du Nord

Some Soccer News for Mon Jan 30, 2012

2012-01-30T17:40:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

Remember two weeks ago when forward Kris Boyd of Rangers turned down Houston? Well, today he signed with Portland!! Hoooo-Weeeee! Bet he won't receive a friendly welcome when he makes his first visit to whatever that new stadium in Houston is called.

dN

After getting a yellow card in the first minute of play(!) Oguchi Onyewu went to on to score TWO goals for Sporting CP in a much needed win! See the goals right here.
-I could watch Gooch score goals all day long!!

dN

In the last few days Liverpool has been both Manchester teams, City & United in Cup competitions.

dN

Huge congrats to the USA Women who stormed through CONCACAF Olympic qualifying with a scoreline of 38-0 in 5 games!!!

dN

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut, the top women's league in the USA, WPS, has announced that their 2012 season will not go forward. Who knows what that really means for all those players now. Just brutal. I really feel for those players.

STORY OF THE DAY

Steven Goff of the Washington Post gives us the low down on 3 potential friendlies before World Cup qualifying begins.

Possible pre-World Cup qualifying games:
May 26/27 v Scotland
May 30 v Brazil - Fed Ex Field in suburban DC?
Early June away game

August and November friendlies are being lined up too.

STORY OF THE DAY 2

Andrew Jennings of Transparency in Sport reveals an UNBELIEVABLE letter from a top FIFA executive to Jack Warner basically giving him World Cup TV rights for relatively next to nothing, without any FIFA committee knowledge much less approval. Warner supposedly turned around and sold these rights for $20Million!!!

COPA LIBERTADORES

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg (with Group and 1st Leg score included)
-Tue Jan 31
Sport Huancayo v Arsenal - G4 (0-3)
Libertad v El Nacional - G5 (1-0)
-Wed Feb 1
Flamengo v Real Potosi - G2 (1-2)
Once Caldas v Internacional - G1 (0-1)
-Thu Feb 2
Tigres UANL v Union Espanola - G3 (0-1)
Caracas v Penarol - G6 (0-4)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 28
Juventus 2-1 Udinese - #1 stays #1 in Italy with the win over #3.
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Chelsea - bigger team wins in an old ugly London derby (in the FA Cup.)
Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United - a big upset in the FA Cup in the battle of bitter rivals.
-Sun Jan 29
Feyenoord 4-2 Ajax - a huge win for the hosts in the biggest of the Dutch rivalries.
Sunderland 1-1 Middlesbrough - a northeast derby in the FA Cup ends tied so they will have to play it again.

DO YOU REALIZE

Rumors out of Ecuador are that the USA could be the host (but NOT participate in) the 2016 Copa America. Huh? It will be the 100th edition of the tournament and they are looking for a neutral site for the 10 team South American confederation's championship. Mexico is also being considered.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes about a study conducted by his partner in Soccernomics Stefan Szymanski on the best English club managers of all time.
-And for a change the Comments section is worth reading as well.

WELL WELL WELL

Santino Quaranta will play on FC Siliguri for head coach Marco Etcheverry in the brand new Indian Premier League.

OOF

NBC announced that they are filming a new cop show called Chicago Fire!

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

The Fort Myers News-Press reports on a relatively large crowd, 1800, that turned out to watch Chicago play DC Sunday at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
-They have a few words with Fire head coach Frank Klopas too.

dN

Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon has supposedly signed with his original professional club Deportivo Cali and will not be returning to the Union.
-So do they go with 2nd year player Zac MacMath or do they find another veteran.

Player Transactions

New York has signed former Chicago centerback Wilman Conde from Atlas in Mexico.

dN

Toronto signs 29 year old Chilean left fullback Miguel Aceval from Universidad de Concepcion in Chile.

dN

Columbus has signed 26 year old Costa Rican forward Olman Vargas of Herediano in Costa Rican.

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN talks to new Chivas midfielder veteran Pete Vagenas.
-And did new signing Marvin Iraheta sustain a bad knee injury in his first action of the year with Chivas??

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch on the team's new forward Olman Vargas and other team notes.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC has signed Luke Sassano to a new contract.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

NER got the preseason off to a positive start with a 2-1 win over FC Tucson.
-Sainey Nyassi and Kenny Mansally(PK) got the goals.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times gives us the Sounder roster as they head to Arizona.

dN

Mayers also does a Q & A with both Brad Evans - and - Jeff Parke who have just returned to the team from the USA January camp.

TORONTO FC

TFC lists the 41 players they have in training camp.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Oguchi Onyewu scored both goals for Sporting!

dN

After leading the Eredivisie for most of the season Jozy Altidore & AZ find themselves in 3rd place and more than 10 goals down in differential to the two leaders PSV & Twente.

dN

Eric Lichaj returned from long term injury and was on the bench for Aston Villa this weekend.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 32
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Sat Jan 28 - on the bench as they lost 0-2 v Stoke.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 - on the bench as they lost 3-2 at Arsenal.
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 - on the bench as they lost 3-2 at Arsenal.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Sat Jan 28 - went the full 90 as they won 0-4 at Sheffield United.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Sat Jan 28 - played the entire game as they won 1-2 at West Brom.

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - started and went 76 min as they drew 0-0 at Beerschot.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started but got 2 yellow cards and was ejected as they drew 2-2 v Lommel United.
Devann Yao - Boussu Dour Borinage - went the full 90 but lost 3-1 at White Star Woluwe.

ENGLAND - League One
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - went the full 90 but lost 4-0 at Hartlepool.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim - on the bench as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - started and played 77 min scoring a goal as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - on the bench as they lost 1-2 v Hamburg.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - went the distance as they lost 3-1 at Dortmund.
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen - on the bench as they drew 1-1 at Werder Bremen.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Ryan Adeleye - Hapoel Be'er Sheva - on the bench as they lost 3-1 at Maccabi Haifa.
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - Mon Jan 30 - went the distance as they drew 1-1 at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - started and played 74 min as they lost 0-3 v Lazio.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - came on as a sub at half time and got a yellow card as they lost 2-0 at Roda.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the full 90 scoring 2 goals and getting a yellow card as they won 2-0 v Beira-Mar.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the entire game as they won 4-0 v Hibernian.
Mo Edu - Rangers - started and played 74 min as they won 4-0 v Hibernian.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Feb 1 v West Brom
Landon Donovan - Everton - Tue Jan 31 v Manchester City
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Tue Jan 31 v Wigan
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Wed Feb 1 v QPR
Marcus Hahnemann - Everton - Tue Jan 31 v Manchester City
Tim Howard - Everton - Tue Jan 31 v Manchester City
Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Wed Feb 1 v QPR
Tim Ream - Bolton - Wed Feb 1 v Arsenal
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Wed Feb 1 at Sunderland

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Tue Jan 31 at Barnsley
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Jan 31 v Burnley
George John - West Ham - Tue Jan 31 at Ipswich
Danny Potts - West Ham - Tue Jan 31 at Ipswich
Robbie Rogers - Leeds - Tue Jan 31 v Birmingham
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Tue Jan 31 at Leeds

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Tue Jan 31 v Notts County

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

DaMarcus Beasley scored the games only in a big Puebla road win. (He even used his RIGHT foot to bang home a beauty.)
-See video at the blog Over There.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - started and played 80 min scoring a goal as they won 0-1 at Chiapas.
Ricardo Bocanegra - Atlas - came on as a sub in the 77th min as they won 1-0 v Toluca.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they won 2-1 v Tecos.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - played the full 90 but lost 1-3 v Santos Laguna.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - came on as a sub in the 29th min getting a yellow card as they lost 1-3 v Santos Laguna.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - on the bench as they won 1-3 at Tijuana.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - on the bench as they drew 2-2 v Cruz Azul.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they lost 1-3 v America.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the full 90 as they drew 1-1 v Queretaro.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Marco Vidal - Leon - on the bench as they won 3-4 at Toros Neza.
Isaac Acuna - Merida - came in as a sub in the 73rd min getting a yellow card as they won 1-2 at Lobos BUAP.

CANADA

Here is the schedule for this years Canadian Championship.

Semifinals
1st Leg
-Wed May 2
Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
FC Edmonton v Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2nd Leg
-Wed May 9
Toronto FC v Montreal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v FC Edmonton

Finals
1st Leg
-Wed May 16
2nd Leg
-Wed May 23

ENGLAND

All the results from the latest round of the FA Cup.

Rob Bagchi, Evan Fanning, Ian McCourt and Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian with five things we learned from the FA Cup this weekend.

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Spain's longest serving head coach and a review of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

Copa Del Rey - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 31
Mirandes v Athletic Bilbao
-Wed Feb 1
Valencia v Barcelona
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 7
Athletic Bilbao v Mirandes
-Wed Feb 8
Barcelona v Valencia

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian beats Inter over the head yet again (he hates them) for a horrible performance, and rounds up the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

dN

Ghana advanced to the knock out stage with a win on Saturday.

And on Sunday the Relentless Zombies of Zambia advanced, while the darlings of the tournament Libya were knocked out.

On Monday Sudan advanced over Angola on goal differential.

dN

ADVANCED: Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia

ELIMINATED: Angola, Burkina Faso, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Senegal

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Standings:
Group A
ADV-7 Zambia
ADV-6 Equatorial Guinea
OUT-4 Libya
OUT-0 Senegal
Group B
ADV-9 Cote d'Ivoire
ADV-4 Sudan (0 GD)
OUT-4 Angola (-1 GD)
OUT-0 Burkina Faso
Group C
ADV-6 Gabon
ADV-6 Tunisia
OUT-0 Morocco
OUT-0 Niger
Group D
ADV-6 Ghana
3 Guinea
3 Mali
0 Botswana

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Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan 2-2 Angola
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Fri Jan 27
Niger 1-2 Tunisia
Gabon 3-2 Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Sat Jan 28
Botswana 1-6 Guinea - 10:00am CT
Ghana 2-0 Mali - 1:00pm CT
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Sun Jan 29
Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Zambia - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya 2-1 Senegal - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Mon Jan 30
Sudan 2-1 Burkina Faso
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Angola
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Tue Jan 31
Gabon v Tunisia
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
Niger v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Wed Feb 1
Botswana v Mali
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
Ghana v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Quarterfinals
-Sat Feb 4
Zambia v B2
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
B1 v Equatorial Guinea
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Sun Feb 5
C1 v D2
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
D1 v C2
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Semifinals
-Wed Feb 8
A1/B2 v D1/C2
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
C1/D2 v B1/A2
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville

Final
-Sun Feb 12
Semifinal Winners
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville

Some Soccer News for Fri Jan 27, 2012

2012-01-27T17:01:00.002-06:00

STARTERS

Landon Donovan set up both Everton goals today as they knocked Fulham out of the FA Cup. Clint Dempsey was a non-factor for Fulham, who are terrible away from home. And of course Tim Howard guarded the entrance to the cave like a momma bear as usual for Everton. And a 4th American was even on the team sheets today as Marcus Hahnemann was the Everton back up keeper.

STORY OF THE DAY

Clint Dempsey gives us his first "diary entry" at Goal.com.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Arsenal 3-0 Sport Huancayo - Ars goals by Jorge Cordoba, Emilio Zelaya & Claudio Mosca.
El Nacional 1-0 Libertad - EN goal by Juan Luis Anangono.
-Wed Jan 25
Union Espanola 1-0 Tigres UANL - UE goal by Gonzalo Barriga.
Real Potosi 2-1 Flamengo - RP goals by Claudio Centurion & Edgardo Brittes. Flam goal by Luiz Antonio.
Internacional 1-0 Once Caldas - Int goal by Leandro Damiao.
-Thu Jan 26
Penarol 4-0 Caracas - Pen goals by Nicolas Freitas, Marcelo Zalayeta, Joao Pedro & Fabian Estoyanoff.

2nd Leg (with Group and 1st Leg score included)
-Tue Jan 31
Sport Huancayo v Arsenal - G4 (0-3)
Libertad v El Nacional - G5 (1-0)
-Wed Feb 1
Flamengo v Real Potosi - G2 (1-2)
Once Caldas v Internacional - G1 (0-1)
-Thu Feb 2
Tigres UANL v Union Espanola - G3 (0-1)
Caracas v Penarol - G6 (0-4)

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 28
Juventus v Udinese - #1 v #3 in Italy
Queens Park Rangers v Chelsea - a bitter London derby in the FA Cup
Liverpool v Manchester United - more bitter rivals face off in the FA Cup
-Sun Jan 29
Feyenoord v Ajax - the biggest of the Dutch rivalries
Sunderland v Middlesbrough - a northeast derby in the FA Cup

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Could Philadelphia be about to lose another important attacking player? Forward Danny Mwanga is in England training at Aston Villa.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN does a Q & A with Tim Howard.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Real Salt Lake introduces their jerseys for 2012. Not much of a departure, just detailing really.
-Lots of pictures of players modelling the new shirts here.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Great image captured by TV cameras during Wednesday's Clasico in Spain between Barcelona & Real Madrid.
-Thanks to our friend-in-football JF for the image.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Dasan Robinson who suited up for a couple of different MLS teams over the last 5 or 6 years announced his retirement today.

Player Transactions

DC has signed 30 year old Argentine centerback Emiliano Dudar from Young Boys in Switzerland.
-DC is his 13th team.

RSL has officially signed 26 year old Cuban defensive midfielder Yordany Alvarez who was on loan to them at the end of last season from Orlando City.

Toronto has signed 30 year old Ecuadorian defender Geovanny Caicedo from Liga de Quito.

San Jose has signed 31 year old Turkish forward Sercan Guvenisik from Preussen Munster in 3. Liga in Germany.

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN talks to Michael Lahoud about what he expects to be his role on the team in 2012.

COLUMBUS CREW

Steve Sirk launches off on his preseason Crew Notebook - PART 1 - and - PART 2.

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch looks at the teams new players, compared with last seasons huge crop of newcomers.

FC DALLAS

Todd Date of 3rd Degree does a Q & A with head coach Schellas Hyndman.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with an article on new DCU fullback Robbie Russell who they signed from Salt Lake this offseason.
-Also, the story of Russell and his wife and their careers.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Pete Grathoff of the Star with an update on a potential shirt sponsor for SKC.

LA GALAXY

Scott French of ESPN talks to fullback Todd Dunivant who had his best season as a pro last year.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Montreal finished their Mexican training camp with a 1-1 draw against Atlas in Guadalajara. Sanna Nyassi scored for the Impact.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Word from Philly says Sebastian Le Toux will not be getting a contract offer from Bolton in England where he has been on a try out.

PU has announced a "strategic partnership" with Costa Rican powerhouse Saprissa. Don't know what that really means, but lets hope it leads to something good.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian looks into possible health issue of young DP Jose Valencia.

REAL SALT LAKE

James Edward of the Deseret on the youth influx at RSL this season.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the New Trib reports that the Sounders roster is looking stable and healthy.

TORONTO FC

Ryan Wolstat of the Sun looks at what TFC management has been doing to ensure the team is no longer in constant chaos.

Wolstat also writes about what has been the team's weak link since day 1 - the defense.
-Richard Eckersley has been permanently signed to try and help this situation.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICA

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America does a Q & A with Werner Kern, Bayern Munich’s director of youth. PART 1 - and - PART 2.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of the NY Times with an in-depth article on Joe Gyau assent onto the Hoffenheim first team.
-He will be dressing with the senior team for the 2nd week in a row on Saturday.

The Red Bulls posted audio of a Tim Ream telephone press conference from today.

Tim Chandler missed another Nurnberg game, this time due to a hamstring strain.

Our friend in football HHL tells us that Brondby is having a little fun with a friendly this weekend and Clarence Goodson will "Manage" the team.
-How's your Danish?

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 32
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Fri Jan 27 - played the full 90 getting a yellow card but lost 2-1 at Everton.
Landon Donovan - Everton - Fri Jan 27 - another big game going the whole match as they won 2-1 v Fulham.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Fri Jan 27 - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Watford.
Marcus Hahnemann - Everton - Fri Jan 27 - on the bench as they won 2-1 v Fulham.
Tim Howard - Everton - Fri Jan 27 - went the distance as they won 2-1 v Fulham.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full 90 as they won 1-0 v Nurnberg.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the whole game as they won 0-1 at Fortuna Sittard.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - Thu Jan 26 - went the distance but lost 5-0 at Estoril.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 32
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Sat Jan 28 v Stoke
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 at Arsenal
Tim Ream - Bolton - Sat Jan 28 v Swansea
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Sat Jan 28 at Sheffield United
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Sat Jan 28 at West Brom

A full round from the English Premier League coming up next Tue & Wed.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com has an article on 2 of the Americans playing for Tijuana - Greg Garza & Edgar Castillo.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

You can watch the tournament online right here.

dN

Gabon & Tunisia both advanced to the knockout stages today with wins, thus eliminating Morocco & Niger from the tournament with 1 game still to be played

dN

ADVANCED: Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tunisia

ELIMINATED: Burkina Faso, Morocco, Niger, Senegal

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Standings:
Group A
ADV-6 Equatorial Guinea
4 Zambia
1 Libya
OUT-0 Senegal
Group B
ADV-6 Cote d'Ivoire
4 Angola
1 Sudan
OUT-0 Burkina Faso
Group C
ADV-6 Gabon
ADV-6 Tunisia
OUT-0 Morocco
OUT-0 Niger
Group D
3 Ghana
3 Mali
0 Botswana
0 Guinea

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan 2-2 Angola
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Fri Jan 27
Niger 1-2 Tunisia
Gabon 3-2 Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Sat Jan 28
Botswana v Guinea - 10:00am CT
Ghana v Mali - 1:00pm CT
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Sun Jan 29
Equatorial Guinea v Zambia - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya v Senegal - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata

ENDERS

Here is the dance craze I want to see sweeping goal celebrations in 2012 - Shangaan

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying - Semifinal Group Stage Round

2012-01-26T23:19:00.003-06:00

Here is the USA group schedule for the next round of World Cup qualifying:

Group A
Antigua & Barbuda
Guatemala
Jamaica
USA

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jun 8
USA v Antigua & Barbuda
-Tue Jun 12
Guatemala v USA
-Fri Sep 7
Jamaica v USA
-Tue Sep 11
USA v Jamaica
-Fri Oct 12
Antigua & Barbuda v USA
-Tue Oct 16
USA v Guatemala

Venues and Times to be announced.

Some Soccer News for Thu Jan 26, 2011

2012-01-26T18:45:00.002-06:00

STORY OF THE DAY

James Montague of the New York Times with an article on one of the surprise teams in all of world soccer right now - Ironi Kiryat Shmona in Israel.

Argentine-American Bryan Gerzicich is a key member of the team.

LANDON DONOVAN V CLINT DEMPSEY

FA Cup Match
-Fri Jan 27
Everton v Fulham - live at 2pm CT on Fox Soccer

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is done with the annual January training camp.

dN

Gray-Ham Zusi got the games only goal in a 0-1 USA win in Panama last night.

The second biggest moment of the game was when centerback Geoff Cameron was red carded for fouling a player who was breaking in on goal.

US Soccer gives us video of Zusi's goal.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA 1-0 Venezuela - USA goal by Ricardo Clark.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama 0-1 USA - USA goal by Graham Zusi.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game quotes by coach & players from US Soccer.
Post game analysis by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by John Godfrey of the NY Times.
Post game notes and player ratings by Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad.
Player ratings by Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer.

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Panama roster
G:
Luis Mejia - Fenix
Kevin Melgar - Alianza
D:
Rolando Algandona - San Francisco
Edward Benitez - Sporting San Miguelito
Eduardo Dasent - Tauro
Carlos Rodriguez - Dallas
Sergio Thompson - Sporting San Miguelito
Eric Vasquez - Chorrillo
M:
Rolando Botello - Tauro
Gabriel Gomez - Philadephia Union
Juan de Gracia - Chepo
Luis Ovalle - Sporting San Miguelito
Alberto Quintero - Chorrillo
Marcos Sanchez - Tauro
Amir Waithe - San Francisco
F:
Manuel Mosquera - Arabe Unido
Blas Perez - Dallas
Luis Renteria - Tauro

COPA LIBERTADORES

Jonathan Bornstein went the full 90 for Tigres last night.

Ronaldinho and his teammates at Flamengo lost on the road.

dN

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Arsenal 3-0 Sport Huancayo - Ars goals by Jorge Cordoba, Emilio Zelaya & Claudio Mosca.
El Nacional 1-0 Libertad - EN goal by Juan Luis Anangono.
-Wed Jan 25
Union Espanola 1-0 Tigres UANL - UE goal by Gonzalo Barriga.
Real Potosi 2-1 Flamengo - RP goals by Claudio Centurion & Edgardo Brittes. Flam goal by Luiz Antonio.
Internacional 1-0 Once Caldas - Int goal by Leandro Damiao.
-Thu Jan 26
Penarol v Caracas

2nd Leg (with Group and 1st Leg score included)
-Tue Jan 31
Sport Huancayo v Arsenal - G4 (0-3)
Libertad v El Nacional - G5 (1-0)
-Wed Feb 1
Flamengo v Real Potosi - G2 (1-2)
Once Caldas v Internacional - G1 (0-1)
-Thu Feb 2
Tigres UANL v Union Espanola - G3 (0-1)
Caracas v Penarol - G6

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Bolton Wanderers of England officially announced the signing of American centerback Tim Ream from the New York Red Bulls.
-Words from Tim Ream.
-Words from Stu Holden.
-Video of an interview with Ream.

Jack Bell of the New York Times talks to Ream about his big move, and a tough 2011 season in New York.

Graham Parker of the Guardian with an in-depth article on Ream's progress and new adventure.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Brian Lewis of the New York Post with an article on the Red Bulls interest in building a residency youth academy.

STAT OF THE DAY

Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune quotes Seattle Sounder GM Adrian Hanauer of saying that the team is shooting for an average attendance this season of over 40,000 per game!!!

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times tells us that Kasey Keller was named Seattle's Professional Sports Star of the Year last night.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Real Salt Lake released their training camp roster to the public.
-It would be great to see a lot more MLS team's do this same thing.

Player Transactions

Toronto has signed fullback Richard Eckersley to a permanent contract from Burnley. He was with TFC last season on loan.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Goalkeeper Jon Busch has signed a contract extension.

USL NEWS

Orlando has signed John Rooney, little brother of Wayne, who was on the Red Bulls roster last season.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

West Ham raves about George John's debut in a reserve match yesterday in which he scored the only goal and played a strong game.

dN

David Smith of Yanks Abroad talks to Jonathan Spector about his season in the Championship Division with Birmingham.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 32
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Fri Jan 27 at Everton
Landon Donovan - Everton - Fri Jan 27 v Fulham
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Sat Jan 28 v Stoke
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Fri Jan 27 at Watford
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Sun Jan 29 at Arsenal
Tim Howard - Everton - Fri Jan 27 v Fulham
Tim Ream - Bolton - Sat Jan 28 v Swansea
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Sat Jan 28 at Sheffield United
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Sat Jan 28 at West Brom

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

COPA LIBERTADORES - Qualifying Round
Jonathan Bornstein - UANL Tigres - Wed Jan 24 - went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Union Espanola.

MEXICO

Guadalajara introduced new head coach Nacho Ambriz.

ENGLAND

English League Cup - Final

Match & Score:
-DATE TBA
Cardiff City v Liverpool

dN

Coming up this weekend is the next round of the FA Cup.

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Quarterfinals

Sid Lowe of the Guardian sees a comeback tie for Real Madrid as a big step forward.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Mirandes 2-1 Espanyol - series ends tied 4-4 - Mir advances on away goals tie breaker
-Wed Jan 25
Mallorca 0-1 Athletic Bilbao - AB advances 3-0 on aggregate
Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid - Bar advances 4-3 on aggregate
-Thu Jan 26
Levante 0-3 Valencia - Val advances 7-1 on aggregate.

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals

Milan is the final team to move on to the next round.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus 3-0 Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo 0-1 Siena
Napoli 2-0 Inter
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio 1-3 Milan

Semifinal matchups:
Milan v Juventus
Siena v Napoli

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

You can watch the tournament online right here.

dN

Today Cote d'Ivoire advanced to the knock out stages and Burkina Faso was eliminated.

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian calls Equatorial Guinea sparkling.

dN

ADVANCED: Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea

ELIMINATED: Burkina Faso, Senegal

dN

Standings:
Group A
ADV-6 Equatorial Guinea
4 Zambia
1 Libya
OUT-0 Senegal
Group B
ADV-6 Cote d'Ivoire
4 Angola
1 Sudan
OUT-0 Burkina Faso
Group C
3 Gabon
3 Tunisia
0 Morocco
0 Niger
Group D
3 Ghana
3 Mali
0 Botswana
0 Guinea

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan 2-2 Angola
Cote d'Ivoire 2-0 Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Fri Jan 27
Niger v Tunisia
Gabon v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Sat Jan 28
Botswana v Guinea - 10:00am CT
Ghana v Mali - 1:00pm CT
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Sun Jan 29
Equatorial Guinea v Zambia - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya v Senegal - 12:00pm CT
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata

Poll du Nord: At This Point In The Klinsmann Era...

2012-01-26T08:15:00.000-06:00

Some Soccer News for Wed Jan 25, 2012

2012-01-25T17:42:00.001-06:00

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Jan 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Reuters with an article on the record profits in the German Bundesliga for 2011.
-Also the highest average attendance in the world at 42,000+ per game.

LANDON DONOVAN AT EVERTON

Friday in the English FA Cup we will get to see LD, Tim Howard and Everton take on Clint Dempsey and Fulham.
-Everton has a video interview with Tim Howard talking about this big game.

Fox Soccer will show the game live on Friday at 2pm CT.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team has come to the final day of the annual January training camp.

dN

US Soccer with the latest notes from Panama.

Brent Latham of MLSsoccer.com on what Klinsmann is expecting to see from his team tonight.

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com on Michael Parkhurst.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to and assesses Brek Shea's development in the USA system.

John Godfrey of the NY Times with a preview of tonight's game.

Glenn Davis at Soccer Matters does a Q & A with Geoff Cameron.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA 1-0 Venezuela - USA goal by Ricardo Clark.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on ESPN3.com and Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Panama's roster for Wednesday
G:
Luis Mejia - Fenix
Kevin Melgar - Alianza
D:
Rolando Algandona - San Francisco
Edward Benitez - Sporting San Miguelito
Eduardo Dasent - Tauro
Carlos Rodriguez - Dallas
Sergio Thompson - Sporting San Miguelito
Eric Vasquez - Chorrillo
M:
Rolando Botello - Tauro
Gabriel Gomez - Philadephia Union
Juan de Gracia - Chepo
Luis Ovalle - Sporting San Miguelito
Alberto Quintero - Chorrillo
Marcos Sanchez - Tauro
Amir Waithe - San Francisco
F:
Manuel Mosquera - Arabe Unido
Blas Perez - Dallas
Luis Renteria - Tauro

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Are now finished with the most recent training camp in preparation for the March qualifying tournament.

dN

US Soccer with a few details on the team's win in their 2nd match in Costa Rica.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves 0-0 USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuelense 0-1 USA U23 - USA goal by Tony Taylor.

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

COPA LIBERTADORES

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Arsenal 3-0 Sport Huancayo - Ars goals by Jorge Cordoba, Emilio Zelaya & Claudio Mosca.
El Nacional 1-0 Libertad - EN goal by Juan Luis Anangono.
-Wed Jan 25
Union Espanola v Tigres UANL
Real Potosi v Flamengo
Internacional v Once Caldas
-Thu Jan 26
Penarol v Caracas

DO YOU REALIZE

Seattle Sounders took over the Tacoma Tide PDL team today and will make them an official part of their academy set up.
-The team name will change to Seattle Sounders U23.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

MLS teams have signed EIGHT players from Colombia already this offseason. Wow.

Player Transactions

Colorado has signed 28 year old Colombian playmaker Jaime Castrillon from Once Caldas.

dN

The Red Bulls are expected to announce the signing of 20 year old Icelandic defensive midfielder Victor Palsson from Hibernian in Scotland.

dN

NYRB also signed 24 year old American goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo from Finnish team Oulu.

dN

Chicago has signed forward Kheli Dube who was released by the New England Revs.

CD CHIVAS USA

Chivas announced two new signings yesterday and here is more detail on their positions on the field:
-John Valencia is a right centerback
-Marvin Iraheta is a central defensive midfielder

COLORADO RAPIDS

Recently fired USA U17 head coach Wilmar Cabrera has been hired as an assistant to new head coach Oscar Pareja.

dN

Ex Rapids head coach Gary Smith has been hired as they new boss of English League One team Stevenage.
-Here is the story from the new team.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch introduces us to new Chilean midfielder Milovan Mirosevic.
-The team is hoping they have found a new "#10".

dN

Jardy reports on the return from shoulder surgery for centerback Julius James.

dN

Jardy also ask an important question - with both forwards Andres Mendoza & Emilio Renteria gone, who is going to score the goals?

dN

Michael Arace of the Dispatch is intrigued by the team's offseason moves.

DC UNITED

Former USA prodigy Stefan Jerome is in preseason camp with DC!

dN

DCU put out this injured player update:
-Branko Boskovic (ACL tear) and Perry Kitchen (turf toe) are fully recovered and in full training.
-Chris Pontius (right tibia fracture) and Ethan White (right PCL tear) are working with team trainers on their recovery.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Tod Palmer of the Star looks for leadership on the KC roster.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Justin Braun scored for Montreal as they beat Tecos 0-1 down in Guadalajara Mexico.

REAL SALT LAKE

RSL begins their preseason on Thursday.

TORONTO FC

Fullback Richard Eckersley who was with TFC on loan last season from Burnley in England was released from his contract and will sign on with Toronto permanently.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

West Ham raves about George John's debut in a reserve match yesterday in which he scored the only goal and played a strong game.

dN

David Smith of Yanks Abroad talks to Jonathan Spector about his season in the Championship Division with Birmingham.

dN

Game Action:

ITALY - Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - Wed Jan 25 - came on as a sub in the 80th min but lost 0-1 v Siena.

ENGLAND

English League Cup - Semifinals

Liverpool advanced today to face Cardiff in the Final.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Cardiff City 1-0 Crystal Palace - series ended tied 1-1, and CC wins 3-1 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Wed Jan 25
Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City - Liv advances 3-2 on aggregate

dN

Coming up this weekend is the next round of the FA Cup.

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Quarterfinals

Mirandes will take on Bilbao in one side of the Semifinals, while Barcelona will face the winner of Valencia and Levante in the other.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Mirandes 2-1 Espanyol - series ends tied 4-4 - Mir advances on away goals tie breaker
-Wed Jan 25
Mallorca 0-1 Athletic Bilbao - AB advances 3-0 on aggregate
Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid - Bar advances 4-3 on aggregate
-Thu Jan 26
Levante v Valencia (1-4)

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals

Siena and Napoli advanced to the Semi.

Inter lost for the first time in 9 games in all competitions today.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus 3-0 Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo 0-1 Siena
Napoli 2-0 Inter
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio v Milan

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

You can watch the tournament online right here.

dN

Co-Host Equatorial Guinea won their 2nd game today and advanced to the knock out rounds.

While Senegal flops badly and becomes the first team knocked out.

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on the frail Ghana team.

dN

Standings:
Group A
ADV-6 Equatorial Guinea
4 Zambia
1 Libya
OUT-0 Senegal
Group B
3 Angola
3 Cote d'Ivoire
0 Burkina Faso
0 Sudan
Group C
3 Gabon
3 Tunisia
0 Morocco
0 Niger
Group D
3 Ghana
3 Mali
0 Botswana
0 Guinea

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan v Angola
Cote d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Fri Jan 27
Niger v Tunisia
Gabon v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville

The New Chicago Fire 2012 Jersey with Quaker Sponsorship

2012-01-25T12:24:00.001-06:00

With great joy I received a package the other day from the Chicago Fire Soccer Club. They had just announced a new sponsorship deal with Quaker and showed off their 2012 jerseys, so with fingers crossed I was hoping I would open that box and find myself the proud possessor of a new shirt from the Men In Red.

It turned out to be even more impressive than that!

Inside was a big round Quaker Oats canister just like the ones I have seen on store shelves and in kitchen cupboards my whole life.

But when I popped open that canister I did not get oats. Oh no! Inside was exactly what I had hoped it would be, a bright red 2012 Chicago Fire jersey!

And when I lifted it up to get a closer look at the shirt I saw the back was personalized just for me - MCGUIRE - 12. Beyond cool!

The packaging of the canister itself had some interesting features as well, like a stated commitment to Club, Community and Fans. Nice touch.

The pledge has been made.

A huge thanks goes out to CFSC for sending me this very beautiful new shirt.

Some Soccer News for Tue Jan 24, 2012

2012-01-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

US Soccer has named Clint Dempsey as the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year. And Brek Shea was named the Young Male Athlete of the Year.

dN

Richie Williams, the original Ankle Biter, has been named the new head coach of the USA U17 team. He had been serving as coach of the U18s, so I guess they are looking for a new boss now.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Jan 24, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

This guy does not talk soccer often:

Don Ruiz of The Tacoma News Tribune has a Q & A with Seattle Sounders owner Joe Roth.

COPA LIBERTADORES

The Copa Libertadores begins today - Tue Jan 24 - with a home & away qualifying round for 12 teams to fill the final 6 places in the group stage. The next rounds begin on Feb 7.

Mexican Apertura champions Tigres play on Wed night.

Qualifying Round
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Arsenal v Sport Huancayo
El Nacional v Libertad
-Wed Jan 25
Union Espanola v Tigres UANL
Real Potosi v Flamengo
Internacional v Once Caldas
-Thu Jan 26
Penarol v Caracas
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 31
Sport Huancayo v Arsenal
Libertad v El Nacional
-Wed Feb 1
Flamengo v Real Potosi
Once Caldas v Internacional
-Thu Feb 2
Tigres UANL v Union Espanola
Caracas v Penarol

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the final days of the annual January training camp.

dN

Brent Latham at MLSsoccer.com talks to Jurgen Klinsmann about Jermaine Jones.

dN

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated previews USA at Panama.

dN

US Soccer gives us extensive game preview notes.

dN

Jeff Parke was the only field player on the roster not to see action against Venezuela.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA 1-0 Venezuela - USA goal by Ricardo Clark.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

The Panamaniac's roster for Wednesday
G:
Luis Mejia - Fenix
Kevin Melgar - Alianza
D:
Rolando Algandona - San Francisco
Edward Benitez - Sporting San Miguelito
Eduardo Dasent - Tauro
Carlos Rodriguez - Dallas
Sergio Thompson - Sporting San Miguelito
Eric Vasquez - Chorrillo
M:
Rolando Botello - Tauro
Gabriel Gomez - Philadephia Union
Juan de Gracia - Chepo
Luis Ovalle - Sporting San Miguelito
Alberto Quintero - Chorrillo
Marcos Sanchez - Tauro
Amir Waithe - San Francisco
F:
Manuel Mosquera - Arabe Unido
Blas Perez - Dallas
Luis Renteria - Tauro

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Finishing training with a game in Costa Rica today in preparation for the March qualifying tournament.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves 0-0 USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuelense v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

BEST IDEA I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Simon Borg of MLSSoccer.com rolled out a grand idea today - Have the MLS All Stars take on the Mexican Primera Division All Stars!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze asks one of the biggest offseason questions in all of MLS - How does LA replace centerback Omar Gonzalez?
-Some people saw him as the league MVP. I thought he was the key to their championship season.

DID YOU KNOW?

Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke has realized that he has a soccer team in rural Denver and will host them at a Denver Nuggets NBA game on Friday night. Good for him.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

John Godfrey of the NY Times tells us how he comes up with his post game player ratings.

WELL WELL WELL

Yes, the Philadelphia Union will host the MLS All Star Game next summer on Jul 25.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Chivas has signed 30 year old Colombian defender John Alexander Valencia from Junior.

Chivas has also signed 19 year old Salvadoran midfielder Marvin Iraheta from their academy team.

CD CHIVAS USA

CUSA will take on Mexican neighbors Tijuana Xolos in an exhibition on Wed Feb 22 in the San Diego Classic.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Terry Frei of the Post reports that Pablo Mastroeni will remain as team captain under the new head coach.
-Last week Pareja answered reader questions in the Post.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Terez Paylor of the Star with an article on centerback Matt Besler who will be counted on as a key member of SKC this season.

LA GALAXY

The LA Galaxy gives us a video interview with head coach Bruce Arena and star David Beckham.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Bryan Lewis of the Post tells us what the Bulls will get from their sale of Tim Ream.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian after the first day of Timbers preseason.

Arnold also talks to new forward Jose Valencia.

REAL SALT LAKE

The Tribune with details of the team's new local TV broadcasting deal.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times introduces us to the Sounders new goalkeeper Michael Gspurning.

Mayers does a Q & A with former Sounders keeper, now broadcaster Kasey Keller.

Mayers also writes about young Trinidad forward Cordell Cato, and other team notes.
-More from Cato.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province on the Caps as the preseason began yesterday.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Tue Jan 24 - played the whole game as they won 3-1 v Gent.

dN

Coming Up:

ITALY - Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - Wed Jan 25 v Siena

ENGLAND

English League Cup - Semifinals

Cardiff City advances to the Finals!

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Cardiff City 1-0 Crystal Palace - series ended tied 1-1, and CC wins 3-1 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Wed Jan 25
Liverpool v Manchester City (1-0)

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian on Gladbach's latest romp over Bayern, and the rest of the latest round in the Bundesliga.
-3 teams tied for the top spot with 37 points.

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals

Juve is the first team to move into the Semifinals.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus 3-0 Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo v Siena
Napoli v Inter
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio v Milan

TOP EURO CLUB GOAL SCORERS

Premier League
19 Robin Van Persie
15 Demba Ba
14 Kun Aguero
13 Wayne Rooney
12 Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Bundesliga
16 Mario Gomez
15 Klaas Jan Huntelaar
14 Robert Lewandowski
14 Lukas Podolski
12 Claudio Pizarro

Serie A
14 Antonio Di Natale
14 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
12 German Denis
11 Edison Cavani

Primera Division
23 Cristiano Ronaldo
22 Lionel Messi
14 Radamael Falcao
14 Gonzalo Higuain
12 Roberto Soldado

Ligue 1
14 Oliver Giroud
9 Kevin Gameiro
9 Nene
9 Loic Remy

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

You can watch the tournament online right here.

dN

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian writes about Gabon's big day on Monday.

dN

Standings:
Group A
3 Equatorial Guinea
3 Zambia
0 Libya
0 Senegal
Group B
3 Angola
3 Cote d'Ivoire
0 Burkina Faso
0 Sudan
Group C
3 Gabon
3 Tunisia
0 Morocco
0 Niger
Group D
3 Ghana
3 Mali
0 Botswana
0 Guinea

dN

Group Stage
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya v Zambia
Equatorial Guinea v Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan v Angola
Cote d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo

Team USA Viewing In The Twin Cities - Wed Jan 25 at Panama

2012-01-24T11:56:00.003-06:00

Dear fellow Twin Citians,

Come hang out with a bar full of USA fans for an international friendly match:

-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT

The Sweetwater
at the Best Western Kelly Inn
161 Saint Anthony Ave
I-94 & Marion
St Paul
(651) 224-6373

All ages welcome! Lot's of food and drink available.

Map

Some Soccer News for Mon Jan 23, 2012

2012-01-23T18:31:00.002-06:00

STARTERS

For the second home game in a row, this one in the Premier League, Clint Dempsey has scored a hat-trick for Fulham. Fox Soccer has video of the goals here.
-I have no idea why the channel that owns the rights to the EPL would have such poor video quality, but they do.

dN

As expected New York Red Bulls centerback Tim Ream has been granted an English work Permit and can sign with Bolton.

dN

Is Juan Agudelo headed to Liverpool? That is what some rumors are whispering.
-This seems like a bad idea to me. If he is going to another country I sure hope he goes to a club where he can play.

dN

No less than THREE teams tied for 1st place in the Bundesliga at 37 points - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04! Fantastic!

dN

Chivas of Guadalajara has opened the Clausura with 3 consecutive losses, and head coach Fernando Quirarte has now resigned. They are the only team in the Mexican Primera without any points.

dN

You can watch the African Cup of Nations tournament online right here.

STORY OF THE DAY

Alex Labidou of Goal.com does an interview with Bob Bradley about his new life in Egypt.

A very exciting story!

STORY OF THE DAY 2

Sid Lowe of the Guardian with the remarkable story of a full on meltdown between Jose Mourinho and some of the key Real Madrid players.
-The two factors: Mourinho says the press coddles the Spanish players too much, and the players say he never played the game so what does he know.

I see it this way. Its the Barca players who are much more responsible for the Spain success, and the Madrid players are riding their coattails, and Mourinho has won just about everything there is to win everywhere he has been the coach.

So as much of an ego maniac/big baby Mourinho is I will take his side in this one. These players are spoiled brats who have won almost NOTHING at Read Madrid.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the annual January training camp.

dN

The USA beat Venezuela 1-0 on a late goal from Ricardo Clark. I took 2 things away from the game:
-Michael Parkhurst and Geoff Cameron as the centerback pair did not make a single mistake all game long. Granted they were not challenged very strongly, but they showed no nerves or indecisiveness.
-Ricardo Clark got a chance at redeeming himself from the 2010 World Cup and did so with great passion and joy. Did you see his reaction after he scored that goal? 18 months of rage came flying out of his body in those few seconds after the ball went into the net. That goal will help him raise his chin up off his chest a little. Great for him.

US Soccer gives us video of the goal. Watch until the end for Clark's reaction.

dN

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America wonders what kind of message is being sent by coach Jurgen Klinsmann that he would not only call in the suspended in Germany for violent conduct Jermaine Jones but then make him captain of the USA team on Saturday night.
-The only reasoning that I have read so far that I can get behind is that Klinsmann was offering an olive branch, and asking Jones to reconsider his mental approach to the game. A second chance if you will. We shall see. He was a very good citizen during the game and avoided confrontations when they appeared.

dN

It was kind of exciting seeing a referee let ALL of his allotted stoppage time run before blowing the whistle. At the end of 90 minutes the 4th official indicated that there would be a minimum of 4 minutes of stoppage time added on. Then between arguing with the referee and an injury to their goalkeeper Venezuela killed over 3:45 of those 4 minutes before a ball was even kicked. So the referee let it go another 4 minutes and in those last 30 seconds the USA scored the winning goal. Well executed Mr Referee Sir.

dN

In a pre-game interview Klinsmann called Venezuela the 3rd best team in South America. I would say they are more like #6. Yes they are vastly improved from the days when they battled Peru for the bottom spot, but they are still not that good.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA 1-0 Venezuela - USA goal by Ricardo Clark.
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Attendance: 22,403
Match report from US Soccer.
Post game notes from US Soccer.
Post game quotes from USA coach and players from US Soccer.
Player ratings by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report by Sarah McLellan of the NY Times.
Player Ratings by John Godfrey of the NY Times.
Player ratings by Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer.
Player ratings and post game notes by Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad.

-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on ESPN3.com and Galavision
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

Panama's roster for Wednesday
G:
Luis Mejia - Fenix
Kevin Melgar - Alianza
D:
Rolando Algandona - San Francisco
Edward Benitez - Sporting San Miguelito
Eduardo Dasent - Tauro
Carlos Rodriguez - Dallas
Sergio Thompson - Sporting San Miguelito
Eric Vasquez - Chorrillo
M:
Rolando Botello - Tauro
Gabriel Gomez - Philadephia Union
Juan de Gracia - Chepo
Luis Ovalle - Sporting San Miguelito
Alberto Quintero - Chorrillo
Marcos Sanchez - Tauro
Amir Waithe - San Francisco
F:
Manuel Mosquera - Arabe Unido
Blas Perez - Dallas
Luis Renteria - Tauro

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

dN

Venezuala roster
G:
Alan Liebeskind - Lara
Leonardo Morales - Anzoategui
D:
Joel Caceres - Lara
Gabriel Cichero - Lens
Javier Gonzalez - Petare
Rubert Quijada - Monagas
Carlos Rivero - Anzoategui
Andres Rouga - Tachira
Carlos Salazar - Anzoategui
Jose Manuel Velazquez - Mineros
M:
Angel Chourio - Real Esppor
Diomar Diaz - Petare
Agnel Flores - Mineros
Francisco Flores - Anzoategui
Edgar Perez Greco - Lara
Alejandro Guerra - Mineros
Diego Guerrero - Tachira
Miguel Mea Vitali - Lara
F:
Richard Blanco - Petare
Darwin Machis - Mineros
Alejandro Moreno - Chivas USA
Hermes Palomino - Cherno More
Emilio Renteria - Columbus Crew
Jose Reyes - Anzoategui

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Currently training in preparation for the March qualifying tournament.

dN

The Olympic team played a scoreless game at the Purple Monster on Saturday. Here are a few details.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves 0-0 USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuelense v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

There were some great games with big implications over the weekend:

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 20
Monchengladbach 3-1 Bayern Munchen - huge win for the hosts over the league leaders, who find themselves tied on points with 2 other teams.
-Sat Jan 21
Real Betis 1-1 Sevilla - a tie in the Seville derby.
-Sun Jan 22
Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham - the #1 now leads the #3 team by 8 points.Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United - recently this was an intense modern rivalry, but sadly Arsenal is a shell of its former self.
Inter 2-1 Lazio - Inter's win puts them in 4th place, and the leaders are all scurrrrred.
Malaga 1-4 Barcelona - new money is no match for high quality.

FACT OF THE DAY

MLS' all time leading goal scorer Jeff Cunningham has signed with Comunicaciones in Guatemala.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The new LA Galaxy shirt for 2012.
-Thanks to Joe for the image.

PODCASTS

Tom Dunmore and Peter Wilt host the debut of the Pitch Invasion podcast! Oh Yeah! Download or listen here.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Union is expected to sign 30 year old Colombian forward Lionard Pajoy from Itagui Ditaires.
-I have heard a lot of explosive stat thrown out there about this guy, but according to Wikipedia he has scored 47 goals in 216 professional games over 8 years.

dN

Chivas USA has signed veteran MLS central midfielder Pete Vagenas from Vancouver.

CHICAGO FIRE

Tweed Thornton of Hot Time in Old Town does an interview with owner Andrew Hauptman about the season ahead.

dN

HTiOT also has lots of words from the launch of Fire's new jersey sponsor Quaker.

COLUMBUS CREW

Adam Jardy of the Dispatch gives us the update on who is in camp for Crew so far.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose Ortiz of the Chronicle reports that Houston will NOT be signing Rangers forward Kris Boyd. Too bad.
-They are still in desperate search of strikers as they have been for several years now.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

KC begins preseason training today at the Kansas City Chiefs Indoor Practice Facility.

dN

Charles Gooch of the Star looks at Los Sporting as training camp opens.

LA GALAXY

The Galaxy begins preseason training today at the Home Depot Center practice fields.

dN

Its not been announced yet but Jovan Kirovski has retired from playing and has been named as part of the coaching staff.

dN

Scott French of ESPN on the Galaxy as preseason begins.

dN

French also has LOTS of Galaxy notes - Marcelo Sarvas, David Beckham the recruiter, Frank Heyduk and more.

dN

Robbie Keane scored 2 goals for Aston Villa on Saturday.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Nick Sabetti of Sports Net on Brian Ching's arrival in Montreal.

dN

In their first official on field battle of the MLS era the Impact played a scoreless game against Chivas of Guadalajara. Not a bad start.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Preseason game announced:
-Thu Feb 23
NYRB v UNAM Pumas
in Phoenix AZ

PHILADELPHIA UNION

The Union's PPL Park will be the site of the the 2012 MLS All-Star game.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Seattle Times with a transcript of a press Q & A with GM Adrian Hanauer.

TORONTO FC

Duncan Fletcher of Sports Net looks at where TFC must improve.
-That would be everywhere except goalkeeper.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The Caps released Designated Player forward Mustapha Jarju who never could find a way to fit in with the team.

USA U17 TEAM

The team finished up play in the Aegean Cup with a bad loss to the Czechs.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-2 Turkey - USA goals by DeAndre Robinson
-Wed Jan 18
USA 3-2 Denmark - USA goals by Conor Donovan, Wesley Wade & DeAndre Robinson.
-Fri Jan 20
USA 0-4 Czech Republic

Roster:
Adonis Amaya
Corey Baird
Paul Christensen
Conor Donovan
Steven Echevarria
Junior Flores
Angel Heredia
Guy Kabala
Chris Lema
Evan Louro
Aaron Meyer
Jorge Miranda
Shaquell Moore
John Requejo Jr
DeAndre Robinson
Rubio Rubin
Lawrence Taiwo
Tyler Turner
Wesley Wade
Dembakwi Yomba

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Jamie Hill of Yanks Abroad talks to Billy Schuler who recently signed on with Hammarby in Sweden.

dN

Game Action:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the full 90 as they won 0-1 at Kortrijk.

BELGIUM - Second Division
Tristan Bowen - Roeselare - started and played 72 min as they drew 1-1 at Standaard Wetteren.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - started and came off in the 90th min after scoring 3 goals as they won 5-2 v Newcastle.
Landon Donovan - Everton - went the distance as they drew 1-1 v Blackburn.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - played the whole match but they lost 3-2 at Manchester City.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they won 2-3 at Wolverhampton.
Tim Howard - Everton - played the whole match as they drew 1-1 v Blackburn.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - played the entire game as they drew 0-0 v Chelsea.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the distance as they won 3-0 v Watford.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - started and played 71 min as they drew 1-1 at Carlisle United.
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - back on the field going the distance as they drew 1-1 v Walsall.

FRANCE - Coupe de France - Round of 32
Quentin Westberg - Evian - on the bench as they won 0-2 at Valence.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the full 90 as they drew 0-0 at Hoffenheim.
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim - on the bench but did not play in a scoreless game v Hannover.
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - came on as a sub in the 66th min as they tied 0-0 v Hannover.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - on the bench as they lost 2-0 v Nurnberg.
Daniel Williams - Hoffenheim - played the whole game as they tied 0-0 v Hannover.
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen - on the bench as they won 3-2 v Mainz.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Ryan Adeleye - Hapoel Be'er Sheva - came on as a sub in the 87th min as they won 2-0 v Hapoel Haifa.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the whole game but lost 7-3 v Hapoel Tel Aviv.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 at Lecce.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - came on as a sub in the 73rd but they drew 1-1 v Ajax.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the entire match as they drew 2-2 v Maastricht VV.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - Mon Jan 23 - went the full 90 as they tied 0-0 at Olhanense.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the distance but lost 0-2 v Belenenses.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v Aberdeen.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 v Aberdeen.
Mo Edu - Rangers - went the distance scoring a goal as tied 1-1 v Aberdeen.

dN

Coming Up:

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Tue Jan 24 v Gent

ITALY - Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - Wed Jan 25 v Siena

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - played the full 90 but lost 1-2 v Atlas.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they lost 2-1 at Toluca.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - started and played 55 min as they won 0-2 at Guadalajara.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - came on as a sub in the 75th min as they won 1-0 v Chiapas.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante -
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - went the full 90 but lost 2-0 at Morelia.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the entire match getting a yellow card as they tied 1-1 at Cruz Azul.

AMERICANS IN ASIA

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad reports that Samir Badr has signed with Haras El Hodood in Egypt.

ENGLAND

Jacob Steinberg, Rob Smyth and Ian McCourt of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

dN

English League Cup - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 24
Cardiff City v Crystal Palace (0-1)
-Wed Jan 25
Liverpool v Manchester City (1-0)

dN

The NY Times links to a Q & A with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

FRANCE

Full results from the Coupe de France Round of 32 last weekend.

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Juventus's ability to grind out wins and stay at the top, plus the rest of the weekend in Serie A.

dN

Make it 7 wins in a row now for Inter up leaped Lazio into 4th place and only 6 points off the top spot.

dN

Coppa Italia - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus v Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo v Siena
Napoli v Inter
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio v Milan

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

You can watch the tournament online right here.

dN

After the first 3 days there has been no tie games and only 1 upset - Senegal lost to Zambia.

dN

Did you know that the Zambia team is known as the Relentless Zombies.

dN

Standings:
Group A
3 Equatorial Guinea
3 Zambia
0 Libya
0 Senegal
Group B
3 Angola
3 Cote d'Ivoire
0 Burkina Faso
0 Sudan
Group C
3 Gabon
3 Tunisia
0 Morocco
0 Niger
Group D
- Botswana
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Mali

dN

Matches & Scores:
Group Stage
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana v Botswana
Mali v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya v Zambia
Equatorial Guinea v Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata

ENDERS

Ministry of Soccer has a great story on the abrupted end to a potential career with the LA Galaxy for Bryan Byrne and what an absurd spin the English press put on it all.
-Byrne runs the great site Soccer Cleats 101.

Some Soccer News for Fri Jan 20, 2012

2012-01-20T16:21:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

African Cup of Nations kicks off on Saturday. Who is going to meet me at Marina's in Northeast Minneapolis to watch:
Senegal v Zambia at 3:00pm CT on Saturday - and - Cote d'Ivoire v Sudan at 10:00am CT on Sunday.

dN

If the LA Galaxy is seriously pursuing Chelsea's Frank Lampard, as they say they are, then which of their other 3 Designated Players is out the door? We know its not David Beckham. That leaves Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane.

dN

Is Michael Ballack really going to play in Montreal?

STORY OF THE DAY

New York's Rafa Marquez told media yesterday that he was "misinterpreted" last fall when he bad mouthed team mate Tim Ream and the rest of the Red Bulls defense.

But Dave Martinez of Empire of Soccer is the one who asked Marquez the questions and interpreted the answers and he says he has audio and video that shows Marquez was NOT misquoted at all.
-Nice.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the annual January training camp.

dN

The team is wearing the white uniforms against Venezuela.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer American talks to Geoff Cameron about his new chance with the national team.

dN

Jonah Freedman of MLSSoccer.com why Jermaine Jones was seemingly rewarded by a national team call-up after his 8 game suspension from the Bundesliga.
-Weak response. What Jones did was 100% intentional, and he got what he deserved.

dN

Luis Bueno of MLSSoccer.com with an article on AJ DeLaGarza.

dN

Jose Garcia at the Arizona Republic with an article on assistant coach Martin Vasquez.

dN

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated previews the friendlies.

dN

Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN previews the Saturday game.

dN

US Soccer gives us video highlights of the USA v USA U23 1-1 tie game on Wednesday.

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

Venezuala roster
G:
Alan Liebeskind - Lara
Leonardo Morales - Anzoategui
D:
Joel Caceres - Lara
Gabriel Cichero - Lens
Javier Gonzalez - Petare
Rubert Quijada - Monagas
Carlos Rivero - Anzoategui
Andres Rouga - Tachira
Carlos Salazar - Anzoategui
Jose Manuel Velazquez - Mineros
M:
Angel Chourio - Real Esppor
Diomar Diaz - Petare
Agnel Flores - Mineros
Francisco Flores - Anzoategui
Edgar Perez Greco - Lara
Alejandro Guerra - Mineros
Diego Guerrero - Tachira
Miguel Mea Vitali - Lara
F:
Richard Blanco - Petare
Darwin Machis - Mineros
Alejandro Moreno - Chivas USA
Hermes Palomino - Cherno More
Emilio Renteria - Columbus Crew
Jose Reyes - Anzoategui

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

The team is now in Costa Rica for two friendlies before ending this training camp.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves v USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuelense v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Estoril

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Toronto FC has sold over 35,000 tickets for Quarterfinals home leg match v LA Galaxy on Mar 7.

TWITTERVERSE

2 good ones:

19 year old American Joe Gyau of Hoffenheim: @JoeGyau36 Made the match day 18 for the bundes liga tommorow!!!

And from Phil Neville of Everton: @fizzer18 We've got howard donavon hannaman buddle at training today thought I'd joined an MLS team for a minute #yankseverywere

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Sunday is a big day this weekend.

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 20
Monchengladbach v Bayern Munchen - the hosts had a surprising first half and want to prove to the top team that it was not a fluke.
-Sat Jan 21
Real Betis v Sevilla - the Seville derby
-Sun Jan 22
Manchester City v Tottenham - a big chance for #1 to show their strength against #3 who want to show they belong.
Arsenal v Manchester United - an intense modern rivalry and they are at #5 and #2.
Inter v Lazio - an Inter win could move them all the way up to 3rd place, but #4 Lazio want to end their run.
Malaga v Barcelona - the new money hosts #2

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Simply incredible!

Reuters reports that Salvador Cabanas is attempting a comeback after being shot in the head two years ago. He is playing for 12 de Octubre in the Paraguyan 3rd division.
DO YOU REALIZE

Steven Goff of the Washington Post reports that former DC United player Santino Quaranta will un-retire and play in the new India Premier League.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Fox will show Arsenal v Manchester United live on Sunday at 10AM CT. Check local listings for channel.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily talks to a Fox honcho about their first ever live Premeirship game on American broadcast TV.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Google does a video interview with David Beckham.

PODCASTS

Seeing Red is back for 2012 and starts the year off by interviewing Red Bulls President of Business Operations Chris Heck. Download or listen here.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Dallas has signed 21-year-old Panamanian fullback Carlos Rodriguez from Tauro.

dN

DC has acquired right midfielder Danny Cruz from Houston in exchange for cold hard cash that can be used against the salary cap.
-I thought Cruz had become an important part of the Houston attack but apparently not.

FC DALLAS

The team has officially loaned midfielder Jackson to Cruzeiro in his native Brazil so he can tend to family issues.

dN

Todd Date of 3rd Degree on new signing Carlos Rodriguez.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

It has been confirmed by the team that goalkeeper Frank Rost will not return for this season. That means 2 new goalkeepers for the Bulls.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The Tribune on the Timbers goal for 2012 - Playoffs.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Steve Zakuani took to the field with the Sounders for training today for the first time since his horrible broken leg last May.

TORONTO FC

TFC has released centerback Andy Iro.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

I guess Carl Robinson has retired from the New York Red Bulls because he was named as an assistant for the Whitecaps.

MLS/SUM BUSINESS

Charles Boehm of Potomac Soccer Wire talks to MLS Director of Communications Will Kuhns.
-NOTE: This article is very DC United centric.

NASL NEWS

Jason Garey who played for the Houston Dynamo last season has signed with the Carolina Railhawks.

USA U17 TEAM

The team is playing in the Aegean Cup.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-2 Turkey - USA goals by DeAndre Robinson
-Wed Jan 18
USA 3-2 Denmark - USA goals by Conor Donovan, Wesley Wade & DeAndre Robinson.
-Fri Jan 20
USA v Czech Republic

dN

Roster:
Adonis Amaya
Corey Baird
Paul Christensen
Conor Donovan
Steven Echevarria
Junior Flores
Angel Heredia
Guy Kabala
Chris Lema
Evan Louro
Aaron Meyer
Jorge Miranda
Shaquell Moore
John Requejo Jr
DeAndre Robinson
Rubio Rubin
Lawrence Taiwo
Tyler Turner
Wesley Wade
Dembakwi Yomba

FRANCE

The Coupe de France Round of 32 is set for this weekend.

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian brings us back up to speed on the Bundesliga as the season relaunches today.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

dN

Jonathan Wilson at Sports Illustrated previews the tournament.

dN

Rogan Taylor at Leaders In Football wonders why the ACN hasn't grown in stature or quality over the years.

dN

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America previews the often wacky tournament.

dN

Standings:
Group A
Equatorial Guinea
Libya
Senegal
Zambia
Group B
Angola
Cote d'Ivoire
Burkina Faso
Sudan
Group C
Gabon
Morocco
Niger
Tunisia
Group D
Botswana
Ghana
Guinea
Mali

dN

Matches & Scores:

Group Stage
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea v Libya - 12:30pm CT
Senegal v Zambia - 3:00pm CT
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire v Sudan - 10:00am CT
Burkina Faso v Angola - 1:00pm CT
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon v Niger
Morocco v Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondje, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana v Botswana
Mali v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

ENDERS

Thanks to the great folks at Chattanooga FC for sending me this great shirt featuring their very cool logo.

Some Soccer News for Thu Jan 19, 2012

2012-01-19T16:41:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

David Beckham made it official today and signed a new 2 year contract with the LA Galaxy.
-But Beckham is staying with a team that will have at least 2 giant holes to fill this season - central midfielder Juninho returned to Sao Paulo and centerback Omar Gonzalez blew out his knee.

dN

There are terrible quality photos popping around the internet of a new LA Galaxy uniform that sees the return of the sash! I say YES.

dN

Minnesota Stars 2012 schedule! They open the season On Sat Apr 7 against Carolina at the Minneapolis Metrodome!
-Here is the full schedule for all of the NASL teams.

dN

The Copa Libertadores begins on Jan 24 with a home and away qualifying round for 12 teams to fill the final 6 places, and then the group stage begins on Feb 7.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Jan 17, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Lets just say its not puppies and candy!

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated talks to some of the Americans making up the new guard playing south of the border.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the annual January training camp, and now in the final stages of prep for Saturday's game.

dN

US Soccer gives us more video:
-Those wacky kids playing ping pong.
-More practice field drills.

dN

A couple of in-house games in Carson during training camp:
-Fri Jan 13
USA 4-0 USA U23 - USA goals by Chris Wondolowki, Benny Feilhaber, Teal Bunbury & Graham Zusi.
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-1 USA U23 - USA goal by Graham Zusi. U23 goal by Jack McInerney.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

FIFA finds new ways to make themselves look stupid almost every day. Today's coupe?

Both Brazil & Russia has laws that prohibit alcohol sales in stadiums due to crowd violence, but FIFA is insisting they changed their laws for the World Cup. Cuz FIFA knows better than the people who live in those countries right?
-The Irish Times tells of their hubris.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Sunday is a big day this weekend.

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 20
Monchengladbach v Bayern Munchen - the hosts had a surprising first half and want to prove to the top team that it was not a fluke.
-Sun Jan 22
Manchester City v Tottenham - a big chance for #1 to show their strength against #3 who want to show they belong.
Arsenal v Manchester United - an intense modern rivalry and they are at #5 and #2.
Inter v Lazio - an Inter win could move them all the way up to 3rd place, but #4 Lazio want to end their run.
Malaga v Barcelona - the new money hosts #2

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN gives us 10 American players to watch under the age of 21.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Three new veterans pull on the Sporting KC shirt: Convey, Nagamura and Peterson.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

SKC has signed midfielder Jacob Peterson who was released by San Jose.

dN

Vancouver announced the signing of hacking midfielder Jun Marques Davidson. He played for head coach Martin Rennie in Carolina 2 years ago, and last season played for Tokushima Vortis the Japanese 2nd division.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Geoffrey Arnold of the Oregonian reports on the progress of the building of the Timbers new training facility.

USA U17 TEAM

The team is playing in the Aegean Cup.

After losing game 1, the team game back to win game 2. Contrary to popular rumor they are still being coached by Wilmar Cabrera. (He must be done after this trip.)

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-2 Turkey - USA goals by DeAndre Robinson
-Wed Jan 18
USA 3-2 Denmark - USA goals by Conor Donovan, Wesley Wade & DeAndre Robinson.
-Fri Jan 20
USA v Czech Republic

dN

Roster:
Adonis Amaya
Corey Baird
Paul Christensen
Conor Donovan
Steven Echevarria
Junior Flores
Angel Heredia
Guy Kabala
Chris Lema
Evan Louro
Aaron Meyer
Jorge Miranda
Shaquell Moore
John Requejo Jr
DeAndre Robinson
Rubio Rubin
Lawrence Taiwo
Tyler Turner
Wesley Wade
Dembakwi Yomba

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

NETHERLANDS - KNVB Beker - Round of 16
Jozy Altidore - AZ - came on as a sub in the 78th min as they won 2-3 at Ajax.

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Thu Jan 19
Valencia 4-1 Levante

FRANCE

The Coupe de France Round of 32 is set for this weekend.

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jan 19
Inter 2-1 Genoa

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

dN

The Guardian with previews of Libya and Zambia.

dN

Matches & Scores:

Group Stage
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea v Libya
Senegal v Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire v Sudan
Burkina Faso v Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo

Some Soccer News for Wed Jan 18, 2012

2012-01-18T17:31:00.001-06:00

STARTERS

Two big MLS player moves are on the front burner today:
-Philly to sell Sebastien Le Toux to Bolton.
-LA to re-sign David Beckham tomorrow.

dN

Barca beat Real Madrid again! 1-2 today in the 1st Leg of the Copa Del Rey Quarterfinals. 2nd Leg is next Wednesday.

dN

Former Fulham coach Chris Coleman is the new head coach of Wales, replacing the sadly departed Gary Speed.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Jan 17, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Robbie Rogers has secured a work permit for England and is now free to play for Leeds United.

Phil Hay of the Yorkshire Evening Post has an interview with Rogers about joining Leeds.
-Don't miss the special bile from the "supporters" in the comments section. Welcome to Leeds Robbie!!!

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the annual January training camp.

dN

Injury report: Juan Agudelo has suffered an unspecified ankle injury.

dN

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America talks to Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge about Jurgen Klinsmann's tenure as their head coach, and the potential for the USA.

dN

The senior team tied the Olympic team 1-1 on Tuesday.
-The team lined up for that scrimmage in a 4-5-1.
-Photos from the game.

A couple of in-house games in Carson during training camp:
-Fri Jan 13
USA 4-0 USA U23 - USA goals by Chris Wondolowki, Benny Feilhaber, Teal Bunbury & Graham Zusi.
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-1 USA U23 - USA goal by Graham Zusi. U23 goal by Jack McInerney.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Currently training in Carson CA.

dN

Joshua Gatt has left the team with an ankle injury.

BUMMER OF THE DAY

A Glasgow man has been charged with racially aggravated harassment for sending allegedly racist emails to American Mo Edu who plays in that city for Rangers.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Neil Morris of Indy Week talks to Billy Schuler who went from UNC last fall to signing a deal at Hammarby instead of MLS. (thanks to Brian for the link)

WELL WELL WELL

Kickette does a Q & A with movie star and Vancouver centerback Jay DeMerit.

OOF

Steve Davis announced today that he is shutting down the Daily Soccer Fix. Damn.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

SKC has signed 23 year old American midfielder Michael Thomas from Ljungskile in Sweden.

dN

Chivas signed goalkeeper Tim Melia from Real Salt Lake.

dN

DCU has signed forward Maicon Santos who was released by Dallas at the end of last season.

dN

Seattle has made the signing of 19 year old Trinidad forward Cordell Cato from San Juan Jabloteh official.

CHICAGO FIRE

Chicago has re-signed Mexican veteran Pavel Pardo, who had a very positive impact on the team down the stretch last season.

CD CHIVAS USA

Scott French of ESPN reports that Juan Pablo Angel is in preseason camp with the team and is close to signing a new contract.

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Post with an update on Chris Pontius's recovery from a broken leg.

dN

Craig Stouffer of the Examiner with lots of DCU team notes.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Sporking announced today it has re-signed fullback Seth Sinovic to a new contract.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Randy Phillips of the Gazette on the players from Montreal's second division roster that are getting their shot at MLS.

dN

Scott French of ESPN does a Q & A with Zarek Valentin about his move from Chivas USA to the Impact.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Stephen Keel has signed a new contract with the team.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Another hole for the Union to fill - midfielder Veljko Paunovic announced his retirement today.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayer of the Times with two interesting bits of info:
-Century Link Field is getting brand new fake turf installed any day now.
-The Sounders are pursuing the idea of owning a PDL team. (That is the 4th division, and the top amateur league.)

dN

The Sounders begin preseason training tomorrow, Thu Jan 19.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Russell Berrisford of the Sun looks at the Caps roster as of today.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Greg Seltzer of MLSsoccer.com with a mega-list of players he thinks would make great MLS transfer targets. TEXT UPDATED

MLS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Kurtis Larson of the Toronto Sun talks to the new director of the TFC youth set up Thomas Rongen.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad with the latest on the 3 young Americans at Hertha Berlin - Brooks, Morales & Kiesewetter.

dN

Sciaretta also talks to Bryan Gerzicich who is a regular at 1st place Ironi Kiryat Shmona in Israel.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND FA Cup - 3rd Rd Replays
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham City - Wed Jan 18 - played whole game as they won 0-1 at Wolverhampton.

CANADA

Friendly just announced: Wed Feb 29 Armenia v Canada

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 17
Espanyol 3-2 Mirandes
-Wed Jan 18
Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
Athletic Bilboa 2-0 Mallorca
-Thu Jan 19
Valencia v Levante

ITALY

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune wonders why Inter would want to mess with their team chemistry by adding Carlos Tevez.

dN

Coppa Italia - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 8
Juventus 2-1 Bologna
-Tue Dec 13
Palermo 4-4 Siena - Sie advances 3-0 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Tue Jan 10
Lazio 3-2 Hellas Verona
-Wed Jan 11
Udinese 1-2 Chievo
Roma 3-0 Fiorentina
-Thu Jan 12
Napoli 2-1 Cesena
-Wed Jan 18
Milan 2-1 Novara
-Thu Jan 19
Inter v Genoa

Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus v Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo v Siena
Napoli v Inter/Genoa
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio v Milan

TOP EURO CLUB GOAL SCORERS

Premier League
18 Robin Van Persie
15 Demba Ba
14 Kun Aguero
13 Wayne Rooney
12 Yakubu Aiyegbeni

dN

Bundesliga
16 Mario Gomez
15 Klaas Jan Huntelaar
14 Lukas Podolski
12 Robert Lewandowski
12 Claudio Pizarro

dN

Serie A
13 Antonio Di Natale
12 German Denis
12 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
11 Edison Cavani

dN

Primera Division
21 Cristiano Ronaldo
19 Lionel Messi
14 Gonzalo Higuain
11 Radamael Falcao
11 Roberto Soldado

dN

Ligue 1
14 Oliver Giroud
9 Nene
9 Kevin Gameiro
9 Loic Remy

AFRICA

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal with an article on former World Player of the Year Rivaldo who has signed with a team in Angola.

ENDERS

Supposedly this guy on the Quaker Oats packages is named Larry. You can't make that up.

The du Nord 2012 NSCAA Convention Recap

2012-01-18T13:33:00.002-06:00

du Nord spent two great days last week in Kansas City attending the National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention and the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

It was filled with fun, frolicking, food, fantasy, fast cars, fast women (not nearly enough), french fries, famous players, a funky monkey, fruit plates, flaun, freaky beards, finely tuned speeches, frumpiness, factotums, flora & fauna, fajitas, fabulous lawns, firm handshakes, fake smiles, fake boobs, fantasmagorical nightlife, flibbertigibbets, florescent lighting, ferrets, fission, fusion, fashion, fabulous frickin barbeque, fat fucks, fine fine music, and more futbol fanaticos then you could ever hope to find in one place!

The following people have to be acknowledged as making the whole trip possible and more than worth while!

Brian Quarstad - IMSoccer News & travel partner

Ryan Knapp - NSCAA host

Sam Schroeder - Ripon College

Eddie Rock - Libero Sports

Rishi Sehgal, Kartik Krishnaiyer & David Downs - NASL

Aaron Davidson - Traffic

JP Dellacamera - TV commentator extraordinaire

Stefano Bontempo & Tommy Knapp - Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Matt Homonoff & Andreas Morse - FC Edmonton

Graham & Jenna Fox - King & Queen of KC, and Its Made Of Paper

Jeff Szajnuk - The Cauldron!

Frank Kuzava & Crew - Dinner & Dancing

Brendan Hannan - Chicago Fire

Amos Magee, Merritt Paulson & Brian Costello - Portland Timbers

David Lindholm & German Sferra - Colorado Rapids

Bill Manning, Andy Williams & Trey Fitzgerald - Real Salt Lake

Jesse Marsch - Montreal Impact

Shawn Francis, Matt Doyle, Simon Borg, Chris Bettin, Greg Lalas, Nick Firachau, Dan Courtemanche, Don Garber, Lauren Brophy, Susan Marshall & Will Kuhns - MLS Chiefs

Manny Lagos, Djorn Buchholz, Alex Haueter & Kevin Friedland - The Minnesota Stars FC crew.

Evan Fuhs - Augsburg

Sunil Gulati - US Soccer

Michael Lewis - Big Apple Soccer & Tropigoal

Kyle McCarthy - Boston Herald

Charles Gooch - Kansas City Star, and city tour guide

Jonathan Tannenwald - Philly.com

Kerith Gabriel - Philadelphia Daily News

Andy Mead - Yellow Card Journalism

The Roughneck Scarves gang

Ives Galarcep & Avi Creditor - Soccer By Ives

John Guppy - Gilt Edge Soccer Marketing

The Inimitable Coach Buzz Lagos

And our good FIF from MLS HQ Brett! Who we see everywhere around the soccer universe in 15-20 second increments!

We also need to tip our hat to the great barbequed food purveyors of Oklahoma Joes, and the late night bon vivant of YJ's Snack Bar.

And finally if I forgot anyone its because I am so sober its confusing, and I am apologize for not dropping your name!

Some Soccer News for Tue Jan 17, 2012

2012-01-17T19:01:00.001-06:00

Today's du Nord post is dedicated to one of our heroes: Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr on this day, January 17, in 1942. Happy 70th my man!

STARTERS

I spent 2 great days last week in Kansas City at the NSCAA Convention, including taking in the MLS SuperDraft. I will have a write up on my trip in a couple of days. Thanks to everyone who made it so memorable especially Ryan Knapp of the NSCAA!

dN

COMING UP: Real Madrid v Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Quarterfinals 1st Leg - 3pm CT on GOLTV and ESPN3.com

dN

Holy Smokes! Was that a Michael Essien sighting on the field for Chelsea. When was the last time we saw him. One of my faves.

dN

This coming Saturday sees the African Cup of Nations kick off!

dN

They say that Edson Buddle is going to get a tryout this week at Everton.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Jan 17, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

STORY OF THE DAY

Eric Wynalda took to yet another forum last week, a talk he gave during the NSCAA convention, to unleash his hounds on US Soccer, MLS, Landon Donovan and other soccer related topics.

Charles Boehm and Jimmy LaRoue of the National Soccer Wire were there to capture Wynalda in all his glory. A transcript in PART 1 - and - PART 2 - and - PART 3.

STORY OF THE DAY 2

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America talks to former USA U17 head coach Wilmer Cabrera about why he is no longer in charge of that program.

LANDON DONOVAN AT EVERTON

From Everton official site:
-Moyes Praises Donovan - video
-English press round up is full of LA Galaxy and Hollywood references for Donovan and the Aston Villa substitute debut of Robbie Keane.

Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Daily Post talks to Donovan after Saturday's tie game.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The team is in the annual January training camp.

dN

Stuart Holden stopped by training camp. US Soccer Q & A-ed him.

dN

Jermaine Jones has been added to the USA roster for the this camp. Honestly though, I have a big problem with this addition. He is free to join up because he is serving an 8 game suspension for purposefully stomping on the foot of a player who he knew had broken bones in that foot, so what does the USA federation do about that punishment? They reward the player by bringing him into the the USA team. I think he should be suspended from the USA team for what he did as well. Yes, you can call me Johnny Righteous.

dN

Jose Garcia of the Arizona Republic has an interview with head coach Jurgen Klinsmann - PART 1 - and PART 2.

dN

AZ Central has a video interview with Brad Evans.

dN

Odeen Dominogo at MLSsoccer.com with an article on Klinsmann giving a different batch of players a shot at the national team.

dN

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer on Geoff Cameron's latest shot with Team USA.

dN

US Soccer with articles from camp:
-The return of Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark to the team.
-An article on goalkeepers Bill Hamid and Sean Johnson
-Q & A with AJ DeLaGarza
-Heath Pearce writes about his experiences
-An article on goalkeeper Nick Rimando

dN

US Soccer with videos from camp:
-Highlights from Jan 13 scrimmage
-1 Week Down
-Namaste - Yoga Class
-Jermaine Jones joins the team

dN

The senior team beat the Olympic team 4-0 on Friday with all the goals coming in the first half.

A couple of in-house games in Carson during training camp:
-Fri Jan 13
USA 4-0 USA U23 - USA goals by Chris Wondolowki, Benny Feilhaber, Teal Bunbury & Graham Zusi.
Post game notes from the U23 blog.
-Tue Jan 17
USA v USA U23

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Currently training in Carson CA.

dN

Video from US Soccer:
-Joshua Gatt Looks To 2012
-U23 Players Ready for Draft
-Ready for scrimmage
-Camp continues

dN

US Soccer asks head coach Caleb Porter how things are looking for his team.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves v USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuelense v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Joshua Gatt - Molde
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

THE LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP

US Soccer announces the Format, Composition and Schedule for 99th Edition of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
-Plenty of good changes.

64 teams will make up the field this year - 32 professional (the most ever) and 32 amateur.
-Round 1 - 32 amatuer teams (May 15)
-Round 2 - 6 NASL and 10 USL Pro teams enter (May 22)
-Round 3 - 16 MLS teams enter (May 29)
-Round 4 - (Jun 5)
-Quarterfinals - (Jun 26)
-Semifinals - (Jul 10)
-Final - (Aug 7)

Amateur (32 teams):
US Adult Soccer Association – 9 places
Premier Development League – 16 places
National Premier Soccer League – 6.5 places
US Club Soccer – 0.5 place

USL PRO (Division III – 10 teams): Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles, Dayton Dutch Lions, Harrisburg City Islanders, Los Angeles Blues, Orlando City SC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Rhinos, Wilmington Hammerheads

North American Soccer League (Division II – 6 teams): Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Minnesota Stars FC, San Antonio Scorpions, Tampa Bay Rowdies

Major League Soccer (Division I – 16 teams): Chicago Fire SC, CD Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, DC United, Houston Dynamo, Sporting Kansas City, LA Galaxy, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

David Conn of the Guardian looks ahead to a big day for FIFA to come clean or not on Thursday.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Yes this weekends Derby della Madonnina was ugly, but I leaped out of my seat going nuts when Diego Milito hit the winner for Inter!

-Sat Jan 14
Montpellier 1-0 Lyon - #2 beats #4
-Sun Jan 15
Milan 0-1 Inter - Derby della Madonnina sees Inter win for the first time in 3 years.
Marseille 2-0 Lille - two recent champs faced off! And last years champs lost!

BUMMER OF THE DAY

Only a bummer if there is truth to part of this rumor:

The USA is lining up a friendly v Brazil during the June 1st-5th international window, to be played in either Boston or DC.

With all the cities across the country that have great fans and are starved for a big time friendly these two cities would be near the bottom of my list until they get their MLS stadium acts together.

To my way of thinking US Soccer should go out of their way to avoid playing games in either place.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

The Chicago Fire announced Quaker Oats as their new front of shirt sponsor!

Do you need a fantastic video presentation? Yes you do.

Who is that guy on Quaker Oats package, and is the company still owned by Quakers?

DO YOU REALIZE

There are many soccer forums and message boards out there and I recently found out about this cool board - Soccer Futbol Forum. They just celebrated 5 years of action! Check it out now. Tell 'em du Nord sent you!

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Stadio Dino Manuzzi home to Cesena in Serie A has artificial turf as of this season.

STAT OF THE DAY

Juventus remains the only team in all the major European leagues without a defeat this season, with 10 wins and 8 draws after 18 rounds.
-They currently have a 1 point lead at the top of Serie A.

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT

Since the NASL has banned us fans from forevermore coming within 100 yards of the precious Soccer Bowl Cup trophy, Minnesota Star FC fan Andy Grosbeak Wattenhofer has just gone ahead and built his own!

OOF

LA Galaxy centerback Omar Gonzalez has had the surgery to repair his torn left ACL. He will be out of action for as long as 9 months.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Oh boy!

Robbie Findley with a monumental miss. Courtesy of 101 Great Goals!

PODCAST OF THE DAY

Me, il Brucio of du Nord, was a special guest from the floor of the MLS SuperDraft on the latest edition of Jimmy Conrad's American Soccer Spectacular. Listen or download here.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

SuperDraft

MLS held the "Supplemental Draft" today to disperse players that were not chosen in the SuperDraft last week. Here is how it went down.

dN

Player Transactions

Portland has signed 24 year old Colombian centerback Hanyer Mosquera from Equidad.

Vancouver keeps the Martin Rennie trail open by signing Carolina goalkeeper Brad Knighton.

dN

CD CHIVAS USA

The Ameri-Goats begin preseason training today at the Home Depot Center.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Rapids under new head coach Oscar Pareja begin training camp on Thu Jan 19.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

SKC begins their preseason next Mon Jan 23.

LA GALAXY

In case you missed it Robbie Keane has been loaned out to Aston Villa for 7 weeks. He made his debut last weekend.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Kyle McCarthy of the Herald on the first day of a new era in Revland.
-Head coach Jay Heaps on his first day in charge of his players.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

NYRB pulled off the only big deal on SuperDraft day last week and that was sending a future draft pick and cash to Portland for Kenny Cooper.

USA U17 TEAM

The team is playing in the Aegean Cup.

This is the first we have even heard that they are in this tournament, and we have been given no USA roster, not to mention been told who the coach of the team is since Wilmar Cabrera left.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 17
USA 1-2 Turkey - USA goals by DeAndre Robinson
-Wed Jan 18
USA v Denmark
-Fri Jan 20
USA v Czech Republic

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

West Ham officially announced the loan deal signing of George John from FC Dallas. But the deal is only until Mar 1, so what happens after then?

dN

The Leeds website has an interview with Robbie Rogers.

dN

The Liverpool Echo with an article on Edson Buddle getting a look from Everton.

dN

RUMOR: Chris Rolfe to Brondby?

dN

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - went the distance getting a yellow card as they won 3-0 v Club Brugge.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the whole game but lost 3-1 at Blackburn.
Landon Donovan - Everton - went the full 90 as they drew 1-1 at Aston Villa.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - went the distance as they tied 1-1 v Wolverhampton.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - dumped back to the bench as they drew 1-1 v Everton.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance as they tied 1-1 at Aston Villa.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - played the whole match as they won 1-2 at West Brom.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - came on as a sub in the 72nd min but lost 0-3 v Southampton.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the distance as they won huge 0-6 at Millwall.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - went the full 90 in a scoreless game at Brentford.

ENGLAND FA Cup - 3rd Rd Replays
Robbie Findley - Nottingham Forest - Tue Jan 17 - went the full 90 but lost 4-0 at Leicester City.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Quentin Westberg - Evian - on the bench as they lost 3-1 at Djion.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - played the entire game as they won 2-3 at Bnei Sakhnin.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the full 90 getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 v Hapoel Acre.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - played the full 90 and they won 1-0 v Palermo.

NETHERLANDS - Eerste Divisie
Charles Kazlauskas - Helmond Sport - played the whole game as they drew 0-0 at FC Eindhoven.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - played the entire 90 but lost 2-1 at Braga.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - Mon Jan 16 v UD Oliveirense
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP - Mon Jan 16 v UD Oliveirense

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they won 1-2 at St Johnstone.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - went the distance but scoring an Own Goal luckily they won 1-2 at St Johnstone.
Mo Edu - Rangers - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they won 1-2 at St Johnstone.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND FA Cup - 3rd Rd Replays
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham City - Wed Jan 18 at Wolverhampton

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Michael Orozco's San Luis is the only team in the Mexican first division with the full 6 points after the first two rounds of the new Clausura!

dN

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com reports that Joe Benny Corona was named the best newcomer in the Mexican Primera.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - came on as a sub in the 62nd min but lost 3-1 at Pachuca.
Ricardo Bocanegra - Atlas - started and played 60 min but lost 0-2 v Cruz Azul.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - plyed the whole match as they won 1-0 v Monterrey.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - came on as a sub in the 59th min and they won 1-0 v Monterrey.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - on the bench but did not play as they won 1-2 at Atlante.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - came on as a sub in the 87th min but lost 1-2 v Santos Laguna.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - went the full 90 as they won 0-2 at Tecos.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - played the full 90 and won 3-1 v Puebla.

CANADA

Friendly just announced: Wed Feb 29 Armenia v Canada

ENGLAND

Gregg Roughley and Ian McCourt of the Guardian with five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.

dN

English League Cup - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Crystal Palace 1-0 Cardiff City
-Wed Jan 11
Manchester City v Liverpool

SPAIN

Sid Lowe of the Guardian on Diego Simeone's return to Athletico Madrid and the rest of the weekend in La Liga.

dN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Racing Santander 1-1 Mirandes - Mir advances 3-1 on aggregate.
Mallorca 6-1 Real Sociedad - Mal advances 6-3 on aggregate.
Malaga 0-1 Real Madrid - RM advances 4-2 on aggregate.
-Wed Jan 11
Levante 4-0 Alcorcon - Lev advances 5-2 on aggregate.
Espanyol 4-2 Cordoba - Esp advances 5-4 on aggregate.
Sevilla 2-1 Valencia - series ended tied 2-2, but Val advances, for reasons I don't know.
-Thu Jan 12
Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Albacete -AB advances 4-0 on aggregate.
Osasuna 1-2 Barcelona - Bar advances 5-1 on aggregate.

Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 17
Espanyol v Mirandes
-Wed Jan 18
Real Madrid v Barcelona
Athletic Bilboa v Mallorca
-Thu Jan 19
Valencia v Levante

FRANCE

Coupe de la Ligue - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 10
Caen 0-3 Marseille
-Wed Jan 11
Nice 3-3 Dijon - Nic adv 5-3 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
Le Mans 0-1 Lorient
Lyon 2-1 Lille

Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 31
Lorient v Lyon
-Wed Feb 1
Marseille v Nice

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Inter's big derby win over Milan and the rest of the round in Serie A.

dN

Coppa Italia - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 8
Juventus 2-1 Bologna
-Tue Dec 13
Palermo 4-4 Siena - Sie advances 3-0 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Tue Jan 10
Lazio 3-2 Hellas Verona
-Wed Jan 11
Udinese 1-2 Chievo
Roma 3-0 Fiorentina
-Thu Jan 12
Napoli 2-1 Cesena
-Wed Jan 18
Milan v Novara
-Thu Jan 19
Inter v Genoa

Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 24
Juventus v Roma
-Wed Jan 25
Chievo v Siena
Napoli v Inter/Genoa
-Thu Jan 26
Lazio v Milan/Novara

EUROPE

Taca de Portugal - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st leg
-Wed Jan 11
Sporting CP 2-2 Nacional
-Thu Jan 12
Academica 1-0 UD Oliveirense
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 7
Nacional v Sporting CP (2-2)
UD Oliveirense v Academica (0-1)

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2012

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

dN

Jonthan Wilson of the Guardian previews the African Cup of Nations as only he can.

dN

Standings:
Group A
Equatorial Guinea
Libya
Senegal
Zambia
Group B
Angola
Cote d'Ivoire
Burkina Faso
Sudan
Group C
Gabon
Morocco
Niger
Tunisia
Group D
Botswana
Ghana
Guinea
Mali

dN

Opening Weekend Matches & Scores:

Group Stage
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea v Libya
Senegal v Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire v Sudan
Burkina Faso v Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo

ENDERS

The New York Cosmos Tumblr

ADVANCE NOTICE: Dark Clouds - Winter Supporters Summit

2012-01-16T17:17:00.003-06:00

For ALL fans of Minnesota Stars FC

The annual event is upon us.

Along with the usual slate of comparing winter beards of the male attendees and electing a new board of directors we have lots of planning to do.
What can you do to help make the Dome Opener a success?
Got an idea for tifo?
Want to make a t-shirt?
Do you really have the nuts of a warrior? (Actual testicles not required, women welcome.)
And lots, lots more.

Thu Feb 9
7 - 10pm

Sweetwater Bar & Grill
at the Kelly Inn
I-94 & Marion
161 St Anthony Ave
St Paul

Some Weak Gruel News for Friday, January 13, 2012

2012-01-13T13:24:00.005-06:00

Yes, Brucio is still away. Sources say he's exploring restaurant franchise opportunities in Newfoundland. Please be patient with me. I am an amateur.

So how did everybody fare in Thursday's MLS SuperDraft?

Over at No Short Corners, Will Parchman is apoplectic that Enzo Martinez fell all the way to 17th, where Salt Lake scooped him up. He also gives high marks to Vancouver's selection of Darren Mattocks, labeling him the "attacking jewel of the draft." Low marks go to the Red Bulls for picking a 'keeper with their lone selection. Which prompts Parchman to ask this question: "What is with Erik Soler's goalkeeper fetish, anyway?" Hey buddy, we all have our hangups. Please don't judge.

Ives Galarcep agrees that Martinez was the "steal of the day." He also gives top marks to Montreal and Toronto for their picks. Failing grades go to Columbus and New York.

And over at WVHooligan, Vancouver, Philly and Chicago get top honors from Drew Epperley. He thinks the Whitecaps, though, walked away with the best loot: "First year coach Martin Rennie scored huge yesterday, it is as simple as that."

Major League Soccer

WaPo's Steve Goff reports Chris Pontius expects to be 100-percent healthy by March 1. His excellent 2011 campaign for D.C. United was cut short when he broke his leg.

Brian Ching is heading to Montreal after threatening to retire if picked in the expansion draft. He still doesn't sound very happy about it. There is some lingering bad blood between Ching and Montreal coach Jesse Marsch.

Is Danny Mwanga being shopped around by Philly? Union assistant Diego Gutierrez denies that it is so.

Brian Quarstad, of IMSoccer News, talks with Calum Mallace, who was the 20th pick (by Montreal) of the second round in the MLS draft.

Big Apple Soccer reports that New York has purchased the MLS rights to Wilman Conde from Chicago. He could fill the void left by Tim Ream, who is expected to be introduced by Bolton next week.

Brucio was on Jimmy Conrad's American Soccer Spectacular podcast yesterday to discuss the MLS draft. You can listen to it (if you dare) here.

England

Looks like Dullsville on the fixture schedule this weekend. Liverpool v. Stoke City appears to be the most intriguing matchup. Maybe there's some doozy of a derby that I'm missing.

Barney Ronay says Andy Carroll is like Sting. Or like Sting's Amazonian tribesman friend. Or something like that. Wow. That is really a low blow to Sting.

I love Mario Balotelli. Only a bored, dumbass sports reporter would label it "eccentric behaviour" to utilize a public bathroom.

George John is on a two-month loan at West Ham. The club hopes to make the move permanent. Could Edson Buddle soon be joining him?

Italy

It's the Milan derby! The two legendary clubs square off at the San Siro on Sunday. After a miserable start Inter have won five straight, outscoring the opposition 13-1, and are just eight points off the lead. Milan are tied atop the table with Juventus.

Amy Lawrence argues that the intrigue for the Milan derby has been ratcheted up even further by the bizarre, ongoing transfer saga of Carlos Tevez. Both Milan clubs want the Cro-Magnon man. It looked like Milan had landed him. But then the sale of Alexandre Pato to Paris St. Germain fell apart and the Rossoneri don't have any money. Maybe Silvio Berlusconi can hold a bunga bunga sex party fundraiser. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Wesley Sneijder will be available for Inter for the first time since November 2. That is huge.

Varun Mathure says the ghost of Jose Mourinho haunts Inter.

Milan have awarded coach Massimiliano Allegri a two-year contract extension through 2014 ahead of the big match.

Milan have won the last three derbies. (I am going to cheer for Milan. Just to annoy Brucio. Because the pay for this gig sucks.)

Germany

The bastards are still on Christmas holiday. Let's get back to work already, you guys! Lazy, pampered Europeans.

Jermaine Jones has been called in to the U.S. training camp. He's currently serving an eight-week suspension from Schalke 04 for stomping on an opposing player.

Africa Cup of Nations

It is amazing that neither Egypt or Nigeria qualified for this tournament. That is all.

Gold boots

I know there are a lot of other countries where there have been futbol developments in the last 24 hours. But I am a mere mortal and have run out of time. So I'll leave you with a picture that Brucio sent along of these ridiculous gold cleats that Adidas created to honor Lionel Messi winning his third straight Ballon D'Or.

Some Soccer News for Thursday Jan 12, 2012

2012-01-12T14:47:00.005-06:00

Happy Thursday, everyone. Joe the Curmudgeon here, holding down the fort today as Dear Leader El Brucio is in Kansas City for the MLS SuperDraft and probably cleaning Oklahoma Joe's out of every last scrap of meat... Just a bit of news for today...

MLS SUPERDRAFT

...And with the First Pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Impact Montréal select Andrew Wenger D/F from Duke. Congrats Andrew as well as all the Draftees! Expect a full rundown from Bruce as soon as he wipes the BBQ sauce from his ginormous beard.

Andrew Wenger (via PhillySoccerPage.net)

You can view the MLS SuperDraft Tracker and see who your team selected...

dN

Kenny FrankenCooper dealt to NYRB

Minutes before the MLS SuperDraft started, news was broken by 'Designated Player' and FiF, Ives Galarcep for Fox Soccer News that Portland Timbers have sent Kenny Cooper to the New York Red Bulls for a 2013 1st round draft pick and if Cooper remains a Red Bull after 2012, allocation money. According to Ives, this leaves little room at forward for USMNT F Juan 'in a million' Agudelo, who is expected to find employ outside of MLS. More on this as it develops.

dN

Robbie Keane to Aston Villa in loan deal

LA Galaxy forward is the latest MLS player to find a short-term loan deal, moving to Aston Villa for a few months. This will help the Ireland international star stay fit in advance of the European Championships. Keane joins fellow MLS stars in loans to the EPL: Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan (Everton) and NYRB's Thierry Henry (Arsenal). He may even play Saturday against Donovan's Everton side. Henry, meanwhile, is said to have amazed his Arsenal teammates with his training regimen. Gotta be tough to play in MLS, kiddies.

Tottenham to wear Under Armour kit

Though there was some news last spring about Tottenham moving their kit allegiance to Under Armour, today a Press Release shows the deal is between UA and Spurs is complete and will commence with the 2012/2013 season. By the way, Tottenham are far up the English Premiership table, sitting easily at number 3 currently with 45 points, tied on points with Man U, but behind on Goal differential. Can you dig it, Spurs fans?

---

Cheers,

Joe

Some Soccer News for Wed Jan 11, 2012

2012-01-11T13:45:00.001-06:00

NSCAA CONVENTION AND MLS SUPERDRAFT

The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12.

dN

du Nord will be there. Will you? Come find me!

dN

Watch the MLS SuperDraft on Wed - 11am CT on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com

dN

Tod Palmer of the Kansas City Star writes that KC is the soccer mecca this week.

dN

Charles Gooch of the Star writes a 2 part Sporting Kansas City-centric primer for the draft - PART 1 - and - PART 2.

dN

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated sees the draft going down like this.

dN

Player News

Centerback Austin Berry from Louisville has signed an MLS contract ahead of the draft.

Forward Ethan Finlay from Creighton has signed an MLS contract ahead of the draft.

Centerback Aaron Maund from Notre Dame has signed an MLS contract ahead of the draft.

STARTERS

Columbus Crew starter Robbie Rogers has signed a contract to play for Leeds in England's second division. He must now obtain a UK work permit before the deal is finalized. I am pretty sure this will happen.
-Here is word from Leeds United.

dN

The rumor mill is also spitting out word that Tim Ream has signed with Bolton. How much is Red Bull getting for him?

dN

Real Madrid has advanced and will most likely meet Barcelona in the Quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. The first leg is scheduled to be play next week on Tue Jan 17.
-Barca holds a 3-0 lead over Osasuna from their first leg match in the Round of 16. Their second leg match is set for this Thursday.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

Double du Nord at the Controls - Jan 10, 2012 - Ziggy & The King - Two new music mixes featuring a pair of stars who share a birthday on January 8.

-David Bowie - all 41 of du Nord's favorite Bowie songs.

-Elvis Presley - all 28 of du Nord's favorite Elvis songs.

STORY OF THE DAY

Big Apple Soccer reports that Thierry Henry's new teammates at Arsenal have been blown away by his training attitude.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp is currently in effect in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends with the game in Panama.

dN

A couple of in-house games during training camp:
-Fri Jan 13 & Tue Jan 17
USA v USA U23
At the HDC training center in Carson

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

Venezuala roster
G:
Alan Liebeskind - Lara
Leonardo Morales - Anzoategui
D:
Joel Caceres - Lara
Gabriel Cichero - Lens
Javier Gonzalez - Petare
Rubert Quijada - Monagas
Carlos Rivero - Anzoategui
Andres Rouga - Tachira
Carlos Salazar - Anzoategui
Jose Manuel Velazquez - Mineros
M:
Angel Chourio - Real Esppor
Diomar Diaz - Petare
Agnel Flores - Mineros
Francisco Flores - Anzoategui
Edgar Perez Greco - Lara
Alejandro Guerra - Mineros
Diego Guerrero - Tachira
Miguel Mea Vitali - Lara
F:
Richard Blanco - Petare
Darwin Machis - Mineros
Alejandro Moreno - Chivas USA
Hermes Palomino - Cherno More
Emilio Renteria - Columbus Crew
Jose Reyes - Anzoategui

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Paul Kelso of the Telegraph reports that there is rising support for Michel Platini to oust Sepp Blatter as FIFA pres this year.

dN

Tarig Panja of Bloomberg talks to former ~~FIFA~~ UEFA president Lennart Johansson who has asked for an inquiry into vote buying in the election that he lost to Sepp Blatter back in 1998.

Thanks to gmark for the correction.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

One big derby match and two important games in the France championat.

-Sat Jan 14
Montpellier v Lyon - #2 v #4
-Sun Jan 15
Milan v Inter - Derby della Madonnina
Marseille v Lille - two recent champs face off

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Laduma - A documentary film of the USA in South Africa from One Goal.
-See the novie trailer.

Visit them online at onegoalusa.com

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Chivas announced the signing of 21 year old Ecuadorian attacking midfielder Miller Bolanos from Liga de Quito.

Seattle has bought 23 year old Danish midfielder Sounders FC has acquired 23-year-old Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek from Midtjylland.

Chicago announced the signing of 25 year old Uruguayan forward Federico Puppo from Danubio.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

The Chronicle on the announcement of the retirement of veteran centerback Eddie Robinson.
-He will continue to work for the team initially coaching in their academy.

TORONTO FC

TFC signs striker Joao Plata to a long term contract.

USL NEWS

The 2012 USL Pro season will begin on Friday, April 6 with Antigua Barracuda hostings Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Sticky Wicket Stadium. (What a great name!)

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Paul Wilson of the Guardian on the amazing longevity & high quality of Brad Friedel's career.

dN

Aston Villa website with article that says Brad Guzan has stated his case to be the starting goalkeeper. But will he be?

ENGLAND

English League Cup - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Crystal Palace 1-0 Cardiff City
-Wed Jan 11
Manchester City v Liverpool

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Racing Santander 1-1 Mirandes - Mir advances 3-1 on aggregate.
Mallorca 6-1 Real Sociedad - Mal advances 6-3 on aggregate.
Malaga 0-1 Real Madrid - RM advances 4-2 on aggregate.
-Wed Jan 11
Levante v Alcorcon (1-2)
Espanyol v Cordoba (1-2)
Sevilla v Valencia (0-1)
-Thu Jan 12
Athletic Bilbao v Albacete (0-0)
Osasuna v Barcelona (0-3)

FRANCE

Coupe de la Ligue - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 10
Caen 0-3 Marseille
-Wed Jan 11
Nice v Dijon
Le Mans v Lorient
Lyon v Lille

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 8
Juventus 2-1 Bologna
-Tue Dec 13
Palermo 4-4 Siena - Sie advances 3-0 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Tue Jan 10
Lazio 3-2 Hellas Verona
-Wed Jan 11
Udinese v Chievo
Roma v Fiorentina
-Thu Jan 12
Napoli v Cesena
-Wed Jan 18
Milan v Novara
-Thu Jan 19
Inter v Genoa

EUROPE

Taca de Portugal - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st leg
-Wed Jan 11
Sporting CP v Nacional
-Thu Jan 12
Academica v UD Oliveirense
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 7
Nacional v Sporting CP
UD Oliveirense v Academica

Some Soccer News for Tue Jan 10, 2012

2012-01-10T16:36:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

Say hello to Minnesota Stars FC:

-Plus a nice video clip used at the unveiling.

dN

Yesterday a reader posed this question in the comments section: "what can we do to help the NASL survive and grow in 2012?" The answer is simple - Buy tickets and go to games. No excuses. And make your friends go. Especially the ones who only will watch Man U, Barca or Bayern. They will be knocked out at how much better the games are then they imagined.

dN

The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12. du Nord will be there. Will you?

dN

Watch the MLS SuperDraft this Thursday - 11am CT on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

Double du Nord at the Controls - Jan 10, 2012 - Ziggy & The King - Two new music mixes featuring a pair of stars who share a birthday on January 8.

-David Bowie - all 41 of du Nord's favorite Bowie songs.

-Elvis Presley - all 28 of du Nord's favorite Elvis songs.

STORY OF THE DAY

Steve Davis of Daily Soccer Fix looks back to a time when MLS almost went away for good.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp is currently in effect in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends with the game in Panama.

dN

Our FIF Odeen Domingo writing for MLSsoccer.com talks to Brek Shea who says his role model is Clint Dempsey.

dN

US Soccer gives us video of head coach Jurgen Klinsman telling his team what he expects of them, before a training session this week.
-Video on fitness, fitness, fitness.

dN

A couple of in-house games during training camp:
-Fri Jan 13 & Tue Jan 17
USA v USA U23
Venue: HDC training center - Carson CA

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

dN

Venezuala roster
G:
Alan Liebeskind - Lara
Leonardo Morales - Anzoategui
D:
Joel Caceres - Lara
Gabriel Cichero - Lens
Javier Gonzalez - Petare
Rubert Quijada - Monagas
Carlos Rivero - Anzoategui
Andres Rouga - Tachira
Carlos Salazar - Anzoategui
Jose Manuel Velazquez - Mineros
M:
Angel Chourio - Real Esppor
Diomar Diaz - Petare
Agnel Flores - Mineros
Francisco Flores - Anzoategui
Edgar Perez Greco - Lara
Alejandro Guerra - Mineros
Diego Guerrero - Tachira
Miguel Mea Vitali - Lara
F:
Richard Blanco - Petare
Darwin Machis - Mineros
Alejandro Moreno - Chivas USA
Hermes Palomino - Cherno More
Emilio Renteria - Columbus Crew
Jose Reyes - Anzoategui

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Currently training in Carson CA.

dN

Goalkeeper David Bingham and centerback Gale Agbossoumonde were dropped from the team due to injuries.
-Goalkeeper Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew, Goalkeeper Brian Perk - LA Galaxy, and centerback Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers, have been added to the roster.

dN

On the 18th the team goes to Costa Rica for two matches.

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves v USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuela v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
Matt Lampson - Columbus Crew
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
Brian Perk - LA Galaxy
D:
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Josh Gatt - Molde
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

International Friendly announced:

-Sat Jun 9
Brazil v Argentina
Venue: MetLife Stadium - East Rutherford NJ

FACT OF THE DAY

Each FIFA country got 3 votes for the Ballon d'Or - 1 for the national team captain, 1 for the national team coach and 1 for a member of that countries media.
-Here is a spreadsheet of how the votes went for the 2011 Baloon d'Or won yesterday by Lionel Messi for the 3rd consecutive year.

OOF

I see that Eric Cantona wants to run for President in France. Do you think he will put his extremely successful stint with the New York Cosmos on his resume?!?!?!

PICTURE OF THE DAY

A progression through design ideas for the new Minnesota Stars FC badge. (click to enlarge)
-Thanks to Brian for the link.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Goalkeeper Jon Conway who pulled on the shirts of San Jose, New York, Toronto and Chicago has announced his retirement.

SuperDraft

Thursday Jan 12 in Kansas City MO at 11am CT on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com.

dN

Ives Galarcep of Fox Soccer tells us how the league sponsored player combine has gone.

dN

Travis Clark writing for the Guardian gives us his top 15 players for the draft.

Player Transactions

Columbus has signed Ben Speas from their academy.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe talks to former New England head coach Steve Nicol about why he was not in the running for the Colorado job at the end?
-Sounds like sour grapes talking to me.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

MLSsoccer.com talks to Brad Davis who says his injured knee is still healing.

LA GALAXY

Scott French of ESPN with lots of little Galaxy notes including the latest on Miquel Lopez and Paolo Cardozo.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Ives Galarcep reports that Michael Farfan is going to England to train with Sunderland.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Seattle has hired another English voice to lead their broadcasts for next season - Ross Fletcher will be the lead, with Kasey Keller as his partner.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Houston is chasing 28 year old former Rangers striker Kris Boyd who signed with Turkish club Eskiesenhirspor this summer and saw the whole thing all apart before the year was over. He is looking for something very different then that.
-He is a legit goal scorer, bagging over 100 at Rangers.

USL NEWS

Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced today that they are building a new 3500 seat stadium to call their home. It will be ready in about 6 months. It will be located in Station Square, which is right on the river across from downtown.

USA U20 TEAM

10 day training camp Jan 2-12 in Ft Lauderdale.

USA U20 roster
G:
Jesus Guzman - Santos Laguna
Daniel Medina - UANL Tigres
Tyler Miller - Northwestern
Andrew Wolverton - Penn State
D:
Bolu Akinyonde - Seton Hall
Mikey Ambrose - FC Dallas Academy
AJ Cochran - Wisconsin
Sean Cunningham - Molde
Phanuel Kavita - Clemson
Eric Miller - Creighton
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - North Carolina
Jalen Robinson - DC United Academy
Matt Wendelken - Marist
DeAndre Yedlin - Akron
Walker Zimmerman - Furman
M:
Seth Casiple - Cal
Daniel Cuevas Granados - Santos Laguna
Hector Delgado Cha - America
Christian Duarte - Texans SC Houston
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Flavio Guzman - FC Dallas Academy
Collin Martin - DC United Academy
Tyrone McCargo - Nuremberg
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Wil Trapp - Akron
Jose Villarreal - LA Galaxy
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Dusseldorf
Amadou Dia - Clemson
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Duke Lacroix - Penn
Uvaldo Luna - UANL Tigres
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Sean Okoli - Wake Forest
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps

USA U18 TEAM

8 day training camp Mon Jan 2-10 in Ft Lauderdale.

USA U18 Roster
G:
Ethan Horvath - Real Colorado
Zackary Steffen - FC Delco
D:
Miguel Alves - PDA
Robert Michael Amick - De Anza Force
Suliaman Dainkeh - DC United Academy
Dylan Greenberg - Albertson SC
Trevor Haberkorn - Solar Chelsea
Matthew Habrowski - Crew Soccer Academy Wolves
Jalen Markey - Seattle Sounders FC Academy
Miguel Polley - Chicago Fire Academy
M:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Osvaldo Chavez - Texas Rush
Marco Delgado - CD Chivas USA Academy
Nicholas Gaitan - Argentinos Juniors
Romain Gall - FC Lorient
Adam Najem - New York Red Bulls Academy
William Raygoza - LA Galaxy Academy
F:
Jordan Allen - Real Salt Lake AZ
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Justin Dhillon - LA Galaxy Academy
Benjamin Lopez - Real Salt Lake AZ
Zach Pfeffer - Philadelphia Union
Ben Spencer - CD Chivas USA Academy
Jaime Villareal - LA Galaxy Academy

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of the New York Times introduces us to Liverpool youngster Villyan Bijev who is currently on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf.

ENGLAND

Queens Park Rangers has hired Mark Hughes as their new head coach.

dN

English League Cup - Semifinals

Crystal Palace wins their 1st Leg match.

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Crystal Palace 1-0 Cardiff City
-Wed Jan 11
Manchester City v Liverpool

SPAIN

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian looks at Barca head coach Pep Guardiola's successful run and wonders if it will come to an end soon as the general rule of thumb implies it should.

dN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Racing Santander 1-1 Mirandes - Mir advances 3-1 on aggregate.
Mallorca 6-1 Real Sociedad - Mal advances 6-3 on aggregate.
Malaga v Real Madrid (2-3)
-Wed Jan 11
Levante v Alcorcon (1-2)
Espanyol v Cordoba (1-2)
Sevilla v Valencia (0-1)
-Thu Jan 12
Athletic Bilbao v Albacete (0-0)
Osasuna v Barcelona (0-3)

FRANCE

Coupe de la Ligue - Quarterfinals

Marseille is the first team in the Semifinals.

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 10
Caen 0-3 Marseille
-Wed Jan 11
Nice v Dijon
Le Mans v Lorient
Lyon v Lille

ITALY

Coppa Italia - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 8
Juventus 2-1 Bologna
-Tue Dec 13
Palermo 4-4 Siena - Sie advances 3-0 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Tue Jan 10
Lazio 3-2 Hellas Verona
-Wed Jan 11
Udinese v Chievo
Roma v Fiorentina
-Thu Jan 12
Napoli v Cesena
-Wed Jan 18
Milan v Novara
-Thu Jan 19
Inter v Genoa

EUROPE

Taca de Portugal - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st leg
-Wed Jan 11
Sporting CP v Nacional
-Thu Jan 12
Academica v UD Oliveirense
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 7
Nacional v Sporting CP
UD Oliveirense v Academica

Some Soccer News for Mon Jan 9, 2012

2012-01-09T17:09:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

Did you see the trio of goals that Clint Dempsey scored for Fulham in the FA Cup this past weekend. He is been on FIRE lately. See those goals right here.

dN

Landon Donovan also contributed to an Everton win in the FA Cup putting in a corner kick that was finished off with a fine header for the games first goal.

dN

Italy & the USA have officially announced that they will play a friendly on Wed Feb 29 in Genoa at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. You will be able to see the game at 1:45pm CT on ESPN2.

dN

With David Beckham in the stands, Thierry Henry scored the game's only goal to lead Arsenal to a 1-0 win over Leeds in the FA Cup today. Not a bad return!
-See the goal right here.

dN

The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12. du Nord will be there. Will you?

FIFA 2011 AWARDS

Ballon d'Or:
Lionel Messi - Argentina & Barcelona
-Winner for the 3rd time in row.
-Nominated for the 5th time in a row.

Sid Lowe of the Guardian says Messi has no comparisons.

World XI:
Iker Casillas - Spain & Real Madrid
Dani Alves - Brazil & Barcelona
Gerard Pique - Spain & Barcelona
Sergio Ramos - Spain & Real Madrid
Nemanja Vidic - Serbia & Manchester United
Andres Iniesta - Spain & Barcelona
Xabi Alonso - Spain & Real Madrid
Xavi Hernandez - Spain & Barcelona
Lionel Messi - Argentina & Barcelona
Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal & Real Madrid
Wayne Rooney - England & Manchester United

Women's Player of the Year:
Homare Sawa - Japan & Kobe Leonessa

Goal of the Year:
Neymar - Brazil & Santos
-See the goal here.

Special Presidential Award:
Sir Alex Ferguson - Scotland & Manchester United

Women's Coach of the Year:
Norio Sasaki - Japan

Men's Coach of the Year:
Pep Guardiola - Barcelona

STORY OF THE DAY

“We didn’t expect him to adapt so well and so quickly. It’s rare for a foreign player to become a starter and do so well in their first season in Italy, but he’s showed all his worth and we’ve been very impressed— he’s improving game by game and become a key member of the squad.”

Andrew Dampf of the AP with an article on/interview with Michael Bradley of the USA & Chievo, who has been dubbed General Bradley by the Italians.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp is currently in effect in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends with the game in Panama.

dN

US Soccer does a Q & A with Michael Parkhurst.

dN

A couple of in-house games during training camp:
-Fri Jan 13 & Tue Jan 17
USA v USA U23
in Carson.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com & Galavision
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - 7:30pm CT on Galavision.
Venue: Estadio Rommel Fernandez

NOTE: US Soccer takes a step backward with these two games - no English language television! Boooooo Creepy Footdoctor.

dN

The Venezuala roster was announced today (Including 2 names that any MLS fan will recognize.)
G:
Alan Liebeskind - Lara
Leonardo Morales - Anzoategui
D:
Joel Caceres - Lara
Gabriel Cichero - Lens
Javier Gonzalez - Petare
Rubert Quijada - Monagas
Carlos Rivero - Anzoategui
Andres Rouga - Tachira
Carlos Salazar - Anzoategui
Jose Manuel Velazquez - Mineros
M:
Angel Chourio - Real Esppor
Diomar Diaz - Petare
Agnel Flores - Mineros
Francisco Flores - Anzoategui
Edgar Perez Greco - Lara
Alejandro Guerra - Mineros
Diego Guerrero - Tachira
Miguel Mea Vitali - Lara
F:
Richard Blanco - Petare
Darwin Machis - Mineros
Alejandro Moreno - Chivas USA
Hermes Palomino - Cherno More
Emilio Renteria - Columbus Crew
Jose Reyes - Anzoategui

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Currently training in Carson CA.

On the 18th the team goes to Costa Rica for two matches.

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves v USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuela v USA U23

Roster
G:
David Bingham - San Jose Earthquakes
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Estoril Praia
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Josh Gatt - Molde
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES

Barcelona wore all black this weekend and paid the funeral parlor price as they were tied by city rivals Espanyol and fell 5 points behind Real Madrid in La Liga.
-Sid Lowe of the Guardian with the story.

DO YOU REALIZE

Gabriele Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal looks at the convention of the MLS players loaned to European teams during the off season.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

I think most of the soccer world was shocked on Sunday to see Paul Scholes come out of retirement and play for Manchester United in their FA Cup derby win over Manchester City.

WELL WELL WELL

Luk Wileman of TSN talks to Toronto head coach Aron Winter who has been in charge of the team 1 year now.
-He is much more upbeat than you think he might be.

OOF

Arch Bell at ESPN talks to Freddy Adu about his recent training stint at Rayo Vallecano in Spain.
-I hope I am wrong, but Freddy comes off as delusional here, seeming to think that Rayo is ready to sign him. Freddy needs to learn to shut up and play. We saw very little from him in Philly last summer and fall.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Review Journal asks the question - what has Beckham done for soccer in America.

dN

Gerry Dobson of Sports Net looks at what Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are up to at the player combine.

SuperDraft

Take places Thu Jan 12 in Kansas City MO at 11am CT.

dN

Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated tells us what he thinks each team will be looking for in the draft.

dN

The Guardian has supporters of the 19 MLS teams tell us what their team needs in the draft.

Player Transactions

Chicago has officially announced the signing of 27 year old Colombian midfielder Rafael Robayo from Millonarios.

dN

New England has signed two Colombians from America de Cali - 27 year old centerback John Lozano & 23 year old midfielder Fernando Cardenas.

CD CHIVAS USA

Kevin Baxter of the LA Times writes the article we see every single year at this time - What is it going to take for Chivas USA to get out from under the shadow of the LA Galaxy?

LA GALAXY

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated is not surprised that David Beckham would pass on going to play in Paris.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Former Chicago Fire head coach Denis Hamlett has been hired as an assistant coach by Montreal.

dN

Nick Sabetti of Sports Net on what the Impact needs from the Superdraft.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

LE Eisenmenger of the Examiner with more on the Revs two new Colombian players.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

PPL Park is rumored to be the site of next summer's All Star Game.

REAL SALT LAKE

RSL has signed midfielder Ned Grabavoy to a new contract.
-With Andy Williams retired Grabavoy is going to have to play a big role if the team is to succeed next season.

TORONTO FC

Nigel Reed of the CBC sees Thomas Rongen as the right choice to run the TFC academy program.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Marc Weber of the Province tries to figure out what we can expect from Omar Salgado in Year 2.

NASL NEWS

San Antonio announced today that they are going to build their own 6000 seat stadium.
-Here are some images.

COLLEGE SOCCER

Forward Andrew Wenger from Duke has been named the 2011 Hermann Trophy winner aka the college player of the year.
-He has already signed an MLS contract.

USA U20 TEAM

10 day training camp Jan 2-12 in Ft Lauderdale.

USA U20 roster
G:
Jesus Guzman - Santos Laguna
Daniel Medina - UANL Tigres
Tyler Miller - Northwestern
Andrew Wolverton - Penn State
D:
Bolu Akinyonde - Seton Hall
Mikey Ambrose - FC Dallas Academy
AJ Cochran - Wisconsin
Sean Cunningham - Molde
Phanuel Kavita - Clemson
Eric Miller - Creighton
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - North Carolina
Jalen Robinson - DC United Academy
Matt Wendelken - Marist
DeAndre Yedlin - Akron
Walker Zimmerman - Furman
M:
Seth Casiple - Cal
Daniel Cuevas Granados - Santos Laguna
Hector Delgado Cha - America
Christian Duarte - Texans SC Houston
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Flavio Guzman - FC Dallas Academy
Collin Martin - DC United Academy
Tyrone McCargo - Nuremberg
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Wil Trapp - Akron
Jose Villarreal - LA Galaxy
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Dusseldorf
Amadou Dia - Clemson
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Duke Lacroix - Penn
Uvaldo Luna - UANL Tigres
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Sean Okoli - Wake Forest
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps

USA U18 TEAM

8 day training camp Mon Jan 2-10 in Ft Lauderdale.

USA U18 Roster
G:
Ethan Horvath - Real Colorado
Zackary Steffen - FC Delco
D:
Miguel Alves - PDA
Robert Michael Amick - De Anza Force
Suliaman Dainkeh - DC United Academy
Dylan Greenberg - Albertson SC
Trevor Haberkorn - Solar Chelsea
Matthew Habrowski - Crew Soccer Academy Wolves
Jalen Markey - Seattle Sounders FC Academy
Miguel Polley - Chicago Fire Academy
M:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Osvaldo Chavez - Texas Rush
Marco Delgado - CD Chivas USA Academy
Nicholas Gaitan - Argentinos Juniors
Romain Gall - FC Lorient
Adam Najem - New York Red Bulls Academy
William Raygoza - LA Galaxy Academy
F:
Jordan Allen - Real Salt Lake AZ
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Justin Dhillon - LA Galaxy Academy
Benjamin Lopez - Real Salt Lake AZ
Zach Pfeffer - Philadelphia Union
Ben Spencer - CD Chivas USA Academy
Jaime Villareal - LA Galaxy Academy

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

ENGLAND - FA Cup - Round of 64
Matches & Scores:
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - went the full 90 scoring a hat-trick as they won 4-0 v Charlton.
Landon Donovan - Everton - played the whole game as they won 2-0 v Tamworth.
Conor Doyle - Derby County - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Crystal Palace.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - in goals for the full 90 as they won 1-3 at Bristol Rovers.
Marcus Hahneman - Everton - on the bench as they won 2-0 v Tamworth.
Tim Howard - Everton - went the distance and won 2-0 v Tamworth.
Danny Potts - West Ham - - played the full match getting a yellow card but losing 1-0 at Sheffield Wednesday.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - went the full 90 as they drew 0-0 v Wolverhampton.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - played the whole game getting a yellow card as they won 4-1 v Burnley.

ISRAEL - Ligat Al
Ryan Adeleye - Hapoel Be'er Sheva - on the bench as they tied 1-1 v Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Bryan Gerzicich - Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they won 2-0 v Hapoel Rishon Lezion.
Leo Krupnik - Maccabi Netanya - played the whole match getting a yellow card and losing 2-1 at Beitar Jerusalem.

ITALY - Serie A
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - went the full 90 but lost 2-0 at Roma.

PORTUGAL - Primeira Liga
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting - went the distance but drew 0-0 v Porto.

PORTUGAL - Liga de Honra
Caleb Patterson-Sewell - Atletico CP - went the full 90 as they drew 1-1 at Uniao Madeira.

SCOTLAND - Scottish Cup - Round of 32
Alejandro Bedoya - Rangers - on the bench as they won 0-4 at Arbroath.
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - went the full 90 getting a yellow card as they the won 0-4 at Arbroath.
Mo Edu - Rangers - played full game as they the won 0-4 at Arbroath.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Christopher MCollum of Yanks Abroad talks to Herculez Gomez about his big season ahead at Santos Laguna.

dN

Game Action:

PRIMERA DIVISION
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - started and went 55 min as they drew 0-0 v Atlas.
Ricardo Bocanegra - Atlas - came on as a sub in the 67th min as they tied 0-0 at Puebla.
Jonathan Bornstein - Tigres UANL - on the bench as they drew 1-1 at Cruz Azul.
Edgar Castillo - Tijuana - went the full 90 as they tied 1-1 at Morelia.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - came on as a sub at half time as they tied 1-1 at Morelia.
Greg Garza - Tijuana - came on as a sub in the 73rd min as they tied 1-1 at Morelia.
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna - came on as a sub in the 74th min but they tied 0-0 v Pachuca.
Sonny Guadarrama - Atlante - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Guadalajara.
Michael Orozco Fiscal - San Luis - played the full match and they won 1-0 v Pumas.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - went the distance as they drew 0-0 at Santos Laguna.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Marco Vidal - Leon - on the bench as they won 2-0 v Correcaminos.
Isaac Acuna - Merida - came on as a sub in the 80th min as they won 2-0 v Necaxa.

MEXICO

The Primera Division Clausura began this past weekend!

America & Toluca both got off to good starts.

Opening Round
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6
Morelia 1-1 Tijuana
-Sat Jan 7
Monterrey 2-1 Chiapas Jaguares
Queretaro 0-2 America
Cruz Azul 1-1 UANL Tigres
Santos Laguna 0-0 Pachuca
Guadalajara 0-1 Atlante
San Luis 1-0 UNAM Pumas
-Sun Jan 8
Toluca 3-1 Estudiantes Tecos
Puebla 0-0 Atlas

ENGLAND

Queens Park Rangers has fired head coach Neil Warnock.

dN

English FA Cup - Round of 64
-Here are all the Matches & Scores from Fri Jan 6 to Mon Jan 9.

Gregg Roughley, Alan Gardner and Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian with five things we learned from the FA Cup this weekend.

dN

English League Cup - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Crystal Palace v Cardiff City
-Wed Jan 11
Manchester City v Liverpool

SPAIN

Thomas Michalakos of Sports Net sees the big money owners of Malaga doing a very good job buidling their team.

dN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Jan 10
Racing Santander v Mirandes (0-2)
Mallorca v Real Sociedad (0-2)
Malaga v Real Madrid(2-3)
-Wed Jan 11
Levante v Alcorcon (1-2)
Espanyol v Cordoba (1-2)
Sevilla v Valencia (0-1)
-Thu Jan 12
Athletic Bilbao v Albacete (0-0)
Osasuna v Barcelona (0-3)

FRANCE

Coupe de France - Round of 64
-Matches & Scores from Fri Jan 6 to Mon Jan 9.

dN

Coupe de la Ligue - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jan 10
Caen v Marseille
-Wed Jan 11
Nice v Dijon
Le Mans v Lorient
Lyon v Lille

ITALY

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian looks at the Palermo revolving door of coaches and the rest of the weekend in Serie A.
-Inter Milan has won 7 of the past 8 games and only allowed 3 goals in that time.

dN

Coppa Italia - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Dec 8
Juventus 2-1 Bologna
-Tue Dec 13
Palermo 4-4 Siena - Sie advances 3-0 in Penalty Kick Shootout.
-Tue Jan 10
Lazio v Hellas Verona
-Wed Jan 11
Udinese v Chievo
Roma v Fiorentina
-Thu Jan 12
Napoli v Cesena
-Wed Jan 18
Milan v Novara
-Thu Jan 19
Inter v Genoa

EUROPE

Taca de Portugal - Semifinals
Matches & Scores:
1st leg
-Tue Jan 10
Sporting CP v Nacional
Academica v UD Oliveirense
2nd Leg
-Tue Feb 7
Nacional v Sporting CP
UD Oliveirense v Academica

du Nord Looks Back at 2011

2012-01-09T12:11:00.002-06:00

2011 was a pretty incredible years in a lot of ways. Here are a few of my impressions:

dN

My beloved Minnesota Stars won the re-inaugural NASL championship! I know most of you don't follow the 2nd division of soccer in North America, but it was a great year for many of the teams. The play on the field was arguably the best ever, and when your team goes on one hell of run and eventually wins it all, there is nothing better!

The Championship series was unforgettable. That huge home win for the Stars was a thing of sheer beauty, and then nearly 90 nail-biting minutes with my fellow fanaticos in Ft Lauderdale to win it all was beyond amazing!

I just remember in the second leg when the clock hit about 82 minutes I just started leaping around like a little kid, shouting joyously, hugging everyone, knowing it was over. The Strikers had clearly given up on the field and that Cup was ours. Then I lost it when the final whistle blew. I love crying tears of happiness! That grin did not come off my face for weeks.

Thanks to all of you for making it a special season.

dN

MLS had a spectacular year on and off the field.

The superstar led LA Galaxy won the MLS championship with the $12 Million goal - Beckham to Keane to Donovan. Victory!

Portland and Vancouver both took the league up another notch with great fan support, especially those fans in Portland who make me very jealous. And how about those Portland fans singing the national anthem on opening night!

The new stadium in Kansas City, Livestrong Sporting Park, proves that this game can do anything it sets its sights on in America! That place is the best soccer stadium in the country and a whole new standard for everyone else to shoot for. It will take a lot to top this place.

I also got to finally visit Red Bull Arena in Harrison NJ and what a grand palace of football that is!!! 4 Stars!

dN

FC Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League by clobbering Manchester United again.

dN

The USA Women made the World Cup pretty damn dramatic. It was a lot of fun, if heartbreaking in the end, to go along for the ride.

dN

The USA fell hard in the Gold Cup final to Mexico. After taking a 2-0 lead they folded badly and lost 4-2.

Bob Bradley was replaced by Jurgen Klinsmann after a 5 year courtship.

dN

Its probably not very karmic to cheer someone else's demise on a year end list, but I could not have have been happier to watch Slappy Jack Warner and his many imitators take a fall in FIFA this year. Let's hope the house cleaning continues in 2012, cuz there are hundreds more scum-bags out there.

dN

When I stop and look back at this moment in time, its absolutely amazing where soccer has advanced to in America during my lifetime. From my first moments as a fan in the mid-70's to now is a light year away.

dN

On a more personal note a of couple of pretty amazing people came into my life via soccer and really helped me turn around a big portion of my life in 2011. You know who you are, and you will always be in my heart.

dN

Music made a big return to my life too, what a relief. The mixes on Spotify have been a blast.

dN

Awards du Nord:

World Player of the Year: Lio Messi
USA Player of the Year: Clint Dempsey
MLS Player of the Year: Mauro Rosales
MLS Team of the Year: LA Galaxy
World Team of the Year: Barcelona
Podcast of the Year: Men In Blazers
Writer of the Year: Brian Sciaretta
Personality of the Year: Don Garber

Some Soccer News for Fri Jan 6, 2012

2012-01-06T16:26:00.004-06:00

STARTERS

Its the worst case scenario for Omar Gonzalez - Torn MACL. Yesterday he was introduced at Nurnberg, went out to train with the team in hopes of earning a contract and promptly blew out the ACL in his left knee. (In German)

dN

Arsenal has announced that they have signed Thierry Henry for a short term loan through an unspecified date in February.

dN

Toronto has hired Thomas Rongen as the new director of their youth academy program.

dN

The Mexican Primera Division Clausura begins today!

dN

The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12. du Nord will be there. Will you?

STORY OF THE DAY

So you been wondering why we have heard so very little about the huge match fixing scandal in Turkey?

Rogan Taylor of The Leader tells us the powerful people are working behind the scenes to make the offenses that have been charged much less significant before people are sentenced, therefore almost completely negating the scandal! Wow.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp is currently in effect in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends with the game in Panama.

dN

Goalkeeper Sean Johnson writing at US Soccer fills us in on how things are going so far.

The team will hold a training session that is open to the public on Fri Jan 20 from 5-6pm local time at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale AZ. Jurgen Klinsmann will address the crowd prior to the session. Fans who would like to attend can register here.

dN

The senior team will play against the USA U23 team on Fri Jan 13 & Tue Jan 17 in Carson.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - Time TBA
Venue: TBA

NOTE: Still no TV details for these two games. It would be a huge step backwards if they were not broadcast.

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

The next training camp begins on Sun Jan 8 in Carson CA. On the 19th the team is in Costa Rica for two matches.

dN

The biggest surprise name on this list is Isaac Acuna who just signed with Merida in the Mexican 2nd division.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
Saprissa Reserves v USA U23
-Tue Jan 24
Alajuela v USA U23

dN

Roster
G:
David Bingham - San Jose Earthquakes
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Estoril Praia
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Isaac Acuna - Merida
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Josh Gatt - Molde
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Tony Taylor - Atletico CP

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Three investigative journalists, Andrew Jennings, Jens Weinreich and Jean Francois Tanda, who have hounded FIFA for years published a 20 point report on the topic of reform today at Transparency In Sport.
-US Soccer president Sunil Gulati is one of their top targets for investigation now.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Vancouver has signed 26 year old Argentine centerback Martin Bonjour. Hello! He played on loan last season at Montevideo Liverpool in Uruguay.
-The downside is that this will be his 7th team.

dN

Colorado has signed fullback Hunter Freeman from Houston who they selected in the re-entry draft.
-He had previously played for Colorado back in the '05 & '06 seasons.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Nick Groke of the Post tells us why Oscar Pareja is the choice to lead the Rapids.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Joshua Mayers of the Times reports that Kasey Keller will be one of the TV game commentators for the Sounders this season. But they have not hired a lead announcer yet.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Bolton of the English Premier League has supposedly made an el cheapo offer for NYRB centerback Tim Ream.

dN

George John to West Ham in England's second division?

USA U20 TEAM

10 day training camp Jan 2-12 in Ft Lauderdale.

dN

US Soccer gives us details on an intersquad match.

US Soccer tells us that senior team manager Jurgen Klinsmann addressed this team via Skype the other day.

dN

USA U20 roster
G:
Jesus Guzman - Santos Laguna
Daniel Medina - UANL Tigres
Tyler Miller - Northwestern
Andrew Wolverton - Penn State
D:
Bolu Akinyonde - Seton Hall
Mikey Ambrose - FC Dallas Academy
AJ Cochran - Wisconsin
Sean Cunningham - Molde
Phanuel Kavita - Clemson
Eric Miller - Creighton
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - North Carolina
Jalen Robinson - DC United Academy
Matt Wendelken - Marist
DeAndre Yedlin - Akron
Walker Zimmerman - Furman
M:
Seth Casiple - Cal
Daniel Cuevas Granados - Santos Laguna
Hector Delgado Cha - America
Christian Duarte - Texans SC Houston
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Flavio Guzman - FC Dallas Academy
Collin Martin - DC United Academy
Tyrone McCargo - Nuremberg
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Wil Trapp - Akron
Jose Villarreal - LA Galaxy
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Dusseldorf
Amadou Dia - Clemson
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Duke Lacroix - Penn
Uvaldo Luna - UANL Tigres
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Sean Okoli - Wake Forest
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps

USA U18 TEAM

8 day training camp Mon Jan 2-10 in Ft Lauderdale.

dN

USA U18 Roster
G:
Ethan Horvath - Real Colorado
Zackary Steffen - FC Delco
D:
Miguel Alves - PDA
Robert Michael Amick - De Anza Force
Suliaman Dainkeh - DC United Academy
Dylan Greenberg - Albertson SC
Trevor Haberkorn - Solar Chelsea
Matthew Habrowski - Crew Soccer Academy Wolves
Jalen Markey - Seattle Sounders FC Academy
Miguel Polley - Chicago Fire Academy
M:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Osvaldo Chavez - Texas Rush
Marco Delgado - CD Chivas USA Academy
Nicholas Gaitan - Argentinos Juniors
Romain Gall - FC Lorient
Adam Najem - New York Red Bulls Academy
William Raygoza - LA Galaxy Academy
F:
Jordan Allen - Real Salt Lake AZ
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Justin Dhillon - LA Galaxy Academy
Benjamin Lopez - Real Salt Lake AZ
Zach Pfeffer - Philadelphia Union
Ben Spencer - CD Chivas USA Academy
Jaime Villareal - LA Galaxy Academy

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad introduces us to Brian "Cobi" Span who just signed with Djurgarden.

MEXICO

The Primera Division Clausura begins today!

Opening Round
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6
Morelia v Tijuana
-Sat Jan 7
Monterrey v Chiapas Jaguares
Queretaro v America
Cruz Azul v UANL Tigres
Santos Laguna v Pachuca
Guadalajara v Atlante
San Luis v UNAM Pumas
-Sun Jan 8
Toluca v Estudiantes Tecos
Puebla v Atlas

ENGLAND

English FA Cup - Round of 64
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6 - Mon Jan 9

FRANCE

Coupe de France - Round of 64
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6 - Mon Jan 9

dN

Ligue 1 is on break until Jan 14.

GERMANY

The Bundesliga is on break until Jan 20.

SOUTH AMERICA

Colombia has hired veteran Argentine coach Jose Pekerman to lead their national team.

Some Soccer News for Thu Jan 5, 2012

2012-01-05T17:27:00.000-06:00

STARTERS

LA Galaxy centerback Omar Gonzalez has passed up a chance to impress USA coach Jurgen Klinsman so he can go on loan for 6 weeks to German club Nurnberg.
-Does this make any sense at all to anyone? Besides that the Bundesliga does not even resume play until Jan 20! Now, if he was actually transferring there I would have no problem with it. But a couple weeks training?

But a few hours later Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad tweeted out this next picture - Gonzalez on the ground today at Nurnberg getting attention for a knee injury. Status unknown. Let's hope its nothing.

dN

Colorado has announced the hiring of Oscar Pareja as their new head coach. I like this.

dN

OOF! Jermaine Jones of Schalke and the USA has been given an 8 game suspension from the Bundesliga for his deliberate stomping of an already broken foot of an opponent. It went unnoticed by the referee, but an amazing video clip showed him lining up the move and then pretending it was an accident afterward.
-How do you say MORON in German? I am thinking something stronger than a Hogan's Heros-y "dummkopf". How about stecknadelkopf!

dN

The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12. du Nord will be there. Will you?

STORY OF THE DAY

The 2012 MLS schedule is out! Start making those travel plans!

New TV partner NBC Sports Group will show 41 regular season games - 38 on the newly named NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) and 3 on NBC proper. They will also show 5 play off games.
-Galavision will show 27 games
-ESPN will show 21 games

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp is currently in effect in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends with the game in Panama.

Both Omar Gonzalez & George John have left the USA camp (with permission) to attend to "club related matters." So what does that mean? Are they looking for new clubs? Are they being sold? Loaned out? What is going on?
-Brian Straus of Sporting News explains these moves.

Those two have been replaced on the roster by Brad Evans & Jeff Parke both from the Seattle Sounders.

Some new video clips from US Soccer:
-The U.S. MNT in 2011: Highlights
-All U.S. MNT Goals in 2011
-U.S. National Teams in 2011: Highlights

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT on ESPN3.com
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - Time TBA
Venue: TBA

NOTE: Still no TV details for these two games. It would be a huge step backwards if they were not broadcast.

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Jeff Parke - Seattle Sounders
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Brad Evans - Seattle Sounders
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

DID YOU KNOW?

Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN talks to former USA star Earnie Stewart about his role these days as technical director of the top team in Holland - AZ Alkmaar.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America talks to TV commentator Rob Stone about his officially announced move from ESPN to Fox to cover soccer as a studio host.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

That Newcastle Arab look. That's a hell of a look.
-Thanks to Nick for the pic.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Chicago has signed 27 year old Colombian midfielder Rafael Robayo from Millonarios.

NYRB has signed American fullback (I think) Jonathan Borrajo who played last year at Ham Kam in Norway (2nd division.)

MLS has signed 3 more to Generation Adidas contracts: Fullback Tyler Polak from Creighton, English forward Dom Dwyer of South Florida and centerback Andrew Jean-Baptiste from Connecticut.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree has a few words with new Rapids head coach Oscar Pareja as he departs Dallas.

MONTREAL IMPACT

Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that Brian Ching will report to Montreal for preseason.

dN

Randy Phillips of the Gazette looks at the Impact's option with the first pick in the Superdraft.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Rafa Marquez is in Spain training with his old team Barcelona.

USA U20 TEAM

10 day training camp Jan 2-12 in Ft Lauderdale.

Brian Sciaretta of Yanks Abroad examines this new U20 roster.

USA U20 roster
G:
Jesus Guzman - Santos Laguna
Daniel Medina - UANL Tigres
Tyler Miller - Northwestern
Andrew Wolverton - Penn State
D:
Bolu Akinyonde - Seton Hall
Mikey Ambrose - FC Dallas Academy
AJ Cochran - Wisconsin
Sean Cunningham - Molde
Phanuel Kavita - Clemson
Eric Miller - Creighton
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - North Carolina
Jalen Robinson - DC United Academy
Matt Wendelken - Marist
DeAndre Yedlin - Akron
Walker Zimmerman - Furman
M:
Seth Casiple - Cal
Daniel Cuevas Granados - Santos Laguna
Hector Delgado Cha - America
Christian Duarte - Texans SC Houston
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Flavio Guzman - FC Dallas Academy
Collin Martin - DC United Academy
Tyrone McCargo - Nuremberg
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Wil Trapp - Akron
Jose Villarreal - LA Galaxy
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Dusseldorf
Amadou Dia - Clemson
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Duke Lacroix - Penn
Uvaldo Luna - UANL Tigres
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Sean Okoli - Wake Forest
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Sandy Macaskill of the NY Times reports on Landon Donovan's return to Everton and Tim Howard's improbable goal in that game.

MEXICO

The Primera Division Clausura begins Friday!

Opening Round
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6
Morelia v Tijuana
-Sat Jan 7
Monterrey v Chiapas Jaguares
Queretaro v America
Cruz Azul v UANL Tigres
Santos Laguna v Pachuca
Guadalajara v Atlante
San Luis v UNAM Pumas
-Sun Jan 8
Toluca v Estudiantes Tecos
Puebla v Atlas

ENGLAND

English FA Cup - Round of 64
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6 - Mon Jan 9

Premier League Standings - Top 5 teams (20 games played)
48 Manchester City
45 Manchester United
42 Tottenham (19 GP)
37 Chelsea
36 Arsenal

dN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 3
Mirandes 2-0 Racing Santander
Albacete 0-0 Athletic Bilaboa
Alcorcon 2-1 Levante
Real Madrid 3-2 Malaga
-Wed Jan 4
Real Sociedad 2-0 Mallorca
Barcelona 3-0 Osasuna
-Thu Jan 5
Cordoba 2-1 Espanyol
Valencia 1-0 Sevilla

2nd leg matches are next week.

FRANCE

Coupe de France - Round of 64
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6 - Mon Jan 9

Ligue 1 is on break until Jan 14.

EUROPE

Twente has re-hired Englishman Steve McClaren as their head coach. Two seasons ago he led them to the title.

Some Soccer News for Wed Jan 4, 2012

2012-01-04T16:43:00.001-06:00

BREAKING NEWS: The NSC Minnesota Stars will ring in 2012 with the unveiling of a new logo, designed by our good Friend-In-Football Kevin Joseph, on Mon Jan 9 at 7:30pm at Brits Pub in downtown Minneapolis. See you there!

STARTERS

The 2012 NSCAA Convention will take place January 11-15 in Kansas City MO. Included in this will be the MLS SuperDraft on Thu Jan 12. du Nord will be there. Will you?

dN

Landon Donovan was in the starting lineup but Tim Howard stole the spotlight as he scored a goal for Everton! Yes he did! He put his foot through a slow roller just outside the 6 yard box and the wind took it the full length of the field and with one hop it went over the Bolton keepers head and into the net!!! See it right here.
-On the other hand Everton lost and you know Timmy would trade that fluke goal for a win every single time.

dN

Dallas has signed big strong Panama forward Blas Perez.
-If he can play as good as he always seems to play against the USA then MLS defenders will be in for a long season.
-On the negative side, this is his 15th team!

dN

Colorado is hoping to announce their new head coach on Thursday. That would be Dallas academy director Oscar Pareja.
-Nick Groke of the Denver Post with more on the story.

dN

Paul Tenorio of the Washington Post reports that MLS is trying to sign 15 year old prodigy Junior Flores.
-If you remember he lead the USA U17 team to a commanding performance last month a the Nike Invitational and a big win over Brazil.
-Dortmund is supposedly interested as well.

dN

Liverpool head coach Kenny Dalglish says that Luis Suarez's use of the word Negro to Patrice Evra was not a racial slur because Suarez's wife uses the word to the player regularly. So are we to suppose that Suarez's wife uses it to demean her husband? Its not the word, its how its used, what was the intent. Suarez intended it to irritate and insult Evra, not flatter. These arguments supporting Suaurez are a joke.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Jan 3, 2011 - new music mix at Spotify

STORY OF THE DAY

Sandy Macaskill of the NY Times with a feature story on Clint Dempsey.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp is currently in effect in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends with the game in Panama.

dN

Robert Jonas of Center Line Soccer talks to Chris Wondolowski about this training camp.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela - 8pm CT
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA - Time TBA
Venue: TBA

NOTE: Still no TV details for these two games. It would be a huge step backwards if they were not broadcast.

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
George John - FC Dallas
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

Tickets go on sale Jan 11 for the Semifinals and Final of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying in Kansas City.

DO YOU REALIZE

Apple Insider says that Apple and Google are interested in bidding for TV rights to the English Premier League.
-TV rights or internet/mobile rights?
-Thanks to Joe for the link.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Raphael Honigstein at the BBC examines the winter break the Bundesliga takes (and a few other factors) and wonders if it doesn't help the German national team players be fresher for their national team.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

LD looking pretty snappy in his new blue #9.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

General News

Ramona Shelburne of the ESPN feels that David Beckham re-singing with the Galaxy would be even more significant than his initial signing.
-I disagree almost completely with that theory, but it would be a fairly big moment.

The Federal Way Mirror talks to local player Kelyn Rowe who recently signed a Generation Adidas contract with the league.

dN

Player Transactions

-FC Dallas has signed 30 year olf Panamanian striker Blas Perez from now defunct Indios in Mexico's 2nd division.

-FC Dallas has signed 22 year old Colombian centerback Hernan Pertuz from Independiente Medellin.

-The Sounders officially signed fullback Marc Burch from DC United.

-The Crew has signed 31 year old Chilean attacking midfielder Milovan Mirosevic from Universidad Catolica.

-MLS makes Uruguaian attacking midfielder Enzo Martinez from UNC the 6th college player signed to a Generation Adidas contract this season.

dN

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chronicle writes that the Dynamo want centerback Eddie Robsinson to stay with the organization should he decide to retire, and apparently he is leaning in that direction.

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Word on the internets is that the Timbers signed forward Brent Richards from their academy team.

dN

The Timbs will begin preseason on Sat Jan 21.

TORONTO FC

TFC has re-signed their diminutive poacher Joao Plata.

dN

This is the new TFC second shirt:

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Silly name of the day: Luca Toni

MLS STADIUMS

Elliot Almond of the San Jose Mercury News reports that a citizens group has successfully filed an appeal against the cities plan to issue building permits for the Earthquakes new stadium. The appeal will not be looked at for at least a couple of weeks.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Landon Donovan started and went the full 90 for Everton today.

dN

Hammarby and Gregg Berhalter have signed North Carolina college player forward Billy Schuler.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Landon Donovan - Everton - Wed Jan 4 - went the full 90 but lost 1-2 v Bolton.
Tim Howard - Everton - Wed Jan 4 - played the whole game scoring an improbable goal but losing 1-2 v Bolton.

ENGLAND

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian ponders Liverpool's home goal scoring struggles.

dN

Premier League Standings - Top 5 teams (20 games played)
48 Manchester City
45 Manchester United
42 Tottenham (19 GP)
37 Chelsea
36 Arsenal

SPAIN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 3
Mirandes 2-0 Racing Santander
Albacete 0-0 Athletic Bilaboa
Alcorcon 2-1 Levante
Real Madrid 3-2 Malaga
-Wed Jan 4
Real Sociedad 2-0 Mallorca
Barcelona 3-0 Osasuna
-Thu Jan 5
Cordoba v Espanyol
Valencia v Sevilla

ENDERS

Here's a great gift that @fittedsweats got me for Christmas. Its for my old Atari 2600 set up.

Announcing Twin Cities Futsal - January Men's Recreational League

2012-01-04T13:31:00.003-06:00

Come and challenge the Dark Clouds team with your own squad of ringers. (Lemme know ASAP if you want to play on our team!)

Men's Rec League will begin on Wednesday, January 18th. Games will be played on Wednesday evenings at 9pm & 10pm. The league will consist of 7 games for each team. The league will last 7 weeks.

Futsal Team Fee = $445 (plus $10 per game ref fees). By paying the $200 online, you are registering your team for League Play, this is a non-refundable deposit. Futsal teams are responsible to pay the remaining $245 balance before the kick-off of the ﬁrst game. If the additional $245 is not received prior to the first game, the remaining will be charged on the same credit card used for the $200 league registration deposit. Should a team decide to pull out after registration closes, Futsal teams are still responsible to pay the $245 league fee balance plus $80 in referee fees. Also, should your team need to forfeit a game for whatever reason, you will be charged $20 in referee fees and be assessed a forfeit loss. All of these charges will go on the same card used for the initial $200 deposit. If you have any questions, please click on the "Ask A Question" button below, or call us at 612-840-6298.

ONLINE REGISTRATION

Some Soccer News for Tue Jan 3, 2012

2012-01-03T17:20:00.000-06:00

BREAKING NEWS: Is Oscar Pareja about to become the new head coach of the Colorado Rapids?
-He was a player for the Dallas Burn, and is currently the director of the very successful FC Dallas academy.

STARTERS

This is one man dangling a piece of meat over a pack of ravaging wolves.

dN

The first day of MLS teams preseason training begins on Sun Jan 15!

dN

As was expected American Ted Howard was promoted from deputy to general secretary of CONCACAF, replacing Chuck Blazer.

dN

I see that Liverpool wised up and decided not to appeal the 8 game suspension of Luis Suarez.
-If I was on the review board and he appealed that suspension I would have tagged on 4 more.

dN

Now "they" all say that David Beckham will not move to Paris, but rather he will stay in LA.

dN

And another LA Galaxy player, Robbie Keane is in London to train with Tottenham during the MLS offseason.

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Jan 3, 2011 - new music mix at Spotify

STORY OF THE DAY

Jack McCaffery of the Delaware County Daily Times does an interview with Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz. Includes video.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The annual January training camp begins today in Phoenix AZ then moves to Carson CA, and ends in Panama.

dN

David Smith of Yanks Abroad talks to Benny Feilhaber about his return to Team USA for the first time in 15 months.

dN

International Friendlies
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 21
USA v Venezuela
-Wed Jan 25
Panama v USA

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
George John - FC Dallas
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

The USA U23/Olympic team trained in Lakewood Ranch Florida until Dec 23.

dN

US Soccer give us video from the final day of camp.

dN

There will be another camp later in January.

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Helen Pidd of the Guardian tells the story of Union Berlin fans funding their team themselves.

DO YOU REALIZE

Steve Goff of the Washington Post reports that TV viewing for the two upcoming USA friendlies is a mess.
-And the game in Italy is getting closer to being confirmed.

DID YOU KNOW?

El Pais has named Neymar of Santos as the South American Player of the Year.
-Oscar Tabarez of the Uruguay national team was named Coach of the Year.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated gets out the crystal ball and tells us what the big stories of 2012 will be for soccer in America.

WELL WELL WELL

The BBC has an in-depth interview with Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp on the topic of an Englishman managing the English national team. And it was posted in the BBC Business section.
-Thanks to Nick for the link.

OOF

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America reports that Eddie Johnson's run at Puebla in Mexico is done after just 3 DAYS!
-The team says he showed up completely out of shape.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

A 60 minute long documentary film on Thierry Henry:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

The links to this were making the rounds on Twitter today, but it has been posted on line for a month. Why has no one been talking about this? Its very well made.
-Thanks to Jack for sending the links to us.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

The BBC shares with us John Terry's picture on packages of cigarettes in India! As a warning!!!!!

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

DC UNITED

Austin da Luz and Jed Zayner have been invited to the teams preseason camp to try and win a new contract.

HOUSTON DYNAMO

In case you missed it, the Dynamo have handed head coach Dom Kinnear a new 3 year contract.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

NYRB has supposedly signed 26 year old Swedish centerback Markus Holgersson from Helsingborg.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The Quakes are reportedly chasing another loan prospect from Tottenham and hoping that player can be as successful as loanee Simon Dawkins was last year.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Silly name(s) of the day: Samuel Eto'o, Obafemi Martins & Dejan Stankovic.

USA U20 TEAM

Head coach Tab Ramos leads the U20's through a 10 day training camp that began on Mon Jan 2 in Ft Lauderdale.

USA U20 roster
G:
Jesus Guzman - Santos Laguna
Daniel Medina - UANL Tigres
Tyler Miller - Northwestern
Andrew Wolverton - Penn State
D:
Bolu Akinyonde - Seton Hall
Mikey Ambrose - FC Dallas Academy
AJ Cochran - Wisconsin
Sean Cunningham - Molde
Phanuel Kavita - Clemson
Eric Miller - Creighton
Juan Pablo Ocegueda - UANL Tigres
Boyd Okwuonu - North Carolina
Jalen Robinson - DC United Academy
Matt Wendelken - Marist
DeAndre Yedlin - Akron
Walker Zimmerman - Furman
M:
Seth Casiple - Cal
Daniel Cuevas Granados - Santos Laguna
Hector Delgado Cha - America
Christian Duarte - Texans SC Houston
Daniel Garcia - FC Dallas Academy
Luis Gil - Real Salt Lake
Flavio Guzman - FC Dallas Academy
Collin Martin - DC United Academy
Tyrone McCargo - Nuremberg
Caleb Stanko - Freiburg
Wil Trapp - Akron
Jose Villarreal - LA Galaxy
F:
Villyan Bijev - Fortuna Dusseldorf
Amadou Dia - Clemson
Alfred Koroma - Solar Chelsea
Duke Lacroix - Penn
Uvaldo Luna - UANL Tigres
Jack McBean - LA Galaxy
Sean Okoli - Wake Forest
Omar Salgado - Vancouver Whitecaps

USA U18 TEAM

Head coach Richie Williams takes the U18's through an 8 day training camp that began on Mon Jan 2 in Ft Lauderdale.

USA U18 Roster
G:
Ethan Horvath - Real Colorado
Zackary Steffen - FC Delco
D:
Miguel Alves - PDA
Robert Michael Amick - De Anza Force
Suliaman Dainkeh - DC United Academy
Dylan Greenberg - Albertson SC
Trevor Haberkorn - Solar Chelsea
Matthew Habrowski - Crew Soccer Academy Wolves
Jalen Markey - Seattle Sounders FC Academy
Miguel Polley - Chicago Fire Academy
M:
Kellyn Acosta - FC Dallas Academy
Osvaldo Chavez - Texas Rush
Marco Delgado - CD Chivas USA Academy
Nicholas Gaitan - Argentinos Juniors
Romain Gall - FC Lorient
Adam Najem - New York Red Bulls Academy
William Raygoza - LA Galaxy Academy
F:
Jordan Allen - Real Salt Lake AZ
Paul Arriola - Arsenal FC
Justin Dhillon - LA Galaxy Academy
Benjamin Lopez - Real Salt Lake AZ
Zach Pfeffer - Philadelphia Union
Ben Spencer - CD Chivas USA Academy
Jaime Villareal - LA Galaxy Academy

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Sky Sports talks to Everton manager David Moyes who says Landon Donovan is looking ready to play.
-Short video clip of Moyes talking Donovan.

Oguchi Onyewu scored a goal for Sporting in the weird Portuguese League Cup which includes a Group Stage.

dN

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Mon Jan 2 - went the full 90 as they won 2-1 v Arsenal.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - Tue Jan 3 - played the whole game as they v West Brom.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Mon Jan 2 - went the distance but lost 0-2 v Swansea.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Mon Jan 2 - played the entire match as they won 1-2 at QPR.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Mon Jan 2 - on the bench as they won 0-1 at Hull.
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham - Mon Jan 2 - started and went 86 min getting a yellow card as they drew 1-1 at Peterborough.

ENGLAND - League One
Anton Peterlin - Wallsall - Mon Jan 2 - started and played 61 min but lost 2-1 at Bury.

PORTUGAL - League Cup - Group Stage
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP - Mon Jan 2 - went the full 90 scoring a goal as they drew 1-1 at Rio Ave.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - Mon Jan 2 - went the distance as they won 3-0 v Motherwell.
Mo Edu - Rangers - Mon Jan 2 - started and played 76 min getting a yellow card as they won 3-0 v Motherwell.

SCOTLAND - First Division
Dominic Cervi - Greenock Morton - Mon Jan 2 - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v Ayr United.

dN

Coming Up:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Tim Howard - Everton - Wed Jan 4 v Bolton

MEXICO

The Primera Division Clausura begins this Friday!

Opening Round
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jan 6
Morelia v Tijuana
-Sat Jan 7
Monterrey v Chiapas Jaguares
Queretaro v America
Cruz Azul v UANL Tigres
Santos Laguna v Pachuca
Guadalajara v Atlante
San Luis v UNAM Pumas
-Sun Jan 8
Toluca v Estudiantes Tecos
Puebla v Atlas

CANADA

Nigel Reed of the CBC pours some cold water down the pants of expectations at TFC, the Whitecaps and the Impact. Rightfully so.

ENGLAND

Jonathan Wilson at Sports Illustrated looks at the chaotic business of Blackburn Rovers.

Barry Glendenning, John Ashdown and Rob Smyth of the Guardian with five things we learned from watching the Premier League this weekend.

The FA Cup Round of 64 takes place this coming weekend.

Premier League Standings - Top 5 teams (20 games played)
48 Manchester City
45 Manchester United (19 GP)
42 Tottenham (19 GP)
37 Chelsea
36 Arsenal

SPAIN

La Liga is on break until Jan 7.

dN

Copa Del Rey - Round of 16
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Tue Jan 3
Mirandes 2-0 Racing Santander
Albacete 0-0 Athletic Bilaboa
Alcorcon 2-1 Levante
Real Madrid 3-2 Malaga
-Wed Jan 4
Real Sociedad v Mallorca
Barcelona v Osasuna
-Thu Jan 5
Cordoba v Espanyol
Valencia v Sevilla

FRANCE

Ligue 1 is on break until Jan 14.

Ben Lyttleton of Sports Illustrated gives us his list of the top 10 French league transfer prospects.

GERMANY

The Bundesliga is on break until Jan 20.

ITALY

Serie A is on break until Jan 7.

ENDERS

Chad Barrett works on hitting the target during offseason training! If only it were that easy.

Africa Cup of Nations 2012

2012-01-03T13:11:00.000-06:00

The African national team championship tournament begins Sat Jan 21 and is co-hosted by Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

Group A
Equatorial Guinea
Libya
Senegal
Zambia

Group B
Angola
Cote d'Ivoire
Burkina Faso
Sudan

Group C
Gabon
Morocco
Niger
Tunisia

Group D
Botswana
Ghana
Guinea
Mali

Matches & Scores:

Group Stage
-Sat Jan 21
Equatorial Guinea v Libya
Senegal v Zambia
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Sun Jan 22
Cote d'Ivoire v Sudan
Burkina Faso v Angola
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Mon Jan 23
Gabon v Niger
Morocco v Tunisia
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
-Tue Jan 24
Ghana v Botswana
Mali v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Wed Jan 25
Libya v Zambia
Equatorial Guinea v Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Thu Jan 26
Sudan v Angola
Cote d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Fri Jan 27
Niger v Tunisia
Gabon v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
-Sat Jan 28
Botswana v Guinea
Ghana v Mali
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Sun Jan 29
Equatorial Guinea v Zambia
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya v Senegal
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
-Mon Jan 30
Sudan v Burkina Faso
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
Cote d'Ivoire v Angola
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
-Tue Jan 31
Gabon v Tunisia
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville
Niger v Morocco
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
-Wed Feb 1
Botswana v Mali
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
Ghana v Guinea
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Quarterfinals
-Sat Feb 4
A1 v B2
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
B1 v A2
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
-Sun Feb 5
C1 v D2
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
D1 v C2
Venue: Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Semifinals
-Wed Feb 8
A1/B2 v D1/C2
Venue: Estadio de Bata, Bata
C1/D2 v B1/A2
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville

Final
-Sun Feb 12
Semifinal Winners
Venue: Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville

SPECIAL EDITION: Some News for Fri Dec 30, 2011

2011-12-30T13:15:00.001-06:00

This is a Special Edition soccer news blast during this holiday week. I have been off enjoying regular life, cut had to at least lay all of this good stuff on you once this week. We will be back to regular service next week. But for now here is some news, in pretty much random order - no headlines or sections:

dN

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Dec 27, 2011 - My Dad's birthday - new music mix at Spotify.

dN

Everton sits down to do a video interview with Landon Donovan upon his return to the club.

MLS SuperDraft will be held on Thu Jan 12 in Kansas City. I will be there! Will you?

Seattle has signed 28 year old Swedish right fullback Adam Johansson from IFK Gothenburg.
-Thank to Henrik for the heads up.

23 year old danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek has been linked to the Seattle Sounders. He is from FC Midtjylland in Denmark.

San Jose has signed 29 year old Honduran centerback Victor Bernardez from Anderlecht in Belgium.

Joey Barton's wife gave birth to a son today - name: Cassius

Charlie Davies will be back in training with Sochaux come Jan 4.

Isaac Acuna is out of Club America and into the 2nd division at Merida.

Freddy Adu is doing some off-season training in Spain at Rayo Vallecano.

The KNVB Beker cup match between Ajax and AZ which was called off after a fan attacked the AZ goalkeeper on the field will be replayed on Jan 19 in an empty stadium.

Luis Bueno of Press Enterprise reports that Colombians now account for the "highest number of foreign-born players on MLS rosters."

Bolton has supposedly offered $3.9M for Tim Ream. Nice. Now try again. This time like you mean it.

Waking the Red post their All Time Toronto FC Worst XI. This is one hell of a list!
-Even the bench is grotesquely impressive.

Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe talks to new Revs head coach Jay Heaps who has this to say about one of their new additions to the roster: "I am particularly excited about Clyde Simms."
-Oof. Lets hope it gets a lot better from here for Mr Heaps.

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze reflects on 2011.

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN looks ahead to 2012 for US Soccer.

Luke Wileman of TSN reviews 2011 in MLS in Canada.

Celtic beats Rangers 1-0 and takes over lead in SPL.
-How did the Americans on Rangers do?
Alejandro Bedoya - did not suit up for the game.
Carlos Bocanegra - went the distance getting a yellow card.
Mo Edu - came on as a sub in the 78th min.

Houston acquired midfielder Nathan Sturgis from Toronto in exchange for a pick in the 2014 SuperDraft. Sturgis has always shown tons of promise but injuries have limited his playing time, and he has bounced from team to team around MLS.

MLSsoccer.com talks to Philadelphia keeper Zac MacMath about his recent training stint at Everton.

Mexican 2nd division team Indios of Juarez, announced they'll be dissolving due to financial problems.
-Wow, you have to imagine that the horrible crime of the drug war in that city has taken a toll on ticket sales and possible sponsorships.

Tom Marshall of MLSsoccer.com talks to Victor Garza about a potentially big 2012 at Tigres.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated with his best and worst, high and low, weird and wonderful of soccer in the year 2011.

Paris Saint-Germain has fired head coach Antoine Kombouare and hired former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti as its new head coach.

Thierry Henry is all set to re-join Arsenal on a short term loan prior to the next MLS season in March.

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated looks the potential USA Olympic team.

NBA great Kevin Garnett has bought a stake in Roma.

The MLS Combine for potential draft picks to show off their skills will take place Jan 7-11 at Central Broward Park in Fort Lauderdale FL.

Trinidad & Tobago Newsday with the story of Jack Warner claiming he was personally given the TV rights to the 1998 World Cup in T&T for $1 in exchange for helping Sepp Blatter remain in charge of FIFA.

German striker Gerald Asamoah is telling people that he is headed to an unnamed team in MLS.

Russell Berrisford of the Vancouver Sun gives us a short list of what the Whitecaps need to accomplish in 2012.

Brian Straus of Sporting News with his best of 2011 of soccer in America.

Soccer America tells us about the 5 players who have signed special Generation Adidas contracts with MLS after leaving college early, or skipped college all together. Will there be more before the Superdraft on Jan 12?

Goalkeeper Diego Restrepo has left America de Cali in Colombia to sign with Tachira in Venezuela.

Happy Holidays - du Nord With Some Days Off

2011-12-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays everyone.

du Nord will be posted irregularly this week due to a nice holiday break.

Check in but don't always expect fresh news.

Bruce

Some Soccer News for Fri Dec 23, 2011

2011-12-23T16:32:00.002-06:00

STARTERS

Jamie Trecker of Fox Soccer traveled to London and sat down for a video interview with Clint Dempsey.
-There really isn't anything new here for us diehards, but its great to see the words come out of Clint's mouth. What a talent!
-More great stuff with Clint and members of his family.

dN

Liverpool staff, players and fans giving Luis Suarez their full support against his being found guilty of using racist slurs against an opponent are missing the whole point. OK so you think the 8 game suspension was too much. But to my way of thinking at some point someone with authority has to put their foot down and say Enough is enough. This stops here and now and if it doesn't this is the penalty. I could care less that Suarez has black friends. That doesn't excuse anything. He said what he said and its wrong. Shut up and pay the price and lets move on.

dN

ITS ALIVE! Eddie Johnson, the Grown Ass Man, has come back to life and signed with Puebla in Mexico.
-Last we heard from Eddie he was dodging his Missus, hanging out in a Florida hotel room with a floozy, and getting his car wrecked by the wife when she found him.

dN

Former Milan and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is going to be named the new head coach of Paris St Germain.

AFRICA

Yaya Toure of Cote d'Ivoire & Manchester City has been named the African Player of the Year.

The other 9 finalists were:
-Andre Ayew - Ghana & Marseille
-Kevin-Prince Boateng - Ghana & AC Milan
-Didier Drogba - Cote d'Ivoire & Chelsea
-Samuel Eto'o - Cameroon & Anzhi Makhachkala
-Gervinho - Cote d'Ivoire & Arsenal
-Asamoah Gyan - Ghana & Al Ain
-Seydou Keita - Mali & Barcelona
-Moussa Sow - Senegal & Lille
-Adel Taarabt - Morocco & Queens Park Rangers

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Dec 20, 2011 - new music mix at Spotify

STORY OF THE DAY

Here is something you definitely don't see every day, especially from former soccer stars!

The Guardian has an article on a new museum exhibition opening in Paris that shows how throughout recent history humans have used other humans as "displays" and "freak shows". The exhibit is curated by France 98 World Cup star Lillian Thuram! (thanks to Wes for the link)

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

The USA will hold its annual January training camp for players who are currently in their off-season.

The camp will run Jan 3-26 and training will take place in Phoenix, Carson CA and Panama.

They will finish with 2 games:
-Jan 21 v Venezuela
-Jan 25 at Panama

dN

US Soccer has quotes from Klinsmann on this roster.

dN

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
George John - FC Dallas
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

Who surprises you the most on this roster?
-Ricardo Clark sticks out for me.

Who is not on this list that should be?
-Tim Ream is getting married in January, so that is why he is not on this roster.

Here is my list of "Other possibles":
-Nat Borchers
-Eric Brunner
-Sean Franklin
-Eddie Gaven
-Clarence Goodson
-Ugo Ihemelu
-Dan Kennedy
-Nick LaBrocca
-Mike Magee
-Chad Marshall
-Ryan Miller
-Drew Moor
-Chance Myers
-Chris Rolfe
-Brad Rusin
-AJ Soares
-Yevgeni Starikov
-Etchu Tabe

USA U23/OLYMPIC TEAM

The USA U23/Olympic team is in Lakewood Ranch Florida until Dec 23 for a training camp.

dN

US Soccer fills us in on a second inter-squad scrimmage.

dN

There will be another camp in January.

dN

Here is the roster.

G:
David Bingham - San Jose Earthquakes
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
Zac MacMath - Philadelphia Union
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Eintracht Frankfurt
Royal-Dominique Fennell - Stuttgarter Kickers
Sebastien Ibeagha - Duke
Kofi Sarkodie - Houston Dynamo
Zarek Valentin - Montreal Impact
Jorge Villafana - Chivas USA
Andrew Wenger - Duke
Sheanon Williams - Philadelphia Union
M:
Freddy Adu - Philadelphia Union
Bryan Arguez - Montreal Impact
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Danny Cruz - Houston Dynamo
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Dilly Duka - Columbus Crew
Jared Jeffrey - Mainz
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Michael Stephens - LA Galaxy
F:
Terrance Boyd - Dortmund
Will Bruin - Houston Dynamo
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Jann George - Nurnberg
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim
Jack McInerney - Philadelphia Union
Andrew Wooten - Kaiserslautern

FIFASCANDALIZATIONINGS

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated sums it all up with a look back at the year in FIFA scandals.

BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY

Wisconsin Soccer Central reports on Landon Donovan stopping off for a family visit in Madison this week and doing some training at a local soccer complex as he prepares to head for Everton next week. With photos. Great stuff. Thanks to Keith for sending this our way.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Jere Longman of the New York Times on England getting tough on racism in soccer.

WELL WELL WELL

Kristan Heneage of the Guardian does an interview with DC United star Dwayne DeRosario.

OOF

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America reports that the German media are going after Jermaine Jones with a vengeance.
-The video of him stomping on the foot of an opposition player that he knew was dealing with a broken toe is just despicable.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Brad Friedel goes out of his way to clear the air on Landon Donovan. He never meant any ill will toward LD. He says it was all blown out of proportion. And he said he wished that people had listened to his whole interview, which was not about Donovan, but Clint Dempsey, before they took Friedel to task.

Jamie Trecker of Fox Soccer does a video interview with Brad Friedel in three parts: PART 1 - and - PART 2 - PART 3.

dN

Following up from Wednesday we get video from The Guardian of the fan running on to the field at Ajax and going after the AZ goalkeeper, who retaliates and was given a red card. The AZ players then walked off the field and abandon the game. No decision has been announced yet on what will happen. Usually a game like this would result in a forfeiture by the team that left.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

Player Transactions

Chivas has signed 28 year old Ecuadorian midfielder Oswaldo Minda from Deportivo Quito.

dN

LA has signed American goalkeeper Nick Noble from Ljungskile in Sweden, and forward Pat Noonan from Seattle.

dN

New England has signed defensive midfielder Clyde Simms from DC United.

dN

Signed to a Generation Adidas contract:
-Chandler Hoffman - UCLA
-Sam Garza - UC Santa Barbara
-Darren Mattocks - Akron
-Andrew Wenger - Duke

FC DALLAS

FCD posted a Q & A with their team president Doug Quinn. This is Part 2.
-Here is Part 1 again in case you missed it last week.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY SC

Charles Gooch of the Star retells the story of his becoming a Kansas City Wizards fanatico.

LA GALAXY

Its official - Juninho is gone. He will be back with Sao Paulo next season, the team he was only on loan to the Galaxy from. He will be a big time player for them next season no doubt.

dN

LA has signed 18 year old attacking midfielder Jose Villarreal from their academy team. The year before he joined the Galaxy Academy he lead Pateadores to the US Soccer Development Academy U18 championship and looked fantastic doing so. He is also in the pool for the USA U20 team.

dN

The Galaxy also announced that 3 players, Sean Franklin, Bryan Jordan and Adam Cristman have all signed new deals with the team.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

CSNPhilly looks at the Union going after several Latino players this offseason.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Yvonne Zacharias of the Sun tells us what Joe Canon and John Thorrington are up to for Christmas.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Silly name of the day: Bofo Bautista. He will always be Bozo to me.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Wed Dec 21 - started and played 85 min as they got hammered 0-5 v Man United.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - Wed Dec 21 - went the full 90 but lost 1-2 v Arsenal.
Tim Howard - Everton - Wed Dec 21 - played the whole game as they won 1-0 v Swansea.

PORTUGAL - Taca de Portugal -
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting CP - Thu Dec 22 - went the full 90 as they won 3-0 v Maritimo.

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

Franco Panizo of Soccer By Ives talks to Eddie Johnson about signing with Puebla.

ENGLAND

Amy Lawrence of the Guardian with five things we have learned from the mid-week Premiership games.

SPAIN

La Liga is on break until Jan 7.

dN

Diego Simeone is the new Atletico Madrid head coach.

dN

Copa del Rey - Round of 32

Barcelona, Valencia, Albacete, Mirandes, Osasuna, Alcorcon, Cordoba, Levante, Racing, Malaga, Sociedad, Bilbao, Real Madrid, Espanyol, Mallorca and Sevilla have all advanced.

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Thu Dec 22
Barcelona 9-0 L'Hospitalet - Bar advances 10-0 on agg.
Valencia 4-0 Cadiz - Val adv 4-0 on agg.

FRANCE

Ligue 1 is on break until Jan 14.

GERMANY

The Bundesliga is on break until Jan 20.

ITALY

Serie A is on break until Jan 7.

dN

Paolo Bandini of the Guardian on Juventus who finished 2011 very strong, and the rest of the midweek action in Serie A.

EUROPE

Taca de Portugal - Quarterfinals
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Dec 21
Academica 3-2 Desportivo Aves
-Thu Dec 22
Sporting CP 3-0 Maritimo
UD Oliveirense 2-1 Olhanense
-Fri Dec 23
Moreirense v Nacional

USA January Camp Roster

2011-12-22T11:44:00.001-06:00

The USA will hold its annual January training camp for players who are currently in their offseason.

The camp will run Jan 3-26 and training will take place in Phoenix, Carson CA and Panama.

They will finish with 2 games:
-Jan 21 v Venezuela
-Jan 25 at Panama

USA Roster
G:
Bill Hamid - DC United
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire SC
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
AJ DeLaGarza - LA Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - LA Galaxy
George John - FC Dallas
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - FC Nordsjaelland
Heath Pearce - CD Chivas USA
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt
Benny Feilhaber - New England Revolution
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
CJ Sapong - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

Who surprises you the most?

Who is not on this list that should be?

The USA has won 3 friendlies in a row. At this point in the Klinsmann era are you:
	Ecstatic
	Happy
	Optimistic
	Satisified
	Indifferent
	Confused
	Doubtful
	Angry

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