THE OFFICIAL ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL/SOCCER/FUTBOL THREAD

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our MLS teams to compete @Walt Disney World

FC Dallas, New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC, and Houton Dynamo will all compete in a preseason tournament. The games will take place on Thursday,February 25 and Saturday, February 27 at Disneys Wide World of Sports located in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The deal is that you can watch two games for only $13.50 because there are two games played a night. These games will all be featured on ESPN as well.

Here is the link to purchase tournament tickets:
http://disneyworldsports.disney.go....ail?name=WDWProSoccerClassicDetailPage&bhcp=1

 

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Relegation/Promotion @Half Season Report
If the season ended today

Barclays Premier League Teams to be Relegated
18 Bolton 17 -10 17
19 Hull City 19 -22 17
20 Portsmouth 19 -11 14

Coca Cola League Championship Teams to be promoted
1 Newcastle United 24 25 51
2 West Bromwich Albion F.C. 23 26 45
3 Winner of the playoff of:
- Nottingham Forest 24 16 43
- Cardiff City 23 15 37
- Leicester City 22 4 37
- Swansea City 24 2 37

 

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AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS

GROUPS
A
Angola
Mali
Malawi
Algeria

B
Cote d'Ivoire
Burkina Faso
Ghana
Togo

C
Egypt
Nigeria
Mozambique
Benin

D
Camaroon
Gabon
Zambia
Tunisia

MATCH SCHEDULE:

All times are Angola, level with CET and is GMT+1

10 Jan. 20:00 Angola v Mali
11 Jan. 14:45 Malawi v Algeria
11 Jan. 17:00 Côte d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso
11 Jan. 19:30 Ghana v Togo
12 Jan. 17:00 Egypt v Nigeria
12 Jan. 19:30 Mozambique v Benin
13 Jan. 17:00 Cameroon v Gabon
13 Jan. 19:30 Zambia v Tunisia
14 Jan. 17:00 Mali v Algeria
14 Jan. 19:30 Angola v Malawi
15 Jan. 17:00 Burkina Faso v Togo
15 Jan. 19:30 Côte d'Ivoire v Ghana
16 Jan. 17:00 Nigeria v Benin
16 Jan. 19:30 Egypt v Mozambique
17 Jan. 17:00 Gabon v Tunisia
17 Jan. 19:30 Cameroon v Zambia
18 Jan. 17:00 Angola v Algeria
18 Jan. 17:00 Mali v Malawi
19 Jan. 17:00 Burkina Faso v Ghana
19 Jan. 17:00 Côte d'Ivoire v Togo
20 Jan. 17:00 Egypt v Benin
20 Jan. 17:00 Nigeria v Mozambique
21 Jan. 17:00 Gabon v Zambia
21 Jan. 17:00 Cameroon v Tunisia

24 Jan. 17:00 1st A v 2nd B
24 Jan. 20:30 1st B v 2nd A
25 Jan. 17:00 1st C v 2nd D
25 Jan. 20:30 1st D v 2nd C

28 Jan. 17:00 W QF1 v W QF4
28 Jan. 20:30 W QF2 v W QF3

30 Jan. 17:00 Third Placed Play-off

31 Jan. 17:00 Final

 

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BOXING DAY!

Boxing Day, the first day after Christmas, is a holiday celebrated in Great Britain and in most areas of the world settled by the English (except for the USA). Its name comes from the 19th-century English tradition of giving boxes of food or money to service people and servants on the day after Christmas.

It is generally considered a day for visiting with family or taking advantage of after-Christmas sales, but over the years Boxing Day has become synonymous with a full slate of soccer matches.

It's a sporting tradition akin to the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving or the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Just as Americans gather for holiday football, the English celebrate Christmas with soccer on Boxing Day.

All 20 teams in the Barclay Premiership play on Boxing Day:

Saturday, 26 December 2009
Birmingham City v Chelsea, 12:45
Burnley v Bolton, 14:00
Fulham v Tottenham, 13:00
Liverpool v Wolverhampton, 17:30
Manchester City v Stoke, 15:00
Sunderland v Everton, 15:00
West Ham v Portsmouth, 13:00
Wigan v Blackburn, 15:00

Sunday, 27 December 2009
Arsenal v Aston Villa, 13:30
Hull City v Manchester Utd, 16:00

 

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January training camp could see new faces called up

Six months from now, the U.S. national team will take on England to start the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and while there is a good chance that most of the key American players in that match will be players who are already fixtures of the team, there is still a good possibility that some relatively new faces will emerge in 2010 to be World Cup factors.

Robbie Findley
forward, RSL No national-team prospect enjoyed a better MLS postseason than Findley, who helped propel Real Salt Lake to an MLS Cup title and staked his claim to a place in the race to try to fill the void left by Charlie Davies' absence. Findley's speed has always been there, but his improved confidence and finishing earned him a call-up in October, and also make him a prime candidate for a serious national-team look in January. "He's slowly gotten better at different parts of the game," said Kansas City coach Peter Vermes. "He's got a good work rate for a forward, and is a guy that will put other teams' backs under pressure. "More than anything, you can tell he's a much more confident player now."

OTHERS:
Geoff Cameron, defender/midfielder, Houston
Chris Pontius, forward, D.C.
Kevin Alston, defender, New England
Darrius Barnes, defender, New England
Omar Gonzalez, defender, Los Angeles
Alejandro Bedoya, midfielder, Orebro
Marcus Tracy, forward, Aalborg

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=711634&sec=us&root=us&cc=5901

 

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Bradley names U.S. training camp roster for January

full training camp roster:

Goalkeepers:
Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga, Norway), Nick Rimando (Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)

Defenders:
Kevin Alston (New England), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Brandon McDonald (San Jose), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto)

Midfielders:
Kyle Beckerman (Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Geoff Cameron (Houston), Brad Davis (Houston), Brad Evans (Seattle), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Eddie Gaven (Columbus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas), Jeff Larentowicz (New England), Dax McCarty (Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C.), Robbie Rogers (Columbus)

Forwards:
Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado), Jeff Cunningham (Dallas), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg, Denmark)

 

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InterLiga 2010 teams, schedule announced

NEW YORK -- The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF), together with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), have announced the teams, groups and schedule for InterLiga™ 2010. The seventh edition of InterLiga will be played from January 2-13, 2010 in Houston and Dallas, Texas, as well as Los Angeles, California.

Tickets for InterLiga 2010 go on sale today, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 in an exclusive week-long Visa presale offer. Visa cardholders can visit http://www.Ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-745-3000 to purchase tickets - with a special $5 discount that will last for the duration of the 7-day presale - exclusively with their Visa cards. Tickets go on sale for the general public on Monday, Nov. 30 via Ticketmaster.com and other regular ticket outlets in each of the participating cities. Tickets are also available by contacting each of the local Major League Soccer teams in the three markets: FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Chivas USA and LA Galaxy. The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol encourages its fans to use their Visa cards.

For further information on the tournament and its history, visit http://www.InterLiga.com.

InterLigaâ„¢ 2010 Groups

Group A
America
Santos Laguna
Atlante
Estudiantes Tecos

Group B
Monterrey
Puebla
UANL Tigres
Jaguares

INTERLIGAâ„¢ 2010 SCHEDULE (all times ET)
All matches to be broadcast live in the United States by Fox Sports en Español.

Saturday, Jan. 2 - Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
Game 1 - Group A -Atlante vs. Estudiantes Tecos - 6:30 p.m.
Game 2 - Group A -America vs. Santos - 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 3 - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, TX
Game 3 - Group B -Puebla vs. Tigres - 3:00 p.m.
Game 4 - Group B -Monterrey vs. Jaguares - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 5 - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, TX
Game 5 - Group A -Estudiantes Tecos vs. Santos - 7:30 p.m.
Game 6 - Group A -Atlante vs. America - 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 6 - Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
Game 7 - Group B -Jaguares vs. Puebla - 7:30 p.m.
Game 8 - Group B -Tigres vs. Monterrey - 10:00 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 9 - The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
Game 9 - Group A -Santos vs. Atlante - 8:30 p.m.
Game 10- Group A -America vs. Estudiantes Tecos - 11:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 10 - The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
Game 11 - Group B - Tigres vs. Jaguares - 6:00 p.m.
Game 12 - Group B -Monterrey vs. Puebla - 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13 - FINALS: The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
Final 1 - Home Depot Center -- 9:00 p.m.
Final 2 - Home Depot Center -- 11:30 p.m.

 

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Division 2 pro league set for 2010
U.S. Soccer will oversee two-conference league

Thursday, January 7, 2010

CHICAGO, IL -- The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. Under the agreement, U.S. Soccer will oversee the league for the 2010 season, working with both the USL and NASL on the day-to-day league activities.

The agreement pertains only to the 2010 season, and during the next year U.S. Soccer will continue to work with USL and NASL to build a long-term solution for the future. U.S. Soccer will also be developing new standards to govern Division 2 professional league applicants to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the leagues and teams.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to come to a solution that ensures we will have Division 2 professional soccer in the United States in 2010,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “This agreement allows us to continue to develop the professional game in many important markets around the country, while at the same time working towards the long-term stability of Division 2 professional soccer. I’d like to thank the representatives from both the USL and NASL for the time spent during our negotiations, especially their efforts in the past seven days.”

The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference.

Austin Aztex
Minnesota TBA
Portland Timbers
Puerto Rico Islanders
Rochester Rhinos
Tampa Bay Rowdies

AC St. Louis
Carolina RailHawks FC
Crystal Palace Baltimore
Miami FC
Montréal Impact
Vancouver Whitecaps

In the near future, U.S. Soccer will announce details of the new league, including league rules, a match schedule, television rights and other important operational issues. Plans for second-division teams in Atlanta and New York were pushed back to at least 2011. Portland and Vancouver are slated to move up to Major League Soccer in 2011.

 

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Donovan makes home debut in Everton win

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini had to endure the bitter taste of defeat for the first time in five games since taking charge.
Everton were good value for their victory and sealed the points in the first 45 minutes of the Barclays Premier League contest at Goodison Park.

http://www.mlsnet.com//news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20100116&content_id=7928030&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

 

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NBC Universal owned channel mun2 which came into the consciousness of many American soccer fans this summer when they showed the English language broadcast of US-Mexico from Azteca will expand its sports coverage beginning next month.

The cable channel enjoyed success with its broadcasts of Mexico-US and Trinidad & Tobago-Mexico qualifiers this past year will now show up to 20 FMF Saturday night matches a season. Many of the games shown will be English language simulcasts of the games shown in Spanish on sister channel, Telemundo, which is also owned by NBC Universal.

The Mexican League is arguably the most competitive and entertaining in the Americas. Despite the remarkable access the league offers American viewers, all of it to this point has been Spanish. GOL TV used to have a weekly review show that was dubbed into English using the SAP button, but that show was cancelled in 2008.

The new package also gives MLS-centric fans an opportunity to understand and enjoy the outstanding league to our south, a league that with continued growth and good luck, MLS can one day emulate. With the addition of mun2, Mexican Primera Division matches can now be found on Telemundo, Telefutura, Galavision, Univision (Superclassico only), Azteca America, Fox Sports en Espanol, ESPN Deportes, mun2.

 

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Haitian Football Federation Headquarters Destroyed

In the wake of the crisis in Haiti, CONCACAF President Jack Warner sent the CFU's "Captain" Burrell of Jamaica to Port-au-Prince, where he was met by a heavily bandaged HFF chief Yves Jean Bar.

Bar reports that the HFF was meeting at the time of the first earthquake and that thirty Haitian soccer officials, coaches and referees were killed when the three story HFF headquarters building collapsed. Another twenty people remain missing.

Bar himself was the lone survivor.

Among those confirmed dead is former Senior National team head coach Gerard Cineus and Jean-Yves Labaze, who held a number of national team positions, most recently coaching the U17 side at their World Cup in Korea in 2007.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=7466

 

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Davies on remarkable path to recovery

Charlie Davies is lucky to be alive. He knows it, and even if he were to forget, there are plenty of reminders.

There are the surgical scars that now tattoo the American soccer star's body. There are the constant reminders from family and friends who never let him forget what he nearly lost, and what he has already overcome. Then there are the pictures burned into his memory of the mangled car he was pulled from after he survived a car crash that killed another passenger on Oct. 13. Davies, 23, sustained multiple serious injuries (a broken right femur and tibia, a broken left elbow, facial fractures and a lacerated bladder). The prognosis was that he would face an arduous six- to 12-month recovery and extensive rehabilitation.

Charlie Davies hasn't ruled out recovering in time for the World Cup.
The strongest reminders of how fortunate Davies is come from Davies himself as he pushes through what is shaping up to be a miraculous recovery from that laundry list of major injuries. Less than four months after the crash that threatened to end his promising career, Davies is already jogging at a good rate and working on agility drills that would have seemed impossible just weeks earlier, when simply getting out of a wheelchair was an exhausting exercise.

What does this progress mean, exactly? It means that, barring any setbacks, Davies could be back on the field with club team FC Sochaux by April, meaning his chances of playing for the United States in June's World Cup should no longer be seen as a shattered dream.

"Charlie is pretty much light years ahead of where anybody would tell you he should be," said Jim Hashimoto, the former U.S. national team trainer who is overseeing Davies rehabilitation. "When everybody heard about the accident, including myself, it was like, 'OK, this is going to be a long one' -- and it's still going to be a long one, but to see his progress is pretty amazing."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-...avies-remarkable-path-recovery?cc=5901&ver=us

 

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http://web.mlsnet.com/mls/schedule/2010/

 

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The three clubs play for the Nutrilite Canadian Championship won by Toronto last year.

The tournament features the three professional teams in Canada in a home and away series with the top team winning entry into the qualifying stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. This will be the format for at least the first three seasons. It may expand if further Canadian teams join MLS or the USL First Division.

2010 NUTRILITE CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - Montreal @ Toronto - BMO Field
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - Montreal @ Vancouver - Swangard Stadium
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - Toronto @ Montreal - Saputo Stadium
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Toronto @ Vancouver - Swangard Stadium
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 - Vancouver @ Montreal - Saputo Stadium
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - Vancouver @ Toronto - BMO Field

 

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The United States has struggled to a friendly win over El Salvador that achieved little but prove that the team struggles without its Europe-based stars.

Brian Ching scored a diving header in the 75th minute and Sacha Kljestan got the go-ahead goal in the second minute of stoppage time Wednesday night in a 2-1 friendly victory over 71st-ranked El Salvador.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=289058&cc=5901