Some News for Thu May 6, 2010

STARTERS

The Montreal Impact will be named MLS team #19 on Friday morning. They will join the league for the 2012 season!

dN

#1 seeded Corinthians was knocked out of the Copa Libertadore last night by #16 seed Flamengo! Wow.

BAYERN MUNICH & INTER MILAN: THE RACE FOR THREE

The two teams will meet in the Champions League Final, and they are both hoping to win the coveted triple - thats the three main trophies in one season: League, League Cup and European Cup.

dN

Bayern:

Bundesliga - In 1st place and will most likely win it on Sat May 8, the final day of the season. They are in first place by 3 points and hold a +17 goal differential over 2nd place.

DFB Pokal - In the final on Sat May 15 v Werder Bremen.

Champions League - In the final on Sat May 22 v Inter Milan.

dN

Inter:

Serie A - In 1st place, with a 2 point lead and 2 games to play.

*Coppa Italia - won it on Wed May 5 1-0 over Roma.

Champions League - In the final on Sat May 22 v Bayern Munich.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"...when he came on I said, 'Clint's gonna get the winner."
-USA coach Bob Bradley on Clint Dempsey's dramatic goal against Juventus in the Europa League.

HA! Oh yeah Bob? So what! That was easy. Who called it before the game even started? Huh? I did! Yeah, me! Thats right. I called it as soon as the lineups were announced and I saw him on the bench! You want proof? It's on Twitter. Look it up! Take that one Bob! Hahahahahahahaha.

FUN FACT OF THE DAY

Herculez Gomez's younger brother Ulysses Gomez is scheduled to fight in the Mixed Martial Arts league Bellator Fighting Championships third season as part of the bantamweight division. He has a 6-1 professional record. Ulysses is "known for wearing the soccer jersey of his brother's current team as his walk-out T-shirt before his fights." The tournament kicks off on August 12 on Fox Sports Net. Nice!

STORY OF THE DAY

Jeff Bradley of ESPN Magazine with a cover story of Jersey-born-boy turned Italiano Guiseppe Rossi.

dN

The Italian 29 player training list came out for the World Cup this week, and Rossi was not on the team. Will he be a late call up? The 30 player list must be turned into FIFA by May 11. If he was with the USA he would be a star, but in Italy he might not make the squad. Irony?

MLS WEEK 7

The round started early with 4 games on Wednesday night.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 5
DC United 2-1 Kansas City Wizards - DCU goals both by Danny Allsop. KCW goal by Kei Kamara.
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attendance: 10,038
New England Revolution 0-4 Chivas USA - CUSA goals by Jesus Padilla(2), Justin Braun & Blair Gavin.
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Attendance: 5,990
Houston Dynamo 0-1 FC Dallas - FCD goal by Ugo Ihemelu.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 13,231
Colorado Rapids 0-1 Los Angeles Galaxy - LAG goal by Alan Gordon.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Attendance: 9,882

dN

EJECTIONS:
-Jair Benetiz - Dallas - red card
-Marko Perovic - New England - red card

dN

And continues on the weekend with 7 more games:

-Sat May 8
Seattle Sounders FC v Los Angeles Galaxy - 3PM Central on TeleFutura
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Toronto FC v Chicago Fire - 3PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Columbus Crew v New England Revolution - 6PM Central on FSC
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Real Salt Lake v Philadelphia Union - 8PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
FC Dallas v DC United - 8PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
San Jose Earthquakes v New York Red Bulls - 9PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Chivas USA v Houston Dynamo - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson Ca

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe on what is making the New England Revs lives miserable this season.

dN

Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald with an article on Fire centerback Wilman Conde who is off to his best personal start in his MLS career.

dN

John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News on the Union's penchant for weak discipline and red cards.

MLS INJURY REPORT

Eddie Robinson had to come out of Houston's game last night with another knee injury. Hopefully it's not as bad as it looked, cuz it looked bad.

dN

Brian Lewis of the NY Post reports on more groin muscle problems for Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite. And updates on Chris Albright and Carl Robinson too.
-And does new signing Brian Nielsen have a heart problem? doctors are checking him out.

dN

No word yet from Philadelphia on whether or not Sebastion Le Toux will play on Saturday. His ankle is still not 100%.

MY THOUGHTS

I wonder if the 10,038 wasn't the lowest league game attendance in DC United history?

The entire continent of Australia sighed in joy over Allsop's two goals!

Team's sure have found a way to keep KC winger Ryan Smith from beating them, just hack him a few times and curls up into a little ball, only to occasionally come out again to complain.

Chance Myers was awful for KC. He looks so uncomfortable that far up the field.

What a miserable game for Edson Buddle, he didn't score again! No chance he gets a look for the USA now! Hahahaha.

Chivas is really starting to look like the real thing. All those young guys sticking together and playing some nice soccer. I had no idea they could do this. Cheers boys.

But once again New England shot themselves in the foot by not having discipline. A red card for Marko Perovic in the 29th minute left them short for way too long, inexperienced all over the field and tired from playing shorthanded just last Saturday.

Houston continued their yo-yo of great then terrible play, and last night was the terrible. Nothing went right.

The Dynamo's bread and butter are their outside midfielders and Dallas really just made them neutrals all night long.

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Kristian Dyer of Goal.com tells us what is was that brought Red Bull to buy the New York MetroStars in the first place.

MLS RUMORS

Brian Lewis of the NY Post with the new "Ze Roberto to Red Bulls" rumors.
-There is no way in hell he is worth $5 Million per season. Not even half that. He is not a draw ticket wise.

MLS EXPANSION

Is former Chicago Fire headcoach Denis Hamlett on the Portland Timbers short list for head coach next season? Along with Jon Spencer?

MLS EXHIBITIONS

Newly added: It's official: Manchester United is training in North America and these are the 4 matches they have planned

-Fri Jul 16
Celtic v Manchester United (England)
Venue: Rogers Center - Toronto ON

-Wed Jul 21
Philadelphia Union v Manchester United (England)
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA

-Sun Jul 25
Kansas City Wizards v Manchester United (England)
Venue: Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City MO

-Wed Jul 28
MLS All Stars v Manchester United (England)
Venue: Reliant Stadium - Houston TX

MEXICO
-Fri Jul 30
Guadalajara Chivas v Manchester United (England)
Venue: Estadio Chivas - Guadalajara Jalisco

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Jere Longman of the New York Times takes a look at what the English think of Americans and their soccer. From owners & players in England to our domestic league.

dN

Jonah Freedman of MLS Soccer with an article on the American player who broke the barrier in the Mexican league. I doubt many of us could guess who it is.

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

Kelly Whiteside of USA Today talks to Bob Bradley about Edson Buddle and Clint Dempsey.

dN

Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad with a big article on DaMarcus Beasley about his chances of making the USA roster. And his club team future.

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports talks to Jonathan Bornstein who couldn't care less what his detractors think of his game. He is ready to rock.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Benny Feilhaber & Aarhus lost again today dropping them back down into the relegation zone with 2 games left to play.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

DENMARK - Superliga
Benny Feilhaber - AGF Aarhus - Thu May 6 - started and went 79 minutes but lost 1-2 at home to Sonderjyske.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - Thu May 6 - went the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Odense.

GREECE - Super League European Tournament Playoffs
Freddy Adu - Aris - Thu May 6 - at AEK Athens - POSTPONED
Eddie Johnson - Aris - Thu May 6 - at AEK Athens - POSTPONED

NETHERLANDS - Nacompetitie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - 1st Leg Thu May 6 - went the distance as they won 2-1 at home over Sparta Rotterdam.
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - 2nd Leg Sun May 9 at Sparta Rotterdam
*An 8 team playoff for 2 promotion spots in the top flight between #2-#7 in the Erste and #16 & #17 in the Ere Divisions.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Hunter Freeman - Start - Thu May 6 - started and was subbed out in the 79th minute, got a yellow card and lost 2-3 at home to Lillestrom.
Clarence Goodson - Start - Thu May 6 - went the full 90 but got a yellow card as well in the 2-3 home loss to Lillestrom.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Thu May 6 - went the distance but lost 2-1 at Helsingborg.

CONCACAF

All 75,000 tickets have been sold for the Mexico match on Friday night.

CONCACAF International Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Fri May 7
Mexico v Ecuador - in East Rutherford NJ
-Mon May 10
Mexico v Senegal - in Chicago
-Thu May 13
Mexico v Angola - in Houston

CANADA

Kurtis Larson of Soccer By Ives with an all Canada round up of news.

VOYAGEURS CUP - CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

A draw on match day 2 puts Montreal in tough spot with half their games played.

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

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 28
Toronto 2-0 Montreal
-May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 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 (4 rounds total):
3 Toronto (1 played)
1 Montreal (2 played)
1 Vancouver (1 played)

The winner represents Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.

ENGLAND

What do you think are the odds of this document being real? This is supposedly a file from West Ham United showing the salaries of their players and playing staff. Some very interesting stuff here. (thanks to N for sending this our way)

(click to enlarge)














That would mean that their outlay would be nearly US$54 Million per season for players and staff.

ITALY

The words of Roma captain Francisco Totti aftering a vicious foul on Inter's Mario Balotelli in Wednesday nights Coppa Italia Final that saw Totti get a Red Card:
“Moments of anxiety can happen in a game and in such important moments. You can't always ignore very offensive insults on the pitch, direct and indirect that try to dirty a city and an entire people,” Totti said.
“Above all when the continuous flow of insults always comes from the same person who makes systematic provocation his calling card.
“I hit Balotelli because he insulted me twice and then for what he did last year at San Siro. I haven't forgotten.”
-Because Totti has never ever ever provoked or baited or insulted an opponent before right? What a pathetic loser.

dN

Gazzetta dello Sports on the first of three potential trophies for Inter this season.

EUROPE

Ajax has won the Dutch Cup!

Netherlands KNVB Beker - Final
2nd Leg
-Thu May 6
Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-4 Ajax Amsterdam - Ajax wins 6-1 on aggreagte!

COPA LIBERTADORES

#1 seed Corinthians was knocked out by fellow Brazilian team and #16 seeded Flamengo! Estudiantes and Cruziero have also advanced, joining Guadalajara & Sao Paulo in the Quarterfinals.

dN

Matches & Scores - Round of 16:
2nd Leg
-Tue May 4
Velez Sarsfield 2-3 Guadalajara - Gua advance 3-2 on aggregate - VS goals by Santiago Silva & Rolando Zarate.
Sao Paulo 0-0 Universitario Deportes - series ends tied scoreless - SP advances 3-1 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Wed May 5
Estudiantes de la Plata 3-1 San Luis - Est advance 4-1 on aggregate - Est goals by Leandro Gonzalez & Leandro Benitez(2). SL goal by Diego de la Torre.
Corinthians 2-1 Flamengo - series ends tied 2-2 - Fla advance on away goals tie breaker - Cor goals by David(OG) & Ronaldo. Fla goal by Vagner Love.
Nacional 0-3 Cruzeiro - Cru advance 6-1 on aggregate - Cru goals by Thiago, Diego Renan & Gilberto.
-Thu May 6
Internacional v Banfield (1-3)
Universidad de Chile v 9 Alianza Lima (0-1)
Libertad v 12 Once Caldas (0-0)

Away goals is the tie breaker.

dN

Here is the full Knockout Stage Bracket:
16 Flamengo
8 Universidad de Chile v 9 Alianza Lima
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas
13 Guadalajara
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield
- - - - -
10 Cruzeiro
2 Sao Paulo

WORLD CUP 2010 - SOUTH AFRICA

Yazid Mansouri has been named the captain of Algeria. He plays defensive midfielder for his club FC Lorient in France.

dN

Germany has named a 27 player roster for the Tournament, of which 4 will be dropped on Jun 1 when the official rosters are due.
G:
Hans-Joerg Butt - Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer - Schalke
Tim Wiese - Werder Bremen
D:
Dennis Aogo - Hamburg
Holger Badstuber - Bayern Munich
Andreas Beck - Hoffenheim
Jerome Boateng - Hamburg
Arne Friedrich - Hertha Berlin
Phillip Lahm - Bayern Munich
Per Mertesacker - Werder Bremen
Serdar Tasci - Stuttgart
Heiko Westermann - Schalke
M:
Michael Ballack - Chelsea
Marcell Jansen - Hamburg
Sami Khedira - Stuttgart
Toni Kroos - Bayer Leverkusen
Marko Marin - Werder Bremen
Mesut Oezil - Werder Bremen
Bastian Schweinsteiger - Bayern Munich
Christrian Traesch - Stuttgart
Piotr Trochowski - Hamburg
F:
Cacau - Stuttgart
Mario Gomez - Bayern Munich
Stefan Kiessling - Bayer Leverkusen
Miroslav Klose - Bayern Munich
Thomas Mueller - Bayern Munich
Lukas Podolski - Koln

dN

And here is Italy's 29 player training squad:
G:
Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus
Morgan De Sanctis - Napoli
Federico Marchetti - Cagliari
Salvatore Sirigu - Palermo
D:
Salvatore Bocchetti - Genoa
Leonardo Bonucci - Bari
Fabio Cannavaro - Juventus
Mattia Cassani - Palermo
Giorgio Chiellini - Juventus
Domenico Criscito - Genoa
Fabio Grosso - Juventus
Nicola Legrottaglie - Juventus
Christian Maggio - Napoli
Gianluca Zambrotta - Milan
M:
Mauro Camoranesi - Juventus
Antonio Candreva - Juventus
Andrea Cossu - Cagliari
Gennaro Gattuso - Milan
Claudio Marchisio - Juventus
Riccardo Montolivo - Fiorentina
Angelo Palombo - Sampdoria
Simone Pepe - Udinese
Andrea Pirlo - Milan
F:
Marco Borriello - Milan
Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
Vincenzo Iaquinta - Juventus
Giampaolo Pazzini - Sampdoria
Fabio Quagliarella - Napoli

GAZA WORLD CUP

Its the Gaza World Cup, read all about it.

A little slice of fun in a pretty grim place.

Round of 16
-Sun May 2
Italy-Services Rafah 1-0 Palestine-Al Hilal
-Mon May 3
Netherlands-Al Mashtal 1-4 Russia-Shojaeya
England-Jama3y Rafah 1-2 Ireland-Friendship
-Tue May 4
South Africa-El Shate'e Services 1-4 Jordan-Shabab Khan Yunis
USA-Services Maghazi 2-3 Serbia-El Zaytoon
-Wed May 5
Spain-Services Nuseirat 0-2 France-Shabab Rafah
Algeria-Gaza Sports 0-4 Egypt-Ittihad Khan Yunis
-Thu May 6
Turkey-Ahly Nusseirat 1-2 Germany-Ahly Gaza

Quarterfinals
-Sat May 8
Q1 Russia v Ireland
Q2 France v Serbia
-Sun May 9
Q3 Italy v Germany
Q4 Jordan v Egypt

Semifinals
-Wed May 12
Q1 v Q2
Q3 v Q4

Final
-Sat May 15
Semifinal Winners

ENDERS

Check it out:
The Kickabout: Africa 2010 mission is to travel overland, from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa – boots on and footballs in hand – and to do what we can to help those that selflessly serve others to build a better today and a better tomorrow.