Wednesday, September 24, 2008

LA Galaxy vs Chicago Fire

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Columbus Crew vs NY Red Bulls

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Manchester United vs Villareal

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

DC United vs Deportivo Saprissa

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

NE Revolution vs Chivas USA

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Monday, September 8, 2008

USA vs Trinidad & Tobago RECAP

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (Sept. 10, 2008) — The U.S. Men’s National Team earned their fifth consecutive shutout in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with an impressive 3-0 win Wednesday against Trinidad & Tobago in front of 11, 452 fans at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. First half goals from Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey were complemented by a second half strike from Brian Ching to keep the U.S. in first place in Group 1 with nine points after three matches. With the shutout, the U.S. increased their streak to 551 minutes without allowing a goal.

The victory marked a trio of records for the U.S. history books, including the first time ever the U.S. has earned six consecutive shutouts, going back to the team’s 0-0 draw against Argentina on June 8 at Giants Stadium. The victory was also the sixth straight victory in World Cup qualifying dating back to the final match of the 2006 campaign, setting a team record. The five straight victories in one cycle also ties a team record set during the Final Round of the last qualifying run.

“It’s good to have gotten this round off to such a good start," said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. "We found a good rhythm and did a good job moving the ball and finding the little seams in their defense. I think that set the tone for the game. It was a good win, and halfway through this round I think we continue to improve and that’s what it’s all about.”

Back on home soil for the first time in this Semifinal Round, the U.S. came out aggressive from the start. Trinidad & Tobago were content to put numbers behind the ball, deploying a defensive formation with 10 players looking to stifle the U.S. attack. The team had the perfect answer to that approach, scoring before 10 minutes had passed from another textbook set piece.

After DaMarcus Beasley won a foul on the left side about 20 yards from goal, Landon Donovan swung a free kick into the six-yard box. With several players crashing, Bradley cleverly re-directed the cross off the outside of his right foot and to the far post past Marvin Phillip, who was rendered helpless. The goal was Bradley’s second in World Cup qualifying, and the third of his international career.

Clint Dempsey doubled the U.S. lead eight minutes later. A string of passes put the T&T defense on their heels, beginning with Oguchi Onyewu winning a ball and knocking it to Sacha Kljestan, who then played into Dempsey. The midfielder delivered a ball to Beasley, who had roamed into the center of the park. As Dempsey sprinted forward, Beasley held the ball before sending a through ball that was misplayed by Keyeno Thomas allowing the Fulham midfielder in on goal, and he wasted no time by firing a low shot past Phillip. The goal was Dempsey’s second in as many games and his fourth in four World Cup qualifiers he has played in this cycle.

The waves of U.S. attacks continued, the smooth surface allowing for crisp passes and long-flighted balls to change the point of attack. Both Donovan and Beasley were effective in getting behind the T&T defense and slipping dangerous crosses into the box.

The U.S. nearly got their third goal on the half hour mark, Donovan racing in behind the T&T defense and looking to pick out Ching at the penalty spot. His curling ball arrived at an awkward height for Ching, and he was unable to get a clean shot on goal. By the end of the first half, the U.S. held a 6-1 advantage in shots.

Trinidad & Tobago showed a little more life to start the second stanza, earning two corner kicks in the first five minutes. The U.S. got a scare in the 53rd minute, first when a cross from Cyd Gray was deflected by Onyewu just outside the near post. On the ensuing corner, a header that appeared pegged for the far side netting was cleared off the line by Steve Cherundolo.

The U.S. put their third goal on the board in the 57th minute on another service from Beasley. After Cherundolo was fouled 40 yards from goal, Beasley drove an in-swinger to the top of the six-yard box. Onyewu rose above his mark and headed the ball towards goal, with his effort saved by Phillip. The rebound fell to Ching, who easily deposited his third goal of the 2010 qualifying campaign and his fifth overall in qualifying.

T&T nearly got one back three minutes later when a shot by Cornell Glenn was saved by Howard. The rebound was finished off by Anthony Wolfe, but the linesman’s offside flag was correctly held high.

Kljestan nearly got on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute, when Ching sent in a cross that Donovan hustled to collect. Donovan passed it back to Kljestan, who tried his luck on goal, forcing Phillip to make a point-blank save.

The U.S. made a double-substitution in the 67th minute, replacing goalscorers Bradley and Ching with Eddie Johnson and Ricardo Clark. The U.S. made their final substitution in the 78th minute, with Eddie Lewis replacing Dempsey. Lewis has appeared in nine of the USA’s 11 matches in 2008.

Two minutes after coming in, Lewis made his presence felt as he possessed the ball up the left flank and sent in a cross to a wide open Donovan, who skimmed the ball with his head wide right of the right post.

Lewis earned the team a corner kick in the 81st minute, sending in a cross to where Onyewu was rushing into the center. Onyewu and a defender both slid toward the ball and the backspin caused it to stop dead in front of the goal, where Thomas did well to clear it out of danger.

The U.S. created another dangerous opportunity in the 82nd minute, when Beasley sent a corner kick back to Kljestan at the top of the area. Kljestan passed it out to Lewis on the left and Lewis sent it into the middle for Johnson, but his final shot was blocked by a defender. The rebound bounced right back to Johnson who sent it back towards the goal, only to have is second attempt also stuffed by the Trinidadian defense.

The Soca Warriors continued to pressure in the waning moments of the match, getting dangerously close in the 87th minute. Gray controlled the ball just outside the area on the right side, firing a shot past a cluster of red and white jerseys and just wide of Howard’s goal. With the shutout, Howard has now posted five shutouts in six career World Cup qualifying appearances.

The U.S. Men’s National Team will get a break from qualifying until the second leg of games begins for the Semifinal Round. The U.S. will face Cuba at 7 p.m. ET on Oct. 11 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., before traveling to take on Trinidad & Tobago on Oct. 15. The U.S. wraps up Semifinal Round qualifying against Guatemala at 6 p.m. MT on Nov. 19 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

USA vs Cuba RECAP

HAVANA, Cuba (September 6, 2008) - In their first trip to Havana in 61 years, the U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Cuba, 1-0, to move into first place in Group 1 in the Semifinal Round of FIFA World Cup qualifying. Clint Dempsey provided the game-winner with an opportunistic strike in the 40th minute to give the U.S. the three valuable points.

Facing Cuba in Cuba for just the second time in history, the U.S. had to quickly get accustomed to a bumpy and uneven field that was also slick from rain that started a few hours before kickoff. Despite the tough conditions, the U.S. was solid defensively, while controlling possession and finding moments to get forward and create chances on goal.

Defender Oguchi Onyewu started the play that led to the game-winning goal, hitting a long ball from the midfield stripe into the penalty area towards Dempsey and Brian Ching. Carlos Domingo was able to win the challenge in the air with Dempsey, but his header hit the back of the U.S. midfielder and deflected to the feet of Ching. Holding off a defender on his back, Ching one-timed the ball back to Dempsey who had turned to face goal, and he took one touch across the goal before slamming a low drive from 15 yards out inside the left post. The goal was Dempsey’s third in 10 qualifying appearances.

The U.S. backline and goalkeeper Tim Howard were solid once again to give the U.S. their fourth straight qualifying shutout, and record third straight road qualifying victory. Howard made three saves on the night, including a fantastic game-saving effort in the 88th minute to push aside a Yeniel Marquez header that had deflected off the shin of Carlos Bocanegra and looked destined for the lower right corner.

"Cuba did a good job of responding after their first game. It meant a lot to them and as a result it was a tight game,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. “I thought once again we dealt well with some difficult conditions and came away with a good result. We’ve played in two tough games on the road now and have six points, putting ourselves in a very good position going into the match against Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday.”

The U.S. will return to the United States on Sunday in preparation for their third match of the Semifinal Round when they face Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., just outside of Chicago. Kickoff for the match is at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPN2 and Galavision, and can also be followed live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.

Trinidad & Tobago was only able to secure one point in their match against Guatemala earlier this evening, putting the U.S. alone atop the group with six points. T&T is in second place with four points, while Guatemala is in third with one and Cuba sits in last place with zero points.

Bradley made only a few changes from the USA’s victory against Guatemala in their last qualifying match, replacing the suspended Steve Cherundolo with Frankie Hejduk and starting midfielder Maurice Edu in place of Pablo Mastroeni, who was not on the roster. Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan swapped starting positions for the Cuba match, as Dempsey started on the right wing and Donovan started at forward.

Cuba earned the first chance of the night after winning a corner kick in the first couple minutes. Jaine Colome served the ball from the left corner to the far post where Domingo came crashing in at the corner of the six-yard box, but his one-timer was well over the bar.

The U.S. appeared to get on the board in the seventh minute when Onyewu’s flick header inside the box rolled into the open net, but the mammoth defender was called for a foul after colliding with Cuban ‘keeper Odelin Molina during the challenge.

Landon Donovan and Dempsey both created chances inside the first 15 minutes, but both chances went wide left of goal. Donovan first teamed up with Hejduk on a give and go on the right side before striking low, while Dempsey went on an impressive individual effort that started from the center line and saw him blow past Marquez and hold off Luis Villegas to get into the box and take his attempt.

In the 30th minute, Edu served in a lofted ball from the left sideline to the back post where Brian Ching had created some space from his defender, but his first touch escaped him and rolled out over the endline, losing out on a good opportunity in front of the net.

On the other end, Cuba struggled to find room to work with as the U.S. defense was well organized and didn’t allow a single shot on goal in the first half. Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra calmly won the numerous through balls up the middle, while Heath Pearce and Hejduk did well to handle the speed of the Cuban players.

The second half wasn’t even 60 seconds old when Cuba had their first dangerous look on goal when Roberto Linares struck a bouncing ball from 22 yards out which put Howard on his heels before dipping just over the bar.

Earning some confidence during the next 15 minutes, Cuba created one of their best chances of the night in the 57th minute with some nice combination play between Silvio Minoso and Alain Cervantes along the left flank. Starting near the midfield stripe, the two played a give and go down the left sideline with Cervantes eventually getting the ball inside the penalty area and unleashing a strike towards the near post, but Howard was able to securely snatch it without allowing a rebound.

With two-thirds of the match gone, the U.S. looked to double the score with a couple strikes from distance. Edu unleashed a swerving attempt from 28 yards out, but it veered wide right. Less than a minute later, Dempsey took a pass from Michael Bradley and unleashed from nearly the same spot, but his attempt was deflected and just missed the lower right corner.

DaMarcus Beasley had the best chance to give the U.S. some breathing room when he stayed with a through ball that Molina was only able to get a hand on near the top of the penalty area. Beasley ran it down on the endline and pulled it back past Molina, but with just a defender covering the goal his shot from inside the penalty area was high and wide.

As the U.S. tried to kill off the game, things got even more difficult as half the stadium lights went out. Despite the increased darkness, the game went on and Cuba pushed forward in hopes of what seemed would be an unlikely equalizer. The unlikely almost became reality off a free kick from the right sideline by Pedro Faife, but Howard came up with his spectacular save to save three points.

The U.S had one last opportunity in injury time when Sacha Kljestan found Ching inside the penalty area, but Molina made a sprawling save.

After Trinidad & Tobago, the U.S. will begin the second half of the Semifinal Round when they host Cuba at RFK Stadium on Oct. 11, before traveling to Trinidad on Oct 15 and then concluding the four-team group on Nov. 19 against Guatemala at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The top two teams in the group will advance to the Final Round of qualifying.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

FC Dallas vs Colorado Rapids

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Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Concacaf Champions League

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