Some News for Mon Dec 28, 2009
STARTERS
Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhh! DaMarucs Beasley has suffered a tear in his thigh muscle. See details in Americans in Europe section. (Thanks to Bart of the heads up.)
-Later in the day Beasley posted this Twitter message: "Yea the injury is not as bad as we thought.. So with rest and extra treatment hope to be back by the end of the week! Fingers crossed!"
dN
The Washington Post reports that Curt Onalfo is the new head coach at DC United.
dN
Jimmy Conrad strikes again at ESPN Soccernet. The Kansas City Wizards centerback mocks the readers who took his previous column too seriously. I love this guy.
dN
Deportivo Walter Ferreti of Managua has won the Nicaraguan Apertura Championship. Congrats.
dN
NOTE: I am not much of a fan of those year in review, or decade in review articles, so don't expect to see links to them here.
MLS
LE Eisenmenger of the Examiner does a Q & A with a S Soccer Federation Referee Inspector. I know a lot of you love referee talk.
dN
David Falk of the Examiner does a Q & A with Seattle Sounders great rookie Stever Zakuani.
dN
The New England Sports Network makes a list of Top 10 Xmas presents for local sports.... and #10 is quite interesting. As are some of the comments below the article.
dN
Nigel Reed of the CBC writes about MLS trying to re-sign Stuart Holden in Houston.
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says the Dynamo have upped their offer to Holden.
dN
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle with an article on Houston's un-secret weapon - Geoff Cameron.
MLS RUMORS
Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 reports that Jeremiah White may be the 2nd American to leave a team in Denmark and join Philadelphia.
dN
David Falk of the Examiner tries to round up all the latest Sounders player movement rumors.
MLS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
Richard Snowden of Soccer 365 on the CBA negotiation, and the role the leagues Single Entity system plays.
-Snowden feels Single Entity is a legit breaking point for the players union and their right to strike.
dN
The current deal expires on Dec 31, 2009. If no deal is in place by then the players could strike or the owners could lock them out.
MLS COACHES MERRY-GO-ROUND
Former Kansas City Wizards head coach has been given the same job at DC United.
dN
Nick Firchau of Chicago's Southtown Star with the latest on Chicago Fire coaching candidates.
-Confirmed interviewees:
Tom Soehn
Curt Onalfo
Richie Williams
Robin Fraser
Jesse Marsch
-Un-confirmed rumor:
Carlos de los Cobos - coach of El Salvador national team
-NOT on the list:
Hugo Sanchez
TEAM USA
Jose Romero of the Seattle Times talks to Sounders midfielder Brad Evans about being called into the USA January training camp.
-Evans wants to be on that World Cup roster.
USA U18 TEAM
There is a training camp for the U18 squad in Carson CA this week, through Sun Jan 3.
Here is the roster:
G:
Ryan Herman - Crossfire Academy
Jonathan Kempin - Kansas City Wizards
Andrew Wolverton - Concorde Fire
D:
Michael Ambrose - FC Dallas
David Caban - Chicago Fire
Sean Cunningham - Derby County Wolves
Nathanael Eggleston - Potomac Academy
George Fradenburg - Birmingham United
Bryan Gallego - NY Red Bulls
Kristian Garciamendez - Andromeda
Jordan McCrary - Concorde Fire
Jon-Paul Medina - California Odyssey
Pueblo Ocegueda - Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - Edmond OK
Aaron Simmons - Dallas Texans
M:
Seth Casiple - California Development Academy
Samuel Coleman - FC Dallas
Amadou Dia - Real Colorado
Sean Davis - NY Red Bulls
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas
Luis Gil - Pateadores
Markhus Lacroix - NJSA
Miguel Lopez - Lonestar SC
Daniel Metzger - PDA
Scott Thomsen - PDA
William Trapp - Columbus Crew
DeAndre Yedlin - Crossfire Premier
F:
Samuel Adjei - NY Red Bulls
Brandon Allen - PDA
Zachary Batteer - Beadling SC
Villyan Bijev - Cal Odyssey
Christopher Davis - Columbus Crew
Sean Okoli - Washington Premier FC
Jose Rivera - Pateadores
Jonathan Top - FC Dallas
Ryan Zinkhan - Richmond Strikers Academy
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Yahoo Sports reports on a new thigh injury suffered by DaMarcus Beasley. The team says he will be out 2 to 3 weeks. (thanks to Bart for the link)
dN
Maurice Edu made his return to Rangers first team, coming on as a sub on Sunday! Hooray Beer! The team had a few good words on their website.
dN
Noah Davis of Goal.com talks to Marcus Tracy of Aab about his first season as a professional.
-A quick Q & A to go with it.
dN
Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad talks to Mikkel Diskerud of Stabaek about his future.
dN
Game Action: (only those that played are listed)
-Sat Dec 26 & Sun Dec 27
ENGLAND - Premiership
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - started and went 83 minutes drawing a Penalty Kick but lost at home 1-3 to Manchester United.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 in a scoreless home draw with Tottenham.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance but were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - played the entire game but lost 2-0 at Liverpool.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole game as usual and drew 1-1 at Sunderland.
ENGLAND - Championship
Jay DeMerit - Watford - played all 90 but were held to a scoreless draw at home by Nottingham Forest.
Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - went the distance and drew 2-2 at home with Newcastle.
ENGLAND - League One
Ian Joyce - Southend United - got a rare start and went all 90 but they lost 1-2 at home to Colchester United.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - started and played 73 minutes as they were routed 4-0 at Yeovil Town.
SCOTLAND - Premiership
Maurice Edu - Rangers - came on as a sub in the 74th minute as they went to Hibernian and won big 1-4.
-Mon Dec 28
ENGLAND - Premiership
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the entire game but lost 2-1 at Chelsea.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - got in another full 90 saw a Yellow Card and lost 0-3 at home to Manchester City.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance in a 2-0 home win over Burnley.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - came on as a sub in the 19th minute but they lost 2-0 at Tottenham.
ENGLAND - Championship
Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 and drawing 2-2 at Bristol City.
ENGLAND - League One
Ian Joyce - Southend United - got his 2nd start in a row and won this one 1-2 at Leyton Orient.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - went the full match scoring a goal but lost 2-5 at home against Brighton.
dN
Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)
ENGLAND - Premiership
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - Tue Dec 29 at Bolton
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Tue Dec 29 v Liverpool
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Tue Dec 29 v Liverpool
SCOTLAND - Premiership
DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - Wed Dec 30 v Dundee United
Dominic Cervi - Celtic - Wed Dec 30 at Kilmarnock
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Wed Dec 30 v Dundee United
AMERICANS IN EUROPE - RUMORS
Soccer 365 with the latest on January transfer rumors.
dN
The Daily Mirror in England claims Burnley is interested in both Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden. But keep in mind that year after year the Mirror are statiscally the worst when it comes to their rumors actually happening.
CANADA
I am sorry for missing this a couple weeks back: The Canadian Soccer Association has named Simeon Jackson as their Player of the Year.
-And I am also sorry to say this: Who?
-It get's worse for me when I admit that there are 3 others in the top 10 that I have never heard of.
CENTRAL AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
NICARAGUA - Apertura Championship:
1st leg
-Sun Dec 20
Real Esteli 1-0 Walter Ferreti
2nd Leg
-Sun Dec 27
Walter Ferreti 4-1 Real Esteli - WF win 4-2 on aggregate.
dN
COSTA RICA - Primera Division Torneo de Invierno - Final:
1st leg
-Wed Dec 23
Puntarenas 0-0 Brujas
2nd leg
-Mon Dec 28
Brujas v Puntarenas (0-0)
ENGLAND
National team coach Fabio Capello has supposedly said that David Beckham will be on the World Cup roster if he is healthy.
dN
Tottenham moved back into the top 4 (at #4) with astrong PRODUCTIVE week. Premiership games on Mon, Tue & Wed will round out the holiday season. All team will them be off until Jan 9, with a round of FA Cup games on New Years weekend. (thanks to Nordy for clearing up the wrong usage of words)
dN
David Conn at the Guardian on Manchester City fans, who in just a week seem to have forgotten all about former coach Mark Hughes.
-Personally I would be a lot more excited about Roberto Mancini than Mark Hughes too.
dN
FIFA.com does a Q & A with Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher.
dN
Big games this week - Matches & Scores:
-Mon Dec 28
Chelsea v Fulham - a London Derby featuring the #1 team
Tottenham v West Ham - a London Derby featuring the surprise #4 team
-Tue Dec 29
Aston Villa v Liverpool - two teams trying desperately to stay in the race
dN
Next Premier League games are on Sat Jan 9.
dN
Top Team Standings:
45 Chelsea (20 played)
40 Manchester United (19 played)
37 Tottenham (20 played)
38 Arsenal (18 played)
35 Aston Villa (19 played)
35 Manchester City (19 played)
dN
Top Goal Scorers:
13 Jermain Defoe - Tottenham
13 Didier Drogba - Chelsea
13 Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
11 Darren Bent - Sunderland
11 Fernando Torres - Liverpool
10 Louis Saha - Everton
FRANCE
Bordeaux has opened up a huge 9 point lead at the midway gap in the season (19 of 38 played).
dN
Next Ligue 1 games on Sat Jan 16.
dN
Top Team Standings - And this weeks Matches & Scores:
43 Bordeaux - Last: Wed Dec 23 W 1-2 at Toulouse
34 Lille - Last: Wed Dec 23 W 0-4 at Nancy Lorraine
33 Montpellier - Last: Wed Dec 23 W 1-2 at Lyon
32 Marseille - Last: Wed Dec 23 L 0-2 v Auxerre
30 Lyon - Last: Wed Dec 23 L 1-2 v Montpellier
dN
Top Goal Scorers:
11 Gervinho - Lille
10 Nene - Monaco
9 Pierre-Alain Frau - Lille
8 Asamoah Gyan - Stade Rennes
8 Lisandro Lopez - Lyon
8 Kevin Gameiro - Lorient
ITALY
David Beckman arrived at AC Milan for his first day of practice today, and everyone promptly lost their minds.
dN
Is Bayern Munich forward Luca Toni about to sign with Roma?
dN
Next Serie A games are on Wed Jan 6.
EUROPE
When Saturday Comes with the retelling of a good Xmas story in which German & English soldiers stopped fighting during WWI and played a soccer game instead.
dN
Reuters is reporting that Excelsior Mouscron has been kicked out of the Belgian top division because they can't afford to pay their bills, and have forfeited their 3 previous games.
BRAZIL
Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated looks at the growing violence around the game in Brazil as we get closer and closer to the 2014 World Cup.
ARGENTINA
The Buenos Aires Herald reports on a terrible car accident in which River Plate star in the making Diego Bounanotte was badly hurt, and 3 of his friends were all killed.
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
Defending champion Egypt has lost two of their top players, Mohamed Abou Treika due to a broken foot and Amir Zaki due to a hamstring injury.
WORLD CUP 2010 - SOUTH AFRICA
World Soccer is reporting that known Argentinian hooligans will be sent to the World Cup by that country's government, as long as said hooligans support the current government's campaigns. Wow. I wish my government would do that for me. And I don't even have a criminal record.
ALL AROUND THE WORLD
FIFA and FIFPro (the players union) have announced their 2009 World Best XI:
G:
Iker Casillas
D:
Daniel Alves
Patrice Evra
John Terry
Nemanja Vidic
M:
Steven Gerrard
Xavi Hernandez
Andres Iniesta
F:
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Fernando Torres
Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhh! DaMarucs Beasley has suffered a tear in his thigh muscle. See details in Americans in Europe section. (Thanks to Bart of the heads up.)
-Later in the day Beasley posted this Twitter message: "Yea the injury is not as bad as we thought.. So with rest and extra treatment hope to be back by the end of the week! Fingers crossed!"
dN
The Washington Post reports that Curt Onalfo is the new head coach at DC United.
dN
Jimmy Conrad strikes again at ESPN Soccernet. The Kansas City Wizards centerback mocks the readers who took his previous column too seriously. I love this guy.
dN
Deportivo Walter Ferreti of Managua has won the Nicaraguan Apertura Championship. Congrats.
dN
NOTE: I am not much of a fan of those year in review, or decade in review articles, so don't expect to see links to them here.
MLS
LE Eisenmenger of the Examiner does a Q & A with a S Soccer Federation Referee Inspector. I know a lot of you love referee talk.
dN
David Falk of the Examiner does a Q & A with Seattle Sounders great rookie Stever Zakuani.
dN
The New England Sports Network makes a list of Top 10 Xmas presents for local sports.... and #10 is quite interesting. As are some of the comments below the article.
dN
Nigel Reed of the CBC writes about MLS trying to re-sign Stuart Holden in Houston.
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says the Dynamo have upped their offer to Holden.
dN
Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle with an article on Houston's un-secret weapon - Geoff Cameron.
MLS RUMORS
Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365 reports that Jeremiah White may be the 2nd American to leave a team in Denmark and join Philadelphia.
dN
David Falk of the Examiner tries to round up all the latest Sounders player movement rumors.
MLS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
Richard Snowden of Soccer 365 on the CBA negotiation, and the role the leagues Single Entity system plays.
-Snowden feels Single Entity is a legit breaking point for the players union and their right to strike.
dN
The current deal expires on Dec 31, 2009. If no deal is in place by then the players could strike or the owners could lock them out.
MLS COACHES MERRY-GO-ROUND
Former Kansas City Wizards head coach has been given the same job at DC United.
dN
Nick Firchau of Chicago's Southtown Star with the latest on Chicago Fire coaching candidates.
-Confirmed interviewees:
Tom Soehn
Curt Onalfo
Richie Williams
Robin Fraser
Jesse Marsch
-Un-confirmed rumor:
Carlos de los Cobos - coach of El Salvador national team
-NOT on the list:
Hugo Sanchez
TEAM USA
Jose Romero of the Seattle Times talks to Sounders midfielder Brad Evans about being called into the USA January training camp.
-Evans wants to be on that World Cup roster.
USA U18 TEAM
There is a training camp for the U18 squad in Carson CA this week, through Sun Jan 3.
Here is the roster:
G:
Ryan Herman - Crossfire Academy
Jonathan Kempin - Kansas City Wizards
Andrew Wolverton - Concorde Fire
D:
Michael Ambrose - FC Dallas
David Caban - Chicago Fire
Sean Cunningham - Derby County Wolves
Nathanael Eggleston - Potomac Academy
George Fradenburg - Birmingham United
Bryan Gallego - NY Red Bulls
Kristian Garciamendez - Andromeda
Jordan McCrary - Concorde Fire
Jon-Paul Medina - California Odyssey
Pueblo Ocegueda - Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - Edmond OK
Aaron Simmons - Dallas Texans
M:
Seth Casiple - California Development Academy
Samuel Coleman - FC Dallas
Amadou Dia - Real Colorado
Sean Davis - NY Red Bulls
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas
Luis Gil - Pateadores
Markhus Lacroix - NJSA
Miguel Lopez - Lonestar SC
Daniel Metzger - PDA
Scott Thomsen - PDA
William Trapp - Columbus Crew
DeAndre Yedlin - Crossfire Premier
F:
Samuel Adjei - NY Red Bulls
Brandon Allen - PDA
Zachary Batteer - Beadling SC
Villyan Bijev - Cal Odyssey
Christopher Davis - Columbus Crew
Sean Okoli - Washington Premier FC
Jose Rivera - Pateadores
Jonathan Top - FC Dallas
Ryan Zinkhan - Richmond Strikers Academy
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Yahoo Sports reports on a new thigh injury suffered by DaMarcus Beasley. The team says he will be out 2 to 3 weeks. (thanks to Bart for the link)
dN
Maurice Edu made his return to Rangers first team, coming on as a sub on Sunday! Hooray Beer! The team had a few good words on their website.
dN
Noah Davis of Goal.com talks to Marcus Tracy of Aab about his first season as a professional.
-A quick Q & A to go with it.
dN
Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad talks to Mikkel Diskerud of Stabaek about his future.
dN
Game Action: (only those that played are listed)
-Sat Dec 26 & Sun Dec 27
ENGLAND - Premiership
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - started and went 83 minutes drawing a Penalty Kick but lost at home 1-3 to Manchester United.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 in a scoreless home draw with Tottenham.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance but were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - played the entire game but lost 2-0 at Liverpool.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole game as usual and drew 1-1 at Sunderland.
ENGLAND - Championship
Jay DeMerit - Watford - played all 90 but were held to a scoreless draw at home by Nottingham Forest.
Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - went the distance and drew 2-2 at home with Newcastle.
ENGLAND - League One
Ian Joyce - Southend United - got a rare start and went all 90 but they lost 1-2 at home to Colchester United.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - started and played 73 minutes as they were routed 4-0 at Yeovil Town.
SCOTLAND - Premiership
Maurice Edu - Rangers - came on as a sub in the 74th minute as they went to Hibernian and won big 1-4.
-Mon Dec 28
ENGLAND - Premiership
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the entire game but lost 2-1 at Chelsea.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - got in another full 90 saw a Yellow Card and lost 0-3 at home to Manchester City.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance in a 2-0 home win over Burnley.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - came on as a sub in the 19th minute but they lost 2-0 at Tottenham.
ENGLAND - Championship
Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 and drawing 2-2 at Bristol City.
ENGLAND - League One
Ian Joyce - Southend United - got his 2nd start in a row and won this one 1-2 at Leyton Orient.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - went the full match scoring a goal but lost 2-5 at home against Brighton.
dN
Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)
ENGLAND - Premiership
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - Tue Dec 29 at Bolton
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Tue Dec 29 v Liverpool
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Tue Dec 29 v Liverpool
SCOTLAND - Premiership
DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - Wed Dec 30 v Dundee United
Dominic Cervi - Celtic - Wed Dec 30 at Kilmarnock
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Wed Dec 30 v Dundee United
AMERICANS IN EUROPE - RUMORS
Soccer 365 with the latest on January transfer rumors.
dN
The Daily Mirror in England claims Burnley is interested in both Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden. But keep in mind that year after year the Mirror are statiscally the worst when it comes to their rumors actually happening.
CANADA
I am sorry for missing this a couple weeks back: The Canadian Soccer Association has named Simeon Jackson as their Player of the Year.
-And I am also sorry to say this: Who?
-It get's worse for me when I admit that there are 3 others in the top 10 that I have never heard of.
CENTRAL AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
NICARAGUA - Apertura Championship:
1st leg
-Sun Dec 20
Real Esteli 1-0 Walter Ferreti
2nd Leg
-Sun Dec 27
Walter Ferreti 4-1 Real Esteli - WF win 4-2 on aggregate.
dN
COSTA RICA - Primera Division Torneo de Invierno - Final:
1st leg
-Wed Dec 23
Puntarenas 0-0 Brujas
2nd leg
-Mon Dec 28
Brujas v Puntarenas (0-0)
ENGLAND
National team coach Fabio Capello has supposedly said that David Beckham will be on the World Cup roster if he is healthy.
dN
Tottenham moved back into the top 4 (at #4) with a
dN
David Conn at the Guardian on Manchester City fans, who in just a week seem to have forgotten all about former coach Mark Hughes.
-Personally I would be a lot more excited about Roberto Mancini than Mark Hughes too.
dN
FIFA.com does a Q & A with Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher.
dN
Big games this week - Matches & Scores:
-Mon Dec 28
Chelsea v Fulham - a London Derby featuring the #1 team
Tottenham v West Ham - a London Derby featuring the surprise #4 team
-Tue Dec 29
Aston Villa v Liverpool - two teams trying desperately to stay in the race
dN
Next Premier League games are on Sat Jan 9.
dN
Top Team Standings:
45 Chelsea (20 played)
40 Manchester United (19 played)
37 Tottenham (20 played)
38 Arsenal (18 played)
35 Aston Villa (19 played)
35 Manchester City (19 played)
dN
Top Goal Scorers:
13 Jermain Defoe - Tottenham
13 Didier Drogba - Chelsea
13 Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
11 Darren Bent - Sunderland
11 Fernando Torres - Liverpool
10 Louis Saha - Everton
FRANCE
Bordeaux has opened up a huge 9 point lead at the midway gap in the season (19 of 38 played).
dN
Next Ligue 1 games on Sat Jan 16.
dN
Top Team Standings - And this weeks Matches & Scores:
43 Bordeaux - Last: Wed Dec 23 W 1-2 at Toulouse
34 Lille - Last: Wed Dec 23 W 0-4 at Nancy Lorraine
33 Montpellier - Last: Wed Dec 23 W 1-2 at Lyon
32 Marseille - Last: Wed Dec 23 L 0-2 v Auxerre
30 Lyon - Last: Wed Dec 23 L 1-2 v Montpellier
dN
Top Goal Scorers:
11 Gervinho - Lille
10 Nene - Monaco
9 Pierre-Alain Frau - Lille
8 Asamoah Gyan - Stade Rennes
8 Lisandro Lopez - Lyon
8 Kevin Gameiro - Lorient
ITALY
David Beckman arrived at AC Milan for his first day of practice today, and everyone promptly lost their minds.
dN
Is Bayern Munich forward Luca Toni about to sign with Roma?
dN
Next Serie A games are on Wed Jan 6.
EUROPE
When Saturday Comes with the retelling of a good Xmas story in which German & English soldiers stopped fighting during WWI and played a soccer game instead.
dN
Reuters is reporting that Excelsior Mouscron has been kicked out of the Belgian top division because they can't afford to pay their bills, and have forfeited their 3 previous games.
BRAZIL
Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated looks at the growing violence around the game in Brazil as we get closer and closer to the 2014 World Cup.
ARGENTINA
The Buenos Aires Herald reports on a terrible car accident in which River Plate star in the making Diego Bounanotte was badly hurt, and 3 of his friends were all killed.
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
Defending champion Egypt has lost two of their top players, Mohamed Abou Treika due to a broken foot and Amir Zaki due to a hamstring injury.
WORLD CUP 2010 - SOUTH AFRICA
World Soccer is reporting that known Argentinian hooligans will be sent to the World Cup by that country's government, as long as said hooligans support the current government's campaigns. Wow. I wish my government would do that for me. And I don't even have a criminal record.
ALL AROUND THE WORLD
FIFA and FIFPro (the players union) have announced their 2009 World Best XI:
G:
Iker Casillas
D:
Daniel Alves
Patrice Evra
John Terry
Nemanja Vidic
M:
Steven Gerrard
Xavi Hernandez
Andres Iniesta
F:
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Fernando Torres
posted by brucio at 16:30
2 Comments:
Tottenham moved back into the top 4 (at #4) with a strong week.
A nice run of results, maybe, but they were thoroughly outplayed by Fulham on Saturday. Only some miracle work by Gomes kept them from defeat.
>-And I am also sorry to say this: Who?
Sorry? Dont. I had no clue and I live here.
Seems the kid played 5th division football in england and is now in the 3rd division.
Wow.
>-It get's worse for me when I admit that >there are 3 others in the top 10 that I >have never heard of.
Only 3? You are a much better man than I am. I showed the list to 5 friends who were over. Guys in their 40s who played on provincial selections, 2 guys were national level referees and one was a national level coach. They all follow canadian soccer peripherally (like most, you only know whats in your province) and some of them barely got 3 right.
Thats a sad list of 13 names right there.
The soccer banana republic will continue to flounder. You CAN NOT create a system that ends up in no professional league. THe three random pro teams are not enough to foster competition amongst young 16-19yrs old exceptionals to help them get better.
You can NOT have 35 million people and not have a pro league (in a country that has only one league) and not feel the disconnect between the top youth ranks and the professionl ranks.
Norway AND Denmark have LESS people than
the city of Toronto and both countries have professional leagues. It might explain why two countries even colder than Canada can produce top level players at a much higher (much) rate than Canada.
Riding shotgun to american soccer will hurt canadian soccer in the long run
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