Some Soccer News for Mon Jan 30, 2012

STARTERS

Remember two weeks ago when forward Kris Boyd of Rangers turned down Houston? Well, today he signed with Portland!! Hoooo-Weeeee! Bet he won't receive a friendly welcome when he makes his first visit to whatever that new stadium in Houston is called.

dN

After getting a yellow card in the first minute of play(!) Oguchi Onyewu went to on to score TWO goals for Sporting CP in a much needed win! See the goals right here.
-I could watch Gooch score goals all day long!!

dN

In the last few days Liverpool has beaten both Manchester teams, City & United in Cup competitions.

dN

Huge congrats to the USA Women who stormed through CONCACAF Olympic qualifying with a scoreline of 38-0 in 5 games!!!

dN

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut, the top women's league in the USA, WPS, has announced that their 2012 season will not go forward. Who knows what that really means for all those players now. Just brutal. I really feel for those players.

STORY OF THE DAY

Steven Goff of the Washington Post gives us the low down on 3 potential friendlies before World Cup qualifying begins.

Possible pre-World Cup qualifying games:
May 26/27 v Scotland
May 30 v Brazil - Fed Ex Field in suburban DC?
Early June away game

August and November friendlies are being lined up too.

STORY OF THE DAY 2

Andrew Jennings of Transparency in Sport reveals an UNBELIEVABLE letter from a top FIFA executive to Jack Warner basically giving him World Cup TV rights for relatively next to nothing, without any FIFA committee knowledge much less approval. Warner supposedly turned around and sold these rights for $20Million!!!

COPA LIBERTADORES

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with Group and 1st Leg score included)
-Tue Jan 31
Sport Huancayo v Arsenal - G4 (0-3)
Libertad v El Nacional - G5 (1-0)
-Wed Feb 1
Flamengo v Real Potosi - G2 (1-2)
Once Caldas v Internacional - G1 (0-1)
-Thu Feb 2
Tigres UANL v Union Espanola - G3 (0-1)
Caracas v Penarol - G6 (0-4)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 28
Juventus 2-1 Udinese - #1 stays #1 in Italy with the win over #3.
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Chelsea - bigger team wins in an old ugly London derby (in the FA Cup.)
Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United - a big upset in the FA Cup in the battle of bitter rivals.
-Sun Jan 29
Feyenoord 4-2 Ajax - a huge win for the hosts in the biggest of the Dutch rivalries.
Sunderland 1-1 Middlesbrough - a northeast derby in the FA Cup ends tied so they will have to play it again.

DO YOU REALIZE

Rumors out of Ecuador are that the USA could be the host (but NOT participate in) the 2016 Copa America. Huh? It will be the 100th edition of the tournament and they are looking for a neutral site for the 10 team South American confederation's championship. Mexico is also being considered.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes about a study conducted by his partner in Soccernomics Stefan Szymanski on the best English club managers of all time.
-And for a change the Comments section is worth reading as well.

WELL WELL WELL

Santino Quaranta will play on FC Siliguri for head coach Marco Etcheverry in the brand new Indian Premier League.

OOF

NBC announced that they are filming a new cop show called Chicago Fire!

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

The Fort Myers News-Press reports on a relatively large crowd, 1800, that turned out to watch Chicago play DC Sunday at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
-They have a few words with Fire head coach Frank Klopas too.

dN

Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon has supposedly signed with his original professional club Deportivo Cali and will not be returning to the Union.
-So do they go with 2nd year player Zac MacMath or do they find another veteran.

Player Transactions

New York has signed former Chicago centerback Wilman Conde from Atlas in Mexico.

dN

Toronto signs 29 year old Chilean left fullback Miguel Aceval from Universidad de Concepcion in Chile.

dN

Columbus has signed 26 year old Costa Rican forward Olman Vargas of Herediano in Costa Rican.

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN talks to new Chivas midfielder veteran Pete Vagenas.
-And did new signing Marvin Iraheta sustain a bad knee injury in his first action of the year with Chivas??

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch on the team's new forward Olman Vargas and other team notes.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC has signed Luke Sassano to a new contract.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

NER got the preseason off to a positive start with a 2-1 win over FC Tucson.
-Sainey Nyassi and Kenny Mansally(PK) got the goals.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times gives us the Sounder roster as they head to Arizona.

dN

Mayers also does a Q & A with both Brad Evans - and - Jeff Parke who have just returned to the team from the USA January camp.

TORONTO FC

TFC lists the 41 players they have in training camp.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Oguchi Onyewu scored both goals for Sporting!

dN

After leading the Eredivisie for most of the season Jozy Altidore & AZ find themselves in 3rd place and more than 10 goals down in differential to the two leaders PSV & Twente.

dN

Eric Lichaj returned from long term injury and was on the bench for Aston Villa this weekend.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 32
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Sat Jan 28 - on the bench as they lost 0-2 v Stoke.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 - on the bench as they lost 3-2 at Arsenal.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 - on the bench as they lost 3-2 at Arsenal.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Sat Jan 28 - went the full 90 as they won 0-4 at Sheffield United.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Sat Jan 28 - played the entire game as they won 1-2 at West Brom.

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - started and went 76 min as they drew 0-0 at Beerschot.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started but got 2 yellow cards and was ejected as they drew 2-2 v Lommel United.
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - went the full 90 but lost 3-1 at White Star Woluwe.

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - went the full 90 but lost 4-0 at Hartlepool.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim - on the bench as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - started and played 77 min scoring a goal as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Hamburg.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - went the distance as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen - on the bench as they drew 1-1 at Werder Bremen.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Ryan Adeleye - Hapoel Be'er Sheva - on the bench as they lost 3-1 at Maccabi Haifa.
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - Mon Jan 30 - went the distance as they drew 1-1 at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - started and played 74 min as they lost 0-3 v Lazio.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - came on as a sub at half time and got a yellow card as they lost 2-0 at Roda.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the full 90 scoring 2 goals and getting a yellow card as they won 2-0 v Beira-Mar.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the entire game as they won 4-0 v Hibernian.
Mo Edu - Rangers - started and played 74 min as they won 4-0 v Hibernian.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Feb 1 v West Brom
Landon Donovan - Everton - Tue Jan 31 v Manchester City
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Tue Jan 31 v Wigan
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Wed Feb 1 v QPR
Marcus Hahnemann - Everton - Tue Jan 31 v Manchester City
Tim Howard - Everton - Tue Jan 31 v Manchester City
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Wed Feb 1 v QPR
Tim Ream - Bolton - Wed Feb 1 v Arsenal
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Wed Feb 1 at Sunderland

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Jan 31 at Barnsley
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Jan 31 v Burnley
George John - West Ham - Tue Jan 31 at Ipswich
Danny Potts - West Ham - Tue Jan 31 at Ipswich
Robbie Rogers - Leeds - Tue Jan 31 v Birmingham
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Tue Jan 31 at Leeds

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Tue Jan 31 v Notts County

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

DaMarcus Beasley scored the games only in a big Puebla road win. (He even used his RIGHT foot to bang home a beauty.)
-See video at the blog Over There.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - started and played 80 min scoring a goal as they won 0-1 at Chiapas.
Ricardo Bocanegra - Atlas - came on as a sub in the 77th min as they won 1-0 v Toluca.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they won 2-1 v Tecos.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - played the full 90 but lost 1-3 v Santos Laguna.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - came on as a sub in the 29th min getting a yellow card as they lost 1-3 v Santos Laguna.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - on the bench as they won 1-3 at Tijuana.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - on the bench as they drew 2-2 v Cruz Azul.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they lost 1-3 v America.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the full 90 as they drew 1-1 v Queretaro.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Marco Vidal - Leon - on the bench as they won 3-4 at Toros Neza.
Isaac Acuna - Merida - came in as a sub in the 73rd min getting a yellow card as they won 1-2 at Lobos BUAP.

CANADA

Here is the schedule for this years Canadian Championship.

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
FC Edmonton v Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2nd Leg
-Wed May 9
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Edmonton

Finals
1st Leg
-Wed May 16
2nd Leg
-Wed May 23

ENGLAND

All the results from the latest round of the FA Cup.

Rob Bagchi, Evan Fanning, Ian McCourt and Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian with five things we learned from the FA Cup this weekend.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Spain's longest serving head coach and a review of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

Copa Del Rey - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 31
Mirandes v Athletic Bilbao
-Wed Feb 1
Valencia v Barcelona
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 7
Athletic Bilbao v Mirandes
-Wed Feb 8
Barcelona v Valencia

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian beats Inter over the head yet again (he hates them) for a horrible performance, and rounds up the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

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

dN

Ghana advanced to the knock out stage with a win on Saturday.

And on Sunday the Relentless Zombies of Zambia advanced, while the darlings of the tournament Libya were knocked out.

On Monday Sudan advanced over Angola on goal differential.

dN

ADVANCED: Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia

ELIMINATED: Angola, Burkina Faso, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Senegal

dN

Standings:
Group A
ADV-7 Zambia
ADV-6 Equatorial Guinea
OUT-4 Libya
OUT-0 Senegal
Group B
ADV-9 Cote d'Ivoire
ADV-4 Sudan (0 GD)
OUT-4 Angola (-1 GD)
OUT-0 Burkina Faso
Group C
ADV-6 Gabon
ADV-6 Tunisia
OUT-0 Morocco
OUT-0 Niger
Group D
ADV-6 Ghana
3 Guinea
3 Mali
0 Botswana

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-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 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan 2-2 Angola
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Fri Jan 27
Niger 1-2 Tunisia
Gabon 3-2 Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Sat Jan 28
Botswana 1-6 Guinea - 10:00am CT
Ghana 2-0 Mali - 1:00pm CT
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Sun Jan 29
Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Zambia - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya 2-1 Senegal - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Mon Jan 30
Sudan 2-1 Burkina Faso
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Angola
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Tue Jan 31
Gabon v Tunisia
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
Niger v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Wed Feb 1
Botswana v Mali
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
Ghana v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Quarterfinals
-Sat Feb 4
Zambia v B2
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
B1 v Equatorial Guinea
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Sun Feb 5
C1 v D2
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
D1 v C2
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Semifinals
-Wed Feb 8
A1/B2 v D1/C2
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
C1/D2 v B1/A2
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville

Final
-Sun Feb 12
Semifinal Winners
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville