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