Some Soccer News for Mon Mar 5, 2012

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COUNTDOWN TO MLS 2012 - SEASON 17








STARTERS

Happy 30th birthday to Landon Donovan on Sunday!

dN

Great weekend for Americans with Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Herculez among others scoring goals!

dN

Was it just me or did anyone else notice Tim Ream playing defensive midfielder for Bolton?

dN

Chelsea shows their complete lack of long term vision and already fired their head coach Andre Villas-Boas after just 27 Premier League games.

STORY OF THE DAY

The New York Times takes on the topic that has been written about in almost every newspaper across the country - The US Development Academy going to a year round schedule and forbidding players from joining their high school team. This is an old and worn out argument.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Brian Straus of Sporting News reviews Jurgen Klinsmann's first 6 or so months in charge, where the team was, and where is it headed.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad recaps his recent trip to Genoa for the historic USA win over Italy. He hands out player grades.

dN

13,000 tickets have been sold for the game against Scotland on May 26 in Jacksonville.
-Honestly the only game I currently care about ticket sales for are the World Cup qualifiers. I would love to see huge crowds at these, but I am not optimistic.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The 2nd Leg of the Round of 16 continues on Tuesday March 6. Four games this week and the other four next week!

Round of 16 - 2nd Leg

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue Mar 6
Arsenal v AC Milan (0-4) - 1:30pm on Fox Soccer
Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg (2-3) - 4:00pm delayed on Fox Soccer
-Wed Mar 7
Barcelona v Bayer Leverkusen (3-1) - 1:30pm on Fox Soccer
APOEL v Lyon (0-1) - 4:00pm delayed on Fox Soccer

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Quarterfinals begin tomorrow - Tuesday!

dN

Scott French reports that Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane are ready to go for LA.

Nigel Reed of the CBC looks ahead to Toronto v LA on Wednesday.

John Molinaro of SportsNet writes that Toronto head coach Aron Winter says his team is ready for the Galaxy.
-Five reasons to watch this game.

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune talks to Sounder forward Eddie Johnson who says he is ready to play on Wednesday night.

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times writes about Eddie Johnson's relationship with Oswaldo Sanchez who took a nasty swipe at him during a USA v Mexico game.

dN

Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Mar 6
Morelia v Monterrey
-Wed Mar 7
Toronto v LA Galaxy - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer
Seattle Sounders v Santos Laguna - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer
-Thu Mar 8
Isidro Metapan v UNAM Pumas

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Mar 2
Benfica 2-3 Porto - Porto wins a big big rivalry and takes the top spot from the defeated who fall back to #2.
-Sat Mar 3
Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal - Arsenal stays in the Champions League chase.
-Sun Mar 4
Roma 1-2 Lazio - the Rome derby goes to Lazio who is now up to #3 and won when Roma hosts for the first time in decades.
Newcastle 1-1 Sunderland - the Tyne–Wear derby ends in a stalemate.
Tottenham 1-3 Manchester United - #3 continues to stumble and #2 wins again while not at their best.
Real Madrid 5-0 Espnayol - a much lesser Madrid v Barcelona derby results in a beat down.
PSV 2-6 Twente - how does a #1 team get beat this bad? They are now #3!

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Kevin Baxter of the LA Times with an article on Taylor Twellman and his battles with and against concussions.

WELL WELL WELL

FIFA is looking at changing the scheduling of international dates after the 2014 cycle is complete, and this is the proposal that is on the table and likely to be pushed through:
-Nine double dates in a two-year cycle (18 matches in total), with a tenth double date available for the non-European member associations during UEFA EURO 2016
-Even distribution of the nine double dates over each year (March-September-October-November), with a June window every second year (odd years)
-No specific dates for friendlies, which can only be played within the framework of the double dates

This is the full story from FIFA.

FACT OF THE DAY

The German Football Association has kept their stance of suspending players for 8 games for violent conduct after Paolo Guerrero of Hamburg's foul on Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.
-Hamburg has announced that they will appeal the suspension.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Jay DeMerit writing his third diary entry for Goal.com.

OOF

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times goes in search of the original Jules Rimet trophy aka the World Cup trophy. Its been missing for decades.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Dare To Be Massive

Thanks to Colin for sending that our way.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

This is the ball that will be used at the Olympics this summer - The Albert:



















MLS MATCHES, SCORES & STANDINGS

FIRST KICK 2012

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 10
Colorado Rapids v Columbus Crew - 5pm CT
Venue: Dick's Sporting Good Park
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Montreal Impact - 5pm CT on TSN
Venue: BC Place
DC United v Sporting Kansas City - 6:30pm CT
Venue: RFK Stadium
San Jose Earthquakes v New England Revolution - 9:30pm CT
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
LA Galaxy v Real Salt Lake - 9:30pm CT
Venue: Home Depot Center
-Sun Mar 11
FC Dallas v New York Red Bulls - 2pm CT on NBC Sports Network
Venue: Pizza Hut Park
CD Chivas USA v Houston Dynamo - 6pm CT on Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Mon Mar 12
Portland Timbers v Philadelphia Union - 8:30pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: JELD-WEN Field

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated with his Western Conference preview and predictions.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com looks at what steps MLS is attempting to improve quality of play this season.

dN

Bobby McMahon writing for Forbes gives us a little MLS Growth 101.

dN

As expected Kyle Martino has been hired by NBC to call games alongside Arlo White this season. In addition NBC has hired Robbie Earle who has been calling games in England for years and last season as an analyst on Portland Timbers broadcasts as a studio host for before and after games.

dN

FIFA.com with an article on 4 young MLS hotshots to watch: Agudelo, Sapong, Shea & Zakuani.

dN

The Guardian with more season previews this time the Eastern Conference from the view of supporters group leaders and bloggers like the awesome Dave Martinez on New York Red Bulls and Boris Aguilar on Toronto FC.

dN

Player Transactions

Philadelphia has signed their 3rd academy player - 18 year old Mexican forward Cristhian Hernandez.

dN

MLSSoccer.com Season Previews

Seattle Sounders Football Club

Real Salt Lake

Football Club Dallas
Sporting Kansas City
Houston Dynamo
Colorado Rapids
Philadelphia Union
Columbus Crew
New York Red Bulls
Portland Timbers
Chicago Fire Soccer Club
San Jose Earthquakes
District of Columbia United
Club Deportivo Chivas USA
Toronto Football Club
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club
New England Revolution

dN

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN looks at a brutal ending to preseason matches for CUSA. Does not look good for the season ahead.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Fullback Anthony Wallace suffered a torn achilles in practice and will most likely miss the whole season.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

NER cut forward Zack Schilawski who played in 50 games and scored 6 goals over the last 2 seasons.

REAL SALT LAKE

Dave Ord of the Arizona Daily Star raves about classy Kyle Beckerman.

TORONTO FC

Duncan Fletcher of Sports Net looks at rookie Luis Silva and others who impressed during preseason.

dN

Kurtis Larson of the Sun previews TFC's season.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russell Berrisford of the Sun makes some nice unorthodox predictions for the upcoming season.

MLS PRESEASON SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:

Coming up:

-Sun Mar 4
Carolina RailHawks(NASL) 2-2 Vancouver Whitecaps - CRH wins 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Venue: Wake Med Park - Cary NC

dN

Preseason Tournaments

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

Vancouver got the win to claim the Chamionship on Sunday. Huge congrats to them.

Dallas won the third place game.

Group 1
9 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+7)
2 Houston Dynamo (-1)
2 Sporting Kansas City (-3)
2 Montreal Impact (-3)
Group 2
7 Toronto FC (+5)
4 FC Dallas (+1)
4 BK Hacken (Sweden) (0)
1 Orlando City SC (USL Pro) (-6)

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Feb 24
Sporting Kansas City 0-0 Houston Dynamo
Montreal Impact 0-3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - VW goals by Eric Hassli, Darren Mattocks & Sebastien Le Toux(PK).
-Sat Feb 25
Orlando City SC 2-2 Toronto FC - OC goals by John Rooney(PK) & Kevin Molino. TFC goals by Miguel Aceval & Torsten Frings.
BK Hacken 1-1 FC Dallas - BKH goal by Mattias Ostberg. FCD goal by Fabian Castillo.
-Sun Feb 26
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-0 Houston Dynamo - VW goal by Sebastien Le Toux(PK).
Sporting Kansas City 1-1 Montreal Impact - SKC goal by Soony Saad. MI goal by Mike Fucito.
-Tue Feb 28
Toronto FC 3-1 BK Hacken - TFC goals by Ryan Johnson, Moises Ororzco & Joao Plata. BKH goal by Andreas Drugge(PK).
Orlando City SC 0-4 FC Dallas - FCD goals by David Ferreira(PK), Fabian Castillo, Blas Perez & Andrew Wiedeman.
-Wed Feb 29
Sporting Kansas City 0-3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - VW goals by Sebastien Le Toux, Russell Teibert & Carlyle Mitchell.
Houston Dynamo 1-1 Montreal Impact - HD goal by Will Bruin. MI goal by Patrice Bernier.
-Thu Mar 1
Toronto FC 3-0 FC Dallas - TFC goals by Luis Silva(2) & Ryan Johnson.
Orlando City SC 0-2 BK Hacken - BKH goals both by Bjorn Anklev.
-Sat Mar 3
Championship
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 Toronto - VW goal by Camilo Sanvezzo.
Consolation
Houston Dynamo 0-1 Dallas - Dal goal by Brek Shea(PK).

dN

Jeld-Wen Field Tournament - Feb 27-Mar4
Venue: Jeld-Wen Field - Portland OR

San Jose wins the tournament over the hosts by goal differential.

Standings:
5 San Jose Earthquakes (+5)
5 Portland Timbers (+1)
4 Allmanna IdrottsKlubben (Sweden) (+1)
1 CD Chivas USA (-7)

-Mon Feb 27
CD Chivas USA 0-2 AIK - AIK goals by Viktor Lundberg & Lalawele Atakora.
San Jose Earthquakes 1-1 Portland Timbers - SJE goal by Hayner Mosquera(OG). PT goal by Khalif Alhassan.
-Thu Mar 1
AIK 0-0 San Jose Earthquakes
CD Chivas USA 1-1 Portland Timbers - CUSA goal by Cesar Romero. PT goal by Ryan Kawulok.
-Sun Mar 4
San Jose Earthquakes 5-0 CD Chivas USA - SJE goals by Chris Wondolowski, Justin Morrow, Tressor Moreno, Sercan Guvenisik & Sam Garza.
AIK 0-1 Portland Timbers - PT goal by Kris Boyd.

dN

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

LA beat New England in a Penalty Kick Shootout to claim the Cup.

Salt Lake takes the 3rd place game.

Standings:
9 New England Revolution (+4)
3 LA Galaxy (0)
3 New York Red Bulls (-2)
3 Real Salt Lake (-2)

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 2-0 Real Salt Lake - LAG goals by Paolo Cardozo & Mike Magee.
New England Revolution 2-0 New York Red Bulls - NER goals both by Kelyn Rowe.
-Wed Feb 29
Real Salt Lake 1-2 New England Revolution - RSL goal by Nico Muniz. NER goals by Diego Fagundez & Bjorn Runstrom.
LA Galaxy 1-2 New York Red Bulls - LAG goal by Marcelo Sarvas. NYRB goals by Kenny Cooper & Thierry Henry.
-Sat Mar 3
Championship
New England Revolution 0-0 LA Galaxy - LAG wins 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Consolation
New York Red Bulls 0-1 Real Salt Lake - RSL goal by Chris Wingert.

dN

Carolina Challenge Cup - Feb 25-Mar 3
Venue: Blackbaud Stadium - Charleston SC

DC United are the Cup winners after the last day of matches was rained out.

Standings:
6 DC United (+3)
3 Chicago Fire (0)
1 Columbus Crew (-1)
1 Charleston Battery (-2)

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Feb 25
DC United 1-0 Chicago Fire - DCU goal by Hamdi Salihi.
Charleston Battery 2-2 Columbus Crew - CB goals by Dane Kelly & Jose Cuevas(PK). CC goals by Eddie Gaven & Mirovan Mirosevic(PK).
-Wed Feb 29
Columbus Crew 0-1 Chicago Fire - CF goal by Federico Puppo.
Charleston Battery 1-3 DC United - CB goal by Jose Cuevas. DCU goals by Maicon Santos, Ryan Richter & Hamdi Salihi.
-Sat Mar 3
DC United v Columbus Crew - RAINED OUT
Charleston Battery v Chicago Fire - RAINED OUT

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jen Chang of Sports Illustrated writes about the superior season of Clint Dempsey, and a few other mostly Premier League-centric topics.

dN

Mo Edu sat out Rangers loss with weekend due to yellow card accumulation.

dN

Robbie Rogers sent out a Twitter message that he was cleared to train again by the Leeds team doctors.

dN

Matt Taylor at Paderborn continues his recent goal scoring run with 2 more this weekend.

dN

Danny Williams was suspended for yellow card accumulation for Hoffenheim's game.

dN

Charlie Davies was not on the Sochaux 18 man game roster.

dN

18 year old Will Packwood has been named to the Birmingham roster for their FA Cup game against Chelsea on Tuesday.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - played the whole game as they won 4-0 v Cercle Bruge.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started and played 38 min scoring a goal but they lost 2-1 v Tubize.
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they won 0-2 at Standaard Wetteren.

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - went the full 90 as they won 1-0 v SonderjyskE.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - on the bench as they lost 1-0 at Brondby.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the entire match as they tied 1-1 at Aarhus.
Chris Rolfe - Aalborg - started and played 85 min as they tied 1-1 v Kovenhavn.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the distance scoring 2 more goals as they won 5-0 v Wolverhampton.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - played the whole 90 but lost 1-3 v Manchester United.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they tied 1-1 at Blackburn.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance as they tied 1-1 at QPR.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - on the bench as they tied 1-1 at Blackburn.
Tim Ream - Bolton - played the whole game but lost 2-0 at Manchester City.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - played the entire match but lost 1-0 at Stoke.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the full 90 as they tied 2-2 v Derby.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Bury - started and went 68 nub as they drew 3-3 v Huddersfield.
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - started and went 72 min as they tied 1-1 at Leyton Orient.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the full 90 but lost 2-0 v Notts County.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Quentin Westberg - Evian - on the bench as they won 0-2 at St Etienne.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - started and went 69 min as they won 1-0 v Monchengladbach.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the whole game as they tied 2-2 v Augsburg.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - went the distance as they tied 1-1 v Koln.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - came on as a sub in the 77th min as they won 1-0 v Werder Bremen.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Matt Taylor - Paderborn - came on as a sub in the 18th min and scored 2 goals as they won 0-3 at Alemannia Aachen.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they lost 1-0 at Beitar Jerusalem.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the entire match as they won 3-1 v Bnei Sakhnin.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - played the whole game as they tied 1-1 at Juventus.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - started and played 78 min scoring a goal as they won 3-1 v Heracles.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Alex Zahavi - Vitoria Setubal - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Sporting CP.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench but did not play as they lost 1-2 v Hearts.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - went the distance getting a yellow card and losing 1-2 v Hearts.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 16 - Replay
Will Packwood - Birmingham - Tue Mar 6 v Chelsea
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Tue Mar 6 v Chelsea

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Mar 6 v Blackpool
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Mar 6 v Doncaster
Robbie Rogers - Leeds - Tue Mar 6 v at Hull

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Bury - Tue Mar 6 at Sheffield Wednesday
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Tue Mar 6 v Sheffield United
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Mar 6 v Rochdale

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - Mon Mar 5 v Almere City

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Herculez! Scores for the second week in a row.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - came on as a sub in the 69th min as they lost 1-2 v Guadalajara.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Atlante.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - went the full 90 as they won 0-2 at Tecos.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - came on at half time as they won 0-2 at Tecos.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - came on as a sub in the 80th min and they won 0-2 at Tecos.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - started and went 79 min getting a goal and a yellow card as they won 5-2 v San Luis.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - on the bench as they lost 5-2 at Santos Laguna.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Marco Vidal - Leon - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v La Piedad.
Isaac Acuna - Merida - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v Veracruz.

MEXICO

Guadalajara has won both their games since Johan Cryuff joined the organization. Hmmmm.

ENGLAND

Jacob Steinberg & Rob Smyth of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian reports that if Real Zaragoza gets relegated it could be very bad news for the teams fragile finances, and the rest of the weekend around La Liga.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian watches the contenders all lose and fall further behind the defending champs from Dortmund, plus a review of the rest of the round in the Bundesliga.

dN

Recap du Nord: #1 Dortmund gets a good solid win, while the other 3 ALL lost. The gap at the very top is widening.

Die Bundesliga Standings (24 of 36 games played):
55 Dortmund (+36 gd) - LAST: Sat Mar 3 W 2-1 v Mainz - NEXT: Sat Mar 10 at Augsburg
48 Bayern (+35 gd) - LAST: Sat Mar 3 L 2-0 at Leverkusen - NEXT: Sat Mar 10 v Hoffenheim
47 Gladbach (+22 gd) - LAST: Sun Mar 4 L 1-0 at Nurnberg - NEXT: Sat Mar 10 v Freiburg
44 Schalke (+19 gd) - LAST: Sat Mar 3 L 2-1 at Freiburg - NEXT: Sun Mar 11 v Hamburg

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the Rome derby and the rest of the round in Serie A.

EUROPE

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal on the insane upheavel, financial and other, in the Swiss league this season.

dN

A look at the title races in the other 5 top leagues of Europe (besides Germany):
-Premier League 2 team race: Man City(66) & Man U(64)
-Serie A is sort of a 4 team race: Milan(54), Juve(51), Lazio(48) & Udinese(46)
-Ligue 1 is a 2 team race: PSG(55) & Montpellier(54)
-Eredivisie is a 6 teams race: AZ(49), Twente(48), PSV(48), Ajax(46), Heerenveen(45) & Feyenoord(44)
-Primera Division is all but over: Real Madrid(67) leads Barca by 10 points (57)

COPA LIBERTADORES

Back in action on Tuesday!

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 6
Penarol v Universidad Chile
Vasco da Gama v Alianza Lima
Union Espanola v Universidad Catolica
-Wed Mar 7
Deportivo Quito v Velez Sarsfield
Santos v Internacional
Corinthians v Nacional Asunción
Boca Juniors v Fluminense
-Thu Mar 8
Flamengo v Emelec
Godoy Cruz v Atletico Nacional
Junior v Bolivar

dN

Standings

Group 1
6 The Strongest (+2)
3 Internacional (+2)
0 Santos (-1)
0 Juan Aurich (-3)
Group 2
3 Emelec (+1)
3 Olimpia (0)
1 Flamengo (0)
1 Lanus (-1)
Group 3
6 Union Espanola (+5)
2 Universidad Catholica (0)
1 Bolivar (-2)
1 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)

ASIA

The Asian Champions League kicks off this week with 32 teams in eight groups of four.

AFP previews the tournament.

Here are the groups, standings and matches.

BIG PIMPIN

BUMPY PITCH

I remember seeing one of my first soccer games on TV a number of years ago. I don't remember who played, or how old I was, or anything like that. But the one thing I remember more than anything else was the shadow of the players. It was just a shadow, bit was unique and looked badass. I had never seen this sort of shadow in any sport I had ever watched on TV. It looked like a cross, or a helicopter propeller or a giant X. The shadow was exotic and exciting, and I sensed that only in soccer would I see something like this. Watching that first game on TV captivated me and the shape of those shadows has stuck with me.
All these years later, those early images of this criss-crossed shadow never left me. Anytime I watch a game where the floodlights give off this shadow, it takes me back to being a kid and dreaming about a career in the sport that I loved. Instead of just thinking about those memories, we decided to do something about it. That's what we do.
With that, we present you a brand new Bumpy Pitch graphic. This has been on my mind for more years than I can even remember, and it has been in various stages of production for over a year. We've been working on it for awhile, but we never got it just right until recently. And now we feel we have. It brings me back to those memories of watching games on TV years ago. If you have ever seen a game where the players shadows had this silhouette, than you will know where we are coming from. This one is for the folks that look beyond the obviousness of the sport. It speaks to a deeper connection with the sport that lays below the surface. If you get this graphic and know about these shadows, then you get it. It's unique to the sport and we wanted to celebrate that as much as we possibly could.
The graphic is a set of floodlights shining down on the pitch creating that famed X shadow. The player is absent because for us, whomever is wearing the shirt is creating the shadow and is the player. It's almost like the shirt is incomplete until it is worn by someone. Or at least that's how I like to look at it. On a side note, if someone asks you what this shirt means, you can wax poetic about how soccer is so amazing that even the floodlights are able to produce a one of a kind effect on people. The sport is just that cool.

The brand new Bumpy Pitch Floodlights tee is available in the Bumpy Pitch online store.