Some News for Mon Dec 6, 2010
STARTERS
Monterrey has won the 2010 Mexican Apertura championship! Mas cerveza, por favor!
dN
The 3 finalists for the FIFA Ballon d'Or are Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
-That fact that Wesley Sneijder is not on this list again shows the incompetence of FIFA. All he did was lead his club to 3 big titles (Serie A, TIM Cup & Champions League) and his country to the World Cup final.
dN
Jamaica are the 2010 Caribbean Cup champions! Hooray Beer! Red Stripe Beer!
-Omar Cummings finished off a couple of amazing weeks by scoring in the Cup winning game. He can add that to his MLS Cup.
dN
Fluminense are the 2010 Brazilian Serie A champions! Hooray Caipirinha!
-They were led to the title by former Barcelona star midfielder Deco.
dN
So manager Chris Hughton reorganizes and rescues Newcastle from an embarrassing season in England's Championship Division, leads them to 11th place so far in their season's Premier League, and how does the team repay him? They fire him, without anyone lined up to take over. No reason given. I hope they fall apart and go back down now.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Matchday 6 (the last group stage round) will be played Tue Dec 7 & Wed Dec 8.
dN
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. So, 10 of the 16 spots are filled.
dN
Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated looks at Didier Drogba's return to play in Marseille, the place where the world really saw his talent blossom.
dN
*These games will affect who advances.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Dec 7
*Benfica v Schalke
Man United v Valencia
Twente v Tottenham
Werder Bremen v Inter
*Lyon v Hapoel Tel-Aviv
*Barcelona v Rubin Kazan
*Kobenhavn v Panathinaikos
Bursaspor v Rangers
-Wed Dec 8
*Bayern Munich v Basel
*CFR Cluj v Roma
*Marseille v Chelsea
*Zilina v Spartak Moskva
Real Madrid v Auxerre
Milan v Ajax
*Arsenal v Partizan
*Shakhtar Donetsk v Braga
dN
Group Standings
VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY
The Vancouver Sun gives us video from a helicopter survey of the Whitecaps suburban temporary stadium for next season, and then their the rebuild of their downtown permanent home. Fantastic!
QUOTE OF THE DAY
The conspiracy – Barcelona run Spanish football. The truth - No one runs Spanish football!
-PARAPHRASED from Sid Lowe of the Guardian.
BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES COMING UP THIS WEEKEND
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Dec 3
Lazio 3-1 Inter - the 5 times champs are going down hard, and Lazio continue their surprising run for the title.
-Sat Dec 4
Schalke 2-0 Bayern Munchen - Schalke's huge win gets them out of the relegation zone, and league the big shots Bayern fall 17 points out of first place!
Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia - RM bounce back with 2 from CRonaldo.
-Sun Dec 5
Villarreal 1-0 Sevilla - Villa stay #3, but Sev drop from #9.
PSG 3-1 Brest - a big win for the old dog takes them up to #2.
FACT OF THE DAY
There are only 9 points separating #1 from #16 in French Ligue 1! Amazing!
OOF
Even an old school FIFA insider like Chuck Blazer is admitting that something went wrong in the voting for the 2018 and 22 World Cups. It must be a real mess when "one of their own" talks like that.
PICTURE OF THE DAY
Here is the 2011 Houston Dynamo shirt. (thanks to Zach D for this one.)
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
General News
Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com gives us his favorite "underrated" moments of the 2010 season.
dN
MLS Young All Stars in Spain
The Generation Adidas team is playing a series of friendly matches in Spain, with the next one coming up on Tuesday.
The team took in a Real Madrid game at the legendary Bernebeau Stadium, with Amobi Okugu manning the video camera, and Sean Johnson correctly predicting that CRonaldo would score two goals. Watch and learn.
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 2
MLS Up & Comers 2-1 Real Madrid Reserves - MLS goals by Teal Bunbury & Dilly Duka. RMR goal by Salinas.
-Tue Dec 7
MLS Up & Comers v Rayo Vallecano Reserves
-Wed Dec 8
MLS Up & Comers 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
dN
MLS TRADES/PLAYER MOVEMENT ETC
Here is the list of all 35 of the out of contract MLS players that will be available on Wednesday for other teams in the league to try and sign:
Juan Pablo Angel
Preston Burpo
Ryan Cochrane
Nico Colaluca
Jimmy Conrad
Jeff Cunningham
Fred
Nick Garcia
Cory Gibbs
Frankie Hejduk
Aaron Hohlbein
Jovan Kirovski
Dema Kovalenko
Claudio Lopez
Tyrone Marshall
Jaime Moreno
Richard Mulrooney
Joseph Ngwenya
Ciaran O'Brien
Pat Onstad
Duncan Oughton
Gino Padula
Dario Sala
Marcelo Saragosa
Luke Sassano
Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Chris Seitz
Adrian Serioux
Chris Sharpe
Khano Smith
Khari Stephenson
Carey Talley
Peter Vagenas
Josh Wolff
Alex Zotinca
dN
MLS HEAD COACH SEARCH
Who needs a new head coach:
-Chivas USA - searching
-DC United - hired Ben Olsen
-Toronto FC - searching
dN
COLORADO RAPIDS
The Huffington Post reports that fullback Kosuke Kimura received the royal treatment (literally) from the Japanese Consulate in Denver last week.
COLUMBUS CREW
The Crew and shirt sponsor Glidden have parted ways. Glidden will no longer be the shirt sponsor for the Crew. Thanks to everyone for the correction.
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Houston has acquired forward Jason Garey from Columbus in exchange for a future Superdraft pick.
-I am trying hard to figure out why the Dynamo would make this move.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC
Andrew Wiebe of MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with head coach and general manager Peter Vermes.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Brian Lewis of the Post reviews the season with GM Erik Soler.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS
Andrew Winner of MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with head coach Sigi Schmid.
MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Steve Goff of the Washington Post on talented goalkeeper Zac MacMath who may sign a pro contract in the very near future.
MLS RUMORS
Soccer 365 with rumors on Clint Dempsey, David Beckham, Brad Friedel, Alejandro Chumacer and more.
dN
Looks like Jose Torres might be looking to leave Pachuca, and a MLS team could be one of the possible landing spots.
dN
Does any team want aging French centerback William Gallas? I would be stunned if they did.
dN
Nigel Reed of the CBC on the possibility of Irish striker Robbie Keane to sign with Vancouver.
SOCCER IN MINNESOTA
Our 2 Minnesota teams in the US Soccer Development Academy were in Arizona this weekend for the Winter Showcase. All the big teams from around the country converged for a big tournament.
dN
3 of the 4 teams had a great weekend!
dN
-Here are the Matches & Scores for our teams:
U15/16
-Fri Dec 3
Minnesota Thunder 1-1 New York Red Bulls - MT goal by Adama Keita.
Shattuck-St Mary's 1-1 Match-Fit Chelsea - SSM goal by unknown.
-Sun Dec 5
Minnesota Thunder 2-1 New England Revolution - - MT goals by Ali Hassan & Ismaila Jome.
Shattuck-St Mary's 3-2 Potomac - SSM goals by Eddosa Muhammed(2) & Michael Bajza.
-Mon Dec 6
Minnesota Thunder 1-0 CASL Chelsea - ???
Shattuck-St Mary's 1-1 Oakwood SC - ???
MTA U15/16 finished the weekend with a great 2-0-1 record!
SSM U15/16 finished the weekend with a very good 1-0-2 record.
-So, neither team lost!
dN
U17/18
-Fri Dec 3
Minnesota Thunder 1-3 New York Red Bulls - MT goal by Nicholas Forsgren.
Shattuck-St Mary's 2-1 Match-Fit Chelsea - SSM goals by Brett Habermehl & Jide Oluyeden.
-Sun Dec 5
Minnesota Thunder 2-4 New England Revolution - MT goals by Ebenezer Mengistu & Mohamed Alowonle.
Shattuck-St Mary's 1-1 Potomac - SSM goal by Jide Oluyedun.
-Mon Dec 6
Minnesota Thunder 2-3 CASL Chelsea FC - ???
Shattuck-Saint Mary's 0-0 Cosmos Academy East
MTA U17/18 finished the weekend with a great 0-3-0 record. Ouch, three losses.
SSM U17/18 finished the weekend with a very good 2-0-1 record. Fantastic!
COLLEGE SOCCER
Division I championship tournament:
Quarterfinals
-Fri Dec 3
North Carolina 1-1 SMU - NC wins 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout
Venue: Fetzer Field - Chapell Hill NC
Attendance: 1,763
-Sat Dec 4
Louisville 5-4 UCLA
Venue: Cardinal Park Stadium - Louisville KY
Attendance: 5,467
Akron 3-3 California - Akr win 3-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout
Venue: Lee R Jackson Field - Akron OH
Attendance: 3,442
Maryland 2-3 Michigan
Venue: Ludwig Field - College Park MD
Attendance: 3,536
dN
Semifinals
-Fri Dec 10
North Carolina v Louisville - 7:30pm or 10pm Central on ESPNU/2
Akron v Michigan - 7:30pm or 10pm Central on ESPNU/2
Venue: Harder Stadium - Santa Barbara CA
Final
-Sun Dec 12 - 3pm Central on ESPN2
Semifinal Winners
Venue: Harder Stadium - Santa Barbara CA
USA U20 TEAM
Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to coach Thomas Rongen about how his team looked in their mini-tournament over Thanksgiving weekend. Very long article.
-I am still baffled why he only played 11 guys in their 2nd and final game. Baffled! You bring guys in from all over the world, and then not play them?
USA U17 TEAM
Played 3 international friendlies in Phoenix AZ this past weekend.
dN
Turkey were named the tournament champions with 2 wins and 1 draw. The USA finished third with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 losss.
dN
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 1
USA 2-1 South Korea - USA goals by Matt Dunn & Mario Rodriguez.
Turkey 0-0 Brazil
Fri Dec 3
USA 0-0 Brazil
S Korea 1-2 Turkey
-Sun Dec 5
USA 0-2 Turkey
Match report by Jose Garcia of AZ Central.
Brazil 3-2 South Korea
dN
Standings:
7 Turkey
5 Brazil
4 USA
0 S Korea
dN
USA roster:
G:
Kendall McIntosh - Mustang Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy 1969
Luis Martir - Guadalajara
Alessandro Mion - Kendall SC
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
M:
Joe Amon - South Carolina United FC
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Matt Dunn - Koln
Nico Melo - Florida Rush
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids
F:
Paul Arriola - Arsenal
Daniel Flores - Cal Odyssey
Alex Muyl - Cosmos Academy East
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs
US SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY
The 2010 Development Academy Winter Showcase was held over the weekend in Phoenix AZ.
-Here is the full schedule of Matches & Scores.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Carlos Bocanegra scored a goal for St Etienne. They got a tie.
Michael Bradley scored for Gladbach in a losing effort.
Stuart Holden is still out of action due to a thigh muscle injury.
Tim Howard was lucky to only get a yellow card and a penalty kick against Chelsea.
Sacha Kljestan & Anderlecht won again keeping them in 1st place.
dN
Game Action: (only those that played are listed)
BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - played the whole game as they won 1-2 at Zulte-Waregem.
DENMARK - Superliga
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the full game as they won 2-1 at home over Horsens.
ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the distance, setting up a goal, but lost 2-1 at Arsenal.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the full 90 but lost 3-0 at Liverpool.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance, got a yellow card, and drew 1-1 at Chelsea.
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - came on as a sub in the 89th minute but they lost 2-1 at Arsenal.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Sunderland.
FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - played the entire game, scoring a goal, as they drew 2-2 at home against Bordeaux.
GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - played the whole game, scoring a goal, but lost 1-2 at home to Hannover.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the entire game as they won on the road 1-2 at Monchengladbach.
GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - started and played 69 minutes but they lost 1-0 at 1860 Munich.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - in goal as they lost 1-0 at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - went the distance but they lost at home 1-3 to Frankfurt.
MEXICO
Jared Borgetti has announced his retirement from the professional game. No USA fan will shed a tear.
dN
Laguilla (Playoffs)
Monterrey are the 2010 Primera Apertura champions!
Final
1st Leg
-Thu Dec 2
Santos Laguna 3-2 Monterrey - SL goals by Jorge Estrada, Carlos Qiuntero & Dulio Davino(OG). Mon goals by Humberto Suazo & Neri Cardozo.
-Sun Dec 5
Monterrey 3-0 Santos Laguna - Mon goals by Humberto Suazo(2) & Jose Basanta.
CANADA
Here are the 8 official nominees for the Canadian Soccer Association's Player of the Year:
-Nana Attakora - Toronto FC
-Adrian Cann - Toronto FC
-Dwayne DeRosario - Toronto FC
-Atiba Hutchinson - PSV Eindhoven
-Simeon Jackson - Norwich City
-Will Johnson - Real Salt Lake
-Josh Simpson - Vetel Manisaspor
-Adam Straith - Energie Cottbus
THE CARIBBEAN
Jamaica are the 2010 Caribbean Cup champions!
dN
Semifinals
-Fri Dec 3
Cuba 1-2 Guadaloupe - Cub goal by Reysandri Cervantez. Gua goals by Gregory Gendrey & Jean Luc Lamboude.
Jamaica 2-1 Grenada - Jam goals by Dane Richards & Troy Smith. Gre goal by Kithson Bain.
Final
-Sun Dec 5
Guadaloupe 1-1 Jamaica - Jam win 5-4 in Penalty Kick Shootout - Gua goal by Ludovic Gotin. Jam goal by Omar Cummings.
dN
Several MLS-ers played in the finale:
Shavar Thomas - Jam - Kansas City
Omar Cummings - Jam - Colorado
Lovel Palmer - Jam - Houston
Dane Richards - Jam - New York
Stephane Aubray - Gua - Kansas City
ENGLAND
du Nord Recap: Man U had their game postponed due to bad weather, while Chelsea stumbled to another tie, leaving Arsenal to win and leap to the top spot in England? I wonder when the last time they were in first place this late in the season? 3 years ago right about now?
dN
Simon Burton of the Guardian with Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.
SPAIN
du Nord Recap: Real Madrid bounced back with a solid win to remain 2 points behind Barca who won big on the road. #3 & 4 Villarreal & Espanyol won too. Zaragozo remains in last place, not good!
dN
Sid Lowe of the Guardian tells us that its not just FIFA where pea-brains rule the roost, and the weekend past in La Liga.
FRANCE
du Nord Recap: There are only 9 points seperating teams 1-16! Amazing! The new #1 is Lille who won, along with PSG at #2 and Rennes at #3, while Marseille (loss) and Lyon (win) follow closely.
GERMANY
du Nord Recap: With a Dortmund win and Mainz loss their lead at the top is now an astounding 10 points! Who had Dortmund in their preseason picks? Leverkusen & Hannover with wins are now right behind Mainz. And yet another Bayern Munich loss sees them stuck in 7th place, and a whopping 17 points behind the leaders!
dN
Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian tells us about the number that Schalke's goalkeeper did on Bayern, and the rest of the weekend in the Bundesliga.
ITALY
du Nord Recap: The top 3 all won - Milan, Lazio, Juventus - leaving losing Inter in their dust. They must all be giddy.
dN
Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the last days of Rafa Benitez at Inter, and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.
dN
Brescia fired head coach Beppe Iachini today and hired Mario Beretta as his replacement.
EUROPE
Martin Jol has resigned as head coach at Ajax.
-The team is in 4th place, 5 points out of first at the half way mark of the season.
COPA SUDAMERICANA
Goias has a 2-0 advantage in the Championship round which will see the final leg played Wednesday at Independiente.
dN
Final
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 1
Goias 2-0 Independiente - Goi goals by Rafael Moura & Otacilio Neto.
-Wed Dec 8
Independiente v Goias (0-2)
BRAZIL
Campeonato Brazileiro Serie A
The season has ended and Fluminense has won their first title since 1984!
dN
Final Standings:
71 Fluminense - Last: Sun Dec 5 W 1-0 v Guarani
69 Cruzeiro - Last: Sun Dec 5 W 2-1 v Palmeiras
68 Corinthians - Last: Sun Dec 5 D 1-1 at Goias
dN
FIFA.com does a Q & A with Neymar of Santos.
ARGENTINA
Primera Apertura
Only 2 teams and 2 rounds left in the season! Estudiantes leads Velez by what else, 2 points.
dN
Here are the leaders and who they face next:
39 Estudiantes - Last: Sat Dec 4 W 3-1 v Argentinos Juniors - Next: Wed Dec 8 at River Plate
37 Velez Sarsfield - Last: Sun Dec 5 W 0-4 at Godoy Cruz - Next: Wed Dec 8 v Huracan
dN
OUT-28 Racing Club - Last: Fri Dec 3 W 2-0 Gimnasia la Plata
OUT-28 River Plate - Last: Sat Dec 4 W 1-2 at Colon
OUT-26 Newells Old Boys - Last: Sun Dec 5 D 0-0 at San Lorenzo
OUT-27 Godoy Cruz - Last: Sat Dec 4 L 0-5 v Velez Sarsfield
OUT-25 Lanus - Last: Sun Dec 5 D 0-0 v Independiente
AFRICA
Five are named as finalists for the African Footballer of the Year award:
-Didier Drogba - Cote d'Ivore/Chelsea
-Samuel Eto'o - Cameroon/Inter Milan
-Asamoah Gyan - Ghana/Sunderland
-Salomon Kalou - Cote d'Ivore/Chelsea
-Seydou Keita - Mali/Barcelona
FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP
This years tourney is taking place in the United Arab Emirates beginning on Wednesday.
dN
The club champion from each of the 6 federations (plus the host) face off for the world title.
dN
FIFA.com does a Q & A with Inter's Wesley Sneijder.
dN
Matches & Scores:
Preliminary
-Wed Dec 8
Al Wahda SC (UAE) v Hekari United FC (Papua New Guinea)
Quarterfinals
-Fri Dec 10
TP Mazembe Englebert (DR Congo) v CF Pachuca (Mexico)
-Sat Dec 11
Prelim Winner v Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma FC (South Korea)
Semifinals
-Tue Dec 14
Fri Dec 10 Winner v Internacional (Brazil)
-Wed Dec 15
Sat Dec 11 Winner v Inter Milan (Italy)
Final
-Sat Dec 18
Winners
ENDERS
dN
A short Q & A with Sepp Blatter.
Q: Who is your favorite Qatar player?
A: Eric Clapton.
(thanks to Damon for sharing that one)
Monterrey has won the 2010 Mexican Apertura championship! Mas cerveza, por favor!
dN
The 3 finalists for the FIFA Ballon d'Or are Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
-That fact that Wesley Sneijder is not on this list again shows the incompetence of FIFA. All he did was lead his club to 3 big titles (Serie A, TIM Cup & Champions League) and his country to the World Cup final.
dN
Jamaica are the 2010 Caribbean Cup champions! Hooray Beer! Red Stripe Beer!
-Omar Cummings finished off a couple of amazing weeks by scoring in the Cup winning game. He can add that to his MLS Cup.
dN
Fluminense are the 2010 Brazilian Serie A champions! Hooray Caipirinha!
-They were led to the title by former Barcelona star midfielder Deco.
dN
So manager Chris Hughton reorganizes and rescues Newcastle from an embarrassing season in England's Championship Division, leads them to 11th place so far in their season's Premier League, and how does the team repay him? They fire him, without anyone lined up to take over. No reason given. I hope they fall apart and go back down now.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Matchday 6 (the last group stage round) will be played Tue Dec 7 & Wed Dec 8.
dN
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. So, 10 of the 16 spots are filled.
dN
Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated looks at Didier Drogba's return to play in Marseille, the place where the world really saw his talent blossom.
dN
*These games will affect who advances.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Dec 7
*Benfica v Schalke
Man United v Valencia
Twente v Tottenham
Werder Bremen v Inter
*Lyon v Hapoel Tel-Aviv
*Barcelona v Rubin Kazan
*Kobenhavn v Panathinaikos
Bursaspor v Rangers
-Wed Dec 8
*Bayern Munich v Basel
*CFR Cluj v Roma
*Marseille v Chelsea
*Zilina v Spartak Moskva
Real Madrid v Auxerre
Milan v Ajax
*Arsenal v Partizan
*Shakhtar Donetsk v Braga
dN
Group Standings
VIDEO CLIP OF THE DAY
The Vancouver Sun gives us video from a helicopter survey of the Whitecaps suburban temporary stadium for next season, and then their the rebuild of their downtown permanent home. Fantastic!
QUOTE OF THE DAY
The conspiracy – Barcelona run Spanish football. The truth - No one runs Spanish football!
-PARAPHRASED from Sid Lowe of the Guardian.
BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES COMING UP THIS WEEKEND
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Dec 3
Lazio 3-1 Inter - the 5 times champs are going down hard, and Lazio continue their surprising run for the title.
-Sat Dec 4
Schalke 2-0 Bayern Munchen - Schalke's huge win gets them out of the relegation zone, and league the big shots Bayern fall 17 points out of first place!
Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia - RM bounce back with 2 from CRonaldo.
-Sun Dec 5
Villarreal 1-0 Sevilla - Villa stay #3, but Sev drop from #9.
PSG 3-1 Brest - a big win for the old dog takes them up to #2.
FACT OF THE DAY
There are only 9 points separating #1 from #16 in French Ligue 1! Amazing!
OOF
Even an old school FIFA insider like Chuck Blazer is admitting that something went wrong in the voting for the 2018 and 22 World Cups. It must be a real mess when "one of their own" talks like that.
PICTURE OF THE DAY
Here is the 2011 Houston Dynamo shirt. (thanks to Zach D for this one.)
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
General News
Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com gives us his favorite "underrated" moments of the 2010 season.
dN
MLS Young All Stars in Spain
The Generation Adidas team is playing a series of friendly matches in Spain, with the next one coming up on Tuesday.
The team took in a Real Madrid game at the legendary Bernebeau Stadium, with Amobi Okugu manning the video camera, and Sean Johnson correctly predicting that CRonaldo would score two goals. Watch and learn.
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 2
MLS Up & Comers 2-1 Real Madrid Reserves - MLS goals by Teal Bunbury & Dilly Duka. RMR goal by Salinas.
-Tue Dec 7
MLS Up & Comers v Rayo Vallecano Reserves
-Wed Dec 8
MLS Up & Comers 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
dN
MLS TRADES/PLAYER MOVEMENT ETC
Here is the list of all 35 of the out of contract MLS players that will be available on Wednesday for other teams in the league to try and sign:
Juan Pablo Angel
Preston Burpo
Ryan Cochrane
Nico Colaluca
Jimmy Conrad
Jeff Cunningham
Fred
Nick Garcia
Cory Gibbs
Frankie Hejduk
Aaron Hohlbein
Jovan Kirovski
Dema Kovalenko
Claudio Lopez
Tyrone Marshall
Jaime Moreno
Richard Mulrooney
Joseph Ngwenya
Ciaran O'Brien
Pat Onstad
Duncan Oughton
Gino Padula
Dario Sala
Marcelo Saragosa
Luke Sassano
Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Chris Seitz
Adrian Serioux
Chris Sharpe
Khano Smith
Khari Stephenson
Carey Talley
Peter Vagenas
Josh Wolff
Alex Zotinca
dN
MLS HEAD COACH SEARCH
Who needs a new head coach:
-Chivas USA - searching
-DC United - hired Ben Olsen
-Toronto FC - searching
dN
COLORADO RAPIDS
The Huffington Post reports that fullback Kosuke Kimura received the royal treatment (literally) from the Japanese Consulate in Denver last week.
COLUMBUS CREW
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Houston has acquired forward Jason Garey from Columbus in exchange for a future Superdraft pick.
-I am trying hard to figure out why the Dynamo would make this move.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC
Andrew Wiebe of MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with head coach and general manager Peter Vermes.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Brian Lewis of the Post reviews the season with GM Erik Soler.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS
Andrew Winner of MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with head coach Sigi Schmid.
MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Steve Goff of the Washington Post on talented goalkeeper Zac MacMath who may sign a pro contract in the very near future.
MLS RUMORS
Soccer 365 with rumors on Clint Dempsey, David Beckham, Brad Friedel, Alejandro Chumacer and more.
dN
Looks like Jose Torres might be looking to leave Pachuca, and a MLS team could be one of the possible landing spots.
dN
Does any team want aging French centerback William Gallas? I would be stunned if they did.
dN
Nigel Reed of the CBC on the possibility of Irish striker Robbie Keane to sign with Vancouver.
SOCCER IN MINNESOTA
Our 2 Minnesota teams in the US Soccer Development Academy were in Arizona this weekend for the Winter Showcase. All the big teams from around the country converged for a big tournament.
dN
3 of the 4 teams had a great weekend!
dN
-Here are the Matches & Scores for our teams:
U15/16
-Fri Dec 3
Minnesota Thunder 1-1 New York Red Bulls - MT goal by Adama Keita.
Shattuck-St Mary's 1-1 Match-Fit Chelsea - SSM goal by unknown.
-Sun Dec 5
Minnesota Thunder 2-1 New England Revolution - - MT goals by Ali Hassan & Ismaila Jome.
Shattuck-St Mary's 3-2 Potomac - SSM goals by Eddosa Muhammed(2) & Michael Bajza.
-Mon Dec 6
Minnesota Thunder 1-0 CASL Chelsea - ???
Shattuck-St Mary's 1-1 Oakwood SC - ???
MTA U15/16 finished the weekend with a great 2-0-1 record!
SSM U15/16 finished the weekend with a very good 1-0-2 record.
-So, neither team lost!
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U17/18
-Fri Dec 3
Minnesota Thunder 1-3 New York Red Bulls - MT goal by Nicholas Forsgren.
Shattuck-St Mary's 2-1 Match-Fit Chelsea - SSM goals by Brett Habermehl & Jide Oluyeden.
-Sun Dec 5
Minnesota Thunder 2-4 New England Revolution - MT goals by Ebenezer Mengistu & Mohamed Alowonle.
Shattuck-St Mary's 1-1 Potomac - SSM goal by Jide Oluyedun.
-Mon Dec 6
Minnesota Thunder 2-3 CASL Chelsea FC - ???
Shattuck-Saint Mary's 0-0 Cosmos Academy East
MTA U17/18 finished the weekend with a great 0-3-0 record. Ouch, three losses.
SSM U17/18 finished the weekend with a very good 2-0-1 record. Fantastic!
COLLEGE SOCCER
Division I championship tournament:
Quarterfinals
-Fri Dec 3
North Carolina 1-1 SMU - NC wins 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout
Venue: Fetzer Field - Chapell Hill NC
Attendance: 1,763
-Sat Dec 4
Louisville 5-4 UCLA
Venue: Cardinal Park Stadium - Louisville KY
Attendance: 5,467
Akron 3-3 California - Akr win 3-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout
Venue: Lee R Jackson Field - Akron OH
Attendance: 3,442
Maryland 2-3 Michigan
Venue: Ludwig Field - College Park MD
Attendance: 3,536
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Semifinals
-Fri Dec 10
North Carolina v Louisville - 7:30pm or 10pm Central on ESPNU/2
Akron v Michigan - 7:30pm or 10pm Central on ESPNU/2
Venue: Harder Stadium - Santa Barbara CA
Final
-Sun Dec 12 - 3pm Central on ESPN2
Semifinal Winners
Venue: Harder Stadium - Santa Barbara CA
USA U20 TEAM
Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to coach Thomas Rongen about how his team looked in their mini-tournament over Thanksgiving weekend. Very long article.
-I am still baffled why he only played 11 guys in their 2nd and final game. Baffled! You bring guys in from all over the world, and then not play them?
USA U17 TEAM
Played 3 international friendlies in Phoenix AZ this past weekend.
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Turkey were named the tournament champions with 2 wins and 1 draw. The USA finished third with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 losss.
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Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 1
USA 2-1 South Korea - USA goals by Matt Dunn & Mario Rodriguez.
Turkey 0-0 Brazil
Fri Dec 3
USA 0-0 Brazil
S Korea 1-2 Turkey
-Sun Dec 5
USA 0-2 Turkey
Match report by Jose Garcia of AZ Central.
Brazil 3-2 South Korea
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Standings:
7 Turkey
5 Brazil
4 USA
0 S Korea
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USA roster:
G:
Kendall McIntosh - Mustang Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy 1969
Luis Martir - Guadalajara
Alessandro Mion - Kendall SC
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
M:
Joe Amon - South Carolina United FC
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Matt Dunn - Koln
Nico Melo - Florida Rush
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids
F:
Paul Arriola - Arsenal
Daniel Flores - Cal Odyssey
Alex Muyl - Cosmos Academy East
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs
US SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY
The 2010 Development Academy Winter Showcase was held over the weekend in Phoenix AZ.
-Here is the full schedule of Matches & Scores.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Carlos Bocanegra scored a goal for St Etienne. They got a tie.
Michael Bradley scored for Gladbach in a losing effort.
Stuart Holden is still out of action due to a thigh muscle injury.
Tim Howard was lucky to only get a yellow card and a penalty kick against Chelsea.
Sacha Kljestan & Anderlecht won again keeping them in 1st place.
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Game Action: (only those that played are listed)
BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - played the whole game as they won 1-2 at Zulte-Waregem.
DENMARK - Superliga
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the full game as they won 2-1 at home over Horsens.
ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the distance, setting up a goal, but lost 2-1 at Arsenal.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the full 90 but lost 3-0 at Liverpool.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance, got a yellow card, and drew 1-1 at Chelsea.
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - came on as a sub in the 89th minute but they lost 2-1 at Arsenal.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Sunderland.
FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - played the entire game, scoring a goal, as they drew 2-2 at home against Bordeaux.
GERMANY - Bundesliga
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - played the whole game, scoring a goal, but lost 1-2 at home to Hannover.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the entire game as they won on the road 1-2 at Monchengladbach.
GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - started and played 69 minutes but they lost 1-0 at 1860 Munich.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - in goal as they lost 1-0 at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - went the distance but they lost at home 1-3 to Frankfurt.
MEXICO
Jared Borgetti has announced his retirement from the professional game. No USA fan will shed a tear.
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Laguilla (Playoffs)
Monterrey are the 2010 Primera Apertura champions!
Final
1st Leg
-Thu Dec 2
Santos Laguna 3-2 Monterrey - SL goals by Jorge Estrada, Carlos Qiuntero & Dulio Davino(OG). Mon goals by Humberto Suazo & Neri Cardozo.
-Sun Dec 5
Monterrey 3-0 Santos Laguna - Mon goals by Humberto Suazo(2) & Jose Basanta.
CANADA
Here are the 8 official nominees for the Canadian Soccer Association's Player of the Year:
-Nana Attakora - Toronto FC
-Adrian Cann - Toronto FC
-Dwayne DeRosario - Toronto FC
-Atiba Hutchinson - PSV Eindhoven
-Simeon Jackson - Norwich City
-Will Johnson - Real Salt Lake
-Josh Simpson - Vetel Manisaspor
-Adam Straith - Energie Cottbus
THE CARIBBEAN
Jamaica are the 2010 Caribbean Cup champions!
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Semifinals
-Fri Dec 3
Cuba 1-2 Guadaloupe - Cub goal by Reysandri Cervantez. Gua goals by Gregory Gendrey & Jean Luc Lamboude.
Jamaica 2-1 Grenada - Jam goals by Dane Richards & Troy Smith. Gre goal by Kithson Bain.
Final
-Sun Dec 5
Guadaloupe 1-1 Jamaica - Jam win 5-4 in Penalty Kick Shootout - Gua goal by Ludovic Gotin. Jam goal by Omar Cummings.
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Several MLS-ers played in the finale:
Shavar Thomas - Jam - Kansas City
Omar Cummings - Jam - Colorado
Lovel Palmer - Jam - Houston
Dane Richards - Jam - New York
Stephane Aubray - Gua - Kansas City
ENGLAND
du Nord Recap: Man U had their game postponed due to bad weather, while Chelsea stumbled to another tie, leaving Arsenal to win and leap to the top spot in England? I wonder when the last time they were in first place this late in the season? 3 years ago right about now?
dN
Simon Burton of the Guardian with Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.
SPAIN
du Nord Recap: Real Madrid bounced back with a solid win to remain 2 points behind Barca who won big on the road. #3 & 4 Villarreal & Espanyol won too. Zaragozo remains in last place, not good!
dN
Sid Lowe of the Guardian tells us that its not just FIFA where pea-brains rule the roost, and the weekend past in La Liga.
FRANCE
du Nord Recap: There are only 9 points seperating teams 1-16! Amazing! The new #1 is Lille who won, along with PSG at #2 and Rennes at #3, while Marseille (loss) and Lyon (win) follow closely.
GERMANY
du Nord Recap: With a Dortmund win and Mainz loss their lead at the top is now an astounding 10 points! Who had Dortmund in their preseason picks? Leverkusen & Hannover with wins are now right behind Mainz. And yet another Bayern Munich loss sees them stuck in 7th place, and a whopping 17 points behind the leaders!
dN
Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian tells us about the number that Schalke's goalkeeper did on Bayern, and the rest of the weekend in the Bundesliga.
ITALY
du Nord Recap: The top 3 all won - Milan, Lazio, Juventus - leaving losing Inter in their dust. They must all be giddy.
dN
Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the last days of Rafa Benitez at Inter, and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.
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Brescia fired head coach Beppe Iachini today and hired Mario Beretta as his replacement.
EUROPE
Martin Jol has resigned as head coach at Ajax.
-The team is in 4th place, 5 points out of first at the half way mark of the season.
COPA SUDAMERICANA
Goias has a 2-0 advantage in the Championship round which will see the final leg played Wednesday at Independiente.
dN
Final
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 1
Goias 2-0 Independiente - Goi goals by Rafael Moura & Otacilio Neto.
-Wed Dec 8
Independiente v Goias (0-2)
BRAZIL
Campeonato Brazileiro Serie A
The season has ended and Fluminense has won their first title since 1984!
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Final Standings:
71 Fluminense - Last: Sun Dec 5 W 1-0 v Guarani
69 Cruzeiro - Last: Sun Dec 5 W 2-1 v Palmeiras
68 Corinthians - Last: Sun Dec 5 D 1-1 at Goias
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FIFA.com does a Q & A with Neymar of Santos.
ARGENTINA
Primera Apertura
Only 2 teams and 2 rounds left in the season! Estudiantes leads Velez by what else, 2 points.
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Here are the leaders and who they face next:
39 Estudiantes - Last: Sat Dec 4 W 3-1 v Argentinos Juniors - Next: Wed Dec 8 at River Plate
37 Velez Sarsfield - Last: Sun Dec 5 W 0-4 at Godoy Cruz - Next: Wed Dec 8 v Huracan
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OUT-28 Racing Club - Last: Fri Dec 3 W 2-0 Gimnasia la Plata
OUT-28 River Plate - Last: Sat Dec 4 W 1-2 at Colon
OUT-26 Newells Old Boys - Last: Sun Dec 5 D 0-0 at San Lorenzo
OUT-27 Godoy Cruz - Last: Sat Dec 4 L 0-5 v Velez Sarsfield
OUT-25 Lanus - Last: Sun Dec 5 D 0-0 v Independiente
AFRICA
Five are named as finalists for the African Footballer of the Year award:
-Didier Drogba - Cote d'Ivore/Chelsea
-Samuel Eto'o - Cameroon/Inter Milan
-Asamoah Gyan - Ghana/Sunderland
-Salomon Kalou - Cote d'Ivore/Chelsea
-Seydou Keita - Mali/Barcelona
FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP
This years tourney is taking place in the United Arab Emirates beginning on Wednesday.
dN
The club champion from each of the 6 federations (plus the host) face off for the world title.
dN
FIFA.com does a Q & A with Inter's Wesley Sneijder.
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Matches & Scores:
Preliminary
-Wed Dec 8
Al Wahda SC (UAE) v Hekari United FC (Papua New Guinea)
Quarterfinals
-Fri Dec 10
TP Mazembe Englebert (DR Congo) v CF Pachuca (Mexico)
-Sat Dec 11
Prelim Winner v Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma FC (South Korea)
Semifinals
-Tue Dec 14
Fri Dec 10 Winner v Internacional (Brazil)
-Wed Dec 15
Sat Dec 11 Winner v Inter Milan (Italy)
Final
-Sat Dec 18
Winners
ENDERS
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A short Q & A with Sepp Blatter.
Q: Who is your favorite Qatar player?
A: Eric Clapton.
(thanks to Damon for sharing that one)
posted by brucio at 18:55
6 Comments:
For the Ballon d'or I think Xavi as world cup winner (best player of the tourney too) and barca central maestro is a strong #1.
Messi, despite being gracious like all other Argentineans to the Maradona coaching train wreck, was the most dominant player in european soccer last year & could win it.
The award is not mvp it is the best player over the year- that simple, and to me, Xavi was better than Snejder as a center mid last year & won a World Cup. Yet Messi was most dominant & I doubt Xavi would argue with Leo winning it.
So as far as the 3rd shortlist spot goes, Iniesta, Snejder or Forlan could all have arguably been chosen. But If I were a coach assembling a team & had to choose one of those 3, it would be Andres over Wesley or Diego in a heartbeat (not to mention he was clutch in the WC final).
That Houston Dynamo kit is ummm... terrible.
well said on the ballon dor, thanks
Do you really need to doom my club, Bruce? Haven't we suffered enough at the hands of that fat bastard?
You heard it here first. Martin Jol is going to Newcastle.
Jester,
When did Martin Jol change the spelling of his name to Alan Pardew?
Bruce (hehehehehehehehe)
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