Standard Liege are legit, I do not care if they play in the Belgian First Division. So far this year in Champions League and UEFA Cup, they have tied Liverpool, tied and beat Everton, beat Sevilla FC, and crushed Sampdoria. No wonder Oguchi Onyewu has been attracting a lot of attention, he has been rock solid in the back and dominant on set pieces. Check the video above to see Gooch score off a corner in a 3-0 victory yesterday over Sampdoria. The victory sent Standard Liege into the knockout rounds of the UEFA Cup.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Gooch leads Standard to the Knockout Stage
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Freddy, Not Much Playing, But Lots of Talking
Freddy hasn't been playing much lately (except for a nice little performance for the US) for Monaco but he did find the time to do a few interviews recently. Here is the link to the ESPN article that was already linked over at the Offside Rules, and here is another one over at Yanks Abroad. Finally here's another story for Goal.com about the young talent, even though I think some of the quotes were borrowed from Freddy's blog for the Monaco website.
Two Teams, Two Big Time Players, One Contract
As the Columbus Crew and NY Red Bulls prepared to face off for the MLS Cup two weeks ago, there were a few players on the field who were instrumental in their team's success. Players that fit in that category were Juan Pablo Angel, Chad Marshall, Dave Van Den Bergh, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The latter two made the news for opposite reasons yesterday, GBS signed a fat new contract and became Columbus' first DP, while DVB is understandably upset that his club his low-balling him. Check out this article by Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com and this article by Michael Lewis over at Big Apple Soccer for some more information on this developing story.
Jay-Z song from upcoming Biggie Biopic
Interesting video for Jay-Z's new song off the soundtrack of the upcoming movie, "Notorious". Song is growing on me (it's always nice to hear some new Jay), and since we'll probably never get an official video for the song, this interpretation by Evan Roth more than does the trick.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Cristiano Ronaldo beats out Messi, Torres for Ballon d'Or
Cristiano Ronaldo is officially the best player in the world, at least according to France Football magazine. Although, I think Messi and Ronaldo are about equal at this point, an incredible season by Ronaldo in which he scored 42 goals and led his team to EPL and Champions League titles, most likely tipped the scales in his favor. I know that this is not American soccer news, but these guys are just incredible to watch. Peep the video above.
Wale - Nike Boots
I present to you the premiere of the "Nike Boots" video by Wale directed by Chris Robinson, and shot right in my backyard, beautiful Washington DC. A lot of the concert shots were shot at Howard Homecoming this year and even though its a simple, performance-driven video, its nice to see the up and coming Wale work with a well known director like Robinson. The song is a little old around here, but on the national scene it isn't, so hopefully MTV and BET will pick up the video and run with it. Check out http://www.walemusic.com/ and http://elitaste.com/blog/ for news on Wale.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Generation Adidas Team to Go to England
MLS has announced a squad of 15 players (with a 16th to be announced) to represent Generation Adidas on an upcoming trip to England. The team will play games against the reserve squads of West Ham, Chelsea, and Aston Villa. A nice collection of inexperienced young players (like Chris Seitz and Abdus Ibrahim) and established MLS starters (like Bakary Soumare and Marvell Wynne) will be coached by San Jose coach Frank Yallop on the 8 day trip. The full list is below:
Josh Lambo (GK, FC Dallas, 18)
Eric Avila (M, FC Dallas, 21)
Bruno Guarda (M, FC Dallas, 22)
Anthony Wallace (D/M, FC Dallas, 19)
Tony Beltran (D, RSL, 21)
Chris Seitz (GK, RSL, 21 on Dec. 3)
Alex Nimo (M, RSL, 18)
Yuri Movsisyan (F, RSL, 21)
Amaechi Igwe (D, New England, 20)
Rob Valentino (D, New England, 23 on Dec. 21)
Marvell Wynne (D, TFC, 22)
Abdus Ibrahim (F, TFC, 17)
Roger Espinoza (M, KC, 22)
Ciaran O'Brien (M, Colorado, 21)
Bakary Soumare (D, Chicago, 23)
U-20's, Rongen Learn from Madrid Trip
Thomas Rongen and the US Men's U-20 team had a rough time during their camp in Madrid, going 0-2-1 over a 8 day span, against the likes of Real and Atletico Madrid's reserves. Andrew Rogers over at ESPN has a nice recap of the trip, and it seems as though Rongen has come out of the camp with a deeper talent pool and a better idea of which players he will be relying on during qualifying. Can the U-20's repeat their performance of 2007, or will this team fall short of expectations without the likes of Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, and Michael Bradley.
Update: Goal.com has a profile of one of the players who took part in the trip, Guiseppe Nazzani, an Italian who does not speak English but qualifies for an American passport through his mother.
Got Skillz?
Skillz is back with another video from his "Million Dollar Backpack" album that came out back in July. Underrated and overlooked, the Virginia-born Skillz has toured the country with The Roots over the past few years and always puts on a good show. Saw him a couple of years ago in DC, and he stayed around for about an hour signing autographs after the show. Always nice to see an artist getting in touch with his fan base. Check it out.
Some Reading After a Long Weekend
I apologize for the lack of posts over the last couple days, but too much turkey, stuffing, and winter lager can do that to you. To get back into the swing of things and to catch up on all the American Soccer news over the long weekend, here are a bunch of links to the news and happenings of the last few days. Apologies to Bruce McGuire over at the duNord blog for borrowing your posting style for a second, but there were a lot of good articles written over the last few days.
MLSnet's Season in Review Articles so far:
Colorado Rapids
Rapids face long wait 'til next year
Five big questions for Colorado
DC United
Ambitious United fell short of glory
Five big questions for D.C. United
FC Dallas
Talented Hoops hope to mature in '09
Five big questions for FC Dallas
Kansas City Wizards
Once down, Wizards rose to task
Five big questions for the Wizards
San Jose Earthquakes
Strong '08 provides a foundation
Five big questions for San Jose
Toronto FC
Positive 2008 lends TFC bright future
Five big questions for Toronto FC
Other Articles
Freidel Sets a Record
Article about little known American defender, Eric Lichaj, of Aston Villa's reserves
Jeff Carlisle, on Coach Bob Bradley's player pool
Houston Advances in CONCACAF Champions League
Andrea Canales with the Crew's real secret to success
Mike Petke is back in New York
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