Some News for Thu Feb 24, 2011

STARTERS

American central midfielder Maurice Edu slid in front of goal to deflect in the winning tally in second half stoppage time sending Rangers to the UEFA Europa League Round of 16!

dN

Who is going to the USA game against Argentina in New Jersey on Mar 26? I will be there. Let me know if you will be.

STORY OF THE DAY

An incredible story from our friend Bart.


A colleague of mine (and fan of Scottish side Dundee FC) shared the message below. It concerns perhaps the most incredible football story in the UK this season. This story is begging for a movie:

"Dundee was docked 25 points for various financial misdeeds, practically assuring them of relegation to the third tier of Scottish football. They came within a whisker of being liquidated due to debt to the taxman. Further, a transfer/hiring ban was slapped on them. They had to release several players, and have just 7 left. To field a squad, they have to use 'trialists', who can play for 3 matches only (without pay). One who just completed his 'trial' was a Sky Sports commentator and retired footballer (he scored in his first match, assuring that Sky Sports continues to cheer on Dundee). The team has not lost in 15 matches in spite of the shackles on them and ridiculous odds. Last night they started an aging amateur player who is a big fan of the club ...and defeated the league leaders away. Were it not for the unprecedented points-docking, Dundee would be leading Scotland's 2nd division. Yet they have climbed clear of the relegation zone and are looking good to stay up in the division."

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

dN

Toluca had to play 81 minutes down a man at home on Wed night and it cost them a 0-1 loss to Monterrey.

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 v Olimpia
Venue: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma - San Jose

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Recap du Nord: 4 teams with high powered offenses played on Wednesday night and only 1 goal was scored between them, and even then not until the 90th minute. Go figure.

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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with the best recaps in the business - Tuesday - and - Wednesday.

dN

Round Of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Feb 22
Kobenhavn 0-2 Chelsea - Che goals both by Nicolas Anelka.
Lyon 1-1 Real Madrid - Lyo goal by Bafetimbi Gomis. RM goal by Karim Benzema.
-Wed Feb 23
Marseille 0-0 Man United
Inter 0-1 Bayern - BM goal by Mario Gomez.

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All games shown in the USA on Fox Soccer Channel.

dN

2nd Leg matches will be played on Mar8/9 & 15/16.

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

Panama, USA, Canada and Jamaica are going to the World Cup.

dN

Semifinals on Friday!

US Soccer gives us a preview of the USA v Jamaica game on Friday.

The USA has a very tough game on their hands against the hosts. And missing two starters due to red cards from the previous game. Time to step up.

The Jamaica Gleaner says that the Jamaican Football Federation know that they need to capitalize on young players like their current team, and help build the national squad.

dN

Semifinals
-Fri Feb 25
Panama v Canada - 3pm Central
USA v Jamaica - 6pm Central - see it live at ESPN3.com, ESPN Deportes or CONCACAF.com.

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

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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

dN

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

TWITTERVERSE

3 Tweets from @kylejmccarthy:

-New England midfielder Shalrie Joseph was arrested on Sunday in Orlando on one count of trespassing, according to a public records search.

-The exact charge against Joseph - trespass in a structure or a conveyance - is a 2nd degree misdemeanor in Florida.

-Several people have asked about Kevin Alston - a similar public records search did not turn up any information pertaining to him.

The Twitter posts pertain to the two named New England Revolution players who were sent back to Boston from the teams training camp in Florida for disciplinary reasons.

See new details on the story below in the team's section.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

The Toronto Globe & Mail asks a very big question - Can soccer dethrone hockey as Canada's national game?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian shows us the new era of Polish football.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The fantastic Natalie in my office spent the fall in Ecuador and today gave me this awesome scarf from Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito, better known as Liga. They were the surprising 2009 Copa Libertadores champions. And there just happens to be a lot of Ecuadorians in my neighborhood so the LDU fans will be excited but the Aucas, Nacional, Emelec and most especially Quito fans will not like to see me coming!

click to enlarge


























WHY NOT!

Greg Seltzer at MLSsoccer.com tracks down one time Ajax and USA midfielder extraordinaire John O'Brien.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Colorado looks to be very close to signing English/Irish forward Caleb Folan from Hull City in England.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

COLUMBUS CREW

Former player Duncan Oughton will be the new color commentator along with Dwight Burgess on local cable broadcasts of Crew games this season. Nice.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle tells us how rookie rightback Kofi Sarkodi is looking in preseason.

If the Houston defenders can stay healthy they really look on paper like they are set to turn around a very poor 2010 season. They have great depth:
RFB - Hunter Freeman, Jordan Graye, Andrew Hainault, Kofi Sarkodie.
CB - Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Eddie Robinson, Jermiane Taylor.
LFB - Mike Chabala, Andrew Hainault.

Richard Justice of the Chronicle feels a positive attitude pouring out of Dynamoville.

LA GALAXY

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to Landon Donovan about David Beckham finally arriving for his team's preseason training.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe tells us why Shalrie Joseph was jettisoned from the team preseason camp in Florida on Sunday - police broke up a party at 3:30am and Joseph refused to leave.
-Kevin Alston was also sent home, but there is no word on what his story is.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

NY has released 3rd round Superdraft pick Billy Cortes.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The PT Cruisers beat Montreal of the NASL 1-0 yesterday. Portland goal by Eddie Johnson.

The Portland Tribune with an article on head coach John Spencer who has been on the path to club management for a long time now.

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian fills us in on Colombian forward Jorge Perlaza who is getting a good shot to make the Timbers roster.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Quakes lost 3-1 to Leicester today.

Preseason games in England:
-Thu Feb 24
Leiscester City reserves 3-1 SJE - SJE goal by Chris Wondolowski.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Head coach Sigi Schmid's weekly press conference. Via the Times.
-Joshua Mayers of the Times with a few more team notes.

TORONTO FC

TFC has shifted around members of the their management staff again:
-Former interim head coach and assistant coach Nick Dasovic with head up North American scouting.
-Former player and assistant coach Danny Dichio will become the head coach of the senior academy team.
-Former player and assistant general manager Jim Brennan will become the head coach of the junior academy team.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The Caps are getting very close to their ceiling of 16,500 season tickets for this season.

Marc Weber of the Province says the Whitecap have players use the buddy system for team bonding.

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun on one of the players pushing hardest from the outside to earn a contract - Russell Teibert.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

DISNEY PRO CLASSIC - Orlando FL
-Thu Feb 24
Orlando City v FC Dallas - 5pm Central
Toronto FC v Houston Dynamo - 7pm Central
-Sat Feb 26
Losers play for 3rd/4th place - 5pm Central
Winners play for 1st/2nd place - 7pm Central

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

dN

CASCADIA SUMMIT - Starfire Sports Complex - Tukwila WA
-Fri Mar 4
Seattle Sounders v Portland Timbers - 9:30pm Central
-Sat Mar 5
Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps - 6:00pm Central
-Sun Mar 6
Seattle Sounders v Vancouver Whitecaps - 5:00pm Central

The 3 teams are also holding a supporters summit in conjunction with the games.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com talks to Ryan Miller at Halmstads in Sweden about the upcoming season, and his future.

dN

Mo Edu & Rangers and Oguchi Onyewu & Twente have advanced to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.
-Sacha Kljestan & Anderlecht were eliminated.

dN

Game Action:

UEFA - EUROPA LEAGUE - Round of 32 - 2nd Leg
Mo Edu - Rangers - Thu Feb 24 - went the full 90 scoring the goal that advances them to the next round as they tie 2-2 at Sporting and 3-3 on aggregate then winning the series on the away goals tie breaker 2-1.
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Feb 24 - watched from the bench again as they lost 2-0 at Ajax and were swept out of the series 5-0 on aggregate.
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - Thu Feb 24 - played the entire game as they drew 2-2 v Rubin Kazan and advanced 4-2 on aggregate.

ENGLAND

Recap du Nord: 2nd place Arsenal made an early goal last as they won today and kep the pressure on 1st place Man United, not to mention a 7 point cushion over 3rd place Man City.

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)

dN

LEAGUE CUP
Final
-Sun Feb 27
Arsenal v Birmingham

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

Raphael Honigstein of Sports Illustrated on Hamburg's attempt to rebuild their glory days.

dN

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

Jonathan Wilson of Sports Illustrated looks at the current tactics Italian teams are using and failing with in Champions League.

dN

Marcela Mora y Araujo of Sports Illustrated on the striker leading Napoli and Uruguay - Edinson Cavani.

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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

EUROPE

Top Goal Scorers In Europe's Biggest Leagues (As of Thu Feb 24)
25 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
24 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
20 Edinson Cavani - Napoli
19 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
19 Hulk - Porto
18 Mario Gomez - Bayern Munich
18 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
18 Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
17 Bjorn Vleminckx - NEC Nijmegen

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

2nd leg matches in the Round of 32 finished up today.

dN

There were 14 advancers from Thursday's matches are: Zenit, Rangers, Liverpool, Spartak Moscow, PSV, Bayer Leverkusen, Villarreal, Ajax, Braga, Dynamo Kyiv, Manchester City, Twente, Benfica and Paris St Germain.

CSKA Moscow & Porto had already advanced on Tue & Wed.

dN

Details from all the Matches right here.

dN

Here are the Round of 16 matchups:
Benfica v PSG
Dynamo Kyiv v Man City
Twente v Zenit
CSKA Moscow v Porto
PSV v Rangers
Leverkusen v Villarreal
Ajax v Spartak Moscow
Liverpool v Braga

Legs will be played Mar 10 & 17.

SOUTH AMERICA

Recent Boca Juniors head coach Claudio Borghi has been hired as they new man running the Chile national team.

BRAZIL

Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated looks to the recent past and then introduces us to Lucas, one of the next generation of potential stars.
-See Lucas tear it up in these video clips from the CONMEBOL U20 tournament a few weeks ago.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 23
Leon Huanuco 1-0 Oriente Petrolero - LH goal by Carlos Zegarra.
Internacional 4-0 Jaguares - Int goals by Mario Bolatti(2), Leandro Damiao & Oscar.
Estudiantes 1-0 Deportes Tolima - Est goal by Pablo Barrientos.
Fluminense 0-0 Nacional
-Thu Feb 24
Independiente v Penarol
Argentinos Juniors v America
Junior v Gremio
-Tue Mar 1
Godoy Cruz v Penarol
Tachira v Colo Colo

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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
3 Gremio (Brazil) (+3 gd) (1 gp)
3 Junior (Colombia) (+1 gd) (1 gp)
3 Leon de Huanuco (Peru) (0 gd) (2 gp)
0 Oriente Petrolo (Bolivia) (-4 gd) (2 gp)
Group 3
3 America (Mexico) (+2 gd) (1 gp)
2 Fluminense (Brazil) (0 gd) (2 gp)
1 Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) (0 gd) (1 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 Gody Cruz (Argentina) (+1 gd) (1 gp)
- Penarol (Uruguay)
- Independiente (Argentina)
0 Liga Quito (Ecuador) (-1 gd) (1 gp)