Caged Monkey News

Regular reader Matthew sent me a note today saying that some NYRB fans are going to try to encourage everyone in the stadium on Saturday to: "...sing New York, New York at the top of their lungs, with scarves twirling overhead during kick-off and then again at the 90 minute mark. Please pass it on." Ok, I am passing it on.


MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 16
Colorado 3-0 New England - Goals by Jovan Kirovski(2 - one via PK) & Omar Cummings.
Match report from the Rocky Mountain News.
Match report from the Denver Post.
Match report from MetroWest Daily News.
Post-game notes by George Tanner at FC Rocky.
-Sat Aug 18
Toronto v Chivas - 2:30pm central on Direct Kick
Columbus v DC - 6:30pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
New York v Los Angeles - 6:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Salt Lake v Chicago - 8pm central on Direct Kick
-Sun Aug 19
Houston v Dallas - 6pm central on Galavision
Kansas City v New England - 7pm central on Direct Kick
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There are some really good games this weekend, especially Sunday - both those two games could be great!
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Tony Sanneh made his debut in Colorado last night replacing an injured Dan Gargan in the 23rd min.
-And the Rapids scored more than 2 goals in a game for the first time all year.
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Soccernet with a nice article on one of MLS's biggest surprise stars this season - Juan Pablo Angel. Admit it, you thought he would be fine, but not this fine.
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Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail on TFC captain Jim Brennan who has been playing through injury - broken ribs.
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Dean McNulty at the Toronto Sun talks about another TFC player, the best rookie of the season so far, Maurice Edu.
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Ives Galarcep says both Claudio Reyna & Dema Kovalenko are out of the picture for their Red Bulls v LA game on Saturday night. Is Dema hurt a lot worse than anyone has let on after the car accident. We never heard that he was hospitalized. But he is missing his second week now. There has even been talk of him being out for the season. Really? Ubiparapovic who was driving the car is training and seems fine. Wow.
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Diego Gutierrez of Chicago Fire, Claudio Suarez of Chivas USA, Marcelo Saragosa of FC Dallas & Chris Pozniak of Toronto FC will all have to sit out their matches this weekend due to yellow card accumulation or red card violations.
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The AP says new Chicago Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio has bought a player from his former team in Colombia, Millonarios. He is 25 year old defender Wilman Code. Story via Sports Illustrated.
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John Lopez of the Houston Chronicle seems to be impressed with the way MLS is marketing themselves. You know what though, I wanna hear one of these guys like Lopez write about the quality of the game itself. I wanna know what he thinks about what he sees on the field. The humbugs need guys like Lopez to tell them it's quality. You and I already know it's getting better and better all the time.
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Some fans of Blackpool in England have "adopted" their fellow orange-clad Houston Dynamo in MLS as their second team to support!
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A couple of old faves are back this week from MLSnet:
-Jeff Bradley's First XI - Welcome To New Jersey
-Tino Palace's The Clean Sheet - Grade School
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It has been officially announced that Houston will have a second team next year. Houston Leones in the PDL. From the Chron.
-The official press release.
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Both Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens and Real Salt Lake forward Alecko Eskandarian are guest blogging this week on the Luis Arroyave's Red Card.
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I don't know how many of you saw the footage after the LA v DC SuperLiga game, but Beckman was in the tunnel and then took off his shirt and signed it to a girl who was standing there. I thought it was cool. Jamie Cardenas of the LA Times gives us the story behind it.
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Yesterday I mention that Adidas had band record "theme" songs for the MLS teams. I listened to all of em last night. THEY ARE TERRIBLE! Every single one of em. Holy Cow those are a rotten bunch of tunes. Some of the artists are decent, and like I said, I love Bad Brains. But, come on! Did any of you like any of em?
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AOL Sports known for their small-minded-giant-ego-driven-anti-soccer-rants actually has a smart dude on the payrole who looks at NHL Washington Capital's owner Ted Leonsis's diatribe against Sports Talk Radio that is always bashing soccer, and in the last two years or so taken to bashing hockey too, and makes logical sense of it.
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USL First Division
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 14
Charleston 0-3 Carolina
-Thu Aug 16
Minnesota 2-2 Portland
California 0-2 Montreal
-Fri Aug 17
Carolina v Atlanta
Puerto Rico v Miami - 7pm on FSC
-Sat Aug 18
Minnesota v Rochester
California v Seattle
Vancouver v Montreal
-Sun Aug 19
Puerto Rico v Miami
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Jesse Erdmann of Blue Sky Soccer with this week's First Division Power Rankings.
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First Division Standings:
41 Portland
39 Seattle
38 Montreal
36 Rochester
35 Atlanta
31 Vancouver
30 Puerto Rico
29 Charleston
--Playoffs End Here--
28 Miami
25 Carolina
20 Minnesota
19 California
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Our Americans In Europe - how'd their mid-week matches go:
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - played the full 90 in his teams 2-1 road loss to Helsinki in the first leg of the UEFA Cup 2nd round of qualifying.
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - his teams 2-1 home win over Fredrikstad in the first leg of the UEFA Cup 2nd round of qualifying.
-Gabriel Ferrari - Sampdoria - did not dress for his teams 0-1 road win over Hajduk Split in the first leg of the UEFA Cup 2nd round of qualifying.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played the whole match in his teams 0-1 road win over MyPa in the first leg of the UEFA Cup 2nd round of qualifying.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Standard - did not dress for his teams 0-3 road win over Kaerjeng in the first leg of the UEFA Cup 2nd round of qualifying.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - started in his teams 2-1 road loss to Hammarby in the first leg of the UEFA Cup 2nd round of qualifying.
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Eddie Lewis has found a way out of the sewer system known as Leeds Football Club and made the move to Derby County. Great great great for him! That makes 2 American's for the Rams.
-Here is one I did not now - Eddie was voted Leeds Player Of The Year last season. Wow. Why do we never seem to hear about this stuff in our brilliant American press? Even our decent soccer press writers missed this one.
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U17 World Cup
Starts in South Korea on Saturday - running Aug 18 to Sep 9.
-You can see all the games on ESPNU.
-The USA plays in Group E, and here are their first 3 matches:
Mon Aug 20 in Changwon v Tajikistan - 6am central time on ESPNU
Thu Aug 23 in Changwon v Tunisia - 2:30am central time on ESPN2 & ESPNU
Sun Aug 26 in Cheonan v Belgium - 1:30am central time on ESPNU
-Team USA site
-USA U17 blog.
-USA U17 roster:
G:
Josh Lambo (Middleton, Wis.)
Zac MacMath (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Larry Jackson (East Palo Alto, Calif.)
D:
Sheanon Williams (Boston, Mass.)
Mykell Bates (Roseville, Calif.)
Tommy Meyer (St. Louis, Mo.)
Chris Klute (Grand Prairie, Texas)
Kofi Sarkodie (Huber Heights, Ohio)
Brandon Zimmerman (Pasco, Wash.)
M:
Daniel Wenzel (Federal Way, Wash.)
Jared Jeffrey (Dallas, Texas)
Kirk Urso (Lombard, Ill.)
Dane Shea (College Station, Texas)
Greg Garza (Grapevine, Texas)
Brendan King (Naperville, Ill.)
Alex Nimo (Portland, Ore.)
F:
Ellis McLoughlin (Seattle, Wash.)
Bryan Dominguez (Atlanta, Ga.)
Abdusalam Ibrahim (FC Dallas.)
Billy Schuler (Allentown, N.J.)
Daniel Cruz (Glendale, Ariz.)
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Andrew Rogers at Soccernet previews some of the top players to watch in this tournament.
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Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated writes about North America's best team - Pachuca and their run to the SuperLiga finals.
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Italian Super Cup
-Sun Aug 19
Inter v Roma
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Eredivise - The Dutch league kicks off today!
-Fri Aug 17
Heerenveen v Willem II
-Sat Aug 18
NAC Breda v Groningen
AZ v VVV-Venlo
Excelsior v Twente
NEC v Roda
-Sun Aug 19
De Graafschap v Ajax
Utrecht v Feyenoord
Heracles Almelo v PSV
Sparta Rotterdam v Vitesse
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England names their team for next Wednesdays friendly v Germany at Wembley: (thanks to Joe for sending me this)
Robinson (Tottenham)
James (Portsmouth)
Carson (Liverpool, on loan at Aston Villa)
Richards (Manchester City)
Brown (Manchester United)
Ferdinand (Manchester United)
Terry (Chelsea)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Campbell (Portsmouth)
Taylor (Newcastle)
Neville (Everton)
Shorey (Reading)
Beckham (LA Galaxy)
Gerrard (Liverpool)
Lampard (Chelsea)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Wright-Phillips (Chelsea)
Carrick (Manchester United)
Barry (Aston Villa)
Downing (Middlesbrough)
Dyer (West Ham)
Hargreaves (Manchester United)
Smith (Newcastle)
Owen (Newcastle)
Crouch (Liverpool)
Bent (Tottenham)
Johnson (Everton)
Defoe (Tottenham)
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Insanely stupidly funny Nike ad with Rooney and the Sanchez boys.
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More hilarity from England today. Early this week Sunderland manager Roy Keane had a tirade against players who won't sign with smaller teams outside of London because their wives and girlfriends don't want to live in hicksville. Those babes wanna shop London-style. So Keane gets no one. Well it turns out that Egyptian striker Mido heard about this and said the reason he left Tottenham this week to go play for Middlesbrough was exactly for the small town shopping. Genius.
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Pat sent me a fantastic bit of prose today from McSweeny's. It's a rather randy number about Pele, the god, and the true meaning of a Brazilian.
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Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes about what at least one man refers to a the stupidity and crookedness involved in doing business with some English football teams.

Certainly Did News

Gotta start today by thanking Jack Bell at the New York Times for a great mention of du Nord in his regular column yesterday. My ego loves it.

~and~

Admit it. You got goose bumps when Beckman stepped up to take that very first free kick from a dangerous spot. I did. And he hit if perfectly. Amazing.

~and~

What did Landon Donovan think of PAB's free kick: "I was so excited. We've all watched him on television and think it can't be that good. When I turned round, I thought: 'Holy Jesus, are you kidding me?' It was unbelievable."

~and~

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut wait a minute here! Where was everybody at the LA game last night??? All we have heard about is the huge crowds following Beckman's every waking moment. Yet, less than 18,000 were are Home Depot Center last night. WTF? I thought it was a circus? That is 9,000 empty seats.


SuperLiga
-Semifinals - 3 MLS v 1 FMF
-Tue Aug 14
Houston Dynamo 2-2 Pachuca Tuzos - Pachuca win 4-3 on Penalty Kicks after extra time finished tied - Hou goals by Dwayne De Rosario & Eddie Robinson. Pach goals by Juan Carlos Cacho & Andres Chitiva.
-Wed Aug 15
Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 DC United - goals by P.A. Beckman & Landon Donovan.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report from the Washington Times.
Match report by Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise.
Match report by Billy Witz of the LA Daily News.
Match report from the Orange County Register.
Match report by Scott French at Top Drawer Soccer.
Beckman match report by Andrea Canales at Soccernet.
Beckman match report by Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated.
Beckman match report by Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune.
Post-game notes & DC players ratings by Goff at Soccer Insider.
Slightly more cerebral match report by Canales for the US Soccer Players Assoc.
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-Final - Wed Aug 29
Los Angeles Galaxy v Pachuca Tuzos - at the Home Depot Center time TBD.
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Great big of levity from Andrea Canales in the press box during the match. From Sideline Views.
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One of Beckman's kids sure loved that goal. (on far right in pic)
-The teammates loved it too.
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What was Christine Daniel's take on the big Beckman night at the LA Times blog Day In L.A.?
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Another LA Times reporter on the bigger picture of Beckman's real first game with an impact.
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"You askin' me if that boys world class?" & "I'm speechless!" (videos from the Shogun) But there is no chance of Shogun being "speechless". Not a chance!
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The Press Enterprise also has a story about Donovan handing over the LA captains armband to Beckman.
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A couple game notes from me:
-Did you notice that Donovan was not the captain for LA last night. Beckman was. Hmmmm.
-DC keeper Troy Perkins did a terrible job on the free kick goal. He had his wall set up and at the last second decided he didn't trust them and moved to the center of the goal instead of staying to his right where the ball ended up going. He blew it. Perkins did get it right the second time. But that was too late. These keepers will learn.
-DC had their chances to score last night. But every time they were either off the mark or stuffed by LA keeper Joe Cannon.
-DC also could have had a PK in the 32nd min when Ty Harden ran over Jaime Moreno going for a loose ball.
-Josh Gros's defense on Landon Donovan's goal was just terrible. Gros kinda hesitated on the ball then stumbled as the pass went past him, then he didn't nearly the speed to catch LD. McTavish tipped that shot too and put it past Perkins.
-Kyle Martino should have ended the game for LA when Chris Klein laid a perfect cross to the far post, but Martino just whiffed on it.
-LA midfielder Kevin Harmes is a serious bruiser. He takes no prisoners. I would bet he rough style causes a fight before this season is over.
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Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle looks back at the Dynamo's run in SuperLiga.
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MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 16
Colorado v New England - 8pm central on Direct Kick
Match preview from the Rocky Mountain News.
Match preview by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match preview by John Connolly of the Boston Herald.
-Sat Aug 18
Toronto v Chivas - 2:30pm central on Direct Kick
Columbus v DC - 6:30pm central on HDNet & Direct Kick
New York v Los Angeles - 6:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Salt Lake v Chicago - 8pm central on Direct Kick
-Sun Aug 19
Houston v Dallas - 6pm central on Galavision
Kansas City v New England - 7pm central on Direct Kick
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Tony Sanneh has signed with Colorado and will be available to play in tonight's match.
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Young New York & USA star forward Jozy Altidore contributes to the New York Times blog Goal. JA starts off with his thoughts on Beckman, natch.
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Me & you & everyone else & their mother have been raving about the performances over the last 3 weeks by Dallas forward Arturo Alvarez. But keep in mind that last month we were all raving about Houston midfielder Stuart Holden. And now he is banged up and forgotten already. So let's not get ahead of ourselves and declare Alvarez the king of MLS just yet.
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Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree attends FC Dallas training as usual and gives us the inside report. A big part this week is a Q & A about the departure of midfielder Ramon Nunez.
-Adrian Serioux & Juan Toja are both out of this weekends Texas derby with thigh & ankle injuries respectively. Plus Marcelo Saragosa will miss the game due to red card suspension.
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Gabriel Cabarrouy of the Dallas Morning News looks at the departure from FCD of Ramon Nunez who never really panned out, despite all the talent.
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It's not looking good for the right knee of Toronto FC catalyst Ronnie O'Brien. The word says its pretty bad and will need surgery. From the Toronto Star.
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Metrofanatic looks back at the first ever home game for the New York New Jersey Metrostars Red Bull, and shows the curse that game has laid over the whole team ever since.
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Ryan Hunt at Sports Illustrated with this weeks MLS Free Kicks.
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A look at the new Houston Dynamo shirt. You will see the team in this new look starting this weekend. Houston will get just under $2 million a year for 4 years to wear the logo.
-More on the shirt sponsor deal from the Houston Business Journal.
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Bill Urban at the US Soccer Players Assoc looks at the way the winners are built in MLS.
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I missed this story about a month ago from the Major League Baseball website about the Oakland A's crew starting the new San Jose Earthquakes MLS team. Interesting to see it written about from this perspective.
-Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail writes about new SJE owner Lew Wolff.
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The Telegraph in England has some nice words from the English manager Steve McClaren about the standard of play in MLS.
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The other day it was the fantastic Barra Brava in DC that got all the newspaper love. Today its the Empire Supporters Club in NYNJ. From the New York Observer. (thanks to Danny for sending me this)
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Adidas has paid a whole bunch of musicians to write songs for the 13 MLS teams again this year:
-Chivas USA - Akwid - Chivas Explosivas
-New York - The Rapture - Whoo! Alright, Yeah... Uh Huh
-Salt Lake - Meg & Dia - The Mighty R-E-A-L
-Colorado - Rose Hill Drive - Goal!
-Houston - Mike Jones - Don't Play
-Dallas - The Polyphonic Spree - H-O-O-P-S Yes!
-Los Angeles - Kinky - We Are The Galaxy
-Kansas City - Blackpool Lights - Ain't Nobody Gonna Stop Us Now
-Chicago - OK Go - Here Comes The Fire
-Columbus - RJD2 - It's Your Crew
-Toronto - Barenaked Ladies - TFC
-DC - Bad Brains - DC United
-New England - Damone - Revolution
I don't want to make a whole lot of judgment on this music, but I can be pretty picky, but I do love love love the early Bad Brains, so it's real cool to see them here. (actually almost every note of each of these songs stinks)
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Our Americans In Europe - how'd their mid-week matches go:
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - played the full 90 of his teams 2-1 win over Bolton.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - did not dress for his teams 1-2 home loss to Chelsea.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - came on in the 80th minute of his teams 2-1 win over Bolton.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby - did not dress for is teams 1-0 loss at Man City.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - started and went 90 in his teams 1-2 home loss to Chelsea.
-Brain McBride - Fulham - played the full 90 of his teams 2-1 win over Bolton.
And several more in UEFA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round matches today:
-Danny Califf - Aalborg - v HJK Helsinki
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - v Fredrikstad
-Gabriel Ferrari - Sampdoria - v Hajduk
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - played the whole match in UEFA Cup qualifying action and won 1-0 over MyPa of Finland.
-Oguchi Onyewu - Stadard - v Kaerjeng
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - v Hammarbay
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The Fulham website has a Q & A with American midfielder Clint Dempsey.
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Ridge Mahoney at USA Today writes about Freddy Adu's Benfina & Champions League debut.
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US Soccer talks to Michael Bradley about his big summer. Podcast. Download and listen.
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America Soccer Daily talks to American defender Neven Subotic of recently relegated Mainz in Germany.
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Mexico plays Colombia on Aug 22 in a friendly at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Denver.
-And instead of playing v the USA on Sep 9 the Mexicans will take on the mighty Panamaniac's.
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UEFA Champions League
Third Qualifying Round - First legs yesterday and today.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 14
Lazio 1-1 Dinamo Bucuresti
Valencia 3-0 Elfsborg
Rangers 1-0 Crvena Zvezda
Benfica 2-1 Kobenhavn
-Wed Aug 15
Zurich 1-1 Besiktas
BATE Borisov 2-2 Steaua Bucuresti
Tampere United 0-3 Rosenborg
Spartak Moskva 1-1 Celtic
Werder Bremen 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb
Salzburg 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Ajax 0-1 Slavia Praha
Sarajevo 0-1 Dynamo Kyiv
Fenerbahce 1-0 Anderlecht
Toulouse 0-1 Liverpool
Sparta Praha 0-2 Arsenal
Sevilla 2-0 AEK Athens
-Second legs Aug 28/29
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune reports on the Sparta Prague v Arsenal Champions League game and says it was unfortunately anything but "beautiful".
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Morocco has rehired French coach Henri Michel to take over their national team again. He coached Ivory Coast at the 2006 World Cup, and Morocco at the 1998 World Cup.
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The Guardian with an article on former French defensive stalwart Laurent Blanc who is having genuine success as manager at Bourdeaux.

Daydream Johnny News

Heartbreak for Houston fans. Frankly I am surprised at how little outrage is coming from media and fans in Houston about Joseph Ngwenya's brutal PK attempt last night in SuperLiga. He was the 5th and final shooter for his team and fluffed that little dink right to Pachuca's fake-lame-ass pirate of a goal keeper. A real question to ask is, will Ngwenya's mental state fall apart after this botch job. Of course it will never be as bad as this one.

~and~

Toronto hasn't scored a single goal without star midfielder Ronnie O'Brien in the lineup. Wow.

~and~

The Washington Post with a great indepth look at one of DC United's most prominent supporters sections, la Barra Brava. With print, audio & video. Excellent.


SuperLiga
-Semifinals - 3 MLS v 1 FMF
-Tue Aug 14
Houston Dynamo 2-2 Pachuca Tuzos - Pachuca win 4-3 on Penalty Kicks after extra time finished tied - Hou goals by Dwayne De Rosario & Eddie Robinson. Pach goals by Juan Carlos Cacho & Andres Chitiva.
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
-Wed Aug 15
Los Angeles Galaxy v DC United - at Home Depot Center at 9pm central
Match preview by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match preview by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
P.A. Beckman preview by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
P.A. Beckman preview by Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise.
P.A. Beckman preview from the Orange County Register.
P.A. Beckman preview by Andrea Canales at Soccernet.
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Left back Marc Burch will not be available for tonight's game due to yellow card accumulation.
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Luis Bueno on his Sideline Views blog took this picture yesterday of the Home Depot Center field (the entire pitch looks just like this). Are you kidding me? This is a joke on AEG's part right? A disgrace.
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The SuperLiga Final is Wed Aug 29 - Pachuca v ???, time and location TBD.
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I love this one - Football 365 in England has a page everyday where all kinds of people check in with odds & ends. About half way down this page is a note by an Englishman who watched SuperLiga last night and loved what he saw. Awesome.
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MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 16
Colorado v New England - 8pm central on Direct Kick
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The word from Dallas says Ramon Nunez is being sent to Chivas USA. Let's hope he can get it together, cuz he seems to be wasting some real talent.
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Both Gregory Sica (Q & A) and Sebastian Perez-Ferreiro at Sports Illustrated write about Argentine Guillermo Barros Schelotto who is leading Columbus back up the charts.
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The Salt Lake Tribune says that RSL coach Jason Kreis has decided to sign all three Argentines that have been training with the team for the past few weeks. I guess I didn't expect ALL of them to sign. The team had to release Costa Rican defender Daniel Torres to free up a roster spot.
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Slam Sports with a good opinion piece on the fake turf at BMO Field in Toronto. I hate the stuff personally. Do you think they would play pro hockey on that plastic stuff players can use for personal training. Uh, that would be no. Same difference. Save your argument.
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Pete Gratoff of the KC Star gets a peek at the jersey collection of Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad, who swaps shirts with the stars after the big games he gets to play in.
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The Guardian with an article trying to figure out how Danny Dichio became a cult legend in Toronto, and other TFC lore.
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Pictures of construction on Real Salt Lakes new stadium in Sandy UT. Looking good!
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Amigo Energy has decided to splash out the big bucks to put their name on the front of the Houston Dynamo shirt. The exact dollar amount is not known, but MLS did set a minimum price tag and it has been said to be a decent amount of scratch. Great news, more cash for another team. Someone on BigSoccer.com did a nice mock-up of what the shirt could look like using the company's logo.
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The Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer both have articles about progress being made toward having a MLS team in their city.
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-A map of Chester where the stadium would be built.
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I missed this one a couple days ago. The St Louis Dispatch with a story on the guy behind the push for MLS is St Louis.
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I have been wondering who the money people were behind the supposed MLS team interest coming from Montreal and Vancouver. I have read a few things lately that are saying its the company that owner the Vancouver Canucks hockey team, and George Gillet who owns the Montreal Canadians hockey team and now Liverpool FC in England. Interesting. Obviously those two hockey clubs are seeing the positive results coming from Toronto FC and their hockey club ownership Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
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FIFA with a brief preview of the USA's Group E at the U17 World Cup that starts Saturday in South Korea.
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Our Americans In Europe - how'd their mid-week matches go:
-Freddy Adu - Benfica - came on in the 37th minute for injured centerback Luisao, and his team went on to win 2-1 over Kobnhaven in the Champions League.
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - started and played 65 minutes. He was subbed out for Nacho Novo who scored the games only goal in 1-0 win over Crvena.
-Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham - plays a league match today v Bolton.
-Bobby Convey - Reading - plays a league match today v Chelsea.
-Clint Dempsey - Fulham - plays a league match today v Bolton.
-Benny Feilhaber - Derby - plays a league match today v Man City.
-Brad Friedel - Blackburn - plays a league match today v Aston Villa.
-Marcus Hahnemann - Reading - plays a league match today v Chelsea.
-Tim Howard - Everton - went the full 90 in goal for his teams 1-3 win at Tottenham.
-Brain McBride - Fulham - plays a league match today v Bolton.
-Jonathan Spector - West Ham - plays a league match today v Liverpool.
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Greg Seltzer at American Soccer Daily talks to American midfielder Benny Feilhaber about his new team Derby County.
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Jack Bell of the New York Times talks to American & Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann about his hand injury and opening day draw at Man U. Plus other soccer notes.
-Here is the full Q & A of Hahmenann's chat with Bell.
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Grahame Jones of the LA Times reports on three young Americans playing in the Mexican Premiera: Three U.S.-born players were on the winning side during the second weekend of the Mexican league season. Midfielder Jose Francisco Torres helped defending champion Pachuca defeat Morelia, 3-1; Edgar Castillo started for unbeaten Santos Laguna as it beat Toluca, 3-2, and defender Michael Orozco was instrumental in San Luis' 3-1 win over Necaxa.
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Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune has an article on the various colors of Team USA uniforms. This article has been written by others recently, but Zeigler writes better than all of them, so read it again.
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Canadian Atiba Hutchinson scored for Copehagen last night in the Champions League. His team lost 2-1 at Benfica, but that away goal could be huge.
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UEFA Champions League
Third Qualifying Round - First legs yesterday and today.
Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 14
Lazio 1-1 Dinamo Bucuresti
Valencia 3-0 Elfsborg
Rangers 1-0 Crvena Zvezda
Benfica 2-1 Kobenhavn
-Wed Aug 15
Zurich v Besiktas & return leg on Wed Aug 29
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
-Second legs Aug 28/29
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I noticed after reading yesterday's Canadian roster for their match next week in Iceland that they did not call in any MLS players. I am not sure what this says.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

More ideas from referees on how they can better control the game. What will FIFA say? Unless they are getting a cut of some sort of derived money you can bet FIFA will say NO! From the Telegraph in England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stemming from an incident at last months U20 World Cup in Canada where the Toronto police and players from Chile's team got into a brawl, FIFA has announced the following punishment for 1 Chilean player and the countries football Federation: Chilean player Jaime Grondona (no. 11) has been suspended for nine months at all levels (domestic and international) and fined a total of CHF 7,000 (including procedural costs) for two separate cases of assaulting match officials during the Chile v. Argentina match in Toronto on 19 July 2007. The player was found guilty of "misconduct against match officials" under the terms of article 49, paragraph 1(b) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
In addition, the Chilean football association has been fined CHF 15,000 for "team misconduct" as per article 52, paragraph 1(c) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code for the aggressive actions directed towards the match officials by Chilean players and officials at the conclusion of the same Chile v. Argentina match on 19 July 2007.

USA's Mexico Match Canceled - Brazil Added Instead!

The USA match scheduled for Sunday September 9th at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City has been canceled due to financial reasons (huh?), so the USA has now added a match that same day at Soldier Field in Chicago v Brazil.

I will take that trade off every time!

US Soccer has humbly called this match The Clash Of Champions. (I guess they mean CONCACAF v CONMEBOL champs.)

The game is scheduled for 3pm central time, and will be broadcast on ESPN2 & Univision.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

USA v Brazil Tickets details:

Soldier Field Stadium Seating Diagram

Prices:
$250 - On-Field Seats (supply limited; ticket holder gets to take seat home)
$130 - Club 200 Level Midfield
$130 - 100 Level Front Row (supply limited)
$95 - Club 200 Level Sidelines/Corners
$95 - Club 300 Level
$85 - Midfield
$65 - Sidelines
$50 - Corners
$40 - Endlines

Your presale starts Thursday, August 16, at 10:00 a.m. CT;
ends Thursday, August 16, at 11:59 p.m. CT.

A special password is needed for this ticket buying period.

There has been no word yet this morning on a section for Sams Army.

Good Golly Jeepers Mister News

Just announced - USA v Brazil - Sun Sep 9 in Chicago.
-Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union Tribune says the reason Mexico v USA was canceled was because of a dispute between Telemundo & Univision over Spanish language TV rights in America. Really!

~and~

Comcast is going to offer their customers a free 9 day preview of Fox Soccer Channel - Fri Aug 17 to Sun Aug 26.

~and~

My favorite player in Spain last season, Brazilian right back Daniel Alves is about to sign with Chelsea. I am bummed. I wish he was signing for a team that would give him the freedom to take over games, not a team desperately in need of a very disciplined right back.

~and~

Here is the USA roster for next Tuesdays match in Sweden. (see Swedish roster below)
G:
Marcus Hahnemann
Tim Howard
D:
Carlos Bocanegra
Jonathan Bornstein
Steve Cherundolo
Jay DeMerit
Oguchi Onyewu
Jonathan Spector
M:
DaMarcus Beasley
Michael Bradley
Bobby Convey
Clint Dempsey
Benny Feilhaber
Pablo Mastroeni
F:
Landon Donovan
Charlie Davies
Kamani Hill
Josh Wolff
Sal Zizzo


SuperLiga - MLS v FMF
-Semifinals - 3 MLS v 1 FMF
-Tue Aug 14
Houston Dynamo v Pachuca Tuzos - at Robertson Stadium at 9pm central
Match preview by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Dynamo injury report by Fallas.
-Wed Aug 15
Los Angeles Galaxy v DC United - at Home Depot Center at 9pm central
-Final Wed Aug 29.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis of Soccernet previews both SuperLiga semi's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet with an article on how Houston supersoccercheerleader Glenn Davis is persuading youth teams and leagues in the Houston area to reschedule games so they can take in Dynamo matches. It's starting to work!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you know? My fave Mexican team Pachuca has an American on the team? Jose Francisco Torres of Texas!!! And he played last Sunday v Morelia too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS
Matches & scores:
-Thu Aug 16
Colorado v New England - 8pm central on Direct Kick
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New York Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel was named MLS Player Of The Week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe sits in as guest blogger for Luis Arroyave at the Red Card.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grant Wahl the main man at Sports Illustrated answers viewer mail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal.com with a pretty cool article on MLS and African players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times asks if someone is to blame for the P.A. Beckman hype mess. (P.A. = Precious Ankle)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe wonders why when the New England Revolution stunk they drew decent crowds and now that they have been good for 5 years the overall attendance was dropping. Luckily it is up this year though, so let's hope it keeps growing stronger!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike Biglin of the MetroWest Daily News says that New England has shown they are tops and looking real good for the stretch run.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Toronto Globe & Mail with the latest update on the humongous TFC injury list.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet's new MLS Power Rankings has a new #1 team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dylan Butler at Big Apple Soccer writes about NYRB forward Mike Magee who was on the sidelines for a year with a knee injury. He finally got back on the field Sunday v Toronto.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger talks to Toronto coach Mo Johnston about his last days in New York and new home in Canada.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I missed this one last week - NYRB signed former Minnesota Thunder forward Francis "Grandpa" Doe of Liberia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of the Herald News writes about the player coming to the Meadowlands this weekend - Beckman - who else.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle talks to Dynamo striker Paul Dalglish who has missed most of the season with a bum ankle, and may need surgery. Plus other team notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Did you see Dallas's Arturo Alvarez on Sunday morning's Republica Deportivo show & later that night on Galavision during the NE v LA game? FC Dallas Updates has a behind the scenes look. (video)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord's MLS Coaching Hot Seat -A smaller list. I am not sure how FC still has his job. Cheap owner, I guess, who doesn't want to pay a new coach and a fired coach. Fools.
1. Fernando Clavijo - Colorado
2. Frank Yallop/Alexi Lalas - LA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

14 images from a potential soccer stadium in St Louis. Really well done.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The St Louis Dispatch with an article on the proposal given yesterday by potential MLS owners for a stadium in the suburbs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno writing for MLSnet with an article on the kid, Jorge Flores, who won the reality TV show and got a contract with Chivas USA. Flores just might be the real deal!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Toronto Town Crier talks to Canadian U20 defender Nana Attakora-Gyan, who is on the TFC reserve squad, about his MLS dreams.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Leg shaving advocate Tony Meola has signed to play with new indoor league team New Jersey Ironmen of the MISL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer with 2 good new videos of the USA U17 team as they get ready for the World Cup next week in South Korea.
-USS has a Q & A with the teams forward Danny Cruz.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This USA U17 team only has 1 professional player on it (Minneapolis's own Abdusalam Ibrahim). It will be interesting to see how long it will be before teams like this in America are all pro's. We have already seen where nearly every player on the USA U20 team is now a pro, and what a huge difference it makes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The U17's have a blog too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans in Europe - how'd their weekend matches go:
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - he came on in the 52nd minute Monday night in a 1-0 loss at Djurgardens.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Both DaMarcus Beasley & Freddy Adu are in Champions League action today - neither game is on TV though. Damn. We wish em luck.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno at the Press Enterprise looks at the big summer moves in Europe including Beasley & Adu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tim Howard & Everton are in Premiership mode today at Spurs.
-Tomorrow (Wed) in England we get Americans too:
Liverpool v West Ham
Man City v Derby
Blackburn v Villa
Fulham v Bolton
Reading v Chelsea
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UEFA Champions League
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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada goes to Iceland next Tuesday for a friendly. Here is their roster:
G:
Asmir Begovic
Lars Hirschfeld
D:
Andrew Hainault
Richard Hastings
Mike Klukowski
Paul Stalteri
M:
Patrice Bernier
Julian De Guzman
Atiba Hutchinson
Nik Ledgerwood
Issey Nakajima-Farran
F:
Rob Friend
Ali Gerba
Iain Hume
Olivier Occean
Tomasz Radzinski
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Russian Premier League
-Standings after 20 rounds (of 30):
39 Spartak Moscow
34 Zenit St Petersburg
33 FC Moscow
30 Dinamo Moscow
30 CSKA Moscow
27 Lokomotiv Moscow
27 Amkar Perm
27 Saturn Moscow
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dick Advocaat has decided to leave his coaching job at Zenit when the current season ends and take over the top spot for Australia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jen Chang at Soccernet looks back at the opening weekend in the Premiership, looks ahead to the U17 World Cup and comments on USA v Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes about Carlos Tevez being rushed into action at Man U with Rooney suddenly out to pasture.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's a story from the Times of London on an English kid who wants to play for the big boys and wants to be great, but has no interest in just doing it for the money. Genius or fool? (thanks to Daniele for this one)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Times also has the latest from Moritz Volz. He is the Fulham defender who is a true human, ie. he has interests outside the game. This week he writes about picking his fantasy league team. (I know, that makes him look like a ultra-geek, but trust me, he is the man.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hey Hey Wadda Ya Say Mr Freddy Kanoute! He just signed a new contract with Sevilla to keep him there until 2010.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lyon have lost their top defender Cris for up to 6 months after suffering a knee injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So how will Antonio Cassano do at Sampdoria now that a loan deal has been done to let him leave Real Madrid? It's been a near disaster at his two previous stops. Will he get it together? He has the talent. Now he needs the mind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What is wrong with these people? Two fans of Dimnamo Bucharesti were stabbed in Rome before their teams Champions League game v Lazio!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun writes about his least favorite thing in all of soccer - Goalkeepers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here's a real genius for ya - Sports Illustrated has an AP article from Brazil where a judge has said that if you are gay you have to play soccer in your own league with other gay people, not in the regular leagues. Ah, the backwards life. Needless to say, this idiot is now on a leave of absence from the bench and hopefully on the run.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sweden's roster for match next Tueday in Goteborg v Team USA:
G:
Rami Shaaban
Johan Wiland
D:
Matias Concha
Erik Edman
Petter Hansson
Daniel Majstorovic
Olof Mellberg
Mikael Nilsson
M:
Niclas Alexandersson
Daniel Andersson
Kennedy Bakircioglu
Dusan Djuric
Samuel Holmen
Kim Kallstrom
Tobias Linderoth
Fredrik Ljungberg
Christian Wilhelmsson
F:
Marcus Allback
Johan Elmander
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Rade Prica
Markus Rosenberg

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PDL
-Final:
Michigan 0-0 Laredo - Laredo win it 4-3 on PK's. Congrats to the Heat.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Real Madrid has signed Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder from Ajax.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Wilbon at the Washington Post has his take on Beckman's entry into MLS last night in Washington DC.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Both the Washington Post and Times had stories on the fans who attended the match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jen Chang at Soccernet with a minute-by-minute report of P.A. (Precious Ankle) Beckman's debut.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales at the US Soccer Players Assoc says the #1 team on the field in Los Angeles is definitely Chivas USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob Luder of the KC Star looks at what Kansas City is doing during a 17 day stretch with no games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLSnet has an article on Kansas City's new Argentine Eloy Colombano. Picture included. He kinda looks like Philipe Mexes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Boston Globe talks to New England assistant coach Steve Mariner who was at Preston when Beckman came there on loan in 94.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The US Soccer Players Assoc gives us a preview of all the American's playing in England's various divisions this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Rogers at Soccer365 also previews many of the American's in the UK.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sulaiman Folarin of Soccernet has a Q & A with Freddy Adu about MLS and Benfica.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.