Nolito has got off to a quick start with Portuguese side Benfica (Photo: Francisco Seco/AP)
Back again to take a look at some of our players playing abroad. I will be adding Henrique and
Keirrison to the list of players to watch and will update about their Brazilian adventures as best
as I can.
Article by Doak Gips
That not so great iPhone picture above this paragraph is from my time in the upper-deck at BBVA
Compass Stadium this past weekend, as the Dynamo defeated FC Dallas, 2-1. That stadium is really
fantastic. They did a great job keeping all the noise in, and that stadium gets very loud.
After a couple of ridiculously busy weeks, with some teams playing four games in 11 days, the NASL
schedule has finally come back down to earth, thankfully. After a small learning period, San
Antonio have proved that they are no joke, running off 8 straight league games without a loss.
Man, the past week or so has been quite kind to the Red Bulls. Â After Irene washed away any
hopes of the Galaxy match being played, New York saw their playoff position actually improve
despite not playing a single match since August 20th. Â As of now, New York owns the 10th and final
playoff spot, sitting behind Columbus, SKC, Houston, and Philly in the East.
The Carolina Railhawks took on the Puerto Rico Islanders at WakeMed Soccer Park in what was a
beautiful night for soccer. Prior to the match the Railhawks held a winless (0-4-4) record with
only 4 points. Puerto Rico entered with a much stronger record with (5-1-1) 16 points.
Hey, look, finally an addition to the roster! United picked up versatile attacker (is he a
winger, a forward, an attacking midfielder?...Hmm, I'm sensing a pattern here) Nick DeLeon1 in the
SuperDraft. I don't watch much collegiate ball, so I'm not going to pass any judgement on the
pick.
Based on the current roster list on United's web site and the little scraps of information we
have to go on, I thought I'd begin the Roster Reset in advance of the SuperDraft and the absolute
rafts of new signings the United brain trust are just waiting to announce (hello, sarcasm, you
insufferable trollop).
Pssst... There's a Massive Clearance Sale on RBNY Reserves!As insane hordes of shoppers rip
each other to shreds in search of bargains, while others remain paralyzed in a Thanksgiving food
coma, the New York Red Bulls are busy reshaping their squad. They got in the holiday spirit early
on Wednesday by axing a half dozen players, none more prominent than midfielder John Rooney, whose
selection in the 2011 MLS Superdraft was a bit of a surprise.
With less than a day until the Montreal Impact make their selections in the Major League Soccer
Expansion Draft, the predictions on who will be packing their bags for Quebec are coming from all
over so I thought I would toss my hat into the ring.
As the quality on MLS rosters continues to grow year after year, the league's new teams find
themselves with a wealth of options from which to build their team.
Major League Soccer released the official list of players left unprotected for the 2011 Expansion
Draft. D.C. United left 11 players unprotected including veterans Steve Cronin and
Santino Quaranta.
According to the press release from MLS - each current MLS club has had the opportunity to protect
11 players from their 2011 roster.
Goff's version of the protected list is out, so I thought I'd stir from my hibernation1 to do
some comparisons. (Revisit my list in four parts by hitting the links highlighted in the
sidebar.)
On both lists: Willis, Jakovic, De Rosario, Kitchen, McDonald, Pontius,
Quaranta, Wolff
Goff also protects: Korb, Woolard, King
I also protect: Boskovic, Brettschneider, da Luz
We're in alignment on a number of points beyond the obvious (De Rosario, Kitchen, Pontius).
In the first three parts of this series, I worked my way through the thick weeds of the roster,
pruning and purging. On the far side, I arrived with the roster sorted into the following
categories...
Four of the twenty-seven players on the roster don't need to be sheltered from the rapacious
grasp of L'Impact de Montreal by virtue of their being home grown talents.
CHESTER, Pa.--In the ever-changing Eastern Conference playoff race, the Philadelphia Union have
become the latest team to post a statement win.
A night after Sporting Kansas City made their intentions of winning the East clear with a 2-1
win over Columbus, the Union responded by defeating bitter rivals D.
One of the best things about a highlight package after a 3-nil win is that the rare down moments
don't exist. The beauty of the Seattle Sounders attack is featured. The passing, off-ball movement
and penchant to threaten the keeper in Saturday's game was the team working at near perfection.
Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero were able to pick apart the DC United defense.
Guess what? United are a middle of the road club. They slot in somewhere between the also-rans
like Chivas and the league elites like Seattle. Hard to find these last couple of results shocking
when you put things in that perspective, is it? Nor was it surprising to see United struggle
offensively in their first game without their second most influential attacking player1.
For a D.C. United team that is an intriguing darkhorse contender in the wide-open Eastern
Conference, Saturday's match at the Seattle Sounders could be a telling barometer of where the club
stands.
D.C. United midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was voted MLS Player of the Week by the North American
Soccer Reporters for Week 21 after he registered a hat trick in a wild 3-3 draw against his former
team, Toronto FC, at RFK Stadium.
De Rosario has won the award in consecutive weeks – the first player to do so since Kenny
Cooper, then with FC Dallas, did so for Weeks 18 and 19 of the 2008 season.
Photo courtesy of Sporting Kansas City/Taylor Allan
Soony Saad scored for the first time as a professional, tallying the lone goal in Sporting
Kansas City's 1-0, weather-delayed victory over the Colorado Rapids in MLS Reserve League play on
Monday.
Saad, a standout at the University of Michigan last year who landed with Sporting KC in a
weighted lottery on July 5, took a pass from Teal Bunbury and found the back of the net on a shot
from the edge of the area to give SKC (2-2-2) all the offense it would need in the third minute of
the win.
WASHINGTON - Before D.C. United's match against Toronto FC on Saturday, many wondered if Dwayne
De Rosario could continue tormenting his former clubs with a strong performance against his
hometown team.
The answer, as it turned out, was a resounding "yes.
Barcelona beat Milan 3-1 in yet another controversial Camp Nou Champions League result, while
Bayern finished off Olympique Marseille with another 2-0 victory, for an aggregate score of
4-0.
Wednesday, April 4 (both kickoffs at 2:45pmET):
Chelsea vs Benfica:Â The match to watch on Wednesday.
Una rete dell'ivoriano Kalou (su assist di un ritrovato Torres), messa a segna alla mezz'ora della
ripresa, consente al Chelsea di Roberto Di Matteo di espugnare il Da Luz e piegare un battagliero
Benfica nell'andata dei quarti di finale di Champions League, mentre il Real strapazza, sempre nel
finale, l'Apoel a Nicosia.
Una rete dell'ivoriano Kalou (su assist di un ritrovato Torres), messa a segna alla mezz'ora della
ripresa, consente al Chelsea di Roberto Di Matteo di espugnare il Da Luz e piegare un battagliero
Benfica nell'andata dei quarti di finale di Champions League, mentre il Real strapazza, sempre nel
finale, l'Apoel a Nicosia.
Chelsea's caretaker, Roberto Di Matteo, is feeling excited after his side's success in ending
Benfica's undefeated home record and also taking home a valuable victory, which could make their
job in reaching the semifinal much more easier.
However, Di Matteo warned his players that their work isn't done yet, a 1-0 goal victory doesn't
mean that they already secured a path into the next round as Benfica could still do the opposite
against them at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea stole an important away goal along with a victory in the Champions League quarter final
after beating Benfica 1-0 with Salomon Kalou's single goal in the second half.
It wasn't an easy game as the Blues weren't actually dominating the game, but probably got the
better luck especially because the home team simply failed to make the most of their opportunities
in front of Peter Cech's goal.
...make it O Classico, "arguably the most important match in Portuguese football,"Â kicking off
later today at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (aka the Estádio da Luz):
SL Benfica vs. FC Porto, 3:15pmET (available via ESPN3.com in the US)
Not only is it a classic and heated Portugese rivalry, the two clubs are currently battling it
out at the top of the Primeira Liga table even on points with identical records, with Porto ahead
on goal differential.
What's a derby if it doesn't involve putting out a fire by the time the whistle is blown?! Well,
Portugal experienced their own 'clássico' on Saturday, when
Benfica defeated Sporting 1-0, thanks to a goal from Javi Garcia. Benfica are now
in top spot (yes, we hear a couple of you rejoicing!
By Liam "Wrestlemania" Brown Did Fergie get it right at Benfica? Well, on the surface, a 1-1 draw
in a rather hostile Estadio da Luz doesn't look like too bad a result. The...
As I write this, we are just under 3 hours away from Arsenal's final game of this pre-season,
which will see The Gunners take on Benfica at the Estádio da Luz in the Portuguese capital.
Yesterday, Arsene Wenger and his 19-man squad landed in Lisbon, without both Cesc Fabregas and
Samir Nasri.
Cesc Fabregas has returned to training but doubts surrounding his future remain ever-present
with Barcelona seemingly closing in on his signature, according toThe Guardian.
The Spanish midfielder has missed all of Arsenal's pre-season games so far with a niggling
hamstring injury which has only added fuel to the fire of his protracted Catalan move.
The first-place Puerto Rico Islanders just continue to roll in NASL, and their latest victim was
a team that handed them their only loss of the season.
The Islanders exacted revenge against the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers on Saturday, beating them,
2-0, in front of a crowd of 1,060 at Bayamon Soccer Complex.
The Dynamo have acquired an unknown 24-year old defensive midfielder from an unknown team for a
conditional draft pick.
No seriously.
The details came from Jesus Ortiz on Twitter, but that's all we know right now. The player has
apparently not been informed of the trade so that's delaying the press release.
