Some News for Mon Apr 12, 2010

STARTERS

Roma win and Inter tie yet again giving us a new #1 in Italy! Wow! I look like a real idiot now for declaring that no one could catch Inter when they had an 11 point lead at the top back in January.

dN

The English FA Cup Final will see the #1 team in the Premier League Chelsea take on the last place team in the league Portsmouth. How weird and wonderful is that?!?!

dN

There are Coppa Italia and Coupe De France Semifinal matches on Tuesday.

BIG CLUB MATCHES THIS WEEKEND

-Sat Apr 10
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona - Barca again wins The Classic, for the 4th time in a row, a record, and now take over 1st place.
Fiorentina 2-2 Inter - a result that helped neither team, and cost Inter the lead in Italy, now a point behind Roma!
Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Bayern Munich - again neither team wanted a draw, but with #2 Schalke losing, Bayern gained a point to 2 in the lead, and Leverkusen got back to within 4 of 2nd place.

FACT OF THE DAY

We want to give a heads up that one of our favorite people in MLS has begun a new adventure in soccerdom:
Former FC Dallas account executive Evan Mitz, who is a true friend in futbol to du Nord, has joined another former FC Dallas management executive person Michael Hitchcock at Playbook Management International. Read all about it here.
-From what I know, Evan will be doing work with new USSF D2 team Tampa Bay Rowdies.
-We wish them all the best of luck.

STORY OF THE DAY

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated does a Q & A with MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
-As usual when these two get together its some very good questions and some very good answers.

MLS WEEK 3

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 10
Chivas USA 2-0 New York Red Bulls - CUSA goals by Bouna Coundoul(OG) & Jesus Padilla.
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 12,597
-Phil Collin of the LA Daily News - Vasquez gets first victory, 2-0
-Nick Green of the Daily Breeze - Galaxy & Chivas USA postgame wraps
-Kevin Baxter of the LA Times - Chivas USA gives coach first victory
-Scott French of ESPN Los Angeles - The good, the bad and the ugly
-John Santos of the Examiner - Chivas USA wins first of the season
-Nathaniel Baker of American Soccer News - Condoul costs Bulls first loss of the season. plus NYRB player ratings
-Brian Lewis of the NY Post - Red Bulls lose shutout streak, fall 2-0 at Chivas
-B Lewis - Red Bulls morning-after musings; Bouna's Blunder
-B Lewis - (Audio) Listen to JPA, Backe & Salou discuss RBNY's Saturday loss at Chivas
Philadelphia Union 3-2 DC United - PU goals all by Sebastian Le Toux. DCU goals by Santinto Quaranta & Jaime Moreno.
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
Attendance: 34,870
-Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer - Union win their debut on Le Toux's hat trick
-Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News - Union's Le Toux de force
-Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer - Union's home debut: A day for happiness and sadness
-Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com - Toux for three from the field
-More Tannenwald - Take Two: D.C. United at Philadelphia
-Jeff Gammage of the Philadelphia Inquirer - Shooting past their goal, Nearly 35,000 turn out for soccer home opener
-Christopher Vito of the Delaware County Daily Times - Le Toux tows Philadelphia Union to victory
-Bob Grotz of the Delaware County Daily Times - Philadelphia Union takes Fury-ous stance at home
-Christopher Vito of the Delaware County Daily Times - Nowak quietly grieves as Union gains a win
-The Washington Post - A Shell-shocked D.C. United breaks down in loss to expansion Philadelphia, falls to 0-3
New England Revolution 4-1 Toronto FC - NER goals by Zack Schilawski(3) & Sainey Nyassi. TFC goal by Dwayne De Rosario.
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Attendance: 12,798
-Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe - Revolution put offense to work
-Dell'Apa - Zack’s attack a rarity
-Dell'Apa - Scoring like a demon
-Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald - Zach Schilawski treats Revs
-LE Eisenmenger of The Examiner - Schilawski lights up MLS with 11-minute hat trick in Revolution 4-1 win over Toronto FC
-Steven Sandor of the Toronto Sun - Disappearing act for TFC
-Gareth Wheeler of the Sun - Not a lot of hope for TFC’s direction
Kansas City Wizards 1-0 Colorado Rapids - KCW goal by Kei Kamara.
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark
Attendance: 10,228
-Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star - Wizards rush past Rapids in 1-0 victory
-Paylor - Wizards notebook: Nielsen posts second shutout
-Charles Gooch of the KC Star - Post-Match Wrap: Under Pressure
-Nick Sloan of the Kansas City Kansan - Wizards improve to 2-0 in physical game
-Cole Young of the Denver Post - Free-kick goal foils Rapids against Kansas City
Houston Dynamo 0-2 Los Angeles Galaxy - LAG goals both by Edson Buddle.
Venue: Robertson Stadium
Attendance: 16,459
-Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle - Dynamo’s miscues give Galaxy scoring chances
-Ortiz - Onstad reaches milestone in loss, and other notes
-Ortiz - Dynamo didn't need a mirror Saturday night
-Glenn Davis on his blog The Soccer Hour - Dynamo mistakes punished in loss to Galaxy
-Nick Green of the Daily Breeze - Galaxy & Chivas USA postgame wraps
FC Dallas 2-2 Columbus Crew - FCD goals by Jeff Cunningham(PK) & Eric Avila. CC goals by Adam Moffat & Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
Attendance: Dallas paper says 8,422 - Columbus paper says 10,556
-Steve Hunt for the Dallas Morning News - Stoppage-time goal saves FC Dallas
-Hunt - Notebook: Changes aplenty in starting 11 for FC Dallas
-Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch - Crew riled up after allowing late goal
-Mitchell - Crew 2, FC Dallas 2
-Dispatch - Crew Review
Chicago Fire 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes - CF goal by Marco Pappa. SJE goals by Arturo Alvarez & Ike Opara.
Venue: Toyota Park
Attendance: 20,276
-Jack McCarthy of the Chicago Tribune - Fire drops home opener 2-1
-Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald - Fire drops home opener to San Jose 2-1
-Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times - No way -- San Jose? Home opener a mess
-Kent McDill for the San Jose Mercury News - Late goal gives Earthquakes a win at Chicago
Real Salt Lake 2-2 Seattle Sounders FC - RSL goals by Will Johnson & Alvaro Saborio. SS goals by Steve Zakuani & Pat Noonan.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
Attendance: 19,970
-Michael Black of the Deseret News - Alvaro Saborio gives Real Salt Lake 2-2 tie with Sounders
-Black - Real Salt Lake far from happy with draw at home
-Black - Real vs. Seattle thoughts
-Black - Real Salt Lake notebook: Fans celebrate MLS Cup, and more
-John Coon of the Deseret News - Alvaro Saborio makes good first impression
-Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune - Bullet dodged: RSL salvage a tie in home opener
-Lewis - Mixed feelings for late escape at home
-Lewis - Injured Midfielders Hoping for the Best
- Kurt Kragthorpe of the Tribune - New look, same old underachievers
-Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times - Real Salt Lake gets late tie with Sounders FC, 2-2
-Mayers - Sounders FC finds silver lining in disappointing result
-Mayers - Sounders FC 2, Real Salt Lake 2 -- RSL team quotes
-Mayers - Sounders FC 2, Real Salt Lake 2 -- Sigi Schmid quotes
-Mayers - Sounders FC 2, Real Salt Lake 2 -- Seattle player quotes
-Mayers - Sounders FC 2, Real Salt Lake 2 -- postgame thoughts and player ratings
-Todd Dybas of the Seattle Post Intelligencer - Sounders tie RSL and that's the bad news
-Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune - Sounders: One point? Or two lost points?

dN

EJECTIONS:
Julien Baudet - Colorado - Red Card
Luis Landin - Houston - Red Card
Danny O´Rourke - Columbus - Red Card
Dejan Jakovic - DC - Red Card

MLS INJURY REPORT

For Houston, Richard Mulrooney came off with a right knee injury in the 28th minute.

dN

Maykel Galindo came on as a sub for Chivas in the 57th minute, but just 21 minutes later had to be taken off due to a left ankle injury

dN

Both Javier Morales & Ned Grabavoy were subbed out of Salt Lake's game this weekend due to knee injuries.

dN

Julian De Guzman started the game on the bench for TFC after having been ill all week, but he did come on as a second half sub.

MY THOUGHTS

Two good Philly headlines:
-Le Toux de force
-Le Three

dN

Great highlights of week 3 from coast to coast:
-Big goal scoring days for Sebastian Le Toux, Edson Buddle and Zack Schilawski.
-Horrible goal tending botches from Bouna Coundoul (see video starting at 2:13 mark) and Chris Seitz (see video starting at the 3:22 mark).
-Dramatic comebacks from Dallas and Salt Lake.
-A fall back to earth for New York.
-A perfect start for LA - 3 games, 3 wins, no goals allowed.
-Huge wins (upsets?) for Chivas and San Jose.
-Jaime Moreno scores all time league leading goal #132
-Oh Toronto?! Leading 0-1 at half time they just fell apart in the 2nd half. Why?

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated with 5 key points from Week 3.
-Davis continues with a further critique of DC United on his blog Daily Soccer Fix.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his Monday Morning Breakdown - weekend recap.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet with the Week 3 Wrap-Up.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

Mike from the KC fan run Down The Byline blog gives us new images of the Wizards stadium.
-I got a kick out of the 2nd stadium image that appears to show Manchester United players walking with KC players through a fan lounge.

MLS EXPANSION

MLS Commissioner Don Garber talking to Philadelphia reports on Saturday again was positive about a 2nd team happening in the New York City area.

MEXICO

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

Clausura Standings after 14 of 17 Rounds:
Group 1
31 Guadalajara
23 Toluca
- - - - -
20 Atlas
18 Quertaro
10 San Luis
9 Juarez Indios

Group 2
31 Monterey
24 Morelia
- - - - -
*21 America
20 Pachuca
13 Puebla
12 Chiapas

Group 3
24 UNAM Pumas
24 Santos Laguna
- - - - -
*23 Cruz Azul
16 Atlante
15 Estudiantes Tecos
13 UANL Tigres

ENGLAND

When Saturday Comes with the story of a time when Bayern Munich players and managers showed Man U manager Alex Ferguson great respect after defeat, but its too bad Ferguson could not return the favor.

dN

Patrick Barclay of The Times on possible new financing for Liverpool.

dN

And Oliver Kay of The Times warns Liverpool & Man U fans to be careful what they wish for - new owners, who might not be all they are cracked up to be.

dN

Barry Glendenning of the Guardian with Five things we learned from watching football this weekend.

dN

FA CUP - Semifinals
-Sat Apr 10
Aston Villa 0-3 Chelsea
-Sun Apr 11
Tottenham 0-2 Portsmouth

Final
-Sat May 15
Chelsea v Portsmouth

dN

With #1 Chelsea playing in the FA Cup and a tight race for the championship at hand, #2 Manchester United proceeded to tie their game this weekend! That is their 4th choking acting act in 4 games!

dN

Top Premier League Team Standings (34 of 38 games played)
74 Chelsea - 33 played
73 Manchester United
71 Arsenal - 33 played
62 Manchester City - 33 played
- - - - -
58 Tottenham - 32 Played
56 Liverpool
54 Aston Villa - 32 played

dN

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

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian looks at Barca's starmaker Xavi Hernandez, and the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

Top La Liga Team Standings (31 of 38 games played)
80 Barcelona
77 Real Madrid
56 Valencia
51 Sevilla
- - - - -
51 Mallorca
48 Athletic Bilbao
46 Villarreal

dN

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

FRANCE

Who had this bet at the beginning of the season: Marseille at #1, Auxerre at #2 and Montpellier at #3! If you did, you could be on the way to making Skajillions of Euros!

dN

Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (32 of 38 games played)
62 Marseille - 31 played
60 Auxerre
58 Lyon
58 Montpellier
- - - - -
56 Bordeaux - 30 played
55 Lille

dN

Top Goal Scorers in Ligue 1:
15 Mamadou Niang - Marseille
14 Anderson Luiz de Carvalho Nene - Monaco
13 Asamoah - Rennes
13 Lisandro Lopez - Lyon
13 Kevin Gameiro - Lorient
13 Mevlut Erding - Paris St Germain
12 Gervinho - Lille
12 Pierre-Alain Frau

dN

COUPE DE FRANCE - Semifinals
-Tue Apr 13
Monaco v Lens
-Wed Apr 14
Quevilly v Paris St Germain

GERMANY

With Bayern & Leverkusen tying, Schalke again ad the chance to go to #1, and they proceeded to lose! Arrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!

dN

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian says that Bayern Munich may have been tired and boring, but they have enough to win the league, and the rest of the news from the weekend in the Bundesliga.

dN

Top Bundesliga Team Standings (29 of 34 games played)
60 Bayern Munich
58 Schalke
54 Bayer Leverkusen
- - - - -
52 Dortmund
51 Werder Bremen
48 Hamburg

dN

Top Goal Scorers in the Bundesliga:
18 Kevin Kuranyi - Schalke
18 Stefan Kiessling - Bayer Leverkusen
18 Edin Dzeko - Wolfsburg
15 Lucas Barrios - Borussia Dortmund
14 Claudio Pizarro - Werder Bremen
12 Eren Derdiyok - Bayer Leverkusen
12 Albert Bunjaku - Nurnberg

ITALY

Roma Roma Roma! They have not lost in 23 games now, and deservedly take over the league lead.

dN

Paolo Bandini on Roma's storm to the top of Serie A, and the rest of the league over the weekend.

dN

La Gazzetta dello Sport on Roma's 23 game unbeaten streak.

dN

Gazzetta also talks to Inter owner Massimo Moratti who gives props to Roma, but warns that the race for the title is not over.

dN

Juventus's Brazilian born striker Amauri became an Italian citizen today.

dN

Top Serie A Team Standings (32 of 38 games played)
68 Roma
67 Inter
63 Milan
51 Palermo
- - - - -
51 Sampdoria
49 Napoli
48 Juventus
45 Fiorentina
45 Genoa

dN

Top Goal Scorers in Serie A:
22 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
18 Diego Milito - Inter
15 Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
14 Giampaolo Pazzini - Sampdoria
13 Fabrizio Miccoli - Palermo
13 Alessandro Matri - Cagliari
12 Paulo Vito Barreto - Bari
12 Pato - Milan

dN

COPPA ITALIA - Semifinals
2nd Leg
-Wed Apr 14
Udinese v Roma (0-2)
Inter v Fiorentina (0-1)

EUROPE

World Soccer with an article on FC Twente who are closing in on their first ever Dutch championship.

ARGENTINA

One week after rivals Boca Juniors fired their head coach, River Plate kept pace by doing the same thing. These two compete at everything don't they! River are in 17th place, with Boca in 19th.

dN

So, who is in first place in Argentina? Godoy Cruz of course. You know them right? No? Yeah, me neither.

dN

There are 5 games left to play in the Clausura season. Here are the standings:
28 Godoy Cruz
27 Independiente
25 Argentinos Juniors
24 Estudiantes la Plata
23 Banfield
22 Huracan

COPA LIBERTADORES

This is the penultimate week of the group stage!

dN

6 of 16 spots are set:
Corinthians join Once Caldas, Banfield, Estudiantes la Plata, Sao Paulo and Alianza Lima in advancing to the knock out stages.

dN

Emelec joins Monterrey, Italia of Venezuela, Juan Aurich, Bolivar, Blooming and Nacional of Paraguay in the eliminated pile.

dN

GROUP STAGE (runs through to Apr 22) - This Weeks Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 13
Quito v Cerro
Caracas v Universidad
-Wed Apr 14
Racing Club v Corinthians
Emelec v Internacional
Universidad Catolica v Flamengo
-Thu Apr 15
Blooming v Libertad
Lanus v Universitario
Colo Colo v Cruzeiro
Velez Sarsfield v Italia

AFRICA

Reuters reports that Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor has retired from his national team due to last winter's violent attack on the team in Angola.
-I don't doubt his trauma at all, but I will believe his retirement when they enter another international tournament and he does not play.