Some News for Thu Mar 3, 2011

STARTERS

ESPN puts new person in charge of soccer production - Meet Amy Rosenfeld.

dN

We will finally get some details on the Gold Cup but not until next week now. Probably Tuesday.

STORY OF THE DAY

The Barclays Premier League sends out an amazingly in depth preview of every weekend's matches. If you are an EPL fan, then this is completely for you.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

dN

Quarterfinals 2nd Leg games this week.

dN

Monterrey, the co-favorite along with Cruz Azul has now advanced to the Semis. Only one of those two Mexican powers will be in the Final though as they face each other next.

Real Salt Lake & Cruz Azul have already advance to the Semifinals.

We will know the 4th and final team later tonight.

dN

Matches & Scores:
Quarterfinals
2nd Leg
-Tue Mar 1
Real Salt Lake 4-1 Columbus Crew - RSL advances 4-1 on aggregate - RSL goals by Alvaro Saborio, Javier Morales(2) & Andy Williams. CC goals by Andres Mendoza.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
Santos Laguna 1-3 Cruz Azul - CA advances 5-1 on aggregate - SL goal by Christian Benitez. CA goals by Emanuel Villa(2) & Chaco Gimenez.
Venue: Estadio Corona - Torreen, Coahuila
-Wed Mar 2
Monterrey 1-0 Toluca - Mon advances 2-0 on aggregate - Mon goal by Neri Cardozo.
Venue: Tecnologico - Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
-Thu Mar 3
Olimpia v Saprissa (0-1)
Venue: Estadio Carias Andino - Tegucigalpa

dN

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Tue Mar 15
Real Salt Lake v Olimpia/Saprissa winner
-Wed Mar 16
Cruz Azul v Monterrey
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 5
Olimpia/Saprissa winner v Real Salt Lake
-Wed Apr 6
Monterrey v Cruz Azul

FIFA

FIFA announced today that for the 2014 World Cup each confederation will get the same amount of entrants as in 2006 and 2010.

Asia 4.5
Africa 5
CONCACAF 3.5
CONMEBOL 4.5
Oceania .5
UEFA 13

Host Brazil 1

TOTAL 32

The only new factor is that a draw will be held to select the opponents for the playoffs (home and away) of the 4 half spots (2 teams will advance.)

dN

The hosts for other upcoming tournaments were also named:

-Women’s World Cup 2015 - Canada
-U-20 Women’s World Cup 2012 - Uzbekistan
-U-20 Women’s World Cup 2014 - Canada
-U-20 Women’s World Cup 2012 - Azerbaijan
-U-17 Women’s World Cup 2014 - Costa Rica
-U-20 World Cup 2013 - Turkey
-U-20 World Cup 2015 - New Zealand
-U-17 World Cup 2013 - United Arab Emirates
-U-17 World Cup 2015 - Chile

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 5
Hannover v Bayern Munchen - #3 v #4 and another must win for Bayern.
Juvetus v Milan - long long long time rivals, and Milan needs to keep up the winning pace
-Sun Mar 6
Liverpool v Manchester United - another old rivalry with Man U needing to keep pushing at the top this time
Marsielle v Lille - #3 v #1 with just one point between them

DO YOU REALIZE

Phil Minshull of the BBC looks at the significance of Roma having a foreign owner.
-American Thomas Di Benedetto is finalizing a deal to buy the team. He is another of the members of the group that owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team. But not part of the group that bought Liverpool. Can you imagine the side-action between those rich guys if the teams ever played each other, which is very possible.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Noah Davis of MLSsoccer.com reports on a report from South America that US Soccer is talking to former Chile head coach Marcelo Bielsa about becoming the USA technical director.
-Keep in mind, this is a rumor and nothing more at this point. And South American news outlets are known for their rumors being wrong.

Here is the original article from Tandildiario. In Spanish.

General News

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com looks at the large amount of time that MLS teams have spent in both Arizona and Florida this spring. Will this become the norm?

CHICAGO FIRE

Sam Stejskal of MLSsoccer.com reports team president Julian Posada speaking at the Section 8 supporters board meeting.

CD CHIVAS USA

Brent Latham of ESPN with a season preview of the Chivas.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Raps signed left sided midfielder Jamie Smith to a new contract.

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch sees the Crew reeling from being elimidated from the Champs League, while at the same time preparing for the start of the MLS season.

FC DALLAS

Dallas sent out a team of players who are on trial and youngsters to let them have their shot but lost 3-0 to the NASL's Montreal Impact who played their first 11.

DC UNITED

Craig Stouffer of the Examiner talks to Branko Baskovic who needs to be an important part to any DCU success this season.

Stouffer also has an update on the goalkeeper situation.
-Hamid says, "I'm ready to go."
-The team says, "Not so fast."

DCU has signed Superdraft pick forward Blake Brettschneider.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

SKC has signed midfielder Konrad Warzycha, son of Columbus head coach Robert.

LA GALAXY

-Wed Mar 2
LA Galaxy 2-2 Club Tijuana(Mexico - Liga Ascenso) - LAG goals by Omar Gonzalez & Landon Donovan. - Tij win it 4-3 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Venue: Torero Stadium University of San Diego - San Diego CA

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The team has launched an official team membership program.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian with an article on new Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury who the team just bought from KC.

Jose Romero of Soccer By Ives does a Q & A with owner Merritt Paulson.

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN previews the Timbers debut season.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN reports that the Quakes are looking to finalize a loan deal for forward Simon Dawkins from Tottenham Hotspur. (see list item in long article)

MLS EXHIBITIONS

CASCADIA SUMMIT
Venue: Starfire Sports Complex - Tukwila WA
-Fri Mar 4
Seattle Sounders v Portland Timbers
-Sat Mar 5
Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps
-Sun Mar 6
Seattle Sounders v Vancouver Whitecaps

dN

Ted Prezeliski of the Tucson Sentinel previews the matches.

DESERT CUP
Venue: Hi Corbett Field - Tucson AZ
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Mar 4
Sporting Kansas City v Arizona Sahuaros
New York Red Bulls v FC Tucson
-Sat Mar 5
FC Tucson v Arizona Sahuaros
New York Red Bulls v Sporting Kansas City

I think I got it now, its Tucson, not Tuscon! Thanks all!

dN

CAROLINA CHALLENGE CUP
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Charleston SC
-Sat Mar 5
Charleston Battery v DC United
Toronto FC v Chicago Fire
-Wed Mar 9
Charleston Battery v Toronto FC
DC United v Chicago Fire
-Sat Mar 12
Charleston Battery v Chicago Fire
DC United v Toronto FC

MLS STADIUMS

Demolition begins today on the site that will become the new San Jose Earthquakes stadium! Hooray wrecking ball!

NASL NEWS

LE Eisenmenger of the Examiner does a two part interview with Aaron Davidson of the NASL and Traffic Sports. What is the connection between the two etc etc. Part 1 - and - Part 2.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com gets an update from Sacha Kljestan, about life in Belgium.

dN

Timothy Chandler has signed a contract extension with Nurnberg through the end of the 2012/13 season.

ENGLAND

Manchester City has suspended defender Kolo Toure pending the outcome of an investigation following a "Negative" result on a drug test.

SPAIN

Recap du Nord: Real Madrid seriously destroyed Malaga today, keeping Barca's lead at 7 points.

A full slate of league games were played midweek.

Top of the Primera Division Table: (26 GP)
71 Barcelona -
64 Real Madrid - Thu Mar 3 W 6-0 v Malaga
51 Valencia -
50 Villarreal -
40 Espanyol -

SCOTLAND

Celtic beat Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Cup last night, but the win or loss was not the story. Violence on and off the field was.

Severin Carrell of the Guardian reports on yesterday's Old Firm match that again disintegrated into bad blood. When will it end? It needs to stop.

The Herald of Glasgow points out that the two teams playing seven times in a season is not helping matters.

The Evening Times of Scotland says that maybe the game should be played with no fans in the stands.

The Daily Record of Scotland reports that government officials have ordered the two teams to come in for a discussion about the mess.
-Some photos of the idiocy on the field.

EUROPE

Top Goal Scorers In Europes Biggest Leagues (as of Wed Mar 2)
27 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
24 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
21 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
20 Edinson Cavani - Napoli
19 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
19 Hulk - Porto
18 Mario Gomez - Bayern Munich
18 Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
17 Moussa Sow - Lille
17 David Villa - Barcelona
17 Bjorn Vleminckx - NEC Nijmegen

dN

NETHERLANDS - KNVB Beker

Ajax joins Twente in the Final.

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 3
Ajax 5-1 RKC Waalwijk

COPA LIBERTADORES

Cruzeiro & Argentinos Juniors are the first two teams to 7 points, from 3 games.

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 1
Godoy Cruz 1-3 Penarol - GC goal by Ruben Ramirez. Pen goals by Juan Olivera(2) & Luis Aguiar.
Tachira 2-4 Colo Colo - Tac goals both by Julio Gutierrez. CC goals by Ezequiel Miralles(2), Esteban Paredes & Lucas Wilchez.
-Wed Mar 2
Santos 1-1 Cerro Porteno - San goal by Elano(PK). CP goal by Roberto Nanni(PK).
Nacional 0-1 Argentinos Juniors - AJ goal by Franco Niell.
Tolima 0-0 Cruzeiro
America 1-0 Fluminense - Ame goal by Daniel Marquez.
San Luis 1-1 Once Caldas - SL goal by Michael Arroyo. OC goal by Wason Renteria.
-Thu Mar 3
Velez Sarsfield v Catolica
Gremio v Leon Huanuco
LDU Quito v Independiente
Caracas v Union Española

dN

Standings:
Group 1
6 Universidad San Martin (Peru) (+5 gd) (2 gp)
4 Libertad (Paraguay) (+1 gd) (2 gp)
2 Once Caldas (Colombia) (-3 gd) (3 gp)
1 San Luis (Mexico) (-3 gd) (3 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
7 Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) (+3 gd) (3 gp)
6 America (Mexico) (+1 gd) (3 gp)
2 Fluminense (Brazil) (-1 gd) (3 gp)
1 Nacional (Uruguay) (-3 gd) (3 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
4 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) (+3 gd) (2 gp)
3 Colo-Colo (Chile) (-1 gd) (2 gp)
2 Santos (Brazil) (0 gd) (2 gp)
1 Tachira (Venezuela) (-2 gd) (2 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
7 Cruzeiro (Brazil) (+9 gd) (3 gp)
4 Tolima (Colombia) (0 gd) (3 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 Penarol (Uruguay) (+3 gd) (2 gp)
3 Gody Cruz (Argentina) (-1 gd) (2 gp)
0 Liga Quito (Ecuador) (-1 gd) (1 gp)