Some News for thu Apr 7, 2011

STARTERS

The USA U20 team were upset by hosts Guatemala 2-1 last night in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and will not be going to the big tournament.
-This isn't a disaster, but its pretty damning of the system. There are no excuses for this kind of loss.
-And we are not saying that we called the USA loss, but on Monday we did have this to say about the matchup: Of the four top seeds the USA has the toughest game as they take on the host team Guatemala. Those fans will pack the stands and scream for an upset.
-Guatemala qualified for the U20 World Cup for the first time.

JACK WARNER ODDITIES

Jack gives money to Jack! This is a true story!

The Trinidad Express reports that acting Prime Minister Jack Warner (can you believe that?) has announced that the government will resume funding the T&T national team, and have hired Otto Pfister as their head coach, yet they still not paid the players their bonuses for the 2006 World Cup which court after court after court has ordered them to do. And that doesn't even take into account the millions of dollars that have vanished from the federation under Warner's own watch (and for all intents and purposes still is, even though his name is not on the lease.)
-The local federation doesn't go to the toilet without asking Jack's permission.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

For the most part 3 of the 4 Quarterfinals series are over. High margin games almost insure that. Chelsea is the one losing team with a better than bad chance of moving on.

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Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Apr 5
Real Madrid 4-0 Tottenham - RM goals by Emmanuel Adebayor(2), Angel Di Maria & Cristiano Ronaldo.
Inter 2-5 Schalke - Int goals by Dejan Stankovic & Diego Milito. Sch goals by Joel Matip, Edu(2), Raul & Andrea Ranocchia(OG).
-Wed Apr 6
Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United - MU goal by Wayne Rooney.
Video Highlights
Barcelona 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk - Bar goals by Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Seydou Keita & Xavi Hernandez. SD goal by Yaroslav Rakitskiy.
Video Highlights

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2nd Leg matches on Apr 12/13.

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Final
-Sat May 28
Venue: Wembley Stadium - London

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Monterrey is the second finalist!

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Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 5
Saprissa 2-1 Real Salt Lake - RSL advances 3-2 on aggregate - Sap goals by Luis Diego Cordero & Alonso Solis(PK). RSL goal by Jamison Olave.
-Wed Apr 6
Cruz Azul 1-1 Monterrey (2-1) - Mon advances 3-2 on aggregate - CA goal by Cesar Villaluz. Mon goal by Humberto Suazo(PK).

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FIFA.com on the RSL-Monterrey showdown.
-Neither team has reached the final before

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Final
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 20
Monterrey v Real Salt Lake - 9pm CT
2nd Leg
-Wed Apr 27
Real Salt Lake v Monterrey - 9pm CT

WHO KNEW?

Botswana were the first (and so far only) team to qualifying for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. And the team is captained by none other than former Chicago Fire player Dipsy Selolwane. One of the great names in the history of MLS. The most amazing thing about this team is that there are only 7 full time professional players in the squad. Wow! Huge congrats to them!

FACT OF THE DAY

It looks like we can just about book a very intense 4 game battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid in late April to early May.

Both teams took nearly insurmountable leads in their respective Champions League series this week, and if they hold form will face each other in the two legged Semifinals.

They also have a league game to play, and will clash again for the Spanish King's Cup aka Copa del Rey.

Matches & Scores:
-Apr 17
Barcelona v Real Madrid - La Liga
-Apr 20
Real Madrid v Barcelona - Copa del Rey Final at Estadio Mestalla in Valencia
-Tue/Wed Apr 26/27
Real Madrid v Barcelona - 1st Leg of UEFA Champions League Semifinals
-Tue/Wed May 3/4
Barcelona v Real Madrid - 2nd Leg of UEFA Champions League Semifinals

That is 4 games in 17 days!

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated answers viewer mail on subjects like USA U20 failure, Real Salt Lake and the Champions League, Bunbury & Agudelo and much much more.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 4

Highlight games this round include a rematch of the 2010 Cup final, Philly & New York meeting for the 3rd time ever, DC hosting their long time nemesis LA, and red hot Salt Lake going to stingy New England.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 06, 2011
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-1 New England Revolution - VW goal by Eric Hassli(PK). NER goal by Ilija Stolica.
Venue: Empire Field - Vancouver BC
Attendance:19,396
-Fri Apr 08, 2011
FC Dallas v Colorado Rapids - 8:00pm CT on FSC
Venue: Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX
-Sat Apr 09, 2011
Seattle Sounders FC v Chicago Fire SC - 3:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
Philadelphia Union v New York Red Bulls - 6:00pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
New England Revolution v Real Salt Lake - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
DC United v LA Galaxy - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
CD Chivas USA v Columbus Crew - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
San Jose Earthquakes v Toronto FC - 9:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium - Santa Clara CA
-Sun Apr 10, 2011
Houston Dynamo v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 6:00pm CT on Galavision
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX

EJECTIONS:
Gershon Koffie - Vancouver - red card
Eric Hassli - Vancouver - two yellow cards
AJ Soares - New England - red card

Portland & Kansas City are off this week.

Standings (3 Games Played):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
6 Philadelphia Union (+1 GD)
6 New England Revolution (+1 GD) (4 GP)
5 New York Red Bulls (+1 GD)
4 Chicago Fire SC (+1 GD) (2 GP)
4 Columbus Crew (0 GD)
4 Sporting Kansas City (0 GD)
4 Toronto FC (0 GD)
3 DC United (-2 GD)
2 Houston Dynamo (-1 GD)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
9 Colorado Rapids (+6 GD)
7 LA Galaxy (-1 GD) (4 GP)
6 Real Salt Lake (+4 GD) (2 GP)
5 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+1 GD) (2 GP)
4 San Jose Earthquakes (+1 GD)
2 Seattle Sounders FC (-2 GD) (4 GP)
1 CD Chivas USA (-2 GD)
1 FC Dallas (-4 GD)
1 Portland Timbers (-4 GD)

MY THOUGHTS

A weird night in Vancouver as the visitors New England got the tying goal 2 minutes into second half stoppage time. But before that we saw 3 red cards, only one of which was deserved, and that one was called at the wrong time as that player should have been sent off for another infraction before he eventually was.

Gershon Koffie of Vancouver was tossed just before half time when his arm whacked a New England player in the head as they went for a 50/50 ball in the air. There was ZERO attempt to cause injury on the play.

The 2nd culprit was the brutish Eric Hassli who has seen red in 2 of his 3 MLS games already. He got his first yellow for throwing an elbow deliberately at Kevin Alston while shielding the ball. Alston gushed blood immediately and Hassli should have been gone, but got away with yellow. Then a few minutes later Hassli scores a goal, races toward the stand, tears off his shirt, throws it into the crowd, and gets his second yellow card - ejected!

The most fascinating part of the Hassli story though is that he had a second identical jersey on under the first one, so when he tore it off and tossed it into the crowd, he was still fully uniformed. Talk about letter of the law!

Later New England's rookie centerback AJ Soares got red carded for a rough but not over-the-top tackle. Another play that should have been a yellow, not red.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CHICAGO FIRE

Orrin Schwartz of the Daily Herald sees a very big swing ahead for the Fire as they play at Seattle on Saturday and then down to Portland for next Wednesday.

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN brings us up to date with plenty of Goat Notes.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Hey check this out! The Denver Post gives us non-game related Rapids news! Wooooo-hoooo.

Nick Groke of the Post reports on a hamstring injury suffered by Conor Casey that will take him out of the lineup for at least two weeks.
-Insert new signing Caleb Folan alongside Omar Cummings.

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch sees head coach Robert Warzycha still trying to form a team out of nearly 30 players.

Forward Andres Mendoza will not suit up this weekend due to a strained adductor muscle (inner thigh.)

LA GALAXY

Luis Bueno of MLSsoccer.com reports that the team is giving a worn out Landon Donovan some days off. Will it turn into games off?

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The Bulls have hired Todd Hoffard as they new goalkeeper coach.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Stephen Alexander of the Portland Tribune on what has to be the Timbers moto right now: Score Dammit! (that is my phrase not his.)

Sportal of New Zealand with an article on their man, Portland's currently healthy and quality goalkeeper Jake Gleeson.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune on the Sounders inability to nail down a true first 11.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Terry Bell of the Province on Eric Hassli's beyond stupid red card, for which he apologized to his teammates.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Today's ridiculous name in the hopper: Harry Kewell - has it been 10 years now since he played a full 90 minutes, much less 2 games in a row, not to mention over 40% off all games in a season? Nope. Exactly 10 years.

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Soccer 365 with today's rumors, including Aaron Galindo, Jason Banton, Jevaugh Watson and more.

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Blackpool's Billy Clarke wants to come to MLS in the summer for a 6 month loan.
-He probably doesn't know that MLS will not take a loan deal without a buyout clause.

MLS EXPANSION

The Montreal Gazette on commissioner Don Garber's recent visit to their city to basically welcome the Impact to MLS and tell the city to get ready for March 2012.

NASL NEWS

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

US OPEN CUP

MLS Qualifying:

DC and Kansas City got wins to move them along the far too complicated path toward the big tournament.

1st Stage
-Wed Apr 6
DC United 2-2 Philadelphia Union - DCU advances 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout - DCU goals by Josh Wolff & Daniel Woolard. PU goals by Carlos Ruiz & Brian Carroll.
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown MD

2nd Stage
-Wed Apr 6
Houston Dynamo 0-1 Sporting Kansas City - SKC goal by C.J. Sapong.
Venue: Aggie Soccer Stadium - College Station TX
-DATE TBD
DC United v New England Revolution
San Jose Earthquakes v Portland Timbers

3rd Stage
-DATE TBD
PT/SJE winner v Chicago Fire
Sporting Kansas City v DCU/NER winner
-The winners of this stage advance to the tournament proper.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

John Godfrey of the New York Times on Andy Najar's decision to play for his native country Honduras rather than wait a few years for citizenship and play for the USA.
-I don't see what the big deal is. The kid is Honduran!

USA U20 TEAM

The USA has fallen at the wrong time and been knocked out of the CONCACAF U20 World Cup Qualifying tournament.

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Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 6
Guatemala 2-1 USA - Gua goals by Gerson Lima & Henry Lopez. USA goal by Conor Doyle.

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US Soccer with a match report.

Noah Davis of MLSsoccer.com with a match report.

Davis with post game analysis.

The Washington Post reports that the player who scored the winning goal for Guatemala lives and plays club soccer in suburban Washington DC.

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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 important Quarterfinals round is finished down in Guatemala, and we now know the 4 teams who will advance to the World Cup in Colombia.

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And last night produced two huge upsets!

Guatemala and Panama will join Costa Rica and Mexico at the World Cup.

The USA and Honduras are out.

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Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 5
Costa Rica 6-1 Cuba - CR goals by Joel Campbell(3, 1 via PK), Mynor Escoe Miller(PK), Bryan Vega & Joshua Diaz Azofeifa. Cub goal by Yaudel Lahera.
Mexico 3-0 Canada - Mex goals by Kristian Alvarez, Diego De Buen & Jorge Mora.
-Wed Apr 6
Guatemala 2-1 USA - Gua goals by Gerson Lima & Henry Lopez. USA goal by Conor Doyle.
Honduras 0-2 Panama - Pan goals by Jose Alvarez & Cecilio Waterman.
-The 4 winners go to the World Cup.

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Semifinals
-Fri Apr 8
Costa Rica v Mexico
Guatemala v Panama

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Final
-Sun Apr 10
Championship

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

UEFA - Europa League Quarterfinals 1st Leg
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - Thu Apr 7 - went the full 90 but they got annihilated 5-1 at Villarreal.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad introduces us to Juan Pablo Ocegueda who is quickly moving up the ranks at UANL Tigres.

GERMANY

The Deutscher Fussball Bund has declared last weeks suspended St Paul v Schalke game, due to the objects being thrown being thrown on the field, to be a 0-2 loss for St Pauli, and as further punishment they will see their stadium closed to fans for the next game.

EUROPE

The Russian Federation again pays lip service to racism by fining Zenit the equivalent of $10,000 for their fans making monkey noises and throwing bananas at black players, AGAIN.
-Its an insult to decent people everywhere when FIFA rewards these federations that clearly don't care with events like the World Cup.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Round of 16 2nd Leg matches were played today.

dN

And what are the odds that the 4 scores in these games were almost identical to the 4 scores in the Champions League on Tue & Wed. Meaning also that 3 of the 4 series are essentially over. Very weird coincidence.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 7
Porto 5-1 Spartak Moscow - Por goals by Falcao(3), Silvestre Varela & Maicon. SM goal by Kirill Kombarov.
Benfica 4-1 PSV - Ben goals by Pablo Aimar, Eduardo Salvio(2) & Javier Saviola. PSV goal by Zakaria Labyad.
Villarreal 5-1 Twente - Vil goals by Carlos Marchena, Borja Valero, Nilmar(2) & Giuseppe Rossi. Twe goal by Marc Janko.
Dynamo Kyiv 1-1 Braga - DK goal by Andriy Yarmolenko. Bra goal by Oleh Gusev(OG).

dN

2nd leg games will be played next week Thu Apr 14.

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Matches & Scores.

BRAZIL

Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated on the flow of Brazilian players to Eastern European clubs.

COPA AMERICA

Spain has agreed to replace the despondent Japan team in the tournament.

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Tim Vickery of the BBC looks ahead to the tournament.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Despite 6 games going on last night, no new advancees or eliminatees were to be found.

dN

Advance: Cruzeiro, Estudiantes, Junior, Libertad and Penarol.

Out: Guarani, Jorge Wilstermann, Leon de Huanuco, Oriente Petrolero & Depor Tolima.

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Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 5
Independiente 1-1 LDU Quito - Ind goal by Leonel Nunez(PK). LDU goal by Julian Velazquez(OG).
-Wed Apr 6
Union Espanola 1-2 Caracas - UE goal by Sebastian Jaime. Car goals by Angel Pena & Josef Martinez.
Deportivo Tachira 0-2 Cerro Porteno - CP goals by Roberto Nanni & Ivan Torres.
Jaguares 1-0 Internacional - Jag goal by Antonio Salazar.
Nacional 2-0 Fluminense - Nac goals both by Santiago Garcia.
Santos 3-2 Colo Colo - San goals by Elano, Danilo da Silva & Neymar. CC goals by Patricio Jerez & Diego Rubio.
America 2-1 Argentinos Juniors - Ame goals by Vicente Vuoso & Daniel Marquez. AJ goal by Franco Niell.
-Thu Apr 7
Gremio v Junior
Jorge Wilstermann v Emelec
Univ Catolica v Velez Sarsfield

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