Some News for Tue Mar 8, 2011

STARTERS

Sporting Kansas City announced today that they have partnered with the Livestrong foundation run by Lance Armstrong and will name their new stadium Livestrong Sporting Park. Wow.












CHARLIE DAVIES

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated with a big article on the return of Charlie Davies.
-Including details from the car crash.

Joseph D'Hippolito of USA Today with an article on Davies too.

CONCACAF

See the full 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule in a du Nord posting from earlier today.

US Soccer gives us quotes from USA coach Bob Bradley on the tournament.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

2nd leg Quarterfinal matches begin today!

dN

Round of 16
Matches & Scores (1 Leg scores included):
2nd Leg
-Tue Mar 8
Barcelona v Arsenal (1-2) - 1:30pm CT Live
Shakhtar v Roma (3-2) - 4pm CT Delayed
-Wed Mar 9
Tottenham v Milan (1-0) - 1:30pm CT Live
Schalke v Valencia (1-1) - 4pm CT Delayed

dN

-Tue Mar 15
Man United v Marseille (0-0)
Bayern v Inter (1-0)
-Wed Mar 16
Chelsea v Kobenhavn (2-0)
Real Madrid v Lyon (1-1)

Mark this down: I predict that Inter will beat Bayern 1-2 next week and advance on the away goals tie breaker.

TWITTERVERSE/FACEBOOKING

Two Tweets today telling with some details on KC's deal with Livestrong for naming rights on the new stadium.

Darren Rovell of CNBC @darrenrovell
Sporting KC stadium to be called Livestrong Sporting Park. Team is guaranteeing 2 raise $7.5M over 6 years for Lance Armstrong Foundation

Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star @tpkcstar
Just spoke to Robb Heineman. SKC is hoping to raise $7.5 million over six years in stadium revenues for Livestrong.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Following up on yesterday's link to an article with USA & CONCACAF's FIFA rep Chuck Blazer ripping the governing body...

Mike Collett of Reuters reports on Blazer still supports FIFA despite his recent criticism of the organization.
-Blazer also comments on the International Football Association Board.

IMAGE OF THE DAY

Xavi conducts Barca. Via The Guardian.

















WHY NOT!

The Shin Guardian does a Q & A with long time MLS rabble rousing player Dema Kovalenko.

MLS FIRST KICK 2011

Now just 7 days away!

-Tue Mar 15
Seattle Sounders FC v LA Galaxy - 8:30pm CT on ESPN
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

COLORADO RAPIDS

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to forward Omar Cummings about the upcoming season.

FC DALLAS

FCD split their team into two on Monday with the first team beating the New York Red Bulls reserves 4-0, and on the reserves beating Edmonton(NASL) 3-0.
-Marvin Chavez(2), Maykel Galindo & Eric Avila scored for the first team.
-Ruben Luna, Andrew Wiedeman & Milton Rodriguez scored for the reserves.

LA GALAXY

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on 16 year old prodigy forward Jack McBean.

Brent Latham of ESPN previews the Galaxy's season.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe on the growing French presence in MLS and especially Ousmane Dabo and Didier Domi at NER.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The Red Bulls reserves lost 4-0 to Dallas on Monday.

-Tue Mar 8
New York Red Bulls v Atlas(Mexico) - in Phoenix AZ

PHILADELPHIA UNION

JP Dellcamera via the team website talks about this season's TV broadcasts featuring him, Taylor Twellman and Bob Rigby.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The Timbers decided to open up another 500 seats for season ticket sales. They have almost sold out their 12,000 allotment.

REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune with an article on forward Alvaro Saborio who will be headed back to play against an old club Saprissa when the CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals begin next week.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN previews the Earthquakes seasons.

Gary Signh of Metro Active gives us the lowdown on the Quakes new stadium.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province on the Caps 3rd signing from Switzerland - David Chiumiento of Luzern. He spent part of last season with the Whitecaps in the 2nd Division.

Weber on midfielder Alexandre Morfaw.

Weber also reports that the Caps appear to be ready to sign Brazilian Camilo Sanvezzo too.

MLS EXHIBITIONS

CAROLINA CHALLENGE CUP
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Charleston SC

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 5
Charleston Battery 1-2 DC United - CB goal by Stephen Armstrong(PK). DCU goals by Chris Pontius & Joseph Ngwenya.
Toronto FC 0-1 Chicago Fire - CF goal by Marco Pappa.
-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

dN

ATLANTA PRO SOCCER CHALLENGE
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Mar 9
New England Revolution v Columbus Crew
-Fri Mar 11
Columbus Crew v Houston Dynamo
-Sun Mar 13
Houston Dynamo v New England Revolution

MLS STADIUMS

Jack Bell of the New York Times on the non-stop string of stadiums being built around the league.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

The Star have announced 4 preseason games coming up:

-Sat Mar 19
Shattuck-St. Mary’s U-18
Venue: Faribault MN

-Sun Mar 20
Minnesota Thunder Academy U-18
Venue: Augsburg College - Minneapolis MN

-Sat or Sun Mar 26 or 27
U Wisconsin-Madison
Venue: National Sports Center - Blaine MN

-Sat Apr 2
at Chicago Fire
Venue: TBA

TEAM USA

We now have details on the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group and Group Stage Matches for the USA:

Group C
Canada
Guadeloupe
Panama
USA

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jun 7
USA v Canada - 7pm CT
Venue: Ford Field - Detroit MI
-Sat Jun 11
USA v Panama - 7pm CT
Venue: Raymond James Stadium - Tampa FL
-Tue Jun 14
USA v Guadeloupe - 8pm CT
Venue: Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

So much for Zak Whitbread having a rib injury. He went the distance again today. Since returning from a long term injury he is now a full timer at Norwich. Could another USA call up be coming soon? I hope so.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Mar 8 - started and went 75 min but they lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough.
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Tue Mar 8 - went the full 90 but lost 1-2 v Leeds.
Eric Lichaj - Leeds - Tue Mar 8 - played the whole game as they won 1-2 at Preston.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Tue Mar 8 - went the full 90 as they won 2-3 at Leicester.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Swindon Town - Tue Mar 8 - went the distance but lost 1-0 at Plymouth Argyle.
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - Tue Mar 8 - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Swindon Town.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Mar 8 - played the entire game and won 1-0 v Hartlepool.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Tim Howard - Everton - Wed Mar 9 v Birmingham City

AMERICANS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad introduces us to a young Peruvian-American fullback, Diego Chavarri, playing at Sporting Cristal.

ENGLAND

Top of the Premier League Table: (28 GP)
60 Man United (29 GP)
57 Arsenal
53 Man City (29 GP)
51 Chelsea - Mon Mar 7 W 1-3 at Blackpool
48 Tottenham

SPAIN

Ricky Kaka has joined Cristiano Ronaldo on the injured list at Real Madrid. Both are expected to miss two weeks. Kaka is suffering from a strain in the same knee he injured last year and played on during the World Cup to ill effect. This guy needs some serious time off to recover.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Round of 16 first leg matches Thursday.

dN

Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu Mar 10
CSKA Moscow v Porto
PSV v Rangers
Leverkusen v Villarreal
Braga v Liverpool
Benfica v PSG
Dynamo Kyiv v Man City
Twente v Zenit
Ajax v Spartak Moscow

COPA LIBERTADORES

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 8
Libertad v Univ St Martin
Oriente Petrolero v Junior
Chiapas Jaguares v Emelec
-Wed Mar 9
Penarol v LDU Quito
Univ Catolica v Caracas
Guarani v Estudiantes
-Thu Mar 10
Union Espanola v Velez Sarsfield
Cerro Porteno v Depor Tachira

dN

Standings:
Group 1
6 Univ 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 Gremio (Brazil) (+4 gd) (3 gp)
6 Junior (Colombia) (+2 gd) (2 gp)
3 Leon de Huanuco (Peru) (-2 gd) (3 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
4 Univ Catolica (Chile) (+1 gd) (2 gp)
3 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina) (+2 gd) (2 gp)
3 Caracas (Venezuela) (-1 gd) (2 gp)
1 Union Espanola (Chile) (-2 gd) (2 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 Depor 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 Depor Tolima (Colombia) (0 gd) (3 gp)
3 Estudiantes (Argentina) (-4 gd) (2 gp)
0 Guarani (Paraguay) (-5 gd) (2 gp)
Group 8
3 Liga Quito (Ecuador) (+2 gd) (2 gp)
3 Independiente (Argentina) (0 gd) (2 gp)
3 Gody Cruz (Argentina) (-1 gd) (2 gp)
3 Penarol (Uruguay) (-1 gd) (2 gp)

ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with an article on football in Palestine, where they are going to play an official FIFA qualifier in the West Bank for the first time since the establishment of Israel in 1948.
-Palestine hosts Thailand in an Olympic qualifier on Wednesday.

SHOUT OUT

A big du Nord shout-out to our old friend-in-football Kenny Arena and his LA Galaxy U16 team!

ENDERS

Jack Bell of the New York Times tells us about Shrovetide!