Some News for Wed Apr 13, 2011

STARTERS

Will Landon Donovan be in the LA lineup tonight in Toronto?

STORY OF THE DAY

Bryan Chouinard of the Daily Utah Chronicle, sporting one hell of a handlebar stache, calls RSL v Colorado the best rivalry in MLS.
-No comment.

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune also looks at the rivalry.
-Lewis has words from RSL captain Kyle Beckerman on the Supporters Shield.

James Edward of the Deseret News on the rivalry.
-And the 10 best RSL moments in Rocky Mt Cup history.

But the #1 memory in Rocky Mountain Cup history is obviously in season 1 when the winner was the Minnesota Thunder who demolished both teams in US Open Cup action.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Quarterfinals.

dN

Manchester United and Barcelona went through to the Semifinals on Tuesday! And Schalke and Real Madrid joined them on Wednesday!

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews Tuesdays 2 games.

Phil McNulty of the BBC on Chelsea's failed plan.

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on the stunning amount of NOTHING that Fernando Torres has contributed to Chelsea so far.

dN

News on Wednesday's matches tomorrow.

dN

Matches & Scores: (1st Leg scores included)
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 12
Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea - MU advances 3-1 on aggregate - MU goals by Javier Hernandez & Ji Sung Park. Che goal by Didier Drogba.
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Barcelona - Bar advances 6-1 on aggregate - Bar goal by Lionel Messi.
-Wed Apr 13
Tottenham 0-1 Real Madrid -RM advances 5-0 on aggregate - RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Schalke 2-1 Inter - Sch advances 7-3 on aggregate - Sch goals by Raul & Benedikt Howedes. Int goal by Thiago Motta.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

The NY Cosmos announced today that former star player Carlos Alberto has been hired as an International Ambassador. Whatever that means. Its another huge name on the letterhead.

FACT OF THE DAY

Two things Lionel Messi facts that I picked up from watching Shakhtar v Barcelona yesterday:
-He has scored 95 goals in his last 99 games for Barca!
-He has scored 48 goals in all competitions in the 2010/11 season for Barca!

OOF

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times reports that Qwest Field gets a low rating for their fake turf.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Check out this MASSIVE flag that fans of Penarol of Uruguay unfurled last night in the Copa Libertadores. It covers nearly 1/2 of the seats in the stadium. Increible!

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)

MLS NEWS

FC DALLAS

Steve Hunt of Fox Sports Southwest sees Andrew Jacobson beginning to fill the void in the Burn midfield created when Dax McCarty was shipped out.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on Ethan White who signed with the senior team from the academy last summer and is making a name for himself as a centerback early this season.

Could you imagine DCU starting Ethan White and Perry Kitchen as the centerbacks this weekend? Combined age 39!
LA GALAXY

Steve Keating of Reuters declares the David Beckham experiment over and a failure.
-I think the season just got started didn't it?

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that RSL head coach Jason Kreis is not happy about the layout of the field in New England, specifically the ad boards on the side of the field where the benches are.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The team signed Supplemental Draft pick Teddy Schneider, a left fullback from Princeton.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian sees the Timbers train in their new home stadium for the first time.

Paul Danzer of the Vancouver(WA) Columbian looks ahead to the Timbers MLS debut on Thursday night.
-And the players says good things about the new fake turf.

The Portland Tribune looks at the Oregon Historical Society's exhibit on the Timbers of the past.

REAL SALT LAKE

Will Johnson suffered a badly broken thumb last weekend in New England when he crashed into the ad boards on the sideline.
-See story above in New England Section.

TORONTO FC

Luke Wileman of TSN sees the team getting more and more used to the system head coach Aron Winter wants to play each week.
-They host LA tonight.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 14
Real Salt Lake v Colorado Rapids

NASL NEWS

World Football Insider does an interview with new NASL commissioner David Downs.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Robbie Findley is finally back training with Nottingham Forrest after suffering a torn thigh muscle and then an achilles tendon strain. They expect him back for the last 3 or 4 games of the season.

dN

Coming Up:

UEFA - Europa League - Quarterfinals - 2nd Leg
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - Thu Apr 14 v Villarreal, trailing 5-1 from the 1st Leg

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Scott French of ESPN talks to Hercules Gomez about his big 2 goal performance last weekend. (And asks Herc some pretty funny questions.) Then lots of other notes on the Mexican Primera and Americans playing south of the border.

dN

Coming Up:

PRIMERA DIVISION
Isaac Acuna - Queretaro - Wed Apr 13 v Atlante
Daniel Antunez - Estudiantes Tecos - Wed Apr 13 at Necaxa
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - Wed Apr 13 v Pachuca
Edgar Castillo - Puebla - Wed Apr 13 at Santos Laguna
Herculez Gomez - Pachuca - Wed Apr 13 at Tigres
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - Wed Apr 13 at Queretaro
Sammy Ochoa - Estudiantes Tecos - Wed Apr 13 at Necaxa
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - Wed Apr 13 at Toluca
Adrian Ruelas - Santos Laguna - Wed Apr 13 v Puebla
Jose Torres - Pachuca - Wed Apr 13 at Tigres

CONCACAF

Here is the April FIFA ranking for CONCACAF teams.

SPAIN

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal confirms it - Lio Messi is THE great one.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Round of 16 2nd Leg matches will be played this Thursday.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Apr 14
2nd Leg
Spartak Moscow v Porto (1-5)
PSV v Benfica (1-4)
Twente v Villarreal (1-5)
Braga v Dynamo Kyiv (1-1)

dN

Matches & Scores.

COPA LIBERTADORES

With a win LDU Quito of Ecuador has advanced to the knock out rounds, meaning group-mates Godoy Cruz and Independiente have been eliminated. Deportivo Tachira was also eliminated with a loss.

dN

Tonight's 2 games are both from Group 7, and will only have bearing on the knockout round seedings as advancement and elimination in the group is already complete.

dN

Advanced:(7 of 16) Cruzeiro, Estudiantes, Gremio, Junior, LDU Quit, Libertad, Penarol

Out:(9 of 16) Depor Tachira, Godoy Cruz, Guarani, Independiente, Jorge Wilstermann, Leon de Huanuco, Oriente Petrolero, Depor Tolima, Union Espanola

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 12
Penarol 0-1 Independiente - Ind goal by Facundo Parra.
LDU Quito 2-0 Godoy Cruz - LDU goals by Luis Bolanos & Hernan Barcos.
Colo Colo 2-1 Deportivo Tachira - CC goals both by Diego Rubio. DT goal by Edgar Perez Greco.
-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
9 Colo-Colo (Chile) (0 gd) (5 gp)
8 Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) (+5 gd) (4 gp)
5 Santos (Brazil) (0 gd) (4 gp)
OUT-2 Depor Tachira (Venezuela) (-5 gd) (5 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-10 LDU Quito (Ecuador) (+8 gd) (6 gp)
ADV-9 Penarol (Uruguay) (-5 gd) (6 gp)
OUT-8 Independiente (Argentina) (-1 gd) (6 gp)
OUT-7 Gody Cruz (Argentina) (-2 gd) (6 gp)