Some Soccer News for Tue Jul 31, 2012

STARTERS

Clint Dempsey is NOT with Fulham for upcoming preseason friendlies in Switzerland this week. And there is no other word on a possible transfer.

dN

CONCAChampions returns tonight!

dN
 
The USA women dominated their group at the Olympics! See full details below.

dN

Heather O'Rielly = Frankie Hejduk.
-Amazing spirit, 100% effort for 90 minutes, end to end burner, not so hot with the soccer touch, but the occasional moment of brilliance.

dN

On Sunday night NBC Sports Network will show a feature on San Jose star striker Chris Wondolowski. They spend 36 hrs with Wondo in the lead up to the All Star game. This could be pretty cool.
-Airs Sun Aug 5 at 8:30pm CT on NBCSN.

dN

Kicking + Screening London 2012 announced for Sep 28 to Oct 4. Oh yeah.

STORY OF THE DAY

Roger Bennett of ESPN with an article on Manchester City's master plan, and is there a place for American players.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Jul 31, 2012 - The Fall - new music mix at Spotify.

USA WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS

The USA with a solid, although not overwhelming, win in the 3rd and final group stage game.

They finish with an impressive 9 points.

The next opponent, in the Quarterfinals, is New Zealand on Fri Aug 3.
-The winner of that game faces the winner of Great Britain v Canada.
-Very interesting that one whole side of the knock out bracket speaks English!

dN

Group Stage
Matches + Scores:
-Wed Jul 25
USA 4-2 France - USA goals by Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan(2) + Carli Lloyd. Fra goals by Gaetane Thiney + Marie-Laure Delie.
-Sat Jul 28
USA v Colombia - USA goals by Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach + Carli Lloyd.
-Tue Jul 31
USA 1-0 N Korea - USA goal by Abby Wambach.

dN

Roster
G
Hope Solo
Nicole Barnhart
D
Rachel Buehler
Amy LePeilbet
Heather Mitts
Kelley O'Hara
Christie Rampone
Becky Sauerbrunn
M
Shannon Boxx
Heather O'Reilly
Carli Lloyd
Lauren Cheney
Megan Rapinoe
Tobin Heath
F
Sydney Leroux
Alex Morgan
Amy Rodriguez
Abby Wambach

MENS OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT

Groups

GROUP A
4 Senegal (+2)
4 Great Britain (+2)
3 Uruguay (-1)
0 UAE (-3)
GROUP B
4 Mexico (+2)
4 N Korea (+1)
1 Switzerland (-1)
1 Gabon (-2)
GROUP C
ADV-6 Brazil (+3)
3 Belarus (-1)
1 Egypt (-1)
1 New Zealand (-1)
GROUP D
ADV-6 Japan (+2)
4 Honduras (0)
1 Morocco (0)
0 Spain (-2)

dN

Matches + Scores:

GROUP STAGE
Matchday 3
-Wed Aug 1
Brazil v New Zealand - 8:30am CT on NBCSN - GROUP C
Mexico v Switzerland - 11:00am CT on NBCSN - GROUP B
Spain v Morocco - 11:00am CT on MSNBC - GROUP D
Great Britain v Uruguay - 1:45pm CT on NBCSN - GROUP A
Senegal v UAE - 2:50pm CT in progress on MSNBC - GROUP A
N Korea v Gabon - GROUP B
Egypt v Belarus - GROUP C
Japan v Honduras - GROUP D

2012-13 CONCACACHAMPIONS

The Group Stage starts tonight.

dN

Group 1
Santos Laguna
Toronto
Aguila (Salv)
Group 2
Real Salt Lake
Herediano (CR)
Tauro (Pan)
Group 3
Houston Dynamo
Olimpia (Hond)
FAS (Salv)
Group 4
Seattle Sounders
Marathon (Hond)
Caledonian AIA (T+T)
Group 5
LA Galaxy
Isidro Metapan (Salv)
Puerto Rico Islanders (PR)
Group 6
Tigres
Alajuelense (CR)
Real Esteli (Nica)
Group 7
Monterrey
Municipal (Guat)
Chorrillo (Pan)
Group 8
Guadalajara
Xelaju (Guat)
W Connection (T+T)

dN

Matches + Scores:
-Tue Jul 31
Monterrey v Chorrillo - 7:00PM CT
Herediano v Real Salt Lake - 9:00PM CT on Fox Soccer
-Wed Aug 1
Toronto v Aguila - 7:00PM CT on Fox Soccer
Tigres UANL v Real Esteli - 9:00PM CT
Metapan v Puerto Rico Islanders - 9:00PM CT
-Thu Aug 2
W Connection v Xelaju - 7:00PM CT
Olimpia v FAS - 9:00PM CT
Seattle Sounders v Caledonia - 9:00PM CT on Fox Soccer

All games are shown on the internet at CONCACAF TV.

BUMMER OF THE DAY

Toronto signed a goalkeeper from the 4th division in England today. Are you telling me that there aren't enough great keepers around the lower divisions of Canada and the USA that deserve a shot on an MLS roster before this guy?

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Dave Martinez of Soccer By Ives writes that Thierry Henry has warned Tim Cahill about the problems a player can encounter when trying to jump right in to the MLS fire.
-Henry sounds like he regrets not taking his time preparing fully before debuting in New York, and mentions that Alessandro Nesta made the right move by taking his time in Montreal.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Holy Moly! A report on LigaBBVA World of the brand new Ferrari of Ever Bangega of Valencia starting on fire as the drove to training on Monday. There is nothing left of it.

MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

WEEK 22

Matches + Scores:
-Fri Aug 3
Houston Dynamo v New York Red Bulls - 7:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium
-Sat Aug 4
DC United v Columbus Crew - 6:30PM CT
Venue: RFK Stadium
New England Revolution v Sporting Kansas City - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Montreal Impact v Philadelphia Union - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Saputo Stadium
Chicago Fire SC v Toronto FC - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Colorado Rapids v Real Salt Lake - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
-Sun Aug 5
Portland Timbers v FC Dallas - 6:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
Seattle Sounders FC v LA Galaxy - 8:00PM CT on ESPN2
Venue: CenturyLink Field

3 teams have a buy this week: San Jose Earthquakes, Vancouver Whitecaps FC + CD Chivas USA.

MLS MATCH NOTES

Leading Goal Scorers:
(As of Tue Jul 31)
17 Chris Wondolowski
13 Kenny Cooper
13 Alvaro Saborio
11 Thierry Henry
10 Will Bruin
9 Landon Donovan
9 Alan Gordon
9 Eddie Johnson
9 Robbie Keane
9 Danny Koevermans
9 Chris Pontius
9 Saer Sene

Leading Assist Makers:
(As of Tue Jul 31)
10 Brad Davis
10 Dwayne DeRosario
9 David Beckham
9 Marvin Chavez
9 Graham Zusi
8 Felipe Martins
7 Landon Donovan
7 Mauro Rosales

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
38 New York Red Bulls (+6)
37 Houston Dynamo (+8)
37 Sporting Kansas City (+6)
33 DC United (+7)
32 Chicago Fire SC (0)
-----
28 Columbus Crew (0)
27 Montreal Impact (-10)
23 Philadelphia Union (0)
23 New England Revolution (-1)
19 Toronto FC (-14)
WEST
44 San Jose Earthquakes (+17)
42 Real Salt Lake (+8)
34 Seattle Sounders FC (+5)
34 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-2)
33 LA Galaxy (+4)
-----
26 CD Chivas USA (-7)
22 Colorado Rapids (-4)
22 FC Dallas (-6)
19 Portland Timbers (-17)

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

New York has signed 25 year old centerback Babajide Ogunbiyi from Viborg in Denmark. He played college soccer at Santa Clara.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Daily Pilot of Costa Mesa writes about their favorite son, new Rapids defender Tyson Wahl.

COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew's new striker Federico Higuain is the older brother of Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuan.

dN

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch introduces us to the Crew's top academy prospect.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Seattle just waiting for a work visa to arrive for Christian Tiffert.

dN

Brian Westfall of the Sports Network talks to a self proclaimed "mature" Eddie Johnson.
-Is that different from being a Grown Ass Man?

dN

Seattle is also set to sign former prodigy Mario Martinez of Honduras. He has been under contract at Real Espana for the past 6 years, but bounced around a bunch on loan deals to little success.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russell Berrisford of the Sun looks at the Caps playoff prospects with 11 regular season games to go.
-They are currently in 4th place, tied on points with 3rd place Seattle Sounders, and 1 point ahead of 5th place LA Galaxy. They trail both those teams in goal differential by a decent margin.

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

Matches + Scores:
-Tue Jul 31
New York Red Bulls v Tottenham(England)
Venue: Red Bull Arena - Harrison NJ
San Jose Earthquakes v Swansea(England)
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium – Santa Clara CA

-Wed Aug 1
Sporting Kansas City v Stoke City(England)
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park

-Thu Aug 2
LA Galaxy v Real Madrid(Spain)
Venue: Home Depot Center - Carson CA

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

MLS EXPANSION

The Sentinel of Strattforshire talks to Orlando City ownder Phil Rawlins about his long term plan of taking his USL Pro team to MLS.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Coming Up:

UEFA Champions League - Third Qualifying Round - 1st Leg
Josh Gatt - Molde - Wed Aug 1 v Basel
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Kiryat Shmona - Wed Aug 1 v Neftci
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Wed Aug 1 v Ekranas

UEFA Europa League - 3rd Qualifying Round - 1st Leg
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - Thu Aug 2 v Bursaspor
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Thu Aug 2 at St Patrick's
Terrence Boyd - Rapid Wien - Thu Aug 2 at Vojvodina

COPA MEXICO

Group Stage

Group 1
3 Dorados
1 Est Tecos
1 Morelia
0 Leon
Group 2
3 Altamira
3 Cruz Azul
0 Atlas
0 Toros Nexa
Group 3
3 Univ Guadalajara
1 Atlante
1 La Piedad
0 Pachuca
Group 4
3 Chiapas Jaguares
3 San Luis
0 Pumas Morelos
0 Necaxa
Group 5
3 Correcaminos UAT
3 Veracruz
0 America
0 Queretaro
Group 6
1 Merida
1 Tijuana
1 Celaya
1 Pumas UNAM
Group 7
3 Lobos BUAP
3 Irapuato
0 Puebla
0 Toluca

dN

Matchday 2
Matches + Scores:
-Tue Jul 31
Leon v Dorados
Necaxa v Jaguares
Merida v Tijuana
Correcaminos v Queretaro
Est Tecos v Morelia
Atlas v Altamira
San Luis v Pumas Morelos
Pumas UNAM v Celaya
Lobos BUAP v Toluca
-Wed Aug 1
Toros Neza v Cruz Azul
Pachuca v Univ Guadalajara
Puebla v Irapuato
-Thu Aug 2
La Piedad v Atlante
America v Veracruz