They left it late and made the fans sweat, but the New England Revolution scored with almost the
last action of the match to draw 2-2 with Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday night. The draw
improves the Revs record to 5-7-3, but leaves them still searching for their first ever win in
Toronto.
In the end, a draw was probably the deserved result, but the U.S. National Team missed no
shortage of opportunities to extend their lead before Guatemala grabbed a late equalizer in their
eventual 1-1 draw in Guatemala City on Tuesday night.
Clint Dempsey gave the U.S. the lead five minutes before halftime and the U.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Despite playing a clean, possession-oriented match, the New England
Revolution paid dearly on a pair of set pieces, as they dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Real
Salt Lake Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
Salt Lake secured the first goal when Nat Borchers headed a Javier Morales free kick through in
the 68th minute.
A proper opening to the knockouts is what we wanted and it's definitely what we got even if it
was played under a deluge of rain and there were more people on the pitch than in the stands by the
end of it.
Uruguay nabbed the victory late but it was an excellent show and the winner of Ghana v US is in
heaps of trouble in the quarterfinals.
The NSC Minnesota Stars fell to the very hot Tampa Bay Rowdies Thursday night by a score of 3-1.
Tampa came out-passing Minnesota early and it wasn't long before they lashed one by goalkeeper Matt
Van Oekel who received his first start in a Stars uniform. The goal came on a defensive break down
which has been a problem for the Stars in recent games.
The Colorado Rapids parlayed one goal into four and turned a tight match with Chivas USA into a
4-0 victory Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.
Kamani Hill got two goals, Jeff Larentowicz buried a penalty kick and rookie Tony Cascio found
his second of the year as the Rapids ended a three-game losing streak.
Rapids' Strategy
With Nyassi on fire, it was easy for Gary Smith to maintain his dynamic strike partnership with
Omar Cummings. The home side employed their usual 4-4-2 lineup with Mastroeni and Larentowicz in
central midfield and Mullan and Thompson on the flanks. The first half strategy was to switch the
ball across the field to Mullan who was in acres of space because the Crew kept a narrow defensive
shell.
Sign at Pizza Hut Park this past weekend where FCD beat RSL 2-1 in the playoff opener for the
two clubs. (Getty Images)
The opening round of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs went about as I thought it would. A couple home
teams did their part while two road teams were able to snag slim leads heading into the return leg
of the first round.
That is how you start a season! The boys in burgundy controlled the game and kept attacking and
were rewarded with a 2-0 win. A stat indicative of the Rapids dominance is attempts on goal, with
Colorado having 17 to Columbus' 5. The biggest negative to the match was the home side's inability
to convert those attempts to shots on target, only getting 5 accurate strikes off (compared to
Columbus' 3).
Real Madrid set up a potential Copa Del Rey quarter-final against FC Barcelona after a 1-0
victory against Málaga earned the Whites a 4-2 aggregate win.
It was a tense night as Malaga only needed a 1-0 victory in order to advance on the away goals
rule. In a very tactical first half the best chance fell to Sergio Ramos, whose header right before
half-time just missed the target.
The Portland Timbers scores first and against the run of play in the first half but gives up a
goal in the second half to take 1 point from the San Jose Earthquakes on the road.
First Half:
By far the starting line-up for this game was the most unusual line-up the Timbers haves used
all season.
So I was reading an excellent piece from Steve Davis (link here) about the US-El Salvador game
tomorrow at Big Sandy. Davis speculates about line-up options for the US and also includes this
little tidbit:
(Brian) Ching is almost sure to be in the lineup. His ability to rattle around and make
things happen by winning second balls will be critical against what is sure to be a crowded
Salvadoran defensive third.
The Milwaukee Wave coasted to an easy victory Saturday night in the U.S Cellular Arena against the
Norfolk SharX. The Wave was led by Joe Hammes, who put up an impressive eight points in their
dominating 21-7 performance.
From the opening whistle Milwaukee controlled every aspect of the game.
The Milwaukee Wave coasted to an easy victory Saturday night in the U.S Cellular Arena against
the Norfolk SharX. The Wave was led by Joe Hammes, who put up an impressive eight points in their
dominating 21-7 performance.
From the opening whistle Milwaukee controlled every aspect of the game.
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - After scoreless periods of regulation and extra time in the third round of
the U.S. Open Cup, the Chicago Fire were defeated in penalty kicks, 3-0, by the Charleston Battery
in front of 2,526 at Toyota Park.
In succession, Brian McBride hit his penalty over the goal, Krzysztof Krol's shot was saved by
Tim Melia and Wilman Conde sent his into the crossbar.
A double order of Freis? That's not what Utd ordered but were forced to eat anyway
What a comeback from both FC Basel and Man Utd! Full marks to the Swiss team for not getting
overawed by Utd's overwhelming Champions League record at Old Trafford.
Danny Welbeck's consecutive finishes a minute apart from each off Ryan Giggs's visionary passing
and it appeared a cool winning result would be in the bag.
Abhinav's Note: Now that he's done with watching all the Shannon Tweed
movies (erm... you know which ones) there ever existed, the Cynical Jerk is back to doing what he
does best weekly round-ups. So here he is, with the 'High Fives' section this time around.
Okay, let's not dwell much on the age-old discussion of why I always write a note in my own
posts.
Abhinav's Note: Now that he's done with watching all the Shannon Tweed
movies (erm... you know which ones) there ever existed, the Cynical Jerk is back to doing what he
does best weekly round-ups. So here he is, with the 'High Fives' section this time around.
Okay, let's not dwell much on the age-old discussion of why I always write a note in my own
posts.
Cristiano Ronaldo's latest transfer to Real Madrid has sparked a lot of emotion - shock at the
transfer fee, surprise at his exit, satisfaction that he's no longer in England, and despair for
some United fans. As a United fan myself, I'm not entirely convinced that Ronaldo's exit is a
disaster.
Winner: Uruguay's Luis Suarez celebrates his second goal and the winner against South Korea (AP
Photo).
Let's be optimistic and assert that the U.S. just found out its quarterfinal opponent.
And a worthy one too, a rapacious Uruguay defeating South Korea 2-1 in a cut and thrust game
decided by perhaps the classiest strike of the tournament so far from Luis Suarez.
Group F isn't great but don't sleep on Paraguay. (Getty Images)
By Geoff Reid
This group is one that should not give us any real surprises on paper, but then again you really
never know because it's the world cup. The Italians are defending champions and will be favorites
to top the group even though they haven't looked like champions in their warm up matches.
GOLDEN With a two-goal lead and a one-man advantage on the pitch, what did the Fort Lewis
College men's soccer team learn on Friday against the Colorado School of Mines?
"We can't afford to let teams back in a game," Skyhawks coach Oige Kennedy said.
The Skyhawks scored twice in the first 30 minutes of Friday's match at the Colorado School of
Mines Soccer Stadium.
I have been saying since the tournament began that my dream final for the Champions League
would be Manchester United versus Barcelona. Although it took them over 180 minutes to do it,
Barcelona finally scored a goal and advanced to the final to make my dream matchup a reality.
Chelsea played a great game, and probably could have won if a few of the referee's calls went
their way (more on that later), but ultimately I think Barcelona are the better team.
With the quick turn around and my Honey Do List pretty long I am going to make this short and
sweet. For every position I am going to list all the things they need to do in order for Portland
to get out of Rio Tinto Stadium with a result.
Troy Perkins:
He needs to continue to make the saves he has been making and commanding the defense in front of
him.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution again failed to hold onto an early lead and had
to settle for a 1-1 draw at home tonight with the Houston Dynamo. Despite typical heroics from Matt
Reis and a bright start to the match, a chronic inability to keep possession dogged the Revs yet
again and allowed Houston a gratuitous number of chances to get back into the match, making it only
a matter of time until they did.
By Pieter Brown - Members of the Miami Ultras along with our friends in Flight 19 made the trek up
to Atlanta to watch the Fort Lauderdale Strikers eke out a win against the Silverbacks.
The Strikers looked disjointed through most of the game. Even though they were not at their best
diminutive Martin Nunez scored a crafty goal in the 14th minute chipping the ball over the
Silverback's keeper.
The Galaxy enter week six coming off of an away scoreless tie with Kansas City played in the
rain and the smallest field in the league. Today they play the expansion Philadelphia Union who
lost their top scorer, Sebastian Le Toux to injury in a mid-week US Open Cup
qualifier. The Galaxy have scored seven and allowed one and have played the most consistent and
strongest futbol of any team in the league to date.
This blog marks my 100th post for The Free Kicks Report. I thought for this entry I would re-visit
the 5th blog from August 2009 titled 'How to choose a team...' and give an update. The purpose of
the first blog was to discuss why people choose a particular team as 'their' team - players, style
of play, title contender, etc.
Parkview Vikings - 1 Waynesville Tigers - 0
The Vikings got their goal from the always reliable Jess Maerz early in the 1st half. Jess
collected a defensive clearance in the offensive end and sent a hard shot from about 25 yards out
into a corner of the net.
