Some Soccer News for Thu Mar 29, 2012

STARTERS

HERCULEZ! (see below) Nine goals in seven games! Smashing!

dN

Today Jurgen Klinsmann sent out a Twitter letting Herc know that he is paying attention. Why doesn't he just pick up the phone.
-@J_Klinsmann : Another goal for @herculezg, who keeps finding the net. Well done!

dN

If your team is having trouble scoring goals, just use giant arrows to help guide them! Fans of Magdeburg in Germany did just that to perfect results! Check out this gloriously funny video clip.
-Thanks to JJ for the link.

NOTICE

Sign up today for MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager, and then become a member of the du Nord Futbol league using this code: 3815-897

126 teams in our league so far. Lets go for 150! Come On!

Palace Eagles - managed by Phillip Lovas is in 1st Place!

TASTIEST MLS GAME OF THE WEEKEND

-Sat Mar 31
Portland Timbers v Real Salt Lake - 9:00PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field

DU NORD AT THE CONTROLS

du Nord at the Controls - Tue Mar 27, 2012 - new music mix at Spotify.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS

Ives Galarcep with an article on how Jurgen Klinsmann spins the Olympic qualfying mess.

2012 CONCACAF OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

4 teams left.

All games can also be seen online at CONCACAF.com

dN

SEMIFINALS

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Mar 31
El Salvador v Honduras - 5pm
Mexico v Canada - 8pm
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

dN

FINAL

Matches & Scores:
-Mon Apr 2
Semifinal winners - 7pm
Venue: Livestrong Sporting Park - Kansas City KS

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
2nd Leg
-Tue Apr 3
Barcelona v AC Milan (0-0)
Bayern Munich v Marseille (2-0)
-Wed Apr 4
Chelsea v Benfica (1-0)
Real Madrid v APOEL (3-0)

2011-12 CONCACACHAMPIONS

Semifinals

Toronto was able to put up a good fight and hold Santos Laguna to a 1-1 tie. Not really enough to give them any advantage going to Torreon next week but at least it will be game on at kick off.

And not surprising to anyone - The Santos Laguna goal was scored by Herculez Gomez! Fantastic!

The biggest moment of the match happened as the whistle blew and both benches cleared and the teams went at it. Word has it that a Santos player hit a TFC player to set it off. A second Santos player got a red card in the incident after another had been sent off during the game. The end of the 2nd Leg could be a wild affair.

It still stuns me after all these years how many times we see Mexican teams involved in scrapes after tight or lost games. Amazing.

Defending champs Monterrey stuffed Pumas in the second match of the night.

Ryan Wolstadt of the Toronto Sun writes that TFC deserved to win the game, not just tie.

Duncan Fletcher of Sports Net calls TFC Jekyll & Hyde because their CCL form has been so much better than their MLS form, but I think its pretty obvious that the team has put all their eggs in this one basket knowing that bad results in a couple of MLS game will not make or break their season, where as you only get a couple CCL game to get it right.
-If I was a GM or head coach I would do things the exact same way that Toronto has.

dN

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Wed Mar 28
Toronto 1-1 Santos Laguna - Tor goal by Miguel Aceval. SL goal by Herculez Gomez.
Monterrey 3-0 UNAM Pumas - Mon goals by Miguel Morales & Aldo De Nigris(2).
2nd Leg (1st Leg scores included)
-Wed Apr 4
Santos Laguna v Toronto (1-1) - 7pm CT on Fox Soccer - live
UNAM Pumas v Monterrey (0-3) - 9pm CT on Fox Soccer - live

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

"...there was no doubt in my mind I would do nothing more but hurt the team by staying on."

Steven Goff of the Washington Post talks to goalkeeper Bill Hamid about what went down with the USA Olympic qualifying team.
-Those are a sting of extremely poor excuses. As the keeper if you are injured you lay on the ground as long as it takes, forcing the ref to stop the game.

THE LUNATICS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE ASYLUM

Jonathan Wilson of Sports Illustrated writes about the chaos surrounding the English national team with Euro 2012 about 11 weeks away.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

People who know me well are aware of my near complete devotion to Adidas classic originals, but I must say that for some reason these new shoes have caught my eye and I hope to be trying them out real soon.
























And to promote the shoes they got a Becks & Messi video too. Plus Katy Perry is pretty cute even though I am not digging her music.

MLS MATCHES & SCORES

WEEK 4

Matches & Scores:
-Fri Mar 30
DC United v FC Dallas - 6:30PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: RFK Stadium
-Sat Mar 31
Toronto FC v Columbus Crew - 1:00PM CT on TSN/RDS
Venue: BMO Field
New York Red Bulls v Montreal Impact - 3:00PM CT on TSN/RDS
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Philadelphia Union v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - 3:00PM CT
Venue: PPL Park
Portland Timbers v Real Salt Lake - 9:00PM CT
Venue: JELD-WEN Field
Seattle Sounders FC v San Jose Earthquakes - 9:00PM CT
Venue: CenturyLink Field
LA Galaxy v New England Revolution - 10:00PM CT on NBCSN
Venue: The Home Depot Center
-Sun Apr 1
Colorado Rapids v Chicago Fire SC - 6:00PM CT on Galavision
Venue: Dick's Sporting Goods Park
CD Chivas USA v Sporting Kansas City - 8:00PM CT
Venue: The Home Depot Center

Bye: Houston Dynamo

MLS STANDINGS

EAST
9 Sporting Kansas City (+5)
6 Houston Dynamo (0)
4 Chicago Fire SC (+1)
3 Columbus Crew (0)
3 New York Red Bulls (0)
3 New England (-3)
1 DC United (-3)
1 Montreal Impact (-4)
0 Philadelphia Union (-4)
0 Toronto (-5)
WEST
7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (+3)
6 Seattle Sounders FC (+4)
6 Real Salt Lake (+3)
6 San Jose Earthquakes (+3)
6 Colorado Rapids (0)
4 Portland Timbers (+1)
4 FC Dallas (0)
3 LA Galaxy (0)
3 CD Chivas USA (-1)

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

FC DALLAS

Fabian Castillo is still out injured and did not travel with the team for the game in DC on Fri night.

DC UNITED

Bill Hamid has a sprained ankle and could miss up to 3 weeks.

MONTREAL IMPACT

John Spratt of Sports Net sees the positives for Montreal as they head into game #4 of their MLS incarnation.

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Christopher Vito of the Daily Times looks at which of 3 players returning from Olympic qualifying duty are most likely to play on Saturday.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Don Ruiz of the News Tribune with the latest in Sounders news including an Eddie Johnson injury update.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Irfaan Gaffar of Sports Net writes that head coach Martin Rennie has put a group of veteran players in charge of making his team work.

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Game Action:

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - Quarterfinals - 1st Leg Thu Mar 29
Jozy Altidore - AZ - Thu Mar 29 - started and went 77 min as they won 2-1 v Valencia.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - Thu Mar 29 - played the full game as they lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid.
Jermaine Jones - Schalke - Thu Mar 29 - went the full 90 but lost 2-4 v Athletic Bilbao.
Oguchi Onyewu - OUT INJURED - Sporting - Thu Mar 29 - won 2-1 v Metalist.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Quarterfinals

Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
AZ 2-1 Valencia
Schalke 2-4 Athletic Bilbao
Sporting CP 2-1 Metalist
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Hannover

2nd Leg matches will be played on Thu Apr 5.

COPA LIBERTADORES

Two big Daddies Flamengo and Guadalajara lost, while Catholica won!

dN

ADVANCED: (none)

ELIMINATED: Juan Aurich (Peru)

dN

Group Stage

Matches & Scores:
-Tue Mar 27
Nacional 1-0 Alianza Lima - Nac goal by Tabare Viudez.
Tachira 0-0 Nacional Asuncion
Universidad Chile 2-1 Penarol - UC goals both by Matias Rodriguez. Pen goal by Carlos Valdez.
-Wed Mar 28
Defensor Sporting 1-0 Guadalajara - DS goal by Nicolas Olivera.
Universidad Catholica 2-1 Union Espanola - UC goals by Roberto Ovelar & David Gazale. UE goal by Gonzalo Villagra.
Olimpia 3-2 Flamengo - Oli goals by Sergio Ortema, Pablo Zeballos & Eduardo Aranda. Fla goals by Vagner Love & Dario Botinelli.
-Thu Mar 29
Boca Juniors v Arsenal
Zamora v Fluminense

dN

Standings

Group 1
9 Santos (+5)
7 Internacional (+5)
7 The Strongest (-3)
OUT-0 Juan Aurich (-7)
Group 2
7 Lanus (+2)
7 Olimpia (+1)
5 Flamengo (0)
3 Emelec (-3)
Group 3
7 Union Espanola (+4)
7 Bolivar (0)
6 Universidad Catholica (+1)
1 Junior (-3)
Group 4
9 Fluminense (+3)
4 Boca Juniors (0)
3 Arsenal (+1)
1 Zamora (-4)
Group 5
7 Libertad (+2)
7 Vasco Da Gama (+2)
6 Nacional (0)
3 Alianza Lima (-4)
Group 6
8 Corintians (+3)
7 Cruz Azul (+4)
4 Nacional Asuncion (-2)
2 Tachira (-5)
Group 7
9 Velez Sarsfield (+4)
6 Defensor Sporting (-2)
4 Deportivo Quito (+1)
4 Guadalajara (-3)
Group 8
8 Atletico Nacional (+6)
7 Universidad Chile (+3)
5 Godoy Cruz (-3)
1 Penarol (-6)

ENDERS

Can you believe this is John Ritter's daughter wife sister? Wow.