06.02.2012 - Recién liberada del yugo inglés en 1947, India tiene al cricket como deporte nacional y al hóckey y luego al voley como juegos multitudinarios, entre religiones, idiomas y vacas sagradas. El fútbol en India estuvo y está muy lejos de aquellas popularidades soñadas por los empresarios e "inversores".

It sounds like we won't have to wait much longer for the 2012 MLS schedule to come out. It seems that the league has the schedule finalized and will be putting it out hopefully later this week. KC is set to have their home opener on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, other than that, the schedule isn't really known.

Today MLS announced the national television games for MLS First Kick the weekend of March 10th. Sporting KC isn't going to be on national television for their season opener, but the announcement does narrow the field for who Sporting KC could play on the first weekend. The national broadcasts kick off on Saturday on TSN in Canada as one of last year's expansion sides, Vancouver, take on this year's expansion side, Montreal in Vancouver.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Does anyone ever really pay much attention draft picks after the first round? Maybe in the NFL where there is real depth from a wealth of college talent and combine hype. But in the MLS SuperDraft? Does anyone after the first dozen or so selections really matter?

Today MLS announced the dates for all teams' home openers for the 2012 season. Sporting Kansas City will have their first home game on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. That's certainly going to make for a fun day for the Cauldron enjoying St. Patrick's Day and a game at the same time. KC will open home season the same weekend as 3 other teams, Montreal, Salt Lake, and Philadelphia, which means that any of the other 15 other teams could be KC's first opponent.

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson
It's amazing what a new stadium, with a capacity over 10,385 can do for a team's average attendance. Combine that with a team that is doing well on the field and an atmosphere that has vaulted the Cauldron up into the upper echelon of supporters' groups and you'll see a massive increase in attendance.

The second step in the MLS offseason also occurred today as MLS teams waived players to make room on their rosters. Not surprisingly Portland did not waive a single player but quite a few other teams did waive players. Including Vancouver, who waived 3 players and Toronto, who waived 7 players.

All of the waived players are now free to sign with any club in any country they wish.

Scott and Ted are back to review the 2011 season from a Western Conference perspective...and we finish up the Eastern Conference too. On the phone are correspondents from Columbus, Chicago, Philly, Vancouver, Dallas, San Jose, Portland, Salt Lake, Seattle, Chivas USA and Colorado. CSRN MEDIA PLAYER

In a season of excitement, disappointment and passion it is difficult to figure out which moment is most memorable. For 2009 there was a scene in the early hours when hundreds of fans met the team to celebrate their first trophy. In 2010 another US Open Cup win was highlighted by Sanna Nyassi's brace.

During his State of the League teleconference on Thursday, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber named the MLS Best XI for 2011. GK: Kasey Keller (Seattle) DEF: Todd Dunivant (Los Angeles), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles), Jamison Olave (Salt Lake) MID: David Beckham (Los Angeles), Brad Davis (Houston), Dwayne De Rosario (DC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles) FOR: Thierry Henry (New York)

Tomorrow Sporting KC get the chance to qualify for their 3rd MLS Cup in team history when they take on the Houston Dynamo, who will also be looking to qualify for their third final under the Dynamo name. Thursday night, Houston qualified for the conference finals by defeating Philadelphia 1-0 off a Brian Ching goal from a Brad Davis free kick.

Remember this season? You know the 63 points. The US Open Cup. Winning in Mexico. Winning in Portland. Winning in Salt Lake. Winning in Vancouver. Winning in Costa Rica. Winning in Kansas City. Crushing the Columbus Crew. That's this season. Today Sigi Schmid said that's the type of team he wants the Seattle Sounders to be again.

If you're like us and not going to Salt Lake for Saturday's MLS Cup wildcard game, there are plenty of places in and around Seattle that will be showing the game. Feel free to share where you're planning to watch the game, here, but in the meantime I figured it's probably a good idea to list the Sounders' official viewing parties.

Seattle v Salt Lake Infographic

Breaking down the two teams' histories, 2011 season in just about every comparable way.

I thought it might be interesting to look at the points per match of each of the expansion teams since RSL and Chivas joined the league in 2005. I could have gone back to 1999 when Chicago and Miami joined the league. But that just seems like a totally different era, and there was contraction between that time and the additions of Chivas and Salt Lake.

There are few things more fun than going on a roadtrip to watch your team play. As you may remember, I documented my experience going with ECS to Vancouver. Well, if you're looking for something to do this weekend, ECS wants to make sure you are more than welcome to join them.

From the look of it, there is no organized bus trip, but they are organizing carpools and helping people finding lodging.

Outside of KC's game today, only 2 games could have an effect on Sporting KC, and that's only if KC fails to get the win against DC. If KC wins the results aren't going to matter at all to KC.
Toronto - New England
What we want to happen: Doesn't matter
Both are eliminated from the playoffs, the only thing that is really being fought for is for New England to avoid the "Wooden Spoon" for the worst record in the league.

Quotes:

Portland Timbers Quotes

Head Coach John Spencer
On Dwayne De Rosario:
"If [Dwayne De Rosario] doesn't get MVP of the League there's something wrong. Plain and simple. For the last three months of the season since he came here, he's been the best player in the League by far - a country mile.

The playoff march continues with only one spot left to claim. Ted and Scott look ahead at the various possibilities and cover some listener e-mails. On the phone this week, correspondents from Kansas City, Philly, Houston, Chicago, Portland, and Salt Lake. CSRN MEDIA PLAYER

A win tomorrow and KC will qualify for the playoffs, to do so they are going to have to go through the New York Red Bulls at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, where a sold out crowd will look to influence the result, giving KC a home advantage. The Red Bulls are on a decent run of form, they've only lost one game since their 3-0 loss to Salt Lake on 8/6.

Bundesliga on GolTV: Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund at 2:30pm. Fox Soccer Plus has Doncaster Rovers - Leeds United in the Championship at 2:45pm. Primera on Azteca: Morelia - Tigres at 7pm. MLS on ESPN2: Colorado - Salt Lake at 10:30pm. All Times Eastern

Another week of former SKC Wizards updates, a day late due to last night's game. First, congratulations to Boris Pardo who has re-signed with the Comets. Here's the rest of the update.
Active without a club or unknown
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Nikos Kounenakis
Michael Kraus
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
JT Murray
Anthony Noriega
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Ryan Smith
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Stephane Auvray - New York - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in New York's 2-0 win over Portland.

RSL hopes to get back on track with a win in LA. (Getty Images)

Week 29 in Major League Soccer has already gotten off to a bang with last night's games. Out of nowhere the Chicago Fire go to Salt Lake and beat up on RSL in a 3-0 win. No one saw that coming and sure the officiating was questionable to some, you have to give Frank Klopas and his club some credit for continuing to make this playoff race an interesting one.

I may be going out on a limb here, but I'm pretty sure that when Don Garber gave the greenlight for the league's current playoff system, he didn't honestly envision that 17 teams would remain mathematically alive for the postseason on September 29th.

Think about that for a second. In addition to Seattle, Salt Lake, and Dallas, the five-win Revolution, six-win Toronto, and six-win San Jose, despite their horrid records and overwhelmingly disappointing form this season, are all eligible for the playoffs right now.

Some teams have punched their playoff ticket while time is running out on others. Scott and Ted return to discuss all the news from MLS and read listener e-mails. On the phone this week, correspondents from New York, DC, Columbus, Kansas City, Seattle, Salt Lake, Portland, Chivas USA and Los Angeles.

Well, here I am, once again reeling from another disappointment, trying to figure out just how to sum up yet the latest uninspired performance by New York. I swear, with all the talk of how great this team is better on paper, I propose we so all go out and cover RBA in 8 ½ x 11's on Saturday...

Another week of former Wizards updates. Here is this week's update.
Active without a club or unknown
Chris Brunt
Doug DeMartin
Mauro Fuzetti
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Santiago Hirsig
Eddie Johnson
Nikos Kounenakis
Michael Kraus
Ryan McMahen
Michal Mravec
JT Murray
Anthony Noriega
Ofori Sarkodie
Sam Scales
Ryan Smith
Ivan Trujillo
Lance Watson
MLS
Stephane Auvray - New York - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in New York's 1-0 win over Dallas.

The playoff chase is on, so Scott and Ted are back to cover all the stories in MLS as we march towards the MLS Cup. On the phone this week, correspondents from New England, Chicago, Houston, DC, Colorado, Seattle, Vancouver, Salt Lake, Portland and San Jose. CSRN MEDIA PLAYER

Another week down, another week with the top clubs remaining on top. The playoff race in Major League Soccer is certainly hotter than it has ever been.

I'll keep the intro nice and sweet too. Here's how I see things after this week.

Team Rank Record (W-L-T) Comments 1 (1) 16-3-10 58 pts.

It may not make up for the loss last night between the first teams, but the Swope Park Rangers earn a bit of revenge today defeating the Salt Lake reserves 1-0 thanks to an 88th minute penalty by Davy Arnaud. Both teams created some chances in the first half, the best was probably CJ Sapong hitting the post.

While Sporting KC was on the road in Salt Lake, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park was in use by the US women's national team. In their first game since the World Cup this summer, the women drew over 16,000 fans to LSP last night for the first game of their celebration series. The US got the first goal of the game off of an Abby Wambach penalty after a hand ball in the box on Canada.

We're back to discuss the week that was in MLS as the playoff chase heats up. We also cover listener e-mails and theorize about Ted's beard. On the phone this week, correspondents from Columbus, DC, Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake, San Jose, LA and Chivas USA. CSRN MEDIA PLAYER

We're back to discuss the week that was in MLS as the playoff chase heats up. We also cover listener e-mails and theorize about Ted's beard. On the phone this week, correspondents from Columbus, DC, Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake, San Jose, LA and Chivas USA. CSRN MEDIA PLAYER

It's with heavy hearts that we bring you this week's show. The ATL team reacts to the sudden death of FC Dallas legend & broadcast Bobby Rhine and covers the news from the past week in MLS. On the phone this week, correspondents from Philadelphia, Houston, New York, Vancouver, Colorado, Salt Lake, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles.

Argentina vs Venezuela 2011 Highlights Video 1-0 Friendly Score Kolkata is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Argentina vs Venezuela 2011 Highlights Video 1-0 Friendly Score Kolkata is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Argentina vs Venezuela 2011 Final score and result:- Argentina vs Venezuela 1-0 ( Nicolas Otamendi 67′) Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India- Friday, September 2, 2011- International Soccer Friendly Nicolas Otamendi's second half header is [.

A great video of street football in Kolkata as the city waits with bated breath for the Argentina Venezuela friendly tomorrow.

...and more footage of Messi mania in one of the most soccer crazy cities in India.
About 120,000 people are expected at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Salt Lake tomorrow and they will all turn up to see Messi play

Bhaswar Goswami, chief executive of the celebrity management group staging the match, has highlighted the importance of Messi's arrival: "Pele came here at the end of his career - Diego Maradona came but did not play.

25.08.2011 - Curioso que en un país donde el fútbol está lejos de convocar y mover lo que el cricket (deporte nacional), el hockey y el volley (en ese orden), se emplace el segundo mayor estadio del mundo.
El Salt Lake Stadium, oficialmente Estadio de la Juventud India (en bengalí Yuva Bharati Krirangan), es el más grande de la India y el segundo estadio más grande del mundo, con capacidad para 120.

There are plenty of points left on the table for the Eastern Conference clubs. (Getty Images)

I'll admit, I wanted to get to this post last week but sometimes time just doesn't play nice. Anyways, I figure with each club getting into their final eight or nine games that it was a perfect time to dive into the schedules and see what each club has left to take care of this season.

Ted Ted and Scott are back again for another edition of the best MLS podcast around. The team debates Don Garber's talk of no points for scoreless draws and reads listener emails. On the phone this week, correspondents from New England, Columbus, DC, Portland, Vancouver, Salt Lake, Chicago, Colorado and Los Angeles.

RBNY is dismantled at Salt Lake, and Dave and Mark look for answers. The SR boys then welcome new NY President Chris Heck to the show for the first time, and chat with Red Bulls beat writer Brian Lewis of the Post. For dessert, a heaping helping of listener mail. Playoffs or bust? CSRN MEDIA PLAYER