Some News for Thu Sep 30, 2010

PODCASTS/VIDEOCASTS

Jared Montz on his weekly podcast talked to LA star Landon Donovan. And amongst the chatter is one little item that could be the clue as to why the Galaxy will NOT win the MLS Cup this season - Listen to Landon talk about playing soccer for 20 straight months now, and how worn out he is. Its subtle, but its for real. I find it fascinating that amid all the praise he has gotten for his performance with Everton last winter and at the World Cup this summer, but its the team that pays him the big $$ that could now suffer the consequences.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Look Out! It's Round 5! Plenty will get decided this week.

Puerto Rico has defied the odds again, and with a home win over Mexican team Toluca its in first place in their group, with a pivotal trip to Olimpia left. Amazing!

Columbus lost the slog in the bog last night, as it went to Guatemala and lost 2-1 to Pando Ramirez of all people. And the game ended with some kind of vague curse word infused rugby scrum on and off the field. There was so much water puddling up that I fully expected a Pirahna 3D attack at any time late in that game.
-Now Columbus will have to go all out in its final group stage match on Oct 21 at Joe Public, unless Municipal lose at Santos Laguna on the 19th.

Seattle got its first CCl win, on a pair of goals from surging rookie Michael Fucito, but its too little too late.

dN

Salt Lake, Cruz Azul and Monterrey all advanced to the knock out rounds last night.

Joe Public joins Toronto, Arabe and Seattle in the eliminated pile.

dN

Round Five Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 28
Toronto FC 1-1 Real Salt Lake - TFC goal by Jacob Peterson. RSL goal by Javier Morales.
Cruz Azul 2-0 Arabe Unido - CA goals by Emanuel Villa & Adrian Cortes.
Saprissa 2-2 Monterrey - Sap goals by Severo Meza(OG) & Jose Mena. Mon goals by Luis Rodriguez & Abraham Carreno.
-Wed Sep 29
Puerto Rico Islanders 3-2 Toluca - PR goals by David Foley & David Horst(2). Tol goal both by Hector Mancilla.
Municipal 2-1 Columbus Crew - Mun goals both by Guillermo Ramirez. CC goal by Andy Iro.
Santos Laguna 5-1 Joe Public - SL goals by Jose Reyes, Fransico Torres, Carlos Quintero, Jose Cardenas & Rafael Figueroa. JP goal by Kerry Baptiste.
Seattle Sounders 2-0 Marathon - SS goals both by Michael Fucito.
-Thu Sep 30
FAS v Olimpia

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch with a report on the Crew's trip to Guatemala.
-Here are some video highlights from what Mitchell calls "swamp planet Dabobah."

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times reviews the Sounders first CONCACAF win.
-The game was played in front of a Seattle record low 11,768. Which I think is tied with Colorado's high for the season.

dN

GROUP STANDINGS (4 rounds played):
Group A
ADV-10 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+8) (5 rounds played)
ADV-10 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+4) (5 rounds played)
OUT-5 Toronto (Canada) (-3) (5 rounds played)
OUT-3 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-9) (5 rounds played)
Group B
10 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+7) (5 rounds played)
9 Columbus Crew (USA) (+3) (5 rounds played)
8 Municipal (Guatemala) (+1) (5 rounds played)
1 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-11) (5 rounds played)
Group C
ADV-13 Monterrey (Mexico) (+6) (5 rounds played)
7 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (+3) (5 rounds played)
6 Marathon (Honduras) (-5) (5 rounds played)
OUT-3 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-4) (5 rounds played)
Group D
8 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico) (+1) (5 rounds played)
7 Toluca (Mexico) (+5) (5 rounds played)
7 Olimpia (Honduras) (-1)
2 FAS (El Salvador) (-5)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Match Day 3 (of 6 Group Stage games) will be played Oct 19/20.

dN

Group Standings.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

If you were starting a MLS team from scratch today and have your choice between Conor Casey and Omar Cummings, who would you choose?

I know how effective Casey is, but how can you resist the effectiveness combined with sheer exhilaration you get from Cummings. He would be my choice hands down.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

What do you do after you have scored a hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League? If you are Samuel Eto'o you might has well take your own celebratory photographs!












MLS WEEK 27

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 29
Colorado Rapids 4-1 Philadelphia Union - CR goals by Omar Cummings(2), Wells Thompson & Quincy Amarikwa. PU goal by Jack McInerney.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Attendance: 10,165
San Jose Earthquakes 0-3 Chicago Fire - CF goals by Steven Kinney, Freddie Ljungberg & Patrick Nyarko.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Attendance: 9,829
-Sat Oct 2
Seattle Sounder FC v Toronto FC - 2:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo - 3:00pm Central on Telefutura
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
New York Red Bulls v Kansas City Wizards - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
New England Revolution v Real Salt Lake - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Columbus Crew v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Columbus Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
FC Dallas v Chicago Fire SC - 7:30pm Central on FSC
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Colorado Rapids v DC United - 8:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
-Sun Oct 3
CD Chivas USA v Los Angeles Galaxy - 7:00pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

MLS PLAYOFF RACE

Colorado drilled PU to solidify their place, while Chicago won on the road at San Jose to keep hope alive.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

With absolutely no surprise at all, Colorado forward Omar Cummings have been named the league's Player Of The Month for September.
-He is now racing to toward the top of the charts with 12 goals in 25 games.

dN

MLS Soccer's 24 under 24 list of players takes us from #15 down to #11.

CHICAGO FIRE

Charlie Corr of ESPN Chicago on the Fire's big win at San Jose, but was it too late?

COLORADO RAPIDS

John Meyer of the Denver Post reports as the Raps run a power move all over Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com reviews the Union's flop of a game.
-Keeper Brad Knighton coughed up a terrible rebound into the path of a Colorado player to hammer home for a goal. They just can't get this one right. They might want to seriously go looking for a real keeper in the offseason.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Elliot Almond of the Mercury News reports on the team that was rolling, and then last night laid an egg.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Former USA star striker and infamous TV commentator Eric Wyndalda has been hired by a 3rd division Mexican team, Murcielagos, as its president of international operations. Interesting.
-Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America does a Q & A with Wynalda about this latest endeavor.
-Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.com talks to Wynalda too.

Murcielagos FC aka Deportivo Guamuchil aka The Bats, plays in Mexico's Segunda Division.












The city of Guamuchil is located in the state of Sinaloa on the northwest coast off the Gulf of California, across the water from the Baja. The state of Sinaloa is sadly considered to be the birth place of the ongoing drug war.

TEAM USA

Going out on to the field after a USA game was on OK experience once. But this is the kind of thing that all of us US Soccer Supporters Club members were thinking would be something cool to experience. So here we go:

As a benefit of being a member of the U.S. Soccer Supporters Club, we are pleased to extend an invitation from U.S. head coach Bob Bradley to attend the Men's National Team's closed-door training session on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m. CT at the practice field at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The session is in preparation for the squad's highly-anticipated encounter against Poland on Saturday, Oct. 9, at Chicago's Soldier Field.
This unique opportunity is available to a limited number of U.S. Soccer SC members, so RSVP today to reserve your spot. Each U.S. Soccer SC member that is selected for this experience is welcome to bring one guest.
U.S. Soccer SC members interested in attending this behind-the-scenes experience can submit an RSVP here.
All RSVPs must be submitted by 12 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 1.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Sky Sports is reporting that Stuart Holden has a new contract at Bolton.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Group Stage
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Thu Sep 30 - started and played 86 minutes in a 2-1 home win over Clubb Brugge.
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Sep 30 - back on the bench, but did not play as they lost 1-0 at Hajduk Split on a PK scored in second half stoppage time.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Today is Matchday 2. Matches & Scores here.

ENDERS

Are there days when you feel like you just might need a Genuine Swedish Gas Mask to tolerate your favorite team?



















After the past 3 seasons, DC United might consider getting some in team colors and selling them at the official store!

Neil Young - Le Noise

Its time to sit back, go into full screen mode, crank the volume up , and blow the roof off the dump!

Its the new Neil Young film & album.

Its better to burn out than to fade away. My My Hey Hey!






Watch it here!

Some News for Wed Sep 29, 2010

MLS COACHES HOT SEAT AND A LOOK AHEAD TO 2011

Let's take a look at the current temperature:

Carlos The Conch in Chicago is surely out the door if they don't make the playoffs, and that does not look likely.
-Ives Galarcep of Fox calls De Los Cobos a bust.

Peter Vermes would probably leave the bench if KC does not make the playoffs, opening the job for assistant Octavio Zambrano.

We already know that DC & TFC will be searching for new leaders.

Martin Vasquez has failed to put any of his own stamp on Chivas USA. Will he get another shot? Does Chivas USA actually have a master plan as an organization?

None of the other Western Conf teams will make a change unless a coach decides on his own to move.

Could Steve Nicol finally say ENOUGH! in New England and move to a team where management will finance a team for him?
-I once co-hosted a music radio show called ENOUGH!

Columbus? No supporters shield and a poor playoff run could mean trouble for Robert Warzycha.

New York and Philly are set for next season.

STORY OF THE DAY

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated talks to FIFA/CONCACAF honcho Chuck Blazer who all but confirms that the days of those glorious USA-Mexico World Cup qualifiers is over.
-FUCK ME!
-It would never be said out loud by anyone involved but of course its all about CONCACAF Jack his pocket lining ways.
-The USA is powerless to do anything about this.
-The minnows will all get to play a bunch more meaningless qualifying games.
-As a USA fan we will be forced to get excited about our biggest games being against Costa Rica or Honduras.
-The more I think about this, the sadder I get.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Look Out! It's Round 5! Plenty will get decided this week.

Salt Lake, Cruz Azul and Monterrey all advanced to the knock out rounds last night.

While Toronto, Arabe and Seattle were all eliminated.

dN

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch on Crew backup keeper Andy Gruenebaum who has lead the team in this tournament.

dN

Round Five Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 28
Toronto FC 1-1 Real Salt Lake - TFC goal by Jacob Peterson. RSL goal by Javier Morales.
Cruz Azul 2-0 Arabe Unido - CA goals by Emanuel Villa & Adrian Cortes.
Saprissa 2-2 Monterrey - Sap goals by Severo Meza(OG) & Jose Mena. Mon goals by Luis Rodriguez & Abraham Carreno.
-Wed Sep 29
Puerto Rico Islanders v Toluca
Municipal v Columbus Crew - 9pm Central on FSC
Santos Laguna v Joe Public
Seattle Sounders v Marathon - DELAYED at 3am Central on FSC
-Thu Sep 30
FAS v Olimpia

dN

The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News both report on RSL advancing with a tie.

The Toronto Globe & Mail reviews the TFC v RSL game, and the end of their chance to advance.

Paul James of the Globe & Mail with post game analysis.

Gareth Wheeler of the Toronto Sun turns out the lights on TFC 2010.

Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star reviews TFC v RSL.

dN

GROUP STANDINGS (4 rounds played):
Group A
ADV-10 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+8) (5 rounds played)
ADV-10 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+4) (5 rounds played)
OUT-5 Toronto (Canada) (-3) (5 rounds played)
OUT-3 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-9) (5 rounds played)
Group B
9 Columbus Crew (USA) (+4)
7 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+3)
5 Municipal (Guatemala) (0)
1 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-7)
Group C
ADV-13 Monterrey (Mexico) (+6) (5 rounds played)
7 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (+3) (5 rounds played)
6 Marathon (Honduras) (-3)
OUT-0 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-6)
Group D
7 Toluca (Mexico) (+6)
7 Olimpia (Honduras) (-1)
5 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico) 0)
2 FAS (El Salvador) (-5)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Match Day 2 (of 6 Group Stage games)

Nothing of real significance happened on Tuesday with all the favorites getting what they needed from the matches.

But Wednesday saw a little chaos (isn't that what you really want in a group stage.)
-Barca stumbled at Rubin.
-Inter and Tottenaham romped to huge home wins.
-While Lyon, Schalke, Rangers, Man U & Kobenhavn all got the needed wins.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 29
Rubin Kazan 1-1 Barcelona - RK goal by Christian Noboa(PK). Bar goal by David Villa(PK).
Inter 4-0 Werder Bremen - Int goals by Samuel Eto'o(3) & Wesley Sneijder.
Tottenham 4-1 Twente - Tot goals by Roman Pavlyuchenko(2, both via PK). Rafael Van der Vaart & Gareth Bale. Twe goal by Nacer Chadi.
Hapoel Tel Aviv 1-3 Lyon - HTA goal by Vincent Enyeama(PK). Lyo goals by Michel Bastos(2, 1 via PK) & Miralem Pjanic.
Schalke 2-0 Benfica - Sch goals by Jefferson Farfan & Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
Rangers 1-0 Bursaspor - Ran goal by James Naismith.
Valencia 0-1 Manchester United - MU goals by Javier Hernandez.
Panathinaikos 0-2 Kobenhavn - Kob goals by Dame N'Doye & Martin Vingaard.
-Tue Sep 28
Spartak Moskva 3-0 Zilina - SM goals by Ari(2) & Ibson.
Basel 1-2 Bayern Munchen - Bas goal by Alexander Frei. BM goals both by Bastien Schweinsteiger.
Roma 2-1 CFR Cluj - Rom goals by Philippe Mexes & Marco Borriello. CC goal by Ionut Rada.
Chelsea 2-0 Marsielle - Che goals by John Terry & Nicolas Anelka.
Ajax 1-1 Milan - Aja goal by Mounir El Hamdaoui. Mil goal by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Braga 0-3 Shakhtar Donetsk - SD goals by Luis Adriano(2) & Douglas Costa.
Auxerre 0-1 Real Madrid - RM goal by Angel Di Maria.
Partizan 1-3 Arsenal - Par goal by Cleo. Ars goals by Andre Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh & Sebastien Squillaci.

dN

Group Standings.

MLS WEEK 27

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 29
Colorado Rapids v Philadelphia Union - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
San Jose Earthquakes v Chicago Fire - 10:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
-Sat Oct 2
Seattle Sounder FC v Toronto FC - 2:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo - 3:00pm Central on Telefutura
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
New York Red Bulls v Kansas City Wizards - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
New England Revolution v Real Salt Lake - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Columbus Crew v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Columbus Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
FC Dallas v Chicago Fire SC - 7:30pm Central on FSC
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Colorado Rapids v DC United - 8:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
-Sun Oct 3
CD Chivas USA v Los Angeles Galaxy - 7:00pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

MLS Soccer continues with their list of the 24 best players under the age of 24 - #'s 20 to 16.

CHICAGO FIRE

Nery Castillo is still out injured. And it's now obvious that the team is going to have to get him into shape for next season.

Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald sees the Fire season as all but over at this point.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Conor Casey will not play tonight due to yellow card accumulation suspension.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News has to deal with a headline that suggests the Union are nearly good enough to be in the playoffs. Uh, no. But they do play tonight.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Elliot Almond of the Mercury News on the Earthquakes strong steady build toward the playoffs for the first time in this incarnation.

Robert Jonas of Center Line Soccer attended practice on Tuesday and fills us in on where the team is at.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times on the Sounders top quality Uruguayan signing El Flaco - Alvaro Fernandez.

TORONTO FC

John Molinaro of the CBC sees TFC circling the drain, and their captain Dwayne DeRosario paddling as fast as he can to help them go down.

Brian Strauss of FanHouse listens to a DDR radio interview and tries to interpret the intent and apology.

MLS POST SEASON AWARDS

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN on Coach of the Year candidates.
-Me and Demko were talking the other night, and we said one of these two guys is the clear winner, while the other is the runner up.

MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Omar Salgado who has signed with MLS and will enter the league via the SuperDraft in January, is headed over to Everton in England for training.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

The Bolton News with an article on Stuart Holden who blew his defensive assignment and allowed Man U to comeback for a tie last weekend.
-But the coach just continues to blubber over Stuart.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Group Stage
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Wed Sep 29 - went the full 90 as they won 1-0 at home over Bursaspor.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Wed Sep 29 - came on as a sub in the 66th minute of a 2-0 home win against Benfinca.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Group Stage
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Thu Sep 30 v Clubb Brugge
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Sep 30 at Hajduk Split

MEXICO

The federation intends to name their new national team head coach around the middle of Oct.

GERMANY

When Saturday Comes on the crazy parity in the Bundesliga so far this season.

EUROPE

Phil Minshull of the BBC re-introduces us to one time great Belgian keeper Michel Preudhomme who now leads reigning Dutch champions Twente.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 2 is coming up on Thu Sep 30. Matches & Scores here.

FIFA

FIFA is now doing all player transfers via a computer database. (thanks to BQ for the heads up on this one)
-Welcome to the 1990's FIFA!

BIDDING TO HOST WORLD CUP 2018 & 2022

Matt Slater of the BBC sees Australia as a great host for 2022.

GRATUITOUS DIEGO FORLAN PHOTO




















ENDERS

I am feeling slightly insane these days. And not in a good way. What do you do to get rid of that feeling?

Some News for Tue Sep 28, 2010

STARTERS

After further calculations it looks as though Real Salt Lake is the 2nd team to qualify for the MLS playoffs. KC can tie RSL, but RSL holds the first tie breaker (head to head play) and therefore is in the playoffs! Congrats to them. They are the favorites in my book to repeat as MLS Cup winners.
-Houston and New England are both out of the playoff chase, joining DC in the ditch.

dN

There is an element within the Fulham fan-base that are not pleased with the amount of time Clint Dempsey spends on the ground. They feel he is embellishing challenges on him, and doing some diving. They have taken to referring to him as The Groundsman.

BIDDING TO HOST WORLD CUP 2018 & 2022

The rumor from England is that they are going to pull out of their bid for 2022, and are counting on the USA pulling out of their bid for 2018. With the thinking that this will leave both countries as the favorites to win their bid for the other tournament.

STORY OF THE DAY

The Wall Street Journal follows up on on a Street & Smiths article (that was available on line to subscribers only) about a lawsuit filed against USSF and MLS regarding the sanctioning of international matches in the USA. (thanks to Brian for all the heads up up on this lawsuit)

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Look! It's Round 5!

So far, no one has clinched a spot in the knock-out rounds, and no one has been elimidated.

dN

Salt Lake had to fly via Atlanta to get to Toronto for tonight's game. Huh? And then they had ugly flight delays on top of that.

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune writes about RSL possibly clinching a spot in the knock out rounds tonight.

John Coon of the Deseret News previews RSL tonight.

Steven Sandor of the Toronto Sun previews TFC for tonight, and talks more about RSL's travel snafu.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports on the Sounders still having a slim chance to advance.

Round Five Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 28
Toronto FC v Real Salt Lake - 7pm Central on FSC
Cruz Azul v Arabe Unido
Saprissa v Monterrey
-Wed Sep 29
Puerto Rico Islanders v Toluca
Municipal v Columbus Crew - DELAYED at 3am Central on FSC
Santos Laguna v Joe Public
Seattle Sounders v Marathon - 9pm Central on FSC
-Thu Sep 30
FAS v Olimpia

dN

GROUP STANDINGS (4 rounds played):
Group A
9 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+4)
7 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+6)
4 Toronto (Canada) (-3)
3 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-7)
Group B
9 Columbus Crew (USA) (+4)
7 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+3)
5 Municipal (Guatemala) (0)
1 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-7)
Group C
12 Monterrey (Mexico) (+6)
6 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (+3)
6 Marathon (Honduras) (-3)
0 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-6)
Group D
7 Toluca (Mexico) (+6)
7 Olimpia (Honduras) (-1)
5 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico) 0)
2 FAS (El Salvador) (-5)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Match Day 2 (of 6 Group Stage games):

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 28
Spartak Moskva v Zilina
Basel v Bayern Munchen
Roma v CFR Cluj
Chelsea v Marsielle
Ajax v Milan
Braga v Shakhtar Donetsk
Auxerre v Real Madrid
Partizan v Arsenal
-Wed Sep 29
Rubin Kazan v Barcelona
Tottenham v Twente
Inter v Werder Bremen
Hapoel Tel Aviv v Lyon
Schalke v Benfica
Rangers v Bursaspor
Valencia v Manchester United
Panathinaikos v Kobenhavn

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I got some ideas on how to Zazz it up! Put some Zazz into it. Make it more Zazzy."
-William Murderface

FACT OF THE DAY

Leeds United was ahead of Preston North End 4-1 after just 39 minutes today. And then it lost 4-6!

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe talks to Charlie Davies about "that day", the present, and the future.

TRAGEDY AT THE AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

John Leicester of the Associated Press with a story from the terrorist attack on the Togo team bus last year that ruined a very promising career. (thanks to Dug for sending this our way)

MLS WEEK 27

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 29
Colorado Rapids v Philadelphia Union - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
San Jose Earthquakes v Chicago Fire - 10:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
-Sat Oct 2
Seattle Sounder FC v Toronto FC - 2:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo - 3:00pm Central on Telefutura
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
New York Red Bulls v Kansas City Wizards - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
New England Revolution v Real Salt Lake - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Columbus Crew v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Columbus Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
FC Dallas v Chicago Fire SC - 7:30pm Central on FSC
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Colorado Rapids v DC United - 8:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
-Sun Oct 3
CD Chivas USA v Los Angeles Galaxy - 7:00pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

San Jose forward Chris Wondolowski has been named the Player Of The Week.

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated on what we learned from this past weekend's games.

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze wonders how the Galaxy and Chivas have ended up in such different spots this season.

Tobias Lopez of Sports Illustrated on the still valuable roll college can play in developing MLS players.

MLS Soccer has started a new list called 24 under 24 - here are the first 4 players on the list.

DC UNITED

The Washington Post on DCU's search for a new head coach.

Did you know that DC signed Fred's little brother, Junior? I missed that one on the day the rosters were frozen.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America is all raves for Joel Lindpere.

Jack Bell of the NY Times on the yo-yoing career (currently moving upward) of Red Bulls centerback Carlos Mendes.

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger on the odds of Juan Pablo Angel remaining with NYRB next season.

Brian Lewis of the NY Post talked to Angel who is not feeling optimistic about the situation.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Jeff Gammage of the Philadelphia Inquirer with the 3rd local article on the dislike of some of the language emanating from the supporters section at Union matches.
-Honestly I find it boorish, and not creative at all. A great zinger without curse words is worth a million times more in my book.

Dave Zeitlin of CSN on the Union's recent success.

Sheanon Williams hasn't played a tons of games for PU yet, but he has looked pretty good at fullback. Nice find.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma New Tribune on a return to action for the rarely injured Sounders fullback James Riley.

TORONTO FC

Things have gotten ugly for superstar Dwayne DeRosario at his hometown team!

Paul James of the Globe & Mail turns up the heat today and says Dwayne DeRosario MUST GO! Wow.

Jason de Vos of the CBC is not impressed by DeRo either.

The Canadian Press says TFC ownership is none to pleased with DDR's actions last weekend when he went public with a goal celebration basically asking to paid more. As they lost 1-3 at home while in a playoff battle. Via The Star.

Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star sees TFC fullback Dan Gargan as one hell of pick-up for the team.
-One of the infamous Gargan-Henry cartoons.

IF MLS HAD SINGLE TABLE STANDINGS

Pts - Team - Games - Pts Poss
IN-50 Los Angeles - 26 (62)
IN-48 Salt Lake - 26 (60)
46 Dallas - 26 (58)
45 Columbus - 26 (57)
44 New York - 26 (56)
39 San Jose - 24 (57)
39 Seattle - 26 (51)
38 Colorado - 25 (53)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
33 Kansas City - 25 (48)
31 Toronto - 26 (43)
27 Philadelphia - 25 (42)
26 Chicago - 24 (44)
OUT-26 New England - 26 (38)
OUT-26 Houston - 26 (38)
25 Chivas - 25 (40)
OUT-18 DC - 26 (30)

MLS RUMORS

Soccer 365 with rumors on Petr Cech, Men Yang, Kenny Owusu and more.

USSF DIVISION 2

Final Matches & Scores of the Regular Season:
-Fri Oct 1
Carolina RailHawks v Austin Aztex
FC Tampa Bay v Crystal Palace Baltimore
-Sat Oc 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Portland Timbers
AC St Louis v Rochester Rhinos
Miami FC Blues v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Oct 3
Montreal Impact v Austin Aztex

dN

Standings (As of Sat Sep 25):
53 Austin - 28 played
51 Rochester - 29 played
48 Portland - 29 played
44 Vancouver - 29 played
44 Carolina - 29 played
40 Montreal - 29 played
40 Minnesota - 30 played
36 Puerto Rico - 29 played
- OUT OF THE RUNNING FOR PLAYOFFS -
32 Miami - 29 played
29 St Louis - 29 played
29 Tampa Bay - 29 played
24 Baltimore - 29 played

dN

All playoff rounds are home and away, with the higher seed chosing which leg they want to play at home.

The playoff match ups will be:
1 v Puerto Rico
2 v Minnesota
3 v Montreal
Portland v 5

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Alejandro Bedoya had a big day on Monday for Orebro - Scored the games only goal in the very 1st minute. Got a yellow card just 13 minutes later. And then in the 71st got another yellow making it red and an ejection. A busy boy!

Greg Seltzer of MLS Soccer talks to Mikkel Diskerud.

3 Americans played for 1 team, Mariehamn, in Finland on Monday! And one of them. Mason Trafford, scored a goal!

Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated with a round up of our boys outside the USA.

Jozy Altidore was on the bench for another Villarreal win on Monday.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Sep 28 - went the distance as they rolled to a 0-4 win at Hartlepool United.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Greg Eckhardt - VPS - Mon Sep 27 - played the entire game as but they lost 2-1 at Lahti.
Giuseppe Funicello - Mariehamn - Mon Sep 27 - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they won 3-2 at home over JJK.
Lamar Neagle - Mariehamn - Mon Sep 27 - came on as a sub in the 36th minute of a 3-2 home win over JJK.
Mason Trafford - Mariehamn - Mon Sep 27 - went the distance and scored a goal as they beat JJK 3-2 at home.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - Mon Sep 27 - went the full 90 in a 2-2 home draw against Zwolle.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Hunter Freeman - Start - Mon Sep 27 - went the full 90 in a scoreless draw at Honefoss.
Clarence Goodson - Start - Mon Sep 27 - went the full 90 in a scoreless draw at Honefoss.
Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Mon Sep 27 - started and played 76 minutes of a scoreless home draw with Start.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Tue Sep 28 - started, scored the games only goal, and got 2 yellow card in the 1-0 home win over Kalmar.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Mon Sep 27 - went the full 90 in a 1-2 road victory at Gelfe.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Group Stage
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Wed Sep 29 v Bursaspor
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Wed Sep 29 v Benfinca

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Group Stage
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Thu Sep 30 v Clubb Brugge
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Sep 30 at Hajduk Split

MEXICO

Reuters reports that Mexican national team players who were punished earlier this month after a wild party, are not pleased and are threatening retaliation on their federation.
-We have always known what geniuses these guys are.

SPAIN

Tough job - Sevilla has lost 1 game this season, last weekend to Hercules (Who had already beaten Barcelona) and they have fired head coach Antonio Alvarez. Oof!

Some News for Mon Sep 27, 2010

STARTERS

Englishman Ian Darke has been hired by ESPN as their top soccer play by play announcer. Which presumably means he will be the new voice of Team USA.

dN

My NSC Minnesota Stars have clinched the #7 seed in the USSF D2 playoffs, and must now wait to find out if they will face Carolina or Vancouver in the first round!

STORY OF THE DAY

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America fills us in on some reports out of France on the slow and painful recovery process for Charlie Davies.

Do the Bob Bradley haters still think Davies should have been invited into the pre-World Cup training camp? Bradley knows so much more about whats going on with American soccer players around the world then we can even imagine he does that its scary.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES COMING UP THIS WEEKEND

A huge round for the underdog!

-Sat Sep 25
Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea - New money shows old money how its done. But old money had to make due without their top 3 goal scorers, and now await late season revenge.
Bayern Munich 1-2 Mainz - Hoo hoo! The surprising early season leaders show the kings how its done! Wow!
Roma 1-0 Inter - Is this be the day that Roma came to life? A big win in the dying seconds.
Lyon 0-1 Saint-Etienne - More upstarts showing us how to get the job done!

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Here we go with Round Five (of six).

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 28
Toronto FC v Real Salt Lake
Cruz Azul v Arabe Unido
Saprissa v Monterrey
-Wed Sep 29
Puerto Rico Islanders v Toluca
Municipal v Columbus Crew
Santos Laguna v Joe Public
Seattle Sounders v Marathon
-Thu Sep 30
FAS v Olimpia

dN

GROUP STANDINGS (4 rounds played):
Group A
9 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+4)
7 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+6)
4 Toronto (Canada) (-3)
3 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-7)
Group B
9 Columbus Crew (USA) (+4)
7 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+3)
2 Municipal (Guatemala) (-1) (3 rounds played)
1 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-6) (3 rounds played)
Group C
12 Monterrey (Mexico) (+6)
6 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (+3)
6 Marathon (Honduras) (-4)
0 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-6)
Group D
7 Toluca (Mexico) (+4) (3 rounds played)
5 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico) (+3)
4 Olimpia (Honduras) (-2) (3 rounds played)
2 FAS (El Salvador) (-5)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Match Day 2 (of 6 Group Stage games) will be played on Sep 28 & 29. Here are the matches.

MLS WEEK 26

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 22
Kansas City Wizards 4-3 Houston Dynamo - KCW goals by Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, Adrian Serioux(OG) & Josh Wolff. HD goals by Cam Weaver, Dominic Oduro & Adrian Serioux.
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 9,679
FC Dallas 2-2 New England Revolution - FCD goals by David Ferreira(PK) & Jeff Cunningham. NER goals by Shalrie Joseph & Iljia Stolica.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: 7,468
-Fri Sep 24
Los Angeles Galaxy 0-2 New York Red Bulls - NYRB goals by Dane Richards & Juan Pablo Angel(PK).
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 27,000
-Sat Sep 25
Philadelphia Union 3-0 CD Chivas USA - PU goals by Alejandro Moreno, Fred & Sebastien Le Toux.
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
Attendance: 16,481
Toronto FC 2-3 San Jose Earthquakes - TFC goals by Dwayne DeRosario & Maicon dos Santos. SJE goals all by Chris Wondolowski(1 via PK).
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Attendance: 20,064
DC United 1-3 Houston Dynamo - DCU goal by Andy Najar. HD goals by Devin McTavish(OG), Geoff Cameron & Dominic Oduro.
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attendance: 13,828
New England Revolution 2-2 Columbus Crew - NER goals by Pat Phelan & Shalrie Joseph. CC goals by Cory Gibbs(OG) & Guillermo Barros Schelotto(PK).
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Attendance: 13,533
Kansas City Wizards 1-3 FC Dallas - KCW goal by Ryan Smith. FCD goals by Marvin Chavez, Milton Rodriguez & Jeff Cunningham.
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 10,385
Chicago Fire SC 0-1 Seattle Sounders FC - SS goal by Blaise Nkufo.
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Attendance: 17,477
Real Salt Lake v Colorado Rapids - RSL goal by Nat Borchers. CR goal by Conor Casey.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
Attendance: 18,317

dN

EJECTIONS: None!

dN

Mid-Week 27
-Wed Sep 29
Colorado Rapids v Philadelphia Union - 8:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
San Jose Earthquakes v Chicago Fire - 10:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Jeff Cunningham now has 131 goals, only one behind the leagues all time leader Jaime Moreno at 132.

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch with a look back at the weekend with the Crew.
-Columbus has a very very busy schedule in front of them.

DC UNITED

The Washington Post describes sheer weirdness in the DC v Houston game as both head coaches were red carded for apparently shaking hands during the run of play.

TORONTO FC

Paul James of the Globe & Mail lays waste to TFC as a whole, and Dwayne DeRosario and interim head coach Nick Dasovic in particular!
-I can't say I disagree with James on this one.

dN

Former player Rohan Ricketts pens an Open Letter to Toronto FC Fans.

MLS PLAYOFF RACE

LA is the first team to clinch a playoff birth - when KC lost.

DC was eliminated last week.

No others have seen their situation change.

IF MLS HAD SINGLE TABLE STANDINGS

Pts - Team - Games - Pts Poss
IN-50 Los Angeles - 26 (62)
48 Salt Lake - 26 (60)
46 Dallas - 26 (58)
45 Columbus - 26 (57)
44 New York - 26 (56)
39 San Jose - 24 (57)
39 Seattle - 26 (51)
38 Colorado - 25 (53)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
33 Kansas City - 25 (48)
31 Toronto - 26 (43)
27 Philadelphia - 25 (42)
26 Chicago - 24 (44)
26 New England - 26 (38)
26 Houston - 26 (38)
25 Chivas - 25 (40)
OUT-18 DC - 26 (30)

MLS STADIUMS

The City Wizards new stadium now has 2 webcams to follow the progress of construction - Outside - and - Inside! It is looking fantastic. I can't wait to be there opening day!

USSF DIVISION 2

My NSC Stars put a thundering beatdown on Tampa Friday night to finish off their regular season, and will be the 7th seed in the playoffs, taking on the winner of the NASL division.

With only 1 week left in the regular season now, here are the playoff scenarios:
-Austin or Rochester will have the 1st seed, the other will have the 3rd.
-Vancouver or Carolina will have the 2nd seed, the other will have the 5th.
-Portland will have the 4th seed.
-Montreal, Minnesota and Puerto Rico are locked into their 6th, 7th and 8th seeds.

All playoff rounds are home and away, with the higher seed chosing which leg they want to play at home.

It will be:
1 v Puerto Rico
2 v Minnesota
3 v Montreal
Portland v 5

dN

Final Matches & Scores of the Regular Season:
-Fri Sep 24
FC Tampa Bay 1-3 NSC Minnesota Stars
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0-1 Montreal Impact
-Sat Sep 25
Miami FC Blues 1-0 Rochester Rhinos
Crystal Palace Baltimore 1-3 Portland Timbers
Carolina RailHawks 2-1 Puerto Rico Islanders
Austin Aztex 4-2 AC St Louis

-Fri Oct 1
Carolina RailHawks v Austin Aztex
FC Tampa Bay v Crystal Palace Baltimore
-Sat Oc 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Portland Timbers
AC St Louis v Rochester Rhinos
Miami FC Blues v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Oct 3
Montreal Impact v Austin Aztex

dN

Standings (As of Sat Sep 25):
53 Austin - 28 played
51 Rochester - 29 played
48 Portland - 29 played
44 Vancouver - 29 played
44 Carolina - 29 played
40 Montreal - 29 played
40 Minnesota - 30 played
36 Puerto Rico - 29 played
- OUT OF THE RUNNING FOR PLAYOFFS -
32 Miami - 29 played
29 St Louis - 29 played
29 Tampa Bay - 29 played
24 Baltimore - 29 played

TEAM USA

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America feels Klinsmann wasn't the right man for the job anyway.
-I share almost identical feelings to Woitalla on this subject, and have often wondered on this blog just how it is that Klinsmann brings everyone into such a frenzy.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Why is Oguchi Onyewu not even getting into the game day 18 man rosters for Milan. Its not like they have this amazing defense that never sees change or errors? Is it still the thigh injury? Or does he have no chance there at this time?

Carlos Bocanegra and St Etienne stayed at #1 in France winning at Lyon!

Benny Feilhaber scored a game winner for Aarhus.

Michael Bradley got his first goal of the season for Gladbach as they tied at Schalke.

Sacha Kljestan has still not returned to the Anderlecht lineup since suffereing an ankle injury.

DaMarcus Beasley was not on the Hannover bench.

The Daily Mail rounds up their fave new EPL youngsters and includes Eric Licaj at Aston Villa. (Thanks to George for this one.)

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

DENMARK - Superliga
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the whole match as they beat Horsens 3-0 at home.

DENMARK - 1st Division
Benny Feilhaber - AGF - scored the winning goal as they beat Koge 3-2 at home.
Babajide Ogunbiyi - Viborg - scored his teams only goal as they lost 1-3 at home to Hvidovre.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 as they were held to a scoreless tie at home against Everton.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance and won 1-2 at Wolverhampton.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - played the full 90 but lost at home 1-2 to Aston Villa.
Stuart Holden - Bolton - went the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at home against Manchester United.
Tim Howard - Everton - in goal for a scoreless draw at Fulham.
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - came on as a sub in the 55th minute of a 0-0 home tie with Everton.

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the entire game but lost 2-0 at Bournemouth

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - went the full 90 and won 1-0 at Lyon.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - played the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at Schalke.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance winning 0-1 at Kaiserslautern.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - started but only played 51 minutes of a 2-2 home tie with Gladbach.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
David Yelldell - Duisburg - went the distance but lost 2-0 at Union Berlin.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - started and went 88 minutes of a 1-3 road win at Kongsvinger.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Maurice Edu - Rangers - came on as a sub in the 74th minute as they won 2-3 at Aberdeen.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Sep 28 v Middlesbrough
Mike Grella - Leeds - Tue Sep 28 v Preston North End
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Tue Sep 28 v Leicester

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - Tue Sep 28 at Swindon Town
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Sep 28 at Hartlepool United

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Greg Eckhardt - VPS - Mon Sep 27 at Lahti
Giuseppe Funicello - Mariehamn - Mon Sep 27 v JJK
Lamar Neagle - Mariehamn - Mon Sep 27 v JJK
Brian Pope - VPS - Mon Sep 27 at Lahti
Mason Trafford - Mariehamn - Mon Sep 27 v JJK

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - Mon Sep 27 v Zwolle

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Steve Clark - Honefoss - Mon Sep 27 v Start
Hunter Freeman - Start - Mon Sep 27 at Honefoss
Clarence Goodson - Start - Mon Sep 27 at Honefoss
Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Mon Sep 27 v Start

SPAIN - Primera Division
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Mon Sep 27 at Malaga

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Tue Sep 28 v Kalmar
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Mon Sep 27 at Gelfe
Johann Smith - Kalmar - Tue Sep 28 at Orebro

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Group Stage
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Wed Sep 29 v Bursaspor
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Wed Sep 29 v Benfinca

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Group Stage
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Thu Sep 30 v Clubb Brugge
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Sep 30 at Hajduk Split

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Jose Torres is still stuck on the bench at Pachuca, but Marco Vidal started his second game in a row for them, while Herculez Gomez came on as a sub and scored his first goal of the season.

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - came on as a sub in the 77th minute and scored the insurance goal as they won at home 3-1 over Tecos.
Sammy Ochoa - Estudiantes Tecos - came on as a sub in the 73rd minute but they lost on the road 3-1 to Pachuca.
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - went the full 90 as they drew 1-1 at UANL Tigres.
Marco Vidal - Pachuca - started and was subbed out at half time after a yellow card as they won 3-1 at home over Tecos.

ENGLAND

Crazy results saw Chelsea lose to fellow gazillionaires Man City, the Arse lose to West Brom, Spurs lose to West Ham, and Man U held to a draw at Bolton. Wow!

dN

The other shocking news is that Everton is dead last with no wins in 6 games.

dN

Brian Phillips of Slate on the English bile toward American owners of their teams. (thanks to AMcD for this one)

SPAIN

Even though its only 5 rounds into the season its still stunning to see Valencia at #1. They won again, while Real Madrid where held to a draw with Barca winning and taking over 2nd. And the mighty Hercules won again, this time beating Sevilla!

FRANCE

Gabrielle Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal with words on St Etienne's successful history and surprising rise to the top this season. (Second half of the article.)

ITALY

Roma rose from the near dead to knock off Inter in the 90th minute, while Milan, Juve and Fiorentina all won, and surprising Lazio moved into a tie for 1st place with Inter.

How did Roma do it? In the final quarter of the game Ranieri brought on 2 forwards for midfielders, while Benitez at Inter subbed off 2 forward for 2 midfielders. I am a rank amateur and even I know that if you want to win you don't retreat. Great job by Roma going for the throat.

dN

John Foot, writing for the New York Times, explains why the Serie A players decided not to strike this past weekend. They have been playing without a collective bargaining agreement.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 2 is coming up on Thu Sep 30. Matches & Scores here.

Houston, Baby!

In August, I turned 27 (Graham here). My wife Jenna decided that we needed to do something really special to celebrate my birthday. Since my favorite band of all time just happens to be The Pixies, and the Houston Dynamo were playing Toronto FC, we headed to Houston, TX last weekend. We had a great weekend, saw tons of awesome stuff, and while I was there I came up with an amazing rating system. I give this article 5/5 awesome points just to set the tone.

Houston Dynamo vs. Toronto FC


Public Transport to and from Robertson Stadium
Every time I go to a new city, ride the public transportation around for a day or two, and then tell someone who obviously does not take public transport that I’ve been riding the bus, I invariable get a slightly disgusted looking face and a “I’m soooo sorry.”

But you know what, having the guy behind you on the bus ask for money and explain in detail how your money will allow him to not have disgusting diarrhea is all part of the ride. Besides, while we were waiting at the bus stop, a friendly guy invited us to party with el Batallon, a Dynamo supporter group, and cheer with them in the stands.
HOUSTON PUBLIC TRANSPORT RATING: 4 BUSES AND 1 LIGHT RAIL out of 6

Police Suspicion of el Batallon

el Batallon Tattoo

When I tailgate at a Wizard’s game, there is nary a police in sight. It doesn’t matter where you go in the parking lots, people are having a good time with their families and friends and the police leave everyone be.

This was not the case at the el Batallon tailgate and during the game. While we hung out with them before hand, drank beers, laughed and talked, the police watched them like a shit hawk. El Batallon was full kids of all ages and families, but the police parked several marked and unmarked cop cars right outside the tailgate and stared and pointed.

Eventually the marked cars left but the unmarked car stayed and the cops pointed out different members to each other and talked about them. On the way into the stadium, cops came out of nowhere to escort the whole group in. Why did the cops have to act so cold? What happened to community cops who are friendly and laugh and talk with people to keep things in line?
Inside the stadium, several angry looking cops stared at the supporter group the entire game.
COP SUSPICION LEVEL: 4 NERVOUS COPS out of 5

Supporter Section Fun
For a long time, I’ve had the creeping suspicion that every supporters group in MLS just sings the same songs and just inserts their team’s name where appropriate. Not the case with el Batallon. It was a nice change to be in a section with plenty of brass instruments and new songs. These guys are awesome. Extremely friendly and fun to hang out with. Thanks for the great time el Batallon.
EL BATALLON AWESOMENESS: 5 TROMBONES out of 5

Concessions at Robertson
What do I expect from concessions at a stadium? Well a couple different types of food offerings and a few different beer types. Not the case at Robertson. All the stands are exactly the same and all of them had new crew who had no idea what they were doing.
ROBERTSON CONCESSIONS: 1 OLD HOTDOG out of 5

Sightlines at Robertson
It wasn’t until this game that I realized how good of a view you could get from being high up in an end zone. Robertson does have a lot of charm to it (somehow) and most of the seats give a good view of the play. I don’t know why I’ve always wanted to see a game at Robertson, but now I can cross it off my list.
SIGHTLINES: 3 GOOD VIEWS out of 5

The Pixies – Doolittle Tour at Verizon Wireless Theater Downtown Houston

Go right now and look up a review of the Pixies’ Dootlittle tour. You’ll inevitably read some backhanded compliments of how the Pixies still rock but they are just in it for the money now, don’t care about the art, and haven’t wrote a new song in years.

You know what, screw you back-handed compliment giving smug indie reviewer fucks.

Go buy a tiny comb to brush your over-sized mustache.

The Pixies rock harder than ever and do it with more love and passion than anyone else. In case you haven’t realized where this review is going already, they Pixies rocked Houston so hard they melted faces.


Crowd at the show. The Pixies brought out a very diverse crowd with ages from Junior High to Senior Citizen.

The latest Pixies tour is a celebration of one of the greatest albums of all time, Doolittle . The Pixies stride on stage after clips of the famous Debaser movie and proceed to slice eyeballs for two hours.

They start off with the B sides. That’s right, they play all the Doolittle B sides with Kim Deal acting as the frontsperson for the band. With just a few words, she announces that Doolittle is starting, when it it’s halfway through, and when it comes to an end.


The second song into Doolittle, Tame. Sorry you have to see my beard. (NOTE FROM EDITOR BRUCE: Beards rule, and there is no need to apologize for them! Ever!)

Each song is accompanied by unique eye-catching and song enhancing visuals. Trippy video plays in the background. Blood pours down the screen during “I Bleed,” guns flash during “There Goes My Gun,” it’s a great enhancement to each song.

It adds new dimensions to hear the whole Doolittle album played live after listening to it on CD and MP3 for so long. New tones, new guitar solos, new cords, and extended cuts. Frank Black’s voice cuts through the music hall like a bat flying out of a dark cavern. His screams are louder and longer than ever before.

To hear Doolittle live in order is like going to an amazing museum and spying beautiful piece of art that you only have seen prints and pictures of. All of a sudden you can see deeper into the piece of art. You can see the individual brush strokes, you can feel the layering and texturing, you realize the true size and depth of the painting.

Fortunately, The Pixies didn’t quit after Doolittle is played. They returned for three separate encores and ripped into their catalog.

Into the White, no beard this time.

After the concert, we wandered around back and found the tour busses. I was lucky enough to get Frank Black and David Lovering's autographs and shake their hands.

HOW HARD THE PIXIES ROCKED: 11/10

Back to Kansas City

There was one last event worth mentioning from the trip. On the way back to Kansas City we happened to be on the same flight as Dynamo backup keeper Tyler Deric. What a nice guy! After we got off the plane he took his picture with us, autographed his own Houston Dynamo cap, and gave it to us. It was a great end to a great trip.


Tyler Deric and I.

ENDERS
After pressure from administration, the Jewel fan group reluctantly banned the USA chant I wrote about last week. Mission accomplished?

Random Houston Graffiti








You can reach graham @ grahamfox@gmail.com You can also follow him at twitter.com/Graham_Fox

Some News for Thu Sep 23, 2010

STARTERS

The answer to the first question below is: Edson Buddle. I was surprised by that.

dN

And the answer to the second question below is: Flapjacks. That is just for you BThrow.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

The action rolls on with Round 4!

dN

Yet another MLS debacle in Mexico City!! Seattle was up 0-2 at Monterrey after the 70th minute, and then like a brutal bolt of lightning it was all over and Monterrey had a 3-2 lead! Insane! How does this keep happening??? The Sounders are pointless after 4 games. By that I mean they have no points.

Salt Lake got a big comeback win in Panama to take control of their group!

dN

Round Four
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 21
Columbus Crew 1-0 Santos Laguna - CC goal by Andres Mendoza.
Cruz Azul 0-0 Toronto FC
-Wed Sep 22
Monterrey 3-2 Seattle Sounders - Mon goals by Aldo De Nigris, Humberto Suazo & Luis Perez. SS goals by S Perez (OG) & Michael Fucito.
Arabe Unido 2-3 Real Salt Lake - AU goals by Williams Aguilar & Mario Angulo(PK). RSL goals by Will Johnson(2) & Alvaro Saborio.
Marathon 2-1 Saprissa - - Mar goals by Mario Berrios & Esteban Sirias(OG). Sap goal by Jairo Arrieta.
FAS 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Thu Sep 23
Joe Public v Municipal
Olimpia v Toluca

dN

The Seattle Times on the Sounders fold-job in Monterrey.
-By the way, did you notice the American football lines on the field in Monterrey?

James Edward of the Deseret News on RSL's big comeback win down in Panama. (Sing it with me!)

The Salt Lake Tribune with a wire service match report.

dN

GROUP STANDINGS (4 rounds played):
Group A
9 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+4)
7 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+6)
4 Toronto (Canada) (-3)
3 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-7)
Group B
9 Columbus Crew (USA) (+4)
7 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+3)
2 Municipal (Guatemala) (-1) (3 rounds played)
1 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-6) (3 rounds played)
Group C
12 Monterrey (Mexico) (+6)
6 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (+3)
6 Marathon (Honduras) (-4)
0 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-6)
Group D
7 Toluca (Mexico) (+4) (3 rounds played)
5 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico) (+3)
4 Olimpia (Honduras) (-2) (3 rounds played)
2 FAS (El Salvador) (-5)

FACT OF THE DAY

Forwards that Toronto FC has given up on:
-Edson Buddle
-Conor Casey
-Jeff Cunningham
-Ali Gerba

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Some really cool images from the Chicago Fire and supporters Section 8 of a great Fire mural in a Chicago neighborhood.















Many more photos of the mural here.

MLS WEEK 26

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 22
Kansas City Wizards 4-3 Houston Dynamo - KCW goals by Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, Adrian Serioux(OG) & Josh Wolff. HD goals by Cam Weaver, Dominic Oduro & Adrian Serioux.
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 9,679
FC Dallas 2-2 New England Revolution - FCD goals by David Ferreira(PK) & Jeff Cunningham. NER goals by Shalrie Joseph & Iljia Stolica.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
Attendance: 7,468
-Fri Sep 24
Los Angeles Galaxy v New York Red Bulls - 10:00pm Central on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sat Sep 25
Philadelphia Union v CD Chivas USA - 3:00pm Central on Telefutura
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
Toronto FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 3:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
DC United v Houston Dynamo - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
New England Revolution v Columbus Crew - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Kansas City Wizards v FC Dallas - 7:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
Chicago Fire SC v Seattle Sounders FC - 7:00pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Real Salt Lake v Colorado Rapids - 9:00pm Central on FSC/FSE
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN Soccernet with his usual quality work, writes about LA v NY, Chis Wondolowski, Kei Kamara and Jay DeMerit.

Michael Lewis writing for the US Players Assoc hopes that with an expanded number of teams in MLS next season we won't see an expanded number of teams in the playoffs. 8 is the right number.

Andrew Keh of the New York Times on the evolution and impact of the "Beckham Rule."

CHICAGO FIRE

Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald gives some advice to new Fire president Julian Posada.

FC DALLAS

Dallas could have won the game last night but David Ferreira misses on a penalty kick earlier in the game, before converting another one later.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

I am sure that more insane screaming could be heard coming from the Dynamo lockerroom last night. They had a 3-1 lead at home and managed to lose 3-4 deep (6+ minutes) into second half stoppage time.

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Huge huge huge huge win for KC last night. Wow. They are 3 points out of the last playoff spot with a game in hand over Seattle.

MLS OFFENSE STAT LEADERS

The All-Time goal scoring leader is seemingly about to change hands, probably this season:
132 Jaime Moreno - DC United
130 Jeff Cunningham - FC Dallas

dN

Question: Who is the #8 All-Time goalscorer at 87?
Hint: He is currently playing for his 4th MLS team.
See answer above in Starters section.
I know, pretty tricky doing it like that.

MY THOUGHTS

We have seen as many if not more goalkeeper bloopers this season in MLS then I can ever remember. Pat Onstad of Houston added a classic to the reel last night (video clip).

USSF DIVISION 2

NSC makes the Playoffs! NSC makes the Playoffs! NSC makes the Playoffs!

Thank you Miami! The Blues beat St Louis 4-2 last night and vaulted my NSC Minnesota Stars into a playoff place. Now the only thing left to settle is seeding!

As a matter of fact all 8 playoff teams are now known. See the standings below for details.

dN

Final Matches & Scores of the Regular Season:
-Wed Sep 22
Miami FC Blues 4-2 AC St Louis
-Fri Sep 24
FC Tampa Bay v NSC Minnesota Stars
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Montreal Impact
-Sat Sep 25
Miami FC Blues v Rochester Rhinos
Crystal Palace Baltimore v Portland Timbers
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Austin Aztex v AC St Louis
-Fri Oct 1
Carolina RailHawks v Austin Aztex
FC Tampa Bay v Crystal Palace Baltimore
-Sat Oc 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Portland Timbers
AC St Louis v Rochester Rhinos
Miami FC Blues v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Oct 3
Montreal Impact v Austin Aztex

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Standings (As of Wed Sep 22):
IN-51 Rochester - 28 played
IN-50 Austin - 27 played
IN-45 Portland - 28 played
IN-44 Vancouver - 28 played
IN-41 Carolina - 28 played
IN-37 Montreal - 28 played
IN-37 Minnesota - 29 played
IN-36 Puerto Rico - 28 played
- - - - - - - - -
OUT-29 St Louis - 28 played (35)
OUT-29 Tampa Bay - 28 played (35)
OUT-29 Miami - 28 played (35)
OUT-24 Baltimore - 28 played (30)

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Pro-Rated Standings based on Points Per Game:
1.85 Austin
1.82 Rochester
1.61 Portland
1.57 Vancouver
1.46 Carolina
1.29 Puerto Rico
1.28 Minnesota
1.26 Montreal
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OUT OF PLAY OFF SPOTS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1.07 Tampa Bay
1.04 St Louis
1.04 Miami
0.86 Baltimore

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Clemente Lisi of the US Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with Alejandro Bedoya.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

DENMARK - Landspokal (League Cup)
Benny Feilhaber - Aarhus - not only did they win 6-3 at home over Skive (yes, Skive), with Benny scoring 3 of those goals!
Michael Parkhurst - Nordjaelland - Thu Sep 23 - Won 0-1 at Hjorring.

ENDERS

I think I might just start calling the team from Kansas the City Wizards. Try it out, "Jimmy Conrad comes forward for the corner kick. Its well placed by Ryan Smith just above the 6 yard box. Rising above the pack is Conrad to head it home at the back post. 1 nothing City Wizards." It has a great feel to it.

Some News for Wed Sep 22, 2010

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

The action rolls on with Round 4!

Last night TFC did what few MLS have ever done (they are the third), get a point in Mexico. And against Cruz Azul no less. While Columbus held serve by getting a late goal from Andres Mendoza to beat Santos Laguna at home.

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Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune previews RSL's trip to Panama tonight.

James Edward of the Deseret News previews RSL's game against those diving snivelers Arabe Unido.

Edward also says that RSL will use their depth to their advantage in games like this.

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times says the Sounders can at least play spoilers in the tournament.

dN

Round Four
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 21
Columbus Crew 1-0 Santos Laguna - CC goal by Andres Mendoza.
Cruz Azul 0-0 Toronto FC
-Wed Sep 22
Monterrey v Seattle Sounders - 7pm Central on FSC
Arabe Unido v Real Salt Lake - 9pm Central on FSC
Marathon v Saprissa
FAS v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Thu Sep 23
Joe Public v Municipal
Olimpia v Toluca

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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch with a Crew-Santos match report.
-More post game notes from Mitchell.

John "Jungle Warfare" Conway got the rare start in goal for Toronto.

Paul James of the Toronto Globe & Mail with a TFC @ CA match report.

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GROUP STANDINGS (3 rounds played):
Group A
7 Cruz Azul (Mexico) (+6) (4 rounds played)
6 Real Salt Lake (USA) (+3)
4 Toronto (Canada) (-3) (4 rounds played)
3 Arabe Unido (Panama) (-6)
Group B
9 Columbus Crew (USA) (+4) (4 rounds played)
7 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (+3) (4 rounds played)
2 Municipal (Guatemala) (-1)
1 Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago) (-6)
Group C
9 Monterrey (Mexico) (+5)
6 Saprissa (Costa Rica) (+4)
3 Marathon (Honduras) (-5)
0 Seattle Sounders (USA) (-5)
Group D
7 Toluca (Mexico) (+4)
4 Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico) (+3)
4 Olimpia (Honduras) (-2)
1 FAS (El Salvador) (-5)

STORY OF THE DAY

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated continues the Jurgen Klinsmann story by talking more to Klinsy about not taking the USA job.
-But honestly, there is nothing new here. Just keeps the pot stirring.

MLS WEEK 26

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 22
Kansas City Wizards v Houston Dynamo - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City KS
FC Dallas v New England Revolution - 7:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
-Fri Sep 24
Los Angeles Galaxy v New York Red Bulls - 10:00pm Central on ESPN2/Deportes
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

The Washington Post on one time star player in the making, and now full time college student - Alecko Eskandarian.
-Sadly Esky is another player who lost his career to concussions.

CHICAGO FIRE

Charlie Corr of ESPN with a story on the new midfielder Bratislav Ristic who debuted last weekend.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times looks at the Sounders of today and their connection to the Sounders of old.

USSF DIVISION 2

Come on Miami! If St Louis lose or tie in Miami tonight, then my NSC Stars will seal their spot in the playoffs.

dN

Jason de vos of the CBC looks at the amazing resurrection and red hot goal scoring streak of Ali "The Canadian Cheeseburger" Gerba at Montreal.
-9 goals in 5 games not bad.

dN

Final Matches & Scores of the Regular Season:
-Wed Sep 22
Miami FC Blues v AC St Louis
-Fri Sep 24
FC Tampa Bay v NSC Minnesota Stars
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Montreal Impact
-Sat Sep 25
Miami FC Blues v Rochester Rhinos
Crystal Palace Baltimore v Portland Timbers
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Austin Aztex v AC St Louis
-Fri Oct 1
Carolina RailHawks v Austin Aztex
FC Tampa Bay v Crystal Palace Baltimore
-Sat Oc 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Portland Timbers
AC St Louis v Rochester Rhinos
Miami FC Blues v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sun Oct 3
Montreal Impact v Austin Aztex

dN

Standings (As of Sun Sep 19):
IN-51 Rochester - 28 played
IN-50 Austin - 27 played
IN-45 Portland - 28 played
IN-44 Vancouver - 28 played
IN-41 Carolina - 28 played
37 Montreal - 28 played
37 Minnesota - 29 played
36 Puerto Rico - 28 played
- - - - - - - - -
29 St Louis - 27 played (38)
OUT-29 Tampa Bay - 28 played (35)
OUT-26 Miami - 27 played (35)
OUT-24 Baltimore - 28 played (30)

dN

Pro-Rated Standings based on Points Per Game:
1.85 Austin
1.82 Rochester
1.61 Portland
1.57 Vancouver
1.46 Carolina
1.29 Puerto Rico
1.28 Minnesota
1.26 Montreal
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OUT OF PLAY OFF SPOTS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1.07 St Louis
1.07 Tampa Bay
0.96 Miami
0.86 Baltimore

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jermaine Jones and Schalke finally got their first win of the season after losing every game in every competition so far.

Sacha Kljestan is still out due to an ankle injury.

Carlos Bocanegra and most of the other St Etienne regulars got the day off on Wed, but the team still advanced in the Coupe de la Ligue.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

ENGLAND - Carling Cup 3rd Round
-Wed Sep 22
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - went the distance winning 3-1 at home over Blackburn.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - got a start and played the full 90 as they won 3-1 at home over Blackburn.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - came on as a sub in the 78th minute of a 2-2 road draw at HJK.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - Wed Sep 22 - played the full 90 but lost 1-2 at home to St Pauli.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - Wed Sep 22 - came on as a sub in the 76th minute but lost 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Wed Sep 22 - went the distance winning 1-2 at Freiberg.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
David Yelldell - Duisburg - went the distance and won 1-0 at home over Augsburg.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Wed Sep 22 - played the whole game as they drew 1-1 at GAIS.

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Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

NORWAY - Landspokal (League Cup)
Michael Parkhurst - Nordjaelland - Thu Sep 23 at Hjorring

SPAIN - Primera Division
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Thu Sep 23 v Deportivo La Coruna

MEXICO

After the Mexican national team played a game in Mexico City 2 weeks ago against Colombia it seems that some of the team turned up at a wild all night party - and two of those players have now been handed a 6 month ban from the team for their part in the festivities - Carlos Vela and Efrain Juarez.
-But seeing as there are no games of importance going down in the next 6 months, then this suspension is merely a wrist slap.
-Several other prominent players were fined but not suspended. Even more meaningless.
-I am sure that Vela & Juarez's club teams were not please to hear about this - Arsenal and Celtic respectively.

ENGLAND

Chelsea were knocked out of the League Cup today. I guess now they will just have to settle for concentrating on the other 3 bigger competitions they are in.

dN

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian wonders if it matters who you play early in the season, or does it all come out in the wash eventually.

ITALY

Mid-week games saw Inter winning big to storm the top of the table, while Roma lost again, and other supposed contenders Sampdoria, Fiorentina and Milan could only manage draws. Juve plays on Thu.

See the full league table here.

JACK WARNER/SEPP BLATTER/FIFA ODDITIES

Brain Strauss of Fanhouse with his opinions on what makes Jack Warner tick.
-Strauss pretty finds things the same way I do. Warner is king, and no one else has much of a say. Belize has the same power in CONCACAF as the USA because both countries have the same single vote within FIFA.