Some News for Fri Apr 30, 2010

BIG EURO LEAGUES TITLE RACE WEEKEND MATCHES

Top Eredivisie Team Standings (33 of 34 games played)
83 Twente Enschede - Final: Sun May 2 at NAC Breda - (GD +38)
82 Ajax Amsterdam - Final: Sun May 2 at NEC Nijmegen - (GD +83)

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Top Premier League Team Standings (36 of 38 games played)
80 Chelsea - Next: Sun May 2 at Liverpool - (GD +61) - Final: Sun May 9 v Wigan
79 Manchester United - Next: Sun May 2 at Sunderland - (GD +53) - Final: Sun May 9 v Stoke

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Top Bundesliga Team Standings (32 of 34 games played)
64 Bayern Munich - Next: Sat May 1 v Bochum - (GD +37) - Final: Sat May 8 at Hertha Berlin
64 Schalke - Next: Sat May 1 v Werder Bremen - (GD +24) - Final: Sat May 8 at Mainz

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Top Liga Team Standings (28 of 30 games played)
73 Benfica - Next: Sat May 2 at Porto - (GD +59) - Final: Sun May 9 v Rio Ave
67 Braga - Next: Sat May 2 v Pacos de Ferreira - (GD +27) - Final: Sun May 9 at Nacional de Madeira

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Top Serie A Team Standings (35 of 38 games played)
73 Inter - Next: Sun May 2 at Lazio
71 Roma - Next: Sat May 1 at Parma
64 Milan - Next: Sat May 1 v Fiorentina

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Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (34 of 38 games played)
71 Marseille - Next: Fri Apr 30 at Auxerre
66 Auxerre - Next: Fri Apr 30 v Marseille
61 Lille - Next: Sun May 2 v Nancy
60 Montpellier - Next: Sun May 2 v Lyon
59 Lyon - 33 played - Next: Sun May 2 at Montpellier
57 Bordeaux - 33 played - Next: Wed Apr 28 at Valenciennes

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Top Primera Division Team Standings (34 of 38 games played)
87 Barcelona - Next: Sat may 1 at Villarreal
86 Real Madrid - Next: Sun May 2 v Osasuna

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Top Serie A Team Standings (35 of 38 games played)
73 Inter - Next: Sun May 2 at Lazio
71 Roma - Next: Sat May 1 at Parma
64 Milan - Next: Sat May 1 v Fiorentina

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Independent raves about Jose Mourinho, who in turn raves about the Inter team and fans.

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And James Lawton also of the Independent looks at who is being blamed for Barcelona's fall.

STORY OF THE DAY

Sky Sports with words from Hull City manager Ian Dowie who says that Jozy Altidore has to work harder in training if he wants to be somebody special, and other things. Good stuff.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Mark E. Smith, notorious lead singer of The Fall, has recorded a World Cup theme song for his national team called "England's Heartbeat." If you know his work, then you know it will be awkward and challenging, with little regard for the trappings of hit song melody. Doesn't mean he dislikes hit song melody, its just not really his way to conform. Many of you will probably find it hideous. Myself and a few other readers might enjoy it. Comes out Tue May 4. (thanks to JJ for the heads up)

MLS WEEK 6

All 16 teams in action on Saturday.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 1
DC United v New York Red Bulls - 3:00PM Central on TeleFutura
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
New England Revolution v FC Dallas - 6:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Houston Dynamo v Kansas City Wizards - 7:30PM Central on FSC/FSE
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Chicago Fire v Chivas USA - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC - 8:00PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
San Jose Earthquakes v Colorado Rapids - 9:00PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Los Angeles Galaxy v Philadelphia Union - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Seattle Sounders FC v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe on how New England is going to cope without Shalrie Joseph.
-Centerback Cory Gibbs has been named team captain for now.

dN

That leaves the Revs without 4 big veteran personalites from last season - Jospeh, Steve Ralston (St Louis), Matt Reis (injury), Jay Heaps (retirement) and Taylor Twellman (injury). That is tough to deal with.

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Chivas USA has acquired 24 year old and 5'6" Costa Rican midfielder/forward Jose Macotelo on loan from Puntarenas.
-He is from the same club that Chivas got centerback Dario Delgado on loan from.

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Seattle has officially added 18 year old Colombian forward Miguel Montano to the senior roster.

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Don Ruiz of the Olympian talks to Seattle back up keeper Terry Boss who is the start while Kasey Keller deals with a concussion.

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John Meyer of The Denver Post on Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni, who is on a goal scoring hot streak, at least by his standards.

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The Kansas City Kansan on the Wizards trip this weekend south to face the unusually struggling Houston Dynamo.

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Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at the continuing list of mistakes from the Union, and what the consequences are.

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Steven Sandor of the Toronto Sun previews TFC's opponent this weekend Salt Lake who are struggling early again, but always play well at home.

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Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune on his blog has a few words from RSL coach Jason Kreis on the first start last week for rookie outside midfielder Collen Warner.

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Jack McCarthy of the Chicago Tribune and Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald both on Fire forward Brian McBride who will play his 200th MLS game this weekend.

MLS INJURY REPORT

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune reports on radical treatment being done to RSL players to get them back on the field quicker - platelet-rich plasma therapy. Ned Grabavoy was expected to be out up to 8 weeks and is almost ready at 2 1/2 weeks. Astonishing.

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Philadelphia will be without Sebastian Le Toux due to a knee injury.

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Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star gives us an update on Wizards captain Jimmy Conrad and his injured calf.

MY THOUGHTS

Steve Davis of Daily Soccer Fix brought up another player that had a great April in MLS, and was not in my top 3 list, and that is Joel Lndpere of New York. I over looked him, and thought he deserved a mention.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

San Jose Earthquakes officially opened their brand new training facility in San Jose on Friday.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

Great news for DC & Chicago fans, AC Milan is bringing Clarence Seedorf, Ronaldinho and Pato with them for the friendlies in late May. But that would mean that Ronaldinho and Pato would not be on the Brazil World Cup team, and we all know they both want to be on that team.

USSF DIVISION 2

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 29
Portland Timbers 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
-Sat May 8
Montreal Impact v Puerto Rico Islanders
Rochester Rhinos v Carolina RailHawks
NSC Minnesota Stars v Austin Aztex
AC St. Louis v Crystal Palace Baltimore
Miami FC Blues v Tampa Bay Rowdies

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Standings (As of Thu Apr 25):
NASL Conference>
7 Vancouver - 4 played (+2 GD)
3 Carolina - 2 played (+1 GD)
2 Miami - 2 played (0 GD)
1 Montreal - 2 played (-2 GD)
0 Baltimore - 2 played (-3 GD)
0 St Louis - 4 played (-7 GD)
USL Conference>
10 Portland - 4 played (+5 GD)
7 Rochester - 4 played (+3 GD)
6 Puerto Rico - 2 played (+4 GD)
6 Austin - 3 played (+2 GD)
6 Minnesota - 5 played (-5 GD)
3 Tampa Bay - 2 played (0 GD)

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

The Stars need a big game on Saturday night to get that horrible taste out of their mouth from Wednesday night. Give em hell boys!

And whatever you do, don't dive like Jaime Watson!!!!!!

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated gives his take on the Bob Bradley interview from Thursday.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on the great season of Clint Dempsey.

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Fanhouse on the amazing run by Dempsey and Fulham.

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The official Bolton website has an update on Stuart Holden, who just might make the roster this weekend. Wow.

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Noah Davis of Goal.com talks to Marcus Hahnemann, who I think its safe to say loves his life.

MEXICO

Clausura 2010 playoffs.

Matches & Scores - Quarterfinals:
1st Leg
-Sat May 1
Pachuca v Monterrey
Morelia v Guadalajara
-Sun May 2
Santos Laguna v UNAM
America v Toluca
2nd Leg
-Sat May 8
Monterrey v Pachuca
Guadalajara v Morelia
-Sun May 9
Toluca v America
UNAM v Santos Laguna

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Laguilla Bracket:
Monterrey v Pachuca
UNAM v Santos Laguna
- - - - -
Guadalajara v Morelia
Toluca v America

ENGLAND

Matt Hughes of The Times with an article on 3 distinctly different managers - all successful.

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Reuters with an article on much heralded Fulham manager Roy Hodgson.

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The Premier League Relegation Battle sees 2 out and 2 fighting for the last dropspot (35 points will save you right now) - 3 go down - with 2 games left:
34 West Ham
- - - - -
28 Hull City
OUT-27 Burnley
OUT-16 Portsmouth

SPAIN

Teams #9-20 are all possible for La Liga relegation with 4 rounds left to play (45 points is the line right now) - 3 go down:
44 Deportivo La Coruna
43 Atletico Madrid
41 Espanyol
38 Osasuna - 5 left to play
38 Almeria
37 Sporting Gijon
36 Racing Santander
34 Real Zaragoza
34 Malaga
- - - - -
32 Tenerife
32 Valladolid
27 Xerez

FRANCE

The bottom 3 teams from Ligue 1 will be relegated (41 is the magic numbers) - 4 games left to play:
40 Lens
40 Nice
38 Sochaux
36 St Etienne
- - - - -
29 Le Mans - 35 played
27 Boulogne
OUT-20 Grenoble - 35 played

GERMANY

The struggle against relelgation will see 3 teams fail (bottom 2 go down automatically, and 3rd from bottom plays 3rd from top in B2 in a 2 legged playoff) (34 is the safety number) - with 2 games left to play:
31 Freiburg
28 Nurnberg
- - - - -
28 Bochum
- - - - -
27 Hannover
23 Hertha Berlin

ITALY

Relegation from Serie A happens to the bottom 3 teams (44 is the lucky number) - there are 3 games left to be played:
43 Bari
42 Cagliari
42 Udinese
40 Catania
40 Lazio
39 Bologna
- - - - -
34 Atalanta
30 Siena
OUT-29 Livorno

ARGENTINA

Top Primera Division Team Standings (16 of 19 games played)
33 Estudiantes la Plata - Next: Sun May 2 at Chacarita Juniors
32 Argentinos Juniors - Next: Sun May 2 at San Lorenzo
31 Godoy Cruz - Next: Fri Aor 30 at Rosario Central
31 Independiente - Next: Sun May 2 v Boca Juniors
27 Newell's Old Boys - Next: off this weekend
27 Lanus - Next: Fri Apr 30 at Gimnasia
26 Racing Club - Next: Fri Apr 30 at Tigre

COPA LIBERTADORES

Matches & Scores - Round of 16:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Guadalajara 3-0 Velez Sarsfield - Gua goals by Omar Bravo(2) & Hector Reynoso(PK).
San Luis 0-1 Estudiantes de la Plata - Est goal by Leandro Gonzalez.
-Wed Apr 28
Flamengo 1-0 Corinthians - Fla goal by Adriano(PK).
Universitario Deportes 0-0 Sao Paulo
Banfield 3-1 Internacional - Ban goals by James Rodriguez, Roberto Battion & Sebastian Fernandez. Int goal by Kleber.
-Thu Apr 29
Alianza Lima 1-0 Universidad de Chile - AL goal by Diego Rivarola.
Once Caldas 0-0 Libertad
Cruzeiro 3-1 Nacional - Cru goals all by Thiago. Nac goal by Mario Regueiro.

2nd Leg
-Tue May 4
Velez Sarsfield v Guadalajara (0-3)
Sao Paulo v Universitario Deportes (0-0)
-Wed May 5
Estudiantes de la Plata v San Luis (1-0)
Corinthians v Flamengo (0-1)
Nacional v Cruzeiro (1-3)
-Thu May 6
Internacional v Banfield (1-3)
Universidad de Chile v 9 Alianza Lima (0-1)
Libertad v 12 Once Caldas (0-0)

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Here is the full Knockout Stage Bracket:
1 Corinthians v 16 Flamengo
8 Universidad de Chile v 9 Alianza Lima
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas
4 Velez Sarsfield v 13 Guadalajara
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata v 14 San Luis
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield
- - - - -
7 Nacional (Uruguay) v 10 Cruzeiro
2 Sao Paulo v 15 Universitario Deportes

JACK WARNER/SEPP BLATTER/FIFA ODDITIES

Jere Longman of the New York Times tells us about a new book that looks at some strange looking business surrounding the World Cup. No surprise there.

ENDERS

New Sony TV ad tweaks the English! (link sent by Bart who says "You gotta love the Scots!")

Some News for Thu Apr 29, 2010

NEW USA SHIRT

Here it is, the new USA shirt from Nike - "White Jersey with Grey Sash and Obsidian Blue Trim Echoes Uniform Worn by 1950 U.S. World Cup Team."




















STARTERS

Inter! Inter! Inter! Inter will meet Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League Final in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sat May 22 on Fox.

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Clint Dempsey's Fulham team scored 2 late goals against Hamburg to win 2-1 and advance to the final of the Europa League. Unreal! Fulham in the Europa League final, who saw that coming?!?!?!
-They will take on Atletico Madrid in the final! Fulham can win this thing!
-The crazy part is that the final will be played at Hamburg's stadium - on Wed May 12.

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Pachuca are again CONCACAF Champions! They will head to the Club World Cup in December! Goooooooooooo Gophers!

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And if you can believe this, it was the Eddie & Freddy show for Aris in the Greek playoffs. See all the details below in Americans In Europe!

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Lyon 0-3 Bayern - BM advance 4-0 on aggregate to reach the Final - BM goals all by Ivica Olic.
-Wed Apr 28
Barcelona 1-0 Inter (1-3) - IM advance 3-2 on aggregate - Bar goal by Gerard Pique.

dN

How did Inter beat Barca? I will tell you how. Not with staggering defense, but rather that Inter sold Barca Ibrahimovic. And not only did they get rid of his baggage, but they got Samuel Eto'o in trade. And then the cash they received in the deal was used to buy the following players: Wesley Sneijder, Lucio, Diego Milito & Thiago Motta. Are you kidding me? That's right up their with the Dallas-Minnesota Hershel Walker deal for fiasco's.

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Amy Lawrence of the Guardian on Inter manager Jose Mourinho leading his team to big victory.

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Roberto Gotta of Soccernet (a fellow Inter fan!) reports on the amazing defensive display by Inter Milan.

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Gazzetta Dello Sport's review of the match.

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Gazzetta with many Mourinho post game quotes.

Matt Dickinson of the Times on Mourinho's "finest hour."

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Barney Ronay of the Guardian says Bayern earned the right to play for the championship.

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Gabirel Marcotti of the Times on the top notch quality of the Bayern players.

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Bayern winger Franck Ribery will not play in the Final after getting a 3 game suspension for a red card against Lyon in the 1st leg match.
-See video of the foul here. I totally understand the red card, but 3 games? Really? Don't we see a foul like this about once every half dozen games?

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The Final
-Sat May 22
Inter Milan v Bayern Munchen
Venue: Bernebeau Stadium - Madrid Spain

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Pachuca are the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions!

Final Match:
2nd Leg
-Wed Apr 28
Pachuca 1-0 Cruz Azul - series ends tied 2-2, but Pachuca win it on the away goals tie breaker - Pac goal by Edgar Benitez

FUN OF THE DAY

KC forward Kei Kamara is taking a savage beating from press and fans all over the world for the goal he missed last weekend. With the ball on the line he swung and missed, then slipped on the wet grass and put the ball in the net with his hand. Unreal. Even PTI rubbed it in on Tuesday. Some have balled it the greatest miss of all time!
-In case you have not seen it.

STORY OF THE DAY

Al-Jazeera reports that "Qatar will build 12 air-conditioned outdoor stadiums if it wins the right to host the 2022 World Cup." That is insane!

TWITTERVERSE

After coming from 0-1 down to beat Hamburg 2-1 today in the 2nd leg of the Europa League Semifinals all of Fulhamland is overjoyed!
@FulhamFC: "AND THERE'S THE FINAL WHISTLE!!! WE'VE DONE IT!" & "Amazing scenes here. Everybody overjoyed. It's a massive player/fan love in!"

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives talks to USA coach Bob Bradley today, and here is part of that interview.

The Washington Post with a lot the same, but a few more interesting things from that session.

WHY NOT!

Here's one for the "Of course I saw that coming" file: In a Canadian Championship match last night Toronto centerhack Nick Garcia baited some poor sap from Montreal into punching him in the face and getting a red card.
-Name me one guy who has played against Garcia and hasn't wanted to punch him in the face.

MLS WEEK 6

All 16 teams in action on Saturday.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 1
DC United v New York Red Bulls - 3:00PM Central on TeleFutura
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
New England Revolution v FC Dallas - 6:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Houston Dynamo v Kansas City Wizards - 7:30PM Central on FSC/FSE
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Chicago Fire v Chivas USA - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC - 8:00PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
San Jose Earthquakes v Colorado Rapids - 9:00PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Los Angeles Galaxy v Philadelphia Union - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Seattle Sounders FC v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Obviously MLS has named Edson Buddle the Player Of The Month for April.

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DC has resigned forward Luciano Emilio, to a short term (don't know what that means) contract. He was with the team the 3 previous seasons, but they released him last fall.
-Craig Stouffer of the Examiner talks to Emilio about rejoining the team.

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Philly is very close to maxing out their season ticket limit of 12,000. Not bad.

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Former Dallas coach Dave Dir writing for 3rd Degree tells FCD fans not panic, but to expect more out of their team.

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The Examiner checks in on Columbus Crew practice on Wed, giving some indications as to how they will play this weekend at Seattle.

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The Columbus Dispatch takes us up close and personal with Danny O'Rourke, the Crew's entrant in the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter show.

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Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald with an article on New England's newest midfielder Marko Perovic.
-Perovic had a fantastic free kick for a goal last weekend.

MLS INJURY REPORT

Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer - and - Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News both follow up on the knee injury to Union forward Sebastian Le Toux.

MLS RUMORS

The UK press has linked Leeds defender Rui Marques with Toronto for a summer move.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

Newly added:

-Sat Jul 24
DC United v Rangers (Scotland)
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC

US OPEN CUP

DC finally broke out of a scoring slump and turned Dallas's Kevin Hartman into Chris Seitz - did they both get a keeper glove endorsement from Crisco?

MLS - Play-In Rounds:

Bracket 1 (1 team will advance)
-Wed May 12
New York Red Bulls v New England Revolution
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
-Date TBA
NYRB/NER Winner v Colorado Rapids

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Bracket 2 (1 team will advance)
-Wed Apr 28
DC United 4-2 FC Dallas - DCU goals by Adam Cristman(2), Christian Castillo & Andy Najar. FCD goals by Bruno Guarda & Dax McCarty(PK).
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
-Wed May 19
DC United v Real Salt Lake
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC

All the best Open Cup info can be found right here at The Cup.

USSF DIVISION 2

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
NSC Minnesota Stars 0-3 Rochester Rhinos
-Thu Apr 29
Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps

Standings (As of Thu Apr 25):
NASL Conference>
7 Vancouver - 3 played (+3 GD)
3 Carolina - 2 played (+1 GD)
2 Miami - 2 played (0 GD)
1 Montreal - 2 played (-2 GD)
0 Baltimore - 2 played (-3 GD)
0 St Louis - 4 played (-7 GD)
USL Conference>
7 Portland - 3 played (+4 GD)
7 Rochester - 4 played (+3 GD)
6 Puerto Rico - 2 played (+4 GD)
6 Austin - 3 played (+2 GD)
6 Minnesota - 5 played (-5 GD)
3 Tampa Bay - 2 played (0 GD)

USL NEWS

The Charleston Post & Courier has an interview with USL president Tim Holt.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

It was not pretty last night as my team lost 0-3 to Rochester. We had 3 golden chances to score and flubbed em all. Oof. And then goalkeeping made at least 1 mistake on 2 breakaway goals. Not good. But worst of all, too many guys on the field just looked soft out there, and we were promised a team that would fight if nothing else. A couple guys need to ride the pine, I don't care how good they are with the ball at their feet. And there were only a couple of guys who act and play like true professionals. Them I respect.

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Match report from Inside Minnesota Soccer.

US SOCCER NEWS

Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald introduces us to the man behind the curtain, Dan Flynn CEO of US Soccer.

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Clemente Lisi of the US Soccer National Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with former referee Brian Hall, who is now the USSF "manager of assessment and training for referees."

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

ESPN has hired Jurgen Klinsmann for this World Cup broadcast team. We will see him on "prematch, halftime and postgame shows from South Africa."

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Freddy Adu has his best game ever as a pro, and Eddie Johnson had his best game ever in Europe, combine that and Aris get a big 2-0 win over favored Olympiakos in the 1st of 6 games in the Greek playoffs.
-Freddy danced on the ball continuously throwing off the Oly defense, who obviously don't know he only has a left foot. He set up Johnson for the first goal and later drew a penalty that another teammate failed to convert when the keeper saved it. Big night for Freddy.
-There there is Eddie, who scored both Aris goals. The first was a header of a Freddy cross, and the second was a steal of a back pass from centerback to keeper, which Johnson snatched just before the keeper could get to it, then rounded the beaten man and scored into an empty net. Glorious!
-They travel to PAOK for game 2 of 6 in the Greek round robin playoffs for European tournament spots next season.

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Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

UEFA - Europa League Semifinals, 2nd Leg
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Apr 29 - came on as a sub in the 57th minute, and got a yellow card, but they won 2-1 over Wolfsburg, and now advance to the final.

GREECE - Super League European Tournament Playoffs:
Freddy Adu
Eddie Johnson
-Wed Apr 28
Aris Saloniki 2-0 Olympiakos - both AS goals by Johnson, who went the full 90, getting a yellow card for taking off his shirt after goal 2. And a start and 89 minutes played for Adu.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Wed Apr 28 - went the full 90, got booked, and lost 4-1 at Kalmar.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Wed Apr 28 - went the distance as they won 1-0 at home over Gelfe.
Micheal Thomas - Halmstad - Wed Apr 28 - came on as a sub in the dying seconds of a 1-0 home win over Gelfe.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

CONCACAF - Champions League Final 2nd leg
Jose Torres - Pachuca - started and went 80 minutes as they won 1-0 late, ending the series tied 2-2, and Pac wins it on the away goals tie breaker!

VOYAGEURS CUP - CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The 3 professional teams in Canada play each other home and away for the annual title.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
Toronto FC 2-0 Montreal Impact - TFC goals by Dwayne DeRosario & Chad "The Vasectomy" Barrett*.
-May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps v Montreal Impact
-May 12
Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
-May 19
Vancouver Whitecaps v Toronto FC
-May 26
Montreal Impact v Vancouver Whitecaps
-Jun 2
Toronto FC v Vancouver Whitecaps

dN

STANDINGS:
3 Toronto (1 played)
0 Montreal (1 played)
- Vancouver (0 played)

The winner represents Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.

*The Vasectomy - Where balls go to die!

ENGLAND

Soccernet reports that Chelsea has bought Argentina & Atletico Madrid starlet Kun Aguero for 40 Million Pounds.

GERMANY

CNN with an article on Felix Magath, the coach who lead Wolfsburg to a stunning league title last year, and is very close to pulling it off with Schalke this season.
-Schalke and Bayern are tied on points with just 2 games left. But Bayern holds a substantial +37 to +24 goal differential which is the first tie breaker.

dN

Both Bochum and Hamburg have fired their coaches this week in an effort to salvage their seasons, albeit from different places in the table.

ITALY

Andrea Agnelli will follow in his legendary father Umberto's footsteps and become the new team president of Juventus.

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It looks as though Leonardo will be one year and out as manager of AC Milan. No word yet on who will replace him.

EUROPE

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Semifinal Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Thu Apr 29
Fulham 2-1 Hamburg - Ful advance by that score after a 0-0 first leg.
Liverpool 2-1 Atletico Madrid - series ends tied 2-2 and AM advance on the away goal tie breaker.

Final
-Wed May 12
Fulham v Atletico Madrid

COPA LIBERTADORES

Matches & Scores - Round of 16:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Guadalajara 3-0 Velez Sarsfield - Gua goals by Omar Bravo(2) & Hector Reynoso(PK).
San Luis 0-1 Estudiantes de la Plata - Est goal by Leandro Gonzalez.
-Wed Apr 28
Flamengo 1-0 Corinthians - Fla goal by Adriano(PK).
Universitario Deportes 0-0 Sao Paulo
Banfield 3-1 Internacional - Ban goals by James Rodriguez, Roberto Battion & Sebastian Fernandez. Int goal by Kleber.
-Thu Apr 29
Alianza Lima v Universitario Chile
Once Caldas v Libertad
Cruzeiro v Nacional

dN

Here is the full Knockout Stage Bracket:
1 Corinthians v 16 Flamengo (0-1)
8 Universitario Chile v 9 Alianza Lima (-)
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas (-)
4 Velez Sarsfield v 13 Guadalajara (0-3)
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata v 14 San Luis (1-0)
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield (1-3)
- - - - -
7 Nacional (Uruguay) v 10 Cruzeiro (-)
2 Sao Paulo v 15 Universitario Deportes (0-0)

ENDERS

So what do you think of this 2nd shirt for Brazil. Dots!

A Mystery Box Arrives!

(click on all pictures to enlarge quite a bit)

So, the Fed Ex guy walked into my office with a fairly heavy package for me.
















Halliburton?!?! Was Dick Cheney finally sending his goons after me?
















I opened the box and pulled out the goods. Then undid the tape and took off the bubble wrap.
















There was a manila envelope on top of a heavy duty silver attache case!
















The envelope was then opened, and a letter inside gave me instruction. I would get a combination sent to me at 10am on Thursday morning via email, because the briefcase was locked!





















I checked out the combination on the lock and noticed it was pre-set at 666. Only someone with a Cheney sense of humor does that. Sadly it was not my code to open it.
















The case was very nice, and engraved with the US Soccer logo and the Nike logo. But I would have to wait.
















Finally the email arrived with the secret code to open the case, and what was inside was very exciting - the brand new white USA shirt especially designed for the World Cup! Oh yes.
















Sitting on top of that was a flash drive.
















And then underneath the white shirt, was none other than the blue 2nd kit that was introduced to us in London 2 months ago! Wow.
















So there we have it, an amazing package from Nike to show off an amazing new shirt.
















I know US Soccer is already selling them, and I would bet that your fave shop will have them soon if not already. Here we go!

PS. Hey Cheney, you didn't get me!

PPS. 42 days to the World Cup! And 43 to USA v England!

Thu Morning Video - Some Gloating Over Inter and a Donut

Inter win, and I am not so much happy as relieved. More great camera work, and I still don't know finally figured out how to embed my videos. Loser, yet a winner!



And if you need to you can still click here to enjoy the video.

Some News for Wed Apr 28, 2010

STARTERS

Bayern Munich blew out Lyon on an Ivica Olic hat trick (a perfect one too - right foot, left foot, header!) yesterday and move on to the UEFA Champions League Final. Who will join them?

dN

Sadly, New England star Shalrie Joseph has entered a rehab center and will be out of the team indefinitely. It is not known what he is trying to get clean from. But we wish him all the best.
-Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe with the story.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Lyon 0-3 Bayern - BM advance 4-0 on aggregate to reach the Final - BM goals all by Ivica Olic.
-Wed Apr 28
Barcelona v Inter (1-3) - live at 1:45pm Central on FSC

dN

The Final is on Sat May 22 in Madrid at the Bernebeau Stadium.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Tonight will determine the champions, who will then go on to the World Club Cup in December!!

Final Match:
2nd Leg
-Wed Apr 28
Pachuca v Cruz Azul (1-2) - 7pm on FSC

Away goals is the tiebreaker.

STORY OF THE DAY

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune asks a very important question - can we teach young players how to be great, or are the just born that way?

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Soccer By Ives talks to another former TFC coach, John Carver, about the atmosphere inside the club, but Carver takes a different tact than previous complainers. He says that he takes responsibility for himself, and its easy to blame others. Well said.

dN

Paul James of the Toronto Globe & Mail chimes in with his thoughts on Mo-Gate.

dN

Steven Sandor of the Toronto Sun wonders if this mess might not strengthen club mentally.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com on the big hole in the middle - No Beckman, Cameron or Joseph on the field.

dN

Don Ruiz of The Olympian looks at the troubles Seattle has in being punished hard for mistakes.

dN

Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune does an interview with LA veteran Jovan Kirovski.

dN

Michael Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune says that RSL is finding that championship brings more pressure from bigger expectations.

dN

James Edwards of the Deseret News on RSL's rough start to the season (which really just looks a lot like all their other seasons.)

dN

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle writes that the Dynamo will most likely move Brad Davis into the center of the midfield.
-This is exactly what I figured would happen.

MLS INJURY REPORT

Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News on a knee injury for Union forward Sebastian Le Toux.

MLS RUMORS

Soccer 365 with today's whispers including David Beckman, Amaechi Igwe, Bryan Arguez & more.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

The Boston Globe with an article on possible safety concerns surrounding a proposed Celtic v Rangers game at Fenway Park.

dN

Newly added:

-Sun May 23
Los Angeles Galaxy v Boca Juniors (Brazil)
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA

-Wed May 26
Seattle Sounders v Boca Juniors
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

-Sun Jul 18
Seattle Sounders v Celtic
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

US OPEN CUP

MLS - Play-In Rounds:

New York beats Philly to advance.
-Philly's Sebastian Le Toux suffered a sprained knee ligament on a terrible tackle by, you won't be surprised, Andrew Boyens.
-Chris Albright made his return to the field for the first time in over a year.

Bryan Lewis of the NY Post talks to Red Bulls coach Hans Backe about the game and he gives credit for the win to rookies Tony Tchani ("he was the king of the midfield") and Conor Chinn ("scores the most strange goals").

dN

Bracket 1 (1 team will advance)
-Tue Apr 27
New York Red Bulls 2-1 Philadelphia Union - NYRB goals both by Conor Chinn. PU goal by Sebastian Le Toux.
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
-Wed May 12
New York Red Bulls v New England Revolution
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
-Date TBA
NYRB/NER Winner v Colorado Rapids

dN

Bracket 2 (1 team will advance)
-Wed Apr 28
DC United v FC Dallas
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
-Date TBA
DCU/FCD winner v Real Salt Lake

dN

All the best Open Cup info can be found right here at The Cup.

USSF DIVISION 2

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
NSC Minnesota Stars v Rochester Rhinos
-Thu Apr 29
Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps

dN

Standings (As of Thu Apr 25):
NASL Conference>
7 Vancouver - 3 played (+3 GD)
3 Carolina - 2 played (+1 GD)
2 Miami - 2 played (0 GD)
1 Montreal - 2 played (-2 GD)
0 Baltimore - 2 played (-3 GD)
0 St Louis - 4 played (-7 GD)
USL Conference>
7 Portland - 3 played (+4 GD)
6 Puerto Rico - 2 played (+4 GD)
6 Austin - 3 played (+2 GD)
6 Minnesota - 4 played (-2 GD)
4 Rochester - 3 played (0 GD)
3 Tampa Bay - 2 played (0 GD)

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

The Associated Press talks to Carlos Bocanegra about how prepared his team is for the big tournament. Via The Republic.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet pieces together what he thinks the USA roster will look like.
-I am going to have publish my updated version soon.

TEAM USA

As head coach of the USA last year Bob Bradley was paid approximately $523,000.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

SPECIAL EDITION - our FIF Henrik from Cogenhagen sent us 4 links this morning, but they are all in Danish, so enjoy them if you can! Huge thanks to H.
-Michael Parkhurst talks about the disappointment of not being in the mix for the World Cup team.
-Chris Rolfe is frustrated by his lack of goals.
-Not American but..... Yura Movsysian's goals my save Randers from relegation.
-Jeremiah White, formerly of AGF Aarhus [CORRECTED], with a video interview on Al-Arabia.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

UEFA - Europa League Semifinals, 2nd Leg
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Apr 29 v Wolfsburg, tied 0-0

GREECE - Super League European Tournament Playoffs:
Freddy Adu
Eddie Johnson
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
Aris Saloniki v Olympiakos
*This is a 4 team round robin home and away playoff by the #2-#5 teams in the league with the winner going to the Champions League (with the #1) and the runner up going to the Europa Cup (with the Greek Cup winner.)

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Wed Apr 28 at Kalmar
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Wed Apr 28 v Gelfe
Johan Smith - Kalmar - Wed Apr 28 v Orebro
Micheal Thomas - Halmstad - Wed Apr 28 v Gelfe

VOYAGEURS CUP - CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The 3 professional teams in Canada play each other home and away for the annual title.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact
-May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps v Montreal Impact
-May 12
Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
-May 19
Vancouver Whitecaps v Toronto FC
-May 26
Montreal Impact v Vancouver Whitecaps
-Jun 2
Toronto FC v Vancouver Whitecaps

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 22
Hamburg 0-0 Fulham
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Liverpool - AM goal by Diego Forlan.
-Thu Apr 29
Fulham v Hamburg (0-0)
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid (0-1)

COPA LIBERTADORES

Matches & Scores - Round of 16:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Guadalajara 3-0 Velez Sarsfield - Gua goals by Omar Bravo(2) & Hector Reynoso(PK).
San Luis 0-1 Estudiantes de la Plata - Est goal by Leandro Gonzalez.
-Wed Apr 28
Flamengo v Corinthians
Universitario Deportes v Sao Paulo
Banfield v Internacional
-Thu Apr 29
Alianza Lima v Universidad de Chile [CORRECTED]
Once Caldas v Libertad
Cruzeiro v Nacional

dN

Here is the full Knockout Stage Bracket:
1 Corinthians v 16 Flamengo
8 Universidad de Chile [CORRECTED] v 9 Alianza Lima
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas
4 Velez Sarsfield v 13 Guadalajara (0-3)
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata v 14 San Luis (1-0)
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield
- - - - -
7 Nacional (Uruguay) v 10 Cruzeiro
2 Sao Paulo v 15 Universitario Deportes

Wed Morning Pre-Champs Lg Video from du Nord

A little video update to get the day going. But who is the horrible camera operator? At least you get a nice close up of my beard!



(Ah, I figured out how to embed it)
And in case you need to, just go to this link and enjoy.

Some News for Tue Apr 27, 2010

TWITTER

Join us on Twitter: @dunord to get all the special messages we blurt out regularly.

CHARLIE DAVIES

Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times with a story on Davies injury, recovery and rehab. Some new details emerge.
-The NYT also the full Q & A with Davies.

Soccer America reports that Davies trained with Sochaux's senior squad for the first time yesterday!

And after practice he sent out this Twitter message: "I've resumed full training with my club!! It's about time & it feels great! My speed is getting there too! Today was a good day! God Bless"

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Lyon v Bayern (0-1) - live at 1:45pm Central on Fox Soccer Plus, and delayed at 4pm Central on FSC
-Wed Apr 28
Barcelona v Inter (1-3) - live at 1:45pm Central on FSC

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Chicago Fire fans have been some of the league's most passionate since the day of the team's inception. Now they have taken things to a whole new level with their amazing organization as supporters teaming up with the club itself to form an official bond.

Supporters' Charter Signed - Fire and fans form groundbreaking agreement
"The Chicago Fire Soccer Club and Section 8 Chicago, the Independent Supporters’ Association for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club, jointly announced today that they have reached a groundbreaking agreement to institute the first-ever Chicago Fire Soccer Club Supporters’ Charter. The document serves to cement an ongoing, iterative dialogue between the Chicago Fire and its fans, and marks the first such organized effort in U.S. professional sports."
-You can read the full document here. This is quite impressive.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze with a good article on Chivas USA attacking midfielder Jesus Padilla.
-And a few more words on Padilla from Green's blog 100 Percent Soccer.

dN

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe gives us a few more words but no real new info on the status of Sharlie Joseph of New England - the team has granted him a leave of absence to deal with personal matter.

dN

Big Apple Soccer has a video interview with Red Bulls rookie centerback Tim Ream.

dN

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times with news and notes from Sounder Town.

dN

Stefan Bondi of the Record of North Jersey talks to the forgotten New York centerback Carlos Mendes.

dN

Kristian Jack of The Score in Canada, on his radio show, talks to former TFC head coach Chris Cummins who slings even more mud, dirt, rocks and throwing stars at GM Mo Johnston, who he feels is a terrible boss.
-Cummins claims that the locker room split we heard about at the end of last season was between American and Canadian players. Interesting.
-The National Post reports that Johnston may take legal action, but doesn't say against who.

MLS INJURY REPORT

Grahame Jones of the LA Times reports that David Beckman is most likely going to miss the entire Galaxy season. What about a roster replacement? A Designated Player spot?

MY THOUGHTS

Presenting the du Nord Top 3 MLS Players for the Month of April:

1. Edson Buddle - You can't argue with a guy who scores all of his teams goals, 7, and they go unbeaten.
2. Dwayne DeRosario - The shining jewel from a troubled group, and 5 goals to go with his leadership.
3. Marco Pappa - has stepped into the Blanco role to make this team go, and his consistency is very exciting.

MLS RUMORS

Is Los Angeles going to go get Ronaldinho or Raul this summer? Why not both?
-15 months ago I thought the league should have dropped the big bucks and bought both Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry from Barcelona.

MLS EXPANSION

Michael Lewis of the NY Daily News reports that the owners of the New York Mets baseball team are definitely still interested in owning a MLS team. Cool.

US OPEN CUP

MLS - Play-In Rounds:

We could see Chris Albright play for New York which would be his first game in over a year due to injury.

Bracket 1 (1 team will advance)
-Tue Apr 27
New York Red Bulls v Philadelphia Union
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
-Wed May 12
NYRB/PU Winner v New England Revolution
-Date TBA
NYRB/PU/NER Winner v Colorado Rapids

Bracket 2 (1 team will advance)
-Wed Apr 28
DC United v FC Dallas
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
-Date TBA
DCU/FCD winner v Real Salt Lake

dN

All the best Open Cup info can be found right here at The Cup.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Greg Seltzer of Soccer365 with lots of news and notes from around the world of soccer, mostly USA-centric.

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

The ESPN video feature on Clint Dempsey. Thanks to 723FootballFilms for the link.

dN

Yanks Abroad with a story on Alejandro Bedoya and his desire to making this World Cup team.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Danish newspaper Aarhus Diocese Journal feels Benny Feilhaber and one of his AGF teammates should be benched "unless they change attitude." Oof. The team is struggling, currently in 11th place of the 12 team league, which is a relegation place. They have played 29 of 33 games, with 2 other teams right there with them struggling for safety. Thanks to dedicated reader Henrik in Copenhagen for the info.
-Here is the link in Danish.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Eric Lichaj about his big season on the field for 3 different teams in England. (He is under contract to Aston Villa and loaned out to Lincoln City and Leyton Orient.)

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - went the full 90 but 2-0 at Viking.
Hunter Freeman - Start - played the full 90 and scored the winner as they beat Honefoss 2-0 at home.
Clarence Goodson - Start - went the distance in a 2-0 home win over Honefoss.
Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - came on as a sub in the 87th minute but they lost 2-0 at Start.

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

GREECE - Super League European Tournament Playoffs:
Freddy Adu
Eddie Johnson
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
Aris Saloniki v Olympiakos
-Sun May 2
PAOK v Aris Saloniki
-Wed May 5
AEK Athens v Aris Saloniki
-Sun May 9
Aris Saloniki v AEK Athens
-Wed May 12
Olympiakos v Aris Saloniki
-Sun May 16
Aris Saloniki v PAOK
*This is a 4 team round robin home and away playoff by the #2-#5 teams in the league with the winner going to the Champions League (with the #1) and the runner up going to the Europa Cup (with the Greek Cup winner.)
-But this season Panathinaikos won the league and cup, so #3 also goes to the Europa League.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE - RUMORS

With no surprise the rumor mill in England says Hull will NOT sign Jozy Altidore, which means he is still the property of Villarreal. Where does he go now? Find out in July and August.

MEXICO

Here we go with the Clausura 2010 playoffs.

Matches & Scores - Quarterfinals:
1st Leg
-Sat May 1
Pachuca v Monterrey
Morelia v Guadalajara
-Sun May 2
Santos Laguna v UNAM
America v Toluca
2nd Leg
-Sat May 8
Monterrey v Pachuca
Guadalajara v Morelia
-Sun May 9
Toluca v America
UNAM v Santos Laguna

dN

Laguilla Bracket:
Monterrey v Pachuca
UNAM v Santos Laguna
- - - - -
Guadalajara v Morelia
Toluca v America

VOYAGEURS CUP - CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The 3 professional teams in Canada play each other home and away for the annual title.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact
-Wed May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps v Montreal Impact
-Wed May 12
Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
-Wed May 19
Vancouver Whitecaps v Toronto FC
-Wed May 26
Montreal Impact v Vancouver Whitecaps
-Wed Jun 2
Toronto FC v Vancouver Whitecaps

The winner represents Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.

ENGLAND

Jere Longman of the New York Times on England's long World Cup drought.

dN

James Lawton of The Independent on Wayne Rooney being named the English PFA Player of the Year.

EUROPE

Turns out this is a two legged match, so Ajax did not win it yet.

KNVB Beker/Dutch Cup - Final
1st Leg
-Sun Apr 24
Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 Feyenoord Rotterdam - AA goals both Siem de Jong.
2nd Leg
-Thu May 6
Feyenoord Rotterdam v Ajax Amsterdam

COPA LIBERTADORES

Matches & Scores - Round of 16:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Guadalajara v Velez Sarsfield
San Luis v Estudiantes de la Plata
-Wed Apr 28
Flamengo v Corinthians
Universitario Deportes v Sao Paulo
Banfield v Internacional
-Thu Apr 29
Alianza Lima v Universitario Chile
Once Caldas v Libertad
Cruzeiro v Nacional

dN

Here is the full Knockout Stage Bracket:
1 Corinthians v 16 Flamengo
8 Universitario Chile v 9 Alianza Lima
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas
4 Velez Sarsfield v 13 Guadalajara
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata v 14 San Luis
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield
- - - - -
7 Nacional (Uruguay) v 10 Cruzeiro
2 Sao Paulo v 15 Universitario Deportes

Some News for Mon Apr 26, 2010

STARTERS

THIS JUST IN: "New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team to attend to personal matters. He left the team on Saturday, April 24, and will return at a later date."

dN

Inter Milan retake the lead at the top of Serie A with a win and a Roma loss, while the other top 4 league leaders remain the same as we head to the finish - Chelsea, Bayern, Marseille & Barcelona.

dN

Jozy Altidore got a Red Card, and Rico Clark got his German debut in a very eventful weekend of goods and bads for Americans in Europe. See the section below.

dN

Jose Torres and Pachuca pulled off a miracle and qualified for the Mexican Primera Liguilla (playoffs) for spring 2010.

TWITTER

Join us on Twitter: @dunord - Come on follower #1100.

BIG CLUB MATCHES THIS WEEKEND

-Sat Apr 24
Manchester United 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur - #2 v #4 as Man U stays in the hunt, and Spurs will now get a dog fight for the last Champs Lg spot.
Arsenal 0-0 Manchester City - #3 v #5 sees Man City drop behind Aston Villa to #6.
Barcelona 3-1 Xerez - #1 v #20 ended just the way it was supposed to, with Barca playing the 2nd string no less.
Palermo 3-1 Milan - #5 v #3 all but killed Milan's chance at the title.
-Sun Apr 25
Roma 1-2 Sampdoria - #1 v #4 became #2 and #4 as Inter retake the league lead.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Lyon v Bayern (0-1) - live at 1:45pm Central on Fox Soccer Plus, and delayed at 4pm Central on FSC
-Wed Apr 28
Barcelona v Inter (1-3) - live at 1:45pm Central on FSC

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Alessandro Del Piero: "Yes, it's true. This summer I'm going to the USA .... On holiday."

PREDICTION OF THE DAY

Steve Cherundolo will be in a MLS team uniform when the summer transfer period ends.

FACT OF THE DAY

Toronto FC drew 18,394 for their Sunday game against Seattle. Is that their first ever non-sellout?!?!? Maybe not, but the honeymoon is over. On the other hand that may help as now they won't have to constantly be playing on honeymoon legs.

STORY OF THE DAY

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes that Barcelona is where Jose Mourinho really got his start and came into his own. Now Barca fears him.

TWITTERVERSE

Jozy Altidore after his brutal head butt ended his season at Hull City:
@JozyAltidore17: I'm so sorry about yesterday. Made a stupid, immature and costly mistake. I apologize to hull city and the fans who I let down. I let my emotions get the best of me and lost my composure. Believe it or not this year playing for hull was to date the best trip I've ever been on.

WHY?

Jonathan Tannenbaum of Philly.com reports on a bus of Philadelphia Union fans getting a rain of rocks supposedly from some New York Red Bulls fans that broke 3 windows. Idiots are everywhere.

MLS WEEK 5

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 22
FC Dallas 2-2 Seattle Sounders FC - FCD goals both by Jeff Cunningham(both via PK). SSFC goals by Steve Zakuani & Fredy Montero.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: 8,512
-Sat Apr 24
New York Red Bulls 2-1 Philadelphia Union - NYRB goals by Salou Ibrahim & Juan Pablo Angel(PK). PU goal by Sebastian Le Toux.
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
Attendance: 15,619
New England Revolution 1-2 Colorado Rapids - NER goal by Marko Perovic. CR goals by Mehdi Ballouchy & Pablo Mastroeni.
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Attendance: 8,142
Columbus Crew 1-0 Real Salt Lake - CC goal by Guillermo Barros Schelotto(PK).
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Attendance: 14,322
Kansas City Wizards 0-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 10,045
Chicago Fire 2-0 Houston Dynamo - CF goals by Barrio Husidic & Peter Lowry.
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Attendance: 11,312
Chivas USA 3-2 San Jose Earthquakes - CUSA goals by Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun & Chukwudi Chijindu. SJE goals by Chris Wondolowski & Steven Beitashour.
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 14,389
-Sun Apr 25
Toronto FC 2-0 Seattle Sounders FC - TFC goals by Dwayne DeRosario & O'Brian White.
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Attendance: 18,394

dN

DC was off this weekend.

dN

EJECTIONS:
Danny Cruz - Houston - 2 Yellow Cards
Krzysztof Krol - Chicago - Red Card

dN

All 16 teams will be in action next Saturday.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Dwayne DeRosario was named MLS Player Of The Week.
-I would have gone with Marco Pappa personally.

dN

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated always has the best analysis from MLS games, and here is his Five things to take away from Week 5.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his Monday MLS Breakdown, focuses on Conor Casey and other USA forward hopefuls, plus 11 questions, thoughts and answers.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet with his Week 5 Wrap Up.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with Six thoughts from MLS Week 5.

dN

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe talks to New England coach Steve Nicol about all the rough play in the league so far this season.
-I have been stunned at how brutal some of the games have gotten at times.

dN

Steve Davis on Daily Soccer Fix gives good grades to 2 new MLS coaches.

dN

Jack Bell of the New York Times gives us his impressions of new Red Bulls left winger Brian Nielsen. Thumbs up.

dN

Ryan Johnston of Sports Net sees Preki taking TFC by the scruff of the neck and dragging them to victory.

MLS INJURY REPORT

Houston was hoping that last years surprise centerback Geoff Cameron could move forward and do the same thing in the attacking midfielder position, but this will now not happen as Cameron suffered a bad knee injury in their game against Chicago. Well, its bad - ruptured PCL and done for the season.
-Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle with the full story.
-So how do they replace Cameron who was replacing Holden who was replacing DeRosario? My guess is that Brad Davis slides inside with Cory Ashe on the left wing. But that is not the same.

dN

Word circulating around the globe this afternoon says David Beckman will not be healthy for the Galaxy this season as his achilles injury will not be healed in time. We shall see.

MY THOUGHTS

Hey Fire fans, I don't care what the weather was like, you got outdrawn by Columbus!

dN

In the Chicago v Houston game the referee Ricardo Salazar proved he cannot keep a game under control by have to hand out 8 Yellow Cards and 2 Red Cards in 9 minutes!!! (79th-88th minute.) Just brutal.

dN

I am a Roger Torres fan! How come he keeps getting subbed out. Is Peter Nowak giving him the Freddy Adu treatment?

dN

New England must now always be included in the group with Dallas & Colorado for those who cannot sell tickets to see their team play. But at least New England get's decent newspaper coverage in Boston. Those other two get minimum word count.

dN

I will say this, I don't know who most of those guys who lined up for Toronto are, but its the second or third game in a row for most of them, and stability leads to success. They are still far from world beaters, but at least I knew what I was going to see as soon as I saw the line up on Sunday.

dN

For two teams who are struggling I sure found that Chivas v San Jose game entertaining, with the better team winning. And some amazing goals too, not to mention some surprising young players getting the job done for both teams: Blair Gaivn, Chukwudi Chijindu and Michael Lahoud for Chivas, with Brandon McDonald, Steven Beitashour and Ike Opara for San Jose.

dN

And what a smokin goal by Sacha Kljestan. Check the vid at the 00:36 mark.

dN

On the other hand, Kei Kamara had the weirdest miss I have ever seen (the ball did go in off his hand, but did he miss it with his foot??). I know I could have scored this one! Video, at the 1:25 mark.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer wonders where everyone was on Saturday? Less than 16,000 showed up for the third league game at Red Bull Arena, and the team is winning. Plus it was beautiful weather outside. And it was against Philly! So what gives?

MLS RUMORS

Raul of Real Madrid messed up his ankle, so what does that do to his potential trip to MLS?

dN

Soccer 365's rumor page with word on Olof Mellberg and other goodies.

US OPEN CUP

2 games this mid-week in the MLS Play-In Rounds:

Bracket 1 (1 team will advance)
-Tue Apr 27
New York Red Bulls v Philadelphia Union
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
-Wed May 12
NYRB/PU Winner v New England Revolution
-Date TBA
NYRB/PU/NER Winner v Colorado Rapids

Bracket 2 (1 team will advance)
-Wed Apr 28
DC United v FC Dallas
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
-Date TBA
DCU/FCD winner v Real Salt Lake

All the best Open Cup info can be found right here at The Cup.

USSF DIVISION 2

Travis Clark of Soccer By Ives with a good review of the D2 Weekend.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 24
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 AC St Louis
NSC Minnesota Stars 1-0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Crystal Palace Baltimore 1-3 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Apr 25
Montreal Impact 1-1 Portland Timbers
Austin Aztex 1-2 Rochester Rhinos
-Wed Apr 28
NSC Minnesota Stars v Rochester Rhinos
-Thu Apr 29
Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps

dN

Standings (As of Thu Apr 25):
NASL Conference>
7 Vancouver - 3 played (+3 GD)
3 Carolina - 2 played (+1 GD)
2 Miami - 2 played (0 GD)
1 Montreal - 2 played (-2 GD)
0 Baltimore - 2 played (-3 GD)
0 St Louis - 4 played (-7 GD)
USL Conference>
7 Portland - 3 played (+4 GD)
6 Puerto Rico - 2 played (+4 GD)
6 Austin - 3 played (+2 GD)
6 Minnesota - 4 played (-2 GD)
4 Rochester - 3 played (0 GD)
3 Tampa Bay - 2 played (0 GD)

USL NEWS

Not surprising after a few rounds that Vancouver and Portland are at the top. I don't expect anything else all season long. Puerto Rico and Montreal should be there are well.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

Another Win! 4 games and 6 points, I will take that! Stars beat Tampa Bay in their inaugural home opener. Yes it was classic bunker ball, but it was a win and a team that wasn't even alive 4 months ago is deserving of patience on how they get the job done. Upon reflection I am happy.

dN

The NSC stadium looked sharp all around, including that incredible new scoreboard!!! I have to get a picture of it in action for all of you. Next home game is Wednesday, so how about then?

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What fires me up the most is that incredible old-timey scoreboard! Wow. And the clock face lights up! Double Wow. Check this out:














Photo by Jeremy Olson

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Lot's of great game coverage in words and video on the first ever home game from Inside Minnesota Soccer.

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

Jason de Vos of the CBC on Charlie Davies and any chances of him being healthy for the USA team.

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Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on the relationship between Davies and England's Ashley Cole, plus other World Cup Group C news.

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Rogers also wonders about the mental state of Jozy Altidore, with other news from the weekend.
-I am not worried about his head. And neither should you be.

USA U17 TEAM

The teams participation in the International Tournament of Gradisca (Italy) was canceled due to all the flight complication from the volcanic ash chaos.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

What an idiot: Jozy Altidore was tossed from the Hull City game on Saturday for a headbutt! Here is the video. And an article from the local Hull paper.
-He has been given a 3 games suspension with only 2 left to play, so his career at Hull is effectively over.
-Hull are also just a whisker away from relegation, needing to win both of their last two, while West Ham lose both of theirs.

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Maurice Edu & DaMarcus Beasley and Rangers have won the Scottish Premier League championship again! Edu played the full 90 in the big game while Beasley watched from the stands.
-The Scotland Herald sees this team as "a good vintage."

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Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton got the 1 point they needed to avoid relegation for this season. They are safe!

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Jonathan Spector and West Ham need 1 point from 2 games to guarantee safety.

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The regular season ended on Friday for Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond Sport in the Dutch Eerste Divisie (2nd division). They finished 6th which puts them in a spot for the promotion playoffs.

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Jay DeMerit is out of the Watford line up for another week with a stomach muscle strain of some sort. Not good.

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Odds are strong that Stuart Holden will resume full time training with Bolton this week.

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The regular season ended on Sunday for Freddie Adu & Eddie Johnson and Aris Thessalonika, but the team finished 5th which puts them into the 4 team playoffs for European cup spots next season.
-The 4 teams play a full home and away round robin tournament to decide who goes where. Starts on Wed Apr 28.

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Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

DENMARK - Superliga
Benny Feilhaber - AGF Aarhus - played all 90, but got a yellow card, and lost 0-3 at home to Koge.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the full 90 and they won 3-1 at home over Sonderjyske.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - started but came off at half time in a 2-0 loss at Copenhagen.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - started but got a red card seconds before half time as they lost 0-1 at home to Sunderland.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the entire 90 minutes but lost 2-1 at Everton.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - in goal as usual winning 1-0 at home over Birmingham.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - went the distance getting a 1-1 home draw with Blackburn.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance winning 2-1 at home against Fulham.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - played the full, but scored an own goal and got a yellow card, yet they won 3-2 at home over Wigan.

ENGLAND - League One
Jemal Johnson - Stockport County - started and played 69 minutes as they lost at home 0-6 to Huddersfield Town.
Eric Lichaj - Leyton Orient - played the entire game but lost 2-1 at Millwall.
Jon-Paul Pittman - Wycombe - started and went 55 minutes in a home 2-2 tied against Swindon Town.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - played the whole 90 minutes as they drew 1-1 at Paris St Germain.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - played the entire match and tied Bayern Munich 1-1 at home.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - started and went 85 minutes of another bad loss, 3-0 at Leverkusen.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - went the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at Mainz.

Greece - Super League
Eddie Johnson - Aris Thessalonika - started and played 60 minutes but they lost 2-1 at Olympiakos.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - went the full 90 as they beat Emmen VV 2-0 at home.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Dominic Cervi - Celtic - played the full 90 as they went to Hibernian and won 0-1.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - went the full match and won 3-0 at home over Halmstad.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - played the entire game but lost 3-0 at Orebro.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Herculez Gomez was suspended for the last game of the season, but still ended tied for the lead in goals scored with 10 (2 others had the same amount.)

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Jose Torres and Pachuca pulled off a miracle and qualified for the Mexican Primera Liguilla where they will face #1 seeded defending champs Monterrey.

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PRIMERA DIVISION - Game Action
Sammy Ochoa - Estudiantes Tecos - came on as a sub in the 74th minute as they won 3-2 at home over Atlante.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - came on as a sub in the 55th minute as they won 1-2 at Puebla.
Marco Vidal - Indios Juarez - played the entire match as they won 2-0 at home over UNAM Pumas.

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Yanks Abroad on Lyle Martin, the first American to play in China.

MEXICO

In the Mexican Primera Division the 2 top teams in each group plus the 2 team with the next best records make the playoffs or Liguilla.

Here is the final round of games and standings after 17 of 17 Rounds:
Group 1
ADV-32 Guadalajara - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 at Cruz Azul
ADV-30 Toluca - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 2-1 v Puebla
- - - - -
24 Atlas - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 v Chiapas
21 Queretaro - Last: Sat Apr 24 L 3-0 at San Luis
15 Juarez Indios - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 2-0 v UNAM
14 San Luis - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 3-0 v Queretaro
Group 2
ADV-36 Monterrey - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 at Morelia
25 America - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 1-0 v Santos Laguna
- - - - -
*25 Morelia - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 v Monterrey
*25 Pachuca - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 1-2 at UANL
19 Puebla - Last: Sun Apr 25 L 2-1 at Toluca
19 Chiapas - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 at Atlas
Group 3
ADV-28 UNAM Pumas - Last: Sun Apr 25 L 2-0 at Indios
ADV-28 Santos Laguna - Last: Sun Apr 25 L 1-0 at America
- - - - -
25 Cruz Azul - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 v Guadalajara
19 UANL Tigres - Last: Sat Apr 24 L 1-2 v Pachuca
19 Estudiantes Tecos - Last: Fri Apr 23 W 3-2 v Atlante
16 Atlante - Last: Fri Apr 23 L 3-2 at Estudiantes

dN

And so here we go with the playoff matchups:

Laguilla Bracket:
Monterrey v Pachuca
UNAM v Santos Laguna
- - - - -
Guadalajara v Morelia
Toluca v America

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Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat May 1
Pachuca v Monterrey
Morelia v Guadalajara
-Sun May 2
Santos Laguna v UNAM
America v Toluca
2nd Leg
-Sat May 8
Monterrey v Pachuca
Guadalajara v Morelia
-Sun May 9
Toluca v America
UNAM v Santos Laguna

ENGLAND

The Guardian with Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

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The Times with their 20 Best and 10 Worst signings in the Premier League this season.

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Top Premier League Team Standings (36 of 38 games played)
80 Chelsea - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 7-0 v Stoke
79 Manchester United - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 3-1 v Tottenham

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The Premier League Relegation Battle sees 2 out and 2 fighting for the last dropspot (35 points will save you right now) - 3 go down - with 2 games left:
34 West Ham
- - - - -
28 Hull City
OUT-27 Burnley
OUT-16 Portsmouth

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Top Goal Scorers in the Premier League:
26 Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
25 Didier Drogba - Chelsea
24 Darren Bent - Sunderland
22 Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
20 Frank Lampard - Chelsea
18 Fernando Torres - Liverpool
18 Jermain Defoe - Tottenham Hotspur

SPAIN

Phil Ball of ESPN Soccernet on the Liga relegation struggle, and a few other weekend mentions.

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Sid Lowe of the Guardian on the wild & crazy Getafe-Sevilla match, and all the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

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Gabriele Marcotti of The Times on the science, religion and mystery speculation surrounding Kaka's groin muscle injury.

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Top La Liga Team Standings (34 of 38 games played)
87 Barcelona - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 3-1 v Xerez
86 Real Madrid - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 1-2 at Zaragoza

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Teams #9-20 are all possible for La Liga relegation with 4 rounds left to play (45 points is the line right now) - 3 go down:
44 Deportivo La Coruna
43 Atletico Madrid
41 Espanyol
38 Osasuna - 5 left to play
38 Almeria
37 Sporting Gijon
36 Racing Santander
34 Real Zaragoza
34 Malaga
- - - - -
32 Tenerife
32 Valladolid
27 Xerez

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Top Goal Scorers in La Liga:
27 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
25 Gonzalo Higuaín - Real Madrid
21 David Villa - Valencia
20 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
17 Diego Forlan - Atletico Madrid
16 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Barcelona

FRANCE

Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (34 of 38 games played)
71 Marseille - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 1-0 v St Etienne
66 Auxerre - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 0-3 at Tououse
61 Lille - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 1-2 at Le Mans
60 Montpellier - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 0-0 at Nancy
59 Lyon - 33 played - Last: Weekend off
57 Bordeaux - 33 played - Last: Sat Apr 24 L 1-0 at Lorient

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The bottom 3 teams from Ligue 1 will be relegated (41 is the magic numbers) - 4 games left to play:
40 Lens
40 Nice
38 Sochaux
36 St Etienne
- - - - -
28 Le Mans
27 Boulogne
OUT-16 Grenoble

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Top Goal Scorers in Ligue 1:
15 Mamadou Niang - Marseille
15 Kevin Gameiro - Lorient
14 Anderson Luiz de Carvalho Nene - Monaco
13 Asamoah - Rennes
13 Lisandro Lopez - Lyon
13 Mevlut Erding - Paris St Germain
13 Ireneusz Jelen - Auxerre

GERMANY

Top Bundesliga Team Standings (32 of 34 games played)
64 Bayern Munich - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 1-1 at Monchengladbach
64 Schalke - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 0-1 at Hertha

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The struggle against relelgation will see 3 teams fail (bottom 2 go down automatically, and 3rd from bottom plays 3rd from top in B2 in a 2 legged playoff) (34 is the safety number) - with 2 games left to play:
31 Freiburg
28 Nurnberg
- - - - -
28 Bochum
- - - - -
27 Hannover
23 Hertha Berlin

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Top Goal Scorers in the Bundesliga:
21 Stefan Kiessling - Bayer Leverkusen
20 Edin Dzeko - Wolfsburg
18 Kevin Kuranyi - Schalke
18 Lucas Barrios - Borussia Dortmund
15 Claudio Pizarro - Werder Bremen
14 Arjen Robben - Bayern Munich

ITALY

Inter regain the lead as Roma fall!

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Paulo Bandini of the Guardian on the Roman blunder, and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

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Gazzetta dello Sports with the Serie A Heroes & Zeroes of the weekend.

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Roma's 24 game unbeaten streak is now over.

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And Mario Balotelli apologizes. He actually sounds sincere.

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Top Serie A Team Standings (35 of 38 games played)
73 Inter - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 3-1 v Atalanta
71 Roma - Last: Sun Apr 25 L 1-2 v Sampdoria
64 Milan - Last: Sat Apr 24 L 3-1 at Palermo

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Relegation from Serie A happens to the bottom 3 teams (44 is the lucky number) - there are 3 games left to be played:
43 Bari
42 Cagliari
42 Udinese
40 Catania
40 Lazio
39 Bologna
- - - - -
34 Atalanta
30 Siena
OUT-29 Livorno

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Top Goal Scorers in Serie A:
25 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
20 Diego Milito - Inter
17 Giampaolo Pazzini - Sampdoria
17 Fabrizio Miccoli - Palermo
15 Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
14 Marco Borriello - Milan

SCOTLAND

Rangers won their 53rd Premier League title over the week. Huge congrats to them.
-I have to say though, that a team who has won that many titles is not much of a league is it. (Especially when Celtic has won 42 more.)

EUROPE

Ajax win what has to be their 11ty Millionth trophy, claiming the 2010 Dutch Cup.

Dutch Cup - Final
-Sun Apr 24
Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 Feyenoord Rotterdam - AA goals both Siem de Jong.

ARGENTINA

A simple draw sees Independiente drop from 2nd to 4th just like that.

Top Primera Division Team Standings (16 of 19 games played)
33 Estudiantes la Plata - Last: Sat Apr 24 W 1-0 v River Plate
32 Argentinos Juniors - Last: Sun Apr 25 W 3-1 v Gimnasia
31 Godoy Cruz - Last: Fri Apr 23 W 1-0 v Chacarita Juniors
31 Independiente - Last: Sat Apr 24 D 0-0 at Huracan

COPA LIBERTADORES

Here is the Knockout Stage Round of 16 Bracket:
1 Corinthians v 16 Flamengo
8 Universitario Chile v 9 Alianza Lima
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas
4 Velez Sarsfield v 13 Guadalajara
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata v 14 San Luis
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield
- - - - -
7 Nacional (Uruguay) v 10 Cruzeiro
2 Sao Paulo v 15 Universitario (Peru)

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Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Guadalajara v Velez Sarsfield
San Luis v Estudiantes de la Plata
-Wed Apr 28
Flamengo v Corinthians
Universitario Deportes v Sao Paulo
Banfield v Internacional
-Thu Apr 29
Alianza Lima v Universitario Chile
Once Caldas v Libertad
Cruzeiro v Nacional