Source: http://www.soccerblog.com/2011/09/bendtner-makes-news-that-does.htm
Sunday, September 4, 2011
New FIFA Street Trailer & Details
A few nice additions have just dropped for FIFA Street including the launch of the official website on EASPORTS/Football.com, some clarification around the early gameplay details and a brand new trailer as well. �The release date has also been tied down a touch, now mooted for “Spring 2012″. Top stuff. Street Ball Control – Enjoy [...]
Source: http://fifasoccerblog.com/blog/new-fifa-street-trailer-details/
Saturday, September 3, 2011
NFL Owners, Players Sort It Out
NFL football is back. Technically, of course, NFL football never left, as this all happened from March to July, but even that thought didn’t piss on the parades of gridiron fans today as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Players Association boss DeMaurice Smith stood in front of reporters and announced that both sides agreed to [...]
Source: http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2011/07/25/nfl-owners-players-sort-it-out/
It Appears Spain Is Just Better Than Everyone Else
So we know Spain as a nation is running through an extraordinary period of domination, and we also know that there appears to be little let-up for the rest of the poor world, as their youth teams are simply excellent. How excellent? Well they just won the u19 Euros today, defeating the Czech Republic. That [...]
Source: http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/it-appears-spain-is-just-better-than-everyone-else.html
Best Bets Sept. 2/3: What to watch, where to go
FRIDAY, SEPT. 2
- TELEVISION
Mexico at Poland
Univision (KMEX/Channel 34), 11 a.m.
El Tri takes a first-choice roster to Warsaw, including Giovani Dos Santos, who learned Wednesday he's not moving anywhere, will play for Tottenham in England this season. Replay: Galavision, 6 p.m.
Also
Chile at Spain, Fox Deportes, 11:30 a.m.
Costa Rica at United States, ESPN2 and Galavision, 8 p.m.
2012 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING
Serbia at Northern Ireland
ESPN Deportes, 2 p.m.
The second spot in Group C, behind Italy, is up for grabs, with the Northern Irish (2-1-3) and Serbs (2-2-2) within striking distance of Slovenia (3-2-2). Serbia rallied for a 2-1 win in their home meeting.
Also
England at Bulgaria, ESPN Deportes, 11:15 a.m.
Austria at Germany, ESPN Deportes, 4 p.m.
MEXICAN PRIMERA DIVISION
Guadalajara at Club Tijuana
Azteca America (KAZA/Channel 54) and Fox Deportes, 4 p.m.
The most anxiously awaited home game in the Xolos' first season in Mexico's top league brings mighty Chivas -- with millions of fans in California, both above and below the border -- to Estadio Caliente.
Also
Santos Laguna at Jaguares, Azteca America (KAZA/Channel 54) and ESPN Deportes, 4 p.m.
College men
Stanford at Maryland, Fox Soccer Channel, 4:30 p.m.
2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
St. Lucia at Canada
GolTV, 5 p.m.
The Canucks have brought Chivas USA left back Ante Jazic back into the fold for their opener in the second round of CONCACAF's qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. Only the winner in Group D will advance to next year's semifinals, and Canada is surely favored over St. Lucia, Puerto Rico and St. Kitts & Nevis.
- ON LOCAL FIELDS
UCLA at Pepperdine
Tari Frahm Rokus Field (Malibu), 3 p.m.
The Bruins vaulted into the top 10 following victories over Tennessee and Florida -- to sixth in the NSCAA poll -- and the Waves, also perfect, got a nod at No. 24. Pepperdine won last year's meeting in Westwood.
Also
Carthage (Wis.) at Redlands, 11 a.m.
Rutgers at Loyola Marymount (Westchester), 4 p.m.
Princeton at Long Beach State, 5 p.m.
New Mexico at Cal State Northridge, 7 p.m.
Michigan at UC Riverside, 7 p.m.
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY
Costa Rica at United States
Home Depot Center (Carson), 8 p.m.
Juergen Klinsmann takes his second step as coach of the U.S., mostly about evaluation, with nearly every key player (but no Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley or, of course, Stuart Holden) in the fold. Costa Rica starts, sort of, the post-Lavolpe era.
TV: ESPN2 and Galavision
COLLEGE WOMEN/MEN
Hawaii/Gonzaga at UC Irvine
Anteater Stadium (Irvine), 6 and 8 p.m.
A decent doubleheader for the rising Big West Conference power, with the women meeting the Rainbow Wahine in the first game and the men taking on the Zags in the nightcap.
College men
Chapman vs. Fontbonne (Mo.) at Cal Lutheran (Thousand Oaks), 4 p.m.
William Jessup at Concordia (Irvine), 4 p.m.
Marymount at Biola (La Mirada), 7 p.m.
Join the Dave?s Football Blog Fantasy Premier League, Sponsored by SoccerPro.com
Have we reached the point in our civilization where our favorite football games exist only so we can play our own games on top of them? If the NFL lockout were still going on, would we have missed our fantasy leagues more than the actual league? Maybe, but who cares? Let’s play. Dave?s Football Blog [...]
Ronaldinho Scores ?Olympic? Goal From a Corner?
Want to know why we’ll soon be seeing the magician himself back in a Brazil jersey….here’s your answer. The man, the myth, the legend; Ronaldinho is back on top form in the Brazilian league, and it seems the trip home was all he needed to make a comeback. This cheeky goal was scored off a [...]
Source: http://soccerprose.com/soccer-players/ronaldinho-scores-olympic-goal-from-a-corner/
No Such Thing As Too Casual
Just before Spain was busy being dispatched from their path along the impossible dream of winning the u19, u20 and u21 championships in the same summer, France was busy getting a lesson in late-game drama from Nigeria.
And then Gueida Fofana hit back with some drama and technique of his own, sending France on its [...]
And then Gueida Fofana hit back with some drama and technique of his own, sending France on its [...]
Source: http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/no-such-thing-as-too-casual.html
Links! And Senderos warns that Barton will explode in your face!
All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty Tackle...
Philippe Senderos just can't do anything right. [101gg]
My ridiculous yet plausible Premier League predictions for this season. [Life's a Pitch]
Man City new boy gets a Bentley to match his new club. [TBG]
Five things you could buy with Samuel Eto'o's new salary. [KCKRS]
The awesome plans for a crocodile shaped stadium in Turkey. [Stadium Porn]
The true cost of pride? This is Anzhi Makhachkla. [IBWM]
Carlos Tevez actually owned by fugitive oligarchs and enemies of Vladimir Putin. [Guardian]
Javier Pastore's impressive ball control (entirely different from Joey Barton's). [STI]
It's time to close the transfer window sooner. [twohundredpercent]
A letter (and a dare) to crazy Arsene Wenger. [Surreal Football]
Cesc Fabregas on joining Barcelona: "I've made a huge mistake." [The Gaffer]
Friday, September 2, 2011
Chivas' Uma�a: 'It's a lot of pride'
CARSON -- Costa Rica will have one player on the field Friday night feeling right at home.
The Ticos take on the U.S. at Home Depot Center (ESPN2 and Galavision, 8 p.m.), and they'll be led by Chivas USA's Michael Uma�a.
The 29-year-old central defender, one of the Ticos' most experienced players, is a 2004 Olympian who played in the 2006 World Cup. He started 28 of 30 games for Chivas last year, but new head coach Robin Fraser gave him virtually no time for the first 2� months of this season.
An injury opened the door for Uma�a on June 1, and he's started every game since.
He can make his 47th appearance for Costa Rica at HDC and his 48th in another friendly Tuesday against Ecuador in Quito.
Here's five questions with Uma�a:
1. What does it mean to you to be called up for this game, especially with it in your home stadium?
It's a lot of pride for me to be in this situation. I've always prepared myself to be called, but especially with an opportunity like this, on my home field, a field I know well.
I'm going to try to take advantage of it. It's a new call-up, and it's always good to do the right thing with my national team, as a professional and as a soccer player. To take advantage of everything.
2. What's the next step need to be for Costa Rica?
We just had one head coach that was removed [Ricardo Lavolpe], and we have an interim coach [Ronald Gonzalez], and Costa Rica has to name a new head coach [Jorge Luis Pinto, announced Thursday] and let him work.
Then everybody needs to collaborate and make sure we're all looking for the same result, which is to be in Brazil [for the] 2014 World Cup.
3. You've been steady in the back for Chivas USA this season, but it didn't start off as you'd like. You played all of two minutes in the first 11 MLS games, then got your chance, and you've barely left the field since.
I didn't begin the season as a starter, but I knew there was going to be an opportunity at any moment, and I worked hard to have that. Now that I have it, I'm doing what I can to stay in the starting 11.
4. You were a starter last year, but Chivas has a new head coach, a new technical staff, a lot of new players. You seemed like the odd man out.
I believe it happens from time to time, especially when you have a new coach. This was not the exception for me. I feel that I have the capacity to be working hard day to day, and I was going to prepare myself for training. I knew I was going to get an opportunity, and once I had it, I was going to take advantage of it.
5. What has been the high point of your international career, the thing you really hold in your heart?
Well, there's two of them. When we qualified for the Olympic Games and then when we went to Athens in 2004. And the one that's really marked me was the opening ceremonies for the 2006 World Cup [in Munich].
It was an honor for me -- to open up the whole Cup. We weren't able to get the result we were looking for [losing to Germany, 4-2], but it was a very gratifying moment.
Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/soccer/post/_/id/10756/chivas-umana-its-a-lot-of-pride
Ronaldo tips Real to be stronger
Cristiano Ronaldo insists Real Madrid will be stronger next season and feels they will bring rivals Barcelona “back down to earth”. Real were very much second best last term, with Barca securing the La Liga and Champions League double, leading some pundits to describe them as the best club side of all-time. Despite their Copa [...]
Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk/uefa-champions-league/ronaldo-tips-real-to-be-stronger/
David NGog Completes Bolton Move
Early in the summer it seemed as though Ngog would head to Sunderland as part of the Jordan Henderson deal, and even after that move fell through there never seemed any doubt he would find his way out of Liverpool when the window was said and done. More recently, it was believed a successful move [...]
Source: http://liverpool.theoffside.com/team-news/david-ngog-completes-bolton-move.html
Warnock says no one cares about cup he already lost
QPR manager Neil Warnock said that no one cares about the Carling Cup and, incidentally, he said it right after his side crashed out of the competition with a 2-0 home loss to League One side Rochdale. Surely those two things are not at all related.
From Sky Sports:
"I don't think people do care about the competition and you've got to look at why," said Warnock, after the game, which attracted just 4,775 spectators.
When asked if he was pleased to be out, Warnock replied: "Yes. I know it's sad, but they should revamp the competition.
"The FA Cup's a different ball game and I want to try to win it this year. I like the FA Cup so we'll field a strong team in it."
He likes the FA Cup, so he's going to try and win that one, but he doesn't like the Carling Cup, so he didn't try to win that. I'm sure that's exactly what the club's new owner wants to hear.
Rochdale manager Steve Eyre has a shockingly different theory, though.
"Neil didn't say before the game that he doesn't take it seriously," he said. "To field a front line that has Adel Taarabt and Jay Bothroyd tells me it was taken quite seriously."
So is the Carling Cup a worthless competition or is Neil Warnock just a sore loser? (Hint: The answer is both.)
Photo: Getty
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Wilson Palacios to Stoke City? Why Tottenham Should Not Sell Their Hidden Gem
Wilson Palacios to Stoke City? Why Tottenham Should Not Sell Their Hidden Gem - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
If rumours are to be believed Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur have entered advanced talks about the transfer of Honduran international Wilson Palacios from White Hart Lane. The combative midfielder signed for Spurs from Wigan in 2009 for �12 million and it is thought that Tony Pulis will pay Harry Redknapp around �6 million to...
From Soccerlens.com - Football News
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/soccerlens/~3/GgzapOau8T4/
Who will be next season?s top scorer?
It is 11 years since an Englishman won the Premier League Golden Boot. A home-grown player had won at least a share in the award in every previous Premier League season, so this prize exemplifies the shift in balance of power between native and foreign players more than anything else. This pattern might be about [...]
Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk/premiership/who-will-be-next-seasons-top-scorer/
Sergio Busquets attempts to strengthen his head
Tired suffering momentary head injuries that force him to fall to the ground clutching his face, even when little or no contact is made to other parts of his body, Sergio Busquets is apparently doing head strengthening exercises during Spain's training camp. With Andres Iniesta as his spotter, Busquets appears to be piledriving his own head into the ground to try and harden it.
Whether this works or just makes things worse remains to be seen, but you have to admire his determination to better himself like this.
Photo: Getty
Ronaldo tips Real to be stronger
Cristiano Ronaldo insists Real Madrid will be stronger next season and feels they will bring rivals Barcelona “back down to earth”. Real were very much second best last term, with Barca securing the La Liga and Champions League double, leading some pundits to describe them as the best club side of all-time. Despite their Copa [...]
Source: http://www.footballnewsblog.co.uk/uefa-champions-league/ronaldo-tips-real-to-be-stronger/
MLS Power Rankings, Week 25: A needed break
All but five Major League Soccer teams are off, so to speak, until at least the middle of next week, a rare occasion in which the league honors FIFA's international fixture dates -- and nobody's complaining.
More than 50 MLS players are with their national teams for competitive matches or friendlies this weekend and early next week, and nearly everybody else is getting a breather of sorts.
Not so the Galaxy -- they have an MLS Reserve League match Thursday night in Portland and a Labor Day league clash at Sporting Kansas City. Real Salt Lake and Philadelphia tangle on Saturday in Utah.
The rest of the league still has training sessions, but there are days off -- Chivas USA has given its players the entire Labor Day weekend to themselves.
FIFA designates dates for international matches, and most of the world's leagues honor them -- there's nothing going on, for instance, in Europe's top leagues, and only a trio of makeup games are on the Mexican Primera Division schedule.
MLS, citing a cramped calendar that owes perhaps more to extreme winter weather in certain markets, usually plays through these dates, its teams gutting through while missing their top players. Commissioner Don Garber says the league wants to take more IFTs off, and they'll do so again in mid-October, with just two matches slated for Oct. 8 (and five in a seven-day span from Oct. 6 to 12).
This week's rankings:
Week 24: Omar Gonzalez and Chad Barrett score as Galaxy go 2-0-0 in CONCACAF Champions League with 2-0 win over Alajuelense (Costa Rica); showdown at New York postponed to Oct. 4 because of Hurricane Irene
Remark: Gregg Berhalter's foot “sprain” will test depth at key spot in pivotal matches
International duty: Landon Donovan (U.S.), Robbie Keane (Ireland) and Chris Birchall (Trinidad & Tobago) were called up for duty during FIFA's Sept. 2/6 international fixture dates
Next: Monday at Sporting Kansas City, 3 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Deportes)
2. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (13-5-9, 48 points), Last week: 2
Week 24: Lamar Neagle is MLS Player of the Week after his hat trick highlights 6-2 destruction of Eastern leader Columbus; Fredy Montero's goal tops FC Dallas, 1-0, in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal
Remark: Sounders could become first MLS club to win three straight U.S. Open Cups. Might be different if they played on the road
International duty: Goalkeeper Terry Boss (Puerto Rico)
Next: Sept. 10 vs. Real Salt Lake, 1 p.m. (MLS Direct Kick)
3. FC DALLAS (13-7-7, 46 points), Last week: 3
Week 24: Jack Stewart's goal beats Toronto FC, 1-0, in morning Champions League encounter after lightning halts action the night before with Hoops up at halftime; Maicon Santos scores trying goal in 89th, Bobby Warshaw nets winner in stoppage to beat Sporting Kansas City, 3-2; U.S. Open Cup run ends with 1-0 semifinal loss at Seattle
Remark: Biggest pickup might be center back George John, after transfer to Blackburn falls apart
International duty: Brek Shea (U.S.) and Marvin Chavez (Honduras). Zach Loyd (U.S.) withdrew with a hamstring injury
Next: Saturday in a friendly vs. UANL Tigres, 5:30 p.m.; Sept. 10 at New England, 4:30 p.m. (MLS Direct Kick)
Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/soccer/post/_/id/10717/mls-power-rankings-week-25-a-needed-break
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