Some Soccer News for Oct 30, 2015

MLS Cup Playoffs

What a night! Again!

Montreal crushed Toronto in 40 dramatic opening minutes. Patrick Bernier & Ignacio Piatti in particular were outstanding in the attack.
-After the game I posted this on Twitter to a huge reaction:
Existential question: If @torontofc fails to show up for their first playoff game in history were they ever actually in the playoffs?
-Bernier was on his way out the door under coach Frank Klopas, not dressing for games, and even posting on Facebook that he was done with soccer. But then Klopas got fired, Mauro Biello took over, Didier Drogba arrived and the ramp up to this moment began for Bernier and the whole team, hell, the whole city.
-Giovinco, Bradley, Altidore - did they play on Thursday night? Cuz I never saw them on the field.
-After 9 years TFC has still done nothing to fix their defense. Nothing. Sure they keep signing defenders and goalkeepers, but that is not FIXING a problem, that, as Mike Martin of United Mania likes to say, is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Portland went the other direction from Montreal last night taking 3 hours to finally subdue Kansas City.
-After the game finished 2-2 in 120 minutes, the Penalty Kick Shootout saw 13 goals, 5 saves, 2 total misses and 3 hit posts, including the craziest shot I have ever seen in a PKS - Adbul Salaam had the chance to win it for SKC in the 9th round but his low hard shot hit the right post, then rolled straight across the goal line to hit the left post (YES BOTH POSTS!) and spun out, keeping the Timbers alive.
-Here is that crazy shot:

HOW!?? pic.twitter.com/pHHzHS04qr

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 30, 2015

-"Are you kidding me?"
-It took 2 great goals in Extra Added Time to get us to the PKS. Kristian Nemeth of KC thought he won it with this beauty, and then Max Urruti of Portland hit back with a sucker punch to tie it again.
-The drama finally concluded with PT keeper Adam Kwarasey stepping up make his shot, then turning right around and immediately saving the attempt from KC backup keeper Jon Kempin.
-Kempin was only in the game because starter Tim Melia had taken a foot to the head on a save and was eventually removed from the game after failing a concussion test.
-The sad part about the Melia incident is that the team doctor tried to remove the keeper right after the collision and appeared to be overruled by the bench. This should NEVER HAPPEN on a head injury. A several minutes later it was apparent to a reluctant Melia that he could not continue and took himself out of the game.
-Ooooooooooooooh, forget all that, lets just watch the whole stupid-fun Penalty Kick Shootout.

Knockout Round Schedule
Thu Oct 29
Montreal Impact 3-0 Toronto
-Match report by Stu Cowan of the Gazette.
-Match report by Kurt Larson of the Sun.
Portland Timbers 2-2 (7-6PKS) Sporting Kansas City
-Match report by Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian.
-Match report by Sam McDowell of the Star.

On to the next round!

Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Schedule
Sun Nov 1
DC United v New York Red Bulls - 2pm CT on ESPN
Portland Timbers v Vancouver Whitecaps - 4pm CT on ESPN + TSN
Montreal Impact v Columbus Crew - 6pm CT on FS1 + TSN
Seattle Sounders v Dallas - 8:30pm CT on FS1 + TSN
-2nd Leg matches will be played on Sun Nov 8

dN

Jermaine Jones on Instagram. What does it mean?

I am so thankful what has happened in one and a half years with the club, the teammates & fans, the city of Boston! I appreciate the love from everybody! I'm going home now and finally enjoying my family! Very excited to see what will be the next step in our life!

A photo posted by Jermaine Jones (@jermainejunior) on Oct 30, 2015 at 8:58am PDT

dN

DC centerback Bobby Boswell has been suspended for the MLS Quaterfinal 1st Leg on Sunday after a foul he committed on Juan Agudelo of New England was deemed excessive.
-This has not been officially announced by the team or league, but Boswell himself told the press today, and there could be more suspension coming from the committee.

dN

The head of the Brazilian World Cup committee Jose Maria Marin has agreed to extradition to the United States to face bribery charges.

dN

Matt Fondy of Louisville City who scored 22 goals this season has been named USL Most Valuable Player.

dN

NASL

Its official - Carolina RailHawks have a new owner. Fantastic!

Last weekend of the regular season with plenty still to achieve for 4 teams:
-2 teams battle for #1 playoff seed
55 Ottawa Fury (+19 gd)
Sat Oct 31 at AS
53 New York Cosmos (+17 gd)
Sat Oct 31 v TBR
-2 teams battle for the 4th and final playoff seed
39 Tampa Bay Rowdies (-2 gd)
Sat 10/31 at NYC
38 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+8 gd)
Sun 11/01 at JA


Dont forget:
Dark Clouds End of the Year Charity Auction and Awards Ceremony! November 16th!
-Everyone is welcome. Not just Dark Clouds members.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 29, 2015

MLS Cup Playoffs

Both of last years finalists are OUT. LA and New England both went on the road and down to defeat.

Seattle and DC used great 2nd half performances to win their home games and advance.
-And they get to stay at home and host the 1st leg of the Quarterfinals on Sunday.

Jermaine Jones is the first big individual story of the playoffs. After a non-call on a possible handball in the box against DC late in the game Jones went Berzerker on the referee, screaming, pushing and grabbing at him, earning a red card and without a doubt a nice hefty suspension to start next season.
-NOTE: Jones' contract expires at the end of this season, so will he even step on a MLS field ever again? Damn. What an idiot. But somehow I will miss him if he goes.

The second big individual story was the total ineptitude of LA goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. He played like Grandpa Simpson, bumbling his way to huge errors on all 3 Seattle goals. Ooooooof! Ricketts had help with the 3 blunders from Omar Gonzalez, Steven Gerrard and AJ DeLaGarza respectively.

We got to see brilliant goals from Juan Agudelo, Chris Rolfe and Erik Friberg. Watch em.

This song goes out to the game winning goal scorer Erik Friberg!
-Three blistering guitars and a lot of sunburn! Thank you Oakland.
-Sadly just 3 months after this recording several of these fuckin' rednecks would die in a plane crash.

The best keeper in MLS Bill Hamid saved DC from getting drowned early. It could have gotten ugly if not for some big saves. His coach Ben Olsen said it best: "Some teams have Giovincos. We’ve got a Bill."

Games - Knockout Round:
Wed Oct 28
DC United 2-1 New England Revolution
-Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
-Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Seattle Sounders 3-2 LA Galaxy
-Match report by Matt Pentz of the Seattle Times.
-Match report by Kevin Baxter of the LA Times.

Tonight is Knockout Rd part 2:
-Droga v Giovinco -or- Monster v Mite (might?)
-Dirty Stinky Hippy Army v Brisket Brigade

Thu Oct 29
Montreal Impact v Toronto 6:00pm CT on UniMas, TSN1 and RDS
-Stu Cowan of the Gazette with a Montreal preview.
-Kurt Larson of the Sun with a Toronto preview.
Portland Timbers v Sporting Kansas City - 9pm CT on UniMas and TSN1
-Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian with a Portland preview.
-Sam McDowell of the Star with a Kansas City preview.

Quarterfinals
Sun Nov 1 & Sun Nov 8
-Opponents and times TBD after Knockout Rd
New York Red Bulls v Lowest East Seed
Columbus Crew v Other East Seed
Dallas v Lowest West Seed
Vancouver Whitecaps v Other West Seed

dN

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owner of Toronto FC, will replace CEO Tim Leiweke with an exec from Air Canada, Michael Friisdahl. Leiweke is leaving to run David Beckham's Miami operation.

dN

Aron Johannsson will most likely miss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers after having surgery to try and repair nerve damage in his groin. That sounds brutal.

dN

USA's first home World Cup qualifier is Fri Nov 13 v Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It will be played in St Louis at Busch Stadium. Its almost sold out too. Are you going?

dN

The new droney, trippy, meditative album from Warren Defever is out and its fantastic. Its called Sunship, it was released by Northern Ashram and you can listen to the 2 track album (Side A and Side B) right now on Soundcloud.

dN

The pure pork barbecue of North Carolina. Both Eastern and Western North Carolina style. Do not confuse the two. From the New Yorker by the always excellent Calvin Trillin.

dN

NASL

Cast your vote for the Dark Clouds post season awards for Minnesota United 2015.
Its 3 games in a row that former Minnesota United star Miguel Ibarra has not been in uniform for Leon. What the hell is going on down there?
New club Miami FC announced that they will play home games at Florida International University's stadium. -It seats 20,000
-Playing surface is fake.
-Its mostly made of steel and aluminum. Cost $54M to build.
-I hope FIU aren't didn't sign a long term lease and already designated where that money is going cuz I don't expect it to last long. 2-3 years tops.
-Cut the size in half and get rid of the fake grass and would be a great NASL stadium.

dN

FIFA Shitstorm

The British Parliment is having a field day questioning FA members and FIFA sponsors about the mess that is FIFA. All kinds of crazy shit coming to light.
-Follow the Twitter timeline of Press Association Chief Sports Reporter Martyn Ziegler for the insane details.

Sepp Blatter told reporters that Russia was already chosen to host 2018 before the vote took place.
-Blatter also told Russian journalists that the USA was chosen to host 2022 ahead of time until some countries broke ranks (cough) and voted for Qatar instead. From Al Jazeera.
-Blatter keeps insisting that the only reason the US Justice Dept is investigating FIFA is because they did not get the 2022 WC. Hahahahahaha. He forgets that it all started with an American Chuck Blazer not paying taxes.

And then there is this nightmare feature from Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet on the working conditions in Qatar for those building World Cup structures.
-Three Deaths. Two Ruined Lives. And One Dream Of A FIFA World Cup In The Desert

dN

The biggest reason Italian football is falling behind is because almost all of their stadiums are very out of date. By Chloe Beresford of the Guardian.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 28, 2015

MLS Cup Playoffs

Either Seattle Sounders or LA Galaxy will be OUT of the MLS Cup Playoffs tonight. OUT. Two of the biggest favorites to win it all. Wow.

Knockout Round:
Wed Oct 28
DC United v New England Revolution
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post previews United.
-Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe previews the Revolution.
Seattle Sounders v LA Galaxy
-Matt Pentz of Seattle Times previews the Sounders.
-Kevin Baxter of LA Times previews the Galaxy.

Thu Oct 29
Montreal Impact v Toronto
Portland Timbers v Sporting Kansas City

Quarterfinals played on Sun Nov 1 and Sun Nov 8

dN

Didier Drogba of the Montreal Impact has been named MLS Player Of The Month.
-No surprise at all here. The guy has 11 goals in his 11 MLS games. Damn.

dN

Brian Sciaretta lets us know that USA U-23 centerback Cameron Carter-Vickers has signed a contract extension at Tottenham thru 2018.

dN

No one knows how to talk in circles with stunning bravado better then FIFA. "Brilliance" for them translates to "Bullshit" for me. From the Guardian.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 27, 2015

When your soccer team gets a new boss this is exactly what you want to hear. Meet Nelson Rodriguez, new General Manager of Chicago Fire.

dN

These two magnificent goals by Montreal's Didier Drogba (don't be fooled they are different goals) that happened in the 54th & 55th minute lifted Montreal over Toronto in the playoff race and gave them the 3rd seed. Drogba has been nothing short of sensational for L'Imp.
-1st goal
-2nd goal

dN

MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule
Knockout Round
Wed Oct 28
DC United v New England Revolution
Seattle Sounders v LA Galaxy
Thu Oct 29
Montreal Impact v Toronto
Portland Timbers v Sporting Kansas City

Quarterfinals
Sun Nov 1 + Sun Nov 8
New York Red Bulls v Lowest East Seed
Columbus Crew v Other East Seed
Dallas v Lowest West Seed
Vancouver Whitecaps v Other West Seed

dN

MLS average attendance for 2015: 21,574
-Forbes breaks down the attendance numbers in ways that are probably more realistic and frankly sobering. Still good, but sobering.

dN

Darlington Nagbe of the Portland Timbers has been named MLS Player Of The Week.

dN

DeAndre Yedlin is getting his shot at Sunderland. And he is playing right fullback. What happens if this works out and he settles in as a regular for the Black Cats? It means I was dead wrong about him in England. I said he would not make it. I really hope he does.

dN

The worlds most lawless major city is Karachi, Pakistan. From the Guardian.
-Population is 23 Million - tied for 3rd largest behind #1 Tokyo and #2 Jakarta
-The city averages 2700 murders per year
-In 1947 the population was 500k

dN

Britt Robson covered NBA coach and exec Flip Saunders intently starting in 1995. This is the best tribute I read to Saunder who passed away on Sunday.

dN

NASL
-2 teams battle for #1 playoff seed.
55 Ottawa Fury (+19 gd)
Sat Oct 31 at AS
53 New York Cosmos (+17 gd)
Sat Oct 31 v TBR

-2 teams battle for #4 playoff seed.
39 Tampa Bay Rowdies (-2 gd)
Sat 10/31 at NYC
38 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+8 gd)
Sun 11/01 at JA

Minnesota is the #3 playoff seed.

With 1 game left to play Minnesota is looking to build on their league season record 52 goals.

dN

An official English criminal investigation into FIFA improprieties is finally happening. "The Serious Fraud Office has confirmed it is looking into potential money laundering offenses." From the Guardian.

dN

By the way, the list of 8 official candidates for FIFA's presidency is just a bunch of long time insider scum bags. Nothing is changing.

dN

Bundesliga club Hoffenheim is putting the clubs future in the hands of a 28 year old. From Deutsche Welle.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 26, 2015

RIP Flip Saunders.

dN

Full steam ahead for a new soccer stadium for Minnesota United in St Paul - the state capital. A round up from Soccer America.

dN

I am pissed off at the city of Minneapolis for letting this great deal slip through their hands.
-Here is an overview, including a timeline, of the project so far.

dN

MLS Cup Playoffs are all set!
-Games begin on Wed Oct 28 and finish on Sun Dec 6.
-Here is a great bracket to print out and tape to the wall in your bedroom! (Guaranteed to spice up your sex life.)

dN

Who put down big money in Vegas before the season started that New York Red Bulls would win the Supporters Shield? For the 2nd time in 3 years. Wow.

Congratulations to Jesse Marsh and the Players for winning the shield. Well deserved. #Dax #bwp #miazga #sam #Davis #southward

— @petkemike (@petkemike) October 26, 2015

dN

I will tell you what I put money down on in Vegas before the season started: Toronto to finish 6th in the East.
-I made the statement very loud on the podcast that the only way Toronto would get into the playoffs is because the league expanded the playoff pool to 6 teams.
-In other words, the Vikings'd their way into the playoffs.

dN

Great move by Philadelphia Union to hire Earnie Stewart to run their soccer club.
-He has been technical director at AZ in Netherlands and will be in that job until his contract ends on Dec 31.

dN

What is going on in Montreal with Mauro Biello and Didier Drogba is so damn awesome to watch!

dN

Three players in MLS hit for double digits in both goals and assists this season:
-Sebastian Giovinco
-Benny Feilhababer
-Ethan Finley

dN

Excellent opening Q & A with new Chicago Fire GM Nelson Rodriguez. By Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald. (Probably the only mainstream journalist in Chicago to cover the team regularly over an extended period of time.)

dN

Bob Bradley's team Stabaek lost over the weekend 2-1 at Viking and have falled to 3rd place. they have 2 rounds left to play.

dN

Juan Carlos Osorio has barely been on the job for a week for Mexico and he is already on the hot seat!!! By Andrea Canales at ESPNFC.

dN

The tension in Germany over charges of bribery involving the 2006 World Cup just went up another notch with one official calling another a liar. From The Big Story.

dN

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action. From the Guardian.

dN

We're now down to the last 2 teams in NASL fighting for 1 playoff position:
-In the seasons final game if Tampa Bay wins they are in no matter Fort Lauderdale does.
-(Already Advanced: New York, Ottawa & Minnesota)
-(Eliminated: Carolina, Atlanta, Indy, Edmonton, Jacksonville & San Antonio)

39 Tampa Bay Rowdies (-2 gd)
10/24 W 1-0 v CRH
Sat 10/31 at NYC

38 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+8 gd)
10/24 L 2-1 at IE
Sun 11/01 at JA

-Ottawa and New York Cosmos are in a battle for the #1 seed.

55 Ottawa Fury (+19 gd)
Sat Oct 31 at AS

53 New York Cosmos (+17 gd)
Sat Oct 31 v TBR

No matter what happens Minnesota is the #3 seed and will go on the road for the Semifinal round.

Tampa Bay midfielder Richard Menjivar has been named NASL Player Of The Week.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 22, 2015

Thursday is the day that Minnesota United and the city of St Paul step up to a microphone together and say, "We are going to build a soccer stadium at the intersection of Interstate 94 and Snelling Avenue." That is a big day for me. I have been thinking about this for a couple decades now. I am excited and I will be there.

dN

Ottawa Fury has won the Fall season in NASL and is closing in on the #1 seed in the playoffs.
-The Mayor of Ottawa will honor the Fury for their successful 2015 season on Friday. Isn't that jumping the gun? Its like the supporters singing "You came a long way just to lose," before the game is over. You almost always get scored on right after that. Good luck in the playoffs Ottawa, your mayor just shot you in the foot.

dN

Its funny how many people talk now about how naive they were 4 years ago when screaming bloody murder for Bob Bradley's head as USA coach.
-One thing they weren't wrong about was that it was time for a change. To me, unless a World Cup qualifying and tournament go GREAT (per expectations) then you should bring in new leadership.
-The part so many people got wrong was saying Bradley was a bad coach. Those people were just flat out ignorant.
-My issue for 9 years now has been that Jurgen Klinsmann was NOT the man for the job in the USA. I thought he did a below average job with Germany and then a very poor job at Bayern Munich, and I saw nothing that led me to believe he could improve the USA.
-I've been naive on a million things too. We all have. Then sometimes we learn.

dN

US Soccer was paid over $18M in 2015 by their marketing partner SUM for shares of TV revenue, sponsorship deals and licensing etc.
-A good portion probably came from the Women's World Cup.

dN

Royal Rumble!
Battle Royale!
Fight to the Death!
8 teams enter - 1 team remains!
USA v Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals next Spring!
-Here is the bracket:
Club America v Seattle Sounders
Santos Laguna v LA Galaxy
---
DC United v Queretaro
Real Salt Lake v Tigres UANL

dN

You know what has not been a good deal for LA Galaxy? Getting rid of Marcelo Sarvas so they could have room on the roster for Steven Gerrard. Sarvas was simply a better fit on this team.

dN

Sporting Park has 69 consecutive sellouts for SKC's MLS games. (AKA every game since the stadium opened.)

dN

Kansas City has also announced the formation of a reserve team that will play in USL. They are named after their training facility and a lark of a name the fans came up with: Swope Park Rangers. I think its a great lark, but not so much a proper name. But I move on. Its great to have another team in the midwest!

dN

Of the 24 FIFA Executive Committee members who were in place when the voting happened for the 2018 & 2022 World Cups 14 of them have been investigated or suspended.

dN

My current favorite record:
A: Dub War & Infra - If It's Not The Police
B: Dub War & Infra - If It's Not The Dub
-released by ZamZam Sounds

dN

We're now down to 4 teams in NASL fighting for the last playoff position:
-Fort Lauderdale is the favorite to advance.
-(Already Advanced: New York, Ottawa & Minnesota)
-(Eliminated: Indy, Edmonton, Jacksonville & San Antonio)

38 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+9 gd)
10/24 at IE
11/01 at JA

36 Tampa Bay Rowdies (-3 gd)
10/24 v CRH
10/31 at NYC

32 Carolina RailHawks (-6 gd)
10/24 at TBR
10/30 v IE

32 Atlanta Silverbacks (-8 gd)
10/24 at MU
10/31 v OF

dN

Had the Key & Peele "Substitute Teacher" skit happen to me in real life. Someone pronounced my name BEE-ROOchay.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 21, 2015

Great news for Carolina RailHawks fans! It looks like a buyer for the team has been found. Neil Morris of WRAL has the story.

dN

The mighty MLS Continental Tire Fire #POWERRANKINGS: Decision Day Edition from Wes Burdine.
-The list is so great that I laughed out loud twice and had to look up the meaning of the word "seppuku."

dN

Sporting KC can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Colorado tonight.

dN

Also, Sporting Kansas City will announce their new USL team on Thursday!
-When will Minnesota United announce theirs?

dN

This makes perfect sense: Tim Leiweke, former executive with LA Galaxy and current executive with Toronto FC, will join David Beckham in Miami. Lieweke is the one who initially lured Beckham away from Real Madrid to Major League Soccer in 2007. From Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald.
-There have been a lot of rumors swirling around that execs from Real Madrid are also investing in Beckham's team.

dN

Red Bull is looking to sell naming rights to Red Bull Arena.
-I thought the sole point of all Red Bull sports was self promotion for the beverage?

dN

CONCACAF Champions League:
-Real Salt Lake, Santos Laguna and America all advanced to the knockout stage last night. finalizing the list of the last 8 teams. ADDED: Herediano and Tigres face off tonight for Group B spot.
-They join the other group winners: DC United, Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy from MLS, and Quererato and Tigres UANL from Liga MX.
-This is COULD BE the first time that all 4 teams from MLS and Liga MX have advanced.
-Yes, Vancouver was in the group stage and is from MLS too, but they got there via the Canadian Championship.
-The seeding will be set after this weeks group stage games are completed on Thursday.
-Seeding is based on facts, not opinions, with #1 going to the team with the most points and the best goal differential from the group stage.
-In the Quaterfinals it will be 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5.
-Semifinals will be 1-8 Winner v 4-5 Winner and 2-7 Winner v 3-6 Winner.
-The home and away series will begin some time in February.
-ADDED: Thanks to Leper for correcting my errors on Tigres.

dN

Add creepy Franz Beckenbauer to the list of people now officially under investigation for FIFA skullduggery! From the AP.

dN

Dunkin' Donuts is opening 24 locations in the Twin Cites.
-Its a good idea, but 24 seems excessive.
-The first shop will open in 2017. What takes so long to open a frickin donut shop?

dN

Don't you wish Yvonne De Carlo was your neighbor!? I do.

dN

My official votes for NASL post season awards:
-Player Of The Year
1 Ibson
2 Lance Laing
3 Richie Ryan
-Coach Of The Year
Marc Dos Santos
-Young Player Of The Year
Victor “PC” Giro

dN

Here are the schedules for the 7 teams still fighting for the 4th & final NASL playoff position:

37 Fort Lauderdale Strikers (+9 gd)
10/21 at SAS
10/24 at IE
11/01 at JA

36 Tampa Bay Rowdies (-3 gd)
10/24 v CRH
10/31 at NYC

34 Edmonton (-5 gd)
10/25 v JA

32 Carolina RailHawks (-6 gd)
10/24 at TBR
10/30 v IE

32 Atlanta Silverbacks (-8 gd)
10/24 at MU
10/31 v OF

30 Jacksonville Armada (-13 gd)
10/21 v OF
10/25 at E
11/01 v FLS

29 San Antonio Scorpions (-10 gd)
1/21 at FLS 10/24 v NYC
10/31 at MU



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 20, 2015

"I think to manage a national team, you need someone who’s completed a course in club management. In other words, he’s achieved everything he’s wanted to achieve in club football." Alex Ferguson does a Q & A session with Andrew Das of the New York Times.
-Its always good to hear from the greatest sports coach of all time.

dN

Here's a weird one! The San Antonio Express News reports that Scorpions player Josue Soto "has been suspended from all team activities for allegedly providing opposing teams with strategic information." WTF?

dN

Toronto has the most losses of any team headed into the MLS playoffs with 14.
-Oddly, the Canadian teams all have most losses - Montreal and Vancouver both have 13.

dN

Kei Kamara of Columbus will miss the last week of the regular season due to a suspension from yellow card accumulation.

dN

Fanendo Adi of Portland Timbers named MLS Player of the Week. No surprise.

dN

DC United has signed Bobby Boswell to a contract extension.

dN

Orlando City has become the 3rd MLS club to field a women's team in NWSL. Houston and Portland are the others.

dN

For the first time in a decade I was not asked to vote for MLS post season awards. I guess that's what happens when you quit your podcast half way through the season! hahahaha. The jokes on me.
-So I guess I will post my choices right here:
Golden Boot - Giovinco

Defender - Miazga

Goalkeeper - Oustad

Coach - Pareja or Marsch, whoever wins the Supporters Shield.

Rookie - Larin

Newcomer - Giovinco

dN

Cyle Larin of Orlando is that rare MLS rookie draftpick to live up to the preseason hype. But it didn't come quickly or easily. From the Guardian.

dN

What can Liverpool fans expect in the first season under new manager Jurgen Klopp? Why not let the German's tell us. From Deutsche Welle.
-Guardian readers give us their usual excellent visuals of the cultural football phenomenon of the day - this times its Klopp.

dN

Bob Bradley's Stabaek still hold 2nd place in Norway with just 3 rounds left in the season. But Stromsgodset is making a very serious charge going 7 wins and 1 tie in their last 8 games. Stromsgodset plays host to run away league leaders Rosenborg on Sunday. If they win you wouldn't be a fool for betting on them taking over 2nd.
-There is an awful lot of internet chatter today that Bradley is taking his coaching skills to France once the Norwegian season is over. The club in the rumors is Le Havre AC in Ligue 2. Wes Burdine tells us that Havre was purchased just a few months ago by American Vincent Volpe, who is President & CEO of Dresser-Rand (a company that makes mechanical equipment for the oil & gas business.)

dN

Bayern Munich - 9 wins, 0 losses or ties, 29 goals for, 4 goals against. Nearly perfect to start the season.
-At this rate they will clinch the league by Christmas.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 19, 2105

Huge congrats to Rochester Rhinos on winning another USL championship.
-I really miss they days when that team was a huge rival for Minnesota.

dN

In the NASL over the weekend Minnesota gacked up one of the biggest hairballs I have seen in a long time.
-Yes MNUFc was without 3 starters but can that really make a difference that overwhelming?
-The team tactics were a mess. Were there any team tactics? I didn't see any. I saw a lot of laziness.
-For a team that could claim 1st place in the league those guys on the field sure didn't seem to care at all.
-As a matter of fact they looked exactly like the team that went to Indy at the same time last year, gave the same performance and never recovered. (Last year they won the following week and then didn't win again until the 5th game of the 2015 Spring season - a run of 9 winless games.)
-Two highlights for Minnesota: strong headed goal off a corner kick from Brent Kallman, and 3 highlight reel saves from Sammy Ndjock.
-T-shirt I saw for sale at a gas station in Illinois on Sunday's drive home: I drove all the way to Indy and all I got was another rotten road performance by Minnesota United.
-Despite mopping the field with Minnesota on Saturday night Indy Eleven was the first team eliminated from post season play.

dN

Ottawa has all but sealed the Fall championship. They have a 6 point lead over Minnesota with 2 games to play and they have an 8 goal advantage in the differential tie breaker.

dN

Stefano Pinho of Fort Lauderdale Strikers is the NASL Player Of The Week.
-FLS won 4-0 and he scored twice. He has 16 goals this season.

dN

I made a biopsy of the soundtrack that took us down to Indy and back this past weekend. The 27 music tracks range from Cabaret Voltaire to Smokey Robinson to Om to William Onyeabor to Salem to Sleep. (download & extract)

dN

Currently reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

dN

Lets catch up on MLS after the penultimate weekend of the regular season.

(On the last day of the season there are 5 late games and 5 early games.)

Here are all the remaining playoff scenarios for seeding etc.

By the end of the weekend only 4 playoff options were still available:
-East(1): New England (47 pts, -1gd) has the advantage over Orlando (44 pts, -9gd) for the last spot. NER at NYCFC at 4pm CT
-West(3): Kansas City (48 pts, 2 games, +4gd), Seattle (48 pts, +6gd) and Portland (50 pts -1gd) have the advantage over San Jose (47 pts, +3gd) for the last 3 spots.
SKC v CR (on Wed) at 7:30pm CT
PT v CR at 6pm CT
SKC v LAG at 6pm CT on ESPN
SS v RSL at 6pm CT
SJE at FCD at 6pm CT

Who will win the Supporters Shield?
-Red Bulls clinched #1 in the East.
-Dallas clinched #1 in the West.
-Tied on 57 points with identical records - 17 wins, 10 losses, 6 ties.
-NYRB has 60 goals for and 42 against.
-FCD has 50 goals for and 38 goals against.
-With 1 game left Red Bulls has the advantage +6.
-NYRB is at Chicago on Sunday.
-FCD is v San Jose on Sunday.

On national TV next Sunday:
CC v DCU at 4pm CT on FS1
SKC v LAG at 6pm CT on ESPN

dN

Everyone talks as though Sebastian Giovinco is the only candidate for MLS MVP. But Kei Kamara has a pretty damn good case to make too.
-Columbus is ahead of Toronto in the standings.
-Toronto has spent waaaaaaaay more money on their team then Columbus has, possibly making Kamara's job a lot harder.
-Kamara and Giovinco both have 22 goals this season.
-Giovinco has 3 Penalty Kicks. Kamara has zero.
-Kamara has scored his goals in 135 shot, where it has taken Giovinco 22 more.
-They both have 7 game winning goals.
-Giovinco's numbers peaked in July, where Kamara had equal numbers in May and September.
-Where Giovinco pulls ahead is in assists. He has 15 to Kamara's 8.
-Kamara has 2 teammates that really pick up the slack in assists: Ethan Finley has 13 and Federico Higuain has 9.
-Kamara and Columbus went to Giovinco and Toronto on Saturday and pushed their face in the dirt. It might have been the best performance of the year by the Crew.
-Giovinco gets my vote. Kamara gets my strong respect.

dN

Mike Grella scores after 7 seconds! The fastest goal in league history.
-Jon Marthaler made a habit of ripping Grella last year and then piled on early this year. The amount of crow we are eating is bad for the balance of diet.
-If any team would like to hire Jon and I to rip a player and cause a career year for next season just get in touch. We are not that expensive, and we are fool proof.

dN

Robbie Keane of LA has 15 goals in the past 13 games.

dN

Mauro Biello has done a great job leading Montreal into the playoffs. He should have been named head coach a long time ago.

dN

Attendance for MLS in 2015 is up almost 2300 per game. Stats from Soccer America. -Dallas is the only team with any real drop off and that is only 3%. Still a shame because Dallas has a long way to go to live up to potential.

dN

Steven Goff of the Washington Post gave us this nifty stat this morning:

3 lowest payrolls in MLS: 1. Red Bulls 2. Dallas 3. DC United Supporters' Shield standings: 1. Red Bulls 2. Dallas 3. DC United

— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) October 19, 2015

dN

CCL
-last round of group stage
Tue Oct 20
RSL (7pts & +2gd) v Municipal (4pts & 0gd) - 9pm CT on FS2
Thu Oct 22
Olimplia (eliminated) v VW (3 pts & 5gd behind Seattle) - no television

dN

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action by the Guardian. I link to this because its not your standard over-hyped talking points we usually get with Premier League reviews. This is very good in-depth study that you can learn about soccer from. Thank you Guardian editors.

dN

DeAndre Yedlin plays his best game in the Premier League and gets acknowledgement from local media. From Chris Young of the Sunderland Echo.

dN

Just like Jurgen Klinsmann said, lets wait and see if Fabian Johnson plays for Gladbach before we take sides. Johnson started. Klinsmann was justified in his criticism.

dN

Bruce Arena told Alexi Lalas that under the right circumstances he would like to coach the USA again some day.

dN

The German football federation denies all allegations that there were bribes paid to secure the 2006 World Cup. Buuuuuuuuuut they also admit they have no explanation for the discretionary fund that was discovered. From the AP Big Story.
-How do you say "something smells fishy" in German?



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 16, 2015

Highly respected German magazine Der Spiegel just posted this damning story: Germany Appears to Have Bought Right to Host 2006 Tournament
-The accusation says Adidas set up the bid committee with US$11M to use as bribes to buy votes from the Asian Football Confederation. FIFA was in on the movement of the money too.

dN

Despite being suspended by FIFA and under investigation by Swiss prosecutors UEFA has announced that Michel Platini is still their leader! Defiance!

dN

Teams can clinch all of the remaining MLS playoff positions this weekend:
-New England, Columbus and Montreal have the advantage over Orlando for the last 3 spots in the East.
-Kansas City, Seattle and Portland have the advantage over San Jose, Houston and Salt Lake for the last 3 spots in the West.
-Red Bulls, Dallas, LA, Toronto, KC and DC are still in the chase for the Supporters Shield.
-Here is a link to the 73 scenarios for Supporters Shield, playoffs and seeding.
-The games that matter most:
Fri Oct 16
Orlando v NYC
San Jose v Kansas City
Sat Oct 17
Toronto v Columbus
New England v Montreal
Salt Lake v Dallas
Sun Oct 18
Houston v Seattle
LA v Portland
-(check your local listing for channel and time)

I still can't quite believe that Toronto made the playoffs.

dN

Maurice Edu of Philadelphia had hernia surgery on Thursday and is out for the rest of the season.

dN

Rumors are growing louder in England that Sporting Kansas City will purchase Everton FC. This has been building for a few days and the BBC wrote about it today. But don't get too carried away just yet. Remember, this club really needs a new stadium badly and that can be a giant can of worms.

But now there is this:

Sporting KC spokesman tells me there is "no truth" to the rumors that its owners are trying to buy Everton. #efc #SportingKC

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) October 16, 2015

dN

Go buy this book: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. On Monday night it was awarded the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

dN

Rochester Rhinos v LA Galaxy II for the USL championship tonight.
-Watch the game on ESPN3 and YouTube at 6:30pm CT.

dN

In the NASL playoff hunt there is only 1 position still available, but all 8 teams in the league that have not yet qualified are still in the chase. There are 3 weeks to play in the season. Two teams have 2 games left. Six teams have 3 games left. And three teams have 4 games left.
-New York, Ottawa and Minnesota are in, but fighting for seeding and the Fall season title.

Minnesota United travels to Indy Eleven for a Saturday night game. I will be there. Will you?

dN

Remember Copa America Centenario? Its supposed to be taking place in the United States next summer? We're still waiting to find out if its even happening at all, much less in the USA. Still waiting.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 15, 2015

Sebastian Giovinco played on Tuesday in Rome for Italy, got on a plane the next morning, flew to Toronto, went straight to the stadium, came on as a sub in the 71st minute and did this!!!! (The goal clinched the teams playoff berth in their miserable 9 year history too)

Here's a slightly longer version:

What a time to be alive!! pic.twitter.com/JrJEyTUXY3

— Toronto FC (@torontofc) October 15, 2015

After 8 years of near total ineptitude TFC finally found the Atomic Ant who has led them to the playoffs for the first time. That means a lot to a city that has clung to a miserable team all these years.

Oof! You know whats kinda funny though, with the Blue Jays making a strong run in the Major League Baseball the city has their attention diverted elsewhere and no one except the die-hards has seemed to notice.

Jozy Altidore on the other hand did all he could to sabotage his team, getting a red card in the 34th minute, while SITTING ON THE BENCH! Word is that he abused the referees so bad that he got sent to the showers. Let see how long his suspension is!!!

dN

Orlando City will place a reserve team in the third division USL next season. No details yet on where they will play or the exact name of the team.
UPDATE: the new team will be known as Orlando City B.
-Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia Union owned club playing in Bethlehem PA,) FC Cincinnati (coached by noted wine connoisseur John Harkes) and Rio Grande Valley FC (in partnership with Houston Dynamo) are already set for the 2016 season in USL.

dN

If you can believe it, qualifying for the 2016 US Open Cup begins this weekend! The 2015 final was played only 15 days ago.

dN

New York Cosmos star Raul will retire at the end of this season.

dN

Speaking of stars, for the first time ever scientist may have found the faintest, slightest, vaguest hint of extraterrestrial life. Perchance. From the Atlantic.

dN

Lets end with a little follow up to the USA loss to Costa Rica:

You're not the only one. Really hard to watch this happen to our team and our country ?? https://t.co/Mw0KZ5MpNS

— Landon Donovan (@landondonovan) October 14, 2015

What the USMNT needs is a dose of humility. By Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.

Who was good in the Costa Rica game for the USA? Howard, Evans, Cameron, Woods and Ream. Everyone else was terrible.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 14, 2015

USA 0-1 Costa Rica

Just one word is needed to describe the game: Gruesome.

dN

How in the world has Minnesota United gotten better since they sold their best player Miguel Ibarra? Bill MK of Northern Pitch tries to figure that one out.

Great video clip from local NBC affiliate KARE 11 and a couple Minnesota United players!

dN

Fans can have a say in voting for NASL 2015 season awards:
-VOTE | 2015 NASL GOLDEN BALL (Player of the Year)
-VOTE | 2015 NASL COACH OF THE YEAR
-VOTE | 2015 NASL YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Christian Ramirez of Minnesota and Tom Heinemann of Ottawa are NOT nominees for Player Of The Year?!?! Are you kidding me? There are like 30 nominees, and no room for these two? Farcical.

dN

Bingo! Bango! Bongo! Wales has qualified for next summer's European Championship. The first time that country has been in a Euro or World Cup in 75 years! Rob Hughes of the New York Times tells us the story.

On the flip side - Netherlands are OUT! And it was a Robin Van Persie own goal that doomed them. Oranje-debacle.

Check out this graphic from Sky Sports about what happens to teams that finish 3rd in the World Cup. Now this is a conspiracy theory I can get behind.

The draw for the Euro 2016 playoffs will happen on Sunday. 4 teams will qualify from the home & away series being played in November.
-Pot A: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Hungary, Sweden, Ukraine
-Pot B: Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia

dN

Let the stats tell the story of the Premier League through 8 rounds. From the Guardian.

dN

What's it like for soccer in Syria these days. Despite being nomads, the national team says, "Civil war be damned." From Al Jazeera.
-And what soccer it like in Yemen these days?

dN

Most MLS teams have 2 games left to play, while a few still have 3. Before we even get to Saturday there are 5 games on the docket and all of them have playoff implications:
-Wed Oct 14
Toronto v New York Red Bulls
Dallas v Vancouver Whitecaps
Real Salt Lake v Portland Timbers
-Fri Oct 16
Orlando City v New York City
San Jose Earthquakes v Sporting Kansas City



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 13, 2015

USA v Costa Rica friendly tonight - 6pm CT kickoff from Red Bull Arena
I'm watching at the Sweetwater in St Paul - join me!

USA roster for Costa Rica:
G: Brad Guzan, Bill Hamid, Tim Howard
D: Ventura Alvarado, Geoff Cameron, Brad Evans, Fabian Johnson, Michael Orozco, Tim Ream, Jonathan Spector
M: Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud, Jermaine Jones, Lee Nguyen, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, DeAndre Yedlin
F: Jozy Altidore, Bobby Wood, Andrew Wooten, Gyasi Zardes

dN

Our man Wes Burdine getting more famous today for his thoughts on (and tamping-down of) the hype over anti-Klinsmann sentiment. He's over it. #KlinsmannIsSatan. From Northern Pitch.

Speaking of Wes, his band Gospel Machine just put out their new album and are headed to New York this week for their East Coast debut.

I don't read my old pal Dan Loney nearly as often as I should. He writes for Big Soccer and he sums up the USA-Mexico/Klinsmann debacle pretty well.
-Dan has always had a way with words, and tends to piss some people off, which makes me think he is on the right track. Plus he is extremely funny.

I gotta say, at times like this I love having @AlexiLalas and @EricWynalda on Twitter. They have opinions on stuff and they have experience to back it up. Not saying I agree or disagree, I just take them at their word.

The controversy grows:
Monchengladbach Tweeted this morning that Fabian Johnson has a thigh injury. They Tweeted later in the day that he its doubtful he will play this weekend.

dN

Daniel Boniface of the Denver Post tell us about an airplane the flew over Dick's Sporting Good Park on Saturday night pulling a banner that read: “The club is still a wreck. KSE & Hinchey out.” Seems a Rapids fan is not happy with ownership and management of the team. Can you blame this person? Its pretty awful in Colorado.
-And that teams supporters are to be commended for remaining as supporters.

dN

Run-away MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco goes back to Italy to play for his national team and turns on the style. Kurt Larson of Toronto Sun reporting.

dN

Did you know? Drogba has 9 goals in 9 games for Montreal. Maybe he is the league MVP!
-This goal from last Saturday is ridiculous! And the stare down afterward is almost as good!

dN

Minnesota United forward Pablo Campos named NASL Player Of The Week.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 12, 2015

Lets begin with USA-Mexico:
If you watched the game you know that it wasn't nearly as close as the score would indicate. Yes, the USA did a great job fighting back twice to tie the game. But Mexico deserved the 3-2 win all the way.
-More notes:
-Bobby Wood has 3 goals for the USA - against Netherlands, Germany and Mexico. Wow.
-USA has lost 4 of its last 5 games.
-Klinsmann had never lost to Mexico before.
-The last time the USA lost to Mexico was the 2011 Gold Cup Final when after going up 2-0, they gave up 4 unanswered and Bob Bradley lost his job.

Up next is USA v Costa Rica on Tuesday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison NJ.
-Looks like 6pm CT kickoff. I am going to watch the game at the Sweetwater in St Paul. Anyone want to join me?

The USA released these players after Saturdays game: Nick Rimando, DaMarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi, Clint Dempsey and Chris Wondolowski.

And the USA called in these players for Tuesdays game: Bill Hamid, Mix Diskerud, Lee Nguyen, Brek Shea and Andrew Wooten.

So here is the full roster for the Costa Rica game:
G: Brad Guzan, Bill Hamid, Tim Howard
D: Ventura Alvarado, Geoff Cameron, Brad Evans, Fabian Johnson, Michael Orozco, Tim Ream, Jonathan Spector
M: Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud, Jermaine Jones, Lee Nguyen, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, DeAndre Yedlin
F: Jozy Altidore, Bobby Wood, Andrew Wooten, Gyasi Zardes

If was in charge my starting 11 from that roster would be:
Hamid
Yedlin, Cameron, Ream, Shea
Bedoya, Williams, Nguyen, Johnson
Altidore, Zardes

dN

Oh yeah, the USA Olympic team was beaten 2-0 by Honduras on Saturday too, which knocked them out of an automatic spot in the Olympics. The USA must now beat Canada on Tuesday and if they win that then they will take on Colombia for an Olympic berth. Not going to be easy at all.

dN

Word coming from Red Bull Leipzig is that American forward Terrence Boyd has had complications from his knee surgery that occurred 10 months ago and must undergo another procedure on his repaired knee. Oof.

dN

Bill Manning has been named the new president of Toronto FC.
-Listen to my sit down interview with Manning while he was President of Real Salt Lake.

dN

What is the future for some of the biggest names on the Chicago Fire - Mike Magee, Jeff Larentowicz and Jon Busch? By Orrin Schwarz of the Daily Herald.

dN

Minnesota United clinched the 3rd spot of 4 available in the NASL playoffs.
-MNUFC beat Fort Lauderdale 2-1 on first half goals by Pablo Campos and Daniel Mendes. Both goals were excellent team goals with multiple players involved.
-Full match highlights.

More Minnesota & NASL notes:
-Cosmos and Ottawa had already clinched NASL playoff spots.
-Simple mathes tell us there is 1 spot left.
-Somehow NO teams have been eliminated from the playoffs.
-Tampa Bay, Fort Lauderdale and Edmonton are in the best position to claim the final playoff spot.
-Since losing to the Cosmos 2-1 on Aug 5 Minnesota has 8 wins and 3 ties, grabbing 29 out of 33 points.
-Minnesota is now within 3 points of Ottawa for the fall title and 1 point behind Cosmos for the overall title (with a game in hand.)
-Minnesota goes to Indy on Saturday, and I will be there!
-Then Minnesota finishes the regular season with home games against Atlanta and San Antonio.
-Minnesota has scored 50 goals in 27 games this season. Only shut out twice.

dN

My old podcasting pal Wes Burdine did an interview with former Minnesota United player Miguel Ibarra about life with Leon in Mexico.

dN

It will be Rochester Rhinos v LA Galaxy II on Friday night for the USL championship.

dN

Only 8 of the 24 places for Euro 2016 are still in play, and this week is the last round of the group stage (3 spots will get filled.) After that we get some sort of the usual convoluted playoffs for those last 5 spots. (I think!?!?)



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 9, 2015

The USA-Mexico rivalry!

CONCACAF Cup
Sat Oct 10 at 8:30pm CT on FS1

Michael Bradley sits down and opens up to Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated. I love Michael Bradley!

Will a guy like Kyle Beckerman play a big role in this game? Doug McIntyre of ESPN seems to think he will.
-I feel that playing three guys are similar as Bradley, Jones and Beckerman at the same time is the equivalent of playing with 10 men. It is very ineffective.

ESPNFC lets the former players give their view point on the rivalry.
-We hear from Cobi Jones, Claudio Suarez, Kasey Keller, Ramon Ramirez, Alexi Lalas, Pavel Pardo, Carlos Bocanegra, Jared Borgetti and many more.
-Here is one of the many great stories from this article. USA had just beaten Mexico 2-0 at the 2002 World Cup in Korea. Frankie Hejduk tells the story:
We get on the bus, we were celebrating, we were having so much fun. We had a couple of beers on the bus after that game. All of a sudden, our bus stopped at a red light. Another bus pulls up beside us as we're leaving the stadium. And it's their bus, and their team is on there. We're both looking at each other like, "Oh my god, is this really going on?"
All of a sudden, they start flipping us off. We start dancing, chanting. All of our team was on one window. All of their team was on one window. We were chanting "USA! USA!" It was such a crazy moment. Our buses were three feet apart. I remember faces. I can name names of who they were, although I won't name them. There were middle fingers and two opposite emotions. Then the light turned green, and both buses drove off. We drove to the quarterfinals, and they drove home.

This is important: CONCACAF has promised that USA-Mexico game at Rose Bowl will have "stepped-up security." Kevin Baxter of the LA Times reports.
-I sure hope so, cuz most CONCACAF events have little to no security.
-Personally I had no interest in attending this game. I just don't need the angst and tension.

dN

Northern Ireland has qualified for next summer's European Championship by virtue of a 3-1 win over Greece on Thursday. I think that is quite incredible!
-They were not in the most difficult group, but you can't tell me they were favored to advance over Romania, Hungary and Greece.

dN

The final round of qualifiers for the Euro Championship take place next week.
-Top 2 finishers in each group will advance.
-7 teams including the hosts France are set already. 13 more teams will join them.
-Then the third place finishers in the groups will then playoff in November for the last 4 spots.

dN

Following up from the other day, Serbia defeated Albania 2-0 in Euro qualifying and James Montague of the New York Times was there to cover it under very high tension and tight security, including snipers.

dN

In South American World Cup qualifying both Brazil and Argentina lost on Matchday 1 (of 18.)
-Brazil lost at Chile 2-0, which is not a disaster.
-But Argentina lost to Ecuador 0-2 at HOME. Oof!

dN

Are we witnessing the soccer world version of the tearing down of the Berlin wall or the Arab Spring revolutionary wave at FIFA? By Juliet Macur of the NY Times

dN

Liverpool Football Club got their Klopp. Here are the photos to prove it.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 8, 2015

Sepp Blatter (90 days suspension), Michel Platini (90 days suspension), Jermome Valcke (90 days on top of already existing open ended suspension) and Chung Mong-joon (6 year suspension) were all officially suspended by FIFA this morning. They are high ranking officials from the executive committee and upward. All crooks.
-Platini is also the head of the European body UEFA. Will UEFA honor this suspension?

Don't get too excited about all this news though. Right after suspending those people FIFA put Issa Hayatou in charge. Sahara Reporters tells us that he is another scum bag of the highest order of sleaze.

In addition to all of that Swiss investigators are said to be hard at work digging deeper into the bidding for the 2022 World Cup which was awarded to Qatar.

Rob Harris of AP, the best at FIFA coverage, fills us in on everything that has happened today since the suspension where handed out.

dN

The German rock star and foosball manager Jurgen Klopp, formerly of Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, has left the tour early with his band Kinderwageneitsche to take over the helm of coaching Liverpool Football Club in Liverpool England.
-You will never walk alone. (TM)
-I wonder what cologne he wears.
-Does he shop at MeUndies? Or Bombas?
-He will be formally introduced in Liverpool on Friday morning.

dN

With a spot in the Olympics on the line:
USA v Honduras - Sat Oct 10 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy UT. Kickoff is set for 2pm CT.

dN

Our old pal Steve Davis writing for the FC Dallas website writes about 5 hot topics in American soccer right now.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 7, 2015

The Guardian gives us their list of the worlds 50 best players who were born in the year 1998. Yes, there is an American on this list. And two from Mexico

dN

CONCACAF Cup
USA v MEX
Sat Oct 10 at 8:30pm CT of FS1

Clint Dempsey has never scored against Mexico. Never. Ever.

DaMarcus Beasley: "The only USA v MEX game bigger than Saturday was at the 2002 World Cup."

Mexico has hired Juan Carlos Osorio to be the next head coach of the national team. He will not coach the team on Saturday, but will take over before they begin World Cup qualification on Nov 13.
-The Colombian has been head coach at both Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls.
-His ridiculous nickname is El Recreacionista (The Recreationist.)

Despite the hire and Gold Cup win, Mexico is always in some state of turmoil. By Tom Marshall for ESPNFC.

dN

The USA U23 Olympic qualifying team won their group thoroughly with more great performances from their 2 strikers Jerome Kieswetter and Jordan Morris. After 3 games those two have proved over and over that they are men among boys.
-Tue result: 4-0 winners over Panama.
-Finished group with 9 points from 3 games.
-13 goals for and 1 against. The 1 against made the team very mad as it happened 3 minutes into 2nd half stoppage time while up 6-0 over Cuba.

The all-important knockout qualifier game happens on Saturday against the loser of tonights Mexico v Honduras game. Match will be held in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium. Time TBA. Will be shown on Telemundo.

A good profile of Jordan Morris. Written by Jordan Ritter Conn for Grantland.

dN

Albania and Serbia face off this week on Thursday in a European Championship qualifier. OK. Qualifying is tough business. Right? Well, this one is a little more serious.
Last year at this time, during their previous meeting in Belgrade, an Albanian nationalist flew a drone into the stadium that was carrying an Albanian flag and let it hover over the field until it got to low and a Serbian player grabbed it, hauling it to the ground. The whole stadium went ape shit crazy and a riot broke out. The game was called off. Albania was later given a 3-0 forfeit win, and Serbia was deducted another 3 points for failing to control the crowd.
-The fallout from last year is ongoing. Story by James Montague of the New York Times.

dN

OFF TOPIC (SLIGHTLY):
I keep hearing all this hubub about Draft Kings and Fan Duel - fantasy sports games that pay money to winners. I just assumed it was gambling. Those companies say its not. Several major sports leagues in America are investors and sponsors in those companies. Hmmm. That seems odd to me. What is going on here?
-This is how it works.
-And this is the controversy that is emerging.
From the New York Times.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 6, 2015

Landon Donovan: Jurgen Klinsmann should be fired if USA loses to Mexico. Video from ESPNFC.

dN

Former USA defender Thomas Dooley is at the helm of the Philippines national team. From the Guardian.

dN

Giovani dos Santos is OUT of the Mexico squad for the CONCACAF Cup due to some sort of muscle strain.
-No replacement player has been named to the roster.

Here is the full Mexico roster:
G: Alfredo Talavera (Deportivo Toluca FC), Moises Munoz (CF America), Jonathan Orozco (CF Monterrey)
D: Arturo Rivas (CF Tigres UANL), Rafa Marquez (Hellas Verona FC), Diego Reyes (Real Sociedad Futbol), Jorge Torres (CF Tigres UANL), Miguel Layun (FC Porto), Hector Moreno (Philips Sport Vereniging Eindhoven), Hector Herrera (FC Porto), Paul Aguilar (CF America)
M: Israel Jimenez (CF Tigres UANL), Jonathan dos Santos (Villarreal CF), Andres Guardado (Philips Sport Vereniging Eindhoven), Javier Aquino (CF Tigres UANL), Jose Juan Vazquez (Club Leon FC)
F: Raul Jimenez (SL Benfica), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad Futbol), Javier Hernandez (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Jesus Corona (FC Porto), Oribe Peralta (CF America), Carlos Esquivel (Deportivo Toluca FC)

USA v MEX on Sat Oct 10 at 8:30pm CT on FS1.

dN

The big league with the least amount of unpredictability at the top is the Bundesliga. While England has 3 or 4 teams who could win the title, and Spain with only 2, its Germany that is the least interesting of all. Luckily the rest of the league is wide open! By Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian.
-My question always stays the same: Why do German teams keep selling their best players to Bayern?
-By the way - Honigstein's latest book Das Reboot: How German Soccer Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World is out today! I have my copy and will share my thought when I am done reading it.

dN

Minnesota United has set a new club record for goals scored in a single season at 48. And there are still 4 games to play.

dN

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia has been voted MLS Player Of The Week

dN

These are the fabulous 5 MLS Goal Of The Week candidates. (The easy winner this week features not one but two ankle breaker moves!)

dN

And the NASL Player Of The Week is Ft Lauderdale Strikers forward Stefano Pinho.

dN

Finally, these are the candidates for NASL Play Of The Week.

dN

OFF TOPIC:
"He showed up late to the lobby of a hotel to meet one of his daughters and her friend, wearing a pair of expensive slacks and nothing from the waist up. Whatever sense of shame he’d had no longer existed." A popular and successful doctor goes off the deep end. And how does the judicial system treat a case like this? Is it morals or medical? One helluva story! From California Sunday Magazine.



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 5 2015

VERY IMPORTANT: St Paul Stadium Town Hall Meeting - Tue Oct 6 - if you live in the Twin Cities then you must attend!

dN

In MLS
4 teams have now qualified for the MLS playoffs - DC, Red Bulls, Dallas and LA. 8 more slots are open.
-13 teams will fight for those 8 places.
-Colorado, Philadelphia and Chicago are OUT of the playoff race.

dN

Question I often ask myself: Has Klinsmann destroyed the confidence of Omar Gonzalez?
dN

Interesting stat on a guy who I usually think of as terrible: Chad Barrett has 56 goals in MLS. That is not the stat of a terrible player.

dN

In NASL
Ottawa has clinched a playoff spot. They join New York Cosmos (Spring season Champions.)
4 teams make the playoffs. The Spring and Fall champs get in, along with the 2 teams with the 3rd and 4th best combined points.
Minnesota looks destined for the #3 seed unless Ottawa completely collapses, which would be very hard to imagine at this point.

dN

Speaking of Minnesota, they beat Tampa Bay 1-0 on Sat night.
A goal from Christian Ramirez was the winner.
Ramirez has scored 31 goals in 53 games for MNUFC.
Four things of note from the game:
1 Tampa got a red card in the first half (2 yellows for fullback Ben Sweat) - so far this season Minn opponents have seen red 10 times, while only 1 time for the Loons. Astonishing.
2 Ibson had a very quiet game.
3 Greg Jordan had a very strong game.
4 Juliano Vicentini left in the first half with a hamstring injury. No word yet on severity. But that's never good news.

dN

And speaking of Greg Jordan. We need a Comicbook hero to represent him.
I have come up with 3 choices:
-Beast Boy - the vegan superhero
-Swampthing - vegetation all, plus if he loses a limb it just grows right back
-Scott Pilgrim - he looks just like Michael Cera from the movie
Which do you prefer?

dN

USL Semifinals coming up:
Sat - Rochester Rhinos(E1) v Louisville City(E2)
Sun - OKC Engery(W1) v LA Galaxy II(W5)

dN

Amazing long long long read story from Oxford American. Legendary Memphis musician & producer wrote this amazing personal history of discovering music throughout his life. Worth is for the hilarious chapter on Bo Diddley along. (Dickinson encountered him in 1949!)
THE SEARCH FOR BLIND LEMON By Jim Dickinson

dN

USA v MEX
Coming up on Sat Oct 10 at 8:30pm CT on FS1
USA Roster for CONCACAF Cup Final
G (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa FC), Tim Howard (Everton FC), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
D (9): Ventura Alvarado (CF America), DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City FC), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders). Fabian Johnson (Borussia VfL 1900 Monchengladbach), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente), Tim Ream (Fulham FC), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City FC)
M (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (FC Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Danny Williams (Reading FC), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland AFC), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
F (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

dN

USA Olympic qualifying team won 6-1 over Cuba on Saturday. Play Panama (0W 1D 1L) on Tuesday in final game of the group stage.
-2 wins, 8 scored, 1 allowed
-USA has already clinched a spot in the knockout round but wants to avoid Mexico in semifinal round as the 2 semifinal winners go to the Olympics.

dN

Bob Bradley and Stabæk won 1-4 on Saturday at Mjøndalen.
-Still in 2nd place with 4 games left in the Norwegian Tippeligaen season.

dN

Budweiser, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Visa have asked Sepp Blatter to leave FIFA immediately. He says NO!



The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 2 2015

Kevin Kinkead, probably the #1 source of Philadelphia Union news, broke the story on Thursday evening that team CEO and part owner Nick Sakiewicz was OUT! Majority owner Jay Sugerman later confirmed the story.

dN

If you want the best in Philadelphia Union coverage on Twitter just follow these two: Kevin Kinkead and Jonathan Tannenwald.

dN

My old podcasting partner Wes Burdine came up with the brilliant Continental Tire Fire Power Rankings and all throughout the season Montreal, Chicago, Philly, Colorado and couple others have battled it out for the ignominious top spot. Well, 3 of the 4 are being addressed now, with only Colorado still letting the wild fire burn.

dN

No one has ever talked to him about the job, buuuuuuuuuut former Mexico boss Miguel Herrera says he would love to coach Chicago Fire. (Its in Spanish.)

dN

Kansas City won its 2nd trophy in as many nights as FC Kansas City won the NWSL championship on Thursday night beating Seattle Reign 1-0 on a goal by Amy Rodriguez, set up by one of my faves Heather O'Reilly. Huge congrats to that excellent team on winning their 2nd consecutive league title. This team is stacked with superstars: Rodriguez, O'Reilly, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lauren Holiday, Yael Averbuch, Amy LePeilbet and Nicole Barnhart. Yeah, good luck beating them!

dN

I have been to 9 of the 14 MLS soccer specific stadiums and after being inspired by Alex Schieferdecker (a very sharp dude that you should follow on Twitter.) I ranked those stadiums in the order that I like them:
1 RBNY
2 SKC
3 LAG
4 RSL
5 CR
6 CF
7 FCD
8 TFC
9 CC

I have not been to these stadiums: HD, MI, PU, PT, SJE

dN

I was pretty bummed out to learn that Eric Miller (from Minnesota!) had been dropped from the US Olympic qualifying team at the last minute. The story being given is that he was recalled by Montreal due to injury. Injury to who? Him? Someone else on Montreal? I am very sure he is pretty pissed off right now. He is not getting much playing time in MLS but was set to be a starter for this USA team.

dN

By the way, that Olympic qualifying team won their first game last night, 3-1 over Canada. Jordan Morris looked like a man among boys out there, scoring twice. The team as a whole was competent without being all that impressive, but in control for most of the game and only on the back foot for about 10 minutes in the 2nd half right after Canada scored on a set piece that should see the US coaching squad bring out the Iron Skillets for some head bashing in the next training session. People are raving about the play of forward Jerome Kiesewetter in this game too.
-Other two USA group stage games:
Sat Oct 10 v Cuba
Tue Oct 6 v Panama

dN

Where to find me this weekend: (Paul Demko will be there too!)
Minnesota United v Tampa Bay Rowdies - Sat Oct 3 - 7pm CT - at NSC stadium in Blaine MN. You can watch the game locally on channel 45 and nationally on ESPN3.com or Watch ESPN app.

dN

The Bird Is The Word

Some Soccer News for Oct 1 2015

Another trophy for Sporting KC.
They won US Open Cup 2015 in a Penalty Kick Shootout over hosts Philadelphia Union.
That makes it 5 major trophies for KC since 2000.
Philly unfortunately lost in the USOC Final for the 2nd consecutive year, both times at home.
And to make it worse this year, they scored first and still lost.
Hooray KC.
Oof Philly.

NBC report: Is the artificial turf with rubber pellet filling on soccer fields safe?
Goalies quoted in this Seattle TV story died earlier this year at age 25.

SUNN O))) to release brand new album, titled Kannon, in December

Eliminator: du Nord Music Mix Vol 55 (download & extract)

9 of the 10 MLS games this weekend have playoff implications... its that time of the year.

If you want regular info on Liga MX follow @soccercanales and @mexicoworldcup

USL Semifinals this weekend!
-USL Semis: Roch v NYRB2 / Louis v Charles / OC v LA2 / OKC v Colo Spr

NASL - with 5 rounds left in the regular season

The Bird Is The Word