Open Cups are funny little things. Even when it is two MLS sides facing each other, the MLS
stats just don't matter. While the San Jose Earthquakes are the class of the league right now and
the Seattle Sounders are in a slide, the pace of matches, lineup changes and quirky stadium mean
that the bearing of league results to the knockout is unknowable.
Day before game practices tend to have very limited access to players. The team also does not
let the media watch but the last 15 minutes or so. Although if you are a legendary player or coach
from the original NASL you get to watch. This all makes sense. The number one focus of any team
should be winning games.
This is not a trap game. This is a match where the Seattle Sounders are purely an underdog, not
just due to MLS parity, but because Sporting Kansas City is a decent team that is great at home.
Pile on a run of travel, fixture congestion and a few minor injuries and this game becomes one of
those where Seattle may just be happy with a point.
Seattle Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid returns to the land where he last won the MLS Cup and the
Supporters Shield, a land that he likes. The Sounders have done quite well against the Columbus
Crew, not yet losing and even winning one of their two Lamar Hunt US Open Cups against the Yellows.
While Robert Warzycha's team has significantly changed personnel, and wasn't expected to be a
challenger this season, they have followed a Sigi profile building from the back winning through
defense and one or two impressive offensive players.
Henderson celebrates...Liverpool ended their last league game at
Anfield this season in style with a 4-1 win over Chelsea. They say revenge is a dish best served
cold but the Reds were on fire yesterday as they redeemed themselves after Chelsea won in the
Cup.
Chelsea manager di Matteo started a changed side due to the fact his team face Bayern Munich in a
few days time for the Champions League final.
There's not a whole lot of new stuff since Darren wrote his recap to the Sunderland match, but
we'll see what we can find for today. On the injury front, Gibbs and Ramsey are the two we're
watching at the moment. Wenger said both were minor injuries Gibbs with stomach muscle
inflammation, and Ramsey with a slight hamstring issue.
Liverpool owner John Henry taken to hospital after fall on his boat
• Henry suffers minor injuries on $32m yacht in Boston • Liverpool owner taken to
Massachusetts General Hospital The Liverpool owner John Henry has been taken to hospital after
falling on his 164-foot boat in Boston.
Martin Kelly has revealed how Liverpool greats Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard are pushing him
to be the best he can be.
The 20-year-old full-back had made just one start for the Reds before the current campaign but he
has truly made the first-team breakthrough this term.
Not only has the Whiston-born defender earned an extended run but his form has been such that he
has remained in the side, racking up 22 starts already this season including 10 in the Premier
League.
In which, during the game between Colo-Colo and Palestino in Chile last weekend, a magnitude 7.1
earthquake hits (tremors that damaged property, saw several families evacuated and caused a few
minor injuries on Chile's west coast), not that anyone down on the pitch seemed to notice.
Now's not a particularly good time to be a Palmeiras fan. Turns out it's not a particularly good
time to be a Palmeiras player, either. Combine the two and you get the inevitable: news
reports.
Displeased with the current state of affairs in Palmeirasland, some undoubtedly wonderful fans
decided to attack a player as he left the official store.
Another day, another dead sports celebrity. Macho Man Randy Savage is the latest death. The
wrestling superstar died after getting in a car accident. The accident occurred in Florida and his
wife was in the car but she only suffered minor injuries. Macho Man Randy Savage was only 58 years
old.
As the story goes, Macho Man Randy Savage had a heart attack while he was driving his Jeep
Wrangler.
The latest Major League Soccer Injury Report came out yesterday and some Chicago Fire players
have seen their statuses change. The good news is defender Cory Gibbs and forward Gabriel Ferrari
are off the list and back to being healthy. Gibbs had been suffering from a left hamstring strain.
He actually trained fully with the team last Thursday but the coaching staff decided to play it
safe and Gibbs did not even dress for Saturday's game.
LIMA, Peru Police in Peru say the metal bleachers at a soccer stadium have collapsed right before a
youth championship, injuring 117 people. A dozen fans suffered serious injuries. Lima Fire Chief
Alfonso Panizo tells RPP radio most of those hurt have minor injuries, but he says 12 seriously
injured people have been hospitalized.
The two primary fears for Euro 2012 were racism and violence and while a group of Polish fans
initiated the racial abuse the day before the tournament started, some Russian fans kicked off the
violence on Friday.
Following Russia's 4-1 win over the Czech Republic, Russian fans attacked several stewards at
the Wroclaw Municipal Stadium.
The first match in ' The group of death ' Group B starts tomorrow with Nicklas Bendtner and
Denmark involved. The Danes take on Holland in Ukraine, Denmark are underdogs going into the
crucial tie but lets not forget in 1992 suprised everyone by going and winning the European
Championships.
Morning all, welcome to the start of another week.
The weekend has provided us with further motivation, if it were needed, ahead of tonight's game
against Newcastle. Liverpool lost, meaning we could stretch our lead over them; Chelsea won, which
draws them level on points with us, while Sp*rs went down 1-0 at Everton and a win for us tonight
would mean the gap, such as it is, is just a single point.
Icelandic ex-footballer Gudni Bergsson, who made a name for himself in Blighty with both
Tottenham and Bolton in the nineties and early noughties is in the news again. Well, in Iceland
anyway. And on Pies, obviously.
The qualified lawyer and Icelandic TV presenter came to the rescue of a colleague who was being
attacked outside the offices of legal firm Lagastod Lágmúla.
As we all know, tonight the Portland Timbers will take on southern California side Chivas USA is
round 2 of the Timbers' tournament. Tonight is an important game for both the Timbers and Chivas
USA as each will want to prove that Monday's performance was a fluke, not a trend. Not to say the
Timbers were terrible, but their performance left something to be desired.
Here is our most recent attempt at the Match Day Quick Reference Card (now powered by Tableau).
I'm still working through how to list both last name and number without taking up too much space. I
understand that this is our most requested tweak. I have slightly increased the size of the player
dots, and changed the team data.
After the Philadelphia Union's 6-2 demolition of Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon, the two teams
faced off again in Reserve League action. The Union came into the game with one win and one loss so
far in the season.
The teams created numerous chances on goal, but in the end the match finished scoreless.
The wrestling world is in shock after confirmation that 58 year old Macho Man Randy
Savage was killed in a car crash near his home in Florida earlier today. His Wife who was
with him escaped with minor injuries after their Jeep hit a tree head on Investigators have ruled
out drink driving but believe he may have suffered a heart attack.
Matchday 29 begins in a matter of hours in Italy. Two coaches have also spoke about futures- one
about his own, one about that of a player- as a club and a winger appear to be at a crossroads. As
ever, Serie A remains fascinating.
Former Roma boss Luciano Spalletti has distanced himself from the Juventus job, should Gigi Del
Neri get sacked: "In Italy there's talk of me at Juve?
Oddly, the losing fans probably had more fun at Old Trafford than Manchester United's
multi-national supporters.
Crawley Town gave an audacious account for themselves, losing 1-0 but leaving the Theater of Dreams
with their pride, a million quid, and a distinct moral advantage over the Premier League giants
intact.
