Beckham Recalled To England Squad, Dynamo Knock Off CSD Municipal
Beckham Recalled To England Squad
LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham was recalled to the England squad today after being passed over in new England manager Fabio Capello’s first squad callup. Beckham is seeking his 100th cap as an England international, and hopes to suit up for the Three Lions when they take on France in Paris on March 26.
What does this mean for Becks? His fitness has been an issue ever since Capello took over the squad, so for him to be called up, he had to have been fit enough to impress Capello. Having said that, I’m not sure if Beckham starts. Theo Walcott has looked pretty good for Arsenal lately, and I could see Beckham coming in during the second half, getting his cap, and being done with it. I hope it doesn’t turn out like that, as Beckham is still England’s best winger. Anyways, congratulations to Beckham on this, and hopefully he’ll reach his goal, and come back to the Galaxy ready to start the season.
Houston Dynamo Advance to Semi’s of Champions Cup
Dwayne De Rosario scored 2 goals as the Houston Dynamo defeated CSD Municipal 3-1. The Dynamo advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. The 2 teams played in a scoreless draw in Guatemala last week. The Dynamo will play the winner of Thursday night’s game between Atlante of Mexico against Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica. Highlights can be seen here.
UEFA Cup and Pan-Pacific Championship
It is all quiet on the American front recently. Some of our players abroad are currently playing in the UEFA Cup, including first choice keeper Tim Howard. The side thrashed SK Brann 6-1. Nigerian striker Yakubu lead the Everton attack with his second hat-trick at the club. He was fined and dropped by his manager for returning late from the African Nations Cup, but I’m sure all has been forgiven now. Elsewhere in the Cup, Freddy Adu was an unused substitute for Benfica in a 2-2 draw against Nurnberg.
We did have two MLS teams in action in the Pan-Pacific Championship. The LA Galaxy, lead by David Beckham, were dreadful. They were beaten 1-0 by Gamba Osaka. The team was completely dominated and lacked creativity coming forward. Though it is true that both Donovan and Ruiz were out injured, it was still an embarrassing performance. Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit blames the poor performance on the artificial turf and the fact that there were many new faces on the team that hadn’t gotten used top playing together yet.
There was a team there that didn’t make the MLS look terrible, and that was the Houston Dynamo. The attack was lead by Hawaii native Brian Ching. The Dynamo beat Sydney FC 3-0. Hopefully Brian Ching can continue to play well into the season. His ability to hold up the ball and play with his back to the net is vital for Houston, and could become a vital part of the US National Team’s play. I know all the excitement is about Altidore and Adu, but let’s not forget that we have a decent striker in Brian Ching. I say we slot him in and completely forget about Taylor Twellman. Forever.
Twellman To Leave MLS?
Taylor Twellman is one of those odd cases. He does wonderful things for his club, but when it comes to his country, he falls drastically short. Most argue that the level of international play is higher than that of Major League Soccer. So how does Twellman get accustomed to a faster paced game? By moving to England of course.
Twellman tried his hand at European soccer 8 years ago in Germany. That didn’t work out so well, and he came back to America to join the New England Revolution. With his inclusion lately in the national team, he has gained attention from Preston North End, of the Championship Division in England. Preston made a push for the Premiership last season, but with the loss of striker David Nugent they are struggling. They are looking for a new hitman, and have 28 year old Twellman in their sights. However, their $1.7 million bid was rejected by MLS and the New England Revolution. According to ESPNSoccernet, they are expected to increase their bid to $2 million.
Twellman has made it clear that he would like to make the move. His salary would increase drastically and he would be playing at what I believe is a more competitive league. Even though it is taking one of MLS’s American stars out of the league, it should be good for Twellman. I’m all for the move. Hopefully the MLS can get a bit more of out Preston and Taylor can make the move before the end of January. He should have no problem getting a work permit since he has been participating in the national team.
UPDATE: Brian here. So, MLS has turned down the offer made by Preston North End. I’m not sure what MLS wants here. The 2 million offered by PNE would be right in line with other national team players such as Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey. Now Twellman is in a tough spot. He would like to be sold, but probably won’t be, and now he can make the argument that he deserves to be paid more, which I agree with. He has done everything New England has asked him to do, and then some. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that he brought up his national team performance is comical, but goals are goals and Twellman has six of them, so he must be applauded for this. He deserves a raise in salary, and it won’t be fair if MLS decides to not sell him and on top of that not raise his salary too. I pretty much saw this coming though. MLS is always terrible about things like this. Just another thing that needs to be fixed with this league. Anywho, thats the news for today. Back tomorrow with an update on European action and the possibility of a new USA friendly.
Liverpool FC To Play MLS All-Stars?
According to The Daily Mail, Major League Soccer has approached Liverpool FC in an attempt to get the English giants to play against the MLS All-Stars next summer. The report also proposes the idea of Liverpool playing Italian giants Juventus in Montreal to gauge the interest in Canada. As much as I like seeing European teams come to the US to play against MLS clubs and all stars, I don’t see the point, besides making money, and possibly raising the profile of soccer in the States. If MLS wins, people view them as being that much closer to the EPL. The reality is that when European teams come over(Celtic and Chelsea recently), they are generally in preseason form, and therefore that much easier to beat. If MLS were to lose, the media in Europe can sling even more mud at MLS, especially if the game is a blowout.
When it comes to raising the profile of the game here, why do we need European sides to do that? I’ve long believed in the idea that if soccer is to become one of the big 4 sports in America, then it will need to do so from within. While players like David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco are nice, the fact is they are not Americans, so they can only do so much for MLS. I’ll never understand why so much emphasis is placed on David Beckham when we have future American stars such as Jozy Altidore in MLS as well. We live in a country that thrives on the idea of an American hero. David Beckham can’t be our American hero, but Jozy Altidore can be. Right now, MLS cannot hold onto its stars, and many of them leave for the greener pastures of Europe(Clint Dempsey, Freddy Adu, etc.) Instead of focusing on spending money on big name players from Europe who are on the downside of their careers, focus that money into building up youth programs and MLS in general so players won’t want to leave. The fact is, I feel as though these players have to leave, because they are wasting both their time and talent by staying in MLS right now. It is high time for MLS to take the next step in becoming a bigger and better league. For the youth, we only have to look to the streets of Brazil to see how the young kids there are doing tricks and having fun. Youth soccer is too structured, too English if you will. Let the kids have fun, and chances are you’ll have more imaginative Ronaldinho’s(not the Ronaldinho of today, 2 years ago) instead of robotic players. Granted, I understand that many people in America could care less about soccer. But these same people are probably turned off by the idea of seeing David Beckham 134 times in one game too. Fans love a winner, but how can MLS become a winner when they depend on Europe for exposure?
Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the Euro teams come over and play. But while seeing them is nice, MLS needs to soon realize that Europe can’t make MLS bigger, only we can do that.
Zimmerman Signs With Hamburger SV
USA u-20 striker Preston Zimmerman has signed a contract with Hamburger SV after scoring 9 goals in 32 matches with the club’s reserve team. He will be bound to the club until the end of the 2008/2009 season.
On a side note, to our readers, we would like to apologize for the lack of activity here. Danny and I are students, which means the first few weeks of December were always going to be tough for us. We just have not had the time to update the site regularly. Thank you for your patience. We will be back to full service this week. There will be a report from Europe either tonight or tomorrow morning.
Champions League Final 16 and a Michael Bradley Hat Trick
First off, I’d like to apologize for the lack of activity on the site recently. Secondly, I’d like to point out that the title of this article is not a typo. Michael Bradley did indeed score a hat trick this weekend for Heerenveen to lead them to a 4-2 victory over FC Groningen. Here are some highlights of the game. Heerenveen sits in 4th place in the Eredivisie, only 5 points behind Ajax. Bradley has definitely become a major part of the team that could see some playing time in Europe next year. Things are really looking good for Bradley, and it wouldn’t be against the odds to see him move to a higher profile team soon.
Now to the Champions League. The final group stages matches have finished. Liverpool was able to earn a second place in their group to advance to the second round. On the other end of things, Rangers crashed out of the competition in their win-or-die match versus Lyon. The teams that won their groups include FC Porto, Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Inter Milan, and FC Sevilla. The second place teams that they will be drawn against include Liverpool, Shalke, Olympiacos, Celtic, Lyon, Roma, Fenerbahce, and Arsenal. Personally, I would love to see AC Milan get drawn against Liverpool. The two teams have developed a rivalry over the years meeting twice in the last 3 Champions League finals. AC Milan will be banking on winning again, as they have struggled in the Serie A. They actually have yet to record a home win this season.
On a side note, there are yet again stories of English and Italian fan violence during the Roma and Manchester United match today. There were reportedly 3 stabbings and at least 5 people hospitalized in the build up to the match. Now I know that the English fans are not free of blame. They do have a reputation for going places and drinking up a storm and causing all sorts of havoc. However, I think the blame here has to be on the Italian teams, fans, and police. They obviously do not have things under control, and it’s only a matter of time before action will be taken by UEFA and FIFA. It happened to England in the 80s after the Heysel disaster. English teams were banned for 5 years. Do I think as drastic measures need to be taken in Italy? Yes.
Jozy Altidore Is Not Going To Real Madrid
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has come out and stated that Madrid will not be making a splash in the January transfer market. This means that barring any unforeseen events, Jozy Altidore will be staying with New York Red Bulls next season. Now that Calderon has said that, should we believe him? I think it would be hard to fit Altidore in at Madrid, especially with the likes of Robinho, Raul and Rudd Van Nistelrooy already holding forward spots with the club. Now is it possible that Madrid comes in and throws 15 million at MLS for Altidore? Absolutely. They can afford to do so, I just don’t see why they would want too. My prediction? Offers are made for Altidore, but unless they are in the 15 mil range, he’ll be staying with New York next season.
Weekend Action and World Cup Qualifying Draw
English Premier League
The premier league was well underway this weekend. Arsenal moved away at the top of the table with Manchester United slipping up against Bolton, while Bolton finally move out of the relegation zone. Derby still sit at the bottom with 6 points. Benny Feilhaber made a substitute appearance against Chelsea, but couldn’t keep them from losing yet again. After the game, the team parted ways with manager Billy Davies. You have to feel bad for him. He lost his job for over achieving if you think about it. The team was obviously not ready for the Premier League, but over achieved and got promoted anyways. Regardless, look for their new manager to spend quite a lot of money in the January transfer period to try and rebuild the team. If we’re lucky, he’ll like Benny Feilhaber much better than Davies did.
A struggling Reading lost yet again. Stephen Ireland unleashed a rocket in stoppage time to give Manchester City all 3 points. Even though they lost, it was nice to see Bobby Convey get a full game under his belt. Tim Howard looked good yet again for Everton, even though he didn’t need to be. Everton’s offense unleashed a 7 goal performance on Sunderland. The team seems to be revitalized with the return of Tim Cahill after a long injury. Roy Keane’s side has really fallen off the pace after a good start to the season, and if they continue this play they could see themselves back in the Championship. Fulham played good once again, but failed to hold on to all 3 points. With a little tweaking in the transfer window, this side could move into a comfortable mid-table position. This will be a much needed improvement, as year after year they find themselves in the relegation battle.
Liverpool, one of two undefeated teams in the league, are apparently going through some sort of crisis. At least that’s what American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks think. You can see where they are coming from, though. With all the money they spent over the summer, Benitez should have his side higher than 5th. That being said, the public arguing is doing nothing but hurting the team. If it continues, especially Benitez calling out the owners again, we may see a change in management at the team.
Portuguese Liga
Freddy Adu seems to have found his scoring stride for Benfica. He scored yet again in the teams 3-1 win over the weekend. He’s starting to look like their ’super-sub’, but if he continues to perform, we could be seeing him start very soon. The team is sitting comfortably in second place behind FC Porto.
The goal can be seen here.
Champion’s League
The Champion’s League began it’s second to last group stage round today. DaMarcus Beasley and Rangers were unlucky to lose to Stuttgart 3-2. Marica found the winner for the German champions in the 85th minute. Beasley played well getting an assist from a corner kick. Once again, he had to leave the game with an injury. That’s not surprising at all. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on the fact that he’s made of porcelain, and will get injured every other game. It’s frustrating that a player with his skills has such bad luck with injuries. Hopefully he doesn’t become the United States’ ‘Michael Owen’.
LA Galaxy
The Galaxy played a friendly against Sydney FC in their Beckham tour. The game was anything but friendly. I’ve had trouble finding highlights, but some of the Galaxy players really made the league look bad, starting quite a few little skirmishes. There was even a pretty deliberate stomping towards the end. There was a game played too, and both Beckham and Donovan were able to get on the scoreboard. It was not enough as Sydney won 5-3. Beckham’s was a trademark freekick, while Donovan scored towards the end after the game was already out of reach. Sydney dominated the game, making the Galaxy look like the kind of team that they really are. A terrible one.
Highlights can be seen here.
World Cup Draw
The drawing for World Cup qualifiers happened over the weekend. All the publicity goes to England, as they drew Croatia in what is sure to be an intense match-up. There are some things to talk about in the CONCACAF division. The United States drew Barbados (124), Dominica (129), and Cuba (70). That pretty much translates into easy win, easy win, and easy win. It may seem cocky to say, but our qualifying group is a bit of a joke. There are some political matters in the background in group, though that probably won’t improve the football being played. It will be the first time the United States has ever played against Cuba, and the first time we’re playing them at all since 1949. Still, however, I predict an easy win.
Daily Roundup 11/12/07
What’s up everyone? Been a while since I’ve been here. Plenty of things went on in Europe and StateSide this weekend, so lets hop right in….
The English Premier League was in full swing this weekend, with Blackburn Rovers taking on champions Manchester United. Rovers lost 2-0 to United with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging the brace over Brad Friedel. It could have been much worse for Rovers, but Friedel had an excellent game save the 2 goals he allowed. He stopped shots from Carlos Tevez, Rio Ferdinand, and denied Ronaldo a hat trick in the second half. Tim Howard and Everton faced off agaisnt Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Howard played well, denying England international Frank Lampard twice, but was hurt by terrible defending on the goal by Didier Drogba. Everton then shocked Chelsea by sneaking a goal in off of a beautiful bicycle by Carlo Cudicini. Derby County is up next and they played West Ham United. Derby lost 5-0 ,with an Eddie Lewis own goal as a part of their demise. Benny Feilhaber once again did not make the bench for Derby. I’ve said it in nicer terms before but I’m just going to put it all on the table here. Derby are terrible. I have to wonder about the person in charge there, because Feilhaber not being able to get minutes in this side is just down right maddening. Hopefully this will change, but I’ve been saying it for weeks and it hasn’t. We shall see. And finally, Fullham fought hard but lost to Liverpool 2-0. Clint Dempsey was booked for dissent while he and Carlos Bocanegra both played the full 90 min. for the Cottagers. Liverpool was boosted by goals from Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Its time folks. The decision has finally been made to give New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore his first cap for the USMNT as they take on South Africa this Saturday, 9 am on Fox Soccer Channel. Here is the rest of the lineup…..
GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard (Everton FC), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege)
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS: Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
I’m surprised to see Jay Demerit not in this side, but other than that, I love it. No Eddie Johnson, no Taylor Twellman, all is good with me. That’s the news for the day. Check back tomorrow for a preview of the MLS Cup!
Daily Roundup:10/31/07
Good Morning Folks! Happy Halloween! Sorry this is coming a bit late. Forgive us, its been busy around here. Lots of things going on in Europe and in the States, so lets jump right into to things……
In England, Manchester United continued on its tear after scoring 4 goals again against Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, EPL table leaders Arsenal drew with floundering club Liverpool. All this is in preparation for what should be the biggest game of the year for both teams as Man Utd. will travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal this weekend with first place on the line. Should be a great game. Now how about those Americans? Lets start with Everton and Derby County. Tim Howard had a shutout for Everton as they beat Derby 2-0. The match highlights can be seen here. Benny Feilhaber was not seen in this game once again. Eddie Lewis did play 60 min for Derby, but the fact that Feilhaber is seeing so little time is a concern to me. What’s he doing wrong? He plays well for the national team and Derby isn’t exactly setting the EPL on fire, so I don’t get why he isn’t playing. He was signed to play wasn’t he? We’ll have to keep an eye on this one. Up next, Jonathan Spector finally saw some time for West Ham as he entered as a sub in the 78th min for the Hammers in what would turn out to be a 0-0 draw against Portsmouth.
Up next we have Reading and Newcastle United. Marcus Hahnemann played very well , only allowing an own goal by Michael Duberry to spoil his day. Bobby Convey didn’t get off the bench for the Rovers. Fullham and Sunderland squared off as well with Clint Dempsey leading the way. Dempsey had a few chances and almost put a Simon Davies free kick into the back of the net. Dempsey was shown a yellow card, as was fellow American Carlos Bocanegra. Kasey Keller and Brian Mcbride were not featured due to injury, but Mcbride is expected back in December. The final game in the EPL involved Brad Friedel and the Blackburn Rovers. The Rovers won 2-1 behind great keeping from Freidel. Blackburn is now in fifth, an excellent spot for a team that was not expected to be that high at the start of the season.
As for the rest of Europe, Freddy Adu continues to impress as he scored the late winner for Benfica last Saturday against Maritmo. Adu came in and reeked havoc until the 87 min. He then slotted a close shot into the back of the net, giving Benfica the win. I’m not sure what you can say about Adu, except that he sure does seem to have a flair for the dramatic. It is this kind of form we looked for in MLS, and now we’re starting to see it. Is Adu finally maturing or was he always capable of this? Nobody but Adu knows this, but he is looking like the player we all thought he would be. The US national team gets more and more competitive by the day, and I for one cant wait to see where Team USA goes with the young nucleus that they are slowly but surely building. That’s the news for the day. Tomorrow we’ll have a preview of the MLS playoff games, and we’ll also cover the daily news. Have a safe Halloween!