Some Soccer News for Wed Feb 22, 2012

COUNTDOWN TO MLS 2012 - SEASON 17










And

Coming Sun Mar 11 to NBC Sports

STARTERS

Jurgen Klinsmann will announce the USA roster on Thursday for the match on Wed Feb 29 at Italy.

dN

Ricardo Clark has been loaned out by Eintracht Frankfurt to Stabaek in Norway. (They are just beginning their preseason now.)

dN

The Desert Diamond Cup kicks off tonight in Tuscon AZ with 4 MLS teams: LA, New England, New York and Salt Lake.
-See the games live on MLSsoccer.com

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Round of 16 - 1st Leg

Both Bayern and Inter lost on the road to underdogs Basel and Marseille.

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 v 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.

STORY OF THE DAY

Tales Azzoni of the AP reports that former slaves and current prison inmates are part of the work force build World Cup stadiums in Brazil.

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Are you ready?? Returns in just TWO weeks!

Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Mar 6
Morelia v Monterrey
-Wed Mar 7
Toronto v LA Galaxy
Seattle Sounders v Santos Laguna
-Thu Mar 8
Isidro Metapan v UNAM Pumas

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

The Brazilian football federation has called an emergency meeting for Wed Feb 29 to discuss the ongoing corruption rumors concerning their president Ricardo Teixeira.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"As far as I am concerned Dwayne is the most accomplished professional athlete in Washington, D.C. — actually by a pretty considerable margin."
-DC United president Kevin Payne on Dwayne De Rosario

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Aurelien Collin of Sporting Kansas City is generously giving his time to improve your life. Video special. Enjoy.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Montreal is clearly on to something here!























PODCASTS

The 2nd episode of the Pitch Invasion podcast is now ready for our ears to enjoy. Download or listen here.
-"Hosts Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore welcome onto the show DC United General Manager Dave Kasper and Jeremy Wright of the Timbers Army, discussing the upcoming MLS season and American supporter culture."

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Sporting Kansas City has signed 22 year old Cameroonian centerback Cyprian Hedrick. He was a SuperDraft selection.

dN

Vancouver has signed 23 year old American defender Greg Klazura, who they selected in the Supplemental Draft.

dN

Chivas USA signs 3 players: 22 year old forward Cesar Romero from Murcielagos, 33 year old defensive midfielder Peter Vagenas from Vancouver Whitecaps, and 25 year old centerback Rauwshan McKenzie from Real Salt Lake.

dN

Houston has signed 19 year old American goalkeeper Erich Marscheider formerly of Colorado Rush.

MLSSoccer.com Season Previews

-New England Revolution by Kyle McCarthy

CHICAGO FIRE

Did you know Ivan Guerrero was in preseason camp with the Fire? I didn't. MLSsoccer.com with his story. He is trying to get signed.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Nick Groke of the Post writes that the Raps still have holes to fill in their defense.

FC DALLAS

David Ferreira finally returned to the field today for the first time since suffering a badly broken ankle last May. The team played a friendly against the USA U23 team, and Ferreira played 55 minutes.

DC UNITED

Craig Stouffer of the Examiner writes that prior to signing with the team their new DCU striker Hamdi Salihi had heard very good things about MLS.

dN

Stouffer also wrote about Branko Boskovic who missed last season with injury but is expected to contribute. (this article is 2 weeks old but still very relevant)

dN

Thomas Floyd of the Times also writes about new signing Salihi.

dN

ESPN's season preview of DC United.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle with a story on Josue Soto who was signed from their academy last year and is looking good in preseason this year.

dN

Forward Calen Carr has joined in at preseason training for the first time this year following recovery from left knee surgery.

dN

Centerback Andre Hainault's nickname is Droid!

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer writes that if the season started today rookie Ryan Meara would most likely be the goalkeeper, a local kid from North Brunswick NJ.
-Meara's inspiration is Tim Howard.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

The Union signed fullback Sheanon Williams to a contract extension.

dN

Jeff DiVeronica of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle tells us about new Philly signing Krystian Witkowski.

dN

ESPN's season preview of the Philadelphia Union.

REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the Tribune sees Luis Gil as getting a real shot at important minutes with the team this season.

dN

James Edward of the Deseret on the team's struggles with injuries, and how the rookies are looking.
-"Alvaro Saborio, Nat Borchers and Will Johnson won't be ready for the season opener."

dN

Edward also talks to team GM Garth Lagerway about how the roster is shaping up.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russell Berrisford of the Sun writes that the Caps still haven't figured out how to best use Davide Chiumiento.

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 v Atlante(Mexico)
Venue: Cancun MX
San Diego Clasico: Chivas USA v Tijuana(Mexico)
Venue: Torero Stadium - San Diego CA

dN

Coming up:

-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

The majority of teams are taking part in preseason tournaments:.

(Many of these games can be seen online at MLSsoccer.com and ESPN3.com)

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

Standings:
LA Galaxy
New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Real Salt Lake

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Feb 22
LA Galaxy v New England Revolution
Real Salt Lake v New York Red Bulls
-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

Brent Latham of ESPN previews the Honolulu tourney.

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

MLS STADIUMS

Tracy Seipel of the Mercury News reports on a very important Planning Commission vote tonight concerning the San Jose Earthquakes stadium proposal.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

The Stars announced their preseason training schedule today:

Mar 5: Signed and returning players required to report
Mar 6: Training begins
Mar 9: Stars FC at Chicago Fire in Bridgeview, Ill.
Mar 16: Stars FC at Hastings College in Hastings, Neb.
Mar 18: Stars FC at Creighton University and Stars FC at University of Nebraska at Omaha in Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.
Mar 23: Intrasquad scrimmage, site to be announced
Apr 2: Stars FC vs. FC Edmonton, site to be announced

dN

Apr 7 - Season Opener v Carlina RailHawks at Metrodome in Minneapolis
-Tickets to this game are just $5, so you if you live anywhere near the Twin Cities you better be at this game.

dN

The team also gives us video from some of their recent tryouts, including word from head coach Manny Lagos.

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

The team played a friendly today against FC Dallas.
-Here is the starting 11:
Hamid, Opara, Sarkodie, Valentin, Villafana, Okugo, Agudelo, Jeffrey, Shea, Adu, Bunbury
-The USA U23 won 2-1 on goals by Ike Opara & Brek Shea.
-Kofi Sarkodie got two yellow cards and we ejected in the 58th min.
-Shea also got two yellow cards and was ejected in the 75th min.

dN

They will play another game against San Antonio Scorpions(NASL) on an unknown date.

dN

US Soccer gives us video from day 1 of the current training camp.

dN

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com has an article on Terrance Boyd who is fighting his way onto the first team at German leaders Dortmund.

dN

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

USA U20 TEAM

Head coach Tab Ramos has called in 26 players for a training camp from Mon Feb 20 to Thu Mar 1 in Clermont FL.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to Juan Ocegueda picking the USA over Mexico.
-They also talk about life his club team Tigres in Mexico.

dN

The team will play 2 friendlies:
-Sun Feb 26
USA U20 v FC Dallas reserves
-Wed Feb 29
USA U20 v Montreal Impact reserves
Venue: both at Disney Wide World of Sports

dN

Roster
G:
Tomas Gomez - Georgetown U
Jesus Guzman - Santos Laguna
Kamil Kaminski - Legia Warsaw
D:
AJ Cochran - U Wisconsin
Christian Dean - U California
Mobi Fehr - no club
Eric Miller - Creighton U
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - U North Carolina
Javan Torre - LA Galaxy Academy
Walker Zimmerman - Furman U
M:
Seth Casiple - U California
Daniel Cuevas - Santos Laguna
Matt Dunn - OFK
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
Alejandro Guido - no club
Benji Joya - Santos Laguna
Mikey Lopez - U North Carolina
Collin Martin - DC United Academy
Daniel Metzger - U Maryland
Victor Pineda - Chicago Fire
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Duesseldorf
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Sean Okoli - Wake Forest U
Andrew Oliver - Chicago Fire Academy
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecap

US SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America talks to Leigh Cowlishaw of the Richmond Kickers about how they fully fund their Dev Ac team, and gets his reaction to the new 10 month season.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Charlie Davies - Sochaux - Wed Feb 22 - on the bench but did not play as they lost 0-1 v Lille.

dN

Coming Up:

UEFA - Europa League - Round of 32 - 2nd Leg
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Thu Feb 23 at Anderlecht (0-1)
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Thu Feb 23 at Club Brugge (1-2)
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Thu Feb 23 v Plzen (1-1)
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Thu Feb 23 v AZ (0-1)

EUROPE

Former Real Madrid and Spain veteran Miquel Salgado writes for Four Four Two about the racism issues flooding England right now.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

The second leg of the Round of 32 continues with 1 game on Wednesday the 22nd and the rest on the regular Thursday the 23rd.
-See all the 2nd Leg matches & 1st Leg scores right here.

Manchester City were the first team to advance today.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Everyone won by big scorelines last night.

UE of Chile is off to a good start with 2 wins and a +5 goal differential.

Arsenal of Sarandi in Argentina had a powerful win as well. But they are in a very difficult group.

Cruz Azul wolloped Tachira to climb to 6 points out of 6!

And Atletico Nacional of Colombia got the biggest win of all, doing it on the road against last years finalist Penarol.

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 v Godoy Cruz
Velez Sarsfield v Guadalajara
-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
3 Velez Sarsfield (+3)
3 Defensor Sporting (-1)
1 Guadalajara (0)
1 Deportivo Quito (-2)
Group 8
6 Atletico Nacional (+6)
3 Godoy Cruz (+1)
0 Universidad Chile (-2)
0 Penarol (-5)

TACTICS

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at the 3 centerback formation Napoli employs and sees trouble for opponents in their width and flexibility.

dN

Wilson writing for World Soccer describes a very similar formation and success rate at Universidad de Chile.

ENDERS

Kraftwerk like you have never ever heard them! Sounds like proto-metal! Live on Bremen Radio 1971.