[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] African World Cup qualifying concludes its first stage this weekend, with 17 of the 20 places in the final group phase still up for grabs.
Fourteen World Cup 2010 qualifying games, including the USA-Cuba match in Washington, D.C., will be televised on Saturday. Other games of note include Scotland-Norway, Germany-Russia, Romania-France and Jamaica-Mexico.
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Can the USA really prove anything by beating Cuba Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic, Galavision) in their qualifying match at RFK Stadium? For at least six youngsters, the game provides an important opportunity.
“[The San Jose] Earthquakes will benefit from the training and coaching models of Tottenham, who currently sit bottom of the Premier League.”
— Britain’s Sky Sports describes the “strategic partnership” between English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and MLS’s San Jose Earthquakes that was announced on Thursday.
[MLS] Just about everything — the setting, the mood, the noisy sellout crowd, the stakes — fell into place for a memorable evening Thursday as Real Salt Lake christened its new Rio Tinto Stadium with a crucial match against Red Bull New York.
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Five of the six berths in next year’s Hexagonal could be determined with two games to spare. Saturday’s World Cup qualifiers could make most of the remaining games in the Concacaf zone moot.
New England, which has clinched a playoff spot, travels to Kansas City, which remains in the hunt even if it loses. … FC Dallas could move into the playoff zone with a win over Toronto FC. … Chivas USA could clinch if it wins in San Jose and FC Dallas and Colorado fail to win. … Colorado plays at Los Angeles, which will be eliminated with a loss. … Columbus will be regular-season champ (Supporters’ Shield winner) if it wins at Chicago, which can clinch a playoff spot. … Playoff-bound Houston hosts struggling D.C. United, which needs a win but won’t be eliminated with a loss. … For all this week’s TV Schedule, standings and leading goalscorers …
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] European qualifying for South Africa 2010 is still in its early stages, with no team having played more than two games. Nonetheless, the next two qualifying rounds over the coming week could set the tone for the remainder of the campaign.
[EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES] Soccer America provides the latest on employment opportunities for soccer-related positions. They include college coaching opportunities, as well as opportunities in pro soccer, youth soccer, the soccer industry and television.
“Yes, they do watch the Borat movie. I know the country’s politicians didn’t like it, but the players find it funny. They get the jokes and don’t think the movie makes fun of Kazakhstan. It makes fun of the U.S. more than it does Kazakhstan.”
— Arno Pijpers, the recently fired coach of Kazakhstan, which faces England Saturday in World Cup qualifying. (The Sun)
Fourteen World Cup 2010 qualifying games, including the USA-Cuba match in Washington, D.C., will be televised on Saturday. Other games of note include Scotland-Norway, Germany-Russia, Romania-France and Jamaica-Mexico.
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Against the same opponent to which the New England Revolution lost, the Montreal Impact ran wild. The Puerto Rico Islanders crashed back to earth in Mexico, but didn’t do any worse than many of their MLS counterparts when they travel south of the border. The two USL-1 teams split their road matches in the Concacaf Champions’ League Wednesday night and both are squarely in the chase to advance out of group play. Montreal blasted Trinidad & Tobago club Joe Public FC, 4-1, and Puerto Rico lost to Santos Laguna, 3-0.
[MLS TV SCHEDULE] For the grand opening of Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, a state-of-the-art, $110 million, 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, Real Salt Lake hosts the New York Red Bulls. Both teams are barely inside the playoff zone. For all this week’s TV Schedule, standings and leading goalscorers …
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] With South American qualification set to move beyond the halfway stage over the coming week, Paraguay is the surprise group leader, while Brazil and Argentina have made mediocre starts.
[MLS] TFC is last in the Eastern Conference but again ranks No. 1 among MLS teams in players called for international duty as league coaches prepare for crucial games. Toronto isn’t in the same absurd position as it was during the last FIFA international fixture window, when no less than nine players were summoned and it fielded one of its scouts and a few other short-term emergency signings in a 3-1 loss to Chivas USA. But it will be missing five players this time around to play Dallas on Saturday. Several other teams, including the Los Angeles Galaxy, have been hit call-ups for World Cup qualifying as they aim for playoff spots.
[EUROPE] The global financial crisis is threatening to end the heady, high-spending days of European soccer. English Football Association Chairman Lord Triesman warned Tuesday of dark times ahead due to the collective debts of English teams, while in Germany the shares of broadcaster Premiere have plunged, threatening the vital money that it pays the Bundesliga for TV rights.
[MY VIEW] The Polish government last week sacked its national FA leadership over what it said was a failure to tackle corruption. Following FIFA protests and UEFA’s threat to rescind the country’s Euro 2012 co-hosting rights, it promptly reinstated them. So who, if anyone, is fit to fight corruption in soccer?
“First of all, the important thing in the next three games is to win and get as many points as we can. [The] playoffs are the goal right now and if I’m able to score some goals to help the team or get some assists, that would be great. … I grew up here in Dallas and Jason [Kreis] was someone that I looked up to. He was always scoring a lot of goals and doing his backflips. … I feel so fortunate to have scored close to the number that he has scored.”
— FC Dallas striker Kenny Cooper, who has scored 16 goals and has three games to break the club’s record for goals in a season, which Jason Kreis set in 1999 with 18. (MLSnet.com)
[OFF THE POST] A German department of motor vehicle director has been charged by prosecutors for providing driver’s licenses to more than 50 foreign Bundesliga players without them taking the required road test, written exam, eyesight inspections and first-aid course. The 56-year-old driving instructor reportedly charged $700 for a forged certificate saying they had passed the exams.
To the list of obstacles impeding D.C. United’s push for the playoffs can be added injuries to midfielder Fred, who is out for the season.
Fred has aggravated a strained hamstring, and like midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, won’t return to action this year.
[U.S. SOCCER] Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and goalkeeper Tim Howard are the three finalists for the 2008 Honda Player of the Year award as selected by more than 200 sports journalists. The winner will be announced Nov. 11. Donovan, a four-time winner, took the honor last year. Dempsey won in 2006. For a list of all previous winners. …
The best show in American soccer, De Ro and the Dynamo, wowed the crowd again Tuesday night at Robertson Stadium. Ten minutes after he came on as a sub, Dwayne DeRosario stole a ball in midfield and seared the net from 30 yards to earn Houston a 2-1 victory over Panamanian club San Francisco FC and a piece of the lead atop Group A of the Concacaf Champions League.
[TELEVISION] Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) has reached an agreement with Fox Soccer Channel to have a minimum of 20 regular-season games be televised during its inaugural season in 2009.
[WPS] Seven players from the 2008 W-League champion Pali Blues and six players from semifinalist Washington Freedom were among the 28 players taken in Monday’s Women’s Professional Soccer General Draft. The WPS Freedom took W-League Freedom star Sarah Huffman with the first pick. For all the selections …
