Some News for Thu Mar 31, 2011

STARTERS

See you at the Sweetwater for the huge Derby della Madonnina:
-Sat Apr 2
AC Milan v Inter Milan - Live at 1:30pm CT on FSC
-Milan is in first place in Serie A by just 2 points over Inter, who at the end of 2010 were 9 points back and in 7th place. This is as big a game in Serie A as we have seen in a while.

STORY OF THE DAY

IM Soccer News gives us the full NASL season preview. A separate look at all 8 teams, written by locals with the knowledge. 9 days until the season kicks off.

dN

Open Weekend
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 9
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
FC Tampa Bay v Montreal Impact
Atlanta Silverbacks v NSC Minnesota Stars
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v FC Edmonton

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Through the guise of smoke!”

-Announcer calling goal strike from Chicago's Jalil Anibaba in the US Open Cup last night. Fire supporters had conjured up their usual brew of smoke from the stands clouding one whole end of the field, and Anibaba let fly with a long long long range bomb that beat the Colorado keeper.

DO YOU REALIZE

How raw is Juan Agudelo? He has played 3 professional games, for New York, scoring 1 goal, and has 4 caps for the USA scoring 2 goals. Remarkable.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 3

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Apr 1
Columbus Crew v FC Dallas - 6:30pm CT on FSC
Venue: Crew Stadium
-Sat Apr 2
Toronto FC v CD Chivas USA - 12:00pm CT on Direct Kick & TSN (Canada)
Venue: BMO Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Sporting Kansas City - 6:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Empire Field
New England Revolution v Portland Timbers - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium
New York Red Bulls v Houston Dynamo - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena
LA Galaxy v Philadelphia Union - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center
San Jose Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders FC - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Sun Apr 03
Colorado Rapids v DC United - 6:00pm CT on Galavision
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

DC UNITED

DCU has signed goalkeeper Bill Hamid to a new contract, meaning he is no longer considered as part of their academy salary exemption roster.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

NER has signed centerback Otto Loewy who played for Winthrop Univ last season, but was not selected in either college player draft.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The Red Bulls finally signed a new local TV deal. About time.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian with an article on the teams big Superdraft pick Darlington Nagbe, who is dying to get into a real game.

Arnold also reports that New York isn't the only team playing a 3rd string keeper as Portland is using Jake Gleeson.
-Is he on your fantasy team?

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times reports that Fredy Montero has had minor surgery on one of his wrists and may be out this weekend.
-The Sounders are also considering expanding seating capacity for some upcoming home games.

TORONTO FC

TFC has signed 24 year old Jamaican defender Dicoy Williams from Harbour View in Jamaica.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The Caps announced the signing of 28 year old French centerback Mouloud Akloul who was on their D2 roster in 2010. Prior to that he played for Kalba Club in the UAE.

US OPEN CUP

MLS Qualifying:

1st Stage
-Wed Apr 6
DC United v Philadelphia Union

2nd Stage
-Wed Mar 30
Chicago Fire 2-1 Colorado Rapids - CF goals by Gaston Puerari & Jalil Anibaba. CR goal by Andre Akpan.
-Wed Apr 6
Houston Dynamo v Sporting Kansas City
-DATE TBD
DCU/PU winner v New England Revolution
San JoseEarthquakes v Portland Timbers

3rd Stage
-DATE TBD
CUSA/PT/SJE winner v Chicago Fire
SKC/HD winner v DCU/PU/NER winner

USA U20 TEAM

CONCACAF U20 World Cup Qualifying is underway.

dN

Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 29
USA 4-0 Suriname - USA goals by Bobby Wood, Joe Gyau, Conor Doyle & Kelyn Rowe.
-Sat Apr 2
USA v Panama - 5 pm on ESPN3.com

dN

Roster
G:
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Cody Cropper - Ipswich
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Djurgardens
Greg Garza - Estoril Praia
Moises Hernandez - FC Dallas
Sacir Hot - New York Red Bulls
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Perry Kitchen - DC United
Zarek Valentin - Chivas USA
Korey Veeder - Columbus Crew
M:
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Moises Orozco - UANL Tigres
Dillon Powers - Notre Dame
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
F:
Eder Arreola - UCLA
Conor Doyle - Derby County
Joseph Gyau - Hoffenheim
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich

CONCACAF U20 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The tournament has begun in Guatemala, and 4 teams will advance to the World Cup in Colombia.

dN

A draw between Cuba & T&T has allowed Mexico to be the first team to advance to the knock out rounds after playing just one game.

Guadeloupe is out.

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Mon Mar 28
Canada 2-1 Guadeloupe - Can goals by Lucas Cavallini & Derrick Bassi. Gua goal by Christophe Houelche.
Cuba 0-3 Mexico - Mex goals by Renay Melblanche(OG), Alan Pulido & Ulises Davila.
-Tue Mar 29
Suriname 4-0 USA - USA goals by Bobby Wood, Joe Gyau, Conor Doyle & Kelyn Rowe.
Guatemala 2-0 Jamaica - Gua goals by Jhamie Hyde(OG) & Gerson Lima.
-Wed Mar 30
Guadeloupe 0-3 Costa Rica - CR goals by Joel Campbell(2) & Deyver Vega.
Trinidad & Tobago 0-0 Cuba
-Thu Mar 31
Panama v Suriname
Honduras v Jamaica
-Fri Apr 1
Costa Rica v Canada
Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago
-Sat Apr 2
USA v Panama
Guatemala v Honduras

dN

The top 2 from each group advance to the knockout rounds, and the 4 winners of those games advance to the World Cup.

dN

Standings:
Group A
3 Guatemala
- Honduras
0 Jamaica
Group B
3 USA
- Panama
0 Suriname
Group C
3 Canada
3 Costa Rica
OUT-0 Guadeloupe (2 GP)
Group D
ADV-3 Mexico
1 Trinidad & Tobago
1 Cuba (2 GP)

ENGLAND

David Conn of the Guardian talks to former player and manager Gareth Southgate who has been put in charge of improving the development of elite English youth.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of Sports Illustrated on Bayern's next head coach, and the shadiness of the hiring.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Cruzeiro & Estudiantes both advanced to the knock out rounds with wins last night.

Meaning the other 2 teams in the group Tolima & Guarani are out. Jorge Wilstermann was also eliminated.

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Mar 30
Deportes Tolima 1-1 Estudiantes - DT goal by Felix Noguera(PK). Est goal by Federico Fernandez.
Internacional 3-0 Jorge Wilstermann - Int goals by Oscar, Andres D'Alessandro & Ze Roberto.
Guarani 0-2 Cruzeiro - Cru goals by Thiago Ribeiro & Jose Ortigoza.
-Thu Mar 31
Penarol v Godoy Cruz

dN

Standings:
Group 1
ADV-11 Libertad (Paraguay) (+6 gd) (5 gp)
6 Univ San Martin (Peru) (-2 gd) (5 gp)
5 San Luis (Mexico) (-1 gd) (5 gp)
4 Once Caldas (Colombia) (-3 gd) (5 gp)
Group 2
ADV-12 Junior (Colombia) (+4 gd) (4 gp)
7 Gremio (Brazil) (+4 gd) (4 gp)
OUT-4 Leon de Huanuco (Peru) (-4 gd) (5 gp)
OUT-3 Oriente Petrolero (Bolivia) (-4 gd) (5 gp)
Group 3
7 Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) (+2 gd) (4 gp)
6 America (Mexico) (0 gd) (4 gp)
5 Fluminense (Brazil) (0 gd) (4 gp)
4 Nacional (Uruguay) (-2 gd) (4 gp)
Group 4
7 Univ Catolica (Chile) (+1 gd) (4 gp)
6 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina) (+2 gd) (4 gp)
6 Caracas (Venezuela) (-1 gd) (4 gp)
4 Union Espanola (Chile) (-2 gd) (4 gp)
Group 5
5 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) (+3 gd) (3 gp)
6 Colo-Colo (Chile) (0 gd) (3 gp)
2 Santos (Brazil) (-1 gd) (3 gp)
2 Depor Tachira (Venezuela) (-2 gd) (3 gp)
Group 6
10 Internacional (Brazil) (+10 gd) (4 gp)
7 Emelec (Ecuador) (+1 gd) (4 gp)
6 Chiapas Jaguares (-2 gd) (4 gp)
OUT-0 Jorge Wilstermann (Bolivia) (-9 gd) (4 gp)
Group 7
ADV-13 Cruzeiro (Brazil) (+16 gd) (5 gp)
ADV-10 Estudiantes (Argentina) (+1 gd) (5 gp)
OUT-5 Depor Tolima (Colombia) (-5 gd) (5 gp)
OUT-0 Guarani (Paraguay) (-12 gd) (5 gp)
Group 8
7 Gody Cruz (Argentina) (+1 gd) (4 gp)
6 Liga Quito (Ecuador) (+6 gd) (4 gp)
6 Penarol (Uruguay) (-5 gd) (4 gp)
4 Independiente (Argentina) (-2 gd) (4 gp)