Thursday, April 08, 2010

Some News for Thu Apr 8, 2010

HOLY MOLY

Chivas of Guadalajara has sold their young star striker Javier El Chicharito Hernandez to Manchester United! Wow! Huge huge news for Mexican football.

Here is the young man in Manchester this week posing with some Man U dude and Guadalajara owner Jorge Vergara.









La Aficion of Guadalajara with this report in Spanish.

The official Manchester United website with the story.

As part of the sale, Man U will play a friendly at Chivas on July 30.

STARTERS

Clint Dempsey and Fulham beat Wolfsburg and advanced to the Europa League Semifinals!

dN

Cruz Azul and Pachuca face off for the CONCACAF Champions League title.

dN

Lyon, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan & Barcelona complete the Semifinal quartet in the UEFA Champions League. 1 French team, 1 German team, 1 Italian team and 1 Spanish team. Oops, where did the invincible English go?

dN

Lionel Messi has scord 16 goals in the past 9 games. And his Barcelona travel to Real Madrid on Saturday at 3pm Central time. How big that game going to be?!?!?!?!

dN

Marsielle takes over the top spot in France after winning on Wednesday, and not only do they have a 2 point lead, but they also have a game in hand! Who saw this coming?

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Ding Dong the witch is dead. Which old witch? The English witch! Ding Dong the English witch is dead!

dN

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews Wednesday's two deciding games, while pointing out that Red Nose is barking up the wrong tree.

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The New York Times on the game that divided France East to West.

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And on top of all that we have the amazing goal scored by Arjen Robben for Bayern to knock off Man U. Who left that guy wide open on a corner kick? Are you serious?

dN

Quarterfinals Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 6
CSKA Moscow 0-1 Inter Milan - IM advance 2-0 on aggregate - IM goal by Wesley Schneider.
Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal - Bar advance 6-3 on aggregate - Bar goals all by Lionel Messi - Ars goal by Niklas Bendtner.
-Wed Apr 7
Manchester United 3-2 Bayern Munich - series ends tied 4-4 and BM advance on the away goals tie breaker - MU goals by Darron Gibson & Nani(2). BM goals by Ivica Olic & Arjen Robben.
Bordeaux 1-0 Lyon - Lyon advance 3-2 on aggregate - Bor goal by Marouane Chamakh.

Away goals is the tiebreaker.

dN

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 20
Inter v Barcelona
-Wed Apr 21
Bayern v Lyon
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 27
Lyon v Bayern
-Wed Apr 28
Barcelona v Inter

dN

Domific Fifield of the Guardian wonders who will win the battle of Mourinho v Messi.

dN

Final Match:
-Sat May 22

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Cruz Azul & Pachuca will meet in the final!

dN

Semifinals Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 6
Cruz Azul 5-0 UNAM - CA advance 5-1 on aggregate - CA goals by Christian Riveros, Horacio Cervantes, Adrian Cortes, Rogelio Martínez & Edgar Lugo.
-Wed Apr 7
Pachuca 1-0 Toluca (1-1) - Pac advance 2-1 on aggregate - Pac goal by Edy Brambila.

dN

Final Match:
-Date TBA
Cruz Azul v Pachuca

WHO KNEW?

Why is Blanco wearing the colors of his dreaded enemy??




















Turns out he made a bet that America would beat Chivas last Sunday night and lost, so he had to don the goatskin.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson after his team lost in the Champs League Quarterfinals to Bayern Munich, and Man U had a player sent off for 2 yellow cards: "...they got him sent off. They all rushed towards the referee. You get that with the Germans. You can't dispute that. There is no doubt about it."
-It's obviously not his team or players fault is it! Please. Choking dogs is more like it. And remember, English players, especially Man U players would never ever bum rush a referee to complain about a player on the opposition team. Never ever.

FACT OF THE DAY

How important is it to win your first group stage game at the World Cup. ESPN Soccernet tells us its VERY important if you want to advance to the knock out stage (stats from past 3 World Cups):
Result - Teams - Adv - Percent
Win - 36 - 31 - 86.1%
Tie - 24 - 14 - 58.3%
Loss - 36 - 3 - 8.3%

As for the USA, every time they have won or tied that first game they have advanced. While every time they lost, they were out.

MLS WEEK 3

All 8 games are on Saturday!

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 10
Chivas USA v New York Red Bulls - 3PM Central on TeleFutura
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Philadelphia Union v DC United - 5PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
New England Revolution v Toronto FC - 6:30 PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Kansas City Wizards v Colorado Rapids - 7:30 PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark
Houston Dynamo v Los Angeles Galaxy - 7:30 PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Robertson Stadium
FC Dallas v Columbus Crew - 7:30 PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
Chicago Fire v San Jose Earthquakes - 7:30 PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park
Real Salt Lake v Seattle Sounders FC - 8PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT

MLS INJURY REPORT

New England is hoping that Shalrie Joseph will be ready to play this weekend. He has missed the first two games with an injured hip flexor.
-In case you were interested - there are 10 different parts to the hip flexor, so using that term can be a bit vague.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet with an article on LA forward Edson Buddle who is off to a fast start with 3 goals in 2 games.

dN

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that RSL has signed captain Kyle Beckerman to a new 4 year contract.

dN

Lewis also reports on a lingering injury problem for RSL forward Pablo Campos.

dN

Michael Black of the Deseret News on RSL's newest forward of promise - Alvaro Saborio of Costa Rica.

dN

Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald feels the Fire have really missed midfielder John Thorrington in the first 2 games of the season. He is injured.

dN

Chicago Fire coach Carlos de los Cobos has brought in another of his former players from the El Salvador national team, signing left fullback Deris Umanzor from Aguila.

dN

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune wonders if some of that "new car smell" is now gone from the Sounders.

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The Everett Herald on Sounders d-mid Osvaldo Alonso.

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FIFA.com with an article on Seattle's summer time arrival Blaise Nkufo.

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Center Line Soccer reports in from San Jose midweek training.

dN

Steve Hunt at Fox Sports Southwest on Dallas centerback Ugo Ihemelu.
-Is it just me, or did you too forget he was at FCD?

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Chris Young of the Toronto Star refers to TFC as The Gong Show. Oof!

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Steve Sandor of the Toronto Sun on TFC's trip to Foxborough to face the Rev's this weekend.

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Ryan Walstot of the Sun also reports on the large amount of open roster spots in Toronto.

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The Examiner says that TFC is still in preseason mode and wont be ready for real games for another 2 weeks or so.

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Houston Dynamo centerback Bobby Boswell writing for Fox Sports Houston previews the teams big match up with LA this weekend, among several topics.

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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch sees new faces getting a look in Crew-land.

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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer with an article on Red Bulls centerback Tim Ream who has been praised for his performances in the teams first 2 games.

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Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News on the Union's home opener this weekend.
-They are expecting 35,000+ for the game.
-1000 DC United supporters will travel north for the game too!

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Colorado has acquired forward Quincy Amarikwa from San Jose in exchange for a future college draft pick.

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The Washington Post reports on another of those veterans who teams are hanging on to even though they don't want them - Luciano Emilio.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

The Attleboro Sun Chronicle with more of what I find to be hollow words from the New England Revolution concerning their team having a stadium to call their own.

MLS RUMORS

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree reports that Dallas could be after Colombian forward Milton Rodriguez.

MLS EXPANSION

Remember that whole thing yesterday with the India goalkeeper going to Vancouver? Yeah, well, scratch that. He says he is not going.

US OPEN CUP

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com with a little history of the Open Cup and Philadelphia teams.
USSF DIVISION 2

USSF D-2

The new season starts on Sat Apr 10.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 10
Carolina RailHawks v AC St Louis
Miami FC Blues v Rochester Rhinos
-Sun Apr 11
Austin Aztex v Montreal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps v NSC Minnesota Stars

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Andrew Hush of ESPN Soccernet with his weekly column, focusing on DC, Maurice Edu & a book on sports in Africa.

US SOCCER NEWS

George Vecsey of the New York Times comments on the decision to put Claudio Reyna in charge of national youth development.

dN

I am kind of surprised at how little the soccer media has commented on Reyna's appointment. Neither praise or criticism of the idea has been rampant. Are people afraid, leery, uncertain? Critics usually don't need time to assess an idea like this. Interesting.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer at MLS Soccer with an article on Kenny Cooper and his Plymouth adventure.
-How can you see Cooper's move of forcing his way out of 1860 Munich, were he was a regular, to go to England and Plymouth Argyle, where he has barely seen the field, as anything but a disaster for him leading up to the World Cup. He has practically no chance of being on the USA team now.

dN

Rangers has a 13 point lead in Scotland with 6 games left to play.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Maurice Edu - Rangers - played the entire game as they won 3-1 at home over Aberdeen.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Jose Torres didn't play for Pachuca on Wednesday night, but they advanced to the CONCACAF Champions League Final!

dN

Brent Latham of ESPN Soccernet on a remarkable past 3 months for Herculez Gomez at Puebla.

MEXICO

Carlos Vela has shown at times that he is a very talented player with a bright future for Mexico, and maybe a club team. But so far he has seen little of field, while seeming to have a nose for getting into trouble. The latest example: He was set to travel with Arsenal to play in Barcelona this week, but...... he lost his passport. Wow.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Fulham, Liverpool, Hamburg & Altetico Madrid have advanced to the Semifinals.

Quarterfinal 2nd Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 8
Wolfsburg 0-1 Fulham - Ful advance 3-1 on aggregate.
Liverpool 4-1 Benfica - Liv advance 5-3 on aggregate.
Standard Liege 1-3 Hamburg - Ham advance 5-2 on aggregate.
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Valencia - series ends tied at 2-2, so AM advance on the away goals tiebreaker.

dN

Semifinals
-Dates and Matchups TBA


COPA LIBERTADORES

Nothing has changed in the standings after Wednesday's games.

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

Just 3 weeks left in the Group Stage.

dN

GROUP STAGE (runs through to Apr 22) - This Weeks Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 6
Universitario 0-0 Blooming
Italia 2-3 Colo Colo - Ita goals by Emerson Pangutti & Richard Blanco(PK). CC goals by Cristian Bogado & Ezequiel Miralles(2).
-Wed Apr 7
Cuenca 0-0 Nacional
-Thu Apr 8
Flamengo v Universidad
Independiente Medellin v Cerro Porteno
Alianza v Bolivar

dN

Standings (6 Rounds):

Grupo 1 (4 played)
ADV-10 Corinthians (Brazil)
7 Racing Club (Uruguay)
3 Independiente Medellin (Colombia)
1 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay)

Grupo 2 (5 played)
ADV-11 Once Caldas (Colombia)
ADV-10 Sao Paulo (Brazil)
OUT-3 Monterrey (Mexico)
OUT-0 Nacional (Paraguay)

Grupo 3 (4 played)
ADV-12 Alianza Lima (Peru)
ADV-10 Estudiantes de la Plata (Argentina) (5 played)
OUT-3 Juan Aurich (Peru) (5 played)
OUT-1 Bolivar (Bolivia)

Grupo 4 (5 played)
9 Libertad (Paraguay)
9 Universitario (Peru)
7 Lanus (Argentina)
OUT - 1 Blooming (Bolivia)

Grupo 5 (4 played)
8 Internacional (Brazil)
7 Cerro (Uruguay)
7 Deportivo Quito (Ecudador)
OUT-0 Emelec (Ecuador)

Grupo 6 (5 played)
ADV - 11 Banfield (Argentina)
6 Nacional (Uruguay)
5 Morelia (Mexico)
4 Cuenca (Ecudador)

Grupo 7 (5 played)
10 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina)
10 Cruzeiro (Brazil)
7 Colo Colo (Chile)
OUT-1 Italia (Venezuela)

Grupo 8 (3 played)
7 Universidad Chile (Chile)
6 Flamengo (Brazil)
3 Universidad Catolica (Chile) (4 played)
2 Caracas FC (Venezuela) (4 played)

LIONEL MESSI(AH)

Patrick Barclay of the Times of London puts Lionel Messi into the Pele and Maradona category.
-Really? Those guys won World Cups in addition to dominating leagues! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

dN

Matt Dickinson of the Times gets a little more realistic, putting Messi into the league of Cruyff, Stoichkov, Rivaldo and Ronaldo. Among others, like Zidane.
-Even Ronaldo could be rated above Messi right now, having won World Player of the Year twice and being the all time World Cup goal scoring leader.

2 Comments:

Blogger Demko said...

Rafael is a moron. that's what Alex Ferguson should be concerned about.

4:46 PM  
Anonymous Brian said...

To the bench young Javier! Just like Gio and Vela before you!

1:21 AM  

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