Where Even Richard Nixon Has Got News

-I wanted to start today by giving a shout to a few of the people who visit regularly from these institutes:
U Georgia
Columbia U
United Airlines
U Minnesota
Housing & Urban Development
West Publishing
Wesleyan College
Government Accounting Office
Best Buy
U Cal Berkley
Boston College
Wells Fargo
Adidas
U Virginia
Lewis & Clark College
Merced College
Thanks for the patronage, I love you all.
-My Minnesota Thunder have named former player and assistant coach Amos Magee as the new head man. Magee was endorsed to take over as coach by the outgoing legendary coach Buzz Lagos. His getting the job was confirmed for me in a funny way. I was out last night at the St Paul watering hole known as the Muddy Pig when who should walk in but Amos himself. We knew he was a candidate for the job, and we knew there was a press conference scheduled for 11am today to name the new coach. One of my pals asked Amos if the job was his. Amos replied that his lips were sealed, which was good enough of a tip off right there. But I decided to take it one step further, so I stuck out my hand for him to shake. I did so with a big smile, and he asked me what that was for. I congratulated him and told him it was fantastic (leaving out any details on what that meant). I was just looking for his reaction. He got a huge smile and thanked me graciously. That confirmed it in my book. Good luck Amos, you are the right man for the job!
-Our most excellent friend Kevin A. of Portland has dropped a note to let us know his town is trying to line up an MISL team. I guess they are to be known as the Portland Campaign. Odd name for a team if you ask me. On the other hand I like odd, so I think the team name is great. Check em out now.
-Getting on to real teams in Portland though, the Portland Timbers have fired coach Bobby Howe, while General Manager Jim Taylor has resigned.
-Tune in tonite at 7pm central on ESPN2 for USA v Panama live from Boston. The game means nothing.
-I think the best game in all of World Cup Qualifying today would have to be Bosnia-Herzegovina v Serbia & Montenegro. That has so many implications its almost surreal. The winner is IN. The loser goes to the playoffs. The politics will remain insane. I hope you get to see it somewhere.
-The other WCQ's that really matter:
ASIA & AFRICA - all places setttttttled
CONMEBOL - Uruguay (22 points), Colombia (21 points) and Chile (21 points) all battling for the final spot and a chance to take on Australia in a 2 game playoff.
Uruguay v Argentina
Chile v Ecuador
Paraguay v Columbia
CONCACAF - Trinidad & Tobago (10 points) and Guatemala (8 points) fight it out for the 4th spot and the chance to play the winner of Uzbekistan v Bahrain in a 2 game playoff.
Guate v Costa Rica
T&T v Mexico
UEFA -
Group 8 has Croatia (23 points) leading Sweden (21 points) for first place.
Sweden v Iceland
Hungary v Croatia
Group 4 has four teams alive. Israel leads with 18 points but are done playing. Ireland (16 points), Switzerland (17 points) & France (17 points) are also still sitting with a chance to win the group and qualify.
Ireland v Switzerland
France v Cyprus
Group 7 has Serbia & Montenegro (19 points) and Spain (17 points) on top battling for #1.
Serbia & Montenegro v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Spain v San Marino
-JB stirring more great insider type USA and MLS juiciness. One thing he talks about is Nikes new USA fans logo. Not bad. Don't Tread On Me. And Definitely Don't Tread On The Beas.
-Here is something that I don't know how I feel about. The two previous links were to images created by Nike for USA soccer fans etc. Which is fine, cuz its marketing for their products. But now they have a "Weblog" too (called This Is American Soccer). They hired a guy to write it, and I am sure he will give us some interesting views on Team USA, but we all know there is no way he will ever criticize them or be derogatory in a funny way, or any of the other stuff that makes weblogs so great. Read it for yourself and see how you feel.
-DC United are in the best position to win the MLS Reserve Division title. Here are the standings & other details with one match left.
-You can be happy that you are not taking penalty kicks for Cameroon.
-USA Today writes Team USA stories about Taylor Twellman and the left back hole.
-US Soccer has a video for the Panama match preview with Brian Carroll and Coach Arena.
-Grant Wahl gives out his MLS 2005 Best & Worst awards. Great stuff as always.
-Here's a man after my own heart. On a personal note: Me and Demko also plan to win the lottery, buy an MLS team, and build our own stadium called Jackass Memorial Coliseum. We are fighting over the placement between Minneapolis and St Paul. It will be settled with a dance contest.
-In a friendly for Real Madrid our hero-hippy Jonathan Woodgate scored another own goal. Two in two matches. He did not get sent off this time though. Not bad duuuude. Now stop bogarting the reefer.

A Spastic Colon Of News

-The Thunder will reveal its new Head Coach at a press conference on Wednesday, October 12 at 11am central at Thunder HQ in St Paul.
-Dreadful, but not surprising performance from Team USA down in San Jose Costa Rica the other night. A 3-0 beating is about what they deserved. Did the CR keeper have to make a real save? And how come the USA didn't win the game with a decent midfield? All mysteries. Hopefully some will be answered on Wednesday night in Boston v Panama. As for changes to the USA roster, Carlos Bocanegra & Eddie Lewis have to sit out due to yellow card suspension, Oguchi Onyewu, DaMarcus Beasley & Bobby Convey were released to their clubs in Europe, and Pablo Mastroeni, Kevin Hartman & Wade Barrett were released to their MLS clubs. Barrett also hurt his hamstring. USA added Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Chad Marshall, Brian Carroll, Clint Dempsey, Daniel Hernandez, Justin Mapp & Steve Ralston to the team for the match.
-Angola have never won a match in the African Nations Cup - but somehow they have qualified for the World Cup. The Guardian tells how it happened.
-Santino Quaranta profile from US Soccer Players Assoc.
-Salt Lake have a suburban home for their new stadium. It will be in the suburb of Sandy. It's south and a little west of downtown Salt Lake City. Bummer. Downtown Salt Lake City would have been ideal.
-Luis Bueno asks Chivas USA President Antonio Cue what he thought of Year Uno for his club.
-Phil Ball writes about the newest wonderboys in La Liga, Messi y Torres: Prodigies Galore
-More USA Player video interviews - Clint Dempsey (WARNING: Falling Cliches Ahead)
-Who's In?? World Cup kick off is less than 8 months from today. Here is who is in:
Angola
Cote d'Ivoire
Togo
Ghana
Tunisia
Japan
Iran
South Korea
Saudi Arabia
Germany
Ukraine
Netherlands
Poland
England
Croatia
Italy
Portugal
USA
Mexico
Costa Rica
Argentina
Brazil
Ecuador
Paraguay
The big shockers were all in Africa where perennial favorites Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, and South Africa were all elmidated. Does this make reigning African Nations Cup holder Tunisia as the continents new supreme soccer power?
A couple more might be added tomorrow after those matches. And then we will set up for the playoffs to determine the last couple of spots.
-There is actual FACTUAL news about a potential MLS team in Milwaukee, as always its sent out by the indomitable Peter Wilt and his organization, Milwaukee Pro Soccer, for those interested. (Sorry about all that nonesense Peter.)
-So it will come down to 2 MLS matches this weekend. Saturday it's Dallas v Kansas City, and Sunday its Chivas v Metrostars. KC & Metro are tied with 44 points each. But KC holds the edge with a better goals for/against average by a +6.
-The real Pele calls Robinho the new Pele.
-If you like to stand while watching your soccer match, then you are no longer welcome at Craven Cottage. Fulham now hates you.
-Freddy Adu was named MLS Player Of The Week. Once again, did you see that goal? Wow!
-Other goals and big action are all here from MLS too.
-MLSnet has a Q & A with the newest member of the AARP, Preki.
-Another quick analysis of last weekends MLS game attendance numbers:
DC v Metrostars 18,751
Kansas City v New England 12,546
Chicago v Columbus 21,097
Dallas v Colorado 13,011
San Jose v Salt Lake 19,407
Those are pretty nice numbers all around, except for KC. What is the deal dudes? Yer team is desperate! Yer whole franchise is desperate! Support Support Support ya bastards. Their diehard fans are commendable. The rest of the people of KC stink as fans. And then there is Dallas. Talk about fans that stink. Come on! What's the excuse this week. (Use GWB voice): "I couldn't make it cuz of a big sale on bedding at JC Penney"? Lame Ass Fans, or LAF's. At least go watch Ramon Nunez fer chris'sakes. And lastly, I was surprised to see DC not hit 20k.
-Can anyone out there tell me why Jaime Moreno's free kick goal against Metro was nominated as a Goal Of The Week? It took a deflection off the wall! It wasn't his shot that scored, it was the deflection. While it was great for his team, it was not a candidate for anything.

Final Update From Old Milwuakee

I got home late Monday night after spending time with my sister in Milwaukee on Sunday and Monday. I thought I would bring you all up to date on the subjects talked about at the Saturday meetings.

There was a complete backtrack on concessions. Seeing as a potential owner is a Pizza Hut franchisee, he demanded that all concessions be from Pizza Hut and its fellow food Corps (ie. Taco Bell, KFC & Pepsi) only! The vote was a unanimous "Yes".

The Ferris Wheel is a go, and it looks like the go-karts may have been premature on my part, but a Water Park is almost 100%. They are also talking about a Petting Zoo, and a Milwaukee Sports & Auto Museum.

The big topic of the day was music in the stadium (most people at the meeting love that stuff so expect plenty). A Mascot - probably a mouse (for Cheese!). And how the cheerleaders will look and act! All pretty exciting stuff.

Other uses for the stadium itself will include Music Concerts, Tractor Pulls, Moto-Cross, Snowmobile Races, Rodeos, and a Circus. They are looking to book at least a month or more each summer to do these events, so the team would have to play on the road at that time. Plus many High School events from sports to graduations. The whole idea is to have a real family feel to the place.

There will be a restaurant next to, but not attached to, the stadium. Due to the success of TGIFridays at the Brewer's Miller Park, they are leaning toward a well known franchise, Olive Garden being the most likely. Applebee's, Chili's & Red's Savoy are also strong possibilities.

CSC will definitely do security and will not allow swearing or signs made in poor taste.

They are also planning on a having a moment of silent prayer before each event at the stadium.

The Wisconsin Dairy Board is most likely going to buy naming rights to the stadium, and at this time the name being proposed is Cheddar Stadium.

All in all it was a privilege to attend these meetings, and see the exciting plans.

That's it from the shores of Lake Michigan.

See you in the funny papers.

PS. UPDATE on the Hot Mother-Daughter at the meetings: The hot mom still hates me, but I got the daughters phone number!

ADDITION: Krispy Kreme donuts will be sold at all games.

Checkin' In From The Milwaukee Meetin'

I got a free hour this morning so I thought I better check in with the du Nord horde.

I am here in lovely (not really) Milwaukee for a brainstorming meeting with the folks who are attempting to bring MLS to their town. We are ensconced in a big grand hotel downtown. Nice old place actually. The meetings with the rich dudes who want to put up the money for the team went well yesterday and will continue today.

There are about a dozen of us here from many facets on the periphery of the soccer business. I am here as a fan, along with a weird mother & daughter team who are also fans (mom also used to coach, and the daughter played all the way through college). And on a completely pervy note, they are both hot, even though mom seems to hate me.

We had two meals yesterday, both from Pizza Hut. WTF?? Turns out one of the potential investors is a franchisee. I think most of these rich guys are actually kind of eccentric, although you would probably have to be to own a soccer team. I bet their rich buddies think they are throwing their money away.

Some of the things we discussed: Team Colors - some interesting choices. Logos - I never know what I like, but I sure know what I don't like. What kind of Stadium - the talks were of: close to the field seating, decent size roof over all stands, type of turf (I of course pushed for Kentucky Bluegrass which is my favorite), planting many trees around the outside to give it a "forest feel" (Birch, Dogwood, Ashe, Blue Pine), a Ferris Wheel near the stadium, and one owner wants to build a Go-Kart track, announcers (I kid you not when I say that none other than Bob Uecker is on the short list), and very importantly, concessions. The food and drink would consist of Milwaukee-ish cuisine. Local Beers only, Kopps frozen custard, a Dairy bar with a variety of Cheeses, beer soaked Brats, and a pastry called Kringle (it all sounds great). I didn't have the guts to say "No Pizza Hut!" out loud.

For a couple hours talk was about the "perception" of the club on the community. One woman used the word "vibe" way too many times. The consensus was to use a model similar to a pro-Packers attitude, and stay away from a Brewers attitude. I asked one owner about the Bucks, and he said "What's that?" I said "The NBA!" He said "OK. Bowling's cool."

Everyone there knew up front that I might blog about some of this stuff, and they asked me to keep some things completely off the board. They made those topics abundantly clear. One of those subjects was the names of people pegged for the Front Office, and players & coaches. One thing I will report though, is that they already have a strong link to a pipeline of Venezuelan Players.

During a break, one guy who is a "marketing expert" came up to me and offered to share some info that he had gleaned from a "break out session" that he was in. He had sussed out the fact that I have a bit of a jackass sense of humor, so he told me I should, "...write some real stuff & then make up a couple of "gems" to throw people a curve." I said, "That's unscrupulous!" He seemed a bit baffled. Then I added, "What I write is either all truth or all lies that I just make up. It's either/or with me. None of that mix & match crap." He was still confused, cuz I guess he thought I would love his idea. Marketing guys are idiots.

The whole thing had a pretty good energy going, so we just powered forward a lot later then the original plan. We didn't leave the room 'til nearly midnight, then one of the investors invited me and a few others up to his room to chat some more. We talked about all kinds of shit until about 2:30am. We then decided to walk a couple of blocks over to a 24 hour diner called Fernando's, and have some middle-of-the-night breakfast. Sounded great to me after two meals of frickin gut bomb Pizza Hut. The one local guy with us proudly stated that Fernando's was "...famous for their Runny Eggs!" Everyone was silent for a moment until I said, "That's disgusting!" Everyone laughed. I think he got mad at me.

We ate (I avoided all eggs), and crashed. We have to be back in the meeting room at 9 so I gotta run. More later.

Adios - Bruce.

We're dedicating the news to Jack Bell (now please stop writing about futsal)

Please forgive me if I make mistakes and say stupid things. I am a feeble replacement for El Brucio.

The U.S. faces a tough task Saturday taking on the Ticos in San Jose. They've never won a qualifier at Costa Rico, compiling an 0-5-1 record. The crowds are notoriously hostile. The trip didn't get off to a good start: the U.S. team plane was diverted to Panama because of poor weather and they arrived in San Jose a day late. Why is Kyle Martino on the roster? Were they lacking someone proficient in diving? I hope Ricardo Clark gets a start.

Why doesn't the U.S.A. have a goofy nickname, like the Red Devils (Belgium) or the Indomitable Lions (Cameroon) or the Super Eagles (Nigeria)? Or do they have one and I'm just unaware? I will propose a few: the Super Beagles, the Invincible Owls, the Inscrutable Sparrows. These admittedly aren't very good. Please come up with some additional suggestions. The best ones will be submitted to Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia.

These teams have already qualified for the World Cup: Argentina, United States, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ukraine and, of course, Germany.

All kinds of intrigue heading into the final weekend of Africa World Cup qualifying. Most shockingly Nigeria is likely out. Togo is likely in! The Guardian has a swell rundown.

The European action should be wild as well. Some of the more compelling matches: France visits Switzerland (minus Henry and Trezeguet; have you been to his official web site?); Sweden journeys to Croatia (with a chance to nail down a spot); Netherlands visit Czech Republic (Remember that incredible 3-2 Czech victory last summer during the European Championships? Of course you do. Too bad Pavel Nedved has abaondoned his homeland.) The UEFA site has a complete rundown and all kinds of other good information.

The English are going bonkers as Austria visits Old Trafford Saturday. The home side needs to win their last two qualifiers to insure a booking to Germany. How did it come to this? Rio Ferdinand has been benched. It will be highly amusing if they lose.

MLS continues to play. Here are Saturday's games:
D.C. United v. MetroStars, Kansas City v. New England, Chicago v. Columbus, Dallas v. Colorado, San Jose v. Salt Lake.

The only games that matter much are the first two. K.C. and the Metros are still fighting for the final playoff spot. They both have looked pathetic of late, though. And the Metros craptastic defense will likely get worse as Michael Bradley has to sit owing to yellow card accumulation. They'll also be missing Ante Razov, but the way he's been playing lately that may be a blessing. In the last game against D.C. Razov hardly even touched the ball; then on Wednesday he pissed the game away by acting like a moron--something he seems to excel at.

D.C. is putting on a phenomenal show of late, scoring beautiful goals and driving opponents batty. Their shredding of the Metros last weekend was exquisite. Saturday night we'll get to see their latest Argentinian addition, striker Lucio Filomeno. Say all you want about New England and San Jose and the great seasons they've had ... D.C. remains the team to beat.

A few other items that I found to be worthy of attention.
A profile of third string San Jose keeper Robbie Fulton
Ives Galarcep mulls over who will be the new coach of the Metros. He's big on Mo Johnston.
The mighty Maryland Terrapins get to knock off the dreadful Dukies on national TV tonight
Sir Alex's attempt to trademark his name has been rejected. Poor fellow.

Note To My Adoring Public

Hey everyone,
Just want to let you know that I will be out of town for a couple of days and you will probably not hear from me until next Tuesday. I know, I know. What are you going to do, right? It'll be fine. Go find someone to love in the mean time. As for what I will be up to, I have been summoned to Milwuakee by Peter Wilt to sit down with the group of financial backers wanting to bring MLS to Beer Cheese Soup City and explain the ways & means of fan support. I am being asked to show them why the supporters are the most important thing the Club will ever have. They all seem to get this concept being so close to Green Bay, but it can't hurt to tell them the whole World Football Fanaticism story. Wish me luck. I will also be doing some book shopping at this big crazy warehouse space in downtown Old Mil (sorry, can't remember the name of the place) and doing some record shopping at the amazing Atomic Records (owned by the equally amazing Rich Menning). Our man Demko may drop in to give you some news and views. Good luck with your fantasy team this weekend. Carry on now.
Love and kisses with arrogant swagger,
Bruce Migwire

Who's Got The 10 1/2 News

-The Grown Ass Man, Eddie Johnson, is done for the year. He has two stress fractures that have caused a lot of trouble since May, and specialists have determined he has to stay off that foot for at least 3 or 4 more weeks.
-MLS scores from Wednesday night:
Dallas 2-1 Columbus - knocks the Crew officially OUT of the playoffs (7 of the 8 teams now confirmed). Ramon Nunez continues his great play for Dallas with the winning goal in 2nd half extra time!
Chicago 2-2 Metrostars - The good news is that Mo Johnston picks up a point in his first game as Mets coach. The bad news is that they blew a 2-0 lead as Chris Armas scored in the 90th minute and then Jack Stewart tied it in extra time. Two vital points dropped! Add to that: Chicago point verifies their place in the post season. Both teams had a player tossed - Met's Ante Razov in the 80th for being a dick(?), and Chic's Will Johnson in the 90th for being an idiot(?).
Colorado 1-1 Chivas - My man Dedi scored his 4th(!!!) for Colo, but his teammates gifted Chivas with an own goal for the draw. Dedi Ben Dayan has scored in 4 straight games, while only joining the team 6 games ago, and didn't start in the first two. Over 28,000 attended the game, mainly because a match between Mexican powerhouse's Guadalajara and Cruz Azul followed immediately after. By the way, Matt Taylor of Chivas missed several more good chances that were actually harder to miss than to score. He has done this for 31 consecutive games now. An impressive record.
Salt Lake 1-3 DC - The big black sledgehammer from the District is firing up its engines to full throttle, and the Fake from Salt Lake were in the way. Bobby Boswell got back into the defensive action DC and promptly scored again. Freddy Adu scored again too, then assisted Christian Gomez on the third. I would really hate to go against them in the playoffs.
-ADDITION: In case you haven't seen Freddy Adu's goal against Salt Lake, you can see it here. It's a true work of art. Let me try and describe it too: Adu gathers in a poor pass from RSL in the center of the pitch about 50 yards out from goal. With his back to the approaching defender he flicks the ball up and backwards for a perfect sombrero over the defender. Freddy spins away from his marker and races toward the ball and goal. He touches the ball with his head to control it. Takes it with his feet, flying toward defender Nelson Akwari. Adu splits Akwari and another defender and blows by them like they are road signs, then slides to the left side of the box. As keeper DJ Countess comes out of the net to try and stop the shot, Adu simply left foots it to the far post at full speed. So easy, and yet very few players on earth can do it. Even less can do it that quickly. The whole thing takes 9 seconds. Glorious!
-See all the other Wednesday night goals and highlights at MLS Sights & Sounds.
-Here are the MLS East & West Division Tables:
EAST (all teams have 2 games left to play)
55 New England
53 DC United
49 Chicago
43 Kansas City
41 Metrostars
34 Columbus (OUT)
WEST (all teams have 2 games left to play - except LA & Chivas who both have 1, and are off this weekend ahead)
60 San Jose
46 FC Dallas
45 Los Angeles
41 Colorado
19 Salt Lake (OUT)
18 Chivas USA (OUT)
-With the weekend off Chivas USA is teaming up with the real Chivas from Guadalajara (the Mothership) to play a benefit game on Sunday at Home Depot Center to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Their opponent will be Mexican team Santos.
-The stingy pukes, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, who own the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors are now stepping up with actual money to help build a stadium for their potential MLS team. They want to start play in 2007. Let's hope they are a little more pro-active with this team then they are with the NBA Raptors who have stunk from day one, and show no sign of unstinking.
-Metrostarer Youri Djorkaeff profile from USA Today.
-Santino Quaranta is featured in a video interview today from US Soccer.
-Top 5 Standings in the Argentina Apertura (after 10 rounds):
23 Boca Juniors
21 Argentinos Juniors
20 Velez Sarsfield
18 Independiente
17 Banfield
-Top 5 Standings in the Brazlian Championship (after 30 rounds - some games are being replayed due to a referees admittance that he took bribes to throw matches - those results have been tossed out of the standings):
56 Corinthians (28 played)
53 Goias (30 played)
52 Internacional (29 played)
49 Palmeiras (30 played)
48 Fluminense (28 played)
48 Santos (29 played)
48 Parana (30 played)
-Did ya ever want to know a little more about John Guppy (it probably couldn't hurt since the dude gets so much abuse from so many of us who know little or nothing about him), the new Chicago Pres. The Chicago Daily Southtown does these profiles pretty regularly and they are usually decent. I want to thank them for that.
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald went to Chicago last night to see how the Post-Bradley Metrostars performed. Here is his game report.
-Jonathan Woodgate blubbers about how nice the Real Madrid fans have been to him. (Use babytalk voice:) Aaaaaaaawwwwwwwww, isn't that special for wittew Jonny.
-Word from Italy is that AC Milan are in serious discussions to leave Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (aka the San Siro), and build their own somewhere else in the city. They say they like the stadium ("It's one of the least worst in Serie A." - What a brilliant quote that is!!!!!!!) but need their own space.

Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus, Right Down Santa Claus News

-The Bob Bradley era of the Metrostars is over. (You might have heard this yesterday.) The heat had been on since the season started after 2 years of little real success. A lot of people thought he was THE man to turn the Mutts into something. When Alexi Lalas come on in mid-Summer to be the clubs new President the heat under Bradley got turned up a lot more. Sadly this good coach could not figure out a way to lift the Meadowlands curse. This past weekends blowout loss at home to DC was the end for Bob. I can't wait to see him get another chance and make it sing somewhere else. So who gets the job? Assistant Mo Johnston has it for this week at least. They have to win or they don't make the playoffs. Simple as that. Once again, Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer scooped the whole world (!!!!!) on this story! Michael is amazing at his job and this is the site to read the best info (including Metro player reactions) and analysis!
-MLS Games Tonite:
Dallas v Columbus
Colorado v Chivas
Salt Lake v DC
Chicago v Metrostars - this is the match with true meaning. Chicago is trying to clinch a post season spot, and jump ahead of DC into the 2nd seed. While Metro is merely TOTALLY desperate for a win. Win at all cost desperate. Good luck dudes.
-Our main man JB over at Logan's Revenge says the deal for Sigi to take over Columbus is done and that he has already resigned his job as USA U20 coach. I think its great. I like Sigmund a lot. Back during the USA v Mex match in Columbus I had a long chat with a Crew fan (who for the life of him could not look me in the eye) about who their coach was gonna be. He listed 6 or 7 people, and Sigi was not one of them. I asked him why not, and he said that Sigi was too big for that job (and he didn't mean that in the hilarious way it came out!). I told him I thought it was nearly a lock that Sigi would be their man. Cool to know my hunch was correct. Hope this works for you Crew fans.
-Alejandro Moreno of San Jose has been called on to play for Venezuelan in their two big World Cup Qualifying games against Paraguay and at Brazil.
-Photos from Tuesdays practice, video feature on Taylor Twellman, DaMarcus Beasley injury update, an audio interview with Eddie Lewis & more - find em all at the US Soccer site as the team prepares for Costa Rica.
-A stat from US Soccer: The U.S. Men’s National Team has not allowed a goal in World Cup qualifying in six straight matches, a shutout streak stretching all the way back to the 33rd minute of the 2-1 loss on March 27 in Mexico City. All told, they have only surrendered six goals in the 14 qualifying games they’ve played during World Cup semifinal and final round qualifying.
-Grant Wahl does his weekly MLS team rankings, and always has good notes to go along with em.
-Ashley Cole of the Arse has a fracture in his foot and will be out a month or so. This also means he will miss the two huge World Cup Qualifiers ahead for England.
-Speaking of all the World Cup Qualifiers coming up..... This weekend and next Wednesday we have many World Cup Qualifiers being played around the globe, and most of them will determine the automatic entries. Then in late October and early November we will have the last playoffs for the final spots. Its getting right down there now. Note to teams: Don't choke! I think FIFA has the best site to see every region all mapped out, the schedule for every match, every scenario on how teams can qualify, and all the pre and post game details..
-And further speaking of FIFA's website, they have this story: Word has it that the new Costa Rican sensation is Chiqui Brenes. Will he get another start against the USA? I love seeing the young players like him getting a shot in CONCACAF.
-Another of my fave writers, Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune, has some important WCQ game break downs too.
-Dylan Hernandez of the San Jose Mercury News says Dwayne DeRosario should be MLS MVP. I wouldn't expect him to write anything else.
-Andrea Canales looks at the MLS stretch run and how its all stacking up, for Soccer 365.
-Ives Galarcep checks in from his lair somewhere in north Jersey on Bob Bradleys booting.
-I have made up my mind on this one: Michael Parkhurst should be the unanimous pick as MLS Rookie of the Year. The kid has started every game for the second best team in the league at the center of a three man back line. Only a couple other players in the league can even come close to saying that they can do that. I quickly rest my case.
-The legendary (?!?!?!) Paul Gardner, who always has an opinion, lets loose his first shot for ESPNSoccernet: FOCUS: A Lilleshall parallel? I had read that the folks who run Soccernet were looking for more opinionated writer, and boy do they have one here. And as long as they never hire Kent McDill or Jamie Trecker they will never be doing themselves an injustice.

Tinkle Tinkle Go The Ivory Keys Of News

-No Landon Donovan on the squad for Team USA's Oct 8 World Cup Qualifier v Costa Rica at the infamous Saprissa Stadium in San Jose, CR. Here is the full team listing (there could be an addition to this team since Beasley tweaked a hamstring playing for PSV last weekend):
G: Kevin Hartman, Tim Howard
D: Chris Albright, Wade Barrett, Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope, Jonathan Spector
M: DaMarcus Beasley, Ricardo Clark, Bobby Convey, Kyle Martino, Pablo Mastroeni
F: Brian Ching, Santino Quaranta, Taylor Twellman
Word is that some additions will be made to the squad for next weeks match against Panama.
-Photos from the Team USA Monday practice session.
-Last weekends MLS attendance:
Columbus v Chivas 20,548
Metro v DC 27,670
New Eng v San Jose 14,316
KC v Chicago 7,207
Colorado v Salt Lake 14,063
LA v Dallas 25,557
As you can see, the big disappointments are in New England where they have a very exciting team at the top of the East standings playing the very exciting team at the top of the West standings San Jose - the place should have been packed and rowdy! But no. And its really sad to see KC going down the drain. Only 7000 at a game that they HAD to win, and against their rival from Chicago. Bummer dudes (and I was just starting to warm up to those KC people too). The other 4 matches all had great attendance! (Yes I am saying that 14000 in Denver is a great number.)
-With Santino Quaranta joining the USA in Costa Rica this weekend, DC United might debut their new Argentinean striker Lucio Filomeno. His work visa has come thru, and he is over his knee injury. Does Kaspar really have the magic touch in finding these guys?
-San Jose Keeper Pat Onstad with a Q&A after their big win in Boston last Saturday.
-God damn Chelsea are good. Do they have a weakness? Let me know what you think. So are Juventus. Patrick Viera has really helped them. And here I always thought he was a bit overrated. Ask the Arse what they think of that.
-One word: Dedi!
-The 40 teams left in the UEFA Cup were drawn into 8 groups for the round robin stage that begins on Oct 20th. My pick to win it all is Hertha Berlin.
-We now know that Jack Bell of the New York Times reads this fine piece of work I call Du Nord. Last week I demanded to know what Frank Yallop is up to these days, apart from the rigorous task driving his kids to school everyday. Frank himself was too busy using Google Maps to find quicker home-to-school routes to check in with me directly, so Bell, sensing a story in the making, took the preemptive stance on the issue, picked up the phone, and asked Yallop for comment himself. Luckily for all of us, FY obliged. In a personal note to Jack Bell: feel free to steal my ideas any time you want. That's why they pay you the big bucks - to steal from the best! I find it all very flattering.
-This past weekends results from Mexico: (The top teams are starting to sort themselves out after 11 rounds, especially with Club America not losing for the 28th straight week.)
Toluca 0-1 Chiapas
Cruz Azul 0-0 Guadalajara
Monterrey 2-2 Santos
Morelia 0-2 Tigres
Veracruz 2-3 Necaxa
America 3-1 San Luis
Atlas 1-0 Atlante
Tecos 3-1 Pumas
Pachuca 2-1 Dorados
The MFL single table:
29 America
23 Cruz Azul
21 Monterrey
21 Necaxa
21 Pachuca
17 Toluca
17 Tigres
15 Santos
14 Guadalajara
13 Pumas
12 Chiapas
11 Morelia
11 Tecos
11 Veracruz
10 Atlas
9 San Luis
8 Atlante
8 Dorados
-Former one-year LA Galaxy star Andy Herzog is back in the soccer news today. He has joined Austria's national team as a coach. AND... he has made the grand statement that Austria are going to beat England in Manchester this weekend. Alright Andres!! Stick that foot right into that mouth immediately! But I still like it.
-Soccer America's College Top 25 ranking.
-Hercy Gomez from Los Angeles has been named MLS Player Of The Week.
-Minnesota Thunder 2006 season tickets go on sale today, with deals galore for early purchasers.
-The Houston Chronicle's Week In Review
-Who from the current USA U17 team has the goods to go pro. Andrea Canales writes for ESPNSoccernet: Assessing the future pros
-Yanks Abroad says there is no good news for Cory Gibbs and his knee.

Nama Nama Yey News

-ADDITION: Here is a sight to see! Check out this video from the Metrostarts v DC United match played last Saturday night in the Meadowlands. At the 3:45 mark you will see something amazing that you will not see from any other big sport in America. DC United's fantastic midfielder Christian Gomez had to miss the game due to yellow card accumulation, so what does he do? He goes and sits with the DC United traveling supporters and bangs the drums with 'em through out the match! I love that guy even more now!
-Jonathan Spector has been added to the Team USA roster for the WCQ's.
-Juve beat Inter 2-0 in the first big Serie A match of the year. I was sad. Trezeguet and Nedved scored for the Old Lady, who are now 6-0-0 to start the season sitting in 1st place. Inter sit back in 5th place with 12 points from 4 wins, 2 losses, and 0 draws.
-A Danny Callif feature from the US National Soccer Players site.
-Phil Ball unravels the serious nature of Racing Santander v Alaves. It's a big deal! Feel the Flack
-Real Madrid beat bottom of the tank Mallorca 4-0 with the Brazilians getting all the goals: Ronaldo got the first, Roberto Carlos bagged the second and third & Julio Baptista finished the thrashing. What? No Robinho? Did they do The Cockroach dance again? No! They did the Penguin!
-The hideous Seattle Sounders won their 3rd First Division title on Saturday night over Richmond. Rich scored first with a great long distance volley, but Seattle cranked up the pressure and finally equalized. Seattle kept up the pressure, but could not finish off Richmond until pk's which Seattle won 4-3. Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
-Mexico smacked Brazil in the mouth 3-0 to win the U17 World Championship! Arriba Beer!
-Speaking of ass kickings..... Chelsea demolished Liverpool 4-1 in league play. The most boring league in the world sees Chelsea's lead already at 9 points (24 from 8 matches). Charlton and Tottenham both have 15 points, good for 2nd place, which might as well be 15th place for how far back they are. Man U, Bolton & Man City have 14 points for 4th place.
-The old guy, who is a member of AARP already, Preki, is now going to retire from a great career. I got to see him score his greatest goal, in the 1-0 win over Brazil during the Gold Cup. Good luck amigo!
-Team USA have launched their training camp today for the last two rounds of World Cup Qualifying. The matches are next Saturday in Costa Rica, and a week from Wednesday in Boston v Panama. The roster will be announced this afternoon. So no more speculating from me.
-The skies are clearing over MLS post-season races. Only 2 weeks left now (several teams will play 3 matches in that time). With the West almost completely settled, the East is your full-action center. Chicago is nearly secured, leaving KC, Metro & long-long-long shot Columbus fighting for the last spot. This past weekend scores:
Columbus 0-1 Chivas
Metro 1-4 DC
New Eng 0-2 San Jose
KC 0-1 Chicago
Colorado 2-1 Salt Lake
LA 2-1 Dallas
So with KC, Metro & 'lumbus all losing, nothing has changed in the East race. Stay tuned.
Single Table:
60 San Jose *
55 New England *
50 DC United *
48 Chicago
45 Los Angeles *
43 FC Dallas *
43 Kansas City
40 Metrostars
40 Colorado *
34 Columbus
19 Real Salt Lake XX
17 Chivas USA XX
* = offically IN playoffs
XX = officially OUT of playoffs
Leading Scorers:
16 Taylor Twellman - NEW E
14 Jaime Moreno - DC
12 Jeff Cunningham - COLO
11 Landycakes Donovan - LA
11 Herc Gomez - LA
Wednesday games:
Dallas v Columbus - Dallas fighting for playoff seeding, but Columbus has to win in hopes of catching others for playoff hopes.
Chicago v Metrostars - Chicago fighting for playoff seeding, but Metrostars has to win in hopes of catching others for playoff hopes.
Colorado v Chivas - Colorado fighting for playoff seeding, and Chivas is done.
Salt Lake v DC - Salt Lake is done, DC fighting for playoff seeding.
-Eredivisie scores:
RBC Roosendaal 1-2 NAC Breda
ADO The Hague 2-1 RKC Waalwijk - John O'Brien still hurt.
Roda JC Kerkrade 3-2 Vitesse Arnhem
SC Heerenveen 2-3 PSV Eindhoven - but DaMarcus Beasley was pulled early after injuring his hamstring.
AZ Alkmaar 3-2 NEC Nijmegen
FC Groningen 2-0 Willem II Tilburg
FC Utrecht 3-1 Feyenoord - Cory Gibbs has now started light training after knee surgery. They could really use his great defense.
Heracles Almelo 0-4 FC Twente Enschede
Sparta Rotterdam 1-2 Ajax
-In African World Cup Qualifying Liberia were destroyed 5-0 by Zambia
-Claudio Reyna tweaked his neck, and missed the Man City match this weekend. His club beat poor Everton 2-0.
Serie A scores:
Chievo Verona 0-0 Treviso
Udinese 3-0 Lazio
Ascoli 3-1 Parma
Fiorentina 3-2 Livorno
Lecce 3-0 Cagliari
Messina 1-4 Sampdoria
AC Milan 2-1 Reggina
Palermo 2-2 Empoli
AS Roma 2-3 Siena
Juventus 2-0 Inter Milan
-From the Houston Chronicle - Glenn Davis examines Houston's possibility as an MLS city
-La Liga results:
Barcelona 2-2 Zaragoza
Getafe 2-1 Valencia
Villarreal 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla 1-1 Espanyol
Cadiz 1-1 Celta Vigo
Deportivo La Coruna 0-1 Osasuna
Real Sociedad 1-1 Real Betis
Racing Santander 1-2 Alaves
Real Madrid 4-0 Mallorca
Malaga 0-2 Atletico Madrid
-Reading beat Sheffield United 2-1 and now standing at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship heap. CORRECTION: the magnificent Incendiarymind of Footcer Socblog has stepped up to show us the light, and make it known that Reading is still, despite the win, 3 points behind Sheff U and in 2nd place. The Reading win also means Luton are now just 6 points back of the top spot, sitting in 3rd place.
-Stevie Cherundolo did not play this weekend because of still-lasting effects of the knee injury he suffered in the Gold Cup. His team Hannover drew Duisburg 1-1.
-Our main man Kasey Keller bagged another clean sheet for Monchengladbach as they beat Mainz 1-0 for their 3rd win in a row.