Monthly Archives: April 2009

[U.S. OPEN CUP] Defending cup champ D.C. United downed FC Dallas, 2-0, on Wednesday in a play-in thanks to goals by Fred and Brandon Barklage. D.C. United will play the winner of the April 29 San Jose-New York for a spot in the U.S. Open Cup proper.

[MLS] In cold, blustery conditions at Toronto’s BMO Field, and with both teams a bit fatigued from playing the previous weekend, neither Toronto FC nor Chivas USA had much good soccer in them, yet the host did get enough luck to win, 1-0, in front of 19,915 fans.

[MLS PREDICTION] Last season runner-up New York aims to hit the .500 mark when it travels to Kansas City for ESPN2’s MLS Game of the Week on Thursday. The Wizards, who lost their first two games of the season, hope to extend their undefeated streak to four.

[MLS] He avoided the injury bug for the most part last season, but 2009 is rapidly turning into a different story for Revs defender Chris Albright.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Atlante is on course to its Concacaf title since 1983 and a place in the 2009 Club World Cup  in the United Arab Emirates thanks to a 2-0 win over Mexican rival Cruz Azul on the road in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final.

[ENGLAND] In a preview of next month’s FA Cup final, American Tim Howard was again in fine form for Everton as it held Chelsea to settle a 0-0 tie that all but knocked the Blues out of contention for the Premier League. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink admitted as much after the result, along with leader Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Portsmouth, left Chelsea six points behind United, which has a game in hand.

[UNDER-17 CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP] Mexico, winner of the Under-17 World Cup in 2005 but unable to qualify for the final two years later, very much means business at the 2009 Concacaf U-17 Championship, opening with a 7-0 over Trinidad & Tobago before 13,333 fans.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Iran has its third national team coach in less than a month — and its Afshin Ghotbi, an Iranian-born and U.S.-educated coach who has mostly recently been coaching in Iran for Persepolis in 2007 and 2008.

[GERMANY] A Munich tribunal dismissed Juergen Klinsmann‘s $130,000 suit against the newspaper Tageszeitung for depicting the Bayern Munich coach as a crucified Jesus in a photo montage under the headline “Always look on the bright side of life” (the song title from a Monty Python film). It ruled “It was not at all a real crucifixion,” but satire.

[ENGLAND] A week earlier, Liverpool played to a 4-4 tie with Chelsea that knocked it out of the UEFA Champions League. On Tuesday, the Reds tied Arsenal, 4-4, in a wild match that saw Gunner Andrey Arshavin score four goals and seemingly ended Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] In his first season in France, Carlos Bocanegra will have a chance to win a trophy as Rennes moved into the final of the French Cup with a 1-0 win at Grenoble on Tuesday. The shutout was the fifth in five games — four against Ligue 1 teams — for Rennes, which earned a place in the French Cup final for the first time in 38 years.

[UNDER-17 CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIP] The USA took a giant step toward returning to the Under-17 World Cup with a 5-0 win over Cuba on Tuesday in their opening Group A game at the Concacaf Under-17 championship in Tijuana, Mexico. John McInerney had two goals and two assists, while Luis Gil, the youngest player on the U.S. team, had a goal and two assists.

[SPAIN] Angel Torres, president of Spanish club Getafe, says Real Madrid’s defender Pepe should be suspended for at least 10 games for violently kicking Javier Casquero twice while the Getafe player was face down on the ground. In fact, 10 games would be lenient.

[MLS PREDICTION] The heaviest week of play so far this season in MLS starts Wednesday when Chivas USA plays at Toronto. Week 6 features a 10-match block of games that will require several teams to play their second and third matches in spans of seven or eight days, and one team to make one of its longest treks of the season. Twice.