Some News for Tue Apr 12, 2011

STARTERS

Huzzah! Cudos! Hip Hip Hooray! (I am being forced to write this!) (Just kidding.) Brighton & Hove Albion won promotion today from League One in England to the Championship Division for next season. Huge congrats to them, and their great fans! Hooray Seagulls! Hooray beer! Boo creepy foot doctor!










STORY OF THE DAY

John Duerden of the New York Times with a story on the effects of the devastating earthquake, tsunami and now nuclear radiation on J-League football in Japan.

JACK WARNER/SEPP BLATTER/FIFA ODDITIES

World Football Insider reports that Slappy Jack asked the England 2018 World Cup bid committee to contribute money to building a soccer training facility in Trinidad & Tobago.
-While that is not illegal, its is dubious, but the weird part is how crazy Warner reacted when asked about it.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Phil Minshull of the BBC wonders if this will be the year of Real Madrid.

dN

Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores: (1st Leg scores included)
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 12
Manchester United v Chelsea (1-0) -
Shakhtar Donetsk v Barcelona (1-5) -
-Wed Apr 13
Tottenham v Real Madrid (0-4) - 1:30pm CT live on FSC
Schalke v Inter (5-2) - 1:30pm CT live on FSC Plus, and delayed at 4:00pm CT on FSC

WHO KNEW?

Former Portland Timbers USL-days star Byron Alvarez is training with Sporting Kansas City and played in their reserve league game this week. Wow! As a long time Minnesota Thunder fun he brings back nothing but nightmares of all the times he tortured us. What do you think the odds are of him signing on the with SKC?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Another country is getting financial aid from China to build their football infrastructure.

World Football Insider reports that China is teaming up with Brazil to help them build facilities for the 2014 World Cup.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

James Edward of the Deseret News says Real Salt Lake is conjuring up something very special at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune on RSL's blistering start to 2011.

And RSL hosts their rivals Colorado on Wednesday night!

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Our man Graham Fox sent me this link: Making the rounds... watch the PK taker closely.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 5

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 13
Toronto FC v LA Galaxy - 7:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Real Salt Lake v Colorado Rapids - 8:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
-Thu Apr 14
Portland Timbers v Chicago Fire SC - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR
-Sat Apr 16
Philadelphia Union v Seattle Sounders FC - 3:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v CD Chivas USA - 6:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Empire Field - Vancouver BC
Toronto FC v DC United - 6:00pm CT on FSC
Venue: BMO Field- Toronto ON
Columbus Crew v Sporting Kansas City - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
New York Red Bulls v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
-Sun Apr 17
Chicago Fire SC v LA Galaxy - 3:00pm CT on Telefutura
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
Portland Timbers v FC Dallas - 5:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR
Houston Dynamo v New England Revolution - 6:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Robertson Stadium- Houston TX

dN

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

MY THOUGHTS

I got an email today from a FIF who pointed out that he didn't think the Red Bulls were gutless, as I had called them yesterday. And upon further review, I think he is right. That is unfair to 9 of the 11 guys who took the field last Saturday. The problem is though, the two guys getting paid the more were gutless.

dN

With Stan Kroenke, owner of the Colorado Rapids, buying Arsenal this week, do we see the Raps moving one wrung further down the importance ladder of Kroenke sports? The has the St Louis Rams at the top, then the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche all ahead of the Rapids already.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze with 5 interesting stories already brewing in the early season: Thierry Henry, Charlie Davies, Dan Kennedy, Alan Gordon and David Beckman.
-More from Green including a short Q & A with Robbie Rogers.

Brian Straus of Sporting News looks at this seasons new imports.

CHICAGO FIRE

Len Ziehm of the Sun Times likes what he sees in rookie fullback Jalil Anibaba.

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN reports that Chivas is negotiating to sign a player from the Liverpool academy - Jason Banton.

COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew has shut out a record three straight opponents.
-The best part of that formula is that you can't lose if you don't allow goals.

DC UNITED

The team had 3 former academy players on the field at one time Saturday, a MLS first - Andy Najar, Ethan White, Bill Hamid. Pretty cool.

LA GALAXY

John Molinaro of the CBC on the chances of David Beckham sticking around MLS after this season when his contract ends.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe with various team notes on goalkeeping, homecomings and reinforcements.

Brian O'Connell of ESPN on the Revs faulty possession game.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Frank Giase of the Star Ledger on the goal-shy Red Bulls.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian says the Timbers really need forwards Kenny Cooper & Jorge Perlaza to start lighting up the scoreboard.
-Before coming to Portland Perlaza had scored just 39 goals in 208 games. That's 1 every 7 games, so I am not sure what they were expecting to happen.

The Timbers will play a friendly against Mexican giants Club America.
-Thu Jul 7
Portland Timbers v America (Mexico)
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR

REAL SALT LAKE

Brian Straus of Sporting News sees RSL as the new high water mark of MLS.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Stanley Homes of Sportspress Northwest with an article on the rising confidence of striker O'Brian White.

The Beacon Journal on Steve Zakuani.

MLS/USA & RELATED RUMORS

Steve Davis of the Daily Soccer Fix reports that Atletico Madrid are hot on the trail of New York and USA prodigy Juan Agudelo.
-You can bet they are not the only team scouting him.

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Just announced Friendly match:
-Wed Aug 3
Barcelona v Guadalajara Chivas
Venue: Sun Life Stadium - Miami FL

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Championship League
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - Tue Apr 12 - started and went 78 min as they drew 1-1 at Doncaster.
Eric Lichaj - Leeds - Tue Apr 12 - played the full game but they lost 1-0 at Derby.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Tue Apr 12 - went the distance as they drew 2-2 at Watford.

ENGLAND - League One

Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Apr 12 - played the whole game as they drew 0-0 at Leyton Orient.

ENGLAND

David Conn of the Guardian with a look at Stan Kroenke's proposed buyout of Arsenal.

EUROPE

Top Goal Scorers In Europe's Biggest Leagues:
29 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
28 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
26 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
25 Edinson Cavani - Napoli
21 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
21 Hulk - Porto
20 Moussa Sow - Lille
19 Alex - Fenerbache
19 Djibril Cisse - Panathinaikos - Greece
19 Papiss Demba Cisse - Freiburg
19 Samuel Eto'o - Inter
19 Mario Gomez - Bayern Munich
19 Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
19 Marco Di Vaio - Bologna
19 Bjorn Vleminckx - NEC Nijmegen

BRAZIL

Tim Vickery of the BBC on a 17 year old Brazilian prodigy that Chelsea just bought from Sao Paulo - Lucas Piazon.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Advanced:(6 of 16) Cruzeiro, Estudiantes, Gremio, Junior, Libertad, Penarol

Out:(6 of 16) Guarani, Jorge Wilstermann, Leon de Huanuco, Oriente Petrolero, Depor Tolima, Union Espanola

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 12
Penarol v Independiente
LDU Quito v Godoy Cruz
Colo Colo v Deportivo Tachira
-Wed Apr 13
Estudiantes v Cruzeiro
Guarani v Deportes Tolima
-Thu Apr 14
Cerro Porteno v Santos
Univ Catolica v Union Espanola
Caracas v Velez Sarsfield
Oriente Petrolero v Gremio
Junior v Leon de Huanuco

dN

Standings:
Group 1
ADV-11 Libertad (Paraguay) (+6 gd) (5 gp)
6 Univ San Martin (Peru) (-2 gd) (5 gp)
5 San Luis (Mexico) (-1 gd) (5 gp)
4 Once Caldas (Colombia) (-3 gd) (5 gp)
Group 2
ADV-12 Junior (Colombia) (+2 gd) (5 gp)
ADV-10-Gremio (Brazil) (+6 gd) (5 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)
9 Univ Catolica (Chile) (+1 gd) (5 gp)
8 Velez Sarsfield (Argentina) (+2 gd) (5 gp)
OUT-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)
8 Emelec (Ecuador) (+1 gd) (5 gp)
OUT-1 Jorge Wilstermann (Bolivia) (-9 gd) (5 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)

CAT LOVERS ONLY

The Oregonian tells us all about a colony of feral cats that live at JELD-WEN Field in Portland. (Thanks to BQ & The Rook for the link)