Some News for Thu Jul 21, 2011

STARTERS

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad reports that Alejandro Bedoya has signed a contract with Rangers in which he will move to that club in January when his current contract expires with Orebro.

dN

Unholy Faceplant Batman - Seattle gave up SIX second half goals and lost 0-7 to Manchester United last night. Wow. What a pasting. It was truly brutal to watch.

dN

It will be an All-Guay Final in Copa America on Sunday with Uru v Para!

MATCH FIXING IN TURKEY

Raphael Honigstein of Sports Illustrated recaps the unfolding mess.

dN

Hurriyet reports that prosecutors have shared evidence with the Turkish Football Federation so that they can decide how to proceed with the upcoming season.

THE FIFA SCANDAL STORY NEVER ENDS

Mark Bisson of World Football Insider tells us about Mohamed Bin Hammam's defense against allegations of bribery that will be presented at FIFA this weekend.

COPA AMERICA

The 2011 South American championship is being hosted by Argentina.

All games live on You Tube, and TeleFutura or Univision.

dN

Semifinals

Paraguay won their semifinal match on Penalty Kicks after the game ended tied scoreless.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 19
Peru 0-2 Uruguay - Uru goals by Luis Suarez.
-Wed Jul 20
Paraguay 0-0 Venezuela - Par wins 5-3 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.

dN

Final

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at how the two Finalists got here.

Match & Score:
-Sun Jul 24
Uruguay v Paraguay - 2pm CT on Univision and YouTube

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It's my most embarrassing loss, personally."
-Seattle Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid after his team was pounded 7-0 at home by Manchester United.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Gazzetta gives us a tour of the brand new stadium for Juventus which will open next month. It looks fantastic.
-Juventus Arena will seat 41,000.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 19

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 20
DC United 0-1 New England Revolution - NER goal by Stephen McCarthy.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Attendance: 15,597
Toronto FC 0-1 FC Dallas - FCD goal by Brek Shea.
Venue: BMO Field
Attendance: 21,087
Colorado Rapids 4-1 New York Red Bulls - CR goals by Sanna Nyassi(3) & Wells Thompson. NYRB goal by Thierry Henry.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Attendance: 15,227
LA Galaxy 1-0 Columbus Crew - LAG goal by Sean Franklin.
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Attendance: 24,709
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Vancouver Whitecaps - SJE goals both by Chris Wondolowski. VW goals both by Eric Hassli.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Attendance: 8122
-Sat Jul 23
New York Red Bulls v FC Dallas - 5:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Columbus Crew v Portland Timbers - 7:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium
Sporting Kansas City v Toronto FC - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Colorado Rapids v New England Revolution - 8:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Real Salt Lake v San Jose Earthquakes - 9:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
CD Chivas USA v Houston Dynamo - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
31 Philadelphia Union (+8 GD) (19 GP)
29 New York Red Bulls (+7 GD) (22 GP)
28 Columbus Crew (+1 GD) (20 GP)
24 Houston Dynamo (+1 GD) (20 GP)
23 Sporting Kansas City (-1 GD) (19 GP)
23 DC United (-6 GD) (19 GP)
19 New England Revolution (-10 GD) (20 GP)
18 Chicago Fire SC (-5 GD) (20 GP)
18 Toronto FC (-20 GD) (22 GP)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
42 LA Galaxy (+12 GD) (22 GP)
38 FC Dallas (+8 GD) (21 GP)
38 Seattle Sounders FC (+9 GD) (22 GP)
30 Real Salt Lake (+11 GD) (17 GP)
30 Colorado Rapids (+1 GD) (22 GP)
24 San Jose Earthquakes (+1 GD) (20 GP)
23 CD Chivas USA (+1 GD) (20 GP)
21 Portland Timbers (-9 GD) (18 GP)
15 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-9 GD) (21 GP)

IF THE MLS PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY

With 1 point last night San Jose replaced DC as they last team in the playoffs.

EAST
1 Philadelphia
2 New York
3 Columbus
WEST
1 LA
2 Dallas
3 Seattle
WILD CARDS
1 Salt Lake
2 Colorado
3 Houston
4 San Jose

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Sanna Nyassi had one of those games you dream about for Colorado, bagging three goals and had another gorgeous shot go off the post which a teammate converted into the other goal. He got the start at forward in place of Conor Casey, and his speed tore New York to shreds. The first goal he scored was off a lightning fast give and go with Omar Cummings that takes your breath away it happen so fast. The his blast off the post for Wells Thompson to score. The third goal was a blazing-weaving run through the Red Bulls defense and hammered finish. And to finish off the hattrick - a little shuffle step past a defender, a burst of sonic speed and a cool low touch past the keeper. The game of a lifetime for one of the Nyassi twins!

dN

Brek Shea of Dallas makes a tackle, then takes a pass at midfield, charges toward goal and hits a cannon ball from 25 yards out to beat TFC on one shot.

dN

Chris Wondolowski and Eric Hassli combine for all 4 goals in a San Jose-Vancouver tie. All were impressive.
CW1
EH1
CW2
EH2

dN

Then there was a choke of the night as Charlie Davies of DC skies a PK.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

COLUMBUS CREW

Andres Mendoza suffered what looked like a left hamstring injury in the game last night, but there is no word on the extent of the damage.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Houston swung a deal with Portland yesterday to bring in some cash for the salary and opening up a roster spot - they sent Lovell Palmer & Mike Chabala to Portland. They also got defensive midfielder Adam Moffat in the deal.

LA GALAXY

David Beckham got another yellow card last night, making it 5 8 on the season, and he will be suspended for the next league game. (CORRECTED)

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The Timbers made a move to bring more depth to the team by acquiring defensive midfielder Lovell Palmer and left fullback Mike Chabala from Houston in exchange for cold hard cash and Adam Moffat.

dN

Fullback Kevin Goldthwaite's season is over after he tore both his ACL & MCL.

TORONTO FC

A whole new look on the field last night. But the same old results.

MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Real Salt Lake has hired former Chivas USA head coach Martin Vasquez as director of soccer operations for their Development Academy program in Arizona.

NORTH AMERICA SUMMER CLUB FRIENDLY SCHEDULE

Big friendlies will be played this summer all around North America featuring mainly European teams in their preseasons.

Games Played

Jeremy Brewer of the Seattle Times describes the horrendous second half beating the Sounders took at the hands of Man U.

dN

Philly went with 7 regulars and a ton of youngsters as they controlled and eventually upset Everton. Christian Hernandez from their U18 team got the game winner. How cool is that for him?

dN

KC got to play all of their newly acquired players which is exactly what these matches are for.

dN

Scores:
-Wed Jul 20
Philadelphia Union 1-0 Everton (England) - PU goal by Christian Hernandez.
Venue: PPL Park - Chester PA
Attendance: 18,582
-Wed Jul 20
Houston Dynamo 0-2 Bolton Wanderers (England) - Bol goals by Ivan Klasnic & Kevin Davies.
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX
Attendance: 13,612
-Wed Jul 20
Sporting Kansas City 0-0 Newcastle United (England)
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS
Attendance: 16,131
-Wed Jul 20
Seattle Sounders FC 0-7 Manchester United (England) - MU goals by Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney(3), Mame Biram Diouf, Ji Sung Park & Gabriel Obertan.
Venue: Qwest Field - Seattle WA
-Wed Jul 20
Attendance: 67,052
Portland Timbers 2-3 West Bromich Albion (England) - PT goals by Eddie Johnson & Peter Lowry. WBA goals by James Morrison, Somen Tchoyi & Gabriel Tamas.
Venue: JELD-WEN Field - Portland OR
Attendance: 18,627
Real Madrid (Spain) 3-0 Guadalajara (Mexico) - RM goals all by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Venue: Qualcomm Stadium - San Diego CA
Attendance: 38,211

Up Coming

Matches:
-Sat Jul 23
Orlando City SC (USL Pro) v Newcastle United (England)
Venue: Florida Citrus Bowl - Orlando FL
-Sat Jul 23
DC United v Everton (England)
Venue: RFK Stadium - Washington DC
-Sat Jul 23
Chicago Fire SC v Manchester United (England) - World Football Challenge
TV: 4pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com & ESPN Deportes
Venue: Soldier Field - Chicago IL
-Sat Jul 23
Philadelphia Union v Real Madrid (Spain) - World Football Challenge
TV: 8pm CT on ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
-Sat Jul 23
Juventus (Italy) v Sporting (Portugal) - World Football Challenge
TV: 6pm CT on ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto ON
-Sun Jul 24
LA Galaxy v Manchester City (England) - World Football Challenge
TV: 3pm CT on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com
Venue: The Home Deport Center - Carson CA

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

David La Vaque of the Minneapolis Star Tribune with an article on the Stars organization, where they stand, and where they hope to be headed.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 20
Puerto Rico Islanders 3-1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers - PRI goals by Jarad Van Schaik, David Foley(PK) & Noah Delgado. FLS goal by Jarad Van Schaik(OG).
-Fri Jul 22
NSC Minnesota Stars v Montreal Impact
-Sat Jul 23
Carolina RailHawks v FC Edmonton
Atlanta Silverbacks v FC Tampa Bay

dN

Standings (as of Sun Jul 17):
38 Carolina RailHawks (+21 GD) (16 GP) 2.38 PPG
29 Puerto Rico Islanders (+3 GD) (17 GP) 1.71 PPG
25 FC Edmonton (+2 GD) (16 GP) 1.56 PPG
22 NSC Minnesota Stars (+2 GD) (16 GP) 1.38 PPG
21 FC Tampa Bay (-3 GD) (16 GP) 1.31 PPG
18 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-3 GD) (17 GP) 1.06 PPG
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
12 Montreal Impact (-4 GD) (16 GP) 0.75 PPG
9 Atlanta Silverbacks (-18 GD) (16 GP) 0.56 PPG

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Clint Waddell of Yanks Abroad looks at Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones who are both unwanted by their teams, and so far no one is stepping up to take them away either.

dN

Game Action:

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - Wed Jul 20 - on the bench as they won 1-2 at Alta.

UEFA - Europa League - 2nd Preliminary Round
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - Thu Jul 21 - did not dress for the game and they lost 2-0 at FK Sarajevo, knocking them out 2-0 on aggregate.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Jul 21 - did not suit up as they rolled 4-0 v Crusaders, and advancing 7-1 on aggregate.

MEXICO

The 2011 Apertura begins on Friday! Here are the opening weekend games.

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 22
Estudiantes Tecos v Toluca
-Sat Jul 23
Tigres UANL v Cruz Azul
Pachuca v Santos Laguna
Atlas v Puebla
Atlante v Guadalajara
-Sun Jul 24
Pumas UNAM v San Luis
Xolos Tijuana v Monarchas Morelia
America v Queretaro
Jaguares Chiapas v Monterrey

SPAIN

Barcelona has made a big move by signing 22 year old Chilean forward/midfielder from Udinese.

ITALY

The new season's match schedule will be released next week on Wed Jul 27.

dN

2 teams in Serie A this season will have fake turf - Cesena and newly promoted Novara.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

30 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.

The 15 winners of this round will go into the Playoff Round which leads to the Group Stage.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

80 teams in the Second Preliminary Round matches: 2nd Leg was today.

BRAZIL

Recap du Nord: Only 1 move in the top 5 after Round 10. Corinthians mintained a 7 point lead at the top with another win and 2nd place Sao Paolo also getting all 3. #3 & #4 remain the same after draws. But 5th place now belongs to Vasco da Gama who's victory jumped them over Botafogo who lost.

Brazil - Serie A Standings:
28 Corinthians (10 GP) - LAST: Wed Jul 20 W 0-2 at Botafogo - NEXT: Sun Jul 23 v Cruzeiro
21 Sao Paulo (10 GP) - LAST: Sun Jul 17 W 0-3 at Internacional - NEXT: Sat Jul 23 v Atletico GO
20 Flamengo (10 GP) - LAST: Wed Jul 20 D 0-0 at Palmeiras - NEXT: Sat Jul 23 v Ceara
19 Palmeiras (10 GP) - LAST: Wed Jul 20 D 0-0 v Flamengo - NEXT: Sun Jul 24 at Fluminense
17 Vasco da Gama (10 GP) - LAST: Sat Jul 16 W 2-1 v Atletico PR - NEXT: Sun Jul 24 at Atletico MG