Some News for Thu Apr 22, 2010

TWITTER

In case you were wondering, today is day #17,521 of my life, so why not join me on Twitter: @dunord

STARTERS

How about this for crazy in Italy: Roma will meet Inter for the Coppa Italia title for the 6th consecutive year! That is insane! Not to mention the fact that they are battling for the Serie A championship as well. Wow.

CHARLIE DAVIES

The Associated Press is reporting a slow down in the recovery process for Charlie Davies. His team Sochaux has said he will NOT play for them this season. Where does he stand with the USA?

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Arjen Robben is allowed to go to his left and again smashes home a brilliant long range shot for the Bayern Munich win. He is so amazing at it, so why do teams even allow him to go left. Force him to the right!

dN

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 20
Inter 3-1 Barcelona - IM goals by Wesley Schneider, Douglas Maicon & Diego Milito. Bar goal by Pedro.
-Wed Apr 21
Bayern 1-0 Lyon - BM goal by Arjen Robben

dN

Amy Lawrence of the Guardian raves about the performance of Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben in this years tournament.

dN

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune sees a Bayern win, and loss.

dN

Will the Red Card for Bayern's Franck Ribery make a difference in the 2nd leg? You can't make much of a case for his importance to the team in this tournament.

dN

Gabrielle Marcotti of the Times says that if you compare Inter and Barca player by player then Inter's win was no shock at all, and some other goodies.

dN

2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Lyon v Bayern (0-1)
-Wed Apr 28
Barcelona v Inter (1-3)

Away goals is the tiebreaker.

dN

Final Match:
-Sat May 22

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Cruz Azul takes leg 1 at home, but will it be enough to win it all, and go to the World Club Cup in December?

Final Match:
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 21
Cruz Azul 2-1 Pachuca - CA goals by Emanuel Villa & Carlos Rodriguez(OG). Pac goal by Damian Alvarez.
2nd Leg
-Wed Apr 28
Pachuca v Cruz Azul (1-2)

Away goals is the tiebreaker.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Paul James on Ali Gerba (see full story in MLS News section below): "[Gerba] was right on one issue though – [TFC GM Mo] Johnston has made mistakes during his tenure with Toronto FC. He sure has and the signing of Gerba was one of them."

FACT OF THE DAY

Rogers Sportsnet cable TV channel in Canada bumped the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game yesterday to show the the Bayern v Lyon Champions League semifinal live!!! Wow!

STORY OF THE DAY

Forbes has a series of big money soccer stories this week:

The business behind club soccer. Including the list of the richest clubs.

The games highest paid players.

Billionaire owners of teams around the world. Including a couple right here in America. Pretty pictures too.

Calls soccer the world's more recession-resistant sport.

MLS WEEK 5

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 22
FC Dallas v Seattle Sounders FC - 7PM Central on ESPN2
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
-Steve Hunt of Fox Soccer Southwest with a match preview.
-Hunt also with an article on Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty who has had a long slow slog in his club career, but is finally bursting out.
-Andy Friedlander of the Dallas Morning News on FCD's late game momentum changer Eric Avila.
-Don Ruiz of the Olympian previews Seattle, who also play on Sunday at Toronto.
-Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times previews Dallas, key player by key player.
-Mayers also has words from Seattle coach Sigi Schmid.
-Todd Dybas of the Seattle Post Intelligencers previews the Sounders for tonight.
-Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet previews Dallas and the stumbling start to their season.
-Sat Apr 24
New York Red Bulls v Philadelphia Union - 3PM Central on TeleFutura
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
New England Revolution v Colorado Rapids - 6:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Columbus Crew v Real Salt Lake - 6:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Kansas City Wizards v Los Angeles Galaxy - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Chicago Fire v Houston Dynamo - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Chivas USA v San Jose Earthquakes - 9:30PM Central on FSC
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sun Apr 25
Toronto FC v Seattle Sounders FC - 1PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON

dN

DC is off this weekend.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

The weekly referee report from the league tells us that Seattle's game winning goal should have been disallowed because the preceding throw in was taken way too far up field compared to where the ball had actually gone out of play.
-This article from MLS explains the missed call, but the accompanying video only shows the goal, not where the throw in should have taken place.
-Doesn't this type of throw in happen about 5 times a game though? Ok, so the law book says its illegal, but the common interpretation currently enforced does not.

dN


Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star says TFC honcho Mo Johnston is asking the fans to hang in there with his team.

dN

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes that TFC chooses not to fling poop back at former player Ali Gerba, who has been doing it to them all over town. Also talks about the teams mental errors.

dN

Paul James of the Toronto Globe & Mail takes off the gloves for Ali Gerba. He particularly doesn't like Gerba's sense of "entitlement."

dN

Nigel Reed of the CBC on what he thinks Toronto needs to get going in the right direction.

dN

Phil Collin of the Daily Breeze on LA Galaxy first year midfielder Michael Stephens who has logged some important minutes already this season. And he writes about Bryan Jordan filling in at right fullback.

dN

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that RSL players are having some confidence issues (is that like erectile dysfunction?)
-That is pretty poor if the defending champs are having head game problems just 4 games into the season. I would think the problem would be the opposite - overconfidence.

dN

James Edward of the Deseret News looks at RSL's continued shortcomings away from home.

dN

Michael Black of the Deseret sees 3 fullbacks (Wingert, Russell & Beltran) fighting for 2 spots.

dN

Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald on the Fire's Patrick Nyarko's move to a new postiion - midfield.

dN

The Chicago Tribune talks to Fire goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra about getting his first win.

dN

Ink does a Q & A of a more personal nature with Kansas City fullback Michael Harrington. (A nod to Charles Gooch of The Full 90 for the story.)

MLS INJURY REPORT

Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley is having trouble with a groin muscle. But Javier Morales might be ready to come back this weekend.

MLS RUMORS

Is Robert Pires negotiating a deal with Philadelphia?

dN

Alessandro Del Piero has said that he is not leaving Juventus for a MLS team.

MLS EXPANSION

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press on the leagues plans for Montreal, and what comes after that.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

Newly added:

-Sat Jul 17
San Jose Earthquakes v Tottenham (England)
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium

USSF DIVISION 2

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 21
Puerto Rico Islanders 3-0 NSC Minnesota Stars
-Thu Apr 22
Portland Timbers v AC St Louis
-Sat Apr 24
Vancouver Whitecaps v AC St Louis
NSC Minnesota Stars v Tampa Bay Rowdies
Crystal Palace Baltimore v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Apr 25
Montreal Impact v Portland Timbers
Austin Aztex v Rochester Rhinos

dN

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

USL NEWS

Clemente Lisi of the US Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with USL President Francisco Marcos. They talks about the split in 1st Division teams, MLS, the USA and more.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

ENGLAND - Premier League
Jozy Altidore - Hull City - Wed Apr 21 - came on as a sub in the 55th minute but they lost 0-2 at Aston Villa.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Wed Apr 21 - played the whole game and won 0-2 at Hull.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Steve Clark - Honefoss - Wed Apr 21 - stared but came off at half time as they won 0-1 at Stabaek.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - Wed Apr 21 - came on as a sub in the 41st minute but they lost at home 0-1 to Honefoss.

UEFA - EUROPA League Semifinals Leg 1
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Apr 22 at Hamburg

CONCACAF

I read somewhere today that Honduran forward David Suazo was questionable for the World Cup due to injury. Hell, he's be questionable for his whole career due it injury.

CANADA

The Toronto Globe & Mail reports on the mania sweeping the city that has sports bars showing a lot more soccer.

ENGLAND

Oliver Kay of the Times feels he should reveal his Premiership Best 11 now, even though there are still 3 rounds to go in the season.

dN

The Premier League Relegation Battle (38 points will save you right now) - 3 go down:
35 Bolton Wanderers
35 Wigan Athletic
34 Wolverhampton
31 West Ham
- - - - -
28 Hull City
27 Burnley
OUT-15 Portsmouth

SPAIN

Teams 8-20 are all possible for La Liga relegation with 5 rounds left to play (48 points is the line right now) - 3 go down:
47 Getafe
44 Deportivo La Coruna
40 Atletico Madrid
38 Osasuna
38 Almeria
38 Espanyol
37 Sporting Gijon
36 Racing Santander
34 Real Zaragoza
32 Malaga
- - - - -
29 Tenerife
29 Valladolid
27 Xerez

FRANCE

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about a police investigation in France centering on members of their national team being involved with underage girls. Franck Ribery's name is at the top of the police list.

dN

The bottom 3 teams from Ligue 1 will be relegated (44 is the magic numbers) - 5 games left to play:
43 Toulouse
43 Nancy Lorraine
39 Lens
38 Sochaux
37 Nice
36 St Etienne
- - - - -
28 Le Mans
24 Boulogne
OUT-16 Grenoble

GERMANY

FIFA.com does a Q & A with Oliver Kahn about life after the on field lime light.

dN

The struggle against relegation 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) (38 is the safety number) - with 3 games left to play:
37 Cologne
37 Monchengladbach
35 Hoffenheim
28 Nurnberg
28 Bochum
- - - - -
28 Freiburg
- - - - -
27 Hannover
23 Hertha Berlin

ITALY

The Times of London says the line for the services of Inter coach Jose Mourinho is getting long again.

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo on the success of Inter, and the failure of their young potential star Mario Balotelli.

dN

Roma will meet Inter for the Coppa Italia title for the 6th consecutive year! That is insane! Not to mention the fact that they are battling for the Serie A championship as well. Wow.

COPPA ITALIA - Semifinals
2nd Leg
-Wed Apr 21
Udinese 1-0 Roma - Roma advance 2-1 on aggregate
Final
-Date TBA
Inter v Roma

dN

Relegation from Serie A happens to the bottom 3 teams (47 is the lucky number) - there are 4 games left to be played:
46 Fiorentina
46 Parma
43 Bari
41 Cagliari
41 Chievo Verona
40 Catania
39 Udinese
37 Lazio
36 Bologna
- - - - -
34 Atalanta
30 Siena
26 Livorno

EUROPE

FIFA does a Q & A with Denmark & Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner about the World Cup.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

The BBC with an article on Fulham's dramatic run in the tournament.

dN

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 22
Hamburg v Fulham
Atletico Madrid v Liverpool
-Thu Apr 29
Fulham v Hamburg
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid

BRAZIL

Tim vickery for World Soccer writes that the Brazilian league really needs to be scrapped and rebuilt.

COPA LIBERTADORES

We are down to the last day of the group stage.

dN

8 Group winners advance, along with the 6 runners up with the best records.

2 teams have already qualified for the knock out rounds after complications with the Swine Flu last season, giving Guadalajara & San Luis of Mexico spots in this years tournament.

7 of 8 first place spots are set:
Sao Paulo joins Velez Sarsfield, Libertad, Banfield, Corinthians, Universidad Chile & Alianza Lima in the knock out stages.

Here is who still has a shot at those 6 runners up spots (3 are taken, 3 remain):

ADV-13 Estudiantes de la Plata (Argentina)
ADV-11 Cruzeiro (Brazil)
ADV-11 Once Caldas (Colombia)
10 Deportivo Quito (Ecudador)
10 Flamengo (Brazil)
10 Universitario (Peru)
9 Internacional (Brazil)
7 Cerro (Uruguay)
7 Racing Club (Uruguay)

dN

GROUP STAGE (runs through to Apr 22) - This Weeks Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 20
Bolivar 2-0 Juan Aurich - Bol goals by Walter Flores & Alex Da Rosa(PK).
Estudiantes 1-0 Alianza - Est goal by Juan Sebastian Veron.
-Wed Apr 21
Nacional (Para) 2-0 Monterrey - Nac goals by Aldo Paniaqua & Guillermo Beltran.
Sao Paulo 1-0 Once Caldas - SP goal by Fernando.
Nacional (Uru) 2-0 Morelia - Nac goals by Mario Pintos & Mauricio Pereira.
Banfield 4-1 Cuenca - Ban goals by Ruben Ramirez(2), Walter Erviti & Cristian Lucchetti(PK). Cue goal by Gabriel Mendez.
Universidad Chile 0-0 Universidad Catolica
Flamengo 3-2 Caracas - Fla goals by Ronadlo Angelim, Michael & David. Car goals by Rafael Castellin & Jesus Gomez.
-Thu Apr 22
Corinthians v Independiente
Internacional v Quito
Cerro v Emelec
Cerro Porteno v Racing Club

dN

Standings (6 Rounds):

Grupo 1 (5 played)
ADV-13 Corinthians (Brazil)
7 Racing Club (Uruguay)
OUT-6 Independiente Medellin (Colombia)
OUT-1 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay)

Grupo 2 DONE
ADV-13 Sao Paulo (Brazil)
ADV-11 Once Caldas (Colombia)
OUT-3 Monterrey (Mexico)
OUT-3 Nacional (Paraguay)

Grupo 3 (DONE)
ADV-15 Alianza Lima (Peru)
ADV-13 Estudiantes de la Plata (Argentina)
OUT-4 Bolivar (Bolivia)
OUT-3 Juan Aurich (Peru)

Grupo 4 (DONE)
ADV-12 Libertad (Paraguay)
10 Universitario (Peru)
OUT-8 Lanus (Argentina)
OUT-1 Blooming (Bolivia)

Grupo 5 (5 played)
10 Deportivo Quito (Ecudador)
9 Internacional (Brazil)
7 Cerro (Uruguay)
OUT-1 Emelec (Ecuador)

Grupo 6 DONE
ADV-14 Banfield (Argentina)
OUT-9 Nacional (Uruguay)
OUT-5 Morelia (Mexico)
OUT-4 Cuenca (Ecudador)

Grupo 7 (DONE)
ADV-13 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina)
ADV-11 Cruzeiro (Brazil)
OUT-8 Colo Colo (Chile)
OUT-1 Italia (Venezuela)

Grupo 8 DONE
ADV-12 Universidad Chile (Chile)
10 Flamengo (Brazil)
OUT-7 Universidad Catolica (Chile)
OUT-2 Caracas FC (Venezuela)

FIFA

Bids for the 2018 & 2022 World Cups will be handed in on Fri May 14 in Zurich Switzerland.
-These are the official bidders: Australia, England, Japan, Netherlands/Belgium, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, Spain/Portugal and USA