Category: Soccer America Daily

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Three second-half goals by Jerry Nelson Palacios helped give Honduran club Marathon a 4-2 win at Trinidad & Tobago’s San Juan Jabloteh on Thursday night and claim a berth in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League at D.C. United’s expense. Thursday’s action completed the eight-team field that once again includes only one MLS representative: the Columbus Crew.

[MLS PREDICTIONS] The tightest playoff race in league history concludes with seven games over the weekend, with every one having some bearing on how the seven slots behind Supporters’ Shield winner Columbus will be filled. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney predicts weekend results that will create a four-way tie for the final two playoff berths and the following outcome …

[MLS] In miserable conditions, a horrid own goal became a thing of beauty that propelled Chicago into the playoffs and left six other teams scrambling for two berths to be decided this weekend.

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[OFF THE POST] SMU’s freshman defender Ryan Rosenbaum scored the first goal of his college career with a 95-yard shot in the Mustangs’ 3-2 win over Tulsa.

[COLLEGE] No. 2 UCLA fell at No. 21 Stanford, 2-0, for its first loss in 11 games. Bobby Warshaw and Evan Morgan won the game with second-half goals. Despite having its shutout streak snapped at 800 minutes, No. 6 Connecticut continued its unbeaten run with a 3-1 win at Big East rival Seton Hall. Indiana’s troubles continued when the . No. 25 Hoosiers fell to 7-7-1 with a 2-0 loss at No. 12 Northwestern. San Diego State knocked off its second Pac-10 rival in three days when it won, 2-0, at No. 25 California. For the Sunday action …

[COLLEGE] No. 3 North Carolina dropped back-to-back games for only the sixth time in its history when it fell at Miami (Fla.), 1-0, on Beverly Goebel‘s unassisted goal with less than 10 minutes to play. Danielle Foxhoven had four goals for the second time this season and Halley Kreminski added the final three goals for No. 2 Portland in an 8-0 win over San Francisco. For the Sunday Top 25 action …

[WORLD CUP 2010 COUNTDOWN] If you were to name the three most indispensable players in the U.S. national team’s lineup, the players who come to mind are Landon Donovan, Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu. Davies will almost certainly miss the 2010 World Cup after sustaining serious injuries in a car crash. Now comes the news that Onyewu’s rehabilitation process following knee surgery could be as long as six months, also jeopardizing his chances of representing the USA at the 2010 World Cup.

[WORLD CUP 2010 COUNTDOWN] The Mexican soccer federation has announced plans for the Mexican national team’s pre-World Cup preparations, which include 12 friendlies, of which six will take place in the United States.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] First, Barcelona. Now, Real Madrid. For the second day in a row, a Spanish giant fell at home. This time, AC Milan put aside its troubled start to the 2009-10 season and beat Real Madrid, 3-2, at the Bernabeu Stadium. Manchester United has found a new rising star in Ecuadoran Antonio Valencia, while Bayern Munich’s problems continued with an ugly performance in France. Here are things we learned on Wednesday …

[OFF THE POST] Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland by giving up a goal from a Darren Bent shot that deflected off a beach ball punched on to the field by a Liverpool fan. “I lost sight of the official ball and stayed on the red one,” said Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. “I went for the red ball instinctively as it was the closest to me and the other went past me.”

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Houston got the help it needed to advance to the knockout phase of the Concacaf Champions League but didn’t keep up its end of the bargain. Despite a goal from goalie Tally Hall just before halftime, Houston lost its Group A finale to Salvadoran club Isidro Metapan, 3-2, on Wednesday and finished third behind Pachuca and Arabe Unido. Those two teams advance to the CCL quarterfinals to be played next February.

BREAKING NEWS:
Onyewu sidelined six months

[MLS] You might think you have the MLS playoff mosaic sorted out, yet there’s one piece that doesn’t quite fit the standard procedure. Chicago holds second place in the Eastern Conference, and needs just a point Thursday in its final game to clinch that spot (TV: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, 8 pm ET) and the home-field advantage in the conference semifinals that comes with it. If Chicago wins or ties, it finishes second in the East, end of story.

[MLS PREDICTION] The final Thursday night game of the regular season emanates from Toyota Park, where the Fire – despite sitting no lower than second in the Eastern Conference for much of the season – must get at least a tie to assure a playoff spot.

[WPS] Defending Women’s Professional Soccer champion Sky Blue FC isn’t wresting on its laurels. First, it signed 2008 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Carli Lloyd. And now it has landed Dutch national team captain Daphne Koster.

Manchester United and Chelsea both won their third games to join Lyon and Sevilla as the only teams to have perfect records after three games. For all the midweek results …

[COLLEGE] In a pair of Top 25 matchups, No. 9 South Florida edged No. 18 Dartmouth, 1-0, and No. 11 Louisville crushed No. 25 Indiana, 4-0. The Hoosiers have lost four of their last six games. No. 17 Tulsa fell at home to SMU, 3-2. For all the Wednesday results …

[MLS] Four Western Conference teams have qualified for the playoffs, and which ones will earn the top two seeds is anybody’s guess. Tied at the top with 45 points are Los Angeles, Houston and Chivas USA and Seattle follows at 44.

[TELEVISION WATCH] All three of the USA’s group games at the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria will be televised. For all the information …

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Maybe Emilio Renteria just needed a change of scenery. He’s squandered a few opportunities in MLS play since joining the Crew on loan, but just two minutes after entering the match as a substitute against the Puerto Rico Islanders, the Venezuelan striker banged home a rebound for the goal that provided Columbus with a 1-1 tie and a spot in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] It came out of Mexico with a valuable point yet not until Thursday will D.C. United know whether a 1-1 tie at Toluca is enough to push it into the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Rubin Kazan pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the UEFA Champions League when the small Russian club beat defending champion Barcelona, 2-1, at the Nou Camp. On a night of drama, Liverpool’s season went from bad to worse when it lost, 2-1, to Lyon at home. Meanwhile, Inter Milan’s winless streak in Europe reached eight games. Here are things we learned on Tuesday …

[HONDA PLAYER OF THE YEAR] Landon Donovan added to his record total when he won the 2009 Honda Player of the Year Award for a sixth time. It marked the second time the Los Angeles Galaxy star has won the award three years in a row.

Olympiakos was the only one of eight teams to win at home in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, defeating Standard Liege, 2-1, on a goal by Ieroklis Stoltidis three minutes into stoppage time. For all the results …