Thursday, January 07, 2010

Some News for Thu Jan 7, 2010

USL/NASL MESS

Big big news for all of us with teams in limbo!!

It's official today, the 2nd Division in the United States will have a new name and structure, although it will look very much like the old USL 1st Division.

The league will most likely be called USSF 2nd Division, and the US Soccer Federation will oversee it all.

The one difference is that the 12 team league will be divided into 2 conferences.

The schedule and process for naming a champion have not yet been ironed out.

Here are the 2 conferences:

USL Conference
Austin Aztex
Minnesota (new team with no name yet)
Portland Timbers
Puerto Rico Islanders
Rochester Rhinos
Tampa Bay Rowdies
NASL Conference
Crystal Palace Baltimore
Carolina RailHawks
Miami Blues FC
Montreal Impact
AC St. Louis
Vancouver Whitecaps

I don't really know why they are having "conferences", because from what I have heard they will all be playing each other on a fairly balanced schedule. My only feeling is that both sides somehow wanted their name on the new league and this is their compromise to make that situation happen.

Here is the official press release from US Soccer this afternoon:
The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. Under the agreement, U.S. Soccer will oversee the league for the 2010 season, working with both the USL and NASL on the day-to-day league activities.
The agreement pertains only to the 2010 season, and during the next year U.S. Soccer will continue to work with USL and NASL to build a long-term solution for the future. U.S. Soccer will also be developing new standards to govern Division 2 professional league applicants to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the leagues and teams.
“We are extremely pleased that we were able to come to a solution that ensures we will have Division 2 professional soccer in the United States in 2010,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “This agreement allows us to continue to develop the professional game in many important markets around the country, while at the same time working towards the long-term stability of Division 2 professional soccer. I’d like to thank the representatives from both the USL and NASL for the time spent during our negotiations, especially their efforts in the past seven days.”
The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference will include teams from Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay. The NASL Conference will consist of teams from Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.
In the near future, U.S. Soccer will announce details of the new league, including league rules, a match schedule, television rights and other important operational issues.
As part of the agreement, all pending claims between the USL and NASL will be dropped.


STARTERS

Everton gives us this picture of Landon Donovan who has been given the #9 shirt. Wow.














Check out the team's official website for more photos.

dN

The New York Red Bulls have hired Hans Backe as their new head coach. He was last the head coach of Sven Goren Erickson's Notts County in the English League 2. Here is word from the team about their new hire.
-Richie Williams & Des McAleenan will remain as the assistants.

MLS NEWS

Chivas Guadalajara star Ramon Morales has turned down a chance to play for Chivas USA. CDCHIVASUSA sent out this Twitter message today: "Ramón Morales: Chivas USA es un club que merece todos mis respetos... pero opté por no tomar la propuesta de Chivas USA."

MEXICO

Interliga

Official Web Site

2 teams from this tournament get a spot in the 2010 Copa Libertadores.
The 8 teams are split into 2 groups and the teams in each group play a round robin.
Then the winner of Group A plays the runner up from Group B for one spot, and winner of Group B plays the runner up from Group A for the other spot.

Group A (2 games played)
6 America (+5)
3 Estudiantes (+1)
3 Atlante (-2)
0 Santos (-4)
Group B (1 game played)
Advanced - 6 Puebla (+4)
2 Monterrey (0)
1 Chiapas (-1)
1 UANL Tigres (-3)

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 2
Atlante 2-1 Estudiantes Tecos - Atl goals by Daniel Arreola & Guillermo Rojas. ET goal by Mauro Cejas.
America 3-1 Santos Laguna - Ame goals by Alejandro Esqueda, Daniel Montenegro & Salvador Cabanas(PK). SL goal by Juan Pablo Rodriguez(PK).
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 10,037
-Sun Jan 3
UANL Tigres 1-4 Puebla UANL goal by Itamar Batista. Pue goals by Alvaro Gonzalez(2) & Carlos Ruiz(2).
Monterrey 0-0 Chiapas Jaguares
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: 4,148
-Tue Jan 5
Estudiantes Tecos 2-0 Santos Laguna - Est goals by Fredy Bareiro & Rodrigo Ruiz.
Atlante 3-0 America - Ame goals by Salvador Cabanas(2) & Luis Sandoval.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: none given
-Wed Jan 6
Chiapas Jaguares 0-1 Puebla - - Pue goal by Nicolas Olivera.
UANL Tigres 1-1 Monterrey - UT goal by Jose Gonzalez. Mon goal by Jose Maria Basanta.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 10,153
-Sat Jan 9
Santos Laguna v Atlante
America v Estudiantes Tecos
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sun Jan 10
Puebla v UANL Tigres
Monterrey v Chiapas Jaguares
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Wed Jan 13
Final 1 - A1 v B2
Final 2 - B1 v A2
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA

CANADA

Canadian soccer supporters group The Voyagers has named their Player of the Year for 2009, and it is Michael Klukowski of Club Brugge. Karina Leblanc of the LA Sol was the Women's winner. Congrats to both of them.

ENGLAND

Patrick Viera has left Inter Milan to sign with Manchester City. If City paid money for him they got taken.

dN

Top Premiership Team Standings and Next Matches:
45 Chelsea (20 played) - Next: Sat Jan 9 at Hull
43 Manchester United (20 played) - Next: Sat Jan 9 at Birmingham
41 Arsenal (19 played) - Next: Sat Jan 9 v Everton
37 Tottenham (20 played) - Next: Sun Jan 10 at Liverpool
35 Manchester City (19 played) - Next: Mon Jan 11 v Blackburn
35 Aston Villa (20 played) - Next: Sat Jan 9 at Wigan
33 Liverpool (20 played) - Next: Sun Jan 10 v Tottenham

dN

Top Goal Scorers:
14 Jermain Defoe - Tottenham
14 Didier Drogba - Chelsea
14 Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
13 Darren Bent - Sunderland
12 Fernando Torres - Liverpool
10 Louis Saha - Everton

SPAIN

Barcelona could be on their way to the first stumble of 2010, getting beaten in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey Round of 16 losing 1-2 at home to Sevilla. The second leg is on Tue Jan 12

COPA DEL REY
Matches & Scores - Round of 16:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 5
Barcelona 1-2 Sevilla
-Wed Jan 6
Celta de Vigo 1-1 Villrreal
Alcorcon 2-3 Racing Santander
Valencia 1-2 Deportivo La Coruna
Recreativo Huelva 3-0 Atletico Madrid
-Thu Jan 7
Hercules 2-1 Osasuna
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Mallorca
Malaga 2-1 Getafe
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 12
Sevilla v Barcelona (2-1)
Villrreal v Celta de Vigo (1-1)
Racing Santander v Alcorcon (3-2)
Deportivo La Coruna v Valencia (2-1)
Atletico Madrid v Recreativo Huelva (0-3)
Osasuna v Hercules (1-2)
Mallorca v Rayo Vallecano (1-2)
Getafe v Malaga (1-2)

dN

Top La Liga Team Standings (after 16 played) and Next Matches & Scores:
40 Barcelona - Next: Sun Jan 10 at Tenerife
38 Real Madrid - Next: Sun Jan 10 v Mallorca
32 Valencia - Next: Sun Jan 10 at Xerez
30 Mallorca - Next: Sun Jan 10 at Real Madrid
30 Sevilla - Next: Sat Jan 9 v Racing Santander
28 Deportivo La Coruna - Next: Sun Jan 10 v Osasuna

dN

Top La Liga Goal Scorers:
12 David Villa - Valencia
11 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Barcelona
10 Roberto Soldado - Getafe
10 Gonzalo Higuain - Real Madrid
9 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
8 Luis Fabiano - Sevilla
8 Artiz Aduriz - Mallorca

ITALY

Top Serie A Team Standings (after 18 games played) & Next Matches:
42 Inter - Last: W 0-1 at Chievo Verona - Next: Sat Jan 9 v Siena
34 Milan - Last: W 5-2 v Genoa - Next: Sun Jan 10 at Juventus
33 Juventus - Last: W 1-2 at Parma - Next: Sun Jan 10 v Milan
30 Napoli - Last: W 0-2 at Atlanta - Next: Sat Jan 9 v Sampdoria
29 Roma - Last: D 2-2 at Cagliari - Next: Sun Jan 10 v Chievo Verona
28 Parma - Last: L 1-2 v Juventus - Next: Sun Jan 10 at Livorno

dN

Top Serie A Goal Scorers:
11 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
10 Diego Milito - Inter
9 Francesco Totti - Roma
9 Alberto Gilardino
8 Samuel Eto'o - Inter
8 Giampaolo Pazzini - Sampdoria
8 Alessandro Matri - Cagliari
8 Marek Hamsik - Napoli

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America looks at the turmoil going on with Algeria as they get set to start the tournament.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Dan M. said...

any clue to what's happening with minnesota? i would hate to see someone other than the thunder this summer...

11:22 PM  

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