Some Soccer News for Fri May 18, 2012

STARTERS

HUGE TV NEWS: The USA World Cup qualifying game in Quatemala on Tue Jun 12 will only be shown on PayPerView. More exacting details soon.
-US Soccer explains what is going on.

dN

HUGE TV NEWS 2: Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 and more will all be shown in the USA on a new channel when the 2012-13 seasons kick off in August. Al Jazeera Sports have bought the rights to these and others.
-Multichannel has all the details that are available so far.
-No word on which carriers will have Al Jazeera Sport yet.
-Thanks to GD for the link.

dN

Chrisopher Vito of the Delaware County Daily Times quotes Danny Califf as telling Philadelphia Union management something along the lines of, "Please please please please pleeeeeeeeeeease don't trade me to Toronto!" So they traded him to Chivas.
-Amen brother.

dN

Oguchi Onyewu & Sporting play in the Portuguese Cup final on Saturday.

STORY OF THE DAY

Supporters Direct, of Europe, has a interesting article on fan involvement in ownership in German teams.
-Thanks to Pitch Invasion for the heads up.

THIS IS WHY ITS SO GREAT BEING AN MLS FAN

MLS' supporters week series:

-Passion runs deep in Timbers Army
-Seattle's ECS & Decades of Dominance
-CCL gives fans unique way to travel world
-How to create tifo, with the 1906 Ultras
-The Artist
-Supporting means being original
-A Rapids fan in his own words
-Going the extra mile for club and country
-This or That: Are you a fan or a supporter?
-Great moments in MLS fan history
-Respecting the original MLS "crazies"

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Match & Score:
-Sat May 19
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Minnesota Stars FC - 6:30pm CT
Venue: Lockhart Stadium

dN

Open Cup
Match & Score:
-Tue May 22
Des Moines Menace v Minnesota Stars FC - 7:30pm CT
Venue: Valley Stadium

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Final

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated previews the final with 5 key points.

Jonthan Wilson of Sports Illustrated on the players who will miss the game through suspension.

Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated on Chelsea's chances.

Rob Hughes of the New York Times sees this final as All-Or-Nothing for both teams. They have had at best underwhelming and at worst embarrassing seasons for teams who spend so much money to succeed.

Hughes also tells us where the UEFA Champions League came from.

George Vecsey of the New York Times wonder who Londoners who are not Chelsea fans are cheering for in the Final.

Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times looks at the key players for the Final.

Stefan Bienkowski of the Times thinks Toni Kroos can be a difference maker for Bayern.

dN

Match & Score:
-Sat May 19
Bayern Munich v Chelsea - 1:45PM CT
Venue: Allianz Arena - Munich, Germany

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

The first Cascadia Cup clash of the season sees Vancouver Whitecaps host Seattle Sounders on Saturday afternoon at 4pm CT.

dN

Also on Saturday Toronto will try to break their streak of 8 losses in a row in MLS - DC United v Toronto FC - 6:30PM CT

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue May 15, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

US Soccer has video from USA training camp, and words from Jose Tores and Brad Guzan.
-Guzan is starting to sound English, and somehow Torres is beginning to sound Irish!


dN


Here is the 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

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Sat May 26
USA v Scotland - Friendly - 7:00pm CT on NBC Sports Network
Venue: EverBank Field, Jacksonville FL
-Wed May 30
4 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 - Time TBA - on PPV only
Venue: TBA

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Race for the final title in the five biggest European leagues:

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
Premier League
CHAMPIONS! Manchester City
Bundesliga
CHAMPION! - Borussia Dortmund
La Liga
CHAMPIONS! Real Madrid
Serie A
CHAMPIONS! - Juventus

RELEGATION BATTLES IN FOUR OF THE BIG EUROPEAN LEAGUES

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)

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Bobby McMahon at Forbes asks how much money is really in it for the team that wins the Champions League? Or promotion to the English Premier League?

DID YOU KNOW?

Brian Lewis the New York Post reports that Juan Agudelo was very unhappy with the New York Red Bulls and asked to be sold or traded. He got his wish.
-Here is Agudelo's tweet this morning:
@jagudelo11 IM SOOOOOOO HAPPYYYYYY HEREEE already HA :). #ChivasUSA #L.A . Thank you #RBNY fans u guys are still awesome to me.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Timbers "mascot" Hermes with another video clip inside the club, this time telling us about log cutting.
-I love behind the scenes footage, but I just have to say that this character creeps me out a little bit! I don't know why, but something just isn't sitting well with me. Hahahahahaha. That might secretly be the point.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

My Time Is Now - the new young stars take over Nike!
-With lots of easter eggs to find.
-By the way if anyone at Nike is reading this, I would love one of these Ronald portraits!

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

Week 11

Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 15
Houston Dynamo 0-0 Portland Timbers
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium
Atten: 22,039
-Wed May 16
DC United 2-0 Colorado Rapids - DCU goals by Dwayne DeRosario & Hamdi Salihi.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Atten: 11,593
-Sat May 19
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Seattle Sounders FC - 4:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
Montreal Impact v New York Red Bulls - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Olympic Stadium
DC United v Toronto FC - 6:30PM CT
Venue: RFK Stadium
New England Revolution v Houston Dynamo - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Gillette Stadium
FC Dallas v Philadelphia Union - 7:30PM CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Colorado Rapids v Sporting Kansas City - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
CD Chivas USA v LA Galaxy - 9:30PM CT on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center
San Jose Earthquakes v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM CT
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
-Sun May 20
Portland Timbers v Chicago Fire SC - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: JELD-WEN Field

Bye: Salt Lake

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
22 New York Red Bulls (+7)
21 Sporting Kansas City (+6)
21 DC United (+6)
15 Chicago Fire SC (+1)
12 New England Revolution (-1)
-----
12 Houston Dynamo (-1)
12 Montreal Impact (-4)
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 (+1)
-----
12 FC Dallas (-7)
11 LA Galaxy (-3)
10 CD Chivas USA (-6)
9 Portland Timbers (-4)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN with his great weekly MLS round up - Nat Borchers, Felipe of Montreal, new TFC asst Jim Brennan and Dallas misery.
-It must be about time for Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman to whip out this amazing video clip again.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Rapids signed forward Omar Cummings to a new multi-year contract.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch talks to Elliot Almond of the San Jose Mercury News and they preview SJE v CC.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post writes that NYRB is still hoping to re-sign Luke Rodgers and get him a work visa.

Rafa Marquez out injured again - a bum achilles this time.

TORONTO FC

Torsten Frings is still out injured.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Sun May 20 New England Revolution v DC United

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-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
16 Puerto Rico (+10)
12 Minnesota (+4)
11 San Antonio (0)
9 Fort Lauderdale (-2)
8 Tampa Bay (-1)
7 Edmonton (+2)
4 Atlanta (-6)
4 Carolina (-7)

USA U18 TEAM

In Portugal for the Lisbon Tournament.

US Soccer has a Q & A with head coach Javier Perez.

dN

Matches & Scores:
Friendly
-Sun May 20
Sporting CP v USA U18
Tournament
-Wed May 23
USA U18 v Poland U19
-Thu May 24
USA U18 v Slovakia U19
-Sat May 26
Portugal U19 v USA U18

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

Tim Ream "writing" for Goal.com tells us about his season at Bolton, relegation and team USA.

dN

Coming Up:

Taca de Portugal - Final
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP - Sat May 19 v Academica

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie - Promotion Playoffs
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - Sun May 20 at VVV - trail 2-1

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:


La Liguilla - Finals
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - 1st Leg - Thu May 17 - on the bench as they tied 1-1 at Monterrey.

dN

Coming Up:


La Liguilla - Finals
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - 2nd Leg - Sun May 20 at Monterrey
MEXICO

Clausura - La Liguilla - Finals

Monterry got a draw in the 1st Leg last night by the skin of its teeth capitalizing on a penalty in the 4 minute of second half stoppage time. I bet that didn't go over too well with the visitors.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 17
Monterrey 1-1 Santos Laguna - Mon goal by Humberto Suazo(PK). SL goal by Oribe Peralta.
2nd Leg
-Sun May 20
Santos Laguna v Monterrey (1-1)

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

dN

Former Pachuca head coach Enrique Meza has left Cruz Azul and taken over at struggling Toluca.

ENGLAND

Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Final

Match & Score:
-Sat May 19
West Ham v Blackpool
ITALY

Coppa Italia - Final
Match & Score:
-Sat May 19
Juventus v Napoli

EUROPE

Taca de Portugal - Final
-Sat May 19
Academica v Sporting CP

COPA LIBERTADORES

Quarterfinals

Argentine teams Boca and Velez got minimal wins over Brazilian teams Flu and Santos.

The three Brazilian teams in the Quarterfinals all host the 2nd Leg games.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 16
Libertad 1-1 Universidad Chile - Lib goal by Victor Caceres. UC goal by Gustavo Lorenzetti.
Vasco da Gama 0-0 Corinthians
-Thu May 17
Boca Juniors 1-0 Fluminense - BJ goal by Pablo Mouche.
Velez Sarsfield 1-0 Santos - VS goal by Mauro Obolo.
2nd Leg
-Wed May 23
Corinthians v Vasco da Gama (0-0)
Fluminense v Boca Juniors (0-1)
-Thu May 24
Universidad Chile v Libertad (1-1)
Santos v Velez Sarsfield (0-1)