Some News for Wed May 18, 2011

STARTERS

My Stars will do their damnedest tonight to repay Puerto Rico for a bad loss 3 weeks ago. Lets go Stars.

dN

Motagua, Comunicaciones and Alajuelense have won the championships of Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica respectively. Huge congrats to all of them. Ceverza Hurra!

TWITTERVERSE/FACEBOOKING

Mohamed Bin Hammam is following me on Twitter!!!

-and-

KC forward and Minnesota boy Teal Bunbury retweeted our drive for MLS in MN - MLS4MN.com

PODCAST OF THE DAY

I got to have a great conversation this week with Derek and Brett from The Straight Red Card. We covered many topics, and we had a lot of fun. Check it out now.
-Part 1
-Part 2
-Part 3

Will there be a 4th? Stay tuned.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

FIFA: In the final against Brazil you were 2-0 up at halftime...
DAVIES: In the locker-room up 2-0 at the half we were all a little bit shocked and I think we might have gotten a little content, a little complacent, like we had it in the bag. When we got back out there, all it took was one goal for Brazil to reignite and it all went wrong or us.

-Charlie Davies, USA forward, to FIFA.com (see full interview below in MLS News section)

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League draw is Wednesday. Seattle & Dallas in prelims, Los Angeles & Colorado in groups.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Final
-Wed May 18
Porto v Braga

JACK WARNER/SEPP BLATTER/FIFA ODDITIES

Bill Archer at Big Soccer with his latest hit song The Chuck Blazer American Hero Blues.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 9

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
Toronto FC 2-2 Chicago Fire SC - TFC goals by Joao Plata & Maicon Santos. CF goals by Marco Pappa & Orr Barouch.
Venue: BMO Field
Attendance: 18,674
New England Revolution 1-0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - NER goal by Shalrie Joseph(PK).
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Attendance: 14,186
DC United 1-1 Colorado Rapids - DCU goal by Chris Pontius(PK). CR goal by Drew Moor.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Attendance: 12,499
FC Dallas 2-0 Philadelphia Union - FCD goals by Brek Shea & Fabian Castillo.
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
Attendance: 12,109
Real Salt Lake 0-0 Houston Dynamo
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Attendance: 16,301
LA Galaxy 4-1 Sporting Kansas City - LAG goals by Landon Donovan(2), Juan Pablo Angel & David Beckham. SKC goals by Omar Gonzalez(OG).
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Attendance: 19,763
San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 Columbus Crew - SJE goals by Chris Wondolowski, Steven Lenhart & Khari Stephenson.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Attendance: 9,142
Seattle Sounder FC 1-1 Portland Timbers - SE goal by Alvaro Fernandez. PT goal by Futty Danso.
Venue: Qwest Field
Attendance: 36,593
-Sun May 15
New York Red Bulls 2-3 CD Chivas USA - NYRB goals by Thierry Henry & Dwayne DeRosario(PK). CUSA goals all by Justin Braun.
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Attendance: 16,365

dN

Ejections
Brandon McDonald - San Jose Earthquakes - red card

dN

Standings:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
15 New York Red Bulls (+7 GD) (9 GP)
14 Philadelphia Union (0 GD) (9 GP)
13 Columbus Crew (-1 GD) (9 GP)
13 Houston Dynamo (+3 GD) (10 GP)
13 New England Revolution (-3 GD) (10 GP)
12 DC United (-5 GD) (10 GP)
11 Toronto FC (-6 GD) (11 GP)
8 Chicago Fire SC (-3 GD) (9 GP)
4 Sporting Kansas City (-6 GD) (7 GP)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
20 LA Galaxy (+5 GD) (12 GP)
17 FC Dallas (+3 GD) (10 GP)
16 Real Salt Lake (+7 GD) (7 GP)
15 Colorado Rapids (+2 GD) (10 GP)
14 Portland Timbers (-2 GD) (9 GP)
14 Seattle Sounders FC (+2 GD) (11 GP)
12 CD Chivas USA (+2 GD) (9 GP)
9 San Jose Earthquakes (-1 GD) (9 GP)
8 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-4 GD) (11 GP)

MLS NEWS

The Crew signed their first academy player, 19 year old forward Aaron Horton.

dN

FIFA.com does a Q & A with Charlie Davies.

dN

The Shin Guardian talks to reps from 3 teams about how they sell tickets - Chicago, Dallas & Kansas City. Very interesting. (thanks to BQ for the link)

dN

The Seattle Sounders tell us the story of Oswaldo Alonso meeting with his grandparents for the first time since he defected from Cuba four years ago.

dN

Jack Bell of the New York Times on how Red Bulls centerback and Mexico captain Rafa Marquez is settling in to MLS.
-Full Q & A.

dN

A new KC stadium photo from Mon May 16:

















MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun May 15
Real Salt Lake 0-1 Houston Dynamo - HD goal by Mike Chabala.
Seattle Sounders 3-2 Portland Timbers - SS goals by Lamar Neagle, Pat Noonan & Michael Tetteh. PT goals by David Horst & Bim Ogunyem.
-Mon May 16
Philadelphia Union 0-1 DC United - DCU goal by Brandon Barklage.
-Sun May 22
FC Dallas v Real Salt Lake

Standings, Matches and News.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
Montreal Impact 1-2 Carolina RailHawks - MI goal by Idriss Edu Chergui. CRH goals both by Etienne Barbara.
Ft Lauderdale Strikers PSTPD FC Tampa Bay - lightning strikes canceled the game
NSC Minnesota Stars 3-0 Atlanta Silverbacks - NMS goals by Jeff Cosgriff, Neil Hlavaty(PK) & Lucas Rodriguez.
-Wed May 18
NSC Minnesota Stars v Puerto Rico Islanders

dN

Standings (as of Sat May 14):
16 Carolina RailHawks (+7 GD) (7 GP) 2.29
10 Puerto Rico Islanders (+5 GD) (4 GP) 2.00
10 FC Edmonton (-3 GD) (6 GP) 1.67
9 NSC Minnesota Stars (+2 GD) (6 GP) 1.50
6 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (0 GD) (6 GP) 1.00
6 FC Tampa Bay (-3 GD) (6 GP) 1.00
4 Montreal Impact (+2 GD) (5 GP) 0.80
1 Atlanta Silverbacks (-8 GD) (6 GP) 0.17

USA U17

The team was drawn in to Group D for the World Cup this summer in Mexico.

GROUP D
Czech Republic
New Zealand
USA
Uzbekistan

Here is their schedule.

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jun 19
Uzbekistan v New Zealand
USA v Czech Republic
Venue: Estadio Corona, Torreon
-Wed Jun 22
USA v Uzbekistan
Czech Republic v New Zealand
Venue: Estadio Corona, Torreon
-Sat Jun 25
USA v New Zealand
Czech Republic v Uzbekistan
Venue: Estadio Hildago, Pachuca

FIFA has an article on USA head coach Wilmar Cabrera.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jonathan Spector & West Ham were the first team relegated out of the English Premier League this season.

Mo Edu and Rangers won the Scottish Premier League championship! Huge congrats to him and his teammates.
-Michael Grant of the Glasgow Herald says Rangers won the title with great skill.

Sacha Kljestan & Anderlecht finished 3rd in Belgium after losing their last 2 games.

Michael Bradley actually played for Aston Villa. Good for him. What took so long.

Ricardo Clark & Eintracht Frankfurt got relegated out of the Bundesliga.

Coach Joe Enochs and his Osnabruck team will play a two legged series to try and avoid relegation from the 2.Bundesliga.

Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond Sport finished 3rd in the Eerste Divisie and are in the promotion playoffs now.

Oguchi Onyewu's loan deal to Twente in Holland ended quietly on Sunday with him in the stands supposedly due to an abdominal injury, but he has barely played in the previous 2 months as it was. What is next for Gooch?

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com talks to Onyewu who says he will be healthy in a week and expects to play in the Gold Cup.

Freddy Adu and Caykur Rizespor finished in 5th giving them a shot at promotion through a 4 team playoff.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Sat May 14 - went the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Standard Liege.
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Tue May 17 - again went the distance but lost 3-4 v Lokeren.

BULGARIA - A PFG
Jemal Johnson - Lokomotiv Sofia - came on as a sub in the 59th min but could only draw 1-1 v Cherno More.

DENMARK - Superliga -
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Midtjylland.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the whole game as they won 3-2 v Silkeborg.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - on the bench for a scoreless tie at Esbjerg.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Michael Bradley - Aston Villa - came on as a sub in the 80th min as they won 1-2 at Arsenal.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started, getting a yellow card and was subbed out in the 89th min as they won 0-2 at Birmingham.
Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - went the distance as they won 1-2 at Arsenal.
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton - on the bench for a 1-3 win at Sunderland.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at West Brom.
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn - started, got a yellow card and played 74 min as they drew 1-1 v Manc United.
Jonathan Spector - West Ham - started and played 61 min of tha 3-2 loss at Wigan.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Eddie Johnson - Preston North End - got relegated to League One.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - got promoted to the Premier League.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - got relelgated to League Two.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint Etienne - played the full match but got a yellow card and lost 1-2 v Stade Rennes.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timothy Chandler - Nurnberg - played the full match but lost 3-1 at Hannover.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance getting a yellow card as they won 3-1 v Nurnberg.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - was not in uniform as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - did not dress as they lost 0-1 v Osnabruck.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - on the subs bench as they won 3-2 v Union Berlin.
David Yelldell - Duisburg - played the full 90 but lost 3-1 at Bochum.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente - was not in uniform as they lost 3-1 at Ajax, and lost the league title on the final day.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the full 90 as they won 5-1 v Telstar.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - on the bench as they lost 0-1 v Sogndal.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - played the full game as they lost 0-1 v Sogndal.
Josh Gatt - Molde - was not suited up as they won 0-3 at Lillestrom.

RUSSIA - Premier Division
Yevgeni Starikov - Tom Tomsk - came on as a sub at half time as they drew 2-2 at Krasnodar.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the distance as they won 1-5 at Kilmarnock, and won the league title!

TURKEY - Super Lig
Jozy Altidore - Bursaspor - came on as a sub in the 74th min as they won 0-3 at Kasimpasa.

TURKEY - 1. Lig
Freddy Adu - Caykur Rizespor - played the entire game as they won 1-2 at Samsunspor.

dN

Coming Up:

DENMARK - Superliga -
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - Fri May 20 at Lyngby
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - Wed May 18 v Randers
Chris Rolfe - AaB - Fri May 20 at Silkeborg

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION - Liguilla Semifinals
Miguel Ponce - Guadalajara - 2nd Leg Sun May 15 - started and played 63 min but lost 2-0 at Pumas, and lost series 3-1.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Clausura Playoff Semifinals
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - 2nd Leg Sat May 14 - started and went 70 min but lost 1-0 at Irapuato. and lost the series 2-1.

dN

Coming Up:

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division) - Promotion Playoff
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - 1st Leg Wed May 18 at Irapuato
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - 2nd Leg Sat May 21 v Irapuato

MEXICO

Laguilla - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Sun May 15
UNAM Pumas(2) 2-0 Guadalajara(8) - UP win 3-1 on aggregate.
Morelia(3) 3-0 Cruz Azul(5) - Mor win 3-2 on aggregate.

Final
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 19
Morelia v UNAM Pumas
2nd Leg
-Sun May 22
UNAM Pumas v Morelia

If series ends tied the first tie breaker is seeding.

CANADA

Canadian Championship

Winner advances to the CONCACAF Champions League.

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

CENTRAL AMERICA

Honduras

Motagua are the new campeones!

Clausura - Final
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Sun May 15
Olimpia 1-3 Motagua - Mot win 5-3 on aggregate.

dN

Guatemala

Comunicaciones are the champions!

Claurusa - Final
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Sun May 15
Municipal 0-3 Comunicaciones - Com win 6-0 on aggregate.

dN

Costa Rica

Alajuelense are the champs!

Torneo De Verano - Final
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Sat May 14
Alajuelense 1-0 San Carlos - Ala win 2-0 on aggregate.

CONCACAF

The deadline for Gold Cup rosters to be announced is May 20.

ENGLAND

It was a huge weekend for the city of Manchester - United won their 19th top flight championship, and City won the FA Cup.

The whole place must be levitating!

Rob Hughes of the New York Times on the Manchester divide.

FA CUP - Final
Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
Manchester City 1-0 Stoke City - MC goal by Yaya Toure.

dN

1 round now left to play.

Top of the Premier League Table: (37 of 38 GP)
**77 Man United - Sat May 14 D 1-1 at Blackburn
71 Chelsea - Sun May 15 D 2-2 v Newcastle
68 Man City - Tue May 17 W 3-0 v Stoke
67 Arsenal - Sun May 15 L 1-2 v Aston Villa
59 Tottenham - Sun May 15 W 0-2 at Liverpool
- - - - -
58 Liverpool - Sun May 15 L 0-2 v Tottenham
** 2010/11 Champions

dN

Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs (to Premier League) - 1 team will advance

Semifinal
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Mon May 16
Swansea City 3-1 Nottingham Forest - SC advances 3-1 on aggregate.
-Tue May 17
Cardiff City 0-3 Reading - Rea advances 3-0 on aggregate.

Final
-Mon May 30
Swansea City v Reading

dN

The Guardian with a report on a fracas between a West Ham player and some fans at the team's official post season dinner.
-Some have called the incident a "Brawl," but from everything that I have read that would be like calling a fireworks display a bombing. The end of the same article called the matter a "brief fracas." So which is it? Brawl, or brief fracas? Big difference.

Further reports suggest that a fan made racist comments directed at a West Ham player and this set off the incident.

Kevin McCarra of the Guardian feels that West Ham actually had to try to finish last in the league.

SPAIN

There is now only 1 round left to be played.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian tells us about the 6 teams that could still be relegated on the final day, and the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

Top of the Primera Division Table: (37 of 38 GP)
**93 Barcelona - Sun May 15 D 0-0 v Deportivo La Coruna
89 Real Madrid - Sun May 15 W 1-3 at Villarreal
68 Valencia - Sun May 15 D 0-0 v Levante
61 Villarreal - Sun May 15 L 1-3 v Real Madrid
55 Atletico Madrid - Sun May 15 W 2-1 v Hercules
** 2010/11 Champions

FRANCE

Lille are the 2011 Cup champions and in the next few weeks will attempt to make it a double by winning the league too.

COUPE DE FRANCE
Final
Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 14
PSG 0-1 Lille - Lil goal by Obraniak Ludovic.

dN

Top of the Ligue 1 Table: (36 GP of 38)
69 Lille - Wed May 18 v Sochaux (35 GP)
66 Marsielle - Sun May 15 D 2-2 at Lorient
60 Lyon - Mon May 16 D 1-1 at Brest (35 GP)
58 PSG - Wed May 18 at Bordeaux
56 Rennes - Sun May 15 W 1-2 at St Etienne

GERMANY

The Bundesliga season is over.

Raphael Hongistein of the Guardian on the relegation of Eintracht Frankfurt, and the rest of the final day in the Bundesliga.

Top of the Bundesliga Table: (34 of 34 GP)
**75 Borussia Dortmund - Sat May 14 W 3-1 v Entracht Frankfurt
68 Bayer Leverkusen - Sat May 14 W 0-1 at Freiburg
65 Bayern Munich - Sat May 14 W 2-1 v Stuttgart
60 Hannover - Sat May 14 W 3-1 v Nurnberg
58 Mainz - Sat May 14 W 2-1 v St Pauli
** 2010/11 Champions

ITALY

Just 1 round left to go now in Serie A.

Top of the Serie A Table: (37 of 38 GP)
**81 Milan - Sat May 14 W 4-1 v Cagliari
73 Inter - Sun May 15 D 1-1 at Napoli
69 Napoli - Sun May 15 D 1-1 v Inter
65 Udinese - Sun May 15 W 0-2 at Chievo
63 Lazio - Sat May 14 W 4-2 v Genoa
** 2010/11 Champions

SCOTLAND

Michael Grant of the Glasgow Herald reports that outgoing Rangers manager Walter Smith feels Celtic has ruined a very good season in Scotland with their constant complaining and blaming.

EUROPE

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian tells us the story of Romanian great Miodrag Belodedici who won 2 European Cups with different teams, and went to prison for treason in between.

Netherlands

Ajax is the champion of the Eredivisie! Huge congrats to them.
-Back at the top after 7 years away.
-Ajax has now won 30 Dutch titles.

Top of the Eredivisie Table: (34 of 34 GP)
**73 Ajax - Sun May 15 W 3-1 v Twente
71 Twente - Sun May 15 L 3-1 at Ajax
**2010-11 Champions

dN

KRC Genk are the new Blegian champions. Huzzah! It is there 3rd title.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Quarterfinals

2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Wed May 18
Santos v Once Caldas (1-0)
Libertad v Velez Sarsfield (0-3)
-Thu May 19
Universidad Catloica v Penarol (0-2)
Cerro Porteno v Chiapas Jaguares (1-1)

ASIA

Diego Maradona has been named head coach of the United Arab Emirates.

FIFA U17 WORLD CUP

The tournament will be held in Mexico from Jun 18 to Jul 10.

The 6 groups were drawn on Tuesday. Here they are:

GROUP A
Congo
Mexico
Netherlands
North Korea
GROUP B
Argentina
France
Jamaica
Japan
GROUP C
England
Canada
Rwanda
Uruguay
GROUP D
Czech Republic
New Zealand
USA
Uzbekistan
GROUP E
Burkina Faso
Ecuador
Germany
Panama
GROUP F
Australia
Brazil
Cote d'Ivoire
Denmark

Here is the full match schedule.

ENDERS

Octavio Zambrano's record as head coach in MLS:
-Los Angeles Galaxy (W-L, no tie games in early seasons of the league)
1997: 16-16
1998: 24-8
1999: 20-12
-MetroStars (W-L-D)
2000: 17-12-3
2001: 13-10-3
2002: 11-15-2

(numbers are approx. - if you have more details please send them my way)