Some Soccer News for Mon Sep 24, 2012

STARTERS

The Houston Dynamo announced over the weekend that the team would NOT be sold to Houston Rockets owner Les Alexander as local press reports has previously stated.
-It was announced late last week that parent company AEG (that owns 50% of the team) is itself for sale.

dN

Michael Bradley is back training with Roma is expected to be available for their Serie A game on Wednesday v Sampdoria.

dN

The Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid derby scheduled for Sunday was postponed until today after someone apparently cut the power lines to the stadium.
-RM won the game 0-2.

STORY OF THE DAY

Duncan Fletcher of Sports Net shows us why this version of Toronto FC (season six) is the worst one yet. Unbelievable.

MINNESOTA STARS FC

The regular season ends with Stars failing to win again. That makes it 1 win in the past 12 games. This is no way to begin the playoffs. But the playoffs are here none the less, and my team has to go on the road for a one game series in Puerto Rico next Saturday.

Matches + Scores:
-Sun Sep 23 San Antonio Scorpions 1-1 Minnesota Stars
Venue: Heroes Stadium

Playoffs:
Quarterfinals
-Sun Sep 30
Puerto Rico Islanders v Minnesota Stars - 5pm CT

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES COMING UP THIS WEEK

-Sat Sep 22
Schalke 0-2 Bayern Munchen
-Sun Sep 22
Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United
Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal

MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS OF THE WEEKEND IN EUROPES BIG LEAGUES

-Chelsea won 1-0 over Stoke and continue as #1 in England with 13 points from 5 games.

-Liverpool lost again are now winless in 5 games. The pressure mounts as one of the worlds most famous and winning teams gets off to one of their worst starts ever.

-Bayern Munich stayed perfect and wiped out contenders Schalke 0-2 on the road.

-Eintracht Frankfurt are now going away though - they won their 4 straight to start the season as well, 1-2 at Nurnberg. They host Dortmund on Tuesday.

-Dortmund lost for the first time this season - at Hamburg.

-The German Bundesliga plays a full round of games in the mid-week.

-Cagliari's home game against Roma was canceled by the league after the home team's brand new stadium failed to provide final inspections, leaving the league no choice but to announce the game would be played with no fans in attendance, but Cagliari defied that and sold tickets anyway! This caused the federation to call the game a forfeit and award Roma a 0-3 win.

-When was football in the city of Milan last this bad? Inter lost at home to last place Siena and Milan (15th place) got beat at Udinese.

-Juve won again staying perfect on the season and going to 43 league games in a row without a loss.

-Barcelona goes to 5-0-0. Their city rivals Espanyol are almost the complete opposite - 0 wins - 1 tie - 4 losses.

-Marseille stays perfect in France - 6-0-0.

-Last years shocking French champs Montpellier again faltered, this time a 1-1 tie with St Etienne, leaving them in 16th place with only 5 points in 6 games.

-Twente starts the Dutch season 6-0-0.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The USA World Cup qualifier in Kansas City against Guatemala on Tue Oct 16 is SOLD OUT!
-Oh hell yeah! See you all there!

CONCACAF

LE Eisenmenger of the Examiner writes that Sunil Gulati has been named Chairman of the Gold Cup committee.

CONCACHAMPIONS 2012-13

ADV:(1) Seattle

OUT:(9) Chorrillo, FAS, Puerto Rico, Aguila, Marathon, Tauro, W Connection, Real Esteli, Caledonia AIA

dN

Matches + Scores:
-Tue Sep 25
Monterrey v Municipal
Aguila v Toronto - 9pm on Fox Soccer
Herediano v Tauro
-Wed Sep 26
W Connection v Guadalajara
Marathon v Caledonia AIA
Alajuelense v Real Esteli
-Thu Sep 27
Puerto Rico Islanders v Isidro Metapan
FAS v Olimpia

All games are shown on the internet at CONCACAF TV.

dN

Standings:
Group 1
9 Santos Laguna(+11)
3 Toronto(+2)
OUT-0 Aguila(-13)
Group 2
6 Real Salt Lake(+2)
6 Herediano(+2)
OUT-0 Tauro(-4)
Group 3
7 Houston Dynamo(+6)
4 Olimpia(+3)
OUT-0 FAS(-5)
Group 4
ADV-9 Seattle Sounders(+5)
OUT-1 Marathon(-1)
OUT-1 Caledonia AIA(-4)
Group 5
7 LA Galaxy(+7)
3 Metapan(-1)
OUT-1 Puerto Rico Islanders(-6)
Group 6
5 Tigres UANL(+4)
4 Alajuelense(+1)
OUT-1 Real Esteli(-5)
Group 7
6 Monterrey(+6)
6 Municipal(+1)
OUT-0 Chorrillo(-7)
Group 8
7 Xelaju(+2)
3 Guadalajara(+3)
OUT-1 W Connection(-5)

ODD BUT 100% TRUE

Michael Parkhurst has teammates at Nordsjaelland named Beckerman and Adu!

FACT OF THE DAY

Brazilian prodigy Paulo Henrique Ganso turned down lost of Euros in August and on Friday left Santos to sign with huge rivals Sao Paulo!

OOF

Portland designated player Kris Boyd has suffered a groin muscle injury that some are saying will end his season, and implying that this may also be the end of him in Portland altogether.

VIDEO OF THE DAY 1

Brent Latham brings us the story of young American and former prodigy Vincenzo Bernardo who is currently trying his luck in the Guatemalan 2nd division at Guastatoya. Fascinating.

-Here is the shorter intro clip. (So watch this one first)
-Premier episode.

PODCAST OF THE DAY

I am over the moon to be able to tell you that I got to be a guest on one of my favorite, must-listen-to, weekly soccer radio shows - Soccer Today from ESPN Dallas - hosted by Steve Davis and Marc Stein. Download or listen here.

MLS MATCHES AND SCORES

WEEK 29

Matches + Scores:
-Wed Sep 19
New York Red Bulls 0-2 Sporting Kansas City - SKC goals by CJ Sapong + Kei Kamara
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Atten: 10,286
Columbus Crew 1-0 CD Chivas USA - CC goal by Justin Meram.
Venue: Crew Stadium
Atten: 13,874
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Portland Timbers - SJE goals both by Chris Wondolowski. PT goals both by Danny Mwanga.
Venue: Buck Shaw Stadium
Atten: 9,877
-Thu Sep 20
Philadelphia Union 0-1 DC United - DCU goal by Lionard Pajoy.
Venue: PPL Park
Atten: 16,024
-Sat Sep 22
Montreal Impact 0-0 Sporting Kansas City
Venue: Saputo Stadium
Atten: 20,521
New England Revolution 1-1 New York Red Bulls - NER goal by Darrius Barnes. NYRB goal by Joel Lindpere.
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Atten: 24,364
Real Salt Lake 2-1 Portland Timbers - RSL goals by Fabian Espindola + Javier Morales. PT goal by Bright Dike.
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Atten: 20,524
Chicago Fire FC 2-1 Columbus Crew - CF goals both by Chris Rolfe. CC goal by Jairo Arrieta.
Venue: Toyota Park
Atten:
Seattle Sounders FC 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes - SS goal by Steve Zakuani. SJE goals by Simon Dawkins + Chris Wondolowski.
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Atten: 38,948
LA Galaxy 4-2 Toronto FC - LAG goals by Juninho(2) + Robbie Keane(2). TFC goals by Terry Dunfield + Luis Silva.
Venue: The Home Depot Center
Atten: 27,000
-Sun Sep 23
Philadelphia Union 3-1 Houston Dynamo - PU goals by Freddy Adu(2, 1 via PK) + Josue Martinez. HD goal by Boniek Garcia.
Venue: PPL Park
Atten: 17,666
DC United 1-0 CD Chivas USA - DCU goal by Branko Baskovic.
Venue: RFK Stadium
Atten: 11,770
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2-2 Colorado Rapids - VW goals by Alain Rochat + Kenny Miller. CR goals by Omar Cummings + Jamie Smith.
Venue: BC Place
Atten: 18,992

Dallas had a buy this week.

MLS MATCH NOTES

EJECTIONS:
-Conor Lade - New York - 2 yellow cards

LA + RSL both clinched playoff spots.

San Jose is the first team this season to hit 60 points.

While New York and DC joined the 50 club.

MLS STANDINGS

In the East:
-Philadelphia moved up to 8th place over New England.

In the West:
-LA is now all the way up to #2 jumping over Seattle who falls from 2nd to 4th.
-And RSL moves up too, to 3rd.

EAST
55 Sporting Kansas City (37GF/30GP)
53 Chicago Fire SC (42GF/29GP)
50 DC United (47GF/30GP)
-----
50 New York Red Bulls (50GF/30GP)
46 Houston Dynamo (42GF/30GP)
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45 Columbus Crew (36GF/30GP)
40 Montreal Impact (44GF/31GP)
30 Philadelphia Union (29GF/28GP)
@29 New England Revolution (37GF/30P)
@22 Toronto FC (34GF/30GP)
WEST
*60 San Jose Earthquakes (62GF/30GP)
*49 LA Galaxy (54GF/30GP)
*49 Real Salt Lake (40GF/30GP)
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48 Seattle Sounders FC (45GF/29GP)
38 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (31GF/30GP)
-----
36 FC Dallas (35GF/30GP)
30 Colorado Rapids (38GF/30GP)
29 Portland Timbers (31GF/30GP)
28 CD Chivas USA (21GF/29GP)
-(Goals For/Games Played)

* clinched a playoff berth
@ eliminated from the playoff race

The first tie breaker is goals scored.

Top 5 in each conference make the playoffs.
Top 3 in each conference get a first round buy in the playoffs.

MLS SUPPORTERS SHIELD RACE

Here are the teams still in the chase for the regular season championship.
-Included is the maximum number of points each team can achieve in the games left to play.

60 San Jose - Max: 72
55 Kansas City - Max: 67
53 Chicago - Max: 68
50 DC - Max: 62
50 New York - Max: 62
49 LA - Max: 61
49 Salt Lake - Max: 61
48 Seattle - Max: 63

MLS TEAM AND PLAYER NEWS

General News

San Jose forward Chris Wondolowki has been named Player Of The Week.

dN

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with the Monday Morning Breakdown featuring: Theirry Henry getting away with one, KC is the best in the East, but here comes Chicago, San Jose cruises, Vancouver falls and more.

dN

Graham Parker and Joe Price Wright of the Guardian with 5 things we learned in Week 29.

dN

Tom Dart of Sports Illustrated with a recap of the weekend in MLS - SJE, Chicago, Red Bulls, LA and KC.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Lee Nguyen of New England is out for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury that will require surgery.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Martin MacMahon of Sports Net on the Whitecaps continued face plant.

dN

Marc Weber of the Province writes about the Caps strong looking building blocks for the future.

NASL SCOREBOARD

Matches + Scores:
-Sat Sep 22
Carolina RailHawks 0-0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 Atlanta Silverbacks
-Sun Sep 23
FC Edmonton 2-2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers
San Antonio Scorpions 1-1 Minnesota Stars
END OF REGULAR SEASON

Watch online

Standings
**47 San Antonio (+18)
**45 Tampa Bay (+7)
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*41 Puerto Rico (+2)
*40 Carolina (-2)
*36 Fort Lauderdale (-6)
*35 Minnesota (+1)
-----
30 Atlanta (-10)
25 Edmonton (-10)
*Clinched Playoff Berth
**Clinched 1st Round Buy

PLAYOFFS

Quarterfinals
Matches + Scores:
-Sat Sep 29
Carolina RailHawks v Fort Lauderdale Strikers
-Sun Sep 30
Puerto Rico Islanders v Minnesota Stars

FIFA U17 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

Being held in Azerbaijan.

The USA is in the tournament and here are there initial games:

They opened the tournament with a tie.

Group Stage
Matches & Scores: -Sat Sep 22
France 0-0 USA
-Tue Sep 25
USA v Gambia
-Sat Sep 29
USA v N Korea

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores: -Sat Sep 22
Azerbaijan 0-4 Colombia
Nigeria 1-1 Canada
France 0-0 USA
N Korea 11-0 Gambia
-Sun Sep 23
Mexico 1-0 New Zealand
Brazil 0-5 Japan
Uruguay 0-4 China
Ghana 1-2 Germany
-Tue Sep 25
Azerbaijan v Nigeria
Colombia v Canada
France v N Korea
USA v Gambia
-Wed Sep 26
Mexico v Brazil
New Zealand v Japan
Uruguay v Ghana
China v Germany
-Sat Sep 29
Canada v Azerbaijan
Colombia v Nigeria
Gambia v France
USA v N Korea
-Sun Sep 30
Japan v Mexico
New Zealand v Brazil
Germany v Uruguay
China v Ghana

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Both Fabian Johnson and Danny Williams scored goal for Hoffenheim in their first win of the season.
-US Soccer provided us with video of all the goals from the game.
-Unfortunately the one opposition abused most in this game is Steve Cherundolo.

dN

Conor O'Brien bagged a goal for SonderjyskE in Denmark.

dN

Clarence Goodson got a red card in second half stoppage time this weekend.

dN

Jamie Hill of Yanks Abroad talks to Chad Barrett about life in Norway at Valerenga.

dN

Game Action:

AUSTRIA - Bundesliga
Terrence Boyd - Rapid Vienna - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Ried.

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - came on as a sub in the 88th min as they won 2-3 at Zulte-Waregem.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - started and went 68 min but lost 0-1 v Tubize.

DENMARK - Superliga
Charlie Davies - Randers - on the bench as they tied 1-1 at Nordjaelland.
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - started but got a red card in second half stoppage time as they tied 1-1 at Midtjylland.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - went the distance scoring a goal as they tied 2-2 at Aarhus.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - started and played 82 min as they tied 1-1 v Randers.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Geoff Cameron - Stoke City - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Chelsea.
Clint Dempsey - Tottenham - started and played 88 min as they won 2-1 v Queens Park Rangers.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - went the full 90 and won 2-1 v Queens Park Rangers.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - went the distance but lost 4-1 at Southampton.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole game as they won 0-3 at Swansea.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - started and went 68 min getting a yellow card as they lost 4-1 at Southampton.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Seb Hines - Middlesbrough - came on as a sub in the 84th minas they won 1-2 at Blackburn.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - played the whole game but lost 0-5 v Barnsley.

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle - played the entire game as they won 1-2 at Coventry.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Daniel Antunez - Inter Turku - on the bench as they tied 0-0 at HJK.
Mike Banner - Jaro - played the whole game that ended 0-0 at Haka.
Etchu Tabe - KuPS - went the distance getting a yellow card as they won 2-0 v MYPA.

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Justin Moose - SJK - played the whole game but lost 2-3 v OPS.
Pat Phelan - SJK - played the whole game but lost 2-3 v OPS.
Aaron Wheeler - KooTeePee - came on as a sub in the 61st min getting a yellow card as they tied 2-2 at Oulu.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - started and went 70 min but lost 1-2 v Eintracht Frankfurt.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played the full match but lost 3-1 at Hoffenheim.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - went the distance scoring a goal as they won 3-1 v Hannover.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - started and played 78 min but lost 0-2 v Bayern.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - played the full match getting a yellow card and scoring a goal as they won 3-1 v Hannover.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Joe Gyau - St Pauli - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at FSV Frankfurt.
Andrew Wooten - Sandhausen - came on as a sub in the 55th min but lost 3-0 at Paderborn.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ - played the full match but lost 2-1 at NAC Breda.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - went the distance as they tied 1-1 v Fortuna Sittard.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Chad Barrett - Valerenga - on the bench as the lost 2-3 v Honefoss.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - went the full match and won 2-3 at Valerenga.
Mikkael Diskerud - Rosenborg - went the full 90 but lost 2-1 at Brann.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
Villyan Bijev - Start - came on as a sub in the 79th min as they won 2-1 v Hodd.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - played the full 90 and won 0-3 at Baerum.
Sebastian Troupe - Baerum - played the whole game but lost 0-3 v Mjondalen.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Tony Taylor - Estoril - on the bench as they won 3-1 v Maritimo.

SPAIN - Primera Division
Oguchi Onyewu - Malaga - on the bench as they tied 0-0 at Bilbao.

SPAIN - Segunda Division
Carlos Bocanegra - Racing Santander - went the distance as they won 0-1 at Mirandes.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Helsingborg - went the full 90 as they tied 1-1 v Malmo.
Brian Span - Djurgarden - came on as a sub in the 86th min but lost 0-3 v Hacken.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - went the distance but lost 1-0 v Brommapojkarna.
Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile - played the full match and won 2-0 v Umea.
Ryan Miller - Halmstad - played the whole game as they won 1-2 at Trelleborg.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Sonny Guadarrama had a very slim chance to score a goal for Merida for the 6th consecutive game as he got his first yellow card against Dorados in the 12th min, and 12 minutes later was sent packing with a second.

dN

Benji Joya made his professional debut for Santos just a few days after being named to the 18 in the CONCAChampions! Huge congrats to him.

dN

Game Action:

LIGA MX
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the whole game as they tied 1-1 v Leon.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - played the full game as they tied 1-1 v Atlas.
Joe Corona - Tijuana - started and went 69 min as they tied 1-1 v Atlas.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - came on as a sub in the 86th min of a scoreless game v Jaguares.
Benji Joya - Santos Laguna - came on as a sub in the 54th min as they tied 0-0 v Jaguares.
Michael Orozco - San Luis - came on as a sub in the 81st min and they won 1-0 v Pachuca.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - started and went 68 min as they lost 1-0 at San Luis.

ASCENSO MX
Isaac Acuna - Merida - came on as a sub in the 75th min but they lost 3-0 at Dorados.
Sonny Guadarrama - Merida - started but got his 2nd yellow card in the 24th min and was ejected as they lost 3-0 at Dorados.
Marco Vidal - Lobos BUAP - played the whole match and they won 2-0 v Altamira.

MEXICO

LIGA MX
Only 15 goals were scored this round and 6 of the 9 games ended in a tie.

Toluca resumes the #1 place, via goal differential.

dN

Apertura - Round 9 of 17
Matches + Scores:
-Fri Sep 21
Puebla 1-1 Leon
Morelia 1-1 Tigres UANL
-Sat Sep 22
Cruz Azul 1-1 America
Santos Laguna 0-0 Jaguares
Monterrey 3-2 Queretaro
San Luis 1-0 Pachuca
Tijuana 1-1 Atlas
-Sun Sep 23
Toluca 1-0 Atlante
Guadalajara 0-0 Pumas UNAM

COPA MX

The knockout stage begins on Tuesday.

QUARTERFINALS
Matches + Scores:
-Tue Sep 25
Dorados v San Luis
-Wed Sep 26
Toros Neza v Pachuca
Necaxa v Toluca
Correcaminos v Tijuana

ENGLAND

The Guardian with 10 talking points from the weekend in the Premier League.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on "sabatoge" in Madrid and the rest of the round in La Liga.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian writes about the weekends biggest winners Hamuburg and reviews the rest of the round in the Bundesliga.

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on the new San Siro Curse that is plagueing Inter and Milan, and a recap of the rest of the weekend in Serie A.