Some News for Thu Jun 3, 2010

STARTERS

BULLETIN FROM US SOCCER: "U.S. Men's National Team forward Jozy Altidore sat out training today after incurring a mild right ankle sprain during Wednesday’s practice. Altidore’s status is considered day-to-day, and he will undergo a fitness test Friday to determine his availability for the June 5 friendly against Australia."

dN

Our friend in football Nick sent us this gem, and what a way to kick off today:
"I don't know if you saw this piece from the BBC, the entire staff of a pub in Manchester have legally changed their name to Wayne Rooney. With the exception of the manager, who is now known as Fabio Capello. I heard an interview with the manager on the radio last night (Listen to part 2, the interview starts at 16:00) and the best part is that he picked Capello not just because he's the manager - but because he's also a Man City fan, and couldn't bear the idea of becoming Rooney.
And the managing director of the chain of pubs? Now known as Sepp Blatter."
(Thanks to Nick for this incredible story)

TWITTER

Party with me Twitter: @dunord

USA WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

The Washington Post tells us that Clint Dempsey and Jose Torres (BFFs) have given each other nicknames.
-Dempsey: "We call him Davy Crockett because he has a nice mullet and it looks like he has a raccoon hat on."
-Torres: "has nicknamed Dempsey "Onion Rings" because he has big eyes."

dN

One of our great readers Phillip has had a premonition:
"Jozy Altidore's Going To Score a Goal Against England. Just like he did against Spain in the Confederations Cup."
-We are holding you to it!

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 5
USA v Australia - 7:30am Central on ESPN2
Venue: Ruimsig Stadium - Roodepoort, South Africa

dN

Luke Cyphers of ESPN with a look at the appearance, attitude and quality of Clint Dempsey.

dN

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press also has a Dempsey article, that begins with his knee injury earlier this year.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America on Jose Torres, the newest celebrity in Longview TX.

dN

The BBC with a video preview of the USA. Nuthin new here.

dN

Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad on Hercules Gomez.

dN

Nancy Armour of the Associated Press looks at the one position the USA has a distinct advantage over England - goalkeeper.

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo with the tale of Jay DeMerit, the guy from Green Bay.

dN

- - - - -
Official Team Blog

The US Soccer video page at You Tube. Fantastic stuff!
- - - - -

dN

Georgina Turner of Sports Illustrated with a full Group C preview.

dN

My friend Jim is going to be in South Africa and has started a blog to track his travels. Not just soccer. Awesome!

PODCASTS/VIDEOCASTS

I have lined up a regular spot on local radio for me to talk soccer all during the World Cup. I will give you all the details as soon as I have them locked down.

MEXICO WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

Got a big win over Italy on Thursday holding a 1-0 lead until late when they made it 2 then gave up 1.

HONDURAS WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA

Last warm up friendly:
-Sat Jun 5
Honduras v Romania in St. Veit An Der Glan, Austria

WORLD CUP 2010 - SOUTH AFRICA

Spanish newspaper Marca has created this amazing online schedule that not only looks really really cool, but is easy functioning as well. This is the best schedule I have ever seen for a World Cup. (Thanks to BQ for the link.)

dN

Time magazine rolls out a big 9 part World Cup special.

dN

ESPN has created bold and original art posters for all 32 countries in the World Cup. See them here. Great stuff. Thanks to Lisa for those.
-I got the biggest kick out of the poster for Switzerland:




















dN

US Soccer sent out some interesting World Cup stats on losses:
-Of the 76 all-time FIFA World Cup teams, 52 have lost more games than they have won.
-Mexico has the most all-time losses of any team, with 22 in 45 games. Argentina is second with 19 and Germany is third with 18.
-Including El Salvador with an 0-0-6 record (the most losses without a win or tie), 11 countries have lost every World Cup game.

dN

Soccer America gives us details on ESPN's full on 24 hours intro to the World Cup starting the day before the first game. Insanity.

dN

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at a talented by fractured Serbian team.

dN

Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 3
Germany 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina - Ger goals by Philipp Lahm & Bastian Schweinsteiger(2 via PK). BH goal by Edin Dzeko.
Italy 1-2 Mexico - Ita goal by Leonardo Bonucci. Mex goals by Carlos Vela & Alberto Medina.
South Korea 0-1 Spain - Spa goal by Jesus Navas.
-Fri Jun 4
Cote d'Ivoire v Japan
France v China
New Zealand v Slovenia
-Sat Jun 5
Algeria v UAE
Cameroon v Serbia
Denmark v South Africa
Ghana - v Latvia
Honduras v Romania
Italy v Switzerland
Netherlands v Hungary
Slovakia v Costa Rica
USA v Australia
-Sun Jun 6
Nigeria v North Korea

MLS WEEK 11

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 2
New York Red Bulls 2-1 Houston Dynamo - NYRB goals by Sinisa Ubiparipovic & Juan Pablo Angel. HD goal by Brian Ching.
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
Attendance: 11,462
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Columbus Crew - SJE goals by Arturo Alvarez & Chris Wondolowski. CC goals by Eddie Gaven & Chad Marshall.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Attendance: 8,033
-Sat Jun 5
Toronto FC v Kansas City Wizards - 3PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Chivas USA at New York Red Bulls - 6:30PM Central on FSC
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
DC United v Real Salt Lake - 6:30 PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Los Angeles Galaxy v Houston Dynamo - 7PM Central on Galavision
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA
FC Dallas v San Jose Earthquakes - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Chicago Fire v Philadelphia Union - 7:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Colorado Rapids v Columbus Crew - 8PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Seattle Sounders FC v New England Revolution - 9:30PM Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

MY THOUGHTS

For the second game in a row Houston was punished in second half stoppage time and gave up a winning goal for the opponent. Last Saturday it was to Philadelphia at home, and last night it was to New York on the road.

dN

New York's goal came within a whisker of the final whistle on a long looping free kick by Juan Pablo Angel that somehow avoided the fingertips of Dynamo keeper Pat Onstad and the right post. A truly amazing shot for a huge winner.

dN

That was the first time this season that Houston did not yo-yo back from a loss, dropping 2 in a row now. And travel to unbeaten LA this weekend.

dN

Houston has never recovered from losing so many talented players in the middle of the field - 4 All Stars gone - first Dwayne DeRosario traded to Toronto at his request, then Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden bolting to Europe the second their contracts expired, and last Geoff Cameron blowing out his knee at the very beginning of the season. With the tight MLS salary cap there is no way you can replace from that.

dN

Columbus twice took the lead on the road at San Jose only to give it up both times and end the game tied.

MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

When Andy Najar scored last Saturday for DC United he became the first academy player to score a goal in league history. And only a few minutes later Tristen Bowan of Los Angeles became the second. This is a new era in American soccer.

MLS STADIUM BUILDING

Our main man Graham Fox down Kansas City way was out visiting the construction site of the Wizards new stadium and took these photos which he plotted out on a Google Map. Very cool. Its looking great. I plan to be there opening day. You?

US OPEN CUP

DC United is the final MLS team to qualify for the 3rd Round of the tournament proper. Their 17 year old prodigy Andy Najar does it again.
-How long does Najar stay at DC, and how much will the transfer fee be?

dN

MLS - Play-In Rounds with the winner advancing to the Round of 16:
-Wed Jun 2
DC United 2-1 Real Salt Lake - in Added Extra Time - DC goals by Luciano Emilio(PK) & Andy Najar. RSL goal by Will Johnson(PK).
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC

dN

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

USSF DIVISION 2

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 2
Puerto Rico Islanders 4-2 Miami FC Blues
-Fri Jun 4
Rochester Rhinos v NSC Minnesota Stars
-Sat Jun 5
Austin Aztex v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Jun 6
Montreal Impact v Miami FC Blues
Vancouver Whitecaps v Tampa Bay Rowdies
Portland Timbers v Carolina RailHawks

dN

Standings (As of Thu Jun 3):
20 Austin - 9 played
18 Tampa Bay - 9 played
14 Rochester - 9 played
12 Vancouver - 8 played
11 Montreal - 7 played
11 Carolina - 7 played
11 Portland - 8 played
10 Baltimore - 9 played
10 Minnesota - 11 played
9 Puerto Rico - 6 played
8 Miami - 8 played
4 St Louis - 9 played

dN

Standings base on Points Per Game:
2.22 Austin
2.00 Tampa Bay
1.57 Carolina
1.57 Montreal
1.56 Rochester
1.50 Puerto Rico
1.50 Vancouver
1.22 Portland
1.11 Baltimore
1.00 Miami
0.91 Minnesota
0.44 St Louis

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

I asked our pal Kyle in Kansas City Wizards communications department what he knew about the Stars opponent in the Open Cup on Jun 15, Kansas City Athletic. This is a paraphrase of what he wrote:
"…They’re an amateur team that beat AAC Eagles (Chicago) in the final qualifying round to advance. They feature a pair of former Wizards (Brian Roberts, who played for the Thunder, and Boris Pardo). They also have a guy named Geoff Miles that trained with the Wizards off and on for a couple of years…"
-Thanks to Kyle for enlightening us.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Time magazine says the sport of America right now is soccer.

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Friendly Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 3
Italy 1-2 Mexico - in Brussels, Belgium
-Sat Jun 5
USA v Australia - in Roodepoort, South Africa at Ruimsig Stadium
Honduras v Romania in St. Veit An Der Glan, Austria
Slovakia v Costa Rica in Bratislava, Slovakia

CANADA

Teddy Katz of the CBC on getting Canada's national team back to the World Cup, which is gonna take some serious work.

ENGLAND

Its official today, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has resigned. Who is next?

dN

Matt Slater of the BBC with a very interesting article on Randy Lerner the American who owns Aston Villa.

ENDERS

I had a great time answering a Q & A from John at the Soccer Training Info blog. He asked some really fun questions. Huge thanks go out to him and his great site for stoking my ego.