Monday, January 23, 2012

Some Soccer News for Mon Jan 23, 2012

STARTERS

For the second home game in a row, this one in the Premier League, Clint Dempsey has scored a hat-trick for Fulham. Fox Soccer has video of the goals here.
-I have no idea why the channel that owns the rights to the EPL would have such poor video quality, but they do.

dN

As expected New York Red Bulls centerback Tim Ream has been granted an English work Permit and can sign with Bolton.

dN

Is Juan Agudelo headed to Liverpool? That is what some rumors are whispering.
-This seems like a bad idea to me. If he is going to another country I sure hope he goes to a club where he can play.

dN

No less than THREE teams tied for 1st place in the Bundesliga at 37 points - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04! Fantastic!

dN

Chivas of Guadalajara has opened the Clausura with 3 consecutive losses, and head coach Fernando Quirarte has now resigned. They are the only team in the Mexican Primera without any points.

dN

You can watch the African Cup of Nations tournament online right here.

STORY OF THE DAY

Alex Labidou of Goal.com does an interview with Bob Bradley about his new life in Egypt.

A very exciting story!

STORY OF THE DAY 2

Sid Lowe of the Guardian with the remarkable story of a full on meltdown between Jose Mourinho and some of the key Real Madrid players.
-The two factors: Mourinho says the press coddles the Spanish players too much, and the players say he never played the game so what does he know.

I see it this way. Its the Barca players who are much more responsible for the Spain success, and the Madrid players are riding their coattails, and Mourinho has won just about everything there is to win everywhere he has been the coach.

So as much of an ego maniac/big baby Mourinho is I will take his side in this one. These players are spoiled brats who have won almost NOTHING at Read Madrid.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the annual January training camp.

dN

The USA beat Venezuela 1-0 on a late goal from Ricardo Clark. I took 2 things away from the game:
-Michael Parkhurst and Geoff Cameron as the centerback pair did not make a single mistake all game long. Granted they were not challenged very strongly, but they showed no nerves or indecisiveness.
-Ricardo Clark got a chance at redeeming himself from the 2010 World Cup and did so with great passion and joy. Did you see his reaction after he scored that goal? 18 months of rage came flying out of his body in those few seconds after the ball went into the net. That goal will help him raise his chin up off his chest a little. Great for him.

US Soccer gives us video of the goal. Watch until the end for Clark's reaction.

dN

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America wonders what kind of message is being sent by coach Jurgen Klinsmann that he would not only call in the suspended in Germany for violent conduct Jermaine Jones but then make him captain of the USA team on Saturday night.
-The only reasoning that I have read so far that I can get behind is that Klinsmann was offering an olive branch, and asking Jones to reconsider his mental approach to the game. A second chance if you will. We shall see. He was a very good citizen during the game and avoided confrontations when they appeared.

dN

It was kind of exciting seeing a referee let ALL of his allotted stoppage time run before blowing the whistle. At the end of 90 minutes the 4th official indicated that there would be a minimum of 4 minutes of stoppage time added on. Then between arguing with the referee and an injury to their goalkeeper Venezuela killed over 3:45 of those 4 minutes before a ball was even kicked. So the referee let it go another 4 minutes and in those last 30 seconds the USA scored the winning goal. Well executed Mr Referee Sir.

dN

In a pre-game interview Klinsmann called Venezuela the 3rd best team in South America. I would say they are more like #6. Yes they are vastly improved from the days when they battled Peru for the bottom spot, but they are still not that good.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA 1-0 Venezuela - USA goal by Ricardo Clark.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Attendance: 22,403
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game notes from US Soccer.
Post game quotes from USA coach and players from US Soccer.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by Sarah McLellan of the NY Times.
Player Ratings by John Godfrey of the NY Times.
Player ratings by Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer.
Player ratings and post game notes by Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad.

-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

Panama's roster for Wednesday
G:
Luis Mejia - Fenix
Kevin Melgar - Alianza
D:
Rolando Algandona - San Francisco
Edward Benitez - Sporting San Miguelito
Eduardo Dasent - Tauro
Carlos Rodriguez - Dallas
Sergio Thompson - Sporting San Miguelito
Eric Vasquez - Chorrillo
M:
Rolando Botello - Tauro
Gabriel Gomez - Philadephia Union
Juan de Gracia - Chepo
Luis Ovalle - Sporting San Miguelito
Alberto Quintero - Chorrillo
Marcos Sanchez - Tauro
Amir Waithe - San Francisco
F:
Manuel Mosquera - Arabe Unido
Blas Perez - Dallas
Luis Renteria - Tauro

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Venezuala roster
G:
Alan Liebeskind - Lara
Leonardo Morales - Anzoategui
D:
Joel Caceres - Lara
Gabriel Cichero - Lens
Javier Gonzalez - Petare
Rubert Quijada - Monagas
Carlos Rivero - Anzoategui
Andres Rouga - Tachira
Carlos Salazar - Anzoategui
Jose Manuel Velazquez - Mineros
M:
Angel Chourio - Real Esppor
Diomar Diaz - Petare
Agnel Flores - Mineros
Francisco Flores - Anzoategui
Edgar Perez Greco - Lara
Alejandro Guerra - Mineros
Diego Guerrero - Tachira
Miguel Mea Vitali - Lara
F:
Richard Blanco - Petare
Darwin Machis - Mineros
Alejandro Moreno - Chivas USA
Hermes Palomino - Cherno More
Emilio Renteria - Columbus Crew
Jose Reyes - Anzoategui

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Currently training in preparation for the March qualifying tournament.

dN

The Olympic team played a scoreless game at the Purple Monster on Saturday. Here are a few details.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves 0-0 USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuelense v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

There were some great games with big implications over the weekend:

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 20
Monchengladbach 3-1 Bayern Munchen - huge win for the hosts over the league leaders, who find themselves tied on points with 2 other teams.
-Sat Jan 21
Real Betis 1-1 Sevilla - a tie in the Seville derby.
-Sun Jan 22
Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham - the #1 now leads the #3 team by 8 points.Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United - recently this was an intense modern rivalry, but sadly Arsenal is a shell of its former self.
Inter 2-1 Lazio - Inter's win puts them in 4th place, and the leaders are all scurrrrred.
Malaga 1-4 Barcelona - new money is no match for high quality.

FACT OF THE DAY

MLS' all time leading goal scorer Jeff Cunningham has signed with Comunicaciones in Guatemala.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The new LA Galaxy shirt for 2012.
-Thanks to Joe for the image.














PODCASTS

Tom Dunmore and Peter Wilt host the debut of the Pitch Invasion podcast! Oh Yeah! Download or listen here.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Union is expected to sign 30 year old Colombian forward Lionard Pajoy from Itagui Ditaires.
-I have heard a lot of explosive stat thrown out there about this guy, but according to Wikipedia he has scored 47 goals in 216 professional games over 8 years.

dN

Chivas USA has signed veteran MLS central midfielder Pete Vagenas from Vancouver.

CHICAGO FIRE

Tweed Thornton of Hot Time in Old Town does an interview with owner Andrew Hauptman about the season ahead.

dN

HTiOT also has lots of words from the launch of Fire's new jersey sponsor Quaker.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch gives us the update on who is in camp for Crew so far.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle reports that Houston will NOT be signing Rangers forward Kris Boyd. Too bad.
-They are still in desperate search of strikers as they have been for several years now.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC begins preseason training today at the Kansas City Chiefs Indoor Practice Facility.

dN

Charles Gooch of the Star looks at Los Sporting as training camp opens.

LA GALAXY

The Galaxy begins preseason training today at the Home Depot Center practice fields.

dN

Its not been announced yet but Jovan Kirovski has retired from playing and has been named as part of the coaching staff.

dN

Scott French of ESPN on the Galaxy as preseason begins.

dN

French also has LOTS of Galaxy notes - Marcelo Sarvas, David Beckham the recruiter, Frank Heyduk and more.

dN

Robbie Keane scored 2 goals for Aston Villa on Saturday.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Nick Sabetti of Sports Net on Brian Ching's arrival in Montreal.

dN

In their first official on field battle of the MLS era the Impact played a scoreless game against Chivas of Guadalajara. Not a bad start.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Preseason game announced:
-Thu Feb 23
NYRB v UNAM Pumas
in Phoenix AZ

PHILADELPHIA UNION

The Union's PPL Park will be the site of the the 2012 MLS All-Star game.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Seattle Times with a transcript of a press Q & A with GM Adrian Hanauer.

TORONTO FC

Duncan Fletcher of Sports Net looks at where TFC must improve.
-That would be everywhere except goalkeeper.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The Caps released Designated Player forward Mustapha Jarju who never could find a way to fit in with the team.

USA U17 TEAM

The team finished up play in the Aegean Cup with a bad loss to the Czechs.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-2 Turkey - USA goals by DeAndre Robinson
-Wed Jan 18
USA 3-2 Denmark - USA goals by Conor Donovan, Wesley Wade & DeAndre Robinson.
-Fri Jan 20
USA 0-4 Czech Republic

Roster:
Adonis Amaya
Corey Baird
Paul Christensen
Conor Donovan
Steven Echevarria
Junior Flores
Angel Heredia
Guy Kabala
Chris Lema
Evan Louro
Aaron Meyer
Jorge Miranda
Shaquell Moore
John Requejo Jr
DeAndre Robinson
Rubio Rubin
Lawrence Taiwo
Tyler Turner
Wesley Wade
Dembakwi Yomba

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jamie Hill of Yanks Abroad talks to Billy Schuler who recently signed on with Hammarby in Sweden.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the full 90 as they won 0-1 at Kortrijk.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started and played 72 min as they drew 1-1 at Standaard Wetteren.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and came off in the 90th min after scoring 3 goals as they won 5-2 v Newcastle.
Landon Donovan - Everton - went the distance as they drew 1-1 v Blackburn.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - played the whole match but they lost 3-2 at Manchester City.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they won 2-3 at Wolverhampton.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole match as they drew 1-1 v Blackburn.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - played the entire game as they drew 0-0 v Chelsea.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the distance as they won 3-0 v Watford.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - started and played 71 min as they drew 1-1 at Carlisle United.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - back on the field going the distance as they drew 1-1 v Walsall.

FRANCE - Coupe de France - Round of 32
Quentin Westberg - Evian - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Valence.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full 90 as they drew 0-0 at Hoffenheim.
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim - on the bench but did not play in a scoreless game v Hannover.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - came on as a sub in the 66th min as they tied 0-0 v Hannover.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - on the bench as they lost 2-0 v Nurnberg.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - played the whole game as they tied 0-0 v Hannover.
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen - on the bench as they won 3-2 v Mainz.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Ryan Adeleye - Hapoel Be'er Sheva - came on as a sub in the 87th min as they won 2-0 v Hapoel Haifa.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the whole game but lost 7-3 v Hapoel Tel Aviv.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 at Lecce.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - came on as a sub in the 73rd but they drew 1-1 v Ajax.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the entire match as they drew 2-2 v Maastricht VV.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Mon Jan 23 - went the full 90 as they tied 0-0 at Olhanense.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the distance but lost 0-2 v Belenenses.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v Aberdeen.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 v Aberdeen.
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the distance scoring a goal as tied 1-1 v Aberdeen.

dN

Coming Up:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Tue Jan 24 v Gent

ITALY - Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - Wed Jan 25 v Siena

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the full 90 but lost 1-2 v Atlas.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Toluca.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - started and played 55 min as they won 0-2 at Guadalajara.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - came on as a sub in the 75th min as they won 1-0 v Chiapas.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante -
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - went the full 90 but lost 2-0 at Morelia.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the entire match getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 at Cruz Azul.

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad reports that Samir Badr has signed with Haras El Hodood in Egypt.

ENGLAND

Jacob Steinberg, Rob Smyth and Ian McCourt of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

dN

English League Cup - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Cardiff City v Crystal Palace (0-1)
-Wed Jan 25
Liverpool v Manchester City (1-0)

dN

The NY Times links to a Q & A with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

FRANCE

Full results from the Coupe de France Round of 32 last weekend.

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Juventus's ability to grind out wins and stay at the top, plus the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

dN

Make it 7 wins in a row now for Inter up leaped Lazio into 4th place and only 6 points off the top spot.

dN

Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus v Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo v Siena
Napoli v Inter
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio v Milan

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

You can watch the tournament online right here.

dN

After the first 3 days there has been no tie games and only 1 upset - Senegal lost to Zambia.

dN

Did you know that the Zambia team is known as the Relentless Zombies.

dN

Standings:
Group A
3 Equatorial Guinea
3 Zambia
0 Libya
0 Senegal
Group B
3 Angola
3 Cote d'Ivoire
0 Burkina Faso
0 Sudan
Group C
3 Gabon
3 Tunisia
0 Morocco
0 Niger
Group D
- Botswana
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Mali

dN

Matches & Scores:
Group Stage
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana v Botswana
Mali v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya v Zambia
Equatorial Guinea v Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata

ENDERS

Ministry of Soccer has a great story on the abrupted end to a potential career with the LA Galaxy for Bryan Byrne and what an absurd spin the English press put on it all.
-Byrne runs the great site Soccer Cleats 101.

2 Comments:

Blogger gMark said...

"No less than THREE teams tied for 1st place in the Bundesliga at 3 points - " ....

I think 37 points sounds better.

8:44 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

what would i do without people correcting me

damn

thanks!!

9:34 PM  

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