The Soccer Thread

[Exile on Waveland]

I hate Milan. Nobody else could cheat, get away with it, stay in the top flight and win the Champs League. Nobody.

 

Thirded. Or is it fourthed now?

 

Anyway, that was a rather uninspiring match. I figured Milan would win, but I'm still disappointed. Oh well.

[USSoccer]

Milan sucks. Can't stand them, and that first goal shouldn't have counted.

[Jon]

My power comes back on and I find the Fire are down 2-0 to the Red Bulls at the half. Talk about an early season free-fall...

[Jon]

Yeesh. This team bites right now. They need a little health right now and Blanco soon.

 

Tim Howard will be the USMNT keeper during the Gold Cup. In addition, according to ESPN, the USMNT will announce two international friendlies for mid-October (14th and 17th) in Europe.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Cool, I've always been a big fan of Howard.

[Jon]

Upcoming USA Gold Cup schedule:

 

6/7 vs. Guatemala (LA) - 8 PM CT- FSC and Telefutura

6/9 vs. T&T (LA) - 4 PM CT - FSC and Telefutura

6/12 vs. El Salvador - (Boston) - 6 PM CT - FSC and Telefutura

 

I'm glad they're going to be on Telefutura and not just FSC (which I don't get).

[soccer10k]

So they're not going to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC?

[Jon]

So they're not going to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC?

Nope. FSC has the rights to it.

[MPC]

Upcoming USA Gold Cup schedule:

 

6/7 vs. Guatemala (LA) - 8 PM CT- FSC and Telefutura

6/9 vs. T&T (LA) - 4 PM CT - FSC and Telefutura

6/12 vs. El Salvador - (Boston) - 6 PM CT - FSC and Telefutura

 

I'm glad they're going to be on Telefutura and not just FSC (which I don't get).

 

Awesome. I thought it was going to be soccer-less this summer.

[soccer10k]

So they're not going to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC?

Nope. FSC has the rights to it.

 

Crap. Well, I guess I'll just have to try to download them after.

[Jon]

I did forget to mention that they'll play China on ESPN2 at 7 PM CT on 6/2.

[Jon]

The Fire play to a scoreless tie...at home...against freakin' RSL.

 

Things are going to get worse before they get better.

[Jon]

The Chicago Trophy lineup is set:

 

The four clubs taking part in the tournament are Parma (Italy), Toluca (Mexico), FC Sevilla (Spain), and MKS Cracovia Krakow (Poland). The tournament will take place July 27 and 29 at Soldier Field.

 

Not as nice as the rumored teams earlier.

[sethuel1]

I did forget to mention that they'll play China on ESPN2 at 7 PM CT on 6/2.

anyone watching this one?

 

I'm hitting up the globe pub.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I did forget to mention that they'll play China on ESPN2 at 7 PM CT on 6/2.

anyone watching this one?

 

I'm hitting up the globe pub.

 

I'll probably check up on it during breaks of Cavs-Pistons. Why is it that China isn't all that good at soccer when they have a trillion people that live there?

[USSoccer]

I did forget to mention that they'll play China on ESPN2 at 7 PM CT on 6/2.

anyone watching this one?

 

I'm hitting up the globe pub.

 

I'm having to TiVo it.

 

Although, I did order FSC pretty much so I could watch all the Gold Cup games.

 

Looking forward to seeing Lee Nguyen.

[soccer10k]

I'm going to have to download the US-China game tonight later.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I'm going to have to download the US-China game tonight later.

 

Where do you get them?

[soccer10k]

I'm going to have to download the US-China game tonight later.

 

Where do you get them?

 

I download most of the torrents from http://www.mininova.org (usually the Champions League or Premier League games) but the US games will probably be here. Seth sent me the link to the second site.

[soccer10k]

They just showed this on SportsCenter and I don't know if anybody else saw it but, the Denmark-Sweden Euro 2008 qualifier was abandoned with a minute left in the match. Story. The game was tied 3-3 - Denmark came back from 3 goals down - before it was abandoned. A Dane punched a Swede below the belt in the penalty area. After conferring with his linesman, the referee gave the Dane a red card and awarded Sweden a penalty kick. Before the kick could be taken a Danish fan ran onto the field and attacked the referee so the refereeing crew walked off the field.

[sethuel1]

Christian Poulsen is absolute trash. Always has been. One of the least sportsmanlike professional footballers I've ever seen. As soon as I heard one of the Danes had hit someone in the balls, I was sure of who it was.

 

Same guy Totti spit on a couple of years ago after Poulsen spent the game jabbing at him when he was sure nobody was looking.

 

Not that this excuses the fan in any way.

[Exile on Waveland]

It's really early, but China isn't very impressive.

[Jon]

I did forget to mention that they'll play China on ESPN2 at 7 PM CT on 6/2.

anyone watching this one?

 

I'm hitting up the globe pub.

 

I'll probably check up on it during breaks of Cavs-Pistons. Why is it that China isn't all that good at soccer when they have a trillion people that live there?

On a related matter, I read this article in Forbes while in a waiting room a month ago.

 

Some striking numbers:

 

Man U, AC Milan, Arsenal and other top European clubs have made more than 20 trips to the sport's wild frontier since the early 1990s, scouting Chinese teams for players capable of turning the country's massive soccer following into customers of team jerseys, broadcasts and sponsors. Chinese fans make up roughly 20% of soccer's worldwide audience.

 

Two such tours by Spanish giant Real Madrid in 2003 and 2005 brought in roughly $10 million from sales of replica shirts and tickets to watch its star players go up against local talent. The latter trip also resulted in a deal with China's state-run financial company Citic Group to develop Real's brand in that huge market.

 

Just think of where that market will be in 10 years.

[Jon]

1-0 US off of Beasley's PK. Too bad he couldn't keep his feet going and finish it without the PK.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Beasley deposits a PK dead center after getting taken down by the Chinese keeper on a run. 1-0 USA