not even sold out, and the stadium barely seats over 20,000.

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Brent Latham at ESPN Soccernet says the two players who have declared that they want to change national team alliances and suit up for team USA are not any closer to making that happen.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

With the summer transfer window now officially closed it looks like DaMarcus Beasley will spend at least another 4 months on the bench at Rangers. Sad, but true.

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Yanks Abroad talks to Charlie Davies about his first few weeks in France.

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YA also gives a shot at predicting the next batch of potential USA stars to head to Europe.

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And finally, YA talks to Mike Grella about his start to a new season at Leeds.

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Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

NORWAY - Tippeligaen
Tyrel Lacey - Lyn Oslo - played the full 90 but lost 4-1 at Rosenborg.

NORWAY - Adeccoligaen
Jay Needham - Alta - lost 4-2 at Kongsvinger.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - went the distance as they won 2-0 at home over Gelfe.

CONCACAF WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Here is the Trinidad & Tobago roster:
G:
Clayton Ince - Walsall
Marvin Phillip - W Connection
Jan Michael Williams - W Connection
D:
Radanfah Abu Bakr - Swansea City
Marvin Andrews - Hamilton Academy
Jlloyd Samuel - Bolton
Keyeno Thomas - Joe Public
Keston Williams - Defence Force
M:
Lyndon Andrews - Joe Public
Chris Birchall - Los Angeles Galaxy
Keon Daniel - United Petrotnin
Carlos Edwards - Ipswich Town
Hughton Hector - W Connection
Trent Noel - Joe Public
Silvio Spann - Wrexham
Densill Theobald - Caledonia
Hayden Tinto - Joe Public
Kerry Baptiste - Joe Public
F:
Cornell Glen - San Jose Earthquakes
Kenwyne Jones - Sunderland
Jason Scotland - Wigan
Bobby Zamora - Fulham

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Costa Rica's roster:
G:
Daniel Cambronero - Universidad
Ricardo Gonzalez - Herediano
Adrian de Lemos - Herediano
D:
Dario Delgado - Puntarenas
Junior Diaz - Wisla Krakow
Giancarlo Gonzalez - Alajuelense
Pablo Herrera - Aalesunds
Carlos Johnson - New York Red Bulls
Dennis Marshall - Aalborg
Heiner Mora - Brujas
Michael Umana - Liberia
Jose Villalobos Chan - Cartagines
M:
Armando Alonso - Saprissa
Cristian Bolanos - Start
Celso Borges - Fredrikstad
Walter Centeno - Saprissa
Esteban Granados - Cartagines
Warren Granados - Ramonense
Carlos Hernandez - Melbourne Victory
Cristian Oviedo - Alajuelense
Esteban Sirias - Liberia
F:
Froylan Ledezma - Trenkwalder Admira
Bryan Ruiz - Twente
Alvaro Saborio - Sion
Alejandro Sequeira - Ramonense
William Sunsing - Liberia

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World Cup qualifying matches
coming up on Saturday & Wednesday:

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 5 - Matchday 7
Costa Rica v Mexico
USA v El Salvador
Honduras v Trinidad & Tobago
-Wed Sep 9 - Matchday 8
El Salvador v Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago v USA
Mexico v Honduras

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Current Standings after 6 of 10 matches:
12 Costa Rica (0 GD)
10 Honduras(+4 GD)
10 USA (+3 GD)
9 Mexico (-1 GD)
5 El Salvador (-2 GD)
5 Trinidad & Tobago (-4 GD)

MEXICO

Let's see which teams are sitting pretty after 6 rounds of the Primera Apertura:
-America - 13 points
-Morelia - 13 points
-Toluca - 12 points
-Monterrey - 11 points

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And which are the ugly ducklings:
-Queretaro - 2 points
-Indios - 3 points
-UNAM - 3 points
-Guadalajara - 4 points

ENGLAND

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with an article on little old Burnley, who seem to be the favorite new flavor of everyone but me.

SPAIN

Barcelona won their season opener 3-0 on Monday over Gijone, looking pretty pedestrian doing it. Zlatan Ibrahimovic got his first goal for the team late in the game to finish the scoring.

ITALY

Clarence Seedorf of AC Milan writing for the New York Times blog Goal, answers viewer mail.

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Roma head coach Luciano Spalletti has resigned after just 2 games of the new season! He was in his 5th season at the wheel of the company truck.

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2 Inter players, Sulley Muntari & Patrick Vieira had their houses burglarized on Saturday while the team was playing against Milan. This crime seems to happen quite often across all of Europe these days. And it's the 3rd time it's happen to Muntari in Milan!

EUROPE

Monaco has bought forward Eidur Gudjohnsen from Barcelona.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

UEFA has handed out a 2 game suspension to Arsenal forward Eduardo for taking a dive in the box against Celtic last week. This is insane. If the ref had called it at the time it would have been a Yellow Card. How does that translate to 2 games?!?!?!

WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010

Reuters with a report on what could be a real struggle to get lodging at the World Cup.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the witch hunt for cheaters.

ENDERS

The film adaptation of David Peace's great book The Damned United, which is the wild story of fabled manager Brian Clough's 44 days in charge of Leeds United, opens on Oct 9 in New York and LA, and rolling out to other markets across the USA after that.
I suggest you go get the book and read it asap. The style of prose is fantastic, with a very unique rhythm to a mad cap story that I really enjoyed.
The movie stars Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, the guy who played Tony Blair in The Queen, and David Front in Frost/Nixon. He is a pretty good actor. Can't wait to see it.