Thursday, November 18, 2010

Some News for Thu Nov 18, 2010

STARTERS

See you in Toronto for MLS Cup!

dN

Vancouver Whitecaps announce the signing of a quality centerback - USA World Cupper Jay DeMerit.
-I doubt there is a single team in the league that wouldn't love to have him.















MLS PLAYOFFS

Current Toronto Forecast:
-Fri - high of 45, low of 37, partly cloudy
-Sat - high of 45, low of 30, partly cloudy
-Sun - high of 45, low of 43, mostly cloudy
-Mon - high of 55, low of 48, showers

dN

Final
Match & Score:
-Sun Nov 21
Colorado Rapids v FC Dallas - 7:30pm Central on ESPN.
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON

dN

GENERAL NEWS

Steve Davis gives us the preview of all MLS Cup Final previews. Read it, and commit it to memory. Or commit yourself to a group home.

dN

Rob Hughes of the New York Times chimes in the final, saying the teams are not the glamor names, but they are very good.
-Wow Rob Hughes writing about MLS. Never thought I would see it. Sure he gets a few things wrong, like implying that Dallas is only a team of foreigners with no young American prospects. But it's exciting, to me at least to have a respected European scribe like Hughes writing about our game.

dN

Jeff Bradley of ESPN asks former Metrostars keeper Mike Ammann to rate the two goalkeepers in the final.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN with his preview.

dN

ESPN also gives us 5 reasons to watch the game.
-Like anyone insane enough to be reading this blog needs a reason to be watching.

dN

John Meyer of the Denver Post wonders if the weather in Toronto will play any role in the outcome of the game.
-Nope.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Brian Jennings of Soccer 365 talks to Raps head coach Gary Smiff and centerback Drew Moor.

dN

Its kinda sad how little there is being written about the Rapids.

FC DALLAS

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com with a nice big article on The Enigma himself, Jeff Cunningham.

dN

Steve Hunt of the Morning News gives credit to FCD assistant coach John Ellinger.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN with an article on one of the keys to this game - Daniel Hernandez.

dN

Jeffrey King of Fanhouse brands Schellas Hyndmann as a mad scientist.

dN

Fox Sports Southwest compares FCD to the Texas Rangers baseball team and their run to the championship just a month ago.

dN

The Dallas Business Journal on the teams charge for the Cup, and corporate dollars.

BIDDING TO HOST WORLD CUP 2018 & 2022

14 days until the rights to host the next 2 World Cups will be awarded.

dN

The announcement of the 2 host countries will be made live Thu Dec 2 at 9am Central on FIFA.com.

FIFA SCANDAL

Two voting members and four other FIFA executives have been suspended from the organization for roles they played in a bribery and World Cup vote rigging scandal. Read the official release from FIFA.

USA WORLD CUP 2022 BID

The House of Representatives passed a resolution today in support of the USA bid to host the World Cup. Here are some details:
House Concurrent Resolution 327 complements the government guarantees submitted earlier to FIFA by:
-Expressing support for the USA Bid Committee’s efforts to bring the 2022 FIFA World Cup to the United States;
-Encouraging the relevant Federal agencies to continue supporting the USA Bid Committee in its efforts to meet all requirements for the United States to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup;
-Affirming that the Congress stands prepared to consider requests by the President for support related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ if the United States is selected to host the event; and,
-Reiterating the many reasons why the United States would be an ideal host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

TEAM USA

The USA won 0-1 in South Africa on Wednesday. The games only goal was a thing of pure beauty as Mix Diskerud danced on the ball just to left of the goalkeeper, then deftly flicked it to the middle for Juan Agudelo who controlled it with his left thigh, and then chipped it over the SA goalkeeper with the outside of his right foot. Gorgeous.

dN

Match & Score:
Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup
-Wed Nov 17
South Africa 0-1 USA - USA goal by Juan Agudelo.
Match report by the Cape Town Times. Very SA-centric as you would expect.
Match report by US Soccer.
Post-game quotes from USA coach & players by US Soccer.
Match report by ESPN.
Match report by Mike Woitalla of Soccer America.
USA player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
USA player ratings by Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.
USA player ratings by Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com

dN

Every player on the USA roster played except back up keeper Dominic Cervi.

dN

USA Lineup:
Brad Guzan
Eric Lichaj - Clarence Goodson (Gale Agbossoumonde) - Tim Ream (Nat Borchers) - Jonathan Bornstein (Jonathan Spector)
Alejandro Bedoya (Mix Diskerud) - Brian Carroll - Eddie Gaven - Logan Pause - Robbie Rogers (Juan Agudelo)
Robbie Findley (Teal Bunbury)

dN

My key thought: What would it have been like to see a really dynamic player like Geoff Cameron in the midfield instead of the middling talents of Brian Carroll and Logan Pause. I have no idea why those two were on the roster.

dN

The team got to meet South African legend Nelson Mandella today. Pretty cool.

dN

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports goes coo-coo for cocoa puffs over Juan Agudelo.

dN

SA roster.
G:
Moeneeb Josephs - Orlando Pirates
Itumeleng Khune - Kaizer Chiefs
D:
Bevan Fransman - Hapoel Tel Aviv
Siboniso Gaxa - Lierse
Morgan Gould - Supersport
Tsepo Masilela - Maccabi Haifa
Anele Ngcongca - Genk
Keegan Ritchie - Moroka Swallows
Siyabonga Sangweni - Golden Arrows
Siyanda Xulu - Mamelodi Sundowns
M:
Daylon Claasen - Lierse
Kagisho Dikgacoi - Fulham
Andile Jali - Orlando Pirates
Thanduyise Khuboni - Golden Arrows
Reneilwe Letsholonyane - Kaizer Chiefs
Teko Modise - Orlando Pirates
Matthew Pattison - Mamelodi Sundowns
Steven Pienaar - Everton
Siphiwe Tshabalala - Kaizer Chiefs
F:
Kermit Erasmus - Supersport
Sthembiso Ngcobo - Kaizer Chiefs
Bernard Parker - Twente
Davide Somma - Leeds

STORY OF THE DAY

The Washington Post brings us up to date on a frustrated Charlie Davies.

VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY

Marco Pappa struck the 2010 MLS Goal of the Year.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"At first I thought it didn't go in. I saw it go in but thought it was going to be called off. I was like no, please, please call it a goal. I was like, oh man, I think I just scored and then I ran and blacked out when I was celebrating. They said I pushed them out of the way when I was celebrating but I don't remember that. It's a great feeling."
-Juan Agudelo after scoring his first goal for Team USA.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES COMING UP THIS WEEKEND

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 20
Arsenal v Tottenham - the genuine London derby.
Villarreal v Valencia - #3 v #4
Ajax v PSV - the long run battle of the big clubs.
-Sun Nov 21
Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich - its like a grudge match from 10-15 years ago.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Matchday 5 games are next week on Tue Nov 23 and Wed Nov 24.

dN

Two teams have already advanced, Bayern Munich & Chelsea, and several more are poised to follow.

dN

Matches

STAT OF THE DAY

The Kansas City Star has a poll running asking the question: What do you think of the new Sporting Kansas City name?

The results are not pretty:
56% Hate it!
12% Love it!
21% I'm willing to give it a chance
11% I could not possibly care less
Total Votes: 893

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Steve Davis of the Daily Soccer Fix gives us his MLS Best XI.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

COLUMBUS CREW

Michael Arace of the Dispatch continues the cry of hurt that Crew fans are feeling with the release of long time star Frankie Hejduk and the only true difference maker they have ever had Guillermo Barros Schelotto. What do the fans think?
-Its cool to see some big time du Nord readers having their say.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Terez Paylor of the Star with reaction to the team's new name etc etc.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of The Province on the team's signing of Jay DeMerit.

MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

The following players will no longer be on the special developmental contracts (Generation Adidas contracts) for next season. Those contracts did not count against the salary cap, but any new contract for those players will.
Eric Avila - FC Dallas
Nico Colaluca - New England Revolution
Roger Espinoza - Sporting Kansas City
Stefan Frei - Toronto FC
Bruno Guarda - FC Dallas
Baggio Husidic - Chicago Fire
Fuad Ibrahim - Toronto FC
Chance Myers - Sporting Kansas City
Alex Nimo - Real Salt Lake
Ciaran O’Brien - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas

SOCCER IN MINNESOTA

And Coming Up next weekend, the 2 Minnesota team's play their first ever home games at Macalester College (MTA) and Shattuck St Mary's Sports Complex.

Go see these games if you can, and give me a report on what you saw.

Matches & Scores:
U15/16
-Sat Nov 20
Minnesota Thunder Academy v FC Milwaukee - 2pm
Shattuck-St Mary's v Sockers FC - 2:30pm
-Sun Nov 21
Shattuck-St Mary's v FC Milwaukee - 11:30am
Minnesota Thunder Academy v Sockers FC - 2pm
U17/18
-Sat Nov 20
Minnesota Thunder Academy v FC Milwaukee - 12 noon
Shattuck-St Mary's v Sockers FC - 12 noon
-Sun Nov 21
Shattuck-St Mary's v FC Milwaukee - 9am
Minnesota Thunder Academy v Sockers FC - 12 noon

COLLEGE SOCCER

Here is the schedule for the Division I championship tournament:

FIRST ROUND
Matches & Scores
-Thu Nov 18
Coll of Charleston v E Tennessee St
Providence v St Peter's
Monmouth v Dartmouth
Sacramento St v Santa Clara
-------------------------------------------
Creighton v New Mexico
Princeton v UMBC
Michigan State v Oakland
Georgetown v UNC Greensboro
-------------------------------------------
West Virginia v Xavier
Tulsa v Bradley
Brown v Boston College
UC Santa Barbara v Denver
-------------------------------------------
Duke v Coastal Carolina
UCF v USF
Virginia v Old Dominion
Pennsylvania v Bucknell

dN

SECOND ROUND
Matches & Scores:
#1 Louisville v winner Coll. of Charleston/East Tennessee St
#16 Ohio State v winner Providence/St. Peter's
#9 Notre Dame v winner Monmouth/Dartmouth
#8 UCLA v winner Sacramento State/Santa Clara
-------------------------------------------
#5 SMU v winner Creighton/New Mexico
#12 William & Mary v winner Princeton/UMBC
#13 Butler v winner Michigan State/Oakland
#4 North Carolina v winner Georgetown/UNC Greensboro
-------------------------------------------
#3 Akron v winner West Virginia/Xavier
#14 Indiana v winner Tulsa/Bradley
#11 Connecticut v winner Brown/Boston College
#6 California v winner UC Santa Barbara/Denver
-------------------------------------------
#7 South Carolina v winner Duke/Coastal Carolina
#10 Michigan v winner UCF/USF
#15 Penn State v winner Virginia/Old Dominion
#2 Maryland v winner Pennsylvania/Bucknell

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Our name Henrik in Denmark sets us up with two articles (both in Danish) about Freddy Adu. As you know Freddy's contract is still owned by Benfica, who obviously want to sell him for some kind of return on their investment. He has been loaned out to 3 different teams now, Monaco, Benelenses & Aris, and all three have grown tired of him pretty quickly.
-Bold reports that Freddy is in Denmark training with Randers.
-The Bold reports that his Greek team Aris are not happy with this arrangement at all, ignoring that fact that he does not play or even train with their team, and are asking the Greek Federation to step in.

dN

Yanks Abroad introduces us to 19 year old Josh Gatt who is playing for Rheindorf Altach in the Austrian second division.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Games Action: (only those that played are listed)

PRIMERA DIVISION APERTURA LAGUILLA
Edgar Castillo - San Luis - Wed Nov 17 - started and went 89 minutes in a scoreless home draw.

dN

Coming Up:

PRIMERA DIVISION APERTURA LAGUILLA
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - Thu Nov 18 v Monterrey
Jose Torres - Pachuca - Thu Nov 18 v Monterrey
Marco Vidal - Pachuca - Thu Nov 18 v Monterrey

MEXICO

Laguilla (Playoffs)
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Nov 17
UNAM Pumas 1-2 Cruz Azul Cementeros
San Luis Gladiadores 0-0 America Aguilas
-Thu Nov 18
Pachuca Tuzos v Monterrey Rayados
Chiapas Jaguares v Santos Laguna
2nd Leg
-Sat Nov 20
Cruz Azul v Pumas (2-1)
America v San Luis (0-0)
-Sun Nov 21
Monterrey v Pachuca (-)
Santos v Jaguares (-)

CONCACAF

Some International friendly games were played on Wednesday.
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 17
South Africa 0-1 USA
Panama 2-0 Honduras
Jamaica 0-0 Costa Rica
Guyana 0-3 Guatemala

UEFA EURO 2012

Two qualifiers this week.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 17
Croatia 3-0 Malta
Finland 8-0 San Marino

dN

Group Standings

Qualifying then takes a big break until Mar 25.

COPA SUDAMERICANA

Palmeiras made the first step toward the final with a big road win.

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Nov 17
Goias (Brazil) 0-1 Palmeiras (Brazil) - Pal goal by Marcos Assuncao.
-Thu Nov 18
Liga de Quito (Ecuador) v Independiente (Argentina)
2nd Leg
-Wed Nov 24
Palmeiras v Goias (1-0)
-Thu Nov 25
Independiente v Liga de Quito (-)

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Two qualifiers this week.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 17
Botswana 1-0 Tunisia
Togo 0-0 Chad

dN

Group Standings

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 17
Sweden 0-0 Germany
England 1-2 France
Portugal 4-0 Spain
Argentina 1-0 Brazil
Netherlands 1-0 Turkey
South Africa 0-1 USA
Romania 1-1 Italy
Switzerland 2-2 Ukraine
Ireland 1-2 Norway
Austria 1-2 Greece
Poland 3-1 Cote d'Ivoire
Hong Kong 0-7 Paraguay
Denmark 0-0 Czech Republic
Luxembourg 0-0 Algeria
Iraq 1-1 Kuwait
Ecuador 4-1 Venezuela
Panama 2-0 Honduras
N Ireland 1-1 Morocco
Russia 0-2 Belgium
Montenegro 2-0 Azerbaijan
Chile 3-0 Uruguay
Albania 0-0 Macedonia
Slovenia 1-2 Georgia
China 1-0 Latvia
Bulgaria 0-1 Serbia
Senegal 2-1 Gabon
Egypt 3-0 Australia
Hungary 2-0 Lithuania
Israel 3-2 Iceland
Slovakia 2-3 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Oman 0-4 Belarus
Jamaica 0-0 Costa Rica
Mozambique 1-3 Zimbabwe
Colombia 1-1 Peru
Guinea 1-2 Burkina Faso
Guyana 0-3 Guatemala
Malawi 2-1 Rwanda
Libya 1-1 Niger - Lib win 4-1 on Penalty Kick Shoot Out
Saudi Arabia 0-0 Ghana
Mali 3-1 Congo DR
Estonia 1-1 Liechtenstein
Tajikistand 1-0 Afghanistan

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Newer Posts Older Posts