Some Soccer News for Tue Oct 4, 2011

STARTERS

Less than 7,000 tickets have been sold to the USA v Honduras game on Saturday night. Miami for MLS right? Lets see what ya got!

dN

The LA Galaxy will lay claim to the Supporters Shield tonight if they are victorious in New York.

US OPEN CUP

The 2011 Final is Tonight!

Seattle v Chicago!

Seattle goes for 3 in a row!

Chicago goes for #5!

They are expecting over 35,000 fans for tonight's game in downtown Seattle.

dN

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune previews.

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times previews.

Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times previews.

Jack McCarthy of the Chicago Tribune previews.

dN

Match & Score:
-Tue Oct 4
Seattle Sounders FC v Chicago Fire SC - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer
Venue: CenturyLink Field

NASL SCOREBOARD

Playoffs

All tix for the Stars home Semifinal game are just $10. You have NO excuse.

Semifinals - Home & Home Series
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat Oct 8
NSC Minnesota Stars v Carolina RailHawks
Ft Lauderdale Strikers v Puerto Rico Islanders
2nd Leg
-Sat Oct 15
Carolina RailHawks v NSC Minnesota Stars
Puerto Rico Islanders v Ft Lauderdale Strikers

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Landon Donovan is OUT of the USA roster due to a quad injury. If you have been watching LA the past month or so you can tell he is worn thin. This rest will do him good. He did not travel east with the Galaxy either.

Edson Buddle has been added to the roster.

dN

Simon Evans of Reuters on Jurgen Klinsmanns vision for the USA.
-Assistant coaches: Spaniard Javier Perez and Mexican-American Martin Vasquez as assistant coaches, English goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and Japanese fitness guru Masa Sakihana.

Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald with notes from the starts of training camp.
-Jozy Altidore tweaked his ankle. They say its not serious. We shall see.

Franco Panizo of Soccer By Ives fills us in on Day 1 at the current USA camp.
-Klinsmann said that players like Benny Feilhaber, Omar Gonzalez and George John are on the outside looking to get in. But he is in no rush to change things. Yet he continues to bring in virtually unknown Germans. Weird.
-US Soccer will not announce any new friendlies for November until after Euro 2012 qualifying ends next week. (The rumor has been that the USA will play 2 games in Europe on the international dates.)

dN

International friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Oct 8
USA v Honduras - 5pm CT on Fox Soccer
Venue: Sun Life Stadium, Miami
-Tue Oct 11
USA v Ecuador - 6pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: Red Bull Arena, Harrison NJ

dN

USA Roster.
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Tim Howard - Everton
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham
M:
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Michael Bradley - Chievo
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Danny Williams - Hoffenheim
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City

FACT OF THE DAY

European courts have ruled that people in England can buy decoder cards from other countries around the EU to unscramble TV satellite feeds and watch football from everywhere. Wow.
-So how are leagues supposed to sell their viewing rights now? Simply put, they can't sell them country by country. You can assume the legal battles on this one have just begun.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

Week 30

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Oct 4
New York Red Bulls v LA Galaxy - 7:00PM CT on ESPN2
Venue: Red Bull Arena
-Thu Oct 6
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Real Salt Lake - 8:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BC Place Stadium

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
45 Sporting Kansas City (32 GP) (+7 GD)
44 Philadelphia Union (31 GP) (+7 GD)
44 Columbus Crew (32 GP) (-3 GD)
43 Houston Dynamo (32 GP) (0 GD)
40 New York Red Bulls (31 GP) (+5 GD)
38 DC United (30 GP) (0 GD)
37 Chicago Fire SC (31 GP) (0 GD)
OUT-31 Toronto FC (32 GP) (-23 GD)
OUT-27 New England Revolution (31 GP) (-16 GD)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
*64 LA Galaxy (31 GP) (+23 GD)
*57 Seattle Sounders FC (31 GP) (+18 GD)
*51 Real Salt Lake (31 GP) (+11 GD)
46 FC Dallas (31 GP) (+2 GD)
45 Colorado Rapids (32 GP) (+2 GD)
40 Portland Timbers (31 GP) (-6 GD)
36 CD Chivas USA (32 GP) (+1 GD)
32 San Jose Earthquakes (31 GP) (-7 GD)
OUT-22 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (30 GP) (-21 GD)

*Playoff berth

MLS SUPPORTERS SHIELD STANDINGS

64 LA Galaxy (31 GP) (+23 GD)
57 Seattle Sounders FC (31 GP) (+18 GD)

IF THE MLS PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY

The 10 teams:

WEST
1 LA Galaxy
2 Seattle Sounders
3 Real Salt Lake

EAST
1 Sporting Kansas City
2 Philadelphia Union
3 Columbus Crew

WILD CARD
1 FC Dallas
2 Colorado Rapids
3 Houston Dynamo
4 New York Red Bulls

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Philadelphia Union forward Sebastian Le Toux was named MLS Player Of The Month for September.

dN

Glenn Davis of FS Houston sees an upside to the role of attacking centerback.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Forward Cam Weaver is done for the season after a lingering hip injury got bad enough to demand immediate surgery. No word on what the exact injury is.

MONTREAL IMPACT

The Impact introduced Preston Burpo as its new goalkeeper coach.

dN

Randy Phillips of the Gazette on the signing of Nelson Rivas, who is not a Designated Player.
-That last part is a good thing.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post does the research and writes that the numbers don't lie - the Red Bulls are better without Rafa Marquez. Hans Backe will insist on playing him anyway.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun says 1st overall SuperDraft selection Omar Salgado is finishing his first season on a sour note, and the players is not pleased.
-The 18 year old's father seems to have a great understanding of the situation. That sure can't hurt.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Mon Oct 3
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0-1 Portland Timbers - PT goal by Bryan Burke.
-Thu Oct 6
FC Dallas v Sporting Kansas City
New York Red Bulls v Chicago Fire SC
-Sat Oct 8
Real Salt Lake v Chicago Fire SC

dN

Standings Etc.

CONCACAF

Upcoming International Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Oct 7
Costa Rica v Brazil
-Sat Oct 8
USA v Honduras
-Tue Oct 11
Mexico v Brazil
Honduras v Jamaica
USA v Ecuador
-Sat Oct 15
Costa Rica v Spain

MEXICO

Guadalajara has fired head coach Jose Luis Real and hired Fernando Quirarte as their new head man.

SPAIN

Michael Laudrup resigned as head coach of Mallorca causing a big public uproar. Joaquin Caparros has been hired as the new boss.

dN

Reuters reports that Atletico Madrid fans chanted horrible things about a deceased Sevilla player during their game last weekend. Pathetic.

ITALY

Bologna has done it again, firing head coach Pierpaolo Bisoli, and hiring Stefano Piolo as the replacement. Last season they hired and fired 2 head coaches.

ARGENTINA

Primera Division - Apertura - Top 5 Standings (10 of 19 played)
24 Boca Juniors - NEXT: Sat Oct 15 v Belgrano
19 Atletico Rafaela - NEXT: Sat Oct 15 at Estudiantes
18 Racing Club - NEXT: Fri Oct 14 at San Martin San Juan
17 Colon - NEXT: Sat Oct 15 at Argentinos Juniors
16 Godoy Cruz - NEXT: Fri Oct 14 at Independiente