Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Some Soccer News for Wed Aug 15, 2012

STARTERS

The du Nord Futbol Show Podcast Ep. 7 is ready - download or listen here.

dN

According to my onscreen guide for Directv I now have BeIn, the new Al Jazeera sports network, on channel 620. That used to be the channel of GolTv which has now been moved to 627! Wow. Should I be yelling Allahu Akbar or something like that?!?!

dN

Can you believe that the Puerto Rican national team is hosting Spain today?

dN

Arsenal fans must be pulling the hair out of their heads - Arsenal sells Robin Van Persie to Manchester United!
-Van Persie and Wayne Rooney scored 57 goals between them in the Premier League last season. They were the top 2 goal scorers in the league.

dN

Plenty of international friendlies to track today, see all the scores at the end of today's post.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

Stadium Journey gives a rave review from their trip to a Stars game! Right on!

Matches + Scores:
-Sat Aug 18
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Venue: Atlanta Silverbacks Park - Atlanta GA

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEK

Two good ones on Sat starting with the teams tied for 3rd in the West Seattle Sounders FC v Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and then a chance to see if this playoff contender is for real against the best in the league - Montreal Impact v San Jose Earthquakes.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Aug 14, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Friendly In Mexico

One of the biggest mistakes that I think national team coaches make is when they think they are smarter than club team coaches and put players in position that they don't normally play in. This serves to get the best out of no one. We are hearing rumblings tonight of Edu at centerback and Orozco at right fullback. That to me is two mistakes instead of one. If you MUST make these horrible changes why not leave Orozco in his regular position where he can commit 100% and put Edu at right full back. Instead we get two guys giving less than there all.

Jack Bell of the New York Times on Mexico's rebuilt edge in the rivalry.

Andrew Lewellen of the NY Times on Mexico's fabled Estadio Azteca.

US Soccer with more videos:
-USA training in Mexico.
-Coach and players press conference.
-Current and former players talk about Azteca.
-Interview with Herculez Gomez.

Jimmy Conrad of Kick TV takes us on a video tour of Estadio Azteca.
-I have been on a tour of Azteca and it is an AWESOME place.

Conrad also does a video interview with Landon Donovan.

ESPN's excellent stats department give us some insight into tonight's game.

Several articles from MLSsoccer.com:
-Chris Boehm feels that Klinsmann might be pulling a fast one on Mexico. Who knows, he may be right.
-Greg Lalas talks to Chris Wondolowski about the Mexican defense.
-Lalas talks to Tim Howard who downplays the gap between the two teams.
-Tom Marshall has quotes from Klinsmann after training in Mexico.
-Marshall also writes about Michael Orozco.
-Marshall then previews this game for Mexico.
-Full match preview.

dN

Match + Scores:
-Wed Aug 15
Mexico v USA - 7:00pm CT on ESPN2.
Venue: Estadio Azteca

dN

USA Roster.
G:
Tim Howard - Everton
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Matt Besler - Sporting Kansas City
Steven Beithashour - San Jose Earthquakes
Geoff Cameron - Stoke City
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana
Michael Orozco - San Luis
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
M:
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Maurice Edu - Rangers
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jose Torres - Pachuca
Brek Shea - Dallas
Danny Williams - Hoffenheim
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Terrence Boyd - Rapid Vienna
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna
Alan Gordon - San Jose Earthquakes
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Mexico roster.
G:
Memo Ochoa - Ajaccio
Alredo Talavera - Toluca
D:
Adrian Aldrete - America
Hugo Ayala - Tigres
Severo Meza - Monterrey
Hector Moreno - Espanyol
Jorge Nilo - Tigres
Enrique Perez - Morelia
Francisco Rodriguez - Stuttgart
M:
Pablo Barrera - Cruz Azul
Andres Guardado - Valencia
Edgar Lugo - Santos Laguna
Angel Reyna - Monterrey
Manuel Viniegrea - Tigres
Jesus Zavala - Monterrey
F:
Elias Hernandez - Tigres
Javier Hernandez - Manchester United
Aldo de Nigris - Monterrey

PRICELESS

Franco Panizo of Soccer By Ives with a feature story on Terrence Boyd as he launches his pro career at Rapid Vienna.

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com talks to Jozy Altidore about the great start to his new season at AZ and the future for club and country.

BUMMER OF THE DAY

ESPN has announced their new platform for soccer coverage - ESPN FC - featuring Steve Nicol, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Gabriele Marcotti. In other words, England, England, England and more England. Enjoy.

GUARDIAN 2012-13 ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON PREVIEWS

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle
Norwich
Queens Park Rangers
Reading
Southampton
Stoke
Sunderland
Swansea

DO YOU REALIZE

The first issue of the soccer magazine XI is nearly here and today they give us a preview of what to expect.

STAT OF THE DAY

Football Italia writes that Milan is in deep trouble with season ticket buyers as less than 20,000 have been sold. The previous low was 28,000.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Roger Bennett of ESPN writes about the up down turn around that is Carlos Tevez.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The brand new home of Lille OSC will open this weekend, and it looks spectacular - Grand Stade Lille Metropole.
-This picture shows it nearing completion back in May:
















Oddly, they have a quote from Michael Jordan on the walls of the locker room:
















More images via this video tour.

MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

WEEK 24

Matches + Scores:
-Wed Aug 15
Columbus Crew v LA Galaxy - 6:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: Crew Stadium
Toronto FC v Portland Timbers - 6:30PM CT
Venue: BMO Field
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Dallas - 9:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
-Sat Aug 18
Seattle Sounders FC v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 3:00PM CT
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Toronto FC v Sporting Kansas City - 3:30PM CT
Venue: BMO Field
Montreal Impact v San Jose Earthquakes - 6:30PM CT
Venue: Saputo Stadium
Chicago Fire SC v New England Revolution - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Toyota Park
Colorado Rapids v CD Chivas USA - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Real Salt Lake v FC Dallas - 8:00PM CT
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
-Sun Aug 19
DC United v Philadelphia Union - 4:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: RFK Stadium
New York Red Bulls v Portland Timbers - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Houston Dynamo v Columbus Crew - 8:00PM CT
Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
43 Sporting Kansas City (30)
41 New York Red Bulls (40)
40 Houston Dynamo (35)
38 Chicago Fire SC (28)
36 DC United (36)
-----
33 Montreal Impact (36)
28 Columbus Crew (20)
23 New England Revolution (26)
23 Philadelphia Union (23)
19 Toronto FC (25)
WEST
47 San Jose Earthquakes (47)
42 Real Salt Lake (36)
37 Seattle Sounders FC (32)
37 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (28)
36 LA Galaxy (43)
-----
26 FC Dallas (29)
26 CD Chivas USA (14)
25 Colorado Rapids (31)
20 Portland Timbers (20)

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch previews the Crew games against LA tonight.
-Jardy has more from current Crewer and former Galaxian Chris Birchall.

dN

New designated player signing Federico Higuain has received his work visa and is on his way to Columbus. Introductory press conference is scheduled for Thursday morning.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Nick Sabetti of Sportsnet feels that new goalkeeper Troy Perkins had a good debut last weekend.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Kip Kesgard of the Oregonian wonders if the bloom isn't coming off the rose.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Shea Salinas has suffered his second injury of the season, this time a hamstring strain that could keep him out for a month.
-His first was the badly broken collar bone at the hands of Psycho Marquez.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Reports from Leeds are that Robbie Rogers is on the transfer list.

dN

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com with an update on thigh injuries to both Jonathan Spector and Will Packwood at Birmingham.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - League Cup 1st Round
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Aug 14 - on the bench as they tied 5-5 they lost 6-7 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
Mike Grella - Scunthorpe - Tue Aug 14 - went the distance scoring a goal and getting a yellow card as they tied 5-5 and then won 6-7 in a Penalty Kick Shootout.
Will Packwood - Birmingham - started but was subbed off injured in the 75th min as they won 5-1 v Barnet.
Frank Simek - Carlisle - Sat Aug 11 - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Accrington Stanley.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

COPA MEXICO - Group Stage Matchday 3
Ventura Alvarado - America - Tue Aug 14 - went the distance but lost 4-3 at Correcaminos.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - Tue Aug 14 - went the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Celaya.
Alejandro Guido - Tijuana - Tue Aug 14 - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Celaya.
Stevie Rodriguez - Tijuana - Tue Aug 14 - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Celaya.

CONCACAF

CONCACAF International Friendlies
Matches + Scores:
-Wed Aug 15
Mexico v USA
Puerto Rico v Spain
Costa Rica v Peru
El Salvador v Jamaica
Portugal v Panama
Paraguay v Guatemala

COPA MEXICO

Matchday 3 is finished with 2 top division teams losing to 2nd division teams, which has become the theme of this tournament so far.

dN

Group Stage

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

dN

Matchday 3
Matches + Scores:
-Tue Aug 14
Celaya 2-1 Tijuana
Correcaminos 4-3 America

Matchday 4 will be played on Aug 21 + 22.

EUROPE

The finalists for the 2011-12 UEFA Best Player in Europe award are Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
-The winner will be announced on Aug 30.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The Play-Off Round is coming Tue Aug 21 + Wed Aug 22 and Tue Aug 28 + Wed Aug 29.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

The Play-Off Round is coming Wed Aug 22 + Thu Aug 23 and Tue Aug 28 + Thu Aug 30.

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

International Friendlies
Matches + Scores:
-Wed Aug 15
Puerto Rico v Spain
Germany 1-3 Argentina
England 2-1 Italy
France 0-0 Uruguay
Portugal v Panama
Belgium 4-2 Netherlands
Denmark 1-2 Slovakia
Russia 1-1 Cote d'Ivoire
Norway 2-3 Greece
Sweden 0-3 Brazil
Japan 1-1 Venezuela
Scotland 3-1 Australia
Hungary 1-1 Israel
S Korea 2-1 Zambia
Austria 2-0 Turkey
Oman 1-1 Egypt
Serbia 0-0 Ireland

7 Comments:

Anonymous Kenobi said...

Puerto Rico has a national team?

4:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Big bowl of crow headed your way, Brucio.

10:00 PM  
Anonymous Rich said...

Ok, my mind was blown this evening, and I now feel the need to follow Juergen Klinsmann implicitly!

10:01 PM  
Blogger Mikey B said...

I like my crow with hot sauce and corn bread. I take back everything I said about Klinsi and the team selection. Castillo played very well and fricking Orozco (Orozco?!?!?!) scored! My bad Klinsi.

7:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

but, but so many players were played out of position ...and, and Klinsman thinks he's smarter then a club coach and, and ... those changes were "HORRIBLE"... klinsman is a fool!!!

perhaps bloggers who think they are smarter than national team coaches will chill a bit on klinsi, give the man some time?

2:50 PM  
Blogger brucio said...

nothing from last night changed my mind on a single thing i wrote or said before the game.

3:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, you shouldn't be yelling, "Allahu Akbar!"

Allah is not the greatest---he doesn't even exist.

10:18 PM  

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