Slim Ankles News

American U20 star Sal Zizzo has signed with Hannover in Germany. American Steve Cherundolo is the team's right back.

~and~

Word from the West Coast says it's Chivas USA that is chasing after Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

~and~

It's gonna be Iraq v Saudi Arabia for the Asian Cup! (see details below)

~and~

I am in search of place in the Twin Cities to watch the Asian Cup final on Sunday Morning - 7:30am central time on Setanta!

~and~

USA coach Bob Bradley speaks with Jack Bell of the New York Times about Copa America. And a few more words on the Times soccer blog Goal.


SuperLiga - MLS v FMF - The first nights action was fantastic!!!
-As I watched the LA v Pachuca game I noticed a very odd thing happen - LA put in a FOURTH substitute. Wha??? So I looked it up. Yes folks, in the SuperLiga you get to use 4 subs, and you can sub your goalkeeper for the backup keeper listed on your game day roster. This stinks!
-I also looked, and they will play the 30 minutes of Extra Time if knock out round games are tied after the 90. PK's will follow Extra Time if the game is still tied.
Round 1 matches & scores:
FC Dallas 1-1 Chivas Guadalajara - Dal goal by Arturo Alvarez. Guad goal by Antonio Olvera.
My match notes:
-Ray Burse started in goal for Dallas. It was his first ever start for the senior team. Regular keeper Dario Sala was out with a leg injury.
-Dallas right back Drew Moor was red carded in the 72nd minute for retaliating with a shove to the chest/neck on Guada defender Hector Reynoso. Reynoso had thrown an intentianal elbow into Moor's face which the referee did not see.
-Chivas's goal was controversial in that Olvera hit the ball down with his left hand before shooting.
-Is it a requirement that all Mexican coaches must have a goatee and must wear a dress shirt, sport coat and blue jeans when on the sideline?
-The goal scored by Alvarez was a thing of true beauty. Juan Toja got the ball in his own end, charged down the middle of the field, hurdling a Chiva along the route, dropped a nice pass over to El Pescadito who had his back to goal. Ruiz dished the ball sideways to a running Alvarez, who looked up, saw the keeper off his line, and chipped him from 25 yards out! Golaso! Aso! Aso! Aso!
-And how about those bones crunching tackles Juan Toja was laying on the Chiv's. Holy Spicoli! He had three balls to the wall sliding tackles to take possession, then get up and charge straight in the other direction. Incredible. What a monster this guy is.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Stream Of Consciousness by DJ Walker from 3rd Degree.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Pachuca - LA goals by Alan Gordon & Landon Donovan. Pach goal by Rafael Marquez.
My match notes:
-Landon Dononvan set up LA's first goal with a long cross field pass to the chest of Gordon who settled the ball and scored.
-Pachuca keeper Calero wore a pirate skull & cross bones scarf on his head.
-I think you gotta love the way Pachuca play the game. Attack attack attack, then bring on some substitutes and attack some more. What team wouldn't love to bring Damian Alvarez in off the bench?
-LA defender Abel Xavier is playing out of his mind right now. No he is not on drugs again. He is playing some brilliant and breathtaking defense. which is saving his team from being pummeled.
-Donovan said after the game that the Galaxy were lucky to win. I would agree with him. But I also believe that you have to put yourself in a position to take advantage of luck.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune.
Match report by Billy Witz of the Daily Breeze.
Match report from the Orange County Register.
-Wed Jul 25
DC United v Monarcas Morelia - RFK Stadium - Washington DC - 7pm central
Match preview by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match preview from the Washington Times.
Houston Dynamo v Club America - Roberston Stadium - Houston TX- 9pm central
Match preview by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
-Round 2 matches are Sat Jul 28 & Sun Jul 29.
-Round 3 matches are Tue Jul 31 & Wed Aug 1.
-Semifinals Tue Aug 14 & Wed Aug 15.
-Final Wed Aug 29.
Standings:
-Group A
3-Los Angeles Galaxy
1-Chivas Guadalajara
1-FC Dallas
0-Pachuca
-Group B
0-Club America
0-DC United
0-Houston Dynamo
0-Morelia Monarcas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales on her Sideline Views blog points us in the direction of some good photos from last nights LA v Pachuca match courtesy of Medio Tiempo. Including a great Beckham celebration shot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canales also has a SuperLiga story at Soccer 365. Her angle is that this is just the start of much bigger possibilities down the road a few years.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 26
New York v Chivas USA - 6pm central on ESPN2
-Sat Jul 28
Salt Lake v New England - 8:30pm central on FSC & FSE
-Sun Jul 29
Toronto v Chicago - 2pm central on TeleFutura & CBC
Kansas City v Chivas USA - 6pm central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas midfielder Ramon Nunez has asked to be moved to another team. He did not dress for the SuperLiga match last night and has not started any games lately. He had the same problems with the last coach too, so it makes you wonder if its the team that has a problem, or the player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope is in Chicago and has met with the Fire, and the team is said to be planning a press conference for Thursday. But nothing more is known.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Word is out in England that KC striker Eddie Johnson turned down a chance to play for Derby, newly promoted to the English Premiership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Meyer of the Denver Post says former Colorado player Kyle Beckerman was shocked when he was sent packing, especially to Real Salt Lake.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lars Lifrak at Soccer 365 has a Q & A with Chivas USA wise veteran Jesse Marsch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The US Soccer Players Assoc has a Q & A with New York forward John Wolyniec.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal.com has a Q & A with Kansas City midfielder Kerry Zavagnin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rumor floating around says that if Colorado can coach Clavijo (yes, 4 C's in a row) they will replace him with their former player and current Houston assistant coach John Spencer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Edson Buddle has not been playing for LA cuz he has a bum achilles tendon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Real Salt Lake has 4 international players in training with them for possible contracts. Edgar Espinola & Javier Morales of Argentina, Nigerian Uche Chinyere & Tony Versailles from France.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's a transcript of today's semi-regular online Q & A with Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ryan Hunt at Sports Illustrated with his weekly MLS Free Kicks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Former Chivas USA forward Matt Taylor has signed with Portland of the First Division.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Boulder's New West loved the MLS All-Star but hated the Beckham-this Beckham-that Beckham-blah-di-frickin-dah production from ESPN. Hooray New West. Hooray Beer. Boo Creepy Foot Doctor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Golden Boot Chase:
12 Eddie Johnson
10 Luciano Emilio
9 Juan Pablo Angel
8 Taylor Twellman
7 Maykel Galindo
7 Andy Dorman
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS International Friendly's
Matches & Scores this week:
Tue Jul 24
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Boca Juniors RSL goal by Freddy Adu(PK). Boca goal by Mauro Boselli.
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret Morning News.
Match report (actually mostly an Adu report) by Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Wed Jul 25
Chicago v Santos Laguna in La Joya TX
Match preview from The Monitor of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
Toronto v Aston Villa
Match preview by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star talks to Aston Villa players prior to the friendly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun talks to Aston Villa's Swedish defender Olof Mellburg who says he and many other European players are intrigued by the growing popularity of MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Vancouver Sun talks to Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neil who says that he really hopes big time soccer is here to stay and will grow strong in North America.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Deseret Morning News on the buzz created by a team like Boca Juniors.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago's opponent tonight, Santos Laguna, features Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Dirty Sanchez.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Victoria British Columbia Canada is seeking a USL First Division team for next season. Here is a story from the Victoria Times Colonist on the subject. This would make for a tremendous rivalry with Vancouver which is right across the Bay.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad with a story on young American striker Gabriel Ferrari who has reported to his club Sampdoria's preseason training.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
Semifinals
-Wed Jul 25
Iraq 0-0 South Korea Iraq(!) wins 4-3 on PK's. Can you believe that?
Japan 2-3 Saudi Arabia
Final
-Sun Jul 29
Iraq v Saudi Arabia - 7:30am central time on Setanta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

German preseason Liga Pokal
See the games on GolTV.
Semifinals:
-Tue Jul 24
Nurmberg 2-4 Schalke
-Wed Jul 25
Bayern Munich v Stuttgart
-The Final will be played Sat Jul 28 in Leipzig.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada's Durham Region News with a story on how soccer has hit a wave of genuine excitement in Canada this summer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England's The Independent with the latest on Stan Kroenke's pursuit of Arsenal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Liverpool has released the plans for their new stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester United have made an announcement that their strike Giuseppe Rossi is going nowhere. He was on loan to Parma for the second half of last season and several Italian teams wanted to sign him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Mirror in London with a story on what English TV production of football might steal from American productions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Edmonton Sun with a story on what in the end was a triumph of sorts for Chile at the U20 World Cup. It also takes a stand that myself and others who criticized the players for their throwdown with Toronto police were wrong. I stand by my opinion.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Peru has hired Jose del Solar as their new national team manager. He had been the manager at Chilean club team Universidad Catolica.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian has an excerpt from a soon to be published book by a guy completely obsessed with West Bromwich Albion. Excellent stuff. (thanks to Our Donovan for sending me this)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brazilian club Corinthians has cut their ties with investor Kia Joorabchian, who is the man in the middle of the Carlos Tevez contract mess. I would bet good money that Joorabchian sues them for damages over this situation with Corinthians.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first round of UEFA Champions League qualifying is today. I will have scores tomorrow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, this is one weird ass picture of two stars.

Farm Fresh Ibogaine News

The Chicago Fire are chasing hard after another aging Latino player, as Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune says Paulo Wanchope of Costa Rica is the latest target. Wanchope is expected in Chicago today.

~and~

Toronto FC's English striker Danny Dichio on his impression of MLS so far: “It’s a very quick league, quite physical and it’s surprised me how good it is technically. I think there’s a misconception back home. Because football isn’t a top sport over here people assume it’s not taken as a serious game, but the majority of the guys in the league take the game really seriously.”


SuperLiga - MLS v FMF
Round 1 matches & scores:
FC Dallas v Chivas Guadalajara - Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX - 8pm central
Match preview focusing on FCD keeper Dario Sala by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Los Angeles Galaxy v Pachuca - Home Depot Center - Carson CA - 10pm central
Match & SuperLiga preview with Beckham update by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match preview by Phil Collin of the Daily Breeze.
-FYI: There has been people wondering if LA forward Carlos Pavon was badly injured in the game v Chelsea, but manager Frank Yallop says he is ready to go tonight.
-Wed Jul 25
DC United v Monarcas Morelia - RFK Stadium - Washington DC - 7pm central
Houston Dynamo v Club America - Roberston Stadium - Houston TX- 9pm central
-Round 2 matches are Sat Jul 28 & Sun Jul 29.
-Round 3 matches are Tue Jul 31 & Wed Aug 1.
-Semifinals Tue Aug 14 & Wed Aug 15.
-Final Wed Aug 29.
Group A:
-Chivas Guadalajara
-Los Angeles Galaxy
-FC Dallas
-Pachuca
Group B:
-Club America
-DC United
-Houston Dynamo
-Morelia Monarcas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green of the Daily Breeze with an article on what MLS hopes SuperLiga can do to garner more fans for the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet previews the SuperLiga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram previews SuperLiga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle previews SuperLiga too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise with his SuperLiga preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 26
New York v Chivas USA - 6pm central on ESPN2
-Sat Jul 28
Salt Lake v New England - 8:30pm central on FSC & FSE
-Sun Jul 29
Toronto v Chicago - 2pm central on TeleFutura & CBC
Kansas City v Chivas USA - 6pm central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Guillermo Barros Schelotto of the Columbus Crew has been named MLS Player Of The Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The excellent Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune does an online Q & A session with readers. Good stuff here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Biglin of the MetroWest Daily News is not pleased with MLS's massive promotion this past weekend of Beckham while almost completely ignoring other big events like the New England v Houston match, not to mention the Blanco debut.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In another article Biglin says the Revolution are not pleased with their home record so far this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated sings a similar tune to that of Biglin, but does it with less bitterness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe says Temoc Blanco is the guy who put on the real show this past weekend. I agree. (article contains several other world soccer notes too)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago is looking for forward Chris Rolfe to make his return from a long layoff due to an ankle injury on August 4 at home v Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald likes the arrival of Blanco.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

George Tanner at FC Rocky with his increasingly excellent Colorado Rapids notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at LA Soccer News says she thinks the LA Galaxy are on the right track, and their real fans "get it".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock writes to FCD fans on the teams blog to review the first half the season and fill them in on the coming months ahead, including this weeks SuperLiga launch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I missed this one last week - The US Soccer Players Assoc has a Q & A with Dallas midfielder Arturo Alvarez.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Soccer poster "guamster" links to a video clip of Drew Carey on the David Letterman show last night pimping soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer talks to Drew Carey about his soccer passion. Carey would love to be an owner in a Cleveland MLS team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated chimes in with his thoughts on the Beckham debut.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Richard Deitsch of SI focuses on ESPN's way over the top coverage of Beckham. Which I found almost unbearable, but I made it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ESPN's Page 2 with a look at the Beckhamania in LA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sage Paul Gardner of the New York Sun with his take on the Beckham debut.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Lopez of the Houston Chronicle wonders if the growing popularity of the Dynamo and MLS with Beckham will have a negative effect on his cities struggling Astros baseball team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle with his weekly soccer notes starting with the end of the Dynamo's 700+ minute defensive goalless streak.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yesterday I said that Dynamo midfielder Brian Mullan was out because of a concussion, but it is actually a broken facial bone that is keeping him out. No word on how long he will be out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reports say that DC United President Kevin Payne was in Argentina yesterday to meet with long time midfield great Juan Sebastian Veron about coming to MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch on the suddenly hot property named Danny Szetela who lit up the U20 World Cup and is finally starting to have an impact on the field for his club in Columbus too. The list of European clubs chasing Szetela is impressively long, but he wants to stay in MLS if he can reach a new deal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Metrofanatic is reporting that New York Red Bulls midfielder Dave Van Den Bergh got his green card, meaning his is no longer listed on the team roster as an International player and does not count against their limit of 4.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pete Gratoff of the KC Star with an article on Kansas City's plans to find a jersey sponsor.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The San Francisco Chronicle with an article from Sunday that makes sure we all know the new San Jose Earthquakes are not the old SJE returned home, but rather a crappy expansion team. OK.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2 stadium notes:
-First, DC has hit a wall in the proposed stadium along the river and might have to look to the suburbs for a home.
-And secondly, Red Bull is negotiating to buy out AEG's share of Red Bull Park, which is what has caused the building delays, not industrial waste as previously reported.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Arizona Republic looks at the poor fan turnout for a series of friendly's last weekend in the Phoenix area, and what that means to a possible bid for a MLS team in the city.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS International Friendly's
Scores this week:
Tue Jul 24
Real Salt Lake v Boca Juniors
Wed Jul 25
Chicago v Santos Laguna in La Joya TX
Toronto v Aston Villa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Birmingham Express & Star talks to Toronto's Danny Dichio prior to the TFC friendly with Aston Villa.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Celtic website has several stories and a lot of good pictures from their trip to the USA last week. Coverage from both matches they played too (MLS All Star game and Chicago Fire game.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Everton are training all this week in LA at the Home Depot Center.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The St Paul Pioneer Press with more on the Tony Sanneh loan to the Minnesota Thunder.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Haydon of the Washington Times checks in on USA & Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann who is recovering from offseason surgery on a badly broken hand.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Haydon also talks to Reading manager Steve Coppell about the quality of American players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And a rumor in England today says defender Oguchi Onyewu could be joining his 2 fellow American's at Reading.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American Soccer Daily talks to American Ian Joy about life in Germany at his club St Pauli!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
-Semifinals - Wed Jul 25:
Iraq v South Korea
Japan v Saudi Arabia
-Final match Sun Jul 29:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the stunning run to the Asian Cup semifinals by Iraq.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times with a story on what the success of the soccer team is having on the people of Iraq.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

German preseason Liga Pokal
See the games on GolTV.
Semifinals:
-Tue Jul 24
Nurmberg v Schalke
-Wed Jul 25
Bayern Munich v Stuttgart
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The word from England has Man City signing young Mexican star Nery Castillo from Olympiakos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with an article on the resignation of Newcastle chairman Freddy Sheppard. I think a lot of die hard fans might be pretty excited by this event.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian also talk to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and claim that he is mellowing out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Norman Hubbard at Soccernet is not impressed with the way Fulham's new management spent money in the offseason.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times looks at race & football & the World Cup in South Africa today.

Zipper's Stuck News

There is so much news it's just insane. Here is what you get for now. Sorry it's not more, but I am swamped.

During the LA Galaxy v Chelsea match on ESPN announcers Tommy Smyth & Eric Wynalda were talking about Chelsea's Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko. The following is a transcript of the hilarious conversation:
TS: You have to think that one of these days he's (Sheva) going to be in MLS. He's married to an American. Her Dad was a pitcher (baseball) for the (Minnesota) Twins. Mr. Pazik (Mike Pazik pitched a few innings in 1975, 76 & 77).
EW: We don't have a team in Minnesota.
TS: They do have a team in Minnesota!
EW: Do "We" (meaning MLS) have a team in Minnesota?
TS: Not yet, but Shevchenko might start a team there.
EW: (Sarcastically) Now we're gonna have a team in Minnesota cuz Shevchenko's Wife is...
TS: Manny Lagos is gonna start it up there! Remember Manny Lagos?
EW: Sure.
TS: Isn't he from Minnesota?

~and~

Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald on his Soccer By Ives blog says a transfer deal for Freddy Adu to Benfica is nearly done.

~and~

David Beckham on the week that just passed: "I don't think I've ever had a more extraordinary year in my life than this one in football terms. I've had ups and downs all the way through this season and this year but this last week has been truly the most remarkable week, I think, of my life."


Being gone last week I missed MLS commissioner Don Garber's annual online chat with fans. He always answers some great questions, and this year was no different. Here it is a week late.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's SuperLiga Kickoff Week!
The first ever 8 team MLS V FMF tournament kicks off Tuesday! You can see all the games live on TeleFutura.
-There are two groups of 4 teams. They will each play the other 3 and the top two from each group will advance to the semifinals.
Group A:
-Chivas Guadalajara
-Los Angeles Galaxy
-FC Dallas
-Pachuca
Group B:
-Club America
-DC United
-Houston Dynamo
-Morelia Monarcas
Round 1 matches & scores:
FC Dallas v Chivas Guadalajara - Pizza Hut Park - Frisco TX - 8pm central
Los Angeles Galaxy v Pachuca - Home Depot Center - Carson CA - 10pm central
-Wed Jul 25
DC United v Monarcas Morelia - RFK Stadium - Washington DC - 7pm central
Houston Dynamo v Club America - Roberston Stadium - Houston TX- 9pm central
-Round 2 matches are Sat Jul 28 & Sun Jul 29.
-Round 3 matches are Tue Jul 31 & Wed Aug 1.
-Semifinals Tue Aug 14 & Wed Aug 15.
-Final Wed Aug 29.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

6 months ago Bill Plascke of the LA Times could not kick the LA Galaxy & David Beckham hard enough. But yesterday in the Sunday paper he admitted that he has seen the light! Yeeeeeees!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England manager Steve Nicol pumps up MLS after the All Star win v Celtic, and then dishes out a little somethin' to soccer critics in America. From Soccer 365.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Scores from this weekend:
-Sun Jul 22
New England 3-3 Houston NE goals by Pat Noonan, Taylor Twellman & Shalrie Joseph(PK). Hou goals by Dwayne DeRosario, & 2 from Brian Ching.
Columbus 2-0 Toronto Goals both scored by Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
New York 1-0 DC Goal by John Wolyniec.
Kansas City 2-2 Colorado KC goals both by Eddie Johnson. Colo goals by Jovan Kirovski(PK) & Facundo Erpen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS International Friendly's
Scores this weekend:
LA 0-1 Chelsea Goal by John Terry.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Chicago 1-1 Celtic Chic goal by Temoc Blanco. Cel goal by Derek Riordan.
Match report by Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times.
RSL 2-0 Everton Goals by Carey Talley & Robbie Findley.
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret Morning News.
Post-game reaction by USA & Everton keeper Tim Howard from Everton's website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Real Salt Lake takes on Boca Juniors tonight.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And word from Salt Lake is that a deal for Jay Jay Okocha may now be OFF.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Houston defensive scoreless streak ended at a new MLS record 727 minutes. New England proceeded to knock in three!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fred2 of DC United was red carded late in the game for a bad tackle from behind on Dane Richards of New York.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Forward and captain Jaime Moreno missed the game for DC due to a tweaked hamstring muscle he suffered the weekend prior.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ben Olsen missed the game for DC due to yellow card accumulation suspension.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Juan Pablo Angel was out for NYRB due to a red card received the weekend before after throwing an elbow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jose Burciaga of KC also saw red for attacking Colo keeper Bouna Coundoul after a scramble for a ball in the box. JB reacted to what he thought was a kick by Coundoul, which looked harmless and unintended to me. Burciaga probably cost his team 2 points too. They were cruising with a 2-1 lead when he was sent off. After that Colo poured it on and got the tying goal, then went for the winner but could not get it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mehdi Ballouchy of Colorado decked KC's Sasha Victorine right before halftime but got away with it. Victorine had to be subbed out with an injured collar bone. I think you can expect a nice suspension and fine for Ballouchy from the league office.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ricardo Clark of Houston injured his ankle at the All Star game and did not play for Houston. They were also missing Brian Mullan who is still suffering from the effects of a concussion the previous weekend. He was fouled hard and foolishly by Toronto's Maurice Edu who was red carded for a hip check to Mullan's face.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Parkhurst, the great centerback for New England, has committed only 4(!!!) fouls all season. A centerback!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colorado sent Panamanian striker Roberto Brown packing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas has now officially signed young Brazilian striker Ricardinho from Atletico Paranaense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Deseret Morning News with a review of Kyle Beckerman's debut in a Real Salt Lake shirt.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree took in the FCD practice session yesterday evening as the team prepares for SuperLiga action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago traded away their rights to defender Tony Sanneh to Colorado. He is still rehabing his injury, and would prefer to play for the New York Red Bulls. Can Colo & NYRB do a deal.
-Dylan Butler at Big Apple Soccer says Sanneh is headed to my team, the Minnesota Thunder to try and get some match fitness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune has an interview with Cuauhtemoc Blanco. (This ran before his debut yesterday.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago will play a friendly this Wednesday against Mexican club Santos Laguna in the border town of La Joya TX, which is right at the bottom of Texas near Brownsville.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The official San Jose Earthquakes website.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With Lew Wolfe officially relaunching the Earthquakes, his Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is taking interest in the soccer side of the business. From the LA Times.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Why did the TeleFutura announcers keep talking about Boca Juniors and MLS in Miami yesterday? I had to dig around, and this is all I could find - from Sport YA. Boca want a team in the USA, in MLS. The city's they prefer are New York, Miami, LA & Phoenix. Interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS has announced that they formed a Latin American Advisory Board. The list of names is quite impressive.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & scores this week:
Thu Jul 19
Portland 2-1 Vancouver
Fri Jul 20
Puerto Rico 1-1 California
Miami 2-1 Carolina
Sat Jul 21
Rochester 2-3 Seattle
Atlanta 0-1 Portland
Sun Jul 22
Charleston 2-0 Portland
Puerto Rico 3-1 Carolina
Miami 1-1 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
36 Portland
31 Seattle
28 Montreal
27 Vancouver
27 Rochester
26 Puerto Rico
25 Atlanta
24 Miami
23 Charleston
19 Carolina
16 California
15 Minnesota
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad talks to American midfielder Bobby Convey about his return from injury for Reading.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Salt Lake Tribune talks to USA & Everton keeper Tim Howard.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA defender Dan Califf and his Danish team Aalbourg went on the road to Gent in the first leg of a UEFA Cup qualifying match and scored a 1-1 draw. The return leg is next Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another USA defender Heath Pearce has left his team Nordsjaelland in Denmark to sign with Hansa Rostock in the German Bundesliga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Supposedly we are going to find out about CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying on November 23.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U20 World Cup
Final:
Argentina 2-1 Czech Republic
-The Czechs scored first, but could not hold off the Argies for the title.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sergio "El Kun" Aguero of Argentina & Atletico Madrid won both the Golden Ball (best player) & Golden Shoe (top goal scorer with 6) of the U20 World Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
-Quarterfinal scores:
Sat Jul 21
Japan 1-1 Australia - Jap advance 4-3 on PK's.
Iraq 2-0 Vietnam
Sun Jul 22
Iran 0-0 South Korea - SK advance 4-2 on PK's.
Saudi Arabia 2-1 Uzbekistan
-Semifinal matches Wed Jul 25:
Iraq v South Korea
Japan v Saudi Arabia
-Final match Sun Jul 29:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the German preseason Liga Pokal, or League Cup, we are down to the Semifinals. The Quarterfinals went like this:
Bayern Munich 4-1 Werder Bremen
Schalke 1-0 Karlrusher
-Semifinals:
-Wed Jul 25
Bayern Munich v Stuttgart
-Tue Jul 31
Nurmberg v Schalke
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tigres won the (obviously very prestigious) World Series of Football - do you care? They beat Suwon & LA 3-0 each, while Chelsea only beat the same two teams 1-0 each. Now why didn't they just play one more round and make it all even Steven. No one will ever know.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Scholes of Manchester United has damaged a knee in a preseason friendly that will require surgery. The real extent of the damage is not known yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Birmingham have signed troubled Egyptian star striker Mido from Tottenham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ivan Helguera has left Spanish Champions Real Madrid to sign with Valencia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frenchman Sylvain Wiltord has left Lyon for the club where his career started - Rennes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sadly, another very talented players continued inconsistency has been caused by alcohol abuse. This time it's Adriano from Inter Milan. I hate to see this, but really hope he gets the help he needs and can get his life back on track.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One time Italian great Christian Vieri has signed a deal with Fiorentina, after getting back into playing form last season with Atalanta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another Italian, Francesco Totti has announced his retirement from the International game. How long do you think this will last? You know he will want to play in the next World Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

More money may be in the mix to try and buy Arsenal as the man behind Formula 1 car racing Bernie Ecclestone (who has as unique a look as the teams other bidder Stan Kroenke) gets into the act of bidding. Maybe he and Kroenke can team up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Will Chang, part owner of DC United, is again rumored to be looking to invest in the English Premiership. The past time it was rumored it came to nothing, so don't get too excited just yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let's finish today with this - A video clip of Brazilian Robinho doing some ball tricks, but then Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho show him how its really done. (Click on "Assista ao vídeo")

Herbal Jazz Cigarette News

I've been gone for a week, so I thought I would start to catch up with a rare Saturday installment of du Nord.


MLS matches on Sun Jul 22:
New England v Houston - 3pm central on Direct Kick
Columbus v Toronto - 4pm central on Direct Kick
New York v DC - 4pm central on TeleFutura
Kansas City v Colorado - 7pm central on Direct Kick
-International Friendly
Chicago v Celtic - 3pm central on FSC
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Philadelphia Inquirer with a story on a new investment group going after a MLS team for their city, starting with stadium ideas.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colorado has shipped midfielder Kyle Beckerman to Salt Lake City in exchange for midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The San Jose Earthquakes will be back in the league next season! MLS made it official on Wednesday. Although their actual home is yet to be determined. There is a rumor that they may barnstorm northern California for a year or two until a new home stadium is built. That is a horrible idea in my opinion.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The MLS All-Stars beat Celtic 2-0. Both goals were scored by guys named Juan from Colombia. Pablo Angel and Carlos Toja.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speaking of guys named Juan - the Argentine Juan Sebastian Veron is back on the MLS rumor wagon - this time to play for DC United.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the ever changing numbers story on Beckham jersey's sold by the LA Galaxy we went from 250,000 to $250,000 dollars worth (approx 3000) back to 250,000 and now to 300,000 actual jerseys sold. Or was that manufactured and shipped?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cuauhtemoc Blanco has begun training with Chicago and will make his debut Sunday v Celtic.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS has launched their own magazine - Major League Soccer. More as we find out about it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fabio Capello, the late coach of Real Madrid, has supposedly been offered either a coaching position with a MLS team, the technical directors job with US Soccer or some other big position in the soccer world in the United States. Hmmmm. Very interesting. Maybe he could become the next coach of the LA Galaxy and get to work with his buddy David Beckham again! Hahaha. No, actually the rumor has him teaming up with Dave Checketts and the mightly Real Salt Lake, cuz Capello only wants to coach teams called Real from now on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC United won the first every MLS U17 Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Seattle beat Chivas USA 3-1 in the US Open Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The South African federation says the USA is coming to their country on Nov 17 for a match. Excellent. But there is still no confirmation on that Sep 9 game at Azteca.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brazil stunned Argentina 3-0 to win Copa America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The USA U20 team was bounced 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the U20 World Cup by Austria.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The fabled Mexican U20 team was beaten in the quarterfinals too. By Argentina 1-0.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you hear about this wild brawl between the Chile U20 team and Canadian security & Toronto police after getting beaten by Arg in the semifinals? Wow. The FIFA site makes no mention at all of this mess. But the Toronto Globe & Mail is all over it, as two of their photographers witnessed the whole thing. But Chile blames the Canadians for the ugliness. Oh yeah, and the Chilean players and fans tried to rip the referee crew limb from limb on the field after that game too.

Pardone

I was informed by a kind soul in my inner circle that I had neglected to let y'all know that I would not be posting for a few days this week while I worked on my tan at the beach and hung out with my amazing little nieces and nephew. Sorry for that. See ya soon.
Bruce

Gay Rodeo Backstage Luncheon Menu News

I think we are gonna skip most of the David Beckham hoopla today (well OK there will be a little, how can you avoid it). I wouldn't even know where to begin. Turn on your local news, they will have footage, guaranteed.


Copa America:
The Final:
Sun Jul 15
Brazil v Argentina - live at 4:00 central on GolTV & Univision.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune previews the Copa final showdown.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 12
Chicago 0-4 Houston - goals by Stuart Holden, Nate Jaqua, Joseph Ngwenya & Chris Wondolowski.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Match report (barely) & update on the sale of the team by Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun Times.
Post-game notes by Arroyave on his Red Card blog.
Post-game notes from the Houston Chronicle.
-Sat Jul 14
DC v Dallas - 6:30 central on Direct Kick
New York v New England - 6:30 central on FSC & FSE
Kansas City v Salt Lake - 7:00 central on Direct Kick
Chivas USA v Columbus - 9:30 central on HDNet
-Sun Jul 15
Houston v Toronto - 7:30 central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 2nd goal of last nights game was an amazing piece of work by Houston's Joseph Ngwenya. First he and Jaqua play outstanding defense to win the ball (some of which is not shown in this clip), the Jaqua passes to Ngwenya who does the rest. I don't know if I have ever seen a goal from this tight of an angle. Amazing. See it here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Houston's defense is now on a 605 minute goalless streak. That is impressive. The league record is 681 minutes, set in 2000 by the MLS Cup champs from Kansas City.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chicago Fire has announced the opening of the Chicago Fire Soccer Academy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin McGeehan at the US Soccer Players Assoc wonders why someone would buy the Chicago Fire without control of the stadium (which the city of Bridgeview owns).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the KC Star says the Wizards have a shot to make a move up the standings with 3 straight home games on the docket.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Biglin of the MetroWest Daily Herald with a story on New England defender Michael Parkhurst, his trip to the Gold Cup, and attitude upon returning to the club.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis & Dylan Butler of Big Apple Soccer hand out their mid-season New York Red Bulls report card.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail says its not known yet if TFC striker Jeff Cunningham will be recovered enough from a groin strain to play against Houston on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Lopez of the Houston Chronicle says MLS is about to go to a new level.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Of course my pal Paul Demko of the City Pages puts the Beckham headline best: "David Beckham urinates on U.S. soil"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Stone rang some truth into the sale of new LA Galaxy shirts last night on the MLS broadcast. It was reported yesterday that the team had sold 250,000 new shirts already. Which I scoffed at. Stone said the team had some $250,000 dollars worth of shirts so far. Which at $80 a pop comes out to a little over 3000 shirts. Now this is still an amazing number for MLS, but a lot more realistic.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dan Steinberg of the awesome Sports Bog from the Washington Post was on hand in LA and gives us the straight dope. Wow! What a scene he describes!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated looks at the Latino response to Beckham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to Clive Toye, the man who brought Pele to America, about Beckham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Everything else you need to know about Beckham today can be found at Andrea & Luis's Sideline Views blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup
Third Round matches:
-Mon Jul 9
FC Dallas 1-1 Atlanta Silverbacks - FCD win 4-3 on PK's.
-Tue Jul 10
Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-4 New England Revolution
Richmond Kickers 1-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Charleston Battery 1-0 Houston Dynamo
Colorado Rapids 3-1 California Victory
-Wed Jul 11
Harrisburg City Islanders 1-0 DC United
-Sun Jul 15
Carolina Railhawks v Chicago Fire
-Wed Jul 18
Seattle Sounders v CD Chivas USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 12
Seattle 1-0 Vancouver
-Fri Jul 13
Carolina v Montreal
Puerto Rico v Charleston
Portland v California
-Sat Jul 14
Atlanta v Rochester
Vancouver v Miami
-Sun Jul 15
Puerto Rico v Charleston
Minnesota v Montreal
Portland v California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
28 Seattle
27 Vancouver
27 Rochester
24 Portland
24 Montreal
22 Atlanta
20 Charleston
19 Carolina
17 Miami
16 Puerto Rico
11 Minnesota
11 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jesse Erdmann at Blue Sky Soccer with this weeks USL First Division Power Rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DaMarcus Beasley will get his first chance on the field in a Rangers shirt tonight. They play a friendly v Gutersloh of the German 4th division.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U20 World Cup
Knock out matches - Round of 16:
-Wed Jul 11
USA 2-1 Uruguay
Austria 2-1 Gambia
Spain 4-2 Brazil
Japan 2-2 Czech Republic - CR win 4-3 on Penalty Kicks after Extra Time.
-Thu Jul 12
Chile 1-0 Portugal
Zambia 1-2 Nigeria
Argentina 3-1 Poland
Mexico 3-0 Congo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So the Quarterfinals lineup like this:
Sat Jul 14
Austria v USA - see it live at 1:15pm central time on ESPNU & TeleFutura.
Spain v Czech Republic
Sun Jul 15
Chile v Nigeria
Argentina v Mexico
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fifa.com says the USA are fine with winning ugly if they have to.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official FIFA U20 World Cup site.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
Group stage matches:
-Sat Jul 7
Thailand 1-1 Iraq
-Sun Jul 8
Australia 1-1 Oman
Vietnam 2-0 UAE
-Mon Jul 9
Japan 1-1 Qatar
-Tue Jul 10
Indonesia 2-1 Bahrain
Malaysia 1-5 China
-Wed Jul 11
Iran 2-1 Uzbekistan
S Korea v Saudi Arabia
-Thu Jul 12
Oman 0-2 Thailand
Qatar 1-1 Vietnam
-Fri Jul 13
Iraq 3-1 Australia
UAE 0-3 Japan
-Sat Jul 14
Uzbekistan v Malaysia
Saudi Arabia v Indonesia
-Sun Jul 15
China v Iran
Bahrain v S Korea
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

WooooHooooo, Australia are on the canvas & the referee is counting to 10 as we speak (currently at 7). They drew their first Asian Cup match, and today lost 3-1 to Iraq, leaving them on the brink of elimination.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with a story on the native people of way northern Norway and other parts of extreme Scandinavia. They are the Sami. And they have their own football tournament - The Sami Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Haydon of the Washington Times with a look at the world wide scouting reach of Bolton Wanderers. A pretty small club in a small town and yet some say they are the most universal team of them all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chelsea has been training in Los Angeles for the past week. The teams own website is probably the best place for casual fans to check it out. They kick off the EPL season on August 12 at home to just promoted Birmingham.
-They also have three friendly's scheduled:
Sat Jul 14 v Club America
Tue Jul 17 v Samsung Bluewings
Sat Jul 21 v Los Angeles Galaxy
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Simon Kuper at the Financial Times writes about Brazil & (now) Chelsea's big rugged defender Alex.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian with a story on an arrest warrant being issued in Brazil for the agent of Carlos Tevez on money laundering charges. His name is Kai Joorcbchian, the same man who tried to buy West Ham last year, and is at the heart of the current Tevez contract mess. The money laundering is said to done through Brazilian futebol club Corinthians. To make it all even weirder, this scandal also includes the exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who may be the money behind Joorabchian. Berezovsky was also involved last year with the former Soviet spy that was assassinated in London with enriched plutonium. I love international intrigue.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA has said they will announce the host of the 2014 World Cup on October 29 or 30. It is expected to be Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with Lionel Messi's Top 5 goals. Brilliant stuff.

The Borg Wears Tight Glossy Yet Non-Greasy Underpants News

USA U20's advance 2-1 over Uruguay in the World Cup round of 16. They had to come from a goal down, tie it late, and win it in extra time on a goal by Michael Bradley.

~and~

What did USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen think of his teams performance: "Cojones Grande".

~and~

More on the U20 post-game from Canada's National Post: "Uruguay's coach refused to meet with the media following the game. There was also an unconfirmed report of a conflict between a Uruguayan player and a volunteer working at BMO Field."

~and~

Chicago Fire are lined up to have a new owner - Andell Holding is negotiating with AEG to buy the team. The company is run by Andrew & Ellen Hauptman. They are part of the Bronfman family from Canada who own Seagrams liquor company and many other large endeavors. From Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.

~and~

Another one bites the dust - down goes United, down goes United. Harrisburg City became the third lower division team to knock a MLS team out of the Open Cup this week, winning 1-0 last night!!!


Copa America
Semifinals:
-Tue Jul 10
Brazil 2-2 Uruguay - Brazil wins 5-4 on PK's. Bra goals by Maicon & Julio Baptista. Uru goals by Diego Forlan & Sebastian Abreu.
-Wed Jul 11
Mexico 0-3 Argentina - Arg goals by Gabriel Heinze, Lionel Messi, and Juan Roman Riquelme(PK).

-The Final - Sun Jul 15
Brazil v Argentina - live at 4:00 central on GolTV & Univision.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love it - Mexico got beat by Argentina worse than the USA did. Same goal difference, but at least our boys scored a goal!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated with an article on the end of Mexico's Copa run.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My friend Andy just returned from his trip to the Copa America and is posting some of his thoughts and actions on line. The USA game reports at Blue Sky Soccer, and his travel journal at Winter World Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 12
Chicago v Houston - 8:00 central on ESPN2
-Sat Jul 14
DC v Dallas - 6:30 central on Direct Kick
New York v New England - 6:30 central on FSC & FSE
Kansas City v Salt Lake - 7:00 central on Direct Kick
Chivas USA v Columbus - 9:30 central on HDNet
-Sun Jul 15
Houston v Toronto - 7:30 central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Match Previews for tonight's game:
Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times.
Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Houston has not allowed a goal in 515 minutes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some good stuff here from the Houston Chronicle - a video of Houston Dynamo fans asking questions, and then the teams players answering them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle with an article singing the praises of players already in MLS, like DDR, over the new designated players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several media outlets have quoted Galaxy maestro Alexi Lalas as saying the team has already sold over 250,000 new Galaxy shirts. The new shirt was released yesterday. I refuse to believe this is true. They may have made and shipped that many to stores and online sellers. But sold to the public, no chance.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Rogers of Soccer 365 does a Q & A with Alexi Lalas. Good timing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald News on his Soccer By Ives blog took in the New York Red Bulls practice session today has several chunks of info & opinionation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas center back Adrian Serioux looks ready to play his first league minutes of the season. He is recovering from off-season knee surgery. He played in both legs of the just completed Rio Grande Plate.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ivan Orozco of the LA Daily News looks at what the Beckham arrival might mean for neighbors Chivas USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the KC Star says forward Eddie Johnson is back in Kansas City and ready to rock 'n' roll.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RSL coach Jason Kreis took the odd step this week of sending a letter to the Utah media. Here is the letter, from the Deseret Morning News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret Mornings News with some Real Salt Lake news and notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Toronto Star & coach Mo Johnston grade TFC at the midway point of the regular season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord's MLS Rookie Of The Year Watch:
(alphabetical)
Andrew Boyens - Tor
Adam Cristman - NE - added by popular demand!
Maurice Edu - Tor
Robbie Findley - RSL
Ty Harden - LA
Michael Harrington - KC
Dominic Oduro - Dal - removed from list, cuz he is a 2nd year player, not first (thanks to all for the correction, its much appreciated)
Dane Richards - NY
-Should anyone be added or subtracted from this list?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ryan Hunt at Sports Illustrated with his weekly column - MLS Free Kicks
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times on the Goal blog talks to Pele about David Beckham and soccer in America & Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And the US Soccer Players Assoc has a Q & A with Pele.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Tacoma News Tribune has an update on MLS in Seattle prospects.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I wanted to toss out some completely frivolous non-football David Beckhamist things. Here is one on him and Vicki from Style.com. Oh, its fluffy alright. (thanks to Peteo for sending me this)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Starting tomorrow and leading up to the MLS All-Star game next Thursday, the league is holding their first U17 tournament at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Denver. 11 of the leagues clubs are sending teams to play for this first title (Colorado Rapids being the hosts will field 2 teams to make it 12 teams). Great idea. The event is being run by the leagues marketing entity SUM.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rio Grande Plate
-International Friendly
FC Dallas 0-1 UANL Tigres - Tigres win the Plate for the first time on a 3-0 aggregate score.
Match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
-Brazilian Denilson was on hand at the game. He is in Dallas talking to them about possibly signing with the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup
Third Round matches:
-Mon Jul 9
FC Dallas 1-1 Atlanta Silverbacks - FCD win 4-3 on PK's after extra time. Dal goal by Carlos Ruiz. Atl goal by Dan Antoniuk.
-Tue Jul 10
Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-4 New England Revolution Roch goals both by Hamed Diallo. NE goals by Steve Ralston(2) & Taylor Twellman(2).
Richmond Kickers 1-0 Los Angeles Galaxy Rich goal by David Bulow.
Charleston Battery 1-0 Houston Dynamo In extra time. Char goal by Stephen Armstrong(PK).
Colorado Rapids 3-1 California Victory Colo goals by Jose Cancela, Herculez Gomez & Omar Cummings. Cali goal by Juan Epitie.
-Wed Jul 11
Harrisburg City Islanders 1-0 DC United Goal by Steve Fisher.
Match report from the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal
Match report from the Harrisburg Patriot News
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report from the Carlisle Sentinel.
Player ratings by Goff at Soccer Insider.
-Sun Jul 15
Carolina Railhawks v Chicago Fire
-Wed Jul 18
Seattle Sounders v CD Chivas USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bill Urban at the US Soccer Players Assoc with some ideas on how we can "save" the US Open Cup. I used the word "save" because if we aren't careful we just might have to do that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 12
Seattle v Vancouver
-Fri Jul 13
Carolina v Montreal
Puerto Rico v Charleston
Portland v California
-Sat Jul 14
Atlanta v Rochester
Vancouver v Miami
-Sun Jul 15
Puerto Rico v Charleston
Minnesota v Montreal
Portland v California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1D Standings:
27 Vancouver
27 Rochester
25 Seattle
24 Portland
24 Montreal
22 Atlanta
20 Charleston
19 Carolina
17 Miami
16 Puerto Rico
11 Minnesota
11 California
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The US Soccer site is now available in Espanol! Muy muy caliente!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U20 World Cup
Knock out matches - Round of 16:
-Wed Jul 11
USA 2-1 Uruguay - Extra Time - Uru goal by Luis Suarez. USA goals from a Uruguay own goal & Michael Bradley.
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report from FIFA.
Match report by Doug McIntyre at Soccernet.
Match report by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report by Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America.
Match report from the Canadian National Post.
Match report from Top Drawer Soccer.
Match report from the Toronto Sun.
Post-game quotes by USA coaches & players from US Soccer.
Austria 2-1 Gambia
Spain 4-2 Brazil - Extra Time
Japan 2-2 Czech Republic - CR win 4-3 on Penalty Kicks after Extra Time.
-Thu Jul 12
Chile v Portugal
Zambia v Nigeria
Argentina v Poland
Mexico v Congo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Post-game video from US Soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Match photos from US Soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We did not get any advance warning that USA keeper Chris Seitz would not play. He did seem to be injured last in the match v Brazil last week, but US Soccer kept the news under wraps until we saw Brian Perk walk on to the field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the match a couple of the Uruguay players rushed the celebrating Americans and a shoving/shouting match started. It did not look like anything serious went down, so lets hope none of our boys is punished. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they were.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jozy Altidore left the match in the 51st minute after a serious kick to the back of his calf left him hobbling around and unable to run. He is listed now as day to day.
-Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer talks to Altidore after the game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Toronto Star with an article on Freddy Adu's leadership of the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Celtic of Glasgow are said to be the first team in line to make a bid for Freddy Adu. (They are also supposedly interested in John Wolyniec of all people.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
-Group stage matches:
-Sat Jul 7
Thailand 1-1 Iraq
-Sun Jul 8
Australia 1-1 Oman
Vietnam 2-0 UAE
-Mon Jul 9
Japan 1-1 Qatar
-Tue Jul 10
Indonesia 2-1 Bahrain
Malaysia 1-5 China
-Wed Jul 11
Iran 2-1 Uzbekistan
S Korea v Saudi Arabia
-Thu Jul 12
Oman 0-2 Thailand
Qatar 1-1 Vietnam
-Fri Jul 13
Iraq v Australia
UAE v Japan
-Sat Jul 14
Uzbekistan v Malaysia
Saudi Arabia v Indonesia
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The great Fulham defender Moritz Volz goes gaga for Wimbledon in his newest journal entry.
-And I missed this last week, but Volz, writing for the Times of London, goes to Lords in Marylebone for cricket!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wow! The first qualifying round of the 2008 Champions League starts next Tuesday. It's always fun to see if you know ANY of the teams on this list. And then there are the great names: BATE, Zeta, Elfsborg, Pyunik, Sheriff & Gbskno.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Liverpool has signed Dutch striker Ryan Babel from Ajax.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early reports said Mexican youngster Andres Guardado was going to leave Atlas and sign with PSV. Turns out the club he is joining is instead Deportivo La Coruna in Spain. Even better move.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally today, some folks in Brazil are doing an about-face and are trying to make baseball popular in their country. From the International Herald Tribune.

Aerodynamic Chav News

Can things get worse for the LA Galaxy before David Beckham arrives? Why yes they can, last night in the Open Cup they were beaten by Second Division team Richmond Kickers 1-0! (First Division team Charleston Battery also knocked off MLS champs Houston Dynamo 1-0.) J Hutcherson of the US Soccer Players Assoc had this comment to make about LA: It's odd watching a team in obvious transition. The Galaxy don't play as a unit. Half the team operates as if they have no clue what to expect, and this didn't suddenly happen - the result of too many trades and an off night in Virginia. An absurd way to play professional soccer. A team that couldn't even pull it together for the fifteen minutes they needed to put away a second division USL club.

~and~

David Beckham on the cover of Sports Illustrated wearing the new LA Galaxy uniform. Here is another pic of the dark blue shirt. You can see the new team logo, which is just awfully lame isn't it. Front Dark. Front White. (all stolen from the mighty bigsoccer.com)

Copa America: Semifinals:
Tue Jul 10
Brazil 2-2 Uruguay - Brazil wins 5-4 on PK's. Bra goals by Maicon & Julio Baptista. Uru goals by Diego Forlan & Sebastian Abreu.
Wed Jul 11
Mexico v Argentina - live at 7:30 central on GolTV & Univision.
-The Final will be live on Sun Jul 15 at 4:00 central on GolTV & Univision.
-There is a third place game, but no one cares.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS matches & scores this week:
Thu Jul 12
Chicago v Houston - 8:00 central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today's hot MLS transfer rumor has KC forward Eddie Johnson going to Derby County in the Premiership for big bucks. But Steven Goff of the Washington Post says on his Soccer Insider blog that the deal is off. And he is the man.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monday night on Glenn Davis's radio show in Houston guest Shep Messing who does commentary for New York Red Bulls games made an outrageous statement. He declared that "you can take this to the bank", MLS will not have 16 teams in 2010, they will have 20 teams! The new teams will be in Seattle, Atlanta, San Diego, New York-Queens, Philadephia, Oakland & Vancouver. But I gotta step in here and call Shep on this mess. OK, there might be people with some money who want to do this, but there is no way the league is gonna go and get this nuts right now. They are setting things in place to be stable for the long run. This is the most NASL idea I have heard yet. The #1 issue to stop this from happening is - where will the players come from. I don't think we have enough quality players to fill out 3 more teams by 2010. And by the way MLS Commish Don Garber has said himself on more than one occasion that we may be looking at 2011 for the 16. Come on Shep, this is nonsense and you know it. I am not going to be taking it to the bank, cuz I don't want it to bounce.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Today on new Chicago manager Juan Carlos Osorio.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune checks in on the Chicago Fire days into the new coaches reign. They can still make a push for the playoffs. Easily.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arroyave on his Red Card blog says the Fire have forgotten about Marcelo Salas, who already has forgotten about the Fire.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News wonders how FC Dallas can attract Mexican fans. But the team holds fast to the stand that they will not sign a big name Mexican player for the sake of it. It has to be the right guy, where ever he is from.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes that FCD have sign 19 year old Brazilian Ricardinho on loan from Paranaense, and he will probably play tonight in the Rio Grande Plate.
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The second leg of the Rio Grande Plate is tonight in Dallas as FDC take on UANL Tigres, who hold a 2-0 goal lead from the first leg.
-Dallas's home Pizza Hut Park is also being used by Tigres, and fellow Mexican top flight team San Luis as a base for some of their pre-season training.
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The Toronto Sun with an article pointing out how much MLS has helped USA soccer grow.
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The Toronto Star with an article on TFC's attitude on training during a long stretch of road games, and the push to win their first ever game on the away from home.
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The LA Times with a story on the two Cuban players who defected last month during the Gold Cup, Osvaldo Alonso & Lester More, and are now training with Chivas USA in hopes of getting a deal in MLS.
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Ivan Orozco of the LA Daily News with a similar story on the 2 Cuban players.
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Pete Gratoff of the KC Star looks at what the new MLS stadiums have done for the area surrounding them.
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LA Soccer News has a Q & A with Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
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Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune looks at the revolving door of players at the LA Galaxy. You certainly can't win that way, just ask New England and Houston. Or better yet New York.
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George Tanner on the FC Rocky blog previews the Celtic midfielders featuring Thomas Graveson.
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Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated has a cover story this week on Beckham.
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There is a new ESPN spot for Beckham's first Galaxy game, which is Jul 21 v Chelsea. (thanks to Alex for sending this to us)
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AP talks to Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho and some players about the match v the Galaxy and Beckham.
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The Guardian talk to Vinnie Jones who has some advice for Beckham in LA.
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Reuters talks to US Soccer Pres Sunil Gulati about the David Beckham effect. (thanks to Adam for this one)
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Jeff Bradley at MLSnet with his weekly column First XI: Heat-Induced Memories
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This one has nearly snuck up on me, but the Kansas City Wizards are coming to my town next Tuesday, July 17, to play my Thunder in a friendly. Ok.
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US Open Cup Third Round matches this week!
-Mon Jul 9
FC Dallas 1-1 Atlanta Silverbacks - FCD win 4-3 on PK's after extra time. Dal goal by Carlos Ruiz. Atl goal by Dan Antoniuk.
-Tue Jul 10
Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-4 New England Revolution Roch goals both by Hamed Diallo. NE goals by Steve Ralston(2) & Taylor Twellman(2).
Match report from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report from the MetroWest Daily News.
Richmond Kickers 1-0 Los Angeles Galaxy Rich goal by David Bulow.
Match report from the Richmond Times Dispatch.
Charleston Battery 1-0 Houston Dynamo In extra time. Char goal by Stephen Armstrong(PK).
Match report from the Charleston Post & Courier.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Colorado Rapids 3-1 California Victory Colo goals by Jose Cancela, Herculez Gomez & Omar Cummings. Cali goal by Juan Epitie.
Match report from the Denver Post.
Match report from the Rocky Mountain News.
-Wed Jul 11
Harrisburg City Islanders v DC United
-Sun Jul 15
Carolina Railhawks v Chicago Fire
-Wed Jul 18
Seattle Sounders v CD Chivas USA
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The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal with a preview of Harrisburg v DC.
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Reuters is reporting that US Soccer is searching for a Technical Director to add strength to the overall set up. Sunil Gulati told the reporter that he wants to hire a "Latin" person for that job. I have no problem with hiring a Latino, but why would you limit yourself like that? Why make up rules ahead of time and then have to live within them?
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The St Louis Dispatch with a story on their hometown boy Mike Sorber who once played for Team USA and now is an assistant coach of that team under Bob Bradley. (thanks to Randy for the story)
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U20 World Cup
Knock out round matches -Round of 16:
-Wed Jul 11
USA v Uruguay - live at 6:45 central on ESPNU & Galavision.
Austria v Gambia
Spain v Brazil
Japan v Czech Republic
-Thu Jul 12
Chile v Portugal
Zambia v Nigeria
Argentina v Poland
Mexico v Congo
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US Soccer with pre-game detailed notes on the match.
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US Soccer's Studio 90 video show with a new episode today featuring an interview with Danny Szetela and others. (click on July 11 2007)
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Jack Bell of the New York Times with an article on USA keeper Chris Seitz. He has played fantastic so far in this tournament.
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Canada's National Post with an article on USA forward Jozy Altidore.
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FC Dallas Updates gets an email update from their first year defender Anthony Wallace who is on team USA.
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Soccernet previews tonight's USA v Uruguay game.
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Ken Pendleton of the US Soccer Players Assoc wonders why Freddy Adu's accomplishments are going unloved during this U20WC. Probably cuz the mainstream media does not want to invest time on him like they did 3 years ago and get no return for their buck. They are wrong, but I think that is the reason.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer will be in Toronto tonight for the USA game, and he loves the city. He writes about his Top 10 soccer experiences in that city.
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FIFA.com with an article on the American attackers.
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John Smallwood (what a name) of the Philadelphia Daily News is taking a real shine to this Adu kid.
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USA U20 team blog.
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Mike Mullen with a killer piece on the 4 African countries in the U20WC knock out rounds - Congo, Gambia, Nigeria, Zambia. This is from his Needle In The Hay blog. (thanks Mike)
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Official FIFA U20 World Cup site.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times declares that Mexico is #1 in CONCACAF not the USA. He is basing this on Copa America results.
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Our good friend BQ has joined the team of writers that adore Fulham at the great blog Craven Cottage Newsround. (The same chaps who brought us the great Fulham Review book featuring yours truly - see upper right for details.) This is excellent news for all us Americans who follow our boys McBride, Bocanegra & Dempsey as they battle the evil overlords of the Premiership.
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The Asian Cup - Here are the group stage matches:
Sat Jul 7
Thailand 1-1 Iraq
Sun Jul 8
Australia 1-1 Oman
Vietnam 2-0 UAE
Mon Jul 9
Japan 1-1 Qatar
Tue Jul 10
Indonesia 2-1 Bahrain
Malaysia 1-5 China
Wed Jul 11
Iran 2-1 Uzbekistan
S Korea 1-1 Saudi Arabia
Thu Jul 12
Oman v Thailand
Qatar v Vietnam
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says Australia got a bit of a rude awakening in their first match of their first Asian Cup.
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Can you believe this - the Ukranian league starts their season this weekend. Last night in the kick off match, the Ukrainian Supercup, Dynamo Kiev beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-2 on penalties after regulation ended tied 2-2.
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Barcelona have gotten their hands on a really good center back by signing Gabi Milito from Real Zaragoza.
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The Sacramento Bee with an article on Chelsea's "business" plans in America.
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From Vanity Fair, of all places, come a story on the Ivory Coast, Cote d'Ivoire, the World Cup, Didier Drogba their hero-son, and war and peace. Excellent. (thanks again Adam)
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Party party party for the players of Chile at the Copa America. Unfortunately they partied BEFORE their match v Brazil and got beat 6-1. Six players from the team have been suspended by their federation for 20 games. You read that right, 20! The story says the got drunk, stayed out all night and came back to trash their hotel lobby! Yowser!
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Before we go today, let's check in on the standings in Russian Premier League after 15 of 30 rounds:
27 Zenit St Petersburg
26 Spartak Moscow
22 Dinamo Moscow
22 PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov
22 CSKA Moscow