Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Some News for Wed Nov 24, 2010

OH YEAH COLORADO!


















Huge congratulations goes out to the 2010 MLS Cup winners the Colorado Rapids.

The team was welcomed back to Denver with a real crowd honoring them. The pictures are exciting to look at. Could this be the beginning of something new? The Denver Post gives us an article, a video, and a photo slideshow.

A few things struck me as I watched the video of the teams homecoming in Denver:
-Jeff Larentowicz finally got an MLS Cup after all the losses in New England.
-Pablo Mastroeni got his title after so many years on crappy teams.
-Brian Mullan joined a very tiny list by winning his 5th MLS Cup title. 1 with Los Angeles Galaxy, 1 with San Jose Earthquakes, 2 with Houston Dynamo, and now 1 with his hometown Colorado Rapids! I may be wrong, but I think Jeff Agoss is the only other MLS player to achieve this amazing feat.
-The team had several players that grew up in Denver which is pretty cool
-The roster was full of guys I have never or rarely ever even heard of. They must have the most anonymous roster of all the teams in the league. Weird.
-Its only 2 days later but both Julian Baudet and Anthony Wallace have already been moved on to new teams. (See more details on those moves and many others below.)

And finally I wanna give a big shout-out to 2 friends-in-football who work for the winning team, and live & breathe soccer with the same passion that you and I have - Zach and German, Huge congrats to you guys!

STARTERS

UNAM Pumas v Monterrey, and America v Santos Laguna begin the Mexican Apertura semifinals on Thursday.

MLS EXPANSION DRAFT

The two news teams for the 2011 season got to stock their roster with players from the other 16 teams in the league. Teams could protect a certain amount of players initially, and then only lost 2 in the draft. Here are the players chosen:

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PORTLAND TIMBERS
Dax McCarty - Dallas
Eric Brunner - Columbus
Adam Moffat - Columbus
Anthony Wallace - Colorado
David Horst - Salt Lake
Robbie Findley - Salt Lake
Peter Lowry - Chicago
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Jordan Graye - DC
Arturo Alvarez - San Jose

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VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
Sanna Nyassi - Seattle
Atiba Harris - Dallas
Nathan Sturgis - Seattle
Shea Salinas - Philadelphia
Alan Gordon - Chivas USA
O'Brian White - Toronto
Alejandro Moreno - Philadelphia
Joe Cannon - San Jose
Jonathan Leathers - Kansas City
John Thorrington - Chicago

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There were some very usable players picked, and some roster filler, but also some bafflers (Bornstein is gone to Mexico, and Findley has said he is looking to Europe), and then some complete stiffs.

BIDDING TO HOST WORLD CUP 2018 & 2022

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

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

USA WORLD CUP 2022 BID

Remember the letter we got a couple weeks back from President Bill Clinton asking us to donate money to help pay for the US bid? Well MLS/SUM got that letter too, and they donated $2 Million.

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Speaking of President Clinton.... He signed his name to an editorial at Sports Illustrated.

STORY OF THE DAY

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talked to USA U20 head coach Thomas Rongen who announced that German U17 team captain Fabian Hurzeler (Bayern Munich reserves) is officially switching his national team alliance with FIFA to the USA, and will join the USA U20 team in January. Wow.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Matchday 5

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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews Tuesdays games.

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Tottenham, Inter, Schalke, Manchester United, Valencia, Barcelona, Real Madrid & Milan join Bayern Munich & Chelsea as the first 4 teams who have advanced to the knock out stage.
-10 of the 16 have gone through.

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Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 23
Spartak Moskva 0-3 Marseille - Mar goals by Mathieu Valbuena, Loic Remy & Bandao.
Roma 3-2 Bayern Munich - Rom goals by Marco Borriello, Daniele De Rossi & Francesco Totti. BM goals both by Mario Gomez.
Basel 1-0 CFR Cluj - Bas goal by Federico Almerares.
Chelsea 2-1 Zilina - Che goals by Daniel Sturridge & Flourent Malouda. Zil goal by Issiaka Bello.
Ajax 0-4 Real Madrid - RM goals by Karim Benzema, Alvaro Arbeloa & Cristiano Ronaldo(2).
Auxerre 0-2 Milan - Mil goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Ronaldinho.
Partizan 0-3 Shakhtar Donetsk - SD goals by Taras Stepanenko, Jadson & Eduardo Da Silva.
Braga 2-0 Arsenal - Bra goals both by Matheus Nascimento.
-Wed Nov 24
Rubin Kazan 1-0 Kobenhavn - RK goal by Christian Noboa.
Inter 1-0 Twente - Int goal by Esteban Cambiasso.
Tottenham 3-0 Werder Bremen - Tot goals by Younes Kaboul, Luka Modric & Peter Crouch.
Schalke 3-0 Lyon - Sch goals by Jefferson Farfan & Klaas Jan Hunterlaar(2).
Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 Benfica - HTA goals by Eran Zahavi(2) & Douglas.
Rangers 0-1 Manchester United - MU goal by Wayne Rooney(PK).
Valencia 6-1 Bursaspor - Val goals by Juan Mata(PK), Roberto Soldado(2), Aritz Aduriz, Joaquin Rodriguez & Alejandro Dominguez. Bur goal by Pablo Batalla.
Panathinaikos 0-3 Barcelona - Bar goals by Pedro Rodriguez(2) & Lionel Messi.

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Group Standings

PREDICTION OF THE DAY

Jaime Moreno will start next season on the roster of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

FACT OF THE DAY

10 teams will make the MLS playoffs next season, up from this years 8. The bottom 4 teams will initially playoff to join the remaining 6.

VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY

MLS Commissioner Don Garber at half time of MLS Cup talking about the leagues future plans.

WHY?

For those of us in the Western Hemisphere with a job, we got kind of screwed when the Spanish Primera Division decided to move the upcoming Barcelona v Real Madrid game from Sun Nov 28 to Mon Nov 29. Dammit! Set your DVR instead of watching with a big gang of friends.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated is NOT in favor of the new playoff format that MLS is going to put in place.

MLS TRADES/PLAYER MOVEMENT ETC

After taking Dax McCarty with the first pick in the expansion draft, Portland sent him & some cash to DC in exchange for Rodney Wallace and a 4th round Superdraft pick.

dN

Philadelphia bought defensive midfielder Brian Carroll from Columbus. PU sent an unspecified Superdraft pick to the Crew as well.

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Portland traded a 3rd round Superdraft pick to New York for midfielder/fullback Jeremy Hall.

dN

Columbus did not renew the contract option on forward Jason Garey.

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Colorado sent centerback Julian Baudet and fullback Danny Earls to Seattle in exchange for defensive midfielder Pete Vagenas.
-I would be surprised to see any of those three on the teams opening day rosters.

CHICAGO FIRE

Chicago lost John Thorrington & Peter Lowry in the expansion draft.

CD CHIVAS USA

Chivas USA lost Alan Gordon and the future rights to Jonathan Bornstein in the expansion draft.

COLORADO RAPIDS

On the shot that became the MLS Cup game winning goal Macoumba Kandji tore his left ACL. He will have surgery asap. What a price to pay.

dN

Colorado lost Anthony Wallace in the expansion draft.

COLUMBUS CREW

Columbus lost Eric Brunner & Adam Moffat in the expansion draft.

FC DALLAS

Sean Fitz-Gerald of the Canadian National Post on the left knee of George John that provided the winning margin in MLS Cup.
-His teammates have his back 100%.

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Captain Daniel Hernandez will need an MRI to find out if he tore his ACL in the final and need surgery. It was also the 4th time he has played in the final and lost. Damn.

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Dallas lost Dax McCarty & Atiba Harris in the expansion draft.

DC UNITED

DC lost Jordan Graye in the expansion draft.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

M. Willis has a very good retort to Graham's critique of the new Kansas City team name etc.
-I love how smart the du Nord readers are.

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Kansas City lost Jonathan Leathers in the expansion draft.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Jack Bell of the Times talks to Tim Ream about making his USA debut.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Defensive midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi has become an American citizen. Huge congrats to him.

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Philadelphia lost Alejandro Moreno & Shea Salinas in the expansion draft.

REAL SALT LAKE

Noah Davis does a short Q & A with prodigy Luis Gil.

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Salt Lake lost Robbie Findley & David Horst in the expansion draft.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

San Jose lost Joe Cannon & Arturo Alvarez in the expansion draft.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Seattle lost Sanna Nyassi & Nathan Sturgis in the expansion draft.

TORONTO FC

While the hardcore Toronto fans may not have boycotted the final, they sure stayed away. And the supporters club members who did attend acted fairly boorish throughout the game, then went home early. On top of that the city seemed almost oblivious that a final was taking place at BMO. The local media pretty much ignored the goings on. The gloss of Toronto being a big time soccer town a little of its shine this past weekend.
-On the other hand, I had a blast all weekend long!

dN

Toronto lost O'Brian White in the expansion draft.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

-Sat Nov 27
Newcastle United Jets FC (Australia) v Los Angeles Galaxy
Venue: EnergyAustralia Stadium - Newcastle

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated conducts a Q & A with commissioner Don Garber.

NASL NEWS

Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer gives us the lowdown on US Soccer giving the NASL the THUMBS UP for a sanctioned second division league in 2011 and going forward.

COLLEGE SOCCER

Here is the schedule for the Division I championship tournament:

THIRD ROUND
Matches & Scores:
-Sun Nov 28
Louisville v Ohio St
Dartmoutyh v UCLA
SMU v William & Mary
Michigain St v North Carolina
-------------------------------------------
Akron v Indiana
Brown v California
South Carolina v Michigan St
Penn St v Maryland

TEAM USA

Here are the official nominees for the Player and Young Player of the Year from US Soccer:

US Soccer Player of the Year Finalists
-Carlos Bocanegra, Defender
-Michael Bradley, Midfielder
-Steve Cherundolo, Defender
-Clint Dempsey, Midfielder
-Landon Donovan, Midfielder

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US Soccer Young Player of the Year Finalists
-Gale Agbossoumonde, Defender
-Zac MacMath, Goalkeeper
-Alessandro Mion, Defender
-Dillon Powers, Midfielder
-Andrew Souders, Defender

USA U20 TEAM

The squad will be part of the 3 team Torneo de las Americas in Kennesaw GA over Thanksgiving weekend.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Juan Agudelo.

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And Sciaretta talks to the highly thought of Sebastian Lletget from West Ham United.

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Matches & Scores:
-Fri Nov 26
USA v Colombia
-Sat Nov 27
Colombia v Mexico
-Sun Nov 28
USA v Mexico

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Roster
G:
Eduardo Fernandez - Real Salt Lake AZ (USA)
Jonathan Kempin - Sporting Kansas City (USA)
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Estoril Praia (Portugal)
Bryan De La Fuente - Chivas USA (USA)
Greg Garza - Estoril Praia (Portugal)
Sebastian Ibeagha - Duke (USA)
Korey Veeder - Crystal Palace Baltimore (USA)
Parker Walsh - Karlsruher SC (Germany)
M:
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham (England)
Alex Molano - Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union (USA)
Moises Orozco - UANL Tigres (Mexico)
Dillon Powers - Notre Dame (USA)
Conor Shanosky - DC United (USA)
Alex Zahavi - Maccabi Haifa (Israel)
Cesar Zamora - Chivas USA (USA)
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls (USA)
Tristan Bowen - Los Angeles Galaxy (USA)
Fuad Ibrahim - Toronto FC (Canada)
Omar Salgado - No Club

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com talks to Clint Dempsey about how tough the job is week after week playing for a middle of the pack Premiership team.

dN

Rob Hughes of the New York Times on the seemingly never-ending sad weird tale of Freddy Adu.

And a couple more updates from our friend Henrik in Denmark:
-Aris doesn't want Adu back.
-"On a side note it is quite amusing to see a Greek club complain that a contract isn't being honored. The term ironic is due I think."

Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad reports on how Freddy Adu did in a reserve match with Randers yesterday. But the team insists he is not getting a try out.

dN

Game Action:

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Wed Nov 24 - did not play due to the knee injury as they lost 0-1 at home against Manchester United.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Wed Nov 24 - started and went 70 strong minutes as they won 3-0 at home over Lyon.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

There are no Americans left in the Apertura playoffs after San Luis and Pachuca were both knocked out in the Quarterfinal round.

dN

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise talks to Jonathan Bornstein about his January move to Tigres.

MEXICO

Laguilla (Playoffs)
Semifinal
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu Nov 25
UNAM Pumas v Monterrey
America v Santos Laguna
2nd Leg
-Sun Nov 28
Monterrey v UNAM Pumas (-)
Santos Laguna v America (-)

CANADA

Bruce Constantineau of the Vancouver Sun on the prospects of a real professional league forming in Canada.

THE CARIBBEAN

Caribbean Cup 2010 - There is another group stage 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.

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Group H
Cuba
Grenada
Martinique
Trinidad & Tobago
Group I
Antigua & Barbuda
Guadaloupe
Guyana
Jamaica

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

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Semifinal
-Fri Dec 3
Winner H v Runner Up I
Winner I v Runner Up H

3rd Place
-Sun Dec 5
Semifinal Losers

Final
-Sun Dec 5
Semifinal Winners

COPA SUDAMERICANA

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Wed Nov 24
Palmeiras v Goias (1-0)
-Thu Nov 25
Independiente v Liga de Quito (2-3)

BRAZIL

Tim Vickery of the BBC with a bag of recent Brazilian football stories that never cease to stop boggling the mind, all in the run up to the 2014 World Cup.

ARGENTINA

Just 4 rounds left in the Primera Apertura. Here are the leaders and who they face next:
33 Estudiantes - Next: Sun Nov 28 at Independiente
31 Velez Sarsfield - Next: Tue Nov 30 v Tigre
25 Arsenal de Sarandi - Next: Fri Nov 26 v San Lorenzo
24 Godoy Cruz - Next: Fri Nov 26 at Gimnasia la Plata
23 Colon - Next: Mon Nov 29 at Argentinos Juniors
22 Racing Club - Next: Sat Nov 27 at Banfield
22 All Boys - Next: Sat Nov 27 at Quilmes
22 River Plate - Next: Sun Nov 28 v Olimpio
22 Newells Old Boys - Next: Sun Nov 28 v Boca Juniors
21 Lanus - Next: Mon Nov 29 at Huracan

2 Comments:

Anonymous keeperken said...

I'm home in Akron for my father's funeral which was yesterday. I've been wanting to get home to see my beloved Akron U men's soccer team over the past few years but unemployment and other priorities have prevented me from being able to do so. I got to go to the game last Sunday with my nieces, nephews and brothers when AU beat West Virginia and I will be dragging the posse out to see AU take on Indiana this coming Sunday since my father's burial won't be until Monday the 29th. My father was a professor at AU. Go You Zips!

9:07 AM  
Anonymous Eric Fulton said...

Thanks for the great comments and review of the 2010 MLS Champion Colorado Rapids. It hasn't been easy to cheer them on for many years, so this is especially sweet. The team is solid and tough to beat and will be so again next year. Bravo and Smith are doing an excellent job acquiring and motivating players. Look for a good post next week about the changes that Smith has made since he took over for Clavijo.

3:46 PM  

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