Monday, May 14, 2012

Some Soccer for Mon May 14, 2012

STARTERS

For the first time in 2012 Kansas City is not in first place in the East. Its New York.

dN

Herculez Gomez came on as a 2nd half sub and helped his team score goals in the 87th and 90th min to advance to the Mexican Primera finals this week. A HUGE comeback for Santos Laguna who had been 2 goals down early.
-SL are the higher seed in the final series against Monterrey with games on the road Wednesday and at home on Saturday.
-SL and Mon finished the Clausura regular season seeded #1 and #2 respectively, so its fitting that they meet in the title series.
-SL and Mon played just 2 weeks ago in the CONCACAF Champions League final with Monterrey won.

dN

Manchester City joins the ranks of teams who have bought a championship. If that is not a tainted trophy then I don't know what is, and I would not be as proud of my beloved team. I would prefer that they went out and did it the old fashioned way, like Borussia Dortmund did - build it from the ground up. So a tempered congrats to Man City.
-This season was the first time the Premier League had been decided using the goal differential tie breaker, as Man City and Man u both finished with 89 points. MC had a +64 GD, while Man u had a +56 GD. Interestingly Man City won both meetings between the two teams by a combined score of 7-1. So in reality the two teams were almost dead even against the other 18 teams in the league. But Man City was clearly the better of the two head to head.
-Man City was behind 2-1 when 5 minutes of stoppage time began. They dramatically scored twice to win it, as Man U won their game to leave them tied on points.
-Zach Slaton of Forbes on the "wealthy benefactor model."
dN

Juventus finished the Italian Serie A season UNBEATEN! That is an amazing feat!
-Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the end to an amazing season for Juve and career at Juve for Alessandro Del Piero.

dN

Real Madrid finished the Primera Division season with an astonishing 100 points and +89 goal differential!
-Has any team ever won a league those kinds of staggering numbers?

MINNESOTA STARS FC

The Star won at home again on Saturday raising their early season record to an impressive 3 wins, 3 draws and 0 losses.

dN

Now they hit the road for 4 league games and at least 1 Open Cup game (potentially 4 games), before they return home on Sat Jun 16.
-Why they have a schedule this poorly planned is beyond me.

dN

Match & Score:
-Sat May 12
Minnesota Stars FC 2-1 Carolina RailHawks - MS goals by Amani Walker & Kevin Venegas.
Venue: NSC Stadium

dN

Kevin Venegas hit one of the most astounding goals ever scored at NSC Stadium. You can see it here in glorious high definition.

dN

Up Next:
-Sat May 19
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Minnesota Stars - 6:30PM CT

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 142 teams in our league!

LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas still leads out league! He has been on a very long strong run at the top.

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE MID-WEEK

Houston is right back to their new stadium with a rare Tuesday (May 15) night game:
Houston Dynamo v Portland Timbers

MLS STADIUMS

"Soccer's not just arrived — it's kicking down the door and taking numbers (credit card numbers)."

I love articles like this! They give me goosebumps!
Culture Map Houston takes a look at opening day in brand new BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston.

And here's video of Brad Davis scoring the very first goal in the new stadium. A corker!

The Houston Chronicle has tons of excellent photos from the big day - especially this sequence of the goal and celebration.

Several more articles from the Chronicle:
-New stadium connects team and its fans like never before
-Lady who built Brian Ching loves House that Ching Built
-MLS commish Don Garber praises Dynamo ownership
-Houston businessman Watson shows interest in Dynamo
-Dynamo, AEG brass reflect on stadium's opening
-Davis leads Dynamo past D.C. United in BBVA Compass Stadium debut
-Photos: Dynamo fans at BBVA Compass Stadium opening
-History-rich Dynamo start new chapter with stadium
-Dynamo defeat D.C. United in new BBVA Compass Stadium
-New digs connect Dynamo, fans like never before
-Solomon: With new stadium, landscape is changing

STORY OF THE DAY

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com goes behind the scenes for a game inside the ESPN production trucks on site for the Philadelphia Union v New York Red Bulls game.

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

The tournament proper begins tomorrow, Tue May 15, with teams from the NPSL, USASA, USSC and USL PDL divisions.
-The Second Round will introduce teams from the NASL and USL Pro.
-The Third Round will introduce teams from MLS.

FIRST ROUND
Matches & Scores:
–Tue May 15
Orlando City U23 (PDL) v Jacksonville United (NPSL)
FC Sonic (NPSL) v Long Island Rough Riders (PDL)
Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC (USASA) v Carolina Dynamo (PDL)
Michigan Bucks (PDL) v Jersey Shore Boca (USASA)
Georgia Revolution (NPSL) v Mississippi Brilla FC (PDL)
GPS Portland Phoenix (PDL) v Brooklyn Italians (NPSL)
Reading United AC (PDL) v N.Y. Greek Americans (USASA)
Chicago Fire PDL (PDL) v Croatian Eagles (USASA)
Milwaukee Bavarians (NPSL) v Des Moines Menace (PDL)
Laredo Heat (PDL) v ASC New Stars (USASA)
Real Colorado Foxes (PDL) v K.C. Athletics (USASA)
El Paso Patriots (PDL) v NTX Rayados (USASA)
Stanislaus United Turlock Express (US Club Soccer) v Fresno Fuego (PDL)
Ventura County Fusion (PDL) v Fullerton Rangers (NPSL)
Portland Timbers U23 (PDL) v PSA Elite (USASA)
Kitsap Pumas (PDL) v Cal FC (USASA)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:

Premier League - 0 games left
CHAMPIONS! 89 Manchester City (+64 GD) - LAST: Sun May 13 W 3-2 v Queens Park Rangers
89 Manchester United (+56 GD) - LAST: Sun May 13 W 0-1 at Sunderland
Ligue 1 - 1 game left
79 Montpellier (+33) - LAST: Sun May 13 W 1-0 v Lille - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Auxerre
76 PSG (+33) - LAST: Sun May 13 W 3-0 v Rennes - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Lorient
OUT-71 Lille - LAST: Sun May 13 L 1-0 at Montpellier
Bundesliga
CHAMPION! - Borussia Dortmund
La Liga
CHAMPIONS! Real Madrid
Serie A
CHAMPIONS! - Juventus

RELEGATION BATTLES IN FOUR OF THE BIG EUROPEAN LEAGUES

Auxerre is the first team relegated in the Ligue, leaving the final 2 spots for the last round of the season next Sunday.
-An astonishing 8 teams are still eligible to fall into that hole!

Bolton was the 3rd and final team relegated from the Premier League, even though the two teams above them capitulated and lost, they could only manage a tie and not the win that was necessary to stay up.

Lecce lost and doomed itself to the last relegation place from Serie A.

Sporting Gijon was the 2nd relegation victim in La Liga.

Villarreal lost and fell two places to become the 3rd team relegated from La Liga. Unreal! Villarreal has gone down!

Here are the standings and forthcoming matches.

Premier League (38 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
38 Aston Villa - LAST: Sun May 13 L 2-0 at Norwich
37 Queens Park Rangers - LAST: Sun May 13 L 3-2 at Manchester City
-----
REL-36 Bolton - LAST: Sun May 13 D 2-2 at Stoke
REL-Blackburn
REL-Wolverhampton


Primera Division (38 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
43 Rayo Vallecano (-20) - LAST: Sun May 13 W 1-0 v Granada
43 Real Zaragoza (-25) - LAST: Sun May 13 W 0-2 at Getafe
42 Granada - LAST: Sun May 13 L 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano
-----
REL-41 Villarreal (-14) - LAST: Sun May 13 L 0-1 v Atletico Madrid
REL-37 Sporting Gijon - LAST: Sun May 13 L 1-0 at Malaga
REL-Racing Santander


Serie A (38 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
42 Genoa - LAST: Sun May 13 W 2-0 v Palermo
-----
REL-36 Lecce - LAST: Sun May 13 L 1-0 at Chievo
REL-Novara
REL-Cesena


Ligue 1 (37 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
40 Valenciennes (-12) - NEXT: Sun May 20 v Caen
39 Nice (-8) - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Lyon
39 Lorient (-13) - NEXT: Sun May 20 v PSG
39 Sochaux (-21) - NEXT: Sun May 20 v Marseille
38 Brest (-8) - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Evian
38 Caen (-18) - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Valenciennes
-----
38 Ajaccio (-23) - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Toulouse
36 Dijon (-20) - NEXT: Sun May 20 at Rennes
REL-34 Auxerre (-10)

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Clint Dempsey voted 4th best player in the EPL. Extraordinary!














BUMMER OF THE DAY

Raul joins Nicolas Anekla in joining the "we're only in it for the money" leagues. Raul signs in Qatar.

DID YOU KNOW?

A serious changing of the guard has taken place in Italy as several big name players have left their long time teams - Alessandro Nesta, Pippo Inzaghi, Genaro Gattuso and Mark Van Bommel all out at Milan and Alessandro Del Piero has left the Juventus team that debut for in 1993!

Both Del Piero and Inzaghi scored in their final game!

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Portugal has overtaken France as the 5th best league in UEFA's statistical quality standings.

WELL WELL WELL

Scott French of ESPN reports that LA's Josh Saunders who is out of the team indefinitely after checking into an a rehab clinic for drug or alcohol addiction has been given permission to join the team on trip to the White House to meet President Obama tomorrow. I think that is pretty cool.
-Steve Goff of the Washington Post also reports that former Galaxy players and current academy coaches Chris Klein & Clint Mathis are with the team in DC for the visit.

FACT OF THE DAY

Last fall Villarreal was playing in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Next fall it'll be playing in La Segunda Division.

OOF

NorthJersey.com reports that injured Red Bulls centerback Wilman Conde was arrested for assaulting a cop when they came to his house about a noise complaint from neighbors, at 5:30am!
-Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports that the team will be having chat with their player regarding the event.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Bobby McMahon at Forbes writes about the brilliant season just concluded for Borussia Dortmund.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

WEEK 10

-Wed May 9
New York Red Bulls 1-0 Houston Dynamo - NYRB goal by Kenny Cooper.
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Atten: 11,315
Chicago Fire SC 0-0 Real Salt Lake
Venue: Toyota Park
Atten: 13,544
FC Dallas 0-2 Seattle Sounders FC - SS goals both by Fredy Montero.
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Atten: 10,092
-Sat May 12
Montreal Impact 1-1 LA Galaxy - MI goal by Davy Arnaud. LAG goal by David Beckham.
Venue: Olympic Stadium
Atten: 60860
Houston Dynamo 1-0 DC United - HD goal by Brad Davis
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium
Atten: 22,039
New England Revolution 4-1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - NER goals by Lee Nguyen(2), Saer Sene & Shalrie Joseph. VW goal by Eric Hassli.
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Atten: 12,112
Columbus Crew 2-1 FC Dallas - CC goals by Justin Meram & Sebastian Miranda. FCD goal by Fabian Castillo.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Atten: 11,120
Chicago Fire SC 2-1 Sporting Kansas City - CF goals by Sebastian Grazzini(PK) & Dominic Oduro. SKC goal by Bobby Convey.
Venue: Toyota Park
Atten: 14,159
Seattle Sounders FC 0-1 Real Salt Lake - RSL goals by Fabian Espindola.
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Atten: 39,312
-Sun May 13
Philadelphia Union 2-3 New York Red Bulls - PU goals both by Lionard Pajoy. NYRB goals by Joel Lindpere, Markus Holgersson & Kenny Cooper.
Venue: PPL Park
Atten: 18,193
San Jose Earthquakes v CD Chivas USA - SJE goal by Alan Gordon. CUSA goal by Jose Correa.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Atten: 9,619

Bye: Toronto FC and Portland Timbers

Week 11

Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 15
Houston Dynamo v Portland Timbers - 7:30PM CT
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium
-Wed May 16
DC United v Colorado Rapids - 6:30PM CT
Venue: RFK Stadium

MLS MATCH NOTES

EJECTIONS:
Zach Loyd - 2 yellow cards
Roger Espinoza - red card
Freddy Adu - 2 yellow cards

Great weekend for Toronto - they did not lose. Bad News - they didn't draw or win either, cuz they didn't play.

Goal of the Year candidate: a stunning 20 yard line drive HEADER by Sebastien Miranda of Columbus! Yes, he was unmarked, but it was a laser to the lower far corner! Unreal!

Since starting the season with 7 straight wins, KC has now lost 3 in a row.

Freddy Adu was shown a yellow card in the 43rd min for diving - unfortunately it was his 2nd card of the first half and thus he was shown red! FOR DIVING!
-Many people are up in arms saying it wasn't a dive. All of them are Philadelphia fans. It was a dive. He was grazed and hoped to completely change the game by drawing a penalty kick. The referee was not fooled. The diver was booked. End of story.

19 year old Jose Correa showed why people said so many great things about him in scoring his first goal for Chivas this weekend.

I think if you look at the stats you would say that the reason San Jose could only tie Chivas USA at home was that Chris Wondolowski took 6 shots, but he didn't make the keeper stop any of them, cuz they were all off target.

It was a huge bummer watching DC's Perry Kitchen crumple to the ground with a knee injury. Have not heard word on the severity yet. But it did not look good - It buckled outward when he landed on it.
More goals: -A Joel Lindpere classic. -Speaking of classics - here's another Beckham standard bearer. -Chicago punishes KC for soft lazy defending, and its a game winner from Dom Oduro! -Before he was rousted Freddy ripped in a great cross that Lionard Pajoy smashes home with his head. Great goal.
-Why are LA is so much trouble early - Ask Davy Arnaud and Montreal! Slow defenders and bumbling goalkeeping. When a team cuts you, this is how you exact revenge - Lee Nguyen waves bye-bye to Vancouver with this stunning goal! -I really do like how smooth Nguyen usually looks with the ball at his feet. So calm, but creative too.

MLS STANDINGS

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

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

New England midfielder Lee Nguyen was named MLS Player of the Week.

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his Monday Morning Breakdown - a recap of the past round in MLS.

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

COLORADO RAPIDS

Nick Groke of the Post reports that Kamani Hill is likely to get his first start for Colorado on Wednesday night.

DC UNITED

Chris Pontius is out due to an injury to his gluteal muscle. Isn't that the butt muscle?

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times talks to GM Adrian Hanauer.

Steve Kelly of the Times introduces us to goalkeeper Bryan Meredith who has started the past three games in place of the injured Michael Gspurning.

Gspurning, Brad Evans and Patrick Ianni still all out injured for Tues night game.

TORONTO FC

Toronto made "radical" changes to their coaching staff today as they sent one assisant coach to a front office job and brought in a replacement from their youth development set up.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russel Berrisford of the Sun writes that the Caps got a rude awakening in New England. I'll say.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun May 13
Chicago Fire 1-3 Sporting Kansas City - CF goal by Orr Barrouch. SKC goals by Koredi Aiyegbusi & Teal Bunbury(2).
-Mon May 14
San Jose Earthquakes 1-1 Chivas USA - SJE goal by Cesar Diaz Pizarro. CUSA goal by Cesar Romero.
Philadelphia Union 2-2 New York Red Bulls - PU goals by Antoine Hoppenot & Jack McInerney(PK). NYRB goals by Walter Hines & Corey Hertzog.
-Tue May 15
Toronto FC v New England Revolution

Standings

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

New games added over the weekend.

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 May 12
Atlanta Silverbacks 0-2 FC Edmonton - FCD goals by Michael Cox & Ilja van Leerdam.
Puerto Rico Islanders 2-0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers - PRI goals by David Foley & Hector Ramos.
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-2 San Antonio Scorpions - TBR goal by Dan Antoniuk. SAS goals both by Pablo Campos.
Minnesota Stars 2-1 Carolina RailHawks - MS goals by Amani Walker & Kevin Venegas. CR goals by Austin Da Luz.

-Wed May 16
Puerto Rico Islanders v Atlanta Silverbacks
-Sat May 19
Carolina RailHawks v Puerto Rico Islanders
Atlanta Silverbacks v Tampa Bay Rowdies
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Minnesota Stars FC
San Antonio Scorpions v FC Edmonton

Watch online

Standings
13 Puerto Rico (+8)
12 Minnesota (+4)
11 San Antonio (0)
9 Fort Lauderdale (-2)
8 Tampa Bay (-1)
7 Edmonton (+2)
4 Atlanta (-4)
4 Carolina (-7)

USL PRO NEWS

Standings

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Stuart Holden and Tim Ream at Bolton saw their team get relegated out of the English Premiership! Huge bummer.

dN

Carlos Bocanegra did not take part in the final game of the season for Rangers as he "has been granted permission to leave the team early," presumably so he could return to the United States in front of the upcoming national team campaign.

dN

Michael Bradley has finished a very strong first season in Serie A at Chievo, playing in 36 of 38 matches. Rumors are strong that both Milan teams are interested in buying him. Bradley is commonly known as a life long AC Milan fan.

dN

Brian Sciaretta at the New York Times with an article on the championship season for Sacha Kljestan.

dN

Josh Gatt scored another goal for Molde this weekend.

dN

Ricardo Clark, Erik Benjaminsen and Sean Cunningham all played for Stabaek this weekend, but all will probabl wish they overslept as they lost 0-5 at home against Molde. Oof.
-After 8 games this season they have only managed 1 point. That is almost Toronto FC bad.

dN

Brad Rusin & Koge have been relegated from the top division in Denmark.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Mikkel Diskerud - Gent - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Genk.

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - played the whole game getting yellow card and they lost 5-1 at Aarhus.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - went the distance as they drew 2-2 v Kobenhavn.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - went the full 90 but they tied 0-0 v Odense.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - came on as a sub in the 60th min bu tlost 1-3 v Silkeborg.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - played the entire game and won 2-0 v Fulham.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they lost 2-0 v Norwich.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance as they won 3-1 v Newcastle.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - went the full 90 as they lost 2-0 at Norwich.
Tim Ream - Bolton - played the full game as they tied 2-2 at Stoke.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - played the whole game as they won 2-1 v JJK.
Mike Banner - Jaro - went the distance but lost 0-1 v Honka.
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - came on as a sub at half time but lost 2-0 at HJK.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - played the whole game as they won 1-0 v Lecce.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - started and went 64 min scoring a goal and getting a yellow card, as they won 0-2 at Eindhoven and advanced to the final of the promotion playoffs.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - came on as a sub in the 16th min but lost 0-5 v Molde.
Ricardo Clark - Stabaek - played the full game losing 0-5 v Molde.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - went the full 90 butlost 1-4 v Odd Grenland.
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - went the distance as they lost 0-5 v Molde.
Josh Gatt - Molde - played the full game scoring a goal as they won 0-5 at Stabaek.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - came on as a sub in the 73rd min but lost 1-4 v Odd Grenland.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - played the full match as they won 2-1 v Hodd.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - played the full match as they won 2-1 v Hodd.
Sebastian Troupe - Baerum - started and played 86 min but lost 1-2 v Tromsdalen.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Tony Taylor - Estoril - started and played the first half as they tied 2-2 v Arouca.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - started and went 81 min getting a yellow card as they won 0-4 at St Johnstone.
Mo Edu - Rangers - played the full 90 as they won 0-4 at St Johnstone.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Brian Span - Djurgarden - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v Atvidaberg.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - played the whole game but lost 1-0 at Varberg.
Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - started and went 40 min as they tied 1-1 at Brage.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - played the entire class and won 3-2 v Jonkopings Sodra.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - played the full match and won 2-1 v Landskrona.
Billy Schuler - Hammarby - came on as a sub in the 77th min as they won 0-1 at Varnamo.
Steffen Vroom - Ljungskile - came off the bench in the 63rd min as they drew 1-1 at Brage.

dN

Coming Up:

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - Wed May 16 v KuPS
Mike Banner - Jaro - Wed May 16 at VPS
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - Wed May 16 at Inter Turku

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Justin Moose - SJK - Thu May 17 v PK-35 Vantaa
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - Thu May 17 at RoPS

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie - Promotion Playoffs
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - Thu May 17 v VVV
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - Sun May 20 at VVV

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - Wed May 16 at Valerenga
Ricardo Clark - Stabaek - Wed May 16 at Valerenga
Steve Clark - Honefoss - Wed May 16 at Rosenborg
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - Wed May 16 at Valerenga
Josh Gatt - Molde - Wed May 16 v Fredrikstad
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Wed May 16 at Rosenborg

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - Wed May 16 at Sarpsborg
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - Wed May 16 v Ranheim
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - Wed May 16 at Sarpsborg
Sebastian Troupe - Baerum - Wed May 16 at Bryne

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Samuel Petrone - Mjallby - Thu May 17 v IFK Goteborg
Brian Span - Djurgarden - Thu May 17 v Gelfe

SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - Wed May 16 v Varnamo
Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - Wed May 16 v Varberg
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - Thu May 17 v Angelholms
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - Thu May 17 at Halmstad
Steffen Vroom - Ljungskile - Wed May 16 v Varberg

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:


La Liguilla - Semifinals
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - 2nd Leg - Sun May 13 - came on as a sub in the 52nd min as they tied 2-2 v Tigres, which left the series tied 3-3, so SL advances to the final as the higher seed

dN

Coming Up:


La Liguilla - Finals
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - 1st Leg - Thu May 17 at Monterrey
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - 2nd Leg - Sun May 20 at Monterrey

MEXICO

La Liguilla Clausura - Semifinals

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Sat May 12
Monterrey 2-0 America - Mon advances 2-0 on aggregate - Mon goals by Jose Basanta & Aldo De Nigris.
-Sun May 13
Santos Laguna 2-2 Tigres series ends tied 3-3, so SL advances as the higher seed - SL goals both by Oribe Peralta. Tig goals both by Hector Mancilla.

Finals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 17
Monterrey v Santos Laguna
2nd Leg
-Sun May 20
Santos Laguna v Monterrey

If the teams are tied after the two legs, then the higher seed wins, which in this case is Santos Laguna.

ENGLAND

Kevin McCarra of the Guardian gives us his review of the 2011-12 Premier League season.

dN

Jacob Steinberg and Simon Burnton of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

dN

David Conn of the Guardian looks at what Man City has to do to build on a Premier League Championship season.

dN

One day after barely surviving relegation Aston Villa has fired head coach Alex McLeish. He was strongly disliked by the fans.

dN

Paul Scholes has signed another one year contract with Manchester United. so much for retirement.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on the sinking of a yellow submarine, and the dramatic round to end the Primera season.

GERMANY

DFB Pokal - Final

Dortmund win the league cup to go along with their Bundesliga title!

Match & Score:
-Sat May 12
Borussia Dortmund 5-2 Bayern Munich

Rapahel Honigstein of the Guardian calls Dortmunds win a humiliation of Bayern.
-The question is, "How does this prepare Bayern for the Champions League final next weekend?"
dN

Bundesliga/2.Bundesliga - Promotion/Relegation Playoff

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue May 15
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Hertha Berlin (2-1)

EUROPE

The Glasgow Herald tells us about Charles Green, the former Sheffield United chief executive, who's bid to buy Rangers FC has been accepted. They are now working on details.
-The Herald also asks, "Who is this guy, and who are his partners?"
COPA LIBERTADORES

Quarterfinals

dN

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 16
Libertad v Universidad Chile
Vasco da Gama v Corinthians
-Thu May 17
Boca Juniors v Fluminense
Velez Sarsfield v Santos
2nd Leg
-Wed May 23
Corinthians v Vasco da Gama
Fluminense v Boca Juniors
-Thu May 24
Universidad Chile v Libertad
Santos v Velez Sarsfield

dN

BRACKET

Fluminense v Boca Juniors
Universidad Chile v Libertad
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Corintians v Vasco Da Gama
Santos v Velez Sarsfield

ASIA

Asian Champions League - Group Stage - the final Matchday, #6, will take place on Tue May 15 & Wed May 16.

Advanced: Al Ahli(Saudi Arabia), Sepahan(Iran), Al Jazira(UAE), Al Ittihad(Saudi Arabia), Tokyo(Japan), Ulsan(S Korea)

Elimindated: Al Arabi(Qatar), Lekhwiya(Qatar), Al Nasr(UAE), Al Shabab(UAE), Tianjin Teda(China), Nasaf(Uzbekistan), Gamba Osaka(Japan), Beijing Guoan(China), Brisbane Roar(Australia)

-Standings etc.

ENDERS

Gary Neville and the mustache he started growing at age 14 were both named assitant coaches to new England manager Roy Hodgson.
-Its a two for the price of one deal.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Joe the Curmudgeon said...

I actually disagree that Manchester City bought their championship. The reason is that it took them a few years to win it. Plus, down to the last second they almost blew it. Sure, I agree, I love homegrown talent, but that doesn't make us hate last year's LA Galaxy any more when they trot out all their international stars.

A team is a team and you have to play as a team to win. There's enough head cases on Man City for an entire league! Up City!

Oh, and Adu? Total Dive. He drug his foot. Tsk.

7:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it bizarre that you berate Man Cty one moment for "buying" the title (what have Man U done for the past 20 years? Ferguson had ONE good batch of youth players, once, a long time ago) yet in the next breath you're fulsome in your praise of the "amazing" Real Madrid.

The Fascist thugs of Madrid have no need of a billionaire oil sheik, when they have a limitless line of credit at the Spanish state bank. If you tot up their debts they total around 250 MILLION euro, but that's irrelevant if no one ever calls them in, which for political reasons no-one ever will.

Attack City fine, but you'll need to take a very deep breath if you want to list all the clubs in the all the leagues that have ludicrously unfair monetary advantages over their rivals (even in the glorious "parity" of MLS where some teams - usually owned by Uncle Phil - are far more equal than others).

Also, I find it touches a nerve again that you are quick to bring any perceived FO failures re attendances to light when they involve the "lesser" franchises like San Jose, Columbus and Dallas and yet you have no word of negativity (or even surprise) regarding the fact that even with every advantage MLS and AEG have given them over the years, the Houston FO couldn't even sell out the opening of their new stadium.

And 60K in Montreal not worth noting?

Finally it was the German FA Cup that Dortmund won, not the league cup.

The Stars' fixture list certainly seems odd. With the FIFA breaks and our bye weeks coinciding, the Quakes are in a similar situation of having virtually no games in June. It is quite bizarre.

Cheers.

ManchesterQuakesFan

("Neither Old Trafford nor Eastlands but international Quake-ism!")

8:27 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

Thanks for the great comments. I really appreciate them, and the passion.

10:08 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

I have no idea what the difference between a league cup and an association cup is. Those words seem like synonyms to me.

Where I come from DFB means dysfunctional family BBQ.

10:11 PM  
Anonymous kyle said...

Wage bill is the best predictor of a league champion. Europe's heavy hitters figured this out a long time ago.

Man U's starting eleven costs the same (relatively speaking, what's a few million amongst a couple hundred more), but Man City's depth seems to have made the difference.

6:04 AM  
Blogger brucio said...

kyle
i know you are talking relative numbers, but if you look at the top 5 leagues of europe this season 3 have the big money boys winning, but 2 don't - france and germany have teams, montpellier and dortmund, that don't buy up everything that moves (now watch mont fall on their face and PSG win it.) even in Italy Juve has found that building their own stadium and living off that money is going to be a much better financial model then just buying huge names and hoping to win big like the milan teams and roma do.
then we flip that around see that two teams who buy until they can't see straight are in the Champions League final.

8:47 AM  
Anonymous Bill_Urban said...

Bruce:

Difference between a league and association cup is that only league clubs, i.e. fully professional, can play in a league cup, for which they are registered as members of the league.

The association cup includes amateur clubs, who are registered with the country's national association. In a broad general sense, then, association cups include amateur sides whereas league cups are smaller competitions including only teams registered with the national league.

9:09 AM  
Anonymous kyle said...

Yes, BVB and Montpellier have won in a way that all neutrals must surely prefer; but in five years, it will be the same grand-ole clubs and joined briefly by some well managed newcomers. It is ironic that financial fair play rules will solidify the strength of traditional powers because of their stadium size and brand profitability.

The real irony about Man City is that they have a great youth team infrastructure, but ignore it for short term improvements. Other European Heavyweights are willing to support the most talented youngsters they produce(/buy), but City have been as bad or worse than Chelsea about neglecting their youth products. We have seen the slow erosion of Chelsea as a result of this policy.

Cheers

2:23 AM  

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