Monday, January 31, 2011

Some News for Mon Jan 31, 2011

STARTERS

The US Soccer Federation has canceled their trip to Cairo for next Wed Feb 9 to play the Egyptian national team. I guess that little political disruption scouring the country is the cause. I really hate politics.

dN

All the talk on Friday was that Michael Bradley was headed to Galatasary in Turkey, but come Sunday morning and he is instead headed to Aston Villa in England.

dN

Word from the man himself is that Jozy Altidore is headed to The Green Crocodiles, Bursaspor on a loan deal. The team is based in Bursa, Turkey (across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul.) They are currently in 2nd place, and won the championship last year. Will he play?
-From Twitter: "To all my fans and followers I want you to be the first to know that ill be playing the rest of the season with turkish champions Bursaspor on a six month loan. Thanks for all you continued support."

dN

Freddy Adu looks to have found a team as well, but this time its in the Turkish 2nd division at Caykur Rizespor.
-The city of Rize is in northwest Turkey on the coast of the Black Sea, and near the Georgia boarder.

dN

Chelsea has set a new transfer fee record of 50 Million Pounds to buy forward Fernando Torres from Liverpool. Wow!

ASIA

Asian Cup

Japan are champions! Hooray Japan! Hooray !

dN

Japan has won the Asian Cup, beating Australia 1-0 on a goal by Tadanari Lee in the 109th minute. (See the spectacular goal here.) The game had ended scoreless after 90 minutes.

dN

Al Jazeera reports that up to 5000 people with tickets did not get into the stadium for the Asian Cup final in Qatar after being stopped by heavily armed security people. No reason has still been given for the actions.
-Many others who did get in said their tickets were never even checked as they entered the stadium.

dN

Final
-Sat Jan 29
Japan 1-0 Australia - Jap goal by Tadanari Lee.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES THIS PAST WEEKEND

The Derby du Nord!
-Sat Jan 29
Lille 1-0 Lens - #1 Lille swept the season series after winning at 1-4 Lens back in September.

PICTURES OF THE DAY

A pair of snaps of Michael Bradley being introduced at his new club Aston Villa (from whom we stole these nice shots):































MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated gives us his 10 people in MLS to watch in 2011.

CHICAGO FIRE

Len Ziehm of the Sun on the Fire's offseason roster chaos.

dN

The Fire has cut goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra who they moved to the #1 spot last week when they dropped veteran John Busch. Wow. He lost his job half way through the season to Sean Johnson who should be their #1 for many years to come.

dN

Logan Pause has taken over the captains arm band from the retired CJ Brown.

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on Jeff Cunningham's return to Cowtown.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post checks in with Santino Quaranta who still faces that daily challenges of sobriety that many battle. And it sounds like he is fighting a good fight.

dN

And have you seen this new 3rd uniform from the Uniteds?












NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe reports that Shalrie Joseph didn't show up for the opening of Rev-camp 2011. Coach Stevie told Frank that "I don't know" where Shalrie is.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The Bulls signed another of their academy players today, and he is highly touted centerback Sacir Hot who just finished one season at Boston College.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian on head coach John Spencer.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province on the promising fullback Alain Rochat they brought in from Switzerland.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

The Atlanta Pro Soccer Challenge has been announced from Mar 9-13 featuring the Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution.
-Wed Mar 9
Columbus v New England
-Fri Mar 11
Houston v Columbus
-Sun Mar 13
Houston v New England

The tourney is being organized by the WPS team Atlanta Beat.

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

LE Eisenmenger of the Examiner does a Q & A with MLS marketing honcho Dan Courtemanche - Part 1 - and Part 2
-I find this guy intriguing - Whenever I have seen him in public he always seems to have this little smile on his face that says "I bet you would love to know some future tidbits about MLS that I have in my head." And I don't mean that in a snarky way. I am jealous.

NASL NEWS

Long time Montreal leader and goalkeeper Matt Jordan has retired.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

ESPN has bought the rights to show the Euro Championship in 2012 & 2016.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Mo Edu hit a monster frickin golazo! as Rangers beat Motherwell in the Scottish Cup.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN on Michael Bradley's move to England and Aston Villa. Big move.

dN

Eddie Johnson has been loaned out to Preston North End for the rest of the season by Fulham.
-PNE is lodged in 24th (last) place in the English Championship division.

dN

18 year old striker Bobby Wood made his debut as a late sub for 1860 Munich.

dN

Another 18 year old, midfielder Erik Opsahl has been signed by Reading in England.

dN

Game Action:

Americans in FA Cup - 4th Round
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Sun Jan 30 - went the full 90 in a 4-0 destruction of Tottenham.
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Sun Jan 30 - still not ready for action as they lost 3-2 at West Ham.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Sat Jan 29 - went the distance in a 3-1 win v Blackburn.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - Sat Jan 29 - in goal as they lost 0-1 v Stoke.
Stuart Holden - Bolton - Sat Jan 29 - came on as a sub in the 74th, getting a yellow card as they tied 0-0 v Wigan.
Tim Howard - Everton - Sat Jan 29 - played the entire match as they drew 1-1 v Chelsea.
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Sun Jan 30 - did not dress for a 4-0 win v Tottenham.
Jermiane Jones - Blackburn - Sat Jan 29 - on the bench for a 3-1 loss at Aston Villa.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Sat Jan 29 - did not dress as they won 3-1 v Blackburn.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Sun Jan 30 - did not suit up for a 3-2 win v Nottingham Forest.

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - on the bench as they drew 0-0 at Mechelen.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Brad Guzan - Hull City - went the distance in a scoreless draw v QPR.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - played the full match as they drew 0-0 at Crystal Palace.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Bournemouth.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the entire game as they drew 2-2 v Oldham.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they won 2-1 v Toulouse.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
DaMarcus Beasley - Hannover - did not suit up as they lost 2-0 at Leverkusen.
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - did dress for a 0-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - came on as a sub in the 60th min as they won 2-0 v Hamburg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance but lost 2-0 at Leverkusen.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - out injured as they lost 0-1 v Gladbach.
Daniel Williams - Freiburg - not in uniform as they won 0-1 at Stuttgart.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - came on as a sub in the 60th mi as they drew 1-1 at Rot Weiss Oberhausen.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - on the bench for a 1-3 win at Arminia Bielefeld.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - went the full 90 as they won 1-0 v Energie Cottbus.
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - made his debut as a sub in the 82nd min of a 1-1 draw v Duisburg.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - in goal for a 1-1 tie at 1860 Munich.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - out with the back injury as they won 2-1 v Feyenoord.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - came on as a sub in the 78th min but they lost 0-1 v Dordrecht.

SCOTLAND - League Cup Semifinals
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the distance scoring a goal as they won 2-1 v Motherwell.

SPAIN - Primera Division
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - did not dress for a 0-1 at Espanyol.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Feb 2 v Newcastle
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Tue Feb 1 at Manchester United
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - Wed Feb 2 at Bolton
Stuart Holden - Bolton - Wed Feb 2 v Wolverhampton
Tim Howard - Everton - Tue Feb 1 at Arsenal
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Wed Feb 2 v Newcastle - gone to Preston
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn - Wed Feb 2 v Tottenham
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Tue Feb 1 at Manchester United
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Wed Feb 2 at Blackpool

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Feb 1 v Ipswich
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Feb 1 at Coventry
Mike Grella - Leeds United - Tue Feb 1 at Hull
Brad Guzan - Hull City - Tue Feb 1 v Leeds
Just Added: Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Tue Feb 1 at Barnsley
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Tue Feb 1 v Millwall

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - Tue Feb 1 at Yeovil Town
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Feb 1 at Huddersfield Town

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Games Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Daniel Antunez - Estudiantes Tecos - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Guadalajara.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench for a 0-1 loss v Toluca.
Edgar Castillo - Puebla - came on as a sub in the 73rd min but lost 2-0 at Atlante.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - came on as a sub at half time but they lost 0-4 v Cruz Azul.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a sub in the 62ndmin as they won 2-0 v Puebla.
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - out injured as they lost 1-0 at Tecos.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - on the bench for a 0-4 loss v Cruz Azul.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - went the full 90 as they drew 3-3 v Leon.
Marco Vidal - Leon - went the distance as they drew 3-3 at Tijuana.

MEXICO

Gio Dos Santos has gone from Tottenham to Racing Santander in Spain on a loan deal. Is this the place he finally gets on the field?

ENGLAND

Ajax has sold Uruguaian forward Luis Suarez to Liverpool.

Liverpool turned around and spent some of those Mega-Torres-Bucks on Newcastle forward Andy Carroll, who is third in the Premiership this season with 11 goals.

dN

FA CUP - 4th Round

du Nord Recap: Fulham won big, while Aston Villa, Birmingham, Man U, Arsenal, Stoke and West Ham all advanced. While Everton v Chelsea, Bolton v Wigan and Notts Co v Man City all ended in draws and must be replayed. But Blackburn, Wolverhampton, and Tottenham are all out! Small fries from Leyton Orient and Crawley Town are still alive! Gotta love that!

-Sat Jan 29
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Swansea City 1-2 Leyton Orient
Aston Villa 3-1 Blackburn
Torquay United 0-1 Crawley Town
Watford 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Bolton 0-0 Wigan
Burnley 3-1 Burton Albion
Birmingham 3-2 Coventry
Stevenage 1-2 Reading
Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 Hereford United
Southampton 1-2 Manchester United
-Sun Jan 30
Wolverhampton 0-1 Stoke
Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Notts County 1-1 Manchester City
West Ham 3-2 Nottingham Forest
Fulham 4-0 Tottenham

dN

A full round of Premier League games are on tap for Tue and Wed.

Top of the Table:
51 Man United - Tue Feb 1 v Aston Villa (23 GP)
46 Arsenal - Tue Feb 1 v Everton (23 GP)
45 Man City - Wed Feb 2 at Birmingham (24 GP)
41 Chelsea - Tue Feb 1 at Sunderland (23 GP)
38 Tottenham - Wed Feb 2 at Blackburn (23 GP)

SPAIN

du Nord Recap: Real Madrid lost their 2nd game of the season and are now 7 points behind #1 Barcelona who won easily again. #3 Villarreal are now just 6 points behind Real after winning on the road.

Top of the Table: (21 GP)
58 Barcelona - Sat Jan 29 W 0-3 at Hercules
51 Real Madrid - Sun Jan 30 L 1-0 at Osasuna
45 Villarreal - Sun Jan 30 W 0-1 at Espanyol
41 Valencia - Mon Jan 31 D 1-1 at Racing Santander
37 Espnayol - Sun Jan 30 L 0-1 v Villarreal

dN

Atletico Madrid has signed forward Sergio Aguero to a long term contract extension that lasts until 2014.

dN

COPA DEL REY

Semifinals
2nd Leg
-Wed Feb 2
Almeria V Barcelona (0-5)
Real Madrid v Sevilla (1-0)

FRANCE

du Nord Recap: Lille keeps moving forward with another win, while #2 PSg keeps pace, but #3 Lyon, #4 Rennes & #5 Marsielle all dropped points.

Top of the Table: (21 GP)
41 Lille - Last: Sat Jan 29 W 1-0 v Lens
37 PSG - Last: Sat Jan 29 W 1-2 at Arles
34 Lyon - Last: Sat Jan 29 L 2-1 at Valeniennes
34 Rennes - Last: Sat Jan 29 L 5-1 at Sochaux
33 Marsielle - Last: Sun Jan 30 D 0-0 at Monaco

GERMANY

du Nord Recap: Dortmund churns on at the top, while Leverkusen keeps pace, and Bayern climbs to #3 but still 14 points out of the lead. Hannover loses again and drop further back now to #5.

Top of the Table: (20 GP)
50 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Jan 29 W 0-3 at Wolfsburg
39 Bayer Leverkusen - Fri Jan 28 W 2-0 v Hannover
36 Bayern Munich - Sat Jan 29 W 1-3 at Werder Bremen
36 Mainz - Sat Jan 29 W 0-1 at Kaiserslautern
34 Hannover - Fri Jan 28 L 2-0 at Leverkusen

ITALY

du Nord Recap: Milan & Naploli were easy winners at the top, but Roma had their game with Bologna suspended due to heavy snow, leaving Lazio & Inter to jump them in the standings with their own wins, while former #5 Juve lost to Udinese who are on fire and took Juve's stop in the standings.

A full compliment of mid-week games are on the way.

Top of the Table: (22 GP)
47 Milan - Last: Sat Jan 29 W 0-2 at Catania - Next: Tue Feb 1 v Lazio
43 Napoli - Last: Sun Jan 30 W 4-0 v Sampdoria - Next: Wed Feb 2 at Chievo
40 Lazio - Last: Sat Jan 29 W 2-0 v Fioretina - Next: Tue Feb 1 at Milan
38 Inter - Last: Sun Jan 30 W 3-2 v Palermo (21 GP) - Next: Thu Feb 3 at Bari
38 Roma - Last: Sun Jan 30 SUSP at Bologna (21 GP) - Next: Wed Feb 2 v Brescia
36 Udinese - Last: Sun Jan 30 W 1-2 at Juventus - Next: Wed Feb 2 at Palermo
35 Juventus - Last: Sun Jan L 1-2 30 v Udinese - Next: Wed Feb 2 v Bologna

COPA LIBERTADORES

Intial Round (to fill the final 6 spots in the Group Stage)
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 1
#5 Quito (Ecuador) v Independiente (Argentina) (0-2)
#2 Chiapas Jaguares (Mexico) v Alianza (Peru) (2-0)
-Wed Feb 2
#1 Tolima (Colombia) v Corinthians(Brazil) (0-0)
#4 Union Espanola (Chile) v BolĂ­var (Bolivia) (1-0)
#6 Gremio (Brazil) v Liverpool (Uruguay) (2-2)
-Thu Feb 3
#3 Petare (Venezuela) v Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) (0-1)

AFRICA

Dave Zirin at Sports Illustrated tells us that local football clubs are playing a role in the Egyptian political upheavel.

VERY OFF TOPIC

Let's give the podium to Charles Barkley. NBA legend Charles Barkley. I can't believe what this guy says sometimes, because I just don't expect it from pro athletes. Thank you Mr Barkley. Via Dave Zirin too.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Some News for Fri Jan 28, 2011

STARTERS

The Derby du Nord!
-Sat Jan 29
Lille v Lens - 2pm Central

dN

Don't be surprised if this USA game in Cairo against Egypt on Feb 9 gets canceled. The political unrest is really cranking up, and the people who are going after the president are also going after the USA for "propping him up."

dN

The back injury suffered by Oguchi Onyewu is said to be NOT serious, but he will still be out of action for a couple of weeks most likely.

dN

Michael Bradley looks all but certain to be heading for Galatasaray as early as this weekend. Rumors are hot.
-Or is that Sunderland. Or Palermo. Or.... Bunky County?

STORY OF THE DAY

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated is pretty convinced that Bob Bradley is moving Team USA into the 4-2-3-1 formation as their new standard.
-AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH - this makes me insane!

ASIA

Asian Cup
Jan 7-29
Qatar

dN

Final
-Sat Jan 29
Japan v Australia - 9am Central

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Scott French of ESPN does a quick Q & A with the man Landon Donovan.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

World Cup hand-ball-off-the-line-expert Luis Suarez has been sold by Ajax to Liverpool. Could be big!?

STAT OF THE DAY

The MLS salary cap for the 2011 season is $2.68M.

FACT OF THE DAY

In a MLS restructuring of the 2 conferences Houston has moved to the Eastern Division, and the two new teams Portland and Vancouver are in the Western.

Here is how the 2 conferences will look now:
Eastern
Chicago Fire SC
Columbus Crew
DC United
Houston Dynamo
New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Sporting Kansas City
Toronto FC
Western
CD Chivas USA
Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Soccer 365's rumor machine for a Friday.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

John Molinaro of the CBC has an update on roster status of domestic/international players for the 2 Canadian squads in the league.

dN

Soccer America gives us the full list of all the academy players that MLS teams have signed in the past year.
-28 players have been signed by the senior clubs, while 5 teams have not signed any (Columbus, Portland, Salt Lake, San Jose & Seattle.)

dN

You can read the official roster rules for the 2011 season.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Raps signed winger Jaime Smith to a new contract.

COLUMBUS CREW

Jeff Cunningham is officially back in the canary and black uni for 2011.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

William Browning of Yahoo writes about the significance of the new stadium.

dN

Andrea Canales of Goal.com talks to Super Spork Omar Bravo.

LA GALAXY

LA has signed midfielder Miguel Lopez on a loan deal from Quilmes in Argentina.

dN

And goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts now has a Green Card and is no longer considered an international player.

dN

Phil Collin of the Daily News looks at the roster as preseason begins.

dN

LA has signed 16 year old academy player Jack McBean.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

After nearly 12 months of red tape the team has finally signed forward Luke Rodgers, who had played for Bakke at Notts County in '09.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Tony Donatelli who has played against my teams Thunder/Stars and killed us so many damn times I could scream, has signed with San Jose. Great pick up.

NASL NEWS

Brian Straus of Fanhouse on the leagues plan for earning official sanctioning from US Soccer.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer reports that Ricardo Clark has suffered a fractured left cheekbone that will keep him out of action until March 1.

dN

Andrew Vorce of Yanks Abroad talks to Brad Guzan.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

Americans in FA Cup - 4th Round
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Sun Jan 30 v Tottenham
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Sun Jan 30 at West Ham
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Sat Jan 29 v Blackburn
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - Sat Jan 29 v Stoke
Stuart Holden - Bolton - Sat Jan 29 v Wigan
Tim Howard - Everton - Sat Jan 29 v Chelsea
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Sun Jan 30 v Tottenham
Jermiane Jones - Blackburn - Sat Jan 29 at Aston Villa
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Sat Jan 29 v Blackburn
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Sun Jan 30 v Nottingham Forest

MEXICO

ultra-talented but troubled Mexican international Carlos Vela has been loaned out to West Bromich Albion by Arsenal where he never could get on the field.

ENGLAND

FA CUP - 4th Round
-Sat Jan 29
Everton v Chelsea
Swansea City v Leyton Orient
Aston Villa v Blackburn
Torquay United v Crawley Town
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Bolton v Wigan
Burnley v Burton Albion
Birmingham v Coventry
Wolverhampton v Stoke
Stevenage v Reading
Sheffield Wednesday v Hereford United
Southampton v Manchester United
-Sun Jan 30
Arsenal or Leeds v Huddersfield Town
Notts County v Manchester City
West Ham v Nottingham Forest
Fulham v Tottenham

SPAIN

Top of La Liga Table:
55 Barcelona - Sat Jan 29 at Hercules (20 GP)
51 Real Madrid - Sun Jan 30 at Osasuna (20 GP)
42 Villarreal - Sun Jan 30 at Espanyol (20 GP)
40 Valencia - Mon Jan 31 at Racing Santander (20 GP)
37 Espnayol - Sun Jan 30 v Villarreal(20 GP)

GERMANY

Top of the Bundesliga Table:
47 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Jan 29 at Wolfsburg (19 GP)
36 Bayer Leverkusen - Fri Jan 28 v Hannover (19 GP)
34 Hannover - Fri Jan 28 at Leverkusen (19 GP)
33 Bayern Munich - Sat Jan 29 at Werder Bremen (19 GP)
33 Mainz - Sat Jan 29 at Kaiserslautern (19 GP)

ITALY

Inter has shipped Jonathan Biabiany and a boat load of cash to Sampdoria for striker Giampaolo Pazzini.

dN

Top of the Serie A Table:
44 Milan - Sat Jan 29 at Catania (21 GP)
40 Napoli - Sun Jan 30 v Sampdoria (21 GP)
38 Roma - Sun Jan 30 at Bologna (21 GP)
37 Lazio - Sat Jan 29 v Fioretina (21 GP)
35 Inter - Sun Jan 30 v Palermo (20 GP)
35 Juventus - Sun Jan 30 v Udinese (21 GP)

dN

COPPA ITALIA - Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Palermo 0-0 Parma - Pal advances 5-4 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Wed Jan 26
Napoli 0-0 Inter - Int advances 5-4 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
Sampdoria 1-2 Milan
-Thu Jan 27
Juventus 0-2 Roma

Roma, Palermo, Inter and Milan are in the Semifinals.

EUROPE

NETHERLANDS - KNVB BEKER - Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
RKC Waalwijk 6-0 Noordwijk
-Wed Jan 26
Twente 1-1 PSV - Twe advances 7-6 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Utrecht 3-2 Groningen
-Thu Jan 27
Ajax 4-1 NAC Breda

Ajax, Waalwijk, Twente & Utrecht advance to the Semifinals next week.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Intial Round (to fill the final 6 spots in the Group Stage)
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 25
#5 Independiente (Argentina) 2-0 Quito (Ecuador) - Ind goals by Matias Defederico & Patricio Rodriguez.
-Wed Jan 26
#1 Corinthians(Brazil) 0-0 Tolima (Colombia)
#2 Alianza (Peru) 0-2 Chiapas Jaguares (Mexico) - CJ goals by Michael Pedroza & Jorge Rodriguez(PK).
#6 Liverpool (Uruguay) 2-2 Gremio (Brazil) - Liv goals by Maureen Franco & Nicolas Guevara. Gre goals by Andre Lima & Douglas.
-Thu Jan 27
#3 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) 1-0 Petare (Venezuela) - CP goal by Roberto Nanni.
#4 Bolivar (Bolivia) 0-1 Union Espanola (Chile) - UE goal by Fernando Cordero.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Some News for Wed Jan 26, 2011

STARTERS

Some potential bad news appears to be brewing in the Netherlands as Oguchi Onyewu was subbed off after just 26 minutes in a league Cup game today at Twente due to what is reported to be a lower back injury. (Game info: tied PSV 1-1, and advanced 7-6 in Penalty Kick Shootout. So some good news for Gooch.)

dN

A young American fullback named Sean Cunningham has signed a deal with Molde FK in Norway's top flight, and the team is coached by Manchester United goal poaching star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
-Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad has the story.

STORY OF THE DAY

BREAKING NEWS: Richard Keys has resigned from his TV commentator role at Sky Sports in England.

The two men from Sky Sports behind the misogynist statements scandal in England have both apologized. But their approach could hardly be more different. One sounds sincerely sorry about his what he said, the other is sorry that his words were heard on TV, not what he said.

-"It was wrong. We were wrong, totally and utterly wrong."
Richard Keys, who was suspended but still have a job, has gone on Talk Sport and talked openly about what happened. Keys talks about how wrong he was in his remarks.

-"I am very sorry that certain comments made by me have caused offense. Such comments were made off-air to work colleagues, and were of course never intended to be broadcast."
Andy Gray, who was fired, issued a statement apologizing that comes off more like a self-centered whitewash. Gray basically says that his hateful words were wrong only because they were heard by the public. And he is very sorry for his lost job, which he says he loved.

TEAM USA

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America considers which players from the January camp should be candidates for the upcoming match in Egypt.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN on Mixx Diskerud, who had a poor game against Chile, but possess a lot of talent. And he is just 20 years old.

STAT OF THE DAY

A recent Harris Poll of Americans asked them what their favorite sport was. Soccer is in 7th place, pretty much where I thought it would be.

Here is the top 10:

Pro football 31%
Baseball 17%
College football 12%
Auto racing 7%
Men's pro basketball 6%
Hockey 5%
Men's soccer 4%
Men's college basketball 4%
Men's golf 2%
Track & field 2%

OOF

Club America of Mexico has fired head coach Manuel Lapuente after just 3 games in the new season. They have 2 losses and a draw to show for their efforts.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

The team will have a new shirt sponsor for this season - Corona Extra.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Noah Davis at MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with Marvell Wynne.

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch tells us about Jeff Cunningham's arrival at training camp, without a contract.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Houston will break ground on their new stadium on Sat Jan 29.
-More from the Houston Business Journal.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Pete Grathoff of the Star has the right idea - the Sporks new stadium needs a connection to team founder Lamar Hunt.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Kristian Dyer of MLSsoccer.com on the team's new Norwegian - Jan Gunnar Solli.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

The Shin Guardian does a Q & A with new dues paying Union member Brian Carroll.

dN

The team released goalkeeper Brad Knighton from the team.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The Bers signed 2 players from the 2010 D2 squad - goalkeeper Adin Brown and centerback Steve Purdy.

REAL SALT LAKE

The Casa Grande Dispatch looks at a bunch of players from RSL's Arizona youth team who are getting a chance to train with the senior team during preseason.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Noah Davis at MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with Chris Wondolowski.

dN

The Quakes got the rights to newly signed Generation Adidas goalkeeper David Bingham. He is young, but highly touted.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Tim Booth of the AP talks to head coach Sigi Schmid about the third MLS season for the Sounders. Via USA Today.

TORONTO FC

The team has headed off to Turkey to begin their preseason training.

dN

John Molinaro of the CBC says that even though Dwayne DeRosario in Toronto for the start of preseason, don't think he isn't going to demand a raise.

dN

The Star has an interview with new head coach Aron Winter.

dN

Gareth Wheeler of The Sun sees a lot of work ahead for the new braintrust at TFC.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun on the teams Veteran/Greenhorn roster complexion.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brad Guzan's loan deal to Hull has been extended through February.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to one of the new breed of foreign raised American players - Timothy Chandler at Nurnberg.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - League Cup Semifinals 2nd Leg
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Wed Jan 26 started and went 106 min but lost in Extra Added Time 3-1 at Birmingham, thus being eliminated 4-3 on aggregate.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Jan 26 went the distance but lost 1-0 at Liverpool.
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Wed Jan 26 didn't dress as they lost 1-0 at Liverpool.

GERMANY - DFB Pokal Quarterfinals
David Yelldell - Duisburg - Wed Jan 26 played the full match and won 2-0 v Kaiserslautern to advance to the Semifinals.

NETHERLANDS - KNVB Beker Quarterfinals
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - Wed Jan 26 started but was subbed out due to injury in the 26th min but they won 7-6 in a Penalty Kick Shootout after the game ended 1-1 v PSV Eindhoven.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - Wed Jan 26 came on as a sub in the 67th min and won 0-2 at Hibs.

CANADA

Gerry Dobson of Sports Net with the latest on Team Canada.

dN

And here is what their new shirts from Umbro look like:















ENGLAND

The next round of the FA Cup will be played this weekend, so no league games on tap.

dN

LEAGUE CUP

It will be Birmingham City v Arsenal for the Carling Cup on Sun Feb 27.

Semifinals
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 25
Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich - Ars advances 3-1 on aggregate.
-Wed Jan 26
Birmingham 3-1 West Ham - Bir advances 4-3 on aggregate.

SPAIN

COPA DEL REY

After today's 1st leg games its looking almost certain to be Barca v Madrid for the Cup.

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Jan 26
Barcelona 5-0 Almeria
Sevilla 0-1 Real Madrid
2nd Leg
-Wed Feb 2
Almeria V Barcelona (0-5)
Real Madrid v Sevilla (1-0)

GERMANY

DFB POKAL

It will be Schalke, Cottbus, Duisburg and Bayern in the Semifinals. No matchups set yet for Tue Mar 3/Wed Mar 4.

Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Schalke 3-2 Nurnberg
-Wed Jan 26
Energie Cottbus 1-0 Hoffenheim
Duisburg 2-0 Kaiserslautern
Alemannia Aachen 0-4 Bayern Munchen

ITALY

COPPA ITALIA

Palermo, Inter and Milan await the 4th team in the Semifinals.

Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Palermo 0-0 Parma - Pal advances 5-4 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Wed Jan 26
Napoli 0-0 Inter - Int advances 5-4 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
Sampdoria 1-2 Milan
-Thu Jan 27
Juventus v Roma

EUROPE

Uli Hesse of ESPN wonders why players even sign contracts these days. (thanks to Dylan for the heads up)

dN

Netherlands - KNVB BEKER
Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
RKC Waalwijk 6-0 Noordwijk
-Wed Jan 26
Twente 1-1 PSV - Twe advances 7-6 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Utrecht 3-2 Groningen
-Thu Jan 27
Ajax v NAC Breda

COPA LIBERTADORES

Initial Round (to fill the final 6 spots in the Group Stage)
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 25
#5 Independiente (Argentina) 2-0 Quito (Ecuador) - Ind goals by Matias Defederico & Patricio Rodriguez.
-Wed Jan 26
#1 Corinthians(Brazil) v Tolima (Colombia)
#2 Alianza (Peru) v Chiapas Jaguares (Mexico)
#6 Liverpool (Uruguay) v Gremio (Brazil)
-Thu Jan 27
#3 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) v Petare (Venezuela)
#4 Bolivar (Bolivia) v Union Espanola (Chile)

ASIA

Asian Cup
Jan 7-29
Qatar

dN

Japan has lost their midfield engine Shinji Kagawa due to a broken foot that could be a serious injury.

dN

Final
-Sat Jan 29
Japan v Australia

ENDERS

Waddaya say we end today with a little sacrilege!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Some News for Tue Jan 25, 2011

STARTERS

Netherlands & Bayern Munich captain Mark Van Bommel has been sold to Milan.
-Message to all Serie A players - go buy some bigger shin and ankle guards.

dN

It will be Japan v Australia for the Asian Cup championship on Saturday morning.

STORY OF THE DAY

I never like it when someone loses their job, but Andy Gray has been justly fired by Sky Sports for horrible comments he made about a female referee and other sexist shit-talk.

Owen Gibson of the Guardian with news of another incident involving Andy Gray and a 3rd Sky reporter dissing the woman who was to be the assistant referee in a match (this time caught on video), on the same day that Gray and Richard Keys were caught spewing sexist remarks on air (they thought they were off.)

Cristina Odone of The Telegraph feels the duo should not be fired, which would only make them sympathetic victims.

TEAM USA

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com sees a few positives from the just finished January camp.

FACT OF THE DAY

Wayne Rooney makes $41,000 per day.

That is more then I will make this whole year.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Today's name for the hopper: Georgios Samaras.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

The team will have a new shirt sponsor for this season - Corona Extra.

FC DALLAS

The Kalamazoo Gazette with an article on hometown boy Eric Alexander.

DC UNITED

Steve Goff of the Washington Post writes about DCU as they officially begin 2011 on the field.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Great video from the team of forward Kei Kamara getting a taste for snow. Literally. Hilarious!

LA GALAXY

Here is the team's preseason schedule.

dN

Cobi Jones's spot on the assistant coaches bench has been filled by Bruce Arena protege and former KC/DC head coach Curt Onalfo.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccertalks to GM Erik Soler about what positions the team is stilling looking to fill for the new season.

dN

Lewis also talks to new signing Jan Gunnar Solli.

dN

And finally Lewis fill us in an the health of Thierry Henry.
-Henry is recharging his battery. But he is not 100%.

dN

The Hereford Times talks to Carl Robinson about the loss of his father, and football.

dN

Academy player Matt Kassel has officially signed a contract with the senior team.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

John Smallwood of the Daily News on year two for striker Danny Mwanga.

dN

Jeremiah White is getting a look in the Union preseason.
-White has spent the last several years at various teams around Europe.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Philadelphia Inquirer on the return to top form last season for Bobby Convey.
-He is getting an award from his native Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun on the start of Caps-camp.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

Here is the Stars 2011 regular season schedule:

Sat Apr 09 at Atlanta
Sat Apr 16 at Miami
Tue Apr 26 at Puerto Rico
Sat Apr 30 v Carolina

Sat May 07 v Miami
Sat May 14 v Atlanta
Wed May 18 v Puerto Rico
Sun May 22 at Edmonton
Sat May 28 v Tampa Bay

Wed Jun 01 at Puerto Rico
Sat Jun 04 at Atlanta
Sat Jun 11 at Miami
Sat Jun 18 v Edmonton

Mon Jul 04 v Edmonton
Sat Jul 09 v Carolina
Sun Jul 17 v Tampa Bay
Fri Jul 22 v Montreal

Sat Aug 06 at Montreal
Wed Aug 10 v Miami
Sat Aug 13 at Tampa Bay
Wed Aug 17 at Carolina
Sat Aug 20 at Montreal
Sat Aug 27 v Montreal

Sat Sep 03 at Edmonton
Wed Sep 07 v Tampa Bay
Sat Sep 10 v Atlanta
Sat Sep 17 at Tampa Bay
Sat Sep 24 at Carolina

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Rob Hughes of the New York Times on Brad Friedel's continued excellence in goal, but big financial troubles off the field.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Tue Jan 25 in goal for a 1-2 win at Wigan.

GERMANY - DFB Pokal Quarterfinals
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - Tue Jan 25 came on as a sub in the 88th min but lost 3-2 at Schalke and are out of the tourney.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

ENGLAND - League Cup Semifinals 2nd Leg
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Wed Jan 26 at Birmingham leading 2-1

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Jan 26 at Liverpool
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Wed Jan 26 at Liverpool

GERMANY - DFB Pokal Quarterfinals
David Yelldell - Duisburg - Wed Jan 26 v Kaiserslautern

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - Wed Jan 26 at Hibs.

AMERICANS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad reports that goalkeeper Matt Glaeser has signed with Bolivian club Jorge Wilstermann (yes that is the real name), and will get a chance to play in this years Copa Libertadores.

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com was on a trip to Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam and got a chance to sit down with former prodigy Lee Nguyen.
-Lee is the most popular soccer player in the country.

ENGLAND

LEAGUE CUP

Arsenal advances to the Final!

Semifinals
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 25
Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich - Ars advances 3-1 on aggregate.
-Wed Jan 26
Birmingham v West Ham (1-2)

SPAIN

Giuseppe Rossi has signed a new contract with Villarreal that runs through the end of the 2015-16 season.

dN

COPA DEL REY
Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Jan 26
Barcelona v Almeria
Sevilla v Real Madrid
2nd Leg
-Wed Feb 2
Almeria V Barcelona (-)
Real Madrid v Sevilla (-)

GERMANY

DFB POKAL

Schalke is the first team to advance to the Semifinals.

Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Schalke 3-2 Nurnberg
-Wed Jan 26
Energie Cottbus v Hoffenheim
Duisburg v Kaiserslautern
Alemannia Aachen v Bayern Munchen

ITALY

COPPA ITALIA

Palermo has advanced to the Semifinals.

Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Palermo 0-0 Parma - Pal advances 5-4 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Wed Jan 26
Napoli v Inter
Sampdoria v Milan
-Thu Jan 27
Juventus v Roma

EUROPE

Jack Bell of the New York Times on Europe's new breakout goalscorer for 2010-11 - Marc Janko of Twente.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Intial Round (to fill the final 6 spots in the Group Stage)
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 25
#5 Independiente (Argentina) v Quito (Ecuador)
-Wed Jan 26
#1 Corinthians(Brazil) v Tolima (Colombia)
#2 Alianza (Peru) v Chiapas Jaguares (Mexico)
#6 Liverpool (Uruguay) v Gremio (Brazil)
-Thu Jan 27
#3 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) v Petare (Venezuela)
#4 Bolivar (Bolivia) v Union Espanola (Chile)

ASIA

Asian Cup
Jan 7-29
Qatar

dN

Japan topped S Korea on penalty kicks as they two best teams in the region had to face off in the Semifinals.

Australia easily won the other Semi destroying the Uzbeks 6-0. Oof.

dN

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 25
Japan 2-2 S Korea - Jap advances 3-0 in a Penalty Kick Shootout - Jap goals by Ryoichi Maeda & Hajime Hosogai. SK goals by Sung-Yong Ki & Jae-Won Hwang.
Uzbekistan 0-6 Australia - Aus goals by Harry Kewel, Sasa Ognenovski, David Carney, Brett Emerton, Carl Valeri & Robbie Kruse.

dN

Final
-Sat Jan 29
Japan v Australia

ENDERS

DJ Henry Rollins has been cooking up some big rock n roll mixes for us that don't have to adhere to the FCC rules like his radio show on KCRW has to. Included is a particularly vile and hilarious Bill Hicks romp on Rush Limburger. This is his second blast, and clocks in at around 1 hour 20 minutes. Download or listen here. Wild and fantastic stuff! Crank it Jack!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Some News for Mon Jan 24, 2011

STARTERS

Honduras won the Central American championship on Sunday. Huge congrats to them. Cerveza Hurra!

dN

Dempsey and Spector scored goals again this weekend, while Jermaine Jones made his debut in England.

dN

The three favorites Japan, South Korea and Australia are all in the Asian Cup Semifinals, joined by big surprise Uzbekistan.

dN

The 6 two legged preliminary match-ups in the Copa Libertadores kicks off tonight Tuesday night! See details below in Copa Libertadores section.

STORY OF THE DAY

Two of Sky Sports biggest names in TV football commentary, Andy Gray and Richard Keys, were suspended after being caught speaking harshly about women in football when they thought they were off the air. They made comments about a female assistant referee, and West Ham FC executive Karen Brady who has recently been complaining publicly about the blatant sexism in the game.

The pair of high-grade morons were suspended from calling a game today. But no word has come on whether there will be further repercussions. Doubtful.

Sky had this to say.

The Mirror has the full story.

Anna Kessel of the Guardian on the subject of sexist idiots with a microphone.

Personally I think they should both be fired. If they made racist comments like that I believe they would be fired, and I see this as no different.

TEAM USA

The annual January training camp for young and out-of season players with national team potential has ended with a friendly game against Chile.

dN

And if nothing else came out of that game at least we have this video clip: I Like The Boon-Boo-Ree

dN

Match & Score:
-Sat Jan 22
USA 1-1 Chile - USA goal by Teal Bunbury(PK). Chi goal by Esteban Paredes.
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA
Attendance: 18,580

dN

Match report from US Soccer.
Match report by Mike Woitalla of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post game analysis by Ives Galarcep of Fox Sports.
Post game analysis by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Match report & player ratings by Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.
Post game analysis by Nick Green of the Daily Breeze.
Post game analysis by Jeffrey King of Fanhouse.
Match report by Phil Collin of the LA Daily News.
Match re-cap, with video, from US Soccer via the team's official blog.

dN

Scott French of ESPN LA reviews the night for Sean Franklin.

dN

My Thoughts

It was a good attendance, but we need to get to a point were even a small game like this should sell out the 27,000 tickets Home Depot Center. To me anything less is embarrassing.

A very sloppy game over all, but I did not expect much else. When guys are so amped up and spend little time together on the field you can't ever fully pull off exciting soccer.

Both teams played with that crazy young energy that borders on frantic.

That goal was one hell of finish by Paredes!

I am always baffled by the lack of offense the USA shows.

Once we got 2 forwards on the field the attack became a whole new world. I HATE 4-2-3-1. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaate it.

And if you are only going to go with one guy up top then why stick Chris Wondolowski up there when he is clearly out of his best position. Hell, Bunbury plays that roll for KC, give him the job, at least he has pro experience at it.

Who was good for the USA? No one was great that's for sure, but a couple were decent and we will leave it at that.

dN

du Nord Three Stars of the Game
1. Dax McCarty - stepped up as the captain and was the one guy who showed good skills for the full 90.
2. Esteban Paredes - great finish on the Chile goal.
3. Tim Ream - looked good in the centerback spot.
HATE TIP: has to go to Teal Bunbury & Juan Agudelo for turning on the lights in the last 1/3 of the field.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Where oh where is DaMarcus Beasley? It would be nice if he checked in with us.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

George Dohrmann of Sports Illustrated on how the progress of Juan Agudelo needs to be managed.

PODCASTS

After a quick 2 month break the crew from United Mania are back with their first new podcast of the season. A must listen for DC fans, and always enjoyable for the rest of us too. Download or listen here.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Could you see Diego Forlan in a Seattle uniform? The rumor from Spain is that the Sounders have made contact.

dN

Today's name for the hopper: Marcos Senna

dN

The BBC reports that Robbie Savage has said thanks, but no thanks to an offer from Vancouver. I think that's the end of that. (thanks to Bart for the link)

dN

Soccer 365 gives us words on Ze Roberto (his annual mention), Ryan O'Leary, Jozy Altidore, Joan Capdevila, Sacir Hot, Giovanni dos Santos and more.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CHICAGO FIRE

Here is the Fire's preseason schedule.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose de Jesus Ortiz on the opening of Dyna-camp. Lots of new players.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer ponders how the team will grow the talent of young Juan Agudelo.

dN

The Bull has announced the signing of 29 year old Norwegian right midfielder Jan Gunnar Solli from Brann.

dN

The team has also clarified that they did release Sinisa Ubiparipovic.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian on the new Timbers first day on the field.
-And words from head coach John Spencer.

dN

Kip Kesgard also of the Oregonian with loads of off the field Timbs notes. Good stuff here.

REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the Tribune introduces us to new folks at RSL preseason day 1.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The El Paso Times on their hometown boy made #1 overall draft pick Omar Salgado.

dN

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun on the new signing - Alain Rochat from Zurich FC.

dN

Marc Weber of the Province ask 5 important questions the team must answer in training camp.

USA U20 TEAM

George Dohrmann of Sports Illustrated on who might be on the upcoming World Cup qualifying squad.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Clint Dempsey scored both of Fulham's goals this weekend, the 2nd from the Penalty Spot!

dN

Jonny Spector scored for West Ham.

dN

And repeating from last Friday, Edson Buddle scored in his debut for Ingolstadt.

dN

Jermaine Jones made his debut in England for Blackburn and got the win.
-The team's website has quotes from head coach Steve Kean about Jones debut.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - on the bench but did not play as they won 2-0 v Standard Liege.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the distance scoring both goals (the 2nd via PK) as they won 2-0 v Stoke.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - in goal as they won 1-0 at home over Manchester City.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - on the bench as they lost 0-3 v Liverpool.
Stuart Holden - Bolton - started and went 87 minutes but lost 0-4 v Chelsea. Oof.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance in a 2-2 draw v West Ham.
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - was not on the game day roster as they won 2-0 v Stoke.
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn - went the full 90 as they won 2-0 v West Brom.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - was not on the game day roster as they won 1-0 v Manchester City.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - played the whole match scoring their first goal as they drew 2-2 at Everton.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - not on the game day roster as they lost 0-1 v Nottingham Forest.
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - was not part of the team yet as they won 0-1 at Derby Co.
Brad Guzan - Hull City - in goal for a 1-1 draw at Reading.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - started and went 86 minutes as they won 1-2 at Sheffield United.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - sat on the bench watching the team lose 2-0 at Charlton.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - went the distance in a 0-1 win at Notts County.

FRANCE Coupe de France - Round of 32
Charlie Davies - Sochaux - Fri Jan 21 didn't suit up as they won 2-1 v Paris FC.
Quentin Westburg - Evian - Sat Jan 22 had to watch from the bench as they lost 1-0 at Strasbourg.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - team was out of the cup so they were off.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
DaMarcus Beasley - Hannover - nowhere in sight at they lost 0-1 at Schalke.
Michael Bradley - Monchengladbach - came on as a sub in the 86th min as they lost 1-3 v Leverkusen.
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - came on as a sub in the 56th min of a 1-1 tie at Freiburg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the entire game but lost 0-1 v Schalke.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - went the distance in a losing effort 1-0 at Hamburg.
Daniel Williams - Freiburg - wasn't suited up for a 1-1 tie v Nurnberg.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - started and went 88 minutes scoring a goal in his debut that they tied 1-1 v Duisburg.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - came on as a sub in the 85th min of a 4-2 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - in goal but lost 4-2 at Alemannia Aachen.
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - in the 18 but did not play while they won 0-1 at Osnabruck.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - in goal as usual and drew 1-1 at Ingolstadt.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - went the full 90 picking up his first Dutch yellow card as they won 1-3 at Groningen.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - came on as a sub in the 80th min as they won 1-2 at Cambuur.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - started and went 76 minutes but lost 1-0 at Hearts.

SPAIN - Primera Division
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - on the bench but not the field for a 2-1 win v Real Sociedad.

dN

Coming Up: (all possible players are listed)

ENGLAND - League Cup Semifinals 2nd Leg
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Wed Jan 26 at Birmingham leading 2-1

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Jan 26 at Liverpool
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Tue Jan 25 at Wigan
Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Wed Jan 26 at Liverpool
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Tue Jan 25 at Wigan

ENGLAND - Championship Division
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Jan 25 v Bristol City

GERMANY - DFB Pokal Quarterfinals
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - Tue Jan 25 at Schalke
David Yelldell - Duisburg - Wed Jan 26 v Kaiserslautern

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - Wed Jan 26 at Hibs.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Games Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Isaac Acuna - Queretaro - on the bench but did not play as they lost 0-3 v Morelia.
Daniel Antunez - Estudiantes Tecos - on the bench for a 2-0 loss at Puebla.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - started and went 55 minutes as they won 1-2 at America.
Edgar Castillo - Puebla - did not dress for a 2-0 win v Estudiantes.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - came on as a sub in the 87th min of a 1-1 draw at Santos Laguna.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a sub in the 82nd min but they lost 1-0 at Monterrey.
Sammy Ochoa - Estudiantes Tecos - didn't dress as they lost 2-0 at Puebla,
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - started but came out injured in the 22nd min as they tied 1-1 v San Luis.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - on the bench but did not play in a 1-1 tie at Santos Laguna.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Altamira. NEXT: Tue Jan 25 at Univ Guadalajara.
Joaquin Hernandez - Indios - did not suit up as they lost 1-0 at Leon.
Marco Vidal - Leon - played the entire match as they won 1-0 v Indios.

CONCACAF

Here are the full 12 teams for the 2011 CONCACAF Championship Gold Cup:
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guatemala
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Panama
El Salvador
USA

The tournament runs Jun 5-25.

CANADA

Nigel Reed of the CBC on a tug of war between Canada and Jamaica over young talented Blackburn forward Junior Hoilett. (second part of article - scroll down)

COPA CENTROAMERICANA

The Central American (UNCAF) championship is finished, hosted by Panama.

dN

Honduras are the champions! Defeating Costa Rica. Both teams are in the Gold Cup.

Panama beat El Salvador for 3rd place. Both teams are in the Gold Cup.

And Guatemala secured 5th place and the final spot in the 2011 Gold Cup.

dN

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 21
Panama 1-1 Costa Rica - CR wins 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shoot out - Pan goal by Blas Perez. CR goal by Celso Borges.
Honduras 2-0 El Salvador - Hon goals by Johnny Leveron & Marvin Chavez.

dN

5th Place - winner gets the final spot in the Gold Cup.
-Fri Jan 21
Nicaragua 1-2 Guatemala - Nic goal by Felix Rodriquez. Gua goals by Gregory Ruiz & Manuel Leon.

dN

3rd Place
-Sun Jan 23
Panama 0-0 El Salvador - Pan wins 5-4 in Penalty Kick Shootout.

dN

Final
-Sun Jan 23
Honduras 2-1 Costa Rica - Hon goals by Walter Martinez & Emil Martinez. CR goal by Marcos Urena.

ENGLAND

Simon Burnton of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Prem this weekend.

dN

du Nord Recap: That gagging sound was just the billions of desert dried euros being choked down by Man City as they flopped again. The other 3 contenders, Man U, the Arse and Chelsea all won handily.

Top of the Table this weekend:
48 Man United - Sat Jan 22 W 5-0 v Birmingham (22 GP)
46 Arsenal - Sat Jan 22 W 3-0 v Wigan (23 GP)
45 Man City - Sat Jan 22 L 1-0 at Aston Villa (24 GP)
41 Chelsea - Mon Jan 24 W 0-4 at Bolton (23 GP)
38 Tottenham - Sat Jan 22 D 1-1 at Newcastle (23 GP)

dN

LEAGUE CUP
Semifinals
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 25
Arsenal v Ipswich (0-1)
-Wed Jan 26
Birmingham v West Ham (1-2)

SPAIN

Phil Ball of ESPN gives us a fantastic history lesson on Spanish top flight soccer. Awesome.

dN

Gabriele Marcotti at the Wall Street Journal wonders if the current Barcelona team is the best 11 ever.

dN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on the wild Valencia v Malaga game, and the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

du Nord Recap: Nothing changed in the least with the top 5 all winning. Ho-hum.

Top of the Table this weekend:
55 Barcelona - Sat Jan 22 W 3-0 v Racing Santander (20 GP)
51 Real Madrid - Sun Jan 23 W 1-0 v Mallorca (20 GP)
42 Villarreal - Sun Jan 23 W 2-1 v Real Sociedad (20 GP)
40 Valencia - Sat Jan 22 W 4-3 v Malaga (20 GP)
37 Espnayol - Sun Jan 23 W 1-3 at Getafe (20 GP)

dN

COPA DEL REY
Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Jan 26
Barcelona v Almeria
Sevilla v Real Madrid

FRANCE

Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated on the sinking of Monaco.

dN

COUPE DE FRANCE

du Nord Recap: Both Bordeaux and Lyon were knocked out of the tourney, while other big names like Sochaux, Rennes, PSG & Lille advanced to the Round of 16 which will be played on Wed Feb 2.

Round of 32
-Fri Jan 21
Sochaux 2-1 Paris
-Sat Jan 22
Chambery 1-1 Brest
Clermont 1-3 Reims
Angers 1-0 Bordeaux
Nimes 1-2 Nancy
Boulogne 0-1 Drancy
Nantes 2-1 Raon-l'Etape
Quevilly 1-1 Martigues
Fontenay 0-1 Lorient
Cherbourg 0-1 Le Mans
Strasbourg 1-0 Evian
-Sun Jan 23
Vaulx 0-2 Stade Rennes
Sedan 0-1 Metz
Agen 2-3 Paris St Germain
Lille 1-0 Wasquehal
Nice 1-0 Lyon

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on Fremdschamen, Matthias Sammer as David Brent, and the weekend in the Bundesliga.

dN

du Nord Recap: Everone else is so far behind that it didn't matter if #1 Dortmunc only got 1 point, But Bayern did win big, so that threat is still there. And Leverkusen swapped spit with Hannover again.

Top of the Table this weekend:
47 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Jan 22 D 1-1 v Stuttgart (19 GP)
36 Bayer Leverkusen - Sun Jan 23 W 1-3 at Monchengladbach (19 GP)
34 Hannover - Sat Jan 22 L 0-1 v Schalke (19 GP)
33 Bayern Munich - Sat Jan 22 W 5-1 v Kaiserslautern (19 GP)
33 Mainz - Sat Jan 22 L 0-1 v Wolfsburg (19 GP)

dN

DFB POKAL
Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Schalke v Nurnberg
-Wed Jan 26
Energie Cottbus v Hoffenheim
Duisburg v Kaiserslautern
Alemannia Aachen v Bayern Munchen

ITALY

Gabriele Marcotti of Sports Illustrated on the high quality season so far at Lazio.

dN

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Udinese lining up to kick Inter in what my Mom would call "the Slats", and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

dN

du Nord Recap: Milan and Napoli rolled on, as Roma moved up to #3, while Lazio and Inter fell on their collective face.

Top of the Table this weekend:
44 Milan - Sun Jan 23 W 2-0 v Cesena (21 GP)
40 Napoli - Sun Jan 23 W 0-2 at Bari (21 GP)
38 Roma - Sat Jan 22 W 3-0 v Cagliari (21 GP)
37 Lazio - Sun Jan 23 L 3-1 at Bologna (21 GP)
35 Inter - Sun Jan 23 L 3-1 at Udinese (20 GP)
35 Juventus - Sun Jan 23 D 0-0 at Sampdoria

dN

COPPA ITALIA
Quarterfinals
-Tue Jan 25
Palermo v Parma
-Wed Jan 26
Napoli v Inter
Juventus v Roma
Sampdoria v Milan

COPA LIBERTADORES

Intial Round (to fill the final 6 spots in the Group Stage)
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 25
#5 Quito (Ecuador) v Independiente (Argentina)
-Wed Jan 26
#1 Tolima (Colombia) v Corinthians(Brazil)
#2 Chiapas Jaguares (Mexico) v Alianza (Peru)
#6 Gremio (Brazil) v Liverpool (Uruguay)
-Thu Jan 27
#3 Petare (Venezuela) v Cerro Porteno (Paraguay)
#4 Union Espanola (Chile) v Bolivar (Bolivia)

ASIA

Asian Cup
Jan 7-29
Qatar

dN

The three favorites Japan, South Korea and Australia are all in the Semifinals, joined by big surprise Uzbekistan.

dN

Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 21
Japan 3-2 Qatar - Jap goals by Shinji Kagawa(2) & Masahiko Inoha. Qat goals by Sebastian Soria & Fabio Montezine.
Uzbekistan 2-1 Jordan - Uzb goals both by Ulugbek Bakayev. Jor goal by Bashar Bani Yaseen.
-Sat Jan 22
Australia 1-0 Iraq - Aus goal by Harry Kewel.
Iran 0-1 South Korea - SK goal by Bit Garam Yoon.

dN

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 25
Japan v S Korea - 6:30am Central
Uzbekistan v Australia - 9:30am Central

Unpublished Eric Cantona Photo From NY Cosmos Introduction

We at du Nord have unearthed a photo of Eric Cantona that was not used by the New York Cosmos at their introduction of the legend as Director of Soccer.

(Click to enlarge at your own risk. Please keep away from children and pets.)














Thanks to the seamonster for help in acquiring this rare shot.
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