Some Soccer News for Wed Mar 14, 2012

STARTERS

INCREDIBLE! The Telegraph with an article on the Chairman of the English Premier League at a sports conference in Doha has said that FIFA stole football from the English and ruined it. A little later he fell into a fountain face first in his suit! In am not making this up! Where in the world is the video?
-The Telegraph included this out of context, but still amazing photo of Sepp Blatter looking like some weird tiny King:


















dN

I need to do a lot better job paying attention to the site TropiGol which always has the very best new coverage of CONCACAF. And its edited by the excellent Michael Lewis. We all need to be reading this site daily.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Mar 13, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson of NPR with a feature on Bob Bradley and his adventure in Egypt. With text and audio.

dN

Hatem Maher of Ahram reports on Bob Bradley's visit to Al Ahly yesterday.

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Training for Olympic qualifying is underway in Nashville.

dN

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America has words from coach Caleb Porter on the roster.

dN

US Soccer gives us several more quotes by Porter from a press conference call yesterday.

dN

Scott French of ESPN on Michael Stephens who is surprising a lot of people by his consistent inclusions in the Olympic qualifying camps and rosters.

dN

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com with a few words from Joe Corona on qualifying.

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
D:
Josh Gatt - Molde
Perry Kitchen - DC United
Ike Opara - San Jose Earthquakes
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
M:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mix Diskerud - Gent
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Terrence Boyd - Dortmund
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Tony Taylor - Estoril

dN

The first Group Stage game is Thu Mar 22.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Round of 16 - 2nd Leg

Real Madrid advances with a comfortable win.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 13
Inter Milan 2-1 Marseille series ends tied 2-2, Mar advances on away toal tie breaker - IM goals by Diego Milito & Giampaolo Pazzini(PK). Mar goal by Brandao.
Bayern Munich 7-0 Basel - BM advances 7-1 on aggregate - BM goals by Arjen Robben (2), Tomas Muller & Mario Gomez(4).
-Wed Mar 14
Chelsea 3-1 Napoli (1-3) - series tied at 4-4 when du Nord was posted today. Watch for update.
Real Madrid 4-1 CSKA Moscow - RM advances 5-2 on aggregate.

dN

ADV: APOEL, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Marseille, Milan, Real Madrid
OUT: Arsenal, Basel, CSKA Moscow, Inter, Leverkusen, Lyon, Zenit

dN

The Quarterfinal draw will be held on Friday.

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Quarterfinals

Monterrey rolled over Morelia last night to become the first team to advance to the Semifinals! They will take on the winner of Pumas & Meatpan.

dN

The good news for Seattle - Santos Laguna is the only Mexican team to lose a two-leg series to an MLS team.

dN

Brian Straus of Sporting News writes about the HUGE step Seattle can take for MLS teams in Mexico tonight.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to Seattle TD Chris Henderson about the teams plans for victory at Santos Laguna.

dN

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune says he expects Santos to come out flying against Seattle tonight.

dN

Scott French of ESPN ponders the fitness of LA heading into tonight's big game. Are they worn out? His best guess: Don't count on it.

dN

Kurtis Larson of the Toronto Sun thinks the Galaxy WILL be tired.

dN

Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press with an article on Toronto's skilled rookie Luis Silva who scored against LA last week, and is now returning to his home town looking for a big upset.

dN

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise says the Galaxy want to take what RSL did last season one step further.

dN

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (including 1st Leg scores)
-Tue Mar 13
Monterrey 4-1 Morelia - Mon advances 7-2 on aggregate - Mon goals by Humberto Suazo(2, 1 via PK), Luis Perez(PK) & Walter Ayovi. Mor goal by Angel Sepulveda(PK).
-Wed Mar 14
Santos Laguna v Seattle Sounders (1-2) - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer
LA Galaxy v Toronto (2-2) - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer
-Thu Mar 15
UNAM Pumas v Isidro Metapan (1-2)

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Now here is a good joke: Ricardo Teixeira steps down as president of the Brazilian federation and World Cup committee under tons of pressure due alleged scandals, and so who does the federation appoint to replace him - basically his twin brother Jose Maria Marin. Exact same kind of guy, or should we say cut from the same cloth - almost the exact same jib.
-Marin's first promise? "I will continue the stupendous work of my predecessor Ricardo Teixeira."

What is that French saying? Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette talks to Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputa about his team's debut season in MLS, and how the team is part of the city. (Posted last week but still completely relevant.)

WELL WELL WELL

New England tells us that Jose Pepe Moreno has now received his work visa in Colombia and "should be here by the end of the week."

Everyone, join hands, and then all take a deep breath and hold it until he gets here.

No? You don't want to do that?

Why? You don't trust this guy?

Ok. I understand that.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Houston's new BBVA Compass Stadium! Lookking awesome!

















FACT OF THE DAY

Guadalajara has still not lost since they hired Dutch legend Johan Cryuff as a special adviser. Winning 3 in the Mexican Primera and 1 in Copa Libertadores.

They had lost or tied every game in 2012 prior to hiring him.

Coincidence?

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Paul Vercammen of CNN World Sport does an interview with David Beckham, talking staying in LA and CONCAChampions.

Interviewer calls Vancouver, Seattle and Portland fans "wingnuts!"

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Pablo Mastroeni is nearly 70 ft high in downtown Denver!
























Several more.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

WEEK 2

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 17
Montreal Impact v Chicago Fire SC - 1:00PM CT - TSN & RDS
Venue: Olympic Stadium
San Jose Earthquakes v Houston Dynamo - 4:00PM CT
Venue: AT&T Park
FC Dallas v Portland Timbers - 7:30PM CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Sporting Kansas City v New England England - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Real Salt Lake v New York Red Bulls - 9:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Seattle Sounders FC v Toronto FC - 9:00PM CT
Venue: CenturyLink Field
CD Chivas USA v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 9:30PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sun Mar 18
Philadelphia v Colorado - 3:00PM CT - NBC Sports
Venue: PPL Park
LA Galaxy v DC United - 6:00PM EDT - Galavision
Venue: The Home Depot Center

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Jeff Carlisle weighs in on multiple good topics: New England's new vision, Thierry Henry's position on the field, CJ Sapong's challenging 2nd season and San Jose centerback superman Victor Bernardez.

dN

Jason Davis at US Soccer Players Assoc writes about his experience watching First Kick via MLS Live. He raves. I agree!

dN

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated on the Colombia to MLS pipeline.

dN

Player Transactions

Dallas has signed 25 year old Colombian forward Luis Perea from Universidad San Martin who just went out of business (WOW).

dN

New England has signed 31 year old German right fullback Florian Lechner from Karlsruher.
-I am a huge fan of anyone who shares a first name with one of the founding members of Kraftwerk!

dN

CHICAGO FIRE

Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald rightly sees goal scoring as they teams biggest weakness going into their season opener.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch says the Crew are looking at how they need to sort out their midfield if they are going to be successful.
-They have this weekend off.

FC DALLAS

Previously exiled player Bruno Guarda played in a reserve league match last night. He came on as a sub in the 55th min.

DC UNITED

Centerback Ethan White has surgery to repair and injured knee and will be out for approx 6 weeks.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle looks at fullback Andre Hainault's goal scoring attributes.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star breaks down win #1 from SKC.

dN

The team's reserves beat Rockhurst Univ 2-0 last night, with Luke Sassano & Dom Dwyer scoring the goals.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Pennlive.com does a short Q & A with youngster Jose Angulo.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Jack Bell of the New York Times does a Q & A with Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.

dN

Paul Buker of the Oregonian writes about the big debut for rookie centerback Andrew Jean-Baptiste.

REAL SALT LAKE

Centerback Nat Borchers who is returning from knee surgery played in their reserve game loss last night.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Elliot Almond of the Mercury News reports that the Quakes think forward Steve Lenhart is getting picked on by referees, and other team news.
-Please, the guy plays like a bull in a china shop. And he got booked last weekend for persistent infringement. Its about time. Don't get me wrong, I love his heart and effort, but he is out of control a lot of the time.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com on San Jose's urge to finally get this thing right.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province tells us about touted 18 year old midfielder Bryce Alderson who the teams expects to contribute this season.

dN

Weber also talks to forward Camilo Sanvezza who wants the Golden Boot.

dN

Russell Berrisford of the Sun looks at the first month of the season and what the Caps to accomplish to be successful.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Dallas wins their first res. game of the season and gets a goal from a player they literally signed late yesterday.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 13
Houston Dynamo 1-0 Colorado Rapids - HD goal by Brian Ownby.
FC Dallas 3-1 Real Salt Lake - FCD goals by Bryan Leyva, Luis Perea & Jonathan Top. RSL goal by Emiliano Bonfigli.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Check out the Stars YouTube page! Brand new stuff from preseason going up almost every day.

dN

The Stars also announced 2 new player signings:
-Bosnian defender Edi Buro from NK Travnik.
Grew up in Brooklyn Park MN and played college soccer for Hamline in St Paul.
-Attacking midfielder Miguel Ibarra.
All-American at UC Irvine was picked by Portland Timbers in Supplemental Draft but not signed.

dN

The team also announced the midfielder Ely Allen will not be back this season.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to defender Sean Cunningham who is probably going to get a shot to play this season on a load deal to Stabaek.

dN

Coming Up:

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Round of 16 - 2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - Thu Mar 15 at Udinese (leading 2-0)
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Thu Mar 15 v Standard Liege (tied 2-2)
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Thu Mar 15 v Twente (leading 2-0)
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP - OUT INJURED - Thu Mar 15 at Manchester City (leading 1-0)

ENGLAND

FA Cup - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 17
Everton v Sunderland
Tottenham v Bolton
-Sun Mar 18
Chelsea v Leicester
Liverpool v Stoke

SCOTLAND

League Cup - Final
Match & Score:
-Sun Mar 18
Celtic v Kilmarnock

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Round of 16 - 2nd Leg
Matches & Scores: (1st Leg scores included)
-Thu Mar 15
Olympiacos v Metalist (1-0)
Manchester City v Sporting CP (0-1)
Schalke v Twente (0-1)
Hannover v Standard Liege (2-2)
PSV Eindhoven v Valencia (2-4)
Udinese v AZ Alkmaar (0-2)
Besiktas v Atletico Madrid (1-3)
Athletic Bilbao v Manchester United (3-2)

COPA LIBERTADORES

Internacional of Brazil did some big time damage last night to The Strongest, while 4 other teams got 1 goal wins, including Guadalajara who appears to have righted an upside down and flooded ship.

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 13
Lanus 1-0 Emelec - Lan goal by Mariano Pavone.
Nacional Asuncion 3-2 Deportivo Tachira - NA goals by German Cano(2, 1 via PK) & Silvio Torales. DT goals by Pedro Fernandez & Angel Chourio.
Internacional 5-0 The Strongest - Int goals by Dagoberto, Leandro Damiao(3) & Jo.
Guadalajara 1-0 Defensor Sporting - Gua goal by Carlos Fierro.
Alianza Lima 1-0 Nacional - AL goal by Jose Fernandez.
-Wed Mar 14
Arsenal v Boca Juniors
Fluminense v Zamora
Cruz Azul v Corinthians
Libertad v Vasco da Gama
-Thu Mar 15
Juan Aurich v Santos
Flamengo v Olimpia

dN

Standings

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

AFRICA

Egyptian teams Zamalek & Al Ahly will play a friendly on Apr 22 at Wembley Stadium in London as a memorial to the supporters who were killed in Port Said.