Some Soccer News for Tue Nov 8, 2011

THE WORLD IS CHANGING RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES

Mexico has dropped captain Rafael Marquez from the national team this week after his 3 game suspension in MLS after he threw a ball at Landon Donovan, started a brawl and then pretended he got hit in the face. Karma's a bitch.

And as many times as I have found the Mexican football federation to be poor in their judgement, they need praise for doing the right thing this time.

STARTERS

Smokin Joe Fraser - RIP






















dN

My new goal for MLS Cup weekend in LA is to meet Monica Gonzalez of ESPN!

dN

American teenage midfielder Marc Pelosi has signed with Liverpool.

dN

This is supposedly a new Sounders third jersey for next season. Replacing the yellow shirt? (Thanks to Michael for the image, from Todo Sobre Camisetas.)

















STORY OF THE DAY

Reuters reports that former Juventus GM and all around sleaze bag Luciano Moggi found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison for match fixing.

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

General Playoff News

One of the most interesting match ups for the title will be the two young goalkeepers Tally Hall for Houston and Josh Saunders for LA.

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN with 5 hot topics of the playoffs so far.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Beau Dure of USA with an article on talented young keeper Tally Hall.

LA GALAXY

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze sees this as the Galaxy's season.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Mon Nov 7, 2011 - music mix at Spotify

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Landon Donovan has taken himself off the roster to face France on Friday. Here is what the coach had to say: "The plan was to have Landon come in for the match against France and then return to the LA Galaxy in preparation for MLS Cup, but after further discussion Landon expressed his desire to stay in Los Angeles. While my preference was to have Landon with us for this important match, I respect his decision."

US Soccer gives us photos from Day 1 in France.
-And a few more pics from the Facebook page.

US Soccer has video from Day 1 as well.

US Soccer has interviews with Mo Edu - AND - Jermaine Jones.

dN

U20/23 news:

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to new USA U20/23 call ups Terrance Boyd of Borussia Dortmund - AND - Royal Dominique Fennell of Stuttgart Kicker - AND - Perry Kitchen of DC United.
-Boyd is also very tight with other Germany based players on the roster Jerome Kisewetter, John Anthony Brooks and Alberto Morales.

dN

Here is the Slovenia roster for next weeks game:
G:
Vid Belec - Crotone
Jasmin Handanovic - Maribor
Samir Handanovic - Udinese
D:
Miso Brecko - Cologne
Bostjan Cesar - Chievo
Branko Ilic - Lokomotiv Moscow
Bojan Jokic - Chievo
Matej Mavric Rozic - Kapfenberger
Miral Samardzic - Sheriff
Marko Suler - Gent
M:
Armin Bacinovic - Palermo
Josip Ilicic - Palermo
Andraz Kirm - Wisla Krakow
Rene Krhin - Bologna
Dejan Lazarevic - Padova
Darijan Matic - Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
Ales Mertelj - Maribor
Dare Vrsic - Olimpija Ljubljana
F:
Valter Birsa - Genoa
Zlatko Dedic - Bochum
Zlatan Ljubijankic - Ghent
Tim Matavz - PSV
Nejc Pecnik - Krylya Sovetov

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Nov 11
France v USA - 2pm CT on ESPN2
-Tue Nov 15
Slovenia v USA - 11am CT on ESPN2

dN

USA Roster-
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Alfredo Morales - Hertha
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Michael Bradley - Chievo
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Brek Shea - Dallas
Danny Williams - Hoffenheim
F:
Jozy Altidore - AZ
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt

dN

Special USA U20/23 Training Camp Roster-
G:
David Bingham - San Jose Earthquakes
Cody Cropper - Ipswich Town
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
Jon Kempin - Sporting Kansas City
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Eintracht Frankfurt
Anthony Brooks - Hertha Berlin
Sean Cunningham - Molde
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgart Kickers
Greg Garza - No club
Perry Kitchen - DC United
Will Packwood - Birmingham
Zarek Valentin - Chivas USA
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
Ethan White - DC United
M:
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mixx Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Tyrone McCargo - Nurnberg
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Charles Renken - Hoffenheim
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Jose Villarreal - LA Galaxy
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Terrence Boyd - Hertha Berlin
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Conor Doyle - Derby County
Josh Gatt - Molde
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim
Jerome Kiesewetter - Hertha Berlin
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich
Andrew Wooten - Kaiserslautern

dN

France Roster-
G:
Cedric Carrasso - Bordeaux
Hugo Lloris - Lyon
Steve Mandanda - Marseille
D:
Eric Abidal - Barcelona
Mathieu Debuchy - Lille
Laurent Koscielny - Arsenal
Jeremy Mathieu - Valencia
Adil Rami - Valencia
Anthony Reveillere - Olympique Lyon
Mamadou Sakho - Paris Saint-Germain
M:
Yohan Cabaye - Newcastle
Alou Diarra - Marseille
Yann M'Vila - Rennes
Florent Malouda - Chelsea
Marvin Martin - Sochaux
Samir Nasri - Manchester City
F:
Karim Benzema - Real Madrid
Kevin Gameiro - Paris Saint-Germain
Olivier Giroud - Montpellier
Jeremy Menez - Paris Saint-Germain
Loic Remy - Marseille
Franck Ribery - Bayern Munich

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Knockout Stage Draw:

Quarterfinals
1st Leg
-Mar 6-8
Seattle Sounders v Santos Laguna
Isidro Metapan v UNAM Pumas
Toronto FC v LA Galaxy
Morelia v Monterrey
2nd Leg
-Mar 13-15
Santos Laguna v Seattle Sounders
UNAM Pumas v Isidro Metapan
LA Galaxy v Toronto FC
Monterrey v Morelia

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Mar 27-29
LAG/TFC v SL/SS
Mon/Mor v UNAM/IM
2nd Leg
-Apr 3-5
SL/SS v LAG/TFC
UNAM/IM v Mon/Mor

Finals
1st Leg
-Apr 17-19
2nd Leg
-Apr 24-26

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I've worked tirelessly under extreme duress at the club, I've gotten little to no help from Paul (Bravo, technical director) or from Jeff (Plush, managing director), and still managed to put a team together that won a championship and got in the playoffs this year. I feel as though I've been very disrespected in all of this."
-Fired Colorado Rapids head coach Gary Smith.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING

Colorado chose technical director Paul Bravo over head coach Gary Smith. Smith had gone public last month with his conflict with Bravo and declared that one of them had to go. Smith got the boot.

New England, New York and San Jose would all be fools not to take a run at Gary Smith to be their next head coach!

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The Great Britain Olympic team jersey. Who designed this thing? An Ed Hardy reject? (thanks to G. L. who sent us this pic that he obviously got from Football Fashion.)






















MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Sporting Kansas City forward CJ Sapong has been named the 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year.

I voted for centerback AJ Soares of New England.

CHICAGO FIRE

Check out the 2nd issue of the online Chicago Fire Fanzine. (thanks to Danny for the link)

Javier Leon (club director) and Mike Jeffries (player personnel) will share the day to day responsibilities of technical director now that Frank Klopas is the full time head coach. For now the team has no plans to make another hire.

A letter to the fans from Fire owner Andrew Hauptman.

COLORADO RAPIDS

John Meyer of the Post on the firing of head coach Gary Smith yesterday.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch with the latest on contract talks with players who's deals are expiring.
-More details on Robbie Rogers situation.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post reflects on the Bulls disastrous season.
-Lewis also looks closer at the trading of Dwayne DeRosario.

The team does not plan on having goalkeeper Frank Rost back for 2012.

Finally, Lewis tries to get a handle on what next years roster will look like.

Joel Lindpere is off to try and help Estonia upset Ireland and qualify for the European Championship tournament next summer.

Frank Giase of the Star Ledger urges the Red Bulls management not to make drastic off-season moves yet again.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Times has the transcript of head coach Sigi Schmid's year end press conference.

MEXICO

Laguilla - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat Nov 19
Queretaro v Guadalajara
Morelia v Cruz Azul
-Sun Nov 20
Pachuca v Tigres
Jaguares v Santos Laguna
2nd Leg
-Sat Nov 26
Guadalajara v Queretaro
Cruz Azul v Morelia
-Sun Nov 27
Tigres v Pachuca
Santos Laguna v Jaguares

ENGLAND

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal examines the 25 year reign of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

ITALY

Cagliari has used the international break to fire head coach Massimo Ficcadenti. Their former coach Davide Ballardini is being lined up as the replacement.
-He is the 7th Serie A coach fired this season!

UEFA EURO 2012 QUALIFYING

The final 4 places are now up for grabs. 8 teams were paired up and now face off home and away to claim the last places in the next summers big tournament.

You can watch all the games online at ESPN3.com

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Fri Nov 11
Bosnia & Herzegovina v Portugal
Turkey v Croatia
Czech Republic v Montenegro
Estonia v Ireland
2nd Leg
-Tue Nov 15
Portugal v Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia v Turkey
Montenegro v Czech Republic
Ireland v Estonia