Some Soccer News for Thu Apr 19, 2012

SPECIAL NOTICE

On Sat May 13 - the final day of the English Premier League season - All 10 games will be shown live in America (which are played simultaneously). Fox Sports Media Group will have 9 of the games and ESPN Networks the 10th.

The full TV schedule is not set yet but all games kick off at 9am CT and will be shown on:
-7 games on their networks:
FOX Soccer
FOX Soccer Plus
FX
FOX Deportes
SPEED
FSN
FUEL TV
-2 games on digital platforms:
FOXSoccer.com
FOX Soccer 2Go
-1 game on ESPN networks

Press release

dN

Matches:
Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers
Everton v Newcastle United
Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers
Sunderland v Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham
Norwich City v Aston Villa
West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal
Wigan Athletic v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers
Swansea City v Liverpool

STARTERS

Kansas City perfection! 7 games played. 7 wins. 12 goals scored. 2 goals allowed. 21 points. 1st place in Eastern Conference standings. 1st place in Supporters Shield standings.

dN

Rafa Marquez of the New York Red Bulls was given a 3 game suspension for his arm tackle on Shea Salinas that ended with a kick to the head and Salinas suffering a severely broken collar bone. At the time the play happened I called the move by Marquez despicable, and that word still seems to sum it up now.
-Marquez should consider himself very lucky that he didn't get more games then this.
-I figured it would be 5. And wasn't going to be surprised if it was more. But 3 games does surprise me. Will be curious to see if the league explains the decision.
-Michael Lewis of Tropigol has a nice run down of all Marquez's crimes and misdemeanors against the USA and in MLS.

dN

Marvin Chavez of San Jose was given a 1 game suspension for his lousy tackle on Roy Miller.

dN

Spain and Real Madrid legend Raul will be a free agent when the current season ends at Schalke. MLS is said to be one of the places he is interested in playing. Sure it could happen but don't hold your breath.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Match & Score:
-Sun Apr 22
Edmonton FC v Minnesota Stars FC - 3:00pm CT
Venue: Clarke 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 135 teams in our league!

Central and Front FC managed by Antonio Fresco is still in 1st Place!

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

-Sat Apr 21
San Jose Earthquakes v Real Salt Lake - 9:30PM CT
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 17, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Rob Hughes of the New York Times with an insightful story on Nicholas Anelka who took the money and chaos of China over the stability of MLS.
-And its gotten so weird that he is now the coach of the team too!

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Ives Galarcep at Fox Soccer looks ahead to World Cup qualifying and what we can expect from the USA.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Semifinals

Raphael Honigstein of Sports Illustrated reviews this weeks two 1st Leg games and predicts that the teams that lost will still advance next week.

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says the task ahead for Barcelona is doable.

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

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

FINAL

Chilean striker Humberto Suazo got the defending champs off to a great start with a solid home win in Leg 1.

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 18
Monterrey 2-0 Santos Laguna - Mon goals both by Humberto Suazo.
-Wed Apr 25
Santos Laguna v Monterrey - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer

Voting is now open for the CONCAChampions Golden Ball winner. The six finalists are all from the two teams battling for the title.
-Here are the nominees:
Jose Maria Basanata - Monterrey
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna
Oribe Peralta - Santos Laguna
Luis Ernesto Perez - Monterrey
Juan Pablo Rodriquez - Santos Laguna
Humberto Suazo - Monterrey

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated talks to the amazing broadcaster Ray Hudson about El Clasico this Saturday!

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Apr 21
Borussia Dortmund v Borussia Monchengladbach - Dortmund can win the Bundesliga championship
Barcelona v Real Madrid - the big one of big ones - El Clasico
Arsenal v Chelsea - a big London derby with Champions League spots for next season in the mix

Queens Park Rangers v Tottenham - another London derby
-Sun Apr 22

Galatasaray v Fenerbahce - one of the world's great rivalries
Juventus v Roma - big teams who don't like each other, and Juve wants to win the crown

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
La Liga - 5 games left
85 Real Madrid - NEXT: Sat Apr 21 at Barcelona
81 Barcelona - NEXT: Sat Apr 21 v Real Madrid
Premier League - 4 games left
82 Manchester United - NEXT: Sun Apr 22 v Everton
77 Manchester City - NEXT: Sun Apr 22 at Wolverhampton
Bundesliga - 3 games left
72 Borussia Dortmund - NEXT: Sat Apr 21 v Gladbach
64 Bayern Munich - NEXT: Sat Apr 21 at Werder
Serie A - 6 games left
68 Juventus - LAST: Sun Apr 15 POSTPONED at Cesena - NEXT: Sun Apr 22 v Roma
67 Milan - LAST: Sat Apr 14 POSTPONED v Genoa - NEXT: Sun Apr 22 v Bologna
Ligue 1 - 6 games left
66 Montpellier - NEXT: Sat Apr 21 v Valenciennes
64 PSG - NEXT: Sun Apr 22 v Lorient

DO YOU REALIZE

John Molinaro of Sports Net talks to Toronto midfielder Terry Dunfield who says TFC is better then their record (0-0-5) indicates.
-Dunfield is mistaken. On paper he thinks they are better than their record indicates, but that is why they play the games so we can find out if a team is actually any good or not, and TFC is clearly not good.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Joshua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal looks at how Red Bull goes about trying to find relevance for their soccer team in such a crowded sports market like New York.

STAT OF THE DAY

The one and only Frankie Hejduk officially announced his retirement today. I love that guy.

My fondest memory is from June 2006 walking up a long hill in Kaiserslautern Germany toward the USA v Italy World Cup game and seeing a shirtless Frankie go running by us with a USA flag flapping off his shoulders like a cape! Amazing dude!

Hejduk will go to work for the Columbus Crew in one fashion or another.

FACT OF THE DAY

Sporting Kansas City played league game #500 in franchise history last night, a first for a MLS team.

You can expect the other original teams to hit that same mark in the coming days and weeks.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Any guesses as to who this guy is?



















See THE ANSWER near the end of today's post.

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 v Chicago Fire SC - 2:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: BMO Field
Columbus Crew v Houston Dynamo - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Crew Stadium
Colorado Rapids v LA Galaxy - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Dallas - 9:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
Portland Timbers v Sporting Kansas City - 9:30PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
CD Chivas USA v Philadelphia Union - 9:30PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center
San Jose Earthquakes v Real Salt Lake - 9:30PM CT
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
-Sun Apr 22
DC United v New York Red Bulls - 5:00PM CT on ESPN2
Venue: RFK Stadium

Bye: New England Revolution & Seattle Sounders

MLS MATCH NOTES

Martin Bonjour got the start at centerback last night and had just about as bad a game as you could have. Only a red card would have made it worse and he was right in the middle of all 3 KC goals, including a nicely chested in own goal.

Both of Kansas City's shots on goal went in.

MLS STANDINGS

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

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

"If approval is granted in July, Garber said, MLS could implement the technology at some point during this season."

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press with an article on goal line technology including quotes from MLS commissioner Don Garber. And several other topics, but nothing else new.

Fascinating - former Valencia and Liverpool head coach Rafa Benetiz has been analyzing MLS games on his blog. Very interesting to see a big name international coach break down games.
-Thanks to Joe for the link.

CHICAGO FIRE

Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald on the Fire adding Chris Rolfe to the roster.

CD CHIVAS USA

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America introduces us to academy player Marky DelGado who is newly signed to the senior team.

COLORADO RAPIDS

John Meyer of the Post says the city, the fans and the Rapids are expecting to see David Beckham this weekend.

What about Conor Casey? The Raps sure could use him banging in goals.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star looks at KC's successful start to the season by breaking down the numbers.
-There are some really fun stats in here.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

But they still have fake grass in their stadium.....

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian tells us all about the new training facility for the Timbers that just opened.
-Includes video.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Elliot Almond of the Mercury News on the suspension of Marvin Chavez and Rafa Marquez.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the News Tribune has quotes from forward Eddie Johnson and coach Sigi Schmid on the team's attacking woes.

TORONTO FC

The story goes that Toronto will play Liverpool at the Rogers Centre on Sat Jul 21.

MLS EXPANSION

The El Paso Times reports that the city of El Paso TX is interested in playing the stadium building game for a possible MLS team.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Apr 18
Puerto Rico Islanders 0-0 FC Edmonton
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-1 Carolina RailHawks - TBR goal by Tsuyoshi Yoshitake. CR goal by Brian Shriver.
-Sat Apr 21
Atlanta Silverbacks v Tampa Bay Rowdies
Puerto Rico Islanders v Carolina RailHawks
San Antonio Scorpions v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sun Apr 22
FC Edmonton v Minnesota Stars FC

Notes

Standings
7 Puerto Rico
4 Fort Lauderdale
4 Tampa Bay
3 Carolina
2 Atlanta
2 Minnesota
1 San Antonio
1 Edmonton

Watch online

USL PRO NEWS

Michael Bullock of the Harrisburg Patriot News does a Q & A with Eric Pettis owner of the Harrisburg City Islanders.

USA U20 TEAM

Travis Clark of Top Drawer Soccer talks to some of the players who just finished another U20 training camp.

MEXICO

With just 3 rounds left in another terrible season for Guadalajara they also find themselves out of Copa Libertadores so they fired their head coach Ignacio Ambriz who will be replaced in the interim by Alberto Coyote. Dutch legend Johan Cryuff will lead the search for a new man in charge.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semifinals

The homes teams got the wins in the first leg matches.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu Apr 19
Sporting CP 2-1 Athletic Bilbao - Spo goals by Emiliano Insua & Diego Capel. AB goal by Jon Aurtenetxe.
Atletico Madrid 4-2 Valencia - AM goals by Radamel Falcao(2), Miranda & Adrian Lopez. Val goals by Jonas & Ricardo Costa.
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Thu Apr 26
Athletic Bilbao v Sporting CP
Valencia v Atletico Madrid (2-4)

COPA LIBERTADORES

This week sees the end of the Group Stage. 12 of 16 teams have already advanced.

Several big winners last night but no berths were up for grabs and the results didn't change the seeding or anything for the knock out rounds.

The last two spots will be filled tonight.

dN

ADVANCED: (14 of 16) Atletico Nacional(Colombia), Boca Juniors(Argentina), Bolivar(Bolivia), Cruz Azul(Mexico), Corintians(Brazil), Deportivo Quito(Ecuador), Emelec(Ecuador), Fluminense(Brazil), Lanus(Argentina), Libertad(Paraguay), Universidad Chile(Chile), Union Espanola(Chile), Vasco Da Gama(Brazil), Velez Sarsfield(Argentina)

ELIMINATED: (15 of 16) Alianza Lima(Peru), Arsenal(Argentina), Defensor Sporting(Uruguay), xFlamengo(Brazil), Godoy Cruz(Argentina), Guadalajara(Mexico), Juan Aurich(Peru), Junior(Colombia), Nacional(Uruguay), Nacional Asuncion(Paraguay), Olimpia(Paraguay), Penarol(Uruguay), Deportivo Tachira(Venezuela), Universidad Catholica(Chile), Zamora(Venezuela)

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Apr 17
Deportivo Quito 5-0 Guadalajara - DQ goals by Matias Alustiza(4) & Fidel Martinez.
Velez Sarsfield 1-3 Defensor Sporting - VS goal by Federico Insua. DS goals by Nicolas Olivera, Diego Martin Rodriguez & Matias Britos.
Bolivar 3-0 Universidad Catholica - Bol goals by Enzo Andia(OG), Walter Flores & Damian Lizio.
Junior 2-1 Union Espanol - Jun goals by Sherman Cardenas(PK) & Luis Paez. UE goal by Emiliano Vecchio.
-Wed Apr 18
Boca Juniors 2-0 Zamora - BJ goals by Nicolas Blandi & Juan Riquelme.
Arsenal 1-2 Fluminense - Ars goal by Nicolas Aguirre. Flu goals by Carlinhos & Rafael Moura.
Corinthians 6-0 Deportivo Tachira - Cor goals by Danilo, Paulinho, Jorge Henrique, Emerson Sheik, Liedson & Douglas(PK).
Cruz Azul 4-1 Nacional Asuncion - CA goals by Javier Orozco, Maranhao, Omar Bravo & Edixon Perea. Na goal by Gustavo Cristaldo.
-Thu Apr 19
Santos v The Strongest
Juan Aurich v Internacional
Universidad Chile v Atletico Nacional
Penarol v Godoy Cruz
dN

Standings

Group 1
10 Santos (+5)
8 Internacional (+5)
7 The Strongest (-4)
OUT-3 Juan Aurich (-6)
Group 2
ADV-10 Lanus (+5)
ADV-9 Emelec (-1)
OUT-8 Flamengo (+2)
OUT-7 Olimpia (-6)
Group 3
ADV-10 Union Espanola (+4)
ADV-10 Bolivar (+2)
OUT-7 Junior (0)
OUT-6 Universidad Catholica (-5)
Group 4
ADV-15 Fluminense (+3)
ADV-13 Boca Juniors (+6)
OUT-6 Arsenal (-1)
OUT-1 Zamora (-8)
Group 5
ADV-13 Libertad (+4)
ADV-13 Vasco Da Gama (+4)
OUT-6 Nacional (-2)
OUT-3 Alianza Lima (-6)
Group 6
ADV-14 Corintians (+11)
ADV-11 Cruz Azul (+7)
OUT-4 Nacional Asuncion (-7)
OUT-3 Deportivo Tachira (-11)
Group 7
ADV-12 Velez Sarsfield (+2)
ADV-10 Deportivo Quito (+7)
OUT-9 Defensor Sporting (-1)
OUT-4 Guadalajara (-10)
Group 8
ADV-11 Atletico Nacional (+9)
ADV-10 Universidad Chile (+4)
OUT-5 Godoy Cruz (-4)
OUT-1 Penarol (-9)

THE ANSWER

This is Carlos Bocanegra in 2000, then with the Chicago Fire.


















ENDERS

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com with a really nice personal tribute to DCU fan Chico Solares, who we saluted yesterday.