Some News for Wed Cinco de Mayo, 2010

STARTERS

Inter wins their first of 3 possible trophies today beating Roma 0-1 in the Coppa Italia Final! It was an insane hack fest, but only 1 red card, to Totti of course for a vicious kick (video - thanks to Gabriele for that.)

The display of hacks, cheap shots, diving and whining that Roma and Inter put on today is the big reason why so many people around the world HATE Italian football. Serie A has seen a lot less of this over the last couple of years, but today brought back all the bad memories. Will anything ever really be dont about this crap. How about some post-game video review and punishment.

dN

It's all over in the French Ligue 1 today too, as Olympique Marsielle win big and claim the title for the first time since the 1991-92 season. Hooray Kronenbourg Beer.

TWITTER

Join us on Twitter: @dunord - Come on #1100, we need 9 more followers to hit that mark.

CHARLIE DAVIES

The New York Times talks to Charlie Davies about reports out of France saying he will not be ready for the World Cup.

BIG EURO LEAGUES TITLE RACE WEEKEND MATCHES

Marseille are the champs!

Top Ligue 1 Team Standings (36 of 38 games played)
75 Marseilles - Last: Wed May 5 W 3-1 v Rennes
67 Auxerre - Last: Wed May 5 L 2-1 at Lyon
67 Lille - Last: Wed May 5 W 0-2 at Toulouse
65 Lyon - 35 played - Last: Wed May 5 W 2-1 v Auxerre
61 Bordeaux - Last: Wed May 5 D 1-1 at Nice
63 Montpellier - Last: Wed May 5 W 0-1 at Sochaux

dN

Cristiano scored 3 today in helping RM stay just 1 point back of Barca.

Top Primera Division Team Standings (35 of 38 games played)
93 Barcelona - 36 played - Last: Tue May 4 - W 4-1 v Tenerife - Next: Sat May 8 at Sevilla
92 Real Madrid - Next: Wed May 5 W 1-4 at Mallorca

STORY OF THE DAY

Wow! Just Wow! Trinidad Express reports that journalist Andrew Jennings who has been exposing all of CONCACAF president, FIFA vice-president and Trinidad & Tobago politician Jack Warner's possible corruption was giving a speech on Trinidad television and the feed mysteriously disappeared just as he started! Unbelievable!

MLS WEEK 7

The round starts early with 4 games on Wednesday night.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 5
DC United v Kansas City Wizards - 6PM Central on ESPN2
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
New England Revolution v Chivas USA - 6:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Houston Dynamo v FC Dallas - 8PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Colorado Rapids v Los Angeles Galaxy - 8:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle on the recovery from knee surgery for Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron, and Brian Ching considering international retirement after the World Cup.

dN

Glenn Davis of Fox Sports Houston does a Q & A with Cameron.
-The good news is that the knee injury was not as severe as they first thought and Cameron will now only be out 4 months as opposed to the original diagnosis of 8 months.

dN

The Columbus Dispatch with a feature story on Crew forward Steven Lenhart.
-I like that Sheepshead has a unique approach to life.

dN

Leander Schaerlaeckens of Soccernet looks at the situation in DC and tries to explain. Good luck with that.

dN

Justin Rodriguez of Soccernet tells us about the new man in the Kansas City net - Jimmy Nielsen aka Casino Jimmy aka White Puma aka Billy Idoly After Spin Cycle.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle with all the latest on the Dynamo stadium project.
-They plan to have it ready for the start of the 2012 season.

US OPEN CUP

All the best Open Cup info can be found right here at The Cup.

dN

Schedule
Jun 15 1st Rd: 32 lower division teams
Jun 22 2nd Rd: 1st Rd winners
Jun 29 3rd Rd: 8 MLS teams join 2nd Rd winners
Jul 6-7 Quarterfinals
Aug 31-Sep 1 Semifinals
Oct 5 Final

Number of participating teams (by division):
8 - Major League Soccer (Division I)
9 - USSF D-2 Pro League (Division II)
6 - United Soccer Leagues Second Division (Division III)
8 - USL Premier Development League (Amateur)
9 - USASA (Amateur) & U.S. Club Soccer (Amateur)
Total Number of Teams: 40

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Peter Wilt of Pitch Invasion gets a little mystical on us and peers forward to the year 2020 in America. What will the sport look like.
-That's just 2 years before the USA wins their first of many World Cup titles.

dN

L.E. Eisenmenger of the Examiner does an interview with the guy behind the World Cup push at ESPN. This is the conclusion of that interview.
-See Part 1 in yesterday's post.

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

Jen Chang from Sports Illustrated gives us his 23 player roster today.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet on 2 potential left fullbacks - Johnny Bornstein and Heath Pearce.
-I have em both on my roster.

dN

Carlisle also gives an overview of the entire USA defense.

USA U20 TEAM

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

Group A
Canada
Cruz Azul (Mexico)
Senegal
FC Twente (Netherlands)
FC Uitgeest (Netherlands - host team)
South Korea
Group B
Atletico Mineiro (Brazil)
Egypt
SC Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Japan
USA
FC Utrecht (Netherlands)

Warm-up Friendlly Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 18
USA v Senegal
-Thu May 20
USA v South Korea

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
TBA

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

Carlos Bocanegra did not suit up for their game today. Why the hell not?!?!

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

DENMARK - Superliga
Yura Movsisyan I know he's not really American - Randers - Wed May 5 - started and played 87 minutes scoring the winning goal yet again as they beat AaB 3-1 at home.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed May 5 - went the distance but lost 0-1 at home to Stoke City.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - Wed May 5 - went the distance but lost 2-0 at Rosenborg.
Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Wed May 5 - came on as a sub in the 80th minute of a scoreless draw at Valerenga.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Wed May 5 - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Kalmar.

Micheal Thomas - Halmstad - Wed May 5 - started and played 83 minutes but lost 1-0 at Kalmar.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

DENMARK - Superliga
Benny Feilhaber - AGF Aarhus - Thu May 6 v Sonderjyske
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - Thu May 6 at Odense

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

NETHERLANDS - Nacompetitie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - 1st Leg Thu May 6 v 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 v Lillestrom
Clarence Goodson - Start - Thu May 6 v Lillestrom

RUSSIA - Premier Division
Yevgeni Starikov - FC Tom Tomsk - Thu May 6 v Terek Grozny

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Thu May 6 at Helsingborg

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

COPA LIBERTADORES - Game Action
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - went the full 90, took a yellow card and they lost 2-0 at Velez Sarsfield, but they advance in the tournament on aggregate.

VOYAGEURS CUP - CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

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

Matches & Scores:
-May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps v 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:
3 Toronto (1 played)
0 Montreal (1 played)
- Vancouver (0 played)

SPAIN

Still, no one has been officially relegated from La Liga, although 3 more teams are now safe.

Teams #12-20 are all possible for La Liga relegation with now just 2 rounds left to play (42 points is the line right now) - 3 go down:
SAFE-46 Atletico Madrid
SAFE-44 Deportivo La Coruna
SAFE-42 Osasuna
41 Espanyol
41 Almeria
40 Real Zaragoza
39 Sporting Gijon
36 Racing Santander
36 Malaga
- - - - -
35 Tenerife
33 Valladolid
30 Xerez

dN

Top Goal Scorers in La Liga:
31 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
26 Gonzalo Higuaín - Real Madrid
25 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
21 David Villa - Valencia
18 Diego Forlan - Atletico Madrid
16 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Barcelona
14 Luis Fabiano - Sevilla
14 Fernando Llorente - Athletic Bilbao

FRANCE

I had not seen the name Ben Lyttleton in foooooooooooorever, and now that the title in France is all wrapped up, I stumble upon a new column by him at Sports Illustrated of all places. So enjoy. I know I will. Oh yeah, right, this article is about the big under-age prostitution scandal involving Franck Ribery and the national team.

dN

The 3 are now down.

The bottom 3 teams from Ligue 1 will be relegated (38 is now the magic number) - 2 games left to play:
SAFE-39 St Etienne
- - - - -
OUT-29 Le Mans
OUT-28 Boulogne
OUT-20 Grenoble

dN

Top Goal Scorers in Ligue 1:
16 Mamadou Niang - Marseilles
16 Kevin Gameiro - Lorient
14 Lisandro Lopez - Lyon
14 Anderson Luiz de Carvalho Nene - Monaco
14 Mevlut Erding - Paris St Germain
14 Ireneusz Jelen - Auxerre
13 Pierre Alain Frau - Lille
13 Asamoah - Rennes
13 Loic Remy - Nice
13 Gervinho - Lille

ITALY

Inter win the cup!

COPPA ITALIA - Final
-Wed May 5
Inter 1-0 Roma

EUROPE

Netherlands KNVB Beker - Final
2nd Leg
-Thu May 6
Feyenoord Rotterdam v Ajax Amsterdam

COPA LIBERTADORES

Guadalajara & Sao Paulo are the first two teams to advance to 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 v San Luis (1-0)
Corinthians v Flamengo (0-1)
Nacional v Cruzeiro (1-3)
-Thu May 6
Internacional v Banfield (1-3)
Universidad de Chile v 9 Alianza Lima (0-1)
Libertad v 12 Once Caldas (0-0)

dN

Here is the full Knockout Stage Bracket:
1 Corinthians v 16 Flamengo
8 Universidad de Chile v 9 Alianza Lima
- - - - -
5 Libertad v 12 Once Caldas
13 Guadalajara
- - - - -
3 Estudiantes de la Plata v 14 San Luis
6 Internacional v 11 Banfield
- - - - -
7 Nacional (Uruguay) v 10 Cruzeiro
2 Sao Paulo

WORLD CUP 2010 - SOUTH AFRICA

Spain, one of the 2 main favorites along with Brazil to win the tournament, could be in trouble if there injury situation does not improve dramatically. Right now they have 5 key players on the shelf: Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Marco Senna and Fernando Torres. Oof!

dN

News of a possible recovery by Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas is not good, and he will not be included on their World Cup roster. He was shot in the head early this year in a nightclub, where someone apparently had a beef with him.

GAZA WORLD CUP

Its the Gaza World Cup, read all about it.

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 v Germany-Ahly Gaza

ENDERS

A Picasso painting was sold at an auction on Tuesday night for $106.5 Million. That is pure insanity.