Monday, February 01, 2010

Some News for Mon Feb 1, 2010

STARTERS

Late last week we heard that Steve Ralston had left the New England Revolution, and today we learned his next destination: AC St Louis. Hometown hero returns to launch the new team.

And the new team supplied us with this picture:















AC St. Louis Head Coach Claude Anelka and first ever signing Steve Ralston


STUNNING

First, Togo had their team bus shot at by political rebels with machine guns in Cabinda, Angola, killing 3 members of their staff. Then Togo was forced to withdraw from the Africa Cup of Nations tournament because the organizers would not reschedule their first game (so the country could have 3 days of mourning). And now Togo has been suspended from the next two ACN for failing to participate in this one. Insane! The organizers say the problem is with the Togo government for interfering with the team who wanted to play. Can you believe that? Have they no heart at all? Who is in charge? Jack Warner?

DERBY DU NORD

Lille wins this installment of the Derby du Nord on a goal by a 19 year old Belgian midfielder.

Match & Score:
-Sat Jan 30
Lille 1-0 Lens - Lil goal by Eden Hazard.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES THIS WEEKEND

There were some really good matches on the schedule to end the month!

-Fri Jan 29
Braga 1-0 Sporting - the surprise #1 does it again!
-Sat Jan 30
Napoli 0-0 Genoa - An anti-climax to the anti-derby.
Montpellier 2-0 Marseille - the shocking #2 hosts stuffed the always contending team who now drop down from #4 to #7.
-Sun Jan 31
Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United - The Arse needed this one badly to convince people that they are for real, but Man U showed that they are very powerful when they want to be.
Sevilla 2-1 Valencia - Sev gets a leg up as these two teams battle it out for the 3rd Champions League spot.
Feyenoord 1-1 Ajax - Hollands biggest rivals end in stalemate.
Panathinaikos 1-1 AEK Athens - two of the big three meet and neither gets the upper hand.

FACT OF THE DAY

The 2009 UEFA Champions League final drew 109 million viewers, while the 2009 Super Bowl drew 106 million.

MLS NEWS

We were led to believe that Steve Ralston stepped off the good ship NE Revs, but it turns out he may have been made to walk the plank. Which one is it? Or is it both?
-Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe talks to Ralston about leaving his long time team.

dN

New England has re-signed left midfielder Mauricio Castro.

dN

DC has signed a new contract with their long time league leading goal scorer Jaime Moreno.

dN

Tripp Mickle at the Baltimore Business Journal reports that DC United owner Will Chang is looking for new financial partners.

dN

The Washington Post talks to DCU ownership and management about investors and stadium.

dN

The Philly Inquirer talks to coach Peter Nowak about his style of preseason work outs.

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch says the Crew start preseason in search of goals.

dN

Jose Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle looks at the two giant holes the Dynamo must fill in the midfield with the loss of Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America is going with a hunch that the Red Bulls will be better than usual this season.

dN

Greg Lalas, writing his last column for Sports Illustrated, looks at the end of the old fashioned "American player."

dN

Grahame Jones of the LA Times with an article on Clint Mathis and his return to the Galaxy, and a reunion with Bruce Arena and co.

dN

Garth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun talks to GM Mo Johnston about the new preseason and a new head coach at TFC.
-When is this delusional dude going to get serious about defense?

dN

Word has it that PPL Corp (a Pennsylvania electrical utilities company) has bought the naming rights to the new Philadelphia Union stadium. But if the reports of 10 years for $2 Million a year are true, then PPL got one hell of a deal. When will you be making your first trip to PPL Park?

MLS RUMORS

Is Chivas USA getting their hands on Salvadoran midfielder Osael Romero? His current team is Vista Hermosa in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador.

dN

Soccer 365 with Friday's and Monday's rumors featuring Carlos Bocanegra, Ray Burse, Quiarol Arzu, Juan Aguedo, Josh Tudela, Andrew Quinn, Osael Romero, Emilio Hassan & Michael Umana.

MLS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

The current deal expired on Jan 31, 2010, but the two sides agreed to extend it until Feb 12. Negotiations are rumored to be going well.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald gets to deliver today's negotiation story.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

The Houston Chronicle reports that some pinheads are already bitching about the Dynamo's stadium Plan B.
-The mayor of the suburb that runs up against the stadium site has gone so far as to say they must "protect that neighborhood," and then added, "Would you want it in your backyard?" To which I answer, "Oh Hell Yes!"

Glenn Davis, the Good, no, make that Great Samaritan of soccer in Houston, writing for the Chronicle, gives his views on the stadium issues.

TEAM USA

The news just gets worse - currently busted up we have Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones and Steve Cherundolo. Not to mention DaMarcus Beasley. That is a lot of firepower.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Freddy Adu debuted for Aris and set up Eddie Johnson for a nice goal in the dying moments of a 2-1 loss. Hey, Freddy contributed & Eddie scored, what else can you ask for?

dN

Yanks Abroad reports that Steve Cherundolo has suffered a "broken shoulder", whatever that is, during training with Hannover. He is expected to miss 6 weeks, meaning he will not be available for USA at Netherlands on Mar 3.

dN

Whatever it was he did, it seems to have worked - Carlos Bocanegra is back in the good graces at Rennes, with another 90 minutes and a 4-0 home win. Great news.

dN

Kenny Cooper arrives in Plymouth and is introduced by Argyle. From the team's own website.




















By the way, now that Mariner is no longer coaching at the New England Revolution is he still contractually obligated to wear the same exact glasses as Steve Nicol?

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

ENGLAND - Premiership
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - started and played 68 minutes, drawing a penalty, as they drew 2-2 at home v Wolverhampton.
Landon Donovan - Everton - started and played 75 minutes as they won 0-1 at Wigan.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the full 90 getting yet another clean sheet and winning 0-2 at Fulham.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - played the whole match and drew 2-2 at Hull.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the entire game as usual and won 0-1 at Wigan.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - went the distance as they drew 0-0 at home against Blackburn.

ENGLAND - Championship
Jay DeMerit - Watford -
Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - came on as a sub in the 60th minute and they won 2-1 at home against Plymouth Argyle.

ENGLAND - League One
Jemal Johnson - Stockport County - played the entire match but lost 2-0 at Southampton.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - came on as a sub in the 81st and they won 2-3 at Bristol Rovers.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played the full 90 and won big, 4-0 at home over Grenoble.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - went the distance as they won 4-2 over Werder Bremen. (They led 4-1 after 35 minutes and hung on for the win.)

Greece -
Eddie Johnson - Aris Thessalonika - came on as a sub in the 70th minute, scored his team's goal but they lost 2-1 at Xanthi
Freddy Adu - Aris Thessalonika - came on as a sub in the 64th minute and set up Johnson's goal but they lost 2-1 at Xanthi.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - went the distance but lost at Omniworld 1-0.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

PRIMERA DIVISION
Herculez Gomez - Pueblo - came on as a sub in the 70th minute but lost 1-2 at Queretaro.
Jose Francisco Torres - Pachuca - started and went 66 mintues as they stompted Atlante 5-1 at home.
Marco Vidal - Indios Juarez - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at America.

CONCACAF

Friendly
Match & Score:
Jamaica 1-0 Canada - Jam goal by Luton Shelton.
Match report from the CSA.

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America points out that 11 MLS players took the field in this game.
-Would have been 13 if Will Johnson and Dwayne DeRosario hadn't been out with slight injuries.

CANADA

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes this week about football's growth in Canada, after last week writing about football in Seattle. Cool.

ENGLAND

The Guardian with 5 things we learned this weekend in the Premiership.

dN

Top Premier League Team Standings (24 games played)
54 Chelsea (23 games played) - Last: W 1-2 at Burnley - Next: Tue Feb 2 at Hull.
53 Manchester United - Last: W 1-3 at Arsenal
49 Arsenal - Last: L 1-3 v Manchester United
42 Tottenham - Last: D 1-1 at Birmingham City
41 Liverpool - Last: W 2-0 v Bolton
41 Manchester City (22 games played) - Last: W 2-0 v Portsmouth

SCOTLAND

Ireland's big goal scorer Robbie Keane has left Tottenham to sign with Celtic.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Guti's gorgeous backheel pass that ended the 18 year Curse of Coruna for Real Madrid, and the rest of the weeks matches in La Liga.

dN

Phil Ball of ESPN Soccernet is all a flutter from this backheel pass as well, and his views on other La Liga topics.

dN

Top La Liga Team Standings (20 games played)
52 Barcelona - Last: W 0-1 at Sporting Gijon
47 Real Madrid - Last: W 1-3 at Deportivo La Coruna
39 Valencia - Last: L 2-1 at Sevilla
36 Sevilla - Last: W 2-1 v Valencia
34 Mallorca - Last: L 2-1 at Xerez
34 Deportivo La Coruna - Last: L 1-3 v Real Madrid

dN

COPA DEL REY
Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Feb 3
Sevilla v Getafe
-Thu Feb 4
Atletico Madrid v Racing Santander
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 9
Getafe v Sevilla
Racing Santander v Atletico Madrid

FRANCE

Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (22 games played)
48 Bordeaux - Last: D 0-0 v Boulogne
42 Montpellier - Last: W 2-0 v Marseille
40 Lille - Last: W 1-0 v Lens
39 Lyon - Last: W 2-1 v Paris St Germain
39 Monaco - Last: W 3-2 v Nice
39 Auxerre - Last: W 1-0 v St Etienne
36 Marseille (21 games played) - Last: L 2-0 at Montpellier

dN

COUPE DE LA LIGUE
Round of 16
-Tue Feb 2
Bordeaux v Sedan

dN

COUPE DE FRANCE Round of 32
-Tue Feb 2
Toulouse v Brest
-Wed Feb 3
Villefranche v Saint Etienne

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on the Werder Bremen meltdown and the rest of the weekend in the Bundesliga.

dN

Top Bundesliga Team Standings (19 games played)
44 Bayer Leverkusen - Last: W 3-1 v Freiburg
42 Bayern Munich - Last: W 3-0 v Mainz
41 Schalke - Last: W 2-0 v Hoffenheim
36 Dortmund - Last: L 4-1 at Stuttgart
35 Hamburg - Last: D 1-1 v Wolfsburg

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian reports on a particularly dull weekend in Serie A.

dN

Top Serie A Team Standings (22 games played)
49 Inter (21 games played) - Last: POSTPONED - Sun Jan 31 at Parma
41 Milan (21 games played) - Last: D 1-1 v Livorno
41 Roma - Last: W 2-1 v Siena
38 Napoli - Last: D 0-0 v Genoa
34 Juventus - Last: D 1-1 v Lazio
34 Palermo - Last: L 4-2 at Bari

dN

COPPA ITALIA
Semifinals - Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Feb 2
Fiorentina v Inter
Roma v Udinese
-Tue Feb 9
Inter v Fiorentina
Udinese v Roma

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Preliminary (Llave) Round is underway with 12 teams play home and away for the final 6 spots (Ganador) in the 8 groups.

dN

Llave Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 2
Libertad v Tachira (0-1) - Ganador 1
-Wed Feb 3
Estudiantes Tecos v Juan Aurich (0-2) - Ganador 2
Cruzeiro v Real Potosi (1-1) - Ganador 4
-Thu Feb 4
Racing Club v Junior (2-2) - Ganador 6
-Tue Feb 09
Universidad Catolica v Colon (2-3) - Ganador 3
-Wed Feb 10
Emelec v Newell's Old Boys (0-0) - Ganador 5

dN

The Group Stage begins on Tue Feb 9.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Joe said...

I didn't recognize Mariner because he didn't have a PM on his sweater.

2:10 AM  
Blogger jim crist said...

is steve ralston okay? he looks pretty pale.

5:09 PM  

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