Some Soccer News for Fri Aug 10, 2012

STARTERS

The du Nord Futbol Show Episode 6 has been posted! Its a wild road trip edition where we record on the fly as we go to the US Open Cup Final in Kansas City and stop on the way home to watch the USA Women win Gold! We had a blast recording this long episode.

dN

Huge thanks goes out to Joe the Curmudgeon for posting for us here at du Nord on Wednesday!

dN

Geoff Cameron won his appeal for an English work permit and is now an official member of Stoke City.

dN

This weekends Columbus V Toronto match has been postponed for the funeral of Crew player Kirk Urso who tragically died last Sunday morning.
-Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch with the details.

STORY OF THE DAY

Marco Di Vaio has been cleared of all match fixing charges in Italy and is back in Montreal with the Impact.

However, former Sienna and current Juventus head coach Antonio Conte was not so lucky. He was given a 10 month ban for knowing about a fix and saying nothing to authorities. Oof.
-It is a half-assed suspension though as the will be able to train the team constantly and travel with them to games, just not coach them during the games via any communication with the bench.
-Here is the report from Football Italia.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

The Stars need to get the season back on track with a good old fashioned disemboweling of the Scorps!

Matches + Scores:
-Sat Aug 11
Minnesota Stars v San Antonio Scorpions
Venue: National Sports Center Stadium - Blaine MN
-Sat Aug 18
Atlanta Silverbacks v Minnesota Stars
Venue: Atlanta Silverbacks Park - Atlanta GA

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEK

Five big matches await us!

Friday: New York Red Bulls v Houston Dynamo Saturday: Vancouver Whitecaps FC V Real Salt Lake Saturday: Sporting Kansas City V DC United Saturday: San Jose Earthquakes V Seattle Sounders FC Sunday: CD Chivas USA v LA Galaxy

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Aug 7, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Friendly

John Godfrey of the New York Times with Part 2 - and - Part 3 of his Mexico v USA preview.

dN

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

dN

Mexico has named their roster for this game. The USA will do the same on Sun Aug 12.
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

USA WOMEN AT THE OLYMPICS

The USA won a dramatic victory in the Goal Medal game over Japan. Scoring early and then getting outplayed for most of the game they scored a second, then allowed Japan to pull one back before clamping the game shut in the final minutes to win their third straight Olympic tournament. Huge congrats to them.

Match report from US Soccer.
-Post game analysis by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.

I have to say, the Japanese are amazingly composed in handling both defeat and high controversy. That is very admirable.

Brian Phillips of Grantland sees this USA team as insanely chaotic.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated on the 4th gold medal.

4.35 million people watched the game which set a new record for the most most watched program in NBCSN history.

dN

Final
Match + Score:
-Thu Aug 9
USA 2-1 Japan - USA goals both by Carli Lloyd. Jap goal by Yuki Ogimi.

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

Can Mexico do it? No.

Knockout Stage

FINAL
-Sat Aug 11
Mexico v Brazil - 9:00am CT on NBCSN

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

Final

Kansas City are the 2012 winners! Huge congrats to them.

dN

US Soccer gives us this match report.

The game ended in controversy when Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning was judged to have left his line too early in saving a Penalty Kick while replays showed that KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen did pretty much the same thing.
-MLSsoccer.com has a graphic that appears to show that this call was totally bogus.

We saw a couple of masterful Penalty Kicks taken in the end, but they were surrounded by some of the worst you will ever see that were taken by the biggest names on the field - Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi, Eddie Johnson and Osvaldo Alonso all had terrible PKs.

I was again let down by Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid's whining after losing the game. He spent 10-15 minute after the game screaming at the referees. Stop it. Great coaches don't do that crap. I fully understand being upset, but bitching isn't going to change anything after the fact.

dN

Matches and Scores:
-Wed Aug 8
Sporting Kansas City 1-1 Seattle Sounders FC - SKC wins 3-2 in Penalty Kick Shootout. KC goal by Kei Kamara(PK). SS goal by Zack Scott.
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park

GUARDIAN 2012-13 ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON PREVIEWS

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle
Norwich

THE LUNATICS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE ASYLUM

Sam Borden of the New York Times looks at what will happen to Scottish football without the full impact of the Celtic-Rangers rivalry.

FACT OF THE DAY

MLS has announced that regular season standings ties will not be broken first by goal differential this year, but rather by goals scored! Meaning offense is being rewarded over defense.
-Here is the full list of tie breakers:
Goals For
Goal Differential
Fewest Disciplines
Road Goals
Road Goal Differential
Home Goals
Home Goal Differential
Coin Toss (for 2 teams) OR Draw lots (for 3 or more teams)
Stare Down
Combat Ki Groin Strikes

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star describes the amazing transformation that soccer has taken on in that city since the Wizards became Sporting Kansas City and opened Livestrong Sporting Park. It blows my mind how huge the change is!

VIDEO OF THE DAY

IMSoccer News directs us to a surreal Eric Wynalda interview with Eric Wynalda.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Yup. Xabi Alonso kicks field goals!

MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

WEEK 23

Matches + Scores:
-Fri Aug 10
New York Red Bulls v Houston Dynamo - 7:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: Red Bull Arena
-Sat Aug 11
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v Real Salt Lake - 6:00PM CT
Venue: BC Place
POSTPONED - Columbus Crew v Toronto FC
Venue: Crew Stadium
Sporting Kansas City v DC United - 7:30PM CT
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park
FC Dallas v Colorado Rapids - 8:00PM CT
Venue: FC Dallas Stadium
San Jose Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders FC - 9:30PM CT
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
-Sun Aug 12
Philadelphia Union v Chicago Fire SC - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: PPL Park
New England Revolution v Montreal Impact - 6:00PM CT
Venue: Gillette Stadium
CD Chivas USA v LA Galaxy - 10:00PM CT on ESPN2
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Portland is off this week.

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
40 Houston Dynamo (+10)
40 Sporting Kansas City (+7)
38 New York Red Bulls (+4)
36 DC United (+8)
35 Chicago Fire SC (+1)
-----
30 Montreal Impact (-8)
28 Columbus Crew (-1)
23 Philadelphia Union (-2)
23 New England Revolution (-2)
19 Toronto FC (-15)
WEST
44 San Jose Earthquakes (+17)
42 Real Salt Lake (+7)
37 Seattle Sounders FC (+9)
34 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (-2)
33 LA Galaxy (0)
-----
26 CD Chivas USA (-7)
25 Colorado Rapids (-3)
23 FC Dallas (-6)
20 Portland Timbers (-17)

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

General News

Scott French at MLSsoccer.com talks to LA coach Bruce Arena who thinks that handing out a Supporters Shield trophy during a season with an unbalanced schedule is just plain "stupid."
-I could not agree more. The Supporters Shield is now a worthless trophy.

Punishment

Montreal's Nelson Rivas was given a 2 game suspension for an ugly headbutt on Philadelphia's Antoine Hoppenot.
-I thought he deserved several more games then that.

Player Transactions

New York has signed 28 yeard old free agent American goalkeeper Luis Robles who played last season in Germany at Karlsruher.

dN

DC has acquired fullback Mike Chabala from Portland for what appears to be nothing. Or maybe a can of Bumble Bee Tuna that was going to expire if not used soon, and no one in DC likes Tuna. Smart folks.
-I kiiiiiiiiiiid, I kiiiiiiiiiiiiid. DC sent a future draft pick, to Portland.

dN

Portland has signed 22 year old New Zealander fullback Ian Hogg from Auckland City.

CHICAGO FIRE

Mickey O'Rourke of Hot Time In Old Town does a Q + A with Chicago Fire president of soccer operations Javier Leon. This is Part 2.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Rapids hired for Dallas head coach Dave Dir as their new goalkeeper coach.

dN

Conor Casey will probably miss his second game in a row with a hamstring injury.

FC DALLAS

Steve Hunt of the Morning News sees FCD games as ugly foul fests, both from Dallas and their opponents.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Midfielder Ricardo Clark is OFFICIALLY a member of the Dynamo again. Welcome back Rico.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Brian Lewis of the Post has some damning quotes from Thierry Henry about the Red Bulls rotten defense, especially on the road.

dN

Lewis also writes about why the Bulls needed to sign another goalkeeper.
-NYRB is very worried about the hip injury of starter Ryan Meara.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

NBCSN will debut a documentary on Fredy Montero this Sunday. Here is a preview.

MLS SUMMER FRIENDLIES

Matches + Scores:
-Wed Aug 8
Milan(Italy) 1-5 Real Madrid(Spain)
Venue: Yankee Stadium - New York NY

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches + Scores:
-Wed Aug 8
Edmonton 1-1 San Antonio Scorpions
-Sat Aug 11
Fort Lauderdale Strikers v Carolina RailHawks
Tampa Bay Rowdies v Atlanta Silverbacks
Minnesota Stars v San Antonio Scorpions
-Sun Aug 12
Edmonton v Puerto Rico Islanders

Watch online

Standings
36 San Antonio (+17)
34 Puerto Rico (+7)
34 Tampa Bay (+5)
27 Minnesota (0)
27 Fort Lauderdale (-4)
25 Carolina (-5)
18 Edmonton (-5)
17 Atlanta (-15)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad reports on two new deals for Americans in Scandinavia:
-Alejandro Bedoya has left Rangers and signed with Helsingborg in Sweden.
-Michael Diskerud has signed with Rosenborg in Norway.

dN

Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna went into their Europa League game trailing by 1 goal, but he drew a penalty and then scored another goal as they advanced 3-2. He was the hero.

dN

Sacha Klestan had a goal and an assist midweek as Anderlecht advanced in the UEFA Champions League.
-When you have not been getting the playing time that you feel you deserve and you get your chance on the field that is how you react!

dN

The draw was made for the Champions League Play-Off Round:
Michael Diskeruud + Helsingborg - Tue Aug 21 v Celtic + Wed Aug 29 at Celtic
Bryan Gerzicich + Hapoel Kiryat Shmona - Wed Aug 22 at BATE Borislov + Tue Aug 27 v BATE Borislov
Sacha Kljestan + Anderlecht - Wed Aug 22 at AEL Limassol + Tue Aug 28 v AEL Limassol

dN

The draw was made for the Europa League Play-Off Round:
Jozy Altidore - Anzhi Makhachkala v AZ
Terrence Boyd - PAOK v Rapid Wien
Steve Cherundolo - Slask Wroclaw v Hannover

Michael Diskeruud - Legia Warszawa v Rosenborg
JOsh Gatt - Molde v Heerenveen
Oguchi Onyewu - AC Horsens v Sporting

dN

Game Action:

UEFA Champions League - Third Qualifying Round - 2nd Leg
Josh Gatt - Molde - Wed Aug 8 - still out injured as they tied 1-1 at Basel, and were eliminated 1-2 on aggregate.
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Kiryat Shmona - Wed Aug 8 - started and went 57 min as they tied 2-2 at Neftci, and advanced 6-2 on aggregate.
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Wed Aug 8 - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they won 0-6 at Ekranas, and advanced 11-0 on aggregate.

UEFA Europa League - 3rd Qualifying Round - 2nd Leg
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - Thu Aug 9 - played the whole match but lost 6-0 at Bursaspor, and were eliminated 1-6 on aggregate.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Thu Aug 9 - played the full game and won 2-0 v St Patrick's, advancing 5-0 on aggregate.
Terrence Boyd - Rapid Wien - Thu Aug 9 - went the distance getting a yellow card and the series winning goal as they won 2-0 v Vojvodina, and advanced 3-2 on aggregate.

MEXICO

LIGA MX - Apertura Round 4
Matches + Scores:
-Fri Aug 10
Jaguares v Atlante
Leon v Santos Laguna
-Sat Aug 11
America v Atlas
Pachuca v Tijuana
Tigres UANL v Queretaro
San Luis v Monterrey
-Sun Aug 12
Pumas UNAM v Toluca
Puebla v Cruz Azul
Guadalajara v Morelia

COPA MEXICO

Matchday 3 recap (with the final 2 games of the round being played next week.)

And not a single team has a perfect record.

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
4 Correcaminos UAT
4 Queretaro
3 Veracruz
3 America
Group 6
5 Pumas UNAM
4 Tijuana
2 Celaya
1 Merida
Group 7
6 Irapuato
4 Lobos BUAP
4 Toluca
3 Puebla

dN

Matchday 3
Matches + Scores:
-Tue Aug 7
Pumas Morelos 2-0 Jaguares
Leon 1-1 Estudiantes Tecos
Altamira 0-1 Cruz Azul
Atlante 1-0 Univ Guadlajara
San Luis 1-1 Necaxa
Puebla 2-0 Lobos BUAP
Dorados 3-2 Morelia
-Wed Aug 8
La Piedad 0-3 Pachuca
Veracruz 0-3 Queretaro
Irapuato 0-1 Toluca
Atlas 1-1 Toros Neza
Pumas UNAM 1-0 Merida


-Tue Aug 14
Celaya v Tijuana
Correcaminos v America

Matchday 4 will be played on Aug 21 + 22.

CANADA

Canada plays a friendly against Trinidad + Togabo next Wednesday, and here is their roster.
G:
Milan Borjan - Sivasspor
Lars Hirschfeld - Valerenga
D:
Andrew Hainault - Houston Dynamo
Doneil Henry - Toronto
Dejan Jakovic - DC United
Ante Jazic - Chivas USA
Marcel de Jong - Augsburg
M:
Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault - no club
Patrice Bernier - Montreal Impact
Terry Dunfield - Toronto
Julian de Guzman - Dallas
Evan James - Montreal Impact
Will Johnson - Real Salt Lake
Nik Ledgerwood - Hammarby
Pedro Pacheco - Santa Clara
Russell Teibert - Vancouver Whitecaps
F:
Lucas Cavallini - Club Nacionial
Tosaint Ricketts - no club

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of Sports Illustrated doesn't think Bayern Munich has come to terms with losing the Champions League final yet.
-And as usual their army has nearly as many 4 star generals all barking orders as they do healthy players.