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Jon Conway Is NYRB 'Unsung Player Of The Year'
2007-10-27 05:32:00
No, I'm not making this up. Just got an official RB statement on the matter, which was previously reported by Ives as well. My question is, if Jon Conway is the team's "unsung player of the year," does that preclude him from winning the Least Valuable Player award? Unfortunately, the team's statement does not divulge how the decision was reached. I do remember filling out a questionnaire in the Giants Stadium press box recently, which queried some of the awards the team handed out today, but there is no indication how, if at all, the team took these into account. To summarize the winners, Juan Pablo Angel brought home the Red Bulls Honda MVP, Budweiser Golden Boot, and Red Bulls newcomer of the year awards (a hat trick, if you will). Jeff Parke won defender of the year, Jozy Altidore the young player of the year and Seth Stammler the USSF Humanitarian of the year. I can't really argue with any of those, but Conway? Unsung player of the year? Okay, so it's certainly appropriate if they ...

Is Friday Link Day?
2007-10-26 06:02:00
I've seen others do this on Fridays and being new to this whole blogging thing I am just going to follow their lead. (Imitation is the highest form of flattery, okay?) Here we go:Readers of this blog are familiar with my Red Bulls' Least Valuable Player poll that is currently ongoing. Nearly 200 of you have voted and there are still 10 days left (more if Red Bull somehow beats New England Revolution in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs). The Red Bulls Offside has done me one better, not only holding (and completing) an identical poll, but also conducting five concurrent ones. Some of the results are pretty shocking. For example, Kevin Goldwaith--a distant third in my poll--garnered 40% of the offside's LVP vote. Reyna, who leads my poll by a wide margin, came in second over there.American Soccer Daily named their first MLS All Star team. One Red Bull made the team. I think you know who he is. It would have been a crime to exclude him. The same player also made Du Nord's Best 11 a ...
Link 

Chivas Bow Out Of Copa Sudamericana
2007-10-26 05:26:00
Despite a 0-0 draw at Arsenal or Argentina in the first leg of their quarterfinal match-up, Chivas de Guadelajara were unable to capitalize, losing the return leg 3-1 at home. This ends the dream of an all-Mexican Copa semifinal (Mexico City's America qualified yesterday). Despite their name, Arsenal have no affiliation with a certain London club. Instead they appear to have some kind of arrangement with FC Barcelona. Their kits, meanwhile, resemble West Ham's more than the Gunners'. Javier Yacuzzi netted a brace for the Argentine Arse, whom I suppose I should call el culo? Well anyway, this was a surprise seeing as few teams come to Jalisco and win. The loss is sure to have deleterious effects on Chivas' top 25 standing (coming Monday morning...)The final quarterfinal is not going to be finished for a little while. They just played the first leg, at Montevideo, Uruguay, tonight. Defensor Sporting and River Plate played to a 2-2 draw, which certainly favors the Buenos Aires side. They' ...

Can This Man Save Spurs?
2007-10-25 22:46:00
Juande Ramos, who is said to be the next manager of Tottenham Hotspur, has never managed outside Spain. His current club, Sevilla, currently sit a disappointing 11th in La Liga. None of his teams have finished higher than third in Spain's top flight (and that just happened once, last year). His Web site, JuandeRamos.com, lists his motto as "What you put into football you get back, a thousandfold." Sounds a bit simple, if you ask me. If it were truly that easy, the U.S. would have won a world cup by now, I would think.And yet, Ramos might just be the best-qualified candidate out there, at least among guys Spurs have a reasonable chance at landing. (No, Jürgen Klinsmann is not going to take the job. Neither is José Mourinho and I don't know if I'd want him in the first place). Seville have won the last two UEFA Cups, last year's Copa del Rey and this year's Spanish Super Cup. Finishing no better than third is no great crime in a league where the perennial top two are among the very bes ...
Spurs 

Meanwhile, In The Copa Sudamericana...
2007-10-25 02:53:00
With the flurry of activity in Europe these past days, it was easy to overlook the Copa Sudamericana, where two quarterfinals wrapped up today. Of course, many if not most pundits in North America and Europe didn't overlook the Copa, they didn't know it was happening in the first place! (Judging by the sparse crowd at Vasco da Gama's home grounds, neither did many from points further south. Can you imagine the second leg of a UEFA Cup game not being sold out?) For a primer on where things stood entering today, read this earlier post.The first quarterfinal pitted Mexico City's America against the aforementioned Vasco da Gama. America held a 2-0 lead from the first leg but Vasco cut that in half after only 11 minutes. Roughly 65 minutes into the match, viewers were treated to a rare treat: an appearance by Romario (yes that Romario) who substituted himself into the game for the Rio de Janeiro side (Romario, you see, was named the team's player coach earlier this week). Romario had a free ...

As Predicted, A More Volatile Champions League Matchday
2007-10-25 00:24:00
Yesterday, Soccer Source predicted trouble for Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool, a potential struggle for Real Madrid and smooth sailing for Chelsea. Okay, I also thought Valencia would win their game. And actually, I didn't predict smooth sailing for Chelsea either, but I did say they wouldn't have the cakewalk Arsenal had. Then again, the U.S. men's basketball team at the '92 Olympics didn't quite have that kind of cakewalk. Go here to see the all of the games' goals (thanks to footytube for the links).The biggest surprise on the day in my opinion was Rosenborg which moved into second place in their group thanks to the victory. (And maybe into the top 25 as well? We'll have to wait and see for that). Chelsea are now as good as through. Schalke, whom they beat 2-0 at Stamford Bridge do not look to be as good as they have been in recent years. The Germans are still alive though, trailing Rosenborg by only one point. Real Madrid are also in good shape after a terrific game against Olympia ...
Champions  Champions League  League 

RBNY vs. New England: Position-By-Position Analysis
2007-10-24 20:44:00
I haven't seen anybody else do this, so I figured I would give it a shot. Red Bull players are listed first:Goalkeeper: Jon Conway versus Matt Reis.Analysis: Conway is a solid--perhaps even very good--shot-stopper. He has excellent reflexes and is very good from point blank range. Unfortunately, his deficiencies in other areas (crosses, ball distribution, positioning, etc.) have kept him from developing with the elite U.S. goalkeepers of his generation. And let's not even talk about his brain freeze the last time Red Bulls played in Foxboro. Reis, while he may not be able to match Conway's flair for the dramatic, is also less prone to schizophrenic play. I prefer that in my goalkeeper.Edge: New England.Defense: van den Bergh/Mendes/Parke/Freeman versus John(Riley)/Parkhurst/HeapsAnalysis: Red Bulls' defense has been very shaky at times. And that's when they played well. Granted the team has had a lot of injuries and for a long time could not find anybody to play left back. Van den Berg ...
Analysis  England  New England 

Separation Day In Champions League
2007-10-24 04:41:00
The continent's big guns were able to create some distance between themselves and the also-rans in their respective Champions League groups, thanks to a matchday where nearly everything went as scripted. The one mini surprise was Rangers scoreless draw to Barcelona at Ibrox. I say "mini" because Barca haven't played very well since the internationals break and were missing Deco for today's game. And it's not like Rangers won the game (that would have qualified as a "real" surprise). Nevertheless, lets give Gers their due: the club suddenly looks right at home amongst the continent's elite and their place in my top 25 is well deserved. The next big test will come when the teams meet again Nov. 7--in Barcelona. In the group's other game, Lyon made quick work of VfB Stuttgart, who are in complete disarray and probably couldn't even beat the New York Red Bulls right about now.The disparity between the continent's elite and its lesser powers was nowhere clearer than at Emirates stadium, whe ...
Champions  Champions League  League  Separation 

Will That Be All For Martin Jol?
2007-10-23 00:04:00
This is the question on Spurs' fans minds, as their team turned in another weak performance earlier today at St. James Park, falling 3-1 to Newcastle United. Jol's team now has one win in its first 10 matches. While it has shown fight at various times, the defensive efforts--starting with the #1 shirt--have been nothing short of pathetic. But today's efforts were lackluster all around. This wasn't the same team that outplayed Man United and Liverpool for large portions of those games only to come away with a combined point from the two matches. This was just weak, and Jol deserves a lot of the blame: His personnel decisions--starting with his continued faith in Paul Robinson and culminating with today's decision to start Berbatov on the bench--have been suspect at best. The North London side are now in a relegation spot for the first time since...I don't even know when. So what will it be, Daniel Levy? The silence coming out of White Hart Lane is deafening right now. The Cambridge man ...

The World’s Top 25 Clubs, Oct. 22 2007 Edition
2007-10-22 05:46:00
With Barcelona going down to Villareal Saturday, the top spot was up for grabs. As much as it pained me to do this as a Spurs fan, I had to give the Arse (last week's second-ranked team) their due. Arsene Wenger's men are unbeaten in all competitions this year, with their sole blemish a 1-1 draw at Blackburn way back on Aug. 17. Fortunately for Spurs fans (who haven't had much to celebrate this year) Arsenal have a tough schedule coming up. Here's this week's list (for a chronology of past weeks' go here):1. (2) Arsenal. Okay, so the team they beat this week (Bolton) are now dead last in the Premiership. Still, this team is deserving of top dog status. For now. Things could look completely different in a week's time. They face Slavia Prague at Emirates in the Champions League Tuesday and then travel to Anfield over the weekend. The first game shouldn't present much of a problem. The second is a different story. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but a week after that they host Man U. Stay ...
Clubs 

MLS Playoffs: Your Predictions
2007-10-22 04:04:00
Finally, the match ups have been set and the post season is set to begin. Soccer Source is curious to its readers predictions and invites them to comment here. Questions to consider: Can D.C. be stopped? Will New England recover the form they seem to have lost this past month? Who will prevail in the Texas derby shootout? Does Kansas City have a chance? Does Red Bulls? Who is poised to repeat Houston's run from 2006? Will people still pay attention without Beckham's participation? For the uninitiated (readers outside North America and self-proclaimed Euro/soccer snobs closer to home), the first round is laid out below. To purchase tickets, visit the MLS Web site. For Red Bulls tickets, you can also participate in the contests that run for another 48 hours. (Soccer Source is not affiliated with MLS or Red Bulls).DC United vs. Chicago Fire (First leg: at Chicago this Thursday, Oct. 25. Second: at D.C., Nov. 1)New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls (at New York, Oct. 27; at New Eng ...
Playoffs  Predictions 

Soccer Source Saturday Summary: Spanish Favorites Fall
2007-10-21 05:00:00
Spanish rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona fell from the ranks of La Liga's unbeaten, succumbing to Espanyol Barcelona and Villareal, respectively. Espanyol's Raúl Tamudo scored his second big goal in a week's time. Neither loss is a major upset as both Espanyol and Villareal are top level teams this year--and both were playing at home--but I imagine there will be consequences when Soccer Source's Top 25 rankings are released Monday morning. ("Foreshadow, foreshadow, foreshadow," as my 10th grade English teacher used to say.)Spain's was the only league that saw major upsets today. Elsewhere in Europe, top-of-the-table clubs Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Olympique Lyon and Arsenal all booked clear victories in their respective leagues. Rangers won the latest version of their friendly neighborhood competition with Celtic by three goals.In Mexico, America continued their return to form, beating Pachuca 2-1, while Chivas yielded a last-minute equalizer to Atlante. The player who scored tha ...
Favorites  Soccer  Source 

Let's Settle This: No, Soccer Is Not Un-American
2007-10-20 03:38:00
Yes, this again. Culture of Soccer had to go there. I don't know why, especially seeing as they base their arguments on a book that came out 12 years ago. Actually, check that: they don't really take a stand on this issue, choosing instead to just introduce these decade-old views and leave it to us to decide. Fair enough. So let's decide then. Ready? Here goes:There is absolutely nothing about soccer that is un-American. In fact, the sport is in many ways more American than games invented in the U.S. and considered quintessentially American, especially baseball. Yes, baseball. More on that in a minute. Let's first look at some of these soccer-is-un-American myths, as presented by Culture of Soccer:1. Soccer is un-American because unlike baseball, basketball and (American) football, it wasn't invented in the U.S. First of all, I don't know if anybody "invented" soccer per se. Yes, the rules of the modern game were codified in England, presumably by Englishmen. The Magna Carta was also w ...
Settle  Soccer 

Coming Soon: A Bigger, Badder G-14 With 50 Clubs
2007-10-19 15:01:00
The G-14 is set to completely revamp itself and is inviting around 50 clubs from 23 countries to join the new organization, reports Soccerex Business News. I'm not entirely sure who Soccerex is or what they do, but they quote G-14 communications manager Derek McGlynn saying "“the new organisation will have the same concept as the previous body - to protect the rights of its member clubs.” The 18 current members of the G-14 are on the invites list. So are AS Roma, Werder Bremen, AS Monaco and Sevilla. Not sure who the others are but the invitations are apparently based on the clubs' performance over the last five years.. I tried to email the organization from their Web site, but those emails bounced. But they're hoping to have a meeting with the invitees by year-end.Twenty-three countries? Fifty clubs? The organization's goals are anything if not ambitious. One thing's for sure though: it's not just a European group anymore. Suddenly, Soccer Source's listing of the world's Top 25 cl ...
Clubs 

Beckham Effect II: Sizing Up The NY Red Bulls' 2007 Attendance Numbers
2007-10-19 04:18:00
The previous post on the improving Major League Soccer attendance figures led me (via the comments page--thanks mountainmadeofsteam) to look at how the Red Bulls' attendance numbers match up to those of prior seasons. But before I go there, a few clarifications are in order: First of all, I don't know of any proof for this, but AEG is widely suspected of having been a little creative with attendance figures during the years they owned the team (that would be 2002-05). While we don't know for sure that AEG did this, we can say with 100% certainty that they engaged in some sleight-of-hand by counting international doubleheaders as their own attendance. This even though there was--quite literally-only a small fraction of fans left in the stands for the Metro portion of the doubleheader. To illustrate, take May 31, 2005: according to official MLS records, the Metros-Chicago Fire game that day had paid attendance of 50,807. Except, that MLS game came the same day as a certain England versu ...
Beckham 

Beckham Effect? MLS Attendance At Highest Levels Since Inaugural Season
2007-10-18 23:45:00
Did David Beckham cause this? Major League Soccer's average attendance going into the final weekend is at its highest level since 1996, the league's very first season, according to pitchinvasion.net. Pitch Invasion thanks Andy_B at Bigsoccer for the raw numbers, so I figure I will too. Thanks Andy B at Bigsoccer!In '96, average attendance was 17,306. This year it's 16,627, with 96.4% of games played. Expect sellouts at Toronto and L.A. to pad that number this weekend. It's only the second time average attendance has broken the 16,000 barrier (the last time being '96, when the league averaged 17,306 fans per game). The last time average attendance came this close to 16K was in '02, when it was 15,653. The worst average attendance year for the league? That would have been 2000, which incidentally was the New York franchise's best year on the field.Another very interesting tidbit supplied by Andy and pitchinvasion is the percentage of games that had fewer than 10,000 spectators. This year ...
Beckham  Highest  Levels 

Swiss Reactions To Yesterday's USMNT Game
2007-10-18 15:25:00
I thought it would be interesting to have a look at these. I scoured through a few Web sites and found the following (yes I can read German):Outside of Switzerland's loss in the round of 16 at last year's world cup (which came on penalties after a scoreless draw with the Ukraine) it was the first time the Swiss team failed to score a goal since 2004, according to Zurich's Tages Anzeiger newspaper. (Okay, that's not a reaction but a fact. Whatever).The same paper calls the game "weak" and says that for a long time there was no evidence the U.S. even wanted to score a goal. Still, it concedes that the few times the U.S. approached the Swiss penalty area--at the end of each half--it was more dangerous than Köbi Kuhn's side. This due to a conviction ("Entschlossenheit") that was absent with the Swiss team.Switzerland played below their level, says the St. Galler Tagblatt. The U.S. victory was not a just reward for the U.S. team's performance, particularly in the second half. Defensively, ...
Game  Reactions 

We Tried To Warn McClaren About Starting Robbo...
2007-10-17 19:42:00
...but he didn't listen. If you'll recall, a few short days ago Soccer Source completed a poll, where only 6% favored starting Robinson. Sure enough, Robbo cost England a goal and the match and a crucial point that may end up proving fatal to England's qualification efforts. "It bears repeating, Robinson was at fault for the second [goal]," the Guardian's log of the game said. Too bad the Spurs goalkeeper preempted using the excuse of the artificial turf, telling Goal.com earlier this week that "we can't be putting excuses in the way about plastic pitches."Now England have their work cut out for them and are going to need help to reach the final stage next summer. Their last game is at Wembley Nov. 21 against group leaders Croatia. If they win that game, they have a chance. If they tie, they still have a chance, albeit a remote one. If they lose, their only chance is if Russia fails to get two points from its final two games, which isn't going to happen seeing as Russia's last game is ...

Bruce Arena Has His Team--And Its Playoff Opponent--Right Where He Wants Them
2007-10-17 16:22:00
It's been a long season and while the New York Red Bulls have admittedly not done very well recently, I believe Bruce Arena has the team poised for a playoff run that will (gasp!) surpass the normal "one and done" post-season routine its fans have grown accustomed to. Where is this blasphemous talk coming from? I'll tell you:First, the team is finally healthy. Kovalenko, Mendes, Altidore and Freeman have all missed time with injuries this season, which has had deleterious effects on the team's play. Its defense in particular has been completely ineffective as a result of injuries (and questionable personnel decisions; I'll get to that in a bit). Okay, so Captain America is injured (still...or again, take your pick) but he really hasn't done much (or anything, really) and more importantly hasn't been missed. The team's best stretch earlier in the season came with him out of the lineup.Second, Arena finally finally seems to be going with the best starting lineup at his disposal. We saw a ...
Team 

Copa Sudamericana Primer: Sizing Up The Quarterfinalists
2007-10-16 22:40:00
With all this talk and debate about who belongs where in the top 25 worldwide soccer club list, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the Copa Sudamericana. The "UEFA Cup of the Americas" is the second-biggest club competition in Latin America (the Copa Libertadores is #1) and also the only time MLS teams have a chance to play Latin America's best in a competitive setting (sadly, the lone MLS representative, DC United, was eliminated in the Round of 16). Unlike European club competitions, the Sudamerica is currently at a fairly advanced stage, with three of four quarterfinals having already completed their home legs. The tournament barely receives any press coverage from English-language media in the U.S. and even less from Europe. I suppose the Europeans have their own leagues to worry about, while the U.S. market is served by Spanish-language media. That leaves non-Spanish-reading idiots like me out in the cold. A shame, because this is probably some of the best soccer ...

Poll Update: Reyna Leads Red Bulls Least Valuable Player Vote By Wide Margin
2007-10-16 16:22:00
Oft-injured midfielder Claudio Reyna is leading the inaugural Soccer-Source poll for New York Red Bulls Least Valuable Player Award by a comfortable margin. At the time of this writing, Reyna had received 40 of 103 votes, corresponding to 38.83%, with 19 days of voting left (subject to extension should RB somehow win a playoff round or two. Yeah, I know, won't happen, but I need to put that in just in case). There is a dead heat for second place, with Chris Leitch and Markus Schopp tied with 17 votes (16.5%) each, followed by Kevin Goldthwaite with 16 votes (15.53%) and Ronald Waterreus with 14 (13.59%). Further down are Santino Quaranta (five votes), Jon Conway (two) and Dane Richards, Hunter Freeman and Seth Stammler (one each). Four votes were cast for the elusive "somebody else" category. Unfortunately, the poll did not allow for write-in candidates.A few notes on the poll: as a subjective, for-entertainment-purposes-only feature, I am leaving it up to each individual voter to defi ...
Poll  Vote 

Diego Elected Bundesliga Player Of The Year
2007-10-16 13:52:00
German Bundesliga players elected Diego as their player of the year for 2006-07 by a wide margin. The Brazilian got nearly a third of all votes (31.4%), followed by Stuttgart's Mario Gomez (12.2%), Leverkusen teammates Bernd Schneider and Theofanis Gekas (10.72% and 9.5%, respectively) and Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (a Ralph Nader-esque 3.8%). I wonder what Rafael van der Vaart, Torsten Frings and Mohamed Zidan--to name just three examples--did to their colleagues to get excluded from the list. You're telling me they weren't as good as Neuer last season? Then you have guys like Philipp Lahm, who is actually on FIFA's shortlist for player of the year, a nomination Bundesliga players obviously don't agree with. Whatever, these things are stupid anyway. Still, I do think it's telling that Diego (rightfully) gets this much respect in Germany. What Brazil's national team coach Dunga has against him is a mystery. I can't help but think that Brazil would have done a bit better in their m ...

MLS Hooliganism? We Should Be So Lucky.
2007-10-15 15:23:00
Fox Sports' Nick Webster this morning wrote about how soccer hooliganism "isn't that far from kicking off in this country" (that would be the U.S.). This is not just any form of hooliganism, mind you, but the most sinister form that literally caused death and destruction in the 1980s.Uh, sure Nick. Let's hurry up and alert the authorities to those drunken, violent, unemployed louts that are about to descend on MLS stadia to start brawls and destroy property. Wait a tick, you didn't actually provide any timing for your prediction. Are we talking next week's MLS playoffs? Next season? Next decade? With a threat this serious, you may have wanted to investigate that.All joking aside, I would love to see that level of interest in MLS. Not the type that brings to mind Brussels circa May 1985, but a passionate fan base that sings, chants, waves flags...maybe even lights flares on occasion. Yes, I view these two scenarios as mutually exclusive and I'll explain why: First of all, the fatalities ...

The World’s Top 25 Clubs, Oct. 15 2007 Edition
2007-10-15 00:44:00
With European clubs on hiatus this week, I considered skipping this edition of the Top 25 altogether. Then I realized that would kind of defeat the purpose of the exercise, which is to have something comparable to the weekly U.S. college football rankings. As you know if you’re in the U.S. and follow college football (that’s American football), the rankings are released every week regardless of whether a few teams are idle. For us, it just so happens that “a few teams” correspond to every one of last week’s top 16 (to see those rankings go here). But who’s to say national team play couldn’t affect these listings? After all, it's many of the same players and their performance can cast their club’s record in a different light. Especially if they got injured and are going to miss time with their club. Besides, Latin American and Mexican teams were active and could (and in one case did) move up. Read on.1. (1) Barcelona. Idle.2. (2) Arsenal. Idle.3. (3) Bayern Munich. Idle. ...
Clubs 

Soccer Source Commenter Contests: Win RB Playoff Tix
2007-10-14 22:43:00
In an effort to draw more comments to this site, I am starting two contests that reward the top commentator. Anybody who comments on this site will be eligible (with certain exceptions) to win a pair of New York Red Bulls playoff tickets (for Saturday night, Oct. 27 versus the New England Revolution). The start of the contests begin as this post is published and will end Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 1pm (leaving enough time for me to mail you the tickets) at which point I will make a post with the winners. Anybody not related to me is eligible. More details below.One contest will work very much like a raffle and seeks to reward frequent commenters. Anybody who comments is assigned an ID and placed in a digital hat. The more you comment, the better the odds of winning. The other contest will be more subjective and will reward the individual with what I (and maybe 1-2 people whose opinions I respect on this matter) to be the most consistently constructive comments. This is meant to reward comme ...
Soccer  Source 

Euro Qualifiers: Resurgent Romania, Gritty Greece
2007-10-14 01:08:00
A resurgent Romanian national team scored arguably its biggest victory in a decade by beating Holland on a 71st minute tap-in by Steaua Bucharest defender Dorin Goian. With the victory, Romania is all but assured a spot in Austria and Switzerland. Victor Piturca's side are three points clear of Holland and five points clear of third-placed Bulgaria with only three games remaining, but more importantly the Carpathians have an easy schedule the rest of the way: at Luxembourg Wednesday, at Bulgaria Nov. 17, before concluding with Albania at home Nov. 21.Another big winner from Saturday night's action was Greece. The defending champions edged Bosnia 3-2 and are now four points clear of archrival Turkey ahead of their Wednesday night meeting at Istanbul. The Turks now have their backs to the wall, after only managing a draw against Moldova. Croatia, England, Poland and Scotland all held serve in crucial home games to strengthen their positions. Oh yeah, and Germany became the first team to ...
Euro  Greece  Gritty  Romania 

Poll Finds Only 6% Favor Starting Robbo In England Goal
2007-10-14 00:00:00
A Soccer Source poll conducted in the days leading up to today's Estonia game found only 6% of respondents in favor of starting Paul Robinson in goal for the English national team. Aston Villa's Scott Carson (left) was the poll's favored replacement, tallying 40% of respondents' votes, followed by West Ham's Robert Green (26%), England's actual #2 David James (20%) and the elusive "somebody else" (6%). Zero percent (0%, as in nobody) wanted Wigan's Chris Kirkland.Did Steve McClaren listen? Nooooo. Robbo started for England today and was a bit shaky on at least one save, according to the BBC's report of the game. (I did not actually watch the game myself, because it wasn't broadcast in New York, though three other Euro qualifiers were, as I previously noted). And that was Estonia. He's sure to have a busier time at Moscow on Wednesday. With a win, England qualify for the main event in Austria and Switzerland next summer. We shall see. ...
England  Favor  Poll 

Fox Soccer Channel Spoils Americans With Triple Header Of Euro Qualifying
2007-10-13 16:10:00
American soccer fans hungry for Euro 2008 qualifying are today treated to three live matches on Fox Soccer Channel. First, we get the juggernaut France versus Faroe Islands, at 11am EDT. Sure to be a nail-biter and one that will be of particular interest to all the Faroe Islands expatriates living stateside. Immediately afterwards, at 1pm, we are treated to what is sure to be a fierce duel between Sweden and Liechtenstein. And just when you thought it was safe to go outside and enjoy the sunshine, at 3pm follows a veritable clash of the titans between Slovenia and Albania.Seriously, why does FSC even bother? I'm sure they must realize how absurd it is to show these games? I know they come through with some other quality programming, such as live EPL and Serie A coverage (though sadly, no more Bundesliga or Ligue Un) but what exactly is the point of this? So they can tell advertisers they have Euro qualifying matches? Might be something to that one, but from the perspective of true U.S. ...
Euro  Fox  Header  Soccer 

Saturday Night Fever: RB Home Playoff Game Set For Oct. 27
2007-10-12 21:23:00
The Red Bulls' first--and probably last--home playoff game of 2007 will take place at 7:30pm on Saturday, Oct. 27. Yes, the RB has qualified for the playoffs, though by no feat of their own (see related post on the matter). The other option was for the game to be held on a Thursday night, which would have made it difficult for me to attend due to commitments at my real job, so I'm pleased.Tickets for the game on sale now and can be purchased on the Red Bulls' Web site. I should note that I will be giving away four of them (along with other RB gear) through this blog, as part of a contest to be determined. I'll have more on that later this weekend.Hopefully the weather will hold and a good crowd will show up. In eight Saturday night home games this year, the team has averaged 20,537 fans--a respectable number that is inflated by the 66,237 who made it out for a certain Aug. 18 game against the L.A. Galaxy. If you remove that game from the equation, the average attendance for Saturday n ...
Game  Saturday Night 

Let's Applaud UEFA For Punishing Theatrics
2007-10-11 21:58:00
By now you've probably heard that UEFA has punished AC Milan goalkeeper Dida for his pathetic acting display in last week's Champions League game at Celtic Park. Soccer's European governing body suspended the Brazilian goalkeeper for two games, which sounds about appropriate to me. Repulsive acting displays have plagued the game for too long and the powers-that-be have wasted too much time without taking action against it. I mean, seriously: Besides the occasional yellow card, can you think of any punishment being handed down for acting? Ever? I know FIFA did a lot of talking ahead of last year's World Cup, but that's exactly what it was: talk. Talk is cheap. It doesn't work, least of all with cheaters, which is what you call players who intentionally try to deceive officials.I don't care who is responsible for starting this plague of theatrics that has gone on for a generation (or more--certainly as long as I can remember and I've been following the sport since the early 1980s). Some ...
Uefa