Entering a match against Eastern Conference-rival D.C. United Saturday night, the New England Revolution needed a result to remain in playoff contention.
After rookie Kelyn Rowe gave the Revs the lead in the 29th minute, the 'Boys in Blue' were once again unable to play with a lead. Just three minutes later, United leading scorer Chris Pontius leveled the score.
NEW YORK The New England Revolution have been eliminated from the 2012 MLS Cup Playoff Race. The Revs lost 2-1 tonight to D.C. United and with only five games staying, the club will be ineffective to catch or necktie in levels five of theXEastern Conference teams. Read More
It galls me to say this, but here goes..."Thank you, Revs." And not just for ending Columbus' hot
streak but for providing a timely reminder to United. The schedule-radar is congested with low
hanging fruit, but this is precisely the time of year when teams with the pressure of post-season
contention off their shoulders love to play the role of spoiler.
The Supporters' Shield is San Jose's to lose at this point. (US Presswire)
As I mentioned yesterday, the MLS Supporters' Shield race has gotten a little tighter in recent
weeks. Overall though it is not anywhere close to being a five or even a six team race like
previously thought. No, it really is down to three maybe four teams at most.
San Jose has the inside track to the Supporters' Shield. (US Presswire)
With the MLS All Star game last night I felt like the league is well past the halfway point to
be able to begin doing a broader look at the league's Supporters' Shield race. I hope to do more
installments of this race as we go along here.
New York Red Bulls (9-5-5) vs. Chicago Fire (9-6-4) William Schulz: Chicago is only one point behind New York in the standings, making a win
very important for the men in red. However I don't think Chicago has what it takes to win this one.
I expect New York to score first thanks to their explosive offense, but their shaky defense will
concede an equalizer.
A year after missing the playoffs, the San Jose Earthquakes boast the top record in Major
League Soccer. And veteran coach Frank Yallop, it's safe to say, deserves much of the credit.
Yallop has led the Earthquakes to an 11-4-3 record with a league-leading 36 goals scored. After
winning titles with San Jose in 2001 and 2003, the 48-year-old coach has his side in contention for
a third MLS Cup.
There has been no shortage of standout goalkeepers during the first half of the season in MLS,
but the best of the litter to this point has been the Columbus Crew's Andy Gruenebaum.
Filling in for injured incumbent Will Hesmer, Gruenebaum has proven an integral part of Columbus
having the stingiest defense in the league (only 15 goals surrendered in 15 games) and that has
earned him SBI's Mid-season MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award.
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Sep 8, 2012) US Soccer Players – World Cup Qualifying resumed
Friday night with six games that were supposed to help dramatically reduce the number of teams that
could clinch a spot to the six-team Hexagonal. They didn't. As a result of several shocking
results, all 12 teams remain in contention for a spot in the final round.
There seems to be for the first time a serious debate on introducing salary cap restrictions a
la NFL into the Premiership. This comes on the heels of a strengthened TV deal that would generate
£3bn to be shared by all 20 clubs towards player transfers and wages.
The bottom line is that increasing and out of control wage demands have eaten into that pie
leaving clubs with less to spend.
Ashley Cole says that we really shouldn't be having this trial referring to a post match meeting
where John Terry met with Anton Ferdinand and both shook hands after agreeing there was nothing
more than "handbags".
Ferdinand re-considered his position after his girlfriend replayed You Tube footage of the Terry
incident on her cell phone where the Chelsea captain was seen mouthing off using racial epithets
which he does not deny using.
Joe Allen claims to have 'massive belief' in his ability and to have embraced the pressure which
accompanies a big-money move to Liverpool.
The Wales international moved to Anfield during the summer transfer window in a £15million switch
from Swansea.
He may only be 22, but Allen is now regarded as a key figure for club and country.
Arsenal has a crunch match against Liverpool up at Anfield on Sunday (8:30 EST, Fox Soccer
Channel). Both teams have yet to win a game this season, although it's not quite crisis
intervention time, as it's only the third game in. Still, Arsenal has yet to score a goal, which is
worrying since we just sold the player who scored 40% of our goals last season.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers admits new signing Joe Allen is in his thoughts for Saturday's
Premier League opener against West Brom.
The midfielder has followed Rodgers from Swansea to Anfield this summer, with the Reds putting a
big-money deal in place to bring him to Merseyside.
Allen has had a week to find his feet in new surroundings and the Wales international could now
make his debut at The Hawthorns.
Nuri Sahin has hit out at suggestions he joined Liverpool for the money by outlining the reasons
for his switch to Anfield.
Turkish midfielder Sahin has come to the Reds on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid and is in
contention to make his debut against Arsenal on Sunday.
He says he had offers from elsewhere but decided to make the move to Merseyside because he has
faith in Brendan Rodgers and wants to play regularly.
The first title of the 2012-13 season is up for contention and both Barcelona and Real Madrid
are looking to make a dramatic entrance by lifting the Spanish Super Cup. The first leg, which will
be played on Thursday at the Camp Nou, already has a clear favourite for the bookies: Barça.
A triumph by Vilanova's team is the favoured outcome and therefore the worst paid: €1.
Josh Gatt and Molde look to defend their top spot, Steve Clark hopes to backstop Honefoss back into
European contention and Villyan Bijev wants a Start debut in Norway.
Steve Clark and Honefoss have the opportunity to jump into European contention with a win, while
Kyle Helton, Rhett Bernstein and Mjondalen take on a fellow-promotion contender.
I'm going to start these a little sooner this season, in part because nothing else is going on
this week (kidding!) and in part because the playoff race - at least the question of who is and who
isn't in the playoffs - is resolving remarkably early this year. If we define a team as being in
contention for a playoff spot if it has between a 20 and 80% chance of making it in, then our first
State of the Run In last season in late August had 4 teams in contention - DC United, Houston, New
York, and Chivas USA.
Heading into tonight's match is about more than the three points that the Portland Timbers
desperately need. It's about vengeance. It's about restoring the pride that a team like the Timbers
should have given the city that loves them so much. With FC Dallas having outplayed Portland twice
at home in embarrassing fashion (4-nil last year, 5-nil just a couple weeks ago) it's time for the
Timbers to return the favor and deal Dallas the same kind of humiliating defeat.
FC Dallas provided some drama on Wednesday night at the Development Academy Finals
Week
There were some fireworks on Wednesday as FC Dallas scored a game-winning goal in the fifth minute
of second half stoppage time to stay in the hunt for the U-17/18 championship match and set up a
"Dallas Derby" against Group 2 leader Solar Chelsea SC on Friday.
Packed into the summer of soccer (isn't every year now?) is the US Open Cup and the Sounders
quest for #SE4TTLE. This attempt at history sees a familiar adversary, a team that Seattle has
faced and eliminated from the tournament three times. Chivas USA lacks trophies (though not as
lacking as say Red Bull) and with a regular season that sees them basically eliminated from
contention Wednesday night's game at Starfire will be their most important of 2012.
Good morning, welcome to Friday and as such the newsiest day of the week as we start to focus on
Sunday's game against Stoke.
Starting with some early team news and it looks like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back in
contention, for a place on the bench at least, while Laurent Koscielny hasn't yet recovered
sufficiently from his calf problem to be considered.
The talented Spanish midfielder Santiago Cazorla believes he will settle into playing with his
Arsenal team-mates very quickly, although he admits that the pace of the game in England is a lot
faster than he's used to after playing in La Liga. Also there were many rumours last summer saying
that Arsenal were in contention [.
Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen sparked a few chances in Sunday's 1-0 loss against the Impact.
(Photo: Kari Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
It's time to can the "one mistake killed us" excuse.
For the last six games, it's been become the go-to phrase when a bad bounce, an unsettling
sequence of unwatchable defending, a concentration lapse, or a moment of indifference has cost the
Revolution points.
To be completely honest, I haven't been a "serious" sports fan for very long (I strayed in my
adolescence, long story). For reasons I won't elaborate on here, Kansas City and its stadia became
my homes away from home. An unfortunate side effect of that choice was that I became a complete
stranger to sports success.
Jonathan De Guzman representing the Netherlands under-20s
Halfway through the World Cup Qualifying campaign this year for Canada in the CONCACAF region
has brought about the usual divisions amongst Canadians regarding the state of soccer in
Canada.
Brad Friedel is aware that his playing days are winding down, and Tottenham is reportedly eyeing
a move that could accelerate his decline from his post as the club's No. 1 goalkeeper.
According to reports, Spurs are looking to sign Lyon and French national team goalkeeper Hugo
Lloris, a move that does not faze the veteran American goalkeeper, who is entering his second
season with Tottenham.
Alex Greyson scored a pair of second-half goals after Eddie
Garza's first-half score as the Quad City Eagles blanked the Madison 56ers 3-0 in a
National Premier Soccer League Midwest Region match Saturday night in Rock Island, Ill.
The loss to the Eagles (4-4-1) left the 56ers (7-2-0) tied with the Milwaukee Bavarians (7-3-0)
atop the Central Conference.
