Some News for Thu Jun 2, 2011

JACK WARNER/SEPP BLATTER/FIFA ODDITIES

The Trinidad Express looks at who has fired who in CONCACAF, and does anyone have any authority, and where do they go from here.

The Trinidad Guardian reports on a meeting of the CONCACAF executive committee without the acting president, Lisle Austin, which he claims is illegal.

The Trinidad Express has an opinion piece that says Jack Warner needs to step down from his roll in the countries government.

The Express also reports that Austin has lined up an accounting firm to go through the organizations financial records from the past 6 years.

The Jamaica Gleaner has a statement from Jamaica Football Federation's Horace Burrell saying that "the JFF was not offered neither received any funds prior to, during or after the reference CFU meeting held May 10-11 in Trinidad." In other words, they DID NOT receive a bribe.

The Royal Gazette of Bermuda reports that the Bermuda Football Association verifies that they WERE offered bribe money.

Jack Warner's lawyers name in Om Lalla. Fantastic.

CONTINUING FIFA FALLOUT

Matt Scott of the Guardian looks at the improper use of many FIFA dollars that go to Africa.

The Guardian also has a good anecdote about fudging FIFA expense accounts.

TEAM USA

Gold Cup

The team is training in Cary NC.

dN

There is only one acceptable outcome for the USA team at this upcoming tournament. Win it. Then they get a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. If they do not win it, then I think its time for a change at the top. I defend Bob Bradley as strongly as anyone out there, but results are results are results. Git 'er done Bob!

dN

Ives Galarcep of Fox Sports on the predictable USA v Mexico showdown for CONCACAF supremacy.

dN

Matt Crossman of Sporting News on Landon Donovan.
-I think Donovan is playing some of the best soccer of his life right now!

dN

Luke Decock of the he Raleigh News & Observer has an article on Landon Donovan.
-They also give us photos from training.

dN

US Soccer gives us video of interviews with Carlos Bocanegra, Jozy Altidore and Jonathan Spector at the training camp.

dN

The official team blog.

dN

Matches & Scores:
Friendly
-Sat Jun 4
USA v Spain
Venue: Gillette Stadium - Foxborough MA
Group Stage
-Tue Jun 7
USA v Canada
Venue: Ford Field - Detroit MI
-Sat Jun 11
USA v Panama
Venue: Raymond James Stadium - Tampa FL
-Tue Jun 14
USA v Guadaloupe
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

dN

Spain roster
G:
Iker Casillas - Real Madrid
Pepe Reina - Liverpool
Victor Valdes - Barcelona
D:
Alvaro Arbeloa - Real Madrid
Raul Albiol - Real Madrid
Joan Capdevila - Villarreal
Andoni Iraola - Athletic Bilbao
Carlos Marchena - Villarreal
Gerard Pique - Barcelona
Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid
M:
Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid
Sergio Busquets - Barcelona
Santiago Cazorla - Villarreal
Andres Iniesta - Barcelona
Bruno Soriano - Villarreal
Borja Valero - Villarreal
F:
Fernando Llorente - Athletic Bilbao
Manu Del Moral - Sevilla
Alvaro Negredo - Sevilla
Pedro Rodriguez - Barcelona
David Silva - Manchester City
Fernando Torres - Chelsea
David Villa - Barcelona

dN

USA Roster
G:
Marcus Hahnemann - Wolverhampton
Tim Howard - Everton
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Saint-Etienne
Jonathan Bornstein - UANL Tigres
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa
Oguchi Onyewu - Twente
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
Jonathan Spector - West Ham
M:
Freddy Adu - Rizespor
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro
Michael Bradley - Aston Villa
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Blackburn
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - Bursaspor
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

All team rosters

dN

Matches & Scores:

Group Stage
-Sun Jun 5
Costa Rica v Cuba - 5pm CT
Mexico v El Salvador - 7pm CT
-Mon Jun 6
Jamaica v Grenada - 8pm CT
Honduras v Guatemala - 10pm CT
-Tue Jun 7
Panama v Guadeloupe - 5pm CT
USA v Canada - 7pm CT
-Thu Jun 9
Costa Rica v El Salvador - 6pm CT
Cuba v Mexico - 8pm CT
-Fri Jun 10
Jamaica v Guatemala - 6pm CT
Grenada v Honduras - 8pm CT
-Sat Jun 11
Canada v Guadeloupe - 5pm CT
USA v Panama - 7pm CT
-Sun Jun 12
El Salvador v Cuba - 5pm CT
Mexico v Costa Rica - 7pm CT
-Mon Jun 13
Guatemala v Grenada - 6pm CT
Honduras v Jamaica - 8pm CT
-Tue Jun 14
Canada v Panama - 6pm CT
Guadeloupe v USA - 8pm CT

IN ENGLAND

Here is a US Soccer video series focused on member of the national team that play their club ball in England:

-Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones & Tim Howard talk loan deals
-Tim Howard at home

PODCASTS

Radio Lab probes the depths of the goalkeeper psyche - The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper. Download or listen here.

-AND-

It's Called Football talks to Canada's head coach Stephen Hart. Download or listen here.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 12

-Wed Jun 1
CD Chivas USA 1-1 Vancouver Whitecaps - CUSA goal by Nick LaBrocca. VW goal by Camilo.
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Attendance: 11,753
-Fri Jun 3
LA Galaxy v DC United - 10:00PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sat Jun 4
Toronto FC v Sporting Kansas City - 6:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field
New York Red Bulls v Columbus Crew - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena
FC Dallas v New England Revolution - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
Chicago Fire SC v Seattle Sounder FC - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park
Colorado Rapids v Philadelphia Union - 8:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Real Salt Lake v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 8:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
San Jose Earthquakes v Houston Dynamo - 9:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
CD Chivas USA v Portland Timbers - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center

dN

EJECTIONS:
-Eric Hassli - Vancouver - red card

dN

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

WESTERN CONFERENCE
29 LA Galaxy (+8 GD) (15 GP)
22 FC Dallas (+4 GD) (13 GP)
20 Seattle Sounders FC (+3 GD) (14 GP)
18 Colorado Rapids (+2 GD) (13 GP)
17 Real Salt Lake (+6 GD) (9 GP)
17 Portland Timbers (-2 GD) (11 GP)
14 CD Chivas USA (+1 GD) (12 GP)
13 San Jose Earthquakes (0 GD) (11 GP)
10 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-4 GD) (13 GP)

MY THOUGHTS

Nick LaBrocca scored just 23 seconds into the second half for Chivas. Looked like the Vancouver defense was still in the locker room.

You don't get to see it on the highlights package but Camilo for Vancouver took a dive and lay on the ground acting injured, then when the ball turned over and they went on the attack he was miraculously cured. Cured so much that he scored this screamer to the back post! See it here.
-Announcer Allen Hopkins put it best: "I guess he's not hurt."

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Eric Hassli of Vancouver has a less than stellar stat line - 9 games played - 4 goals scored - 3 red cards!

Hans Backe of the New York Red Bulls has been named head coach of the MLS All Star team.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Livestrong Sporting Park opens one week from today.

Charles Gooch of the Star with 11 questions after SKC got a tie in Denver last weekend.

The Star also tells us that the team trained in its new stadium this week.

Pete Grathoff of the Star looks at the team's hellishly long road trip to start the season.
-A few stories from the road.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

The Union opened up a spot on their roster by releasing forward Chris Agorsor.

NASL NEWS

And I think the teams have played enough games that we can say Carolina and Puerto Rico have the best squads right now, Edmonton is the biggest surprise, and Atlanta is struggling badly.

dN

All 8 teams take the field on Saturday.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 1
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 NSC Minnesota Stars - PRI goal by Nicolas Addlery. NSC goal by Simone Bracalello.
-Sat Jun 4
Montreal Impact v FC Edmonton
FC Tampa Bay v Carolina RailHawks
Atlanta Silverbacks v NSC Minnesota Stars
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Puerto Rico Islanders

dN

Standings (as of Wed Jun 1):
22 Carolina RailHawks (+12 GD) (9 GP) 2.44 PPG
16 FC Edmonton (+2 GD) (8 GP) 2.00 PPG
14 NSC Minnesota Stars (+3 GD) (10 GP) 1.40 PPG
11 Puerto Rico Islanders (0 GD) (7 GP) 1.57 PPG
10 FC Tampa Bay (-4 GD) (9 GP) 1.11 PPG
8 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-2 GD) (8 GP) 1.00 PPG
5 Montreal Impact (-1 GD) (7 GP) 0.71 PPG
2 Atlanta Silverbacks (-8 GD) (8 GP) 0.25 PPG

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Marcus Hahnemann has been released from the end of his contract at Wolverhampton. He is now free to move about the cabin.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO - RUMORS

Word on the street (Twitter) is that Hercules Gomez is headed from Pachuca to Estudiantes Tecos.

CONCACAF

International Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 1
Canada 2-2 Ecuador - Can goals by Terry Dunfield and Tosaint Ricketts. Ecu goals by Christian Benitez & Michael Arroyo.
Mexico 3-0 New Zealand - Mex goals by Giovanni Dos Santos(2) & Aldo De Nigris.
Guatemala 0-2 Venezuela - Ven goals by Mikuu & Grenddy Perozo.

ENGLAND

Fulham manager Mark Hughes has walked out the door after 1 season in charge, and is said to be lined up to take over at Aston Villa.
-Which re-tread will Fulham hire now.

Others have former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti lined up as the next boss at Aston Villa.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian hands out his seasonal awards for La Liga.

dN

Ruud Van Nistelrooy has signed with Malaga for next season.

FRANCE

Jean Fernandez has stepped down as head coach at Auxerre.

ITALY

Palermo has hired Stefano Pioli as its new head coach.

UEFA EURO 2012

Qualifying

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jun 3
Kazakhstan v Azerbaijan - GROUP A
Belgium v Turkey - GROUP A
Austria v Germany - GROUP A
Faroe Islands v Slovenia - GROUP C
Italy v Estonia - GROUP C
Romania v Bosnia-Herzegovina - GROUP D
Belarus v France - GROUP D
Moldova v Sweden - GROUP E
San Marino v Finland - GROUP E
Croatia v Georgia - GROUP F
Liechtenstein v Lithuania - GROUP I
-Sat Jun 4
Russia v Armenia - GROUP B
Slovakia v Andorra - GROUP B
Macedonia v Ireland - GROUP B
Greece v Malta - GROUP F
Latvia v Israel - GROUP F
England v Switzerland - GROUP G
Montenegro v Bulgaria - GROUP G
Iceland v Denmark - GROUP H
Portugal v Norway - GROUP H

dN

Standings

COPA LIBERTADORES

Semifinals

Santos is the first of the two finalists!

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Wed Jun 1
Club Cerro Porteno 3-3 Santos Futebol Clube San advances 4-3 on aggregate - CP goals by Cesar Benitez, Juan Lucero & Jonathan Fabbro. San goals by Ze Eduardo, Diego Barreto(OG) & Neymar.
-Thu Jun 2
Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield v Club Atletico Penarol (0-1)

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 1
Nigeria 4-1 Argentina
Ukraine 2-0 Uzbekistan
-Fri Jun 3
Hong Kong v Malaysia
S Korea v Serbia
Luxembourg v Hungary
-Sat Jun 4
Brazil v Netherlands
Bolivia v Paraguay
Peru v Czech Republic
-Sun Jun 5
China v Uzbekistan
Australia v New Zealand
Poland v Argentina