Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Some News for Tue May 18, 2010

STARTERS

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe gets confirmation that New York has signed Thierry Henry. The move will happen in the international transfer period after the World Cup.

dN

From the official AC Milan website comes with weird news that Oguchi Onyewu has signed a 1 year contract extension, now until summer 2013, and this next season will play for FREE. Huh?

dN

Big Daddy Bill Clinton has been named the Honorary Chairman of the USA World Cup Bid committee.
-I have always wondered what Bill's fave P-Funk song is... you got any suggestions?

TWITTER

Climb aboard our Twitter ship: @dunord

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

US Soccer tells us that Eddie Johnson has a "Grade 1 sprain of the left hamstring." This is the lowest on the severity scale, so he should be good to go shortly.

dN

Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, Benny Feilhaber Clarence Goodson and Jose Torres are now all in full action at training camp on Tuesday.

dN

Jen Chang of Sports Illustrated has a Q & A with Jozy Altidore.

dN

SI also has a very in-depth story on Jozy Altidore in the newest issue of the magazine.

dN

Franco Panizo of Soccer By Ives talks to DaMarcus Beasley.

dN

Ives Galarcep at Fox Soccer with two articles - Roster battles to play out - AND - First impressions telling.

dN

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America looks at the USA centerback.

dN

Jere Longman of the New York Times sees defense as the USA's biggest weakness.

dN

Richard Snowden of Soccer 365 gives his answers to 5 very important questions that all USA fans should be having about this team right now.

dN

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press on the first day of USA training camp.

dN

Barry Wilner of the Associated Press on which players are battling it out for the final few spots on the roster.

dN

Brian Lewis of the NY Post on day 1 of World Cup team building.
-Injury list:
Carlos Bocanegra (abdominal)
Jay DeMerit (abdominal)
Tim Howard (quad)
Eddie Johnson (hamstring)
Chad Marshall (hamstring)

dN

Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philly.com has a few words and several mp3s of interviews with key USAers.

dN

Kate Fagan of Philly.com on Landon Donovan.

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on Jozy Altidore.

dN

Billy Witz of the New York Times on Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez getting their shot at the World Cup.

dN

NorthJersey.com tells us about USA coach Bob Bradley "coming home" to Princeton.

dN

US Soccer gives us photos from Day 1 Training and Press Interviews.

dN

And US Soccer also keeps us in the loop with their great insider videos, including the team heading to the doctor for check ups before it all gets going.

dN

Pre-World Cup Warm Up Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 25
USA V Czech Republic - 7pm Central on ESPN
Venue: Rentschler Field - East Hartford CT
-Sat May 29
USA v Turkey - 1PM Central on ESPN2
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA

dN

Official Team Blog

WORLD CUP 2010 - SOUTH AFRICA

Due to a torn ankle ligament Michael Ballack of Germany will not be able to play in the tournament.

dN

Reuters reports that FIFA has banned the fake-stop-motion players have used when taking Penalty Kicks. A Yellow Card will be assessed to anyone who does it. But will the PK be taken away completely, or will they get a second attempt at it? In typical FIFA fashion though, the little stutter type move to get the keeper to commit first will still be legal, just not the full stop. Via Yahoo.

dN

Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times on Roger Espinoza of the Kansas City Wizards being named to the Honduras World Cup team.

dN

William Rhoden of the New York Times sees the evil of apartheid still taking its toll on South Africa.

dN

Ad Age looks at the marketing efforts going into this World Cup. Thanks to BQ for the link.

dN

Italy has already released 2 players from their 30 man squad - Antonio Candreva & Fabio Grosso both of Juve were cut.
-You have to wonder why Lippi brought them in in the first place.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The folks at Real Madrid have all but announced that Inter manager Jose Mourinho will be their new man in charge for next season.

dN

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on the 2 big teams each looking to cap off incredible seasons.

dN

The Grand Finale! Football Club Internazionale Milano v Fussball-Club Bayern Munchen - Saturday May 22nd at 1:30pm Central on Fox.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Clint Dempsey responding to criticism of past performances with the USA:
“I don’t know what more y’all would want for me to do. I got Bronze Ball, I’ve been able to score goals in World Cup qualifiers, and I’ve played midfield most of the time when I was able to put up those numbers. I don’t know what more you want from me.”

See the whole article by Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer above in the USA World Cup 2010 South Africa section.

FUN FACT OF THE DAY

Upper Deck has just released their 2010 MLS trading cards series.

STORY OF THE DAY

Zach Herold, first round draft pick of Toronto FC and USA U17 defender has been diagnosed with a dangerous heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and has been forced to end his career before it even gets started.

The Canadian Press has the details. Via the Toronto Globe & Mail.

Very sad. The good news is that medical testing can find something this serious, and we do not have a repeat of something like the horrible collapse and death on the field of Mark Vivien Foe of Cameroon during the 2003 Confederations Cup.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

In one of the single most astonishing feats I have ever seen in soccer, the NSC Minnesota Stars goalkeeper Joe Warren has now stopped 3 Penalty Kicks in 3 straight games. Unreal! What an individual performance! Joe Warren is my hero!

AND

I have heard through fellow Minnesota fans that Miami FC player JP Rodrigues was screaming at his own teammates who were diving. He told one guy to "get the fuck up!" This is a guy I can love. Thank you JP! You are a du Nord hero!

MLS WEEK 9

-Thu May 20
New York Red Bulls v Columbus Crew - 7PM Central on ESPN2
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
FC Dallas v Los Angeles Galaxy - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
-Sat May 22
Toronto FC v New England Revolution - 12PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Seattle Sounders FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 2PM Central on FSC
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Houston Dynamo v D.C. United -
Venue: Robertson Stadium 7:00 PM Galavision
Chivas USA v Real Salt Lake - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sun May 23
Kansas City Wizards v Columbus Crew - 3PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio has been named Player Of The Week.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com on San Jose midfielder Joey Gjertsen and the rest of the weekend in MLS.

dN

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated gives us Five things to take away from Week 8.

dN

New England has released Honduran midfielder Mauricio Castro.

dN

Seattle has signed former NY centerback Jeff Parke. If you remember Jeff was suspended 2 seasons ago for taking a performance enhancing drug called Jungle Warfare. I don't bring this up to rub it in, I bring it up because the name is so damn classic.

dN

Steve Hunt of Fox Sports Southwest wonders if Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham is again turning into the guy who has been on 5 rosters in 11 years in MLS.

dN

Scott French of ESPN Los Angeles on Salt Lake & USA prodigy Luis Gil.

DU NORD PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Fredy Montero is the Player of the Week for simply ending almost 3 full games in a row of scoreless soccer for me!

MY THOUGHTS

MLS on Sat May 15:

All in all it was a fairly wretched weekend of action. After the avalanche of goals last round, we saw a near barren land this round. Thank you KC & Chicago for scoring some goals.

dN

I watched 3 games on Sunday morning (San Jose v New Eng, LA v TFC and NY v Sea) and was subjected to 265 straight minutes of scoreless soccer. Freddy Montero of Seattle finally put me out of my misery with 5 minutes left to play against New York.

dN

Toronto would have gone to LA and earned a huge victory if forward Chad Barrett wasn't so completely inept. "The Vasectomy" strikes again.

dN

Ranking of Teams based solely on performance this past week:
1 Salt Lake - Nice crisp dismantling of Houston. And is forward Saborio for real? Look out if he is.
2 Columbus - Get the win by any means necessary is their motto. Still no losses.
3 Toronto - Travel to the best team in the league, hold them scoreless and have great chances to win it. Not bad.
4 Seattle - Not exactly fantastic but a good road win always counts high, especially when you are desperate.
5 Colorado - Beat a bad team on the road. Nothing more, nothing less.
6 Los Angeles - Still only given up 2 goals this season, but the defense looked beatable at times.
7 Chicago - 2 goals on the road is never a bad thing, but a win would have been better than a tie.
8 Kansas City - Kei Kamara leads them to a tie. An average team in the middle spot of the list.
9 Dallas - Going to Philly might be a bit difficult, but seeing as they are the worst team in the league a tie wasn't exactly honorable.
10 San Jose - Didn't score this week, but another point on the road keeps them moving forward.
11 New England - I barely know who is even playing for them anymore due to all the injuries etc, but to hold high flying San Jose scoreless was a good game.
12 Philadelphia - Only their 2nd home game of the season and they have another point giving them all 4 points earned at home.
13 Chivas USA - Too young to win against a team like Columbus, but no one knows if they will learn the killer instinct or not.
14 DC - Lost. At home. Again. Some old story, same old song and dance my friends. They aren't horrible, just kinda gutless.
15 New York - Flat and dull at home is no way to impress the judges, and then letting in a goal in the dying seconds is inexcusable for a team claiming quality.
16 Houston - They just got pummeled as their yo-yo season continues, brilliant one week, terrible the next.

MLS RUMORS

Jamar Beasley for Kansas City? Really? Wow.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

The summer friendly season gets underway on Wednesday in Foxborough and Bridgeview.

-Wed May 19
New England Revolution v Benfica (Portugal)
Venue: Gillette Stadium in Foxborough MA

Benfica has 2 players on their roster that I would love to see on a MLS team - Pablo Aimar & Nuno Gomes.

dN

Sister Cities International Cup
-Wed May 19
Chicago Fire v Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Legia Warsaw (Poland) v Red Star Belgrade(Serbia)
-Sat May 22
2 Winners play for the Cup
2 Losers play for pride
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL

USSF DIVISION 2

Travis Clark of Soccer By Ives with the weekly round up of games.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 19
Rochester Rhinos v Crystal Palace Baltimore
Austin Aztex v Tampa Bay Rowdies
Portland Timbers v Montreal Impact

USA U20 TEAM

The USA U20's will participate in the Cor Groenewegen Tournamentin Netherlands beginning Sat May 22.

They start with a 2 game Warm-up.

Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 18
USA v Senegal
-Thu May 20
USA v South Korea

dN

Roster:
G:
Samir Badr - Porto
Cody Cropper - Ipswich Town
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Braga
Chad Barson - Akron
Bryan De La Fuente - Chivas USA
Perry Kitchen - Akron
Kofi Sarkodie - Akron
Zarek Valentin - Akron
Parker Walsh - 1860 Munich
M:
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek
Lester Dewee - Olympique Marseille
Bryan Dominguez - Miami FC
Alex Molano - Dinamo Zagreb
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Moises Orozco - Real So Cal
George Pantelic - RAD Belgrade
Cesar Zamora - Chivas USA
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Odds are very good that Benny Feilhaber will be sold by his club AGF Aarhus this summer since they were relegated on the last day of the just ended season.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Mon May 17 - went the distance as they won 2-0 at home over Trelleborgs.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

GREECE - Super League European Tournament Playoffs:
Freddy Adu - Aris - Wed May 19 v PAOK in Round 6 of 6.
Eddie Johnson - Aris - Wed May 19 v PAOK in Round 6 of 6.

CONCACAF - CENTRAL AMERICA

Saprissa is the Costa Rica Primera Division Torneo de Verano Champions! It is their 29th league title.

dN

Olimpia is the Honduras Liga Nacional Clausura Champion!

dN

Municipal is the Guatemala Liga Nacional Clausura Champion!

dN

Real Esteli is the Nicaragua Primera Division Clausura and Grand Finale Champion!

dN

Arabe Unido is the Panama LFP Clausura Champion!

dN

Aguila & Isidro Metapan will face off on Sun May 23 for the El Salvador Primera Division clausura Championship.

dN

Georgetown Ibayani, Hankook Verdes, Belize Defence Force & FC Belize are the semifinalists for the Belize Premier League Clausra Championship.

CANADA

Jason de Vos of the CBC gives us a run down of new changes implemented by the Canadian Soccer Association in an attempt to put their programs on a direct path to improvement.

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 2-0 Montreal
-May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 Montreal Impact
-May 12
Montreal Impact 0-1 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):
6 Toronto (2 played)
1 Vancouver (1 played)
OUT-1 Montreal (3 played)

The winner represents Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.

ENGLAND

Everton's star midfielder Tim Cahill has signed a new deal to keep him at the club until the end of the 2013/14 season.

dN

Avram Grant who has played a mortician in an Israeli sit-com will be the new manager at West Ham after guiding Portsmouth to relegation this past season, and being fired from Chelsea the season before that.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on the league champions Barcelona, and the rest of the final weekend of the season in La Liga.

GERMANY

Reuters on the return of St Pauli to the top division. Weltpokalsiegerbesiege indeed!

ITALY

Paulo Bandini of the Guardian on Inter's champioship winning celebrations, but is coach Jose Mourinho already packing his bags to leave, and the rest of the last round of the season in Serie A.

dN

Roberto Gotta of ESPN Soccernet gives us his Serie A Team Of The Season.

ARGENTINA

Argentinos Juniors just won their first Argentine league championship in 25 years on Sunday, and in researching the team I found this piece of info that I never knew before: "The club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago."

COPA LIBERTADORES

Matches & Scores - Quarterfinals:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 18
Libertad v Guadalajara (0-3)
-Wed May 19
Sao Paulo v Cruzeiro (2-0)
-Thu May 20
Universidad de Chile v Flamengo (3-2)
Estudiantes de la Plata v Internacional (0-1)

Away goals is the tie breaker.

AFRICA

Egypt is finally being punished after civilians in that country attacked the team bus of Algeria the night before a huge World Cup qualifying game in Cairo. As a result the team will be banned from playing in their capital city for their next 2 home World Cup qualifiers.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why is it that weird that he would play for free, AC Milan has been paying his salary while he was hurt, how many businesses would do that, yes I know he is under a guarentee contract. I think it is really cool and honorable. However I did like Landon's response.

7:06 PM  
Anonymous Joe j said...

Re: gooch

most certainly Milan would have an insurance policy that would pay off if the player gets hurt and misses an extraordinary amount of time.

7:18 PM  
Anonymous kduffyb said...

fantastic work today, bruce.
The reads were great. thank you

12:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, I think the article says that Onyewu will play for free in the last year of his contract, ie 2012/13.

1:01 AM  
Blogger Jay said...

Actually, I think it's a brilliant move on Gooch's part. He's going to get paid all sorts of appearance bonuses, and almost certainly has banked a fair amount of what he's made this season. He's fine financially.

But what he's done is endeared himself to the ownership at Milan in what will almost certainly be a tumultuous season to come. New manager, pending retirements to the club's defensive core, a messed up financial situation. If he doesn't play well enough at the World Cup to draw the attention of suitors in the summer, he's made it easier for Milan to justify keeping him around, and therefore give himself more opportunity to make a good showing for himself at one of the world's major clubs.

12:26 PM  
Anonymous Brian said...

Bruce, you have it wrong. It's the last season of his contract that will be free

4:04 PM  

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