Childlike News

USA & LA star Landon Donovan to Sky Sports News: "The older I get and the more I play, the more I'm yearning for that highest level I can play at and I think the Premiership would be the best place the play. At the moment I'm happy here, at least for the next few years with Dave here. I want to be a part of this too. Not many people get to be a part of this, so I want to live it." I LOVE that he calls David Beckham "Dave". (link to story below)

~and~

The folks who run Lambeau Field in Green Bay are looking to meet with US Soccer about hosting a USA match at the hallowed home of the Packers! From the Green Bay Press Gazette.


SuperLiga - MLS v FMF - Let's hope these next 4 games are as good as the first batch were.
-See all the matches En Vivo on TeleFutura.
You can also see all the matches live online at the website linked above. (thanks to everyone who gave me the heads up on that one)
Round 1 matches & scores:
FC Dallas 1-1 Chivas Guadalajara - Dal goal by Arturo Alvarez. Guad goal by Antonio Olvera.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Pachuca - LA goals by Alan Gordon & Landon Donovan. Pach goal by Rafael Marquez.
DC United 1-1 Morelia Monarchas - DC goal by Christian Gomez. Mor goal by Diego Martinez.
Houston 1-0 Club America - Hou goal by Nate Jaqua.
Round 2 matches:
-Sat Jul 28
FC Dallas v Pachuca - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas, 7:00 central
Los Angeles Galaxy v Chivas Guadalajara - The Coliseum, Los Angeles CA - 9:00 central
Sun Jul 29
DC United v Club America - RFK Stadium - Washington DC - 7:00 central
Houston Dynamo v Monarcas Morelia - Robertson Stadium - Houston TX - 9:00 central
-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
3-Houston Dynamo
1-DC United
1-Morelia Monarcas
0-Club America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Don't expect to see David Beckham on the field for LA on Saturday v Guadalajara. I am not giving out a definite NO, but it does not look good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This fall DC United will get a shot in another South American cup tournament - Sud Americana. In the first round they were drawn against Mexican team Guadalajara Chivas. The home leg is September 26 at RFK & the second leg on October 2 at Estadio Jalisco.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores this week:
-Thu Jul 26
New York 0-2 Chivas USA - Goals by Ante Razov & Sacha Kljestan.
Match report from MLSnet.
Match report by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report by Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger.
Match report by Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Match report by Jane Havsy of the Bergin Daily Record.
-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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My match notes from NYRB v CUSA:
-Chivas USA's Ante Razov scored his 104th MLS goal last night. That puts him third on the list and only 4 behind the two all time leaders, Jason Kreis (retired earlier this year from Real Salt Lake to coach the team) & Jaime Moreno of DC United.
-That was also the first time Chivas USA has ever beaten New York!
-Claudio Reyna is still yet to add anything concrete to his new team on the field. That makes him vastly overpaid right now.
-During the team introductions on ESPN two Chivas players gave themselves nicknames - Sacha Kljestan called himself "Hollywood", and Lawson Vaughn called himself "The Law". It was pretty funny.
-The kid who won the reality show contest to get a contract with Chivas actually traveled with the team to New York and was on the game day roster. I think that is kind of amazing.
-New York's best defender Carlos Mendes did not play cuz he had the flu.
-NY keeper John Conway totally botched the second goal. Kljestan hit it hard but right at Conway's feet, but the ball smacked off his hands and into the net. Terrible goal keeping.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune is reporting on his Red Card blog that the Chicago Fire deal to sign Costa Rican forward Paulo Wanchope is now a DONE DEAL. He will not play this weekend, but expect it to be the following weekend, Aug 4 at home v Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KC's big time goals scorer Eddie Johnson is now being pursued by English club Blackburn. Will he be able to resist this one?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another Zinedine Zidane to LA rumor popped up again today. No way to know how real it is.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Italian website Calciomercato says MLS teams have made new overtures to Milan about the availability of Ronaldo. They also say Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder Edmilson is in the same spot. Interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sky sports News says LA's Landon Donovan is interested in a move to the EPL. Seriously.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at Soccer 365 talks to LA forward Alan Gordon about his return to the field after a long injury layoff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep at Soccernet writes more about the ongoing Freddy Adu transfer possibilities.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Sun with a story on the ugly injury pileup at TFC. Added Ronnie O'Brien and Marvell Wynne to the heap.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

How long will it be before Columbus midfielder Danny Szetela joins U20 teammate Sal Zizzo in Europe? Not long I think. Like Zizzo, Szetela has a "Z" in his last name, and has a EU Passport - Zizzo from Italy & Szetela from Poland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

icScotland with an article about Houston midfielder Stuart Holden, who if he continues to play the way he has will soon be deciding if he wants to play for Scotland or the USA. He is a citizen of both countries.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Biglin of MetroWest Daily News on the New England Rev's search for a big name big buck player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dellapa of the Boston Globe checks in on New England's mid-season progress as the league rolls on, and basically the same story about big names coming to the Rev's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Meyer of the Denver Post gets more quotes from Kyle Beckerman who is not pleased with being traded to Salt Lake, although he accepts it and will do his best for his new team. Plus, Colorado manager Fernando Clavijo makes some really stupid comments about Beckerman being the heart and soul of the team etc. Then why did you trade him????
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the KC Star with an article on Kansas City defender Jack Jewsbury who has been converted from a midfielder. So how's that going?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer 365 has a Q & A with former MLS keeper Mike Ammann.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inside Bay Area with a story on the return of the San Jose Earthquakes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sacramento Bee says that Lew Wolff should bring his new Earthquakes team a little further north to the state capital instead of the Bay Area.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Las Vegas Sun says Paul Caligiuri & Co. are still pushing forward with ideas to make an MLS team in the Atomic City a reality.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Post says that stadium talk in DC is starting to make some people hot under the collar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sports Illustrated talks to a lesser known English player who was in the old NASL for several years. His name is Tony Whelan and is now a youth coach for Manchester United. What does he think of soccer in America today? He also talks about the rough road England faces with developing great new talents right now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Major League Soccer Magazine
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some dude named Will Leitch hates David Beckham and the New York Times gave him space on their opinion page to say as much. What load of crap that is.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord's MLS Rookie Of The Year Watch:
1. Maurice Edu - Tor
2. Dane Richards - NY
3. Adam Cristman - NE
4. Michael Harrington - KC
5. Ty Harden - LA
-As of right now this one is a no-brainer. It's clearly Edu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS International Friendly's
Matches& Scores this week:
Sat Jul 28
Columbus v Aston Villa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & scores this week:
Thu Jul 26
Minnesota 1-2 California
Portland 0-0 Atlanta
Fri Jul 27
Vancouver v Seattle - live at 10pm central on FSC
Sat Jul 28
Carolina v Miami
Rochester v Minnesota
California v Puerto Rico
Tue Jul 31
Charleston v Miami
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

There is still no new word on where USA defender Oguchi Onyewu may land for this season. Odds get stronger everyday that he will be back in Belgium at Standard Liege. Sheffield United were the latest to show interest, but apparently made quite a low offer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent of London talks to American forward Brian McBride about the upcoming season at Fulham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent of Ireland with a story on young forward American Ryan Guy, who passed up a chance to play for Dallas to try his luck overseas. Not exactly a top notch league, but he thinks that if he plays well, he will move up the food chain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters have a story from Chivas owner Jorge Vergara saying he believes there is a strong disagreement between some players on the Mexican national team and coach Hugo Sanchez.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chicago Trophy
-The game will be played at Soldier Field, and feature 4 international club teams who are in their pre-season.
(both days are double header games):
-Fri Jul 27
Reggina v Wisla
Sevilla v Toluca
-Sun Jul 29
Reggina v Toluca
Sevilla v Wisla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

German preseason Liga Pokal
-Final:
Sat Jul 28
Schalke v Bayern Munich - 11am central on GolTV.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
Final:
-Sun Jul 29
Iraq v Saudi Arabia - 7:30am central time on Setanta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune wonders what will happen in Iraq on Sunday after their countries big match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Klein at the New York Times blog Goal with another good story on the Iraqi team. Includes a very interesting editorial cartoon from a Baghdad newspaper.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Terry has signed a 5 year contract extension with Chelsea.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Looks like Roque Santa Cruz may be leaving Bayern Munich.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Moritz Volz, the great writer/footballer from Fulham has the latest entry to his "diary". Excellent as always.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally today, the Columbus Dispatch has a Q & A with Randy Lerner who owns the Cleveland Browns NFL team and Aston Villa of the English Premiership.

Nobody's Home For Supper News

Here is the full transcript of the interview USA manager Bob Bradley did with Jack Bell of the New York Times.

~and~

Our good friend Demko spoke with former US International player Tony Sanneh about his joining up with the Minnesota Thunder, and where he hopes it will lead to. From the Balls blog at City Pages.


SuperLiga - MLS v FMF - More absolutely phenomenal play in the 3rd & 4th matches! WOW!
-See all the matches En Vivo on TeleFutura.
Round 1 matches & scores:
FC Dallas 1-1 Chivas Guadalajara - Dal goal by Arturo Alvarez. Guad goal by Antonio Olvera.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Pachuca - LA goals by Alan Gordon & Landon Donovan. Pach goal by Rafael Marquez.
-Wed Jul 25
DC United 1-1 Monarcas Morelia - DC goal by Christian Gomez. Mor goal by Diego Martinez.
My match notes:
-Both Emilio & Fred missed perfect chances to score into an open net for DC.
-DC's Gomez hit one hell of a curling free kick to open the scoring. The best camera angle was from behind the goal. Beautiful.
-Luis Landin of Morelia played great last spring for Pachuca in the Champions Cup v Houston. He was sold to Morelia this summer.
-But Landin's only real mark on the game was getting red carded in the second half. Like Drew Moor of Dallas the night before, he was ejected for retaliating to an ugly foul - Bobby Boswell kicked him really really hard and got a yellow card, but Landin came up with both guns blazing and the ref standing right there. Adios Muchacho.
-You just knew watching this one that even with 10 men Morelia were going to get the tying goal. And they did with a powerful blast from the right side of the box by Diego Martinez who shot a laser beam to the back post.
-Throughout most of the game DC's Josh Gros had the touch of a hoofed animal.
Match report from SuperLiga.com.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report from the Washington Times.
Post-game notes from Goff on his Soccer Insider blog.
Houston 1-0 Club America - Hou goal by Nate Jaqua.
My match notes:
-A roughly played game by both teams, but mostly fair.
-For such a powerful looking guy, America's Salvidor Cabanas gets knocked down by a stiff breeze.
-Houston's Stuart Holden had a tremendous cross in to the box for Nate Jaqua to tap in for the games only goal.
-Throughout most of the game Jaqua had the heading ability of a horned animal.
-DDR's touch was off too.
-America's #7, Castroman, wore the tightest, nastiest shorts I have ever seen on a soccer field. They looked like he was wet down and they were pasted on. Oof.
-America's Davino played the same role as Reynoso of Chivas the night before - Cheap Shot Extraordinaire. The whacks he put on Joseph Ngwenya only got him yellow carded in second half stoppage time. What a goon.
-The referee didn't make either team stand more than 7 or 8 yards back on any free kicks. It was kinda weird.
-The last 20 minutes Houston put on a defensive clinic. They defended with all 10 field players covering every inch of the pitch. It was impressive and stifled America completely when you would have thought they would be pouring on the offensive pressure at that point.
Match report from SuperLiga.com.
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game notes by Fallas.
Even more post-game notes by Fallas at the Soccer y Futbal blog.
-Round 2 matches:
Sat Jul 28
FC Dallas v Pachuca - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas, 7:00 central
Los Angeles Galaxy v Chivas Guadalajara - The Coliseum, Los Angeles CA - 9:00 central
Sun Jul 29
DC United v Club America - RFK Stadium - Washington DC - 7:00 central
Houston Dynamo v Monarcas Morelia - Roberston Stadium - Houston TX - 9:00 central
-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
3-Houston Dynamo
1-DC United
1-Morelia Monarcas
0-Club America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beau Dure of USA Today with his take on SuperLiga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America likes what he has seen so far in the SuperLiga action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle loves SuperLiga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle at Soccernet previews tonight's Chivas USA v New York Red Bulls match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The man with only the very best insider scoop Grant Wahl is back with more on that miracle Iraqi squad, Freddy Adu's transfer and more more more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ivan Orozco of the Daily Breeze reports that Chivas USA is NOT chasing Juan Sebastian Veron down in Argentina. So does this mean CUSA and DC United were never pursuing him? I suspect they were and probably still are, but he has a high price tag which will make it difficult. I don't think this story is over. Chivas could really use this kind of injection though.
-Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider has a transcript of a very guarded conversation with DC United Pres Kevin Payne.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a rumor hopping around that says Toronto midfielder Carl Robinson may want to go back to Wolverhampton when this MLS season is over.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto coach Mo Johnston has said that goalkeeper Greg Sutton may not return this season after suffering a serious concussion during the Gold Cup. I really hate to hear about head injuries. Let's hope it gets well soon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer looks at the New York forward situation. They have 3 healthy and capable players for two spots - Angel, Wolyniec & Altidore. So who sits out? I would bet on it being Altidore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald with a story similar to Lewis's, about the Red Bulls choices to start tonight's game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Columbus Alive chats with Crew forward Alejadro Moreno.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Online magazine MetroActive with an article from San Jose on the return of the Earthquakes. This is a really good man on the street type story. None of the boring journalism that gets in the way of fandom! Hahahaha.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin McGeehan at the US Soccer Players Assoc tells DC United to stop dicking around and get hardcore about a stadium deal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer New England tries to figure out why the Revolution are one of only 2 MLS teams without a Youth Development program yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord's MLS Coaching Hot Seat - it is burning hot warm!
1. Fernando Clavijo - Colorado
2. Frank Yallop - LA
3. Jason Kries - Salt Lake
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord's MLS Team Of The Moment - Who has been tearing it up in the past few days or week.
F:
Eddie Johnson
Joseph Ngwenya
M:
Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Andy Dorman
Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Shalrie Joseph
D:
Abel Xavier
Chad Marshall
Wade Barrett
Craig Waibel
G:
Ray Burse
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS International Friendly's
Matches& Scores this week:
Wed Jul 25
Chicago v Santos Laguna - Canceled
-According to the local newspaper, The Monitor: a torrential downpour that lasted several hours and turned the Coyote Stadium field into a small deserted island.
Toronto 2-4 Aston Villa
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Match report by Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star.
Match report from Aston Villa's website.
Sat Jul 28
Columbus v Aston Villa
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the Chicago Fire v Celtic match on Sunday the Section 8 supporters paid tribute to one of their comrades who was killed last winter by a hit and run driver. His name is Dan Parry. Not only was he a huge Chicago fan, but also a Celtic supporter. So this game made perfect sense to pay tribute to him. Another fan named Joel sent me a note with a sampling of how they honored Dan last Sunday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview:
-We were able to get Dan's family out to the match from Erie PA.
-We got a beautiful banner made to hang above the supporters section.
-S8C made a Fire/Celtic Dan Parry Commemorative Scarf a portion of the proceeds of which went to Fire Works For Kids. These scarves sold out completely on match day. A raving success.
-A Memorial Stadium Brick was made in his name. The cost of which went straight to FWFK. His family and friends held a gathering after the match to visit the brick, it was very touching.
-We were able to get the Fire front office to agree to playing You'll Never Walk Alone in place of the MLS anthem at the start of the match. Section 8 sang it and raised their commemorative scarves in Dan's honor.
-There was a memorial message on the electronic sideboards at the 55th minute.
-Section 8 observed a one minute Moment of Silence during said electronic message at the 55th minute. This was huge. It was all done by the fans, there was no PA announcement, just word of mouth in the lead up to the game. I was so impressed and proud of Section 8 for doing something so far from the normal routine and with such honest and good intentions. When the minute was up the section spontaneously went into another rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone. It was truly awesome.
All these things together made for a fine tribute to a helluva guy. The day meant so much to his family and friends and really served as an excellent opportunity to publicly honor him and to celebrate the bonds in our Fire fan and Section 8 community. Dan's family traveled from Erie and was able to see that their son had left a legacy in Chicago and in our Fire supporter family. That was just excellent. I think it gives everybody a very healthy way to move forward knowing that we did right by our bhoy.
What an awesome remembrance. Thanks to Dan G for telling me about his, and Joel for the details.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA defender Frank Simek has signed a new 3 year contract extension with Sheffield Wednesday in the English Championship Division.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & scores this week:
Thu Jul 26
Minnesota v California
Portland v Atlanta
Fri Jul 27
Vancouver v Seattle - live at 10pm central on FSC
Sat Jul 28
Carolina v Miami
Rochester v Minnesota
California v Puerto Rico
Tue Jul 31
Charleston v Miami
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

The Oregonian with the story of how the Portland Timber front office and their main supporters section Timbers Army have kissed and made up after a year plus of agitation from both sides. Portland take on English Championship Division team Preston North End on Saturday night. (thanks to Brian for sending me this.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

icLiverpool talk with Alexi Lalas about USA & Everton keeper Tim Howard. I guess Lalas will now talk to anyone about anything.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A new summer exhibition tournament kicks off this weekend in Chicago. It's called the Chicago Trophy. The game will be played at Soldier Field, and feature 4 international club teams who are in their pre-season. The teams are Sevilla from Spain, Toluca from Mexico, Wilsa Krakow from Poland and Reggina from Italy. I think it's pretty cool. But why are they not playing this thing in Bridgeview (stupid people in charge probably).
Schedule (both days are double header games):
-Fri Jul 27
Reggina v Wisla
Sevilla v Toluca
-Sun Jul 29
Reggina v Toluca
Sevilla v Wisla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talks to Sevilla coach Juande Ramos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

German preseason Liga Pokal
-Semifinals:
Nurmberg 2-4 Schalke
Bayern Munich 2-0 Stuttgart
-Final:
Sat Jul 28
Schalke v Bayern Munich - in Leipzig
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian Cup
Final:
-Sun Jul 29
Iraq v Saudi Arabia - 7:30am central time on Setanta.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times with a story on the joy of the people of Iraq as their team goes to the Asian Cup Final. Then the assholes bent on destroying everything set off car bombs amongst the celebrators. Cowards. Some fantastic pictures too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Russian Premier League
-Standings after round 17 (of 30):
32 Spartak Moscow
30 FC Moscow
30 Zenit St Petersburg
26 Dinamo Moscow
25 CSKA Moscow
23 FK Rubin Kazan
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League - 1st Qualifying Round, aggregate scores, winners in bold:
Khazar Lenkoran 2-4 Dinamo Zagreb
APOEL 2-3 BATE Borisov
Olimpi Rustavi 0-3 Astana
Zeta 5-4 Kaunas
Murata 1-4 Tampere United
Linfield 0-1 Elfsborg
TNS 4-4 Ventspils - Vents advance on away goals tie breaker
Marsaxlokk 1-9 Sarajevo
Sheriff 5-0 Ranger's
Hafnarfjordur 4-1 Torshavn
Domzale 3-1 Tirana
Pobeda 0-1 Levadia Tallinn
Derry 0-2 Pyunik
Dudelange 5-7 Zilina
-The 2nd Qaulifying Round takes place on Jul 1 & Aug 8. Here are those match ups:
Pyunick v Shakhtar Donetsk
Crvena Zvezda v Levadia Tallinn
Rangers v Zeta
Debrecini v Elfsborg
Zaglebie Lubin v Steau Bucuresti
Genk v Sarajevo
Ventspils v Salzburg
Astana v Rosenborg
Hafnarfjordur v BATE Borisov
Kobenhavn v Beitar Jerusalem
Zilina v Slavia Praha
Tampere United v Levski Sofia
Domzale v Dinamo Zagreb
Besiktas v Sheriff
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Benfica & Portugal star winger Simao has transfered to Atletico Madrid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Getafe has signed excellent Boca Juniors defender Daniel Diaz.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inter Milan has signed Roma defender Cristian "The Masked Man" Chivu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com with a story on long time Argentine defender Roberto Ayala who has announced his retirement from the international game. His new club team, Zaragoza, is happy to hear that I'm sure.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Just a heads up that the U17 World Cup is headed our way in late August from South Korea. The USA will play their first match on Aug 20 v Tajikistan. Belgium & Tunisia are also in their Group E.

A Call For More Coolness

Hey
I wanted to put up a special post for a cool project.
Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer is starting what he calls The Diary Project.
He is looking for your stories and photos of the beautiful game.
Small stories, one liners, big stories. Wild pics, sane pics, gorgeous pics, odd pics.
From anywhere in the world.
Read more about it at the link above and start sending the goods.
This could be really cool.
My brain is starting to turn with ideas.

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.
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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.
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DC United won the first every MLS U17 Cup.
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Seattle beat Chivas USA 3-1 in the US Open Cup.
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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.
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Brazil stunned Argentina 3-0 to win Copa America
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The USA U20 team was bounced 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the U20 World Cup by Austria.
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The fabled Mexican U20 team was beaten in the quarterfinals too. By Argentina 1-0.
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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