Some News for Fri Feb 25, 2011

STARTERS

I saw something fascinating last night: The referee in FC Dallas v Orlando City game was using spray foam to mark off 10 yard lines for walls on free kicks. Its so damn easy, we need more of that. Will MLS do it?

STORY OF THE DAY

Brian Straus of Fanhouse does a sit down with MLS Grand Poobah Don Garber.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Saprissa got the minimum win at home on Thursday.

dN

Second leg games will be played next week.

dN

Several people have asked me who I think the favorite to win this tournament is, and its pretty simple, Cruz Azul and Monterrey are the 2 best teams, but only 1 of them can get to the final, so whoever advances is the favorite.

dN

Quarterfinals:
1st Leg
-Tue Feb 22p
Columbus Crew 0-0 Real Salt Lake
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
Attendance: 4,665
Cruz Azul 2-0 Santos Laguna - CA goals by Javier Orozco & Chaco Gimenez.
Venue: Estadio Azul - Mexico City DF
-Wed Feb 23
Toluca 0-1 Monterrey - Mon goals by Osvaldo Martinez.
Venue: Estadio Nemesio Diez - Toluca, Edomex
-Thu Feb 24
Saprissa 1-0 Olimpia - Sap goal by Armando Alonso.
Venue: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma - San Jose

CONCACAF U17 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The 2011 CONCACAF U17 Championship/World Cup Qualifying is now under way in Jamaica.
-Mexico has already qualified as the hosts of the tournament. 4 more CONCACAF teams will advance.

dN

Canada wins and moves on to the Final on Sunday.

dN

Semifinals
-Fri Feb 25
Panama 0-1 Canada - Can goal by Luca Gasparotto.
USA v Jamaica -

dN

Final
-Sun Feb 27
CONCACAF Championship - 6pm Central
Panama/Canada winner v USA/Jamaica winner

dN

USA Roster
G:
Kendall McIntosh - Mustang Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo Academy
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Joe Amon - South Carolina United
Zach Carroll - Vardar
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
M:
Jordan Allen - Empire United
Matt Dunn - Koln
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids Academy
F:
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Andrew Oliver - Westside United
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs

The official blog of the USA youth national teams has some great stuff on the players in their squad.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

-Sat Feb 26
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund - Bayern gets one last chance to try and stop Dortmund's run away championship season.
-Sun Feb 27
PSV v Ajax - the biggest rivalry in the Netherlands
Lille v Lyon - #1 v #4, 4 points apart, Lille would have a great chance to gain the psychological edge over all the competition.
Athletic Bilbao v Villarreal - #5 v #4, Besides the race for the title in Spain the only other interesting thing going on is the battle for the Champions League places.
-Mon Feb 28
Milan v Napoli - #1 v #2, What else can you say.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

The San Jose Mercury News gives more ink to the San Jose Earthquakes than at just about any time in the team's history.

With the team in London training this week, the paper is running a four part series from the training camp at Tottenham Hotspur's facility:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

David Beckham told the media today that he hasn't decided yet if he will go back to England in late April for the royal wedding.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Soccer365 rounds up today's latest rumors about Ervin Skela, Mike Grella, Brad Friedel and much more.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

Chivas played DC to a scoreless draw today.

DC UNITED

DC played Chivas to a scoreless draw today. Deja vu.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jack Bell of the NY Times on rookie Kofi Sarkodie who is a genuine royal Prince.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC Sports Spot does a Q & A with forward Kei Kamara.

LA GALAXY

Hey everyone! Look! Its David Beckham! He has graced us with his presence! Hoo-Ray! Strike up the band. He says he could have been off sitting on a beach somewhere, but he wasn't, he was getting in shape for the Galaxy. Then why wasn't he in LA? Too bad they guy just can't be honest, people would respect him a lot more.
-David Hirshey (who was very soft on soccer celebrity Eric Cantona earlier this week) of ESPN takes Beckham to task.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

-Sat Feb 26
Ft Lauderdale Strikers(NASL) v New York Red Bulls
Venue: Lockhart Stadium - Ft Lauderdale FL

REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the SL Tribune sees Raushawn McKenzie filling in for suspended Nat Borchers in the center of defense next week against Columbus.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Tottenham Hotspur web site with an article on the Quakes spending the week in London.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Sounders ka-blammo-ed Univ Central Florida 7-0 on Thursday. Goals were scored by Pat Noonan(2), O’Brian White(2), David Estrada, Mike Fucito & a UCF Own Goal

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The team gives us video of a big day of press for MLS commish Don Garber in Vancouver today.

Marc Weber of the Province on right fullback Jon Leathers.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

DISNEY PRO CLASSIC - See all games on ESPN3.com

The South Texas rivals Houston & Dallas won last night at the Disney Pro Classic and will face off in the final on Saturday.
-Just 10 days ago these two played in Corpus Christi TX and by the end it was very heated with accusations of dirty play & cheap shots, not to mention spitting, literally flying back and forth.

Matches & Scores:
Venue: ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex - Orlando FL
-Thu Feb 24
Orlando City 0-1 FC Dallas - FCD goal by Milton Rodriguez.
Toronto FC 2-3 Houston Dynamo - TFC goals by Jacob Peterson & Dwayne DeRosario. HD goals by Geoff Cameron, Brad Davis & Cam Weaver.
-Sat Feb 26
Orlando City v Toronto FC - 3rd/4th place - 5pm Central
FC Dallas v Houston Dynamo - 1st/2nd place - 7pm Central

See all the games from this tournament on MLSsoccer.com and ESPN3.com

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jack Bell of the New York Times talks to the most excellent Steve Cherundolo of Hannover.

dN

Mike Grella has been sent by Leeds on loan to Swindon Town of English League One for the remainder of the season.

ENGLAND

LEAGUE CUP
Final
-Sun Feb 27
Arsenal v Birmingham

dN

Top of the Premier League Table: (27 GP)
57 Man United - Sat Feb 26 at Wigan (26 GP)
56 Arsenal - League Cup final this weekend
49 Man City - Sun Feb 27 v Fulham
47 Tottenham - no game this weekend
45 Chelsea - no game this weekend (26 GP)

SPAIN

Top of the Primera Division Table: (24 GP)
65 Barcelona - Sat Feb 26 at Mallorca
60 Real Madrid - Sat Feb 26 at Deportivo La Coruna
48 Valencia - Sun Feb 27 at Racing Santander
46 Villarreal - Sun Feb 27 at Athletic Bilbao
38 Athletic Bilbao - Sun Feb 27 v Villarreal

FRANCE

Top of the Ligue 1 Table: (24 GP)
45 Lille - Sun Feb 27 v Lyon
43 Rennes - Sat Feb 26 v Lens
42 Marsielle - Sun Feb 27 at Nancy
41 Lyon - Sun Feb 27 at Lille
41 PSG - Sun Feb 27 v Toulouse

GERMANY

Top of the Bundesliga Table: (23 GP)
55 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Feb 26 at Bayern Munich
45 Bayer Leverkusen - Sun Feb 27 at Werder Bremen
42 Bayern Munich - Sat Feb 26 v Borussia Dortmund
41 Hannover - Sat Feb 26 at St Pauli
37 Mainz - Sat Feb 26 at Hoffenheim

ITALY

Top of the Serie A Table: (26 GP)
55 Milan - Mon Feb 28 v Napoli
52 Napoli - Mon Feb 28 at Milan
50 Inter - Sun Feb 27 at Sampdoria
48 Lazio - Sun Feb 27 at Cagliari
44 Udinese - Sun Feb 27 at Palermo

COPA LIBERTADORES

Most teams have now played 2 of the 6 rounds and so far only Universidad San Martin of Peru, Junior of Colombia and Cruzeiro of Brazil have the full 6 points.

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Feb 24
Independiente 3-0 Penarol - Ind goals by Facundo Parra, Cristian Pellerano & Andres Silvera.
Argentinos Juniors 3-1 America - AJ goals by Santiago Salcedo(2) & Cristian Sanchez Prette. Ame goal by Daniel Montenegro.
Junior 2-1 Gremio - Jun goals by Giovanni Hernandez & John Vaifara. Gre goal by Borges.
-Tue Mar 1
Godoy Cruz v Penarol
Tachira v Colo Colo
-Wed Mar 2
Santos v Cerro Porteno
Nacional v Argentinos Juniors
Tolima v Cruzeiro
America v Fluminense
San Luis v Once Caldas

dN

Standings:
Group 1
6 Universidad San Martin (Peru) (+5 gd) (2 gp)
4 Libertad (Paraguay) (+1 gd) (2 gp)
1 Once Caldas (Colombia) (-3 gd) (2 gp)
0 San Luis (Mexico) (-3 gd) (2 gp)
Group 2
6 Junior (Colombia) (+2 gd) (2 gp)
3 Gremio (Brazil) (+2 gd) (2 gp)
3 Leon de Huanuco (Peru) (0 gd) (2 gp)
0 Oriente Petrolo (Bolivia) (-4 gd) (2 gp)
Group 3
4 Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) (+2 gd) (2 gp)
3 America (Mexico) (0 gd) (2 gp)
2 Fluminense (Brazil) (0 gd) (2 gp)
1 Nacional (Uruguay) (-2 gd) (2 gp)
Group 4
3 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina) (+3 gd) (1 gp)
1 Universidad Catolica (Chile) (0 gd) (1 gp)
1 Union Espanola (Chile) (0 gd) (1 gp)
0 Caracas (Venezuela) (-3 gd) (1 gp)
Group 5
3 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) (+3 gd) (1 gp)
1 Santos (Brazil) (0 gd) (1 gp)
1 Tachira (Venezuela) (0 gd) (1 gp)
0 Colo-Colo (Chile) (-3 gd) (1 gp)
Group 6
4 Internacional (Brazil) (+4 gd) (2 gp)
4 Emelec (Ecuador) (+1 gd) (2 gp)
3 Chiapas Jaguares (-2 gd) (2 gp)
0 Jorge Wilstermann (Bolivia) (-3 gd) (2 gp)
Group 7
6 Cruzeiro (Brazil) (+9 gd) (2 gp)
3 Tolima (Colombia) (0 gd) (2 gp)
3 Estudiantes (Argentina) (-4 gd) (2 gp)
0 Guarani (Paraguay) (-5 gd) (2 gp)
Group 8
3 Independiente (Argentina) (+3 gd) (1 gp)
3 Gody Cruz (Argentina) (+1 gd) (1 gp)
0 Liga Quito (Ecuador) (-1 gd) (1 gp)
0 Penarol (Uruguay) (+1 gd) (-3 gp)