Some News for Wed Sep 7, 2011
IN MEMORY OF BOBBY RHINE
Sadly, long time Dallas player and staff member Bobby Rhine died of a heart on Monday while vacationing in Florida with his family. He was just 35 years old, and was married with two children.
Buzz Carrick who has cover Dallas from possibly day 1 directs us to a video of Bobby Rhine speaking that Carrick feels is a great example of who Bobby was.
Tobias Xavier Lopez wrote this great article on Bobby when he retired in 2009. It really gets to the heart of who he was as a person beyond just a long time player.
FC Dallas has a tribute to their dear friend and colleague.
Dallas was the only club Rhine ever suited up for. A rare thing for someone with a long career.
In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be made to the FC Dallas Foundation.
STARTERS
Bob Bradley was spotted the other day in Torreon, Mexico talking with officials from Santos Laguna who fired their head coach over the weekend. Would/could he be a good fit as a head coach in the Mexican Primera?
dN
Over the latest international break CONCACAF teams played in 9 friendlies and only won 2. The other 7 were losses. Not good no matter how you slice it. See all the results below in the CONCACAF section.
TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS
International friendly.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium 1-0 USA - Bel goal by Nicolas Lombaerts.
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach and players from US Soccer.
Match report by Mike Woitalla of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post game analysis from Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Player ratings by Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated.
Post game analysis by Brian Straus of Sporting News.
Here is video of match highlights from US Soccer.
US Soccer does a video interview with Sacha Kljestan about life in Belgium playing for Anderlecht.
US Soccer poses (some fluffy) questions from readers that Clint Dempsey answers.
Its now been 20 games since the USA scored more than 2 goals.
And just the 1 in Klinsmann's three games with 3 surrendered.
NASL NEWS
Tampa Bay clinched a playoff spot with a road win last night in Minnesota!
NSC MINNESOTA STARS
The Stars have taken a mighty tumbled in the standings falling from 3rd place and the surprise team of the league, to 6th place and on the verge of missing the playoffs if Montreal can catch them.
Lets take a look at the last 10 games to try and figure out what has gone wrong:
Record: 2W-7L-1D
4 of those games were against Montreal with the teams splitting 4 games 2-2-0 with each winning 1 at home and 1 away.
Scores in the last 10 games:
1-2 L Sep 6 v Tampa Bay
3-1 L Sep 3 at Edmonton
0-2 L Aug 27 v Montreal
2-0 L Aug 20 at Montreal
1-1 D Aug 17 at Carolina
2-0 L Aug 13 at Tampa Bay
0-1 L Aug 10 v Fort Lauderdale
1-3 W Aug 6 at Montreal
1-0 W Jul 22 v Montreal
0-1 L Jul 17 v Puerto Rico
5 home games: 1W-4L-0D, 2 goals scored, 6 goals allowed
5 road games: 1W-3L-1D, 5 goals scored, 9 goals allowed
Only 1 clean sheet in those 10 games.
Shut out 5 times in those 10 games.
To make things worse the trend is headed down with 6 losses and 1 draw in the last 7 over all.
Quick analysis of these numbers points to defensive problems. Yes only 7 goals scored is a problem, but 15 surrendered is much worse, and can be remedied quicker.
There are 3 games left in the regular season, 1 at home and 1 on the road.
Its time for the leaders of the team to step forward, chill everybody out, and getting them on a level steady playing field TOGETHER.
I suggest starting by not giving up a goal in the next game. Even if that means sacrificing offense (which hasn't exactly been blowing up the scoreboard anyway.)
If Montreal wins in Puerto Rico on Wednesday night, they will be within 1 point of the Stars and have a better goal differential (+1 to -5).
NASL SCOREBOARD
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 6
NSC Minnesota Stars 1-2 FC Tampa Bay - NMS goal by Brian Kallman. FCTB goals by Keith Savage and Mozzi.
-Wed Sep 7
Puerto Rico Islanders v Montreal Impact
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Carolina RailHawks
FC Edmonton vs Atlanta Silverbacks
dN
Standings (as of Tue Sep 6):
*54 Carolina RailHawks (+28 GD) (24 GP)
*45 Puerto Rico Islanders (+7 GD) (25 GP)
*37 FC Tampa Bay (+4 GD) (25 GP)
33 FC Edmonton (-3 GD) (25 GP)
31 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-1 GD) (24 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (-5 GD) (25 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
25 Montreal Impact (+1 GD) (24 GP)
#15 Atlanta Silverbacks (-31 GD) (24 GP)
*Secured playoff berth
#Eliminated from playoff berth
FIFA SCANDAL
The disgraced former head of the Asian Football Confederation Mohamed Bin Hammam who last month was banned from soccer for life has written a scathing open letter to the Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee Petrus Damaseb of Namibia, posted on Bin Hammam's blog, that basically says every "European" member of FIFA is a racist, that Damaseb is their toady, and that the color of Bin Hammam's skin is the only reason he and the Caribbean Football Union have been punished. Its a doozy of a letter.
Are Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valke as hideous as Bin Hammam makes them out to be? 100%. But he is just as big a cretin as they are, and very jealous that someone beat him at his own game.
MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS
WEEK 26
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 7
Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution - 7:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: PPL Park
-Fri Sep 9
LA Galaxy v Colorado Rapids - 10:00PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sat Sep 10
Seattle Sounders FC v Real Salt Lake - 3:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Sporting Kansas City v Houston Dynamo - 3:00PM CT on Telefutura
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Columbus Crew v Toronto FC - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium
New York Red Bulls v Vancouver Whitecaps - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v Portland Timbers - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: PPL Park
New England Revolution v FC Dallas - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium
San Jose Earthquakes v Chicago Fire SC - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
CD Chivas USA v DC United - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center
IF THE MLS PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY
The 10 teams:
WEST
1 LA Galaxy
2 Seattle Sounders
3 FC Dallas
EAST
1 Columbus Crew
2 Sporting Kansas City
3 Houston Dynamo
WILD CARD
1 Real Salt Lake
2 Colorado Rapids
3 Philadelphia Union
4 New York Red Bulls
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
General News
All 18 teams are in action this week, and 2 of them, Philadelphia and New England, play twice.
CHICAGO FIRE
Dominic Oduro is in the best form of his professional career with 5 goals in his past 6 games.
DC UNITED
Steven Goff of the Washington Post updates us with various DCU team notes.
DCU has signed midfielder Stephen King to a new contract.
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle sees the Dynamos as a team desperate for a road win.
Ortiz also writes about the harsh words that JeVaughn Watson had for head coach Dominic Kinnear in the Jamaican press. Kinnear stated that he would prefer to speak to the player directly rather than comment for the article.
-Kinnear does deny he has ever held a player back from international duty and states his respect for the honor, being capped 54 times by the USA himself.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe says keeper Matt Reis is again healthy and ready to rumble for the Revs.
-A recent poll revealed Uncle Fester to be the preferred likeness for Reis over Gru.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Brian Lewis of the Post says the Red Bulls are now pulling into "must win" territory. And are expecting some injured players back.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
Vancouver had owner Steve Nash join in team training this week. Video interview with Nash afterwards.
MLS RESERVE LEAGUE
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 6
Chicago Fire 2-0 Real Salt Lake - CF goals by Cristian Nazarit & Diego Chaves(PK).
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes - VW goal by Omar Salgado.
-Thu Sep 8
Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution
-Sat Sep 10
Sporting Kansas City v Houston Dynamo
-Sun Sep 11
Columbus Crew v Toronto FC
dN
Standings Etc.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Jamie Hill of Yanks Abroad with an article on Ryan Adeleye of Hapoel Be'er Sheba in Israel.
dN
Game Action:
ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Brentford - Sat Sep 3 - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Wallsall.
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Sat Sep 3 - on the bench as they lost 0-1 v Brentford.
NORWAY - 1.Divisjon
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - Sun Sep 4 - on the bench as they won 2-0 v Nybergsund.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - Sun Sep 4 - started and went 77 minutes as they won 3-0 v Alta.
PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP - Sun Sep 4 - came on as a sub in the 58th min as they won 1-2 at Santa Clara.
SWEDEN - Superettan
Lester Dewee - Angelholms - Sun Sep 4 - came on as a a sub in the 71st min and scored as they drew 2-2 at Assyriska.
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - Sun Sep 4 - played the full 90 and won 3-2 v Hammarby.
Nick Noble - Ljungskile - Sat Sep 3 - went the distance but lost 1-2 v Atvidaberg.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - Sun Sep 4 - played the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at Assyriska.
Michael Thomas - Ljungskile - Sat Sep 3 - played the entire match but lost 1-2 v Atvidaberg
MEXICO
The Primera did NOT get take the international weekend off, playing a full slate of games. After 7 of 17 rounds played, here is the leader board:
Mexico - Primera Top 5 Standings (7 of 17 games played):
16 Guadalajara Chivas - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 at Santos Laguna
14 Cruz Azul - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 v Morelia
13 UANL Tigres - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 v Pachuca
12 Monterrey - NEXT: Sun Sep 11 at Puebla
11 UNAM Pumas (+2) - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 at Queretaro
11 Chiapas Jaguares (-1) - NEXT: Fri Sep 9 at Estudiantes Tecos
The bottom 3 are Atlante, Tijuana and Atlas.
CONCACAF 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
Canada off to a very good 2 win start, as did Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala. El Salvador also got 2 wins but gave up a lot of goals. Haiti was very strong scoring 10 goals in 2 wins. Antigua & Barbuda really poured it on scoring 13, but playing some real nobodies. St Kitts & Nevis and Guyana both got 2 wins as well.
Panama only played 1 game but was victorious.
There was no surprise wins or even ties.
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Grenada 0-3 Belize
Trinidad & Tobago 1-0 Bermuda
Dominica 0-2 Nicaragua
Suriname 1-0 Cayman Islands
Antigua & Barbuda 5-2 Curacao
Haiti 6-0 US Virgin Islands
Guyana 2-0 Barbados
El Salvador 3-2 Dominican Republic
Canada 4-1 St. Lucia
St. Kitts & Nevis 0-0 Puerto Rico
Guatemala 4-0 St. Vincent/Grenadines
-Tue Sep 6
Nicaragua 1-2 Panama
US Virgin Islands 1-8 Antigua & Barbuda
Dominican Republic 1-1 Suriname
Barbados 0-2 Trinidad & Tobago
Belize 1-2 Guatemala
St. Lucia 2-4 St. Kitts & Nevis
Guyana 2-1 Bermuda
Cayman Islands 1-4 El Salvador
Puerto Rico 0-3 Canada
Curacao 2-4 Haiti
-Sun Sep 18
St. Vincent/Grenadines v Grenada
Here are the groups.
-The 6 group winners advance to the next round.
There were also several friendlies played during this week.
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA 0-1 Costa Rica
Panama 0-2 Paraguay
Ecuador 5-2 Jamaica
-Sat Sep 3
Honduras 0-2 Colombia
-Sun Sep 4
Mexico 1-0 Chile
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium 0-1 USA
Honduras 0-3 Paraguay
Ecuador 4-0 Costa Rica
SPAIN
Sid Lowe of the Guardian sees Barcelona and Real Madrid financially accelerating away from all the other clubs in Spain at a very high speed.
ITALY
The players strike in Serie A has been settled, so expect a full round of matches this weekend.
EUROPE
Dominic Fifeld of the Guardian reports on racists chanting from some Bulgarian supporters toward England's black players. Head coach Lotthar Matteus apologized.
UEFA EURO 2012 QUALIFYING
Italy & Spain join Germany in the big tournament next summer, while Netherlands & England are so close they can taste it.
The two hosts countries are Poland and Ukraine.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 3
Scotland 2-2 Czech Republic
-Tue Sep 6
Finland 0-2 Netherlands
Spain 6-0 Liechtenstein
Russia 0-0 Ireland
England 1-0 Wales
Italy 1-0 Slovenia
Denmark 2-0 Norway
San Marino 0-5 Sweden
Romania 0-0 France
Latvia 1-1 Greece
Iceland 1-0 Cyprus
Azerbaijan 3-2 Kazakhstan
Macedonia 1-0 Andorra
Croatia 3-1 Israel
Scotland 1-0 Lithuania
Luxembourg 2-1 Albania
Slovakia 0-4 Armenia
Austria 0-0 Turkey
Serbia 3-1 Faroe Islands
Malta 1-1 Georgia
Switzerland 3-1 Bulgaria
Moldova 0-2 Hungary
Estonia 4-1 N Ireland
Bosnia Herzegovina 1-0 Belarus
Here are the current standings so you can see how close your team is to the breakthrough.
CONMEBOL
Tim Vickery of the BBC gives us a preview of what we can expect with South American World Cup qualifying begins on Oct 6.
-9 teams will be battling it out for 4.5 spots.
BRAZIL
Recap du Nord: #5 Sao Paolo made the big move this week with a win as 3 of the other 4 faceplanted with a loss. Sooooooo... Corinthians remains at #1 despite losing. Sao Paulo is the new #2. Vasco lost and drops to #3. Botafogo did not play but drops to #5 anyway. And Flamengo drops down one place to #5.
There is an important game coming up on Thursday with Corinthians hosting Flamengo.
Brazil - Serie A Top 5 Standings (21 of 38 games played):
40 Corinthians - LAST: Sun Sep 4 L 1-0 at Coritiba - NEXT: Thu Sep 8 v Flamengo
38 Sao Paulo (+7) - LAST: Sat Sep 3 W 1-2 at Figueirense - NEXT: Wed Sep 7 v Atletico Mineiro
38 Vasco (+4) - LAST: Sun Sep 4 L 4-1 at America Mineiro - NEXT: Thu Sep 8 v Coritiba
37 Botafogo - LAST: No Game - NEXT: Wed Sep 7 v Ceara
36 Flamengo - LAST: Sun Sep 4 L 1-3 v Bahia - NEXT: Thu Sep 8 at Corinthians
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012 QUALIFYING
Senegal became the latest team (the 4th) to advance, while Cameroon and Egypt, the defending champions, were both knocked out and will not be in the finals next January.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 3
Libya 1-0 Mozambique
Mali 3-0 Cape Verde Islands
Cameroon 5-0 Mauritius
Senegal 2-0 Congo DR
Namibia 1-0 Gambia
Sierra Leone 2-1 Egypt
Kenya 2-1 Guinea-Bissau
Malawi 0-0 Tunisia
Rwanda 0-5 Cote d'Ivoire
Tanzania 1-1 Algeria
-Sun Sep 4
Burundi 1-1 Benin
Zimbabwe 3-0 Liberia
Guinea 1-0 Ethiopia
Madagascar 0-2 Nigeria
Comoros 1-2 Zambia
Central African Republic 0-0 Morocco
Niger 2-1 South Africa
Congo 0-1 Sudan
Angola 2-0 Uganda
Togo 1-0 Botswana
45 total team are in the qualifying tournament.
16 countries will play in the finals next January.
-The 2 host countries qualify, along with the top team in each of the 11 groups qualifies, plus the runner-up of Group K, and the 2 best runners-up from the other 10 groups.
Co-Host - Gabon
Co-Host - Equatorial Guinea
Group A -
Group B -
Group C -
Group D -
Group E - Senegal
Group F - Burkina Faso
Group G -
Group H - Cote d'Ivoire
Group I -
Group J -
Group K - Botswana
Group K2 -
NB1 -
NB2 -
18 are already OUT: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo DR, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland and Togo.
Here are all the group standings.
ASIA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
Australia was the only 1 of the big 3 to win on Tuesday. And the most improved team Uzbekistan got a strong home tie with Japan, while S Korea could only tie at Kuwait.
Matches & Scores:
Matchday 2
-Tue Sep 6
Uzbekistan 1-1 Japan
Saudi Arabia 1-3 Australia
Kuwait 1-1 S Korea
Jordan 2-1 China
N Korea 1-0 Tajikistan
Lebanon 3-1 United Arab Emirates
Thailand 3-0 Oman
Indonesia 0-2 Bahrain
Singapore 0-2 Iraq
Qatar 1-1 Iran
Here are the groups.
Sadly, long time Dallas player and staff member Bobby Rhine died of a heart on Monday while vacationing in Florida with his family. He was just 35 years old, and was married with two children.
Buzz Carrick who has cover Dallas from possibly day 1 directs us to a video of Bobby Rhine speaking that Carrick feels is a great example of who Bobby was.
Tobias Xavier Lopez wrote this great article on Bobby when he retired in 2009. It really gets to the heart of who he was as a person beyond just a long time player.
FC Dallas has a tribute to their dear friend and colleague.
Dallas was the only club Rhine ever suited up for. A rare thing for someone with a long career.
In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be made to the FC Dallas Foundation.
STARTERS
Bob Bradley was spotted the other day in Torreon, Mexico talking with officials from Santos Laguna who fired their head coach over the weekend. Would/could he be a good fit as a head coach in the Mexican Primera?
dN
Over the latest international break CONCACAF teams played in 9 friendlies and only won 2. The other 7 were losses. Not good no matter how you slice it. See all the results below in the CONCACAF section.
TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS
International friendly.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium 1-0 USA - Bel goal by Nicolas Lombaerts.
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach and players from US Soccer.
Match report by Mike Woitalla of Soccer America.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Post game analysis from Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Player ratings by Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated.
Post game analysis by Brian Straus of Sporting News.
Here is video of match highlights from US Soccer.
US Soccer does a video interview with Sacha Kljestan about life in Belgium playing for Anderlecht.
US Soccer poses (some fluffy) questions from readers that Clint Dempsey answers.
Its now been 20 games since the USA scored more than 2 goals.
And just the 1 in Klinsmann's three games with 3 surrendered.
NASL NEWS
Tampa Bay clinched a playoff spot with a road win last night in Minnesota!
NSC MINNESOTA STARS
The Stars have taken a mighty tumbled in the standings falling from 3rd place and the surprise team of the league, to 6th place and on the verge of missing the playoffs if Montreal can catch them.
Lets take a look at the last 10 games to try and figure out what has gone wrong:
Record: 2W-7L-1D
4 of those games were against Montreal with the teams splitting 4 games 2-2-0 with each winning 1 at home and 1 away.
Scores in the last 10 games:
1-2 L Sep 6 v Tampa Bay
3-1 L Sep 3 at Edmonton
0-2 L Aug 27 v Montreal
2-0 L Aug 20 at Montreal
1-1 D Aug 17 at Carolina
2-0 L Aug 13 at Tampa Bay
0-1 L Aug 10 v Fort Lauderdale
1-3 W Aug 6 at Montreal
1-0 W Jul 22 v Montreal
0-1 L Jul 17 v Puerto Rico
5 home games: 1W-4L-0D, 2 goals scored, 6 goals allowed
5 road games: 1W-3L-1D, 5 goals scored, 9 goals allowed
Only 1 clean sheet in those 10 games.
Shut out 5 times in those 10 games.
To make things worse the trend is headed down with 6 losses and 1 draw in the last 7 over all.
Quick analysis of these numbers points to defensive problems. Yes only 7 goals scored is a problem, but 15 surrendered is much worse, and can be remedied quicker.
There are 3 games left in the regular season, 1 at home and 1 on the road.
Its time for the leaders of the team to step forward, chill everybody out, and getting them on a level steady playing field TOGETHER.
I suggest starting by not giving up a goal in the next game. Even if that means sacrificing offense (which hasn't exactly been blowing up the scoreboard anyway.)
If Montreal wins in Puerto Rico on Wednesday night, they will be within 1 point of the Stars and have a better goal differential (+1 to -5).
NASL SCOREBOARD
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 6
NSC Minnesota Stars 1-2 FC Tampa Bay - NMS goal by Brian Kallman. FCTB goals by Keith Savage and Mozzi.
-Wed Sep 7
Puerto Rico Islanders v Montreal Impact
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Carolina RailHawks
FC Edmonton vs Atlanta Silverbacks
dN
Standings (as of Tue Sep 6):
*54 Carolina RailHawks (+28 GD) (24 GP)
*45 Puerto Rico Islanders (+7 GD) (25 GP)
*37 FC Tampa Bay (+4 GD) (25 GP)
33 FC Edmonton (-3 GD) (25 GP)
31 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-1 GD) (24 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (-5 GD) (25 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
25 Montreal Impact (+1 GD) (24 GP)
#15 Atlanta Silverbacks (-31 GD) (24 GP)
*Secured playoff berth
#Eliminated from playoff berth
FIFA SCANDAL
The disgraced former head of the Asian Football Confederation Mohamed Bin Hammam who last month was banned from soccer for life has written a scathing open letter to the Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee Petrus Damaseb of Namibia, posted on Bin Hammam's blog, that basically says every "European" member of FIFA is a racist, that Damaseb is their toady, and that the color of Bin Hammam's skin is the only reason he and the Caribbean Football Union have been punished. Its a doozy of a letter.
Are Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valke as hideous as Bin Hammam makes them out to be? 100%. But he is just as big a cretin as they are, and very jealous that someone beat him at his own game.
MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS
WEEK 26
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Sep 7
Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution - 7:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: PPL Park
-Fri Sep 9
LA Galaxy v Colorado Rapids - 10:00PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sat Sep 10
Seattle Sounders FC v Real Salt Lake - 3:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Sporting Kansas City v Houston Dynamo - 3:00PM CT on Telefutura
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Columbus Crew v Toronto FC - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Crew Stadium
New York Red Bulls v Vancouver Whitecaps - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v Portland Timbers - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: PPL Park
New England Revolution v FC Dallas - 6:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Gillette Stadium
San Jose Earthquakes v Chicago Fire SC - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
CD Chivas USA v DC United - 9:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: The Home Depot Center
IF THE MLS PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY
The 10 teams:
WEST
1 LA Galaxy
2 Seattle Sounders
3 FC Dallas
EAST
1 Columbus Crew
2 Sporting Kansas City
3 Houston Dynamo
WILD CARD
1 Real Salt Lake
2 Colorado Rapids
3 Philadelphia Union
4 New York Red Bulls
MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS
General News
All 18 teams are in action this week, and 2 of them, Philadelphia and New England, play twice.
CHICAGO FIRE
Dominic Oduro is in the best form of his professional career with 5 goals in his past 6 games.
DC UNITED
Steven Goff of the Washington Post updates us with various DCU team notes.
DCU has signed midfielder Stephen King to a new contract.
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle sees the Dynamos as a team desperate for a road win.
Ortiz also writes about the harsh words that JeVaughn Watson had for head coach Dominic Kinnear in the Jamaican press. Kinnear stated that he would prefer to speak to the player directly rather than comment for the article.
-Kinnear does deny he has ever held a player back from international duty and states his respect for the honor, being capped 54 times by the USA himself.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe says keeper Matt Reis is again healthy and ready to rumble for the Revs.
-A recent poll revealed Uncle Fester to be the preferred likeness for Reis over Gru.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Brian Lewis of the Post says the Red Bulls are now pulling into "must win" territory. And are expecting some injured players back.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
Vancouver had owner Steve Nash join in team training this week. Video interview with Nash afterwards.
MLS RESERVE LEAGUE
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Sep 6
Chicago Fire 2-0 Real Salt Lake - CF goals by Cristian Nazarit & Diego Chaves(PK).
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes - VW goal by Omar Salgado.
-Thu Sep 8
Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution
-Sat Sep 10
Sporting Kansas City v Houston Dynamo
-Sun Sep 11
Columbus Crew v Toronto FC
dN
Standings Etc.
AMERICANS IN EUROPE
Jamie Hill of Yanks Abroad with an article on Ryan Adeleye of Hapoel Be'er Sheba in Israel.
dN
Game Action:
ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Brentford - Sat Sep 3 - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Wallsall.
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Sat Sep 3 - on the bench as they lost 0-1 v Brentford.
NORWAY - 1.Divisjon
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - Sun Sep 4 - on the bench as they won 2-0 v Nybergsund.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - Sun Sep 4 - started and went 77 minutes as they won 3-0 v Alta.
PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP - Sun Sep 4 - came on as a sub in the 58th min as they won 1-2 at Santa Clara.
SWEDEN - Superettan
Lester Dewee - Angelholms - Sun Sep 4 - came on as a a sub in the 71st min and scored as they drew 2-2 at Assyriska.
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - Sun Sep 4 - played the full 90 and won 3-2 v Hammarby.
Nick Noble - Ljungskile - Sat Sep 3 - went the distance but lost 1-2 v Atvidaberg.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - Sun Sep 4 - played the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at Assyriska.
Michael Thomas - Ljungskile - Sat Sep 3 - played the entire match but lost 1-2 v Atvidaberg
MEXICO
The Primera did NOT get take the international weekend off, playing a full slate of games. After 7 of 17 rounds played, here is the leader board:
Mexico - Primera Top 5 Standings (7 of 17 games played):
16 Guadalajara Chivas - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 at Santos Laguna
14 Cruz Azul - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 v Morelia
13 UANL Tigres - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 v Pachuca
12 Monterrey - NEXT: Sun Sep 11 at Puebla
11 UNAM Pumas (+2) - NEXT: Sat Sep 10 at Queretaro
11 Chiapas Jaguares (-1) - NEXT: Fri Sep 9 at Estudiantes Tecos
The bottom 3 are Atlante, Tijuana and Atlas.
CONCACAF 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
Canada off to a very good 2 win start, as did Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala. El Salvador also got 2 wins but gave up a lot of goals. Haiti was very strong scoring 10 goals in 2 wins. Antigua & Barbuda really poured it on scoring 13, but playing some real nobodies. St Kitts & Nevis and Guyana both got 2 wins as well.
Panama only played 1 game but was victorious.
There was no surprise wins or even ties.
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Grenada 0-3 Belize
Trinidad & Tobago 1-0 Bermuda
Dominica 0-2 Nicaragua
Suriname 1-0 Cayman Islands
Antigua & Barbuda 5-2 Curacao
Haiti 6-0 US Virgin Islands
Guyana 2-0 Barbados
El Salvador 3-2 Dominican Republic
Canada 4-1 St. Lucia
St. Kitts & Nevis 0-0 Puerto Rico
Guatemala 4-0 St. Vincent/Grenadines
-Tue Sep 6
Nicaragua 1-2 Panama
US Virgin Islands 1-8 Antigua & Barbuda
Dominican Republic 1-1 Suriname
Barbados 0-2 Trinidad & Tobago
Belize 1-2 Guatemala
St. Lucia 2-4 St. Kitts & Nevis
Guyana 2-1 Bermuda
Cayman Islands 1-4 El Salvador
Puerto Rico 0-3 Canada
Curacao 2-4 Haiti
-Sun Sep 18
St. Vincent/Grenadines v Grenada
Here are the groups.
-The 6 group winners advance to the next round.
There were also several friendlies played during this week.
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA 0-1 Costa Rica
Panama 0-2 Paraguay
Ecuador 5-2 Jamaica
-Sat Sep 3
Honduras 0-2 Colombia
-Sun Sep 4
Mexico 1-0 Chile
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium 0-1 USA
Honduras 0-3 Paraguay
Ecuador 4-0 Costa Rica
SPAIN
Sid Lowe of the Guardian sees Barcelona and Real Madrid financially accelerating away from all the other clubs in Spain at a very high speed.
ITALY
The players strike in Serie A has been settled, so expect a full round of matches this weekend.
EUROPE
Dominic Fifeld of the Guardian reports on racists chanting from some Bulgarian supporters toward England's black players. Head coach Lotthar Matteus apologized.
UEFA EURO 2012 QUALIFYING
Italy & Spain join Germany in the big tournament next summer, while Netherlands & England are so close they can taste it.
The two hosts countries are Poland and Ukraine.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 3
Scotland 2-2 Czech Republic
-Tue Sep 6
Finland 0-2 Netherlands
Spain 6-0 Liechtenstein
Russia 0-0 Ireland
England 1-0 Wales
Italy 1-0 Slovenia
Denmark 2-0 Norway
San Marino 0-5 Sweden
Romania 0-0 France
Latvia 1-1 Greece
Iceland 1-0 Cyprus
Azerbaijan 3-2 Kazakhstan
Macedonia 1-0 Andorra
Croatia 3-1 Israel
Scotland 1-0 Lithuania
Luxembourg 2-1 Albania
Slovakia 0-4 Armenia
Austria 0-0 Turkey
Serbia 3-1 Faroe Islands
Malta 1-1 Georgia
Switzerland 3-1 Bulgaria
Moldova 0-2 Hungary
Estonia 4-1 N Ireland
Bosnia Herzegovina 1-0 Belarus
Here are the current standings so you can see how close your team is to the breakthrough.
CONMEBOL
Tim Vickery of the BBC gives us a preview of what we can expect with South American World Cup qualifying begins on Oct 6.
-9 teams will be battling it out for 4.5 spots.
BRAZIL
Recap du Nord: #5 Sao Paolo made the big move this week with a win as 3 of the other 4 faceplanted with a loss. Sooooooo... Corinthians remains at #1 despite losing. Sao Paulo is the new #2. Vasco lost and drops to #3. Botafogo did not play but drops to #5 anyway. And Flamengo drops down one place to #5.
There is an important game coming up on Thursday with Corinthians hosting Flamengo.
Brazil - Serie A Top 5 Standings (21 of 38 games played):
40 Corinthians - LAST: Sun Sep 4 L 1-0 at Coritiba - NEXT: Thu Sep 8 v Flamengo
38 Sao Paulo (+7) - LAST: Sat Sep 3 W 1-2 at Figueirense - NEXT: Wed Sep 7 v Atletico Mineiro
38 Vasco (+4) - LAST: Sun Sep 4 L 4-1 at America Mineiro - NEXT: Thu Sep 8 v Coritiba
37 Botafogo - LAST: No Game - NEXT: Wed Sep 7 v Ceara
36 Flamengo - LAST: Sun Sep 4 L 1-3 v Bahia - NEXT: Thu Sep 8 at Corinthians
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012 QUALIFYING
Senegal became the latest team (the 4th) to advance, while Cameroon and Egypt, the defending champions, were both knocked out and will not be in the finals next January.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 3
Libya 1-0 Mozambique
Mali 3-0 Cape Verde Islands
Cameroon 5-0 Mauritius
Senegal 2-0 Congo DR
Namibia 1-0 Gambia
Sierra Leone 2-1 Egypt
Kenya 2-1 Guinea-Bissau
Malawi 0-0 Tunisia
Rwanda 0-5 Cote d'Ivoire
Tanzania 1-1 Algeria
-Sun Sep 4
Burundi 1-1 Benin
Zimbabwe 3-0 Liberia
Guinea 1-0 Ethiopia
Madagascar 0-2 Nigeria
Comoros 1-2 Zambia
Central African Republic 0-0 Morocco
Niger 2-1 South Africa
Congo 0-1 Sudan
Angola 2-0 Uganda
Togo 1-0 Botswana
45 total team are in the qualifying tournament.
16 countries will play in the finals next January.
-The 2 host countries qualify, along with the top team in each of the 11 groups qualifies, plus the runner-up of Group K, and the 2 best runners-up from the other 10 groups.
Co-Host - Gabon
Co-Host - Equatorial Guinea
Group A -
Group B -
Group C -
Group D -
Group E - Senegal
Group F - Burkina Faso
Group G -
Group H - Cote d'Ivoire
Group I -
Group J -
Group K - Botswana
Group K2 -
NB1 -
NB2 -
18 are already OUT: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo DR, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland and Togo.
Here are all the group standings.
ASIA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
Australia was the only 1 of the big 3 to win on Tuesday. And the most improved team Uzbekistan got a strong home tie with Japan, while S Korea could only tie at Kuwait.
Matches & Scores:
Matchday 2
-Tue Sep 6
Uzbekistan 1-1 Japan
Saudi Arabia 1-3 Australia
Kuwait 1-1 S Korea
Jordan 2-1 China
N Korea 1-0 Tajikistan
Lebanon 3-1 United Arab Emirates
Thailand 3-0 Oman
Indonesia 0-2 Bahrain
Singapore 0-2 Iraq
Qatar 1-1 Iran
Here are the groups.
posted by brucio at 18:47
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