CONCACAF held its draw for the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday and the draw will pit defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew against Mexican League power Toluca.

Columbus was eliminated from the MLS playoffs by Real Salt Lake in the first round, but will kick off 2010 in March with a home-and-home quarterfinal series against Toluca.

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Read the column here.

There were a couple of Aguirre quotes left over that didn't get into the column for space reasons.

The first concerns the infamous incident against Panama in the Gold Cup where Aguirre actually enters the field of play in an effort to influence the game.

The incident is here if you haven't seen it:

And here's Aguirre's rationale for his actions:

"When I lifted up my foot it was just an impulse.

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The Houston Dynamo got an emotional boost Tuesday night with the return of defender Eddie Robinson, who scored in his first match since last November, and the Dynamo crushed Arabe Unido of Panama 5-1 in a CONCACAF Champions League match at Robertson Stadium.
Donald Buckholt reports from Houston. Click to continue reading...

With J Hutcherson -- Anybody wanting to overlook Houston's opponent later tonight in the CONCACAF Champions League might want to check the Group A standings. Panama's Club Deportivo Arabe Unido are your leaders, undefeated with two wins and a draw. The Dynamo have gone 1-1-1. That draw was the first time these two clubs met, with now departed forward Kei Kamara putting Houston up at Estadio Agustin Sanchez before Orlando Rodriguez equalized four minutes from. Click to continue reading...

I have now reviewed video of the foul called on Clint Dempsey that nullified a nice goal by Jozy Altidore the other day over a dozen times. While the official could have certainly just waved on the play (which I may have done, but I am not an official and do have a rooting interest when the US plays), which often happens when the US plays at home in CONCACAF (just ask Canada or Panama) I have to defend his decision to stop play and disallow the goal.

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How many of you watched the delayed broadcast of the Champions League match between Panama's Arabe Unido and the Dynamo? It was quite the spectacle. I don't think I have ever seen a ref in less control of a match.

This is the apparent strategy of the Panamanian side:
1. Play physical and bait opponent into retaliation.

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The UEFA Champions' League qualification phase wraps up today with a couple of marquee match ups, including Celtic visit Arsenal and Sporting visiting Fiorentina. Games are on Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports en Espanol and the special DirecTV channels now employed by FSC. The matches just started, so if you can't leave your desk, follow the scores here at Soccernet. Click to continue reading...

So the CONCACAF Champions League is at the group stage, and here's how it shakes out: Mexico: 4 (2 from preliminary round) USA: 3 (1) Trinidad & Tobago: 2 (2) Honduras: 2 (1) El Salvador: 1 (0) Panama: 1 (1) Guatemala: 1 (0) Costa Rica: 1 (0) Puerto Rico: 1 (1) The only countries that were able to place all their representatives from the preliminary round into the group phase were Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Puerto Rico. Click to continue reading...

The referee for tomorrow's U.S. Mexico qualifier is Roberto Moreno (after Joel Aquilar was apparently deemed to lack the appearance of impartiality he ejected Mexican coach Javier Aquirre during that Mexico Panama Gold Cup match).� Roberto Moreno has officiated four U.S. matches in the past and has never issued an American a yellow card.

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The group stage draw was conducted at the same time as the preliminary round, and those results are shown below. The 'PR#" tag refers to the match in my post on the preliminary round draw. Group A Houston Dynamo (USA) Metapán (El Salvador) Pachuca (Mexico) Árabe Unido (Panama) Group B Toluca (Mexico) Marathón (Honduras) D. Click to continue reading...

The following players have been known to have played abroad during the past 12 months, but have since disappeared. There are also players I am looking for some further information on, in an effort to track their careers and ensure whether or not they should be on Les Rosbifs. I would be extremely grateful for [. Click to continue reading...

EL SUPER RATON

Any one following the recent Gold Cup surely heard his name thrown around. He plays for a lowly national squad and an un-heard of club in the U.A.E. None the less he was the tournaments second best goal scorer tallying 3 goals and 1 assist. It is none other then El Super Raton, Blas Perez.

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A few more players to say ‘Goodbye' to on Les Rosbifs, as the thorough sifting of the list continues unabated. The biggest one of these is the departure of former Manchester United and Manchester City winger Terry Cooke from Colorado Rapids of the MLS. Cooke was waived yesterday so that the Rapids English coach, Gary [. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. Men's National Team got a stunning strike from Kyle Beckerman and a penalty kick in overtime from Kenny Cooper to defeat Panama 2-1 Saturday, advancing to the semifinals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The U.S. will face Honduras in the semifinals on Thursday, July 23 at 6 p.m. CT at Soldier Field in Chicago.

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The U.S. Men's National Team got a stunning strike from Kyle Beckerman and a penalty kick in overtime from Kenny Cooper to defeat Panama 2-1 Saturday, advancing to the semifinals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The U.S. will face Honduras in the semifinals on Thursday, July 23 at 6 p.m. CT at Soldier Field in Chicago.

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Honduras...again...?Really?It's weird how she goes with the U.S. national team. A couple years ago it seemed like Panama was there at every turn. Then it was, unfortunately, the anti-soccer of Guatemala that seemingly was standing in front of the U.S. every other match. Now that onus falls to Honduras, which will play the U. Click to continue reading...

By Brooke Tunstall - CHARLOTTE, NC (Jul 23, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- For Kenny Cooper, there was never any doubt who was going to take the penalty kick. After being dropped at the top of penalty box by an obvious foul during overtime of the US National Team's Gold Cup quarterfinal with Panama last week in Philadelphia, the FC Dallas striker walked to the penalty spot and patiently waited for the referee's whistle. Click to continue reading...

With J Hutcherson -- Game night Chicago, and the United States will be looking to get a little more out of the offense than what we saw in Philadelphia. Against Panama, there were enough opportunities to take the game in regulation and at least the argument that the US defense should have recorded the shutout. Click to continue reading...

VIA FEPAFUT
La FEDERACION PANAMEñA DE FUTBOL informa que la relación contractual con el Prof. GARY STEMPEL, como Entrenador y Director Técnico de la Selección Nacional de Panamá ha terminado, luego de la eliminación de nuestra selección en los cuartos de final de la COPA ORO de la CONCACAF 2009, tal como está previsto en el contrato. Click to continue reading...

The ratings for the U.S. Panama quarterfinal are in.� Here are links to the ratings of Soccer365, Goal.com, Ives, and ESPN.� As always, we give each source's average rating and list the ratings for each player in order lowest to highest.� If you want to know what specific ratings a source gave, check out the source directly.

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It was hard to know exactly where to begin in reviewing this match.� The U.S. won and advanced.� But it was a frustrating match for U.S. fans.

So, we'll start where we always do:� statistics.� Let's go stat-by-stat and compare how each team did with their group-stage averages.

THE DATA

United States

gs Group Stage

po Panama's Opponents in Group Stage

� Match � gsAVG gsMIN gsMAX � poAVG poMIN poMAX GF 2 � 2. Click to continue reading...

Jimmy just after the collision Saturday with Panama's Blas Perez. Image from Daylife, found through The Original Winger.
Just got off the phone with Jimmy Conrad, and he says he's feeling better. No more grogginess just sitting around, but he can't get his heart rate up just yet. He told HR he suffered a concussion (obvious) and had post-impact amnesia for about 15 minutes after the collision (not as obvious). Click to continue reading...

In USA's 2-1 quarterfinal win over Panama Saturday night, Davy Arnaud recorded his 1st international assist. See the play plus the other two goals here:

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It was a testy affair from Lincoln Financial Field, but in the end, after 120 minutes, the U.S. Men's National Team was able to outlast Panama 2-1.
Semifinals are this Thursday. The U.S. will face Honduras in Chicago at 7pm EDT. TV: FSC Click to continue reading...

It seemed Panama coach Gary Stempel and the Canalero players were protesting too much after falling, 2-1, to the U.S. in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup Saturday.
But they might have been justified in disputing Mexican referee Benito Archundia's awarding of a penalty kick to the U.S. late during extra time in the match in Philadelphia. Click to continue reading...

1. United States
Scraped and scrapped though with a 2-1 overtime win against Panama. Kyle Beckerman tied the game in the second half after a Panama goal just before the break. Kenny Cooper drew a foul -- absorbing a kung fu kick to the gut -- in the box and converted the spot kick for the win.
2. Click to continue reading...

The CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals are being held in Philadelphia this year and it just seemed like the magic left the Canadian team. On Saturday they played against Honduras and lost 1-0. USA continued in a spectacular match that left Panama wondering what happened.

National U.S.A. Soccer Team

The USA will now advance to the semifinals rounds that will be held in the great city of Chicago.

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Panama's Roman Torres kicked the USA's Kenny Cooper square in the gut in extra time of Saturday's Gold Cup quarterfinal, earning Torres a yellow card and setting up Cooper's penalty kick that would win the match for the US by a score of 2-1.

Torres really got him, too it's kind of amazing that his boot didn't get stuck in there.

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Last night in Philadelphia, the US Men's National Team fought off a physical team from Panama to advance to the semifinals of the 2009 Gold Cup, the CONCACAF regional tournament. The match had all of the physical hallmarks of a...

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Bob sent out an MLS domestic all-star team to take on Panama, and that only seems appropriate, given the physical, oft-times brutal approach of the Panamanian team. One hopes that perhaps that was Bob's reasoning for including Jay Heaps, who was... Click to continue reading...

An overtime penalty kick from Kenny Cooper put the U.S. Men's National Team past a feisty Panama squad and into the Gold Cup semifinals where they will face Honduras at Soldier Field in Chicago Thursday. It will be the third meeting between the two national teams in the last six weeks. Click to continue reading...

The United States rallied to defeat Panama in overtime to advance to the semifinals of the Gold Cup on Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Click to continue reading...

By Graig Carbino - ALBANY, NY (Jul 19, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- Three minutes. For 180 seconds on Saturday night in Philadelphia Panama could see themselves finally reaching their soccer summit. In the lead courtesy of a Blas Perez goal, the Panamanians were finally going to beat the United States in Gold Cup competition. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. national team's 2-1 overtime victory over Panama wasn't the prettiest game ever played, but it had its share of drama and a great response from a U.S. team that was facing elimination a half-time deficit.

Kyle Beckerman's equalizer and Kenny Cooper's penalty provided the difference against a physical� Panama team that looked poised for an upset before eventually being worn down by a result American team.

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The U.S. national team's 2-1 overtime victory over Panama in Saturday's Gold Cup quarterfinal wasn't the prettiest game ever played, but it had its share of drama and a great response from a U.

Click to continue reading...