Some News for Fri May 13, 2011

STARTERS

I'm gonna be shooting the breeze on The Straight Red Card this Sunday with Derek and Brett. I'll let ya know as soon as its posted.

MLS EXPANSION

IMSoccer News on why MLS needs to be in the Twin Cities.

mls4mn

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC V PORTLAND TIMBERS

The two bitter rivals face off on Saturday night for the first time in MLS.

This will make the phony Super Classico between LA and Chivas look like the shitty chunk of old plastic that it is.

-Sat May 14
Seattle Sounders FC v Portland Timbers - 10pm Central on ESPN2

The Wall Street Journal calls it The Great Hipster Soccer Showdown.
-They talk to the fans, or should we say customers.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

-Sun May 15
Ajax v Twente - for the title - 70 pts v 71 pts
Liverpool v Tottenham - for the last Champions League spot
Napoli v Inter - #3 hosts #2

PODCASTS

You need to check out the North American Soccer Network has podcasts galore for you the fanatico to check out. They have shows on:
DC United
LA Galaxy
The women's game
Mexican futbol
French football
Canadian soccer
English football
Daily soccer News
MLS
New York Red Bulls
Sunderland AFC
WPS
Portland Timbers
Turkish football
Philadelphia Union

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 9

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
Toronto FC v Chicago Fire SC - 6:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field
New England Revolution v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium
DC United v Colorado Rapids - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: RFK Stadium
FC Dallas v Philadelphia Union - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
Real Salt Lake v Houston Dynamo - 8:00PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
LA Galaxy v Sporting Kansas City - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center
San Jose Earthquakes v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Seattle Sounder FC v Portland Timbers - 10:00PM CT on ESPN2
Venue: Qwest Field
-Sun May 15
New York Red Bulls v CD Chivas USA - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: Red Bull Arena

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Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
15 New York Red Bulls (+8 GD) (8 GP)
14 Philadelphia Union (+2 GD) (8 GP)
13 Columbus Crew (+2 GD) (8 GP)
12 Houston Dynamo (+3 GD) (9 GP)
11 DC United (-5 GD) (9 GP)
10 New England Revolution (-4 GD) (9 GP)
10 Toronto FC (-6 GD) (10 GP)
7 Chicago Fire SC (-3 GD) (8 GP)
4 Sporting Kansas City (-3 GD) (6 GP)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
17 LA Galaxy (+2 GD) (10 GP)
15 Real Salt Lake (+7 GD) (6 GP)
14 Colorado Rapids (+2 GD) (9 GP)
14 FC Dallas (+1 GD) (9 GP)
13 Portland Timbers (-2 GD) (8 GP)
13 Seattle Sounders FC (+2 GD) (10 GP)
9 CD Chivas USA (+1 GD) (8 GP)
8 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-3 GD) (10 GP)
6 San Jose Earthquakes (-4 GD) (8 GP)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Brian Strauss of Sporting News on how MLS owners should handle the rash of bad injuries happening to key players.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff & Jonathan O’Connell of the Washington Post on the crumbling RFK Stadium.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC has crossed the 11,000 threshold for season tickets. Not bad at all.

Charles Gooch of the KC Star writes about what I have been saying since the season started - Sporting needs Stephane Auvray in the lineup to succeed, and he rarely is.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun May 15
Real Salt Lake v Houston Dynamo
Seattle Sounders v Portland Timbers
-Mon May 16
Philadelphia Union v DC United
-Tue May 17
Chicago Fire SC v Sporting Kansas City

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MLS Reserve League Standings Etc.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 11
Carolina RailHawks 4-2 Ft Lauderdale Strikers - CRH goals by Pablo Campos(2), Etienne Barbara(PK) & Allan Russell. FLS goals by Patricke Otte & David Santamaria.
FC Tampa Bay 1-1 FC Edmonton - FCTB goal by Chad Burt. FCE goal by Chris Kooy.
-Sat May 14
Montreal Impact v Carolina RailHawks
Ft Lauderdale Strikers v FC Tampa Bay
NSC Minnesota Stars v Atlanta Silverbacks

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Standings (as of Wed May 11):
10 Puerto Rico Islanders (+5 GD) (4 GP)
13 Carolina RailHawks (+6 GD) (6 GP)
10 FC Edmonton (-3 GD) (6 GP)
7 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (0 GD) (6 GP)
6 NSC Minnesota Stars (-1 GD) (5 GP)
6 FC Tampa Bay (-3 GD) (6 GP)
4 Montreal Impact (+3 GD) (4 GP)
1 Atlanta Silverbacks (-5 GD) (5 GP)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs Semifinals
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - 1st Leg Thu May 12 - still out injured as they played to a scoreless tie v Swansea City.

NORWAY - NM Cupen - 2nd Round
-Thu May 12
Jonathan Borrajo - Ham-Kam - L 1-3 v Byasen
Joe Bendik - Sogndal - W 0-2 at Fyllingen
Joe Lapira - Nybergsund - L 3-5 v Lorenskog

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Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs Semifinals
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - 2nd Leg Mon May 16 at Swansea City

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION - Liguilla Semifinals
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - 1st Leg Thu May 12 - went the distance as they tied 1-1 v Pumas.

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Coming Up:

PRIMERA DIVISION - Liguilla Semifinals
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - 2nd Leg Sun May 15 at Pumas

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Clausura Playoff Semifinals
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - 2nd Leg Sat May 14 at Irapuato (1-1)

MEXICO

Laguilla - Semifinals

1st Leg
-Thu May 12
Guadalajara(8) 1-1 UNAM Pumas(2) - Gua goal by Omar Arellano. UP goal by Efrain Velarde.
Cruz Azul(5) 2-0 Morelia(3) - CA goals by Chaco Gimenez & Emanuel Villa.
2nd Leg
-Sun May 15
UNAM Pumas(2) v Guadalajara(8) (1-1)
Moreli(3) v Cruz Azul(5) (0-3)

If series ends tied the first tie breaker is seeding.

CENTRAL AMERICA

Honduras

Clausura - Final
2nd Leg
-Sun May 15
Olimpia v Motagua (2-2)

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Guatemala

Claurusa - Final
1st Leg
-Thu May 12
Comunicaciones 3-0 Municipal - Com goals by Dwight Pezzarossi, Transito Montepeque & Abner Trigueros.
2nd Leg
-Sun May 15
Municipal v Comunicaciones (0-3)

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Costa Rica

Torneo De Verano - Final
2nd Leg
-Sat May 14
Alajuelense v San Carlos (1-0)

ENGLAND

FA CUP - Final
Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
Manchester City v Stoke City

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Top of the Premier League Table: (36 of 38 GP)
76 Man United - Sat May 14 at Blackburn
70 Chelsea - Sun May 15 v Newcastle
67 Arsenal - Sun May 15 v Aston Villa
65 Man City - Tue May 17 v Stoke
58 Liverpool - Sun May 15 v Tottenham

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Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs (to Premier League) - 1 team will advance
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 12
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Swansea City
-Fri May 13
Reading 0-0 Cardiff City
2nd Leg
-Mon May 16
Swansea City v Nottingham Forest (0-0)
-Tue May 17
Cardiff City v Reading (0-0)

SPAIN

Top of the Primera Division Table: (36 of 38 GP)
**92 Barcelona - Sun May 15 v Deportivo La Coruna
86 Real Madrid - Sun May 15 at Villarreal
67 Valencia - Sun May 15 v Levante
61 Villarreal - Sun May 15 v Real Madrid
54 Athletic Bilbao - Sun May 15 v Malaga
** 2010/11 Champions

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FRANCE

COUPE DE FRANCE
Final
Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
PSG v Lille

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Top of the Ligue 1 Table: (35 GP of 38)
69 Lille - Wed May 18 v Sochaux
65 Marsielle - Sun May 15 at Lorient
59 Lyon - Mon May 16 at Brest
58 PSG - Wed May 18 at Bordeaux
53 Rennes - Sun May 15 at St Etienne

GERMANY

This is the last round of the season.

Top of the Bundesliga Table: (33 of 34 GP)
**72 Borussia Dortmund - Sat May 14 v Entracht Frankfurt
65 Bayer Leverkusen - Sat May 14 at Freiburg
62 Bayern Munich - Sat May 14 v Stuttgart
57 Hannover - Sat May 14 v Nurnberg
55 Mainz - Sat May 14 v St Pauli
** 2010/11 Champions

ITALY

Top of the Serie A Table: (36 of 38 GP)
**78 Milan - Sat May 14 v Cagliari
72 Inter - Sun May 15 at Napoli
68 Napoli - Sun May 15 v Inter
62 Udinese - Sun May 15 at Chievo
60 Roma - Sun May 15 at Catania
** 2010/11 Champions

EUROPE

Netherland
Top of the Eredivisie Table: (33 of 34 GP)
71 Twente - Sun May 15 at Ajax
70 Ajax - Sun May 15 v Twente
-The last game sees #1 at #2. Wow.

UEFA EURO 2012

Agence France-Presse with a report on how serious Polish security is taking a hooligan problem in their country which is set to co-host Euro 2012. Via Yahoo.

And Reuters reports that 3 Polish clubs Slask Wroclaw, Zaglebie Lubin and Widzew Lodz will play their next home games in an empty stadium because of their ongoing violence in the stands. Via Yahoo.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Quarterfinals

Recap du Nord: Velez with a huge win at home, while Jaguares needed a goal in second half stoppage time just to get the tie at home. The road goal for Cerro is a big deal.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 11
Penarol 2-0 Univ Catolica - Pen goals by Juan Manuel Olivera & Alejandro Martinuccio.
Once Caldas 0-1 Santos - San goal by Alan Patrick.
-Thu May 12
Velez Sarsfield 3-0 Libertad - VS goals by Maximiliano Moralez & Juan Martinez(2).
Chiapas Jaguares 1-1 Cerro Porteno - CJ goal by Michael Pedroza. CP goal by Jonathan Fabbro.
2nd Leg
-Week of Tue May 17
-Wed May 18
Santos v Once Caldas (1-0)
Univ Catolica v Penarol (0-2)
-Thu May 19
Cerro Porteno v Chiapas Jaguares (1-1)
Libertad v Velez Sarsfield (0-3)

ENDERS

Scene from Will Farrell's new movie Everything Must Go.

Nick Halsey (adult): Why don't you play soccer?

Kenny Loftus (neighbor Kid): [indignanat] Black kids don't play soccer.

Nick Halsey: [exasperated] There are whole continents of black kids playing soccer!