Some Soccer News for Wed Nov 30, 2011

STARTERS

The Mexican Semifinals start tonight.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Nov 29, 2011 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

High quality MLS branded Foosball table!






















TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Fabian Johnson about playing for his new international team.

TWITTERVERSE/FACEBOOKING

Arlo White takes to Twitter to announce that he has been hired to call games for NBC.

@arlowhite
-"Hi every1. Speculation can end. I have accepted the job as lead Soccer announcer for NBC Sports. It's a tremendous opportunity for me (cont)"
-"I'm proud & honoured to have been chosen for the role. It's so exciting for #mls & US Soccer. I can't wait to get started in the 2012 season"

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune bids White farewell.

I think Arlo White is a very good commentator. And I think he should be calling games on the BBC in England. I want to hear North American voices calling North American games.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Another of the unique items in the MLS roster rule book is the Re-Entry draft, where players who have been released by their club or at the end of their contract can be "selected" by another team. There are a lot of veteran players with semi-big names on this list. Check it out.
-Teams can sign their own players from this list until Friday, then the draft takes place on Mon Dec 5.
-And here is the order the teams will select:
1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2 New England Revolution
3 FC Toronto
4 CD Chivas USA
5 San Jose Earthquakes
6 DC United
7 Portland Timbers
8 Chicago Fire SC
9 Columbus Crew
10 FC Dallas
11 New York Red Bulls
12 Philadelphia Union
13 Colorado Rapids
14 Seattle Sounders FC
15 Sporting Kansas City
16 Real Salt Lake
17 Houston Dynamo
18 LA Galaxy
19 Montreal Impact

Trades etc

San Jose has bought winger Shea Salinas from Vancouver.

FC DALLAS

FCD has signed their captain Daniel Hernandez to a new 3 year contract.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Post talks to Santino Quaranta after being being told that he was no longer needed at DCU.

Craig Stouffer of the Examiner tries to find out what is going on with DC's stadium situation FOR NEXT SEASON.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear has told Geoff Cameron to prepare to play centerback next season.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Did you know that former goalkeeper Matt Jordan was part of the Impact's technical staff?

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Juan Agudelo is headed to Liverpool today to do some training with the LFC.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Quakes signed forward Steven Lenhart to a contract extension.
-This is good news. I know he had some personal issues this season that kept him away from the field, but this means he must ready to return.

TORONTO FC

MLSsoccer.com has a season review Q & A with head coach Aron Winter.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russell Berrisford of the Sun looks at the Caps defense that is being overhauled.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

The Bolton News with lots of info on a possible move to England for Tim Ream, with tons of quotes from his agent.

Lee Young-Pyo to Vancouver?

MLS EXHIBITION GAMES

LA Galaxy Asia Pacific Tour 2011

The Galaxy started the tour off with a win today.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
Indonesian Super League All-Stars 0-1 LA Galaxy - LAG goal by Robbie Keane.
Venue: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium - Jakarta, Indonesia
-Sat Dec 3
Philippines National Team v LA Galaxy - 5:30am CT on Fox Soccer.
Venue: Rizal Memorial Stadium - Manila, Philippines
-Tue Dec 6
Melbourne Victory v LA Galaxy - 2:30am CT on Fox Soccer.
Venue: Etihad Stadium - Melbourne, Australia

COLLEGE SOCCER

NCAA Championship Tournament - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Dec 3
North Carolina v St Mary's
Louisville v UCLA
Creighton v USF
-Sun Dec 4
Connecticut v Charlotte

Semifinals will be played on Dec 9 and the Final on Dec 11 in Hoover AL.

USA U17 TEAM

The Nike International Friendlies.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
USA v France - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Brazil v Turkey
-Fri Dec 2
USA v Turkey - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
France v Brazil
-Sun Dec 4
USA v Brazil - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Turkey v France

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com talks to Joe Bendik of Sogndal about his future plans. MLS?

dN

Game Action:

UEFA - Europa League - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Wed Nov 30 - went the full 90 in a scoreless draw at Malmo.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Wed Nov 30 - played the full 90 getting a yellow card as they lost 2-0 at Standard Liege.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Wed Nov 30 - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Braga.

dN

Coming Up:

UEFA - Europa League - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Dec 1 at Twente
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Dec 1 at AEK Athens
Jermiane Jones - Schalke - Thu Dec 1 v Steaua Buchurest
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Thu Dec 1 v Zurich
-Anderlecht has already qualified for the next round.

MEXICO

LAGUILLA - Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Dec 30
Morelia v Santos Laguna
-Thu Dec 1
Queretaro v Tigres

ENGLAND

Sunderland has fired head coach Steve Bruce. Assistant Eric Black will be the interim.
-He is the first coach in the Premier League to be dismissed this season.

David Conn of the Guardian reports that Portsmouth is again under scrutiny for fishy ownership.
-Wow! Will they ever sort it out?

LEAGUE CUP - QUARTERFINALS
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 29
Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool
Cardiff City 2-0 Blackburn
Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
-Wed Nov 30
Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace

SEMIFINALS
1st Leg
-Tue Han 10
Crystal Palace v Cardiff City
Manchester City v Liverpool
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Cardiff City v Crystal Palace
Liverpool v Manchester City

ITALY

COPPA ITALIA - ROUND OF 32
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 23
Bologna 4-2 Crotone
Chievo 3-0 Modena
-Thu Nov 24
Fiorentina 2-1 Empoli
Genoa 3-2 Bari
Cagliari 1-2 Siena
-Tue Nov 29
Parma 0-2 Hellas Verona
Catania 2-3 Novara
-Wed Nov 30
Cesena 3-0 Gubbio

ROUND OF 16
-Tue Dec 13
Juventus v Bologna
Roma v Fiorentina
Lazio v Hellas Verona
Milan v Novara
Palermo v Siena
Udinese v Chievo
Internazionale v Genoa
Napoli v Cesena

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 5 - Wed Nov 30 & Thu Dec 1.

On the first day of M5 with games in Groups A-C & G-I we saw PAOK, Standard Liege, PSV, Legia Warszawa, Metalist and Atletico Madrid have advanced to the knock out rounds.

That means Rapid Buchuresti, Zurich, Malmo, Maribor and Rennes are out.

Groups D-F & J-L play on Thurs.

ADV: Anderlecht

OUT: AEK, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Shamrock, Vorskla

Group Standings

ENDERS

Patrice O'Neal RIP
-Typing
-Spelling

Some Soccer News for Tue Nov 29, 2011

STARTERS

Newest international friendly match rumor: USA v Venezuela on Sat Jan 21.

MLS 2012 SEASON OPENERS

The league has announced the dates of the first home games for next season. All other details, like opponents are still a few days away from being known.
-Note that the season is starting even earlier next year.

-Sat Mar 10
LA Galaxy
Colorado Rapids
DC United
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC

-Sun Mar 11
Chivas USA
FC Dallas

-Mon Mar 12
Portland Timbers

-Sat Mar 17
Sporting Kansas City
Montreal Impact (at Olympic Stadium until renovations at Saputo Stadium are completed)
Real Salt Lake

-Sun Mar 18
Philadelphia Union

-Sat Mar 24
Chicago Fire SC
Columbus Crew
New England Revolution
Toronto FC

-Sun Mar 25
New York Red Bulls

-Sat May 12
Houston Dynamo (new stadium opener)

We are being told that the full schedule is expected to be released during December.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Nov 29, 2011 - new music mix at Spotify.

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer reports that the New York Cosmos paid the money owed to their East Coast academy team BW Gottschee. No word yet on if the pending lawsuit has been dropped.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Rumor has it that NBC will hire Seattle announcer Arlo White to be their lead voice on MLS broadcasts.
-He is very good but I am so sick and tired of English voices calling our games.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America with an article on one of the modern legends of the American game Manny Schellscheidt who has announced his retirement from coaching.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Reuters has fresh quotes from commissioner Don Garber on David Beckham's future in LA, a new team in New York, and a possible MLS Network.

Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN asks the age old question - How does MLS stack up in comparison to other leagues around the world?

Steven Goff of the Washington Post reports that this years Generation Adidas off season exhibition tour will go to the Netherlands.

dN

Trades etc

DC traded for right fullback Robbie Russell of Salt Lake. They sent RSL a 3rd round pick in the 2013 SuperDraft in the exchange.

Kansas City acquired defensive midfielder Paulo Nagamura from Chivas USA in exchange for a 1st round pick in the upcoming Supplemental Draft.

TFC acquired fullback Jeremy Hall from Dallas for 2nd round SuperDraft pick in 2013.

dN

COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew did not renew the contracts of Andres Mendoza, Jeff Cunningham and Kevin Burns.

DC UNITED

Long time defensive midfielder Clyde Simms did not have his contract renewed by the team.
-Supposedly Santino Quaranta is in the same boat as Simms.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Luke Wileman of TSN examines the Impact expansion draft picks with a week of hindsight.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe writes that keeping Shalrie Joseph on the team is a top priority.
-Joseph has hinted several times in the past year that he wants out.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of MLSsoccer.com does a Q & A with NER general manager Mike Burns.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Red Bulls preseason begins on Jan 16.
-The team gives us video of interviews with the team on offseason plans.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

16 year old Zach Pfeffer is in Germany to train with Hoffenheim.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The team has signed goalkeeper Troy Perkins and centerback David Horst to new contracts.

Veteran defender Kevin Goldthwaite announced his retirement.
-He played for several teams and the past few seasons was plagued by injuries.

dN

Big Lead Sports does a business orientated Q & A with Timbers COO Mike Golub.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times reports that a new contract for Mauro Rosales is done and an announcement is expected soon.

TORONTO FC

Dave Rowaan of Sportsnet sees a strong base for TFC to grow next season.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Let's see whose name comes out of the popcorn popper today: Oh Michael Ballack. And Didier Drogba. Old guys.

MLS EXHIBITION GAMES

The LA Galaxy Asia Pacific Tour 2011 begins early tomorrow morning USA time.

All game will be shown live on Fox Soccer.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
Indonesian Super League All-Stars v LA Galaxy - 6am CT on Fox Soccer.
Venue: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium - Jakarta, Indonesia
-Sat Dec 3
Philippines National Team v LA Galaxy - 5:30am CT on Fox Soccer.
Venue: Rizal Memorial Stadium - Manila, Philippines
-Tue Dec 6
Melbourne Victory v LA Galaxy - 2:30am CT on Fox Soccer.
Venue: Etihad Stadium - Melbourne, Australia

MLS STADIUMS

San Jose has a really cool visual of some field-side seats that will be a feature of their new stadium.
-You will also notice that their stadium design has a roof covering all the seats. Brilliant!

dN

Patrick Rishe of Forbes calls Red Bull Arena one of the best stadiums in America.
-Thanks to Gene for the link

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

The Stars announced that it has picked up contract options on 18 players from the current roster, and released 5 others.

Retained:

1 goalkeeper
Matt VanOekel

6 defenders
Justin Davis
Kyle Altman
Cristiano Dias
Gino Mauro
Jack Stewart
Brian Kallman

7 midfielders
Ely Allen
Jeff Cosgriff
Andrei Gotsmanov
Neil Hlavaty
Andy Lorei
Lucas Rodriguez
Kentaro Takada

4 forwards
Simone Bracalello
Brian Cvilikas
Devin Del Do
Amani Walker

Relased:

2 defenders
Chris Clements
John Gilkerson

2 midfielders
Sandy Gbandi
Geison Moura

1 forward
Tino Nunez

USA U17 TEAM

The Nike International Friendlies.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
USA v France - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Brazil v Turkey
-Fri Dec 2
USA v Turkey - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
France v Brazil
-Sun Dec 4
USA v Brazil - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Turkey v France

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jamie Hill of Yanks Abroad reports that Bobby Woods of 1860 Munich has had knee surgery and will be out at least a few months.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Championship League
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Nov 29 - started but came out at half time as they lost 0-4 v Leeds.

dN

Coming Up:

UEFA - Europa League - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Wed Nov 30 at Malmo
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Wed Nov 30 at Standard Liege
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Dec 1 at Twente
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Wed Nov 30 v PAOK
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Dec 1 at AEK Athens
Jermiane Jones - Schalke - Thu Dec 1 v Steaua Buchurest
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Thu Dec 1 v Zurich
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Wed Nov 30 at Braga
-Anderlecht has already qualified for the next round.

MEXICO

LAGUILLA - Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Dec 30
Morelia v Santos Laguna
-Thu Dec 1
Queretaro v Tigres
2nd Leg
-Sat Dec 3
Santos Laguna v Morelia
-Sun Dec 4
Tigres v Queretaro

ENGLAND

LEAGUE CUP - QUARTERFINALS
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 29
Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool
Cardiff City 2-0 Blackburn
Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
-Wed Nov 30
Manchester United v Crystal Palace

SPAIN

Racing Santander has fired head coach Hector Cuper.

dN

La Liga Mid-week Make Up Game:
-Tue Nov 29
Barcelona 4-0 Rayo Vallecano

The win moves Barca within 3 points of leaders Real Madrid, but they have played 1 more game.

ITALY

Serie A Mid-week Make Up Game:
-Tue Nov 29
Napoli 3-3 Juventus

The point today extends Juve's lead at the top to 4 points over Milan.

dN

COPPA ITALIA - Round of 32
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 23
Bologna 4-2 Crotone
Chievo 3-0 Modena
-Thu Nov 24
Fiorentina 2-1 Empoli
Genoa 3-2 Bari
Cagliari 1-2 Siena
-Tue Nov 29
Parma 0-2 Hellas Verona
Catania 2-3 Novara
-Wed Nov 30
Cesena v Gubbio

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Just 2 rounds left to play and some of the groups are starting to shake out.

ADV: Anderlecht

OUT: AEK, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Shamrock, Vorskla

Matchday 5 - Wed Nov 30 & Thu Dec 1.

Group Standings

ENDERS

The Dick Cavett Show - 1974 - an interview with David Bowie in 3 parts.
-Part 1
-Part 2
-Part 3

Some Soccer News for Mon Nov 28, 2011

STARTERS

Bayern Munich was beaten this weekend and knocked from #1 in the Bundesliga.

dN

Barcelona lost too, for the first time in 27 games, and fell 6 points behind Real Madrid in La Liga! And the Classico is just two weeks away!

dN

Top seeded Guadalajara was knocked out of the Mexican playoffs in the Quarterfinals. See full Laguilla details below in Mexico section.
-#2 seed Cruz Azul is out too.
-Leaving #3 Tigres as the favorites. They have not won a championship since 1982!

dN

Corinthians (Brazil) and Boca Juniors (Argentina) are both on the brink of winning national championships.
-See sections below for details.

dN

The UEFA Euro 2012 Finals draw will be held on Fri Dec 2 at 11am CT. You can see it on ESPN3.com.

STORY OF THE DAY

Tragic news from the UK that Wales head coach and former player Gary Speed took his own life on Sunday.

Henry Winter of the Telegraph with a reflection on Speed.

Dan Walker of the BBC with a personal account of the very sad news.

dN

More horrible tragedy for soccer in Togo as the bus carrying the club team Etoile Filante suffered a "blown tire which flipped the bus and sent it down a ravine where it caught fire."

6 players have died, and 28 other players and personnel are in critically condition.

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Tariq Panja of Bloomberg reports that money confiscated by FIFA in Mohamed Bin Hammam/Caribbean Football Union bribery case will be kept by FIFA and used in development projects (yet to be determined.)

TWITTERVERSE/FACEBOOKING

Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star: "...it's looking pretty certain that Octavio Zambrano won't be back. Hearing he hasn't been involved in offseason prep."

I think this is a huge mistake. As a matter of fact I think he should be the head coach, not Vermes.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Nov 25
Udinese 2-0 Roma - the win moved Udi up to #3 and moved Rom down to #6 in Serie A.
-Sat Nov 26
Manchester United 1-1 Newcastle - the tie left them were they were at #2 & #4 in the Premier League.
Dortmund 2-0 Schalke - the win leaps Dor to #1, while Sch dropped 4th to 5th the Bundesliga.
Lazio 0-1 Juventus - the loss dropped Laz from 2nd to 4th and kept Juve at #1 in Serie A.
Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid - Real rolled in the Madrid derby.
-Sun Nov 27
Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City - the tie game kept the #6 & #1 teams from gaining anything in the Premier League.
Marseille 3-0 Paris St Germain - France's biggest rivalry, and PSG fell badly from the #1 position.

BUMMER OF THE DAY

Francisco "Paco" Palencia has called it a day on his playing career. One of the great Mexican players of his generation. And true gentleman as well.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Is there any chance that Steve Nicol would become the new head coach of the Colorado Rapids?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Chelsea is looking into the possibility of building a new stadium at Battersea power station. Wow. That could be very cool.

Here is a map of the area.
-The current Chelsea Stadium - Stamford Bridge - is just to the West across the river.

I was at a pretty cool event that Nike held at Battersea station about 18 months ago. Here is my close up picture of the building.

The station is most famous for being on the cover of the Pink Floyd album Animals.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Teams must decide this week which veteran players contracts to pick up or they will be available to other teams next Monday for the "re-entry draft."

Trades etc

Montreal has jacked up KC who wanted to get Seth Sinovic back after losing him in the expansion draft. So MI sends him back to Kansas in exchange for Davy Arnaud and cash.
-KC looks kinda stupid for this deal. In the end they basically sold Arnaud to Montreal, when they should have gotten more for him.

dN

LA has sold goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to Montreal.

COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew showed off their new uni's for next season. The primary, followed by the secondary. They seem to have been designed with a front of shirt sponsor in mind.













































DC UNITED

Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN does a Q & A with Dwayne DeRosario.

dN

Andy Najar is off to Tottenham for some offseason training.

dN

DCU has introduced their 2012 uniforms too. The usual black, and a secondary white. They will use their 2011 Red kit on certain occasions again too.








































SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

SKC has signed goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen to a new contract through the 2014 season.

LA GALAXY

Rory Squires of Leaders In Football looking on from afar sees David Beckham's impact on MLS as very positive.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Montreal Impact signed defensive midfielder Bryan Arguez from the Ft Lauderdale Strikers.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

New York has released John Rooney from the team.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

John George (no, not George John) of the Philadelphia Business Journal reports that the Union has added 3 new minor-equity investors to the ownership group.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

MLSsoccer.com has a Q & A with Caps technical director Tom Soehn recapping year one.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Tim Ream to get a try outs at Bolton & West Brom in England?

MLS EXHIBITION GAMES

LA Galaxy Asia Pacific Tour 2011
-All games will be shown on Fox Soccer.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
Indonesian Super League All-Stars v LA Galaxy
Venue: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium - Jakarta, Indonesia
-Sat Dec 3
Philippines National Team v LA Galaxy
Venue: Rizal Memorial Stadium - Manila, Philippines
-Tue Dec 6
Melbourne Victory v LA Galaxy
Venue: Etihad Stadium - Melbourne, Australia

COLLEGE SOCCER

NCAA Champpionship Tournament - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Dec 3
North Carolina v St Mary's
Louisville v UCLA
-----
Connecticut v Charlotte
Creighton v USF

Semifinals and Final will be played on Dec 9 & 11 in Hoover AL.

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Amobi Okugo of Philadelphia is set to spend some off season time training in Germany at Freiburg.

USA U17 TEAM

Coming up this week is the Nike International Friendlies.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
USA v France - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Brazil v Turkey
-Fri Dec 2
USA v Turkey - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
France v Brazil
-Sun Dec 4
USA v Brazil - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Turkey v France

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Timmy Chandler got the games only goal for Nurnberg!
-Its interesting how he is playing right attacking midfielder for his club and left fullback for country, where as Fabian Johnson is playing left attacking midfielder for country and left back for club. Will Klinsi get this one right any time soon?

dN

Rangers, with Carlos Bocanegra not in uniform due to a hamstring injury, lost their first game of the season. He is expected to miss at least one more week.

dN

Charles Kazlauskas was the second player on his team to see red, in the 40th min, and they lost badly at home 0-7 to Willem II. Ugh.

dN

This was the last week of the Norwegian season.

dN

Game Action:
BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - played the full 90 and won 2-3 at Zulte-Waregem.

CZECH REPUBLIC - CZECH LIGA
Stefan Jerome - Sigma Olomouc - came on as a sub in the 86th min but lost 0-2 v Hradec Kralove.

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - went the distance but lost 0-1 v Horsens.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - on the bench but did not play as they won 3-1 v Lyngby.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - went the distance and they won 1-2 at Silkeborg.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - went the full 90 but lost 0-2 v AGF Aarhus.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - came on as a sub in the 81st min but lost 2-1 at Kobenhavn.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the whole game as they drew 1-1 at Arsenal.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - in goal as usual and they won 1-3 at West Bromwich.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench for a 0-0 tie at Swansea.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole game and won 0-2 at Bolton.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - came on as a sub in the 78th min but lost 3-1 at West Ham.
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - started and went 78 min but lost 1-0 at Cardiff City.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the full 90 getting a yellow card and drew 2-2 at Blackpool.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Brentford - came on as a sub in the 70th as they won 1-2 at Rochdale.
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - on the bench as they drew 0-0 at Stevenage.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - played the entire match scoring a goal as they won 1-0 v Kaiserslautern.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance as they drew 0-0 v Hamburg.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - played the whole game and set up a goal as they drew 1-1 v Freiburg.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - played the full match but lost 2-0 v Dortmund.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 v Frieburg.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - started and went 73 min getting a yellow card as they drew 0-0 at Energie Cottbus.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - played the entire match but lost 0-2 v Alemanni Aachen.
Matt Taylor - Paderborn - started and played 65 min as they drew 2-2 at FSV Frankfurt.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Ryan Adeleye - Hapoel Be'er Sheva - went the full 90 but lost 2-0 at Ashdod.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the full match as they drew 1-1 at Bnei Sakhnin.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - played the whole game but got beaten 4-0 at Milan.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - started and went 80 min as they won 2-0 v Utrecht.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - started but got 2 yellow cards and they lost 0-7 v Willem II.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Joe Bendik - Sogndal - went the distance as they won 2-1 v Molde.
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - on the bench as they lost 2-0 at Valerenga.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - went the full 90 but lost 2-0 at Valerenga.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Benfica.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the distance but lost 2-3 v Moreirense.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - came on as a sub in the 70th for Edu but they lost 1-0 at Kilmarnock.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - did not suit up
Mo Edu - Rangers - started and went 70 min but lost 1-0 at Kilmarnock.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Nov 29 v Brighton & Hove
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Nov 29 v Leeds
Danny Potts - West Ham - Tue Nov 29 at Middlesbrough

UEFA - Europa League - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Wed Nov 30 at Malmo
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Wed Nov 30 at Standard Liege
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Dec 1 at Twente
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Wed Nov 30 v PAOK
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Dec 1 at AEK Athens
Jermiane Jones - Schalke - Thu Dec 1 v Steaua Buchurest
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Thu Dec 1 v Zurich
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Wed Nov 30 at Braga

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Edgar Castillo has again been loaned out by America for the next season, this time to Tijuana.

dN

Soccer By Ives reports that Greg Garza is on trial at Tijuana.

AMERICANS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com talks to Michael Hoyos who says he is still open to playing for the USA, "If this don't work out with Argentina."

MEXICO

LAGUILLA

#1 Guadalajara and #2 Cruz Azul are both OUT!

Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Sat Nov 26
Cruz Azul 1-2 Morelia - Mor advances 4-2 on aggreagte.
Guadalajara 0-0 Queretaro - Que advances 2-1 on aggregate.
-Sun Nov 27
Santos Laguna 2-1 Chicapas Jaguares - SL advances 4-3 on aggregate.
UANL Tigres 3-0 Pachuca - Tig advances 4-0 on aggregate.

dN

Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Dec 30
Morelia v Santos Laguna
-Thu Dec 1
Queretaro v Tigres
2nd Leg
-Sat Dec 3
Santos Laguna v Morelia
-Sun Dec 4
Tigres v Queretaro

ENGLAND

John Ashdown, Gregg Roughley, Evan Fanning and Alan Gardner of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian says the power shift from Barcelona to Real Madrid is nearly complete, and the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

La Liga Mid-week Make Up Game:
-Tue Nov 29
Barcelona v Rayo Vallecano

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian says the old boys are still getting it done, and a review of the latest round in Serie A.

dN

Serie A Mid-week Make Up Game:
-Tue Nov 29
Napoli v Juventus

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 5 - Wed Nov 30 & Thu Dec 1.

Group Standings

BRAZIL

Recap du Nord: Only 2 teams left in the race with 1 round left to play. #1 Corinthians and #2 Vasco both won leaving the gap at 2 points. They both play next Sunday.

Serie A Standings (37 of 38 games played):
70 Corinthians - LAST: Sun Nov 27 W 0-1 at Figueirense - NEXT: Sun Dec 4 v Palmeiras (11th place)
68 Vasco da Gama - LAST: Sun Nov 27 W 1-2 at Fluminense - NEXT: Sun Dec 4 v Flamengo (4th place)

ARGENTINA

Recap du Nord: Just 2 teams left with 3 rounds to go. And all Boca needs is 1 point gained or 1 point dropped by 2nd place Tigre to claim the crown.

Primera Division - Apertura - Standings (16 of 19 played):
36 Boca Juniors - LAST: Sun Nov 27 W 1-2 at Godoy Cruz - NEXT: Sun Dec 4 v Banfield
27 Tigre (+4) - LAST: Fri Nov 25 W 3-0 v Atletico Rafaela - NEXT: Sun Dec 4 at San Lorenzo

OCEANIA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The Thomas Rongen coached American Samoa won their first of 3 games to be played this weekend. But thats not the real story - Its their first win EVER!
-But they drew their next game and lost the last one failing to advance in qualifying.
-Their glory was huge but short lived.

Samoa advances to the next round of World Cup qualifying where they will duel the regions Big 7 for date with the 4th place CONCACAF team.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 22
American Samoa 2-1 Tonga
Cook Islands 2-3 Samoa
-Thu Nov 24
American Samoa 1-1 Cook Islands
Samoa 1-1 Tonga
-Sat Nov 26
Samoa 1-0 American Samoa
Tonga 2-1 Cook Islands

Standings:
ADV-4 Samoa (+2)
4 Tonga (0) (4 GS)
4 American Samoa (0) (3 GS)
1 Cook Islands (-2)

Game Schedule

BIG PIMPIN

The 2011 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award has been given to A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng.

ENDERS

Nick Firchau of MLSsoccer.com talks to former Montreal player David Testo about the reaction to his recently revealing he is gay.

Europe's Biggest Matches This Weekend

EUROPE'S BIGGEST CLUB MATCHES THIS WEEKEND

-Fri Nov 25
Udinese v Roma - #4 v #5 in Serie A
TV: 1:30pm CT on Fox Soccer

-Sat Nov 26
Manchester United v Newcastle - #2 v #4 in the Premier League
TV: 9am CT on ESPN2
Dortmund v Schalke - #2 v #4 in the Bundesliga
TV: 8:30am CT on Gol TV
Lazio v Juventus - #2 v #1 in Serie A
TV: 1:30pm CT on Fox Soccer
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - the Madrid derby
TV: NONE

-Sun Nov 27
Liverpool v Manchester City #6 v #1 in the Premier League
TV: 10am CT on Fox Soccer
Marseille v Paris St Germain - France's biggest rivalry, and PSG is at #1
TV: 1:55pm CT on Fox Soccer Plus

Happy Thanksgiving

We are taking the day off. Have great time.

Some Soccer News for Wed Nov 23, 2011

STARTERS

Where the fuck is Waldo? Hideous new USA shirts uncovered by Todo Sobre Camisetas























-All these other countries got decent looking shirts, but not us.

dN

MLS gives us a video of the whole day surrounding the Cup final. Great documentary footage in the locker-rooms, on the field, partying, celebrating, winning.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Nov 22, 2011 - new music mix at Spotify.

MONTREAL IMPACT MLS EXPANSION DRAFT PICKS

Here are the 10 players they chose:

Jeb Brovsky - Vancouver
Bobby Burling - San Jose
Brian Ching - Houston
Josh Gardner - Columbus
Justin Mapp - Philadelphia
Sanna Nyassi - Colorado
James Riley - Seattle
Seth Sinovic - Kansas City
Zarek Valentin - Chivas
Collen Warner - Salt Lake

Brian Ching told the Houston Chronicle yesterday that if he was chosen by Montreal he would not go, and would retire. I assume the Impact think they can change his mind, otherwise it is a stupidly wasted pick.

After the draft MI made a couple more moves:
-Traded James Riley to Chivas for starting striker Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen who had been loaned out to Ft Lauderdale last season.
-Bought Tyson Wahl from Seattle.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Matchday 5

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews Tuesday's games including Man City bungling one at Napoli.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 22
CSKA Moskva 0-2 Lille Metropole
Bayern Munich 3-1 Villarreal
Lyon 0-0 Ajax
Real Madrid 6-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Napoli 2-1 Manchester City
Trabzonspor 1-1 Inter Milan
Otelul Galati 2-3 Basel
Manchester United 2-2 Benfica

Leverkusen, Arsenal and APOEL advanced on Wednesday.

Dortmund were the big shockers to get eliminated.

-Wed Nov 23
Zenit St Petersburg 0-0 APOEL
AC Milan 2-3 Barcelona
BATE Borisov 0-1 Plzen
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Chelsea
Valencia 7-0 Genk
Marseille 0-1 Olympiacos
Arsenal 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2 Porto

ADV: APOEL, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich

OUT: BATE, Shakhtar Dontesk, Borussia Dortmund, Genk, Dinamo Zagreb, Otelul Galati, Viktoria Plzen, Villarreal

Matchday 6 - final round of group play

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Dec 6
Chelsea v Valencia
Genk v Leverkusen
Olympiacos v Arsenal
Dortmund v Marseille
Porto v Zenit
APOEL v Shakhtar Donetsk
Barcelona v BATE
Plzen v Milan
-Wed Dec 7
Man City v Bayern
Villarreal v Napoli
Lille v Trabzonspor
Inter v CSKA Moskva
Basel v Man United
Benfica v Otelul Galati
Dinamo Zagreb v Lyon
Ajax v Real Madrid

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Press Assoc reports that British lawmakers are considering an official investigation into FIFA corruption.
-Jack Warner is specifically named as asking for a bribe.

THATS WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

The Portland Timbers' Sal Zizzo has opened his own Food Cart serving up traditional Italian fare.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Fox Soccer has two videos of an interview with FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter.
-Goal Line Technology and Diving
-MLS on European Schedule

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The Guardian with a photo essay of David Beckham's LA Galaxy career.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with updates on future plans for Charlie Davies, Omar Gonazlez, Jonathan Bornstein and Mo Edu.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC released 4 players today: Scott Lorenz, Jeferson, Milos Stojcev and Craig Rocastle.

LA GALAXY

Video of David Beckham being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel - Part 1 - and - Part 2.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post talks to Tim Ream about the English teams that are interested in buying his contract in January.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

The Union acquired Whitecaps midfielder Nizar Khalfan for no compensation because he was released by the team but still under contract to MLS.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Century Link Field will have new fake turf installed this winter after the NFL season ends.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Didier Drogba, Alessandro Del Piero and Nicolas Anelka are all back on the MLS rumor pile. And what a pile those three make.

MLS STADIUMS

Center Line Soccer unearths drawings and details on the proposed San Jose Earthquakes stadium.





















USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Dilly Duka of Columbus after the recent training camp.

USA U17 TEAM

Coming up next week for the U17s is the Nike International Friendlies.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
USA v France - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Brazil v Turkey
-Fri Dec 2
USA v Turkey - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
France v Brazil
-Sun Dec 4
USA v Brazil - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Turkey v France

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Nick Leydon of Yanks Abroad talks to Gale Agbossoumonde of Eintracht Frankfurt who is finally feeling a little at home with a club team, and hoping to build into a senior team player, then get back in good standing with the USA.

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad introduces us to Danijal Brkovic of Velez Mostar in the Bosnian Premier League.

dN

Coming Up:

DENMARK - DBU Pokalen - Quarterfinals
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - Wed Nov 23 W 1-5 at Naesby
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - Thu Nov 24 at Kobenhavn
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - Thu Nov 24 at Vejle-Kolding

ENGLAND - FA Cup - 1st Round Replay
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Wed Nov 24 v Exeter

ITALY - Coppa Italia 4th round
-Thu Nov 24
Michael Bradley - Chievo - v Modena

UEFA - Europa League - Group Stage - Matchday 5
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Wed Nov 30 at Malmo
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Wed Nov 30 at Standard Liege
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Thu Dec 1 at Twente
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Wed Nov 30 v PAOK
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Dec 1 at AEK Athens
Jermiane Jones - Schalke - Thu Dec 1 v Steaua Buchurest
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Thu Dec 1 v Zurich
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Wed Nov 30 at Braga

MEXICO

Laguilla - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat Nov 19
Queretaro 2-1 Guadalajara
Morelia 2-1 Cruz Azul
-Sun Nov 20
Chiapas Jaguares 2-2 Santos Laguna
Pachuca 0-1 UANL Tigres
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Sat Nov 26
Cruz Azul v Morelia (1-2)
Guadalajara v Queretaro (1-2)
-Sun Nov 27
Santos Laguna v Chicapas Jaguares (2-2)
UANL Tigres v Pachuca (1-0)

ENGLAND

Donald McRae of the Guardian talks to LeBron James about his ownership stake in Liverpool, and the NBA lockout etc.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 5 - Thu Nov 24.

Group Standings

BRAZIL

Recap du Nord: #'s 1, 2 & 3, Corinthians, Vasco and Flu all won and stayed in their spots. But #4 Figueirense lost and dropped down 1 to #5. While 5th place Botafogo lost and fell to 8th. Internacional hopped up into the 4th place position.

Serie A Top 5 Standings (35 of 38 games played):
67 Corinthians - LAST: Sun Nov 20 W 2-1 v Atletico Minero - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 at Figueirense
65 Vasco da Gama - LAST: Sat Nov 19 W 2-0 v Avai - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 at Fluminense
62 Fluminense - LAST: Sun Nov 20 W 0-4 at Figueirense - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 v Vasco da Gama
57 Internacional (+14) - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 at Flamento
57 Figueirense (+2) - LAST: Sun Nov 20 L 0-4 v Flamengo - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 v Corinthians
- - - - -
5th to 8th 55 Botafogo - LAST: Sun Nov 20 L 1-2 v Internacional

ARGENTINA

Recap du Nord: The top 2 faced off to a scoreless draw which suited #1 Boca just fine as they hold an 8 point lead with 4 games to play. Racing Club stays 2nd. Tigre were the only top 5 team to win and that moves them from 5th to 3rd. #3 Lanus lost and took a huge tumble all the way down to 7th place. #5 Atl Rafaela also lost and plummeted to 9th. Oof. Velez and Colon got wins and moved up to 4th and 5th respectively.

Primera Division - Apertura - Top 5 Standings (15 of 19 played):
33 Boca Juniors - LAST: Sun Nov 20 D 0-0 v Racing Club - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 at Godoy Cruz
25 Racing Club - LAST: Sun Nov 20 D 0-0 at Boca Juniors - NEXT: Sat Nov 25 v Belgrano
24 Tigre (+4) - LAST: Fri Nov 18 W 0-1 at Newell's Old Boys - NEXT: Fri Nov 25 v Atletico Rafaela
24 Velez Sarsfield (+4) - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 v Colon
24 Colon (+2) - NEXT: Sun Nov 27 at Velez Sarsfield
- - - - -
7th 23 Lanus (+5) - LAST: Mon Nov 21 L 0-1 v Arsenal
9th 23 Atletico Rafaela (+1) - LAST: Sun Nov 20 L 1-0 at Colon

ASIA

Server Djeparov of Uzbekistan and Al-Shabab (Saudi Arabia) was named the Asian Player of the Year.

OCEANIA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The Thomas Rongen coached American Samoa won their first of 3 games to be played this weekend. But thats not the real story - Its their first win EVER!

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 22
American Samoa 2-1 Tonga
Cook Islands 2-3 Samoa
-Thu Nov 24
American Samoa v Cook Islands
Samoa v Tonga
-Sat Nov 26
Samoa v American Samoa
Tonga v Cook Islands

Standings:
3 Samoa (+1)
3 American Samoa (+1)
0 Tonga (-1)
0 Cook Islands (-1)

Game Schedule

Some Soccer News for Tue Nov 22, 2011

STARTERS

I know I'm not on their radar and definitely not hot enough to make the grade, but it is this bearded Midwestern boy's dream of someday knowing the fine women of Kickette!

dN

John Harkes has been replaced by Taylor Twellman as they TV commentator at ESPN for USA and MLS games.

dN

And I can't pass up a link to the great post by Dan Loney of Big Soccer featuring his LA Galaxy MLS Cup victory relief, and also a rave-up of us fans from right here in Minnesota!!!
-Oh, and he addresses the MLS unbalanced schedule too.

dN

The expansion draft for Montreal to begin filling their roster will take place on Wed Nov 23.
-You can watch the draft live at 2pm CT at the Montreal website.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - LA Soundtrack - new music mix at Spotify.

With MLS Cup in Los Angeles last weekend I thought what we really needed was my Ultimate LA Music Mix on Spotify! Rock it now!

NSC MINNESOTA STARS 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP GEAR

Get your NSC Minnesota Stars 2011 NASL Champions Gear today!

MLS CUP PLAYOFFS

Final
Match & Score:
-Sun Nov 20
LA Galaxy 1-0 Houston Dynamo - LAG goal by Landon Donovan
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
Attendance: 30,281

dN

LA centerback Omar Gonzalez was my Man of the Match in the final. He just stuffed the Dynamo offense time after time after time and never gave them a true sniff at goal outside of a couple long distance shots and one missed placed header. He was amazing. And how Jurgen Klinsmann can deny this guy is beyond my comprehension.

dN

See the goal right here. A thing of beauty from Donovan.

dN

Michael Davies and Roger Bennett of Grantland tracked MLS Cup as it happened, to great effect.

dN

In case you missed any du Nord action the past few days you need to go back to Friday and read the awesome interview Graham Fox did with Tony Meola, then go down the game day schedule Graham created to see how close you came to scoring a trifecta of fandom! (A trifecta would go something like: fall down, lose room key, sleep in car.) Then see the Monday review of the MLS Cup final from Paul Demko, including one of the most important remarks of all time: "Did you ever think a player could be so awful that you'd pine for Chad Barrett? Congratulations Adam Cristman!"

dN

Andy Mead of Yellow Card Journalism has a ton of great photos from MLS Cup posted on his Facebook page.

dN

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America breaks down the salaries paid to the Galaxy and Dynamo players.
-LAG starting 11 avg: $1,187,131
-HD starting 11 avg: $153,978
The difference is that LA had 3 designated players, and Houston 0. All the other players salaries were roughly the equivalent.
-LAG w/o Beckham, Donovan & Keane avg: $105,149
-HD w/o Ching avg: $128,126

DU NORD IN LA FOR THE MLS CUP FINAL

The stars were out in force all over Los Angeles this weekend. And here are just a couple of the many I got to talk to:

Here's me with Joe-Max Moore and Juergen Sommer.
















How about me with Jimmy Conrad and his podcasting pardner Frank Kuzava.


















The there is me and DaMarcus Beasley eating' burgers at the 5 Guys in Carson.



















RISE AND SHINE: THE JAY DEMERIT STORY

Schedule for Movie Theater screenings

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Matchday 5

Recap du Nord: Real Madrid continues to storm through all comers. While Lille got a huge road win, and Bayern dominated at home. The Manchester teams again choked though as Man U were tied at home by Benfica and Man City LOST at Napoli!! Inter and Lyon were also held to tie games.

So that means that Bayern & Inter advance.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Nov 22
CSKA Moskva 0-2 Lille Metropole
Bayern Munich 3-1 Villarreal
Lyon 0-0 Ajax
Real Madrid 6-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Napoli 2-1 Manchester City
Trabzonspor 1-1 Inter Milan
Otelul Galati 2-3 Basel
Manchester United 2-2 Benfica

-Wed Nov 23
Zenit St Petersburg v APOEL
AC Milan v Barcelona
BATE Borisov v Plzen
Bayer Leverkusen v Chelsea
Valencia v Genk
Marseille v Olympiacos
Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund
Shakhtar Donetsk v Porto

ADV: Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich

OUT: Dinamo Zagreb, Otelul Galati, Viktoria Plzen, Villarreal

Matchday 6 to be played Dec 6 & 7

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 19
Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle United - We knew Man City was for real, but maybe Newcastle not so much.
Bayern Munich 0-1 Dortmund - #1 beaten at home by the #2, and the race for the crown is back on BIG TIME!
Monchengladbach 5-0 Werder Bremen - could we really be seeing Gladbach return to the glory days of German fussball?
Valencia 2-3 Real Madrid - #3 put up a fight against #1.
-Sun Nov 20
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool - those big Russian rubles are not looking so powerful right now. But the American dollars are starting to add up to something.
Juventus 3-0 Palermo - Juve goes back to #1 with a big win.
Napoli 0-0 Lazio - nothing changes for either team.

FACT OF THE DAY

Landon Donovan has scored 3 4 goals in MLS Cup finals, and brought his playoff tally to 20.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

The BBC reports on Swansea City not allowing people wearing Manchester United shirts into their stadium unless they have a ticket to the Away fans section.
-How sick are you of seeing Man U and other huge team jerseys at your games. I know I am. I only want to see shirts from MY team at OUR home games.
Thanks to Wes for this article.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

The Philadelphia Union unveil their 2012 uniforms. Main shirt looks to have only a little change (light blue highlights), but their second shirt is a completely new (yet familiar) look.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Huge Congrats goes out to Dwayne DeRosario of DC United who was named MLS 2011 Most Valuable Player.

CD CHIVAS USA

Chivas acquired midfielder Ryan Smith from Sporting KC in exchange for 2 supplemental draft picks.
-Smith departed KC in midseason to attend to family issues back in his native England. Apparently he wants to continue playing in MLS.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle reports that Houston has left Brian Ching open to the expansion draft, but Ching says he will retire if Montreal selects him. He does not want to leave Houston.
-I don't see Montreal picking Ching unless they are nuts. Which they just might be judging by the teams I have seen play in the 2nd division for all these years.
-More from Ortiz on Ching.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Teal Bunbury is off to train with Bolton Wanderers.

USA U17 TEAM

Coming up next week for the U17s is the Nike International Friendlies.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 30
USA v France - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Brazil v Turkey
-Fri Dec 2
USA v Turkey - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
France v Brazil
-Sun Dec 4
USA v Brazil - 4pm CT on FOX Soccer
Turkey v France

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Coming Up:

ITALY - Coppa Italia 4th round
-Thu Nov 24
Michael Bradley - Chievo - v Modena

Los Angeles Galaxy are the MLS champs

Are the 2011 L.A. Galaxy the best team in the history of MLS?

Is David Beckham's MLS career over?

Those seem to be the questions everyone's contemplating after last night's 1-0 MLS Cup victory.

(Along with this lesser one: Did you ever think a player could be so awful that you'd pine for Chad Barrett? Congratulations Adam Cristman!)

Let's see what all the premier soccer scribblers (and other knuckleheads) have to say about the match.

SI's Grant Wahl believes the Galaxy can lay claim to being the best team in MLS history, even if they didn't steamroll opponents.

SI's Steve Davis argues Beckham ran the show on Sunday night.

The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice says the Dynamo's grit wasn't enough.

No Short Corners scribe Will Parchman believes the Galaxy bossed the game.

Phil Collin, of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, says the game hinged on a $12.2 million moment of brilliance from L.A.'s trio of designated players.

Big Soccer blogger Bill Archer: "A little precipitation isn’t supposed to make your turf disintegrate like beer soaked crepe paper at a Redneck picnic." (No, I don' t have any idea what that means.)

L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke has the condescending, old white guy take on the Galaxy's victory.

WaPo's Steve Goff wants to go to bed earlier.

Four dozen diehard Dynamo fans spent 28 hours on a bus, chartered by team co-owner Oscar De La Hoya, to reach the big match.

The Houston Chronicle has a nice slideshow. The L.A. Times also has some sweet pictures.

What's next for our humble league?

Significant changes to the regular season and playoff formats for 2012. Most notably: no more balanced schedule and home field advantage for the MLS Cup will be awarded to the team with the superior regular season record.

Today teams released their list of unprotected players that the Montreal Impact can pick off in the upcoming expansion draft. Among those available: Freddy Adu, Omar Bravo and Carlos Costly.

For more about the future of MLS, I suggest you read Grant Wahl's great Q & A with Commish Don Garber.

Finally, the Indomitable Drinky Crows will be on the field tonight at 9:55 CST. We have rescinded our contract offer to Adam Cristman.

Previewing MLS Cup 2011 with Tony Meola and a Timeline of Cup Events

This is it folks! All the drama and tears and cheers have led us to the end of MLS playoffs. Most fans are left rueing squandered chances, bad decisions, and a lack of that intangible but often referenced “heart”, but a few lucky fans get to experience the true excitement of their team in a MLS Cup. It’s something you can only really feel when your team could win it all.

Someday that could be you (and if it is you this weekend, congratulations you lucky bastards)!

Here are the relevant details:

LA Galaxy VS Houston Dynamo
8pm CST
ESPN Galavision TSN2
More match facts than I could ever come up with on my own

Tony Meola Previews the MLS Cup
Tony Meola, dear friend of DuNord, and I chatted about the MLS Cup today. It was interesting to get a perspective that didn’t put the Galaxy as the heavy favorites.

1. Where in the World is Tony Meola Today?
I’m in LA with AllState getting ready for an exciting weekend centered around the MLS Cup final. We’ve got a pretty exciting couple days and weekend setup.

Tonight we are heading out to do a local event with a bunch of teams in the LA area. We are going to take their goalkeepers and do a little clinic. The goalkeepers don’t know what is happening but by the end of the night they will have received a full line of uniforms and things to help them get through their season. We do that it in a lot of communities.

The best part is they all get tickets to the final! AllState has a huge setup and when they get to the clinic they have no idea what is going on and they keep wondering as the night goes on what is going to happen.

2. If we are going to the MLS Cup, where can we meet you at?
Sunday we are having a big event at the stadium in conjunction with LA Scores which is a local charity that a couple guys I’ve played with have are involved in.

Just look for the big AllState tent in the celebration area. From 3 to 5, you can come in, register, sit and chat. We have Cobi Jones, Ethan Jones, and Pavel Pardo stopping by.

It’s a neat event. We have a green screen and kids will have an opportunity to dive after a ball. Every time someone takes a dive AllState will donate 50 bucks to LA Scores. I might even chip in 50 bucks to see Cobi dive.

3. Have you been to a lot of MLS Cup’s as a spectator? How many years in a row?
I think I’ve only missed one since I was playing in the finals. I missed the second time Houston won. Dominic Kinnear was my old roommate so he doesn’t let me live it down that I missed it.

4. For those of us who haven’t been to one, what can we expect besides the game? Lots of fan events to attend / players to meet?
From a fans perspective it’s more of an experience. There’s an awful lot to do rather than just watch the game for 90 minutes. Now with all the ex-players that are coaching and GMs and Technical Directors that all come out this is the time everyone gets together and it almost feels like a big team meeting. All the players do a great job of getting around and talking to fans.

5. Everyone seems to be saying that the Galaxy are hands down favorite to win the cup, do you agree?
I don’t know that when you get to a final anyone is hands down the favorite. Of course they have a huge advantage being home, but I think LA has offered up an awful lot of chances in the playoffs. Their goalkeeper played well in NY, but in the last game verse Salt Lake there were opportunities for both teams.

The difference was LA buried that second goals and that changed the face of the game. LA gave up a lot of their opportunities on restarts early in the game and that’s the one thing VS Houston you don’t want to do.

Of course Brad Davis is not playing now but it didn’t seem to matter VS KC. Anytime you have Brian Ching in the box he’s going to be dangerous and other guys who have some size like Moffat. You just can’t handle everyone. Houston is comfortable with enduring pressure. They can relieve and accept pressure, sit back, waiting for it to subside, and then go about their game.

They are two very good teams. I don’t know how you can say that one team is “hands down” the favorite.

6. I’ve was looking at records of who has won over the last 15 Cups and the team with the worst record has won 9/15 times. It goes to show anyone can win this time of year.

You want to play well this time of year. LA has done well all year and Houston has really come on strong during the end of the season. They are two really organized teams, and Houston might be the most organized team in the league.

7. Between Josh Saunders and Tally Hall, who do you think is the better goalkeeper?
They’ve both been very good. Tally Hall is a little more traditional and Saunders is a little more reactionary but they both serve their purpose well. There were a couple plays I’m sure that went unnoticed for Tally Hall during the Houston vs KC game where if he had spilled a ball or given up a rebound on some difficult low shots he would have been in trouble. Those are things don’t look like they are trouble until the keeper spills one and then everyone notices.

8. What about the battle of coaches? Between Kinnear and Arena we have two veteran coaches each with multiple MLS Cup wins. Does either have the advantage?
I think they are pretty evenly matched. You look at Kinnear's changes in KC. He lost his #1 guy in the first half, makes changes, and endures pressure. He made the changes and two minutes later the kid he puts in scores. Every move he made worked out.

These are two coaches that know exactly what to do. I don’t know that one coach is going to out coach the other. It’s going to be pretty evenly coached and the players on the field will decide it.

9. Are you a neutral? Who are you cheering for?
I’m a huge Dominic fan. I’m not going to stand up and jump if Houston scores but I’ve always supported Dominic, he’s always supported me in everything that I’ve done, and I’ll continue to support him.

Thanks for helping us out Tony!

Fan Fun Events
So where are all these great events and fun times taking place at? I’ve done my best to try and track down a few of them. You can also follow @dunord on Twitter to track down and stock our bearded leader.

Sunday (All time in Central)
7am – 8am Tailgate Extravaganza Prep

8am – 11am Attempt to Drive to MLS Cup

11am – 3pm Tailgate Like This is The Last Tailgate Ever (I recommend Early Times)

3 – 5pm Groin Injury at Tony Meola’s Goalkeeper Challenge

8-10pm It’s Game Time Bitches (Thunder Stick Distributed at Door)

10-12pm Reenact the Rum Diary. Do Not Fight the Locals.

12pm – 1am Celebrate the Win or Drown Out the Loss At Your Local Dive Bar

1am – 2am Engage Eric Wynaldo in a Shots Contest

2am – 3am Yell “BRUUUUUUUCCEEE” at Every Non Drinking Mountain of Man With a Beard (They are All Bruce)

3am – 4am Try to Figure Why Your Hotel Room Card Doesn’t Work

4am – 6am Sleep In The Hall

6am – 6.30am Incredible Thirst

6.30am – 6.45am Realizing You Are on the Wrong Floor

6.45am -7.00am 15 Minutes of Sleep Before You Have to Leave To Catch Your Flight

-------
Cheers, Graham Fox

Some Soccer News for Thu Nov 17, 2011

EDITORIAL NOTE: I will be in LA beginning tomorrow afternoon to personally witness MLS Cup 2011, so the illustrious King of the Plains People Graham Fox will helm the du Nord company truck on Friday, and the Jester-Midwester Exemplar of Salisbury Paul Demko will enlighten you all on Monday. I will be back to entertain you on Tuesday of next short week.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - LA Soundtrack - new music mix at Spotify.

With MLS Cup in Los Angeles this weekend I thought what we really needed was my Ultimate LA Music Mix on Spotify! Rock it now!

STARTERS

The du Nord 2011 MLS Best 11 & Player Of The Year.

dN

Has anyone else heard this rumor: Friendly Wed Feb 29 USA at Italy in Genoa?

dN

The MLS 2011 Most Valuable Player will be announced on Friday afternoon, and Dwayne DeRosario is the heavy favorite.

dN

The CONCACAF Olympic qualifying games next spring will be shown on Universal Sports Network & Telemundo.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP GEAR

Get your NSC Minnesota Stars 2011 NASL Champions Gear! Its now available!!!

STORY OF THE DAY

Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star asks a simple question: Is anyone better than Dwayne De Rosario?

You could make a strong argument that DDR has been the best player in league history.

MLS CUP PLAYOFFS

Final
Match & Score:
-Sun Nov 20
LA Galaxy v Houston Dynamo - 8:00pm CT on ESPN
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

dN

What are the two teams records since Aug 1?
-Houston Dynamo: 9W - 2L - 4T (Last 5: 5W - 0L - 0T)
-LA Galaxy: 10W - 3L - 1T (Last 5 games: 4W - 1L - 0T)

dN

LA and Houston played twice this year in the league, with each team winning at home. Although the game in Houston was at the very end of the regular season and the Galaxy brought their second string.

-May 25
LA Galaxy 1-0 Houston Dynamo - LAG goal by Landon Donovan (PK).
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Video highlights of the game.

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Chris Birchall (Jovan Kirovski 89), Landon Donovan, Juninho, Michael Stephens, Juan Pablo Angel (Mike Magee 61), Chad Barrett (Miguel Lopez 74).
Subs Not Used: Gregg Berhalter, Paolo Cardozo, Frankie Hejduk, Josh Saunders.
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall, Hunter Freeman, Bobby Boswell, Andre Hainault, Corey Ashe (Mike Chabala 46), Brad Davis (Je-Vaughn Watson 61), Lovel Palmer, Geoff Cameron, Colin Clark, Will Bruin, Koke (Cam Weaver 74).
Subs Not Used: Jason Garey, Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor, Tyler Deric.

Cards:
LAG - Sean Franklin (caution; Delaying a Restart) 87
HD - Je-Vaughn Watson (caution; Reckless Foul) 90

-Oct 23
Houston Dynamo 3-1 LA Galaxy - HD goals by Adam Moffat, Bobby Boswell & Carlo Costly. LAG goal by Jack McBean.
Venue: Robertson Stadium

Video highlights of the game.

Lineups:
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe, Danny Cruz (Colin Clark 81), Luiz Camargo, Adam Moffat, Brad Davis, Brian Ching (Carlo Costly 63), Calen Carr (Will Bruin 76).
Substitutes Not Used: Hunter Freeman, Jermaine Taylor, Je-Vaughn Watson, Tyler Deric
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, Frankie Hejduk (Ryan Thomas 76), Gregg Berhalter, Dasan Robinson, A.J. DeLaGarza, Hector Jimenez, Chris Birchall, Dan Keat, Michael Stephens, Jovan Kirovski (Chad Barrett 62), Jack McBean.
Substitutes Not Used: Paolo Cardozo, Sean Franklin, Juninho, Miguel Lopez, Brian Perk.

Cards:
HD - Andre Hainault (caution; Reckless Foul) 43
HD - Danny Cruz (caution; Reckless Foul) 44
LAG - Jovan Kirovski (caution; Reckless Foul) 49
HD - Carlo Costly (caution; Shirt Removal) 75

dN

General Playoff News

The Original Winger asked 11 people inside the soccer world, players, coaches, journalists etc, to recall their fondest MLS Cup memories - And I got to be one of those 11 for a day. How did I get on this list?
-Sacha Kljestan – Anderlecht
-Martin Rogers – Yahoo! Sports
-Jimmy Conrad – Fox Soccer
-Adam Spangler – This Is American Soccer
-Robbie Rogers – Columbus Crew
-Rob Stone – ESPN
-Taylor Twellman – ESPN
-Bruce McGuire – du Nord
-Josh Saunders – Los Angeles Galaxy
-Nick Rimando – Real Salt Lake
-Brian Dunseth – BP_TOW, Fox Soccer

dN

Dominic Kinnear and Bruce Arena both get a chance to win 3 MLS Cups as a head coach. No one else has done it yet. One of them will be there first.

dN

How cool is it that 2 great young goalkeepers are leading their teams into the final with one great performance after another.

dN

Scott French of ESPN gives us the history of MLS Cup games that have been played in Los Angeles.

dN

Brian Straus of Sporting News looks at how both teams got to the pinnacle of the season. With good video interviews.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Video: The Road to MLS Cup - Houston Dynamo

dN

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle writes about Houston figuring out how to win on the road last in the season, just in time.

dN

Ortiz on the Dynamo's underdog status.

dN

Glenn Davis of Fox Sports Houston on the Dynamo's set piece prowess.

LA GALAXY

Video: MLS Cup 2011 LA Galaxy

dN

Kevin Baxter of the LA Times says the Galaxy feel they know how to deal with being a heavy favorite.

dN

Scott French of ESPN builds the case for the Galaxy being an all-time great MLS team.

dN

Alexi Lalas at the Mirror ponders Beckham losing MLS Cup again and what that would do for his image.

dN

Mark Ogden of the Telegraph talks to Robbie Keane who says he will NOT go out on loan from the Galaxy during the offseason.

PREDICTION OF THE DAY

Houston almost pulls off the miraculous upset in the MLS Cup final on Sunday, but LA steals it. Controversy abounds! That is my prediction.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Michael Adubato of Yanks Abroad talks to Clint Dempsey about the two recently completed friendlies and his position on the field.

RISE AND SHINE: THE JAY DEMERIT STORY

See the documentary film on the big screen of Jay DeMerit's travels through the soccer world. From small town jock to Premier League captain and World Cup starter.

And the hits just keep on coming! MORE MORE MORE screenings have been added!

Details here

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Matchday 5 next week on Nov 22 & 23.

ADV: Barcelona, Milan, Real Madrid

OUT: Dinamo Zagreb, Otelul Galati, Viktoria Plzen, Villarreal

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Reuters reports that Sepp Blatter really does love the taste of shoe leather. He again cranked his whole foot up and into his mouth yesterday when he denied that there is any racism taking place on the soccer fields of the world and that if two players have a confrontation they should shake hands and declare the matter resolved.
-He later claimed he was misinterpreted and then went on to make the same statements to other news outlets.
-He really is a special kind of idiot.

Al Jazeera has a video interview with Blatter in which he says several stupid things.

dN

An amazing back and forth between Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand and Sepp Blatter has taken place on Twitter over the past 24 hours:

rioferdy5 Rio Ferdinand
@SeppBlatter your comments on racism are so condescending its almost laughable. If fans shout racist chants but shake our hands is that ok?

rioferdy5 Rio Ferdinand
@SeppBlatter to say what you said about racism in football spoke volumes of your ignorance to the subject.

SeppBlatter Joseph S Blatter
Racism and discrimination of any kind have no place in football. I have said this many times before, and I will say it again and again

FIFA Statement

rioferdy5 Rio Ferdinand
Fifa clear up the blatter comments with a pic of him posing with a black man..I need the hand covering eyes symbol!!

SeppBlatter Joseph S Blatter
@rioferdy5 The ‘black man’ as you call him has a name: Tokyo Sexwale. He has done tremendous work against racism and apartheid in Africa...

rioferdy5 Rio Ferdinand
@SeppBlatter I guess you now have the full support of all the women, gay community + people against racism in football....

rioferdy5 Rio Ferdinand
@SeppBlatter If we want 2 stamp out racism in society a football pitch is a good place to start-loved by billions of people around the world


















BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Nov 19
Manchester City v Newcastle United - We know Man City is for real, but this is when we find out if #3 Newcastle are too.
Bayern Munich v Dortmund - #1 in Germany hosts #2
Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen - #4 in Germany hosts #3
Valencia v Real Madrid - #3 v #1 with 4 points between them
-Sun Nov 20
Chelsea v Liverpool - two big spenders who want to show their quality
Juventus v Palermo - two teams that want to be taken seriously
Napoli v Lazio - the high powered home team takes on the surprising #2
Besiktas v Galatasaray - one of the most intense rivalries in the world

DO YOU REALIZE

The Economist looks at David Beckham's value to Major League Soccer.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Australian Four Four Two has words from LA Galaxy president Tom Payne comparing MLS to the A-League.

FACT OF THE DAY

2012 FIFA International Dates

Feb 29 - Friendly match day
Jun 1-5 - International match days
Jun 8-12 - International match days
Jun 8-Jul 1 - UEFA EURO 2012 Poland/Ukraine
Jul 26-Aug 11 - Men's Olympic Football Tournament London
Aug 15 - Friendly match day
Sep 7-11 - International match days
Oct 12-16 - International match days
Nov 14 - Friendly match day

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Jonah Friedman and Nick Firchau of MLS give us a video tour of some of LA's soccer highlights.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Thierry Henry training with Arsenal this week. And who is that in back ground? Ah yes, Brek Shea, the boy with the wet pet ferret.















MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Kyle McCarthy of the Herald on the hiring of Jay Heaps as the team's new head coach.

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe sees the risk in hiring Heaps, who has no coaching experience. But the Revs are up for taking the chance.

Scott Coen of MassLive.com with an article on Western Massachusetts' native Heaps.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Thierry Henry is back in London doing some offseason training with his hold team Arsenal.
-Video from Arsenal of Henry training and coach Arsene Wenger talking about him.

TORONTO FC

The Star reports that ownership of TFC's parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is very likely to change hands.
-The Globe & Mail continues the story.

USL NEWS

The Austin Aztex of the PDL hired Paul Dalglish to be there new head coach.

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Several stories emerged from the just ended U23/20 training camp in Duisburg Germany.
-Michael Adubato gets the lowdown from youth director Claudio Reyna who played a big part in coaching this recently ended training camp.
-Brian Sciaretta catches up with John Anthony Brooks.
-Scott Peterson asks Jared Jeffrey about his development.
-Andrew Vorce talks to Conor Doyle.

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com on Charles Renken.

Two videos from US Soccer to see:
-Terrance Boyd is a real handful as a forward, as you can see in this goal he scored for the USA this week.
-Video interviews with players as the camp wraps up.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Michael Parkhurst about his new contract at Nordjaelland.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com introduces us to attacking midfielder Ricardo Bocanegra who was born in the USA (but only spent his first month here) and had a breakout season at Atlas.

MEXICO

Laguilla - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat Nov 19
Queretaro v Guadalajara
Morelia v Cruz Azul
-Sun Nov 20
Chiapas Jaguares v Santos Laguna
Pachuca v UANL Tigres

2nd Leg matches one week later.

EUROPE

David Hytner of the Guardian talks to Samuel Eto'o about his surprise move to an unknown club in Russia this past summer.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Matchday 5 - Thu Nov 24.

BRAZIL

Recap du Nord: With now only 3 games left to play this season #1 Corinthians got a huge win while #2 Vasco could only draw and that gives Corin a 2 point lead at the top. Fluminense also won and remain 3rd, but closer to that 2nd place. 4th place Fig play tonight, while Bota lost yet keep their #5 position.

Serie A Top 5 Standings (35 of 38 games played):
64 Corinthians (18 W) - LAST: Wed Nov 16 W 0-1 at Ceara - NEXT: Sun Nov 20 v Atletico Minero
62 Vasco da Gama (17 W) - LAST: Wed Nov 16 D 1-1 at Palmeiras - NEXT: Sat Nov 19 v Avai
59 Fluminense (18 W) - LAST: Wed Nov 16 W 5-4 v Gremio - NEXT: Sun Nov 20 at Figueirense
*56 Figueirense (15 W) - NEXT: Thu Nov 17 at Flamengo - NEXT: Sun Nov 20 v Flamengo
55 Botafogo (16 W) - LAST: Wed Nov 16 L 2-1 at America Mineiro - NEXT: Sun Nov 20 v Internacional

ARGENTINA

Tim Vickery of ESPN says the Argentina national team sags heavy under the weight of their history.

dN

Primera Division - Apertura - Top 5 Standings (14 of 19 played):
32 Boca Juniors - NEXT: Sat Nov 19 v Racing Club
24 Racing Club - NEXT: Sat Nov 19 at Boca Juniors
23 Lanus (+5) - NEXT: Sat Nov 19 v Arsenal
23 Atletico Rafaela (+1) - NEXT: Sat Nov 19 at Colon
21 Tigre (+3) (16GF) - NEXT: Sat Nov 19 at Newell's Old Boys