Some News for Mon Feb 14, 2010

STARTERS

Crash landing! - Clint Dempsey drew a penalty for Fulham today in stoppage time against Chelsea with the game scoreless, then took the PK himself and saw a poor attempt saved by Petr Cech. Damn!

dN

O Fenomeno Adeus! And now its time to say goodbye to my one true soccer love - Ronaldo! Today at age 34 he has announced his retirement. I wish we could roll back the years and watch him in his prime all over again. For me he is the best striker of all time. Yeah I know that by the end he looked like he enjoyed cheeseburgers as much as I do, but still.........















dN

The USA U17s won their first game in CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. See section below for details.

STORY OF THE DAY

Over the weekend US Soccer gave provisional approval to the NASL to play sanctioned division two professional soccer in America for 2011.

Brian Quarstad of IM Soccer News shows just how close it was to happening or not happening.

Quarstad has done a magnificent job throughout all of these prolonged histrionics.

dN

But today we learn that US Soccer has said that the NASL teams will NOT be allowed to play in the US Open Cup this season. USSF's explanation is that NASL got sanctioning too late for the 5 USA based teams in the league to be put into bracketing for 2011 Open Cup.

Are you kidding me? This is a joke right?!?!

If the timing was so important then why didn't US Soccer simply make 2 plans beforehand? US Soccer should be embarrassed! This type of action smells both lazy and arrogant. Sure the NASL people seem to spend a lot of time talking out the side of their mouth and need to be blamed for all the long long long drawn out sanctioning discussions. But seriously...

Hey, maybe I should back down and say that their could be a logical explanation for this exclusion. I would like to hear it. The reasoning given so far is just plain lame.

Can you tell that my blood is boiling?!?!?

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Here we go!!!!!!!!!

Round Of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Feb 15
Milan v Tottenham - Live at 1:30pm Central
Valencia v Schalke - Delayed at 4pm Central
-Wed Feb 16
Arsenal v Barcelona - Live at 1:30pm Central
Roma v Shakhtar - Delayed at 4pm Central

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

The USA and Costa Rica both won by 3-1 scorelines on matchday 1.

dN

The USA opened up a 3-0 lead before Cuba got one back late.
-COCNACAF with a match report.
-US Soccer with a match report.

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Matches & Scores:
-Mon Feb 14
Haiti 1-3 Costa Rica - Hai goal by Johnley Chery. CR goals by William Quiros, Gabriel Leiva & John Ruiz.
Cuba 1-3 USA - Cub goal by Frank Lopez. USA goals by Alfred Koroma, Andrew Oliver & Esteban Rodriguez.
-Tue Feb 15
Barbados v Honduras
Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
-Wed Feb 16
El Salvador v Haiti
Panama v Cuba
-Thu Feb 17
Canada v Barbados
Guatemala v Trinidad & Tobago
-Fri Feb 18
Costa Rica v El Salvador
USA v Panama - 3:30pm Central
-Sat Feb 19
Honduras v Canada
Jamaica v Guatemala

dN

Standings:
Group A
3 Costa Rica +2
- El Salvador
0 Haiti -2
Group B
3 USA +2
- Panama
0 Cuba -2
Group C
Barbados
Canada
Honduras
Group D
Guatemala
Jamaica
Trinidad & Tobago

dN

The top 2 from each will advance.

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Quarterfinals
-Tue Feb 22
A1 v B2
B1 v A2
-Wed Feb 23
C1 v D2
D1 v C2

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Semifinals - these 4 will go to the World Cup

dN

Final - CONCACAF Champion

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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

CHARLIE DAVIES

Davies scored 2 goals late in the game for DC United as they won a preseason game 4-0 over the Trinidad & Tobago U20 team.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I want to make the playoffs and I want to beat Seattle."
-Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson on his 2 goals for the teams first season in MLS.
(See full article below in the team section)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 12
Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City - The Reds stretched their lead on a spectacular Rooney goal, as the Light Blues faltered.
-Sun Feb 13
Juventus 1-0 Inter - the Derby D'Italia sees Juve keep their season alive, while Inter's chance to keep up the pressure at the top got a lot harder.

WHAT???

Matthew Brown of Sports Illustrated writes the think John Rooney will have an impact for the New York Red Bulls.
-I will be beyond stunned if Rooney has any impact at all.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Today's ridiculous name in the hopper: Welcome back Clarence Seedorf!

dN

KC is giving a look to Brazilian centerback Julio Cesar from Maritimo in Portugal.

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Soccer 365 with the latest rumors concerning Terry Dixon, John Arne Riise, Shane Clark, Carlos Ruiz (yes El Pescadito), Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Fabio Liverani and more more more.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

MLS El Jefe Don Garber was in Vancouver today giving a look-see to the preparations for year one. A couple of the locals covered it:
-Bruce Constantineau of the Sun.
-TSN (Ignore the stuff about playing in the winter, I think they made it all up.)

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated sizes up the 2 new boys - Portland and Vancouver.

CD CHIVAS USA

The team has promoted coaching staff member Nick Theslof to the big role of Technical Director,

COLORADO RAPIDS

Brian Jennings of Soccer 365 continues to give the best (almost the only) coverage of the champs in this preseason - an article on forward Macoumba Kandji.

FC DALLAS

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree reports on a beatdown that Dallas took at the hands of their rival Houston.

DC UNITED

Jeff Maurer of the Washington Post has an ongoing series previewing DCU 2011: Ignoring the burning wreckage...
-Pt 1 - goalkeeping
-Pt 2 - the defense
-Pt 3 - the midfield

DCU did what they should do to any U20 team, this one from Trinidad & Tobago, and beat the 4-0.

Craig Stouffer of the Examiner tells us about team pres Kevin Payne being honored by US Soccer.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

The Dynamo whoop-whoop-whoop-whooped up on their south Texas rivals Dallas 4-0 on Saturday. And things got a little out of hand too.
-Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle reports on the game and the rough stuff.
-All 4 Houston goals came on set pieces.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the NY Post talks to head coach Hans Backe who says the Supporters Shield is the team's #1 priority. MLS Cup is second.
-Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree puts in his thoughts on the topic - he happens to agree.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Philly has cut loose veteran Argentine midfielder Eduardo Coudet.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian talks with Kenny Cooper about soccer being in his life since birth.

Arnold also has an article on fullback Rodney Wallace.

The Oregonian also introduces us to the people on those amazing billboards.
-Yes Eugenie, you are hot.

The Sportspress Northwest with an article on the new Timbers.
-And a Q & A with owner Merritt Paulson.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Sounders beat Chivas USA 1-0 on Saturday with a goal by David Estrada.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province talks to Caps tech dir Tom Soehn.
-Soehn also talks about the crazed MLS roster rules.

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Allstate Insurance has become the latest big money sponsor of MLS, SUM and all their properties.
-They will be involved in the Sueno project too, where kids try out for MLS teams in a reality TV format usually hosted by Univision.

dN

TSN in Canada has signed a deal to broadcast 24 MLS games next season. The deal is 6 years long and will increase to 30 games when Montreal joins up with Toronto and Vancouver in 2012.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Timothy Chandler not only started for Nurnberg but got his first goal as well! What a 2011 it has been so far for him.

dN

Michael Bradley made his debut for Aston Villa coming on after starting defensive midfielder (and a realy hack) Jean Makoun was given a red card. You can expect Bradley to be in the line up next weekend, and never give up his starting spot.

dN

Oguchi Onyewu was back on the field after recovering from his rib injury.

dN

Carlos Bocanegra grabbed the first goal of the game for St Etienne but it ended up being their only goal as they lost badly at home.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - came on as a sub in second half stoppage time as they won 1-0 v Cercle Brugge.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Michael Bradley - Aston Villa - came on as a sub in the 73rd min as they drew 1-1 at Blackpool.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Mon Feb 14 - went the full 90 drawing a penalty but missing the PK as they drew 0-0 v Chelsea.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance as they drew 1-1 at Blackpool.
Stuart Holden - Bolton - went the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Everton.
Tim Howard - Everton - in goal as usual but lost 2-0 at Bolton.
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn - played the whole game as they drew 0-0 v Newcastle.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - came in as a sub in the 78th min as they came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at West Brom.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - on the bench for a 0-2 home loss v Leicester.
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - out injured as they drew 1-1 at QPR.
Brad Guzan - Hull City - went the distance keeping another clean sheet in a 1-0 win v Preston.
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - played the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Hull.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - came in as a sub in the 79th min as they won 2-1 v Reading.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - did not come off the bench as they lost 1-3 v Tranmere Rovers.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the entire match but lost 1-0 at Southampton.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - went the distance scoring a goal but losing 1-4 v Lyon.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - started and went 75 minutes scoring a goal in a big win 1-4 at Stuttgart.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full 90 as they tied 1-1 at Werder Bremen.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - Started and went 65 min in a 3-1 loss at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - in goal for a 2-6 loss to Hertha.
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - Mon Feb 14 at Erzgebirge Aue
David Yelldell - Duisburg - went the full 90 in scoreless game at Augsburg.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - went the distance in a 1-0 win v Vittesse.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v RBC.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - came on as a sub in the 70th min as they rolled 6-0 v Motherwell.

TURKEY - Super Lig
Jozy Altidore - Bursaspor - started and was subbed out in the 76th min as they drew 1-1 at Eskisehirspor.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Championship League
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Tue Feb 15 at Watford

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Feb 15 at Oldham Athletic

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - Mon Feb 14 at Erzgebirge Aue

ENGLAND - FA Cup - 4th Round Replay
Stuart Holden - Bolton - Wed Feb 16 at Wigan

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Games Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Isaac Acuna - Queretaro - came on as a sub in the 57th min but they lost badly 0-5 v Toluca.
Daniel Antunez - Estudiantes Tecos - didn't dress for a 4-1 loss at Morelia.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - started but came out at half time as they won 2-0 v Cruz Azul.
Edgar Castillo - Puebla - on the bench for a 1-0 loss at Pachuca.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - went the full 90 in a 1-0 win v Puebla.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a 57th min sub in a scoreless draw v San Luis.
Sammy Ochoa - Estudiantes Tecos - didn't dress for a 4-1 loss at Morelia.
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - still out injured as they drew 1-1 at Pumas.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the entire game getting a yellow card as they won 1-0 v Puebla.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - started but subbed out at half time as they tied 2-2 v Merida.

ENGLAND

Recap du Nord: Man U beat city rivals Man City and opened up an 8 point gap between them. Arsenal won again and remain the only other team still within immediate striking distance. Chelsea played to a scoreless draw on Monday allowing Tottenham to take up 4th spot now.

dN

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

dN

Top of the Table: (26 GP)
57 Man United - Sat Feb 12 W 2-1 v Manchester City
53 Arsenal - Sat Feb 12 W 2-0 v Wolverhampton
49 Man City - Sat Feb 12 L 2-1 at Manchester United (27 GP)
47 Tottenham - Sat Feb 12 W 1-2 at Sunderland
45 Chelsea - Mon Feb 14 D 0-0 at Fulham

SPAIN

Recap du Nord: Barca gacked up a game at Gijon dropping 2 points to bring their lead back down to 5 points. Real Madrid kept up the little pressure they have to keep up. Villarreal lost on the road and fell back to 4th with Valencia jumping over them. Its been a long time since there was any shifting of places at the top of the league.

dN

Phil Ball of ESPN reports on the new owner of Racing Santander making quite a scene in the stands and the rest of the weekends matches in La Liga.

dN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian says Sporting Gijon should have beaten Barcelona and the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

Osasuna has given head coach Jose Antonio Camacho his walking papers.

dN

Top of the Table: (23 GP)
62 Barcelona - Sat Feb 12 D 1-1 at Sporting Gijon
57 Real Madrid - Sun Feb 13 W 0-1 at Espanyol
47 Valencia - Sat Feb 12 W 1-2 at Atletico Madrid
45 Villarreal - Sun Feb 13 L 1-0 at Coruna
38 Athletic Bilbao - Mon Feb 14 at Mallorca (22 GP)
37 Espnayol - Sun Feb 13 L 0-1 v Real Madrid

FRANCE

Recap du Nord: Four of the top five all won, with #3 PSG tying and thus dropping down to 5th place. That is a heavy price to pay for only gaining 1 point.

dN

I am posting this a little late, but interesting none the less - Paul Marshall of ESPN dubs Lille the Barcelona of France.

dN

Top of the Table: (23 GP)
45 Lille - Sun Feb 13 W 2-0 v Toulouse
40 Rennes - Sun Feb 13 W 2-0 v Nice
39 Marsielle - Sat Feb 12 W 1-2 at Sochaux
38 Lyon - Sat Feb 12 W 1-4 at St Etienne
38 PSG - Sat Feb 12 D 0-0 v Lens

GERMANY

Recap du Nord: Leaders Dortmund tied again this weekend giving them 3 draws and 2 wins since the winter break. That is 6 points they have dropped. However their lead is still 10 points. #2 Leverkusen won again, while #3 Mainz lost and #4 Hannover drew giving #5 Bayern a chance to leap them both with a win, which they did in a big way. Bayern is back to within (just!) 13 points of the top.

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Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on the stinky performances by Stuttgart this season that are starting to pile up and the rest of the weekend in the Bundesliga.

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Monchengladbach has fired head coach Michael Frontzeck, and replaced him with Lucien Favre, who I can guarantee does not pronounce his last name Far-v.

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Top of the Table: (22 GP)
52 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Feb 12 D 1-1 at Kaiserslautern
42 Bayer Leverkusen - Sat Feb 12 W 0-3 at Entracht Frankfurt
39 Bayern Munich - Sat Feb 12 W 4-0 v Hoffenheim
38 Hannover - Sun Feb 13 D 1-1 at Werder Bremen
37 Mainz - Sun Feb 13 L 4-2 at Koln

ITALY

Recap du Nord: Milan got rolling again in a big way to stay #1. 2nd place Napoli won too, But 3rd place Inter choked at struggling Juve and lost their momentum falling back to 4th. Lazio leaped Inter with a win, while #5 Palermo lost and fell all the way to 7th. Udinese continued their great run with another win and are now in 5th.

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Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Juve's win off Alessandro Matri's goal and the rest of the round in Serie A.

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Top of the Table: (25 GP)
52 Milan - Sat Feb 12 W 4-0 v Parma
49 Napoli - Sat Feb 12 W 0-2 at Roma
45 Lazio - Sun Feb 13 W 0-2 at Brescia
44 Inter - Sun Feb 13 L 1-0 at Juventus (24 GP)
43 Udinese - Sun Feb 13 W 0-3 at Cesena

CONMEBOL

Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador & Uruguay will join host country Colombia at the U20 World Cup next summer.

ARGENTINA

The Primera Division Clausura season in Argentina kicked off this past weekend, and finishes with 2 games today!
-The Round 1 results.
-Boca Juniors got off to another horrible start losing 1-4 at home. Oof.

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Group Stage is live.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 15
Tolima v Guarani
Velez Sarsfield v Caracas
San Luis v Libertad
Tachira v Santos
America v Nacional