US Soccer Players

Wednesday's TV

Champions League on Fox Soccer: Olympique Marseilles - Inter Milan at 2:30pm and Basel - Bayern Munich at 5pm (on Fox Soccer Plus at 2:30pm).  Europa League on GolTV: Manchester City - Porto at noon.  Serie A on Fox Soccer Plus: Siena - Catania at 12:30pm. Copa Libertadores on Fox Deportes: Velez Sarsfield - Chivas at 8pm.  All Times Eastern

Upside: Holding The Lead

Their Words

“Every game is dangerous for different reasons, but it is better start with a 2-1 lead, but I think it’s important to think that it is 0-0 start.” Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini.

Other Sources

Can't put price tag on Ching's devotion to Dynamo - from The Houston Chronicle's Jerome Solomon: "Putting the orange and the No. 25 back on was fantastic."

Sounders banking on career revival in trade for Eddie Johnson - from The Seattle Times' Joshua Mayers: "I think he's highly motivated."

Update: Onyewu Injury

UPDATE: Onyewu will undergo surgery to repair "an internal lateral ligament and fracture of the external meniscus," and is expected to miss two months.

Sporting's official site has updated the status on the injury US National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu suffered during their 1-0 win over Pacos de Ferreira.  Onyewu twisted his right knee and will undergo further evaluation.  Sporting also announced they will be filing a complaint over the officiating during the Pacos de Ferreira game.

Questions: Quakes, United, Everton, RSL, Bolton

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Feb 21, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In Tuesday's edition, Tony looks at the Earthquakes' work towards a new stadium, Landon Donovan's positive influence on Everton, Salt Lake's injury problem, and Bolton's chances for survival.

So, what are the chances the Earthquakes' stadium gets approved this week by the San Jose Planning Commission?

Pretty good, at least from the tone of the quotes cited in this article from the San Jose Mercury-News.  I support the 'no vuvuzelas' stance of the neighbors, but agree that's up to the Earthquakes, not the San Jose Planning Commission.

Everton Players Compliment Donovan

Striker Denis Stracqualursi became the latest Everton player with kind words for Landon Donovan, saying: ""Landon is not only a great player, but a great person. Since he's come in, he's helped me a lot and I think very highly of him."  Everton captain Phil Neville also spoke of the impact Donovan had on the club during his loan, saying: "He came back this time a couple of years older and with more expectation on his shoulders. He was really on a hiding to nothing and I think this time he's performed even better."

Champions League Vs Super League

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 21, 2012) US Soccer Players -- About a decade ago, I was working on a series on the potential for a European Super League and talking to people who knew enough to have an opinion one way or the other.  Most believed the big clubs of Europe would get what they wanted one way or another, either through an actual breakaway league or through pushing UEFA toward the equivalent but keeping it within the existing soccer setup. Obviously, the breakaway didn't happen, and there's a good argument that neither did the UEFA scenario. 

Tuesday's TV: Champions League

Champions League on Fox Soccer: CSKA Moscow - Real Madrid at 12pm and Napoli - Chelsea at 2:30pm.  Serie A on Fox Soccer Plus: Bologna - Fiorentina at 12:30pm.  All Times Eastern

Upside: Debut

Their Words

"We freshened up the side with Tim Ream making his debut for us. Obviously Ryo also started for the first time and I was delighted at how the two of them played, along with the whole team in general." Bolton manager Owen Coyle. 

Other Sources

Old friends return as season draws near - from MLSsoccer.com: As the months went by, Houston’s cooler-heads approach proved wise....

The fight for playing time - from ESPN.com's Leander Schaerlaeckens: Agudelo already has more appearances for the U.S. (15) than he does career starts for his club team (12).

Corner: Attendance

Those of you interested in seeing Tim Ream's first game for Bolton Wanderers might have noticed something else. The sparse attendance at Millwall for a Fifth Round FA Cup game, amplified by the empty sections usually associated with the bad old days of Major League Soccer clubs playing in oversized venues. It's not just a Millwall issue or even a Championship issue. The empty sections show up in the Premier League too, it's just not the story anyone wants to tell.

Instead, there's the appearance that demand for tickets remains steadily high across the Premier League and for all but the troubled clubs in the Championship. It's the ideal of English soccer, even when it's no longer an accurate read on events.

National Teamers Abroad: Championship

With the Championship scheduling league games during the FA Cup 5th Round weekend, Robbie Findley took advantage with a strong substitute performance for Nottingham Forest.  Entering at halftime, Finley helped kick start the Forest offense in a 2-0 defeat of Coventry.  Garath McCleary scored in the 74th minute and Findley made it 2-0 in the 86th.  A tough debut for Robbie Rogers, who subbed on in the 79th minute in a 3-2 win over Doncaster but had to be subbed off in stoppage time after being knocked unconscious in a clash of heads.  Leeds had trailed 2-0, but Andros Townsend cut that lead in half in the 55th a minute after Doncaster scored.  Adam Clayton equalized in the 80th with Liciano Becchio scoring in stoppage time for the win.