Some News for Tue Sep 22, 2009

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Some teams enter Round 4 this week in do-or-die mode! The big teams in desperate need are Houston, DC and Saprissa. Another loss for them and it will be very tough to come back. Then you have teams like Columbus that owe Cruz Azul some serious pay back for a 5-0 asskicking down in Mexico City.

dN

Group Stage - Matchday 4:
-Tue Sep 22
Puerto Rico Islanders v Saprissa
Metapan v Pachuca
Houston Dynamo v Arabe Unido
-Wed Sep 23
Columbus Crew v Cruz Azul
Toluca v Jabloteh
Comunicaciones v W Connection
-Wed Sep 24
DC United v Marathon
UNAM Pumas v Real Espana

dN

Standings (with Games Played):
Group A
7 Arabe Unido(3 GP)
6 Pachuca(3 GP)
4 Houston Dynamo(3 GP)
0 Metapan(3 GP)
Group B
9 Toluca(3 GP)
6 Marathon(3 GP)
3 DC United(3 GP)
0 San Juan Jabloteh(3 GP)
Group C
7 Cruz Azul(3 GP)
6 Columbus Crew(3 GP)
3 Saprissa(3 GP)
1 Puerto Rico Islanders(3 GP)
Group D
7 UNAM Pumas(3 GP)
6 Comunicaciones(3 GP)
3 Real Espana(3 GP)
1 W Connection(3 GP)

MLS

Week 28
Matches & Scores
-Wed Sep 23
Colorado Rapids v San Jose Earthquakes - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick

dN

Houston Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis has been named the league's Player of the Week. If the season ended today he would be on my Best 11 for the season.

dN

Yanks Abroad talks to Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe about his upcoming move to Aalborg in Denmark.

dN

Bryan Alvarez at Soccer America with a profile on right fullback Jeremy Hall of the New York Red Bulls.

dN

Charles Boehm at MLSnet with an article on DC United's French speaking contingent.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America is already missing the skills of San Jose's Darren Huckerby, who was forced to retire due to a hip injury. Via Sports Illustrated.

USL FIRST DIVISION

Portland forward George Josten was named the leagues Player Of The Week.

dN

And here is the final Team of the Week for this season:
G
Keith Wiggans - Charleston - Three saves in 0-0 draw at Rochester
D
Greg Shields - Carolina - Led team in 2-0 win over Montreal
Kenney Bertz - Rochester - Led team in 0-0 draw against Charleston
Matt Bobo - Charleston - Led team in 0-0 draw at Rochester
M
Jonathan Steele - Puerto Rico - Goal in 3-1 win at Miami
Tsuyoshi Yoshitake - Charleston - Goal, assist in 3-2 win at Minnesota
Gordon Chin - Vancouver - Led team in 2-1 win over Cleveland
Ricardo Sanchez - Minnesota - Goal in 3-2 loss against Charleston
F
Teteh Bangura - Cleveland - Goal in 2-1 loss at Vancouver
George Josten - Portland - Two goals in 2-1 win over Cleveland
Nicholas Addlery - Puerto Rico - Goal, assist in 3-1 win at Miami

USA @ U20 WORLD CUP

Official team blog

The team is done training in Cyprus and is now in Egypt going through final prep for Saturday.

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 26
USA v Germany - 9am Central on ESPN Classic
-Tue Sep 29
USA v Cameroon - 11:45am Central on ESPN2
-Fri Oct 2
USA v South Korea - 11:45am Central on ESPN2

U20 WORLD CUP

Brent Latham of ESPN Soccernet previews the tournament.

dN

FIFA.com pre-tournament news feed.

dN

Starts this week!
-Matches & Scores:
Egypt v Trinidad & Tobago

Match schedule

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

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 talks to Kamani Hill about his soon to be debut at Guimaraes in Portugal.

dN

Upcoming Game Action

English League Cup Round 3 games:
-Tue Sep 22
Mike Grella - Leeds v Liverpool
Jonathan Spector - West Ham at Bolton
-Wed Sep 23
Jozy Altidore - Hull City v Everton
Clint Dempsey - Fulham at Manchester City
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa v Cardiff City
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa v Cardiff City
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton at Manchester United
Tim Howard - Everton at Hull City
Eddie Johnson - Fulham at Manchester City
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa v Cardiff City

France Coupe de la Ligue Round of 32:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes v Sochaux
Charlie Davies - Sochaux at Rennes

Germany DFB Pokal Second Round:
-Tue Sep 22
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach v Duisburg
Matthew Dallman - Arminia Bielefeld at Eintracht Trier
David Yelldell - Koblenz v Energie Cottbus
-Wed Sep 23
Kenny Cooper - 1860 Munich v Hertha Berlin
Luis Robles - Kaiserslautern v Bayer Leverkusen

Italy Serie A:
-Wed Sep 23
Oguchi Onyewu - Milan at Udinese

Netherlands Dutch Cup:
-Tue Sep 22
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport at FC Omniworld

Scottish League Cup Round 3:
-Wed Sep 23
DaMarucus Beasley - Rangers at Queen of the South

MEXICO

FIFA.com with an article on one of the players who has helped turn qualifying around for the Mexican national team - Miguel Sabah.

ENGLAND

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune fills us in on what could happen to QPR owner Flavio Briatore in English football following his lifetime ban from Formula 1 racing this week.

EUROPE

Horrific news storming in from Germany from my friend Pat C:
It's like an anti-Hooray Beer... Jens Lehmann has been dropped for his team's German Cup match on Wednesday, and could face a longer suspension, after attending the Munich Beer Festival (Oktoberfest) after the team's loss to Cologne without the team's permission. Boo creepy Markus Babbel.

dN

But in good news the BBC reports on the end to a 60 year conflict in Germany between the Dassler brothers - the Adidas v Puma feud is over. I once made a completely absurd trip to the town of Herzogenaurach where the 2 companies started. (thanks to LS for this one)

SOUTH AMERICA

Tim Vickery at the BBC on how South American teams make their money selling players to Europe, and the damage that could be caused by any new limits placed on foreign players by UEFA.

THE WIDE WORLD OF FOOTBALL

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on the Sweeper position, and a possbile comeback.

ENDERS

One is a famous police inspector, and the other led Jamaica to the World Cup. Which one just became coach of Costa Rica?