US Soccer Players

Onyewu In For Milan

United States defender Oguchi Onyewu got his first competitive game for Milan on Wednesday in their 1-0 Champions League loss to FC Zurich.  Onyewu came on at the hour mark for Alessandro Nesta with Milan behind on a 10th minute goal from Hannu Tihinen. 

Thursday's TV

Europa League on GolTV: AEK Athens - Benfica at 1pm, Valencia - Genoa at 3pm, and Celtic - Rapid Vienna at 8pm. Copa Sudamericana on Fox Sports en Espanol: Lanus - LDU Quito at 6pm and Espanola - Velez Sarsfield at 8:30pm.  CONCACAF Champions League on Galavision: Toluca - Marathon at 10pm.

Finalists Announced For Honda Award

Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, and Tim Howard are the finalists for the 2009 Honda Player of the Year Award.  The winner will be announced on October 20th in Los Angeles.  This is Altidore's first nomination.  Howard has been nominated three years running.  Donovan is a five-time winner including 2008 and 2007.  The winner is determined by media voting.

Wednesday's Daily: Down And Up

With J Hutcherson -- Yesterday's shakeup in Under-20 World Cup Group C might not have been predictable, but it wasn't exactly shocking. At the age level tournaments, a wide swing isn't rare. It's also not distinct to Germany, the United States, Cameroon, and South Korea.

For every unabashed crash out after making it this far, there's confirmation of the idea that very few teams walk through the group stage. To put it into 2009 terms, for every Tahiti (now with a -16 goal differential in group B) there's a Germany or an Italy unable to put a team away.

American Abroad: Bad Night For Rangers

Two American Abroad clubs in action on Tuesday, with none of the American players involved.  In the marquee game, DaMarcus Beasley wasn't in the squad for Rangers' 4-1 loss in the Champions League to Sevilla.  Rangers argued for a first-half penalty that might have prevented the deluge of goals in the second-half by reducing Sevilla to ten-men, but the referee decided not to make the call. 

Instead, Sevilla made four of their six shots on goal count.  Abdoulay Knko got their opener in the 50th, Adriano made it 2-0 in the 64th, Luis Fabiano followed in the 72nd, and Frederik Kanoute had Sevilla up four in the 74th.  Nacho Novo ruined Andres Palop's shutout attempt in the 88th minute. 

"You can't say it was a turning point overall," Rangers manager Walter Smith said. "However, when we play against teams of the level of Seville we need a set of circumstances to go with us and they didn't do so."

In the Championship, Frank Simek was on the bench for Sheffield Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace. 

CCL: Point For Columbus

The Columbus Crew allowed a goal in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at home to Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday.  They took the lead in the 26th minute through a Robbie Rogers penalty, but Alexander Robinson got the late equalizer for Saprissa.  The result leaves both teams in contention to advance on the final matchday on October 20th.  "I think the guys are disappointed because, obviously, if you give up the goal in the last minute, it’s disappointing," Columbus coach Robert Warzycha said. "But we still have a chance. We need a tie in Puerto Rico and we’ll be in, so it’s going to be an important game in Puerto Rico."

Furtado Out For Two Years

Costa Rica and Marathon striker Andy Furtado had his preliminary ban for the anti-inflammatory steroid betamethasone confirmed on Tuesday, with the Costa Rican Federation banning him from all soccer for two years.  Furtado hasn't played since the initial finding on May 26th, suspended while awaiting results of the B sample.  Furtado told a Costa Rican newspaper he plans to appeal the ban. 

Honduras Announces Roster

The Honduran National Team is set for the October 10th World Cup Qualifier against the United States at Estadio Olimpico.

GOALKEEPERS: Noel Valladares, Donis Escober, Ricardo Canales
DEFENDERS: Victor Bernardez, Osman Chavez, Maynor Figueroa, Boniek Garcia, Emilio Izaguirre, Erick Norales, Carlos Palacios, Mauricio Sabillon
MIDFIELDERS: Edgard Alvarez, Julio Cesar Leon, Ramón Nunez, Amado Guevara, Wilson Palacios, Hendry Thomas, Danilo Turcios, Melvin Valladares
FORWARDS: Carlos Pavon, Carlo Costly, Walter Martinez, Jerry Palacios, David Suazo

Wednesday's TV

Under-20 World Cup: Brazil - Czech Republic on Galavision at 12:30pm. UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer Channel: Manchester United - VfL Wolfsburg at 2:30pm (5pm - Setanta) and Real Madrid - Marseilles at 5pm (6:45pm - Setanta). Setanta has Apoel - Chelsea at 2:30pm.

CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: San Juan Jabloteh - DC at 8pm and Pachuca - Houston at 10pm. TeleFutura has Puerto Rico - Cruz Azul at 8pm. Copa Sudamericana on Fox Sports en Espanol: Ciencaino - San Lorenzo at 7pm and Universidad - Inter at 9pm.  All Times Eastern

U-20 World Cup: USA 4 - Cameroon 1

So much for that result against Germany.  The United States turned on the offense in their second Group C game, beating Cameroon 4-1.  Bryan Arguez opened the scoring for the US in first-half stoppage time.  Tony Taylor made it 2-0 two minutes in the second-half, and Dilly Duka had the US up three in the 67th minute.  Banana Yaya got Cameroon on the board in the 75th minute, and Brian Ownby finished off the scoring in second-half stoppage time. 

"If you win 4-1 you're clearly happy, but I'm more happy about the fact that our team responded well to a disappointing opening game against Germany,” US coach Thomas Rongen said.  “It showed some great character and resilience to manage this game, and it was a huge game for us. We felt we needed three points to get ourselves back in the race for the group, and we did that."

The United States put eight of their sixteen shots on goal, six from 18 for Cameroon.  Cameroon led eight to three on corners.  The United States enters their final group stage game on Friday (12:30pm - ESPN2) against Korea with three points and a 0 goal differential.  With Korea drawing 1-1 with Germany 1-1, the US enter the last day of Group C in second-place trailing Germany by a point. 

Lenarduzzi At Work In Vancouver

By L.E. Eisenmenger - BOSTON, MA (Sep 29, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- After the first season success of the Seattle Sounders, the USL-1 2008 Champions Vancouver Whitecaps FC have a hard act to follow as they prepare to enter MLS as a 2011 expansion team.

The Vancouver ownership group consists of Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett, and Steve Nash. Together with president Bob Lenarduzzi, they’re simultaneously building the 2011 MLS club and staff, managing the $365 million refurbishment of 60,000 seat BC Place Stadium, preparing the Whitecaps for their final 2010 season, and taking the squad through the 2009 playoffs. I spoke with Lenarduzzi at the end of the day and he sounded a little tired but perked up to chat about Vancouver’s residential academy, which will be the first in MLS, and the difficulty of finding a good defender these days.

Tuesday's Daily: Against Cameroon

With J Hutcherson -- By way of a preview for this afternoon's Under-20 World Cup game, the United States can't be expected to turn into the kind of team that will put on a display of free-flowing soccer. Though there are perfectly good players in the US squad, it's simply not the group that's going to play better than the individual positions.

Fortunately, they're solid in goal. Brian Perk did his job against Germany on Saturday, plain and simple. Though he tried to marshal his defenders, the gaps and miscommunication in front of his line weren't on him. His game stood up, and his decision-making was solid.

Mexico Withdraws Bid for 2018/2022 World Cup

The Mexican Football Federation Association officially withdrew its bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.  Ten countries remain in the process, with the United States the only CONCACAF representative.  "Even though Mexico, one of the biggest football nations on earth and host of two FIFA World Cups, has finally opted to withdraw its bid to stage a third edition, FIFA wishes to thank the whole Mexican football family for having taken part in this process," FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said.  "We obviously fully respect this decision and are very much looking forward to continued cooperation with the Mexican Football Federation as another very nice goal approaches, namely the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2011, for which the preparations are well on track."

American Abroad: Denmark And England

Benny Feilhaber and Jeremiah White both saw time for AGF Aarhus in their 3-2 loss to Esbjerg.  Feilhaber started and went the full ninety, while White was an 82nd-minute substitute.  An Esbjerg own-goal put Aarhus up in the 14th minute, with Tim Janssen equalizing in the 20th and putting Esbjerg up in the 39th.  Jacob Poulson brought Aarhus level just before halftime.  Aarhus were down to ten men after Frederik Krabbe was sent off for a second yellow.  Jesper Jorgensen hit Esbjerg's winner in the 74th minute. 

Jonathan Spector was on the bench for West Ham United's 3-1 loss to Manchester City.  Carlos Tevez got the first goal for City in the 5th, with Calton Cole equalizing in the 24th.  Martin Petrov gave City the lead in the 31st, and Tevez put the game away in the 61st.  West Ham had a goal disallowed, but the end result was never really in doubt. 

Tuesday's TV

Under-20 World Cup on ESPN2: USA - Cameroon at 12:30pm.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer Channel: Rangers - Sevilla at 2:30pm (Setanta at 6:30pm), Fiorentina - Liverpool at 5pm (Setanta at 2:40pm), and Arsenal - Olympiacos at 10pm. Setanta also has Barcelona - Dinamo Kiev at 4:45pm. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: Columbus - Saprissa at 8pm.

Joseph Wins POTW

New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph is Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 28.  Joseph had both goals in New England's 2-1 win over Seattle.  New England is currently third in the Eastern Conference, in the final playoff slot with a one point lead over DC United.  The Revs have two fewer games played than the clubs in 9th through 11th.

Think Locally

By Andrew Dixon - MIAMI, FL (Sep 28, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- For years, Major League Soccer supporters have been asking ourselves when our league will be on par with some of the great leagues in Europe. We envision the day that MLS is regularly producing World-class players and aspiring stars from all over ply their trade for teams like DC United or the Houston Dynamo.

The vast majority of MLS fans are well aware that it will be a very long time before this League is legitimately in the conversation with the legendary leagues of Europe. In terms of prestige, attendance, fanaticism and results, no one in their right mind is expecting MLS to close that gap anytime soon.

Ralston Out For Season

The right knee injury that Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston suffered early in Saturday's New England - Seattle game has been diagnosed as a torn anterior cruciate ligament.  The injury means Ralston will miss the rest of the 2009 season.  Ralston is Major League Soccer's career leader in games and minutes played.

Monday's Daily: On Average

With J Hutcherson -- If you choose to believe Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha, this is undoubtedly their year. After all, this is a team that can run with that MLS cliche of a transitional lineup and actually get a meaningful result.

"We don't have a reserve team; we have 23 players right now that can step up anytime on the field and win any game ... everybody here on this club is contributing. We have a very deep squad, I can go with any player and as long as we are playing as a team, we can be very successful."

2-0 over the Galaxy on Saturday, and the response is 'well yeah, and...' Then again, this is a Crew that lost to the team with the worst record in Major League Soccer and had no answer for Cruz Azul away or home. That's putting a lot of weight on Warzycha's "playing as a team" caveat.

American Abroad: A Little More

First Star: Tim Howard needed three saves and a 42nd minute goal from Louis Saha to see off Portsmouth 1-0 on Saturday, but it wasn't an easy win.  "I think that was the hardest I've had to work for a clean sheet this season," Howard told the club's official site. "It was a tough game, not just for myself but all of us because we were under a lot of pressure. We tried to keep ourselves up and keep the ball but they made it difficult for us. They smothered us and put pressure on us, got the ball forward and had success at doing that. That made it tough for us."

Second Star: Kenny Cooper went the full ninety for 1860 Munich in the 2 Bundesliga, drawing 0-0 against Paderborn.  Munich went a man down when Stefan Aigner was sent off in the 76th minute, but had the bulk of the offense forcing six saves.  Paderborn only managed a single shot on goal.

Third Star: Troy Perkins got the win and shutout in goal for Valerenga in their 2-0 win over Bodo/Glimt.  Valrenga are currently ninth in the Tippeligaen with four games left in the season.