[SPAIN] Barcelona and Real Madrid continue to creep up the standings, both teams posting narrow away victories at the weekend. Rampant Valencia is still top.
Category: Soccer America Daily
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Five vie for final three playoff spots
[MLS] Three playoff spots remain up for grabs as MLS enters its final week of play. Five teams — Kansas City, New York, D.C. United, Real Salt Lake and Colorado – vie to join Columbus, Chicago, New England, Houston and Chivas USA in postseason play. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney explains the scenario.
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Danny Cepero: Red Bulls’ goalscoring goalkeeper (VIDEO)
[MLS] The limitations of the MLS Reserve Division have prompted some teams to send players out on season-long loans, and in the case of Red Bull goalkeeper Danny Cepero, that small investment paid off boxcars. He scored the first goalkeeper’s goal in league history and played a solid all-around game in a 3-1 defeat of Columbus Saturday that preserved New York’s playoff hopes with one round of games to go.
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Angel and Ching hit 13-goal mark
[MLS] Juan Pablo Angel struck twice for New York to keep the Red Bulls in playoff contention. Like Angel, Brian Ching hit the 13-goal mark, as Houston eliminated Los Angeles with a 3-0 win. Yura Movsisyan, Will Johnson and Robbie Findley scored Real Salt Lake’s 3-1 win over FC Dallas, which will miss the playoffs. For MLS game summaries, standings, leading scorers and TV schedule.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Some fans were probably coming out for the first time tonight, and we put on a good show in the first half and taught them a little bit about soccer in the second half and how to manage a game.”
— Houston defender Craig Waibel after a crowd of 30,361 watched the Dynamo defeat a David Beckham-less Los Angeles Galaxy with three first-half goals to clinch first place in the West and eliminate the Galaxy from playoff contention. (Houston Chronicle)
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Michael Bradley starts for Gladbach
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Midfielder Michael Bradley returned to Borussia Moenchengladbach’s lineup as the Bundesliga’s second-to-last place team earned its first point in five games. Other young Americans, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore, saw a small taste of action for their clubs.
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Hull keeps on winning, Tottenham is rock bottom (VIDEO)
[ENGLAND] The Big Four all won, but Hull City is still refusing to accept that Champions League qualifying spots are the domain of the established regulars.
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More Bremen, Hoffenheim goal orgies in the Bundesliga (VIDEO)
[GERMANY] It’s hard not to love the Bundesliga this season after another weekend of high-scoring drama involving Werder Bremen and 1899 Hoffenheim.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“At first it smells brilliant, but soon fades to nothing.”
— The Daily Mirror‘s Chris Wilson suggests a sales pitch for L4Men, the aftershave Liverpool FC is putting on the market in time for the holiday shopping season.
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Coca Basile quits as Argentina coach
[WORLD CUP QUALIFYING] Brazil coach Dunga has been under intense pressure to quit because of his team’s mediocre performances in World Cup 2010 qualifying, but it was Alfio Basile, coach of rival Argentina, who quit one day after his team’s 1-0 loss to Chile.
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United comeback comes just in time
[MLS] Only eight of 14 teams can reach the MLS playoffs, and there are nine candidates for the three remaining spots, but with just 10 days left in the season, every one is still standing.
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The Playoff Race
[MLS] With its win over New England on Thursday, D.C. United climbed on top of a very tight group behind the five qualifiers: Columbus, Houston, New England, Chicago, and Chivas USA. Here’s the current standings, with teams tied in points listed in order of tiebreaker superiority, if any, and remaining games. …
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Two Red Bulls suspended for failed drug tests
[MLS] New York Red Bulls keeper Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke have each been suspended for 10 games after testing positive for androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites. The performance enhancing substances were purchased over the counter at a vitamin store and the players said they did not know that the supplement contained a banned substance.
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English FA investigates game-fixing allegations
[ENGLAND] The English Football Association has admitted that it’s conducting an inquiry into a Championship match played earlier this month after reports of irregular betting on the game in Asia.
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MLS TV Schedule
[MLS] For the weekend’s TV schedule, standings and leading goalscorers. …
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England, Spain, Netherlands march on
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Europe’s World Cup qualifying action Wednesday saw England, Spain and the Netherlands all maintain their 100 percent records. In the day’s biggest surprise, struggling Portugal was held at home by Albania.
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Chile downs Argentina, Brazil held at home
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Paraguay continued to win, but the shock result of the round was Argentina’s 1-0 loss in Chile. Brazil, meanwhile, was held at home by Colombia.
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T&T gets the points it needed
The USA took the field Wednesday against Trinidad & Tobago with its future in mind, but couldn’t match the intensity and experience of an opponent committed to the here and now.
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Mixed grades for Bradley’s boys
[TRINIDAD & TOBAGO-USA REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 2-1 loss to Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday …
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Houston late strike stuns San Jose
[MLS] In 24 MLS games this season, Houston midfielder Stuart Holden had scored just one goal. Now he has three, and the Dynamo (12-5-11) is this close to clinching the Western Conference championship.
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Mexico misses another chance to qualify for Hexagonal
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] El Salvador joined the USA and Costa Rica in next year’s Hexagonal, Concacaf’s final round of World Cup 2010 qualifying, and Trinidad & Tobago pulled ahead in Group 1, but the two spots in Group 2 remained up in the air after Jamaica’s 1-0 win over Honduras and Mexico’s 2-2 tie at Canada.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Let’s stop the hypocrisy — let’s just stop doing these matches. We cannot tolerate our Marseillaise being jeered.”
— Bernard Laporte, the ministerial secretary of state for sport, suggesting that France no longer play friendlies against North African countries. Tunisian fans jeered “La Marseillaise” before Tuesday’s friendly between France and Tunisia at the Stade de France, prompting government officials to say that any France match in the future would be stopped if the anthem was booed. The incident at the game followed similar problems in recent years against Algeria and Morocco. (AFP)
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Seven groups submit expansion bids
[MLS] Seven prospective ownership groups from markets throughout the United States and Canada submitted applications to join Major League Soccer, which is expected to add a 17th and 18th team in 2011. The groups include FC Barcelona, owners of teams in the NFL, NHL and EPL and an NBA star. Three groups include USL owners. Here is a look at the ownership groups and their stadium plans …
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Japan held by Uzbekistan
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Australia, South Korea and Iran all won at home, but Japan was held at home by Uzbekistan in Asian World Cup qualifying.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We have an agreement – we don’t eat them, they don’t eat us.”
— U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk, an avid surfer, declines one of Trinidad’s famous shark sandwiches while on the Caribbean island for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifying game. (U.S. Soccer)