Some News for Tue Mar 29, 2011

STARTERS

Happy Birthday to newly minted USA international Timmy Chandler.

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Are you ready?
-Sat Apr 2
AC Milan v Inter Milan - 1:45pm CT on FSC
-Come join me at the Sweetwater to watch this humdinger.

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The United States National Soccer Hall of Fame announced today that the new inductees are Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope, Earnie Stewart, Bruce Murray & Bob Gansler. All greats.

STORY OF THE DAY

Matt Slater of the BBC tells the story of a true original - Arthur Wharton, the first black professional football player in the world. Great stuff. Thanks to both Kevin and Brian for sending me the link.

MANCHESTER UNITED IN AMERICA

MLS and its marketing partners have announced an exhibition series to be played this summer called the World Football Challenge.

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Here is the initial schedule, with more dates & teams to be added:

-Wed Jul 13
New England Revolution v Manchester United
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxboro MA

-Sat Jul 23
Chicago Fire v Manchester United
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL

-Sat Jul 30
Barcelona v Manchester United
Venue: FedExField - Landover MD

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Additionally Manchester United will play two more games in their preseason training.

-Wed Jul 20
Seattle Sounders v Manchester United
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

-Wed Jul 27
MLS All-Stars v Manchester United
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ

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In conjunction with all of this the America based Manchester United fans are encouraged to check out One United USA for ticket details etc.
-They will have exclusive dedicated sections, open trainings and special events (in each respective city.)

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Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune has quotes from Alex Ferguson, Sigi Schmid, Kasey Keller and others on the Man U game in Seattle.

TEAM USA

Friendly match tonight!

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Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 29
USA v Paraguay - 7pm CT
Venue: LP Field - Nashville TN

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John Glennon of the Tennessean with an article on Juan Agudelo. Who btw still lives with his parents.
-Glennon also writes about all the Americans playing in Europe.

Bryan Mullen of the Tennessean previews the game with words from Landon Donovan.

FC Nurnburg does a Q & A with Timmy Chandler on his first cap for the USA. (In the German)

US Soccer with a detailed game preview.

Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer with a preview.

Kristian Dyer of Metro New York on Juan Agudelo.

John Godfrey of the New York Times suggests 5 changes the USA should make for this game.

Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated on two potential future stars for the USA - Mix Diskeruud and Timmy Chandler.

Andrew Hush of ESPN leads a round table discussion of the current state of the team. Joining him are Jeff Carlise, Alexi Lalas, Taylor Twellman and more.

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The official USA team blog.

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Paraguay roster.
G:
Justo Villar - Valladolid
Diego Barreto - Cerro Porteno
D:
Paulo Da Silva - Real Zaragoza
Victor Hugo Mareco - Brescia
Marcos Caceres - Racing Santander
Antolin Alcaraz - Wigan
Aureliano Torres - San Lorenzo
Dario Veron - UNAM Pumas
Miguel Samudio - Libertad
M:
Enrique Vera - Liga de Quito
Marcelo Estigarribia - Newell's Old Boys
Osmar Molinas - Olimpia
Cristian Riveros - Sunderland
Nestor Ortigoza - San Lorenzo
Celso Ortiz - AZ Alkmaar
Edgar Barreto - Atalanta
F:
Osvaldo Martinez - Monterrey
Oscar Cardozo - Benfica
Edgar Benitez - Pachuca
Lucas Barrios - Borussia Dortmund

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USA roster
G:
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton
Tim Howard - Everton
David Yelldell - Duisburg
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - St Etienne
Jonathan Bornstein - UANL Tigres
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg
Jay DeMerit - Vancouver Whitecaps
Eric Lichaj - Leeds
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente
Tim Ream - Red Bull New York
Jonathan Spector - West Ham
M:
Michael Bradley - Aston Villa
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Mikkel Diskeruud - Stabaek
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Mo Edu - Rangers
Benny Feilhaber - AGF
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht
F:
Juan Agudelo - Red Bull New York
Jozy Altidore - Bursaspor

FACT OF THE DAY

My team, NSC Minnesota Stars, will be in Chicago this weekend as part of their preseason training, and will take on the Fire, as they have a buy this week.
-Sat Apr 2
Chicago Fire v NSC Minnesota Stars - 10am
Venue: Toyota Park exhibition/training field

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 3

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

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze sees lots of room for improvement for TV coverage of the game.
-I could not agree with him more.

DC UNITED

The Washington Post with early week United team notes.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC has announced no surprise in that Chad Ochocinco will not be offered a contract to play for them. But they are naming him an Honorary member. OK.

SKC also announced that they will play a friendly against an English Premier League team this summer:
-Wed Jul 20
Sporting Kansas City v Newcastle United
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park

LA GALAXY

There is a rumor is Sweden that the Galaxy are going to make a mid-summers trip to Europe and play against their sister club (AEG owned) Hammarby of Stockholm. We shall see. Thanks to the person who sent me that.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe and Kyle McCarthy of the Herald write articles number 9,000 & 9,001 on the Revs looking to build their own stadium.
-Is this story just dusted off twice a year? We have been hearing this same crap for many years now.

Rookie AJ Soares of the Revs writes another post at the Globe.

We missed this late last week - Shalrie Joseph will not face any further suspension from the league over his run in with cops down in Arizona during preseason, but he was fined $1000.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian reports that with both veteran goalkeepers Troy Perkins and Adin Brown out injured the Timbers are going to roll with 20 year old New Zealander Jake Gleeson, who they signed from their PDL team last year.

With some games already sold out the Timbers announced yesterday that the rest of their home games this season each has left than 500 ticket still available.
-In other words, very shortly the team will announce that their first season in MLS is a complete sellout. Fantastic.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times talked to Alvaro Fernandez who has lost his job in the first 11.

Blaise Nkufo who walked away from the Sounders 2 weeks ago has announced his retirement.

TORONTO FC

Jack Bell of the New York Times with a great article on rookie Demitrius Omphroy who is not only a first year professional but has somehow overcome multiple-sclerosis to get there.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun says forward Eric Hassli seems to regret the actions the earned him a red card last weekend.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Doug Sams of the Atlanta Business Journal reports that Brazilian club Cruzeiro is talking about building a serious youth academy in Atlanta and starting a MLS team too.
-How many times have we heard this?

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 26
New England Revolution 1-4 DC United - NER goal by Ilija Stolica. DCU goals by Branko Boskovic, Blake Brettschneider(2) & Marcus Salandy-Defour.
Columbus Crew v New York Red Bulls - postponed
-Tue Mar 29
Real Salt Lake v FC Dallas
-Sun Apr 3
San Jose Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders

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MLS Reserve League

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Former USA international and MLS veteran Jeff Agoos has left his job as sporting director with the New York Red Bulls and has been named the first technical director for the league itself.

US OPEN CUP

MLS Qualifying:

1st Stage
-Tue Mar 29
Portland Timbers v Chivas USA
-Wed Apr 6
DC United v Philadelphia Union

2nd Stage
-Wed Mar 30
Chicago Fire v Colorado Rapids
-Wed Apr 6
Houston Dynamo v Sporting Kansas City
-TBD
DCU/PU winner v New England Revolution
San JoseEarthquakes v PT/CUSA winner

3rd Stage
-TBD
CUSA/PT/SJE winner v CR/CF winner
SKC/HD winner v DCU/PU/NER winner

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Kyle Nelson of IMSoccer Newz with a behind the scenes story from late 2004/early 2005 when the USA national team went on a strike of sorts and a rag tag team of minor leaguers trained together and almost played a game as the national team. This is Part 1.

USA U20 TEAM

CONCACAF U20 World Cup Qualifying is underway.

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US Soccer with a preview.

Brent Latham of The USA 10 Kit previews.

Noah Davis at MLSsoccer.com previews USA v Suriname.

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Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 29
USA v Suriname - 7pm CT on ESPN3.com
-Fri Apr 2
USA v Panama - 5 pm on ESPN3.com

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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.

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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 v USA
Guatemala v Jamaica
-Wed Mar 30
Guadeloupe v Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago v 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

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

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Standings:
Group A
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Jamaica
Group B
- Panama
- Suriname
- USA
Group C
3 Canada
- Costa Rica
0 Guadeloupe
Group D
3 Mexico
- Trinidad & Tobago
0 Cuba

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Swindon Town - Tue Mar 29 - watched from the bench as they lost 1-0 at Exeter City.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Mar 29 - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Yeovil Town.

CONCACAF

Recap du Nord: Canada got a nice road win in Eastern Europe on a goal by Houston Dynamo fullback Andrew Hainault. Never easy. Panama keeps on truckin'.

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FRIENDLY
Matches & Scores:
-Mon Mar 28
Guatemala 1-1 Bolivia
-Tue Mar 29
China 3-0 Honduras
Belarus 0-1 Canada
Cuba 0-1 Panama
Costa Rica v Argentina
USA v Paraguay
Mexico v Venezuela

ENGLAND

David Conn of the Guardian writes that the British government may need to step in a fix the Football Association.

SCOTLAND

The real story has emerged on the accusation of racism on the part of Scottish fans directed at Brazil player Neymar. A German teenager who was sitting with Brazil fans is the culprit and he came forward to say what he had done, claiming it was not meant as a racist gesture. But yes the Scottish fans booed the hell out of Neymar, as they have a perfect right to do.

UEFA EURO 2012

Recap du Nord: Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey & Belgium among others all won like they were supposed to. The Czech's might be the most surprising, and they won again too. No upsets today.

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Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian sees Russia moving backwards.

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QUALIFYING
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 29
Lithuania 1-3 Spain
Netherlands 5-3 Hungary
Czech Republic 2-0 Liechtenstein
Sweden 2-1 Moldova
N Ireland 0-0 Slovenia
Turkey 2-0 Austria
Belgium 4-1 Azerbaijan
Romania 3-1 Luxembourg
Israel 1-0 Georgia
Estonia 1-1 Serbia

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Standings

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

QUALIFYING
Matches & Scores:
-Mon Mar 28
Libya 3-0 Comoros

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Standings

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Recap du Nord: Holy smokes - Germany got whacked at home by Australia and Russia could only manage a tie at Qatar. France & England were held to ties at home too. Portugal and Italy cruised to wins.

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Matches & Scores:
-Mon Mar 28
Guatemala 1-1 Bolivia
-Tue Mar 29
Germany 1-2 Australia
Portugal 2-0 Finland
Ukraine 0-2 Italy
England 1-1 Ghana
France 0-0 Croatia
Greece 0-0 Poland
Ireland 2-3 Uruguay
Oman 2-1 Tunisia
Belarus 0-1 Canada
Cuba 0-1 Panama
Slovakia 1-2 Denmark
Chile 2-0 Colombia
Peru 0-0 Ecuador
China 3-0 Honduras
Cyprus 0-1 Bulgaria
Jordan 1-1 N Korea
Qatar 1-1 Russia
Kuwait 0-1 Iraq
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Gambia
Nigeria 3-0 Kenya
El Salvador v Jamaica
USA v Paraguay
Mexico v Venezuela
Costa Rica v Argentina
-Wed Mar 30
Morocco v Botswana