Sign You Should FREAK OUT, Man.

Contributing Editor Graham Fox



With the losing start to Sporting Kansas City’s season, I’ve noticed a lot of people are starting to freak out. People are calling for Vermes head, everyone in the starting lineup is being questioned (except Jimmy Nielson), and in general, fans are FREAKING OUT man.

Fortunately, the reasons to not freak out are plentiful. There are plenty of games to go including lots of home games, other teams have played more games than us and they’ve all had the chance to get points at home, Omar Bravo will be back soon, the forwards seem potent, and there’s the opening of a brand new stadium to look forward to. Heck, if Sporting had won instead of lost to Vancouver they would be mid-table and there would be a feeling of cautious optimism instead of impending doom.

So if being bottom of the table after playing 5 away games isn’t the right time to freak out, when should you?

Times it’s OK to Freak Out About Your Team

1. Anytime you lose by more than 4 goals.
Losing a natural part of any team sport. Obviously, sometimes you win, sometimes you draw, and sometimes you lose. However, some losses are giant red flags that something is fundamentally wrong with the team. Anytime you lose by 5 or 6 goals, either heads are going to roll, ticket refunds will be announced, mass apologies are on their way, or the team will live in denial and call it a fluke.

No matter how the team perceives the loss, there are some serious, serious problems that aren’t being solved.

2. Anytime your leading goal scorer is a defender.
There are really only a few positions that should be your leading goal scorer. 1) A forward or 2) Some type of really good attacking midfielder. Everyone else should contribute. In fact, the more the goals are spread around a team the better. However, when a defender leads your team in goals scored there are big problems with your attack. With a defender leading, there’s no way anyone on your team is winning the Golden Boot this year.

3. Anytime your players fight with each other on the pitch.


Communication and teamwork is the key to a winning team. But when teammates start communicating with their fists, well, something is very very wrong.

4. You have a very low shots and shots converted numbers.

Just because you don’t put many shots on goal doesn’t mean you have a bad team. We’ve all seen games where one team has 15 shots and the other has 2, yet the team with 2 scored on each shot. However, when you can’t get a shot off and when you do, the shot hits small children running around on the upper concourse, there are some serious problems brewing.

5. Your defense is giving up goals faster than Toronto goes through coaches.

Good teams are built on a stingy defense. A solid back-line keeps a team in the race for a playoff spot even when goals are hard to come by. They give the team somewhere to lean when all the goal scorers are injured or they are in the midst of a long road trip. But if your defense is making catastrophic back passes and waiting for the other person to clear the ball, you are in for one long sad season.

6. The whole management team has been replaced with foreign coaches.
While this doesn’t necessarily hold true in other leagues, there is no sign that tells you you’re about to have a horrible, horrible season like replacing all the coaching staff with foreign staff members who don’t have any Major League Soccer experience.

This one is so bad you can pretty much write off an entire season. Get ready for some serious depression as you wait for year two. If you’re unlucky, they’ll fire him after the inevitably bad first year and then replace him with another foreign coach with 0 MSL experience!

7. The coach starts trying wild formation and player changes.
Well if a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 aren’t working, and we’ve tried a 5-3-1-1 what if we just put everyone in a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 built with a combination of our youth team and reserve team to form a human centipede?

8. You have a player/coach.
How often does that work out?

9. Tell me your “freak out” signs.
What signs tell you the season has taken a horrible, horrible turn and has in fact been turning horrible lo these many months?

ENDERS
If you’re freaking out, give the Random Rab track below a listen and take a deep breath. He’s touring the US with Shpongle right now, so you might get the chance to see him live if you get on it now! Plus you’d get to see the now legendary Shpongle and newly legendary Shpongletron.


The Riddle


CALL SIGN
0 Graham Fox 0 Email 0 Twitter 0 LOVEYOU

Some News for Fri Apr 29, 2011

STARTERS

Monterrey are CONCACAF Champions! Huge congrats to them. They are deserving winners, having not lost a single game in the tournament.

dN

Brian Mullen, midfielder for the Colorado Rapids, was given a 9 game suspension in addition to a 1 game red card suspension for the horrible tackle that severely broke the leg of Seattle winger Steve Zakuani.

dN

Marseille got a huge win Wednesday and leaped over Lille into 1st place in France's Ligue 1.

STORY OF THE DAY

In what I believe to be a league first MLS has withdrawn a red card that was given to Sporting Kansas City centerback Aurelin Collin. He and New England goalkeeper Matt Reis had a strong midair collision and was quickly given a straight red card. But the league like everyone saw the replay that showed that only a foul on Collin was warranted as both players went for a high ball cleanly.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

Home Opener
-Sat Apr 30
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks - 7:30pm
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN

Tickets

Tailgating begins around 5:30.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Final

Heart Break City.

Monterrey's win in Salt Lake make them the CONCACAF Champions!

They are deserving winners, having not lost a single game in the tournament.

Humberto Suazo's goal off a feed from Sergio Santana was a work of brilliance. The way the two of them danced on that ball was a saddening joy to watch. Great goal. A perfect winner.

The visitors from Mexico snapped Salt Lake's 37 game unbeaten streak at home to do the job.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 27
Real Salt Lake 0-1 Monterrey - Mon wins series 3-2 on aggregate - Mon goal by Humberto Suazo.

All the stories from the Deseret News:
-Monterrey wins CONCACAF Champions League, 3-2 on aggregate
-Real-ity moment as Monterrey prevails
-Kyle Beckerman's absence hurt
-Twitter roundup
-The ending RSL fans didn't expect
-Tactical analysis
-Report Card
-Real Salt Lake players praise fans, bemoan missed chances
-Fans disappointed but not deterred in their love for Real

All the stories from the Salt Lake Tribune:
-RSL falters at home in CONCACAF Champions League final
-Mighty Mo’ takes big blow
-Real’s rock-solid defense is chipped
-Kreis says Beckerman might have made the difference
-In RSL’s magic moment, dreams go poof
-Real’s opportunities were strong in first half
-For RSL, it’s game on, life on, in victory and defeat

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with RSL player ratings.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Both Manchester United and Barcelona struck serious blows to their opponents with 0-2 wins on the road. That is huge. We are now on the path toward a potential rematch of the 2009 final.

Rob Hughes of the New York Times with a review of that ugly Madrid - Barcelona game.
-"Mourinho has since had seven players sent off against Barca, with three different teams — Chelsea, Inter Milan and Madrid. In each of his team’s last five matches against Barcelona, his team has finished a man down."

Andrew Das of the NY Times on the conspiracy Mourinho believes is lined up against him.

As much as I thought the red card to Pepe that changed the whole game was bogus, Real Madrid got their just desserts in the Karma category. The 8-0-1 formation they played was horrible.

And with the destroyer off the field Lionel Messi was free again to do his magic. Two magnifique goals. The second topping the first.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Schalke 0-2 Manchester United - MU goals by Ryan Giggs & Wayne Rooney.
Venue: Arena AufSchalke - Gelsenkirchen
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona - Bar goals both by Lionel Messi.
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid

2nd Leg games will be played next week, on opposite days from this week.

THE QUADRACLASICO - MADRID V BARCA 2011

Real Madrid & Barcelona face off 4 times in 3 competitions in 18 days beginning on Saturday April 16.

With 3 of the 4 played the teams are dead even at 1 win, 1 loss and 1 tie.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 16
Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona - Primera Division - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo(PK). Bar goal by Lionel Messi(PK).
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid
-Wed Apr 20
Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid - Copa Del Rey Final - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Venue: Estadio Mestalla - Valencia
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Semifinal Leg 1 - Bar goals both by Lionel Messi.
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid
-Tue May 3
Barcelona v Real Madrid - UEFA Champions League Semifinal Leg 2 - 1:45pm CT on FSC
Venue: Camp Nou - Barcelona

SCOREBOARD
Team - Win - Tie - Loss
Barcelona - 1 -- 1 --- 1
Real Madrid 1 -- 1 --- 1

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"You get an apology and it was kind of insincere. I really didn't feel it from him."

-Seattle Sounders centerback Jeff Parke comments on the apology delivered by Colorado's Brian Mullan who badly broke the leg of Seattle's Steve Zakuani last week.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Serie A could be won this weekend - this is game 35 of 38
-A win for Milan combined with a loss for Inter and its over.
-Sat Apr 30
Cesena v Inter - #2 on the road
-Sun May 1
Milan v Bologna - 8 point lead - #1 at home

Bundesliga could be won this weekend - this is game 32 of 34
-A win for Dortmund combined with a tie or loss by Leverkusen will end it.
-Sat Apr 30
Borussia Dortmund v Nurnberg - 5 point lead - #1 at home
Koln v Bayer Leverkusen - #2 on the road and its the Rheinderby II

Others:
-Sat Apr 30
Chelsea v Tottenham - a London derby pitting #2 v #5
Besiktas v Galatasaray - one of the three classic Istanbul derbies
West Brom v Aston Villa - a lesser Birmingham derby
Mainz v Eintracht Frankfurt - the Rhein-Main-Derby
-Sun May 1
Arsenal v Manchester United - #3 v #1 and big rivals over the past decade

STAT OF THE DAY

Clint Dempsey raised his goal total at Fulham this season to 12, but even bigger he has set a new standard for Fulham in the Premier League era with 33 career goals. He broke Brian McBride's record of 32.

It blows my mind to think that the two biggest goal scorers at an English Premier League team are both Americans. Just fantastic.

BRAZILIAN PLAYER NAME OF THE DAY

Chinesinho

Sadly he passed away this week at age 75. But what a name! (thanks to Leaders in Football for the heads up)

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Lazio was fined less than $12,000 for racist chants by their fans last weekend.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 7

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Apr 29
Houston Dynamo v DC United - 7:30pm CT on Fox Soccer Channel
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
-Sat Apr 30
Philadelphia Union v San Jose Earthquakes - 3:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
Columbus Crew v Vancouver Whitecaps - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
New York Red Bulls v Sporting Kansas City - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
Colorado Rapids v Chicago Fire SC - 8:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Seattle Sounders FC v Toronto FC - 9:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Portland Timbers v Real Salt Lake - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR
CD Chivas USA v New England Revolution - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sun May 1
FC Dallas v LA Galaxy - 6:00pm CT on Galavision
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
11 New York Red Bulls (+7 GD) (7 GP)
10 Philadelphia Union (+2 GD) (5 GP)
9 Houston Dynamo (+2 GD) (6 GP)
9 Columbus Crew (+1 GD) (6 GP)
9 New England Revolution (-1 GD) (7 GP)
7 DC United (-3 GD) (6 GP)
7 Toronto FC (-3 GD) (7 GP)
5 Chicago Fire SC (-3 GD) (6 GP)
4 Sporting Kansas City (-2 GD) (5 GP)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
15 LA Galaxy (+3 GD) (8 GP)
12 Real Salt Lake (+7 GD) (4 GP)
9 Colorado Rapids (+1 GD) (6 GP)
9 Seattle Sounders FC (0 GD) (7 GP)
7 FC Dallas (-1 GD) (6 GP)
7 Portland Timbers (-4 GD) (6 GP)
6 CD Chivas USA (-1 GD) (6 GP)
6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-2 GD) (7 GP)
5 San Jose Earthquakes (-3 GD) (6 GP)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

COLORADO RAPIDS

Brian Mullan's official apology: "It is with regret that my tackle resulted in the injury of Steve and I am deeply sorry to Steve and all those impacted by his injury."

The teams website has words from Rapids managing director Jeff Plush who thinks the suspension for Brian Mullan was too severe.

FC DALLAS

Robert Casner of MLSsoccer.com has his weekly edition of 11 questions with FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman.

DC UNITED

Branko Baskovic who has really been improving over the past few weeks has a dinged up knee and did not travel with the team to Houston. He is expected to be ready for next week.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle with an article on new Spanish forward signing Koke who is training with the team and ready to go.
-Injured players Brian Ching and Jermaine Taylor are also back and ready for action.

Ortiz also reports that the Dynamo will honor their former goalkeeper Pat Onstad at Friday night's game.

LA GALAXY

Scott Reid of the Orange County Register on David Beckham's latest laugh at the expense of the team who pays his hefty wages. More of a photo essay.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

New York will play in the 4 team Emirates Cup in London this summer, hosted by Arsenal. Here is the schedule.
-Sat Jul 30
New York Red Bulls v Paris St Germain
Arsenal v Boca Juniors
-Sun Jul 31
Paris St Germain v Boca Juniors
Arsenal v New York Red Bulls

REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune on the team getting back to league play after a brutal loss.

James Edward of Deseret News on RSL coming back down to earth and returning to MLS play this weekend.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Steve Zakuani has sent out a message as he leaves Denver after surgery and heads back to Seattle.

Forward O'Brian White has had surgery to remove a blood clot from his left leg. It is not known yet how long he will be out.

The Seattle Times has quotes from several Sounders this week, including coach Sigi Schmid, and players Kasey Keller, Jeff Parke and Nate Jaqua.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Forward Atiba Harris has had surgery to fix a torn right knee meniscus that he injured over 2 weeks ago. Time of recovery is still unknown.

The Caps have signed veteran midfielder Peter Vagenas.

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun sees Omar Salgado and Joe Cannon on the trail to becoming starters very soon.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun May 1
Colorado Rapids v Chicago Fire
-Tue May 3
Sporting Kansas City v Real Salt Lake
Chivas USA v LA Galaxy

dN

MLS Reserve League Standings Etc.

MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

A very sad story: Chicago Fire Academy player Kabiru Adewunmi was shot and killed on Tuesday night. It is believed that he may have gotten caught in the cross fire of two gangs shooting at each other.

MLS STADIUMS

The Kansas City Star has 57 new photos of Livestrong Sporting Park.

















pic stolen from the KC Star

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Apr 29
Puerto Rico Islanders v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sat Apr 30
FC Tampa Bay v Atlanta Silverbacks
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks
-Sun May 1
FC Edmonton v Montreal Impact

dN

Standings:
9 Puerto Rico Islanders (+5 GD) (3 GP)
6 Carolina RailHawks (+2 GD) (3 GP)
6 FC Edmonton (0 GD) (3 GP)
4 NSC Minnesota Stars (-1 GD) (3 GP)
3 FC Tampa Bay (-1 GD) (2 GP)
1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-1 GD) (2 GP)
0 Atlanta Silverbacks (-2 GD) (2 GP)
0 Montreal Impact (-2 GD) (2 GP)

MINNESOTA THUNDER ACADEMY

Both teams play 2 home games this weekend. All 4 games at the National Sports Center in Blaine MN.

U17/18
-Sat Apr 30
Minnesota Thunder Academy v Real Colorado - 12:00 pm
-Sun May 1
Minnesota Thunder Academy v Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre - 11:00 am

U15/16
-Sat Apr 30
Minnesota Thunder Academy v Real Colorado - 2:30 pm
-Sun May 1
Minnesota Thunder Academy v Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre - 1:30 pm

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Bolton fans have named Stuart Holden as their Player of the Year.

dN

David Smith of Yanks Abroad talks to Timmy Chandler about making his USA debut a few weeks ago.
-Chandler got a cut on his foot and will miss this weekends game.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Joe Benny Corona scored the only goal in the first leg of the promotion playoffs.

dN

Eben Lehman writing for This Is American Soccer gives us an intro/history/update on the Mexican 2nd division team Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente aka Tijuana Xolos.
-In just their 4th season Los Xolos are on the verge of being promoted to the Primera.

dN

Coming Up:

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Promotion Playoff Quarterfinals
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Thu Apr 28 - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they won 0-1 at Cruz Azul Hidalgo - 1st Leg.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Sun May 1 v Cruz Azul Hidalgo - 2nd Leg leading 1-0

MEXICO

Playoff Standings as of Sun Apr 24:
Group A
ADV-32 UANL Tigres
25 Guadalajara
Group B
24 Atlante
23 Atlas (+3 GD)
Group C
ADV-35 UNAM Pumas
ADV-28 Morelia
Wild Card
25 Cruz Azul
23 Monterrey (+2 GD)
- - - - -
23 America (+1 GD) - B
20 Santos Laguna - A
21 Toluca - B

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Apr 29
Estudiantes Tecos v Santos Laguna
-Sat Apr 30
Jaguares v Queretaro
Guadalajara v Monterrey
Tigres UANL v Atlas
Pachuca v Necaxa
San Luis v Cruz Azul
Atlante v Toluca
-Sun May 1
Puebla v Morelia
Pumas UNAM v America

CANADA

Canadian Championship

The winner of the 4 team tournament goes to the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round.

Everything went the way of the favorites in the first Leg games last night. The two MLS teams were on the road but still got the wins.

Matches & Scores:
Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 27
Montreal Impact 0-1 Vancover Whitecaps - VW goal by Terry Dunfield.
Match report from Montreal Gazette.
FC Edmonton 0-3 Toronto FC - TFC goals by Maicon Santos(2) & Alan Gordon.
Match report from the Toronto Star.
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Wed May 4
Vancover Whitecaps v Montreal Impact (1-0)
Toronto FC v FC Edmonton (3-0)

ENGLAND

Top of the Premier League Table: (34 of 38 GP)
73 Man United - Sun May 1 at Arsenal
67 Chelsea - Sat Apr 30 v Tottenham
64 Arsenal - Sun May 1 v Manchester United
59 Man City - Sun May 1 v West Ham (33 GP)
55 Tottenham - Sat Apr 30 at Chelsea (33 GP)

SPAIN

Top of the Primera Division Table: (33 of 38 GP)
88 Barcelona - Sat Apr 30 at Sociedad
80 Real Madrid - Sat Apr 30 v Zaragoza
63 Valencia - Sun May 1 at Osasuna
57 Villarreal - Sun May 1 v Getafe
51 Athletic Bilbao - Mon May 2 at Espanyol

FRANCE

Recap du Nord: We have a new league leader as Marseille got a very convincing win yesterday and jumps over Lille into the #1 position. Lille is now 2nd. #3 Lyon also won yesterday and solidified their place as a contender only 5 points from the top. 4 & 5 did not play, and stay the same.

dN

Top of the Ligue 1 Table: (32 GP of 38)
61 Marsielle - Sun May 1 v Auxerre
60 Lille - Sat Apr 30 v Arles
56 Lyon - Sun May 1 at Toulouse
53 PSG - Sat Apr 30 v Valenciennes
51 Rennes - Sat Apr 30 v Bordeaux

GERMANY

Top of the Bundesliga Table: (31 of 34 GP)
69 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Apr 30 v Nurnberg
64 Bayer Leverkusen - Sat Apr 30 at Koln
57 Hannover - Sat Apr 30 v Monchengladbach
56 Bayern Munich - Sat Apr 30 v Schalke
49 Mainz - Sat Apr 30 v Eintracht Frankfurt

ITALY

Top of the Serie A Table: (34 of 38 GP)
74 Milan - Sun May 1 v Bologna
66 Inter - Sat Apr 30 at Cesena
65 Napoli - Sat Apr 30 v Genoa
60 Lazio - Mon May 2 v Juventus
59 Udinese - Sun May 1 at Fioretina

EUROPE

Top Goal Scorers In Europe's Biggest Leagues (as of Thu Apr 28):
31 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
29 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
26 Edinson Cavani - Napoli
26 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
23 Mario Gomez - Bayern Munich
22 Hulk - Porto
21 Alex - Fenerbache
21 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
21 Moussa Sow - Lille
20 Djibril Cisse - Panathinaikos - Greece
20 Papiss Demba Cisse - Freiburg
20 Samuel Eto'o - Inter
20 Mads Junker - Roda JC
19 Dmitry Bulykin - ADO Den Haag
19 Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
19 Marco Di Vaio - Bologna
19 Bjorn Vleminckx - NEC Nijmegen

dN

Netherland
Top of the Eredivisie Table: (32 of 34 GP)
68 Twente - Sun May 1 v Willem II (+29 GD)
67 Ajax - Sun May 1 at Heerenveen (+39 GD)
65 PSV Eindhoven - Sun May 1 v Vitesse (+44 GD)
(Twente goes to Ajax on the final day of the season.)

dN

POLISH CUP
Final
Matches & Scores:
-Mon May 2
Legia Warszawa v Lech Poznan

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semifinals

Porto got a monster win at home in the first leg, and Benfica won too, but barely and allowed Braga an away goal.

Its almost a certainty now that two Portuguese teams will play for the final.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu Apr 28
Porto 5-1 Villarreal - Por goals by Falcao(4) & Fredy Guarin. Vil goal by Cani.
Benfica 2-1 Braga - Ben goals by Jardel & Oscar Cardozo. Bra goal by Vandinho.
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Thu May 5
Villarreal v Porto (1-5)
Braga v Benfica (1-2)

ARGENTINA

Primera Division
Standings (after 11 of 19 games played):
21 Velez Sarsfield
20 Godoy Cruz
19 River Plate
18 Olimpio
18 Argentinos Juniors
18 Banfield

COPA LIBERTADORES

Round Of 16

Big wins for Velez & Fluminense at home, and powerful road wins for Cruziero and Universidad Catolica. Santos also won, while the other games ended in draws.

2nd Leg games next week.

dN

Matches & Scores:

1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Velez Sarsfield 3-0 LDU Quito - VS goals by Augusto Fernandez(2) & Sebastian Dominguez.
Gremio 1-2 Univ Catolica - Gre goal by Douglas. UC goals both by Lucas Pratto.
-Wed Apr 27
Once Caldas 1-2 Cruzeiro - OC goal by Luis Nunez. Cru goals by Wallyson & Jose Ortigoza.
Santos 1-0 America - San goal by Ganso.
Chiapas Jaguares 1-1 Junior - CJ goal by Jackson Martinez. Jun goal by Luis Paez.
Estuniantes 0-0 Cerro Porteno
-Thu Apr 28
Fluminense 3-1 Libertad - Flu goals by Rafael Moura, Marquinho & Dario Conca. Lib goal by Rodolfo Gamarra.
Penarol 1-1 Internacional - Pen goal by Mathias Corujo. Int goal by Leandro Damiao.

dN

2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 3
America v Santos (0-1)
-Wed May 4
Univ Catolica v Gremio (2-1)
Cruzeiro v Once Caldas (2-1)
Libertad v Fluminense (1-3)
Internacional v Penarol (1-1)
-Thu May 5
LDU Quito v Velez Sarsfield (0-3)
Junior v Chiapas Jaguares (1-1)
Cerro Porteno v Estuniantes (0-0)

PET LOVERS ONLY

Manimal

This Week in American Soccer History: Team America

Contributing Editor Dillon Young
(links posted are to images of the original documents from the era)

This Week in Soccer History: 1983

With the NASL failing at the gate, the USSF, NASL and MISL created Team America, a team that would represent the US in internationals (there was hope of fielding the team in the 1986 World Cup- which at the time the USSF were bidding for) as well in the NASL season. Although they were expected to make US soccer a “force at the world class level”, and did open their season this week in 1983 with a victory, they eventually finished dead last, lost 20 of 30 matches, only scored 33 goals all year, struggled to field a squad and folded at season's end. This was widely accepted as the death for the original NASL.

Summer Friendlies Across North America

Here is the preliminary calendar of exhibition club matches you can see across North America this summer. Please help fill in the blanks.


-Wed May 11
Montreal Impact (NASL) v New York Red Bulls (MLS)
Venue: Saputo Stadium - Montreal QC

-Thu Jul 7
Portland Timbers (MLS) v America (Mexico)
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR

-Wed Jul 13
New England Revolution (MLS) v Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxboro MA

-Mon Jul 18
Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) v Manchester City (England)
Venue: Empire Field - Vancouver BC

-Wed Jul 20
Philadelphia Union (MLS) v Everton (England)
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA

-Wed Jul 20
Houston Dynamo (MLS) v Bolton Wanderers (England) - Dynamo Charity Cup
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX

-Wed Jul 20
Sporting Kansas City (MLS) v Newcastle United (England)
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

-Wed Jul 20
Seattle Sounders (MLS) v Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA

-Sat Jul 23
Chicago Fire (MLS) v Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL

-Sat Jul 23
DC United v Everton (England)
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC

-Tue Jul 26
Columbus Crew (MLS) v Newcastle United (England)
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH

-Wed Jul 27
MLS All-Stars (MLS) v Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ

-Sat Jul 30
Barcelona (Spain) v Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge
Venue: FedExField - Landover MD

-Wed Aug 3
Barcelona (Spain) v Guadalajara Chivas (Mexico) - World Football Challenge
Venue: Sun Life Stadium - Miami FL

thanks to everyone who encouraged us to post this

Some News for Wed Apr 27, 2011

STARTERS

In all competitions in the 2010/11 season at Barcelona Lionel Messi has scored an astounding 53 goals in 51 games.

STORY OF THE DAY

Clint Dempsey had a big had for Fulham scoring their first two goals in a 3-0 home win over Bolton.
-Match report from the BBC with post-game audio from Dempsey

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Final

From the Salt Lake Tribune:
-Historic opportunity arrives for RSL in Champions League
-RSL game sold out, but fans still looking
-Bearded man of the world leads RSL
-RSL won’t hold back offensively

Some pretty convincing stats from the Tribune:
-The team is 7-0-3 at home without Kyle Beckerman during the past two seasons.
-It was 4-1-2 overall without him when he was out with an injury last season.
-The team has played 20 straight home games without allowing more than one goal
-The team has allowed only two total goals in four home games this year in all competitions.

The Tribune also reports on the sidelight to this whole story, the business meetings between officials from Utah and Monterrey that have taken place.

From the Deseret News:
-Real Salt Lake on the brink of history
-Nick Rimando a big reason why RSL is in final
-RSL brass aims to ensure it's a true home crowd
-Advancing would give RSL crack at soccer's big boys
-Net gains: RSL riding CCL run to the bank
-What a long, strange trip for Real Salt Lake

Kyle Beckerman of RSL is suspended for this game.

Aldo de Nigris & Jesus Zavala of Monterrey are suspended for this game.

Luis Perez of Monterrey is out of this game due to injury.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 27
Real Salt Lake v Monterrey (2-2) - 9pm CT on FSC

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

Home Opener
-Sat Apr 30
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks - 7:30pm
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN

NOTE: I have an extra ticket for this game. Would you like to be my guest? Drop me an email!

Tickets

Tailgating begins around 5:30.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

A 0-2 win by Barcelona gives them a huuuuuuuuge advantage for the home game next week.
-Of course Lionel Messi scored both goals for Barca.
-The win was really marred by a red card that should not have been given, and Real Madrid falling apart after that.

There was shameful play-acting from both teams that should be punished using post-game video. Sergio Busquets of Barcelona in particular should be banned for a year after the crap he pulls game in and game out.

Rob Hughes of the New York Times on Manchester United rolling over Schalke.

George Vecsey of the NY Times with a feature on the better-with-age Ryan Giggs.

Review of the Wednesday game coming tomorrow.

dN

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Schalke 0-2 Manchester United - MU goals by Ryan Giggs & Wayne Rooney.
Venue: Arena AufSchalke - Gelsenkirchen
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona - Bar goals both by Lionel Messi.
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid

dN

2nd Leg matches next Tue and Wed.

THE QUADRACLASICO - MADRID V BARCA 2011

Real Madrid & Barcelona face off 4 times in 3 competitions in 18 days beginning on Saturday April 16.

dN

After 3 games the series is tied dead even at 1-1-1 each.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 16
Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona - Primera Division - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo(PK). Bar goal by Lionel Messi(PK).
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid
-Wed Apr 20
Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid - Copa Del Rey Final - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Venue: Estadio Mestalla - Valencia
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Semifinal Leg 1 - Bar goals both by Lionel Messi.
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid
-Tue May 3
Barcelona v Real Madrid - UEFA Champions League Semifinal Leg 2 - 1:45pm CT on FSC
Venue: Camp Nou - Barcelona

dN

SCOREBOARD
Team - Win - Tie - Loss
Barcelona - 1 -- 1 --- 1
Real Madrid 1 -- 1 --- 1

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Lazio was fined less than $12,000 for racist chants by their fans last weekend.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Officially announced friendly match
-Wed Jul 20
Philadelphia Union v Everton (England)
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the Olympian on Fredy Montero looking like he might be back in the groove.

TORONTO FC

Daniel Girard of the Star on the recent debut for TFC academy graduate Oscar Cordon Jr. (missed from last week)

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

The folks at Brave New Media have been filming the NSC Minnesota Stars since preseason began this year. They were out at the watch party the other night, and give us this at times surreal video. Yours truly makes an appearance, and it looks as though I am talking out the side of my mouth at first. What is that about?
-Its not always this weird at the Sweetwater, just the odd Friday night game.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 26
Puerto Rico Islanders 3-1 NSC Minnesota Stars - PRI goals by Nicolas Addlery & Jonathan Fana(2). NSC goal by Kyle Altman.
-Fri Apr 29
Puerto Rico Islanders v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sat Apr 30
FC Tampa Bay v Atlanta Silverbacks
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks
-Sun May 1
FC Edmonton v Montreal Impact

dN

Standings:
9 Puerto Rico Islanders (+5 GD) (3 GP)
6 Carolina RailHawks (+2 GD) (3 GP)
6 FC Edmonton (0 GD) (3 GP)
4 NSC Minnesota Stars (-1 GD) (3 GP)
3 FC Tampa Bay (-1 GD) (2 GP)
1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-1 GD) (2 GP)
0 Atlanta Silverbacks (-2 GD) (2 GP)
0 Montreal Impact (-2 GD) (2 GP)
US OPEN CUP

MLS Qualifying

New England went to DC and held off a late rally to advance to the final round of qualifying.
-15 year old Diego Fagundez made his New England debut in the 76th minute. Wow. I remember where I was at age 15 it was nowhere near being a pro at anything. Well maybe a professional Rush and Aerosmith fan.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Stage
-Tue Apr 26
DC United 2-3 New England Revolution - DCU goals by Branko Baskovic(2). NER goals by Kheli Dube(2) & Alan Koger..
-Tue May 3
San Jose Earthquakes v Portland Timbers

dN

3rd Stage
-Wed May 25
Sporting Kansas City v New England Revolution - venue TBA
-DATE TBD
PT/SJE winner v Chicago Fire
-The 2 winners of this stage advance to the tournament proper.

USA U17 TEAM

A more senior version of the U17 team, and the one made up primarily of players who will be going to the World Cup this summer are off to train and play some games in Mexico.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 27
Mexico U17 v USA U17
-Sun May 1
Mexico U17 v USA U17

dN

Roster
G:
Wade Hamilton - Arsenal FC
Kendall McIntosh - San Jose Earthquakes Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Juniors
Joe Amon - South Carolina United FC
Zach Carroll - Vardar
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy 1969
Alessandro Mion - Kendall SC
Reed Norton - Concorde Fire
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
M:
Matt Dunn - FC Koln
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Fernando Laverde - FC Dallas Juniors
Nico Melo - Florida Rush
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids Academy
Colton Storm - HMMS Eagle FC
F:
Kellen Gulley - MS Chicago Fire Juniors
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea FC
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Apr 27 - went the full 90 scoring two goals as they won 3-0 v Bolton.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - Tue Apr 26 - on the bench as they lost 3-0 at Stoke.

CONCACAF

The very first games of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying will be played as a 2 legged series on Jun 3 & 7.
-Here are those 5 matchups between the 10 lowest rated teams in the region:
Montserrat - Belize
Anguilla - Dominican Republic
US Virgin Islands - British Virgin Islands
Aruba - St. Luca
Bahamas - Turks & Caicos Islands

The 5 winners will advance to join the next 19 highest rated teams in a six, four team group stage.

CANADA

The Canadian Championship begins tonight.

This year there are 4 teams involved. The winner goes to the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round.

dN

Match preview from the Vancouver Sun.

Match preview from the Montreal Gazette.

Match preview from the Edmonton Journal.

Match preview from the Toronto Sun.

dN

Matches & Scores:
Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 27
Montreal Impact v Vancover Whitecaps
FC Edmonton v Toronto FC
2nd Leg
-Wed May 4
Vancover Whitecaps v Montreal Impact
Toronto FC v FC Edmonton

dN

Final
1st Leg
-Wed May 18
Winners
2nd Leg
-Wed May 25
Winners

COPA LIBERTADORES

Round Of 16

Tonight is the first night of the knock out rounds.

dN

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Velez Sarsfield v LDU Quito
Gremio v Univ Catolica
-Wed Apr 27
Once Caldas v Cruzeiro
Santos v America
Chiapas Jaguares v Junior
Estuniantes v Cerro Porteno
-Thu Apr 28
Fluminense v Libertad
Penarol v Internacional

Some News for Tue Apr 26, 2011

STORY OF THE DAY

Steve Helman of the Boston Globe on Taylor Twellman and the concussions that ended his career.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

Home Opener
-Sat Apr 30
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks - 7:30pm
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN

Tickets

Tailgating begins around 5:30.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Final

The Salt Lake Tribune has a full special section just for this one game. That gives me goose bumps. Seriously.
-Lots of great stuff to read here, just click on over and dig in.

dN

The Deseret News has no special section, but plenty of articles:
-Real Salt Lake has to play better in finale
-Kreis has decision for holding midfield spot
-Where does Real Salt Lake's run rank among Utah's top sports stories?
-Fans wish Real Salt Lake good luck via social media

dN

Simon Evans of Reuters on the potential if RSL wins.

dN

Kyle Beckerman of RSL is suspended for this game.

Aldo de Nigris & Jesus Zavala of Monterrey are suspended for this game.

Luis Perez of Monterrey is out of this game due to injury.

dN

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 27
Real Salt Lake v Monterrey (2-2) - 9pm CT on FSC

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Manchester United wins leg 1 handily. On the road!

dN

Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated shows us how the behind the scenes Zinedine Zidane influence is boosting Real Madrid.

dN

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Schalke 0-2 Manchester United - MU goals by Ryan Giggs & Wayne Rooney.
Venue: Arena AufSchalke - Gelsenkirchen
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid v Barcelona - 1:30pm CT live on FX
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid

THE QUADRACLASICO - MADRID V BARCA 2011

Real Madrid & Barcelona face off 4 times in 3 competitions in 18 days beginning on Saturday April 16.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 16
Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona - Primera Division - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo(PK). Bar goal by Lionel Messi(PK).
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid
-Wed Apr 20
Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid - Copa Del Rey Final - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Venue: Estadio Mestalla - Valencia
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid v Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Semifinal Leg 1 - 1:45pm CT on FSC
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid
-Tue May 3
Barcelona v Real Madrid - UEFA Champions League Semifinal Leg 2 - 1:45pm CT on FSC
Venue: Camp Nou - Barcelona

SCOREBOARD
Team - Win - Tie - Loss
Barcelona - 0 -- 1 --- 1
Real Madrid 1 -- 1 --- 0

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I could easily have gone and played in the USA. Without doubt, I regret not having done that. I should have thought about the idea of this American adventure more seriously, more deeply, but there you are. It's much too late to go back now."

-Zinedine Zidane

See full article from Sports Illustrated above in the UEFA Champions League section.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

What is going on with Michael Bradley? Not only is he not playing for Aston Villa, he is not even on the bench. This move has been a debacle so far. The "England, England, England, England" mantra is not working out very well for him.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Loyal reader & fellow blogger Mark Willis has written a series that we prefaced called Revolution Reboot. This is what he feels would make the New England Revolution relevant again.

Intro
Part I
Part II
Part III
Summing Up

Its one persons opinion. The enthusiasm must be applauded. Do you have an opinion on how your team is run?

OOF

Sachrin Nakrani of the Guardian tells us the story of ADO Den Haag player Gino Coutinho who finds himself is a bit of trouble with the law these days. "Run afoul" comes to mind. Thanks to Bill for this one.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Noah Davis writing for Run of Play with a view of the future of American soccer from a stadium in Guatemala City.

THATS WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

Bumpy Pitch presents their Rose City shirts and a tribute to one of their mentor's Clive Charles. Well done!






















Buy it here.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 7

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Apr 29
Houston Dynamo v DC United - 7:30pm CT on Fox Soccer Channel
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
-Sat Apr 30
Philadelphia Union v San Jose Earthquakes - 3:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
Columbus Crew v Vancouver Whitecaps - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
New York Red Bulls v Sporting Kansas City - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
Colorado Rapids v Chicago Fire SC - 8:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Seattle Sounders FC v Toronto FC - 9:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Portland Timbers v Real Salt Lake - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR
CD Chivas USA v New England Revolution - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sun May 1
FC Dallas v LA Galaxy - 6:00pm CT on Galavision
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
11 New York Red Bulls (+7 GD) (7 GP)
10 Philadelphia Union (+2 GD) (5 GP)
9 Houston Dynamo (+2 GD) (6 GP)
9 Columbus Crew (+1 GD) (6 GP)
9 New England Revolution (-1 GD) (7 GP)
7 DC United (-3 GD) (6 GP)
7 Toronto FC (-3 GD) (7 GP)
5 Chicago Fire SC (-3 GD) (6 GP)
4 Sporting Kansas City (-2 GD) (5 GP)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
15 LA Galaxy (+3 GD) (8 GP)
12 Real Salt Lake (+7 GD) (4 GP)
9 Colorado Rapids (+1 GD) (6 GP)
9 Seattle Sounders FC (0 GD) (7 GP)
7 FC Dallas (-1 GD) (6 GP)
7 Portland Timbers (-4 GD) (6 GP)
6 CD Chivas USA (-1 GD) (6 GP)
6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-2 GD) (7 GP)
5 San Jose Earthquakes (-3 GD) (6 GP)

DU NORD PLAYER OF THE WEEK AND OTHER STUFF

Benny Feilhaber of the New England Revolution.

When is the last time any player stepped onto a MLS field and single-handedly lifted a team to a new level. Not recently. And he did it with such subtlety and precision too.

MY THOUGHTS

Lets start with some "Did you know...."
-Crew midfielder Kevin Burns is the son of Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
-Maicon Santos is the captain of Toronto FC.
-Dallas started the game this weekend in the revolutionary 4-6-0 formation.
-No team who had scored first this season had lost... until this weekend when it happened twice!
-Terry Dunfield was the Whitecaps captain.
-Vancouver weather provided for skiing in the mountains and shirts & tshirts in the stands at the game on the same day.
-Vancouver games are being broadcast in Cantonese! That is a MLS first. The commentator's name is Golden Kong! That is cool.

Why do they play Guns & Roses right before kickoff at Gillette Stadium?

Debuts for both Rajko Lekic and Benny Feilhaber in New England. Both were effective.

New England also debuted their first-ever shirt sponsor United Health Care.

Feilhaber made great pass after great pass all game long, and even played a little defense.

Lekic scored the game winning goal.

KC debuted centerback Aurelin Collin. His game went quite badly. Getting a yellow card, being lectured to by the referee a few times, and then getting a bogus red card. Tough start to his MLS days.

I like it when Shalrie Joseph lines up at forward!

NER announcer Jay Heaps made the hilarious statement: "That's too early for a yellow card." Not directed at the player, but directed at the referee. Someone suggesting that an awful foul early in a game should go unpunished.

KC's second goal came on a terrible penalty call. The ball was already out of play before any foul occurred.

Teal Bunbury had a very quiet game, and was not effective when he did see the ball. Although he did draw the phantom penalty.

Ryan Smith made his 2011 season debut for KC, recovered from injury.

Steven Lenhart made his season debut for his new team San Jose.

Tony Tchani's goal for TFC was taken so coolly. I loved it. Fantastic pass from Julian de Guzman to set it up too. That was my favorite goal of the week. See it here.

If Tchani gets a yellow card for jumping into the stands after scoring, then why didn't Alan Gordon get one too, cuz he was right with Tchani.

How come Robbie Rogers of Columbus always looks like he is giving it the full 75%?

Andres Mendoza of the Crew has been sporting a great Bride of Frankenstein style headband the past few weeks. Awesome.































Another Crew player, Tom Heineman looks like the guitar player from Mastodon.



































Two TFC players made their debuts - English full back Richard Eckersley and Ecuadoran forward Joao Plata.

That Plata kid is tiny. As in teeny-tiny. As in I don't know if I have ever seen a MLS player that small before.

I love the spray the refs are using on free kicks. It cuts out all the garbage.

Next initiative should be to make players take throw-ins from where the ball actually went out of bounds.

Good to see Dallas's Brek Shea back in the attacking midfield where he belongs.

That Davide Chiumiento for Vancouver is just plain old good. He set up yet another Caps goal. Yes he did all but vanish in the 2nd half of the game, but so did all of his teammates.

Speaking of vanishing, was Eric Hassli even on the field. He did get another yellow card so he must have been out there.

I was stunned when David Ferreira completely missed the goal wide left on his penalty kick. Wow.

Caps keeper Jay Nolly was pretty lucky to not face another PK after taking out Fabian Castillo and not touching the ball. Lucky.

It seems like every time I see Eric Avila make a late sub appearance he scores a huge goal.

Dallas is in desperate need of some contributing strikers.

LA just tore Portland apart in the opening stages of their game and was up 2-0 after 8 minutes.

It could have been worse had Troy Perkins, making his Portland debut, not made two great saves early on.

Donovan Ricketts in goal for LA made some great saves too to keep the Timbers from gaining any momentum.

Diego Chara made his debut for Portland. I hope he has a great season.

Besides centerback Omar Gonzalez the Galaxy is a very small team. David Beckham might be the second tallest guy. Oh, and Juan Pablo Angel too.

JPA barely saw the ball in the second half for LA until he made the brilliant run to the endline and sent a blind cross to the far post that Landon Donovan buried with a header to seal the game.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

No real marquee matchups this week.

Landon Donovan was named the MLS Player of the Week.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Nick Thomas of MLSsoccer.com says Brian Mullan is taking his leg breaking tackle on Steve Zakuani very hard. He knows how badly he messed up.
-Zakuani needed surgery to repair badly broken right tibia and fibula.
-Two of Zakuani's former Seattle teammates who are now with Colorado, Tyrone Marshall & Sanna Naiassi have both been to the hospital.
-The teams are working on arranging a time for Mullan to go to the hospital to talk with Zakuani.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on the slow start to this season for 2010 Rookie of the Year Andy Najar.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star wonders if there is a problem when KC earns 3 red cards in just 5 games.
-SKC plans to appeal the red card given to centerback Aurelin Collin. It was not even a yellow card foul, much less red.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe on the instant upgrade that Benny Feilhaber brings to the Revs.
-How did Feilhaber's first game go?

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian on the lack of concentration that is killing Portland's defense all too often.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 26
Puerto Rico Islanders v NSC Minnesota Stars
-Fri Apr 29
Puerto Rico Islanders v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sat Apr 30
FC Tampa Bay v Atlanta Silverbacks
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks
-Sun May 1
FC Edmonton v Montreal Impact

dN

Standings:
6 Puerto Rico Islanders (+3 GD) (2 GP)
6 Carolina RailHawks (+2 GD) (3 GP)
6 FC Edmonton (0 GD) (3 GP)
4 NSC Minnesota Stars (+1 GD) (2 GP)
3 FC Tampa Bay (-1 GD) (2 GP)
1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-1 GD) (2 GP)
0 Atlanta Silverbacks (-2 GD) (2 GP)
0 Montreal Impact (-2 GD) (2 GP)

US OPEN CUP

MLS Qualifying:

2nd Stage
-Tue Apr 26
DC United v New England Revolution

USA U17 TEAM

A more senior version of the U17 team, and the one made up primarily of players who will be going to the World Cup this summer are off to train and play some games in Mexico.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 27
Mexico U17 v USA U17
-Sun May 1
Mexico U17 v USA U17

Roster
G:
Wade Hamilton - Arsenal FC
Kendall McIntosh - San Jose Earthquakes Academy
Fernando Pina - Houston Dynamo
D:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Juniors
Joe Amon - South Carolina United FC
Zach Carroll - Vardar
Mobi Fehr - Tokyo Verdy 1969
Alessandro Mion - Kendall SC
Reed Norton - Concorde Fire
Nathan Smith - Cal Odyssey
Andrew Souders - Crew Soccer Academy
M:
Matt Dunn - FC Koln
Alejandro Guido - Aztecs Premier
Fernando Laverde - FC Dallas Juniors
Nico Melo - Florida Rush
Marc Pelosi - De Anza Force
Esteban Rodriguez - Cosmos Academy West
Tarik Salkicic - Strictly Soccer
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids Academy
Colton Storm - HMMS Eagle FC
F:
Kellen Gulley - MS Chicago Fire Juniors
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea FC
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Mario Rodriguez - Central Aztecs

dN

As a final wrap up to the Mondial Minimes Montaigu Tournament in France that involved a younger version of the U17 team the USA goals were scored by:
3 Kevin De La Torre - Chivas USA
2 Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
1 Nicko Corriveau - Bethesda SC
1 Adam Najem - NY Red Bulls

They lost all three group stage games to France, Portugal and Japan, then beat Uruguay in the placement games to finish 7th.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Chris Rolfe who is finally back on the field and scoring again.
-See Rolfe's goal from last weekend right here. (begins around the 1:50 mark.) He sure looks like the explosive Chris Rolfe of old to me.

dN

Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated on the promotion and relegation situations for Americans abroad.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Coming Up:

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Promotion Playoff Quarterfinals
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Tue Apr 26 at Cruz Azul Hidalgo - 1st Leg
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Tue Apr 26 v Cruz Azul Hidalgo - 2nd Leg

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad with a big article on Alex Smith who got a chance to re-start his soccer career in Australia.

CANADA

The Canadian Championship begins this week, and this year there are 4 teams involved. The winner goes to the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round.

The format is two rounds with a home and away series in each. The winners in the first round will face off in the second round.

Matches & Scores:

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 27
Montreal Impact v Vancover Whitecaps
FC Edmonton v Toronto FC
2nd Leg
-Wed May 4
Vancover Whitecaps v Montreal Impact
Toronto FC v FC Edmonton

Final
1st Leg
-Wed May 18
Winners
2nd Leg
-Wed May 25
Winners

ENGLAND

Richard Williams of the Guardian sees Jose Mourinho as they man to replace Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
-I can see that. But only for a couple of years.

COPA LIBERTADORES

dN

Round Of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Velez Sarsfield v LDU Quito
Gremio v Univ Catolica
-Wed Apr 27
Once Caldas v Cruzeiro
Santos v America
Chiapas Jaguares v Junior
Estuniantes v Cerro Porteno
-Thu Apr 28
Fluminense v Libertad
Penarol v Internacional

ENDERS

The Boston Globe has a feature article on Chase Hilgenbrinck who left professional soccer nearly three years ago to become a priest.

du Nord Presents: A Look At The Relegation Battles Across Europe's 5 Biggest Leagues

Who is in and who is close to the Relegation Zone as of Mon Apr 25:

Bari in Italy was officially relegated this weekend. Down they go.

Arles has been relegated in France.

Serie A - 4 games to go (three lowest placed teams relegated)
39 Chievo
38 Parma
37 Cesena (-13)
37 Catania (-14)
35 Sampdoria (-12)
- - - - -
35 Lecce (-20)
30 Brescia
REL-21 Bari

Bundesliga - 3 games to go (two lowest placed teams relegated, with third lowest in playoff against third highest in 2.Bundesliga)
40 Hoffenheim (+2)
40 Schalke (0)
38 Werder Bremen
37 Kaiserslautern
36 Stuttgart
35 Koln
34 Eintract Frankfurt
- - - - -
32 Wolfsburg
29 Monchengladbach (-20)
29 St Pauli (-23)

Ligue 1 - 6 games to go (three lowest placed teams relegated)
40 Brest
39 Valenciennes (+3)
39 Toulouse (-3)
39 Nice (-8) (7 games to go)
38 Monaco (0)
38 Auxerre (-1)
38 Nancy (-12)
- - - - -
36 Caen
30 Lens
REL-14 Arles

Premier League - 4 games to go (three lowest placed teams relegated)
41 Newcastle (+1)
41 Sunderland (-10)
41 Aston Villa (-12)
40 West Brom
39 Fulham (+1) (5 games left)
39 Stoke (-3) (5 games left)
38 Birmingham
35 Blackburn
34 Blackpool (-22)
- - - - -
34 Wigan (-23)
33 Wolverhampton (5 games left)
32 West Ham

Primera Division - 5 games to go (three lowest placed teams relegated)
42 Mallorca
41 Sporting Gijon
38 Real Sociedad
38 Deportivo La Coruna
37 Getafe
37 Racing Santander
36 Real Zaragoza (-13)
36 Malaga (-19)
- - - - -
35 Osasuna
33 Hercules
26 Almeria

Some News for Mon Apr 25, 2011

STARTERS

Paul Gardner of Soccer America reacts to the horrible tackles that broke the legs of 2 of MLS's brightest attackers this weekend - Steve Zakuani and David Ferreira.
-While I don't ever agree with Gardner 100% on anything, his anger at the aggression of these fouls is right on the money. It must not be tolerated. (Gardner's intolerance of the English game is tiresome though.)

Zakuani of Seattle had his right leg severely broken just above the ankle and will need surgery keeping him out at least 8-10 months.

Ferreira of Dallas, and last seasons MVP, had his right ankle fractured in 2 places and will also require surgery. His timeline is yet to be determined, but it won't be short.

The tackle by Colorado midfielder Brian Mullen Zakuani was inexcusable. Jon Leathers who took out Ferreira was only slightly less egregious. Mullen deserves a stiff penalty.

STORY OF THE DAY

Support your local professional soccer team in America. Its that simple. If we want a future for Team USA, then it starts in your back yard. Go to games. Pay for tickets. Buy season tickets if you can. It tells the team that you want there to be a future. Stand up. Be part of something.

Brian Quarstad of IMSoccer News puts it best in this great article about supporting our team, NSC Minnesota Stars. I do. Do you?

Home Opener
-Sat Apr 30
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks - 7:30pm
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN

Tickets

I will be up there to begin tailgating around 5:30.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Final

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 27
Real Salt Lake v Monterrey (2-2) - 9pm CT on FSC

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian with 5 reasons why Schalke may shock Manchester United.

Kevin McCarra of the Guardian says Man U will have ways to attack Schalke's weaknesses.

dN

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Schalke v Manchester United - 1:30pm CT live on Fox Soccer Channel
Venue: Arena AufSchalke - Gelsenkirchen
-Wed Apr 27
Real Madrid v Barcelona - 1:30pm CT live on Fox Soccer Plus FX
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - Madrid

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

GERMANY: If Borussia Dortmund had won and Bayer Leverkusen had lost the title would have been Dortmunds. But just the opposite happened and now the pressure cranks up another 25% on Dortmund who has a 5 point lead with 3 games to play.
-Sat Apr 23
Monchengladbach 1-0 Dortmund - the big underdogs win the Borussenderby.
Leverkusen 2-1 Hoffenheim

dN

Others:
-Sat Apr 23
Inter 2-1 Lazio - the win sends Inter to 2nd place and Napoli back to 3rd place in the quest for Serie A champions League spots.
Valencia 3-6 Real Madrid - they are not even close in the standings and this game shows that despite being #3 & #2 they are not even close in the quality either, and that was with mostly Madrid's second string.
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Real Sociedad - the Basque Derby goes to the Lions.
Palermo 2-1 Napoli - the Derby Del Sud goes to the Eagles
-Sun Apr 24
Rangers 0-0 Celtic - a scoreless Old Firm derby.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 6

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 21
DC United 0-4 New York Red Bulls - NYRB goals by Thierry Henry(2), Joel Lindpere & Juan Agudelo.
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attendance: 18,052
-Fri Apr 22
Colorado Rapids 0-1 Seattle Sounders FC - SS goal by Fred Montero.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Commerce City CO
Attendance: 14,185
-Sat Apr 23
San Jose Earthquakes 1-2 CD Chivas USA - SJE goal by Chris Wondolowski. CUSA goals by Alejandro Moreno & Mariano Trujillo.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
Attendance: 10,525
Toronto FC 1-1 Columbus Crew - TFC goal by Tony Tchani. CC goal by Emilio Renteria.
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Attendance: 20,145
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-2 FC Dallas - VW goal by Alain Rochat. FCD goals by George John & Eric Avila.
Venue: Empire Field - vancouver BC
Attendance: 21,000
New England Revolution 3-2 Sporting Kansas City - NER goals by Marko Perovic, Shalrie Joseph & Rajko Lekic. SKC goals both by Kei Kamara.
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Attendance: 11,414
Chicago Fire SC 1-1 Houston Dynamo - CF goal by Diego Chaves. HD goal by Bobby Boswell.
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridegeview IL
Attendance: 12,473
LA Galaxy 3-0 Portland Timbers - LA goals by Chad Barrett & Landon Donovan(2, 1 via PK).
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 23,719

dN

EJECTIONS:
Brian Mullan - Colorado - red card
Aurelian Collin - Kansas City - red card
Tony Tchani - Toronto - two yellow cards

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
11 New York Red Bulls (+7 GD) (7 GP)
10 Philadelphia Union (+2 GD) (5 GP)
9 Houston Dynamo (+2 GD) (6 GP)
9 Columbus Crew (+1 GD) (6 GP)
9 New England Revolution (-1 GD) (7 GP)
7 DC United (-3 GD) (6 GP)
7 Toronto FC (-3 GD) (7 GP)
5 Chicago Fire SC (-3 GD) (6 GP)
4 Sporting Kansas City (-2 GD) (5 GP)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
15 LA Galaxy (+3 GD) (8 GP)
12 Real Salt Lake (+7 GD) (4 GP)
9 Colorado Rapids (+1 GD) (6 GP)
9 Seattle Sounders FC (0 GD) (7 GP)
7 FC Dallas (-1 GD) (6 GP)
7 Portland Timbers (-4 GD) (6 GP)
6 CD Chivas USA (-1 GD) (6 GP)
6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-2 GD) (7 GP)
5 San Jose Earthquakes (-3 GD) (6 GP)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com on the difficult decisions ahead for MLS on discipline, and the rest of week 6.

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated with five things you should know from MLS week 6.

MLS LEADER LEADERS IN GOALS & ASSISTS

Goals:
5 Charlie Davies
4 Diego Chaves
3 Camilo
3 David Ferreria
3 Chris Wondolowski

Assists:
5 Davide Chiumiento
4 David Beckham
4 Brad Davis
3 Atiba Harris
3 Jan Gunnar Solli

Note of interest UPDATED: Two of Chris Wondolowski's goals have come via the penalty spot, leaving him one from the run of play. And it has taken him 23 shots, 11 on goal, to score that one. Not a very good ratio. Thanks to everyone who kicked me in the head and told me that Wondo has not scored any PKs this season. All 3 of his goals are from open play. And on a more personal note, I think Wondo is awesome, I was not trying to disparage him.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Notes: Former Chivas USA player Jesus Padilla suited up for San Jose.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 23
Toronto FC 1-2 Columbus Crew - TFC goal by Tristan Jackman. CC goals by Andres Mendoza & Chris Davis.
-Sun Apr 24
Chicago Fire 3-0 Houston Dynamo - CF goals by Eddie Robinson(OG) & Martin Rivas(2).
San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 Chivas USA - SJE goals by Ryan Johnson, Anthony Ampaipitakwong & Yuri Morales.
LA Galaxy 1-3 Portland Timbers - LAG goal by Bryan Jordan(PK). PT goals by Spencer Thompson(2) & Kevin Goldthwaite.

-Sun May 1
Colorado Rapids v Chicago Fire
-Tue May 3
Sporting Kansas City v Real Salt Lake
Chivas USA v LA Galaxy

dN

MLS Reserve League Standings Etc.

MLS COACHES HOT SEAT

The flames just kicked on underneath the hotseat:
-Peter Vermes - Sporting Kansas City
-Carlos de los Cobos - Chicago Fire SC

There is always the chance that Chicago has decided that they have a long term plan and are sticking with The Conch this season no matter how it starts off.

On the other hand with a new stadium opening in early June I highly doubt KC has that came game plan in mind.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 23
Montreal Impact 0-0 Tampa Bay FC
Atlanta Silverbacks 1-2 Ft Lauderdale Strikers - AS goal by Mario Perez. FLS goals by Martin Nunez & Eduardo Coudet(PK).
-Tue Apr 26
Puerto Rico Islanders v NSC Minnesota Stars

dN

Standings:
6 Puerto Rico Islanders (+3 GD) (2 GP)
6 Carolina RailHawks (+2 GD) (3 GP)
6 FC Edmonton (0 GD) (3 GP)
4 NSC Minnesota Stars (+1 GD) (2 GP)
4 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+1 GD) (3 GP)
4 FC Tampa Bay (-1 GD) (3 GP)
1 Montreal Impact (-2 GD) (3 GP)
0 Atlanta Silverbacks (-3 GD) (3 GP)

US OPEN CUP

MLS Qualifying:

2nd Stage
-Tue Apr 26
DC United v New England Revolution

USA U17 TEAM

The U17s were at a tournament in France.
-For the most part these are not the players that qualified for the U17 World Cup earlier this year. These players will make up the core of the next team in 2 years time.

dN

England won the tournament, beating hosts France in Penalty Kicks.

The USA lost all 3 group stage games, but they beat Uruguay handily to finish in 7th place.

dN

Mondial Minimes Montaigu Tournament - Apr 20-25

dN

Group A
7 France (+5)
7 Portugal (+3)
3 Japan (-4)
0 USA (-4)
Group B
7 England (+6)
5 Guinea (+2)
4 UAE (0)
0 Uruguay (-8)

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 20
France 4-0 Japan
Portugal 3-1 USA
England 5-0 Uruguay
UAE 1-1 Guinea
-Thu Apr 21
France 2-1 USA
Portugal 2-1 Japan
Guinea 3-1 Uruguay
England 3-2 UAE
-Sat Apr 23
France 0-0 Portugal
USA 1-2 Japan
England 0-0 Guinea
Uruguay 2-3 UAE
-Mon Apr 25
USA 4-1 Uruguay - 7th & 8th place
Japan 5-1 UAE - 5th & 6th place
Portugal 2-1 Guinea - 3rd & 4th place
France 0-0 England 3-4 in Penalty Kick Shootout - Final

dN

Finish:
1 England
2 France
3 Portugal
4 Guinea
5 Japan
6 UAE
7 USA
8 Uruguay

dN

USA U17 Roster
G:
Santiago Castano - NY Red Bulls
Zack Steffen - FC Delco
D:
Russell Canouse - Hoffenheim
Dylan Greenberg - Albertson SC
Matt Habrowski - Derby County Wolves
Luis Martir - Guadalajara Chivas
Miguel Polley - Derby County Wolves
Robby Sagel - Downtown Rapids
M:
Jordan Allen - Empire United
Marco Delgado - Cosmos Academy West
Nicholas Gaitan - Argentinos Juniors
Antonio Murillo - Neusport
Adam Najem - NY Red Bulls
Zach Pfeffer - Philadelphia Union
F:
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Nicko Corriveau - Bethesda SC
Kevin De La Torre - Chivas USA
Alex Muyl - Cosmos Academy East

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

No word in why Zak Whitbread was subbed off for Norwich except a line in the Eastern Daily Press that said he went straight down the tunnel, indicating a possible injury.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League - Playoff I
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - did not suit up as they won 1-2 at Lokeren.

BULGARIA - A PFG
Jemal Johnson - Lokomotiv Sofia - went the distance as they won 2-0 v Akademik Sofia.

DENMARK - Superliga -
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - Mon apr 25 - played the full match as they won 0-4 at Randers.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - still out as they drew 3-3 v AaB.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - came on as a sub in the 61st min and scored a goal as they drew 3-3 at Nordsjaelland.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and went 80 min in a 1-1 tie at Wolverhampton.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - played the whole game as they drew 1-1 v Stoke.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - on the bench for a 1-1 tie v Fulham.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance getting a yellow card and losing 1-0 at Man United.
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn - went the distance but lost 0-1 v Manchester City.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - played the whole game but lost 3-0 at Chelsea.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Sat Apr 23 - on the bench as they lost 2-4 v Burnley.
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Mon Apr 25 - on the bench as they lost 3-2 at Norwich.
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Fri Apr 22 - came on as a sub in the 80th min as they won 3-2 v Leicester.
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Mon Apr 25 - came on as a sub in the 65th min as they won 2-3 at Bristol City.
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Sat Apr 23 - played the full 90 getting a yellow card and losing 4-0 at Millwall.
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Mon Apr 25 - did not suit up as they lost 0-1 v Cardiff City.
Eric Lichaj - Leeds - Fri Apr 22 - went the distance in a scoreless draw v Reading.
Eric Lichaj - Leeds - Mon Apr 25 - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Crystal Palace.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Mon Apr 25 - started but was subbed off in the 57th min as they won 3-2 v Derby Country.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - started and went 89 min as they won 0-1 at Dagenham & Redbridge.
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - Mon Apr 25 - came on as a sub in the 58th min as they won 1-0 v Milton Keynes.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Sat Apr 23 - played the full 90 and won 2-3 at Rochdale.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Mon Apr 25 - played the full 90 but lost 0-1 v Leyton Orient.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - played the whole game but lost 2-0 at Bordeaux.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - played the whole game as they tied 0-0 v Mainz.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - played the full 90 as they drew 1-1 v Bayern Munich.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - came on as a sub in the 72nd min as they tied 1-1 at Union Berlin.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - went the distance but lost 2-1 at Rot Weiss Oberhasuen.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - played the whole game but lost 0-1 v Hertha Berlin.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - came on as a sub in the 90th min as they won 1-2 at Ado Den Haag.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - started and played 78 min but they lost 4-0 at Almere City.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - Mon Apr 25 - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Fredrikstad.
Sean Cunningham - Molde - Mon Apr 25 - on the bench as they won 1-3 at Brann.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - Mon Apr 25 - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v Fredrikstad.
Josh Gatt - Molde - Mon Apr 25 - came on as a sub in the 64th min as they won 1-3 at Brann.

RUSSIA - Premier Division
Yevgeni Starikov - Tom' Tomsk - on the bench as they drew 1-1 v CSKA Moscow.

SCOTLAND - Premier League Second Stage
Mo Edu - Rangers - started and went 82 min of a scoreless draw v Celtic.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Gale Agbossoumonde - Djurgarden - started and played 62 min as they lost 1-3 v Norrkoping.
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - played the full 90 getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 v Helsingborg.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - came on as a sub in the 87th as they drew 1-1 v Trelleborg.
Samuel Petrone - Mjallby - on the bench as they drew 1-1 v GAIS.

TURKEY - Super Lig
Jozy Altidore - Bursaspor - came on as a time wasting sub in the 90th min as they won 2-1 v Manisaspor.

TURKEY - 1. Lig
Freddie Adu - Caykur Rizespor - no game this weekend.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Isaac Acuna - Queretaro - started and played the first half as they drew 1-1 v Pachuca.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they won 0-3 at Morelia.
Edgar Castillo - Puebla - did not suit up as they drew 1-1 at Monterrey.
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - played the full match scoring a goal and getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 at Queretaro.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a sub in the 59th getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 at America.
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - played the full game as they drew 1-1 at Cruz Azul.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - went the distance as they drew 1-1 at Queretaro.

dN

Coming Up:

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Promotion Playoff Quarterfinals
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Tue Apr 26 at Cruz Azul Hidalgo - 1st Leg
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Fri Apr 29 v Cruz Azul Hidalgo - 2nd Leg

MEXICO

Recap du Nord: The penultimate round was played this weekend. Meaning next weekend is it for claiming a playoff spot. Tigres, Pumas and Morelia were already in. No one else clinched a spot this weekend, and no one was eliminated either. So 5 places are still up for grabs and 8 teams want in. 3 are going to be very sad at this time next week. Go get em boyz. As for the round that just finished: In Group B #2 America could only get a tie, while #3 Atlas won giving them the new 2nd place spot and dropping America out of the playoff spots completely and in to the Wild Card chase. And in the Wild Card Monterrey is ahead of America only on goal differential.

Playoff Standings as of Sun Apr 24:
Group A
ADV-32 UANL Tigres
25 Guadalajara
Group B
24 Atlante
23 Atlas (+3 GD)
Group C
ADV-35 UNAM Pumas
ADV-28 Morelia
Wild Card
25 Cruz Azul
23 Monterrey (+2 GD)
- - - - -
23 America (+1 GD) - B
20 Santos Laguna - A
21 Toluca - B

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Apr 22
Necaxa 0-1 Pumas UNAM
-Sat Apr 23
Cruz Azul 1-1 Guadalajara
Queretaro 1-1 Pachuca
Monterrey 1-1 Puebla
Santos Laguna 1-3 San Luis
Atlas 2-0 Jaguares
-Sun Apr 24
Morelia 0-3 Tigres UANL
Toluca 4-4 Estudiantes Tecos
America 1-1 Atlante

ENGLAND

Recap du Nord: Man U, Chelsea & Man City won. Arsenal lost. Tottenham tied. But nothing changed in the standings except the distances between a few teams.

Simon Burnton & Rob Bagchi of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

Top of the Premier League Table: (34 of 38 GP)
73 Man United - Sat Apr 23 W 1-0 v Everton
67 Chelsea - Sat Apr 23 W 3-0 v West Ham (+37 GD)
64 Arsenal - Sun Apr 24 L 2-1 at Bolton
59 Man City - Mon Apr 25 W 0-1 at Blackburn (33 GP)
55 Tottenham - Sat Apr 23 D 2-2 v West Brom (33 GP)

Liverpool is closing in on Tottenham in 5th place. They are 3 points back and 4 ahead in goal differential. They also play each other on the second to last weekend.

dN

David Conn of the Guardian on the continuing government probe into English football.

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal calls Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez the Most Valuable Player in the Premier League.

David James of the Observer on the 20th anniversary of Sky Sports in England.

Paul Doyle of the Guardian says the penalty laws need an update.

SPAIN

Recap du Nord: Nothing changed as 1 & 2 Barca and Madrid won, while #3 Valencia lost badly to Madrid but #4 Villarreal couldn't make up any ground as they lost too. And finally 5th place Bilbao won and solidified where they are in the standings.

Top of the Primera Division Table: (33 of 38 GP)
88 Barcelona - Sat Apr 23 W 2-0 v Osasuna
80 Real Madrid - Sat Apr 23 W 3-6 at Valencia
63 Valencia - Sat Apr 23 L 3-6 v Real Madrid
57 Villarreal - Sun Apr 24 L 3-2 at Sevilla
51 Athletic Bilbao - Sat Apr 23 W 2-1 v Sociedad

FRANCE

Recap du Nord: #1 Lille drew leaving the door open for #2 Marseille to take the lead with a win when they play on Wednesday. #3 Lyon play Wed as well. #4 PSG drew and #5 Rennes lost. But the rankings all stayed the same.

Top of the Ligue 1 Table: (32 GP of 38)
60 Lille - Sun Apr 24 D 1-1 at Lorient
58 Marsielle - Wed Apr 27 v Nice (31 GP)
53 Lyon - Wed Apr 27 v Montpellier (+23) (31 GP)
53 PSG - Sun Apr 24 D 2-2 at Brest (+14)
51 Rennes - Sun Apr 24 L 1-0 at Monaco

GERMANY

Recap du Nord: Ooooooo hooooooo! #1 Dortmund lost again, and with 2nd place Leverkusen winning the lead is down to 5 points. And Bayern tied again dropping them back to 4th and Hannover won moving them back up to 3rd. Yo-yo. Mainz had a scoreless draw and remain 5th.

Top of the Bundesliga Table: (31 of 34 GP)
69 Borussia Dortmund - Sat Apr 23 L 1-0 at Monchengladbach
64 Bayer Leverkusen - Sat Apr 23 W 2-1 v Hoffenheim
56 Bayern Munich - Sat Apr 23 D 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt
57 Hannover - Thu Apr 21 W 1-3 at Freiburg
49 Mainz - Sun Apr 24 D 0-0 at Nurnberg

ITALY

Recap du Nord: Milan won giving them an 8 point lead with 4 games to play. Napoli lost and fell back to 3rd while an Inter over Lazio win moved them back up to 2nd place. Lazio stay in 4th and a loss for Napoli leaves them in 5th place.

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Nicola Pozzi & Sampdoria and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

Top of the Serie A Table: (34 of 38 GP)
74 Milan - Sat Apr 23 0-1 at Brescia
66 Inter - Sat Apr 23 W 2-1 v Lazio
65 Napoli -Sat Apr 23 L 2-1 at Palermo
60 Lazio - Sat Apr 23 L 2-1 at Inter
59 Udinese - Sat Apr 23 L 0-2 v Parma

EUROPE

Netherland
-The Eredivise race is extemely close, as it alway seems to be, between 3 teams.

Recap du Nord: #1 PSV lost while the other two won moving Twente into 1st place and Ajax into 2nd. PSV dropped to 3rd.

Top of the Eredivisie Table: (32 of 34 GP)
68 Twente (+29 GD) - Fri Apr 22 W 1-2 at ADO Den Haag
67 Ajax (+39 GD) - Sun Apr 24 W 4-1 v Excelsior
65 PSV Eindhoven (+44 GD) - Sun Apr 24 L 3-1 at Feyenoord
(Twente goes to Ajax on the final day of the season.)

COPA LIBERTADORES

Round Of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 26
Velez Sarsfield v LDU Quito
Gremio v Univ Catolica
-Wed Apr 27
Once Caldas v Cruzeiro
Santos v America
Chiapas Jaguares v Junior
Estuniantes v Cerro Porteno
-Thu Apr 28
Fluminense v Libertad
Penarol v Internacional

ENDERS

Who had Sat Apr 23 in the Fernando Torres goal drought ending pool? You have a large sum awaiting you at the cashiers window.