Category: soccer

soccer

MLS: Eight worthy playoff teams pre-Cup

Posted on by Beau Dure

If the season ended today, we would have two playoff teams from the East and six from the West.

Want more East-West factoids?:

– In fact, the third-place Eastern team (Toronto) would be barely ahead of the last-place team (Chivas USA) in the West. The tiebreakers are head-to-head (haven’t played yet), goal difference (both at -2), then goals scored (Toronto leads 11-10).

– The East leader (New York) has a negative goal difference (-1). Columbus (+5) is the only East team with a positive goal difference.

– Jeff Sagarin’s ratings, which take schedule strength thus far into account, have only two East teams in the playoffs: Columbus (2nd) and Toronto (7th, barely). New York is 10th. The remaining five teams are 12th through 16th.

Frankly, no one could really complain if the eight teams currently in place reached the playoffs. Of the teams on the outside, Dallas and Chivas USA show occasional glimpses, New England could be decent if the injuries ever heal, and Kansas City is one goal-scorer away from contention. Toronto has one of the league’s all-time greats (Dwayne De Rosario), an emerging young forward (O’Brian White) and a solid keeper (Stefan Frei), but does anyone south of the border really want to see that team in the playoffs?

We could see a shakeup in this cozy division of haves and have-nots, though, as the World Cup borrows players for a while, starting now. Los Angeles, Columbus and Chivas USA are the teams hit hardest. Then they could be shaken up again after the post-Cup transfer market shakes out.

“Good,” say fans of D.C. United and anyone who was a little bored with this week’s 0-0 and 1-0 affairs.

Here’s how they stand heading into the break, with injuries taken into account.

STANDINGS/LINEUPS

1. Los Angeles Galaxy (23 pts/9 games played)

– Drew 0-0 vs. Toronto in the shock result of the week.
– Lineup (4-4-1-1): Josh Saunders; Bryan Jordan RB, Gregg Berhalter CB, Omar Gonzalez CB, Todd Dunivant LB; Charlie Birchall DM, Michael Stephens RM, Jovan Kirovski LM, Juninho AM; Landon Donovan WF, Edson Buddle F. Saunders replaces injured Donovan Ricketts, Jordan remains in for A.J. DeLaGarza (back spasms), Juninho returns but in place of Chris Klein rather than Kirovski.
– Injuries: Sean Franklin (left ankle sprain) hasn’t yet reclaimed his spot at the back, bruiser Dema Kovalenko (right hamstring strain), and Eddie Lewis (left foot contusion) has been questionable.
– The Galaxy will be without Donovan through the World Cup and Buddle at least through pre-Cup camp. Good thing they’ve built that huge lead in the standings.

Continue reading →

0
cycling, mma, soccer, tennis, track and field

Friday Myriad: Diamond debut, four soccer trophies on the line

Posted on by Beau Dure

Your hour-by-hour viewing guide, all times ET:

FRIDAY

Noon: Track and field, Diamond League, Doha. Debut of the expanded successor to the Golden League. I’ll be live-blogging this one. Universal Sports

2:40 p.m.: Soccer (England), League One semifinal, Swindon-Charlton. Special feelings for me regarding Swindon, the only place I’ve ever seen an English game in person. Plenty more promotion playoffs through the weekend. Fox Soccer Plus

SATURDAY

** 10 a.m.: Soccer (England), FA Cup final, Chelsea-Portsmouth. First vs. worst in the Premier League, but this time, there’s a trophy at stake. FSC

2 p.m.: Soccer (Germany), German Cup final, Bayern Munich-Werder Bremen. Bayern going for the second leg of the triple, having won the Bundesliga and with the Champions League final to come. ESPN Deportes

  • 2:30 p.m.: Soccer (Italy), AC Milan-Juventus, FSC

4 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), Philadelphia-Dallas. You’ll be bored with the Italian game by the time this one kicks off. TeleFutura

6-ish p.m.: Horse racing, Preakness. Might be able to flip over and catch the actual race after 90-plus minutes of pre-race. NBC

7 p.m.: Soccer (Mexico), semifinal second leg, Santos-Morelia. TeleFutura

  • 7:30 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), New York-Seattle is the best of the non-national games in the early evening. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com
  • 8:30 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), Kansas City-Chicago, FSC

9 p.m.: Soccer (Mexico), semifinal second leg, Toluca-Pachuca. Telemundo

10 p.m.: MMA, Strikeforce. Alistair Overeem-Brett Rogers for the heavyweight title (no, Fedor doesn’t have it yet, even though he beat Rogers in his last fight). Also another compelling heavyweight matchup: Andrei Arlovski-Antonio Silva. Showtime

  • 9:45 p.m.: Boxing, Amir Khan-Paul Malignaggi for Khan’s WBA light welterweight title in Madison Square Garden. USA TODAY preview. HBO

10:30 p.m.: Soccer (MLS), Los Angeles-Toronto. Can we go ahead and call it — three more points for the Galaxy? Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

SUNDAY

** 9 a.m.: Soccer (Italy), final games of season.

  • Siena-Inter, FSC
  • Chievo-Roma, Fox Soccer Plus (also delayed on FSC, 11 a.m.)

** 1 p.m.: Soccer (Spain), final games of season.

  • Valladolid-Barcelona, ESPN2
  • Malaga-Real Madrid, GolTV

5 p.m.: Cycling, Tour of California, first stage. Yes, it’s conflicting with the Giro d’Italia, but as my former deskmate Sal Ruibal tells us, California organizers have designs of making this another Grand Tour. Versus

6 p.m.: Soccer (WPS), Atlanta-Washington. Another look at Atlanta’s new soccer stadium, with a matchup of two high-powered offenses that were unusually shut out their last time out. FSC

ANYTHING ELSE?

0
soccer

Maron’s world tour: Loans to Africa, teams in Iceland and Sweden, then Atlanta

Posted on by Beau Dure

Atlanta Beat goalkeeper Brett Maron didn’t come from the typical U.S. youth team-via-North Carolina background. She went to Fairfield, which she says was a better fit for her than many of the traditional powerhouses and has an up-and-coming soccer team.

Her unusual route to the WPS continued after college, when she spent time with Iceland’s Afturelding FC and Sweden’s Kristianstads DFF.

She also was part of a group that left an academic legacy at Fairfield, starting a microlending program to help poor women start small businesses.

Given all that, it’s about time someone talked with her about her academic and athletic pursuits. And, of course, Icelandic handball. Here’s a slightly abridged transcript of our conversation Wednesday.

You did an interesting project at Fairfield involving lending. In your own words, what was it?

It was part of a senior project for my women’s studies minor. We started our own foundation, like a nongovernmental organization, to lend money to women in global south countries to start small businesses that would become sustainable. My class founded it and we passed it on to the next class, and it’s still going on today.

Continue reading →

1
soccer

The World Cup 30

Posted on by Beau Dure

ESPNewsreallyquicklygavethe30-manpreliminaryUSroster for the World Cup and talked to U.S. coach Bob Bradley about it.

It’ll be cut to 23. If someone’s injured, the roster can yet be changed.

Notes:

– No fourth goalkeeper. Not really a risk in terms of injuries, since Bradley could always grab an MLS keeper if needed. But still a slight risk. What if Brad Guzan, who hasn’t played much recently, comes into camp and isn’t in top form?

– No Charlie Davies. Bob Bradley said he was not given a “full medical clearance” from his club. Second opinion from American doctor wouldn’t hurt, but Bradley might know more than we do. On the flip side, Bradley said Milan has been including Oguchi Onyewu in preliminary squads and has given indications that he’s ready.

– Eddie Johnson gets a spot from his form with Aris in Greece. Freddy Adu does not. I’d love to hear Bradley’s reasoning on this.

– DaMarcus Beasley gets a shot in camp to show his fitness and form.

– Aside from Beasley, World Cup veterans didn’t get a break. Not Frankie Hejduk, who had some terrific performances in qualifying early last year but had a drop in form. Not Jimmy Conrad.

Updating my list from yesterday:

LOCKS for final 23
Tim Howard, GK
Brad Guzan, GK
Marcus Hahnemann, GK
Carlos Bocanegra, D
Michael Bradley, M
Maurice Edu, M
Landon Donovan, M/F
Clint Dempsey, M/F
Jozy Altidore, F

NEAR-LOCKS for final 23 (fitness questions)
Oguchi Onyewu, D
Jay DeMerit, D
Stuart Holden, M
Charlie Davies, F

NEAR-LOCKS for final 23 (form questions)
Jonathan Spector, D
Steve Cherundolo, D
Jonathan Bornstein, D – Chang omits
Ricardo Clark, M
Benny Feilhaber, M
Jose Francisco Torres, M

That’s 19 18 who are likely bound for South Africa unless their fitness or form fails them in camp.

THE BUBBLE – listed with writers backing them for final 23
Frankie Hejduk, D – Wahl
Clarence Goodson, D – Wahl, Davis
Edgar Castillo, D – Mravic,
Chad Marshall, D – Mravic
Heath Pearce, D/M
Alejandro Bedoya, M – on 4 of 5 SI picks for final 23
Sacha Kljestan, M – Davis
DaMarcus Beasley, M – Dohrmann
Robbie Rogers, M – Dohrmann
Bobby Convey, M
Brian Ching, F – Wahl, Mravic, Chang
Herculez Gomez, F – Wahl, Chang
Edson Buddle, F – Davis, Mravic
Eddie Johnson, F – Davis
Brian McBride, F – Davis, despite his retirement from international play
Robbie Findley, F
Nick Rimando, GK

SHOULD BE IN CAMP BUT WON’T BE

  • Jimmy Conrad, D
  • Freddy Adu, M/F
2
soccer

Alejandro Bedoya, stealth marketing and the U.S. World Cup roster

Posted on by Beau Dure

Let’s do a blind test. Which player would you think was most likely to be named tomorrow (2 p.m. ET, ESPNews) to the 30-man preliminary U.S. roster for the World Cup?

– Player A: Excelled for U-17s, U-20s and Olympic team. Had productive MLS career, twice named to All-Star team. Sold to European team but struggled for a couple of years to find place with club team. Has rare attacking skill and vision on the field. Has come on strong in recent games by most reports. 15 U.S. caps.

– Player B: Didn’t make U.S. youth teams, though he was considered. After good college career, opted to try his luck in Scandinavia. Currently leads his club team with four yellow cards. 2 U.S. caps, both in friendlies.

You’ve probably guessed it. Player A is Freddy Adu. Player B is Alejandro Bedoya. Those in the know think Bedoya will be on the roster and Adu won’t. If you bet on that four years ago, call someone for help setting up a charitable foundation you can surely afford to start now.

So has Bedoya benefited from being under the radar?

He shouldn’t, of course. It’s one thing to become the hip pick among the cognoscenti, even though no one has a chance to see him play outside of a couple of late appearances in friendlies. It’s another to impress Bob Bradley and the U.S. staff. U.S. Soccer is past the days in which a rumor of a left-footed player with an American citizenship claim somewhere in the Oberliga would start a stampede.

But what helps Bedoya is that no one has been paying attention long enough to see him fail. That sets him apart from Adu, Bobby Convey, Eddie Gaven, Edson Buddle, etc. Bedoya brings no baggage and no reason for a hue and cry among the fans and media. As far as the coaching staff is concerned, he’s an intriguing prospect. They may feel at this point that they know what Adu brings to the table. Bedoya is likely worth a closer look.

Still, there’s a downside to bringing in someone at this stage who didn’t go through the Central America grind. Late additions to the team usually help a bit more when they have some elite-level experience. DaMarcus Beasley and Tony Sanneh emerged late in the 2002 World Cup cycle, but Sanneh was a Bundesliga veteran and Beasley had been a U-17 / U-20 star.

And Bradley’s team-building philosophy is to build a wall around the squad. There’s an “inside” and “outside.” (See Filip Bondy’s new book, Chasing the Game.) It’s not so much a mean-spirited exclusionary tactic as it is a means of keeping distractions to a minimum.

Bedoya’s not a complete stranger, having been in the national team camp a couple of times already. So if he is indeed picked for this camp, Bradley must not view him as a risk.

Who else gets the call? Here are the locks and the bubble picks …

Continue reading →

1
cycling, mind games, olympic sports, soccer

Monday Myriad: Pileups at Giro, Barcelona wins European title!

Posted on by Beau Dure

The highlight of the weekend: A wrestler who suffered a severe spinal cord injury two months ago vowed to walk at his graduation from the University of Buffalo. He did. (AP)

In more mundane news from the weekend:

CYCLING

Stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia looked like the chase scene at the end of The Blues Brothers, with multi-vehicle pileups at every turn. See the Universal Sports video montage.

American Tyler Farrar was among those crashing, but he recovered to win the final sprint and stands one second behind Cadel Evans in the general classification. (VeloNews)

U.S. SOCCER

MLS is already covered. Big stories are the Galaxy still rolling, the injury-riddled Revolution reeling and the Sounders giving money back after being blown out at home.

In WPS:

  • The Atlanta Beat shouldn’t think about giving refunds after their first game in their new soccer-specific stadium, but the Beat lost 1-0 on an unfortunate own goal to Sky Blue. Atlanta is a fun team to watch but just couldn’t finish chances. Karen Bardsley stopped 13 saves to finish second on my player of the week ballot.
  • Washington and Boston ended scoreless.
  • Tiffeny Milbrett scored a brilliant goal in Gold Pride’s 2-0 win over Chicago.
  • Lindsey Tarpley got my player of the week vote, with pressure leading to an own goal and then a goal of her own in a 2-1 St. Louis win over Philadelphia. Tarpley is battling back from ACL surgery.

Standings though five games: Gold Pride (Bay Area) 12, Sky Blue (NJ) 9, St. Louis 8, Philadelphia 8, Washington 7, Boston 6, Chicago 4, Atlanta 1.

Caribbean Club Championship: The Puerto Rico Islanders did more than clinch a CONCACAF berth in Trinidad and Tobago. They won the whole thing, a four-team round robin, with two wins and a tie. (USLSoccer.com)

Division 2: Montreal celebrated the announcement of its pending move to MLS with a 2-1 home win over Minnesota. The only other decisive game of the weekend was a 2-1 home win for Rochester over St. Louis. The Rhinos lead the league with 11 points. Vancouver (8) has a one-point lead over Montreal in the NASL Conference, but the Impact have a game in hand.

GLOBAL SOCCER

No final-day drama in England or Germany. Chelsea just needed to avoid a shocking home result against Wigan to clinch the Premier League; an 8-0 win didn’t qualify as “shocking.” Bayern Munich needed to see two scores bigger than that to surrender the Bundesliga title, but that didn’t happen. For American fans, the biggest news was Hannover (Steve Cherundolo) winning 3-0 at Bochum to complete an escape from relegation.

As is so often the case in Mexico, the lower seeds pulled some playoff upsets, with eighth-seeded Pachuca (Jose Francisco Torres) downing top seen Monterrey on 3-1 aggregate. No. 7 Morelia shocked the Chivas fan base 5-2, and No. 5 Santos Laguna held off Pumas. Another giant fan base was disappointed in the one matchup that went according to form — No. 3 Toluca won 2-0 at home for a 4-2 aggregate win over Club America.

In Italy, Inter Milan and Roma won their last home games with some drama — Francesco Totti scored two late goals in Roma’s rally past Cagliari. Next Sunday, it’s Inter (79) at relegated Siena and Roma (77) at pesky Chievo.

In Spain, Real Madrid won easily and Barcelona held on for a 3-2 win at Sevilla to keep the race alive into the final week. On Sunday, Barcelona will be in the same situation Chelsea faced in England — a home game against a weaker side (Valladolid) and a one-point lead over second-place Real Madrid, who must win at Malaga and hope Barca stumble.

BASKETBALL

What’s that in the headline about Barcelona wining the European title? Didn’t they lose in the Champions League? Sure. But in the EuroLeague, Ricky Rubio and company beat Olympiakos in Sunday’s final.

MMA

Paul Daley has apologized for his postfight punch after losing to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113.

CRICKET

England, which suddenly remembered how to play cricket upon reaching the “Elite Eight” stage of the World Twenty20, is playing kingmaker today. With their semifinal spot assured, they’re playing New Zealand, which needs a win or “no result” to advance.

Australia has virtually clinched a berth from the other group, with India virtually eliminated.

CHESS

If Vishy Anand hadn’t blundered on his final move before making the 40-move time control in Game 9, the world championship would be all but over. Instead, it’s 5.5-5.5 heading into Game 12, with Veselin Topalov going for the win with white. If Anand manages a draw here, we’ll go to four tie-breaker games in which each player gets just 25 minutes, plus 30 seconds for each completed move. As aggressively as Topalov is likely to play, maybe we’re more likely to see Anand take advantage and counterattack for the win?

TENNIS

  • Serbia Open: Sam Querrey over John Isner in an all-American final.
  • Estoril Open (men): Defending champion Albert Montanes took out Roger Federer in semis and finished title defense against Frederico Gil.
  • BMW Open: Mikhail Youzhny upset top seed Marin Cilic in final.
  • Italian Open: Jelena Jankovic ousted Serena Williams in semis, then lost to unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in final.
  • Estoril Open (women): Anastasia Sevastova def. Arantxa Parra Santonja — no, I don’t know who they are, either.

COLLEGE SPORTS

  • Men’s volleyball: Three years removed from a 3-25 season, Stanford beat Penn State to win the national title.
  • Men’s lacrosse: 16-team NCAA Div I field has been announced; all eyes on top-seeded Virginia, which has a player in jail on a much-publicized murder charge in the death of a women’s lacrosse player. (NCAA.com)
  • Women’s lacrosse: 16-team NCAA Div I field announced; Virginia has the No. 6 seed in this one, with Maryland first. (NCAA.com)

OLYMPIC SPORTS

  • Beach volleyball (women): Jen Kessy and April Ross won a three-setter over Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca to take the FIVB Shanghai title. Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh were fourth. (USOC)
  • Diving: U.S. men win on home platform. (USOC)
0
soccer

MLS Week 7: Seattle sets the bar

Posted on by Beau Dure

Seattle fans stuck with their team after losing 4-0 to Los Angeles. The result wasn’t that much of a surprise after Kasey Keller, of all people, gifted the Galaxy an early goal.

The Sounders’ management, though, is making a bold statement. It’s not technically a refund, but it’s close — season-ticket holders will get a one-game credit toward next year’s tickets.

Classy move? Overreaction? Both.

J Hutcherson makes the case that coach Sigi Schmid, once fired from a first-place team, is once again in a place of unreasonable expectations. Schmid, for his part, is threatening to bench some people.

The rest of the week: The Galaxy rolled on, the Red Bulls hit a big bump in the road, Kevin Hartman helped Dallas crawl out of the West cellar, the Revolution hit rock-bottom.

STANDINGS/LINEUPS

1. Los Angeles Galaxy (22 pts/8 games played)

– Wednesday: Won 1-0 at Colorado. Big one-on-one stop by Ricketts against Omar Cummings; goal from Alan Gordon.
– Wednesday lineup (4-4-2): Donovan Ricketts; A.J. DeLaGarza RB, Gregg Berhalter CB, Omar Gonzalez CB, Todd Dunivant LB; Charlie Birchall DM, Michael Stephens RM, Juninho AM, Landon Donovan LM; Alan Gordon F, Edson Buddle F. No changes.
– Saturday: Won 4-0 at Seattle.
– Saturday lineup (4-4-1-1): Donovan Ricketts; Bryan Jordan RB, Gregg Berhalter CB, Omar Gonzalez CB, Todd Dunivant LB; Charlie Birchall DM, Michael Stephens RM, Jovan Kirovski AM; Landon Donovan WF, Edson Buddle F. Jordan for DeLaGarza, Kirovski for Juninho, Klein pushes Donovan up front and Alan Gordon out.

Continue reading →

2
basketball, cycling, mind games, mma, olympic sports, soccer

Friday Myriad: UFC, Giro and a field of their own in WPS

Posted on by Beau Dure

This weekend, we’ll have the biggest weekend of global soccer until the World Cup, with title deciders and playoffs. We’ll also have a new soccer stadium opening, something unexpected happening in a large soccer stadium, the first big cycling tour of the season starting and a UFC card worth a look.

Hour-by-hour for your couch-potato planning …

FRIDAY

3 p.m.: Basketball: EuroLeague Final Four, Barcelona-CSKA Moscow. Ricky Rubio still plays for Barcelona despite NBA recruiting efforts. Former Dukie Trajan Langdon has carved out a long career with CSKA. NBA Network

5 p.m.: Basketball: EuroLeague Final Four, Partizan-Olympiakos. Good WaPo feature today on Olympiakos’ Josh Childress. NBA Network

7 p.m.: Hockey: World Championships, Germany-USA (delayed broadcast, live online at 2 p.m.). The men’s tournament suffers from the absence of playoff-bound NHL stars, but they’re expecting a record crowd. World record. All hockey. That’s because they’re playing at Schalke’s soccer stadium and expecting a crowd of more than 76K. Universal Sports

SATURDAY

7:40 a.m.: Soccer (England): Promotion playoffs, first leg. Blackpool-Nottingham Forest. Two smaller clubs with a lot of top-flight history (including Forest’s back-to-back European triumphs) try to climb into the Premier League.  Fox Soccer Plus

  • Eye on Soccer (Germany): Can Schalke make up a 17-goal goal difference and catch Bayern Munich for first place? Probably not. Hannover (Steve Cherundolo) avoids relegation with a win at Bochum OR a draw at Bochum and a Nurnberg loss/draw, but that’s not on TV. So you might as well watch Werder Bremen-Hamburg, with Werder trying to hang on to third place and a Champions League playoff spot.  9:30 a.m., GolTV

10 a.m.: Cycling, Giro d’Italia, first stage. Ivan Basso, Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre and Alexandre Vinokourov are there. Reigning champion Denis Menchov, Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong are not. See VeloNews preview, which has a guide to each stage. The opener is a prologue-style short, flat time trial. Universal Sports

  • Tennis: WTA final, Rome. Venus Williams lost 6-0, 6-1 to Jelena Jankovic and won’t face Serena Williams in Friday’s semis. The other side of the draw has the resurgent Ana Ivanovic vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Tennis Channel

3 p.m.: Soccer (Spain): Sevilla-Barcelona, the biggest test left for Barca, which leads Real Madrid by one point with two games left3 p.m., GolTV

  • Real Madrid-Athletic Bilboa. 3 p.m. ESPN Deportes

4 p.m.: Soccer (MLS): At the same time, Seattle-Los Angeles is the first of the national broadcasts. TeleFutura

  • Toronto-Chicago and Salt Lake-Philadelphia. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

7 p.m.: Volleyball: NCAA men’s final: No. 12 Penn State at No. 1 Stanford. ESPN

  • Soccer (MLS): Columbus-New England. FSC
  • Soccer (Mexico): Playoffs, second leg, Monterrey-Pachuca. Eighth-seeded Pachuca (Jose Francisco Torres) lead 1-0 after first leg. Telemundo
  • Soccer (Mexico): Playoffs, second leg, Chivas-Morelia. Morelia lead 4-2 after first leg. 9 p.m., Telemundo

10 p.m.: MMA: UFC 113 has a rematch of the controversial light heavyweight showdown between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua. We also see if Paul Daley’s trash talk has managed to rattle Josh Koscheck so much that Kos forgets to put his hands up and lets Daley punch him out. And Kimbo Slice and Matt Mitrione compare progress in their ongoing MMA education. Pay-per-view / Yahoo! Sports online / FloTV mobile

SUNDAY

11 a.m.: Soccer (England): Final day for the Premier League. Chelsea leads Manchester United by a point (if tied: Chelsea leads by nine in goal difference). So the likely clincher is Chelsea-Wigan. Fox Sports Net AND FSC

  • Manchester United-Stoke, which will be very interesting indeed if Chelsea isn’t winning. Fox Soccer Plus
  • Other EPL games are all going at the same time. Arsenal is fighting to hold third and an automatic group-stage Champions League berth over Tottenham Hotspur, which is two points back and has clinched at least a Champions League playoff berth. Arsenal’s game also gives one last chance to check in on Clint Dempsey, playing for the visitors. Arsenal-Fulham (delay), 1 p.m., Fox Soccer Plus
  • Cycling: Giro d’Italia, second stage, 10 a.m., Universal Sports

1 p.m.: Soccer (Mexico): Playoffs, second leg, Toluca-Club America. 2-2 after first leg. Telemundo

4 p.m.: Basketball: EuroLeague final. NBA Network

Atlanta Beat stadium
A bit of play on the field at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Atlanta Beat's stadium. (Courtesy WPS)

7 p.m.: Soccer (WPS): The Atlanta Beat will play their first home game in the first stadium built for a women’s soccer team. Or two, technically, since it will be shared with Kennesaw State University. The 8,300-seat stadium can be expanded to 16,000 for concerts, but generally, you won’t see much else in the stadium. No X Games tearing up the field (Home Depot Center, LA), no football lines somehow creating divots in the field (RFK Stadium, DC), no artificial turf, etc. You could argue that it’ll be more soccer-specific than many MLS “soccer-specific” stadiums. All White Kit has a cool selection of photos and boldly predicts that the Beat, buoyed by their first home game and a festive atmosphere, will rise up out of last place with a win and go on to beat (ugh … still hate that unintentional pun) FC Gold Pride in the WPS final in September. FSC / iPhone / WPS site

  • Soccer (Mexico): Playoffs (second leg), Pumas-Santos Laguna. Santos lead 2-0 after home leg. 6 p.m., Telemundo

Full soccer listings at Soccer America. More TV listings at USA TODAY.

1
mind games, mma, soccer

Midweek Myriad:

Posted on by Beau Dure

Free-lance assignments, household emergencies and being yelled at by a couple of Red Bulls fans have taken up much of my time this week, but there’s still plenty to round up while I enjoy my first home HD soccer viewing. (NOW I can’t wait for the World Cup.)

– MLS: Four midweek games tonight, with D.C. United aiming to end its winless streak on ESPN2 vs. Kansas City.

– U.S. Open Cup: The 2010 tournament will include a curious California play-in game for an extra amateur berth. (TheCup.us)

– EPL: Tottenham Hotspur clinched a Champions League berth for next season with a 1-0 win at Manchester City. Could they even take third ahead of Arsenal?

– La Liga: Barcelona took an easy win over Tenerife yesterday; Real Madrid tries to keep pace and remain one point back later today against Mallorca.

– Coppa Italia: Inter 1, Roma 0 in today’s final, with lots of misbehavior. With these two teams still fighting for the league title, that might not cool down any time soon.

– Copa Libertadores: Chivas (the original one) are in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals, along with (barely) Brazil’s Sao Paulo. (Soccernet)

– UFC: Dropkick Murphys fans, mourn — Forrest Griffin is off the UFC 114 card. Instead, Jason Brilz will face Antonio Rogerio “Little Nog” Nogueira.

Also in UFC — the usual recap of The Ultimate Fighter will be on schedule tonight a little after 11 p.m. ET.

– Bellator: Thursday’s show has the first semifinals of the season — lightweights Roger Huerta-Pat Curran and Carey Vanier-Toby Imada. Also, lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez fights a “super fight” (keeping him active before he defends title against tourney winner) against UFC vet Josh Neer.

– Chess: Veselin Topalov outlasted Vishy Anand in game 8 yesterday. World championship all square with four games left. (Susan Polgar blog)

2
soccer

MLS Week 6: How long can Red Bulls’ surge last before crash?

Posted on by Beau Dure

New York Red BullsThe New York Red Bulls needed just six games to match their win total (five) from last season. They’re on pace to finish 25-5-0 (75 points).

That’s not going to happen, of course. But what’s the upper limit for this team? Are they that good? Just on a hot streak? Just lucky?

It’s not that the Red Bulls were drastically overhauled. Ten of the 18 players who have seen playing time this year played last year, and a few more have been out of action for one reason or another. The newcomers are solid but not spectacular.

“We had 7 of the 11 players from last season in the first lineup,” new coach Hans Backe said in a small, candid postgame press conference Saturday in RFK Stadium’s tunnels after the Red Bulls beat D.C. United 2-0. “So something good has happened during the preseason. A key factor was in the preseason we went to Spain and started winning friendlies.”

Was fellow New York sportsman Yogi Berra right? Is 90 percent of it half mental?

Continue reading →

1