Big Gene's Erectile News

In a game nearly the opposite of the first Semifinal (which was nail biting to the final seconds), Spain slaughtered Russia 3-0 and wasn't even as close as the score. Russia seems to have used every bit of energy and creativity in defeating Holland. Spain lost star striker David Villa to a thigh injury, and THEN began hammering the opposition. Which should lead us to one helluva final on Sunday. See you there? See details below in the UEFA European Championship section.

~and~

Frank Lampard has run to the open arms of Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan. Imagine, an Englishman at Inter. It's been a while.


2008 UEFA European Championship Schedule

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 25
Germany 3-2 Turkey - Germ goals by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose & Philip Lahm. Turk goals by Ugur Boral & Semih Senturk.
-Thu Jun 26
Russian 0-3 Spain - Spa goals by Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Guiza & David Silva.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Final Match & Score:
-Sun Jun 29
Germany v Spain - 1:30pm central on ABC
-Preceded at 11am central by DC v LA!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~


2008 UEFA European Championship News

It looks like David Villa will miss this game for Spain with a thigh injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phil Ball at Soccernet says the best is yet to come from Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated on the big game ahead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SI has an article by USA U20 coach Thomas Rongen who has been at the Euro tournament. He gives us his look at the final and reviews what he has seen so far.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Paul Doyle and Richard Williams of the Guardian both drool all over Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who kicked his team into high gear when he entered the game. Whereas Ruskie starlet Andrei Arshavin was missing in action.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harry Pearson of the Guardian looks at Germany's main man Michael Ballack.
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Martin Samuel of the Times on Spain’s masterful win.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on Spain's "little guys".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters Soccer Blog with their Euro 2008 Flop XI, and a coach to match their massed ineptitude. Harsh, but I love it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times bucks the trend of praising the young coaches but throwing congrats in the direction of the older fellas in charge, like Grahame himself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune with a match report from Spain-Russia.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Lawton of the Independent joins seemingly hundreds of other sycophantic English journalists in giving all the credit for Spain's win to the one player who makes his living in the Premiership - Cesc Fabregas. (Yeah, I know Fernando Torres is at Liverpool, and there are others too, but that ruins my dramatic over generalizing statement.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Independent on German keeper Jens Lehman's shot at glory once again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Scoreboard

Week 14
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 26
Houston v Dallas - HD goal by Brian Ching. FCD goal by Kenny Cooper. (Were you expecting others?)
Attendance: 16,933
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Match report from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Match report from the Dallas Morning News.
Post game notes by Fallas.
-Sat Jun 28
Columbus v Colorado - 6:30pm central on FSC
New England v Toronto - 6:30pm on Direct Kick
Kansas City v Salt Lake - 7pm central on Direct Kick
Chicago v San Jose - 7:30pm central on Direct Kick
Chivas v New York - 9:30pm central on HDNet
-Sun Jun 29
DC v Los Angeles - 11am central on ABC
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dallas claimed the derby prize - el Capitan - after 3 tie games between the two teams due to more away goals. A cheap win, but a win nonetheless.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beau Dure at USA Today previews Sundays showcase game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner previews this weekends DC-LA match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet previews Sunday as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
27 New England (15)
23 Columbus (13)
21 Toronto (13)
19 Chicago (12) (GD +9)
19 DC (14) (GD -1)
19 New York (13) (GD -3)
12 Kansas City (13)
Western Conference
21 Los Angeles (13)
19 Salt Lake (14) (GD 0)
19 Houston (15) (GD -2)
17 Chivas (13) (GD 0)
17 Dallas (15) (GD -3)
16 Colorado (13)
11 San Jose (13)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Goal Differential is the first tie breaker)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

COLORADO RAPIDS

Pat Rooney at the Rocky Mountain News has a Q & A with John Murphy, the Rapids former assistant coach, now director of player development.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America with Part 2 of his Q & A with Santino Quaranta, about his drug addiction, recovery, etc.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DCU has said adios to Argentine forward Franco Niell only 6 months after they signed him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The Washington Times says we should believe the Beckham hype. I do. But it's never been hype.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives gives us a player-by-player look at how the Red Bulls have turned it around, and admits he thought they were dead and buried. Not so quick.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

I keep forgetting to tell you all how funny this video show is from RSL starring Kyle Beckerman & Javier Morales. Kyle does the whole show in Spanish, while Javi does it in English. It is a butchered mess. And that is the charm. Enjoy, as your server at Olive Garden would say.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The grass has been laid in the new Sandy stadium, but I have not found any pictures to show you yet. I am working on it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret News on the big reason behind RSL's surge up the charts - consistency.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Center Line Soccer previews the Quakes visit to Chicago on Saturday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Morgan Campbell of the Star looks at how TFC will try to win on the road at New England this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Centerback Olivier Tebily may miss the game with a bum ankle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Left fullback Todd Dunivant will miss at least 3 weeks with a stress fracture in his ankle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Shaka Hislop at the Guardian talks MLS, specifically Salt Lake's new vein of good fortune.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales of Soccer365 takes on the age old argument of real turf v the fake stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney at Soccer American wonders who the next "Beckham" will be for MLS. Via Sports Illustrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

The Eastern Daily Press in Norwich England says Darren Huckerby is one step closer to MLS. (Thanks to Bart for this.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle on continued talks between the city of Houston and Dynamo owners AEG on how to get a stadium built.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

I think there has been some confusion as to when the Tampa Bay Rowdies will join the First D. It'll be the 2010 season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jun 27
Puerto Rico v Minnesota
Carolina v Portland
-Sat Jun 28
Charleston v Rochester
Atlanta v Portland
Seattle v Montreal
-Sun Jun 29
Puerto Rico v Minnesota
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Standings

23 Vancouver (12)
21 Charleston (12)
18 Portland (14)
18 Seattle (12)
17 Atlanta (12)
17 Montreal (13)
16 Minnesota (12)
16 Miami (16)
14 Carolina (12)
11 Rochester (11)
9 Puerto Rico (9)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Ives Galarcep at Soccer By Ives gives us his view of the Nash/Reyna Charity game. Some good anecdotes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stefan Bondy at the Herald News says New York loves Henry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Today with an article on Andy Gray who has been calling Euro games for ESPN. People are saying very good things about him. Like Switzerland, I remain neutral.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrew Dixon at the US Soccer Players Assoc reviews his own writings from the past few months to see how his opinions have played out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

The third of six games between Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal to determine their countries entrant in the CONCACAF Champions League takes place this week:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 26
Vancouver 0-2 Montreal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
6 Montreal (3)
3 Toronto (1)
0 Vancouver (2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Final 2nd Leg Match & Score (with 1st leg score included):
-Wed Jul 2
Fluminense v LDU Quito (2-4)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My future girlfriend Marcel Mora y Araujo of the Guardian revels in the glory of Liga's big win over Flum in game 1.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Tottenham has signed Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes from PSV. Adeus Paul Robinson.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An outrageously mean & cruel, yet very funny spoof on Liverpool and Everton. (thanks to Nick for this one)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

SPAIN

I predict that when the transfer window closes this summer, Ronaldinho will still be at Barcelona!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FRANCE

Paul Doyle of the Guardian talks to one of the biggest ego's in the world - Eric Cantona - who says he would be a brilliant manager for France. We can only hope that he could manage better than he can act, cuz he does that quite horribly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lilian Thurman’s moves to Paris St Germain is off after the physical revealed he has a heart ailment called hypertrophy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

Inter claim to have signed both Frank Lampard from Chelsea and Ricardo Quaresma from Porto today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While Juventus has signed Dejan Stankovic from Inter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's official - Marcello Lippi is back in charge of Italy. So why did he leave? And after he left why didn't he take one of the zillion jobs offered to him? Read more about it from World Soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Croatian fans have been accused of flying banners with pro-Nazi slogans during the Euro tournament.

Love To Love You News

A really sad thing happened this week:
There has been a story on the local news about a murder at a hotel in Brooklyn Center (a suburb of Minneapolis). The victim it turns out was a guy I had met several years ago named Mohamed Jama.
He was a great guy that everyone knew around the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, and one of my biggest supporters when I helped start a soccer club there. After getting several cold shoulders from residents he stepped up and welcomed me completely, telling others to get involved. And they responded. He did this all on the quiet, out of the limelight.
He was a really friendly, smiley guy, even though his eyes told you that he had "seen some things" in his short life of only 31 years.
This really bums me out
Here is a story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper that says the shooting was not an accident. Which makes it all even worse.
Please have a good thought for his family today won't you.
Today's du Nord is dedicated to him!
Rest In Peace Mohamed Jama.

* * * *
* * * *
* * * *
* * * *

Germany pulls a Turkey on Turkey. They move on to the Euro 2008 Final with a 3-2 win in dramatic late game fashion, even though almost no one saw it on TV. The passion was gone by the time we saw the replays. But Turkey got a late goal to tie the game at 2's only to see Germany storm back in the dying seconds to win it! How good will Spain v Russia be today? See details in Euro 2008 section below.

~and~

Liga nabbed a 4-1 half time lead of Fluminense and won 4-2 in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores Final. The second leg is next Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro at the 95,000 sold out seats of Maracana Stadium! See details in Copa Libertadores section below.


MLS Scoreboard

Week 14
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 26
Houston v Dallas - 8pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tonight is the always fun, yet kinda lopsided, Texas derby! The battle for El Capitan!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News with a match preview.
-Some more pregame notes from Aparicio.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet with a preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
27 New England (15)
23 Columbus (13)
21 Toronto (13)
19 Chicago (12) (GD +9)
19 DC (14) (GD -1)
19 New York (13) (GD -3)
12 Kansas City (13)
Western Conference
21 Los Angeles (13)
19 Salt Lake (14)
18 Houston (14)
17 Chivas (13)
16 Colorado (13) (GD +1)
16 Dallas (14) (GD -3)
11 San Jose (13)

(Goal Differential is the first tie breaker)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

3 from Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his blog the Red Card: Defender Gonzalo Segares says that he needs a rest - and - John Thorrington almost missed his chance to play with Team USA last weekend - and - Both Wilman Conde & Lider Marmol are healthy again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CD CHIVAS USA

The Seattle Mariners baseball team has a great story on their website about their Cuban catcher who was reunited with fellow defector Maykel Galindo. They had been boyhood friends.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLUMBUS CREW

The Dispatch with an article on coach Sigi Schmid and his wife.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch on his blog Covering the Crew with lots of new team notes, and plenty of quotes from Technical Director Brian Bliss about world wide player searches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Tobias Lopez of the Star Telegram says several FCD players are on the radar screens of European teams.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree with this weeks Practice Observations.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goalkeeper Ray Burse who is on loan at Portland will play 2 more games then return to Dallas permanently.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post says that the DC defense is going to be seriously tested by LA this Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle says the Dynamo are still looking for their top comfort level this season.
-Fallas with some other teams notes too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Everyone seems to be forgetting that Carlos Ruiz will be back at top fighting form for LA this weekend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

John Connolly of the Boston Herald with a story on the record setting pace of Rev's keeper Matt Reis.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So, not only has Frank Dell'apa left the Rev's beat for the Boston Globe, but Mike Biglin has left the MetroWest Daily News, but at least he will be joining the staff at the Boston Herald.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

The Bulls beat the Goats in Phoenix last night. The real Chivas came to the US for a friendly, but NYRB won it 1-0 on a goal by Oscar Echeverry, that was set up perfectly by the red-hot Sinisa Ubiparapovich. Seth Stammler & Edgar Solis were both Red Carded after nearly starting a brawl. A second player from each team left the field after the skirmish with head injuries after they collided.
-Just over 10,000 were in the stands at the giant American football stadium. Must have made the Red Bulls feel right at home.
Match report from the Arizona Republic.
Match report from Metrofanatic.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives reports that NYRB fans are none-too-pleased to hear about Reyna playing in the charity game in NYC last night, instead of being on the road with his team. It's getting bad. (see Soccer In America section below for more on the charity game)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Dean McNulty of the Sun and Morgan Campbell of the Star and Peter Mallett of the Globe & Mail all look at how TFC learns to win on the road. How about hanging out at the beach?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Goal.com with 2 of their Starting XI columns - How to lure Thierry Henry to MLS - and - Getting to know TV commentator JP Dellacamera.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with his notes - This Week In MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Is Cory Gibbs headed back to MLS? I have heard this rumor 3 times now. Doesn't make it true. Just heard it 3 times in one week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America adds more names to the list of Americans possibly returning to MLS from Europe: Robbie Russell, Eddie Lewis & Nate Jaqua.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

The Vancouver Province with the latest on possible new teams in Vancouver, Montreal and beyond.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Steve Nash & Claudio Reyna joined forces for charity and held a big pick up match in a tiny park in NYC last night. Luminaries from both futbol and basketball took to the pitch. Thierry Henry, Jozy Altidore, Robbie Fowler, Rob Jones, Steve McManaman, Solomon Kalou, Gregg Berhalter, Giovanni Savarese, Gavin "You're Shite! ... So I've heard." Harris (aka Alessandro Nivola)! Baron Davis, Leandro Barbosa, Jason Kidd, Raja Bell! Here is some coverage of the event:
-Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer - a cool photo essay!
-Ronald Blum of the Associated Press (thanks to Joe for this one)
-New York Times
-Jen Chang of Soccernet.
-Shawn Francis from The Offside Rules - with some fantastic video clips.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Advertising Age has an article on what the advertising world could possibly do for soccer in this country. It doesn't give answers, but the energy is right on and the questions are the correct ones to be asking.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle reports on an Atletico Madrid young-star-in-the-making who was in Houston to do a clinic with kids.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Andrew Hush of Soccernet looks at the comings and goings of Americans at new clubs this offseason. (Article starts in the middle of the page.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

The third of six games (4 for each team) between Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal to determine their countries entrant in the CONCACAF Champions League takes place this week:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 26
Vancouver 0-2 Montreal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
6 Montreal (3)
3 Toronto (1)
0 Vancouver (2)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Final 1st Leg Match & Score:
-Wed Jun 25
Liga Deportivo Universitaria de Quito Ecuador 4-2 Fluminense Football Club of Rio de Janeiro Brasil - 7:30pm central on Fox Sports Espanyol
Match report from Reuters.
-Wed Jul 2
Fluminense v LDU Quito
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I spent the evening at Charlys Polleria at 29th & Central in Minneapolis enjoying the game with a handful of Ecuadorians. They love their Liga. The food was great, but on a really hot night, their AC was out. So we had to make do with hot food, cold drinks, ceiling fans and the joy that only a 4-1 half time lead can give you. Great night. Can't wait for the finale next Wednesday live from the legendary Maracana in Rio. Sold Out. 95,000 strong supporting their beloved Fluminense.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

ITALY

Luis Figo has signed another 1 year contract to stay at Inter Milan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship News

Peter Berlin of the International Herald Tribune with a match report from Germany v Turkey.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2 from the Guardian:
-Raphael Honigstein gives us a closer look at Germany's Michael Ballack.
-Lot's of praise for Turkish coach Fatih Terim.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Der Spiegel reports on German & Turkish fans partying side by side after the match.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DS give us a great photo slideshow too. Images from the game and all over Germany.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune says former Austrian stars have really enjoyed the tournament even though their national team is not so hot these days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was just awful missing out on the TV feed from a good chunk of the second half of yesterdays game. Especially all that high drama near the end. Took a lot of my passion for it away. Let's hope today is better. UEFA say a storm was to blame for the loss of signal from the stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arrivederci Donadoni!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkish keeper Rustu Recbar retired from his national team after yesterdays valiant loss.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

William at the blog Blades of Blue sent me a link to his blog showing a Turkish player getting patched up during yesterdays game using a staple gun! While the video has been seized by UEFA, and the picture shows very litter, its still a wild story. Thanks for sharing that William.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship Schedule

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 25
Germany 3-2 Turkey - Germ goals by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose & Philip Lahm. Turk goals by Ugur Boral & Semih Senturk.
-Thu Jun 26
Russian v Spain - 1:30pm central time on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Final is on Sunday at 1:30pm central on ABC. And will be preceded at 11am central by DC v LA!

Frank Dell'apa Removed From Soccer Coverage At Boston Globe

Sorry, this could not wait until later:

Yesterday on Brad Feldman's weekly New England Revolution podcast, In The Net, Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe announced that he has been removed from covering the Revs & soccer! WTF? He has been re-assigned by the paper to cover the Celtics. This is a massive loss to the soccer community not just in Boston, but all over America. I hope this is a not a complete disaster. (thanks to Bryan for this one)

Early News Thursday - Euro 2008 Semifinal 2 Special Edition

Today's Semifinal Match

-Wed Jun 25
Russia v Spain - 1:30pm central time on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The News

Phil Ball of Soccernet says Spain will have to play in their unlucky yellow shirts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Lawton of the Independent on Russian star-in-the-making Andrei Arshavin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated calls Arshavin, Andrea The Giant.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three from the Guardian:
-Richard Williams wonders if Arshavin can be the next Michael Platini.
-Jonathan Wilson shows us how this Russian team was put together, not physically, but historically.
-Kevin McCarra with a match preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Reuters Soccer Blog on "The Hiddink Factor".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports says goalkeeper Iker Casillas is a difference maker for Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times blog Goal with an article on Spanish expectations.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Final
-Sun Jun 29
Germany v ??? - 1:30pm central on ABC.

And will be preceded on ABC at 11am central by DC v LA!

A Team We Really Like News

The first Euro 08 Semifinal is today with Germany v Turkey. The other Semi, Russia v Spain is Thursday. See all the details below in the UEFA European Championship section.

~and~

The first leg of the Copa Libertadores Final is tonight with LDU Quito hosting Fluminense. I will be watching the game at the Charlys Polleria, and Ecuadorian place at 29th & Central in Minneapolis. Where will you be watching from? See details below in Copa Libertadores section

~and~

Grahame Jones of the LA Times, one of the most experienced & crabbiest journalists covering American soccer, calls MLS "strange, perhaps even foolhardy" for putting the DC v LA game on ABC right before the Euro final on Sunday. He figures it will expose the leagues weak quality of play. I beg to differ. I think it will show that MLS is not that far off from the top squads of the world, and if we get the kind of ultra conservative final that big tournaments tend to spawn, then we may even see something very exciting before the big game. That NY v LA game last summer was as good as anything I saw, and those SuperLiga games last summer were fantastic. We shall see who is right come Sunday evening.


US Open Cup

2nd Round Matches & Scores:
Carolina Railhawks 1-0 Real Maryland Monarchs
Richmond Kickers 2-1 Western Mass Pioneers
Minnesota Thunder 0-2 Cleveland City Stars - Extra time
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0-3 Rochester Rhinos
Atlanta Silverbacks 0-1 Miami FC Blues
Charlotte Eagles 1-2 Charleston Battery
Crystal Palace Baltimore 2-2 Harrisburg City Islanders - After extra time, CPB adv 3-1 on PK's.
Seattle Sounders 6-0 Hollywood United
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My Thunder went down with a dull thud, 0-2, like a bag of wet dirt last night. It was not fun to watch. They came out in a decent mode, but still not in top gear, then slowed as the game went a long, and finished in full on frustrating lethargy. They were beaten by a team with very few if any real talented players, but guys who knew their purpose and stuck together for 90 scoreless minutes and did the job in extra time. Praise to Cleveland for the strong effort, they earned it. On the sour note, Cleveland forward Anthony Stovall was a striker in the most literal translation of the word last night - he punched Minnesota's Ricardo Sanchez right in the face knocking him out and putting a tooth right through his lip. It was really ugly. I hope that guy doesn't play another minute this year, he sure doesn't deserve to be on a field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Scoreboard

Week 14
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 26
Houston v Dallas - 8pm central on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The always fun, yet lopsided, Texas derby! The battle for El Capitan!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

du Nord MLS Player Of The Week

Gonzalo Martinez - Defender - DC United
The Colombian defender has dazzled us all season with his speed and strength out of the back. Then occasionally he makes a mazy run with the ball into the attack. And this week he added a new title on his resume - goal scorer. His goal against San Jose should easily win the goal of the week contest, cuz it rocked. We need more guys like this coming from foreign lands to light up the league!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch tells us all about rookie Steven Lenhart who made a big splash in his 4th appearance with a big late goal against LA last Saturday. He is the kid with that insane looking white afro helmetish thing on his head. This article reveals that we won't recognize him next time we see him cuz he cup that weird stuff off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mitchell also has more team notes on his blog Covering The Crew.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Tobias Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram hears some squawking about playing time coming from Brazilian forward Ricardinho.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post does his monthly on line chat with fans. You ask, and he answers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Times with a story on how great the DC United fans are. I am glad these things get written even if it is the 376th story on this subject.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

The Houston Fox affiliate with a report on the building of a Dynamo practice facility and youth soccer complex.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle reports that with a proper stadium deal nowhere near done, the team is going to sign a lease extension to keep playing at Robertson field. Hey, at least the place has grass.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Pete Grathoff of the Star writes about rookie Roger Espinoza who has played in 6 games this season, but has 2 Red Cards for taking a pop at someone on the other team. Not a bright guy apparently.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Andrea Canales on her blog Sideline Views has some questions for Landon Donovan about last weekends 3-3 tie with Columbus.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

NYRB travels to Phoenix tonight to take on Chivas of Guadalajara in a friendly. You can watch it at 10pm central on TeleFutura. Big Apple Soccer with a preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arizona Republic with a match preview.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Metrofanatic reports that the team has signed Gordon Kljestan to a developmental contract. He is the older brother of Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MF also has a great list of the 10 most hated opposition players to ever end up playing for NYRB-NYNJM. Pretty great stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Pat Walsh of Goal.com checks in on a team he thought would do well before the season started - Real Salt Lake. I thought they would do well too, and picked them to finish 2nd in the West.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret News on the player leading the team up the standings - midfielder Javier Morales.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

The USA Today says the return of a team to the Bay Area has not been all chocolates and red roses.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America wonders where the first half of the MLS season has gone to already. And where does the league sit as a whole in a summer of big excitement like Euro 08.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Take a minute today and go read The Other Football, the excellent blog from the Orlando Sentinel. It is mostly done by Brant Parsons, but occasionally people like our pal Kartik Krishnaiyer, Robert Caggiano and others contribute. Great job.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Orrin Schwarz of Chicago's Daily Herald tells us who his All-Star Game picks are.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

The Taylor Twellman to Preston North End transfer rumors are getting hot again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pete Grathoff of the KC Star on the possibility of forward Josh Wolff returning to the Wizards after 2 seasons at 1860 Munich.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Is Irish defender Gary Doherty from Norwich heading to San Jose?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Stadium Talk

Miami Today reports that the plan to build a soccer stadium on the site of the Orange Bowl is dead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Minnesota Thunder News

Us fans have heard quite a bit during the preseason and now a full third of the way through the regular season schedule that this team has a lot of depth. The problem is that we don't see that reflected on the field. We see generally the same 11 game in and game out. The Open Cup provided a great chance to hungry players to get on the field and show what they can do, but we saw the same old same old. This season has too many vibes as the last three, and that is not good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

In case you had not seen the it, here is the schedule for our team in this next round of World Cup qualifying:
Aug 20 at Guatemala
Sep 6 at Cuba
Sep 10 v Trinidad & Tobago - Chicago
Oct 11 v Cuba - DC
Oct 15 at Trinidad & Tobago
Nov 19 v Guatemala - Denver
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

The Chelsea Football Club of London has officially formed a partnership with prestigious Raleigh North Carolina club CASL. Chelsea will sponsor and train the clubs elite squads, and the teams will wear Chelsea gear. Soccernet has some more details. CFC also plan to add more American youth clubs to their group. Very interesting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

The Associated Press checks in with Freddy Adu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

Panama fired coach Alexandre Guimaraes after getting clobbered out of qualifying by El Salvador.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

The third of six games between Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal to determine their countries entrant in the CONCACAF Champions League takes place this week:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 26
Vancouver V Montreal
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
3 Toronto (1)
3 Montreal (2)
0 Vancouver (1)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Final 1st Leg Match & Score:
-Wed Jun 25
Liga Deportivo Universitaria de Quito Ecuador v Fluminese Football Club of Rio de Janeiro Brasil - 7:30pm central on Fox Sports Espanyol
-Wed Jul 2
Fluminese v LDU Quito
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tim Vickery of Sports Illustrated with a preview of these two unexpected finalists.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

The Independent with a story on the European Union government proposing an EU football team to play against other regions of the world.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FRANCE

Young French star midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has left Lyon and signed with Marseille.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Old French star defender Lillian Thuram is leaving Barcelona to sign with Paris St Germain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Fenerbahce has hired Spain coach Luis Aragones as their new manager.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship News

Mark Zeigler from the San Diego Union Tribune with his great news and notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Daily Utah Chronicle reports on the diverse crowds gathering around TV's on the U of Utah campus to watch the big matches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The State Journal of Frankfort, Kentucky with an article on just how fun it's been watching this tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For all the rest of today's Euro news check with the previously posted special edition.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship Schedule

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 25
Germany v Turkey - 1:30pm central time on ESPN
-Thu Jun 26
Russia v Spain - 1:30pm central time on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Final is on Sunday at 1:30pm central on ABC. And will be preceded at 11am central by DC v LA!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

John Conway at the Soccer Training Info blog with an interesting essay on the selling of sex and soccer in advertising etc.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African News

An editorial in the New York Times suggests the world use South Africa and the 2010 World Cup as a means to put pressure on the cruel and corrupt government of Robert Mugabe in neighboring Zimbabwe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian World Cup Qualifying

The latest Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad has stepped down from the job after the team was eliminated from World Cup qualifying competition.

Early News Wednesday - Euro 2008 Semifinal 1 Special Edition

Today's Semifinal Match

-Wed Jun 25
Germany v Turkey - 1:30pm central time on ESPN
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The News

James Lawton of the Independent on Ze Germans. Always the Germans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two from Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated:
-Does Turkey have anything left in the tank.
-He is pro-Andy Gray on ESPN for the American broadcasts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three from the Guardian:
-Turkish manager Fatih Terim.
-Raphael Honigstein on the man who must carry the Germans today - Michael Ballack.
-Russia! Russia! Russia!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three from the International Herald Tribune:
-Rob Hughes on the rise of Guus Hiddink and his Russian team.
-Peter Berlin on the favorites - Germany.
-Germany v Turkey goes much much deeper than the game on the field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Four from Der Spiegel:
-A review of today's the Turkish newspapers.
-The secret's of German football success.
-Turkish immigrants in Germany.
-Let's learn more about the ball being used. Of course the goalkeepers don't like it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two from The Times:
-German's hitting their peak right on schedule.
-Martin Samuel on the flaws in the tournament systems.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two from Reuters Soccer blog:
-Stories from train rides around the 2 host countries.
-Russia's not-so-secret weapon is coach Guus Hiddink.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Italian papers are all reporting that Marcello Lippi will be rehired as head coach replacing Donadoni.

Brothers Sisters News

In case you hadn't heard, ABC is showing the Euro final on Sunday. But right before that they are showing the DC v LA showdown live from RFK! Awesome!


US Open Cup

Lots of 2nd Round games coming on Tuesday night!
Matches & Scores:
Carolina Railhawks v Real Maryland Monarchs
Richmond Kickers v Western Mass Pioneers
Minnesota Thunder v Cleveland City Stars
Pittsburgh Riverhounds v Rochester Rhinos
Atlanta Silverbacks v Miami FC Blues
Charlotte Eagles v Charleston Battery
Crystal Palace Baltimore v Harrisburg City Islanders
Seattle Sounders v Hollywood United
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brian Quarstad at Blue Sky Soccer has audio of interviews with both coaches from tonight’s Open Cup match:
-Amos Magee of the Thunder
-Martin Rennie of the Cleveland City Stars
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Vote today for the Chicago Fire All-Decade team. (stolen from the Red Card)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CD CHIVAS USA

Marc Connolly of Goal.com has a Q & A with defender Jonathan Bornstein.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ivan Orozco of the San Diego Times Union with an article on a youth team player determined to break through at Chivas USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLORADO RAPIDS

George Tanner of FC Rocky on those DSG field sprinklers going off during halftime. Plus some other goodies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

Ridge Mahoney at Soccer America's blog MLS Confidential has Part 1 of a great Q & A with Santino Quaranta. It follows up on the interview he did with Steven Goff of the Washington Post last week, where Quaranta admitted his long time drug abuse.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle looks at some key injuries that could slow the Dynamo down.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Kristain Dyer of Soccernet with an article on the first year and a half of Curt Onalfo's coaching reign and a lifelong battle with Hodgkin’s.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

The team plays a friendly this Wednesday night in Arizona against Guadalajara Chivas. It will be broadcast list at 10pm central time on TeleFutura.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple looks at the teams upcoming schedule and pretty much says it's brutal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

The Deseret News gets a private tour of the nearly finished new stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Nigel Reed of the CBC on coach John Carver's lineup decision making process.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star with his post game notes from last Saturday. I missed em yesterday, and they are quite good. So read this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Landon Donovan was named Player Of The Week by the Leauge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis at MLSnet with his always fantastic notes from the past week in MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger with his weekly notes from around the league, the country and the world of soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pete Grathoff of the KC Star with notes from around the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com with his weekly MLS review.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet with their newest power rankings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Robert Caggiano at the Orlando Sentinel with his thoughts on the resurrection of the Rowdies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe on the money men behind this new Tampa team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL 1 & 2 Teams Of The Week.
-Ricardo Sanchez of my Thunder makes the list after another spectacular long range goal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Olympic Team

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider reports that the team will play in a warm up tournament in Hong Kong beginning on Jul 25. The first Olympic group stage match is Aug 7.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Jack Bell at the New York Times blog Goal tells us about a little street pick up game Steve Nash is organizing for WEDNESDAY night [CORRECTED]. Who is on his team? No one really, just Thierry Henry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Yanks Abroad talks to Eddie Johnson about avoiding relegation, this summer and next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

FIFA.com with a preview of the three Semifinal Round groups.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Trinidad Express with several articles on their teams advancement to the Semifinals:
-Congrats from the Government.
-First stop Cuba, and then the rest of Group A.
-High praise for coach Francisco Maturana.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South American News

Marcela Mora y Araujo of the Guardian with an article on the best young coach to emerge from South America in years - Diego Simeone, who just lead his second different team to the league title in 3 years. You can't argue with the fact that most opposition teams and fans thought he was a dirty cheater as a player, he won a lot of titles with several different teams, and he has wracked up this new success while only coaching 3 teams in 4 years!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FIFA.com does a Q & A with great Argentine defender Roberto Ayala, who is nearing the end of a long career.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Copa Libertadores

Final 1st Leg Match & Score:
-Wed Jun 25
Liga Deportivo Universitaria de Quito Ecuador v Fluminese Football Club of Rio de Janeiro Brasil
-Wed Jul 2
Fluminese v LDU Quito
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccernet talks to the coach of surprise finalist LDUQ of Ecuador.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Tom Dunmore of Pitch Invasion looks at the social significance of the hiring of Paul Ince as manager at Blackburn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Is Luis Figo really in line to take over the head coaches spot for Portugal? I hope not. Brazilian Zico's name has also come up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship News

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on this new Russian style of play.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Earth Times talks to legendary Liberian striker George Weah and asks his opinion on the tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on Turkey's new status in world football hierarchy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turkey has 4 starting players that will miss this huge game due to suspension: Arda Turan, Emre Asik, Tuncay Sanli & Volkan Demirel .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While Germany will miss out on no one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeffrey Marcus of the New York Times blog Goal writes about ZiZou taking in some Euro 08 games.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise on the luck of the Spanish.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glenn Davis of the Houston Chronicle on Russia's driving force - Andrei Arshavin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Peter Berlin of the International Herald Tribune has Germany as the favorites now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters soccer blog points out just how awful the diving and faking is these days. I see the only remedy is post match video review to hand out punishment in the form of suspension will stop this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gazetta dello Sports grades the individual Italians players performance in the tournament. Take note though, these ratings are seen through azur tinted glasses, they gave Materazzi their lowest score - a 5. And we all know with that game he had against Holland he doesn't deserve more than a 1 or 2. He was awful.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship Schedule

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 25
Germany v Turkey - 1:30pm central time on ESPN
-Thu Jun 26
Russian v Spain - 1:30pm central time on ESPN2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Simon Kuper at Channel 4 has been slowly releasing his list of the Top 11 Political footballers. Here is the latest - Lillian Thuram.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

African World Cup Qualifying

Have a look at the latest Round 2 standings. Only Nigeria has advanced so far.

Are You Down With The People News

The Euro 08 Semifinals are set - Germany v Turkey on Wednesday and Russia v Spain on Thursday. See details in Euro 2008 Schedule section below.


MLS Scoreboard

Week 13
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 18
New England 1-1 New York - NER goal by Steve Ralston. NYRB goal by Seth Stammler.
Attendance: 10,596
Salt Lake 0-0 San Jose
Attendance: 10,333
-Thu Jun 19
Chivas USA 2-0 Chicago - CUSA goals by Sacha Kljestan & Justin Braun.
Attendance: 24,143
-Sat Jun 21
Toronto 0-0 Kansas City
Attendance: 20,293
Match report from the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Match report by Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star.
Match report from the National Post.
Match report from the Kansas City Star.
New York 1-0 Dallas - NYRB goal by Kevin Goldthwaite.
Attendance: 16,427
Match report by Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger.
Match report by Brian Lewis of the NY Post.
Match report by Stefan Bondy of the Herald News.
Match report by Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
Match report from the Fort Worth Star Telegram penned by none other than Ives Galarcep.
Match report from the Dallas Morning News.
Post game analysis from Metrofanatic.
Post game notes on NY midfielder Sinisia Ubiparipovic by B Lewis of the NY Post on the papers Extra Time blog.
Post game notes on NY midfielder/defender Carlos Mendes by B Lewis of the NY Post on the papers Extra Time blog.
Post game notes on NY midfielder Sinisia Ubiparipovic by Dylan Butler of Big Apple Soccer.
Colorado 0-0 Houston
Attendance: 13,220
Match report by Brian Forbes of the Denver Post.
Match report by the AP from the Rocky Mountain News.
Match report from the Houston Chronicle.
Post game notes by George Tanner of FC Rocky from the Rocky Mountain News.
Salt Lake 2-1 New England - RSL goals by Jay Heaps(OG) & Tino Nunez. NER goal by Adam Cristman.
Attendance: 11,965
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret News.
Match report by Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Player ratings for RSL by Michael Black at the Deseret News RSL blog.
Post game notes by Edward.
Post game notes on RSL forward Tino Nunez by Black.
Post game notes on RSL forward Tino Nunez by Sunnie Redhouse of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Post game analysis by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Los Angeles 3-3 Columbus - LAG goals by Landon Donovan(2 - one PK) & Edson Buddle. CC goals by Brad Evans, Guillermo Barros Schelotto(PK) & Steven Lenhart.
Attendance: 27,000
Match report by Scott Wolf of the Daily News.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise.
Match report by Andrea Canales at Soccernet.
Post game notes by Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer.
Post game notes by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Post game analysis by Mitchell.
Post game notes by Mitchell on his blog Covering The Crew.
-Sun Jun 22
DC 3-1 San Jose - DCU goals by Clyde Simms, Gonzalo Martinez & Luciano Emilio. SJE goal by John Cunliffe.
Attendance: 17,922
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Match report by Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner.
Match report by Chris Webb of United Mania.
Match report from the San Jose Mercury News by our main man Dave Lifton.
Match report by Jay Hipps for Center Line Soccer.
Player ratings for DC by Goff on his blog Soccer Insider.
Post game notes by Hipps.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ejections:
Jason Hernandez - San Jose - 2 Yellow Cards
Paolo Nagamura - Chivas USA - 2 Yellow Cards
Roger Espinoza - Kansas City - Red Card
James Riley - San Jose - Red Card
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
27 New England (15)
23 Columbus (13)
21 Toronto (13)
19 Chicago (12) (GD +9)
19 DC (14) (GD -1)
19 New York (13) (GD -3)
12 Kansas City (13)
Western Conference
21 Los Angeles (13)
19 Salt Lake (14)
18 Houston (14)
17 Chivas (13)
16 Colorado (13) (GD +1)
16 Dallas (14) (GD -3)
11 San Jose (13)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal Differential is first tie breaker.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

The latest from the Toronto Sun on the Brian McBride sweepstakes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman grabbed the 72nd clean sheet of his career. The most by anyone ever in MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Chris Klein played in his 98th straight match on Saturday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Andrew Hush at Soccernet looks at the possibility of Taylor Twellman still leaving the team for Europe in the upcoming transfer window. (Second half of the article)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Stefan Bondy of the Herald News shows that the little guys who make no money are the ones carrying the Red Bulls. While the big money man is a major flop.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Lewis of Big Apple on the mysterious rash of hamstring injuries that is plaguing NYRB.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

The teams former General Manager Steve Pastorino occasionally writes for the Deseret News about his old team - this article about the teams continued struggles was posted before their win this weekend. He does not have high praise for Scottish forward Kenny Deuchar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret News sees genuine team progress for the first time in RSL history.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

The Globe & Mail on TFC's road woe's, where they head next weekend to take on first place New England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sun with the latest on the Brian McBride sweepstakes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Forbes ran a very interesting list recently on the most over paid bench warmers in MLS. but when you compare what MLS guys get paid to other pro sports in America, those other guys wages are beyond obscene. (thanks to Gayle for sending us this one)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated looks at the growing phenomenon of big name players using MLS to drive up European salary possibilities.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jonah Freedman also from SI shows talks to people from around MLS who have connections to the current European Championship.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Davis at Soccernet rounds up last weeks matches.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steven Goff on his blog Soccer Insider with The Good, The Bad and the Coyote Ugly from MLS last week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Golden Boot

11 Landon Donovan
9 Edson Buddle
8 Luciano Emilio
7 Kenny Cooper
6 Alejandro Moreno
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

3rd Degree reports that MLS has turned down a $1million offer for Dallas forward Kenny Cooper, from an unnamed European team. Good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Open Cup

Lots of 2nd Round games coming on Tuesday night!
Matches & Scores:
Carolina Railhawks v Real Maryland Monarchs
Richmond Kickers v Western Mass Pioneers
Minnesota Thunder v Cleveland City Stars
Pittsburgh Riverhounds v Rochester Rhinos
Atlanta Silverbacks v Miami FC Blues
Charlotte Eagles v Charleston Battery
Crystal Palace Baltimore v Harrisburg City Islanders
Seattle Sounders v Hollywood United
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division - Minnesota Thunder News

My team, the Minnesota Thunder, went to Charleston on Friday night and got a point from yet another Ricardo Sanchez wonder goal. He hit a blast from 35 yards out that gave the keeper no chance to save. Wow can he shoot from distance.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The bad news is that we dropped 2 more places in the standings and are now sitting in 7th with only 4 teams under us. The good part is that a very long homestand on a brand new field is almost here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jun 20
Rochester 3-3 Carolina
Charleston 1-1 Minnesota
Seattle 0-0 Miami
-Sat Jun 21
Atlanta 3-1 Puerto Rico
-Sun Jun 22
Montreal 3-0 Carolina
Vancouver 1-1 Miami
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Standings

23 Vancouver (12)
21 Charleston (12)
18 Portland (14)
18 Seattle (12)
17 Atlanta (12)
17 Montreal (13)
16 Minnesota (12)
16 Miami (16)
14 Carolina (12)
11 Rochester (11)
9 Puerto Rico (9)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Team USA

2nd Round 2nd leg CONCACAF World Cup qualifying Match & Score (includes score from first leg):
-Sun Jun 22
Barbados 0-1 USA - USA advance 9-0 on aggregate. - USA goal by Eddie Lewis.
Match report from US Soccer.
Match report by Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
Match report from the Barbados Advocate, who pretended that last weekends 8-0 mauling didn't happen.
Post game analysis by Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer.
Post game analysis by Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives.
Post game analysis by Andrew Hush at Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This is one of those games best left forgotten. The motivation factor for the USA was absolute zero. And it was probably a good thing that is was scheduled directly opposite the Euro 08 quarterfinal, that way very few people actually saw it. It was a bit depressing to watch honestly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I am trying to figure out why all the advertising boards in Barbados were for the USL First Division? Anyone?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer gives us audio of coach Bradley's post game press conference.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer also gives us post game quotes from Bradley and players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the way, here is satellite image of the stadium where the game was played.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The news slid in at the last minute by Dallas midfielder Brek Shea was on the USA Roster for this game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The official team blog.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next USA match will be August 20th in Guatemala starting off the next round of World Cup qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Maria Burns Ortiz of Soccernet with an article on Brad Friedel's youth academy in Ohio.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Toronto Globe & Mail with an article that tries to give the impression ESPN has never shown a soccer game before, and that somehow live games on TV in America from Europe now is revolutionary.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF News

The only upset in the entire round of qualifying was El Salvador beat Panama. So can someone remind me again why this round was played?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st leg scores included):
-Fri Jun 20
Canada 4-1 St Vincent & Grenadines - Can advance 7-1 on aggregate.
-Sat Jun 21
St Lucia 1-3 Guatemala - Guat adv 9-1 on agg.
Costa Rica 3-0 Grenada - CR adv 5-2 on agg.
Mexico 7-0 Belize - Mex adv 9-0 on agg.
-Sun Jun 22
Barbados 0-1 USA - USA adv 9-0 on agg.
Guyana 1-2 Suriname - Sur adv 3-1 on agg.
Cuba 4-0 Antigua & Barbuda - Cuba adv 8-3 on agg.
El Salvador 3-1 Panama - ES adv 3-2 on agg.
Netherlands Antilles 0-1 Haiti - Hai adv 1-0 on agg.
Bermuda 0-2 Trinidad & Tobago - TNT adv 3-2 on agg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here are the 3 groups for the Semifinal Round:
Group A
USA
Guatemala
Trinidad & Tobago
Cuba
Group B
Mexico
Jamaica
Honduras
Canada
Group C
Costa Rica
Suriname
El Salvador
Haiti
-The top 2 from each group advance to the final Hexagonal Group Stage, where the top 3 qualify for the World Cup, and the 4th place team plays a home and away series with the 5th place team from CONMEBOL for a final WC spot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South American News

The Observer reports that it's all but over for Dunga as coach of Brazil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Observer has a Q & A with a forgotten star of Brazil's not so distant past - Rai.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Paul Ince has been officially named manager of Blackburn Rovers. Major historical note: He is the first British citizen of African ancestry to manage a top division club in England. The Times with an article.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here is an article showing everything WRONG with English football journalism:
The Guardian lead the charge of the English press turning on Christiano Ronaldo again. I can't believe I am about to defend CR here, but this line in the article makes my blood boil: "It was such an unpleasant scene the journalists decided not to write about it ...." What a bunch of total garbage. The English press live for this kind of crap. There is no way it went down like it's written about here or it would have been the biggest headlines of the year the day after it happened. Not to mention that this is seriously ticky tacky stuff here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A promising young French midfielder from Marseille, Samir Nasri has signed with Arsenal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship News

Two from The Times of London:
Martin Samuel on the brilliance of Russia's manager Guus Hiddink.
The Top ten from the tournament in the transfer market.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three from Soccernet:
Phil Ball on the first win by Spain over Italy when it actually meant something.
Jen Chang looks ahead to the key players in the Semifinals.
Norman Hubbard lists his best 11 from the teams who did not get out of the group stage.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three from The Guardian:
Sid Lowe on Spain's slaying of their own personal windmill, the Italians.
Barney Ronay on Spain’s new confidence.
Richard Williams on Italy's biggest flop - Luca Toni.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Observer with an article on the relative youth of the coaches in the tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

La Gazzetta dello Sport says Italy coach Roberto Donadoni will not resign even after defeat. So I guess that they will fire him then, cuz I just can't imagine him leading the team into World Cup qualifying.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2008 UEFA European Championship Schedule

Quarterfinal Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jun 19
Portugal 2-3 Germany - Port goals by Nuno Gomes & Helder Postiga. Germ goals by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose & Michael Ballack.
-Fri Jun 20
Croatia 1-1 Turkey - Game tied 0-0 after Regulation Time. Game tied 1-1 after Extra Time. Turkey win 3-1 on Penalty Kicks. - Cro goal by Ivan Klasnic. Turk goal by Semih Senturk.
-Sat Jun 21
Netherlands 1-3 Russia - Game tied 1-1 after Regulation Time. Russia win 3-1 in Extra Time. - Neth goal by Ruud van Nistelrooy. Russ goals by Roman Pavlyuchenko, Dmitri Torbinski & Andrei Arshavin.
-Sun Jun 22
Spain 0-0 Italy - Game tied 0-0 after Regulation & Extra Time. Spa win 4-2 on Penalty Kicks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Semifinal Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jun 25
Germany v Turkey - 1:30pm central on ESPN.
-Thu Jun 26
Russian v Spain - 1:30pm central on ESPN2.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Pitch Invasion with a very cool story on a Frenchman who scored the first goal in the first World Cup.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New York Times Sunday Magazine with a great personal story from an American teacher on soccer in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2 weeks ago Pele was robbed of his jewelry and money by at least 10 armed youth in Santos. Damn, not even a deity like Pele is safe anymore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Asian World Cup Qualifying

Iraq lost 1-0 to Qatar (aka Brazil Jr.) this weekend, and have now been eliminated from World Cup qualifying.
-Its a real drag because Iraq just won the Asian Cup last winter with so much pizzazz. Now they are gone.
-The Guardian on the Iraqi disappointment.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sydney Herald breaks down the next round of qualifying.