Questionsable News

Sorry about this, but I don't have time to go real deep today like I would prefer to do. So here is the most obvious stuff. Lot's more tomorrow. I promise.


SuperLiga is back this week with Semifinals on Tuesday & Wednesday. Champions League 3rd Round Qualifiers start too. And next week we get the U17 World Cup & the Sweden v USA game!


MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 9
DC 1-0 LA - Goal by Luciano Emilio
-Sat Aug 11
Dallas 3-2 Columbus - Dal goals by Arturo Alvarez, Carlos Ruiz & Clarence Goodson. Col goals by Marcos Gonzalez & Andy Herron(PK).
Match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Match report by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Colorado 1-0 Houston - Goal by Dwayne De Rosario(Own Goal).
Match report from the Denver Post.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Post-game notes by George Tanner of FC Rocky from the Rocky Mountain News.
-Sun Aug 12
New York 3-0 Toronto - Goals by Juan Pablo Angel & Jozy Altidore(2).
Match report by Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald.
Match report by Dylan Butler of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report by Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
New England 1-0 LA - Goal by Taylor Twellman.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report by John Connolly of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
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The Boston Globe had several articles surrounding the New England v Los Angeles match yesterday, from pre-game to post-game. Most were about Beckman, but not all of 'em.
-Nicol's message: Give it a rest
-Revolution, LA status conscious
-New World man
-Rules of engagement
-Not just like old times
-Football seasoned
-For fans, something was amiss
-Beckham won't buzz off
The Boston Herald with several stories as well:
-Ex-rivals reinforce Revolution
-Spend it like Beckham: British star brings his currency -- if not ‘A’ game -- to America
-Fans kick back, enjoy game without star
And The MetroWest Daily News with a couple more:
-Not everyone thinks Beckham can popularize soccer
-Donovan plays second fiddle
-Bench it like Beckham
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Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News writes about Columbus's natural born leader take the team up the table - Guische - Guillermo Barros Schelotto. (posted before Saturdays match)
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Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram says that Dallas is looking for their captain Carlos Ruiz to step up and lead them to the big time. (posted before Saturdays match)
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My newest podcast obsession comes from AYL Soccer. It's a bunch of great fans blabbing on & on about their team - Real Salt Lake. Hosted by (from what I can tell) people named Chris, Scott, Jeremy, Eric, Kali & maybe some others who are giving it their all.
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SuperLiga - MLS v FMF - The Semi's pit 3 MLS v 1 FMF.
-Semifinals
-Tue Aug 14
Houston Dynamo v Pachuca Tuzos - at Robertson Stadium at 9pm central
-Wed Aug 15
Los Angeles Galaxy v DC United - at HOme Depot Center at 9pm central
-Final Wed Aug 29.
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USL First Division
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 9
Portland 0-0 Minnesota
-Fri Aug 10
Montreal 0-0 Miami
Rochester 2-0 Carolina
Atlanta 3-0 Puerto Rico
-Sat Aug 11
Charleston 1-0 California
Portland 0-0 Vancouver
Seattle 2-2 Minnesota
-Sun Aug 12
Rochester 2-0 Puerto Rico
Miami 1-3 Atlanta
Vancouver 1-1 Minnesota
-Tue Aug 14
Charleston v Carolina
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Right now my team, the Minnesota Thunder, are 11 points out of the last playoff spot. The have 7 games left to play (5 home & 2 away) or 21 points still up for grabs. They have drawn the last 4 games in a row, including three games on the road. Some would say its 4 points, but sadly I see it as 8 points lost.
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First Division Standings:
40 Portland
39 Seattle
36 Rochester
35 Atlanta
35 Montreal
31 Vancouver
30 Puerto Rico
29 Charleston
--Playoffs End Here--
28 Miami
22 Carolina
19 California
19 Minnesota
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PDL
-Final:
Michigan 0-0 Laredo - Laredo win it 4-3 on PK's. Congrats to the Heat.
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Let's check in with our favorite Americans in Europe and see how their weekend matches went:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - first game with his new team is tomorrow in the Champions League (see schedule below) and the first league game of the season is Aug 18 at Leixoes.
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - played 90 minutes on the left side of midfield as his team beat St Mirren 2-0.
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - went the full 90 at centerback in a big 2-6 win at Augsburg.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - played 90 at center back and was called for a penalty that equalized the game in a 2-1 loss at Arsenal.
-Nat Borchers - Odd Grenland - started and went the distance in a losing effort, 2-1 at Aalesunds.
-Michael Bradley - Heerenveen - first game is Aug 17 v Willem II
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - played 90 minutes in the center of defense as his team beat Aarhus 2-0.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - started as usual at right back and went 90 minutes in a losing effort 0-1 at home to Hamburg.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - did not dress for his teams 0-0 draw at Manchester United.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - play at Djurgardens today.
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - went the full 90 at center back as his teamed opened their season back in the Championship Division with a 1-2 win at Wolverhampton.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on at half time as his team lost it 2-1 late after carrying an early lead at Arsenal.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby County - did not dress for the match as his team opened their season back in the Premiership with a 2-2 draw at Portsmouth.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - went the whole match in goal as usual & the team won 1-2 over Middlesbrough.
-Cory Gibbs - Charlton - did not dress for his teams 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - was healthy enough to return to the line up and star in his teams 0-0 draw at Manchester United.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - did not dress as his team lost 1-3 at home to Arminia Bielefeld.
-Tim Howard - Everton - started the season in goal as always and won 2-1 over Wigan.
-Ian Joy - St Pauli - dressed but did not play as his team got beat 0-2 at home by Cologne.
-Eddie Lewis - Leeds - went the full 90 as his teamed opened their League One season with a win at Tranmere 1-2.
-Brian McBride - Fulham - played 90 minutes in a 2-1 loss at Arsenal.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - started at center back and played 90 minutes as his team beat Brussels 4-1 at home.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - played the full 90 at left back but got beat 3-0 at Bayern Munich.
-Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday - played 90 minutes at centerback but his team got smoked by Ipswich 4-1.
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - played 90 minutes in defense as his team won 4-1 over Koblenz.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - went the full 90 at right back but his team lost their opener 0-2 to Manchester City.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - came on in the 80th minute of his teams 2-2 draw at Viking.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - went the distance at forward and set up two teammates for goals in a stomping 2-6 win at Augsburg.
-Sal Zizzo - Hannover - just arriving at his new team and starting to train.
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News sources say that Oguchi Onyewu needs thumb surgery, but will not miss any matches.
-Rumors from England also say that Reading will make a bid for Onyewu before the transfer window closes.
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Real Madrid has signed Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder from Ajax.
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Wayne Rooney. Another broken foot. What are we gonna do with ya. At least your team has Modern Man to lead them now.

Old Milky News

I found Beckman's debut to be interesting last night. As I have said in the past, but don't make a big deal out of, I am a Los Angeles Galaxy supporter, so I watch almost all of their games on TV. For several years I thought their biggest deficiency was in the attacking portion of the midfield. Three years ago they brought in Guatemalan Pando Ramierez to run the ship. Then for some reason coach Steve Sampson thought he should play on the left. Pando did little to nothing all season until he hit the game winner in the MLS Cup final. This season has seen Pete Vagenas, Nate Sturgis (now gone to Salt Lake), Kevin Harmse & Kelly Gray (recently arrived from Houston) play in the center of the field. Needless to say, these guys are all defensive midfielders. Not one is a natural attacker. And it has showed. Gravely. This team has been deathly boring, and mainly embarrassing. But in those few minutes last night after Beckman came on you could see the difference that an offense-first minded center midfielder can do for this team. Everyone in the attack suddenly looked dangerous. Let's hope there is a lot more to come on this front.

~and~

Beckman on the rain in DC during the game last night: "It was the biggest raindrops I've ever seen."

~and~

I am still more than a little steamed at the UEFA official who gave such a wishy-washy interview to the New York Times regarding racists fans in European football. I don't understand how that organization can have any other stance then: "This racism is unacceptable at any level. We expect all clubs and countries in our Federation to do any & every thing possible to stamp it out immediately. We will not tolerate this in an on going fashion. When a report is made, we will investigate, and if we find even a slightest bit of racism we will put the offenders on notice that there will not be a second warning. They will be punished to the fullest extent the next time there is a report of any racism. And by severely we don't mean a fine of a couple hundred Euro's etc. They will be exempted from competitions, have stadiums closed and traveling fans banned. We will continue to do this until we have people's attention that this kind of behavior is beneath every single one of us, and will not be tolerated." Is that so difficult to do? Really?

~and~

Uncouth


MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 9
DC 1-0 LA - Goal by Luciano Emilio
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Steve Davis at Soccernet.
Match report by Beau Dure of USA Today.
Match report by Shogun Ill Emperor via video.
Post-game notes & players ratings by Goff at his Soccer Insider blog.
-Sat Aug 11
Dallas v Columbus - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Colorado v Houston - 8pm central on HDNet
-Sun Aug 12
New York v Toronto - 4pm central on Direct Kick
New England v LA - 6pm central on Galavision
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Michael Wilbon at the Washington Post has his take on Beckman's entry into MLS last night in Washington DC.
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Both the Washington Post and Times had stories on the fans who attended the match.
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Some good stuff here from Ian Plenderleith at the US Soccer Players Assoc on Beckman's debut, the Galaxy schedule and Kyle Martino's thoughts on his red card - extra good stuff here.
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Jen Chang at Soccernet with a minute-by-minute report of P.A. (Precious Ankle) Beckman's debut.
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Jeffrey Marcus at the New York Times Goal blog says ESPN is beating us to death with Beckman hype. Agreed. I love the attention for MLS, but let's give the game itself a little respect and some room to breathe.
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Did I say this already? Dallas midfielder Juan Toja is going to miss at least 2 weeks (maybe more) with his ankle sprain. Damn it all.
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The Denver Post talks to Rapids midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy who says he didn't crack KC's Sasha Victorine on purpose two weeks ago. Which will cause me to say that he is a liar!
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Andrea Canales at the US Soccer Players Assoc says the #1 team on the field in Los Angeles is definitely Chivas USA.
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Canales with another article, this time for Soccer 365 on new Chivas defender Raphael Wicky.
-Canales also got in a few questions for Wicky on Benny Feilhaber, his old teammate at the Hamburger house. From her Sideline Views blog.
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Bob Luder of the KC Star looks at what Kansas City is doing during a 17 day stretch with no games.
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MLSnet has an article on Kansas City's new Argentine Eloy Colombano. Picture included. He kinda looks like Philipe Mexes.
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The Boston Globe talks to New England assistant coach Steve Mariner who was at Preston when Beckman came there on loan in 94.
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3rd Degree has an interesting story - a soccer fan and a baseball fan spend a Saturday in Chicago going to see one of each game. What did they think afterwards?
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Several more MLS teams are getting in on the act of Radio shows and Podcasts. Here are three more for you to check out (honestly, I haven't made up my mind what I think about these shows yet):
-In The Net - a weekly podcast by Brad Feldman, the voice of the New England Revolution.
-Chicago Fire Weekly. I don't know who the guys are doing the show, but they have Fire players on and take calls from fans.
-From The Pitch With Marcelo Balboa, focusing on the Colorado Radids.
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MLS Golden Boot Chase:
13 Luciano Emilio
12 Eddie Johnson
9 Juan Pablo Angel
8 Taylor Twellman
7 Maykel Galindo
7 Andy Dorman
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The St Louis Post Dispatch with the latest on a possible new MLS team in that city.
-This is the first time I has seen renderings of a possible soccer facility in St Louis. It's impressive.
-Here is a map of the proposed location, I-255 & Horseshoe Lake Rd, East of St Louis proper, and actually in Illinois not Missouri.
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The New York Times has more on the story of Steve Nash and his buddies trying to play a little pickup game v some Red Bulls in Central Park.
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USL First Division
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 9
Portland 0-0 Minnesota
-Fri Aug 10
Montreal v Miami
Rochester v Carolina
Atlanta v Puerto Rico - 7pm central on FSC
-Sat Aug 11
Charleston v California
Portland v Vancouver
Seattle v Minnesota
-Sun Aug 12
Rochester v Puerto Rico
Miami v Atlanta
Vancouver v Minnesota
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Several of my pals are headed west today for 3 Minnesota Thunder matches in the great northwest. If you see them at the games in Portland, Seattle & Vancouver please say hi and buy them a beverage to thank them for the strong loyalty to their team!
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First Division Standings:
39 Portland
38 Seattle
34 Montreal
30 Puerto Rico
30 Rochester
29 Atlanta
29 Vancouver
27 Miami
26 Charleston
22 Carolina
19 California
17 Minnesota
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The PDL Final is this Saturday. That is the 4th division in America. It is a rematch of last years championship game too.
Michigan v Laredo - 10pm central on FSC
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One of du Nord's favorite American players Cory Gibbs is finally back to full time training at Charlton and plans to play with the teams reserves for a short while, then join the first team and fight for starting spot. It would be great to see Cory back in action.
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The US Soccer Players Assoc gives us a preview of all the American's playing in England's various divisions this season.
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Andrew Rogers at Soccer365 also previews many of the American's in the UK.
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Sulaiman Folarin of Soccernet has a Q & A with Freddy Adu about MLS and Benfica.
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FMF Primera
-Jornadas 2
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 10
Veracruz v Atlas
-Sat Aug 11
San Luis v Necaxa - 5pm central on Galavision
Monterrey v Puebla - 11pm central on Galavision
Cruz Azul v UANL
Guadalajara v UAG - 7pm central on TeleFutura
Pachuca v Morelia
Atlante v UNAM - 9pm central on Galavision
-Sun Aug 12
Toluca v Santos - 12noon central on Univision
America v Jaguares - - 4pm central on TeleFutura
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Bundesliga - Opening week in Germany!
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 10
Stuttgart v Schalke - 1:25pm central on GolTV
-Sat Aug 11
Bayern Munich v Hansa Rostock - 8:25am central on GolTV
Bochum v Werder Bremen - 10:30am central on GolTV
Bayer Leverkusen v Engergie Cottbus
Eintracht Frankfurt v Hertha Berlin
Hannover v Hamburg
Wolfsburg v Arminia Bielefeld
-Sun Aug 12
Nurnberg v Karlsruhe - 9:55am central on GolTV
Borussia Dortmund v Duisburg
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Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian previews Die Bundesliga, and says Bayern Munich will finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th, cuz they are that much better than everyone else.
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UEFA.com has a Q & A with Stuttgart coach Armin Veh.
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Premiership - Opening week in England! (9 of the 10 games are on American TV)
Matches & Scores:
-Sat Aug 11
Sunderland v Tottenham - 6:40am central on Setanta
Bolton v Newcastle - 8:55am central on Setanta
West Ham v Manchester City - 8:55am central on FSC
Aston Villa v Liverpool - 11am central on FSC
Derby v Portsmouth - 1:15pm central on FSC
Everton v Wigan - 1:30pm central on Setanta
Middlesbrough v Blackburn
-Sun Aug 12
Arsenal v Fulham - 6am central on FSC
Chelsea v Birmingham - 7:25am central on Setanta
Manchester United v Reading - 10am central on FSC
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The Guardian's world famous podcast - Football Weekly - is back, bigger & badder than ever! And this season they will be doing it TWICE A WEEK! Monday & Thursday. Most. Excellent.
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It looks as though Queens Park Rangers in London has become the new buyout target for Formula 1 boss Bernie Eccleston. And his business partner is said to be Renault F1 team chief Flavio Briatore. Two dudes with white hair, leathery skin and expensive sun glasses. Eccleston had been rumored to be after Arsenal.
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Carlito Tevez is FINALLY an official player with Manchester United. It's doubtful he will play this weekend, but it's only a matter of time until he is added to Man U's impressive list of attacking players.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times tells us all about new Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.
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Kuper also previews the Premiership season by telling us what we won't see.
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The crass words out of England today say new Manchester City genius Sven Goren Erickson has never actually seen any of his new big money signings in person. Who gives this guy the reigns?
On Saturday it's Ajax v PSV for the Dutch Super Cup.
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And also on Saturday in Portugal, we get Porto v Sporting for their Super Cup.
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Chile have hired former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa to run their ship.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about the GIANT sized money game the top clubs in the top leagues are playing, and leaving the rest in their dust.

Recycled Crazed Crapper News

Dallas and MLS's newest star player Juan Toja is out of action with an ankle sprain suffered in the Open Cup win at Charleston on Tuesday night. Damn. Get back soon Senor Toja!

~and~

Benny Feilhaber has received his English work permit and his transfer from Hamburg to Derby County is complete!

~and~

Beckman is giving Shogun a tick.

~and~

FireClavijo.com


US Open Cup - Ending Last night!
Fourth Round matches:
-Tue Aug 7:
Carolina Railhawks 1-0 Richmond Kickers Goal by Connally Edozien.
Charleston Battery 1-2 FC Dallas - in extra time - Char goal by Stephen Armstrong. Dall goals by Clarence Goodson & Arturo Alvarez.
Seattle Sounders 5-0 Colorado Rapids Goals by Taylor Graham, Zach Scott, Ugo Ihemelu(Own Goal), Josh Gardner & Sebastien Le Toux.
-Wed Aug 8:
New England Revolution 2-1 Harrisburg City Islanders - NE goals by Andy Dorman & Taylor Twellman. Har goal by Matt Tanzini.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report by John Connolly of the Boston Herald.
Match report from the Harrisburg Patriot News.
-Semifinals:
Tue Sep 4
Seattle Sounders v FC Dallas
New England Revolution v Carolina Railhawks
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MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 9
DC v LA - 6pm central on ESPN2
Match preview by Steven Goff of Washington Post.
Match preview & Precious Ankle Update by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match preview by Andrea Canales at Soccernet.
Match preview from the Washington Post.
Match preview by Ian Plenderleith of the US Soccer Players Assoc.
Another Precious Ankle Update by Goff.
-Sat Aug 11
Dallas v Columbus - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Colorado v Houston - 8pm central on HDNet
-Sun Aug 12
New York v Toronto - 4pm central on Direct Kick
New England v LA - 6pm central on Galavision
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Earlier today Steven Goff of the Washington Post conducted his regular on-line chat session with us the fans. Check it out now.
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald says young Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore has begun to seriously consider a move to a team in Europe. He turns 18 on Nov 6.
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The Red Bulls have released a video presentation of their new practice facility. Includes some finger poppin' music. Here's a layout of the grounds too.
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Beau Dure of USA Today writes about the fantastic season being delivered by striker Luciano Emilio at DC United.
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Lars Lifrak at Soccer365 has a Q & A with Colorado captain and one of MLS's great villains Pablo Mastroeni.
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George Tanner at FC Rocky needs another day to lament the beatdown Colorado was handed by Seattle in the Open Cup on Tuesday night, not to mention the all around pathetic nature of the Rapid.
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FIFA.com with a feature on the Chicago Fire.
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Goal.com with 11 things we didn't know about ESPN commentator Rob Stone.
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CNET has a Q & A with New York forward Jozy Altidore about being on the cover of the new FIFA 08 game.
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Scroll down this screen at ESPN's Page 2 to find a little profile of a guy named Trevor Moawad who is the sports psychologist we sometimes hear referred to by Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson.
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Ah yes, an old chestnut unearthed. Mr & Mrs Beckman interviewed by Ali G. (thanks to the Soccer Training Info site for the link up)
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The AP has a recap of sorts on the possible birth of MLS in Seattle.
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Even the insider Hotel website Hotel Chatter is getting in on the Beckman news. They are all atwitter about where he has been staying on the road with the Galaxy. Lunacy.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle with his thoughts on the SuperLiga so far.
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Bill Urban of the US Soccer Players Assoc wants to figure out a way to make the MLS posted standings more realistic when so many teams have played such different numbers of games. I can't get too worked up about this kinda thing. It all works out in the end.
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USL First Division
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 9
Portland v Minnesota
-Fri Aug 10
Montreal v Miami
Rochester v Carolina
Atlanta v Puerto Rico
-Sat Aug 11
Charleston v California
Portland v Vancouver
Seattle v Minnesota
-Sun Aug 12
Rochester v Puerto Rico
Miami v Atlanta
Vancouver v Minnesota
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Jesse Erdmann at Blue Sky Soccer with this weeks USL First Division Power Rankings.
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Several of my pals are headed west this for 3 Minnesota Thunder matches in the great northwest. If you see them at the games in Portland (Thur), Seattle (Sat) & Vancouver(Sun) please say hi and tell 'em I sent you!
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First Division Standings:
38 Seattle
38 Portland
34 Montreal
30 Puerto Rico
30 Rochester
29 Atlanta
29 Vancouver
27 Miami
26 Charleston
22 Carolina
19 California
16 Minnesota
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The New York Times Goal blog has a Q & A with a UEFA executive following the racial abuse suffered by American DaMarcus Beasley and a Rangers teammate in Montenegro this week. I gotta say though, this guy barely answers for anything in this interview and comes off a kinda ignorant at times. First off he makes generalizations about "Eastern European" countries like they are just out of the caves. They are not all bad. As a matter of fact most are great. Then he holds France up as an example where racism has been stomped down, completely ignoring that just last year some fans of the big club Paris Saint Germain were launching some of the worst fascist garbage of them all. Sad to see a man with such an important role in soccer brush this off so lightly.
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The Derby Evening Telegraph talks to former Derby Country American John Harkes about the team possibly signing fellow American Benny Feilhaber.
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Yanks Abroad talks to American goalkeeper Quentin Westberg who is giving it his all to try and win the #1 spot at Troyes in France.
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The US Soccer Players Assoc looks at the 14 or 15 Americans in this season various German soccer divisions.
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UEFA Champions League - The 2nd Qualifying Round - Second legs Aug 7/8 (with first leg scores included):
-Tue Aug 7
Zeta 0-1 Rangers - Rangers advance 3-0 on aggregate.
Beitar Jerusalem 1-1 Kobenhavn - Koben adv 2-1 on agg.
Levski Sofia 1-0 Tampere United - Tampere of Finland adv 2-0 on agg.
Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 Domzale - Dinamo adv 5-2 on agg.
-Wed Aug 8
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Pyunick - Shakhtar adv 4-1 on agg.
Elfsborg 0-0 Debrecin - Elfsborg adv 1-0 on agg.
Steaua Bucuresti 2-1 Zaglebie Lubin - Steaua adv 3-1 on agg.
Sarajevo 0-1 Genk - Sarajevo adv on away goal advantage after ending 2-2 on agg.
Sheriff 0-3 Besiktas - Besiktas adv 4-0 on agg.
Salzburg 4-0 Ventspils -Salzbuerg adv 7-0 on agg.
Rosenborg 7-1 Astana - Rosenborg adv 10-2 on agg.
BATE Borisov 1-1 Hafnarfjordur - BATE adv 4-2 on agg.
Levadia Tallinn 2-1 Crvena Zvezda - Crvena adv on away goal advantage after ending 2-2 on agg.
Slavia Praha 0-0 Zilina - Slavia adv 4-3 on PK's after ending 0-0 on agg.
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Here are the UEFA CL Third Qualifying Round matches - First leg Aug 14/15 - Second leg Aug 28/29
-Tue Aug 14
Lazio v Dinamo Bucuresti & return leg on Tue Aug 28
Zurich v Besiktas & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Valencia v Elfsborg & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Rangers v Crvena Zvezda & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Benfica v Kobenhavn & return leg on Wed Aug 29
-Wed Aug 15
BATE Borisov v Steaua Bucuresti & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Tampere United v Rosenborg & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Spartak Moskva v Celtic & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Werder Bremen v Dinamo Zagreb & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Salzburg v Shakhtar Donetsk & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Ajax v Slavia Praha & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Sarajevo v Dynamo Kyiv & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Fenerbahce v Anderlecht & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Toulouse v Liverpool & return leg on Tue Aug 28
Sparta Praha v Arsenal & return leg on Wed Aug 29
Sevilla v AEK Athens & return leg on Tue Aug 28
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Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated returns after a couple months off with his World Club Soccer Power Rankings. He gives Champions League winners Milan the benefit of the doubt and puts them at #1.
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World Soccer via Sports Illustrated has a Q & A with German legend Franz Beckenbauer. He talks about nearly everything, cuz he is the ultimate Continental Gentleman.
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I think the date of this entry is a bit out of whack, but Fulham defender Moritz Volz has a new diary entry. Some excellent non-football stuff as always.
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Real Madrid has signed talented young Dutch left back Royston Drenthe from Feyenoord.
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Not only were Leeds demoted to the third level of English football for this season, but they have lost an appeal and will be deducted 15 points to start this season as well. They lost the points when they filed for bankruptcy last season. They had thought that buy declaring before last season was over that the point penalty would be applied last season, but the league said no to that.
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Valencia has added to their impressive list of strikers by signing giant Serbian Nikola Zigic from Racing Santander.
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William Gallas, not Gilberto Silva, has been named as team captain for Arsenal.
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FIFA.com with a story on another of Barcelona's young sensations, Spaniard Bojan Krkic.
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This Saturday in Spain we will get the Super Cup - last years league winners Real Madrid take on Copa Del Rey winners Sevilla.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lastly, could this be the straw that breaks Jack Warner's back? He slags off England in an interview with the BBC World Service about who should host World Cup 2018. He wants it to be played in a CONCACAF country, which is fine. But then he attacks England saying "Nobody in Europe likes England. England invented the sport but has never made any impact on world football." Read and listen. This is one massively ignorant dude. Needless to say, the English Football Association are not pleased, and have written a letter to Warner asking him to explain himself.

See Me Cry News

Oliver Tse has announced that he is selling SoccerTV.com and all it's accoutrement at an upcoming auction. No date has been set. It would be very sad if this service went away, cuz it's tremendous.

~and~

You wanna know what international tournament I want to see played next summer here the USA? It would be called the "du Nord, Come On, Let's Clean This God Damn Mess Up Cup" - Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Palestine, South Korea & USA. Seriously.


US Open Cup - Last night & Tonight!
Fourth Round matches:
-Tue Aug 7:
Carolina Railhawks 1-0 Richmond Kickers Goal by Connally Edozien.
Match report from the Cary News.
Charleston Battery 1-2 FC Dallas - in extra time - Char goal by Stephen Armstrong. Dall goals by Clarence Goodson & Arturo Alvarez.
Match report from the Charleston Post & Courier.
Post-games notes from FC Dallas Updates.
Seattle Sounders 5-0 Colorado Rapids Goals by Taylor Graham, Zach Scott, Ugo Ihemelu(Own Goal), Josh Gardner & Sebastien Le Toux.
Match report from the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Match report from the Seattle Times.
Match report from the Tacoma News Tribune.
Post-game notes from George Tanner at the Rocky Mountain News blog FC Rocky.
-Wed Aug 8:
New England Revolution v Harrisburg City Islanders
Match preview by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match preview by John Connolly of the Boston Herald.
Match preview from the Harrisburg Patriot News.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-Semifinals are booked for September 4. Right now it's Seattle v Dallas and Carolina at New England or home v Harrisburg after from tonight's winner.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 9
DC v LA - 6pm central on ESPN2
Match preview by Andrea Canales at Soccernet.
-Sat Aug 11
Dallas v Columbus - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Colorado v Houston - 8pm central on HDNet
-Sun Aug 12
New York v Toronto - 4pm central on Direct Kick
New England v LA - 6pm central on Galavision
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So does Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo still have a job after getting crushed in the Open Cup 5-0 by Seattle last night? I sure hope not. Those fans in CO deserve a lot better than this. Get John Spencer on the phone fast.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder at the KC Star says the Kansas City Wizards have finally completed a long talked about deal for Argentine forward Eloy Colombano from club Defensa y Justicia. (What a brilliant name for a team!)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog about the Beckman press conference at RFK.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Toronto midfielder Ronnie O'Brien is set to have more surgery on his right knee. It will be minor this time and he should only be out a couple more weeks. They really need him if they have any shot at the playoffs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talked with new Fire forward Paulo Wanchope about his debut with the team.
-More from Arroyave on Wanchope on Luis's Red Card blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch talks to Shep Messing, agent for young Columbus midfielder Danny Szetela about the players wishes. The rumors that Szetela has signed with Roma are not true.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kelly Whiteside of USA Today checks in on New York manager Bruce Arena.
-A side article on the relationship between Arena & young forward Jozy Altidore.
-What do a couple other players around the league think of Arena? (Yeah, right, like there is any chance they will say something other than the obvious compliments.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell at the New York Times with an article on young Dallas keeper Ray Burse who has had three big games already in just 3 starts. Burse seems to have something really special going on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dave Lifton at the Screaming Eagles podcast site has the MLS standings broken down by Points-Per-Game. I always think this shows the current trends better than regular standings. Especially when 2 teams have played 20 games and another has only played 13. Interestingly though, the same 8 teams would make the playoffs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Bradley's First XI at MLSnet is all about Jeff's opinions on the season so far.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union Tribune with (as always) some excellent notes on Beckman's ankle, and the USA playing in Mexico City. Etc.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

Two facts from MLS regarding playoffs, seeding and tiebreakers:
-If two teams are tied on points, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head results, the second tiebreaker is goal differential, and the third is goals scored for the season.
-If more than four teams qualify from one conference, those finishing lower than fourth in their conference will shift over to the other conference bracket. A team switching conference brackets will be seeded below all other teams in its new conference playoff bracket. (this one is a correction on what we previously thought was the rankings)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Vancouver Province with some news on a potential MLS team in BC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another major soccer match is taking place in Chicago this weekend, and it will not be played at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. The USA Women will play New Zealand on Sunday at Soldier Field. Why?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer was on hand in Central Park yesterday when NBA star Steve Nash brought his soccer team over to play against some of New York's Red Bulls. What ensued was not what we would call a soccer match. Great casual pics too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin McGeehan of the US Soccer Players Assoc compares the financial success of the LA Galaxy to the financial hole of the Kansas City Wizards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Aug 9
Portland v Minnesota
-Fri Aug 10
Montreal v Miami
Rochester v Carolina
Atlanta v Puerto Rico
-Sat Aug 11
Charleston v California
Portland v Vancouver
Seattle v Minnesota
-Sun Aug 12
Rochester v Puerto Rico
Miami v Atlanta
Vancouver v Minnesota
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several of my pals are headed west today for 3 Minnesota Thunder matches in the great northwest. If you see them at the games in Portland, Seattle & Vancouver please say hi and be nice to them. Cuz if yer not nice they will unleash their mighty power on you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A giant new soccer complex is being built in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac. It will also be the new home of the PDL Michigan Bucks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Division Standings:
38 Seattle
38 Portland
34 Montreal
30 Puerto Rico
30 Rochester
29 Atlanta
29 Vancouver
27 Miami
26 Charleston
22 Carolina
19 California
16 Minnesota
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian McBride has been named captain of Fulham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad has a very cool start to a series of articles from a young relatively unknown American trying to find a club in Europe. His name is Max Cream (wow, what a name) and this is the first chapter of hopefully many more.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Word from England is that Derby County is going to have to petition to get Benny Feilhaber a work permit in order to join the team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American Steve Cherundolo plays for Hannover in Germany and US Soccer has a podcast of him previewing the 07-08 Bundesliga season. Excellent!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer also has a Q & A with Peter Nowak about his new job as coach of the USA Olympic Team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DaMarcus Beasley scored the games only goal(here's a pic) as his Rangers team went to Zeta in Montenegro and won 1-0 in the second leg of the Champions League 2nd Round of Qualifiers. Rangers won 3-0 on aggregate. Reports from the game say that some Montenegrins taunted Beasley & teammate Jean-Claude Darcheville with racist abuse during the game. What a bunch of backward hillbilly fucks they are. The other fans of that team should take those idiots out behind the barn and teach them a lesson. Video clip of game highlights and DMB's winner via See All Goals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The US Soccer Players Assoc has a Q & A with USA & Watford defender Jay DeMerit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Omar Bravo has won the Golden Ball as the best Mexican player for 06-07! Congrats go out to him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League - The 2nd Qualifying Round - Second legs Aug 7/8 (with first leg scores included):
-Tue Aug 7
Zeta 0-1 Rangers - Rangers advance 3-0 on aggregate.
Beitar Jerusalem 1-1 Kobenhavn - Koben adv 2-1 on agg.
Levski Sofia 1-0 Tampere United - Tampere of Finland adv 2-0 on agg.
Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 Domzale - Dinamo adv 5-2 on agg.
-Wed Aug 8
Shakhtar Donetsk v Pyunick (2-0)
Elfsborg v Debrecin (1-0)
Steau Bucuresti v Zaglebie Lubin (1-0)
Sarajevo v Genk (2-1)
Sheriff v Besiktas (0-1)
Salzburg v Ventspils (3-0)
Rosenborg v Astana (3-1)
BATE Borisov v Hafnarfjordur (3-1)
Levadia Tallinn v Crvena Zvezda (0-1)
Slavia Praha v Zilina (0-0)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mario Gomez of Stuttgart was named Kicker Magazine's German Fussballer Of The Year. 2nd place went to Diego of Werder Bremen and third to Bernd Schneider of Bayer Leverkusen.
-Armin Veh was named Coach Of The Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The folks at EPL Talk today give us a new podcast, this one called La Liga Talk. They are just filling the airwaves with fun.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times of London with an article on England & Newcastle forward Michael Owen who just can't get healthy. Now its a thigh injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin McCarra, one of the smart guys at the Guardian, lists his top 10 summer transfers in England. But you have to admit that all of these combined pale in comparison to the David Beckman to LA Galaxy transfer, which may be one of the best of all time, already.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Serbian Ratomir Dujkovic has been promoted from the coach of China's Olympic team to lead the national team.

Old Wine Stain Removal News

Ives Galarcep on his Soccer By Ives blog is saying that Columbus midfielder Danny Szetelz is headed to Roma!

~and~

Greg Seltzer at American Soccer Daily says Derby County is very near to acquiring American midfielder Benny Feilhaber from Hamburg.

~and~

Mexico has scheduled two more friendly's here in the USA this year. Sep 12 v Brazil at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, and Oct 17 v China at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.


US Open Cup - Tonight & tomorrow! You can see all 3 of tonight's games free on line from USL!
Fourth Round matches:
-Tue Aug 7:
Carolina Railhawks v Richmond Kickers
Match preview from Richmond Times Dispatch.
Charleston Battery v FC Dallas
Match preview from the Charleston Post & Courier.
Match preview by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Seattle Sounders v Colorado Rapids
Match preview from the Seattle Times.
Match preview from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
-Wed Aug 8:
New England Revolution v Harrisburg City Islanders
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at the Press Enterprise previews the 4 Open Cup matches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 9
DC v LA - 6pm central on ESPN2
-Sat Aug 11
Dallas v Columbus - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Colorado v Houston - 8pm central on HDNet
-Sun Aug 12
New York v Toronto - 4pm central on Direct Kick
New England v LA - 6pm central on Galavision
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Are you like me and been wondering what ever happened to Chicago goal scorer Damani Ralph. We haven't seen him in MLS in nearly 4 years. He hiked off to Russia for some cash but hasn't played in nearly 2 years due to a knee injury and two surgeries that didn't fix the problem. The Jamaica Gleaner with the story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Thursday night DC v LA game is SOLD OUT at RFK Stadium. Yes, Sold Out! And I would bet that Beckman won't play.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England coach Steve McClaren will be in Washington DC on Thursday night to check up on his man Beckman.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sports Authority has announced that the LA Galaxy David Beckman shirts are their #1 seller right now. More than any other sport.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep also reported today that several New York Red Bull players would be in Central Park today to take on Steve Nash's amateur team! That would be awesome to see.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald takes a hard look at what the Red Bulls have to do to make it into and then succeed in the playoffs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Green at the Daily Breeze is saying it's basically now or never for the LA Galaxy to get it in gear.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Seltzer at American Soccer Daily is reporting that Swiss international Raphael Wicky is in LA talking to Chivas USA. He is a defensive midfielder (of which Chivas USA already has 3). He played last season at Hamburg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger writes about what he calls the "downside" to the Beckman hype.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star with an article on the incredible pile of TFC players currently out of action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John Ellinger is going to walk away from Real Salt Lake finally. He was their head coach until mid-May when they fired him, then asked him to become the teams "Technical Director". I would assume they gave him this job cuz they were going to have to pay him anyway. But I have no idea how he stayed working there. I know I couldn't have done it. It's like getting dumped by a girlfriend then agreeing to still "be friends". I have no idea how people do that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Red Bulls have announced that they will soon begin construction on a new practice facility in Hanover New Jersey. Here is an image. (I wonder who's bitchin car that is in the parking lot? My guess is that it belong to Agoos.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Houston Chronicle returns their usually very good Week In Review.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC Dallas Updates gives us a video tour of the pad of the teams young midfielder Anthony Wallce. He's 18!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This week's episode of the Major League Soccer Talk Podcast features an interview with "the ever charming Sean Wheelock. Sean discusses a bevy load of US-soccer related topics including how MLS compares with leagues overseas, his memories of his early days as a commentator for Kansas City and his thoughts on the whole Beckham mania phenomenon."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

The always excellent blog Climbing The Ladder has some very interesting statistics captured from a recent survey. There are some good things to glean from this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a pretty good website going down in Phoenix run by people who very much would like to see MLS in their city. They are planning a road trip to LA for a Chivas USA game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yanks Abroad has young American Preston Zimmerman from the Hamburg reserve team answer questions from fans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I see where New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore and Club America goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa joined Ronaldinho on the cover of the new FIFA 08 video game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Gardner at the New York Sun writes about young players like Freddy Adu going to Europe to make their name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League - The 2nd Qualifying Round - Second legs Aug 7/8 (with first leg scores included):
-Tue Aug 7
Zeta v Rangers (0-2)
Beitar Jerusalem v Kobenhavn (0-1)
Levski Sofia v Tampere United (0-1)
Dinamo Zagreb v Domzale (2-1)
-Wed Aug 8
Shakhtar Donetsk v Pyunick (2-0)
Elfsborg v Debrecin (1-0)
Steau Bucuresti v Zaglebie Lubin (1-0)
Sarajevo v Genk (2-1)
Sheriff v Besiktas (0-1)
Salzburg v Ventspils (3-0)
Rosenborg v Astana (3-1)
BATE Borisov v Hafnarfjordur (3-1)
Levadia Tallinn v Crvena Zvezda (0-1)
Slavia Praha v Zilina (0-0)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Got a great note from Bart in Malina about his life as a soccer fan and thought I should share it with all of you: I was in Hong Kong last week (Friday 27 July) to see the last pair of matches in the Barclay's Asia Trophy mini-competition. Fulham v. South China (Hong Kong FA Cup winners) and Liverpool v. Portsmouth. The Hong Kongers are absolutely nuts about the Reds and the sold-out (40k) stadium was a sea of red, even during the first match of the double-header involving 'the American' team (Boca and 2nd half sub McBride scored in the 4-1 Cottagers victory; Dempsey was nowhere in sight). On Saturday I visited one of the local markets where they have knock-off jerseys. There were strips for all the major national sides and 20 or so clubs. Only one from the MLS: the Galaxy, albeit the old yellow one. It's only a matter of time that Becks' jerseys start to be seen all over SE Asia. My 4 year old son already has one. As an aside, a buddy who lives in Manila but was visiting Bangkok in July spotted a Thai driver wearing a Real Salt Lake jersey. Seems the fellow has a friend working for Adidas and got the jersey from him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the new Thai owned and Swedish coached Manchester City.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Gaffer at EPL Talk has audio interviews with exec's from both Fox Soccer & Setanta about upcoming Premiership programming for this season.
-And they are debuting Serie A Talk as well, with an audio podcast to preview the Italian Season.

Hanso Sword Closeout Sale News

Player's on trial at Real Salt Lake. How about the dude on the right (here's another of just him)!!! He used to play guitar in Primal Scream. I think his name is Matias Mantilla. Photos stolen from The RSLFM Report.

~and~

If any of you are wondering just what the future of soccer broadcasting on ESPN could possibly be like, consider this - In March of this year ESPN fired NFL commentator (for 19 years) because he talked too much football strategy and not enough gossip and bullshit. You've been warned.

~and~

Last night in Toronto, MLS Commish Don Garber said he wants the league to grow to 18 teams by 2012. For the past 4 years or so the company line was 16 by 2010. Now it has grown. Money is going to his head. There are not nearly enough good players to add 5 more teams in this country in the next 5 years. No way, no how.


MLS
Matches & scores:
-Sat Aug 4
Chicago 0-0 Columbus
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report by Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Match report from MLSnet.
Dallas 1-0 Colorado - Goal by Drew Moor.
Match report by Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News.
Match report by Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Match report from MLSnet.
Post-game notes from George Tanner of the Rocky Mountain News on his FC Rocky blog.
Salt Lake 1-0 Houston - Goal by Robbie Findley.
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret Morning News.
Match report by Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Match report from MLSnet.
Post-game notes from the Deseret.
-Sun Aug 5
New England 0-3 DC - Goals by Josh Gross & Luciano Emilio(2).
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match Report by John Connolly of the Boston Herald.
Match report by Mike Biglin of the MetroWest Daily News.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report from MLSnet.
Post-game notes and players ratings by Goff at Soccer Insider.
Toronto 0-0 LA
Match report by Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun.
Match report by Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star.
Match report by Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report from MLSnet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My notes from this weekends MLS games that I saw.
Salt Lake v Hous
-Dwayne De Rosario of Houston did not play due to Yellow Card accumulation. That seems to be his one downfall.
-Alecko Eskandarian did not play for RSL due to an ankle injury.
-Ty Keough was doing TV commentary for Houston. I forgot about him.
-Salt Lake still had the grass down at their stadium covering the nasty worn out turf. But this is it for the real stuff. The college pointy ball needs wants to play on the faux-grass.
-Houston's Stuart Holden looks like he has still never had to shave his chin.
-There were a lot of problems with the broadcast picture. It kept blinking in and out all game long.
-RSL's Robbie Findley is making a strong run for Rookie Of The Year.
-Each team had 18 goal scoring opportunities by my count. That is not necessarily shots, but chances to be dangerous.
Dal v Colo
-Ray Burse Jr made his MLS debut in goal for Dallas after a great game in the SuperLiga last week.
-The next match he plays will be #200 for Colorado midfielder Pablo Mastroeni.
-Colo striker Herculez Gomez has bleached his hair blonde. It looks awful.
-Mexican forward Daniel Osorno made his debut for Colo in this match. He was OK.
-Dallas superstar Juan Toja seemed tired all game long.
-At one point in the 2nd half Colo was playing with 3 defenders, 2 midfielders and 4 forwards. It didn't matter.
-Jacob Peterson played as good as anyone for Colo.
-Dall had 18 Goal Scoring Chances, but Colo had 29 and no goals. Poor.
Tor v LA
-Troy Roberts, LA defender, cut off his awful looking dreadlocks.
-The word from Toronto is that after last nights game fans will no longer be allowed to throw streamers onto the field and at players at BMO field. I think the streamers are awesome, but I can see where it might be an issue.
-LA Rookie of the Year candidate defender Ty Harden cleared a goal off the line. Good work man.
-I really detest TFC defender Adam Braz. When he played for Montreal in the USL First Division I thought he was one of the dumbest, angriest cheap shots I had ever seen play the game. And nothing has changed in Toronto. Not long into the game he elbowed Landon Donovan right in the face.
-Toronto had a very solid 24 Goal Scoring Chances. You know how many the feeble Galaxy had? 5. For the whole frickin game. Lame-O.
NE v DC
-Christian Gomez did not start for DC due to a thigh injury.
-Fred did not start for DC due to a Red Card suspension.
-Jaime Moreno was on the bench, but still suffering from the thigh strain.
-Defender Brian Namoff was back in the starting 11 for DC though. Good news for them.
-New England had their full first 11 ready to go.
-Uncharacteristically NE keeper Matt Reis bobbled a save that DC's Josh Gros poked home for the first goal.
-DC got the other two goals on great moves for Luciano Emilio. The first came after several great passes all around the offensive end of the field finally springing Emilio. Supreme patience. The other was off a quickly taken free kick by Ben Olsen got to Emilio behind the NE def for an easy one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England's All-Star defender Michael Parkhurst had a weird step during Sunday's game v DC and he ended up hyper-extending his knee. It's not known how long he will be out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret Morning News with a story on Salt Lakes new (only?) goal scoring threat Robbie Findley.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle writes about Houston native and Dallas forward Arturo Alvarez who is really starting to turn into a great player this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun Times talks to former Chicago Fire coach Bob Bradley who was inducted into the teams "Ring OF Fire" before Saturday nights game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC forward Luciano Emilio has been named MLS Player Of The Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis of MLSnet with his look back at the weekends MLS games. Always good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales writes for Soccer 365 about the first goal in a LA shirt for Carlos Pavon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I missed this one last week from the Salt Lake Tribune. RSL is hoping to sign 3 Argentine's in the next 10 days. (see picture at top of post)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet's MLS Power Rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep, also at Soccernet, looks at the key players in the MLS race to the playoffs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The US Soccer Players Assoc talks to Tony Sanneh about trying to get a deal with a MLS team for the rest of this season, preferably New York, and his recent stint with my Minnesota Thunder. (By the way, that return to Thunder country yielded mixed results.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Salinas Californian newspaper talks to one of the new executives of the San Jose Earthquakes about immediate & long term plans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another American newspaper sports columnist steps up to the penalty spots and chips the established sports writers, completely embarrassing them. From the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Hartford Business Journal reports that the Kraft family who own the New England Revolution will not let anyone in Hartford negotiate with MLS for a team because Hartford is in New England's "territory".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New York Red Bulls have scrapped any plans to open their stadium in 2008. Delays now mean they will open the new park sometime in 09. Figures.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup - This week!
Fourth Round matches:
-Tue Aug 7:
Carolina Railhawks v Richmond Kickers
Charleston Battery v FC Dallas
Seattle Sounders v Colorado Rapids
-Wed Aug 8:
New England Revolution v Harrisburg City Islanders
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 3
Carolina 2-0 California
-Sat Aug 4
Atlanta 2-1 Charleston
Minnesota 1-1 Portland
Seattle 1-0 Puerto Rico
-Sun Aug 5
Montreal 1-0 Rochester
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Division Standings:
38 Seattle
38 Portland
34 Montreal
30 Puerto Rico
30 Rochester
29 Atlanta
29 Vancouver
27 Miami
26 Charleston
22 Carolina
19 California
16 Minnesota
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his Soccer Insider blog says he is hearing that Peter Nowak will be named the coach of the USA Olympic Team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer has a Q & A with Sal Zizzo about his new team Hannover in Germany.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DaMarcus Beasley got pummeled by goonish Scottish league defenders in his Rangers debut. From Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA.com has an interview with our very own DMB.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BQ sent me a rumor that Jay DeMerit may make it for Americans at Fulham. That would be pretty wild. But it's still a rumor at this point. (thanks to BQ, as always)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Can you believe it's time to check in with our favorite Americans in Europe again, and see how their weekend matches went:
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - debuted for his new team, going the whole match in a 0-3 win at Inverness.
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - sat out due to a red card suspension, as his team drew at Horsens 1-1.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - came on in the 71st minute of his teams 3-1 loss at Orebro.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - started at centerback, played 90 & nabbed a goal which turned out to be the game winner on the road, 4-1 at Zulte-Waregem. Great start.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The German teams are playing in the league cup tournament - DFB Pokal aka German Cup - here are those results for our Americans:
-Gregg Berhalter - 1860 Munich - went 90 in defense as his team cruised to a 3-0 win over Verl.
-Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - started as usual at right back and his team won 3-1 over Ahlen.
-Benny Feilhaber - Hamburg - did not play, as his team won 1-0 over Monchengladbach.
-Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg - did not play, as his team won 4-0 over Wurzburger.
-Ian Joy - St Pauli - played left back for the entire match as his team pulled off a big upset, 1-0 over Bayer Leverkusen.
-Heath Pearce - Hansa Rostock - debuted at left back and played 90 minutes in a massive 8-0 win over Hasborn
-Neven Subotic - Mainz - started in the defense & played the entirety of the 6-1 win over Worms.
-Josh Wolff - 1860 Munich - started & went 84 minutes at forward as in a 3-0 win over Verl.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FMF Primera
Matches & Scores:
-Fri Aug 3
UAG 1-4 Pachuca
-Sat Aug 4
UANL 0-0 San Luis
Morelia 1-1 Veracruz
Atlas 1-1 Toluca
Chiapas 1-1 Atlante
-Sun Aug 5
UNAM 1-1 Guadalajara
Necaxa 3-2 Monterrey
Santos Laguna 2-0 Cruz Azul
Puebla 0-0 America
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Young Mexican striker Carlos Vela has been loaned by Arsenal to Osasuna in Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Russian Premier League
-Standings after 19 rounds (of 30):
36 Spartak Moscow
33 FC Moscow
31 Zenit St Petersburg
30 Dinamo Moscow
27 CSKA Moscow
24 FK Rubin Kazan
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Again, here are the official start dates of the other 5 big leagues in Europe:
Bundesliga - Aug 10
Premiership - Aug 11
Eredivisie - Aug 17
La Liga - Aug 26
Serie A - Aug 26
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League - The 2nd Qualifying Round - Second legs Aug 7/8 (with first leg scores included):
-Tue Aug 7
Zeta v Rangers (0-2)
Beitar Jerusalem v Kobenhavn (0-1)
Levski Sofia v Tampere United (0-1)
Dinamo Zagreb v Domzale (2-1)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated writes about his favorite time of the year for football.
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Soccernet with an article on new Chelsea midfielder, Frenchman Flourent Malouda.
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Simon Kuper at the Financial Times also writes about Malouda. (From last week.)
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FIFA.com has a Q & A with German Berti Vogts who is now the coach of Nigeria.
-In this old picture, I think Berti's mother was in charge of his hair style.
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I had a feeling this might open some floodgates that could be better left untouched - more football from Monty Python - this time it's an interview with a brilliant footballing mind. (grazie to Ken for this video) (You have to be careful with Monty Python fans, cuz they are a lot like Frank Zappa fans and Grateful Dead fans, in that they don't realize that for many of us, a little goes a long way.)
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When Barcelona go to China for some friendly's they will be "protected" from foul mouthed Chinese by Cops using video cameras to pick out cursers. Isn't that nice of the Chinese authorities. Makes you feel so warm and special.
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BBC with a story saying FIFA has told Scotland that they CANNOT use post-game video viewing to punish divers. (thanks to Bart for this one)
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at big big money transfers like those for Carlos Tevez & Franck Ribery.
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David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper, writes in the Observer about what he did on his summer vacation. And no, it's not a Cheech & Chong skit starring Sister Mary Elephant.
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Iraq will not be allowed to play Asian Football Confederation World Cup qualifiers at home. Two other Asian teams, Afghanistan & Palestine, have also been denied home games, all for security reasons.
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I have still not heard that his transfer from West Ham is official, but Carlos Tevez trained with Manchester United already.
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Oliver Kahn has made it official, this will be his last season in professional football.