Some Soccer News for Mon Jul 2, 2012

STARTERS

Montreal has confirmed that they have offered a contract to Italy and Milan legendary centerback Alessandro Nesta. Italian newspapers report that the deal is done. No official word yet. Yes he is old and not the player he once was, but he is better than the other old Serie A veterans the team has signed.

dN

NASL team Atlanta Silverbacks fired head coach Alex Pineda Chacon over the weekend, and today hired Eric Wynalda as the interim head coach. Wynalda's role will also include leading the search for a new permanent head coach.
-Which means he will be right here in Minnesota on Saturday night!

dN

Bob Bradley and Egypt have been knocked OUT of qualifying for the 2013 African Cup of Nations. There were beaten 4-3 over 2 legs by the Central African Republic, a huge upset, and very bad news for Bradley.
-Ahram reports that the Egyptian FA is asking Bradley to "provide reasons" for this exit.
-There is no push for Bradley to be replaced as head coach in Egypt.

STORY OF THE DAY

After all the teeth gnashing 1 year ago in Turkey over alleged match fixing, the court cases have now been settled, and the answers are a resounding "Nothing Wrong Here!"

All 16 teams charged with match fixing were cleared on any wrong doing, and the few people convicted of any crimes, like Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim, were released for time served.

In other words, nothing will change, and its back to business as usual for whoever can afford to pay to win matches.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

NASL

Matches + Scores:
-Sat Jun 30
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-0 Minnesota Stars
Venue: Al Lang Stadium - St Petersburg

The team now embarks on another grueling run of games in a short period of time, with 5 games the next 19 days. Luckily the first 4 are at home which cuts down on travel time. But unluckily its the hottest time of the year with scorching temperatures and very high humidity.

-Wed Jul 4
Minnesota Stars v Puerto Rico Islanders
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN
-Sat Jul 7
Minnesota Stars v Atlanta Silverbacks
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium
-Thu Jul 12
Minnesota Stars v Tampa Bay Rowdies
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN
-Wed Jul 18
Minnesota Stars v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN
-Sat Jul 21
Carolina RailHawks v Minnesota Stars
Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park - Cary NC

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!

The league leader is LateNight504FC managed by Alan Kansas.

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEK

On Wednesday night we get two preseason contenders who are both struggling badly right - Real Salt Lake v Seattle Sounders FC at 9:00PM CT. So does one of them kick it back into at least 1st gear?

PRICELESS

On Sunday the Phoenix Business Journal ran an article about a possible NASL team coming on board in Phoenix.

But today USL Pro beat them to the punch and announced a new team in Phoenix for 2013 season - name etc coming soon.

UEFA EURO 2012

Spain are the worthy champions once again. Rolling over Italy in the fashion that they have run over every team in the past 4 or 5 years that has dared to come out and challenge them rather than sit back absorbing pressure and hit them on the counter attack.

Andres Iniesta of Spain was named the best player of the tournament.
-If I had a vote it would have gone to Andrea Pirlo, hands down the best player of the tournament.

UEFA named the Team of the Tournament (23 players):
Andrea Pirlo - Italy
Andres Iniesta - Spain
Fabio Coentrao - Portugal
Cesc Fabregas - Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal
Daniele De Rossi - Italy
David Silva - Spain
Gerard Pique - Spain
Gianluigi Buffon - Italy
Iker Casillas - Spain
Jordi Alba - Spain
Manuel Neuer - Germany
Mario Balotelli - Italy
Mesut Ozil - Germany
Pepe - Portugal
Philipp Lahm - Germany
Sammy Khedira - Germany
Sergio Busquets - Spain
Sergio Ramos - Spain
Steven Gerrard - England
Xabi Alonso - Spain
Xavi Hernandez - Spain
Zalatan Ibrahimovic - Sweden

Italy has not been beaten 4-0 since 1948. Oof.

The staff at the Guardian hands out their own awards.

Top news sources:

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

dN
Final

Match & Score:
-Sun Jul 1
Spain 4-0 Italy - Spa goals by David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres + Juan Matta.
Venue: Olympic Stadium - Kyiv, Ukraine.

dN
The du Nord & Friends ESPN Euro Bracket Predictor!

The winning team in our pool was called Auxerre. Huge congrats to that person.

Personally I finished 46th out of 77th, which is pretty good for me. I would grade myself at a C-.

ODD BUT 100% TRUE

Who gives an interim head coach this much power? No one. Which makes this even weirder....

Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that Union interim head coach John Hackworth has fired technical director head of scouting + player development Diego Gutierrez and youth academy director Alecko Eskandarian.

DID YOU KNOW?

Omar Gonzalez went 45 minutes today as the LA Galaxy reserves took on the academy.

FACT OF THE DAY

Egypt has announced that their top flight soccer league will return on Aug 24. All play has been suspended since the massacre of spectators in Port Said on Feb 1.

MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

WEEK 17

Matches + Scores:
-Wed Jun 27
Montreal Impact 0-3 Toronto FC - TFC goals by Torsten Frings, Ryan Johnson + Danny Koevermans.
Venue: Saputo Stadium
Atten: 14,412
-Fri Jun 29
Sporting Kansas City 0-1 Chicago Fire SC - CF goal by Marco Pappa
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
Atten: 19,274
-Sat Jun 30
Toronto FC 1-1 New York Red Bulls - TFC goal by Danny Koevermans. NYC goal by Jan Gunnar Solli.
Venue: BMO Field
Atten: 20,071
DC United 3-0 Montreal Impact - DCU goals by Chris Pontius, Robbie Russell + Hamdi Salihi.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Atten: 18,302
New England Revolution 2-2 Seattle Sounders FC - NER goals by Saer Sene + Diego Fagundez. SS goals both by Eddie Johnson.
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Atten: 15,264
Columbus Crew 2-0 Real Salt Lake - CC goals by Tony Tchani + Eddie Gaven.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Atten: 19,674
Houston Dynamo 2-1 Philadelphia Union - HD goals Brad Davis + Brian Ching(PK). PU goal by Keon Daniel.
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium
Atten: 19,806
Colorado Rapids 3-0 Portland Timbers - CR goals by Jaime Castrillon, Conor Casey + Jamie Smith.
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Atten: 15,553
San Jose Earthquakes 4-3 LA Galaxy - SJE goals by Steven Lenhart, Victor Bernardez, Sam Cronin + Chris Wondolowski. LAG goals by David Beckham, Jason Hernandez(OG) + Landon Donovan.
Venue: Stanford Stadium
Atten: 50,391

Week 18

Matches + Scores:
-Tue Jul 3
Houston Dynamo v Chicago Fire SC - 7:30PM CT
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium
Portland Timbers v San Jose Earthquakes - 9:30PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
-Wed Jul 4
Montreal Impact v Sporting Kansas City - 6:00PM CT
Venue: Saputo Stadium
FC Dallas v Toronto FC - 8:00PM CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
Colorado Rapids v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 8:30PM CT
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Real Salt Lake v Seattle Sounders FC - 9:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
LA Galaxy v Philadelphia Union - 9:30PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center

MLS MATCH NOTES

No Ejections at all this round.

dN

David Beckham has gotten away with belittling referees for way too long now, and took that attitude over the top on Saturday when he kicked not one by two balls at a downed San Jose player in the dying moments of stoppage time. He got a yellow card. Lets see if the league has the guts to throw the book at him. He certainly deserves it for all of his poor behavior over the years. I would give him a game off to think about it. (That's on top of the 1 he is already getting for card accumulation.)

By the same token Sam Cronin of San Jose should be suspended for faking injury as well, because as soon as the ball Beckham kicked hit Cronin he launched off his back ready to fight. If that is not a sure sign of faking it then I don't know what is.

dN

Average per game attendance this round was 21,416.

dN

I barely recognized that Columbus lineup. Who are some of those guys?

The game in Columbus kicked off an hour late due to a regional power outage.

MLS STANDINGS

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

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

General News

Toronto forward Danny Koevermans was named MLS Player of the Week.
-This is one of those rounds where what a player did over several consecutive games got him an award because no one singler player had a huge week. But good for Koevermans because he is coming on strong.

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his always quality Monday Morning Breakdown.

Graham Parker and Joe Prince-Wright of the Guardian with five things we learned from week 16. (Its actually week 17 guys.)

Punishment

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times lays out the Sounders string of suspension which appears to show a major lack of discipline within the team.

Player Transactions

Lots of articles say New England has signed a loan deal for 25 year old Honduran forward Jerry Bengtson from Motagua. But no confirmation from Revs yet.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch reports that Chad Marshall played in a reserve game today for the first time since May 4 when he suffered another concussion.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star says the recent KC loss is way too familiar.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Goalkeeper Andrew Weber who had taken over the starting spot from struggling Brian Meredith was injured on Saturday and had to be replaced at half time. Meredith went in to replace him and will presumably start this weeks games. Meredith originally replaced starting keeper Michael Gspurning who has been out with hip injury since May 2.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Expect Barry Robson to make his debut on Wed in Denver.

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

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

And a new one to add to the list:
-Fri Jul 27
Roma(Italy) v El Salvador(national team)
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches + Scores:
-Sat Jun 30
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2-1 Carolina RailHawks
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-0 Minnesota Stars
San Antonio Scorpions 3-0 Atlanta Silverbacks
-Sun Jul 1
FC Edmonton 0-0 Puerto Rico Islanders
-Tue Jul 3 Carolina RailHawks v Atlanta Silverbacks
-Wed Jul 4 Tampa Bay Rowdies v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Minnesota Stars v Puerto Rico Islanders
San Antonio Scorpions v FC Edmonton
-Sat Jul 7 Carolina RailHawks v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Puerto Rico Islanders v FC Edmonton
Minnesota Stars v Atlanta Silverbacks

Watch online

Standings
25 San Antonio (+9)
24 Puerto Rico (+11)
21 Tampa Bay (0)
20 Minnesota (0)
19 Fort Lauderdale (-2)
17 Carolina (+1)
12 Edmonton (-3)
8 Atlanta (-16)

USA U17 TEAM

The Copa Saprissa Internacional tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica.

After losing to Mexico in the last game of the group stage, the USA won their Semifinal game and got a rematch with the big rivals in the Final. Unfortunately the results were not much different going down 3-1 to Mexico.

Matches and Scores:
-Sat Jun 23
USA 3-0 Linafa(Costa Rica) - USA goals by Elijan Martin, Chris Lema + Rolando Munoz.
-Sun Jun 24
USA 1-1 Honduras - USA goal by Corey Baird.
-Mon Jun 25
USA 3-2 Costa Rica - USA goals by Rubio Rubin, John Requejo Jr. + Rolando Munoz.
USA 6-1 Chorrillo FC(Panama) - USA goals by Bradford Jamieson, Tyler Turner, Wesley Wade, Alan Winn, Ahinga Selemani + Rolando Munoz.
-Wed Jun 27
USA 0-3 Mexico

Semifinals
-Fri Jun 29
USA 1-1 Universidad Catolica(Chile) - games ends tied and USA wins 4-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout - USA goal by Wesley Wade.

Finals
-Sun Jul 1
USA 1-3 Mexico - USA goal by Rubio Rubin.

Roster
G:
Paul Christensen - Seattle Sounders Academy
Evan Louro - New York Red Bulls Academy
D:
Adonis Amaya - Chivas USA Academy
Jordan Cano - FC Dallas Academy
Conor Donovan - NC Alliance
Elijah Martin - Cal Odyssey
Jorge Miranda - Real So Cal
Shaquell Moore - Cobb FC
Kevin Politz - New York Red Bulls Academy
John Requejo Jr - Real So Cal
Gonzalo Rolon - Central California Blues
Tyler Turner - South Central Premier
M:
Junior Flores - McLean Youth Soccer
Angel Heredia - San Jose Earthquakes Academy
Christopher Lema - New York Red Bulls Academy
Cameron Lindley - Indiana United Academy
Aaron Meyer - FC Dallas Academy
Rolando Munoz - LA Galaxy Academy
Rubio Rubin - Westside Metros
Alan Winn - Solar Chelsea SC
F:
Corey Baird - San Diego Surf
Bradford Jamieson - Chivas USA Academy
Ahinga Selemani - CSA Wolves
Wesley Wade - New York Red Bulls Academy

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - started but got 2 yellow cards and was ejected in the 90th min as they lost 4-3 at Lahti.
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - played the entire game and won 1-0 v Jaro.

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Justin Moose - SJK - came on as a sub in the 39th min as they won 3-1 v Viikingit.
Pat Phelan - SJK - went the full 90 and won 3-1 v Viikingit.
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - played the whole match and tied 1-1 at Hameenlinna.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - on the bench as they lost 1-2 at Brann.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - went the distance but lost 4-0 at Stromsgodset.
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - went the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Brann.
Josh Gatt - Molde - came into the game as a halftime sub and won 3-1 v Odd Grenland.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - came on as a sub in the 56th min but lost 4-0 at Stromsgodset.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Rhett Bernstein - Mjondalen - played the whole game as they tied 2-2 at Strommen.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - started but came off at half time and tied 2-2 at Strommen.
Sebastian Troupe - Baerum - played the whole match losing 6-2 at Kongsvinger.
SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - played the whole match but lost 2-0 at Osters. Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - played the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Trelleborgs.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - went the full 90 as they drew 1-1 v Falkenberg.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - went the distance as they won 3-2 v Varberg.
Billy Schuler - Hammarby - came on as a sub in the 84th min as they tied 1-1 at Jonkopings Sodra.

dN

Coming Up:

UEFA - Europa League - First Qualifying Round
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - Jul 5 v Llanelli
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - Jul 5 at JJK
Ricardo Clark - Stabaek - Jul 5 at JJK
Sean Cunningham - Stabaek - Jul 5 at JJK
Giuseppe Funicello - Thor Akureyri - Jul 5 at Bohemians
Jann George - Senica - Jul 5 at MTK Budapest

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Justin Moose - SJK - Wed Jul 4 at PK-35 Vantaa
Pat Phelan - SJK - Wed Jul 4 at PK-35 Vantaa
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - Wed Jul 4 v RoPS

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Brian Span - Djurgarden - Tue Jul 3 v Goteborg

FRANCE

Paris St Germain continues to spend money on players like its tap water, this time signing 27 year old Argentine midfielder Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli.

ITALY

Despite all the rumors of centerback Thiago Silva leaving Milan the team announced today that the player has signed a new 5 year contract.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Final

Matches + Scores:
2nd Leg
-Wed Jul 4
Corinthians v Boca Juniors (1-1)

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2013 QUALIFYING

Matches + Scores:

2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Fri Jun 29
Central African Republic 1-1 Egypt - CAR advances 4-3 on aggregate.

The 30 remaining teams will be paired up for a home and away series to determine the 15 teams who will join host South Africa in the Jan 2013 tournament.
-The draw will be held on Thu Jul 5.