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 Bolívar (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.