Some Soccer News for Tue May 1, 2012

STARTERS

Amateur team Stanislaus United Turlock Express qualifies for the US Open Cup!

dN

Remember last summer when the huge match fixing scandal broke out in Turkey and all those people were arrested? Do you know that there has still been no punishment handed out to anyone, and barely to any teams? What is going on? Are authorities trying to sweep the whole thing under the rug and hope everyone else forgets about it?

dN

Fulham won for the the first time EVER at Liverpool today. EVER! Go Clint Go!

dN

England made it official today naming Roy Hodgson as the new national team coach.

dN

There is a full round of games tomorrow in the top leagues of Spain, Italy, France and Netherlands.

dN

The Mexican Primera playoffs begin on Wednesday.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

You better be there!

Match & Score:
-Sat May 5
Minnesota Stars FC v Atlanta Silverbacks - 7:30pm CT
Venue: NSC Stadium

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE MID-WEEK

Seattle Sounder FC v LA Galaxy at 9:00PM CT on Wed May 2 at CenturyLink Field in downtown Seattle.

And only slightly less high profile is San Jose v DC United on Wed May 2 - 9:30pm CT at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

US Soccer does a Q & A with head coach Jurgen Klinsman in which he describes his scouting network.

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with a good look at the USA goalkeeping depth chart.

WHAT A JOKE

Manchester United head coach Alex Ferguson made a big deal to the press after his team lost yesterday saying that Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini was the one who was "refereeing the game." If that is true then at least Ferguson is one who would know quite well what that looks like because he has been doing it for years and years and years. Bullies know what bullies look like.

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

US Soccer announces pairings for Round 1 and Round 2.

My Minnesota Stars must go on the road to either Milwaukee (Bavarians) or Des Moines (Menace) for their opening game which is in Rd 2.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Tons of mid week games going on, which could provide league winner in Spain on Wednesday.

Matches & Scores:
-Mon Apr 30

Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United - Man City wins the derby for all the marbles!

Race for the title in the five biggest European leagues:
La Liga - 3 games left
91 Real Madrid - NEXT: Wed May 2 at Athletic Bilbao
84 Barcelona - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Malaga
Premier League - 2 games left
83 Manchester City (+61 GD) - LAST: Mon Apr 30 W 1-0 v Manchester United - NEXT: Sun May 6 at Newcastle
83 Manchester United (+53 GD) - LAST: Mon Apr 30 L 1-0 at Manchester City - NEXT: Sun May 6 v Swansea
Bundesliga
CHAMPS! - Borussia Dortmund
Serie A - 3 games left
77 Juventus - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Lecce
74 Milan - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Atalanta
Ligue 1 - 4 games left
72 Montpellier - NEXT: Tue May 1 v Evian
67 PSG - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Saint Etienne
65 Lille - NEXT: Wed May 2 at Nice

BUMMER OF THE DAY

Josh Saunders of the LA Galaxy has left the team indefinitely and entered a substance abuse treatment program. Damn. Our thoughts go out to Josh.
-Kevin Baxter of the LA Times reports.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders got into a shoving match after their game on Saturday and the Fire received 2 ejections for their efforts - centerback Jalil Anibaba got a red card and head coach Frank Klopas got whatever head coaches get cuz they don't get red cards.
-Here is the story from the Seattle point of view by Joshua Mayers of the Times.
-And from the Chicago point of view by Jack McCarthy of the Tribune.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Chelsea FC and Sauber F1 racing team have announced a joint marketing plan where Sauber will feature Chelsea colors and slogans, while Stamford Bridge stadium, the Chelsea home field, will feature Sauber logos.

BRAZILIAN PLAYER NAME OF THE DAY

Zen - from Botafogo

FACT OF THE DAY

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze confirms it - it can be brutal being a Chivas USA supporter.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Here is what we need in American soccer - A LOT LESS BRITISH ACCENTS calling the games on TV and a lot more of guys like Gus Johnson!

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

WEEK 9

A huge week with 12 games being played.

-Wed May 2
New England Revolution v Colorado Rapids - 7:00PM CT
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Seattle Sounder FC v LA Galaxy - 9:00PM CT
Venue: CenturyLink Field
San Jose Earthquakes v DC United - 9:30PM CT
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
-Fri May 4
CD Chivas USA v Chicago Fire SC - 10:00PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sat May 5
Toronto FC v DC United - 3:30PM CT
Venue: BMO Field
Seattle Sounders FC v Philadelphia Union - 3:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
Real Salt Lake v New England Revolution - 7:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
LA Galaxy v New York Red Bulls - 7:00PM CT on ESPN
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Sporting Kansas City v Montreal Impact - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Portland Timbers v Columbus Crew - 9:30PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
-Sun May 6
FC Dallas v Colorado Rapids - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium

Bye: Houston Dynamo

MLS MATCH NOTES

Leading Goal Scorers: - As of Tue May 2
9 Thierry Henry
8 Chris Wondolowski
7 Kenny Cooper
6 Maicon Santos
4 Will Bruin
4 David Estrada
4 Kei Kamara
4 Chris Pontius

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
21 Sporting Kansas City (+9)
15 DC United (+5)
13 New York Red Bulls (+4)
8 Chicago Fire SC (-1)
8 Houston Dynamo (-1)
-----
8 Montreal Impact (-6)
7 Philadelphia Union (-3)
7 Columbus Crew (-4)
6 New England Revolution (-4)
0 Toronto FC (-10)
WEST
19 San Jose Earthquakes (+9)
19 Real Salt Lake (+5)
14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+1)
13 Seattle Sounders FC (+5)
12 Colorado Rapids (+2)
-----
12 FC Dallas (-2)
10 LA Galaxy (0)
9 CD Chivas USA (-5)
7 Portland Timbers (-4)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Seattle's Eddie Johnson was fined my the league for an "inappropriate gesture" he made toward Chicago fans last weekend.
-Seattle Times has Johnson's apology.

So why wasn't Robbie Keane fined the week before? Did he make an "inappropriate gesture" toward the referee after a disputed penalty kick was saved?

CHICAGO FIRE

Goalkeeper Sean Johnson made another huge mistake that cost the team a goal and ultimately a win, so why isn't back up Paolo Tornaghi getting a shot after starting the season pretty well when Johnson was away with the Olympic team. DC didn't make that same mistake by switching out their solid keeper for the returning incumbent.

Ben Strauss of Chicago Side with an article on Dominic Oduro and his blazing speed.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Conor Casey played a few minutes last weekend, but did not travel to New England for mid-week game.

COLUMBUS CREW

Steve Sirk with his latest Crew Notebook - a judicious look at the beard of Eddie Gaven.

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch with a Crew injury update.

DC UNITED

United finally ended one of the worst streaks in league history last weekend - they had not won 2 games in a row dating back over 80 games, and finally broke it by beating New York and Houston on consecutive matchdays. Huge mental hurdle for the team to over come.

A brutal week for DCU as they must fly across country to San Jose for a Wednesday night game, then fly back to Toronto for a Saturday game. I would say that ANY points would be a good return on that trip.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Tod Palmer of the Star compares this team to the one that brought silverware to KC in 2000 and 2004.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Thierry Henry's hamstring injury will keep him sidelined for up to a month. See you in June buddy.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Fullback Steve Purdy is out of action after suffering a concussion.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 1
Sporting Kansas City v FC Dallas

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches & Scores:
-Wed May 2
Carolina RailHawks v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

USA U17 TEAM

Travis Clark of Top Drawer talks to head coach Richie Williams about the teams recent involvement in the Mondial Minimes tourney in France.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad reported that Andrew Wooten has signed a 3 year contract extension to stay at Kaiserslautern, even though they are about to most likely getting relegated.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Tue May 1 - went the full 90 as they won 0-1 at Liverpool.
Tim Howard - Everton - Tue May 1 - played the whole game as they drew 1-1 at Stoke.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - Tue May 1 - started and played 78 min as they tied 0-0 v Roma.

dN

Coming Up:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Mikkel Diskerud - Gent - Wed May 2 at Anderlecht
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Wed May 2 v Gent

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - Thu May 3 v Silkeborg
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - Thu May 3 at Horsens
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - Wed May 2 v Kobenhavn
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - Thu May 3 at Midtjylland

ENGLAND - Premier League
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Wed May 2 at Bolton
Tim Ream - Bolton - Wed May 2 v Tottenham

ENGLAND - Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Semifinals - 1st Leg
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Fri May 4 at Blackpool

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Charlie Davies - Sochaux - Wed May 2 at Ajaccio

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Wed May 2 at NEC

NORWAY - NM Cupen
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - Tue May 1 at Lommedalen
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - Tue May 1 at Sprint-Jeloy
Colin Burns - Sandefjord - Tue May 1 at Runar
Ricardo Clark - Stabaek - Tue May 1 at Lommedalen
Steve Clark - Honefoss - Tue May 1 at Roa
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - Tue May 1 at Lommedalen
Josh Gatt - Molde - Tue May 1 at Sunndal
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - Tue May 1 at Sprint-Jeloy
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - Tue May 1 at Roa
Sebastian Troupe - Baerum - Tue May 1 at Drammen

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - Wed May 2 v Dundee United
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - Wed May 2 v Dundee United
Mo Edu - Rangers - Wed May 2 v Dundee United

MEXICO

Clausura - La Liguilla

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Tijuana v Monterrey
Pachuca v America
-Thu May 3
Jaguares v Santos Laguna
Tigres v Morelia
2nd Leg
-Sat May 5
America v Pachuca
Monterrey v Tijuana
-Sun May 6
Santos Laguna v Jaguares
Morelia v Tigres

If the teams are tied after the two legs, then the higher seed advances.

CANADA

Canadian Championship

The winner earns a berth in the CONCAChampions.
-The format changed this year from a round-robin to a bracket.

Kurtis Larson of the Toronto Sun previews.

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
FC Edmonton v Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2nd Leg
-Wed May 9
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Edmonton

Finals
1st Leg
-Wed May 16
2nd Leg
-Wed May 23

ENGLAND

Championship Division - Promotion Playoffs - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu May 3
Cardiff v West Ham
-Fri May 4
Blackpool v Birmingham
2nd Leg
-Mon May 7
West Ham v Cardiff
-Wed May 9
Birmingham v Blackpool

GERMANY

John van Laer of When Saturday Comes on the resurection of a career for Patrick Helmes.

EUROPE
Relegation In Europes Top Five Leagues

As of Tue May 1

Racing Santander is the first team in Spain's Primera to be relegated this season.

Either Koln or Hertha is going down in Germany, and the other goes into the Pro/Rel playoff.

Bundesliga (33 of 34 played)
-bottom 2 relegated - then - 3rd from bottom play 2.Bundes 3rd from top in 2 legs
-----
30 Koln
-----
28 Hertha
REL-23 Kaiserslautern

Premier League (36 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
37 Aston Villa
37 Wigan
34 Queens Park Rangers (-23GD)
-----
34 Bolton (35GP) (-28GD)
31 Blackburn
REL-23 Wolverhampton

Ligue 1 (34 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
35 Caen
34 Dijon
34 Ajaccio
-----
33 Brest
33 Sochaux
31 Auxerre

Primera Division (35 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
40 Rayo Vallecano
39 Granada
38 Villarreal
-----
34 Sporting Gijon
34 Real Zaragoza
REL-26 Racing Santander

Serie A (35 of 38 played)
-bottom 3 relegated
42 Palermo
42 Cagliari
41 Fiorentina
36 Genoa
-----
35 Lecce
28 Novara
REL-22 Cesena

dN

Netherlands - the chase for the Eredivisie crown!

Standings: (32 of 34 games played)
70 Ajax (+53) - NEXT: Wed May 2 v VVV Venlo
64 Feyenoord (+29) - NEXT: Wed May 2 v Heracles

TOP EURO CLUB GOAL SCORERS

As of Tue May 1

Primera Division
43 Cristiano Ronaldo
43 Lionel Messi
23 Radamael Falcao
21 Gonzalo Higuain
20 Karim Benzema

Premier League
28 Robin Van Persie
26 Wayne Rooney
22 Kun Aguero
16 Three players tied

Bundesliga
27 Klaas Jan Huntelaar
26 Mario Gomez
20 Robert Lewandowski
18 Lukas Podolski
17 Martin Harnik

Serie A
26 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
22 Edison Cavani
21 Antonio Di Natale
20 Diego Milito
18 Rodrigo Palacio

Ligue 1
20 Oliver Giroud
17 Eden Hazard
16 Nene
14 Pierre Aubameyang
13 Bafetimbi Gomis
13 Lisandro Lopez

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Knockout Stages

Round of 16

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue May 1
Cruz Azul v Libertad
Atletico Nacional v Velez Sarsfield
-Wed May 2
Boca Juniors v Union Espanola
Emelec v Corintians
Vasco Da Gama v Lanus
-Thu May 3
Deportivo Quito v Universidad Chile
2nd Leg (with 1st Leg scores included)
-Tue May 8
Libertad v Cruz Azul (-)
Velez Sarsfield v Atletico Nacional (-)
-Wed May 9
Union Espanola v Boca Juniors (-)
Corintians v Emelec (-)
Lanus v Vasco Da Gama (-)
-Thu May 10
Fluminense v Internacional (0-0)
Universidad Chile v Deportivo Quito (-)
Santos v Bolivar (1-2)

BRACKET

Fluminense v Internacional
Union Espanola v Boca Juniors

Universidad Chilev v Deportivo Quito
Libertadv Cruz Azul
-----
Corintians v Emelec
Lanus v Vasco Da Gama

Santos v Bolivar
Velez Sarsfield v Atletico Nacional

ASIA
Asian Champions League - Group Stage - Matchday 5 will be played on May 1 & 2.

Advanced: Al Ahli(Saudi Arabia), Sepahan(Iran)
Elimindated: Al Arabi(Qatar), Lekhwiya(Qatar), Al Nasr(UAE), Al Shabab(UAE), Tianjin Teda(China)
Matches & Scores:
-Tue May 1
Central Coast Mariners 5-1 Tianjin Teda
Kashiwa Reysol 1-0 Buriram United
Seongnam 1-1 Nagoya Grampus
Guangzhou Evergrande 1-3 Jeonbuk Motors
Persepolis 0-1 Al Hilal
Al Gharafa 2-1 Al Shabab
nfo Al Nasr 0-3 Sepahan
Al Ahli 3-0 Lekhwiya
-Wed May 2
Adelaide United v Bunyodkor
Pohang Steelers v Gamba Osaka
Tokyo v Brisbane Roar
Beijing Guoan v Ulsan
Pakhtakor v Al Ittihad
Esteghlal v Al Rayyan
Al Jazira v Nasaf
Al Arabi v Bani Yas

-Standings etc.