All-Yellow Is The Color Of My Love News

West Ham keeper Robert Green spent his offseason in Africa doing what he could to help those in need. Incredible story he wrote for the Independent. See England News section.


SuperLiga

Official match reports and video highlights etc.
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Matchday 1 Ejections:
Dwayne De Rosario - Houston - Red Card
Javier Munoz - Atlante - Red Card
Juan Pablo Rodriguez - Santos - Red Card
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Matchday 2 Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 15
DC v Atlante - 7pm central
Houston v Guadalajara - 9pm central
-Wed Jul 16
New England v Pachuca - 7pm central
Chivas USA v Santos Laguna - 9pm central
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All games can be seen live on TeleFutura.
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MLS Scoreboard

Week 17
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 17
Columbus v Kansas City - 7pm central on ESPN2 & ESPN Deportes
-Sat Jul 19
Toronto v San Jose - 2pm central on HDNet
New York v Los Angeles - 5:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Dallas v Colorado - 7:30pm central on Direct Kick
Chicago v Salt Lake - 7:30pm central on Direct Kick
-Tue Jul 22
DC v Houston - 6:30pm central on Direct Kick
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The Latest Standings
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MLS 2008 All Star Game News

New England Revolution Coach Steve Nicol has added his 5 picks to the All Star squad:
-Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls
-Jim Brennan - Toronto FC
-Christian Gomez - Colorado Rapids
-Pablo Mastroeni - Colorado Rapids
-Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
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MLS Commissioner Donald I Garber has added 2 players to the team:
-Edson Buddle - Los Angeles Galaxy
-Dwayne De Rosario - Houston Dynamo
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Those are some seriously sentimental picks except for Buddle. The other 6 guys are NOT in the best players in the league right now. Disappointing. Let's break it down:
-Juan Pablo Angel over Luciano Emilio??? Are you kidding me?
-Jim Brennan is not even the best guy on his won team - that would be Amado Guevara by a mile and half.
-Christian Gomez - look, I love the guy, but he has been yesterdays news for most of this season. His replacement at DC Marcello Gallardo is far superior right now. Not to mention Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Come on guys!
-Pablo Mastroeni - has been decent this season, but younger guys on his own team have been as good as him at the same position, that’s why Colorado is ok with selling him now. And you are really lining up with no Steve Ralston. I have him down as a candidate for league MVP right now!
-Pat Onstad - love him too, but please Jon Busch deserves this and we all know it.
-Dwayne De Rosario - having one of his worst halves of a season since he became a big time player. I don't care if he is Canadian. And he make this list at the expense of a guy having a huge season, Javier Morales, who has lead Real Salt Lake out off the trash heap.
-Chicago defender Gonzalo Segares (no relation to either DC defender Gonzalo Peralta or Gonzalo Martinez) also got the screwgee.
-What a sham. The guys who got jobbed should be pissed off.
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his blog The Red Card talks to defender Gonzalo Segares who says his ankle is fine. He subbed out of last weekend's game against Toronto after giving it a good wrenching.
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CD CHIVAS USA

Goal.com figures Carey Talley has been a great pick-up for CUSA this season.
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Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise on the departure of El Guzano.
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COLORADO RAPIDS

With Marcelo Balboa unavailable for his own radio show tonight in Denver, Raps coach Fernando Clavijo will be one of two people filling in. How great is that? See link in the right hand column to down load it tomorrow. I stole this from George Tanner of the Rocky Mountain News on his blog FC Rocky.
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DC UNITED

Steven Goff of the Washington Post with an article on the teams newest player Craig Thompson.
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HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle on the Dynamo's SuperLiga opponent Guadalajara Chivas.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Pete Grathoff of the Star talks to Argentine star Claudio Lopez about his first season in KC.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Soccer By Ives reports that Claudio Reyna has retired. The injuries just kept piling up and he did not see an end in sight, so he called it a day. Adios Claudio, you were one of America's greats!
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NYRB has signed a loan deal for Venezuelan defender Gabriel Cichero from Deportivo Italia in Caracas.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer hands out his midseason grades for the players on the team. Not surprisingly it's mostly ugly.
-I agree that Dave Van Den Bergh has been the teams best performer so far this season.
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REAL SALT LAKE

Sulaiman Folarin at Soccernet looks at the job Jason Kreis has done in making this team respectable.
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TORONTO FC

CBC with an article on youngster Abdu Ibrahim. They are excited about him.
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GENERAL

Chicago midfielder John Thorrington was named MLS Player Of The Week.
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Steve Davis at Soccernet with 10 things to note from Week 16.
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Davis also has his great weekly notes for MLSnet.
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Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America looks at the wave of Argentine players the league is currently riding. Via Sports Illustrated.
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Nick Green of the Daily Breeze looks at two players with a bright future if they keep playing like they are - Brad Guzan & Edson Buddle.
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Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star with his weekly notes.
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Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com with his weekend league wrap up.
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MLS Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 15
Toronto v Independiente (Argentina)
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MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Toronto has signed forward Paul Dickov to a ridiculously high salary. Rumors swirling say it's between $500,000 & $750,000. Insanity.
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Others say Dickov has signed with no one, and that TFC is now chasing Turkish striker Hakan Sukur from Galatasaray.
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Steven Goff on his blog Soccer Insider reports that if no MLS teams want Carlos Ruiz he could end up being sold to a club in his native Guatemala. That would be a huge drag. I bet if his price was lower he could be traded in a heartbeat.
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Dallas has linked up with former USA star Earnie Stewart, who is the technical director of his long time club NAC Breda to bring a player to Dallas for a try out. He is Dutch midfielder Victor Sikora.
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USL First Division News

Anne Ramzy of Soccernet with a wrap up from the 1st Div this week.
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Minnesota Thunder

The Thunder play a friendly against English Championship division team Burnley tonight.
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Brian Quarstad at Blue Sky Soccer has posted audio of interviews with several people involved in tonight’s match - Thunder coach Amos Magee and midfielder Dale Weiler, and Burnley coach Owen Coyle, fan Jonathan Barren & PR guy Darren Bentley. Great stuff.
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US Soccer Youth Development Academy

The last days U18 games will all be broadcast live on ESPNU, with the Championship (1 v 1) being shown live on ESPN2 at 10pm central on Fri Jul 18.
All 4 U16 final day games will be shown Sat Jul 19 on ESPNU.
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Here are the 8 regional winners and their groups.
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U18 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 12
Chicago Fire 1-4 Baltimore Bays
Colorado Rush 1-1 FC Westchester
CASL 0-2 Columbus Crew
Concorde Fire 0-6 LAFC
-Mon Jul 14
Chicago Fire 0-4 Colorado Rush
Baltimore Bays 3-0 FC Westchester
CASL 1-4 Concorde Fire
Columbus Crew 1-1 LAFC
-Wed Jul 16
Chicago Fire v FC Westchester
Baltimore Bays v Colorado Rush
CASL v LAFC
Columbus Crew v Concorde Fire
-Fri Jul 18
Finals
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U16 Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jul 13
Albertson 3-4 LAFC
Carmel United 2-1 Schulz Academy
Chicago Magic 1-1 CASL
Real Colorado 0-1 PDA
-Tue Jul 15
Albertson v Carmel United
LAFC v Schulz Academy
Chicago Magic v Real Colorado
CASL v PDA
-Thu Jul 17
Albertson v Schulz Academy
LAFC v Carmel United
Chicago Magic v PDA
CASL v Real Colorado
-Sat Jul 19
Finals
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Standings:
A U18 - 2 Played
6 Baltimore Bays (GD +6)
4 Colorado Rush (GD +4)
1 FC Westchester (GD -3)
0 Chicago Fire (GD -7)
B U18 - 2 Played
4 LAFC (GD +6)
4 Columbus Crew (GD +2)
5 Concorde Fire (GD -3)
0 CASL (GD -5)

C U16 - 1 Played
3 LAFC (GD +1)
3 Carmel United (GD +1)
0 Schulz Academy (GD -1)
0 Albertson (GD -1)
D U16 - 1 Played
3 PDA (GD +1)
1 CASL (GD 0)
1 Chicago Magic (GD 0)
0 Real Colorado (GD -1)
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Soccer In America

Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer has an interview with one of those people who are the secret weapons of our growing game: Hugo Salcedo has been involved on many levels, top to bottom, for a long time. He is the guy who helped Michael Orozco find his way to a team in Mexico.
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Pitch Invasion with an article on ESPN's improved soccer coverage. I agree it has gotten better, but calling them jingoistic during USA World Cup games is asinine. Every country in the world has homers calling their national team games. Why would you expect anything else. And if you watch any game in England, no matter what foreign country or players are on the pitch the English announcers find ways to relate it all back to the Premiership. The author needs to get over himself a little bit here.
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Americans In Europe

Soccer America reports that DaMarcus Beasley has suffered a hamstring strain in preseason training. Not good for Run DMB. He could be out up to a month.
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How are our Americans in Scandinavia doing this summer:
Norwegian Tippeligaen:
-Adin Brown - Aalesunds - did not play as they lost 1-3 at home to Tromso.
-Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - was not on the bench as they drew 0-0 at home against Viking.
-Pat Noonan - Aalesunds - did not play as they lost 1-3 at home to Tromso.
-Troy Perkins - Valerenga - played all 90 and won 1-3 at Stromsgodset.
-Brian Waltrip - Molde - was not on the bench as they drew 2-2 at Bodo Glimt.
-Brian West - Fredrikstad - was not on the bench as they won 4-0 at Lillestrom.
Norwegian Adeccoligaen:
-Matthew Allen - Bryne - didn't play at they drew 1-1 at Sandnes
-Clarence Goodson - Start - went the distance and got a Yellow Card but won 2-3 at Notodden.
-Joseph Lapira - Nybergsund - played the full match as they drew 2-2 at home against Sparta Sarpsborg.
-Jay Needham - Alta - played all 90 minutes and lost 1-3 at home to Lov Ham Bergen.
-Chris Rodd - Bryne - scored an Own Goal as they drew 1-1 at Sandnes.
-Kyle Veris - Hodd - was not on the bench as they lost 3-1 at Sogndal.
-Cam Weaver - Haugesund - started and went 90 scoring the only goal of the game as they won 0-1 at Sandefjord.
Swedish Allsvenskan:
-Colin Burns - Ljungskile - at Goteborg today
-Charlie Davies - Hammarby - scored his teams 1st & 3rd goals in a 2-4 winner over Malmo.
-Etchu Tabe - Ljungskile - at Goteborg today
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RUMORS

Today it's Brad Friedel to Aston Villa.
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CONCACAF News

FIFA.com reports on Costa Rican's heading off to play in the Australian A League. Not good. These are the guys who should be playing in MLS.
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FIFA.com also has a short Q & A with the head of the football federation in the Bahamas. They are trying.
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Olympic Soccer News

NBC has announced that they are showing every minute of ALL men’s & women’s soccer games. Multiple cable channels will be used.
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South American News

The word from Brazil is that the real Ronaldo is about to sign with Flamengo.
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England News

West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green writes an article for the Independent about his weeks spent in Africa during this offseason. Fantastic. A must read.
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Kevin Mitchell of the Observer with an article on Cristiano Ronaldo, who he describes in two words: Witless & Bonehead. Hahahaha.
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European News

GERMANY

Schalke has signed Dutch midfielder Orlando Engelaar from Twente Enschede. He had a really good Euro 08 performance.
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Hamburg has released long time Argentine star defender Juan Pablo Sorin. He has suffered a string of injuries that have kept him sidelined for too long.
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ITALY

The Italian Referees Association says they are going to crack down this season "excessive protesting and simulation". We shall see.
-Getting your Diving Italians shirt here: Caution Azzurri. From Blue Sky Soccer!
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Milan have preseason friendlies set up against Juve, Man City & Sevilla.
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La Gazetta talks to Juventus midfielder Momo Sissoko about the upcoming season.
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SPAIN

English papers today ran with a story saying Samuel Eto'o was leaving Barcelona to play in Uzbekistan. Ha. Our main man Brian Quarstad just happened to speak with Mr Eto'o himself today because the great striker is in the Twin Cities for a youth clinic. Eto'o says that story is completely false. Read it here at Blue Sky Soccer. Good work BQ.
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Sid Lowe of the Guardian pimps Real Madrid & Spain keeper Iker Casillas for this years Ballon d'Or.
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Former Real Madrid boss Vicente del Bosque is all set to take over as the next national team coach.
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OTHERS

Jonathan Wilson of the Guardian on the reclamation of the once fabled Hungarian club Honved. Now owned by an American businessman.
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World News

Pitch Invasion with the story of Nigerians playing their football in Finland!
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The Guardian with an article on the national team of Kurdistan. Yes, Kurdistan.
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Gavin Hamilton at World Soccer with a very interesting article about citizenship and national teams. The story involves a Brazilian, Qatar & Iraq. So why does it start with a little blurb about England? Why does it have to always be about England with some of these writers. The rest of us are sick of it.
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The Telegraph with an article on how money has changed the game. This is about nostalgia, which does no one any good. Yes, the old stories are great, but its the past and will always stay there.
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African News

The BBC shows young African players being ripped off by con-men. Very sad story.

Claudio Reyna Retires!

Soccer By Ives is reporting that Claudio Reyna has retired from the New York Red Bulls.

Some Sweet Burberry Underpants News

Abdusalam Ibrahim, the young Ethiopian boy from my town of Minneapolis, made his pro debut on Saturday for Toronto. He came on at half time and did not disappoint, taking a great through ball from Amado Guevara to beat the Chicago defense, then rounded keeper Jon Busch and put the ball into an empty net. I was so damn excited for him. He is 16 years old! There was a downside though, in that he took not one but 2 dives, and was given a Yellow Card for the second. That crap has got to go. He is too talented to be diving and I hope his coach and veteran teammates home him get that expunged from his game. Huge congrats though to Ibrahim on his debut and goal. Let's hope for many more.

~and~

Simon Kuper on the transfer market: "Just as oil is part of the oil business, stupidity is part of the football business." What a sentence. Read the story in the World News section.

~and~

It has been revealed by the MLS Players Union that of the $1 Million dollar prize awarded to the winner of the SuperLiga, only $150,000 will actually go to the players. The other $850,000 goes to the team and league. Wow. Embarrassing. So much for the incentive for players.

~and~

Salt Lake fans must be wetting themselves with excitement over the fact that they are in FIRST PLACE in the Western Conference. Can you believe it?? Insanity has struck. Good for them


SuperLiga

After the first 4 games we can see that SuperLiga will give us the same passion and quality as last year! Yes, there is a weak team in the field, Atlante, but maybe their beatdown in Houston will wake them up to the level they need to play at. Can't wait for Matchday 2.
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Matchday 1 Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 12
DC 1-2 Guadalajara - DCU goal by Luciano Emilio. Guad goals by Omar Rivera & Gonzalo Pineda.
Attendance: 22,453
Match report by John Haydon of the Washington Times.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Houston 4-0 Atlante - HD goals by Dwayne De Rosario, Stuart Holden(2) & Brian Mullan.
Attendance: 13,105
Match report by Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle.
Post game notes and HD players ratings by Fallas on his blog Soccer y Futbol.
-Sun Jul 13
New England 1-0 Santos Laguna - NER goal by Kheli Dube.
Attendance: 10,118
Match report by Monique Walker of the Boston Globe.
Match report by Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald.
Match report from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Chivas USA 1-2 Pachuca - CUSA goal by Ante Razov. Pach goals by Claudio Suarez(OG) & Gabriel Caballero.
Attendance: 14,528
Match report by Luis Bueno at the Press Enterprise.
Match report by Phil Collin of the LA Daily News.
Match report from the LA Times.
Post game notes by Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer.
Post game notes aplenty from Andrea & Luis at the Sideline Views blog.
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Official match reports and video highlights etc.
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Ejections:
Dwayne De Rosario - Houston - Red Card
Javier Munoz - Atlante - Red Card
Juan Pablo Rodriguez - Santos - Red Card
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My notes from SuperLiga Matchday 1:
-Jaime Moreno of DCU had a penalty saved by Ernesto Michel of Guadalajara. When was the last time Moreno did not convert? (Steven Goff of the Washington Post said it's been nearly 4 years since he missed a PK in MLS play, and is currently on a streak of 20 in a row.)
-Did Guadalajara look good or what. Holy smokes. For a few minutes there I thought they were going to tear DC to shreds. But credit DCU for getting their act back together and playing hard, nearly tying the game at one point.
-DC was missing Marcello Gallardo who has a strained groin muscle, and it really showed. Add that to the longer term hamstring injury of Santino Quaranta and Ben Olsen's ankle injury and you end up with a significantly diminished midfield. Centerback Gonzala Peralta also has a groin injury.
-Goalkeeper Zach Wells may have had his best game for DC.
-Sven Goren Erickson, the new Mexico coach, was seen in the stands at RFK Stadium in DC on Saturday night and again in Foxborough at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night. [CORRECTED]
-USA manager Bob Bradley & his son Michael were seen in the stands of the Home Depot Center watching Chivas USA v Pachuca on Sunday night.
-I was shocked at how poor the field condition is in Houston. Big portions of the pitch are nothing but dirt. Wow. They should be embarrassed.
-Santos Laguna's long-term-delusional goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez has never shown any respect at all toward USA teams and players and he was at it again after his teams loss in Foxborough saying that he felt his team out played the Rev's. While I give his team plenty of credit for their extremely hard play with 10 men for a long stretch, they were definitely the 2nd best team on the field. Yes Santos had some nice chances, but New England had many many more and should have beaten them much worse than 1-0. When will he learn? Never I guess. Too bad.
-Santos are a really good team, but it was again pathetic of them to blame the turf for the loss. Sadly it's become typical.
-There was a 20 minute delay in the middle of the DC v Chivas game due a couple of banks of field lights going out.
-Now that is the Houston team that has won back to back MLS Cups. They drilled Atlante!
-Dwayne De Rosario showed again that he lacks brain cells at times when he got into a little scrap over a nothing foul and let it turn into a Red Card offense by not backing off and letting it go. Idiot.
-Houston played with out 3 injured regulars: Brian Ching, Richard Mulrooney & Eddie Robinson.
-Taylor Twellman missed yet another game for New England, with yet another injury, a strained hip flexor.
-I love watching Pachuca play. And in this offseason they lost potent striker Juan Carlos Cacho, but replaced him with even stronger forward Bruno Marioni. What a great move.
-Someone named Lance Parker played goalkeeper for Chivas USA on Sunday night. I have never even heard of him. Dan Kennedy had been backing up Brad Guzan in goal before this. So with Guzan sold to Aston Villa, I expected to see Kennedy. Instead we got this Parker guy. We will have to find out who he is.
-Chivas USA had many early chances to bury Los Tuzos and did not do it. They paid the price for it. The best chance was a Penalty Kick in which Pachuca keeper El Condor Colero dove the wrong way by El Emperador Suarez's shot hit the post and bounced away. I figured Suarez to be automatic on that PK.
-CUSA was also robbed on the foul given to Pachuca that set up the free kick and first goal. There was no foul at all on that play, and the referee was 6 miles away when he made the call, which the assistant referee did not call a foul.
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Matchday 2 Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 15
DC v Atlante - 7pm central
Houston v Guadalajara - 9pm central
-Wed Jul 16
New England v Pachuca - 7pm central
Chivas USA v Santos Laguna - 9pm central
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All games can be seen live on TeleFutura.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Scoreboard

Week 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Kansas City v New York - KCW goals by Jimmy Conrad & Davy Arnaud. NYRB goal by Juan Pablo Angel.
Attendance: 8,773
Los Angeles 1-1 Chivas USA - LAG goal by Edson Buddle. CUSA goal by Ante Razov.
Attendance: 27,000
-Sat Jul 12
San Jose 1-1 Colorado - SJE goal by Ryan Johnson. CR goal by Conor Casey.
Attendance: 9,107
Match report from the San Jose Mercury News.
Match report from Center Line Soccer.
Match report from the Denver Post.
Chicago 2-1 Toronto - CF goals by Chris Rolfe & John Thorrington. TFC goal by Abdus Ibrahim.
Attendance: 15,118
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Nick Firchau of the Chicago Sun Times.
Match report from the Toronto Star.
Post game notes by Arroyave on his blog The Red Card.
Salt Lake 2-0 Columbus v - RSL goals by Javier Morales & Robbie Findley.
Attendance: 12,378
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret News.
Post game analysis by Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Post game notes by Edward.
Player ratings for RSL by Edward on the Deseret News RSL blog.
Post game notes by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
More post game notes from Mitchell.
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Ejections:
Preki - coach - Chivas USA - Red Card (for arguing with officials)
Frank Yallop - coach - San Jose - Red Card (for arguing with officials)
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MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
33 New England
27 Columbus
24 Chicago
22 DC
21 Toronto
20 Kansas City (GD -4)
20 New York (GD -8)
Western Conference
23 Salt Lake
22 Los Angeles (GD +3)
22 Chivas (GD +1)
20 Colorado (GD +4)
20 Houston (GD -2)
18 Dallas
13 San Jose
(Goal Differential is the first tie breaker)
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Luis Arroyave of the Tribune on his blog The Red Card reports that forward Calen Carr has blown out his knee and is done for the season.
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Cuauhtemoc Blanco apologizes. Also from The Red Card.
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I heard it was Blanco bobblehead night in Chicago on Saturday. But I have to ask - how to you make a bobblehead of a guy with no neck? Does he bobble at the waist or something like that?
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Gonzalo Segares cranked over his ankle and to be replaced. They say its not real bad though.
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The Toronto Star reports that there is no movement on a deal to send the rights to forward Brian McBride from TFC to the Fire.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CD CHIVAS USA

Phil Collin of the LA Daily News talks to outgoing goalkeeper Brad Guzan who says goodbye to Chivas USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Word from owner Jorge Vergara told reporters on Friday that the team is bringing in a very talented young goalkeeper from Saprissa in Costa Rica to fight for the starting goalkeeper job.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle reports that the team has re-signed forward Nate Jaqua for the remainder of this season. Jaqua wants to play next season in Seattle, his hometown, when they enter MLS. The international transfer period begins on Tuesday, so the signing will be completed anytime after that.
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

The Wiz has sold forward Scott Sealy to San Jose for straight up good old fashioned cashola. I guess they figure Josh Wolff is all the forward they are going to need to climb out of the cellar and into the playoffs. Hmmm. Let's hope they have more then that up their big blue sleeve.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Here's a new one - Rev's defender Chase Hilgenbrinck has retired - to be come a Catholic Priest. Hey, whatever you need. Best of luck dude.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monique Walker of the Boston Globe writes about an old Rev's weakness that has suddenly become a strength - team depth.
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REAL SALT LAKE

The team has given up only 2 goals in the past 7 games. And one of those was an Own Goal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Midfielder Nathan Sturgis saw game action for the first time in nearly 3 months. He has been out with a hamstring injury.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Ryan Johnson had a fantastically powerful back post diving header goal from a great long range cross from the foot of Ramiro Corrales.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Morgan Campbell on the Star's TFC blog hooks us up with a link to a video show done by an Englishman from Milton Keynes who as in Toronto recently and filed this great report. Campbell is even interviewed. Very cool stuff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Larry Millson of the Globe & Mail says TFC took a run at Benfica & Portugal forward Nuno Gomes. But sadly he turned them down. That would have been a great move. I know it's not really news, but it does show they are trying some interesting things.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Steven Goff of the Washington Post on his blog Soccer Insider with his weekly MLS (and this week SuperLiga) notes - The Good, The Bad & The Coyote Ugly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 15
Toronto v Independiente (Argentina)
-Sun Aug 3
Colorado v Everton (England)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Minnesota Thunder

Here is a picture of some of my friends at last Friday's return to the National Sports Center and the opening of the new home of our Thunder. Check out those clouds. At halftime they told everyone to get out of the stadium and take care, then for the next 90 minutes we got a huge storm of heavy rain, powerful wind and massive lightning. We sat it out, then played half #2. The game ended tied at 2's. (thanks to Bob for sending me the picture)
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My team plays English Championship division team Burnley on Tuesday night in a friendly. Will it be fun? I don't know. I can't name one of their players (ever), and I pay attention. Honestly I can list about 500 teams I would put higher on my priorities. Maybe this is one of those games where the pinheads who live here but won't go see American Soccer will go out. But will it actually change their mind about going out again to see the local team. Let's hope it converts at least one.
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USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Portland 0-2 Puerto Rico
-Fri Jul 11
Rochester 1-0 Seattle
Minnesota 2-2 Carolina
-Sat Jul 12
Charleston 1-3 Puerto Rico
-Sun Jul 13
Montreal 0-1 Seattle
Rochester 0-0 Miami
Vancouver 1-1 Carolina
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Standings

Standings (games played):
27 Charleston (15)
24 Puerto Rico (15) (GD +6)
24 Vancouver (14) (GD +1)
23 Seattle (17)
21 Portland (17)
20 Atlanta (14) (GD -2)
20 Miami (18) (GD -2)
20 Carolina (16) (GD -5)
18 Rochester (15)
17 Minnesota (16)
15 Montreal (15)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA Olympic Team

The team is expected to be announced on Thursday this week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

Match & Score:
-Fri Jul 11
USA 3-0 Mexico - USA goals by Sheanon Williams & Peri Marosevic(2).
Match report from the Laredo Morning Times. (Thanks to Joe J for this)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U17 News

The annual trip to South America for Friendlies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 4
Uruguay 0-2 USA - in Montevideo Uruguay - USA goals by Jack McInerney & Carlos Martinez.
Three games in Rosario Argentina as part of Copa Ciudad de Rosario
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
ARF (Rosario) 1-3 USA - ARF goal by Cabrera Alberto(PK). USA goals by Robert Derschang, Victor Pineda & Jaime Gutierrez.
-Thu Jul 10
Argentina 3-0 USA - Arg goals by Rodrigo Diaz, Lucas Mugni & Adrian Martinez.
Match report from US Soccer.
-Fri Jul 11
Chile 1-3 USA - Chi goal by Piero Garate. USA goals by Stefan Jerome(2) & Carlos Martinez.
Match report from US Soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer Youth Development Academy

The first ever U18 & U16 national finals for the new Development Academy will be take place starting tomorrow, Sat Jul 12, and ending on Sat Jul 19.
All matches will be played at the Home Depot Center complex in Carson, CA.
The tournament is set up in two groups per age level and a round-robin tournament will determine #1-#4 in each group. Then those teams will then play the corresponding team in the other group for 1st, 3rd, 5th & 7th place trophies.
The last days U18 games will all be broadcast live on ESPNU, with the Championship (1 v 1) being shown live on ESPN2 at 10pm central on Fri Jul 18.
All 4 U16 final day games will be shown Sat Jul 19 on ESPNU.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here are the 8 regional winners and their groups.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U18 Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 12
Chicago Fire 1-4 Baltimore Bays
Colorado Rush 1-1 FC Westchester
CASL 0-2 Columbus Crew
Concorde Fire 0-6 LAFC
-Mon Jul 14
Chicago Fire v Colorado Rush
Baltimore Bays v FC Westchester
CASL v Concorde Fire
Columbus Crew v LAFC
-Wed Jul 16
Chicago Fire v FC Westchester
Baltimore Bays v Colorado Rush
CASL v LAFC
Columbus Crew v Concorde Fire
-Fri Jul 18
Finals
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

U16 Matches & Scores:
-Sun Jul 13
Albertson 3-4 LAFC
Carmel United 2-1 Schulz Academy
Chicago Magic 1-1 CASL
Real Colorado 0-1 PDA
-Tue Jul 15
Albertson v Carmel United
LAFC v Schulz Academy
Chicago Magic v Real Colorado
CASL v PDA
-Thu Jul 17
Albertson v Schulz Academy
LAFC v Carmel United
Chicago Magic v PDA
CASL v Real Colorado
-Sat Jul 19
Finals
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

While looking at a match report for the USA U20 game against Mexico last Friday I came across another article in the Laredo Morning Times written by Nino Cardenas about the growth of soccer in the USA. Pretty good stuff. Includes the local viewpoint too, which is very important to tomorrow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

ITALY

Juventus has signed Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen from Sevilla.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Simon Kuper of the Financial Times writes about the international transfer market, and all it's sheer lunacy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An AP article in which Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona and Cameroon talks about media access to players and how he feels a more American approach would benefit everyone in Europe and across the globe. IE. more access to players before and after games and during weekly training. He is in the USA vacationing and doing some promo work for Puma, even stopping in my town of Minneapolis on Tuesday. Some good stuff here. (thanks to BQ for the link)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Warner/Sepp Blatter/FIFA Idiocy & Scandal News

Last week Sepp Blatter compared world club football contracts to slavery. Not only is this sheer idiocy, but it is an insult to the horror of what slavery is all about. Enough said.

The Chemicals News

Done deal. Brad Guzan to Aston Villa. Luis Bueno of the enourmous Sideline Views blog with the details. Does he get the work permit this time? They must be quite certain of it or why would they go through this process again.

~and~

Samuel Eto'o will be in the Twin Cities next Tuesday for the opening ceremony of the massive youth tournament, the USA Cup. He and others will do a clinic and sign autographs at 10am at the National Sports Center.


SuperLiga

It all kicks off on Saturday night. We can only hope its as good as last years tournament. I know its a pretty fraudulent deal, designed just to make money, but the action on the field was pretty serious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a great game each night this weekend. On Sat with DC hosting the real Chivas, and then on Sun with New England taking on Mexican champs Santos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official Website
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All games live on TeleFutura.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Round 1 Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 12
DC v Guadalajara - 7pm central
Houston v Atlante - 9pm central
-Sun Jul 13
New England v Santos Laguna - 7pm central
Chivas USA v Pachuca - 9pm central
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beau Dure of USA Today previews.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Scoreboard

Week 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Kansas City v New York - KCW goals by Jimmy Conrad & Davy Arnaud. NYRB goal by Juan Pablo Angel.
Attendance: 8,773
Match report by Bob Luder from the KC Star.
Match report by Bob Rusert of MLSnet.
Match report from Big Apple Soccer.
Post game analysis from Metrofanatic.
Post game video interviews with NYRB players and coach from the Red Bulls Reader blog.
Los Angeles 1-1 Chivas USA - LAG goal by Edson Buddle. CUSA goal by Ante Razov.
Attendance: 27,000
Post game notes, audio, etc by the ton from Andrea Canales & Luis Bueno at Sideline Views.
Match report by Grahame Jones of the LA Times.
Match report by Scott Wolff of the LA Daily News.
Match report by Luis Bueno at MLSnet.
Match report by Bueno at the Press Enterprise.
Post game analysis by Andrea Canales for Soccernet.amp;&cc=5901
Post game notes by Nick Green of the Daily Breeze on his blog 100 Percent Soccer.
-Sat Jul 12
San Jose v Colorado - 3pm central on Direct Kick
Match preview from Center Line Soccer.
Chicago v Toronto - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Salt Lake v Columbus - 8pm central on HDNet
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ejections:
Preki - coach - Chivas USA - Red Card (for arguing with officials)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
33 New England
27 Columbus
22 DC
21 Chicago (GD +9)
21 Toronto (GD 0)
20 Kansas City (GD -4)
20 New York (GD -8)
Western Conference
22 Los Angeles (GD +3)
22 Chivas (GD +1)
20 Salt Lake (GD -1)
20 Houston (GD -2)
19 Colorado
18 Dallas
12 San Jose
(Goal Differential is the first tie breaker)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 2008 du Nord Midseason Best 11's

Here are 33 players that I think have had a terrific first half of this season. I broke them down into 3 teams in descending order of quality.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Team
G1:
Matt Reis - New England Revolution
D1:
Frankie Hejduk - Columbus Crew
Gonzalo Segares - Chicago Fire
Michael Parkhurst - New England Revolution
M1:
David Beckham - Los Angeles Galaxy
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
Steve Ralston - New England Revolution
Javier Morales - Real Salt Lake
F1:
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Luciano Emilio - DC United
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Second Team
G2:
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
D2:
Gonzalo Martinez - DC United
Nat Borchers - Real Salt Lake
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
M2:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Amado Guevara - Toronto FC
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Shalrie Joseph - New England Revolution
Marcelo Gallardo - DC United
F2:
Edson Buddle - Los Angeles Galaxy
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Third Team
G3:
William Hesmer - Columbus Crew
D3:
Bobby Boswell - Houston Dynamo
Bryan Namoff - DC United
Jamison Olave - Real Salt Lake
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
M3:
Dave van den Bergh - New York Red Bulls
Andre Rocha - FC Dallas
Brian Carroll - Columbus Crew
John Thorrington - Chicago Fire
F3:
Alejandro Moreno - Columbus Crew
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated with an article that questions whether or not Chicago really even WANTS Brian McBride on their roster.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nick Firchau of the Southtown Star says the Fire are looking for that key to winning again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his blog The Red Card talked to police in Maryland about the Blanco fracas on Tuesday night, and contrary to rumors there was NO altercation between Blanco and the police. Good.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arroyave also talks to Justin Timberlake about the beautiful game. Seriously.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CD CHIVAS USA

The Original Winger, a Designated Player, has a post written by CUSA midfielder Sacha Kljestan about being selected for the MLS All Star game!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So now Chivas has Dan Kennedy at the wheel of the company goalkeeping truck.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLORADO RAPIDS

Brian Forbes of the Denver Post with the latest on team captain Pablo Mastroeni's possible European adventure.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I should have realized that a site as informed as From College to the Pros would have written about Greg Dalby's arrival in Colorado two weeks ago. Thanks to Bonji for enlightening us.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLUMBUS CREW

Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch sits down in a pub for a Q & A with defender Frankie Hejduk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chris DeVille of Columbus Alive reviews the first half of the Crew season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News says FCD is going to do everything they can to keep Kenny Cooper from making a transfer to Europe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Soccer By Ives reports that the reason the two young Hondurans could not come to NYRB for a tryout is that New England has already laid claim to one of them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune talks to back up keeper Chris Seitz about his 2nd year as a pro, and the upcoming Olympics.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret News writes about the 2 game suspension RSL coach Jason Kreis got for again complaining publicly about the quality of refereeing in the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Where in the world is Kyle Martino. He was cut loose by LA in preseason and we have not heard a word about him since then. Anyone?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 15
Toronto v Independiente (Argentina)
-Sun Aug 3
Colorado v Everton (England)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS/SUM U17 Cup

Real Salt Lake beat DC United on Penalty Kicks to win the 2nd annual tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Match & Score:
Salt Lake 1-1 DC - RSL wins 4-2 on Penalty Kicks after regular and extra time ended tied.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The winner of this tournament is now entered in the pseudo youth world club championship to be held early next year in Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RSL forward James Rogers was named MVP of the tournament.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Golden Boot

11 Landon Donovan
11 Edson Buddle
10 Luciano Emilio
8 Kenny Cooper
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Expansion News

The National Post talks to MLS VP Ivan Gazidis about the realistic possibilities of more Canadian teams joining the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Minnesota Thunder

Tonight marks the reopening of the newly renovated National Sports Center in suburban Blaine that is the home for the Thunder for the foreseeable future.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Minneapolis Star Tribune & St Paul Pioneer Press both with stories on the new look field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Thunder play a friendly next Tuesday against Burnley from England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Portland 0-2 Puerto Rico
-Fri Jul 11
Rochester v Seattle
Minnesota v Carolina
-Sat Jul 12
Charleston v Puerto Rico
-Sun Jul 13
Montreal v Seattle
Rochester v Miami
Vancouver v Carolina
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Standings

Standings (games played):
27 Charleston (14)
23 Vancouver (13)
21 Puerto Rico (14) (GD +4)
21 Portland (17) (GD -2)
20 Seattle (15) (GD +4)
20 Atlanta (14) (GD -2)
19 Miami (17)
18 Carolina (14)
16 Minnesota (15)
15 Montreal (14)
14 Rochester (13)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

Match & Score:
-Fri Jul 11
USA v Mexico - 8pm central in Laredo TX
Match preview by Andrew Rogers of Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U17 News

The annual trip to South America for Friendlies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 4
Uruguay 0-2 USA - in Montevideo Uruguay - USA goals by Jack McInerney & Carlos Martinez.

Three games in Rosario Argentina as part of Copa Ciudad de Rosario
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
ARF (Rosario) 1-3 USA - ARF goal by Cabrera Alberto(PK). USA goals by Robert Derschang, Victor Pineda & Jaime Gutierrez.
-Thu Jul 10
Argentina 3-0 USA - Arg goals by Rodrigo Diaz, Lucas Mugni & Adrian Martinez.
-Fri Jul 11
Chile v USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

US Soccer Youth Development Academy

The first ever U18 & U16 national finals for the new Development Academy will be take place starting tomorrow, Sat Jul 12, and ending on Sat Jul 19.
All matches will be played at the Home Depot Center complex in Carson, CA.
The tournament is set up in two groups per age level and a round-robin tournament will determine #1-#4 in each group. Then those teams will then play the corresponding team in the other group for 1st, 3rd, 5th & 7th place trophies.
The last days U18 games will all be broadcast live on ESPNU, with the Championship (1 v 1) being shown live on ESPN2 at 10pm central on Fri Jul 18.
All 4 U16 final day games will be shown Sat Jul 19 on ESPNU.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here are the 8 regional winners and their groups:
A U18
Chicago Fire
Baltimore Bays
Colorado Rush
FC Westchester
B U18
CASL
Columbus Crew
Concorde Fire
LAFC
C U16
Albertson SC
LAFC
Carmel United
Schulz Academy
D U16
Chicago Magic
CASL
Real Colorado
PDA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The CASL club from Raleigh, North Carolina who just became a part of Chelsea's youth academy have a team in both divisions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Yanks Abroad talks to Jozy Altidore about heading to Spain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RUMORS

Soccer365 quotes an Italian magazine as saying Brescia has bought Danny Szetela outright from Racing Santander. He has been on loan at the Serie B team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Former Chicago Fire and current Cleveland City Star forward Floyd Franks is off to Jetsmark aka Blokhus FC (2nd Division) in Denmark for a try out. (thanks to Greg for the heads up)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

Round-robin games between Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal determine their countries entrant in the CONCACAF Champions League this fall.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Toronto Sun talks to Montreal coach John Limniatis who says his team if fully prepared to beat TFC and claim the spot in the CCL.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 22
Montreal v Toronto
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
6 Montreal (3)
4 Toronto (3)
4 Vancouver (4) - has been eliminated
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Arsenal has signed young talented attacking midfielder Samir Nasri from Olympique Marseille.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

RUSSIA

Here are the Top 6 teams in the current league standings. Most teams have played 12 of 30 games:
26 Rubin Kazan
22 Amkar Perm
21 Dinamo Moscow
20 Spartak Moscow
19 Spartak Nalchik
19 Lokomotiv Moscow
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

The 8 Barcelona board members who resigned yesterday were all anti-Laporte, the teams current President.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Portugal has officially hired Manchester United asst coach Carlos Queiroz as their new national team coach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reuters talks to Russian national team coach Guus Hiddink about his teams special performance at Euro 2008, and what comes next.

Gripping Too Tight News

Our main man Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated sits down with Jozy Altidore who begins his new life at Villarreal next Monday! Great stuff. See Americans In Europe section.

~and~

San Jose gets their hands on Huckerby. See San Jose section for details.

~and~

When you book your room at the Hotel du Nord, don't forget to pack your Due Nord II shorts, the official sportswear of du Nord futbol. (thank you Adam!)


MLS Scoreboard

Week 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Kansas City v New York - 7pm central on Direct Kick
Match preview One and Two from Big Apple Soccer.
Los Angeles v Chivas USA - 10pm central on ESPN2 & ESPN Deportes
Match previews galore by Andrea Canales & Luis Bueno on Sideline Views.
Match preview by Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet.
Match preview by Beau Dure of USA Today.
Match preview by Luis Bueno at MLSnet.
Match preview by Phil Collin of the LA Daily News.
Match preview by Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports.
-Sat Jul 12
San Jose v Colorado - 3pm central on Direct Kick
Chicago v Toronto - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Salt Lake v Columbus v - 8pm central on HDNet
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Standings

Eastern Conference
33 New England
27 Columbus
22 DC
21 Chicago (GD +9)
21 Toronto (GD 0)
20 New York
17 Kansas City
Western Conference
21 Los Angeles (GD +3)
21 Chivas (GD +1)
20 Salt Lake (GD -1)
20 Houston (GD -2)
19 Colorado
18 Dallas
12 San Jose
(Goal Differential is the first tie breaker)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS 2008 All Star Team

Here is your First XI:
G:
Matt Reis - 1
D:
Michael Parkhurst - 1
Frankie Hejduk - 1
Jimmy Conrad - none
M:
David Beckham - 1
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - 2
Shalrie Joseph - 2
Sacha Kljestan - 1
Robbie Rogers - 2
F:
Landon Donovan - 1
Kenny Cooper - 2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(The number after each name is which of 3 teams the player made on the du Nord Midseason Best 11. That list will be published on Friday.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

There is a lot of reviewing and behind the scenes talking going on about the incident in Maryland on Tuesday night where Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Marc Burch got Red Cards for a physical altercation. There have been many other accusations made about even more violence taking place than what we have seen on video (see yesterdays du Nord). Here is more of what we are reading:
-Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune with an article on the fracas, and a response from the Fire.
-Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner on his blog The Pitch on the subject at hand.
-Arroyave has two mentions of the situation on his blog The Red Card. One - and - Two.
-The Washington Post with some info on the story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

COLORADO RAPIDS

I was surprised to read that Greg Dalby has signed with Colorado after playing last season in Belgium at Charleroi. He will be added to the roster next Tuesday when the transfer period begins.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FC DALLAS

Tobias Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram talks to new assistant coach John Ellinger about his role with the team, and youth development.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DC UNITED

The Washington Times with an article on coach Tom Soehn and his plan for DCU greatness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Bob Luder of the Star with an article on forward Scott Sealy who really needs to start scoring some goals if this team is to have any chance getting a playoff spot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bell of the New York Times has a Q & A with new-old forward Josh Wolff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lars Lifrak of Soccer365 does a Q & A with defender Jimmy Conrad.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

LA will be without their best defender tonight - rookie centerback Sean Franklin is out 2 to 3 weeks with an MCL sprain. Not good for the Galaxinho's.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Andrea Canales on Sideline Views does a Q & A with Landon Donovan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scott Wolf of the LA Daily News with team notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some chucklehead at The Sun talks to Beck's. Why do English celeb's do interviews with these people? Why do I link to it? Cuz I'm an idiot?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RED BULL NEW YORK

Metrofanatic reports that midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic has been asked to take a pay cut and be placed on the teams developmental roster in order to make room for the 3 new signings. They tried this earlier in the season with rookie defender Eric Brunner and he told them to take a frickin hike. He now plays for Miami in the First Division for more money. What will Ubi do?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Big Apple Soccer has words from coach Juan Carlos Osorio about new signing Diego Jimenez.
-Big Apple says the team wants even more new players.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Herald News with more on the new boys.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Head coach Jason Kreis has been suspended for a 2nd time this season after ripping the referees. This time he gets 2 games in the cheap seats.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Soccer by Ives reports that the EQ's signed English forward Darren Huckerby from Norwich.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goal.com talks to the teams big young Jamaican midfielder/forward Ryan Johnson about this difficult first season for an expansion team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Perhaps this is the kind of referee MLS is looking for? (thanks to Nick for sending it my way)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com with his thoughts on the suspension of Jason Kreis and the All Star selections.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
Colorado 0-0 UANL Tigres (Mexico) - CR win it 7-6 on PK's.
Match report by Pat Rooney of the Rocky Mountain News.
Match report by Brian Forbes of the Denver Post.
Salt Lake 1-4 Santos Laguna (Mexico) - RSL goal by Alex Nimo. SL goals by David Horst(OG), Oribe Peralta, Gregorio Torres & Andony Hernandez.
Match report by James Edward of the Deseret News.
Match report by Michael C Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Columbus v Independiente (Argentina) - CC goals by Robbie Rogers & Jason Garey. Ind goal by Pablo Vitti.
Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
Post game notes by Mitchell from the Dispatch blog Covering The Crew.
-Tue Jul 15
Toronto v Independiente (Argentina)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SuperLiga

Official Website
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All games live on TeleFutura.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Round 1 Group Stage Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 12
DC v Guadalajara - 7pm central
Houston v Atlante - 9pm central
-Sun Jul 13
New England v Santos Laguna - 7pm central
Chivas USA v Pachuca - 9pm central
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff Carlisle of Soccernet doesn't think the Mexican teams will take their MLS counterparts lightly in this tournament after what they saw last year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Portland v Puerto Rico
-Fri Jul 11
Rochester v Seattle
Minnesota v Carolina
-Sat Jul 12
Charleston v Puerto Rico
-Sun Jul 13
Montreal v Seattle
Rochester v Miami
Vancouver v Carolina
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Standings

Standings (games played):
27 Charleston (14)
23 Vancouver (13)
21 Portland (16)
20 Seattle (15) (GD +4)
20 Atlanta (14) (GD -2)
19 Miami (17)
18 Puerto Rico (13) (GD +2)
18 Carolina (14) (GD -5)
16 Minnesota (15)
15 Montreal (14)
14 Rochester (13)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U20 News

Match & Score:
-Fri Jul 11
USA v Mexico - 8pm central in Laredo TX
Match preview by Andrew Rogers of Soccernet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USA U17 News

The annual trip to South America for Friendlies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 4
Uruguay 0-2 USA - in Montevideo Uruguay - USA goals by Jack McInerney & Carlos Martinez.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three games in Rosario Argentina as part of Copa Ciudad de Rosario
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
ARF (Rosario) 1-3 USA - ARF goal by Cabrera Alberto(PK). USA goals by Robert Derschang, Victor Pineda & Jaime Gutierrez.
Match report from US Soccer.
-Thu Jul 10
Argentina v USA
-Fri Jul 11
Chile v USA
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soccer In America

Sports Illustrated has recently unleashed a huge archive on us, and this story about the final days of the NASL, is a good one indeed. (Thanks to Jerry for unearthing this story for us)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Americans In Europe

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated talks to new Villarreal player Jozy Altidore.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RUMORS

Bologna are interested in Freddy Adu.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aston Villa has joined Manchester City in trying to sign Brad Friedel.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

The round-robin games between Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal determine their countries entrant in the CONCACAF Champions League this fall.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With only 4 points from their 4 games, Vancouver has been elimidated from the playoff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
Vancouver 2-2 Toronto - Van goals both by Eddie Sebrango. TFC goals by Maurice Edu & Rohan Ricketts.
Match report from the Vancouver Sun.
Match report from the Toronto Globe & Mail.
Post game analysis by Ben Knight at the Globe & Mail blog On Soccer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standings (games played):
6 Montreal (3)
4 Toronto (3)
4 Vancouver (4)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

England News

Martin Samuel of The Times tells us the difference between Luiz Felipe Scolari and Big Phil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

ITALY

Inter has signed flashy Brazilian midfielder Mancini from Roma.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPAIN

Grahame Jones of the LA Times on former Mexico coach Javier Aguirre and his club team Atletico Madrid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barcelona has agreed to a deal with Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barca president Joan Laporte did NOT resign today as expected, but 8 of 17 members of the teams board of directors did. Oof.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OTHERS

Bosnia has named Miroslav Blazevic as their new national team coach. He is Croatian.

It's A Third Over Already News

2 MLS teams advanced and 2 were elminated by lower division teams last night in the US Open Cup. And the way the semifinal pairing sort out at least one lower division team will be in the final!

~and~

The Johannesburg Mail & Guardian in South Africa has the first info on 2010 World Cup ticket allocations for general fans. Interesting stuff here for us fans. See Road To World Cup 2010 section below for more.


US Open Cup

New England, DC, Charleston & Seattle move on to the Semifinals next month!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Quarterfinals Matches & Scores:
-Tue Jul 8
New England Revolution 1-1 Crystal Palace Baltimore - NER advance 5-3 on Penalty Kicks - NER goal by Kenny Mansally. CPB goal by Dan Lader.
Match report from the Baltimore Sun.
Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
Match report by Kyle McCarthy of the Boston Herald.
Match report from the Hartford Courant.
DC United 2-1 Chicago Fire - DCU goals by Francis Doe & Bryan Namoff. CF goal by Daniel Woolard.
Match report from the Washington Post.
Match report from the Washington Times.
Match report by Chris Webb of United Mania.
Post game notes and DC coach & player quotes from the Washington Post blog Soccer Insider.
Post game notes by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on his blog The Red Card.
FC Dallas 1-3 Charleston Battery - FCD goal by Kenny Cooper. CB goals by Lazo Alavanja, Ian Fuller & Randi Patterson.
Match report from the Charleston Post & Courier.
Match report by Diego Aparicio of the Dallas Morning News.
Match report from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Seattle Sounders 0-0 Kansas City Wizards - SS adv 6-5 on PK's.
Match report by Matt Massey of the Seattle Times.
Match report by Matthew Gaschk of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Match report from the Tacoma News Tribune.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ejections:
Sergio Flores - Crystal Palace Baltimore
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Marc Burch - DC United
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Washington Post match report (above) gives a pretty good account of the action that got both Burch and Blanco Red Carded.
-But there have been unconfirmed reports that Blanco spit in the 4th officials face, and headbutted someone working at the stadium. I really hope this is not true. That would be ugly.
-There is some video footage on You Tube now. It starts at around the 28 second mark, and clearly shows Blanco throwing a punch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England forward Taylor Twellman injured his ankle again, right at the end of regulation.
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Semifinals Matches & Scores:
-Tue Aug 12
DC United v New England Revolution
Charleston Battery v Seattle Sounders
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MLS Scoreboard

Week 16
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Kansas City v New York - 7pm central on Direct Kick
Los Angeles v Chivas USA - 10pm central on ESPN2 & ESPN Deportes
-Sat Jul 12
San Jose v Colorado - 3pm central on Direct Kick
Chicago v Toronto - 7:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Salt Lake v Columbus v - 8pm central on HDNet
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MLS News

CHICAGO FIRE

Orrin Schwarz on the Fire's talented striker prospect, Patrick Nyarko.
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COLUMBUS CREW

Chris DeVille of Columbus Alive with an article on the Crew's young Nigerian midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo.
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Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch has an article on the Crew U18 team that has made it to the final 8 of the US Development Academy championships. The tournament for this teams is in California next week, with the final being shown live on ESPN2.
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LOS ANGELES GALAXY

The deal for Argentine defender Eduardo Dominguez is done. Now they have to clear space on their roster, and wait until the transfer window opens next Tuesday, the 15th, so they can get him on the field. He previously played for Huracan.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Maria Burns Ortiz at Soccernet with a story on defender Jay Heaps and his early years as a big time college basketball player. Did you have any idea he played basketball at Duke? I am amazed I had never heard that before. Oh, wait, that's right, announcers mention it in EVERY SINGLE GAME he has played since he joined the league in 1999.
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RED BULL NEW YORK

Add another Spanish speaker to the roster - Defender Diego Jimenez of Mexico. Played last season for UAdG Tecos in Guadalajara.
-Brian Lewis of the NY Post on the Extra Time blog with some more details on this story.
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer gives us an update on the health of Claudio Reyna.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They say Juan Pablo Angel is healthy and will start on Thursday night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REAL SALT LAKE

Salt Lake and their soon to be finished new stadium will host the 2009 All Star game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Edward of the Deseret News with an article on young player Tino Nunez who is getting paid about minimum wage, but already has a game winning goal on his mantel piece.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Edwards also writes that tonight's game against Santos Laguna is a great time for reserves to shake what their momma gave em.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TORONTO FC

Midfielder Carl Robinson with more of his propaganda for his hometown paper, the County Times. It's always the referee's fault when you lose. Right Carl?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GENERAL

Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star with his weekly column. Always good stuff in here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scott Wolf of the LA Daily News talks to foreign players about their view of MLS.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American Soccer News with an article on the changes youth development is going through right now.
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Andrew Hush at Soccernet with his weekly league notes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Friendlies

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
Colorado v UANL Tigres (Mexico) - The Raps play their Mexican partners at Dick's in Commerce City.
Salt Lake v Santos Laguna (Mexico) - First leg of the Xango Cup, against the Mexican champs!
Columbus v Independiente (Argentina)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!

Brian Lewis of the NY Post on the Extra Time blog with a rumor on a couple of Honduran youngsters on trial with the Red Bulls.
-Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer counters with an quote from NYRB coach Juan Carlos Osorio saying these players are NOT coming for a tryout.
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MLS Stadium Talk

The Seattle Sounders did a Q & A with one of the great people in American soccer - Glenn Davis. The man from Houston does commentary on TV and radio, hosts both TV and radio shows, and writes for the Houston Chronicle. He is my idea of a soccer Saint.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New England Revs owners are in talks about a stadium with the city officials of the Boston suburb of Somerville. (Thanks to LL who sent us this.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Center Line Soccer says money and land have exchanged hands taking the team another step closer to buidling a stadium.
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SuperLiga

Official Website
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Group A
DC United
Houston Dynamo
Guadalajara Chivas
Atlante Potros de Hierro
Group B
Chivas USA
Santos Laguna Guerreros
New England Revolution
Pachuca Tuzos
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jul 12
DC v Guadalajara
Houston v Atlante
-Sun Jul 13
New England v Santos Laguna
Chivas USA v Pachuca
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division News

Three teams swapped players yesterday:
Rochester: Acquire midfielder Andrew Gregor. Give up goalkeeper Chase Harrison & forward Hamed Diallo.
Portland: Acquire goalkeeper Chase Harrison & forward Jamil Walker. Give up midfielder Andrew Gregor.
Carolina: Acquire forward Hamed Diallo. Give up forward Jamil Walker.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

USL First Division Scoreboard

Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jul 10
Portland v Puerto Rico
-Fri Jul 11
Rochester v Seattle
Minnesota v Carolina
-Sat Jul 12
Charleston v Puerto Rico
-Sun Jul 13
Montreal v Seattle
Rochester v Miami
Vancouver v Carolina
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USA Olympic Team

You can expect most of the Olympic soccer coverage to be on the USA Network. No viewing schedule has been made available yet.
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USA U20 News

Match & Score:
-Fri Jul 11
USA v Mexico - 8pm central in Laredo TX
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USA U17 News

The annual trip to South America for Friendlies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Jul 4
Uruguay 0-2 USA - in Montevideo Uruguay - USA goals by Jack McInerney & Carlos Martinez.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three games in Rosario Argentina as part of Copa Ciudad de Rosario
Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
ARF (Rosario) v USA
-Thu Jul 10
Argentina v USA
-Fri Jul 11
Chile v USA
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CONCACAF News

Panama has named Gary Stempel as their new national team head coach.
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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News

Reuters is reporting that Panama has filed an official complaint with FIFA about racial and physical abuse suffered in El Salvador during their recent qualifier, in which they were eliminated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canada & CSA News

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

Matches & Scores:
-Wed Jul 9
Vancouver V Toronto
Match preview from the Vancouver Sun.
Match preview from the National Post.
Match preview from the Toronto Star.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Danny Dichio will not play for Toronto. He has concussion symptoms.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jim Brennan is suspended for TFC due to Yellow Card accumulation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

England News

Aston Villa has signed Steve Sidwell from Chelsea. Sidwell barely played last year after forcing his way out of Reading where he had been a star. Now that was a poor move.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Peter "Crouchy's eatin' his nachos" Crouch has left Liverpool to sign with Portsmouth.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

European News

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the high stakes poker of the transfer window for guys like C Ronaldo & Arshavin.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FRANCE

FIFA has a Q & A with Dutch midfielder Boudewijn Zenden, who may be at the end of his days with Marseille already.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ITALY

Juventus has signed big strong Brazilian striker Amauri from Palermo. He do some real damage this season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greg Lalas of Goal.com runs into Roma defender Christian Panucci in a New York restaurant. They exchange a few words. I am not sure this is worth reading. Hahaha.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

World News

Ravi Ubha of the Seattle Post Intelligencer with is weekly column, The Beautiful Game.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Road To World Cup 2010 - South Africa News

FIFA will increase the number of tickets for fans from participating countries at the next World Cup from 16 percent of capacity to 24. Good news indeed, but, still not nearly enough.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Johannesburg Mail & Guardian in South Africa with the first real info on ticketing for fans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The new stadium being built in Port Elizabeth has been scratched from the list for next summers Confederations Cup (aka the World Cup test run) because it will not be ready in time.