Some Soccer News for Thu Jan 26, 2012

STORY OF THE DAY

James Montague of the New York Times with an article on one of the surprise teams in all of world soccer right now - Ironi Kiryat Shmona in Israel.

Argentine-American Bryan Gerzicich is a key member of the team.

LANDON DONOVAN V CLINT DEMPSEY

FA Cup Match
-Fri Jan 27
Everton v Fulham - live at 2pm CT on Fox Soccer

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is done with the annual January training camp.

dN

Gray-Ham Zusi got the games only goal in a 0-1 USA win in Panama last night.

The second biggest moment of the game was when centerback Geoff Cameron was red carded for fouling a player who was breaking in on goal.

US Soccer gives us video of Zusi's goal.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA 1-0 Venezuela - USA goal by Ricardo Clark.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama 0-1 USA - USA goal by Graham Zusi.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach & players from US Soccer.
Post game analysis by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by John Godfrey of the NY Times.
Post game notes and player ratings by Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad.
Player ratings by Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer.

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:
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:
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Panama roster
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

COPA LIBERTADORES

Jonathan Bornstein went the full 90 for Tigres last night.

Ronaldinho and his teammates at Flamengo lost on the road.

dN

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Arsenal 3-0 Sport Huancayo - Ars goals by Jorge Cordoba, Emilio Zelaya & Claudio Mosca.
El Nacional 1-0 Libertad - EN goal by Juan Luis Anangono.
-Wed Jan 25
Union Espanola 1-0 Tigres UANL - UE goal by Gonzalo Barriga.
Real Potosi 2-1 Flamengo - RP goals by Claudio Centurion & Edgardo Brittes. Flam goal by Luiz Antonio.
Internacional 1-0 Once Caldas - Int goal by Leandro Damiao.
-Thu Jan 26
Penarol v Caracas

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

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Bolton Wanderers of England officially announced the signing of American centerback Tim Ream from the New York Red Bulls.
-Words from Tim Ream.
-Words from Stu Holden.
-Video of an interview with Ream.

Jack Bell of the New York Times talks to Ream about his big move, and a tough 2011 season in New York.

Graham Parker of the Guardian with an in-depth article on Ream's progress and new adventure.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Brian Lewis of the New York Post with an article on the Red Bulls interest in building a residency youth academy.

STAT OF THE DAY

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune quotes Seattle Sounder GM Adrian Hanauer of saying that the team is shooting for an average attendance this season of over 40,000 per game!!!

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times tells us that Kasey Keller was named Seattle's Professional Sports Star of the Year last night.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Real Salt Lake released their training camp roster to the public.
-It would be great to see a lot more MLS team's do this same thing.

Player Transactions

Toronto has signed fullback Richard Eckersley to a permanent contract from Burnley. He was with TFC last season on loan.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Goalkeeper Jon Busch has signed a contract extension.

USL NEWS

Orlando has signed John Rooney, little brother of Wayne, who was on the Red Bulls roster last season.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

West Ham raves about George John's debut in a reserve match yesterday in which he scored the only goal and played a strong game.

dN

David Smith of Yanks Abroad talks to Jonathan Spector about his season in the Championship Division with Birmingham.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 32
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Fri Jan 27 at Everton
Landon Donovan - Everton - Fri Jan 27 v Fulham
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Sat Jan 28 v Stoke
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Fri Jan 27 at Watford
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 at Arsenal
Tim Howard - Everton - Fri Jan 27 v Fulham
Tim Ream - Bolton - Sat Jan 28 v Swansea
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Sat Jan 28 at Sheffield United
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Sat Jan 28 at West Brom

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

COPA LIBERTADORES - Qualifying Round
Jonathan Bornstein - UANL Tigres - Wed Jan 24 - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Union Espanola.

MEXICO

Guadalajara introduced new head coach Nacho Ambriz.

ENGLAND

English League Cup - Final

Match & Score:
-DATE TBA
Cardiff City v Liverpool

dN

Coming up this weekend is the next round of the FA Cup.

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Quarterfinals

Sid Lowe of the Guardian sees a comeback tie for Real Madrid as a big step forward.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Mirandes 2-1 Espanyol - series ends tied 4-4 - Mir advances on away goals tie breaker
-Wed Jan 25
Mallorca 0-1 Athletic Bilbao - AB advances 3-0 on aggregate
Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid - Bar advances 4-3 on aggregate
-Thu Jan 26
Levante 0-3 Valencia - Val advances 7-1 on aggregate.

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals

Milan is the final team to move on to the next round.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus 3-0 Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo 0-1 Siena
Napoli 2-0 Inter
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio 1-3 Milan

Semifinal matchups:
Milan v Juventus
Siena v Napoli

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

Today Cote d'Ivoire advanced to the knock out stages and Burkina Faso was eliminated.

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian calls Equatorial Guinea sparkling.

dN

ADVANCED: Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea

ELIMINATED: Burkina Faso, Senegal

dN

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

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 v Tunisia
Gabon v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Sat Jan 28
Botswana v Guinea - 10:00am CT
Ghana v Mali - 1:00pm CT
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Sun Jan 29
Equatorial Guinea v Zambia - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya v Senegal - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata