Some Soccer News for Mon Apr 30, 2012

STARTERS

ESPN will roll out ESPNFC this week to co-incide with their coverage of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. Read all about it right here.

dN

Has Thierry Henry's jet-set lifestyle caught up with him? He badly damaged a hamstring on Saturday just a few days after traveling to Europe and back earlier in the week, for the second time in a month. I am no doctor, but I can't imagine all the travel, no matter how luxurious, has helped him stay in peak condition. Athletes need rest to recover and I know that flying around the world has never been restful for me.

dN

Real Madrid can win the Primera title on Wednesday with a victory or Barca dropping any points.

dN

Lille has fought its way back in to the Ligue 1 title chase now trailing 2nd place PSG by just two points and leaders Montpellier by seven with 4 games to go.

dN

With all the drama of a barking dog England will hire Roy Hodgson as their new national team manager. So much for Bobble Head Harry.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Like amazing ninja's the Stars stole another one on the road, this time a goal deep into stoppage time to tie the game In Atlanta and take home a point. They had trailed 2-0 and 3-1 late. It was a glorious draw, if there is such a thing. I know I was leaping around celebrating like an idiot!
-Between this game and last weekend in Edmonton the Stars entered second half stoppage time with 1 point in their hands and came home with 4! Thats how you make an average season great.

Match & Score:
-Sat Apr 28
Atlanta Silverbacks 3-3 Minnesota Stars FC - AS goals by . MS goals by Amani Walker, Devin Del Do & Justin Davis.
Venue: Silverbacks Stadium

NOTICE

Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897

There are 138 teams in our league!

LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

Seattle Sounder FC v LA Galaxy at 9:00PM CT on Wed May 2 at CenturyLink Field in downtown Seattle.

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

This coming weekend will see the final two spots filled for the 64 team tournament, and First Round will be played on Wed May 15!
-Here are the 62 so far qualified.

The draw for the First Round will be held Tue May 1.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Apr 29
Udinese 2-0 Lazio - Udi wins to move from #5 to #4 while Laz falls from #3 to #6, with the #3 finisher going to the Champions League.
Lille 2-1 PSG - #3 is suddenly just 2 points back of #2.
-Mon Apr 30
Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United - Man City dominated the derby for all the marbles. How cool was that?

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
La Liga - 3 games left
91 Real Madrid - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 3-0 v Sevilla - NEXT: Wed May 2 at Athletic Bilbao
84 Barcelona - LAST: Sun Apr 29 0-7 at Rayo Vallecano - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Malaga
Premier League - 2 games left
83 Manchester City (+61 GD) - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 v Manchester United
83 Manchester United (+53) - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 at Manchester City
Bundesliga
CHAMPS! - Borussia Dortmund
Serie A - 3 games left
77 Juventus - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 0-4 at Novara - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Lecce
74 Milan - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 1-4 at Siena - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Atalanta
Ligue 1 - 4 games left
72 Montpellier - LAST: Fri Apr 27 W 0-1 at Toulouse - NEXT: Tue May 1 v Evian
67 PSG - LAST: Sun Apr 29 L 2-1 at Lille - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Saint Etienne
65 Lille - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 2-1 v PSG - NEXT: Wed May 2 at Nice

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Did you know that long time Liverpool great Sami Hyypia is the head coach at Bayer Leverkusen?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Reports from Germany have Raul already signed by a club in Qatar.
-I will believe it when I see it. Remember when Beckham had already bought a house in Paris and was in that city to be introduced by PSG. It was never true.

FACT OF THE DAY

In 21 Bundesliga appearances this season Jermaine Jones has 14 yellow cards.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 8

-Wed Apr 25 FC Dallas 1-1 Real Salt Lake - FCD goal by Brek Shea(PK). RSL goal by Emiliano Bonfigli.
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Atten: 10,069 -Sat Apr 28 Montreal Impact 2-0 Portland Timbers - Mon goals by Bernardo Corradi & Sinisia Ubiparipovic.
Venue: Olympic Stadium
Atten: 19,233

New York Red Bulls 1-0 New England Revolution - NYRB by Thierry Henry.
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Atten: 18,152
Philadelphia Union 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes - PU goal by Gabriel Gomez. SJE goals both by Steven Lenart.
Venue: PPL Park
Atten: 18,581
DC United 3-2 Houston Dynamo - DCU goals by Maicon Santos(2) & Dwayne DeRosario. HD goals both by Will Bruin.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Atten: 13,975
Columbus Crew 0-1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - VW goal by Young Po Lee.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Atten: 11,978
Chicago Fire SC 1-2 Seattle Sounders FC - CF goal by Marco Pappa. SS goals by Arne Freidrich(OG) & Eddie Johnson.
Venue: Toyota Park
Atten: 14,166
Real Salt Lake 3-2 Toronto FC - RSL goals by Kyle Beckerman, Richard Eckersley(OG) & Jonny Steele. TFC goals by Eric Avila & Doneil Henry.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Atten: 17,629
Colorado Rapids 4-0 CD Chivas USA - CR goals by Tony Cascio, Kamani Hill(2) & Jeff Larentowicz(PK).
Venue: Dick's sporting Goods Park
Atten: 10,969
LA Galaxy 1-1 FC Dallas - LAG goal by Pat Noonan. FCD goal by Brek Shea(PK).
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Atten: 23,249

Bye: Sporting Kansas City

MLS MATCH NOTES

Colorado scored 3 after the 80th min.

Why in the world would Landon Donovan let Robbie Keane take a Penalty Kick? Why? Donovan is nearly golden from the spot! Robbie Keane, eeeeehhhhh, not so much. He missed on Saturday and LA settled for a tie.

TFC loses AGAIN, this time giving up the winner in second half stoppage time.
NYRB gets iis first shut out of the season, when everyone is injured!

Off! Thierry Henry scored one of his more amazing goals of the season, and then a few minutes later he jacks up his hamstring and goes out of the game. Hey, the team held on to the 1 goal lead though!
-Although New England keeper Matt Reis is just as much to blame for his terrible positioning. What was Reis doing?

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
15 DC United (+5)
13 New York Red Bulls (+4)
8 Chicago Fire SC (-1)
8 Houston Dynamo (-1)
-----
8 Montreal Impact (-6)
7 Philadelphia Union (-3)
7 Columbus Crew (-4)
6 New England Revolution (-4)
0 Toronto FC (-10)
WEST
19 San Jose Earthquakes (+9)
19 Real Salt Lake (+5)
14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+1)
13 Seattle Sounders FC (+5)
12 Colorado Rapids (+2)
-----
12 FC Dallas (-2)
10 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-5)
7 Portland Timbers (-4)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Steven Lenhart of San Jose has been named Player of the Week.

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his breakdown of what he saw in week 8.

Graham Parker of the Guardian with 5 things we learned in week eight.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 1
Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas

Standings

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

Here is the complete schedule of all the big club matches going on this summer pitting MLS teams against European teams.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 28
Carolina RailHawks 0-1 San Antonio Scorpions
Atlanta Silverbacks 3-3 Minnesota Stars
Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

-Wed May 2
Carolina RailHawks v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sat May 5
Minnesota Stars v Atlanta Silverbacks
San Antonio Scorpions v Tampa Bay Rowdies
-Sun May 6
FC Edmonton v Carolina RailHawks

Watch online

Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+6)
8 Tampa Bay (+2)
8 Fort Lauderdale (0)
6 Minnesota (+1)
5 San Antonio (-3)
4 Atlanta (-2)
3 Carolina (-1)
1 Edmonton (-3)

USL PRO NEWS

Standings

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jonathan Spector & Birmingham finished 4th in the English Championship division which puts them in the promotion playoffs that begin later this week.

Great to see Oguchi Onyewu all the way back into the first 11 at Sporting this weekend.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter has his team Hammarby off to a perfect start with 12 points from 4 games in Sweden!
-And first year professional Billy Schuler is one of his regulars.

Sacha Kljestan was suspended for the teams 0-4 win on Friday at Genk due to yellow card accumulation.

In his first game in Finland last Wednesday Aaron Wheeler scored on 2 late Penalty Kicks to give his team KooTeePee a win in the league cup Round of 16.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started and went 86 min in a scoreless game at Brussels.
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - came on as a sub in the 53rd min but lost 1-2 v Tienen.

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - played the full 90 and tied 3-3 at SonderjyskE.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - went the distance as they tied 3-3 v Brondby.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the whole game as they won 5-3 v Aarhus.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - started and went 88 min as they won 2-1 v Horsens.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the whole game but lost 4-0 at Everton.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - played the full match and won 2-0 v Blackburn.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they tied 0-0 at West Brom.
Tim Howard - Everton - in goal as usual and they won 4-0 v Fulham.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - played the full 90 and tied 0-0 at West Brom.
Tim Ream - Bolton - went the distance as they tied 2-2 at Sunderland.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Bury - started and went 84 min as they tied 0-0 v Oldham.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the whole game as they won 4-1 v Exeter.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - played the full match as they won 0-5 at Lahti.
Mike Banner - Jaro - went the distance as they won 1-0 v KuPS.
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - came on as a sub at half time but lost 1-0 at Jaro.

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Justin Moose - SJK - started but came off at half time as they tied 1-1 at JIPPO.
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - started and went 75 min as they won 0-3 at HIFK.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they won 2-3 at Hoffenheim.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Leverkusen.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - went the distance but lost 2-3 v Nurnberg.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - started and went 85 min picking up a yellow card as they won 4-0 v Hertha.
Andrew Wooten - Kaiserslautern - went the distance but lost 2-5 v Dortmund.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - played the entire match as they tied 0-0 at Cagliari.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ - started and played 85 min but lost 1-0 at Feyenoord.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - came on as a sub at half time and they won 2-1 v Dordrecht.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - on the bench but lost 0-2 v Odd Grenland.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - in goal for the whole game as usual and they tied 0-0 at Tromso.
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - played the entire game but lost 0-2 v Odd Grenland.
Josh Gatt - Molde - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Sogndal.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - played the whole game as they tied 0-0 at Tromso.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - played the whole match as they tied 1-1 v Bryne.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - went the full 90 and tied 1-1 v Bryne.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the full 90 as they won 2-1 v Academica.
Alex Zahavi - Vitoria Setubal - on the bench as they lost 0-3 v Nacional.
PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the distance as they tied 2-2 at Freamunde.
Tony Taylor - Estoril - started and went 84 min but drew 0-0 v Santa Clara.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they lost 3-0 v Celtic.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the full 90 as they lost 3-0 v Celtic.
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the whole game but lost 3-0 v Celtic.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - played the full match but lost 1-0 at Brommapojkarna.
Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - played the whole match getting a yellow card as they won 0-1 at Umea.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - went the distance as they won 3-1 v Trelleborg.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - went the full 90 and won 3-1 v Assyriska.
Billy Schuler - Hammarby - played the whole game as they won 0-2 at Brage.
Steffen Vroom - Ljungskile - started and went 68 min as they won 0-1 at Umea.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

5 Americans who play regularly for their teams made the playoffs this weekend!
-Jose Torres - Pachua
-Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna
-Edgar Castillo - Tijuana
-Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana
-Greg Garza - Tijuana

And three Americans were in the starting 11 at Tijuana on Saturday! Amazing! The new Team America.

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad with an article on Stevie Rodriguez who recently signed with Tijuana is getting close to making his first team debut.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the entire match and they won 1-2 at Tigres.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - went the distance as they drew 1-1 v Pumas.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - played the whole 90 as they tied 1-1 v Pumas.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - started and went 45 min as they tied 1-1 v Pumas.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - on the bench as they won 1-3 at Atlas.
Michael Orozco - San Luis - played the whole game but lost 2-1 at Toluca.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v Guadalajara.

MEXICO

Clausura

The regular season is over and the playoff pairings are all set. We are just waiting for exact game dates to be announced.

The final Top 8 Standings after all 17 Rounds have been played:
36 Santos Laguna - LAST: Sat Apr 28 W 1-3 at Atlas
32 Monterrey (+17) - LAST: Sat Apr 28 W 0-3 at Atlante
32 America (+12) - LAST: Sun Apr 29 D 2-2 v Cruz Azul
31 Morelia (+7) - LAST: Sat Apr 28 L 1-0 at Jaguares
31 Tigres (+6) - LAST: Sat Apr 28 L 1-2 v Puebla
28 Pachuca (+7)(24GF) - LAST: Sat Apr 28 W 3-1 v Guadalajara
28 Tijuana (+7)(17GF) - LAST: Sun Apr 29 D 1-1 v Pumas
27 Jaguares - LAST: Sat Apr 28 W 1-0 v Morelia

La Liguilla

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-DATE TBA
Jaguares v Santos Laguna
Tijuana v Monterrey
Pachuca v America
Tigres v Morelia
2nd Leg
-DATE TBA
Santos Laguna v Jaguares
Monterrey v Tijuana
America v Pachuca
Morelia v Tigres

If the teams are tied after the two legs, then the higher seed advances.

ENGLAND

Rob Smyth, Evan Fanning and Tom Davies of the Guardian with five things we learned from watching English football this weekend.

FRANCE

Coupe De France - Final

Lyon are the France Cup champions!

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 28
Lyon 1-0 Quevilly - Lyo goal by Lisandro Lopez.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein reports on lots of home stadium farewells from beloved players in the Bundesliga this week, and a round up of all the games too.

ITALY

The following article is not nearly as big a deal as the screaming headline and first 3 paragraphs make it out to be:
Paolo Bandini of the Guardian tells us about the high drama surrounding the chase for the final UEFA Champions League spot in Serie A, and a round up of the rest of the league's action from the weekend.
-Turns out the wild play made no difference in who won, and that goal differential is the second tie breaker, but the first tie breaker "head to head" is already been determined if these two teams end up tied. So this story should be a footnote not a major story.

EUROPE

Netherlands - the chase for the Eredivisie crown!

Ajax has won the title in every way except officially. It has a 6 point lead with two games to play over Feyenoord, and a +24 goal differential advantage in the first tie breaker.

Standings: (32 of 34 games played)
70 Ajax (+53) - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 1-2 at Twente - NEXT: Wed May 2 v VVV Venlo
64 Feyenoord (+29) - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 1-0 v AZ - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Heracles
----
63 PSV - LAST: Sun Apr 29 W 1-3 at Roda JC - NEXT: Wed May 2 v ADO Den Haag
61 AZ - LAST: Sun Apr 29 L 1-0 at Feyenoord - NEXT: Wed May 2 at NEC
61 Heerenveen - LAST: Sat Apr 28 W 2-4 at Heracles - NEXT: Wed May 2 at Twente
60 Twente - LAST: Sun Apr 29 L 1-2 v Ajax - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Heerenveen

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Knockout Stage

Three days of matches this week to complete the 1st Leg.

dN

Round of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul v Libertad
Atletico Nacional v Velez Sarsfield
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors v Union Espanola
Emelec v Corintians
Vasco Da Gama v Lanus
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile

ASIA
Asian Champions League - Group Stage - Matchday 5 will be played on May 1 & 2.

-Standings etc.

ENDERS

Don't miss out on our review of Robert Andrew Powell's book This Love is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juarez, reviewed by Paul Demko.

Book Review: This Love is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juarez, by Robert Andrew Powell

A book review by contributor Paul Demko

As a book about professional sports, This Love is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juarez is pretty much a dud. Veteran U.S. journalist Robert Andrew Powell shows up in the beleaguered border town midway through the 2009-10 season. The Primera club that Powell begins following, Los Indios de Juarez, has muddled through the first half of the campaign without a single victory.

It's not surprising that Los Indios are struggling to remain in the Mexican top division. Recruiting talent is undoubtedly difficult when your players are routinely threatened with kidnapping and the daily body count in the city regularly hits double digits.

Powell attempts to pump some drama into the squad's relegation battle. But as Los Indios proceed to set a Primera Division record for consecutive matches without a victory, it's pretty darn clear that their days in the top flight are numbered. Powell does gets some yuks from coming up with different creative ways to describe the incompetence of Cameroonian striker Alain N'Kong. (Colorado Rapids fans, in particular, should find this exercise resonant.)

Powell's narrative task is further complicated by his choice of chief protagonist: American-born midfielder Marco Vidal. Vidal offers an intriguing personal story. After washing out with Chivas and Tigres by the age of 20, he was working at a Dallas radio station when Los Indios came calling. The diminutive, perpetually overlooked defensive midfielder becomes a vital cog in the squad's unlikely rise to the Mexican top flight. 

But as a character Vidal is a dullard. He doesn't seem to have a single interesting insight into what it's like to play professional futbol in a city under siege by warring drug cartels. Powell is reduced to dwelling repeatedly on Vidal's preference for Ed Hardy shirts and hats to illuminate … something.

Powell doesn't explain why he chose to focus on Vidal while virtually ignoring the rest of the squad off the pitch. But I suspect language -- specifically Vidal's fluidity in English -- was a significant factor. It's unclear how proficient the author is in Spanish, but he does mention briefly taking language lessons in Juarez. Regardless of the reason, we're stuck with Vidal and his deep reservoir of sports cliches. "The whole team is together, with one mission," he reassures us at the start of the season.

Luckily Powell doesn't attempt to hinge the entire book on Vidal and his hapless teammates. Instead he uses Los Indios as a jumping off point to explore the troubled city of Juarez and its resilient residents. Powell's keen eye uncovers some unexpected consequences of the cartel wars. Prior to the dramatic rise in murders -- a staggering 3,000-plus during 2010 alone -- Juarez was a frequent destination for U.S. citizens seeking affordable dental care. In the wake of the violence, many of those clinics have been shuttered.

Powell talks with Sergio Bueno (his son works in the media department of Los Indios) about his struggling dental practice. Bueno's clinic was robbed at gunpoint by men who may well have been police officers. He's considered relocating across the border to El Paso, but the difficulty of getting licensed to practice in the U.S. has caused him to remain in Juarez.

Bueno's faith sustains him. "I know with certainty that God does not want me to die," Bueno tells Powell, after the armed robbery. "God does not want me to leave my family or to leave my city. I felt closer to God than ever."

Powell also does a nice job of depicting the way most Juarenses grasp on to normalcy amidst the violence and how their lives bounce back and force across the border -- both literally and figuratively. Take Weecho a rabid Los Indios fan who grew up primarily in Texas. His tattoos include tributes to both the American metal band Tool and his Mexican heritage. He is a luchador, but most of his professional wrestling matches take place in Texas.

"Weecho is an American who literally fights to promote his Mexican heritage," Powell writes. "When he talks, his words slip from English to Spanish, probably without his even realizing it. He loves premium American coffee and he also follows a Mexican soccer team with a  losing record. His feet straddle two cultures, like so may people living along the border. Cultures that are often violently divided. Which is why I love the intentionally misspelled name he currently wrestles under: Fussion."

Powell's attempts to humanize a place that's too often depicted in the media simply as a battleground for drug smugglers is certainly admirable. But he tries a little too hard -- and not very successfully -- to convince readers that he's fallen deeply in love with his troubled adopted city.

"Lorenzo tells me that I'm Juarense, that I quality by now," Powell writes near the end of the book. "Everyone in Juarez is from somewhere else, he says, and I've put in more than enough time. This makes me feel surprisingly happy. It took me more than ten years to define myself as a Miamian. Here in Juarez, I'm already in. And not just nominally in, but in, really in. I do feel like I belong here. That I am not only in Juarez, but of it. I love this city, totally."

Of course, as expected, seven pages later Powell is saying adios to Juarez. There's no shame in this. The season is over. Los Indios have been relegated. Powell's reporting assignment is done. Time to move back to the U.S. and on to the next story. So why pretend otherwise? It's disingenuous and irritating.

Some Soccer News for Fri Apr 27, 2012

STARTERS

Barcelona has announced that head coach Pep Guardiola will leave the team at the end of the season and his assistant Tito Vilanova will take over the team.
-This new guy is the one who Jose Mourniho intentionally jabbed in the eye during a post Super Cup skirmish.
-Sid Lowe of the Guardian on why Guardiola is walking away.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Match & Score:
-Sat Apr 28
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Silverbacks Stadium

And our local watch party for this game HAS BEEN CHANGED AGAIN and will be held at our usual spot in St Paul at the Sweetwater. Forget any previous messages to the contrary.

NOTICE

Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897

There are 137 teams in our league!

LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

DC United v Houston Dynamo on Sat Apr 28 - 6:30PM CT at RFK Stadium

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The vast majority, all but two or three of our clubs, have jersey sponsorship deals. So over a very short period of time, it’s generated nearly $100 million in revenue for the league."
-MLS Commissioner Don Garber

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 28
Lille v PSG - #3 is suddenly within striking distance of #2 again.
-Sun Apr 29
Udinese v Lazio - #5 v #3 with the #3 finisher going to the Champions League.
Twente v Ajax - #4 v #1 with just 3 rounds left to settle this thing.
Feyenoord v AZ - #3 hosts #2 and they are tied on points.
-Mon Apr 30
Manchester City v Manchester United - the derby for all the marbles. How cool is that?

dN

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
La Liga - 4 games left
88 Real Madrid - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Sevilla
81 Barcelona - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Rayo Vallecano
Premier League - 3 games left
83 Manchester United - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 at Manchester City
80 Manchester City - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 v Manchester United
Bundesliga - 2 games left
CHAMPS! - Borussia Dortmund
Serie A - 4 games left
74 Juventus - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Novara
71 Milan - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Siena
Ligue 1 - 5 games left
69 Montpellier - NEXT: Fri Apr 27 at Toulouse
67 PSG - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Lille

VIDEO OF THE DAY

A funny dude called Hermes bring us video of the back stories and mythology of the Portland Timbers. Episode 1.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 8

-Wed Apr 25
FC Dallas 1-1 Real Salt Lake - FCD goal by Brek Shea(PK). RSL goal by Emiliano Bonfigli.
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Atten: 10,069
-Sat Apr 28
Montreal Impact v Portland Timbers - 1:00PM CT
Venue: Olympic Stadium
New York Red Bulls v New England Revolution - 2:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT
Venue: PPL Park
DC United v Houston Dynamo - 6:30PM CT
Venue: RFK Stadium
Columbus Crew v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Crew Stadium
Chicago Fire SC v Seattle Sounders FC - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Colorado Rapids v CD Chivas USA - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's sporting Goods Park
LA Galaxy v FC Dallas - 9:30PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Bye: Sporting Kansas City

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
12 DC United (+4)
10 New York Red Bulls (+3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (0)
8 Houston Dynamo (0)
-----
7 Philadelphia Union (-2)
7 Columbus Crew (-3)
6 New England Revolution (-3)
5 Montreal Impact (-8)
0 Toronto FC (-9)
WEST
16 San Jose Earthquakes (+8)
16 Real Salt Lake (+4)
11 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0)
11 FC Dallas (-2)
10 Seattle Sounders FC (+4)
-----
9 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-1)
9 Colorado Rapids (-2)
7 Portland Timbers (-2)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

After getting off to a strong start this season Alejandro Moreno has been sidelined with a concussion. No word on when he will return.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Colorado has announced that they signed central midfielder Jeff Larentowitz to a multiyear contract extension.

dN

The Raps intend to use Conor Casey as a sub in his return to action this weekend.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch introduces us to the team's new signing Jairo Arrieta.
-Arrieta was already quite familiar with Columbus.

FC DALLAS

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman will miss his third straight game this weekend due to muscle spasms in his back.

dN

Todd Date of 3rd Degree writes about the extent of the elbow injury suffered by Carlos Rodriguez, who could miss a month of games.

dN

Date talks to technical director Fernando Clavijo about the team's injury dilemmas.

DC UNITED

Craig Stoufer of the Examiner writes that DCU is in a place that have not been in for a few years now - on solid ground.

dN

Brian Straus of Sporting News talks to DCU management about surprising line up that is succeeding so far this season.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

The Star has quotes from MLS commissioner Don Garber on Sporting sponsorships and ownership.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Dave Martinez of Soccer By Ives talks to Joel Lindpere about his rough start to the 2012 season, and he is not happy about the situation with his coach.

dN

Wilman Conde more than likely out for another month with his groin muscle injury.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com reports that Gabriel Farfan who was red carded last weekend against Chivas has been given an additional 2 game suspension & fined due to the violent nature of the foul he committed and for not leaving the field in timely order.

dN

Kerith Gabriel of Daily News looks at forward Lionard Pajoy who has been a disappointment so far this season.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Eliott Almond of the Mercury News says that the Quakes are getting great defensive cover from two unexpected sources - Justin Morrow and Steven Beitashour.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russell Berrisford of the Sun says the Caps are choosing between Eric Hassli and Camilo for the starting 11.
-Why do they have to choose? There is no reason they both can't play. Oh, what did you say? They don't fit the coaches system? Oh, that sounds sensible.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Silly name of the day: Alessandro Nesta to New York. (He would absolutely help them.)

dN

Rumors state that LA is trying to sign Beckman's former Real Madrid teammate Michel Salgado. But he would have to play for much less than DP money cuz they already have their full compliment of 3. Or did they change the rules again?

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 28
Carolina RailHawks v San Antonio Scorpions
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Watch online

dN

Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+6)
8 Fort Lauderdale (+2)
5 Minnesota (+1)
5 Tampa Bay (0)
3 Carolina (0)
3 Atlanta (-2)
2 San Antonio (-4)
1 Edmonton (-3)

US SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY

Mike Jensen of the Philadelphia Inquirer with another one of those hysterical "the sky is falling" articles about dev ac players not being allowed to play high school soccer. -I've said it before and I will keep saying it, the high school and college teams have had the last 20 years to change their ways and improve their ability to develop players and they have not done that at all, so now its time for a new model.

dN

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America with its take on the High School v Development Academy situation.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

The Independent of London has an article on Tim Ream and his new life at Bolton.

dN

Sacha Kljestan sat out Anderlecht's 0-4 road win over Genk due to yellow card accumulation.

dN

The Brondby website has a video interview with Clarence Goodson looking ahead to their next game after a rough run of games.
-Thanks to Henrik for the link.

MEXICO

Clausura

This weekend sees the last round of the regular season, and then the final 8 will be paired up for the championship playoffs.

Top 10 Standings after 16 of 17 Rounds:
33 Santos Laguna - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Atlas
31 America - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Cruz Azul
31 Morelia - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Jaguares
31 Tigres - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 v Puebla
29 Monterrey - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Atlante
27 Tijuana - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Pumas
25 Pachuca - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 v Guadalajara
24 Cruz Azul - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at America
-----
24 Jaguares - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 v Morelia
-The top 8 make the playoffs.

FRANCE

Coupe De France - Final

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 28
Lyon v Quevilly

EUROPE

Netherlands - the chase for the Eredivisie crown is tight and will most likely go down to the last day!

Standings: (31 of 34 games played)
67 Ajax - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Twente
61 AZ - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Feyenoord
61 Feyenoord - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v AZ
60 Twente - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Ajax
60 PSV - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Roda JC
58 Heerenveen - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Heracles

Some Soccer News for Thu Apr 26, 2012

STARTERS

Monterrey has repeated as CONCACAF Champions League winners! Huge congrats to them. And just like last year they got a road goal in the 2nd leg to pull it off!

dN

Carlos Rodriguez of FC Dallas suffered a hideous dislocated elbow in the game against Salt Lake last night. He had collision with Javier Morales with Rodriguez falling to the ground and landing on his arm causing the elbow to pop out of joint. It was horrible to see.

dN

Atletico Madrid will face Athletic Bilbao, both from Spain, in the UEFA Europa League Final on Wed May 9 at the National Stadium in Bucharest, Romania.

dN

I think I may have missed this: Wolverhampton of the English Premier League and Cesena of Serie A became the second & third teams in the big leagues of Europe to be relegated this season.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Match & Score:
-Sat Apr 28
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Silverbacks Stadium

And our local watch party for this game will be held in Blaine at Bricks Pub will be at our usual spot in St Paul - the Sweetwater.

NOTICE

Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897

There are 137 teams in our league!

LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

DC United v Houston Dynamo on Sat Apr 28 - 6:30PM CT at RFK Stadium

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Brian Quarstad of IMSoccer News with all the latest on a potential stadium deal for the Minnesota Vikings that could include an MLS component.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Honestly - Who had Chelsea and Bayern in the final? Even last week. Not many of you.

dN

Final

So it will be Bayern Munich hosting Chelsea for the European club championship on Sat May 19.

Another large element to the story will be the number of players who will be out of the Final due to yellow or red card suspension.
-Chelsea:
John Terry
Branislav Ivanovic
Ramires
Raul Meireles
-Bayern Munich:
David Alaba
Holger Badstuber
Luiz Gustavo

-Sat May 19
Fussball Club Bayern Munchen Eingetragener Verein v Chelsea Football Club
Venue: Allianz Arena - Munich, Germany

dN

Semifinals Recap

Sid Lowe of the Guardian sees the two shiniest stars of them all Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo BOTH MISS HIGE PENALTY KICKS in the semifinal.
-How is that even possible?!

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune on Bayern's special win.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Tue Apr 24
FC Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea FC - Che advances 3-2 on aggregate- Bar goals by Sergio Busquets & Andreas Iniesta. Che goals by Ramieres & Fernando Torres.
-Wed Apr 25
Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich (1-2) - Series ends tied 3-3, with both teams having 1 road goal to negate the tiebreaker, and BM wins it 3-1 in a Penalty Kick Shootout - RM goals both by Cristiano Ronaldo(1 via PK). BM goal by Arjen Robben(PK).

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

FINAL

Los Rayados de Monterrey are again CONCACAF Champions. Last year they claimed the title with a road goal at Real Salt Lake. This year they did it in the final minutes of the game to Santos Laguna.

Neri Cardozo was the hero for Monterrey

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 25
Santos Laguna 2-1 Monterrey - Mon wins 3-2 on aggregate - SL goals by Daniel Ludena & Oribe Peralta. Mon goal by Neri Cardozo.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
La Liga - 4 games left
88 Real Madrid - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Sevilla
81 Barcelona - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Rayo Vallecano
Premier League - 3 games left
83 Manchester United - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 at Manchester City
80 Manchester City - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 v Manchester United
Bundesliga - 2 games left
CHAMPS! - Borussia Dortmund
Serie A - 4 games left
74 Juventus - LAST: Wed Apr 25 W 0-1 at Cesena - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Novara
71 Milan - LAST: Wed Apr 25 W 1-0 v Genoa - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Siena
Ligue 1 - 5 games left
69 Montpellier - NEXT: Fri Apr 27 at Toulouse
67 PSG - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Lille

BUMMER OF THE DAY

I see this week where Soccer By Ives has joined the ranks of the websites that has advertisements that come popping up with blaring video the moment you click on to the site. Its really obnoxious.

Y'ALL READY FOR THIS?

If I ran a team and someone said to me, Bruce you have to either have Sergio Ramos on your team or play every game with 10 men, I would take my chances with the 10.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Jonah Freedman of MLSSoccer.com looks at the affect Barcelona has on youth soccer in America.

FACT OF THE DAY

Real Salt Lake has still NEVER won a game in Texas.

VIDEO & PICTURE OF THE DAY

The Houston Dynamo introduced their new 3rd shirt for 2012. Its like a darker version of their 1st uniform but with pinstripes on the front. Maybe its burnt orange as compared to plain old orange. There are supposedly a bunch of hat tips to former Houston based teams in the new design.
-Here is a video intro.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 8

-Wed Apr 25
FC Dallas 1-1 Real Salt Lake - FCD goal by Brek Shea(PK). RSL goal by Emiliano Bonfigli.
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Atten: 10,069
-Sat Apr 28
Montreal Impact v Portland Timbers - 1:00PM CT
Venue: Olympic Stadium
New York Red Bulls v New England Revolution - 2:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT
Venue: PPL Park
DC United v Houston Dynamo - 6:30PM CT
Venue: RFK Stadium
Columbus Crew v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Crew Stadium
Chicago Fire SC v Seattle Sounders FC - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Colorado Rapids v CD Chivas USA - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's sporting Goods Park
LA Galaxy v FC Dallas - 9:30PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Bye: Sporting Kansas City

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
12 DC United (+4)
10 New York Red Bulls (+3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (0)
8 Houston Dynamo (0)
-----
7 Philadelphia Union (-2)
7 Columbus Crew (-3)
6 New England Revolution (-3)
5 Montreal Impact (-8)
0 Toronto FC (-9)
WEST
16 San Jose Earthquakes (+8)
16 Real Salt Lake (+4)
11 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0)
11 FC Dallas (-2)
10 Seattle Sounders FC (+4)
-----
9 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-1)
9 Colorado Rapids (-2)
7 Portland Timbers (-2)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Philadelphia head coach Peter Nowak was ejected from his teams game last Saturday against Chivas for coming on to the field during an altercation between players from both teams and then shoving a Chivas player, and today he was given an additional 1 game suspension and $5000 fine for his actions. He will miss 2 games total. That is pretty stiff.
-Chivas head coach Robin Fraser was fined for his role in the incident, and both teams, the Union and CUSA, were handed down fines for their overall team behavior too.

dN

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN with his topics of interest for the week - formations, Chris Pontius and Zac MacMath.

Player Transactions

Colorado has signed 33 year old Brazilian forward Luis Eduardo Schmidt aka Edu. He last played in 2011 for Vitoria in Brazil's Serie B. And spent the majority of his career in Spain at Celta de Vigo and Real Betis.

dN

Two other MLS teams announced the signing of players that will go in to effect when the next Transfer Window opens on June 27.
-Chicago has signed 23 year old Brazilian midfielder Alex from Wohlen in Switzerland.
-Columbus has acquired 28 year old Costa Rican forward Jairo Arrieta from Saprissa.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Colorado expects to have Conor Casey as an option off the bench this weekend when they host Chivas.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch tells us all about new Crew signing Jairo Arrieta who will join the team in late June.

FC DALLAS

Jackson made his return to the Dallas lineup as a sub following his return from a loan spell at Cruziero.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Brad Davis and Corey Ashe might just be ready to roll this weekend.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Fullback Seth Sinovic has had surgery to repair a broken right hand and will be out for a couple of weeks.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Juan Agudelo trained with the team for the first time today in 5 weeks and is nearing full recovery from a torn meniscus.

Steven Keel could be out for up to a month after it was discovered that he had a stress fracture to a vertebrae in his back.

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer looks at who just might be in the Bulls back 4 this weekend.
-Odds are good that their most experienced player will be the walking hazard Markus Holgerson.

REAL SALT LAKE

Emiliano Bonfigli who scored in his debut for RSL last night is a 23 year old Argentine who came to the team via the Supplemental Draft. He came on as a sub in the 69th min and scored in the 72nd. Fantastic.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times updates us on the Sounders injury list.

Mayers fills us in a little more on who Sammy Ochoa is and how he is fitting in the team after a tough start to the season.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province with an article on midfielder Lance Watson, another of the players who followed head coach Martin Rennie from Carolina in the second division.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 25
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3-2 Puerto Rico Islanders
- FLS goals all by Aly Hassan. PRI goals by Jay Needham & David Foley.
-Sat Apr 28
Carolina RailHawks v San Antonio Scorpions
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+6)
8 Fort Lauderdale (+2)
5 Minnesota (+1)
5 Tampa Bay (0)
3 Carolina (0)
3 Atlanta (-2)
2 San Antonio (-4)
1 Edmonton (-3)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com has an article on Sean Cunningham who is seeing lots of playing time this season on loan at Stabaek.

Both Americans who were in the semifinals of the Danish Cup were eliminated. See details below.

dN

Game Action:

DENMARK - DBU Pokalen - Semifinals - 2nd Leg
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - Wed Apr 25 - went the full 90 winning 4-3 v Kobenhavn, but the series ended tied 4-4, and Kob advances on the away goals tie breaker.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - Thu Apr 26 - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they lost 1-0 at Horsens, so the series ends 3-2 in favor of Horsens.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Tue Apr 24 - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Bolton.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Tue Apr 24 - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they lost 1-2 v Bolton.
Tim Ream - Bolton - Tue Apr 24 - went the full 90 getting a yellow card and winning 1-2 at Aston Villa.

FINLAND - Suomen Cup - Round of 16
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - Wed Apr 25 L 2-1 at KooTeePee.
Mike Banner - Jaro - Thu Apr 26 at HJK.
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - Wed Apr 25 D 0-0 v TPS - KuPS advances 8-7 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - Wed Apr 25 W 2-1 v Inter Turku.

UEFA - Europa League3:51 PM 4/26/2012 - Semifinals - 2nd Leg
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP - Thu Apr 26 - on the bench as they ..... at Athletic Bilbao (1-2)

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad talks to the very gifted Alejandro Guido who just signed with Tijuana.

dN

Game Action:

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Final - 2nd Leg
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - came on as a sub in the 57th min as they won 2-1 v Monterrey, but the series ended tied 2-2 with Mon winning on the away goals tie breaker.

ENGLAND

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian has a warning for Chelsea - in the form of the downfall of Leeds in 1975.

FRANCE

Coupe De France - Final

Paul Doyle of the Guardian previews the grand finale which features a team from the 3rd division against powerhouse Lyon!

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 28
Lyon v Quevilly

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian looks at a seemingly insignificant transfer in the Serie A that could have a big say in the final standings.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semifinals

Two Spanish teams Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid will meet in the final.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Thu Apr 26
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Sporting CP - AB advances 3-2 on aggregate - AB goals by Markel Susaeta, Ibai Gomez & Fernando Llorente. SCP goal by Ricky Van Wolfswinkel.
Valencia 0-1 Atletico Madrid - AM advances 5-2 on aggregate - AM goal by Adrian.

Final

-Wed May 9
Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid
Venue: National Arena - Bucharest, Romania

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Knockout Stage began with 2 matches on Wednesday, and then we jump ahead to next Tuesday for the next batch.

Both road teams got favorable results last night as Fluminense held Internacional in a scoreless game, while Santos got a road goal even though they lost 2-1 at Bolivar. On the other hand it was a good win by Bolivar.

dN

Round of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 25
Internacional 0-0 Fluminense
Bolivar 2-1 Santos
- Bol goals by Rafael(OG) & Jhasmani Campos. San goal by Maranhao.
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul v Libertad
Atletico Nacional v Velez Sarsfield
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors v Union Espanola
Emelec v Corintians
Vasco Da Gama v Lanus
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile
2nd Leg
-Tue May 8
Libertad v Cruz Azul
Velez Sarsfield v Atletico Nacional
-Wed May 9
Union Espanola v Boca Juniors
Corintians v Emelec
Lanus v Vasco Da Gama
-Thu May 10
Fluminense v Internacional
Universidad Chile v Deportivo Quito
Santos v Bolivar

Bracket

Fluminense v Internacional
Union Espanola v Boca Juniors

Universidad Chilev v Deportivo Quito
Libertadv Cruz Azul
-----
Corintians v Emelec
Lanus v Vasco Da Gama

Santos v Bolivar
Velez Sarsfield v Atletico Nacional

ENDERS

Marco Materazzi poses in front of the sculpture by Adel Abdessemed of Zinedine Zidane head butting Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final. CORRECTED

Some Soccer News for Wed Apr 25, 2012

STARTERS

Brad Friedel has now started 300 consecutive games in the English Premier League!

dN

As punishment for their financial meltdown this spring Rangers FC will be banned from making new player signings for 1 year, and previous owner Craig Whyte has been banned for life from Scottish football at any level.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Match & Score:
-Sat Apr 28
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Silverbacks Stadium

And our local watch party for this game will be held in Blaine at Bricks Pub will be at our usual spot in St Paul - the Sweetwater.

NOTICE

Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897

There are 135 teams in our league!

LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

A good looking game tonight as Dallas hosts Salt Lake at 7:30pm CT

DC United v Houston Dynamo on Sat Apr 28 - 6:30PM CT at RFK Stadium

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Both Spanish teams are out, and the dream finish that so many wanted is not going to happen. Bayern Munich pulled off a great match and advanced to the final in a Penalty Kick Shootout.

Ever more dramatically both advancing teams won while playing the second game on the road.

And now Bayern will get to play the Final in their home stadium as was previously already picked to host the game.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Barcelona's defeat, and what that means for the future.

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says Barcelona is defeated and broken.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Tue Apr 24
FC Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea FC - Che advances 3-2 on aggregate.
-Wed Apr 25
Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich (1-2) - Series ends tied 3-3, with both teams having 1 road goal to negate the tiebreaker, and BM wins it 3-1 in a Penalty Kick Shootout - RM goals both by Cristiano Ronaldo(1 via PK). BM goal by Arjen Robben(PK).

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

FINAL

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 25
Santos Laguna v Monterrey (0-2) - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer

WHAT A JOKE

It appears as though homophobia is alive and well in the top levels of Mexican soccer.

Yahoo reports that the Mexican Football Federation will not punish two players who pretended to kiss after one of them scored a goal, but the federation did release a statement saying "This kind of image cannot be allowed before the public, fans, children. It cannot be seen as a good example."

So remember kids, if you are in the presence of a member of the Mexican football federation do not be seen kissing a member of the same sex.

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Joe Cannon has a blog! Its about goalkeeping.
QUESTION OF THE DAY

Why in the world is Portland playing a friendly against Aston Villa on the same night as the MLS All-Star Game against Chelsea?

WELL WELL WELL

New football writing quarterly magazine XI hit their Kickstarter fundraising goal today!

STAT OF THE DAY

Do you want to know why I think it might be difficult for a MLS team to break into the Twin Cities sports market? Here are the per-game average number of tickets sold to the top 7 sports teams already in the market:
Vikings 62,800
Gopher football 50,800
Twins 34,200
Wild 17,800
Timberwolves 17,600
Gopher basketball 13,700
Gopher hockey 10,200

That is a lot of tickets already sold. And I am not even addressing the dozens of other factors that make this market unique.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 8

-Wed Apr 25
FC Dallas v Real Salt Lake - 7:30PM CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
-Sat Apr 28
Montreal Impact v Portland Timbers - 1:00PM CT
Venue: Olympic Stadium
New York Red Bulls v New England Revolution - 2:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT
Venue: PPL Park
DC United v Houston Dynamo - 6:30PM CT
Venue: RFK Stadium
Columbus Crew v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Crew Stadium
Chicago Fire SC v Seattle Sounders FC - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Real Salt Lake v Toronto FC - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Colorado Rapids v CD Chivas USA - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's sporting Goods Park
LA Galaxy v FC Dallas - 9:30PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Bye: Sporting Kansas City

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
12 DC United (+4)
10 New York Red Bulls (+3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (0)
8 Houston Dynamo (0)
-----
7 Philadelphia Union (-2)
7 Columbus Crew (-3)
6 New England Revolution (-3)
5 Montreal Impact (-8)
0 Toronto FC (-9)
WEST
16 San Jose Earthquakes (+8)
15 Real Salt Lake (+4)
11 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0)
10 Seattle Sounders FC (+4)
10 FC Dallas (-2)
-----
9 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-1)
9 Colorado Rapids (-2)
7 Portland Timbers (-2)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch writes about the return from injury of Danny O'Rourke.
-But is he really healthy?

A few more team notes from Jardy.

FC DALLAS

Blas Perez has been suspended 1 game by the league for an elbow he planted on the jaw of Vancouver's Jordan Harvey last weekend.

Todd Date of 3rd Degree writes about the significant presence Perez has been early in the season for FCD.

Date also has an article on Matt Hedges the teams only SuperDraft pick this year centerback Matt Hedges who is inching toward the first 11.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with an article on forward Kris Boyd, looking at the start to his career in MLS.

REAL SALT LAKE

James Edward of the Deseret writes that the team is looking to respond to a bad loss tonight in Dallas.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times with a Sounders injury update.

TORONTO FC

John Molinaro of Sports Net reports that TFC head coach Aron Winter has declared: "We’re making the playoffs."
-That is a fairly easy promise to make, cuz if they don't make the playoff he will get fired anyway.

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

Here is the complete schedule of all the big club matches going on this summer pitting MLS teams against European teams.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 25
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Apr 28
Carolina RailHawks v San Antonio Scorpions
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

dN

Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+7)
5 Minnesota (+1)
5 Fort Lauderdale (+1)
5 Tampa Bay (0)
3 Carolina (0)
3 Atlanta (-2)
2 San Antonio (-4)
1 Edmonton (-3)

Watch online

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated with an article on Clint Dempsey's great season.

dN

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad reported on Twitter today that "midfielder Danny Williams tore a muscle in his shoulder while in weight room and will be out at least a month."
-The AP reports that he will be out for up to 6 weeks. Making it tough for to join the USA for the first two World Cup Qualifying matches.

dN

AP also reports that Timmy Chandler has signed a new contract to stay at Nurnberg through the 2014-15 season.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Thu Apr 26
Athletic Bilbao v Sporting CP (1-2)
Valencia v Atletico Madrid (2-4)

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Knockout Stage begins on Wednesday.

Round of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 25
Internacional v Fluminense
Bolivar v Santos
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul v Libertad
Atletico Nacional v Velez Sarsfield
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors v Union Espanola
Emelec v Corintians
Vasco Da Gama v Lanus
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile

Soccer Soccer News for Tue Apr 24, 2012

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

DC United v Houston Dynamo on Sat Apr 28 - 6:30PM CT at RFK Stadium

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

A big upset sees the champs go down to one of the scrapiest teams we have seen in years! Chelsea made it as ugly as possible - full contact chess - and got a huge win.

How beautiful was that Ramieres goal for Chelsea?!?!?! Chipping the goalkeeper! Wow.

Chelsea paid a heavy price though in losing 3 starters for the Final to yellow card accumulation and another to a red card. Plus injuries. They are in rough shape for the European Championship game.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Tue Apr 24
FC Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea FC - Che advances 3-2 on aggregate - Bar goals by Sergio Busquets & Andreas Iniesta. Che goals by Ramieres & Fernando Torres.
-Wed Apr 25
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich (1-2) - 1:30pm CT on FX

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

FINAL

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg score included)
-Wed Apr 25
Santos Laguna v Monterrey (0-2) - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS

Here are the groups for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament, which begins on Thu Jul 26:
Group A
Britain
Senegal
UAE
Uruguay
Group B
Mexico
S Korea
Gabon
Switzerland
Group C
Brazil
Egypt
Belarus
New Zealand
Group D
Spain
Japan
Honduras
Morocco

Full match schedule TBA.

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Jared Montz Online Soccer Academy hosts their 2nd annual World Juggle-a-thon to benefit Nothing But Nets!










Last year they raised $7000! Amazing.

Get all the details right here, right now! And be a part of something very cool.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Why in the world is Portland playing a friendly against Aston Villa on the same night as the MLS All-Star Game against Chelsea?

WELL WELL WELL

New football writing quarterly magazine XI hit their Kickstarter fundraising goal today!

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 8

-Wed Apr 25
FC Dallas v Real Salt Lake - 7:30PM CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium

MLS MATCH NOTES

Leading Goal Scorers: - As of Tue Apr 24
8 Thierry Henry
8 Chris Wondolowski
7 Kenny Cooper
4 David Estrada
4 Kei Kamara
4 Chris Pontius
4 Maicon Santos
3 Eight Players Tied

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
12 DC United (+4)
10 New York Red Bulls (+3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (0)
8 Houston Dynamo (0)
-----
7 Philadelphia Union (-2)
7 Columbus Crew (-3)
6 New England Revolution (-3)
5 Montreal Impact (-8)
0 Toronto FC (-9)
WEST
16 San Jose Earthquakes (+8)
15 Real Salt Lake (+4)
11 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0)
10 Seattle Sounders FC (+4)
10 FC Dallas (-2)
-----
9 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-1)
9 Colorado Rapids (-2)
7 Portland Timbers (-2)

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 24
Sporting Kansas City 0-1 Colorado Rapids
- CR goal by Andre Akpan.

Standings

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 25
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Apr 28
Carolina RailHawks v San Antonio Scorpions
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+7)
5 Minnesota (+1)
5 Fort Lauderdale (+1)
5 Tampa Bay (0)
3 Carolina (0)
3 Atlanta (-2)
2 San Antonio (-4)
1 Edmonton (-3)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - Tue Apr 24 - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Atalanta.

EUROPE

Relegation In Europes Top Five Leagues

Kaiserslautern of Germany are the first team relegated from the top 5 leagues.

As of Tue Apr 24

Bundesliga (32 of 34 played)
-bottom 2 relegated - then - 3rd from bottom play 2.Bundes 3rd from top in 2 legs
37 Freiburg
35 Hamburg
34 Augsburg
-----
30 Koln
-----
28 Hertha
REL-23 Kaiserslautern

Premier League (35 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
36 Aston Villa (34 gp)
34 Queens Park Rangers
34 Wigan
-----
31 Blackburn
30 Bolton (33 gp)
23 Wolverhampton

Ligue 1 (33 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
35 Lorient
34 Caen
34 Dijon
34 Ajaccio
-----
33 Brest
33 Sochaux
28 Auxerre

La Liga (34 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
40 Real Sociedad
40 Rayo Vallecano
39 Granada
37 Villarreal
-----
31 Sporting Gijon
31 Real Zaragoza
26 Racing Santander

Serie A (33 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
38 Fiorentina
38 Cagliari
36 Genoa
-----
34 Lecce
25 Novara
22 Cesena

TOP EURO CLUB GOAL SCORERS

As of Tue Apr 24

Primera Division
42 Cristiano Ronaldo
41 Lionel Messi
22 Radamael Falcao
21 Gonzalo Higuain
18 Karim Benzema

Premier League
27 Robin Van Persie
26 Wayne Rooney
22 Kun Aguero
16 Three players tied

Bundesliga
25 Mario Gomez
25 Klaas Jan Huntelaar
20 Robert Lewandowski
17 Martin Harnik
17 Lukas Podolski

Serie A
24 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
20 Edison Cavani
20 Antonio Di Natale
20 Diego Milito
17 Rodrigo Palacio

Ligue 1
20 Oliver Giroud
16 Eden Hazard
16 Nene
13 Pierre Aubameyang
13 Bafetimbi Gomis
13 Lisandro Lopez

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Knockout Stage begins on Wednesday.

dN

Round of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Apr 25
Internacional v Fluminense
Bolivar v Santos
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul v Libertad
Atletico Nacional v Velez Sarsfield
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors v Union Espanola
Emelec v Corintians
Vasco Da Gama v Lanus
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile

Some Soccer News for Mon Apr 23, 2012

STARTERS

USA v Russia on Wed Nov 14 on US soil? Rumor has it.

dN

With another win on Saturday Borussia Dortmund has won the German Bundesliga championship for the second year in a row. Huge congrats to them!
-At the same time Kaiserslautern becomes the first team from Europe's big leagues to be relegated.

dN

No one is talking about him but DaMarcus Beasley scored his 5th goal of the Clausura season for Puebla!!

dN

Jozy! Jozy! Jozy! Altidore scores another one for AZ, this time the game winner to keep them in slight contention for the title. (But they're 6 back with 3 to play.)
-Here's the goal beginning at 0:55.

dN

Oguchi Onyewu made a return to the Sporting CP line up!

dN

In Italy yesterday things went to a level of weirdness that I have never seen before.
-Genoa ultras forced a stoppage in play that lasted nearly 40 minutes after their home team went down 0-4 to Siena. The Genoa player tried to reason with the ultras and eventually were told they did not deserve to wear the red and blue jersey so some of the players took them off! Insanity!
-This just shows how out of control ultras culture is in Italy and how much power they have over teams.
-Gazzetta has the story, in Italian.
-Football Italia with a good summary in English.
-Serie A has declared that Genoa will play their final 2 home games of this season in an empty stadium.
-To tie things up in an ugly sloppy bow, today Genoa's deranged owner Enrico Preziosi fired head coach Alberto Malesani for the second time this season. No word on who will take over.
-Thanks to Josh for the heads up on this story.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

The Stars won a dramatic game in the dying seconds, with both teams finishing with 10 players. A wild and wide open game.

Match & Score:
-Sun Apr 22
Edmonton FC 3-4 Minnesota Stars FC - EFC goals by Shaun Saiko, Paul Hamilton & Kyle Porter. MSFC goals by Neil Hlavaty(PK), Kyle Altman, Kentaro Takada & Devin Del Do.
Venue: Clarke Stadium

Next game on Sat Apr 28 at Atlanta.

NOTICE

Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897

There are 135 teams in our league!

LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas is still in 1st Place!

STORY OF THE DAY

Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star on Toronto FC's growing (AGAIN) inner turmoil.

The Toronto Sun points out a whole litany of failures on TFCs part.

Neil Davidson of the Toronto Globe & Mail has quotes from TFC ownership that they are monitoring the situation closely.

My question is this: Who is monitoring ownership? They are the dopes who keep hiring dopes who keep signing and managing dopes.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

US Soccer does a Q & A with Jurgen Klinsmann where they look at the technical set up of the entire USA Men's program from youth to senior levels.
-Video

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Jonathan Wilson of Sports Illustrated previews Barca v Chelsea.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian previews Barca v Chelsea too.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Tue Apr 24
FC Barcelona v Chelsea FC (0-1) - 1:30pm CT on Fox Soccer
-Wed Apr 25
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich (1-2) - 1:30pm CT on FX

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 21
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Borussia Monchengladbach - Dortmund wins the Bundesliga championship with this victory.
Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid - Madrid wins the big one of big ones, El Clasico, for the first time in a long while.
Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea - a big London derby leaves Arsenal in the mix for Champions League spots next season and Chelsea on the outside.
Queens Park Rangers 1-0 Tottenham - another London derby sees Spurs continue their fall from fame.
-Sun Apr 22
Galatasaray 1-2 Fenerbahce - one of the world's great rivalries sees the road team win!!
Juventus 4-0 Roma - Juve moves closer to the crown.

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
La Liga - 4 games left
88 Real Madrid - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 1-2 at Barcelona - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Sevilla
81 Barcelona - LAST: Sat Apr 21 L 1-2 v Real Madrid - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Rayo Vallecano
Premier League - 3 games left
83 Manchester United - LAST: Sun Apr 22 D 4-4 v Everton - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 at Manchester City
80 Manchester City - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 0-2 at Wolverhampton - NEXT: Mon Apr 30 v Manchester United
Bundesliga - 2 games left
CHAMPS!-75 Borussia Dortmund - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 2-0 v Gladbach
67 Bayern Munich - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 1-2 at Werder
Serie A - 5 games left
71 Juventus - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 4-0 v Roma - NEXT: Wed Apr 25 at Cesena
68 Milan - LAST: Sun Apr 22 D 1-1 v Bologna - NEXT: Wed Apr 25 v Genoa
Ligue 1 - 5 games left
69 Montpellier - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 1-0 v Valenciennes - NEXT: Fri Apr 27 at Toulouse
67 PSG - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 6-1 v Lorient - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Lille

BUMMER OF THE DAY

Eric Gorski of the Denver Post reports that the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake signed up Subaru to be the "sponsor" of their rivalry trophy The Rocky Mountain Cup. The problem is that it was supporters of the two teams who invented and administer the Cup and they were never involved in the decision for the two teams to make money off the Trophy nor were they told about it until the day before the two teams met for the first time this season.
-It seems the fans are OK with it now, but.......

DID YOU KNOW?

Brek Shea "writes" his recent column for Goal.com and basically says he wants to play in Spain.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Thierry Henry made another of his humanitarian trips back to Europe on his day off by flying to Barcelona and visiting his old teammate Eric Abidal who just had a liver transplant.
-Do you think he is staying for the Champions League game tomorrow?

OOF

The Associated Press reports that American Jermaine Jones got in a fight at Schalke training last week with star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar. The team says everything is A-OK now.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 7

-Wed Apr 18
DC United 1-1 Montreal Impact - DCU goal by Maicon Santos. MI goal by Bernardo Corradi.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Atten: 10,135
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-3 Sporting Kansas City - VW goal by sebastien Le Toux. SKC goals by Aurelein Collin, Martin Bonjour(OG) & Kei Kamara.
Venue: BC Place
Atten: 15,382
-Sat Apr 21
Toronto FC 2-3 Chicago Fire SC - TFC goals both by Reggie Lambe. CF goals by Dominic Oduro, Gonzalo Segares & Patrick Nyarko.
Venue: BMO Field
Atten: 19,255
Columbus Crew 2-2 Houston Dynamo - CC goals both by Eddie Gaven. HD goals by Will Bruin & Brian Ching.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Atten: 10,479
Colorado Rapids 1-2 LA Galaxy - CR goal by Omar Cummings. LAG goals by Marvell Wynne(OG) & Landon Donovan.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Atten: 19,152
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-0 FC Dallas - VW goal by Camilo.
Venue: BC Place
Atten: 18,027
Portland Timbers 1-0 Sporting Kansas City - PT goal by Chance Myers(OG).
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
Atten: 20,438
CD Chivas USA 0-1 Philadelphia Union - PU goal by Freddy Adu.
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Atten: 14,127
San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 Real Salt Lake - SJE goals by Khari Stephenson, Simon Dawkins & Chris Wondolowski. RSL goal by Kyle Beckerman.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Atten: 10,202
-Sun Apr 22
DC United 4-1 New York Red Bulls - DCU goals by Chris Pontius(3) & Nick De Leon. NYRB goal by Thierry Henry.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Atten: 13,262

Bye: New England Revolution & Seattle Sounders

MLS MATCH NOTES

EJECTIONS:
Fabian Espindola - red card - Salt Lake
Jamison Olave - red card - Salt Lake
Keon Daniel - red card - Philadelphia
Gabriel Farfan - red card - Philadelphia

GREAT GOALS

Another unbelievable gaff from the defense of Toronto FC, this one just 20 seconds into the game lets Dominic Oduro pounce and score.
-Torsten Frings, this one is on you!
-Excellent celebration as well.

Reggie Lambe of Toronto makes the fans happy at least for a few minutes with this powerful long range beauty.

Eddie Gaven of Columbus with a good old fashioned uncorking!
-Commentator Duncan Oughton lets out a nice giggle!

Omar Cummings of Colorado glides, rolls, stumbles for 30 yards and then finishes big from 19 yards out!

My buddy Neal loves a diving header, so this one by Simon Dawkins of San Jose is for him.

Thierry Henry makes a consolation free kick goal look soooooo easy. Wow.

NOTES

Portland removes Kansas City from the perch of undefeated, even though it took an own goal to do it, they all count the same. And Portland were desperate for a win too.

Holy Moly did San Jose pull a rabbit out of a hat with a game winner and insurance goal in second half stoppage time!

Toronto scored for the first time at home this season, then took the lead for the first time in any game this year, and gave up that lead only 30 second later. All three Chicago goal scorers were wide open when they took the shot.

TFC really missed goalkeeper Stefan Frei this round as replacement Milos Kocic was part of the problem for all 3 goals.

Hoo hooo! Chris Pontius leads DC with 3 huge goals as they destroyed New York. I mean DESTROYED em.

Steven Beitashour of San Jose has been producing some great offence from his right back position all season long! This guy just might be for real. He has show glimpses over the past two seasons, but maybe he is putting it all together.

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
12 DC United (+4)
10 New York Red Bulls (+3)
8 Chicago Fire SC (0)
8 Houston Dynamo (0)
-----
7 Philadelphia Union (-2)
7 Columbus Crew (-3)
6 New England Revolution (-3)
5 Montreal Impact (-8)
0 Toronto FC (-9)
WEST
16 San Jose Earthquakes (+8)
15 Real Salt Lake (+4)
11 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0)
10 Seattle Sounders FC (+4)
10 FC Dallas (-2)
-----
9 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-1)
9 Colorado Rapids (-2)
7 Portland Timbers (-2)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Chris Pontius of DC United was named Player Of The Week.

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com breaks down the latest round better than anyone else - emphasis on the Toronto debacle.

Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated with a review of MLS Week 7.

Joe Prince-Wright and Graham Parker of the Guardian with 5 things we learned in week seven.

Player Transactions

Three moves from Portland:
-English forward Eddie Johnson has retired due to concussions. He moved up from the 2nd division with the Timbers.
-Acquired forward Mike Fucito from Montreal for a future consideration.
-Acquired midfielder Lawrence Olum from Kansas City. Details on the transaction have not been released.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Chris White at the Post with Rapids player ratings from the game on Saturday agianst LA.

DC UNITED

Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer does a rave-up on the relatively young team DCU is fielding right now.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post brings us post game quotes from New York coaches & players, plus DC coach and players.

Former goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul is the starting keeper at VPS in Finland this season.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Head coach Peter Nowak who was ejected from their game on Saturday at Chivas will be suspended for the next game.
-Kerith Gabriel of the Daily News with the details.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com has lots of post game quotes from coaches and players of both the Union and Chivas USA.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Portland and Seattle get wins.

Matches & Scores:
-Sun Apr 22
Vancouver Whitecaps 0-3 Portland Timbers - PT goals by Brent Richards, Frank Songo'o & Bright Dike.
-Mon Apr 23
Chivas USA 3-4 Seattle Sounders
- CUSA goals by Laurent Courtois, Juan Pablo Angel & Casey Townsend. SS goals by Cordell Cato, Sammy Ochoa(2) & Andy Rose.
DC United v New York Red Bulls
-Tue Apr 24
Sporting Kansas City v Colorado Rapids

Standings

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 21
Atlanta Silverbacks 1-1 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Puerto Rico Islanders 3-1 Carolina RailHawks
San Antonio Scorpions 2-2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sun Apr 22
FC Edmonton 3-4 Minnesota Stars FC

-Wed Apr 25
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Puerto Rico Islanders
-Sat Apr 28
Carolina RailHawks v San Antonio Scorpions
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Standings
10 Puerto Rico (+7)
5 Minnesota (+1)
5 Fort Lauderdale (+1)
5 Tampa Bay (0)
3 Carolina (0)
3 Atlanta (-2)
2 San Antonio (-4)
1 Edmonton (-3)

Watch online

USL PRO NEWS

Standings

USA U20 TEAM

Brian Sciaretta at the New York Times with an article on U20 coach Tab Ramos.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Oguchi Onyewu made a triumphant return to Sporting and they got a strong road win!

Andrew Wooten scored his first Bundesliga goal with Kaiserslautern this weekend.

Damn. Mike Grella bagged another pair of goals for Bury.

US Soccer has a chat with Steve Cherundolo at Hannover.

Alex Labidou of Goal.com has an interview with Gregg Berhalter who is off to a strong start in his first season as head coach of Hammarby.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the distance getting a yellow card as they won 0-1 at Club Brugge.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started and was subbed out in 2nd half stoppage time as they drew 1-1 v White Star Woluwe.
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - went the full 90 but lost 4-0 at Tubize.

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - played the whole match but lost 0-2 to Midtjylland.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - played the full game and won 2-1 v Koge.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - came on as a sub in the 58th but lost 2-1 at SonderjyskE.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the distance as they won 2-1 v Wigan.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 v QPR.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench in a scoreless game v Sunderland.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the entire game as they drew 4-4 at Manchester United.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - played the full 90 as they drew 0-0 v Sunderland.
Tim Ream - Bolton - played the whole game as they tied 1-1 v Swansea.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - came on as a sub in 41 min but lost 2-1 at Hull.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Bury - started and went 88 min scoring 2 goals as they won 2-4 at Notts County.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - played the full game getting a yellow card and losing 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - went the full 90 as they won 2-0 v MYPA.
Mike Banner - Jaro - went the full 90 getting a yellow card and losing 4-1 at HJK.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - went the full 90 min as they tied 1-1 v Hamburg.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the entire match as they drew 0-0 v Freiburg.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - played the whole game but lost 0-1 v Leverkusen.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - went the distance getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 at Augsburg.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - on the bench as they lost 0-1 v Leverkusen.
Andrew Wooten - Kaiserslautern - started and went 89 min scoring a goal as they won 1-2 at Hertha.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Matt Taylor - Paderborn - came on as a sub in the 65th min but lost 2-0 at Karlsruher.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - played the whole game but drew 0-0 v Udinese.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ - started and went 89 min as they won 2-1 v VVV Venlo.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Ricardo Clark - Stabaek - went the distance getting a yellow card and they lost 2-1 at Sandnes Ulf.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - went the full 90 and and won 3-1 v Aalesund.
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - played the whole game but lost 2-1 at Sandnes Ulf.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - came on as a sub in the 60th min getting a yellow card as they won 3-1 v Aalesund.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - played the full 90 but lost 5-0 at Ullensaker-Kisa.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - went the whole game getting a yellow card and losing 5-0 at Ullensaker-Kisa.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the distance as they won 2-3 at Nacional.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the full 90 as they drew 0-0 v Desportivo Aves.
Tony Taylor - Estoril - started and went 72 min scoring a goal and getting a yellow card as they lost 2-1 at Moreirense.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they won 0-3 at Hearts.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the whole game as they won 0-3 at Hearts.
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the distance and they won 0-3 at Hearts.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Lester Dewee - Angelholms - came on as a sub in the 87th min but lost 2-1 at Osters.
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - played the entire match but lost 1-2 v Umea.
Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - went the full 90 as they drew 0-0 v Halmstad.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - played the full 90 as they tied 0-0 at Ljungskile.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - went the full match but lost 2-1 at Osters.
Billy Schuler - Hammarby - came on as a sub in the 66th min and they won 3-1 v Brommapojkarna.
Steffen Vroom - Ljungskile - started and went 79 min in a scoreless game v Halmstad.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Brian Sciaretta at the New York Times with an article on Joe Benny Corona and his Tijuana team.

DaMarcus Beasley scored his 5th goal of the Clausura season for Puebla.

Greg Garza got his first start at Tijuana, which saw 3 Americans in the first 11.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the full 90 scoring a goal but they lost 2-3 v America.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - started and came out in the 64th min as they won 0-1 at San Luis.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - went the distance as they won 0-1 at San Luis.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - played the whole game and they won 0-1 at San Luis.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - started and went 57 min as they won 3-0 v Tigres.
Michael Orozco - San Luis - played the whole 90 but lost 0-1 v Tijuana.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the entire game as they tied 1-1 at Monterrey.

MEXICO

Clausura

Santos reclaims the #1 spot with just 1 round before the playoffs. And America moves up to #2 from seemingly out of nowhere!

Top 10 Standings after 16 of 17 Rounds:
33 Santos Laguna - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 3-0 v Tigres - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Atlas
31 America - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 2-3 at Puebla - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Cruz Azul
31 Morelia - LAST: Fri Apr 20 D 1-1 v Atlante - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Jaguares
31 Tigres - LAST: Sat Apr 21 L 3-0 at Santos Laguna - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 v Puebla
29 Monterrey - LAST: Sat Apr 21 D 1-1 v Pachuca - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Atlante
27 Tijuana - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 0-1 at San Luis - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Pumas
25 Pachuca - LAST: Sat Apr 21 D 1-1 at Monterrey - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 v Guadalajara
24 Cruz Azul - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 5-2 v Tecos - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at America
-----
24 Jaguares - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 0-3 at Pumas
-The top 8 make the playoffs.

ENGLAND
Jacob Steinberg, Rob Smyth and Gregg Roughley of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

English players named Robin Van Persie as the Premier League Player of the Year.
-Why did they vote on this in February. Couldn't they vote when the season is over and announce it in the summer? Nah. That would make sense.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Real Madrid's decisive win over Barcelona to all but seal the league title, and a look at the rest of the round in La Liga.

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal on Jose Mourniho finally leading Real Madrid over Barcelona in league play.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on Dortmund's championship and the rest of the week in the Bundesliga.

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the humiliating mess in Genoa and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

EUROPE

Netherlands - the chase for the Eredivisie crown!

Ajax are in the drivers seat now with a 6 points lead and just 3 games to play.

And several of the contenders are matched up next weeked so it will be a huge round.
Standings: (31 of 34 games played)
67 Ajax - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 2-0 v Groningen - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Twente
61 AZ - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 2-1 v VVV - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Feyenoord
61 Feyenoord - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 1-2 at ADO Den Haag - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v AZ
60 Twente - LAST: Sat Apr 21 W 0-1 at Excelsior - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 v Ajax
60 PSV - LAST: Sun Apr 22 W 2-1 v NEC - NEXT: Sun Apr 29 at Roda JC
58 Heerenveen - LAST: Sat Apr 21 D 1-1 v Vitesse - NEXT: Sat Apr 28 at Heracles

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Knockout Stage

Games begin on Wednesday this week. Stay tuned.