Some News for Thu May 5, 2011

STARTERS

All the MLS games are free for viewing on your computer this weekend. Check it out here.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

TWITTERVERSE/FACEBOOKING

From @alexilalas22 "Thomas Rongen told me he's no longer in charge of the u-20 USMNT and Tab Ramos will take the team on an interim basis."

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Manchester United fielded less than their first 11 and still rolled heavily over Schalke.

Rob Hughes of the New York Times with a review of that game.

Man U v Barca for all the marbles. Again. A repeat of the 2009 final that Barca won 2-0.

The big difference this time is that the game will be played at Wembley Stadium in London. Advantage Man U.

Barcelona is still the favorite though.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 3
Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid - Bar advance 3-1 on aggregate. Bar goal by Andres Iniesta. RM goal by Marcelo.
-Wed May 4
Manchester United 4-1 Schalke - MU advance 6-1 on aggregate. MU goals by Luis Valencia, Darron Gibson & Anderson(2). Sch goal by Jurado.

JACK WARNER/SEPP BLATTER/FIFA ODDITIES

Slappy Jack was reelected as COCACAF president for 4 more years. Yeaaaaaaaaah!

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 8

Recap du Nord for Wed: 2 games last night saw Houston blow a lead at home to the defending champs Colorado, who now jumps up to 2nd place in the West, and then in DC the forward pair of Charlie & Wolffy both scored to lead them over Seattle. Houston falls to 4th, and DC rises to 5th both in the East, while Seattle remains 4th in the West.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 4
DC United 2-1 Seattle Sounders FC - DCU goals by Josh Wolff & Charlie Davies. SS goal by Brad Evans(PK).
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attendance: 11,254
Houston Dynamo 1-2 Colorado Rapids - HD goal by Colin Clark. CR goals by Jaime Smith & Scott Palguta.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 13,206
-Fri May 6
Portland Timbers v Philadelphia Union - 9:30pm CT on FSC
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR
-Sat May 7
Real Salt Lake v CD Chivas USA - 3:00pm CT on Telefutura
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy UT
Toronto FC v Houston Dynamo - 6:00pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
DC United v FC Dallas - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Columbus Crew v Seattle Sounders FC - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
New England Revolution v Colorado Rapids - 6:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Chicago Fire SC v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 7:30pm CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park - Bridgeview IL
LA Galaxy v New York Red Bulls - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

dN

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

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

MY THOUGHTS

Wow did Houston keeper Tally Hall get burned badly for a goal or what? Colorado's Jaime Smith took a wicked free kick from about 40 yards out that blazed over Hall's head. You don't see a keeper misjudge a ball that badly very often. See it here.

Je-Vaugh Watson got his first start in Houston, and Spanish forward Koke came on late for his debut. Koke debuted last weekend. (Thanks to all who set me straight on that.)

There can't be much left healthy in Brian Ching's body. The Dynamo veteran forward throws himself around every time he goes on the field and then lays in a heap trying to transform the parts back together. Then he repeats.

Colorado forward Omar Cummings rolled his ankle pretty bad and came out just seconds before half time.

Its not very often that you see a crowd that small in DC. Oof.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 7
FC Tampa Bay v Carolina RailHawks
Atlanta Silverbacks v FC Edmonton
NSC Minnesota Stars v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

dN

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

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

The latest Jared Montz podcast is an interview (Video and audio) with Chris Rolfe, who has recently returned to playing for AaB after long injury spells. Listen or download here.

dN

Game Action:

BULGARIA - A PFG
Jemal Johnson - Lokomotiv Sofia - Thu May 5 v Chernomorets Burgas

dN

Coming Up:

BELGIUM - Pro League - Playoff I
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Fri May 6 at Genk.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

5 Americans took the field in playoff games last night. Wow.

dN

Game Action:
PRIMERA DIVISION - Liguilla Quarterfinals
1st Leg
Jonathan Bornstein - UANL Tigres - Wed May 4 - came on as a sub at half time but they lost 3-1 at Guadalajara.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - Wed May 4 - came on as a sub in the 87th min but they lost 2-1 at Cruz Azul.
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - Wed May 4 - came on as a sub in the 19th min as they won 3-1 v Tigres UANL.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Promotion Playoff Semifinals
1st Leg
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Wed May 4 - started and went 56 min as they won 1-0 v Leon.
Marco Vidal - Leon - Wed May 4 - came on as a sub in the 54th min but lost 1-0 at Tijuana.

dN

Coming Up:

PRIMERA DIVISION - Liguilla Quarterfinals
2nd Leg
Jonathan Bornstein - UANL Tigres - Sat May 7 v Guadalajara
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - Sat May 7 v Cruz Azul
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - Sat May 7 at Tigres UANL

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Promotion Playoff Semifinals
2nd Leg
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Sat May 7 at Leon
Marco Vidal - Leon - Sat May 7 v Tijuana

MEXICO

Laguilla - Quarterfinals (2 Legs)

The two lower seeded home teams got wins on the first day of the playoffs.

Atlante lost defender Arturo Munoz to two yellow cards.

Matches & Scores: (seeds included)
1st Leg
-Wed May 4
Guadalajara(8) v UANL Tigres(1) - Gua goals by Omar Arellano, Mario De Luna & Marco Fabian(OG). UT goal by Jesus Molina.
Cruz Azul(5) 2-1 Atlante(4) - CA goals both by Chaco Jimenez. Atl goal by Giancarlo Maldonado.
-Thu May 5
Monterrey(7) v UNAM Pumas(2)
America(6) v Morelia(3)
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Sat May 7
UANL Tigres(1) v Guadalajara(8) (1-3)
Atlante(4) v Cruz Azul(5) (1-2)
-Sun May 8
UNAM Pumas(2) v Monterrey(7) (-)
Morelia(3) v America(6) (-)

If series ends tied the first tie breaker is seeding.

CANADA

Canadian Championship

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

Vancouver and Toronto will meet in the final.

Matches & Scores:
Semifinals
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Wed May 4
Vancover Whitecaps 1-1 Montreal Impact - VW advances 2-1 on aggregate. VW goal by Mouloud Akloul. MI goal by Ali Gerba(PK).
Match report by Bruce Constantineau of the Vancouver Sun.
Toronto FC 1-0 FC Edmonton - TFC advances 4-0 on aggregate. TFC goal by Alan Gordon.
Match report by Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star.

Final
1st Leg
-Wed May 18
Vancover Whitecaps v Toronto FC
2nd Leg
-Wed May 25
Toronto FC v Vancover Whitecaps

CENTRAL AMERICA

Guatemala

Claurusa - Semifinals
1st Leg
-Thu May 5
Malacateco v Municipal
Comunicaciones v Heredia
2nd Leg
-Sun May 8
Municipal v Malacateco
Heredia v Comunicaciones

EUROPE

Who are the top goal scorers so far: (as of Thu May 5, 2011)

Premier League
21 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
19 Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
15 Darren Bent - Aston Villa
15 Robin Van Persie - Arsenal

Primera Division
31 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
29 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
18 David Villa - Barcelona
18 Giuseppe Rossi - Villarreal

Serie A
26 Edinson Cavani - Napoli
26 Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
20 Samuel Eto'o - Inter
19 Marco Di Vaio - Bologna

Bundesliga
24 Mario Gomez - Bayern Munich
22 Papiss Demba Cisse - Freiburg
16 Theofanis Gekas - Eintracht Frankfurt
16 Milivoje Novakovic - Koln

Ligue 1
21 Moussa Sow - Lille
20 Kevin Gameiro - Lorient
17 Youssef El Arabi - Caen

Eredivisie
23 Bjorn Vleminckx - NEC Nijmegen
21 Dmitry Bulykin - ADO Den Haag
20 Mads Junker - Roda JC

Premeira Liga
22 Hulk - Porto
15 Joao Tomas - Rio Ave
14 Radamel Falcao - Porto

Premier League
16 Gary Hooper - Celtic
15 Conor Sammon - Kilmarnock
15 Anthony Stokes - Hibernian

Others
22 Alex - Fenerbache - Turkey
20 Djibril Cisse - Panathinaikos - Greece
19 Jelle Vossen - Genk - Belgium

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

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semifinals

Braga got the big win and their away goal put them through. And Porto had basically already won from the first leg. So the two of them will play for the title.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Thu May 5
Villarreal 3-2 Porto - Por advances 7-4 on aggregate. Vil goals by Cani, Capdevila & Giuseppe Rossi. Por goals by Hulk & Falcao.
Braga 1-0 Benfica - series ends tied 2-2, and Bra advances on the away goals tie breaker. Bra goal by Custodio.

Final
-Wed May 18
Porto v Braga

COPA LIBERTADORES

Round Of 16

Recap du Nord: The defending champs Internacional are OUT. And the team who earned the most points in this years group stage Cruzeiro are also out. Some of the biggest teams in the whole tournament were elimidated last night.

Libertad, Penarol, Once Caldas & Univ Catolica all advanced last night.

But 3 Brazilian teams were among those who got the boot! Fluminense, Internacional, Cruzeiro & Gremio were elminated last night.

The last three Quarterfinal spots will be filled in tonight's games.

dN

ADV: Libertad, Once Caldas, Penarol, Santos & Universidad Catolica.

OUT: America, Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Gremio & Internacional.

dN

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 3
America 0-0 Santos - San advances 1-0 on aggreagte.
-Wed May 4
Univ Catolica 1-0 Gremio UC advances 3-1 on aggregate. UC goal by Milovan Mirosevic.
Cruzeiro 0-2 Once Caldas - OC advances 3-2 on aggregate. OC goals by Diego Amaya & Dayro Moreno.
Internacional 1-2 Penarol - Pen advances 3-2 on aggregate. Int goal by Oscar. Pen goals by Alejandro Martinuccio & Juan Manuel Olivera.
Libertad 3-0 Fluminense - Lib advances 4-3 on aggregate. Lib goals by Rodrigo Rojas, Miguel Samudio & Jose Portelli.
-Thu May 5
LDU Quito v Velez Sarsfield (0-3)
Cerro Porteno v Estuniantes (0-0)
Junior v Chiapas Jaguares (1-1)

FIFA

T3 reports that FIFA is getting ready to test more goal line technology this fall.