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The second stage of African World Cup Qualifying kicked off Friday with Ghana pounding Lesotho
7-0. Of more concern to Americans though, Bob Bradley's Egypt beat Mozambique 2-0 in Alexandria.
They played in an empty stadium after training in Lebanon ahead of the match. I was able to catch
a little bit of the match, including the first goal, and Bradley's stamp on the team was evident.
The U.S. was certainly unlucky and could have had some more calls go its way against Brazil. Jurgen
Klinsmann is not treading so lightly, though, and has basically made a call to more gamesmanship.
I'm not so sure how I feel about it. We've all seen the team being taken advantage of before, but
I've always taken pride in the relative lack of BS present in our team.
We'll be digesting that one for a while yet, for now though, I've got some initial notes on
USA-Brazil. Width We didn't have it. We need it. Donovan can play inside, of course, he's a very
talented player, but someones have got to give the team width on both flanks and it cannot be Fab
Johnson flying up from the left back spot all game long.
About a week ago I got the chance to talk all things Ruben Luna with Ruben Luna. Naturally not
everything fit the story, so the tastiest leftovers from "Home Grown: Ruben Luna" are all yours. I
also included some bonus quotes from his U12-U16 coach, Darrin Hedges who now coaches FC Dallas's
women's team.
It's a solid move. More obviously so for Chivas USA than the Union, but I'm not joking. Danny
Califf is undoubtedly more decorated and established than Mike Lahoud. He's a proven leader and a
native SoCal-ite that will certainly add composure to a back line that's coughed up seven goals in
the last three games.
Word on the street is that one Josh Gatt got himself a goal and an assist in Molde's 5-0 blowout of
Stabaek. Ricardo Clark has the misfortune of being on the wrong side of that scoreline. Also, Sean
Cunningham started for Molde and Erik Benjaminsen came off the bench early for a Mix-less Stabaek.
Clip(s) to be mercilessly hunted down .
Before we dive into all that MLS offered us this weekend - and there was a fair amount - you should
know that Stanislaus United Sturlock Express has drawn Fresno Fuego (PDL) in the first round proper
of the US Open Cup. Don't worry, we'll be keeping tabs on them for you, and the winner will take of
the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the second round.
There's been a lot of Chelsea coverage on these pages lately, and for that, I apologize. It's
mostly Will's fault, but hey, nobody's perfect. Courtesy of The Guardian Yet the club's bid to
put a stadium in the iconic Battersea Power Station just might be. All joking aside, Chelsea's
current stadium predicament is only part of a larger trend of ambitious clubs finding themselves
Just a few things I caught in my daily crawl around the series of tubes that is the interwebs ...
The Good FC Nurnberg signed Timothy Chandler to a two-year extension. The deal has him all signed
up to be there until the summer of 2015, but I guess we'll see about that. As we well know,
Chandler had his fair share of suitor(s), though his loyalty to the club that gave him his
Bundesliga debut
The Under-19 Champions League is expanding to 24 teams next season after getting rave reviews from
plays and coaches alike. Today, NextGen announced the fourth addition to the competition, Arsenal,
bringing the total to 20 teams. Inter actually practiced at Arsenal's facilities at one point
during the tournament and spoke nicely enough of it for Arsenal to join.
I get that preference in jerseys is mostly a subjective thing, so me saying 'bleh' is nothing more
than that.That said, a lot of my initial frustration comes from the fact that every couple years
Nike seems to have an office party culminating in an drunken game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey to
decide what the national team will wear.
The new US National Team jerseys are not.It's one thing for Nike to completely rebrand our teams
every two years. Turning them into cartoonish laughing stocks is another. I'll expand on this
later, for now though consider the following.- Clint Dempsey is a badass.- He looks the part, but
even he looks silly in the new away jersey.
In fact, he likes them so much he decided to score two as his Sønderjyske team ran through
relegation candidates Lyngby 4-0 yesterday. He even had the audacity to put one in off a short
corner. Doesn't he know that only works in FIFA!? The win puts his team 12 points clear of the drop
with 11 games to play and you can watch his second and third goals of the season here.
Will's mentioned it, we've all felt it. Mexico's been running CONCACAF and it hurts.Between the
minimes and the legends, there hasn't been much to cheer about if you're a fan of the US of A, but
those two teams? They got this.Around 10,000 fans packed the Home Depot Center where Ian Feuer, a
journeyman goalkeeper who was pinned behind the greatness of Friedel, Keller and Meola for most of
his
You know we've been starved for anything resembling success against Mexico lately, but tonight
revenge may be in the cards.The US plays Mexico at Home Depot Center at 7:15 p.m. You can check out
the roster's here. It's basically Mexico's "Golden Generation" of Borghetti, Palencia and co.
against our stars of the 90s.
... Because Jozy Altidore is on fire. In another massive title tilt, Jozy's delivered again. This
time he waited until the 24th minute to get his 14th goal of the Eredivise campaign and 18th
overall. Clip to come. If there's not any more that is.- Jacob Klinger
Christie Rampone may very well be playing World Cup soccer into her fifth decade on this earth. In
the mean time she's doing work for US Olympians not backed by an independent multi-million dollar
federation.Teaming up with various current and former Olympians and Para-Olympians as well as Citi
Bank, Rampone launched "Every Step of the Way.
Josh Gatt has been locked up by Molde FK, signing a contract through 2015. Since signing in January
2011 he's scored four and as you may recall, he was called up for for the Olympics qualifiers
before the club refused to release him (sigh!).Now this is just my intuition typing here, but I
think this contract is more about making sure the team gets paid when Gatt does get sold off.
A quick look around Planet Soccer shows just how classy our guys are in an industry full of
clinical narcissists, but man does Stuart Holden stick out even in that bunch! The guy's had
struggle after struggle off the pitch and when you consider his gut-wrenching injuries you gotta
just stand up in front of your computer and clap your hands for him simply for keeping on.
It took all of three minutes for Altidore to head The Cheese Farmers ahead at home to Twente. The
visitors have since equalized. Good guy highlights to come.And for the rest of you 'working' for
the weekend, ESPN3 is the place to be.-Jacob Klinger
Perhaps you have noticed that when it comes to playing abroad, Americans tend to glom together at
various Yankee-friendly clubs. Who am I kidding? NSC readers see all.Well, Greg noticed too and
asked me to put together a table of the All-American clubs of the world. There are the usual
suspects and just as many journeyman stories as world-beating ones.
It didn't make sense. Inter Milan left Brisbane Road Sunday evening with the first ever NextGen
Series trophy after winning the penalty shootout over Ajax 4-2.The team that scored nine goals
against Barcelona and Liverpool managed only one in two hours of play against the team that opened
the competition conceding seven.
It was 2:00 a.m. I'd been trying to fall asleep for a few hours now. I had to fall asleep. I kept
running the numbers in my head: 5 minutes to wake up and get out of bed. 15 minutes to gather my
things and eat. Finally, 10 minutes to find a 24-hour gas station to fill the tank in my dad's car
and skip town.
It's baaaack. Since I know you missed us, Jacob and I are bringing back the Friday Five with the
wind force of a busted tuba. On tap for today is CCL action, MLS First Kick madness and the wonders
of Jozy's AZ frolic vs. the cold-shoulder treatment from a vocal group of MNT fans. Get on your
speedos, folks.
In a strange turn of events, Tottenham have withdrawn from this year's NextGen Series after
breaking 'competition regulation'.Spurs played out a hard-fought victory over Liverpool at White
Hart Lane on Wednesday before discovering afterward that they had done so illegally. Shaquile
Coulthirst scored the (non-)winner, scrambling home a parried shot from close range.
As with all things WPS, there is a degree of uncertainty regarding its two biggest stars. Abby
Wambach told the Associated Press that she's still undecided as to whether or not she'll be playing
stateside next season. Marta, the mercurial Brazilian forward, noted her European options as
well.For what it's worth, Wambach stated that American qualification for the 2012 Olympics was her
top priority
This should have been up the other day, my bad. Don't fault Jacob...At this stage in the
competition you would have every reason to believe that some dead rubbers would be played. Yet the
"Look at Me!" nature of international youth soccer forbids such a thing.For instance, Celtic
welcomed Marseille to Celtic Park with nothing tangible to play for.
Women's Professional Soccer lives, albeit conditionally and mysteriously.On Monday night, US
Soccer's Board of Directors agreed to sanction "Division I" five-team WPS for 2012 on the basis of
arguments made by league officials citing growing support from the 2011 Women's World Cup,
continued exposure for the sport promised by the 2012 Olympics Games, and potential expansion.
The supposed deadline for WPS to find a sixth owner has come and gone. The 15-day grace period set
by US Soccer passed last Monday with little fanfare or, more notably, outcry. While the silence was
deafening, it appears that no news is good news for women's soccer in this country. At least for
now.
The fat lady has yet to sing, but it's all but over, or just plain over, in three of the four
groups in this year's NextGen Series. From the top ... Celtic needed a serious dose of luck to keep
their European adventure going. A group-dominating giant had to be slain by a relative minnow
twice. They also had to beat Barcelona in Barcelona.
The NextGen Series seeks to feature the premier youth teams of Europe. In effect, it showcases the
next generation - get it? - of European talent.If Rosenborg and Aston Villa's do-or-die Group 3
clash at Lerkendal Stadium is any indication, we have years of little Frank Lampards to look
forward to.
It's a special MLS Cup edition of the Friday Five today, where we peer into the crystal ball to
explore whether Brad Davis' absence has unofficially put the kabash on Houston's chances, whether
Donovan has anything left to prove and if Jacob has the stones to pick against LA. Let's dive in,
shall we?
This week, with the MLS Cup still lingering off in the distance like a bored monolith, we take a
look at Don Garber's love for unloved announcements, why Jurgen Klinsmann is America's favorite
step dad and more. Assist maestro Brad Davis went down with a quad injury in the first half of
Houston's eventual 2-0 victory over SKC in the Eastern Conference Final last weekend.
If one is the loneliest number, what does that make zero? After Ajax drew away to Fenerbahce they
joined the imperfect mass that constitutes this year's NextGen field. Sporting and Tottenham remain
unbeaten, but perfection is now a thing of the past for all 16 tournament teams. Yet if anyone can
claim to have truly attained perfection it is Barcelona.
Jacob and I hatched a scheme for an intermittent Friday back-and-forth questionnaire on pressing
matters. With MLS playoffs roaring to a boil, we're putting the league's happenings on the block
today. For our inaugural Friday Five, we bring you our conference final edition. Marquez lovers,
progress no further.
The four groups of the NextGen Series are getting serious. Everybody's still alive just past the
midway point of the competition. Well, almost everybody. Manchester City and Celtic met knowing
their match was a do-or-die affair unless they played to a draw. They did not.Celtic hadn't played
in the competition since August 31st and looked rather rusty as a miscommunication between Jorge
The best keep getting better, or so the saying goes. Unilaterally applying that logic to Europe's
premier youth club competition tells us that the worst, in theory, keep getting worse. Nothing
supports such a conviction more than the latest events in the world of NextGen.In 1702 a tasteful
farmhouse was built in the Catalan countryside.
One of the intimate idiosyncrasies of watching Europe's elite youth compete is the intimate grounds
on which they play. The iconic clash of today's greatest club and the youngsters who hope to
complement the best that money can buy in overtaking that title is the most outstanding of
examples. From the storied ground that is Hyde FC's Ewen Field s, Manchester City vs.
While Europe's top clubs scrambled to fill out and/or trim down their rosters before last Wednesday
night's deadline, some of their best and brightest took to the field for the second set of fixtures
in the NextGen Series . For those of you not familiar, the competition consists of four groups of
four teams playing round robin Champions League style.
