Thieves You Can Catch News

George Senior kicks out the first ball before the Dynamo v Galaxy match last night. Maybe he's the reason the defending champs couldn't even get 17,000 out to their home opener. (thanks to Alex who sent me this)


MLS Opening Weekend Scorecard:
Colorado 2-1 DC United - Colo goals by Herculez Gomez (huge congrats to him, cuz I pick on him a lot) & Roberto Brown. DC goal by Luciano Emilio. Match reports by John Meyer of the Denver Post & Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Salt Lake 2-2 Dallas - both Salt Lake goals by Jeff Cunningham. Dallas goals by Kenny Cooper & Carlos Ruiz. Match reports from James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News, and Scott Taylor of the Dallas Morning News.
Columbus 0-0 New York - Match reports from Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch & Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Chicago 1-0 New England - Chicago goal by Logan Pause (although it sure looked like a James Riley own goal to me and I was sitting right behind the goal). Match reports from Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune, and Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Chivas USA 2-0 Toronto - Chivas goals by Ante Razov & Sacha Kljesten. Match reports from Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise, and Stephen Brunt of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Houston 0-0 Los Angeles - Match reports from Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle, and Grahame Jones of the Los Angeles Times.
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The du Nord Player Of The Week - Sacha Kljesten - Chivas USA
-Hhe launched the teams first goal with a great ball over the top to a lightning fast Maykel Galindo who then dropped it off for Ante Ravoz to score his 99th goal. Then with time winding down Kljesten drove up the middle of the field, dipped to his right and unleashed a shot from 20 yards out that beat the Toronto keeper to the back post. As much for his offense though, SK deserves the award for his great positioning on defense, constantly breaking up TFC's flow and then starting the attack the other direction was excellent and creative passing. A star in the making. Probably his best game as a pro.

My notes on the games:
-Both DC & Houston seemed to be suffering from post CONCACAF Champions Cup loss hangovers.
-Pat Onstad was back in the line up for Houston after injuring his calf during the first round CCC match in Costa Rica.
-Jonathan Bornstein made a surprise return to the Chivas USA line up only 6 weeks after knee surgery. He was not great, but he was definitely good. He is an exciting player.
-After seeing Justin Mapp in person again I can attest to the fact that he has clearly taken the next step up the quality level ladder. His speedy dribbling, crossing and shooting all look very dangerous.
-Freddy Adu looked good for RSL with some good moves, and nice quick accurate passing. He drew several ooh's and ah's from the home crowd.
-Jeff Cunningham starts the season wearing shirt #90 to reflect his goal total - then adds 2 more in Week 1.
-Ante Razov scored and sits at 99 career goals. He will become the third MLS player to hit 100, after Jason Kries and Jaime Moreno.
-Luciano Emilio bagged his 4th goal already for DCU. He got 3 in the CCC and now his first in the regular league. He has already earned his salary.
-Kenny Cutler of RSL has some wickedly nasty "I drive a Trans Am and it's 1978" hair.
-Carlos Ruiz of Dallas looks really strong. His layoff for Kenny Cooper's goal was perfect, and he nearly did the same thing with 2 or 3 other teammates who could not find the back of the net. Then he scrapped hard for the goal that stole em a road point.
-Matt Pickens was saved by the bar on a shot by New England's Taylor Twellman, then he came up with three more huge saves on a free kick also by Twellman and 2 good shots by Andy Dorman (the second of which I thought for sure was going in) to iron out the clean sheet.
-Ian Russell who was completely out of MLS all last season, because no teams picked him up, was a starter for the Galaxy in Houston.
-Those new blue kits for the Red Bulls look exactly like the ones New England wears. Awful. Come on, Red Bulls should wear Red! Duh.
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Steve Davis at Soccernet rounds up the first weekends games.
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Chivas USA supporters group Legion 1908 rolled out their new giant flag this weekend. It is most impressive! (Photo from Luis Bueno)
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The jokes are going to be out in full force when word spreads around that Claudio Reyna was hurt in his first official game with the Red Bulls. He and winger Dave Richards collided at high speed going for a ball in front of the Columbus goal. Reyna took a knee to the thigh. It looked very painful. Up until that moment he was definitely showing his quality.
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This weeks podcast interview from EPL Talk is with the great man behind the most important soccer website in America - Oliver Tse of SoccerTV.com. This is the place you can get the details on every soccer match broadcast on television in our country. I use the site several times per week. It is the only soccer site that I find indispensable. Tse also makes a "major announcement" about the site during this interview.
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There was an online chat session this morning with DC United President Kevin Payne, hosted by the Washington Post. Check out the Q & A here. (thanks to Jeff for sending this to us)
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The Soccernet MLS Power Rankings, complete with snarky comments. Excellent.
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One of the best weblogs on the planet, The DCenters, is 2 years old now! Hooray Beer! Hooray fans! Hooray DC! If yer a DC United fan then this site is a daily must-read. And most MLS fans can enjoy this site everyday too. I do.
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Columbus is planning to build a new practice facility and representatives from 17 area communities turned up at the meeting to express their interest. Not bad. From the Columbus Dispatch.
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Another great article by Mitchell at the Columbus Dispatch about the groundbreaking knee surgery undertaken by Crew midlfielder Duncan Oughton. The doctors had to fully replace knee cartilage so they took some from another part of his body, grew it to the proper size and attached it like new. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of Man United had the same surgery.
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Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News reports on the bitchin "celebrity" VIP entrance that has been built at the Home Deport Center. That way the guys in Smash Mouth & Nickelback, or one of the stars of Scrubs won't have to wait in line with you and me to get in the gates. Maybe I could get one of them to sneak in some contraband for me.
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A reader named Larry sent me a link to Norm Chads latest anti-MLS column from over the weekend. I considered laying out a heavy slagging commentary, but I realized it just fuels the fire of idiots like Chad. So I am not going to link to him, and I suggest others don't even read his crap or others like him. Turn off the Jim Rome show when it comes on. Fuck Frank de Ford. The faster these jerkoffs go away the better. Let's ignore them from now on. This is the last time you will ever see their names in print at du Nord. Amen.
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DCU are chasing Virginia Beach striker Nicholas Adderly of Jamaica. Since VB shockingly folded last week, all the player contracts were voided and the guys are now free agents.
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There is a new blog in Portland to celebrate MLS and track a possible new MLS team in that town - its obviously called Portland Timbers MLS. Let's hope they would secure the Timbers name if they get a new team.
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Carlos Bocanegra scores in two games over the weekend for Fulham! So let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - had a two match weekend starting Friday with a 0-0 draw with Charlton where he did not leave the bench, and today they went to Fulham and won 1-3 with DaMarcus netting the 2nd goal for his team. He also got booked and was then subbed out in the 81st minute. His team are now at 40 points and seemingly safe from relegation troubles.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - take on Karlsruhe tonight.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - two matches this weekend, and two brutal beatings. Carlos went the distance in each as Friday it was a 4-1 loss to Everton, after Carlos scored the first goal his team gave up a quad. Then today they lost 1-3 to Man City with Carlos stunningly scoring again! But all is not well at Fulham as they are suddenly only 4 points above the relegation teams.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - did not play in a 1-1 draw with at home to ADO Den Haag. Is he hurt or his his coach insane?
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - played the full match in the center of defense for a wild 4-6 win at Silkeborg. Doesn't sound like too good of a defensive game, but 3 points is 3 points.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - played 90 at right back in this teams 1-2 home loss to Bayern Munich.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - two weekend matches in which Jay played the entire game at centerback. They got routed 4-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, then turned the tables with a nice 4-2 win over Portsmouth today.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - two weekend losses, to Everton 4-1 in which he was an unused sub, and today 1-3 to Man City where he replaced Wayne Routledge in the 73rd minute.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played in goal as usual but lost 1-2 to Aston Villa. He saved a PK to keep it as close as it was. The game was Friedel's 108th consecutive appearance in the Premiership!
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - a tough 1-2 home loss to surging Liverpool. Hahnemann went the distance as usual in goal.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - he did not play in his team 3-2 win over Mainz.
-Tim Howard - Everton - two matches this weekend - started on Friday v Fulham and after conceding the first goal on a header by Carlos Bocanegra they stormed back to win 4-1. Then today they played Bolton and drew 1-1 on the road.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - started in the goal and played the whole match as usual but lost yet again, this time to Schalke 2-0.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - 2 weekend matches with Eddie going the 90 in both, winning Saturday 2-1 over Plymouth, and losing 2-1 at Colchester today. The loss kicks them back into the relegation zone, 3 points from safety.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - two games over the weekend saw Brian go the full 90 in each, but they were losing efforts 4-1 at Everton, and 1-3 at home v Man City.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - two games this weekend, Gooch can on as a 84th minute sub Friday to help preserve a 1-2 win at Sheffield United, and then started and played the full match in a 0-0 home draw v Arsenal. He had a great shot on goal that saved by Lehmann.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - still out hurt. His team drew 1-1 with Esbjerg.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - he missed both games this weekend as he finished a 3 match suspension. His team won at 1-2 at Cardiff on Saturday, and beat Ipswich 2-0 today.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - West Ham - came on as a half time sub as his team shocked Arsenal at the Emirates stadium 0-1. It was the first home defeat at the new place for the Arse. It also keeps West Ham just 3 points from a safety spot.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - take on Karlsruhe tonight.
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In a shocker, the Haiti and Honduras U17 teams from CONCACAF have qualified for next summers World Youth Cup in South Korea. They beat out the other two teams in their group, Mexico and El Salvador. This is a huge loss for the Mexican youth team who are the defending U17 World Champions. The USA is part of the other CONCACAF group who will play a qualifying tournament in Jamaica later this month. Five teams, Jamaica, USA, Canada, Costa Ric and Trinidad & Tobago, will compete for three spots.
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Luis Bueno's Mexican league Jornada 14 Roundup, from LA Soccer News.
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Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Apr 10
Cerro Porteno - Deportes Tolima
Real Potosi - Parana
Emelec - Internacional
Apr 11
Cucuta Deportivo - Gremio
Libertad - America
Audax Italiano - Necaxa
Apr 12
Bolivar - Toluca
Nacional - Velez Sarsfield
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo & Caracas have already qualified for the next round with all teams still having at least one more round of the group stage to play and some others have two.
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Champions League quarterfinal second legs - Matchday 10 - this week (with first leg scores included):
Tuesday-
Manchester United v Roma (1-2)
Valencia v Chelsea (1-1)
Wednesday-
Bayern v Milan (2-2)
Liverpool v PSV (3-0)
-The Semifinals, Matchday 11 & 12, will be April 24/25 & May 1/2.
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A wild weekend in the some of the big leagues of Europe brought all the meaningful title races that much closer.
-In Spain, Barcelona lost to Zaragoza 1-0, Sevilla drew 0-0 with Racing Santander & Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-0 leaving the table like this with 9 games to play:
56 Barca
55 Sevilla
54 Real Madrid
50 Zaragoza
50 Valencia
-England saw leaders Man U lose to Plymouth 2-1 and 2nd place Chelsea win 1-0 over Tottenham. So the top two spots in EPL looks like this with 6 games to play:
78 Manchester United
75 Chelsea
The two teams play each other on Wednesday May 9 at Chelsea. Oooooooh weeeeeeeee.
-The Bundesliga stays tight but unchanged with 6 games to play as Schalke beat Gladbach 2-0, Werder beat Nurnberg 1-0, Stuttgart win at Hamburg 4-2, and Bayern win 2-1 at Hannover.
56 Schalke
54 Werder Bremen
52 Stuttgart
50 Bayern Munich
-In Holland the top 3 got closer together with 3 games left as leader PSV lost 2-1 at NEC Nijmegen, AZ won at NAC Breda 4-1 and Ajax drew 2-2 at RKC Waalwijk. Unfortunately none of those 3 play each other in the final weeks. That would have been even more fun.
68 PSV
66 AZ Alkmaar
66 Ajax
-Both France and Italy have been over for months with Lyon leading by 17 points, and Inter leading by 18 points and have not lost a league game yet this season.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports on a team struggling badly in La Liga: Athletic Bilbao gets an Easter gift. (They are only 2 points above relegation.)
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Sid Lowe of the Guardian writes about one of my favorite teams to watch this season, Real Zaragoza, who stuck it to Barcelona this weekend.
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Simon Kuper at the Financial Times writes about sports violence and why football gets all the blame.

Panthers On The Prowl News

Somehow seeing Houston lose to Pachuca last night was even more gut wrenching than DC losing to Guadalajara on Tuesday, in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
For the second year in a row, 2 Mexican teams will play for the confederation crown. I hate it!
And just like DCU, Houston had em! They were up 4-3 with under 5 minutes to play. But could not hold on as Pachuca scored late and then again in extra time to end it.
A lot of Houston fans are probably screaming about the referee's decisions. He called them for 2 PK's, and the game winning goal came after time had expired in the first half of extra time.
But as horrible as Navarro the referee is, he was bad for both teams, and he is not the reason Houston lost.
They lost because Pachuca is a freaking attacking and goal scoring machine. Wow were they intense.
Some Houston players had magnificent games of skill or tenacity or both. Eddie Robinson, Brian Ching & Wade Barrett gave it everything they had and almost pulled it off for their team. Kelly Gray, Alejandro Moreno & Zach wells did their best too, but I am not so sure it's good enough at that level.
A couple guys were pretty disappointing too. Dwayne De Rosario had his moments, but seemed about 70% into it. Brad Davis didn't have the stamina it takes to be there for his teammates. Craig Waibel got handed his lunch on the right side of defense, and Ryan Cochran was not up to par in the middle.
And I have to say that I find fault in the tactics of Houston coach Dom Kinnear too, which I believe contributed to the reasons they lost.
He pulled out right back Craig Waibel cuz he was getting torched down his side of the field and replaced him with speedy midfielder Brian Mullan which worked pretty well. But it hurt them badly in two ways. First, it left centerback Ryan Cochran on the field, and Cochran had a terrible game, getting burned so many times it wasn't even funny. Waibel should have slid into the center and Cochran should have come out. Waibel was replaced by Stuart Holden who took up Mullan's spot. Yet when it came to crunch time Holden is nowhere near the midfielder Mullan is, and Kinear should have swapped those two around to get Mullan back in the attack. Secondly, on the other side of the field, Brad Davis is in such lousy shape he couldn't even go 70 minutes. Sad. He was replaced by Kevin Goldthwaite. Goldthwaite is the guy who put in the free kick for Ching to head home, but he was not an offensive threat other than that. Again I think it would have been better, when they really needed it to push Barrett into the attack and leave Goldthwaite to defend.
But that's just me.
Their team effort in the second half was something to be proud of, but giving up the 2 quick goals in the first half dug them such a hole, that I was just happy to see them still alive come 90 minutes.
Better luck next year boys.

CONCACAF Champions Cup:
Thursday-
Pachuca 5-2 Houston - Pachuca wins 5-4 on aggregate in extra time. Pach goals by Christian Gimenez (3) & Gabriel Caballero (2), with Houston goals by Brian's Mullan and Ching.
-Video highlights
Match reports:
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle + more game notes
-Houston Dynamo homepage
-Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet

Houston team president Oliver Luck gathered some research in this trip to Pachuca for the match. He toured facilities for the home team and UNAM Pumas to gather ideas for a future Dynamo home. From MLSnet.
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MLS Opening Weekend 2007 - Season 12! Yes, it's really here!
(all times central)
Saturday:
Colorado v DC United - live at 2:30 on ABC
Salt Lake v Dallas - live at 5:00 on Direct Kick
Columbus v New York - live at 6:00 on Direct Kick & HDNet
Chicago v New England - live at 7:30 on Direct Kick
Chivas USA V Toronto - live at 9:30 on FSC
Sunday:
Houston v Los Angeles - live at 6:00 on Telefutura
-Kansas City is the odd team out this weekend.
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Here is my MLS season preview, posted today on the site of Denver's Rocky Mountain News. I blew it though, as I forget to put the teams in the order I think they will finish. So right now I kinda look like an idiot for having Houston listed last in the West. I have asked them to change it for me asap. So I hope that happens. Have patience with me please.
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You won't be hearing Eric Wynalda this weekend on the ABC telecast. He was suspended after his comments about radio host Jim Rome (see yesterdays du Nord), and will be replaced by Julie Foudy. What? Jack Edwards, Ty Keough and Marcello Balboa were all busy strangling cats?
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Stephen Brunt of the Toronto Globe & Mail with a great look at the different era that sees top tier football return to his city. The distance from NASL to MLS is light years to him. I could not agree more.
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Josh Gros will be kept out of DC United match with Colorado due to the concussion he suffered v Guadalajara this week.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch previews season 12 for the Mighty Crew. Can you say that with a straight face? I called em that, Mitchell didn't.
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Shalrie Joseph will not play for New England tomorrow due to calf injury.
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New England signed goalkeeper Matt Reis to a contract extension. Now they gotta find a way to pay Shalrie man! Come on! Make him happy! Make us all happy.
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Mike Biglin of the Boston Herald talks to New England defender Jay Heaps, who certainly needs a fresh start after being the guy who missed the PK that gave Houston the win in last seasons MLS Cup final.
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The Chicago Sun Times with a story on Fire keeper Matt Pickens, in the post-Zach Thornton world.
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Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune feels a need to defend Chicago's signing of Cuauhtemoc Blanco. I understand doing it, but I say "to hell with em" if they don't get it. Let's wait to see what happens. Then we can all have our say.
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Looks like Toronto is moving another player out, as Jose Cancela has been sent to Colorado for a box of White Cheddar Cheez Nips, and some sorta official future consideration thing.
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Alecko Eskandarian warns the league about Toronto. He says they will rock! From the Toronto Globe & Mail
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The Denver Post with a story on forward Herculez Gomez who gets ready to suit up for his new team Colorado.
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Bob Holtzman of the LA Daily Breeze previews the season for Chivas USA.
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Marc Connolly of the US Players Assoc does the Q & A with New York wonder-man-child striker Jozy Altidore.
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Connolly also has a feature story on Dallas midfielder Arturo Alvarez.
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Ives Galarcep at Soccer looks at 10 players he says have something to prove this season. And he previews all 6 games this weekend.
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Steve Davis at MLSnet previews this weekends matchups too, and has some fancy insider league news tidbits.
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Greg Lalas with a MLS season preview for Sports Illustrated - 11 stories to follow.
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Ian Plenderleith at the US Players Assoc previews the MLS season.
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DJ Walker’s 3rd Annual MLS Preview, from 3rd Degree.
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USA Today with their season preview.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post previews the season with a look at the potential Beckham impact.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times looks at the business health of MLS on the eve of the 12th opener.
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Most of all the big city newspapers in America have a season preview today. I am not going to link to any more cuz if yer a regular reader of du Nord then I think you already know the score.
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Here's a preview from the Herald in Glasgow Scotland. Features quite a bit of news on the Scots in MLS, plus other things too.
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The other day, Bill Urban at the US PLayers Assoc called out the underachieving rookie class of 06. Today he previews the 07's.
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I attended the Minnesota Thunder practice today and posted a story at Blue Sky Soccer on the preseason so far. With notes on rostered players, trialists, and over-all team news.
-The Thunder also announced the signing of two more players this week - Ansu Toure, who returns to the team after failing to make the New York Red Bulls roster, and USA U20 forward Rodrigo Hidalgo.
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Four new articles from Soccer America today:
-Mike Woitalla with a great story on the influx of talented young African immigrant & refugee kids in American soccer. Including Minnesota's own Abdusalam Ibrahim from the USA U17 residency school who was drafted by Dallas a few months ago.
-They talk to Dan Courtemanche, who is in charge of marketing MLS. He says its getting easier to connect with people on the business level.
-Ridge Mahoney rings in A New Era For MLS. The changes this offseason have been absolutely amazing in my opinion.
-But on a more serious note - Where are the Black coaches? And executives for that matter.
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Setanta Sports says Everton are going to come after Chicago midfielder Justin Mapp in the next transfer window!
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Yanks Abroad talks to Jonathan Spector about how his team West Ham is going to avoid relegation from the Premiership.
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I feel bad for these young African players who are being told wild stories of success in MLS by agents. Here is a story so full of mistakes, lies and holes its not even funny. It says 33 Africans came to play in MLS last season. Have there been 33 Africans play in MLS in all 11 seasons combined? They also claim that the PDL is a professional league, when the whole point of the league is that it is most assuredly amateur.
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Copa Libertadores - this weeks matches:
Apr 03
Nacional 3-1 Emelec
Colo Colo 4-0 LDU Quito
El Nacional 0-1 Banfield
Apr 04
Cienciano 3-0 Boca Juniors
Sao Paulo 3-0 Necaxa
Maracaibo 1-2 Flamengo
Apr 05
Deportiva Pasto 0-2 Gimnasia
Caracas 3-1 River Plate
Defensor Sporting 0-2 Santos
-Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo & Caracas have already qualified for the next round with all teams still having at least one more round of the group stage to play and some others have two.
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UEFA Cup - yesterday's scores - first leg:
AZ Alkmaar 0-0 Werder Bremen
Bayer Leverkusen 0-3 Osasuna
Sevilla 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Espanyol 3-2 Benfica
-Return legs to take place April 12.
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Valencia midfielder Vicente will be out of action at least a month with a torn thigh muscle suffered in the Champions League match v Chelsea on Wednesday.
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Aresnal coach Arsene Wenger comments on American Stan Kroenke buying a stake in the club.

Farrah Fawcett & Sons Plumbling Company News

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho on what happens after next weeks return leg of the Champions League series v Valencia: "If we win, we go to the semi-final, but if not, I intend to go to Earl's Court to watch the WWE Wrestling with my kids instead."


CONCACAF Champions Cup Semifinal second leg matches!
Tonight-
Pachuca v Houston - live at 8:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
-Admission to tonight's game in Pachuca is FREE!
Previews:
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle compares the two teams.
-And Fallas's pregame notes
-Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News says Galaxy coach Frank Yallop will be cheering for Houston tonight, but after that he & his team fly to Houston to start the season on Sunday night and the cheering is over.
Tuesday-
Guadalajara 2-1 DC United - Chivas win 3-2 on aggregate.
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ADDITION: Last night on the Dynamo Power Hour radio show, host Glenn Davis, also of the Houston Chronicle, reported that a very reliable source told him that representatives of three very big Italian players had contacted MLS about the possibilities of playing in the league. Those three are: Alessandro Del Piero, Fabio Cannavaro and (get this) Marco Materazzi! Who knows. Will it happen? Probably not, but at least they are interested. That's exciting to me.
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A couple days ago we linked to a Q & A with Eric Wynalda from the Fulham USA web site. It was the usual Wynalda screed. He praised and he dogged. One person who got it real bad was radio and tv host Jim Rome who is a macho dufus and regular soccer basher. Now Wynalda has apologized for what he said about Romey. Awwwww. Anything to save yer job huh Eric? And here again is the original interview where EW goes off. Thank you thank you thank you to Fulham USA for this gem.
(NOTE: Wynalda called in to Jim Rome's radio show and personally apologized, saying his words were taken out of context, and it was meant as a joke. Rome accepted, then ripped soccer some more.)
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The video clip from ESPN of Allen Hopkins with the latest MLS news is now up on Soccernet. Near the end he talks about Richard Mulrooney not wanting to play for Toronto. Hopkins keeps calling them FC Toronto, instead of Toronto FC which should piss off the locals. (Sorry but there is no direct link to the clip, so go to the page and search around for it.)
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Looks like Ronnie O'Brien injured his knee not because of the fake grass in Toronto's new stadium, but by trying to kick a teammate that he was mad at, during practice. Oh Ronnie, why so sour all the time? This is why Dallas was happy to get rid of him.
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Morgan Campbell at the Toronto Star tries to assess who will fill O'Brien's role on the field.
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And this guy who writes for the Star is an idiot. Please pick a real topic to write about buddy. Not this crap: Should we call the team FC or TFC? Come on!
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The Toronto Sun takes a look at the Canadians on the TFC roster.
-Another story from the Sun looks at the 18 players going to LA for opening day v Chivas USA.
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Long time Chicago & USA midfielder Chris Armas has announced that this will be his last season in MLS as a player. His next step is coaching. From the Chicago Tribune.
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Andrew Hush at Soccer New England talks to Rev's left winger Khano Smith. I think Smith needs to be one of a few players on his squad to have a break-out year for his team to make big noise.
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Michael Lewis from Big Apple Soccer talks to New York coach Bruce Arena about his team as the season begins.
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Dylan Butler at MLSnet takes a look at the 07 prospects for New York's young star Jozy Altidore.
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George Tanner at the Rocky Mountain News attended the Colorado Rapids "dress rehearsal" at Dicks. It was Burgundy v Blue.
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I don't ever recall one word coming from Colorado that defender Aitor Karanka would not be back this season. But he's not. So what happened?
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Columbus are still chasing that Argentine midfielder. Whoever it may be.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch with the story of Robbie Rogers who recently left Heerenveen in Holland to come home and play in MLS, for the Crew.
-Mark Connolly of the US Players Assoc with a feature on Rogers too.
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Jon Busch lands in Chicago, for now. Will he last? He was cut by Columbus, then tried to catch on in Toronto. If Chicago is no go, then next stop .... Virginia Beach?
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The Dallas Morning News is reporting that FC Dallas striker Roberto Mina is out of action with a sprained knee. He had surgery on the same knee last year.
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And Dallas's newest signing, midfielder Pablo Ricchetti of Argentina, is not available to play yet as his contract and work visa are not completed.
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The BBC with a story on new Dallas coach Steve Morrow of Northern Ireland.
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Bob Luder at the KC Star looks at the Wizards potential new Argentine midfielder Carlos Marinelli.
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Luis Bueno writing for MLSnet says Amado Guevara is all Chivas now.
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Allen Hopkins of Soccernet does the Q & A with Freddy Adu about the Salt Lake season.
-Freddy also does a Q & A with UEFA.com.
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James Edwards at the Deseret Morning News looks at how Real Salt Lake has tried to shore up their ugly defense from last season.
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Sports Illustrated with their MLS season previews:
-Preseason Power Rankings - with some prediction notes too.
-Jonah Freedman - Peering Into The Crystal Ball - season preview & predictions.
-Nothing yet from Grant Wahl. We will wait patiently.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some of the staff at the US Players Assoc, Ian Plenderleith, Tony Edwards, Kevin McGeehan & Bill Urban, sit down together and discuss the upcoming MLS season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com preview season 12 in MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Looks like Celtic and Siena are fighting over American midfielder Greg Dalby. Good for him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer with a video feature on USA & Dallas forward Kenny Cooper and his father, from a family of soccer players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition to their June 2 match v USA in San Jose, China will train in this country from May 31 to June 11, and play friendly's v the Los Angeles Galaxy & the Colorado Rapids.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Looks like American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann at Reading will be OK after a slight hip injury took him out of last weekend's game v Tottenham. He is likely to start this weekend v Liverpool.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the last week or so we have been hearing rumblings from Mexican defender Rafa Marquez that the Gold Cup will interfere with the end of Barcelona's season in Spain. Word comes now that he has officially declared himself OUT of the Mexican team for the CONCACAF title tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Apr 03
Nacional 3-1 Emelec
Colo Colo 4-0 LDU Quito
El Nacional 0-1 Banfield
Apr 04
Cienciano 3-0 Boca Juniors
Sao Paulo 3-0 Necaxa
Maracaibo 1-2 Flamengo
-Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
Apr 05
Caracas - River Plate
Defensor Sporting - Santos
Deportivo Pasto - Gimnasia
-With 2 rounds of the group stage still to be played both Santos & Flamengo have already qualified for the knock out stages.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Cup quarterfinals - today:
AZ Alkmaar v Werder Bremen
Bayer Leverkusen v Osasuna
Sevilla v Tottenham Hotspur
Espanyol v Benfica
-Return legs to take place April 12.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Champions League quarterfinals - Matchday 9 starts today!
Wednesday-
Roma 2-1 Manchester United - Roma goals by Taddei & Mirko Vucinic. Man U goal by Wayne Rooney. Paul Scholes was red carded after several terrible tackles garnered him 2 yellow cards.
Chelsea 1-1 Valencia - David Silva scored first for Valencia, and Didier Drogba equalized for Chelsea.
Tuesday-
Milan 2-2 Bayern Munich - goals by Pirlo & Kaka for Milan, and 2 by Van Buyten for Bayern. What a comeback, and it should have been a win as Milan got a really dodgy PK call.
PSV 0-3 Liverpool - goals by Gerard, Riise & Crouch. It was a rout!
-Matchday 10 on April 10 & 11.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I think this is proof that the security upgrades from a couple months ago in Italy were pure fiction - Word from Rome is that things got ugly in the stands with Roma and Man U fans throwing things at each other over a barrier, then Rome cops jumped in and beat the hell out of several Man U fans. No word on whether or not Roma fans were beaten as well. Another Man U fan was stabbed right outside the stadium and said there were no police anywhere to be found for help. He is in the hospital. Sounds awful. Why does this go on in so many places?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with words on the Champions League matches on the pitch - and - violence in the stands.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet's The Insider attended the Chelsea v Valencia match and files this report.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She seems impressed by Cristiano's juggling skills. (thanks Bucky)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian tries to figure out how Fredric Kanoute has become the best striker in La Liga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Robert Zeigler on his blog at Top Drawer Soccer interviews Chelsea youth team player & soon to be Israeli senior squad star striker Ben Sahar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The latest powerhouse of a column from Fulham defender Mortiz Volz, at the Times of London. His stuff always goes straight to the top of my reading pile.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With no surprise to anyone who reads du Nord regularly, Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke has bought just under 10% ownership in Arsenal. This was reported to be happening last week, and Kroenke's rep denied it, but we could all see it coming. You can expect him to continue buying chunks of the team as they become available from other stock holders. From the Times of London.

du Nord At The MLS Season Opener In Chicago

Attention readers,

The du Nord traveling freak show will be in Chicago this Saturday for the MLS season opener between the Fire and the New England Revolution. I would love to meet as many people as possible, so drop me a note if you are going to be in attendance and we can make plans to share a secret hand shake and some beverages or snacks. Etc.

The season is finally upon us.

I can't wait.

Bruce

We Deftly Handled The Problem News

Error error on the ball, who's the worst defender of them all? Erpen, Boswell, Namoff or Perkins?
Wow, oh wow, oh wow! They had em! DC United went to Guadalajara and had Chivas by the short and curlies last night. But two horrendous defensive lapses later and it was all over.
Chivas of Guadalajara wins the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal series over DC United 3-2 on aggregate.
DC played a well oiled tight game in the first half, stringing pass after pass together from one corner of the pitch to the furthest. They kept the game in near total control for the first 40 minutes. And got a just reward with a soft Chilena goal from Jaime Moreno - the king of the 6th sense on the pitch.
But shortly after that, Chivas turned it on.
Right back Facundo Erpen, who made about 10 horrible passes that luckily did not cost his team, got beat long to the end line by Alberto Medina who slid a perfect pass into the box for Bozo Bautista who was left alone by Bobby Boswell 5 yards in front of the goal. Bozo tied the game with a nice flick shot.
Ugh!
Tied 1-1 at half time was not the best, but not terrible either.
Half #2 started like the first ended. Badly for DC that is. In the rain Brian Namoff committed a really stupid foul on an unneeded slide tackle near the left touch line. The conceded free kick led to a long powerhouse shot by Pineda that went straight at keeper Troy Perkins, but then popped right through his hands!
Hooooooooooooooooooooooooowl.
Oh it was just awful to watch.
After that both teams alternated good possession and a couple of chances, and in the very last moments DC tried desperately to tie it up.
But it's over now, and DC has only themselves to blame.
You mark my words, this back line is going to cost them more before the year is over, unless there are changes made.
The other thing I noticed is that Chivas did a great job of plugging up the middle of the field, aka Christian Gomez country. So that left the two wings fairly open for DC to exploit. But they don't have the wingers to do it.
How many times was Clyde Simms wide open down the right side but unable to put in a decent cross. Gros couldn't do it from the left either, but then left the game due to a concussion (I have no idea how he suffered the injury). The replacement left winger DeRoux did his best and almost created a gem with a poke into the box that Gomez turned on goal and forced a great save from the Chivas keeper. Other than that? Nothing from the open sides.
Disappointing boys.
It was very disappointing that you did not see and exploit that chance on the wings. DCU were close, really close, but not too close.
See game highlights here via MLSnet.

CONCACAF Champions Cup Semifinal second leg matches are this week!
Tuesday-
Guadalajara 2-1 DC United - Chivas win 3-2 on aggregate. Guada goals by Buatista & Pineda. DC goal by Moreno.
-Match reports:
Steven Goff of the Washington Post
Goff has more tidbits on his Soccer Insider blog
Andrea Canales translates quotes for us by DC United players from the Mexican press - forward Jaime Moreno - and - defender Facunco Erpen about their loss.
CONCACAF
Thursday-
Pachuca v Houston - live at 8:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
-The referee for this match will be that awful Mauricio Navarro from Canada.
-Previews:
Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle says the Dynamo head to Mexico with caution foremost on their minds.
Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News talks to Panchito Mendoza of Chivas USA about the two CCC matchups.
Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet has previews of both CCC matches.
Preview of both matches from FIFA.com
-The Dynamo have a mascot now too - named Diesel. I think its supposed to be a fox. What is up with the eye's though?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail says TFC has lost midfielder Ronnie O'Brien for at least a month with partially torn knee ligaments. Not a good way to start.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin McGeehan at the US Soccer Players Assoc has a really good interpretation of what the new MLS "Game First" initiatives can achieve.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Suburban Houston is interested in hosting a stadium & surrounding grounds for the Houston Dynamo. There are some really unintentionally funny comments written by readers, after the article.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sacramento Bee talks to potential San Jose owner Lew Wolff and new DC co-owner Will Chang, both baseball men with the Oakland A's & San Francisco Giants respectively, about MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reading's Ecuadorian defender Ulises de la Cruz wants to go play for LA too! They are lining up, but there is no money for it. So what happens?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Los Angeles has actually signed former San Jose Earthquake midfielder Ian Russell who played for current LA coach Frank Yallop several years ago in SJ. Russell sat out last year after the team moved to Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Hush of Soccer New England says Rev's striker Taylor Twellman is ready for 07 in a big way.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hush also has various team notes from the Rev's annual media day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Biglin of the Boston Herald previews the season of the New England Revolution.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe says several New England starters are injured and questionable for Saturday: Revolution starters Pat Noonan (groin) and Michael Parkhurst (separated shoulder) could be available for the opener at Chicago Saturday. Noonan trained at nearly full speed and Parkhurst worked out on his own yesterday. Daniel Hernandez (groin) and Shalrie Joseph (calf) didn't practice but Joseph could be available Saturday. Khano Smith (hamstring) trained on his own and is questionable.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Kansas City Wizards have gone out and found an Argentine of their own - Carlos Marinelli. He has been with Boca Juniors, Middlesbrough, Braga and a few others. He is a central midfielder, which is their biggest hole in the roster. He has been praised many times, but seldom seen it through.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago held their big press conference yesterday to introduce their new hunchbacked midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Here is what the locals had to say:
-Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune - includes a short Q & A
-Arroyave chronicles his month chasing the Blanco story, via his Red Card blog.
-Len Zeihm of the Chicago Sun Times
-Chicago Daily Southtown
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And Andrea Canales of Soccernet chimes in on Temo too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alecko Eskandarian has his own blog too now. It's hosted by his team Toronto FC and its called Esky's World. He's got a lot to say, which is very cool. Let's see how long he keeps it going at this pace.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Allen Hopkins of ESPN has reported on TV that Toronto's new midfield acquisition Richard Mulrooney does not want to play north of the border. He did not want to leave Dallas in the first place, and now has to find a new home. They sure could use him in Houston right now with Ricardo Clark out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger writes about the Bruce Arena & Clint Mathis reunion at the Red Bulls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sports Illustrated with a feature story on El Pescadito, Carlos Ruiz, and a season preview of his team FC Dallas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet with a story on Dallas's very expensive back up goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, who will get a chance to prove himself worthy of the big bucks as the season opens with him in goal and regular starter Dario Sala suspended for 6 games due to a fight last season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Columbus has shipped forward Marc Burch to DC for a future draft pick something or other.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette with an article on the investment made by Dick's Sporting Goods in the game of soccer, especially their buying the naming rights to the new stadium in Denver.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Denver Post looks at the new stadium in suburbs a magnet for future flourishments of commerce and living.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brain Forbes the regular soccer writer for the D Post checks out the growth of MLS this offseason. I would say it has been substantial.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell at the New York Times with a look at the state of MLS on the eve of season 12.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News with a MLS Western Conference preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union Tribune with his MLS season preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For all you WWE fans, Monday Night Raw "Interviewer" Todd Grisham will be the host of Fox Soccer Channels MLS Pre & Post game shows every Saturday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad talks to Michael Bradley about his two recent games with the senior Team USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

YA also reports today that American Lee Nguyen of PSV has successfully undergone shoulder surgery and has started on rehab here in the USA. He will be ready for his clubs preseason training this summer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet says we may have seen the last of Bob Bradley as USA coach. Or have we? Quotes from US Soccer Pres Sunil Gulati.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Apr 03
Nacional 3-1 Emelec
Colo Colo 4-0 LDU Quito
El Nacional 0-1 Banfield
-Match reports via Sports Illustrated.
Apr 04
Cienciano - Boca Juniors
Sao Paulo - Necaxa
Maracaibo - Flamengo
Apr 05
Caracas - River Plate
Defensor Sporting - Santos
Deportivo Pasto - Gimnasia
-With 2 rounds of the group stage still to be played both Santos & Flamengo have already qualified for the knock out stages.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Champions League quarterfinals - Matchday 9
Tuesday:
-Milan 2-2 Bayern Munich - goals by Pirlo & Kaka for Milan, and 2 by Van Buyten for Bayern. What a comeback, and it should have been a win as Milan got a really dodgy PK call.
-PSV 0-3 Liverpool - goals by Gerard, Riise & Crouch. It was a rout! PSV missed a couple of starters, but they were terrible and got punished for it. I really dislike their coach Koeman. As a matter of fact, I think he is lousy.
Wednesday:
-Roma v Manchester United - Live at 1:30 central on ESPN2
-Chelsea v Valencia - Live at 1:30 central on Setanta & delayed at 4:00 central on ESPN Classic
-Matchday 10 on April 10 & 11.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reviews yesterday's two CL games with an emphasis on Bayern's hero Daniel Van Buyten.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Liverpool left back Fabio Aurelio will be out of action for about 4 months after rupturing his Achilles in the CL yesterday. Oh, damn that has got to hurt badly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bayern defender Willy Sagnol will also miss the rest of the season with meniscus tear in his knee.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Doyle at the Guardian thinks Man U & Chelsea can destroy their opponents today in the CL just like Liverpool did yesterday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gregory Sica at Sport Illustrated does a Q & A with du Nord fave Argentina & Manchester United left back Gabriel Heinze, prior to the Roma CL matchup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

International rumors yesterday said that Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello is going to coach Iran! Of course he denies it. I don't believe that story. Do you?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Wells of the Guardian continues his love/hate with America - he says all American sports want to be soccer. What is he talking about?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Due to continued violence at sporting events in Greece and the death of a fan at a volleyball match last week, the government has outlawed all "fan clubs" of sports teams. How this will change anything I don't know. I guess they won't get preferential treatment by the teams? Huh? We all know the fan groups themselves are not the problem.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To no real surprise a court in Italy has lifted the ban on Catania fans from attending the teams games. The team will still have to play all their remaining home games this season on neutral fields (how long before that is overturned as well), but the fans will be back this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with a story on another of Fulham's "characters" Jimmy Bullard. Since blowing out his knee last fall he has taken up fishing. Professionally! Seriously!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, someone named Dan left a message in the comments section the other day talking about soccer movies, and he said that Shaolin Soccer is a masterpiece. Completely agreed! See it today!

Hey Papi News

Guadalajara coach Chepo De la Torre on his teams match with DC United tonight: "This game is not a measuring stick. It's life or death. Win or you're out. I can't underestimate anything."


CONCACAF Champions Cup Semifinal second leg matches are this week!
Tuesday-
Guadalajara v DC United - live at 8:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
Previews:
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post
-John Haydon of the Washington Times
-Two previews from LA Soccer News - Joel Aceves - and - Luis Bueno
-Then Bueno talks to Panchito Mendoza of Chivas USA about the two CCC matchups.
-Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet has previews of both CCC matches.
-Preview of both matches from FIFA.com
Thursday-
Pachuca v Houston - live at 8:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel

The website Fulham USA had the chance to sit down and talk with former USA striker and current TV commentator Eric Wynalda last week in Tampa Florida. Read on if you dare.

Blanco arrived in Chicago yesterday and will be officially introduced by the team today. As big as this signing is for the Fire, the story is still buried in that cities newspapers. Sad. Many others chime in on the topic as well:
-Luis Arroyave of the Tribune.
-More from Arroyave at his Red Card blog.
-Len Ziehm of the Sun Times.
-Chicago Daily Southtown.
-Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle talks to Dynamo players and coaches about the arrival of Blanco.
-Paul Gardner of the New York Sun is always barking for more Latin influence on the American game. What does he make of the Blanco signing?
-Bill Urban of the US Players Assoc says the use of the Designated Player Rule for a guy like Blanco is a failure of the rule.
-Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated says the move may be ill conceived.

Steven Goff at the Washington Post has a feature on DCU's new midfielder Fred2.

LA Galaxy forward Alan Gordon has suffered a stress fracture in his left foot and will be out of action for at least 2 months.

The English newspaper The Northern Echo is the latest to link Middlesbrough midfielder Gaizka Mendieta with MLS. This time it's with LA.

Former New England rookie Kyle Brown gets a second shot at MLS with Salt Lake. From the Deseret Morning News.

Luis Bueno of LA Soccer News with the story of the last remaining original Chivas USA player imported from Guadalajara - the excellent Panchito Mendoza.

Metrofanatic looks at the 9 times players have left New York and returned to the club. How did that work for them? Will it work out for Cleetus?

Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald says the Clint Mathis deal makes sense for New York.

Frank Giase at the Newark Star Ledger talks to MLS CBW Don Garber who says the New York Red Bulls are getting it together for real this time, slowly but surely.

The Salt Lake Tribune looks at the importance, to Real Salt Lake, of midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy.

Jeff Bradley at MLSnet has his newest column looking at how teams fixed their previous years problems in this past offseason. First XL: All The Right Moves

James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News with a MLS Eastern Conference preview.

You would think that nearly every MLS team would knock down doors to sign long time USA star goalkeeper Kasey Keller, but they are NOT. Steve Davis of Soccernet with the weird story. At least Colorado, Salt Lake & Columbus should be killing to get this guy. Everyone is saying Keller wants too much money, but if you don't think this guys name will sell tickets then yer nuts. I would argue that outside of Landon Donovan he is the most popular player on the USA team.

Forward Byron Alvarez has left Portland after 4 seasons to sign with Charleston, both in the USL First Division.

Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their recent matches went:
-Tim Howard - Everton - started in goal for a rare Monday game, and gave up a late goal settling for a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. Everton are in 7th place, one spot out of the UEFA Cup.

Champions League quarterfinals - Matchday 9 starts today!
Tuesday-
Milan v Bayern Munich - Live at 1:30 central on Setanta & delayed at 4:00 central on ESPN Classic
PSV v Liverpool - Live at 1:30 central on ESPN2
Wednesday-
Roma v Manchester United - Live at 1:30 central on ESPN2
Chelsea v Valencia - Live at 1:30 central on Setanta & delayed at 4:00 central on ESPN Classic
-Matchday 10 on April 10 & 11.

Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Apr 03
Nacional - Emelec
Colo Colo - LDU Quito
El Nacional - Banfield
Apr 04
Cienciano - Boca Juniors
Sao Paulo - Necaxa
Maracaibo - Flamengo
Apr 05
Caracas - River Plate
Defensor Sporting - Santos
Deportivo Pasto - Gimnasia
-With 2 rounds of the group stage still to be played both Santos & Flamengo have already qualified for the knock out stages.

David Beckham is back training with Real Madrid after suffering a sprained knee ligament a month ago.

European matches like the Champions League are never easy for traveling fans, and the behavior of their clubs and players doesn't make it any easier. So says Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune.

Champions League Quarterfinals On TV

Champions League quarterfinals - Matchday 9 starts today!

Tuesday-
-Milan v Bayern - Live at 1:30 central on Setanta & delayed at 4:00 central on ESPN Classic
-PSV v Liverpool - Live at 1:30 central on ESPN2

Wednesday-
-Roma v Man United - Live at 1:30 central on ESPN2
-Chelsea v Valencia - Live at 1:30 central on Setanta & delayed at 4:00 central on ESPN Classic

Glue Is for Gluing Stuff News

One of my favorite people in all of football journalism, Simon Kuper, is the guest on this weeks podcast at EPL Talk! Fantastic! And a note from The Gaffer at EPL Talk: "Wednesday we'll be publishing a special interview with Oliver Tse, the man behind SoccerTV.com who will be making a major announcement on the EPL Talk Podcast which will have an impact on soccer fans in America."


Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to Clint Mathis about his return to the team in the Meadowlands.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sulaiman Folarin of Soccernet does a Q & A with New York midfielder and Team USA legend Claudio Reyna.
-Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated gets some time alone with Captain America too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Metrofanatic has the latest rumor of a striker headed to the Red Bulls - really old and worn out Chilean Marcelo Salas. Please no. This guy was one of my heroes in the late 90's when he teamed up with Ivan Zamorano, but that was a very long time again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas lost to Paranaense of Brazil 1-0 at home on Saturday and 4-1 on aggregate in the USA-Brazil Challenge Cup.
-Match report from Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas has officially named striker Carlos Ruiz as their team captain. Are they asking for trouble?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City has their Real Salt Lake season preview, with many many articles. Let's start here with Building From Ground Up, RSL Has Third-Year Goal Of 'Playoffs Or Bust', then read about 8 more stories linked in the left hand column of that story.
-There is a pretty cool graphic image to go with the preview!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the KC Star reports that Kansas City has formed a partnership with Mexican club Atlas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Hush of Soccer New England looks at the end of the Rev's preseason to see where they stand for the 07 campaign.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England fans got to meet with coach Steve Nicol on Saturday and ask questions about the upcoming season. Poster rkupp from BigSoccer summarized the events topics quite nicely.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Denver Post previews the 07 Colorado Rapids team, and their new home stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales of LA Soccer News on the newest Los Angeles defender Shavar Thomas.
-Luis Bueno of LASN talks to Thomas's new teammate and fellow Jamaican Tyrone Marshall.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A little mini-Q & A with LA midfielder Cobi Jones. From the New York Times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And yes, the Galaxy will play a friendly v Rangers on Wed May 23 at the HDC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After giving us the 100th reading of the "Edson Buddle was named after Pele" story, the Toronto Star gives us the slightly less threadbare "Ronnie O'Brien used to play for Juventus" chestnut.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS CBW Don Garber announced several small changes to the "competition format" in MLS for the upcoming season today. The only thing of real interest to fans is that players will be asked NOT to put the ball out of play when someone is injured, the stoppage will be left up to the referee to handle. Here are the rest of the "initiatives".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bill Urban at the US Players Assoc calls out the 2006 MLS draft picks, cuz most of em were no shows last season. Time to deliver boyo's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sports Illustrated with pictures and text on 13 MLS Players To Watch in 07. There are a few obvious choices, a couple of inspired picks, and a couple of head scratchers in this bunch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF Champions Cup Semifinal second leg matches are this week!
Tuesday-
Guadalajara v DC United - live at 8:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
Thursday-
Pachuca v Houston - live at 8:30pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Carolina Challenge Cup was won by Houston for the 2nd straight year, and by the same team who had played in San Jose for the 3rd straight year!
1st round scores:
Houston 2-0 Toronto
Charleston 0-1 New York
2nd round scores:
Toronto 2-1 New York
Houston 1-1 Charleston
3rd & final round scores:
Houston 2-1 New York
Charleston 0-3 Toronto
-Final Points:
7 Houston
6 Toronto
2 New York
1 Charleston
-MLSnet with a report from the final round.
-And a report from the Charleston Battery's (the host team) website.
-USA & Reading midfielder Bobby Convey was in attendance. He is having knee surgery.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City - did not dress for his teams 0-1 win over Newcastle.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - served the last of a 3 game suspension. His team won 0-2 at Rot-Weiss Essen.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - went the full 90 at center back in his teams 1-1 draw with Portsmouth.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - did not dress in his teams 2-2 draw with Sparta Rotterdam.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - was suspended and did not play in his teams 1-1 draw with Odense.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - went the distance at right back but were beaten 2-0 by Bochum.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the distance and played very hard but lost 0-1 to Chelsea. His fruitless efforts did earn him a spot on the Soccernet EPL Team of the Week.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - did not make the bench for his teams 1-1 draw with Portsmouth.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - his team took the early lead but still got drubbed 4-1 by Man United. Friedel played the entire game in goal as usual.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - started but came out at half time with a hip injury. The team went on to lose to Tottenham 1-0. No word on the extent of the injury.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - dressed but did not play in a 1-0 loss at Hamburg.
-Tim Howard - Everton - play Aston Villa today.
-Kasey Keller - Monchengladbach - played the whole 90 minutes but drew 1-1 at home with Frankfurt.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - started on the left wing and had a good game in a 2-1 win over Preston. They moved themselves to within 2 points of safety from relegation with 6 games to play.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - started and played the first 65 minutes in his teams 1-1 draw with Portsmouth.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle - was a 73rd minute sub, but the team lost 0-1 to Man City.
-Heath Pearce - Nordsjaelland - was injured at the USA camp last week and did not dress for his teams 4-1 win over Viborg.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - did not play due to suspension.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - dressed but did not play in a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - after missing 2 games due to a thigh injury he subbed on at half time and scored the first/winning goal in a 0-2 win at Rot-Weiss Essen!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno with his weekly Mexican league review from LA Soccer News: Jornada 13 Roundup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Champions League quarterfinals - Matchday 9 starts tomorrow!
-Tuesday:
Milan v Bayern Munich
PSV v Liverpool
-Wednesday:
Roma v Manchester United
Chelsea v Valencia
-Matchday 10 on April 10 & 11.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores - here are the week's matches:
Mar 30
Colo Colo 2-1 Caracas
Apr 03
Nacional - Emelec
Colo Colo - LDU Quito
El Nacional - Banfield
Apr 04
Cienciano - Boca Juniors
Sao Paulo - Necaxa
Maracaibo - Flamengo
Apr 05
Caracas - River Plate
Defensor Sporting - Santos
Deportivo Pasto - Gimnasia
-With 2 rounds of the group stage still to be played both Santos & Flamengo have already qualified for the knock out stages.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bordeaux beat Lyon 1-0 on Saturday to win the French League Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes about the Dutch factory team that has become the best little football club in Europe - PSV Eindhoven, brought to us by the Phillips company.
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Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has suffered a broken collar bone and will be out of action for about a month.
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with England & Liverpool goal scoring preying mantis Peter Crouch.
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The new movie about Maradona gets slammed, and the Guardian wants to know why football movies are so bad.
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Due to Roma's 1-1 draw with Milan, Inter are now 20 points clear of second place with a 2-0 win over Parma on Sunday. There are 9 games to go in the season.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a feature on England & Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney who is having a tough time taking that next step up the superstar ladder.
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Roy Maakay bagged his 100th Bundesliga goal in Bayern's 2-0 win over Schalke.
-The top of the Bundesliga table looks like this:
53 Schalke
51 Werder
49 Stutgart
47 Bayern
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Carlos Tevez, a huge du Nord fave, has strapped West Ham on his back and is attempting to drag them out of relegation. He scored for the third straight match, and they won their second in a row. But they still sit 6 points from clearance with 7 games to play. His task has a Sisyphus feeling to it.
-The bottom of the Premiership table looks like this (the last 3 go down):
33 Wigan
31 Sheffield United
30 Charlton
26 West Ham
20 Watford
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Phil Ball of Soccernet writes about Spain's Euro qualifiers last week.
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Chelsea midfielder Arjen Robben will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury that needs surgery to repair.
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Sepp Blatter is running uncontested for his third term as FIFA President.

Holy Smokes It's Blanco

Even though it's been rumored for weeks now, I can't believe that the Chicago Fire actually went through with it and signed Mexican star-villain Cuauhtemoc Blanco. The hunchbacked old midfielder is sure to stir up a ton of shit with players, critics and fans alike, but it will no doubt be exciting to watch. Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune has been tracking this move every step of the way and broke the news on Sunday.

Blanco will be in Chicago today and tomorrow to sign his new contract and meet fans. He will join the team officially in June after his current contract with Club America ends.