Monday, August 23, 2010

Some News for Mon Aug 23, 2010

STARTERS

That was a pretty glorious weekend of MLS games. Upsets. Beatdowns. Goals galore. Great goals galore. Tension. Comebacks. Superstars. Nobodies. Stinkbombs. What else can you want?!?!

dN

Barcelona and Inter Milan won their respective Super Cup titles which are the precursor to the league opening next weekend.

BOB BRADLEY WATCH

The Independent of London with an article on Bob Bradley's interest in coaching Aston Villa.
-Article quotes Bradley from a BBC radio interview. Nothing more than that. I just don't see it happening.

dN

For the record, I would like to state that I too am interested in the Aston Villa head coaching position.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Group Stage is underway. The set up has 2 groups of 4 with everyone playing the others in their group home and away for a total of 6 games. At the end, the top 2 from each group will advance to the semifinals, which will also be home and away.

dN

Great week for MLS v FMF showdowns!

Columbus will have Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Andy Iro on the trip to Mexico despite previous reports of visa issues. Could this be the game where MLS gets over on the neighbors to the south? Toronto goes to Panama on Tuesday as well.

Then its RSL in Mexico and Sounders at home against other Mexicans on Wednesday.

dN

Matches & Scores
Round Two
-Tue Aug 24
Arabe Unido v Toronto FC - 7pm Central on FSC
Santos Laguna v Columbus Crew - 9pm Central on FSC
-Wed Aug 25
Cruz Azul v Real Salt Lake - 7pm Central on FSC
Seattle Sounders v Monterrey - 9pm Central on FSC
Puerto Rico Islanders v CD FAS
-Thu Aug 26
Toluca v Olimpia
Saprissa v Marathon
Municipal v Joe Public

dN

GROUP STANDINGS:
Group A
3 Toronto (Canada) (+1)
3 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+1)
0 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-1)
0 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (-1)
Group B
3 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+3)
3 Columbus Crew (USA) (+1)
0 Municipal (Guatemala) (-1)
0 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-3)
Group C
3 Monterrey (Mexico) (+1)
3 Marathon (Honduras) (+1)
0 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-1)
0 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (-1)
Group D
1 Olimpia (Honduras)
1 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico)
1 Toluca (Mexico)
1 FAS (El Salvador)

FACT OF THE DAY

According to Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal for the first time since he joined MLS David Beckham no longer has the league's #1 selling shirt. The top spot has been assumed by Thierry Henry. The king is dead. Long live the king.

TWITTERVERSE

English pop music singer Lily Allen:
@lilyroseallen: COME ON FULHAM!!!!!!
@lilyroseallen: Ref had been Fergied me thinks..... Well done the boys though.

MLS WEEK 21

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 21
Toronto FC 1-4 New York Red Bulls - TFC goal by Dwayne DeRosario. NYRB goals by Rafa Marquez, Joseph Nane(OG), Juan Pablo Angel & Carl Robinson.
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Attendance: 22,108
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Los Angeles Galaxy - SJE goal by Chris Wondolowski.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Attendance: 10,799
Columbus Crew 3-1 Colorado Rapids - CC goals by Guillermo Barros Schelotto(PK), Jason Garey & Steven Lenhart. CR goal by Pablo Mastroeni.
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Attendance: 16,063
FC Dallas 1-0 Chivas USA - FCD goal by Brek Shea.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: 10,309
Houston Dynamo 4-3 Chicago Fire - HD goals by Brian Ching(3) & Lovel Palmer. CF goals by Calen Carr, Bobby Boswell(OG) & Wilman Conde.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 18,890
Kansas City Wizards 4-1 New England Revolution - KCW goals by Birahim Diop(2), Kei Kamara & Jack Jewsbury. NER goals by Kenny Mansally.
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 10,385
-Sun Aug 22
DC United 2-0 Philadelphia Union - DCU goals both by Danny Allsopp.
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attendance: 12,165

dN

EJECTIONS:
-Nana Attakora - Toronto - Red Card

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated with Five things to take away from Week 21.
-Plus Davis goes through the league payroll to tell us which players are the Best and Worst Values.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com sees the quality rising in Kansas City, and a weekend review of MLS.

dN

Houston forward Brian Ching was named MLS Player Of The Week. No surprise after a trio of goals lead them to a huge win.

dN

Geovanni made his debut for San Jose.

dN

Sal Zizzo madei his debut for Chivas USA. (Although he is not listed on the team's or league's roster.)

dN

Nery Castillo played another 45 minutes for Chicago, and again he was barely noticeable on the field. The team came to life when he was subbed off. No matter how talented a guy is, when he doesn't play for nearly a year its gonna take time to get that mojo workin'.

dN

Jack Bell of the NY Times looks at the Red Bulls two impact rookies, Tim Ream and Tony Tchani, who say the superstars are teaching them well.

dN

Gareth Wheeler of Slam Sports shows us that Toronto FC are no better off at this part of the season under Preki then they were last year under the old regime.

dN

Wheeler writing for the Sun says TFC coach Preki and new high buck forward Mista are not seeing eye-to-eye.

dN

Nigel Reed of the CBC sees the good growth of TFC but knows it still has a long way to go before they become a top team.

dN

Paul Attfield of the Toronto Globe & Mail on the Henry effect.

dN

Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch feels that the Crew have to prioritize winning MLS Cup over everything else they are in the running for this season.

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch with a nice review of the Crew win over Colorado.

dN

The Patriot News and PennLive do a Q & A with DC United interim head coach Ben Olsen.

dN

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com looks back on the Union's bad bad performance in DC this weekend.

dN

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe on the Revolution's ugly road form. They got punked in KC.
-And then more notes from Dell'Apa.

dN

Charles Gooch of the Kansas City Star is happy to eat his pre-game words about Wizards fill-in forward Birahim Diop.

dN

The Examiner see the constant improvement of Dallas youngster Brek Shea.

dN

Steve Hunt of the Dallas Morning News with a few words on the great season of FCD keeper Kevin Hartman.

DU NORD PLAYER OF THE WEEK AND OTHER STUFF

Richard Mulrooney was just awesome for Houston, and is the du Nord Player Of The Week. Played both right fullback and holding midfielder fantastically in a must win over Chicago. It was like the Richey of 6 or 7 years ago tearing it up with deadly service on free/corner kicks.

dN

Andy Najar and Danny Allsopp were pretty terrific for DC as well, with Najar setting up 2 goals for Allsopp.

dN

Brian Ching and Rafael Marquez (behind-the-goal camera angle tells the whole story) both scored goals that should be in for Goal of the Year candidates.
-I vote for anyone but Marquez cuz of the whole Mexican national team thing and all, but its still one hell of shot.

MLS EXPANSION

The Vancouver Sun gives us details on the Whitecaps and Portland Timbers selection order for next seasons player acquisition faculties.

Vancouver:
-MLS SuperDraft
-USL Player Priority
-Allocation Ranking
-Waiver/Re-entry Draft

Portland:
-Expansion Draft
-Designated Player Ranking
-Discovery Ranking
-Lottery Ranking

MLS EXHIBITIONS

Chivas of Guadalajara announces their 3rd fall friendly against MLS opposition:

-Tue Oct 12
Seattle Sounders FC v CD Guadalajara (Mexico)

USSF DIVISION 2

The season keeps getting tougher and tougher for my NSC MN Stars. In the last 8 games they have 1 win, 5 draws, and 2 losses. That is not terrible by any means, but its also not a formula for the playoffs. In the Points-Per-Game standings they are now in the 9th spot and out of the playoffs if the season ended today. I don't think its "we need a miracle" time, but with only 5 games left in the regular season, its clearly now or never. They are off until Sep 4 when they travel to Austin, who are all but clinched for the playoffs.

dN

No team has clinched a post season spot yet, but Rochester is very close, and any points for them will seal a place in the playoffs. Austin is not far behind in the chase either. None have been eliminated yet.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 20
AC St Louis 1-1 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Aug 21
Crystal Palace Baltimore 0-5 Montreal Impact
Rochester Rhinos 3-1 Miami FC Blues
NSC Minnesota Stars 0-1 Portland Timbers
-Sun Aug 22
Austin Aztex v Carolina RailHawks

-Wed Aug 25
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Carolina RailHawks
-Thu Aug 26
Portland Timbers v Austin Aztex
-Fri Aug 27
Montreal Impact v Rochester Rhinos
-Sat Aug 28
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Aug 29
Vancouver Whitecaps v Austin Aztex
Tampa Bay Rowdies v AC St Louis
Portland Timbers v Crystal Palace Baltimore

dN

Standings (As of Sun Aug 22):
48 Rochester - 25 played
44 Austin - 21 played
39 Vancouver - 24 played
34 Portland - 23 played
31 Carolina - 22 played
29 Puerto Rico - 22 played
28 Montreal - 24 played
28 Minnesota - 25 played
27 Tampa Bay - 23 played
24 Baltimore - 24 played
22 St Louis - 23 played
20 Miami - 24 played

dN

Pro-Rated Standings based on Points Per Game:
2.10 Austin
1.92 Rochester
1.63 Vancouver
1.48 Portland
1.41 Carolina
1.32 Puerto Rico
1.17 Tampa Bay
1.17 Montreal
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OUT OF PLAY OFF SPOTS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1.12 Minnesota
1.00 Baltimore
0.96 St Louis
0.83 Miami

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated with his own weekend soccer review.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Sacha Kljestan got the game winner for Anderlecht on the road this weekend!

dN

An article from the Nordsjaelland website, in Danish, says Michael Parkhurst suffered a shoulder injury in the 20th minute today and had to be taken to the hospital.

dN

A clanger for Clarence as Goodson puts in an own goal and Start draw on the road.

dN

Howard & Hahnemann faced off in England and ended 1-1.

dN

Jonathan Spector was not on the bench for West Ham.

dN

Ricardo Clark didn't get off the bench for Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend.

dN

The AP has quotes from Eddie Johnson on his struggle to get on the field at Fulham.

dN

Yanks Abroad reports that Erik Benjaminsen has signed a senior contract with Stabaek in Norway. He has been on the youth team there.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the distance scoring the first goal in a 0-3 road win at Lokeren.

DENMARK - Superliga
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - started but was subbed off after just 20 minutes (that can't be good) and they lost 4-0 at Midtjylland, all the goals coming after the 70th minute.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and played 62 minutes as they drew 2-2 at home against Manchester United.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - wished he had gone the full 90 in a cave as they got drilled 6-0 at Newcastle.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - went the distance and got a 1-1 draw at Everton.
Stuart Holden - Bolton - played the whole game as they won 1-3 at West Ham.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the full 90 and drew 1-1 at home with Wolverhampton.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - started and went 72 minutes but they lost 2-1 at Coventry City.

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the entire match as they won 4-1 at home over Milton Keynes Dons.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - went the full 90 in a scoreless draw at Rennes.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach -went the full 90 but they only managed a 1-1 home draw with Nurnberg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the entire game and won 2-1 at home over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - went the distnace but lost 2-1 at Hamburg.
Daniel Williams - Freiburg - came on as a sub at half time but lost at home 1-3 to St Pauli.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
David Yelldell - Duisburg - In goal per usual and got a 1-3 road win at Osnabruck.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the whole game and won 1-0 at home over AGOVV Apledoorn.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - started and went 77 minutes as they ran wild 0-4 at Honefoss.
Hunter Freeman - Start - went the full 90 and drew 2-2 at Viking.
Clarence Goodson - Start - played the whole game but scored an own goal as they drew on the road 2-2 at Viking.
Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - started and went 82 minutes but lost badly at home 0-4 to Stabaek.

PORTUGAL - League Cup
Tony Taylor - Estoril-Praia - came on as a sub in the 78th minute as they drew 1-1 at Oliveirense.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Maurice Edu - Rangers - went the distance and won 0-3 at Hibernian.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - played the full 90 as they won in the dying seconds 1-0 at home over AIK.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - went the distance but got beat at home 0-2 by Malmo.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Playoff Round 2nd Leg
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Tue Aug 24 v Partizan (2-2) - 1:30pm Central on FSC

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - came on as a sub in the 66th minute as they drew 2-2 at home with Monterrey.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a sub in the 66th minute as they won 2-1 at home over Guadalajara.
Sammy Ochoa - Estudiantes Tecos - went the distance scoring the first goal as they won 3-2 at home over San Luis.
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - went the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Atlante.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - started and went 80 minutes as they drew 2-2 at home against Monterrey.

ENGLAND

James Lawton of the Independent compares Chelsea's demolition of Wigan to the Visigoths raid on Rome!
-Let's not get carried away here - the 2 games for Chelsea this season have both been 6-0 wins off serious bottom dwellers, in a very uneven league.

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo asks - Where's Rooney been?

dN

Barry Glendenning of the Guardian with Five things we learned from watching (Premiership) football this weekend.

dN

Manchester City thumped Liverpool 3-0 in the Monday game. An "ouch" goes out to my Liverpool fanatico friends, and a "Oh Yeah" to my Man City loving friends.

SPAIN

Messi(ah) scored a hat trick to lead Barca back in the second leg and claim another Super Cup.

Super Copa
Match & Score:
2nd Leg
-Sat Aug 28
Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla - Bar win 5-3 on aggregate - Bar goals by Abdoulay Konko(OG) & Lionel Messi(3).

dN

The new Primera Liga season starts next weekend!

FRANCE

A fantastic start to the Ligue season continues for newly promoted Caen. After winning their first two games over Marseille and Lyon, they went to Montpellier and got a 1-1 draw. 7 points from 3 games. Excellent for Stade Malherbe Caen.

dN

Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated gives us an interesting list to print out and put on the fridge for future consultation - Top 10 French players under 21.

GERMANY

The new Bundesliga season started this past weekend! Huge home win for Hoffenheim, and great road wins for new promoted St Pauli, and Kaiserslautern.

Rob Hughes of the New York Times on the great new scenes building in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and the national team. They are all interwoven.

dN

Rapahel Honigstein of the Guardian on Hoffs big win, and the rest of the weekend in the Bundesliga.

dN

Opening Weekend of the German Bundesliga
MAtches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 20
Bayern Munchen 2-1 Wolfsburg
-Sat Aug 21
Hoffenheim 4-1 Werder Bremen
Monchengladbach 1-1 Nurnberg
Koln 1-3 Kaiserslautern
Freiburg 1-3 St Pauli
Hannover 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Hamburg 2-1 Schalke
-Sun Aug 22
Mainz 2-0 Stuttgart
Dortmund 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen

ITALY

Roma Scored first but Inter stormed back to take the Supercoppa.

Supercoppa
Match & Score:
-Sat Aug 21
Inter 3-1 Roma - Int goals by Goran Pandev & Samuel Eto'o(2). Rom goal by John Arne Riise.
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza

dN

The new Serie A season starts next weekend!

SOUTH AMERICA

FIFA.com does a Q & A with former Bolivia and DC United legend Marco Etcheverry about helping a new generation of Bolivian football.

BRAZIL

Tim Vickery of the BBC on Santos starlet Neymar's decision to stay at home for now rather than take big money from Chelsea.

ARGENTINA

FIFA.com does a Q & A with the great Argentine centerback Roberto Ayala who is back playing in his home country after many excellent years in Italy and Spain.

AFRICA

Cote D'Ivoire has hired native son Francois Zahoui as the new national team head coach.

BIDDING TO HOST WORLD CUP 2018 & 2022

David Conn of the Guardian on FIFA's trip to England this week to inspect their World Cup bid.

GRATUITOUS DIEGO FORLAN PHOTO

Diego blowing World Cup kisses:




















COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC


I still can't get it out of my head that the wretched local NBA team, Minnesota Timberwolves, had the #5 & #6 picks in the 2009 draft, with which they took Ricky Rubio (who basically told the team he would never play here) and then passed on Steph Curry to select Jonny Flynn. Painful beyond belief. While they could not have picked Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans (already gone to Sacto) they could have taken Brandon Jennings or Taj Gibson. Flynn isnt bad, and may become pretty good. But the Wolves just know how to blow it badly like few others ever have.
-How will this years 3 first round picks Wesley Johnson, Luke Babbitt and Trevor Booker fare?

ENDERS

Staying with the off topic theme:

How about a little Parkour set to the music of Professor Longhair's "Big Chief" - some great New Orleans style. Beautiful stuff. (thanks to Marion for this awesome video clip)

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