Some Soccer News for Thu Jun 7, 2012

STARTERS

I had a dream last night that today MLS announced 2 new teams - Taliesin FC in Phoenix and Vikings FC in Minneapolis. Hahahahahahahaha!
dN

Clint Dempsey was named the Fulham Player of the Season today. Here is video of all 23 goals he scored!















dN

Toronto fired head coach Aron Winter and replaced him with Paul Mariner. Yes Mariner has lot of MLS experience, but has less than 6 months experience as a head coach.
-Took over as manager at Plymouth in the English Championship division on Dec 10 2009, had a record of 7-5-15 while in charge (including losing the last 5 in a row), and they were relegated to the League One at the end of the season. Mariner was not brought back.

dN

Word from Tampa is that over 20,000 tickets have been sold for USA v Antigua + Barbuda - fantastic!

MINNESOTA STARS FC

NASL

Match and Score:
-Sat Jun 9
Carolina RailHawks v Minnesota Stars FC - 6pm CT
Venue: WakeMed Park, Cary NC

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Jun 5, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

World Cup Qualifying

US Soccer with a preview of Antigua + Barbuda.

On this weeks edition of the Alexi Lalas-Taylor Twellman podcast - Big Head Red Head - contributor Marc Connolly says that behind closed doors the USA players are not all pleased with coach Jurgen Klinsmann running them into the ground physically right after they just finished a grueling 9 month season.

Michael Lewis of TropiGol has several articles on Antigua & Barbuda:
-Antigua needs a Byers market to make WCQ impact
-By George, Dublin sets an example for Antigua
-Antigua plays for the present and builds for the future
-Klinsmann expects defensive posture from Antigua

Brian Straus of Sporting News gives us all the back ground us fans will need on Ant + Barb.

Tampa Tribune with a brief and basic video preview of qualifying.

Alex Labidou of Goal.com talks to Herculez Gomez.

Noah Davis of MLSsoccer.com previews USA v A+B.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jun 8
USA v Antigua & Barbuda - 6:00pm CT v Antigua & Barbuda on ESPN
Venue: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa FL
-Tue Jun 12
Guatemala v USA - 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

Antigua and Barbuda roster

G:
Keita DeCastro - Antigua Barracuda
Olsen Forde - Willikies
Molvin James - Antigua Barracuda
D:
Luke Blakely - Antigua Barracuda
Ranjae Christian - Antigua Barracuda
George “Sowa” Dublin - Antigua Barracuda
Troy Dublin - Bassa Sports Club
Marc Joseph - Kendal Town
Karanja Mack - Antigua Barracuda
Marvin McCoy - Wycombe Wanderers
M:
Kimoi Alexander - Antigua Barracuda
Justin Cochrane - Boreham Wood
Quinton Griffith - Antigua Barracuda
Mickele Leigertwood - Reading
Keiran Murtaugh - Woking
Josh Parker - Oldham Athletic
Lawson “Boy Blue” Robinson - Antigua Barracuda
Akeem “Leppy” Thomas - Antigua Barracuda
Tamarley “Ziggy” Thomas - Antigua Barracuda
F:
Dexter Blackstock - Nottingham Forest
Randolph “Etty” Burton - Antigua Barracuda
Peter “Big Pete” Byers - Antigua Barracuda
Lloyd Jeremy - Antigua Barracuda
Kerry “Arab” Skepple - Antigua Barracuda
Stephan Smith - Antigua Barracuda

CONCACAF WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The First Group Stage of qualifying begins on Friday.

Standings:
Group A
Antigua & Barbuda
Guatemala
Jamaica
USA
Group B
Costa Rica
Guyana
Mexico
El Salvador
Guyana
Group C
Canada
Cuba
Honduras
Panama

Matches and Scores:
Matchday 1
-Fri Jun 8
USA v Antigua & Barbuda - A
Jamaica v Guatemala - A
Mexico v Guyana - B
Costa Rica v El Salvador - B
Honduras v Panama - C
Cuba v Canada - C
Matchday 2
-Tue Jun 12
Guatemala v USA - A
Antigua & Barbuda v Jamaica - A
El Salvador v Mexico - B
Guyana v Costa Rica - B
Canada v Honduras - C
Panama v Cuba - C

Matchday 3 and 4 will be played on Fri Sep 7 and Tue Sep 11.

2012-13 CONCACACHAMPIONS

The last three spots in the tournament will be filled at the final four of the Caribbean Club Championship on Jun 19 and 21.
-Here is the lineup (all games played in Marabella, Trinidad):

Matches and Scores:
-Tue Jun 19
Antigua Barracuda v Caledonia
Puerto Rico Islanders v W Connection

-Thu Jun 21
Third Place Game
Semifinal losers

NOTICE

Sign up today for the du Nord & Friends ESPN Euro Bracket Predictor!

UEFA EURO 2012

Begins Friday June 8 at 11am CT

dN
Graham Ruthven of the New York Times gives us 12 lesser known players to keep our eyes on.

More from the NY Times:
-The Moment Is Now for Stars and Hopefuls by Rob Hughes
-For Ukraine Striker, Ending Is Also a Beginning by Jere Longman
-Refereeing the Players, and Racism by Rob Hughes

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated tells us how he sees the tournament going down.

Simon Kuper at Ask Men gives us some background of the often unpleasant world of Ukranian football.

dN
Top news sources:

UEFA
Guardian
Marca
As
France Football
Gazzetta Dello Sport
Kicker
World Soccer
ESPN

dN
Standings

GROUP A
Poland
Greece
Russia
Czech Republic
GROUP B
Netherlands
Denmark
Germany
Portugal
GROUP C
Spain
Italy
Ireland
Croatia
GROUP D
Ukraine
Sweden
France
England

dN
Matches & Scores:

Group Stage
-Fri Jun 8
Poland v Greece - 11:00am CT
Russia v Czech Republic - 1:45pm CT
-Sat Jun 9
Netherlands v Denmark - 11:00am CT
Germany v Portugal - 1:45pm CT
-Sun Jun 10
Spain v Italy - 11:00am CT
Ireland v Croatia - 1:45pm CT
-Mon Jun 11
France v England - 11:00am CT
Ukraine v Sweden - 1:45pm CT
-Tue Jun 12
Greece v Czech Republic - 11:00am CT
Poland v Russia - 1:45pm CT
-Wed Jun 13
Denmark v Portugal - 11:00am CT
Netherlands v Germany - 1:45pm CT
-Thu Jun 14
Italy v Croatia - 11:00am CT
Spain v Ireland - 1:45pm CT
-Fri Jun 15
Ukraine v France - 11:00am CT
Sweden v England - 1:45pm CT
-Sat Jun 16
Greece v Russia - 1:45pm CT
Czech Republic v Poland - 1:45pm CT
-Sun Jun 17
Portugal v Netherlands - 1:45pm CT
Denmark v Germany - 1:45pm CT
-Mon Jun 18
Croatia v Spain - 1:45pm CT
Italy v Ireland - 1:45pm CT
-Tue Jun 19
Sweden v France - 1:45pm CT
England v Ukraine - 1:45pm CT

Quarterfinals
-Thu Jun 21
1A v 2B - 1:45pm CT
-Fri Jun 22
1B v 2A - 1:45pm CT
-Sat Jun 23
1C v 2D - 1:45pm CT
-Sun Jun 24
1D v 2C - 1:45pm CT

Semifinals
-Wed Jun 27
1A/2B v 1C/2D - 1:45pm CT
-Thu Jun 28
1B/2A v 1D/2C - 1:45pm CT

Final
-Sun Jul 1
Semifinal Winners - 1:45pm CT
Venue: Olympic Stadium - Kyiv, Ukraine.

WELL WELL WELL

Brendan Wimberly of Yanks Abroad talks to Frankie Hejduk about his playing days.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com looks at the change soccer is effecting in Cuba.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Chelsea rolls out its 2nd uniform for 2012-13.























MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

Week 14

Matches And Scores:
-Sun Jun 10
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Houston Dynamo - 6:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
27 DC United (+9)
26 New York Red Bulls (+8)
25 Sporting Kansas City (+7)
18 Columbus Crew (0)
18 Chicago Fire SC (-2)
-----
16 Houston Dynamo (0)
16 New England Revolution (0)
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)

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Houston has signed Honduran midfielder Oscar Boniek Garcia from Olimpia to a designated player contract.
-Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle with a few more details.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Christopher Dempsey at the Post writes that head coach Oscar Pareja is spending a lot of time working on improving the Rapids defense.

Dempsey also writes that Jaime Castrillon has done his best to fill the offensive void left by injuries to forwards Conor Casey and Omar Cummings.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch says the Crew are not having success in landing a designated player.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

The Times with a transcript of head coach Sigi Schmid's press conference today, and there is no whining about the Open Cup. Thank you coach.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches and Scores:
-Fri Jun 8
Chivas USA v San Jose Earthquakes
-Sat Jun 9
Colorado Rapids v Sporting Kansas City
DC United v Toronto FC
-Sun Jun 10
Columbus Crew v New England Revolution

Standings
-This league is often changing schedules with no warning.

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

Here is the complete schedule of all the big club matches going on this summer pitting MLS teams against European teams.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches and Scores:
-Sat Jun 9
Carolina RailHawks v Minnesota Stars
Puerto Rico Islanders v Tampa Bay Rowdies
San Antonio Scorpions v Atlanta Silverbacks
-Sun Jun 10
FC Edmonton v Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Watch online

Standings
17 Puerto Rico (+11)
17 Minnesota (+6)
16 San Antonio (+2)
13 Fort Lauderdale (-2)
12 Tampa Bay (-2)
8 Edmonton (-1)
8 Carolina (-6)
8 Atlanta (-7)

USA U20 TEAM

Friendlies in South America against Uruguay (twice) & Chile.

The Vancouver Sun reports that Omar Salgado has suffered a broken right foot in yesterdays game and will be out of action for 3 months.
-Salgado posted this on Twitter last night: "Damnnn... Why now?"

Matches and Scores:
-Wed Jun 6
Uruguay 4-2 USA - USA goals by Victor Pineda & Daniel Garcia.
-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
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps
Jonathan Top - FC Dallas

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com reports that Edgar Castillo is now a permanent member of Club Tijuana as they bought his contract from America after the recent loan deal.
-But then again what does permanent mean when his new contract is only for the upcoming Apertura season.

ASIA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Standings:

Group A
3 Iran
3 Qatar
- S Korea
0 Lebanon
0 Uzbekistan
Group B
3 Japan
- Australia
1 Iraq
1 Jordan
0 Oman

dN

Matches and Scores:

Matchday 2
-Fri Jun 8
Qatar v S Korea
Lebanon v Uzbekistan
Oman v Australia
Japan v Jordan
Matchday 3
-Tue Jun 12
S Korea v Lebanon
Iran v Qatar
Australia v Japan
Iraq v Oman

AFRICA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The first games for African countries begin tomorrow Fri Jun 1.

Standings:
Group A
3 Central African Republic
1 Ethiopia
1 South Africa
0 Botswana
Group B
3 Sierra Leone
3 Tunisia
0 Cape Verde
0 Equatorial Guinea
Group C
3 Cote d'Ivoire
1 Gambia
1 Morocco
0 Tanzania
Group D
3 Ghana
3 Sudan
0 Lesotho
0 Zambia
Group E
1 Burkina Faso
1 Congo
1 Gabon
1 Niger
Group F
3 Nigeria
1 Kenya
1 Malawi
0 Namibia
Group G
3 Egypt
3 Guinea
0 Mozambique
0 Zimbabwe
Group H
3 Algeria
3 Benin
0 Mali
0 Rwanda
Group I
3 Cameroon
1 Libya
1 Togo
0 Congo DR
Group J
3 Senegal
1 Angola
1 Uganda
0 Liberia

dN

Matches and Scores:
-Sat Jun 9
Malawi v Nigeria
Botswana v South Africa
Zambia v Ghana
Uganda v Senegal
Gabon v Burkina Faso
Congo v Niger
Equatorial Guinea v Sierra Leone
Namibia v Kenya
Cape Verde Islands v Tunisia
Morocco v Cote d'Ivoire
-Sun Jun 10
Mozambique v Zimbabwe
Lesotho v Sudan
Tanzania v Gambia
Ethiopia v Central Africa Republic
Rwanda v Benin
Congo DR v Togo
Libya v Cameroon
Liberia v Angola
Guinea v Egypt
Mali v Algeria

CONMEBOL 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

STANDINGS:
10 Argentina (5 GP)
9 Chile (5 GP)
8 Uruguay (4 GP)
8 Venezuela (5 GP)
----- 7 Colombia (4 GP)
----- 6 Ecuador (4 GP)
4 Paraguay (4 GP)
3 Peru (4 GP)
1 Bolivia (5 GP)

dN

Matches and Scores:

Matchday 6
-Sat Jun 9
Bolivia v Paraguay
Venezuela v Chile
-Sun Jun 10
Uruguay v Peru
Ecuador v Colombia

OCEANIA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

The top 2 teams in each group now advance to a home and away round robin tournament with the winner advancing to play a home away against the 4th place team from CONCACAF for a spot in Brazil.

New Caldedonia
New Zealand
Solomon Islands
Tahiti

Matches begin on Sep 7.