It looks like I can watch the FIFA U-20 U.S. Brazil game in the comfort of my
own home. According to their TV listings, the match has shifted from ESPNU to ESPN proper.
The festivities start at 7:30pm Est.
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Momma said there'd be games like this.
Last night was a good reminder as to why the Dynamo are the current league
champions. I'd say one of the more entertaining face-offs was Ching vs. the Red Bulls goal
post.
You usually don't realize it, but these are the times that deepen your ties to
a team.
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My unaided eyesight isn't terrific. While watching a bar TV I can generally figure out who most of
the players are, but deciphering the score is usually impossible. By the time I arrived at the set
with ESPNU, I definitely thought my eyes were failing me.
At that point in the night, the score sat at 4-1, with an eventual 6-1 U.S. finish over Poland.
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It has been a rough stretch for the Red Bulls. The past few games have seen some difficult second
halves, and the second half came early last night.
Angel didn't get to tie the MLS goal streak record, although he made nice work of an early Crew
corner, with a deflected header over the RB net. Mendes also had a key stop against Herron.
Speaking of Herron, I'm afraid to think of what the final score would have looked like if he
started yesterday.
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If you happen to reside in one of these 45 countries, you can watch streaming video of the FIFA
U-20 World Cup matches on the official site. Unfortunately, the States are not included in that
list.
A second option is CBC Sports, although access seems to be restricted to Canadian locations.
Looks like my options are ESPN360 or ESPNU.
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I was checking out the most recent MLS stadium attendance totals up at "My Soccer Blog," and
started to wonder if there were similarities between offline and online audience behavior. In order
to create a manageable set for comparison, I selected the teams with the largest total stadium
attendance (Toronto FC), the smallest total stadium attendance (Kansas City Wizards) and the team
smack in the middle (Real Salt Lake).
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Lately, I've been watching my teams crumble in the second half. With that in mind, I was pretty
concerned to see a goal in the 44th minute from Andres Guardado. How would the MNT respond in the
second?
Decisively. Ching draws a penalty about 15 minutes in, and Donovan makes it look easy, sending the
PK to the right corner. Donovan and Wynalda are now tied at 34 U.
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I'm having some trouble remembering the first time I saw a bicycle kick in professional play. I'm
about 70% certain that it was from Marcelo Balboa, and about 10% certain that the ball went in.
My backyard hosted a number of embarrassing attempts at these kicks, good thing YouTube didn't
exist then. However, it exists now, so check out a history of MLS bicycle kicks below.
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I stumbled upon the MLS Players Union homepage, which included data for 2007 team salaries. I
thought it would be helpful to visualize team salary in relation to team performance. Due to
differences in the number of games played, performance is defined as a team's average points per
game.
There are 4 quadrants, which are determined by average performance and median salary.
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I'm a simple man, all I need are a few concerts, a few soccer matches, and a place to write about
them. It's not often that such seemingly tangential interests converge, but soon enough they will.
How's this possible you may ask? Combine a city with a stellar music scene, Montreal, and the
majority of USA FIFA U-20 stage 1 matches, and I finally get to label a post with both "Music" and
"Soccer.
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I was gearing up for a Red Bulls/Kansas City rematch, but without Johnson, it just didn't seem
legit. Although I don't think the Wizards shared my concerns, as they were doing just fine without
their multi-hatrician.
The Red Bulls came raging out of the gate with a van den Bergh assisted goal skillfully headed by
Angel within the first 6 minutes.
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During the descent to Newark Airport last week, the Meadowlands' lights reminded me I was missing
my chance to catch the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Since I was away, I think I blocked the event from
consciousness to maintain a state of well being. I was also confused because the stadium looked way
too packed for a soccer game.
I finally was able to catch a full showdown, witnessing the US shut out El Salvador 4-0.
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This game seemed familiar. I think the second half was actually just a replay of the Kansas City
game. There was even a hat trick, Kovalenko scoring, and a 10 sided team (although not the losing
side this time).
It was pretty clear that the boys were tired. It looked liked they didn't feel like playing catch
and someone kept throwing them the ball short.
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U.S. bested China 4-1 in Americas last friendly before the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Feel free to go here
for the details.
I was curious about the goal differential, so I decided to devote 3 minutes to compiling some
historical data about these teams previous match ups. The following site had 4 face offs from 1980
to present. Here are the results, with the U.
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I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas (City) anymore. The Wizards owned this game, and I'd assume
it was as humbling to play as to watch.
The 8th minute did see a beauty of a goal, with the Reyna-Wolyniec-Angel combination looking like
it came straight out of a FIFA highlights DVD.
The real show began during the 36th minute, when "Tough Actin" Zavagnin drew the red card on
Mathis.
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