Some Soccer News for Thu Feb 23, 2012

COUNTDOWN TO MLS 2012 - SEASON 17

STARTERS

Brilliant Move of the Day: The Tampa Bay Rowdies and Minnesota Stars have moved their game on May 26th to the 25th so it does not conflict with the USA game on that same date!

dN

Sacha Kljestan was the only American to play the full 90 in the Europa League today, and he was the only one to see his team knocked out. Steve Cherundolo, Jermaine Jones and Oguchi Onyewu were not on the team rosters at all as they advanced, and Jozy Altidore came on as a sub and advanced.
-See details in Americans In Europe section below.

dN

So FC Porto are upset that Man City fans taunted their player Hulk with the chant "You're not incredible!" Give me a break. That is beyond lame.

dN

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times pieces together the highlights of his own Twitter stream from last night's speech (from Columbus, so sorta Crew-centric) by MLS commissioner Don Garber.
-Here is video of that address - PART 1 - and - PART 2.

TEAM USA

The USA plays plays a friendly against Italy next Wednesday in Genoa.

dN

Here is the USA roster. 21 players. 4 from MLS. 1 from Mexico. 16 from Europe.

G:
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa
Tim Howard - Everton
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham
M:
Michael Bradley - Chievo
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jose Torres - Pachuca
Danny Williams - Hoffenheim
F:
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Terrence Boyd - Dortmund
Edson Buddle - LA Galaxy
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy

dN

US Soccer has a short Q & A with head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, talking about this roster and game.

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe has words from Klinsmann on this roster, on some of the players not chosen, and the teams depth at the centerback position.

dN

A stunning surprise is the inclusion of Terrance Boyd, a reserve player from German champions and current leaders Dortmund.

Currently with U23/Olympic team: Bill Hamid, Alfredo Morales, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury, Brek Shea

Excluded: Sacha Kljestan, DaMarcus Beasley, Tim Ream, Herculez Gomez, Edgar Castillo, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber

Injured: Oguchi Onyewu, Robbie Rogers, Zak Whitbread

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Round of 16 - 1st Leg

Both Inter & Bayern choked and gave up last minute goals to the underdogs from Marseille and Basel - great job by the home teams.

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews the Tuesday - and - Wednesday games.

Amy Lawrence of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Champions League this week.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Feb 21
CSKA Moscow 1-1 Real Madrid - CM goal by Pontus Wernbloom. RM goal by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Napoli 3-1 Chelsea - Nap goals by Ezequiel Lavezzi(2) & Edison Cavanni.
-Wed Feb 22
Marseille 1-0 Inter - Mar goal by Andre Ayew.
Basel 1-0 Bayern - - Bas goal by Valentin Stocker.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Feb 21, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

A lot of big games to watch this weekend!

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jun 25
Milan v Juventus - #1 v #2 in Serie A - a huuuuuge game.
Lyon v PSG - a grudge match
-Sun Feb 26
Arsenal v Tottenham - when is the last time this North London derby had so much riding on it? Maybe never in the Premier League before?!
Bayern v Schalke - #3 v #4 in the Bundesliga in the thick of a tight race.
Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid - a Madrid derby, and Valle are exactly the type of team to spoil Real's party.
PSV v Feyenoord - long time rivals
AZ v Heerenveen - #2 v #3
Galatasaray v Besiktas - one of the crazy Istanbul derbies

AND

ENGLAND - League Cup - Final
-Sun Feb 26
Cardiff City v Liverpool

WELL WELL WELL

A lot of the new Nike uniforms that I have been seeing has this very interesting fabric. (Brazil & France shirts that I have seen are using this same fabric.) Very textured. (Click to enlarge) This is the Netherlands 2nd shirt. Image from the always great site Todo Sobre Camisetas.

















THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

The San Jose Earthquakes are using nostalgia as part of their look this season, and this image from their season tickets says it all. Fantastic! They nailed it on this one.














PICTURE OF THE DAY

Its pretty obvious that the new Columbus Crew shirts look better designed with a the sponsor on the front of them rather than just a blank white front.
















MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

MLSSoccer.com Season Previews

Club Deportivo Chivas USA

Toronto Football Club

Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club

New England Revolution

CHICAGO FIRE

The Southtown Star reports that the team has ended a deal with and now filed a lawsuit against a youth club affiliate Chicago Fire Juniors.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch talks to owner Clark Hunt about his future vision for the team.

dN

Jardy also writes about left fullback Shaun Francis who missed almost all of last season due to injury.

FC DALLAS

Todd Date of 3rd Degree tells us about the first preseason game action of the year from David Ferreira.

dN

Date also writes about veteran fullback Jair Benetiz.

dN

And finally Date tells us about the chances of Scott Sealy making the FCD roster.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle with an article on 2nd year starting goalkeeper Tally Hall.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Tod Palmer of the Star with an article on highly touted rookie striker Dom Dwyer.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe tells us about the latest batch of new faces at the Revs preseason camp.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Jack Bell of the Times on the Bulls as they head to Arizona for more training and some serious friendlies.

dN

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer with some basic Red Bulls news, including the absence of a work visa for Luke Rodgers.

dN

Brian Lewis of the Post talks to coach Hans Backe about Thierry Henry's return from Arsenal.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Kerith Gabriel of the Daily News talks to Peter Nowak before the team heads to Costa Rica for their final stint of preseason training.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Times has a transcript of a press conference from head coach Sigi Schmid following an unsatisfactory friendly against Atlante from Mexico. Schimd feels like Atlante reneged on a deal they had about the game.

TORONTO FC

Both Dutch forward Danny Koevermans and 2nd year player Ashtone Morgan writing for the Star checks in from training camp.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantinueau of the Sun on the return of The Hun - Attiba Harris.

dN

Marc Weber on the Province on the depth the team is trying to build.

MLS PRESEASON SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:

-Wed Feb 22
FC Dallas 1-2 USA U23 - FCD goal by Andrew Jacobson. USA goals by Ike Opara & Brek Shea.
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium training center - Frisco TX
Seattle Spounders 5-2 Atlante(Mexico) - SS goals by David Estrada, Fredy Montero(2), Christian Sivebaek & Leo Gonzalez. Atl goal scorers unknown.
Venue: Cancun MX
San Diego Clasico: Chivas USA 2-5 Tijuana(Mexico) - CUSA goals by Michael Lahoud & Casey Townsend. Tij goals by Raul Enriquez, Mauro Gerk, Leandro Fernandez(2) & Noe Maya.
Venue: Torero Stadium - San Diego CA

-Thu Feb 23
New York Red Bulls v UNAM Pumas(Mexico) - 9pm CT on MSG (for those with Direct TV like me!)
Venue: Chase Field - Phoenix AZ

dN

Tournaments

The Desert Diamond Cup - Feb 22-Mar 3
Venue: Kino Stadium - Tuscon AZ

New England and Salt Lake were winners on Matchday 1 (of 4.)

Dave Ord of the Arizona Daily Star with a review of the two games last night.

Standings:
3 New England Revolution (+1)
3 Real Salt Lake (+1)
0 LA Galaxy (-1)
0 New York Red Bulls (-1)

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 22
LA Galaxy 2-3 New England Revolution - LAG goals by Edson Buddle & Mike Magee. NER goals by Benny Feilhaber, John Lozano & Jeremiah White.
Real Salt Lake 1-0 New York Red Bulls - RESL goal by Paulo Junior.
-Sat Feb 25
LA Galaxy v Real Salt Lake
New England Revolution v New York Red Bulls
-Wed Feb 29
Real Salt Lake v New England Revolution
LA Galaxy v New York Red Bulls
-Sat Mar 3
Third place match
3 v 4
Final
1 v 2

dN

Hawaiian Islands Invitational - Feb 23-25
Venue: Aloha Stadium - Honolulu HI

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Feb 23
Busan I'Park FC (Korea) v Melbourne Heart FC (Australia)
Colorado Rapids v Yokohama FC (Japan)
-Sat Feb 25
Loser Game 1 v Loser Game 2
Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 2

dN

Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic - Feb 24-Mar 3
Venue: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex - Orlando FL

Group 1
Houston Dynamo
Sporting Kansas City
Montreal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Group 2
FC Dallas
BK Hacken (Sweden)
Orlando City SC (USL Pro)
Toronto FC

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Feb 24
Sporting Kansas City v Houston Dynamo
Montreal Impact v Vancouver Whitecaps FC
-Sat Feb 25
Orlando City SC v Toronto FC
BK Hacken v FC Dallas
-Sun Feb 26
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Houston Dynamo
Sporting Kansas City v Montreal Impact
-Tue Feb 28
Toronto FC v BK Hacken
Orlando City SC v FC Dallas
-Wed Feb 29
Sporting Kansas City v Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Houston Dynamo v Montreal Impact
-Thu Mar 1
Toronto FC v FC Dallas
Orlando City SC v BK Hacken
-Sat Mar 3
Consolation Game:
G1-1 v G2-1
Championship Game:
G1-2 v G2-2

MLS STADIUMS

Almost there!

Tracy Seipel of the Mercury News reports that the San Jose Earthquakes bounded another hurdle in their process to get a stadium built, and are almost at the start/finish line to start digging up dirt.

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

They will play another game against San Antonio Scorpions(NASL) on Fri Feb 24.

Friendly
Match & Score:
-Wed Feb 29
USA U23 v Mexico - 9:00pm CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium - Frisco TX

dN

Olympic qualifying begins Mar 22.

dN

Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
D:
Greg Garza - Tijuana
Perry Kitchen - DC United
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin
Ike Opara - San Jose Earthquakes
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
M:
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mix Diskerud - Gent
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Terrence Boyd - Borussia Dortmund
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Tony Taylor - Estoril Praia

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of the New York Times talks to Marc Pelosi of Liverpool, where he just suffered a knee injury, but luckily does not need surgery.

dN

Game Action:

UEFA - Europa League - Round of 32 - 2nd Leg
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Thu Feb 23 - came on as a sub in the 44th in as they won 0-1 at Anderlecht and advance 2-0 on aggregate.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Thu Feb 23 - was not on the roster as they won 0-1 at Club Brugge and advance 3-1 on aggregate.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Thu Feb 23 - was not on the game day roster as they won 3-1 v Plzen and advance 4-2 on aggregate.
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Feb 23 - went the distance getting a yellow card but losing 0-1 v AZ and being knocked out 2-0 on aggregate.
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Thu Feb 23 - out injured as they won 1-0 v Legia Warszawa and advance 3-2 on aggregate.

CANADA

Canada plays at Armenia next Wednesday and here is their roster. The supposedly had teams refuse to release players even though that is a scheduled FIFA international date thus making refusals illegal. Who knows. They were also trying to not choose any MLS players due to preseason training, but they picked 2 in the end. They have 17 for the squad.

Roster
G:
Milan Borjan - Vaslui
Kenny Stamatopoulos - AIK
D:
Nana Attakora - San Jose Earthquakes
David Edgar - Burnley
Mike Klukowski - Manisaspor
Nik Ledgerwood - Wehen Wiesbaden
Kevin McKenna - Koln
Adam Straith - Saarbrucken
M:
Julian de Guzman - Toronto
Atiba Hutchinson - PSV
Pedro Pacheco - Santa Clara
Samuel Piette - Metz
Josh Simpson - Young Boys
F:
Marcus Haber - St Johnstone
Iain Hume - Preston North End
Simeon Jackson - Norwich
Tosaint Ricketts - Politehnica Timisoara

ENGLAND

England named their first post-Capello team for a friendly v the Netherlands next Wed:
G: Scott Carson (Bursaspor), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Robert Green (West Ham United)
D: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham)
M: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Manchester United), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
F: Darren Bent (Aston Villa), Fraizer Campbell (Sunderland), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)

GERMANY

Die Bundesliga Standings (21 games played):
49 Dortmund (+33 gd) - NEXT: Sun Feb 26 v Hannover
45 Bayern (+35 gd) - NEXT: Sun Feb 26 v Schalke
46 Gladbach (+23 gd) - NEXT: Fri Feb 24 v Hamburg
44 Schalke (+22 gd) - NEXT: Sun Feb 26 at Bayern

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

The second leg of the Round of 32 is now over.
-See all the scores right here.

COPA LIBERTADORES

More big scorelines as Universidad Chile & Velez Sarsfield mopped the floor with Godoy Cruz & Guadalajara Chivas respectively.

Chivas continued their dreadful form from the Mexican Primera having 0 goals in 2 games in this tournament.

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Feb 21
Penarol 0-4 Atletico Nacional
Bolivar 1-3 Union Espanola - Bol goal by Edhemir Rodriguez. UE goals by Mauro Diaz, Emanuel Herrera & Jean Paul Pineda.
Arsenal 3-0 Zamora - Ars goals by Jorge Ortiz, Ccarlos Carbonero & Luciano Leguizamon.
Cruz Azul 4-0 Deportivo Tachira - CA goals by Adrian Cortes(PK), Edixon Perea, Javier Orozco & Emanuel Villa.
-Wed Feb 22
Universidad Chile 5-1 Godoy Cruz - UC goals by Junior Fernandes(3), Gustavo Lorenzetti & Angelo Henriquez. GC goal by Leonardo Sigali.
Velez Sarsfield 3-0 Guadalajara - VS goals by Mauro Obolo & Federico Insua(2).
-Thu Feb 23
Olimpia v Lanus
The Strongest v Juan Aurich
Universidad Catholica v Junior

dN

Standings

Group 1
3 Internacional (+2)
3 The Strongest (+1)
0 Santos (-1)
0 Juan Aurich (-2)
Group 2
3 Emelec (+1)
1 Lanus (0)
1 Flamengo (0)
0 Olimpia (-1)
Group 3
6 Union Espanola (+5)
1 Universidad Catholica (0)
1 Bolivar (-2)
0 Junior (-2)
Group 4
3 Arsenal (+2)
3 Fluminense (+1)
1 Boca Juniors (0)
1 Zamora (-3)
Group 5
6 Libertad (+4)
3 Nacional (0)
0 Vasco Da Gama (-1)
0 Alianza Lima (-3)
Group 6
6 Cruz Azul (+5)
1 Corintians (0)
1 Deportivo Tachira (-4)
0 Nacional Asuncion (-1)
Group 7
6 Velez Sarsfield (+6)
3 Defensor Sporting (-1)
1 Deportivo Quito (-2)
1 Guadalajara (-3)
Group 8
6 Atletico Nacional (+6)
3 Universidad Chile (+2)
3 Godoy Cruz (-3)
0 Penarol (-5)