Some Soccer News for Dec 7, 2016

It's Day 342 of 2016.


Oh Manchester, so much to answer for:

"Greater Manchester police confirmed a Celtic fan had been arrested in Piccadilly Gardens for throwing a hamburger at a police horse."

— Owen Gibson (@owen_g) December 7, 2016

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MLS Cup - Final:
-Sat Dec 10
Toronto FC v Seattle Sounders FC - 7:00pm CT on FOX

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Matt Hedges has signed a new contract with Dallas.

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Landon Donovan has re-retired. I suspect its permanent this time.

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North Carolina FC (formerly Carolina RailHawks) and Tampa Bay Rowdies both announced their desire to become MLS teams yesterday.

• Add them to the following cities that have investors groups who have officially declared that they are making a run at MLS: Miami, Sacramento, San Antonio, St Louis, Detroit, and Cincinnati. (there are also many more cities that have shown interest.)

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Fort Lauderdale Strikers posted a short message on social media today saying the team is preparing for the 2017 season. That means they aren't going away, but it does not say what league they will play or who will actually own and operate the team.

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Person: du Nord Music Mix Vol 107 (download + extract)

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Trinidad + Tobago has hired journeyman head coach Belgian Tom Saintfiet to take over their squad, beginning with the next round of World Cup qualifiers. Their next two games are Mar 24 v Panama and Mar 28 v Mexico.

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The genius in charge of FIFA wants to make more money for them by adding 16 teams to the World Cup. It would be lined up as 16 groups of 3. What this would mean is that 48 teams would spend a shit load of money to prepare for the WC and after 2 games 24 of them would go home. Right now you get a minimum of 3 games.

• There is nothing wrong with the 32 team format they currently use. Nothing.

• This is simply a way to get higher TV rights money out of 16 more countries, and all those extra tickets that will be sold to sponsors and rich people.

• The plan will also make World Cup qualifiers worth very little.

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Josh Perez has become the 3rd American to play in the modern era of Serie A, debuting recently for Fiorentina. How is it going? By Brian Sciaretta of American Soccer Now.

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A thing of beauty! This is the way you score on the counter and steal the UCL Group from the big boys:

Mor ➡️ Aubameyang ➡️ Reus for the record! Dortmund's 21st goal this group stage clinches Group F over Real. #UCL https://t.co/IAFnCDkxGE

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 7, 2016

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UEFA Champions League - Group Stage - Big Teams - Matchday 6:

• The group stage is now over and the seeds are set for the Round of 16 Draw which will take place on Mon Dec 12.

• Advanced as #1 Seeds: Arsenal (A), Napoli (B) Barcelona (C), Atletico Madrid (D), Monaco (E), Dortmund (F), Leicester (G), Juventus (H)

• Advanced as #2 Seeds: PSG (A), Benfica (B), Manchester City (C), Bayern Munich (D), Leverkusen (E), Real Madrid (F), Porto (G), Sevilla (H)

-Tue Dec 6
Bayern 1-0 Atletico
Man City 1-1 Celtic
Barca 4-0 Gladbach
Basel 1-4 Arsenal
PSG 2-2 Ludogorets
-Wed Dec 7
Juve 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Real Madrid 2-2 Dortmund

Americans in the UCL:

• Fabian Johnson - Monchengladbach - Tue Dec 6 L 4-0 at Barcelona - came on a as a sub in the 59th minute but they got pole axed in Catalonia, failing to advance.

• Christian Pulisic - Dortmund - Wed Dec 7 D 2-2 at Real Madrid - started and played 61 minutes as they tied 2-2 in Madrid, and won the group.

The Bird Is The Word