Some Soccer News for Wed Jun 6, 2012

STORY OF THE DAY

Abusing painkillers reaches a crucial stage.

Last Sunday the New York Times Magazine ran a long investigative type story on the abuse of painkillers and eventually a death connected to that abuse by an NHL player. It was a sad and scary story. And the abuse of painkillers was alarming. See that article here.
-This story of long term painkiller and sleep aid use by hockey player Derek Boogaard is mind blowing.

Yesterday FIFA released details from a study conducted at the 2010 World Cup about the use of painkillers by players, and again the information was alarming. Read that article here.

The World has an audio story on the topic of painkillers based on that FIFA article. Listen to it here.

The BBC has more on the FIFA article.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Open Cup - Fourth Round

And just like that the Stars are out of the competition. They traveled to Stanford CA for their 6th consecutive road game and lost 1-0 to San Jose Earthquakes on a goal in the 85th minute of an otherwise back and forth stalemate.

It was a frustrating night for the Stars who could not find ways to beat the tight SJE defense. The Star best chance in the game came late in the first half when Miguel Ibarra slammed a long range shot off the crossbar.

And the lack of Amani Walker for the majority of the game really forced Minnesota to play a style of soccer that has not been very conducive to them scoring goals this season. Walker is usually amazing at holding up the ball and bringing other attackers into the game, but a sprained ankle last week limited him to a few minutes as a late sub. And not long after that SJE went into full bunker mode and sealed the tomb.

Match and Score:
-Tue Jun 5
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Minnesota Stars - SJE goal by Steven Lenhart.
Venue: Cagan Stadium - Stanford University

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NASL

Tim Nelson of Minnesota Public Radio has a story on the successful Stars ongoing struggles to find an owner for the team.

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

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated looks at the grueling 16 games of World Cup qualifying the USA has in front of them over the next 17 months.

Brian Straus of Sporting News writes that nothing has ever been easy for Clint Dempsey.

Bryan Burns of the Tampa Bays Times looks at the leaders of the USA team.

Burns also looks at the USA fielding players not born in this country.

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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

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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

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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

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

FOURTH ROUND - Round of 16

Three lower division teams will make up part of the final 8! How great is that! Harrisburg City Islanders (USL Pro), Dayton Dutch Lions (PDL) and Charlotte Eagles (USL Pro) are all still alive.

Philadelphia Union, Sporting Kansas City, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders and Chivas USA are the other 5 teams, all from MLS.

Harrisburg got the biggest win of the night knocking out the mighty New York Red Bulls 3-1.

The only real disappointment of the entire round is that San Jose only drew an attendance of 1548 for the game. This is a really good team and they deserve more people watching them play.

The Cup has a full recap of all 8 games played last night.

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Matches and Scores:
Harrisburg City Islanders 3-1 New York Red Bulls - HCI goals by Sainey Touray(2) & Lucky Mkosana. NYRB goal by Connor Lade.
DC United 1-2 Philadelphia Union - DCU goal by Josh Wolff. PU goals by Brian Carroll & Antoine Hoppenot.
Michigan Bucks 1-2 Dayton Dutch Lions - MB goal by Anthony Grant. DDL goals by Eli Garner & Joel DeLasse(PK).
Sporting Kansas City 2-0 Colorado Rapids - SKC goals by Matt Pickens(OG) & Teal Bunbury.
San Antonio Scorpions 1-2 Charlotte Eagles - SAS goal by Pablo Campos. CE goals by Devon Grousis & Mauricio Salles(PK).
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Minnesota Stars - SJE goal by Steven Lenhart.
Seattle Sounders 5-0 Cal - SS goals by Osvaldo Alonso(2), Fredy Montero(2) & Alex Caskey.
Carolina RailHawks 1-2 Chivas USA - CRH goal by Mike Palacio. CUSA goals by Juan Agudel & Juan Pablo Angel(PK).

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Quarterfinals

Matches and Scores:
-Tue Jun 26
Philadelphia Union v Harrisburg City Islanders
Sporting Kansas City v Dayton Dutch Lions
Chivas USA v Charlotte Eagles
San Jose Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders

UEFA EURO 2012

Begins Friday June 8 at 11am CT with Poland hosting Greece.

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Top news sources:

Guardian Euro 2012

UEFA Euro 2012

ESPN Euro 2012

Other great resources:
Marca
As
France Football
Gazzetta Dello Sport
Kicker
World Soccer

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The Top 5 Do-Not-Miss Group Stage Games of Euro 2012:

-Sat Jun 9
Germany v Portugal - 1:45pm CT

-Sun Jun 10
Spain v Italy - 11:00am CT

-Mon Jun 11
France v England - 11:00am CT

-Wed Jun 13
Netherlands v Germany - 1:45pm CT

-Sun Jun 17
Portugal v Netherlands - 1:45pm CT


VIDEO OF THE DAY

This Is Professional Soccer Not Minor League

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Philadelphia and Portland swapped speedy strikers who have not had much impact on their teams yet this season. Jorge Perlaza goes to the Union, and Danny Mwanga goes to the Timbers.

LA GALAXY

"LA Galaxy forward Edson Buddle and midfielder Dan Keat have each undergone successful right knee surgeries and are expected to miss the next 3-6 weeks."

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com on the Union facing off against their "minor league affiliate" Harrisburg in the next round of the Open Cup.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Jose Romero of Soccer By Ives writes about the inconsistent start to the season for Kris Boyd.

MLS RESERVE LEAGUE

Matches and Scores:
-Tue Jun 5
Montreal Impact 1-2 New England Revolution - MI goal by Felipe. NER goals by Alec Purdie & Jeremiah White.
-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.

USA U20 TEAM

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

The USA begins their tour with a rough loss, getting 2nd goal in stoppage time.

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
Jonathan Top - FC Dallas

ENGLAND

Manchester United has bought highly touted Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa from German champions Dortmund.

ITALY

Vincenzo Montella wil be introduced as the new head coach of Fiorentina on Saturday. He did a respectable job last season at Catania in his first year of head coaching.
-He played the vast majority of his career at Sampdoria and Roma.

EUROPE

Belgium has hired one of their countries more highly regarded former players Marc Wilmots as the new head coach of the national team.

OCEANIA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Standings:
Group A
9 Tahiti
6 New Caldedonia
3 Vanuatu
0 Samoa
Group B
7 New Zealand
5 Solomon Islands
2 Fiji
1 Papa New Guinea

Matches and Scores:
-Tue Jun 5
Papua New Guinea 1-1 Fiji
New Zealand 1-1 Solomon Islands

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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.