Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Some News for Wed Aug 31, 2011

STARTERS

Very bad injury news for Eric Lichaj who suffered a torn labrum (part of the hip) and depending on the severity or need for surgery he could be out until January at worst.

dN

A very interesting note on the day long frenzy on the closing of the international transfer window today: as much as the American soccersphere waited/anticipated for a Clint Dempsey move, the English press never even hinted that there was going to be one. Interesting.

dN

Rumor: USA to host Ecuador on Oct Tue 11 in the New York-New England zone.

US OPEN CUP

Experience pays off big time!

It will be 2 time defending champ Seattle hosting 4 time winner Chicago for the 2011 Open Cup championship.

SEMIFINALS
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 30
Chicago Fire SC 2-1 Richmond Kickers - CF goals by Sebastian Grazzini & Dominic Oduro. RK goal by William Yombi.
Venue: Toyota Park
Atten: 8,909
Match report by Charlie Coor of ESPN.
Match report by Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report by Orrin Schwarz of Chicago'd Daily Herald.
Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 FC Dallas - SS goal by Fredy Montero.
Venue: Starfire Stadium
Atten: 4,593
Player & coach quotes by Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times.
Match report by Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune.

dN

FINAL
-Tue Oct 4
Seattle Sounders FC v Chicago Fire SC - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer
Venue: Century Link Field

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

2 upcoming friendlies.

US Soccer gives us all the pre-game notes we could ever want for USA v Costa Rica.

US Soccer gives us a picture of the new kid - Fabian Johnson:
























US Soccer has Tim Howard answer viewer Tweets.

US Soccer does a Q & A with Timothy Chandler.

The game on Friday will be the first for Costa Rican interim head coach Ronald Gonzalez.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA v Costa Rica - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium v USA - 1:30pm CT on ESPN and ESPN3.com
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels

dN

ROSTER
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Edgar Castillo - America
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
**Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Zach Loyd - Dallas
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
Heath Pearce - Chivas USA
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
added: Jonathan Spector - Birmingham
M:
**Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
**Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Maurice Edu - Rangers
%%Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
added: Chris Pontius - DC United
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Brek Shea - Dallas
Jose Torres - Pachuca
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy

**Only for game in Belgium
%%FIFA has not cleared him to play for the USA yet

dN

Keyvan Antonio Heydari of the New York Times does a Q & A with Honduras head coach Luis Fernando Suarez, and one of the questions is about Klinsmann.

STORY OF THE DAY

The AP takes a look at what has already been a long 7 year pro career and full roller coaster ride for Freddy Adu. Via Fox.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Does this spell the end for the current San Jose Earthquakes technical staff?

Newest signing Edmundo Zura had his contract terminated less than 2 weeks after joining the team because he was so out of shape that he could not help the team down the stretch run this season.
-Official announcement.

He was signed on a loan deal from El Nacional in Ecuador, but only played 20 minutes total for the Quakes.

One clue that might have given SJE cause for concern is that this was his 4th loan deal in the last 7 seasons. To my way of thinking if a player has value then loan deals turn into transfers, but continuous loan deals mean the team who owns him is doing everything they can to get rid of him.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Fox (proper) will show Manchester United v Chelsea on Sun Sep 18 via tape delay after their NFL coverage.
-The game will also be shown live earlier on Fox Soccer.

Fox will do this a few more times throughout the NFL/EPL season.

FACT OF THE DAY

LA Galaxy can clinch a playoff spot with a win on the road against Sporting Kansas City on Mon Sep 5.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Dueling Mazes! Dueling Mazes! Dueling Mazes! Dueling Mazes! Dueling Mazes!

Yesterday we showed you the Portland Timbers corn maze:















And today we get the Sporting Kansas City corn maze:














Both awesome, but there is a small problem here, the KC maze was done in photoshop.

Timbers win!

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

WEEK 25

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 3
Real Salt Lake v Philadelphia Union - 8:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
-Mon Sep 5
Sporting Kansas City v LA Galaxy - 4:00PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park

HEY THERE BUDDY, HOW MANY MLS WINS YOU GOT?

14 LA
13 Dallas
13 Seattle
11 Columbus
11 Salt Lake
10 Colorado
9 Kansas City
9 Portland
8 Houston
8 Philadelphia
7 Chivas
7 DC
6 New York
5 San Jose
4 Chicago
4 New England
4 Toronto
4 Vancouver

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CHICAGO FIRE

Sebastian Grazzini was pulled from the Open Cup game due to a hamstring injury. No report on severity yet?

DC UNITED

Keyvan Antonio Heydari of the New York Times does a Q & A with Honduras head coach Luis Fernando Suarez who says dealing with DCU concerning Andy Najar has not been easy.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star with the latest 11 most important SKC questions.

dN

Gooch also marks the 5th anniversary of the teams current owners taking control.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The Revs hand us photos and videos of pro golfer Sergio Garcia training with the New Englanders.
-I hear he has an ownership stake in a low low lower division team in Spain.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Jonathan Crowl of the Willamette Weekly with a deep look at the true power & controversy created by that power of the Timbers hardcore fanbase - The Army.
-Ooooooooh I can see this one causing quite a stir among the cognoscenti.

REAL SALT LAKE

RSL is now expecting to have Javier Morales back on the field Oct 1, about 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

dN

Nathan Miller of the Universe from BYU looks at RSL's popularity compared to the NBA's Utah Jazz. Its still not close.
-On the other hand MLS is 16 years old with RSL being 7, while the NBA is 65 years old with the UJ being 32.
-It was not that many years ago that NBA players got paid what MLS players get paid now. And the world wide appeal of soccer devours that of basketball (which is relatively strong), so the growth potential is exponentially more in soccer.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The Caps released fullback Wes Knight who had been one of their very best players in the 2nd division.

dN

Kimiya Shokoohi of the Courier looks at the team's most fervent supporters.

MLS OFFENSIVE STATS LEADERS

As of Wed Aug 31

Goals:
12 Thierry Henry
11 Landon Donovan
10 Eric Hassli
10 Brek Shea
9 Dwayne De Rosario
9 Dominic Oduro
9 Chris Wondolowski
8 Camilo
8 Charlie Davies
8 Kei Kamara
8 Andres Mendoza
8 Maicon Santos

Assists:
13 Brad Davis
11 David Beckham
9 Mauro Rosales
8 Davide Chiumiento
8 Dwayne De Rosario
8 Jack Jewsbury
8 Sebastien Le Toux
7 Kyle Beckerman
7 Fredy Montero
7 Dane Richards

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Soccer America examines league wide 2011 attendance through last weekends games.
-Overall attendance is up 1400 per game, but for some team's it is down:
Chicago -1800
Chivas -170
Columbus -3360
Houston -520
New England -460
Philadelphia -945
Salt Lake -225
Toronto -275

Chicago and Columbus are the two teams with a problem. Where as Philly does not because last year they played a few high profile games in the much bigger Lincoln Field so their numbers were skewed.

MLS EXPANSION

The St Paul Pioneer Press with a few words on a MLS team for Minneapolis. LINK FIXED

NASL NEWS

Huge game coming up this weekend with Ft Laurderdale hosting Montreal, and if the visitors win they would move into the final playoff spot bumping the Strikers out with only 4 games left to play.

dN

The rich get richer as Carolina acquires defender Tyler Lassiter on a loan deal from New York Red Bulls.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 30
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 FC Edmonton - PRI goal by Jonathan Fana. FCE goal by Michael Cox.
-Sat Sep 3
Carolina RailHawks v FC Tampa Bay
Atlanta Silverbacks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Montreal Impact
FC Edmonton v NSC Minnesota Stars

dN

Standings (as of Sat Aug 27):
*51 Carolina RailHawks (+26 GD) (23 GP)
*45 Puerto Rico Islanders (+9 GD) (24 GP)
34 FC Tampa Bay (+5 GD) (23 GP)
30 FC Edmonton (-5 GD) (24 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (-2 GD) (23 GP)
28 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-2 GD) (23 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
25 Montreal Impact (+2 GD) (23 GP)
#12 Atlanta Silverbacks (-33 GD) (23 GP)

*Secured playoff berth
#Eliminated from playoff berth

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Chievo gives us a Michael Bradley introductory video. In English with Italian subtitles.

dN

American Villyan Bijev has been officially signed by Liverpool, then immediately loaned out to Fortuna Dusseldorf of the German Bundesliga 2.

CENTRAL AMERICA

Honduras's star defensive midfielder Wilson Palacios has left Tottenham and signed with Stoke, both in England.

dN

And Costa Rica's big time striker Bryan Ruiz has changed teams too, leaving Twente in Holland to sign with Fulham in England.

CONCACAF 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Grenada v Belize
Trinidad & Tobago v Bermuda
Dominica v Nicaragua
Suriname v Cayman Islands
Antigua & Barbuda v Curacao
Haiti v US Virgin Islands
Guyana v Barbados
El Salvador v Dominican Republic
Canada v St. Lucia
St. Kitts & Nevis v Puerto Rico
Guatemala v St. Vincent/Grenadines

ENGLAND

For those addicted for the last hours of the summer transfer period, the Guardian takes you through the last minute madness around England.

UEFA EURO 2012 QUALIFYING

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Israel v Greece
Andorra v Armenia
Lithuania v Liechtenstein
Finland v Moldova
Malta v Croatia
Luxembourg v Romania
Northern Ireland v Serbia
Faroe Islands v Italy
Ireland v Slovakia
Hungary v Sweden
Wales v Montenegro
Russia v FYR Macedonia
Norway v Iceland
Belarus v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Netherlands v San Marino
Germany v Austria
Slovenia v Estonia
Turkey v Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan v Belgium
Albania v France
Georgia v Latvia
Bulgaria v England
Cyprus v Portugal
-Sat Sep 3
Scotland v Czech Republic

BRAZIL

A full round of Serie A games tonight.

Brazil - Serie A Standings (19 of 38 games played):
37 Corinthians - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Gremio
36 Flamengo - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 at Avai
35 Sao Paulo (+7 GD) - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Fluminense
35 Vasco (+5 GD) - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Ceara
34 Botafogo - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Palmeiras

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012 QUALIFYING

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Libya v Mozambique
Ghana v Swaziland
-Sat Sep 3
Mali v Cape Verde Islands
Cameroon v Mauritius
Senegal v Congo DR
Namibia v Gambia
Sierra Leone v Egypt
Burundi v Benin
Kenya v Guinea-Bissau
Malawi v Tunisia
Rwanda v Cote d'Ivoire
-Sun Sep 4
Zimbabwe v Liberia
Guinea v Ethiopia
Madagascar v Nigeria
Comoros v Zambia
Central African Republic v Morocco
Tanzania v Algeria
Niger v South Africa
Congo v Sudan
Angola v Uganda
Togo v Botswana

ASIA

Two of Australia's biggest names have come home to play in the A-League this summer: Harry Kewell for the Melbourne Victory and Brett Emerton for Sydney FC. Both are great moves for the league.

ASIA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Japan v N Korea
S Korea v Lebanon
Australia v Thailand
Oman v Saudi Arabia
Iran v Indonesia
Tajikistan v Uzbekistan
Iraq v Jordan
United Arab Emirates v Kuwait
China v Singapore
Bahrain v Qatar

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Spain v Chile
Venezuela v Argentina
Ukraine v Uruguay
Poland v Mexico
USA v Costa Rica
Peru v Bolivia
Panama v Paraguay
Ecuador v Jamaica
-Sat Sep 3
Honduras v Colombia
Burkina Faso v Equatorial Guinea
Guam v Vanuatu
Cook Islands v Fiji
New Caledonia v American Samoa
-Sun Sep 4
Mexico v Chile

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Some News for Tue Aug 30, 2011

STARTERS

For one of the 1st times ever MLS is complying with FIFA international dates and only 2 games will be played this weekend, one of them a make up game. We are getting there.

dN

Michael Bradley has completed his transfer to Chievo in Italy from Gladbach in Germany. The Flying Donkeys website greeting him like this: Michael Bradley: yellow and blue stars and stripes (article in Italian).

dN

Stuart Holden played 78 minutes in reserve game for Bolton today.

dN

The European summer transfer period ends on Wed Aug 31 at 5pm CT.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

2 upcoming friendlies.

dN

We have learned that Steve Cherundolo will also NOT be joining the team in California for the first game, only game 2 in Belgium.

That leaves just 18 field players and 2 goalkeepers available for the Costa Rica game on Friday.

US Soccer gives us a short video clip from day 1 of training.

Phil Collin of the LA Daily News attended a Klinsmann press conference where the coach talked about his philosophy.

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze with more on the Klinsi revolution.

Adam Serrano of MLSsoccer.com writes that Klinsmann wants to develop a plan to keep USA team prospects busy during their off season times. Especially MLS players.

There is talk of Klinsmann and his staff having even more direct and personal contact with the players clubs.

DC United's website features a Q & A with Chris Pontius about his late call in to the team.

There are 2 international openings on the calendar for October but its look less and less likely the USA will fill those. But the 2 dates in November look very likely to see games.

Despite saying that a revolving door of assistant coaches would get a look with the team the strong rumor is that Martin Valesquez is negotiating a deal to become the #1 assistant right now.

Daniel van Buyten has been scratched from the Belgian roster due to an injury.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA v Costa Rica - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium v USA - 1:30pm CT on ESPN and ESPN3.com
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels

dN

ROSTER
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Edgar Castillo - America
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
**Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Zach Loyd - Dallas
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
Heath Pearce - Chivas USA
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
added: Jonathan Spector - Birmingham
M:
**Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
**Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Maurice Edu - Rangers
%%Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
added: Chris Pontius - DC United
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Brek Shea - Dallas
Jose Torres - Pachuca
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy

**Only for game in Belgium
%%FIFA has not cleared him to play for the USA yet

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Giovanni Savarese of Boxscore News looks at the unprecedented success of American teams in the CCL already this season.

STORY OF THE DAY

Mark Elkington of Reuters with an article on the utter dominance of Spanish football by Real Madrid and Barcelona. Is their dominance killing off the rest of the league?

US OPEN CUP

Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 30
Chicago Fire SC v Richmond Kickers - 7:30pm CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Seattle Sounders FC v FC Dallas - 9pm CT
Venue: Starfire Stadium

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Despite efforts to change the league rules, the Bundesliga retains the practice that all clubs must be at least 51% owned by supporters!

DO YOU REALIZE

Owen Gibson of the Guardian with an in-depth article reporting 30% Manchester United is to be put up for sale on the Singapore stock exchange. The asking price for 1/3 of the team is approx US$1 billion!

WHO KNEW?

Portland flew all the way across the country only to have their game in DC canceled on Friday morning. Couldn't that call have been made 24 hrs earlier? It was made for the NY-LA and Philly-NE games. Portland turned right around and flew back home. Damn.

FACT OF THE DAY

MLS has 51 players out on international duty with 17 countries this week.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Steve Davis of the Daily Soccer Fix made a recent trip to Colombia and reports back with 2 articles - ONE - and - TWO.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

WOWOWOWOWOW!

Real Salt Lake gives us video of midfielder Javier Morales back on the field training! He looks really good and gets closer every day to returning from his severely broken ankle. Brian Dunseth interviews him.

VIDEO OF THE DAY 2

Goofball Mark Malkoff took a video camera to the Netherlands and interviewed Jozy Altidore. Let's call it "Pop Culture Lite." He even tries to taunt Jozy into hitting him.
-This guy appears to consume a lot of espresso.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

A corn maze in Portland pays tribute to the Timbers.















WHY NOT!


Freddie Ljungberg continues his world paycheck tour this time signing with Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

WEEK 25

There are literally only 2 matches this week.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Sep 3
Real Salt Lake v Philadelphia Union - 8:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
-Mon Sep 5
Sporting Kansas City v LA Galaxy - 4:00PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Seattle forward Lamar Neagle was named MLS Player Of The Week.

FC DALLAS

Robert Casner of MLSsoccer.com talks to George John about his abrupt return to FCD after his deal to sign with Blackburn fell apart. How will be fit back in with the team he left?

DJ Walker at 3rd Degree writes his stream of conscious reaction to Dallas' comeback win in KC this past weekend.

LA GALAXY

There was a question of whether or not centerback Gregg Berhalter had broken his foot during their CCL game last week, but he is listed by the team as having suffered only a sprain.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Professional International golf star Sergio Garcia is going to train with the Revs on Wednesday.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger writes that Seattle may be MLS's best expansion team ever.
-Honestly though, their is only 1 other team in consideration for this "award." The Chicago Fire who won both the MLS & Open Cup in their first season.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Luke Wileman of TSN introduces us to young Caps midfielder Gershon Koffie who has gotten stronger as they season has gone on.

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun introduces us to Caps midfielder and the first Chinese player in MLS Long Tan.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 30
Toronto FC 1-1 DC United - TFC goal by Nathan Sturgis(PK). DCU goal by Joseph Ngwenya.
-Thu Sep 1
Colorado Rapids v Houston Dynamo
-Fri Sep 2
New England Revolution v Toronto FC
-Sat Sep 3
Chivas USA v Vancouver Whitecaps
Portland Timbers v LA Galaxy

dN

Standings Etc.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 30
Puerto Rico Islanders v FC Edmonton
-Sat Sep 3
Carolina RailHawks v FC Tampa Bay
Atlanta Silverbacks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Montreal Impact
FC Edmonton v NSC Minnesota Stars

dN

Standings (as of Sat Aug 27):
*51 Carolina RailHawks (+26 GD) (23 GP)
*44 Puerto Rico Islanders (+9 GD) (23 GP)
34 FC Tampa Bay (+5 GD) (23 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (-2 GD) (23 GP)
29 FC Edmonton (-5 GD) (23 GP)
28 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-2 GD) (23 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
25 Montreal Impact (+2 GD) (23 GP)
#12 Atlanta Silverbacks (-33 GD) (23 GP)

*Secured playoff birth
#Eliminated from playoff birth

MEXICO

Two Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
Poland v Mexico
-Sun Sep 4
Mexico v Chile

ENGLAND

League Cup 2nd Round continues with games on Aug 30 & Sep 13. Here are the matches & scores.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian reviews a study on transfers and considers the importance/difference of youth and experience.

GRATUITOUS DIEGO FORLAN PHOTO

Upon arrival in Milan:

USA Viewing In The Twin Cities - Fri Sep 2 v Costa Rica

Dear fellow Twin Citians,

Come hang out with a bar full of USA fans for a friendly match.

-Fri Sep 2
USA v Costa Rica - 10:00pm CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center, Carson CA


The Sweetwater
at the Best Western Kelly Inn
161 Saint Anthony Ave
I-94 & Marion
St Paul
(651) 224-6373

All ages welcome! Lot's of food and drink available.

Map

Monday, August 29, 2011

Some News for Mon Aug 29, 2011

BLOW YOUR SPEAKERS OUT, PLEASE

I give you my first musical mix set - Fri Aug 26 2011 - via Spotify. Enjoy. There will be more.

STARTERS

The day has finally come when Jeff Cunningham is the new MLS all time leading goal scorer. He buried a Penalty Kick on Saturday against Seattle for career goal #134 and finally surpassed Jaime Moreno's record. Huge congrats to Cunningham.

dN

The wheels fell off the George John English Premier League bandwagon as he failed to reach a contract agreement with Blackburn and now comes back to FC Dallas with tail between legs looking for his job back. How will this go down?
-Last week head coach Schellas Hyndmann, king of the #butteredleather jacket, said John did not want to be in Dallas!

dN

Michael Bradley is apparently on his way to Italy where he will join the Flying Donkeys of AC Chievo Verona.

dN

The 2 Manchester teams are off to monstrous starts to the new English Premier League season. Both with 9 points from 3 games. Both have given up 3 goals. And Man U has 13 scored goals, while Man City has 12. Wow. Not to mention they each destroyed opponents this weekend who thought they might be contenders for the title this season. Chelsea is the only team who is still looking to be a challenger. (Chel visit MU on 9-18, and host MC on 12-10.)
-The first Manchester derby of the season is Sun Oct 23 at United.

dN

Down in Spain the two land-levelers known as Real Madrid and Barcelona got their seasons off to 6-0 & 5-0 starts respectively. Yes, they will both be as great as the Manc teams this season.

dN

Western New York Flash won the WPS championship 5-4 in a Penalty Kick Shootout after the game against Philadelphia Independence ended tied 1-1. Huge congrats to them.

dN

With Serie A players striking out week 1 of the new season there is no word yet that says week 2 won't be washed out as well.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

2 upcoming friendlies.

Clint Dempsey did not fly to LA due to back spasms, but will join the team for the game in Belgium if he is healthy.

Chris Pontius and Jonathan Spector have been called in to the team to replace the injured Zach Loyd and Heath Pearce.

Fabian Johnson may not be available to play in either of these games as his application to make the switch from the German federation is still in progress.
-US Soccer has words from coach Jurgen Klinsmann on why Johnson was called in even thought he might not be able to suit up.

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Timmy Chandler about finally joining the USA national team again, this time under a new head coach.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA v Costa Rica - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium v USA - 1:30pm CT on ESPN and ESPN3.com
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels

dN

ROSTER
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Edgar Castillo - America
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Zach Loyd - Dallas
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
Heath Pearce - Chivas USA
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
added: Jonathan Spector - Birmingham
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
added: Chris Pontius - DC United
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Brek Shea - Dallas
Jose Torres - Pachuca
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy

FIFA SCANDAL

Mohamed Bin Hammam has appealed his ban from soccer to the International Sports Court of Appeals in Switzerland. It will be interesting to see if they take the case and is so on what grounds.

US OPEN CUP

Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 30
Chicago Fire SC v Richmond Kickers - 7:30pm CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Seattle Sounders FC v FC Dallas - 9pm CT
Venue: Starfire Stadium

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Borussia Dortmund - as Dor stumbles again early this season, Lev proved that they were not a fluke last year.
Lyon 2-1 Montpellier - Lyo pulls into 2nd place, just 1 points behind Mon at the top.
-Sun Aug 28
Tottenham 1-5 Manchester City - Tot learns they are not playing in the same league as Man City.
Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal - The red side of Manchester does their total destruction of a supposed contender too.
Lille 3-2 Marseille - last years champs show that they can beat a perennial early this season, so maybe they will fight to repeat.
-Mon Aug 29
Barcelona 5-0 Villarreal - Vil will again NOT challenge for a title.

STAT OF THE DAY

Brad Friedel moved to Tottenham in the offseason to help them solidify there defense, but in 2 games so far this season they have given up 8 goals.
-Of course they have been cursed with playing the killer Manchester cousins in their first two.

WHY?

The English FA Cup has names of rounds even more absurd than the names of their professional divisions. (The country where the 4th division is called League Two. What does that even mean?) Check these out.
-Before we even get to the First Round we have to sit through 6 rounds labeled like this:
Extra Premilinary Round (which took place 9 days ago)
Premilinary Round
First Qualifying Round
Second Qualifying Round
Third Qualifying Round
Fourth Qualifying Round
-theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen-
First Round (which is actually the 7th round)

The 11th round which they call the Fifth Round, is actually the Round of 16.

Confused as to why they insist on doing this? Me too. Although they are English. So there is that.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

WEEK 24

Matches & Scores:
Seattle Sounders FC 6-2 Columbus Crew - SS goals by Lamar Neagle(3), Mauro Rosales(PK), Mike Fucito & Josh Gardner(OG). CC goals by Jeff Cunningham & Josh Gardner.
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Atten: 36,364
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-0 Houston Dynamo - VW goal by Shea Salinas.
Venue: Empire Field
Atten: 20,226
Toronto FC 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes - TFC goal by Eric Avila. SJE goal by Chris Wondolowski.
Venue: BMO Field
Atten: 21,117
Sporting Kansas City 2-3 FC Dallas - SKC goals by Kei Kamara & Omar Bravo. FCD goals by Daniel Hernandez, Maicon Santos & Bobby Warshaw.
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Atten: 20,018
Chicago Fire SC 2-0 Colorado Rapids - CF goals by Dominic Oduro & Cory Gibbs.
Venue: Toyota Park
Atten: 15,211
CD Chivas USA 0-1 Real Salt Lake - RSL goal by Alvaro Saborio.
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Atten: 14,127

dN

EJECTIONS:
Teal Bunbury - Kansas City - 2 yellow cards
Nat Borchers - Salt Lake - red card

MLS SUPPORTERS SHIELD STANDINGS

51 LA Galaxy (26 GP) (+17 GD)
48 Seattle Sounders FC (27 GP) (+13 GD)
46 FC Dallas (27 GP) (+7 GD)
41 Colorado Rapids (28 GP) (+3 GD)
40 Columbus Crew (26 GP) (+1 GD)
39 Real Salt Lake (24 GP) (+13 GD)
36 Sporting Kansas City (26 GP) (+4 GD)
35 Houston Dynamo (27 GP) (+1 GD)
34 Philadelphia Union (24 GP) (+6 GD)
32 New York Red Bulls (26 GP) (+4 GD)
32 Portland Timbers (26 GP) (-8 GD)
31 DC United (24 GP) (-1 GD)
31 CD Chivas USA (27 GP) (+2 GD)
26 San Jose Earthquakes (26 GP) (-8 GD)
27 Chicago Fire SC (26 GP) (-3 GD)
OUT-24 Toronto FC (28 GP) (-23 GD)
OUT-23 New England Revolution (26 GP) (-13 GD)
OUT-21 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (26 GP) (-15 GD)

The only movement in the entire standings was TFC pulling 1 point above New England.

Any points lost by Chicago or gained by LA will knock Chicago out of the race.

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 Colorado Rapids
2 Real Salt Lake
3 Philadelphia Union
4 New York Red Bulls

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Steve Davis at Sports Illustrated with five things we learned from Week 24.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Just like THAT its over - Drew Moor just set a new record by playing the full 90 in his 69th consecutive MLS game, but in that game he got his 5th yellow card of the season suspending him for the next game, and WHAMMOOOO the streak has now ended.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

3 red cards in their last 5 home games.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Aug 28
Chicago Fire SC 0-2 Colorado Rapids - CR goals by Quincy Amirikwa(PK) & Steven Emory.
-Tue Aug 30
Toronto FC v DC United
-Thu Sep 1
Colorado Rapids v Houston Dynamo
-Fri Sep 2
New England Revolution v Toronto FC
-Sat Sep 3
Chivas USA v Vancouver Whitecaps
Portland Timbers v LA Galaxy

dN

Standings Etc.

MLS EXHIBITION GAMES

Darrell Lovell of MLSsoccer.com looks ahead to the Houston v Monterrey match.

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Sep 4
Houston Dynamo v Monterrey (Mexico)
Venue: Robertson Stadium - Houston TX

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Seven MLS stadiums join forces to become concert promoters: Crew Stadium, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Pizza Hut Park, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, PPL Park, JELD-WEN Field and BC Place.
-AEG has competition within their own circle!

NASL NEWS

Perfect weekend for the French Canadians.

Tons of playoff implications from the weekends results, and all of them very positive for Montreal, as the Impact win moves them to 3 points from the last playoff spot, while the last 3 teams in those spots all lost.

dN

5 games left in the regular season.

NSC MINNESOTA STARS

August (6 games) was a miserable month for the Stars, as they won the first game then went very downhill from that point on. Earning only 4 out of 18 points.
A H A A A H
W L L D L L - 1-4-1 (W-L-T)
3 0 0 1 0 0 - 4 (GF)
1 1 2 1 2 2 - 9 (GA)

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0-2 FC Tampa BayFCTB goals by Aaron King & Mike Ambersley.
Atlanta Silverbacks 2-4 Carolina RailHawks - AS goals by Willie Hunt & Raphael Cox. CR goals by Etiene Barbara(3, 2 via PK) & Tony McManus.
Puerto Rico Islanders 3-2 FC EdmontonPRI goals by Nicolas Addlery, Jonathan Fana & Jay Needham. FCE goals by Shaun Saiko & Kyle Porter.
NSC Minnesota Stars 0-2 Montreal Impact - MI goals both by Sinisa Ubiparipovic.
-Tue Aug 30
Puerto Rico Islanders v FC Edmonton

dN

Standings (as of Sat Aug 27):
*51 Carolina RailHawks (+26 GD) (23 GP)
*44 Puerto Rico Islanders (+9 GD) (23 GP)
34 FC Tampa Bay (+5 GD) (23 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (-2 GD) (23 GP)
29 FC Edmonton (-5 GD) (23 GP)
28 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (-2 GD) (23 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
25 Montreal Impact (+2 GD) (23 GP)
#12 Atlanta Silverbacks (-33 GD) (23 GP)

*Secured playoff birth
#Elimindated from playoff birth

USL PRO NEWS

It will be Orlando v Harrisburg for the championship on Saturday.

Final
-Sat Sep 3
Orlando City SC v Harrisburg City Islanders - 6pm on FOX Soccer
Venue: Florida Citrus Bowl

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Clint Dempsey got another goal for Fulham, but in league play they have only 1 point from their first 3 games.

dN

Robbie Findley got his very first goal in the English Championship Division, which is pretty cool, even though they lost badly.

dN

Josh Gatt scored a goal for Molde in the 1st minute of the game.

dN

Conor O'Brien got his debut goal for SonderjyskE in Denmark as they won big on the road.

dN

Brad Rusin, the frost goon, got his second goal for Koge in Denmark, alas in a losing effort.

dN

Zak Whitbread continued his long injury curse with a hamstring injury during their game at Chelsea.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - started and was subbed off in the 90th min as they drew 1-1 at Club Brugge.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - started but got a red card as they lost 2-1

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - played the whole game but lost 2-1 at Midtjylland.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - started and played 86 min scoring a goal as they won 2-4 at Odense
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - went the distance as they won 4-0 v Lyngby.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - started and went 67 min as they rolled to a 1-4 win at Koge.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - played the whole game and scored a goal but lost 1-4 v AaB.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the whole game scoring a goal but losing 2-1 at Newcastle.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - went the distance but got shelled in a loss 1-5 v Manchester City.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench for a scoreless game v Wolverhampton.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the full 90 as they won 0-1 at Blackburn.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - started but only playe 30 min due to injury as they lost 3-1 at Chelsea.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - played the full match scoring a goal but losing 1-4 v West Ham.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the full 90 as they drew 2-2 at Watford.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Brentford - came on as a sub in the 65th min but lost 0-2 v Tranmere.
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Bournemouth.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Giuseppe Funicello - Mariehamn - on the bench as they lost 2-0 at Honka.
Etchu Tabe - RoPS - went the distance for a 0-0 draw v VPS.
Mason Trafford - Mariehamn - played the full 90 as they lost 2-0 at Honka.
Josh Wicks - Mariehamn - went the full 90 as they lost 2-0 at Honka.

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Kyle Luetkehans - PS Kemi Kings - went the full 90 as they drew 1-1 at Espoo.
Dan Stevens - PS Kemi Kings - played the whole game as they drew 1-1 at Espoo.
Jeremy Vuolo - AC Oulu - played the entire game as they won 1-3 at HIFK.
Kellan Wilson - HIFK - came on as a sub in the 21 min but lost 1-3 v Oulu.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Quentin Westberg - Evian - on the bench as they lost 0-1 v Dijon.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - played the entire game as they won 1-0 v Augsburg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the full match as they drew 1-1 v Mainz.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - went the distance but lost 1-2 v Werder Bermen.
Daniel Williams - Freiburg - on the bench as they won 3-0 v Wolfsburg.
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen - on the bench

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - started and went 61 min as they won 3-1 v Hansa Rostock.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - on the bench as they lost 0-4 v FSV Frankfurt.
Matt Taylor - Paderborn - on the bench as they drew 0-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Union Berlin.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - played the entire match but lost 1-3 v Maccabi Netanya.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the whole game as they won 1-3 at Ironi Kiryat Shmona.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - started and went 76 min getting a yellow card as they won 0-3 at Groningen.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the entire match but lost 0-1 v Eindhoven.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Joe Bendik - Sogndal - on the bench as they won 0-3 at Lillestrom.
Sean Cunningham - Molde - on the bench as they won 1-3 at Aalesund.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Viking.
Josh Gatt - Molde - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they won 1-3 at Aalesund.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Jonathan Borrajo - Hamarkameratene - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they won 1-2 at Ranheim.
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - on the bench as they won 1-2 at Lov-Ham.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - went the distance as they won 1-4 at Alta.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - played the whole game as theyw on 0-1 at Nybergsund.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - on the bench as they lost 2-3 v Maritimo.
Alex Zahavi - Vitoria Setubal - Mon Aug 29 v Braga

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - came on as a sub in the 69th min as they won 2-0 v Aberdeen.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - went the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Aberdeen.
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Aberdeen.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - came on as a sub in the 88th min as they won 0-1 at Trellborg.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Lester Dewee - Angelholms - Mon Aug 29 v Falkenberg
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - in goal for the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Ljungskile.
Nick Noble - Ljungskile - went the distance as they won 1-0 v Degerfors.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - Mon Aug 29 v Falkenberg
Michael Thomas - Ljungskile - played the entire match as they won 1-0 v Degerfors.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the entire game as they drew 0-0 at Morelia.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Atlas.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - went the distance as they drew 1-1 v Queretaro.
Edgar Castillo - America -played the whole game but lost 2-0 at Pachuca.
Herculez Gomez - Estudiantes Tecos - came on as a sub in the 74 min but lost 2-1 at Atlante.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - played the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Guadalajara.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - started and went 84 min getting a yellow card as they won 2-0 v America.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Marco Vidal - Leon - played the full 90 getting a yellow card as they won 1-2 at Lobos BUAP.

ENGLAND

Jacob Steinberg & Ian McCourt if the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

SPAIN

After a 1 week delay due to a strike we got the opening round of the new La Liga season.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian says that despite all the money they spent Malaga looked just like Malaga, and the rest of the weekend in La Liga. Barcelona hosts Villarreal today.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Sporting Gijon 1-2 Real Sociedad
Valencia 4-3 Racing Santander
Granada 0-1 Real Betis
-Sun Aug 28
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Osasuna
Athletic Club Bilbao 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
Mallorca 1-0 Espanyol
Getafe 1-1 Levante
Real Zaragoza 0-6 Real Madrid
Sevilla 2-1 Malaga
-Mon Aug 29
Barcelona 5-0 Villarreal

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian sees Leverkusen and Dortmund headed toward the brawn over brilliance of English soccer, and the rest of the weekend in the Bundesliga.

ITALY

Serie A players blew off the first round of the new season with a strike over the lack of a new collective bargaining agreement. They were in this same position when last season kicked off and have given the owners plenty of time to negotiate in good faith. Now they strike.

SOUTH AMERICA

Special Home & Home Friendly Series:
-Wed Sep 14
Argentina v Brazil
-Wed Sep 28
Brazil v Argentina

BRAZIL

Recap du Nord: The race got even tighter this round but no one changed spots in the standings as #1 Corinthians lost, while #2 Flamengo, #3 Sao Paulo & #4 Vasco all tied. #5 Botafogo are the ones who cranked up the pressure with a win making them only 3 points out of first place. Nice.

Vasco head coach Ricardo Gomes suffered a stroke during their game this weekend and is in serious condition.

Brazil - Serie A Standings (19 of 38 games played):
37 Corinthians - LAST: Sun Aug 29 L 2-1 at Palmeiras - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Gremio
36 Flamengo - LAST: Sun Aug 29 D 0-0 v Vasco da Gama - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 at Avai
35 Sao Paulo (+7 GD) - LAST: Sun Aug 29 D 1-1 at Santos - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Fluminense
35 Vasco (+5 GD) - LAST: Sun Aug 29 D 0-0 at Flamengo - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Ceara
34 Botafogo - LAST: Sat Aug 28 W 1-2 at Fluminense - NEXT: Wed Aug 31 v Palmeiras

GRATUITOUS DIEGO FORLAN SHOUT OUT

Forlan has left Atletico Madrid to go weat the blue and black stripes of Inter Milan.

ENDERS

The UFC 185 pound champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva of Brazil won his mixed martial arts fight on Saturday night against , and who has defended his title 9 times in a row now, was asked after the fight if there is anyone out there who could challenge him, to which he replied, "My clone."


Link





















Silva and his whole crew entered the ring again wearing Corinthians jerseys, cuz that's his fave team. He is also managed by my man O Fenomeno's company 9ine.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Some News for Fri Aug 26, 2011

STARTERS

The NSC Minnesota Stars game on Saturday night v Montreal will be a night for Breast Cancer Awareness. The Stars will be sporting hot pink uniforms to show their solidarity. Game time is 7pm sharp. See you in Blaine.
-IMSoccer News got pictures of the uniforms for us to preview:













dN

UPDATED: MLS has POSTPONED 3 East Coast games this weekend to avoid any danger from Hurricane Irene:
-Saturday
DC v Portland
-Sunday
New York v LA
Philadelphia v New England

dN

Just like what happened last week in Spain, the players in the Italian Serie A have declared a strike and will not play their first round matches this weekend. The disagreement is over a collective bargaining agreement. Twice last year the players threatened strike but agreed to play after owners agreed to discuss the matter. That bluff by the owners did not work this time.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team has two upcoming friendlies. Expect players to begin arriving in Southtern California after their club games end this weekend.

dN

US Soccer asks head coach Jurgen Klinsmann why he did not select Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark and Jermaine Jones for this roster.

dN

Kyle Beckerman will not join the USA team for the Costa Rica game as his club Real Salt Lake has an important game that weekend, but he will be on the roster for the game in Belgium.

dN

Soccer America posts the rosters for both Costa Rica and Belgium.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA v Costa Rica - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium v USA - 1:30pm CT on ESPN and ESPN3.com
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels

dN

ROSTER
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Tim Howard - Everton
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Edgar Castillo - America
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Zach Loyd - Dallas
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
Heath Pearce - Chivas USA
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Brek Shea - Dallas
Jose Torres - Pachuca
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy

STORY OF THE DAY

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America does a Q & A with Brad Rothenberg one of the top scouts of Latino talent in the USA at Alianza de Futbol.
-They have sent 20 American players to Mexican clubs in the last few years alone.

WHAT???

He is getting paid the league MINIMUM!!!

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times on the Sounders inspired offseason move signing of midfielder Mauro Rosales.
-The team and his agent Dario Sala are negotiating a new contract right now.

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

LA rolled to another win at home, without playing the most convincing game. They had a lost of position and scored two very good goals, but they certainly did not blow out Alajuelense by any means.

UNAM Pumas continued their failed experiment with a team full of young reserve players are they were held to a scoreless draw by Tauro of Panama.

But Morelia showed why they will be a challenger to win their group with a convincing win after a first game loss.

CONCACAF gives us video highlights from all the games.

dN

Group Stage - Round robin, home & away - matches played Aug 16 to Oct 20

Matchday 2

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 23
Monterrey v Seattle Sounders - SS goal by Alvaro Frenandez.
Real Espana v Colorado Rapids - Esp goal by Julio Rodriguez. CR goal by Jeff Larentowicz.
-Wed Aug 24
Metapan 2-0 Santos Laguna - Met goals by Paolo Suarez & Cristian Bautista.
Comunicaciones 2-0 Herediano - Com goals by Marvin Ceballos & Bryan Ordonez.
-Thu Aug 25
Toronto 0-1 Dallas - Dal goal by Jack Stewart
LA Galaxy 2-0 Alajuelense - LAG goals by Omar Gonzalez & Chad Barrett.
Tauro 0-0 Pumas
Morelia 4-0 Motagua - Mor goals by Rafael Marquez Lugo, Joao Rojas, Diego Jimenez & Edgar Lugo.

dN

Matchday 3 begins on Tue Sep 13.

dN

Standings:

GROUP A
6 LA Galaxy (USA) (+4)
3 Monarchas Morelia (Mexico) (+3)
3 Alajuelense (Costa Rica) (-1)
0 Motagua (Honduras) (-6)
GROUP B
4 Colorado Rapids (USA) (+1)
3 Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) (+1)
3 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (-1)
1 Real Espana (Honduras) (-1)
GROUP C
6 Dallas (USA) (+2)
3 Toronto (Canada) (0)
1 Tauro (Panama) (-1)
1 UNAM Pumas (Mexico) (-1)
GROUP D
6 Seattle Sounders (USA) (+4)
3 Monterrey (Mexico) (+4)
3 Comunicaciones (Guatemala) (-1)
0 Herediano (Costa Rica) (-7)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

A full preview of the weekend matches in the Barclay's English Premier League.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Dortmund
Lyon v Montpellier
-Sun Aug 28
Tottenham v v Manchester City
Manchester United v Arsenal
Lille v Marseille
-Mon Aug 29
Barcelona v Villarreal

FACT OF THE DAY

Samuel Eto'o who left Inter of Italy this week to become the world's highest paid player at Anzhi in Russia scored 53 goals in 101 games for the best team in Milan.
-Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at Eto'o and his odd new club.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America does a Q & A with Jimmy Conrad about his abrupt retirement, his career and the future.

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

WEEK 24

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Aug 24
Portland Timbers 1-0 CD Chivas USA - PT goal by Eric Brunner.
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
Atten: 18,627
-Sat Aug 27
POSTPONED DC United v Portland Timbers
Venue: RFK Stadium
Seattle Sounders FC v Columbus Crew - 3:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Houston Dynamo - 6:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Empire Field
Toronto FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field
Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Chicago Fire SC v Colorado Rapids - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park
CD Chivas USA v Real Salt Lake - 9:30PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sun Aug 28
POSTPONED New York Red Bulls v LA Galaxy
Venue: Red Bull Arena
POSTPONED Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution
Venue: PPL Park

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 Colorado Rapids
2 Real Salt Lake
3 Philadelphia Union
4 New York Red Bulls

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

After Chivas, Houston and Toronto had passed on acquiring new MLS signing Sammy Ochoa, Seattle made a move to trade spots with Chicago to snap up the forward. The Fire got a future draft pick.
-USA youth national team player Ochoa signed with the league earlier this week from Estudiantes Tecos in Mexico.

CD CHIVAS USA

Chivas still sits at the top of the league's allocation list after passing on Ochoa today. They passed on Benny Feilhaber and Freddy Adu already this season. What do you think they are waiting for?

COLORADO RAPIDS

John Meyer of the Denver Post looks at the team playing mostly reserves in the Champions League, and the great performance from goalkeeper Steward Ceus.

COLUMBUS CREW

Brian Straus of Sporting News looks at how the Crew has been rebuilt without completely bottoming out. And they did it by mainly signing no-name players.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Opta stats at MLSsoccer.com breaks down the brilliant season Brad Davis is currently having.
-That Davis hasn't gotten a call from Jurgen Klinsmann is surprising to me.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Kerith Gabriel of the Daily News looks at the strengths & weaknesses of the Unions relatively young squad.

dN

Marc Narducci of the Inquirer tell us what it will take for the Union to claim a playoff spot in their 2nd season.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Iain Macintyre of the Sun talks to team captain Jay DeMerit about the long win-anemic and injury plagued first season in MLS for him and the Whitecaps. But JD is still on board with the clubs bigger mission.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Aug 28
Chicago Fire SC v Colorado Rapids
Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas
Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution

dN

Standings Etc.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v FC Tampa Bay
Atlanta Silverbacks v Carolina RailHawks
Puerto Rico Islanders v FC Edmonton
NSC Minnesota Stars v Montreal Impact

dN

Standings (as of Wed Aug 17):
*48 Carolina RailHawks (+24 GD) (22 GP)
*41 Puerto Rico Islanders (+8 GD) (22 GP)
31 FC Tampa Bay (+3 GD) (22 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (0 GD) (22 GP)
29 FC Edmonton (-4 GD) (22 GP)
28 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (0 GD) (22 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
22 Montreal Impact (0 GD) (22 GP)
12 Atlanta Silverbacks (-31 GD) (22 GP)
*Secured playoff birth

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Mark Young of ESPN looks at all the things Jozy Altidore can learn playing the Netherlands.
-Altidore's tally at AZ is 5 goals in 5 games. Great start!

dN

Alexi Lalas at the Mirror says George John can be successful at Blackburn.

dN

Forward Tristan Bowen has been loaned out to recently relegated KSV Roeselare of the Belgium's Second Division by his club Chivas USA.

dN

Mike Grella has left Leeds to signed with Brentford of English League One.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com talks to Marco Vidal about the reality of living in a society were violence on the streets has become a big part of ordinary life.

SPAIN

The strike by the Primera players has ended with a new collective bargaining agreement. So the season can begin with Round 2.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Sporting Gijon v Real Sociedad
Valencia v Racing Santander
Granada v Real Betis
-Sun Aug 28
Atletico Madrid v Osasuna
Athletic Club Bilbao v Rayo Vallecano
Mallorca v Espanyol
Getafe v Levante
Real Zaragoza v Real Madrid
Sevilla v Malaga
-Mon Aug 29
Barcelona v Villarreal

dN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian looks at the big money invested in Malaga by a new owner from Qatar.

ITALY

Despite the players going on strike, Paolo Bandini of the Guardian filed this Serie A season preview.

SCOTLAND

Celtic may be back in the Europa League this season after the team that knocked them out Sion were found to have used ineligible players.

UEFA

Lionel Messi of Barcelona was name the Best Player in Europe by UEFA today.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

48 teams were drawn into 12 groups of 4 teams each today. See those groups here.

dN

8 American players are in the Group Stage, and none are in the same group as each other:
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Group G
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Group B
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Group K
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Group A
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Group L
Jermiane Jones - Schalke - Group J
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Group D
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Group H

dN

Matchday 1 will be played on Thu Sep 15. Here are the matches & scores.

BRAZIL

Brazil - Serie A Standings (18 of 38 games played):
37 Corinthians - NEXT: Sun Aug 29 at Palmeiras
35 Flamengo - NEXT: Sun Aug 29 v Vasco da Gama
34 Sao Paulo (+7 GD) - NEXT: Sun Aug 29 at Santos
34 Vasco (+5 GD) - NEXT: Sun Aug 29 at Flamengo
31 Botafogo - NEXT: Sat Aug 28 at Fluminense

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Aug 24
Guyana 2-1 India
-Thu Aug 25
United Arab Emirates 3-1 Qatar
-Sat Aug 27
Oman v Kuwait
Jordan v Indonesia
Angola v Congo DR
Papua New Guinea v Cook Islands
Solomon Islands v Guam
Fiji v Tahiti
New Caledonia v Vanuatu

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Some News for Thu Aug 25, 2011

STARTERS

MLS has POSTPONED 2 East Coast games this Sunday to avoid any danger from Hurricane Irene. New York v LA and Philadelphia v New England have both been rescheduled.
-The DC v Portland game is going ahead on Saturday but the start time has been moved ahead from 6:30pm CT to 1pm CT.

dN

A complete disaster for Scottish football today as both Rangers and Celtic were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League. Both had already been dumped from the Champions League, and now this. It might be a new all-time low point.

dN

With a win last night Portland has climbed into a tie on points (trailing in goal differential tie breaker) with the last team currently in the play off bracket New York. Wow!

dN

The players strike in Spain has ended and the season will begin this weekend with Round 2. The first week of games is still being rescheduled.
-Will there be a strike in Italy to stop their opening round this weekend?

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The roster was announced today for the 2 upcoming International friendlies v Costa Rica (Sep 2 in LA) & Belgium (Sep 6 in Brussels).

24 Players have been called in by USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

15 players are back from the last roster(*).

6 are new call-ins for the new head coach. 4 midfelders and 2 forwards.

3 are players who were called in last time but ended up being out injured.

The #1 shocker on this list is 23 year old Fabian Johnson. Raise your hand if you have heard of him before. And if you have, now raise your hand again if you have heard of him before this week. I sure hadn't. My first introduction to the player was via an article by Brian Sciaretta at Yanks Abroad on Sat Aug 20. Wow. Great scoop by Sciaretta!
-Johnson is listed as a fullback by his club team Hoffenheim. But he is listed as a midfielder on this roster.
-The opposite is true of Timmy Chandler who plays in an attacking wing midfield/forward position for Nurnburg but is listed as a defender here.

The #2 shock on this list is NO Michael Bradley.
-No Jermaine Jones either.
-Ricardo Clark, Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley and Edson Buddle were left off as well.

ROSTER
G:
*Bill Hamid - DC United
*Tim Howard - Everton
D:
*Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
*Edgar Castillo - America
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - Called in last time up out injured
*Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby - Called in last time up out injured
*Zach Loyd - Dallas
*Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis
*Heath Pearce - Chivas USA
*Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
M:
*Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - NEW
Maurice Edu - Rangers - Called in last time up out injured
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - NEW
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - NEW
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids - NEW
*Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
*Brek Shea - Dallas
*Jose Torres - Pachuca
F:
*Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Jozy Altidore - AZ - NEW
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City - NEW
*Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy

Assistant Coaches:
Thomas Dooley
Tab Ramos
Martin Vasquez
Ian Feuer - Costa Rica
Chris Woods – Belgium

6 players who were on the previous roster have been left off this time around:
M:
Michael Bradley - no club
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
F:
Freddy Adu - Benfica
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt

I am truly amazed that we are not seeing more new players this time around, especially in defense where the USA needs the most help as we move forward.
-Here are some possible players that I came up with who deserve a serious look:
Alejandro Bedoya
Tony Beltran
Nat Borchers
Geoff Cameron
Bobby Convey
Brad Davis
Benny Feilhaber
Herculez Gomez
Omar Gonzalez
Ugo Ihemelu
Chad Marshall
Michael Parkhurst
Chris Rolfe

Who do you think should have been called in for this roster?

dN

USA fans are invited to attend practice on Wed Aug 31 from 5-6 pm at The Home Depot Center in Carson CA. Admission and parking are free.
-IMPORTANT NOTE FROM US SOCCER: Fans wishing to attend the training session are requested to register by emailing rsvp@ussoccer.org. In the email, please include your name and the number of people who will be in attendance. U.S. Soccer will send out additional information about the session via email 24-248 hours prior to the event. All training times and locations are subject to change.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Sep 2
USA v Costa Rica - 10:00pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Tue Sep 6
Belgium v USA - 1:30pm CT on ESPN and ESPN3.com
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium - Brussels

STORY OF THE DAY

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN tell us the story of Joe Benny Corona who plays in Tijuana but has USA connections too.
-Which national team would he play for if he were chosen?

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

With Dallas leading 0-1 in Toronto on Wednesday night the lightning strikes and heavy rain forced the game to be canceled at half time. The game was then replayed on Thursday morning from the beginning with all of Wednesday's stats wiped out.

Unfortunately for TFC the result was exactly the same. A 0-1 win to the visitors. Jack Stewart who just arrived in Dallas on loan from the NSC Minnesota Stars put in a header for the only goal.

dN

Video highlights from all the games. Via CONCACAF.

dN

Group Stage - Round robin, home & away - matches played Aug 16 to Oct 20

Matchday 2

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 23
Monterrey v Seattle Sounders - SS goal by Alvaro Frenandez.
Real Espana v Colorado Rapids - Esp goal by Julio Rodriguez. CR goal by Jeff Larentowicz.
-Wed Aug 24
Metapan 2-0 Santos Laguna - Met goals by Paolo Suarez & Cristian Bautista.
Comunicaciones 2-0 Herediano - Com goals by Marvin Ceballos & Bryan Ordonez.
-Thu Aug 25
Toronto 0-1 Dallas - Dal goal by Jack Stewart
LA Galaxy v Alajuelense - 9pm CT Live on Fox Soccer
Tauro v Pumas
Morelia v Motagua

dN

Standings:

GROUP A
3 LA Galaxy (USA) (+2)
3 Alajuelense (Costa Rica) (+1)
0 Monarchas Morelia (Mexico) (-1)
0 Motagua (Honduras) (-2)
GROUP B
4 Colorado Rapids (USA) (+1)
3 Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) (+1)
3 Santos Laguna (Mexico) (-1)
1 Real Espana (Honduras) (-1)
GROUP C
6 Dallas (USA) (+2)
3 Toronto (Canada) (0)
0 Tauro (Panama) (-1)
0 UNAM Pumas (Mexico) (-1)
GROUP D
6 Seattle Sounders (USA) (+4)
3 Monterrey (Mexico) (+4)
3 Comunicaciones (Guatemala) (-1)
0 Herediano (Costa Rica) (-7)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Dortmund
Lyon v Montpellier
-Sun Aug 28
Tottenham v v Manchester City
Manchester United v Arsenal
Lille v Marseille
-Mon Aug 29
Barcelona v Villarreal

MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

WEEK 24

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Aug 24
Portland Timbers 1-0 CD Chivas USA - PT goal by Eric Brunner.
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
Atten: 18,627
-Sat Aug 27
DC United v Portland Timbers - 1PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: RFK Stadium
Seattle Sounders FC v Columbus Crew - 3:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Houston Dynamo - 6:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Empire Field
Toronto FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: BMO Field
Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
Chicago Fire SC v Colorado Rapids - 7:30PM CT on Direct Kick
Venue: Toyota Park
CD Chivas USA v Real Salt Lake - 9:30PM CT on FOX Soccer
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sun Aug 28
POSTPONED New York Red Bulls v LA Galaxy
Venue: Red Bull Arena
POSTPONED Philadelphia Union v New England Revolution
Venue: PPL Park

dN

Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
40 Columbus Crew (25 GP) (+5 GD)
36 Sporting Kansas City (25 GP) (+5 GD)
35 Houston Dynamo (26 GP) (+2 GD)
34 Philadelphia Union (25 GP) (+7 GD)
32 New York Red Bulls (26 GP) (+4 GD)
31 DC United (24 GP) (-1 GD)
24 Chicago Fire SC (25 GP) (-5 GD)
23 New England Revolution (26 GP) (-13 GD)
23 Toronto FC (27 GP) (-23 GD)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
51 LA Galaxy (26 GP) (+17 GD)
45 Seattle Sounders FC (26 GP) (+9 GD)
43 FC Dallas (26 GP) (+7 GD)
41 Colorado Rapids (27 GP) (+5 GD)
36 Real Salt Lake (23 GP) (+12 GD)
32 Portland Timbers (26 GP) (-8 GD)
31 CD Chivas USA (26 GP) (+3 GD)
25 San Jose Earthquakes (25 GP) (-8 GD)
18 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (25 GP) (-16 GD)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

Chivas was forced to make 2 subs for injured players in the first half of their loss in Portland last night.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Shavar Thomas has been called in by the Jamaican national team for their friendly on Fri Sep 2 at Ecuador.

And Kei Kamara has been called in by the Sierra Leone national team for their African Cup of Nations qualifier v Egypt on Sat Sep 3rd.

LA GALAXY

Chris Birchall has been called in by the Trinidad & Tobago national team for their CONCACAF World Cup qualifying games on Fri Sep 2 v Bermuda and Tue Sep 6 at Barbados.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The Toronto Globe & Mail tells us about Caps forward Eric Hassli's happiness at being in Vancouver. He is loving life.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v FC Tampa Bay
Atlanta Silverbacks v Carolina RailHawks
Puerto Rico Islanders v FC Edmonton
NSC Minnesota Stars v Montreal Impact

dN

Standings (as of Wed Aug 17):
*48 Carolina RailHawks (+24 GD) (22 GP)
*41 Puerto Rico Islanders (+8 GD) (22 GP)
31 FC Tampa Bay (+3 GD) (22 GP)
29 NSC Minnesota Stars (0 GD) (22 GP)
29 FC Edmonton (-4 GD) (22 GP)
28 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (0 GD) (22 GP)
- - - OUT OF PLAYOFFS - - -
22 Montreal Impact (0 GD) (22 GP)
12 Atlanta Silverbacks (-31 GD) (22 GP)
*Secured playoff birth

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jozy Altidore scored twice to help AZ advance to the group stage of the Europa League.

Carlos Bocanegra scored for Rangers, but they were still knocked out of the Europa League.

Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey, Brad Friedel, Sacha Kljestan, Jermaine Jones, Oguchi Onyewu and Jonathan Spector all saw their teams advance in the Europa League today.

But Alejandro Bedoya, Dominic Cervi, Mo Edu and Michael Parkhurst were all eliminated from the tournament.

dN

Game Action:

UEFA - Europa League - Playoff Round - 2nd Leg
-Aug 25
Jozy Altidore - AZ - started and went 63 min scoring 2 goals as they won 6-0 v Aalesund and advance 7-2 on aggregate.
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - did not suit up as they drew 1-1 v Maribor and are knocked out 3-2 on aggregate.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they drew 1-1 v Maribor and are knocked out 3-2 on aggregate.
Dominic Cervi - Celtic - didn't suit up as they lost 3-1 at Sion and are knocked out 3-1 on aggregate.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the whole game as they drew 1-1 at Sevilla and they advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and played 80 min as they lost 1-0 at Dnipro but advance 3-1 on aggregate.
Mo Edu - Rangers - played the full 90 as they drew 1-1 v Maribor and are knocked out 3-2 on aggregate.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - on the bench as they drew 0-0 v Heart of Midlothian and advance 5-0 on aggregate.
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the distance as they drew 2-2 v Bursaspor and advance 4-3 on aggregate.
Jermiane Jones - Schalke - did not suit up as they won 6-1 v HJK and advance 6-3 on aggregate.
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - on the bench as they won 2-1 v Nordsjaelland and advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Sporting and are knocked out 2-1 on aggregate.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - played the full 90 as they win 3-0 v Nacional and advance 3-0 on aggregate.

CANADA

The national team begins World Cup qualifying next week with two games:

-Fri Sep 2
Canada v St. Lucia
Venue: BMO Field - Toronto
-Tue Sep 6
Puerto Rico v Canada

ROSTER
G:
Lars Hirschfeld - Valerenga
Milan Borjan - Sivasspor
D:
Nik Ledgerwood - Wehen Wiesbaden
Kevin McKenna - Koln
Andre Hainault - Houston Dynamo
Ante Jazic - Chivas USA
Dejan Jakovic - DC United
Jaime Peters - Ipswich Town
Mike Klukowski - Manisaspor
M:
Julian de Guzman - Toronto FC
Terry Dunfield - Toronto FC
Will Johnson - Real Salt Lake
Josh Simpson - Manisaspor
Atiba Hutchinson - PSV Eindhoven
Dwayne De Rosario - DC United
F:
Tosaint Ricketts - Politehnica Timisoara
Simeon Jackson - Norwich City
Olivier Occean - Greuther Furth
Iain Hume - Preston North End

ENGLAND

League Cup 2nd round are being played on Aug 23, 24, 25, 30 and Sep 13. Here are the matches & scores.

SPAIN

The strike by the Primera players has ended with a new collective bargaining agreement. So the season can begin with Round 2.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Sporting Gijon v Real Sociedad
Valencia v Racing Santander
Granada v Real Betis
-Sun Aug 28
Atletico Madrid v Osasuna
Athletic Club Bilbao v Rayo Vallecano
Mallorca v Espanyol
Getafe v Levante
Real Zaragoza v Real Madrid
Sevilla v Malaga
-Mon Aug 29
Barcelona v Villarreal

ITALY

If the Serie A players do not strike over the lack of a new collective bargaining agreement, then these are the first round matches of the new season this weekend.
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 27
Siena v Fiorentina
Cagliari v Milan
-Sun Aug 28
Napoli v Genoa
Atalanta v Cesena
Bologna v Roma
Inter v Lecce
Lazio v Chievo
Novara v Palermo
Parma v Catania
Udinese v Juventus

UEFA

Lionel Messi of Barcelona was name the Best Player in Europe by UEFA today.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The draw for the group stage took place today.

Matchday 1 will begin on Sep 13.

All the Group Stage matches & scores.

Group A
Bayern Munich
Villarreal
Manchester City
Napoli

Group B
Internazionale Milan
CSKA Moscow
Lille Metropole
Trabzonspor

Group C
Manchester United
Benfica
Basel
Otelul Galati

Group D
Real Madrid
Olympique Lyon
Amsterdam Ajax
Dinamo Zagreb

Group E
Chelsea
Valencia
Bayer Leverkusen
Racing Genk

Group F
Arsenal
Olympique Marseille
Olympiacos Piraeus
Borussia Dortmund

Group G
Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk
Zenit St Petersburg
APOEL

Group H
Barcelona
AC Milan
BATE Borisov
Viktoria Plzen

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Playoff Round - the final round before the group stage. 2nd leg of Aug 25. Matches & Scores.

Big names Rangers, Celtic, Roma and Sevilla are all OUT of the tournament.

The draw for the group stage will be held on Fri Aug 26.

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Aug 24
Guyana 2-1 India
-Thu Aug 25
United Arab Emirates 3-1 Qatar
-Sat Aug 27
Oman v Kuwait
Jordan v Indonesia
Angola v Congo DR
Papua New Guinea v Cook Islands
Solomon Islands v Guam
Fiji v Tahiti
New Caledonia v Vanuatu
Newer Posts Older Posts