Soccer Soccer News for Tue May 29, 2012

STARTERS

See you all the Sweetwater for the Minnesota Stars tonight and the USA tomorrow night!
-Or make sure you find a good place to watch them both somewhere else if you don't live in the Twin Cities.

STORY OF THE DAY

20 people have been arrested over the past 2 days for match-fixing in Italy including Lazio captain and Italy midfielder Stefano Mauri. On top of that, the current manager of Juventus Antonio Conte (dating back to when he was coach of Siena) plus 2 more members of the Italy's current Euro 2012 team (Leonardo Bonucci and Domenico Criscito) are on a longer list of people who are now under further investigation.
-Conte immediately declared his innocence.

All of this stems from a growing investigation that began with a series of arrests earlier this year of Serie B and former Serie A players.

This just got a lot more serious.

Here is the arrest warrant naming the 20.

AFP reports that Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is suggesting that Italian football should be canceled for 2 to 3 years to really sort this mess out.
-Football Italia reports that some think this is an impractical idea.

Football Italia on the arrest of Mauri, the biggest name to wear the bracelets so far.

AFP also reports that Italy has twice won the World Cup in the shadow of scandal.

Daniella Matar of the Associated Press with more on the investigation of Conte.

Football Italia quotes Roma and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi as saying "It's worse than 2006."

James Richardson of the Guardian with a summary of and reaction to the arrests and investigation.
-There may be plenty more to come from this one.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

"This is the best lower division team in the country." RSL head coach Jason Kries talking about the Minnesota Stars!"

US Open Cup Action
Match and Score:
-Tue May 29
Real Salt Lake v Minnesota Stars FC - 8:00pm CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium

dN

Match and Score:
-Sat Jun 2
San Antonio Scorpions v Minnesota Stars FC - 7:45pm CT
Venue: Heroes Stadium

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue May 29, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Jozy Altidore joined the team Monday right on schedule.

From what we are hearing it looks like Clint Dempsey will probably not start but might be ready to play some on Wednesday against Brazil.

2000 USA fans attended the teams open practice on Monday at Ludwig Field in College Park. Maryland.

Martin Rogers of Yahoo and the Brazilian team both declare Clint Dempsey to be a Superstar.

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with an article on Clint Dempsey too.

Goff with USA and Brazil notes.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated looks ahead to the Brazil game on Wednesday with key questions.

US Soccer with a game preview for Brazil.

Three videos from US Soccer:
-MNT Arrives In Maryland.
-One Very Famous Soccer Ball
-MNT vs. Scotland: Field Level Highlights

dN

Matches and Scores:
-Sat May 26
USA 5-1 Scotland - Friendly - USA goals by Landon Donovan(3), Michael Bradley & Jermaine Jones. Sco goal by Geoff Cameron(OG).
Venue: EverBank Field, Jacksonville FL
Atten: 44, 438
-Wed May 30
USA v Brazil - Friendly - 7:00pm CT on ESPN2
Venue: FedEx Field, Landover MD
-Sun Jun 3
Canada v USA - Friendly - 6:00pm CT on NBC Sports Network
Venue: BMO Field, Toronto ON
-Fri Jun 8
USA v Antigua & Barbuda - World Cup Qualifying - 6:00pm CT v Antigua & Barbuda on ESPN
Venue: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa FL
-Tue Jun 12
Guatemala v USA - World Cup Qualifying - 9:00pm CT on PPV
Venue: Estadio Mateo Flores - Guatemala City

dN

USA Roster (So Far)
G:
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa
Tim Howard - Everton
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Clarence Goodson - Brondy
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Michael Bradley - Chievo
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jose Torres - Pachuca
F:
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Terrence Boyd - Dortmund
Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Brazil roster
G:
Jefferson - Botafogo
Neto - Fiorentina
Rafael - Santos
D:
Daniel Alves - Barcelona
Thiago Silva - Milan
David Luiz - Chelsea
Marcelo - Real Madrid
Alex Sandro - Porto
Danilo - Porto
Bruno Uvini - Tottenham
Juan Jesus - Inter Milan
M:
Lucas Moura - Sao Paulo
Sandro - Tottenham
Paulo Henrique Ganso - Santos
Giuliano - Dnipro
Oscar - Internacional
Casemiro - Sao Paulo
Romulo - Vasco da Gama
F:
Alexandre Pato - Milan
Neymar - Santos
Hulk - Porto
Leandro Damiao - Internacional
Wellington Nem - Fluminense

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

The Trinidad Express reports that law enforcement authorities in Trinidad & Tobago have officially told Jack Warner that they will NOT prosecute him for bribery in connection with the CONCACAF meetings of May 2010.
-You will be stunned at how little, virtually none, investigation done into this matter by local police, thus no evidence is available to proceed.

By the way, Warner and the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association have still never paid the money that judges have ordered them to pay to the members of the 2006 T&T World Cup team.

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

THIRD ROUND

Matches and Scores:
-Tue May 29
San Antonio Scorpions v Houston Dynamo
Michigan Bucks v Chicago Fire
Sporting Kansas City v Orlando City
Richmond Kickers v DC United
Columbus Crew v Dayton Dutch Lions
FC Dallas v Charlotte Eagles
San Jose Earthquakes v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Philadelphia Union v Rochester Rhinos
Harrisburg City Islanders v New England Revolution
Charleston Battery v New York Red Bulls
Ventura County Fusion v Chivas USA
Carolina RailHawks v LA Galaxy
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Colorado Rapids
Portland Timbers v Cal FC
Seattle Sounders v Atlanta Silverbacks
Real Salt Lake v Minnesota Stars FC

The Bracket

UEFA EURO 2012

Begins Jun 8

Time Magazine with an article on the struggles European football still has with containing racism. Will it play a role in Euro 2012?
-Thanks to Tim for the link.

MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

Lots of time off over the next two weeks with only 4 teams taking part in 2 games.

Week 13 and 14

-Sat Jun 2
New England Revolution v Chicago Fire SC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Gillette Stadium
-Sun Jun 10
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Houston Dynamo - 6:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place

MLS MATCH NOTES

Leading Goal Scorers: - As of Tue May 29
11 Kenny Cooper
11 Chris Wondolowski
9 Thierry Henry
7 Maicon Santos
7 Saer Sene
6 Alvaro Saborio
5 Will Bruin
5 Dwayne DeRosario
5 David Estrada
5 Kei Kamara
5 Steven Lenhart
5 Blas Perez
5 Chris Pontius

MLS STANDINGS

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

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches and Scores:
-Sat Jun 2
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Tampa Bay Rowdies
San Antonio Scorpions v Minnesota Stars
-Sun Jun 3
FC Edmonton v Atlanta Silverbacks

Watch online

Standings
17 Puerto Rico (+11)
16 Minnesota (+6)
15 San Antonio (+2)
12 Tampa Bay (0)
10 Fort Lauderdale (-4)
8 Edmonton (0)
5 Carolina (-7)
5 Atlanta (-8)

USA U20 TEAM

The team begins training in Houston on Wednesday and then heads to South America for friendlies against Uruguay (twice) & Chile.

Matches and Scores:
-Wed Jun 6
Uruguay v USA
-Fri Jun 8
Uruguay v USA
-Tue Jun 12
Chile v USA

Roster
G:
Cody Cropper - Unattached
Tomas Gomez - Georgetown
D:
AJ Cochran - Wisconsin
Christian Dean - California Berkeley
Jordan McCrary - North Carolina
Eric Miller - Creighton
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - North Carolina
William Packwood - Birmingham
M:
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Benji Joya - Santos Laguna
Mikey Lopez - North Carolina
Victor Pineda - Chicago Fire
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Wil Trapp - Akron
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Düsseldorf
Daniel Cuevas - Santos Laguna
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
James Rogers - New Mexico
Jonathan Top - FC Dallas

USA U18 TEAM

In Portugal for the Lisbon Tournament.

The team finishes up with a loss off an own goal in second half stoppage time.

Matches and Scores:
-Wed May 23
USA U18 1-1 Poland U19 - USA goal by Ben Spencer.
-Thu May 24
USA U18 0-0 Slovakia U19
-Sat May 26
Portugal U19 1-0 USA U18 - Por goal by Ben Spencer(OG).

dN

Roster
G:
Ethan Horvath - Real Colorado
Zackary Steffen - FC Delco
D:
Jordan Allen - RSL AZ
Robert Michael Amick - De Anza Force
Mobi Fehr - FC Basel
Trevor Haberkorn - Solar Chelsea
Malcolm Harris - Baltimore Bays Chelsea
Jalen Markey - Seattle Sounders FC Academy
M:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Russell Canouse - Hoffenheim
Marky Delgado - Chivas USA
Matthew Dunn - OFK Belgrade
Alejandro Guido - Tijuana
Dillon Serna - Colorado Rapids Academy
F:
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Andrew Oliver - Chicago Fire Academy
Zach Pfeffer - Philadelphia Union
Stevie Rodriguez - Tijuana
Ben Spencer - Chivas USA Academy
Stefanos Stamoulacatos - Empire

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Erik Benjaminsen, Ricardo Clark and Sean Cunningham at Stabaek in Norway won yesterday for the first time this season in the 11th game.

dN

Game Action:

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - Mon May 28 - came on as a sub in the 59th min as they won 4-1 v Lillestrom.
Ricardo Clark - Stabaek - Mon May 28 - played the full 90 as they won 4-1 v Lillestrom.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - Mon May 28 - went the full 90 as they tied 1-1 v Molde.
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - Mon May 28 - went the full match as they won 4-1 v Lillestrom.
Josh Gatt - Molde - Mon May 28 - started and played 86 min as they tied 1-1 at Honefoss.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Mon May 28 - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v Molde.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - Mon May 28 - played the whole game as they tied 1-1 at Hamkam.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - Mon May 28 - went the full 90 as they tied 1-1 at Hamkam.

dN

Coming Up:

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga

Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - Wed May 30 - v Lahti

FINLAND - Ykkonen

Justin Moose - SJK - Wed May 30 - v OPS
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - Wed May 30 - at Oulu

COPA LIBERTADORES

Semifinals

Matches and Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Jun 13
Santos v Corintians
-Thu Jun 14
Boca Juniors v Universidad Chile
2nd Leg
-Wed Jun 20
Corintians v Santos
-Thu Jun 21
Universidad Chile v Boca Juniors

ASIA

Asian Champions League - Round of 16

Matches and Scores:
-Tue May 29
Adelaide United(Australia) 1-0 Nagoya Grampus(Japan)
Seongnam(S Korea) 0-1 Bunyodkor(Uzbekistan)
-Wed May 30
Ulsan(S Korea) v Kashiwa Reysol(Japan)
Guangzhou Evergrande(China) v Tokyo(Japan)

Already advanced:
-Al Ahli(Saudi Arabia)
-Sepahan(Iran)
-Al Ittihad(Saudi Arabia)
-Al Hilal(Saudi Arabia)