I'm not in the mood to mince words or getting all wound up through great elaboration, so I'll cut
right to the point.Today, USMNT coach Bob Bradley called 23 players for a midweek friendly against
Denmark in Aarhus, yet stunningly ignored AGF attacker Jeremiah White. This, my friends, is a bush
league maneuver.
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What can I say? Stuff is goin' on all over. It's relentless. You can't fight stuff...#1 - I've
posted a capsule preview of the four UEFA World Cup qualifying playoffs over at S365. Who is my
upset pick this time? Bosnia, baby. And in case you missed it yesterday, my chat with Houston
Dynamo ace Geoff Cameron.
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I'm in such a random mood. Why not share?#5 - If I was the manager of France, Greece, Portugal or
Russia, which UEFA WCQ playoff Pot B team would I be most hoping to avoid in the draw? Bosnia.
Frankly, the trio of Džeko, Misimović and Pjanić would give me nightmares.#4 - Just heard via
NSC pal Adam Spangler that an Italian report claims the Azzurri FA will petition to have U.
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I know there was an AFT yesterday. And here's another while I try to think of a good Top 5 List
topic...#1 - ESPN has tabbed 11 guys to watch at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. If you hadn't guessed
by now, the American inclusion is a bit of a surprise: keeper Brian Perk.I was planning a similar
article tomorrow at S365, but have now seen several of these around.
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This was going to be longer, but I had so many clips, it seemed best to separate them all into a
Video Tuesday post. That will arrive shortly...#1 - I caught up with recovering Guimarães
midfielder Kamani Hill, who has fingers crossed to make his club debut in Wednesday's Portuguese
League Cup.Speaking of American attackers trying to make comebacks, Soccernet all-star Ravi Ubha
talks with
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Ohhhhh Ajax, you're killin' me...#1 - I got fresh FC Dallas catch Heath Pearce on the phone today.
The goods are here.The club also put him on camera after Wednesday training... Find more videos
like this on MyFCDallas#2 - In case you missed it, my new MLS Club Ladder is up.#3 - SI
super-scribe Grant Wahl talks with Everton/U.
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It should have been a completely glorious day for Manu Adebayor. In Saturday's 4-2 win over Arsenal
that kept Man City perfect through four, the livewire strike danced on the ball, cleared his line
and buried a header to make it four straight games from go with a goal for the Citizens.Oh yeah,
and he ummm.
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In case you missed it all, we have the highlights... of the 2-2 Galaxy draw with AC Milan, of David
Beckham's fan kerfuffle and of player/coach/fan reaction after the game. Oi vey.- Greg Seltzer
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UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona v Manchester UnitedForget Dan Brown. The real intrigue in
Rome is across town from the Vatican, and I'm licking my UEFA lips.It's the Catalans v the Red
Devils for dinner with a large helping of pre-match relish. Never mind a scandalous Norwegian
robbed Chelsea of a chance of revenge for Moscow, just sit back and enjoy the football feast.
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"You picked a fine time to leave us, Magath."If there truly is a God, the away fans will break out
in a divine, unexpectedly twangy chorus of this altered lyric should Wolfsburg fall at red-hot
Stuttgart this weekend.The Volkswagen boys, three points up on second place Bayern Munich and with
another three teams within five as they chase their first ever Bundesliga crown, have just watched
manager
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"That" being Temoc Blanco apparently tossing weekend whistleblower Jair Marrufo a Fire shirt after
Chicago rallied for a 2-2 draw away to 10-man rivals Columbus.Of course, a weak red card was shown
to Gino Padula with the Crew up two for a foul on... anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Correctimundo! Mr.
White!
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In another of a lengthy series of thoroughly bizarre Hansa Rostock personnel moves, U.S. defender
Heath Pearce was dropped to the second team, starting today. No real clear reason was given for the
move ('performance reasons', says the manager - Hansa's third in the last calendar year).This would
be strange even if the organization hadn't comletely imploded this season.
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If money is now soccer's God, then why are these Champions League quarterfinal matches not run as a
TV doubleheader? Hmmm...#1 - Conor Casey, a large, bald target-esque striker that can be spotted
easily above, was named MLS PotW. I mean, he's right there. You can't miss him.#2 - I love it when
the Red Card's Luis Arroyave travels.
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While I wait for the Dempsey goal clip to arrive...#1 - Interesting pick-up by The Touchline's Luis
Bueno: it seems retiring Chivas USA defender Claudio Suárez is not retiring happily with a
cake and a watch and balloons and Crown Royal and a DJ.The guy's a legend. Is that as good as it
gets for a legend that plays for CHIVAS USA?
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Catch the chutzpah in the wording of all this from the official L.A. Galaxy write-up. They make it
sound like they've invented pizza, when really all they did was blah blah blobbity blah, don't get
me started on this mess again.I'm not even gonna crop a photo for this post. (snort)- Greg Seltzer
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As Landon Donovan gets set for his final Bayern Munich match, reports from England (take that as
you like) claim AC Milan has finally struck this odd David Beckham "timeshare" agreement
with the Los Angeles Galaxy (read: MLS).Side note: With Tim Borowski, Franck Ribéry, Bastian
Schweinsteiger and Luca Toni all in doubt, and Mark van Bommel suspended, I would actually not be
at all stunned to see
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I think MLS should go up for the part of the lion in any new revival of The Wiz. They sure can
tapdance...#1 - Finally, someone shouts down the Henny Penny crowd over Freddy Adu's career. Thank
you, Greg Lalas.The Sports Illustrated ace also gets outgoing Monaco chief/Ameri-phile
Jérôme De Bontin to admit that, yes, he also tried to land the USMNT midfield trio of
Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu and
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And a hybrid, no less. I'm so very green. I realize that I'm starting this transfer T5L mini-series
slightly tardy, but that illness just had me sleeping half the week. Now, I'm refreshed and ready
to drop the first of three rapid-fire lists related to the good, the bad and the ugly of transfers.
And that starts with a "T", which stands for "trouble".
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Franck, Franck, Franck, Franck, Franck. Who do you think you are? Cristiano Ronaldo*? * = scroll
down to 12.50 for the relevant bit. - Greg Seltzer
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Shortly after watching skipper Andy Griffin flop around like a fish as West Ham's Carlton Cole
screwed home the equalizer, Stoke City forward Ricardo Fuller sauntered away from the ensuing
kickoff at the center spot, taking just a brief moment to slap his teammate in the face. Yes, I
said he slapped his own teammate in the face on the field of play during a match.
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Things will get quiet around here for a couple of days, so I will round up some stuff for you now
and drop that promised third Top 5 List on Friday. As for the Americans-to-Europe transfer article
I mentioned... I had lost the quotes... and now I've found them. That will also go up Friday, but
at S365.
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[Photo: Section 8 Chicago] I can't even imagine I'd need to say much about this one. I'd probably
just fail to live up to the dignity displayed by Ben Burton and his Section 8 minions over at
Toyota Park. But if it sells the drama, I'll go with a "What in the name of St. Peter Wilt are
the Fire doing?
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**Good news of sorts that Poland & Ukraine have not been dropped as Euro 2012 hosts, despite
widespread rumors to the contrary. Much as I love tournaments in new places, these two countries
have an impossible-looking job beyond rebuilding their stadia in time for kick-off. Any host nation
must also be able to ferry thousands of visiting fans around the country 24/7.
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**Yankee Stadium's last pitch will be thrown today and as might be expected, most of the farewells
and eulogies have airbrushed the soccer played there. Between the death of Ebbets Field and the
Polo Grounds and the birth of Giants Stadium, Yankee functioned as New York's principal sports
venue, which meant from time to time, spherical balls were kicked as well as thrown.
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I am now going to take the sonic laser out on MLS, but bear with me, it's not what you might think.
I'm not going to criticize level of play, ownership structure, championship structure, Designated
Players or even the insipid scheduling of games on FIFA dates without a postpone clause for teams
that lose half their roster to international duties (John Carver already handled that last one just
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Hamburg coach Martin Jol always seemed a cool head. Sure, he looks like a movie character that
would throw you off a bridge for looking at him sideways and you could always see his mind moving,
but external reactions were a bit muted. This past week, he apparently snapped. This past week, he
metaphorically pushed Vincent Kompany down those stairs in an odd snit.
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