COPA AMERICAThe All-Guay Finale for the 2011 South American championship ends in decisive victory for Uruguay.
FinalJonathan Wilson of the Guardian
sees Uruguay as Golden.
Tim Vickery of the BBC sees
Uruguay's present and future as being very bright.
dNMatch & Score:
-Sun Jul 24
Uruguay 3-0 Paraguay - Uru goals by Luis Suarez & Diego Forlan(2).
THE FIFA SCANDAL STORY NEVER ENDSFIFA: Mohammed Bin Hammam has been banned from any and all football activities for life. He was found guilty of bribing Caribbean Football Union (CFU) member federations in exchange for vote for him in the FIFA Presidential election.
dNHere is
the official press release from FIFA.
-And here is
video of the press conference announcing the ethics committee verdict.
CFU staff members Jason Sylvester & Debbie Minguell have received 1 year bans from football for there part in helping hand out the bribe money.
CONCACAF secretary general and FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer has been warned by FIFA that talking to media during the inquiry was a no no.
dNAs for Bin Hammam he has posted
his rebuttal to the FIFA decision on his blog.
-His plan is to appeal, appeal, appeal.
-And he has said
he will NOT step down as president of the Asian Football Confederation while the appeal process is going on.
dNSky Sports got an exclusive interview with Bin Hammam in which he calls Sepp Blatter a dictator, and then says that whenever a dictator feels threatened he will have the threatenor executed! Bin Hammam also levels plenty of other accusations toward everyone who challenges him on his guilt.
See video here.
dNITV has
words from Chuck Blazer after the verdict was handed down.
dNMartyn Ziegler of the Press Association Sports says
a new FIFA investigation could look into 3 more FIFA members and 15 CFU members involving the same bribery case.
-The 3 FIFA members accompanied Bin Hammam to the CFU meeting where the bribery took place.
-24 CFU members were at that same meeting, and 9 came forward to report the bribery. The other 15 are now under suspicion.
dNPaul Kelso of The Telegraph
sees very little changing in FIFA as long as Sepp Blatter and his cronies remain in charge.
MATCH FIXING IN TURKEYThe Turkish Football Federation has decided to postpone the start of the 2011-12 Super Lig season in order to clean up the match fixing mess that his embarrassing the league right now.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUEThere is a home and away play-in round before the group stage. These 8 winners have already been drawn into groups that will begin play the week of Mon Aug 15.
Preliminary RoundMatches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jul 26
San Francisco (Panama) v Seattle Sounders FC (USA) - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer
Herediano (Costa Rica) v Alpha United (Guyana)-Wed Jul 27
Toronto FC (Canada) v Real Esteli (Nicaragua) - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer
Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) v Puerto Rico Islanders (Puerto Rico)Santos Laguna (Mexico) v Olimpia (Honduras)-Thu Jul 28
Monarcas Morelia (Mexico) v Tempete (Haiti)Alianza (El Salvador) v FC Dallas (USA) - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer
Motagua (Honduras) v Municipal (Guatemala)THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUTIf you tuned in to the Red Bulls game against Dallas on Saturday night and the crowd sounded like the equivalent of high school soccer then you were hearing what hardcore New York fans hoped you would hear. In protest of their teams 16 year trophy drought and royally pissed off that the team threw in the towel on the very winnable Open Cup this season the south stands at Red Bull Arena vowed that they would protest with silence in the first half of the game. They posted their open letter to the team around the internet, including
here at the Empire Supporters Club page.
-Can you blame them? I can't.
PICTURE OF THE DAYWhich one is David Brent and which one is David Beckham??
MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGSWeek 19Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 23
New York Red Bulls 2-2 FC Dallas - NYRB goals by Juan Agudelo & Thierry Henry. FCD goals both by Marvin Chavez.
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Attn: 17,276
Columbus Crew 1-0 Portland Timbers - CC goal by Eddie Gaven.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Attn: 11,246
Sporting Kansas City 4-2 Toronto FC - SKC goals by Kei Kamara(2) & Omar Bravo(2). TFC goals by Danny Koevermans & Ryan Johnson.
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Attn: 16,382
Colorado Rapids 2-2 New England Revolution - CR goals by Caleb Folan(PK) & Kosuke Kimura. NER goals by Benny Feilhaber & Shalrie Joseph(PK)..
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Attn: 12,273
Real Salt Lake 4-0 San Jose Earthquakes - RSL goals by Alvaro Saborio(2, 1 via PK), Kyle Beckerman & Jamison Olave.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Attn: 19,429
CD Chivas USA 3-0 Houston Dynamo - CUSA goals all by Justin Braun.
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Attn: 11,013
Avg Attn: 14,603
dNEJECTIONS:
Dane Richards - New York - 2 yellow cards
Je-Vaughn Watson - Houston - 2 yellow cards
Bobby Burling - San Jose - red card
Chris Tierney - New England - red card
dNStandings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE31 Philadelphia Union (+8 GD) (19 GP)
31 Columbus Crew (+2 GD) (21 GP)
30 New York Red Bulls (+7 GD) (23 GP)
26 Sporting Kansas City (+1 GD) (20 GP)
24 Houston Dynamo (-2 GD) (21 GP)
23 DC United (-6 GD) (19 GP)
20 New England Revolution (-10 GD) (21 GP)
18 Chicago Fire SC (-5 GD) (20 GP)
18 Toronto FC (-22 GD) (23 GP)
WESTERN CONFERENCE42 LA Galaxy (+12 GD) (22 GP)
39 FC Dallas (+8 GD) (22 GP)
38 Seattle Sounders FC (+9 GD) (22 GP)
33 Real Salt Lake (+15 GD) (18 GP)
31 Colorado Rapids (+1 GD) (23 GP)
26 CD Chivas USA (+4 GD) (21 GP)
24 San Jose Earthquakes (-3 GD) (21 GP)
21 Portland Timbers (-10 GD) (19 GP)
15 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-9 GD) (21 GP)
IF THE MLS PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAYThe 10 Teams:
In strolls Chivas for the first time this season. Down goes San Jose.
EAST1 Philadelphia
2 Columbus
3 New York
WEST1 LA
2 Dallas
3 Seattle
WILD CARDS1 Salt Lake
2 Colorado
3 Kansas City
4 Chivas
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTSHere are my faves from the weekend:
Justin Braun of the Chivas USA snags his second hattrick of the season, with #2 being the best of the bunch:
JB1JB2JB3dNThe new guy in KC,
Jeferson, with one "f", does his part on this gorgeous pass to Omar Bravo who beats the Toronto keeper, cuz where were the defenders, for a great goal.
dNA fantastic
overhead scissor kick from Kei Kamara gives KC a huge goal to start them on their way to victory.
dNSome great passing by Dallas across and down the field leaves Marvin Chavez alone in front of goal and
his shot takes a deflection into the back of the net.
dNBest goal of the week must go to Thierry Henry of New York, who fakes right, waits for everyone to bite, then goes to the left for a perfect strike to tie the game late.
dNAnd lets end with this
most ridiculous goal of the season - Kosuke Kimura of Colorado sends in a long hopeful ball from 70 yards out, and all of a sudden it takes a huge bounce and goes right over the head of Revs keeper Matt Reis for an improbably unintended goal. It was almost the game winner too. That would have been mega-embarrassing for the Revs.
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWSGeneral NewsSteve Davis of Sports Illustrated gives us
five things we learned from Week 19.
-Davis supplements that article with
some more Week 19 insights on his blog Daily Soccer Fix.
dNColorado Rapids midfielder Sanna Nyassi got a start at forward last week and did so well he has been named MLS Player Of The Week.
FC DALLASWord from the big D is that David Ferreira may be back from his badly broken leg by the end of August. Wow.
LA GALAXY16 year old forward Jack McBean made his debut for the Galaxy against Manchester City on Sunday. Fantastic for him.
dNThere are a lot of hints going around that David Beckham wants to sign a contract extension with the Galaxy.
TORONTO FCLuke Wileman of TSN looks at
the long term plans for TFC.
2011 MLS ALL STAR GAMELandon Donovan has been scratched from the team due to a calf injury. Who will replace him on the active roster? DDR?
dNMLS players have rewarded their peers with 6 more All Star selections. These players are not on the active roster (great picks):
-Osvaldo Alonso - Seattle Sounders
-Dwayne De Rosario - DC United
-Eric Hassli - Vancouver Whitecaps
-Juninho - LA Galaxy
-Joel Lindpere - New York Red Bulls
-Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
dNMatch & Score:
-Wed Jul 27
MLS v Manchester United - 7:30pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
MLS COACHES HOT SEATThese coaches are dancing with the devil right now, but I would be shocked if their teams made a move during the season:
Hans Backe - New York Red Bulls (2 wins since April)
Dominic Kinnear - Houston Dynamo (out of playoffs right now)
Steve Nicol - New England Revolution (out of playoffs right now)
Frank Yallop - San Jose Earthquakes (out of playoffs right now)
NORTH AMERICA SUMMER CLUB FRIENDLY SCHEDULEBig friendlies are being played this summer all around North America featuring mainly European teams in their preseasons.
Games PlayedBoth
Mike Magee of LA and
Michael Farfan of Philadelphia scored great goals in the their respective friendlies.
Scores:
-Sat Jul 23
Orlando City SC (USL Pro) 1-0 Newcastle United (England) - OC goal by Kevin Molino.
Venue: Florida Citrus Bowl - Orlando FL
Attn: 10,889
-Sat Jul 23
DC United 1-3 Everton (England) - DCU goal by Chris Pontius. Eve goals by Victor Anichebe, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov & Magaye Gueye.
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
Attn: 12,789
-Sat Jul 23
Chicago Fire SC 1-3 Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge - CF goal by Cory Gibbs. MU goals by Wayne Rooney, Rafael Da Silva & Nani.
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL
Attn: 61,308
-Sat Jul 23
Philadelphia Union 1-2 Real Madrid (Spain) - World Football Challenge - PU goal by Michael Farfan. RM goals by Jose Maria Callejon & Mesut Ozil.
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
Attn: 57,305
-Sat Jul 23
Juventus (Italy) 1-2 Sporting (Portugal) - World Football Challenge - Juv goal by Alessandro Del Piero. Spo goals both by Yannick Djalo.
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
Attn: 10,028
-Sun Jul 24
LA Galaxy 1-1 Manchester City (England) - World Football Challenge - MC wins 7-6 in Penalty Kick Shootout - LAG goal by Mike Magee. MC goal by Mario Balotelli.
Venue: The Home Deport Center - Carson CA
Attn: 24,897
dNUp ComingMatches:
-Tue Jul 26
Columbus Crew v Newcastle United (England)Venue: Crew Stadium - Columbus OH
-Tue Jul 26
Juventus (Italy) v Club America (Mexico) - World Football Challenge
TV: 6:30pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com & ESPN Deportes
Venue: Citi Field - New York NY
-Tue Jul 26
Portland Timbers v Independiente (Argentina)Venue: JELD-WEN Field
-Wed Jul 27
Charleston Battery (USL Pro) v Portsmouth (England)Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Daniel Island SC
-Thu Jul 28
Juventus (Italy) v Guadalajara (Mexico) - World Football Challenge
TV: 7pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com & Galavisión
Venue: Carter-Finley Stadium - Raleigh NC
NASL NEWSCarolina is only 4 points away from clinching a playoff spot with 11 games left to go! Amazing.
dNAtlanta has finally begun piling up some points are now tied with Montreal.
NASL SCOREBOARDMatches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 22
NSC Minnesota Stars 1-0 Montreal Impact - NMS goal by Neil Hlavaty(PK).
-Sat Jul 23
Carolina RailHawks 4-1 FC Edmonton - CR goals by Pablo Campos(2), Paul Hamilton(PK) & Etienne Barbara. FCE goal by Shaun Saiko.
Atlanta Silverbacks 2-1 FC Tampa Bay - AS goals by Junior Sandoval & Ciaran O'Brien. TB goal by Aaron King.
dNStandings (as of Sat Jul 23):
41 Carolina RailHawks (+24 GD) (17 GP)
29 Puerto Rico Islanders (+3 GD) (17 GP)
25 NSC Minnesota Stars (+3 GD) (17 GP)
25 FC Edmonton (-1 GD) (17 GP)
21 FC Tampa Bay (-4 GD) (17 GP)
18 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-3 GD) (17 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
12 Montreal Impact (-5 GD) (17 GP)
12 Atlanta Silverbacks (-17 GD) (17 GP)
USA U18 TEAMThe Milk Cup tournamentdNThe defending champs the USA has won their opening game over Israel.
Here are a few photos from today's game, courtesy of the tournaments Facebook page. Including this one of Omar Salgado after he scored:
dNMatches & Scores:
-Mon July 25
USA 2-0 Israel - USA goals by Omar Salgado & Jerome Kiesewetter.
-Wed Jul 27
USA v Mexico-Fri Jul 29
Placement matchTeams:Denmark
Israel
Georgia
Mexico
N Ireland
USA
dNRoster
G:
Cody Cropper - Ipswich
Jon Kempin - Sporting Kansas City
D:
Michael Ambrose - FC Dallas Academy
Bryan Gallego - New York Red Bulls Academy
Jordan McCrary - U North Carolina
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres U20
Boyd Okwuonu - FC Dallas Academy
Jalen Robinson - DC United Academy
Javan Torre - Pateadores
Walker Zimmerman - Furman U
M:
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Will Packwood - Birmingham City
Victor Pineda - Chicago Fire
Marcus Salandy-Defour - DC United Academy
Jose Villareal - Pateadores
F:
Jerome Kiesewetter - Hertha U19
Luis Rendon - Richmond Magic
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps
dNOverall TournamentMatches & Scores:
-Mon Jul 25
USA 2-0 IsraelMexico 0-1 GeorgiaN Ireland v Denmark-Wed Jul 27
Denmark v IsraelUSA v MexicoGeorgio v N Ireland-Fri Jul 29
Placement matches:
1st/2nd Place3rd/4th Place5th/6th PlaceAMERICANS IN EUROPELarry Millson of MLSsoccer.com reports that
Oguchi Onyewu is off to a good preseason start with Sporting in Portugal.
-They beat Juventus 2-1 in Toronto on Saturday.
dNChris Rolfe scored the game winner for Aalbourg.
-Mason Trafford (Mariehamn) and Matt Taylor (Paderborn) also scored this weekend.
dNYanks Abroad reports that three 17 year old Americans are getting a look for possible contracts at Liverpool:
Andrew Oliver, Marc Pelosi and Villyan Bijev.
dNAll games in Norway this weekend were obviously postponed.
dNGame Action:DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - Sat Jul 23 - played the full match as they won 0-1 at Silkeborg.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - Sun Jul 24 - went the distance getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 v Horsens.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - Sun Jul 24 - played 61 minutes scoring the game winner as they won 2-1 v AGF.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - Mon Jul 25 - got his first start and went the distance but they lost 2-3 v Midtjylland.
FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Giuseppe Funicello - Mariehamn - Sun Jul 24 - on the bench as they drew 2-2 v KuPS.
Mason Trafford - Mariehamn - Sun Jul 24 played the full game scoring a goal as they tied 2-2 v KuPS.
Josh Wicks - Mariehamn - Sun Jul 24 - in goal for the full 90 as they drew 2-2 v KuPS.
Etchu Tabe - RoPS - Mon Jul 25 - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they lost 2-0 at My Pa.
FINLAND - Ykkonen (2nd Division)
Dan Stevens - PS Kemi Kings - Sat Jul 23 - went the distance but lost 2-0 at Jippo.
GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - Fri Jul 22 - started but came out in the 84th min of a scoreless draw v Erzebirge Aue.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - Mon Jul 25 - went the distance getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 v St Pauli.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - Sat Jul 23 - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at 1860 Munich.
Matt Taylor - Paderborn - Sun Jul 24 - came on as a sub at half time and scored their only goal in a 1-1 draw at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
RUSSIA - Premier Division
Yevgeni Starikov - Tom' Tomsk - Sat Jul 23 - started and went 59 min as they won 1-3 at Kuban Krasnodar.
SCOTLAND - Premier League
Dominic Cervi - Celtic - Sun Jul 24 - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Hibernian.
Mo Edu - Rangers - Sat Jul 23 - played the full 90 but stumbled tying 1-1 v Hearts.
SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Samuel Petrone - Mjallby - Sat Jul 23 - came in as a sub in the 75th min as they won 5-1 v Gefle.
SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - Sat Jul 23 - played the whole game in goal as they won 3-0 v Qviding.
Nick Noble - Ljungskile - Sun Jul 24 - in goal as usual but lost 2-0 at Falkenberg.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - Sun Jul 24 - went the distance in goal as they drew 1-1 v Brage.
dNComing Up:FINLAND - Ykkonen (2nd Division)
Jeremy Vuolo - AC Oulu - Wed Jul 27 v KPV
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 3rd Qualifying Round - 1st Leg
Mo Edu - Rangers - Tue Jul 26 v Malmo (Sweden)
AMERICANS IN MEXICOJoe Benny Corona got a goal in his Primera debut.
dNGame Action:PRIMERA DIVISIONIsaac Acuna - America - Sun Jul 24 - on the bench as they won 2-1 v Queretaro.
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - Sat Jul 23 - started and went 88 min as they won 0-1 at Atlas.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - Sat Jul 23 - played the entire match and scored a goal but lost 1-2 v Morelia.
Edgar Castillo - America - Sun Jul 24 - came on as a sub in the 65th min as they won 2-1 v Queretaro.
Herculez Gomez - Estudiantes Tecos - Fri Jul 22 - went the distance but lost 1-2 v Toluca.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - Sun Jul 24 - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they lost 2-0 at Pumas.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - Sat Jul 23 - started and went 70 min but lost 1-4 v Santos Laguna.
MEXICOThis weekend was the 2011 Apertura opening round.
And there wasn't a single upset.
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 22
Estudiantes Tecos 1-2 Toluca-Sat Jul 23
Tigres UANL 1-1 Cruz AzulPachuca 1-4 Santos LagunaAtlas 0-1 PueblaAtlante 0-2 GuadalajaraXolos Tijuana 1-2 Monarchas Morelia-Sun Jul 24
Pumas UNAM 2-0 San LuisAmerica 2-1 QueretaroJaguares Chiapas 1-4 MonterreyENGLANDFIFA.com does a
Q & A with Mexico/Man United star Javier Hernandez and the Little Pea stays as humble as always.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
GERMANYSuper Cup-Sat Jul 23
Schalke (Cup winner) 0-0 Borussia Dortmund (league winner) - Sch win it 4-3 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE30 teams are in the 3rd Qualifying Round which will see some bigger names enter the tournament, with the 1st leg played on Jul 26/27 and the 2nd Leg on Aug 2/3.
All matchups and scores are here.
BRAZILRecap du Nord: The only to 5 team who did not stumble or bumble this weekend was #5 Vasco da Gama who got a win and moved up a spot.
Brazil - Serie A Standings:
28 Corinthians (10 GP) - LAST: Sun Jul 23 L 0-1 v Cruzeiro - NEXT: Wed Jul 27 at Atletico GO
22 Sao Paulo (10 GP) - LAST: Sat Jul 23 D 2-2 v Atletico GO - NEXT: Wed Jul 27 at Cortiba
21 Flamengo (10 GP) - LAST: Sat Jul 23 D 1-1 v Ceara - NEXT: Wed Jul 27 at Santos
20 Vasco da Gama (10 GP) - LAST: Sun Jul 24 W 1-2 at Atletico MG - NEXT: Thu Jul 28 v Bahia
19 Palmeiras (10 GP) - LAST: Sun Jul 24 L 1-0 at Fluminense - NEXT: Wed Jul 27 at Figueirense
ASIAAFC 2014 World Cup QualifyingThe eight 1st Round winners and the next 22 lowest ranked teams are playing a home and away series in the 2nd Round on Jul 23 & 28.
-Those 15 winners will meet up with the 5 highest seeds and formed into a group stage competition.
Round 2Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat Jul 23
Thailand 1-0 PalestineLebanon 4-0 BangladeshChina 7-2 LaosTurkmenistan 1-1 IndonesiaKuwait 3-0 PhilippinesOman 2-0 MyanmarSaudi Arabia 3-0 Hong KongIran 4-0 MaldivesSyria 2-1 TajikistanQatar 3-0 VietnamIraq 2-0 YemenSingapore 5-3 MalaysiaUzbekistan 4-0 KyrgyzstanUnited Arab Emirates 3-0 IndiaJordan 9-0 NepaldN2nd Leg matches will be played on Thu Jul 28.
ENDERSThis dude, Nicolas Leoz president of CONMEBOL, was handing out the prizes at the Copa America final yesterday. Talk about dead man walking. Full on wax dummy:
