Some Soccer News for Thu Feb 9, 2012

STARTERS

Medio Tiempo with an article saying CONMEBOL is making a huge proposal to CONCACAF for the 100th Anniversary of CONMEBOL in 2016 - scrap the Copa America, scrap the Gold Cup and hold 1 joint tournament in the United States with 10 CONMEBOL teams and 8 CONCACAF teams! Fantastic idea! (In Spanish)
-thanks to Phil for the link

dN

CONFIRMED FRIENDLY: USA v Brazil - Wed May 30 - Landover MD - FedExField - 7pm CT on ESPN2, ESPN3 & Univision

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African Cup of Nations Quarterfinals are all set for this weekend:

dN

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on the amazing run for the Relentless Zombies of Zambia.

Adam Burrows of the Boston Globe reflects on the tournament so far.

FLASHBACK: Leigh Montville of Sports Illustrated with an article from 1993 on a tragic plane crash that killed the Zambian team that year.

dN

Final
-Sun Feb 12
Zambia v Ivory Coast winner - 1pm CT
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville

Join me in St Paul at the Sweetwater for the Final.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Feb 7 - new music mix at Spotify.

DISASTER IN EGYPT

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated on Bob Bradley standing tall in very adverse circumstances.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 11
Manchester United v Liverpool - an old England classic match up.
Monchengladbach v Schalke - #4 hosts #3 and they are 3 and 2 points out of first place respectively.
Udinese v Milan - #3 hosts #1 with just 4 points between them.
-Sun Feb 12
Rayo Vallecano v Getafe - a Madrid derby

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Seth Vertelney of Goal.com talks about how 2 MLS team executives are using Twitter to spread the word about their club.

Player Transactions

Houston traded away a future conditional draft pick to Colorado for Macoumba Kandji.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Adam Serrano of Soccer By Ives took in Brian Ching's first game against his former team.

Scott French of ESPN also weighs in on Ching's game against his old team.

dN

Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle with the latest on the arrest of Tyler Deric and new info from the police.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star with an article on the chillinest brah in all of KC - Chance Myers. Even his name is kinda chill.

Tod Palmer of the Bellingham Herald also checks in on Myers for his hometown paper.

LA GALAXY

Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer looks into how the Galaxy is building such a deep roster under the salary cap.

dN

LA has turned down a request from Aston Villa to extend the loan deal of Robbie Keane.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Randy Phillips of the Gazette looks at the team after their first preseason encounter with an MLS team.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post with the latest notes on team injuries, Thierry Henry and Luke Rodgers.
-The Rodgers visa problem was NOT fixed contrary to prior reports.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian looks at the Timbs after their impressive preseason debut against LA.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

For the second off season in a row Chris Wondolowski has been given a new contract by the EQuakes. This new deal runs through the 2014 season.

TORONTO FC

David Rowaan of Sports Net looks for keys to success for TFC in 2012.
-In my book there is only 1 - Defense.

dN

Daniel Girard of the Star on the goalkeeper battle going on between Stefan Frei and Milos Kocic.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun talks to Sebastian Le Toux about his life at a new team.

MLS PRESEASON SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:

-Fri Feb 10
Vancouver Whitecaps v Real Salt Lake
Venue:
San Jose Earthquakes v Colorado Rapids
Venue: San Luis Obispo CA
Portland Timbers v Montreal Impact
Venue: The Home Depot Center Practice Field - Carson CA
LA Galaxy v Houston Dynamo
Venue: The Home Depot Center Practice Field - Carson CA

-Sat Feb 11
Sporting Kansas City v DC United
Venue: Casa Grande AZ
Philadelphia Union v Florida Gulf Coast U
Venue:
Chivas USA v Chicago Fire
in Oxnard, Calif

-Sun Feb 12
Portland Timbers v Houston Dynamo
Venue: The Home Depot Center Practice Field - Carson CA

dN

Coming up:
-Sat Feb 18
Philadelphia Union v Orlando City SC(USL Pro)
Venue:

Community Shield
-Wed Feb 29
Sounders Sounders v Chiapas Jaguares(Mexico) - FREE admission!
Venue: CenturyLink Field - Seattle WA

MLS STADIUMS

Keep an eye on the folks laying down the turf at BBVA Compass Stadium via the webcam.

NASL NEWS

San Antonio has announced that they will play a friendly against Mexican 2nd division team Dorados and their star player Mexican legend Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

-Wed March 14
San Antonio Scorpions FC v Club Dorados de Sinaloa
Venue: Banner Island Baseball Park - Stockton CA

So a team from Texas is playing a team from Sinaloa in Northern California?

SOCCER IN AMERICA

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad tells about one way young American players are getting seen by big time scouts from around the world - SuperElite All-American Showcase.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Sporting Life reports on Charlie Davies trying to fight for a place at Sochaux.

dN

Matthew Wagner of Yanks Abroad introduces us to centerback Patrick Hopkins who recently signed with Ljungskile in Sweden.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com talks to Jonathan Bornstein about his growing role at Tigres and a new position as a central midfielder.

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Brian Sciaretta writing for the NY Times tells us about the career Alex Smith is having in Australia.

CANADA

The Globe & Mail talks to head coach Stephen Hart about his national team's prep for the next round of World Cup qualifying.

ENGLAND

Brian Phillips of Grantland on the bobble-headed side of Harry Redknapp.

GERMANY

After losing to a 2 Bundesliga team in the Pokal yesterday Hoffenheim has fired head coach Holger Stanislawski.

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Feb 8
Milan 1-2 Juventus
-Thu Feb 9
Siena 2-1 Napoli

COPA LIBERTADORES

Cruz Azul and Nacional both got big road wins last night

dN

Standings

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

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 8
Nacional Asuncion 1-2 Cruz Azul - NA goal by Ariel Bogado. CA goals both by Javier Orozco.
Union Espanola 2-0 Junior - UE goals by Emanuel Herrera & Fernando Cordero.
Vasco da Gama 1-2 Nacional - VDG goal by Alecsandro. Nac goals by Dede(OG) & Vicente Sanchez.
-Thu Feb 9
Internacional v Juan Aurich
Libertad v Alianza Lima
Universidad Catholica v Bolivar
Emelec v Olimpia

ARGENTINA

Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian tells us more about the AFA using the Falklands War to try and build national fervor for their top flight league.

ENDERS

Kei Kamara the non-stop prankster.