The final game. After this there's nothing left for the Portland Timbers, at least in terms of on-the-field glory. So it's with that in mind that I really hope the Timbers are able to eek out a win. Sure, it wouldn't amount to anything, but it's always best to go out on a high note rather than a low.
The Timbers' final game of the season is upon us and now that it's almost here, I realize I'm really glad we'll be playing the Earthquakes to close the season. Both of our matches with San Jose have been exciting, even if one was exciting in a way that made me unhappy, and I think these teams have built up some tension between them that will show itself in the game tomorrow.
And then there was one. Although all 33 MLS games thus far have contributed to where the Fire currently are in the standings, our playoff lives all come down to this one final game of the season. And what a wild one it could potentially be. Depending on the result of the NY/Philly game, the standings could certainly be much different by the end of tonight.
About a week ago, Chicago Fire Director of Communications Brendan Hannan contacted Hot Time In
Old Town to have an open conversation with Javier Leon, who is the Managing Director of Andell
Sports Group and President of Soccer Operations for the Chicago Fire. It's not every day that the
Fire Front Office reaches out to us over here at HTIOT, so we definitely didn't want to pass up
this opportunity.
Unfortunately, failure was an option this year One last game to wrap up the 2012 season tomorrow. Houston is in town for our only look at them this year. They have playoff positioning to play for, while the Rapids will need a win if Portland wins earlier in the day to avoid being passed for 7th in the West (though getting passed would give us a better draft pick).
Andrew Jackson and Company take on the British 200 years ago this year the War of
1812 started. On Christmas Eve 1814 the Treaty of Ghent, ending hostilities, was signed. Due to the
slow pace of communication in the 1800's New Orleans didn't find out about the treaty until after
the Americans defended the city from the British on January 8th, 1815.
Major League Soccer took the week off because of the international FIFA fixture dates. On Friday, the United States played its penultimate match of the semi-final round. As was true with the last away match during qualifying, the game was only televised on betIN Sports, the new network from Al JAzeera.
Three matches unfold across Major League Soccer tonight, each with its own playoff implications as
the regular season's stretch run continues.
In the Eastern Conference, a matchup between two teams currently occupying playoff spots sees
the Chicago Fire host the Houston Dynamo with just one point separating the two teams.
When Chelsea was announced as Sounders exhibition match, the reaction seemed a measured sigh of
disappointment with the exception of Chelsea fans. Despite winning the UEFA Champions League
Chelsea was not a draw. Chelsea had been to Seattle in 2009, and with the notable exception of
Didier Drogba, Chelsea remain much the same side.
Can Manchester United regain the initiative? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
The events in the final game of last season had a suitably momentous feeling to them, as
Manchester City snatched victory – and the Premier League title – from United in the dying
seconds of the season. There could hardly be a more wounding way for United to lose their crown,
with the combination of the fact that it was surrendered to their local rivals and in such dramatic
fashion, making the pain all the harder to bear for supporters of the Old Trafford club.
- Flashback: How and Why the QPR "Apostrophe" in Queens Park Rangers was
Dropped
- See the Truly-Brilliant Bushman Photo Archives for more Old QPR -
Follow QPR REPORT on TWITTER! - Visit the Football-Only QPR REPORT
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- When QPR Messageboard Founders "Conflict"
- Flashback: How and Why the QPR "Apostrophe" in Queens Park Rangers was Dropped
This morning sees the final game of the Asia tour as we take on Kitchee FC in Hong Kong. It
comes less than 48 hours after the Man City game and with the squad feeling the effects of all the
traveling I don't expect this to much more than a training game, to be honest.
We might see more time given to the younger/fringe members of the squad as the senior players
played most of the game on Friday and with, I'm sure, all due care and attention being paid to
their fitness the last thing we want to do is pick up silly injuries by asking too much of players
when there's still a good three weeks until the first game of the Premier League season.
This comes courtesy of Matt Demlein, who offered to give a bit of a look at Montpellier, ahead of
tomorrow's friendly.
On Tuesday night, Sporting Kansas City plays the French Champions, Montpellier. Montpellier were a
surprise this past season, holding off Paris Saint-Germain during the second half of the season
despite having a budget that was smaller than the transfer fee PSG paid for Javier Pastore.
It's been several weeks since we've had a new post here on Two Touch Pass, and I've spent a week
or so contemplating my first post back. I suppose the reason we went away for awhile had to do with
our busy lives, full of new adventures, big moves, and the many distractions we have in life. But,
I'll be completely honest, my absence has been due to a post-Olympic hangover that has required me
to catch my breath (weeks later) after stressing for 3 weeks.
In a follow up to the news that came out last night regarding Lance Armstrong and him giving up his
battle against the USADA, Sporting's CEO, Robb Heineman made a statement today.
Here is Robb's statement: "The naming rights partnership between our stadium and LIVESTRONG
provides an opportunity to spread health and wellness messages that emphasizes the spirit of cancer
survivorship.
The Selecao Bootcamp is back in time for the Olympic semi-final showdown
between Brazil and South Korea in Manchester
tonight. Oh, haven't you heard? The backdrop happens to be Lucas Moura's new home
city!
You remember our run in with Sachin Nakrani a few months ago. He posted that well known picture
from years ago of a Chelsea fan doing the Nazi salute with his daughter in his arms and claimed
that it was from Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final game against Spurs that day. Nakrani is a Liverpool
fan and obviously had taken offence to Chelsea fans singing "murderers" during the minute's silence
for Hillsborough, and fair enough.
Any concerns over Gareth Bale disappeared for now with news that there is no serious injury
following the Charlie Adam tackle at the weekend and he may even feature in our final game of the
US tour tonight.
"Needless to say, we are extremely relieved Gareth has not been seriously injured," said Spurs
head coach Andre Villas-Boas.
Liverpool played out a drab draw with Tottenham in the final game of their USA pre-season tour at
the M&T Stadium in Baltimore.
Aaron Lennon missed the best chance of the first half when he hit the post when it seemed easier to
score, as Spurs marginally shaded the opening period.
A flurry of substitutes after the interval saw Steven Gerrard and Liverpool's new signing Fabio
Borini enter the fray.
Silly old Joey Barton is currently staring down the barrel of a twelve, count 'em,
twelve! -game ban for general dickery on the final game of last season and, with QPR's
patience reserves dwindling, it looks like English football's preeminent copy-and-paste philosopher
is going to be keeping the chub at bay by training with League Two side Fleetwood Town.
Silly old Joey Barton is currently staring down the barrel of a twelve, count 'em,
twelve! -game ban for general dickery on the final game of last season and, with QPR's
patience reserves dwindling, it looks like English football's preeminent copy-and-paste philosopher
is going to be keeping the chub at bay by training with League Two side Fleetwood Town.
Joey Barton may have finally cooked his goose at QPR, where new manager Mark Hughes hardly suffers
fools lightly, and he is thought to be extremely unhappy with the way Joey Barton put theirÂ
season in danger in the final game of the season. QPR officials try wrestle Barton off the pitch
at the Etihad Stadium Joey Barton helped his side [.
Preparing for one final game when you don't have much to play for is a weird and unique position for a team to be in no matter the sport. And that is exactly what the FC Dallas players and coaches have been contending with this week, with Sunday's regular season finale against Chivas USA still remaining on the docket despite FCD being eliminated from playoff contention thanks to a 3-1 loss at Seattle on Sunday.
A bit of news that might have been missed due to the US game yesterday. Sporting announced that NBC Sports has picked up the team's final game of the season, October 24th at home against Philadelphia. The game will still be shown on KSMO in Kansas City, and the NBC Sports broadcast will be blacked out locally.
What can you say about last Sunday's game that we haven't already heard ad nauseum? It was a brutal, unforgiving account of what Portland Timbers fans have had to put up with all year. The only thing that could have possibly made it worse was if it was the final game of the season. At least with the current situation the Timbers have two more games to redeem themselves heading into what will probably be a long, cold off season for many of the players.
After getting whalloped 5-1 in their opening qualifying round n Yangon, Cambodia were hoping for a change in fortunes when they met Laos in their second game. Didn't happen, losing 1-0 and almost guaranteeing they won't be lining up in the AFF Cup towards the end of the year.
Myanmar beat Timor Leste 2-1 in the other game to keep their 100% record going in the competition they are hosting.
Cavaliers Return Home to Host Virginia Nike Soccer Classic Virginia welcomes George Mason,
James Madison and Richmond to Klöckner Stadium
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 7 Virginia women's soccer team concludes its non-conference
schedule this weekend with the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic at Klöckner Stadium.
Unstoppable? Yes.The Nigerians gave the U.S. defense a run for their money today. During their
semifinal match, the Super Falcons caught the American defense looking fragile and undisciplined
quite a few times, but just couldn't capitalize (this may have something to do with the serious
amount of dancing they do in the tunnel prematch, but no, okay, I can't prove that).
New England Revolutionforward Saer Sene tore his left ACL during Wednesday's tie against Chivas
USA and will miss the rest of the season, the team announced on Saturday. Sene was having a
Newcomer of the Year-caliber season, scoring 11 goals and adding three assists in 25 appearances.
That was the most goals a Revolution player had scored since 2007.
Women's Soccer Dominant in 4-0 Win Over Akron Courtesy TribeAthletics.com KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Behind three first-half goals, the William and Mary women's
soccer team cruised past Akron, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon in its final game of the First Tennessee
Lady Vol Classic.
PSP photographer Paul Rudderow was on hand for Saturday's final game of the World Football
Challenge 2012 as Real Madrid CF took on Celtic FC. On a sweltering afternoon at Lincoln Financial
Field both teams played hard but Madrid came out with the 2-0 victory.
it's a pretty quiet Sunday so a very quick round-up ahead of our final game before the new
season kicks off in less than a week's time (hold me). Again, this is just a pre-season game so
conditioning and fitness are paramount, but it's also the first (and last) chance the manager has
to use his new players and give them some match practice before Sunderland.
- Don Givens Turns 63...Alejandro Faurlin Turns 26
- See the Truly-Brilliant Bushman Photo Archives of Old QPR - Follow QPR
REPORT on TWITTER! - Visit the Football-Only QPR REPORT
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- On This Day, August 9: QPR's Promotion Season Got Under Way.
With the news that Geoff Cameron's work permit was finally approved and he is now a full-fledged
member of Stoke City, it's time to take a look back at the Giraffe's top moments for the Houston
Dynamo.
Making the point: I think it's fair to start with this one, Geoff's first goal for the
Dynamo against FC Something-or-other at Robertson Stadium on April 6, 2008.
It's that time of the year again when transfer gossip heats up faster than anÂ
Oprah-written telenovela episode! Brazil's Lucas Moura, who was
furiously working out at the gym yesterday, is one of the better-balanced and geekier Brazilian
players in the squad (think Kaka's mentality, love for Morrissey and a little bit of
Neymar's Pagode influence).
How about that (win/loss) against Caledonia, eh? That game was so (great/terrible). Yes, I wrote
this before the game Thursday, but that doesn't make these links any less relevant. I hope.
Week 21 of 90 Plus is up, as is Kick TV's version.
The most stunning news of the week was that of the exchange between Chivas and New England, sending
Sharlie Joseph to Southern California.
Sounders Women Face Pali for Western Conference Championship
This Sunday, the Sounders Women will take on the Pali Blues for the third time this season. The
first meeting found the Pali Blues handing the Sounders their first loss. The second game the
Sounders held Pali to only one goal, but have yet to score against them.
The Sounders Women face the Pali Blues today. This is the final game of the regular season for
the Sounders. The Pali Blues are undefeated thus far, and hope to remain so. This is a preview of
next weekend's playoff game. If the Sounders can beat Pali next weekend, then it's off to Ottawa
for the four team final.
