Some Soccer News for Tue Mar 27, 2012

STARTERS

The USA is knocked out of qualifying for the Olympics in the group stage. It should have been a formality. And why did NO ONE do anything about Terrance Boyd getting smashed in the face???? NO ONE. I am not saying someone should have gone out there throwing more punches, but how about some face to face screaming and yelling! Some anger. Some fight. Those things were missing in all three games, not just the end of the El Salvador game.

dN

How did David Estrada get credit for a shot that was not on goal and then deflected back across and into the far side of the goal? That was a clear own goal.
-The only thing I can figure is that MLS hates own goals!

dN

Why are some writers giving big props to Vancouver??? I know they have 2 wins and a draw, but have you looked at who they played? The wins are over Montreal and Chivas, terrible teams and the tie is against DC, a pretty bad team. So lets wait a while until we start raving about the Whitecaps.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Mar 27, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Olympic qualifying is over for the USA! In very dramatic fashion.

dN

It was a great night for El Salvador.

The USA could not come up with the answers they needed to advance and were punished for it.

All capped off by some horrible individual performances, some very weak decisions by the coaching staff, and more of that over confidence that doomed the team in game 2 against Canada.

On the plus side, I am very encouraged that this elimination has so many people so riled up. It means we are starting to really care, to really invest our passion in bigger numbers, enough numbers to cause waves even when its just Olympic qualifying. These are new times for us American soccer fans. And I love being part of it.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad does his best to summarize the failed qualifying effort.

Brian Straus of Sporting News writes that Jurgen Klinsmann's plan to upgrade USA soccer involves patience, including the junior teams.
-Straus describes the "accident chain" that lead to the elimination.

Ron Blum of the Associated Press examines the impact of the loss, with some quotes from big names.
-Oh yeah, and Bruce Arena still can't STAND the site of Sunil Gulati!

Chuck Murphy of the Denver Post is pissed off and says this team needs a lot less style and a lot more grit.

dN

Official USA website

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 22
USA 6-0 Cuba - USA goals by Joe Benny Corona(3), Juan Agudelo, Arturo Diz Pe(OG) & Freddy Adu.
Venue: LP Field - Nashville TN
-Sat Mar 24
USA 0-2 Canada - Can goals by Doniel Henry & Lucas Cavallini.
-Mon Mar 26
USA 3-3 El Salvador - USA goals by Terrance Boyd(2) & Joe Benny Corona. ES goals by Lester Blanco, Andres Flores & Jaime Alas.
Venue: LP Field - Nashville TN
Match report by US Soccer.
Player ratings by Mike Woitalla of Soccer America.
Post game analysis by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Post game analysis by Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer.
Post game analysis by Mike Slane of Goal.com.
Player ratings by John Godfrey of the New York Times.
Post game analysis by George Vecsey, former New York Times writer & sage.

dN

Coaches have it way too easy, as no reporters appeared to ask the tough questions. Why was Joe Corona subbed out against Canada at half time? Why was Bill Hamid left on the field with an injury? Why were both Joe Corona and Freddy Adu subbed off late in the ES game when they could have been used to hold the ball and kill the game? And why were they subbed BEFORE stoppage time started, when the sub times could have been used to kill off even more stoppage time?
Again style was given rank over substance when Porter said: "You sometimes have to prioritize winning less to play a certain way." Are you kidding me?

The checklist for failure:
x head coach without pro or huge game experience
x poor coaching decisions on line up, subs and formation
x weak goalkeeping
x only 4 defenders on roster
x playing several players out of position
x over confidence in abundance
x not knowing how to kill off a game
x guys who are not totally committed
x mental frailty
x not ready for rough, tumble and weird CONCACAF

As much as I want to blame defenders and goalkeepers for all the woes, the midfielders didn't give them any protection or support and the line up only had 1 holding midfielder in place, and that one got an early yellow card.

dN

USA Roster
G:
1 Bill Hamid - DC United
18 Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
D:
4 Perry Kitchen - DC United
2 Ike Opara - San Jose Earthquakes
3 Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
5 Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
13 Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
19 Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
7 Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
10 Joe Corona - Tijuana
8 Mix Diskerud - Gent
6 Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
16 Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
20 Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
9 Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
15 Terrence Boyd - Dortmund
12 Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
14 Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim
11 Brek Shea - FC Dallas
17 Tony Taylor - Estoril

dN

El Salvador Roster
G:
Diego Cuellar - Atletico Marte
Jimmy Cuellar - Alianza FC
D:
Alexander Vidal - Atletico Marte
Moises Xavier Garcia - Firpo
Alexander Mendoza - UES
Milton Molina - Metapan
M:
Jaime Alas - Firpo
Richard Menjivar - Cal State Bakersfield
Darwin Ceren - Juventud Independiente
Elman Rivas - Alianza FC
Marlon Martinez - Firpo
Herbert Sosa - Alianza FC
Jorge Moran - Metapan
Edwin Sanchez - Metapan
Andres Flores - Viborg
Diego Chavarria - Once Municipal
F:
Jonathan Aguila - Aguila
Jose Gutierrez - Aguila
Dustin Corea - Blokhus FC
Lester Blanco - Metapan

2012 CONCACAF OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

8 teams enter, 2 teams leave.

Canada and El Salvador both got the ties they needed to advance, while the USA was eliminated.

Cuban midfielder Yosmel De Armas appears to have walked away from the team some time on Sunday and is expect to turn up somewhere in America seeking asylum.

The Group Stage is a round-robin with the top 2 from each group advancing to the Semifinals. Then the winners of the two Semifinal games go to the Olympics.

All games can also be seen online at CONCACAF.com

STANDINGS

Group A
ADV-5 El Salvador (+4)
ADV-5 Canada (+2)
OUT-4 USA (+4)
OUT-1 Cuba (-10)
Group B
ADV-6 Mexico (+9)
3 Honduras (-1)
1 Panama (-2)
1 Trinidad & Tobago (-6)

GROUP STAGE

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Mar 22
El Salvador 0-0 Canada
USA 6-0 Cuba
Venue: LP Field - Nashville TN
-Fri Mar 23
Honduras 3-1 Panama
Trinidad & Tobago 1-7 Mexico
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Sat Mar 24
Cuba 0-4 El Salvador
USA 0-2 Canada
Venue: LP Field - Nashville TN
-Sun Mar 25
Panama 1-1 Trinidad & Tobago
Mexico 3-0 Honduras
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA
-Mon Mar 26
Canada 1-1 Cuba
USA 3-3 El Salvador
Venue: LP Field - Nashville TN
-Tue Mar 27
Honduras v Trinidad & Tobago - 8pm
Mexico v Panama - 10:30pm
Venue: The Home Depot Center - Carson CA

SEMIFINALS

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 31
B1 v Canada - 5pm
El Salvador v B2 - 8pm
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

FINAL

Matches & Scores:
-Mon Apr 2
Semifinal winners - 7pm
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Quarterfinals

Both Real Madrid and Chelsea got road wins and are now huge favorites to meet in the Semifinals. But 2nd legs are played for a reason.

The 4 goals in these two games were all scored after the 70th min.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Mar 27
Benfica 0-1 Chelsea - Che goals by Salomon Kalou.
APOEL 0-3 Real Madrid - RM goals by Karim Benzema(2) & Kaka.
-Wed Mar 28
AC Milan v Barcelona - 1:30pm on Fox Soccer - live
Marseille v Bayern Munich - 4:00pm on Fox Soccer - delayed

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Semifinals

John Molinaro of Sports Net writes that TFC will need some serious defense to pull off the upset in the Semis.

Daniel Girard of the Toronto Star previews TFC's home game.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Mar 28
Toronto v Santos Laguna - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer - live
Monterrey v UNAM Pumas - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer - live

TWITTERVERSE/FACEBOOKING

Yup! I did it! I lipped off to Klinsi on Twitter today.

Learning to handle big disappointments at an early stage in their careers can make them stronger in the future.
-@J_Klinsmann

@J_Klinsmann Decent enough logic on your part, except they are U23 professionals, not U15 kids.
-@dunord

Of course he did not respond, cuz he is not petty like I am.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Where in The World is Brian Nielsen?

STAT OF THE DAY

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune draws our attention to some statistical comparison on attendance in MLS and Ligue 1.

FACT OF THE DAY

The New England Revolution U17s played to a 3-3 tie today against the School of Excellence in Soweto South Africa today.

I wonder if at some point this year they will play the School of Rock?

Great photo from Soweto "found" on the Revs Flickr page.

















BRAZILIAN PLAYER NAME OF THE DAY

Rob Hughes of the New York Times sees the future of Brazil and Santos starlet Neymar at Barcelona.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger writes about Thierry Henry's inspiring trip to London last week to visit Fabrice Maumba in the hospital.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

WEEK 4

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Mar 30
DC United v FC Dallas - 6:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: RFK Stadium
-Sat Mar 31
Toronto FC v Columbus Crew - 1:00PM CT on TSN/RDS
Venue: BMO Field
New York Red Bulls v Montreal Impact - 3:00PM CT on TSN/RDS
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 3:00PM CT
Venue: PPL Park
Portland Timbers v Real Salt Lake - 9:00PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
Seattle Sounders FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 9:00PM CT
Venue: CenturyLink Field
LA Galaxy v New England Revolution - 10:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sun Apr 1
Colorado Rapids v Chicago Fire SC - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
CD Chivas USA v Sporting Kansas City - 8:00PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Bye: Houston Dynamo

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze writes about both the Galaxy and Chivas who are coming off important wins that they can use to build a strong start to their already rocky season starts.

CHICAGO FIRE

The Fire announced a summer friendly against Aston Villa on Jul 21 at Toyota Park.

FC DALLAS

Todd Date of 3rd Degree with an injury update from FCD.

DC UNITED

Craig Stouffer of the Examiner with the latest DCU team news.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Tod Palmer of the Star calls the beginning of the season magic for SKC.

Mike Foss of USA Today with an article on head coach Peter Vermes and his vision for his SKC team.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

NE Soccer Today reports on what looks like the Revs signing of Swedish forward Bjorn Runstrom.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Philly will play a summer friendly against Aston Villa on Wed Jul 18.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com writes about Freddy Adu's early return from the Olympic qualifying to MLS play and Adu's attitude going forward.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Portland will play a summer friendly against Aston Villa on Tue Jul 24.

Stefan Bienkowski of the Scotsman (what kind of Scotsman has a Polish name?) with an article about the controversial striker Kris Boyd who he says has finally found a team to call home after a couple of false alarms.

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian updates us the face injury and concussion suffered by centerback Hanyer Mosquera last weekend. The team is out of subs at that position now.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Mauro Rosales more than likely out again this weekend for the Sounders.
-Story of his career, and if it wasn't the case he more than likely would have never been available for Seattle in the first place.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Bruce Constantineau of the Sun with an article on yet another guy in the 15-30 spots on the roster - Michael Boxall.
-Its cool to give the lesser known players some ink, but how about some more interviews/articles on the leaders of the team - Camilo, Chiumiento, Le Toux, DeMerit etc. Those are the guys fans want to hear from.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Montreal, Chicago, Houston and San Jose with wins.

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 24
Columbus Crew 1-2 Montreal Impact - CC goal by Aubrey Perry. MI goals by Lamar Neagle & Miguel Montano.
-Mon Mar 26
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-1 Seattle Sounders FC - VW goal by Carlyle Mitchell. SS goal by Alex Caskey.
-Tue Mar 27
Chicago Fire SC 1-0 Real Salt Lake - CF goal by Corben Bone.
Sporting Kansas City 0-3 Houston Dynamo - HD goals by Cam Weaver, Alex Dixon & Colin Rolfe.
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Portland Timbers - SJE goal by Jean-Marc Alexandre.

Standings

MLS STADIUMS

The Houston Dynamo gives us video of a few new views inside BBVA Compass stadium, hosted by part-owner Oscar De La Hoya.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann & Everton, and Brad Friedel & Tottenham advanced to the FA Cup Semifinals today.
-Tim Ream & Bolton were eliminated.
-Everton will play at Liverpool.
-Tottenham will host Chelsea.

dN

Game Action:
ENGLAND - FA Cup - Quarterfinals - Replay Tie Game & Replay Abandon Game
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Tue Mar 27 - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Bolton.
Marcus Hahnemann - Everton - Tue Mar 27 - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Sunderland.
Tim Howard - Everton - Tue Mar 27 - played the full game as they won 0-2 at Sunderland.
Tim Ream - Bolton - Tue Mar 27 - came on as a sub in the 28th min but lost 3-1 at Tottenham.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Tue Mar 27 - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Colchester.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Tue Mar 27 - went the distance as they won 1-2 at Milton Keynes.

ENGLAND

FA Cup - Quarterfinals
Replay Tie Game
-Tue Mar 27
Sunderland 0-2 Everton
Replay Abandon Game
-Tue Mar 27
Tottenham 3-1 Bolton

Semifinals

-Sat Apr 14
Liverpool v Everton
-Sun Apr 15
Tottenham v Chelsea

ITALY

Hahahahahahahaha. So Inter introduces the new interim head coach Andrea Stramaccioni and during the press conference who should walk in the room but none other than his former player Mario Balotelli! Genius. That guy is priceless.
-Balotelli had been given a few days off by Man City.

TOP EURO CLUB GOAL SCORERS

As of Tue Mar 27

Primera Division
35 Cristiano Ronaldo
35 Lionel Messi
19 Radamael Falcao
18 Gonzalo Higuain

Premier League
26 Robin Van Persie
21 Wayne Rooney
17 Kun Aguero
16 Demba Ba

Bundesliga
23 Mario Gomez
22 Klaas Jan Huntelaar
17 Robert Lewandowski
16 Claudio Pizzaro
16 Lukas Podolski

Serie A
22 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
19 Edison Cavani
19 Antonio Di Natale
15 German Denis
15 Rodrigo Palacio

Ligue 1
18 Oliver Giroud
13 Nene
13 Eden Hazard
12 Bafetimbi Gomis

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

The Quarterfinal round will be played on Mar 29 and Apr 5.

COPA LIBERTADORES

ADVANCED: -

ELIMINATED: Juan Aurich (Peru)

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 27
Nacional v Alianza Lima
Tachira v Nacional Asuncion
Universidad Chile v Penarol
-Wed Mar 28
Defensor Sporting v Guadalajara
Universidad Catholica v Union Espanola
Olimpia v Flamengo
-Thu Mar 29
Boca Juniors v Arsenal
Zamora v Fluminense

dN

Standings

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

AFRICA

Hatem Maher of Ahram writes that the Egyptian government has set down 10 guidelines that must be met before it will sanction the re-opening of the Egyptian football league.