Some News for Tue Nov 30, 2010

STARTERS

In a little pick up game yesterday the Blue & Red team beat the White team 5-0. The players on the White team got angry and aggressive. One of their players was sent home early for trying to hurt people. The Blue & Red team partied til dawn.
-Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Barcelona's destruction of Real Madrid.

dN

Jonathan Spector had the game of his career today scoring 2 goals to lead West Ham over Manchester United in the League Cup quarterfinals. See details below in the Video Clip Of The Day section.

dN

Jermaine Jones has been dropped from the Schalke first team and sent to train with the reserves due to a poor attitude according to his coach. See the details below in the Americans In Europe section.

dN

Monterrey & Santos Laguna will battle it out on Thu (8pm Central) & Sun (6pm Central) for the Mexican Primera Apertura Championship. Who ya got?
-NOTE: Dates & times updated thanks to Efran.

USA WORLD CUP 2022 BID

Like that huge USA game against Ghana at the World Cup this past summer, USA fed President Sunil Gulati has called this bid "A unique opportunity." Will he lead his team to victory where head coach Bob Bradley could not?

dN

Only in a FIFA world could the USA not get the bid! But I strongly feel we will host in 2022!

dN

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated is in Zurich for the vote and feels the USA is the favorite.

dN

Jack Bell of the NY Times talks to Alan Rothenberg about the USA getting the 94 World Cup, and then looks at today.

dN

The Herald Sun of Australia tells us what the USA bid looks like from down under.

BIDDING TO HOST WORLD CUP 2018 & 2022

2 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.
-There will also be a live coverage starting at 8:30am Central on Fox Soccer Channel.

dN

Reuters tells us about a report that came out today projecting the profitability of each host nation.
-I don't know what the hell these numbers mean, but most people love stats, so here are some for those of you who dig it:
2018
100% England
91% Spain-Portugal
87% Netherlands-Belgium
86% Russia
2022
100% USA
73% Japan
71% S Korea
70% Qatar
68% Australia

dN

The Age in Australia tries to sift through all the possibilities. Good stuff.

dN

Who are the FIFA World Cup bid voters you ask? There were 24 of them, but with 2 being suspended its down to 22 now:
SUSPENDED-Amos Adamu - Nigeria
-Jacques Anouma - Ivory Coast
-Franz Beckenbauer - Germany
-Sepp Blatter - Switzerland
-Chuck Blazer - United States
-Michel D’Hooghe - Belgium
-Senes Erzik - Turkey
-Mohamed bin Hammam - Qatar
-Julio Humberto Grondona - Argentina
-Issa Hayatou - Cameroon
-Chung Mong Joon - South Korea
-Marios Lefkaritis - Cyprus
-Nicolas Leoz - Paraguay
-Angel María Villar Llona - Spain
-Worawi Makudi - Thailand
-Vitaliy Mutko - Russia
-Junji Ogura - Japan
-Michel Platini - France
-Hany Abou Rida - Egypt
-Rafael Salguero - Guatemala
SUSPENDED-Reynald Temarii - Tahiti
-Ricardo Terra Teixeira - Brazil
-Geoff Thompson - England
-Jack Warner - Trinidad & Tobago

dN

Doesn't it blow your mind to realize that the Greazy Slapper controls enough votes to probably get anyone the World Cup?!?!?

BRAZIL

Only 1 round left in the Campeonato Brazileiro Serie A, and 3 teams can will the title:
68 Fluminense - Next: Sun Dec 5 v Guarani (18th place)
67 Corinthians - Next: Sun Dec 5 at Goias (19th place)
66 Cruzeiro - Next: Sun Dec 5 v Palmeiras (10th place)

The tournament started in 1971: Flum last won this championship in 1984, Corin in 2005 and Cruz in 2003.

STORY OF THE DAY

WARNING: Massive Scum Bag Alert!

Brian Quarstad of IMSoccer exposes Dean Johnson, the man who destroyed 20 years of my beloved Minnesota Thunder in about 18 months, as Johnson tries to buy a new team in Belgium while he still owes people in the Twin Cities over a Million dollars.
-Johnson left his players and employees out to dry, and never even bothered to file for bankruptcy. He just walked away!

VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY

The game of his career!

Lil Jonny Spector has about as many splinters in his butt from riding the pine at West Ham this season as I have bits of food in my beard, but today in the League Cup quarterfinals he got his chance to start against his youth club Manchester United, they stuck him in the center of midfield, and all he did was score not one but two goals! West Ham won 4-0!
-Brian Straus of Fanhouse with words and video.
-Spector's name & picture will be splashed on newspaper headlines all around the globe tomorrow.
-And his name was a world wide trending topic on Twitter all afternoon here.

I absolutely love seeing players this happy after scoring goals!
















FACT OF THE DAY

When we in the USA look at our teams who play in the CONCACAF Champions League and see them struggle in the league playoffs, we say its because they are tired due to a lack of depth on the squads. But check out South America where the 2 teams playing for the Copa Sudamericana title are both near the bottom of the table in their leagues: Goias of Brazil are in 19th of 20 teams, and Independiente of Argentina are 18th of 20 teams. We don't have it too bad relative to that.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

MLS Youngsters In Spain

MLS has sent a team of their best young players to Spain for 3 friendly matches this week and next.

I can't quite figure this out, but there are only 2 defenders listed on the roster, and only 1 of them is an actual defender.
-Maybe it will give this team's coach Schellas Hyndman a chance to roll out his conceptualized 2-3-5 lineup.

All of these players are currently in or were in the league's Generation Adidas contract program, meaning they were signed for bigger money at a younger age but don't count against the team's salary cap. It's developmental in nature!

The league has provided us with video from their first day on the ground.

Noah Davis for MLSsoccer.com gives us some insight on prodigy Luis Gil.

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 2
MLS youth v Real Madrid Reserves
-Tue Dec 7
MLS youth v Rayo Vallecano Reserves
-Wed Dec 8
MLS youth v Atletico Madrid Reserves

MLS youth roster:
G:
Stefan Frei - Toronto
Sean Johnson - Chicago
D:
Jeremy Hall - Portland
Ike Opara - San Jose
M:
Corben Bone - Chicago
Danny Cruz - Houston
Dilly Duka - Columbus
Luis Gil - Salt Lake
Baggio Husidic - Chicago
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia
Brek Shea - Dallas
Tony Tchani - New York
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York
Tristan Bowen - Los Angeles
Teal Bunbury - Kansas City
Peri Marosevic - Dallas
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia
Danny Mwanga - Philadelphia
Andrew Wiedeman - Dallas

Head coach: Schellas Hyndman - Dallas

CHICAGO FIRE

Guillermo Rivero of Chicago Now reports that centerback Wilman Conde is gone. He has signed with Puebla in Mexico. Damn.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Raps traded for defensive midfielder Joseph Nane from TFC in exchange for a 3rd round Superdraft pick in 2012.

FC DALLAS

The team's 35 year old captain Daniel Hernandez had surgery on the meniscus in the right knee and will be out of action until at least early January.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Kyle McCarthy of MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with head coach Steve Nicol.
-They do some reflecting and projecting.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Sounders wide-open winger Steve Zakuani is in England training with Everton.

TORONTO FC

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment who owns TFC will be searching for a new corporate President & CEO as their current leader Richard Peddie is set to retire next year.
-Could this mean the days of MLSE making a fortune off the Maple Leafs, Raptors and FC without giving a damn about winning could come to an end?

MLS RUMORS

Centerback Julien Rodriguez of Marseille to KC?

SOCCER IN AMERICA

A student at Penn State University writes an article for the school's newspaper The Daily Collegian that is headlined: Now is a very good time to be a soccer fan.
-While I don't agree with everything in this article I like the spirit of it, and totally agree that its a special time to be a soccer fan in America.

USA U20 TEAM

Noah Davis at MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with talented striker Omar Salgado, who will be part of the MLS Superdraft in January.

USA U17 TEAM

They will play 3 international friendlies in Phoenix AZ.

The games will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 1
USA v South Korea - 6pm Central on FSC
-Fri Dec 3
USA v Brazil - 6pm Central on FSC
-Sun Dec 5
USA v Turkey - 6pm Central on FSC

dN

A new USA roster has been announced since their trip last month to England for training and friendlies so I can only assume that they are using the same roster:
G:
Kendall McIntosh - Mustang Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy 1969
Alessandro Mion - Kendall SC
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
Danny Zaid - Camp Elite Guatemala
M:
Joe Amon - South Carolina United FC
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Nico Melo - Florida Rush
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids
F:
Daniel Flores - Cal Odyssey
Alex Muyl - Cosmos Academy East
Andrew Oliver - Westside United
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs
Cole Seiler - CESA

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

The AP reports that Jermaine Jones has been bounced from the Schalke first team due to poor performance and attitude, and sent to their 4th division reserves team. Oof!
-This is not the first time he has been in trouble for his attitude. That was the reason why the German national team never gave him a real chance.
-This is also a ploy of sheer desperation by coach Felix Magath to get his team's attention. So far this season they are just a team of losers.
-Bundesliga.com looks at 12 reasons Schalke are so wretched.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

ENGLAND - League Cup - Quarterfinals
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Wed Dec 1 - went the full 90 in midfield, scoring 2 huges goals as they won 4-0 over Manchester United!

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

ENGLAND - League Cup - Quarterfinals
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Wed Dec 1 at Birmingham
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Wed Dec 1 at Birmingham
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Wed Dec 1 at Birmingham

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Thu Dec 2 v Dinamo Zagreb
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Wed Dec 1 at Zenit

AMERICANS IN EUROPE - RUMORS

Greg Seltzer at MLSsoccer.com reports that Aarhus wants to sell Benny Feilhaber, and teams are interested.

THE CARIBBEAN

Caribbean Cup 2010 - The final group stage is going on now and then the knock-out rounds through to the Final that will all be played in Fort-de-France, Martinique from Nov 26 - Dec 5.

dN

Jamaica(I1) joined Cuba(H1/2) in the knock out stage.

Trinidad & Tobago is OUT.

dN

6 MLS players saw the field for Jamaica on Monday:
Omar Cummings - Colorado
Shaun Francis - Columbus
Ryan Johnston - San Jose
Lovel Palmer - Houston
Dane Richards - New York
Shavar Thomas - Kansas City

dN

Group H
ADV-6 Cuba (+3)
4 Grenada (+1)
1 Martinique (-1)
OUT-0 Trinidad & Tobago (-3)
Group I
6 Jamaica (+4)
3 Antigua & Barbuda (-1)
1 Guyana (-1)
1 Guadaloupe (-2)

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Nov 26
Trinidad & Tobago 0-2 Cuba
Martinique 1-1 Grenada
-Sat Nov 27
Guyana 1-1 Guadaloupe
Jamaica 3-1 Antigua & Barbuda
-Sun Nov 28
Grenada 1-0 Trinidad & Tobago
Martinique 0-1 Cuba
-Mon Nov 29
Antigua & Barbuda 1-0 Guyana
Guadaloupe 0-2 Jamaica
-Tue Nov 30
Cuba v Grenada
Martinique v Trinidad & Tobago
-Wed Dec 1
Guadaloupe v Antigua & Barbuda
Guyana v Jamaica

ENGLAND

The League Cup Quarterfinals:

Manchester United lost their first game in all competitions this season as they got blown away 4-0 by Premier League doormats West Ham!!

All 3 big teams from Birmingham are still in the tournament!
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 30
Arsenal 2-0 Wigan Athletic
West Ham United 4-0 Manchester United
-Wed Dec 1
Birmingham City v Aston Villa
Ipswich Town v West Bromwich Albion

GERMANY

The Bundesliga will begin its annual 4 week break after the games on Sun Dec 19.

ITALY

The Serie A players have set a new strike date of Dec 11 if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached. They had set a preliminary strike date back in Sep but that was quashed when the two sides began negotiations, but there has been no movement on a new deal since.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 5 -
The games will be played on Wed Dec 1 & Thu Dec 2.

dN

Matches & Scores

dN

Group Standings

COPA SUDAMERICANA

Final
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 1
Goias v Independiente
-Wed Dec 8
Independiente v Goias

ARGENTINA

Just 3 rounds left in the Primera Apertura. Here are the leaders and who they face next:
36 Estudiantes - Next: Fri Dec 3 v Argentinos Juniors
(4)31 Velez Sarsfield - Next: Tue Nov 30 v Tigre - Next: Sat Dec 4 at Godoy Cruz
28 Arsenal de Sarandi - Next: Wed Dec 1 at Olimpio
27 Godoy Cruz - Next: Sat Dec 4 v Velez Sarsfield
25 Racing Club - Next: Thu Dec 2 v Gimnasia la Plata
25 River Plate - Next: Fri Dec 3 at Colon
25 Newells Old Boys - Next: Sat Dec 4 at San Lorenzo
24 Lanus - Next: Sat Dec 4 v Independiente

dN

Colon & All Boys are now officially out of the running.

ENDERS

And you think your team stinks? How would you like to support Madron FC? Via the Guardian. Thanks DL.