Fit To Be Tired, Texas Style

At an exhibition match at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas this past Saturday Night, Nelson Cuevas scored the equalizer in the 90th minute to lift Mexico City's Club America to a 1-1 draw with English Premier League side Everton FC. Details here.

Rangers Top Motherwell, 2-1

Rangers of Glasgow started 2006-07 regular-season play with a narrow 2-1 win at Motherwell on Sunday. Details here.

Impressive Start of Title Defense For Celtic

Defending Scottish Premier League champion Celtic FC opened their defense in impressive fashion with a 4-1 victory over Kilmarnock. Details on Celtic's home victory and the other Saturday action from the SPL here.

Saturday MLS Action

In action from Major League Soccer on Saturday, July 29:

DeWayne De Rosario connected on a successful penalty kick in the 69th minute to lift the Houston Dynamo to a 1-1 draw with the visiting New York Red Bulls. Details here.

Steve Ralston's game-tying goal in the final minute of second half stoppage time lifted the New England Revolution to a 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards, whose club record losing streak ended a seven. 7,710 fans bothered to show up at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium. Details here.

At Frisco, Texas, Ramon Nunez scored two goals and assisted on another as home-standing FC Dallas popped the Colorado Rapids 4-1. Details here.

At Bridgeview, Illinois, the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire battled to a scoreless draw. Details and stats here.

Finally, Real Salt Lake ended DC United's 14-game unbeaten streak 2-1 at Salt Lake City. Both of RSL's goals were scored late in the second half on penalty kicks by Jeff Cunningham. Details and stats here.

An Early Start In Scotland

The Scottish Premier League kicks off its 2006-07 regular season on Saturday. Here is your link to the details.


You can find the official SPL website right here.

Third Round Draw

Here are the match-ups for the third round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League resulting from Friday's draw at Nyon, Switzerland:

FC Sheriff Tirasopo or Spartak Moscow vs. Liberec (Czech Republic)

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) vs. FH Hafnarfjordur or Ligla Warsaw

FC Zurich or Red Bull Salzburg vs. Valencia (Spain)

Levski Sofia or FC Sioni Bolnisi vs. Chievo Verona (Italy)

Hearts or NK Siroko Brijeg vs. AEK Athens (Greece)

CSKA Moscow (Russia) vs. Djurgarden or Ruzomberok

AC Milan (Italy) vs. Cork or Red Star Belgrade

Galatasary (Turkey) vs. Mlada Boleslav or Valerenga

Standard Liege (Belgium) vs. Gorica or Steaua Bucharest

Austria Vienna (Austria) vs. Benfica (Portugal)

Ekranas or Dinamo Zagreb vs. Arsenal (England)

FC Copenhagen or MyPa vs. Ajax (Netherlands)

Hamburg (Germany) vs. Osasuna (Spain)

Metalurgs or Dynamo Kiev vs. Fenerbache or B36 Torshavn

Liverpool (England) vs. Maccabi Haifa (Israel)

Lille (France) vs. Debrecen or Rabotnicki

The first legs will be played on August 8 and 9, with the second legs played on August 22 and 23. The teams whose opening games are at home are listed first.

There are also major safety concerns for the upcoming third round, two-game, home-and-away, total goals set between Liverpool and Maccabi Haifa. Details here.

Scoreless Draw At Asuncion

Internacional and home-standing Club Libertad battled to a scoreless draw in game one of their two-game semifinal set at the Copa Libertadores on Thursday night at Asuncion, Paraguay. The two teams will go at it again next Thursday in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

AC Milan Invited To Champions League--Provisionally

In a statement at Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday, UEFA announced that AC Milan will be included--provisionally-- in Friday's scheduled draw for the third qualifying round of the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League. A final decision on Milan's status is slated to be made next Wednesday. Details right here.

Guess Who's Coming To Real Madrid?

Real Madrid has acquired Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United and reached an agreement on a three-year contract. More on Ruud's deal here.

Let's Hear It For The Goalkeeper

Sao Paolo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni knocked in a successful penalty kick in the 84th minute Wednesday night as the visitors blanked Chivas 1-0 in Guadalajara in the first game of a two-game home-and-away semifinal set in the Copa Libertadores. You can find the details right here. Game two between the teams will take place next Wednesday at Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Wednesday MLS Action

In Wednesday action in Major League Soccer:

Claudio Suarez scored the equalizer during second half stoppage time to give Chivas USA a 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake at Salt Lake City. Details here.

Nicolas Hernandez scored the lone goal in the 35th minute, as the Colorado Rapids picked up a big 1-0 home win in Denver against the Houston Dynamo. Details here.

Fit To Be Tied

At Crew Stadium, in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday night, the Columbus Crew and English Premier League side Everton FC---the "Toffies"--battled to a 1-1 draw in an exhibition match (or "friendly"). Which, for the Toffies, was a pre-season game. Details here.

Milan's CL Fate In The Air

UEFA will decide at an emergency meeting Thursday in Nyon, Switerland, if AC Milan can participate in the 2006-07 Champions League. Details here.

Wednesday Action

In Wednesday action from the second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying:

Stephen Appiah, who captained Ghana to their second round appearance at the recent FIFA World Up, scored in the 26th minute to lead home-standing Fenerbache SK to a 4-0 fistbeating of B36 of Torshavn in the opening game of their two-game set at Istanbul. Details here.

At Edinburgh, Scotland, Hearts got their two-game set with Siroki Brijeg to a rousing start with a 3-0 shutout. Details here.

Maris Verpakovskis made a triumphant return to the city of his birth, Leipaja, Latvia, by scoring a goal in the 32nd minute to complete a Dynamo Kiev onslaught of three goals in 12 minutes during the first half as the Ukranian side thumped FHK Leipajas Metalurgs, 4-1, in the second qualifying round opener for both teams. Details here.

A tough break for Cork City FC as striker Denis Behan scored an own goal in the Irish club's second qualifying round-opening 1-0 home loss to Red Star Belgrade.
Details here.

Before the home fans in Sofia, Bulgaria, PFC Levski Sofia opened their two-game set with FC Sioni Bolnisi with a 2-0 win. Details here.

At Tiraspol, Moldova, Beninese striker Razak Omotoyossi scored a last-minute equalilzer as hometown Sheriff gained a 1-1 opening game draw with FC Spartak Moscow. Details here.

At Debrecen, Hungary, FK Rabotnicki and homestanding Debreceni VSC opened their two-game set with a 1-1draw. Details here.

At Nova Gorica, Slovenia, Nicolae Dica and Victoras Iacob scored second-half goals as visiting FC Steaua Bucharesi shut out NK Gorica 2-0 in their opener. Details here.

Two late goals helped FC Copenhagen to a 2-0 opening game victory at home over MyPa. Details here.

You can bet there were happy fans in Mlada Boleslav, in the Czech Republic. Their home town FK Mlada Boleslav dominated Valerenga 3-1 in game one of their two-game set. Details here.

At Stockholm, home side Djugardens IF edged out MFK Ruzomberok 1-0 in the opening match of their second round qualifying set. Details here.

At Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, home-town club HF battled gamely for 83 minutes before Brazilian striker Elton popped in the only goal for Ligia Warszawa, in the Polish club's 1-0 win in their series opener. Details here.

And, in Zurich, Switzerland, FC Zurich edged FC Red Bull Salzburg in the two teams' opener, 2-1. Details here.

All series, including the NK Dinamo Zagreb-FK Ekranas series, will conclude next week.

Dinamo Zagreb Takes Opener

NK Dinamo Zagreb took the opening game Tuesday of its two-game, total goals set against FK Ekranas, winning 4-1 on Lithuanian soil. This opened the second round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League. Eduardo Da Silva was "Da Man," scoring twice for the victors. More details here.

Verdicts In Appeals Case

There is some big news concerning the verdict in the appeals trial involving the four Italian Soccer clubs implicated in that country's match-fixing scandal. AC Milan had its points penalty in Serie A reduced from 15 to 8, and has now been allowed to participate in the third qualifying round of the 2006-06 UEFA Champions League as a seeded team. Fiorentina and Lazio have been restrored to Serie A. The former will start the upcoming Serie A campaign with a 19-point penalty and the latter will start with an 11-point penalty. Juventus remains relegated to Serie B, but its' point penalty has been reduced from 30 points to 17. The stripping of Juve's two most recent Serie A championships still stands. More details here.

Links To Copa Libertadores Semifinalists' Sites

Here are links to the websites of the four semifinalists in this year's Copa Libertadores:

Sao Paulo FC has an English language site.

Here's a link to the Chivas de Guadalajara official Spanish language site.

Here's the Internacional site. The site is in Portugese, but there are links to English and Spanish language information.

Finally, we have the Club Libertad site, in Spanish. You can use Google to translate the information on the site into English.

New Coach For Brazil's National Team

There is a new head coach for the Brazilian national team. Carlos Dunga, the man who captained Brazil's 1994 World Cup championship squad, replaces Carlos Alberto Parreira as that country's new head coach.

Time For Another Batch Of Links

Here is another batch of links to teams taking place in the second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying:

The Icelandic side FH has a website in Icelandic. There is a link to English language info.

The official Legia Warszawa web site is in Polish. There is an unofficial site in English.

FC Copenhagen has an official site in Danish and English.

MyPa's official site is available in Finnish and English.

FK Ekranas has an official site in Lithuanian.

NK Dinamo Zagreb has an official site in Croatian and English.

Heart of Midlothian FC, commonly referred to as Hearts, has its own official website.

NK Siroki Brijeg has an official website. It's in Croatian.

AC Milan Appeals Champions League Ban

AC Milan, on the final scheduled day of the appeal trial of the four Italian soccer clubs punished for their part in the match-fixing scandal Monday, appealed its banishment from the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League.

More From Appeals Trial

On Sunday, the appeals trial surrounding the four Italian soccer clubs punished for their part in the match-fixing scandal continued.

Arsenal Beats Ajax In Debut At New Stadium

With Dennis Bergkamp playing his final game for Arsenal, the Gunners, this past Saturday, defeated his former club, Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-1, at Arsenal's first game, an exhibition match, at Emirates Stadium, their new home.

Another Batch Of Links

Here's are links to several more participants in the second round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League:

Fenerbahce SK has an English language website.

B36 Torshavn's site is in Faroese (or is it Danish?).

FK Mlada Boleslav's site, when you first log on, is in Czech, but there is button that allows you to access the English language site. I've decided to link-up with both versions.

The Valerenga IF site is in Norwegian.

I've decided to link up with the English language version of the FC Sheriff Tiraspol website.

Here's the English language version of FC Spartak Moscow's site.

FHK Leipajas Metalurgs has a site. When you enter it, it is in Latvian, though it also has links to the English and Russian versions.

FC Dynamo of Kiev has a website in Ukranian and Russian.

Saturday's MLS Action

D.C. United's unbeaten streak was stretched to 14 games when Alecko Eskandarian's goal in the 74th minute enabled United to salvage a 1-1 tie with the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois on Saturday. In other action, The Los Angeles Galaxy and Columbus Crew battled to a 1-1 draw at Crew Stadium; the New York Red Bulls , on a Mike Magee goal in the 25th minute, blanked the Kansas City Wizards, 1-0 at East Rutherford, New Jersey, and handed the Wizards their seventh consecutive loss; the New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo battled to a 1-1 draw at Robertson Stadium on the University of Houston campus; and Abe Thompson scored his first goal of the season in the final minute of FC Dallas' 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium (University of Utah) in Salt Lake City.

New Head Man For Kenya

Former French goalkeeper Bernard Lama was named new head coach of Kenya's men's national soccer team on Saturday.

Another Batch Of Links

Here is another batch of links to websites of clubs taking part in the second round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League:

FC Zurich (In German; by typing "FC Zurich" on Google's web site, you can find a link that can translate the information on the FC Zurich site into English)

Red Bull Salzburg (The welcome page on this site provides links to both the Austrian team [in German] and the New York MLS team [in English])

Djurgardens IF Fotboll, in Swedish and Engish

MFK Ruzomberok, in Slovakian. On the site, there is a link to the English langauge version.

Debreceni VSC

FK Rabotnicki, with links to both the Macedonian and English language versions.

Ireland's own Cork City FC

and

FC Red Star Belgrade, from what is now simply Serbia, with buttons that lead to both English and Serbian language versions.

Appeals Trial Under Way In Rome

The appeals trial in the Italian Soccer match-fixing scandal started Saturday with the four Italian clubs (AC Milan, Juventus, Lazio, and Fiorentina) hoping to have their penalties reduced.

Two More Leave Juve For Spain

In the wake of the recent game-fixing scandal that has resulted (pending appeal) in Juventus being relegated to Italia Serie B and stripped of its two most recent Serie A titles (not to mention banishment from this coming season's UEFA Champions League), two more players, defensemen Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram leave the Turin, Italy club for Spain, with both of them joining reigning Champions League titlist FC Barcelona.

More Links

Here are links to two more teams participating in the second round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League: PFC Levski Sofia (in Bulgarian--there is link to the English language version on the site) and FC Sioni Bolnisi. The Georgian team's site is under construction.

We Have Our Copa Libertadores Semifinalists

On Thursday night at Buenos Aires, Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara (parent club of Chivas USA of MLS) won the second game of the two-game total goals series against Valez Sarsfield of Argentina, 2-1, which was also the total for the entire two-game set. Thus, Chivas won its Copa Libertadores quarterfinal series and will now move on to the semifinals of South America's most prestigous club competition.

Next week, Chivas will open at home in Guadalajara against Sao Paulo FC (Brazil), while Paraguayan club Club Libertad will play host at Asuncion against Internacional (Brazil). The following week, the two Brazilian sides will play host to their opponents.

"Goats" and Rapids Draw 3-3

Jacob Peterson's game-tying goal, 91 seconds into second-half stoppage time enabled the Colorado Rapids to earn a 3-3 draw with Chivas USA in Denver Thursday night.

Arsenal Fans Dig New Digs

Fans seemed impressed by Arsenal's new home stadium. You'll find a photo of the Emirates Stadium in the article.

Red Bulls Beat Columbus 2-0

The New York Red Bulls (with Richie Williams still at the helm as interim head coach---Bruce Arena's first game is an exhibition against Barcelona on August 12) blanked the Columbus Crew Wednesday night in MLS action, 2-0 at Columbus.

Club Links

I have decided to start posting links to offical sites of teams that are competitng in the second round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League of 2006-07. I will start with ND Gorica (in Slovenian---there is a button on that site that leads to English language info) and FC Steaua Bucharest.

Punishment For Zizu And Marco

FIFA, soccer's governing body, today handed down a three-game suspension for retired French star Zinedine Zidane and a two-game ban for Italian defender Marco Materazzi for their part in the infamous head-butting incident that took play at the World Cup championship game back on July 9 in Berlin. Zizu was fined $6,000 and Marco, $3,000, after a disciplinary panel heard the now-retired French team captain's account of what led to the incident.

Roster Filled For Champions League 2nd Quilifying Round

The first round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League concluded on Wednesday. The first round winners advanced to second round, which would take place starting on July 25/26 with the second game, or leg, of each of the respective two-game, total-goals sets, or ties, to be played on August 1/2.

FHK Liepajas Metalurgs (Latvia) advanced by winning the two-game, total-goals set with FC Aktobe-Lento (Kazakhstan) by an aggregate of 2-1, after the Latvian side drew with their opponents 1-1.

MyPa (Finland), also known as Myllykosken Pallo -47, advanced as well, by taking out The New Saints (Wales) by an aggregate of 2-0 (after back to back 1-0 wins).

Cork City (Republic of Ireland) advanced on an aggregate of 2-1, after a second match 1-1 draw with Apollon Limassol (Cyprus).

NK Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia and Herzegovina) advanced on the stregnth of back-to-back 1-0 shutouts against Shakhtyor (Belarus).

B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands) advanced on an aggregate of 5-2 after drawing 2-2 in game two against Birkirkara (Malta).

ND Gorica (Slovenia) moved on to the second qualifying round by an aggregate of 5-3, after drawing 2-2 in game two versus Linfield (Northern Ireland).

FH Hafnarfjordur (Iceland) also advanced. They outscored TVMK Tallinn (Estonia) for two games by a total of 4-3. This after two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in game two.

Here are the second qualifying round matchups:

ND Gorica vs. Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) vs. Sioni Bolnisi (Georgia)
FC Zurich (Switzerland) vs. Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)
Djurgarden (Sweden) vs. Ruzomberok (Slovakia)
Debrecen (Hungary) vs. FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia)
Cork City vs. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
Fenerbache (Turkey) vs. B36
Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic) vs. Valerenga (Norway)
Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldolva) vs. Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Liepajas Metalurgs vs. Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
FH Hafnarfjordur vs. MyPa
Ekranas (Lithuania) vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Hearts (Scotland) vs. Siroki Brijeg

Coaching Change In KC

Aston Villa wasn't the only club that fired its coach today. Bob Gansler, the man, who in 1990, coached the United States to its first World Cup appearance in 40 years, was fired as head coach of Major League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards. Assistant Brian Bliss will take over on an interim (or as they say, caretaker) basis.

Aston Villa Coach Canned

After three years on the job, Aston Villa of the English Premiere League fired head coach (or manager) David O'Leary.

Two Juve Stars Depart For Real Madrid

In what may have been the first major fallout from Juventus' demotion from Serie A to Serie B (and with a 30-point penalty to boot, all this pending appeal) in the wake of that Italian game-fixing scandal, two of the Turin, Italy team's stars, Fabio Cannavaro, who captained Italy's World Cup championship squad, and Emerson, are leaving for Real Madrid.

Idea For US National Head Coach

Here's an idea for United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati to change the face of American Soccer, as suggested by Fox Soccer online columnist Jamie Trecker.

Brazil Coach Quits

In the wake of his defending World Cup champs getting knocked off in the quarterfinals of this year's tournament by France, Carlos Alberto Parreira has resigned as Brazil's head coach.

What's Next For Zizu And Marco?

French star Zinedine Zidane and Italian defenseman Marco Materazzi both could face sanctions from FIFA in the aftermath of the head-butt incident in the World Cup championship match.

Sanctions For Zizu and Marco?

French captain Zinedine "Head-Butt" Zidane and Italian defenseman Marco Materazzi both face sanctions from world soccer body FIFA over the incident that took place in the recent World Cup championship match. Zizu is schedule to appear before a FIFA disciplinary panel in Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday.

Ekranas, FC Sioni Bonisi, FK Rabotnicki, Sheriff Tiraspol Advance

On Tuesday, four teams advanced to the second round of qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League by winning their two-game total-goals series:
Ekranas (from Lithuania) took care of Elbasani (from Albania), winning 3-1 on aggregate (winning the second game 3-0); despite losing their second game to Baku (from Azerbaijan) 1-0, FC Sioni Bolnisi (from Georgia---the former Soviet Republic, not the state), on the strength of an earlier 2-0 win, advanced 2-1 on aggregate; FK Rabotnicki (from Macedonia) defeated F91 Dudelang (from Luxembourg) 1-0 on aggregate after a scoreless draw in the two teams' second game; and Sheriff Tiraspol (from Moldolva), defeated Pyunik (from fellow ex-
Soviet republic Armenia) 2-0 for the two games after the Moldovan side won game two by that score. The first qualifying round concludes on Wednesday.

New Boss For Azzurri

Former AC Milan star Roberto Donadoni today was named successor to Marcello Lippi (who coached Italy to its recent World Cup championship and went out a national hero) as new head coach of Italy's national soccer team.

Logo For Home Of Bruce Arena's New Gig

This is the logo of the MLS team formerly known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. You can call them Red Bull New York, or the New York Red Bulls. Either way, the team has stunk up the pitch so far this season. 

New Job For Bruce

Recently deposed United States men's soccer head coach Bruce Arena was hired today as the new head coach of Red Bull New York (or the New York Red Bulls) of Major League Soccer. He replaced interim coach Richie Williams, who in turned replaced the fired Mo Johnston. For Bruce, it will be a tall order to lead the former New York/New Jersey MetroStars into the playoffs. With only three wins (as opposed to six losses and eight ties), the Red Bulls have the fewest wins amongst the 12 MLS clubs. New York's 17 points are the league's second fewest (only Real Salt Lake have fewer). It was shortly before this season started that the Austrian company that makes the Red Bull energy drink purchased the MetroStars from the Anschultz Entertainment Group (which still own--I mean--operate DC United, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chicago Fire, and Houston Dynamo). In 2005, Red Bull purchased SV Austria Salzburg and renamed the team Red Bull Salzburg, which did not at all sit well with fans of that club. Some MetroStars fans weren't too happy with the name change for their club, either.

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome to a brand new weblog dedicated to the sport of association football, referred here in the United States, Canada, and a few other places as SOCCER, or FOOTBALL in the rest of the world, except in Italy, where the sport is called CALCIO. This blog will explore the world of America's own Major League Soccer, as well as top soccer leagues from elsewhere. Your comments are welcome.