International Week

Most higher level domestic leagues will be taking this weekend off as another round of international matches take the stage. There are several reasons why this particular week is exciting for this space: First, the qualification processes for nations vying for the 2010 World Cup will be sorted out. The playoffs in Europe, between Oceania/Asia and North America/South America and the end of African qualifying matches will round out the remaining open positions for berths in South Africa 2010. Second, an interesting slate of international friendlies will take place between powerful teams, many of whom have already qualified for the World Cup. And third, several countries will be debuting their new kits that will be on display at the World Cup next year.

Qualifiers:

UEFA Playoffs:
November 14:
France @ Ireland
Bosnia @ Portugal
Ukraine @ Greece
Slovenia @ Russia

November 18:
Ireland @ France
Portugal @ Bosnia
Greece @ Ukraine
Russia @ Slovenia

In Africa, qualifying is taking place for the World Cup and African Cup of Nations concurrently. There are many different possible scenarios but the leading candidates for World Cup qualification are:
Algeria (Group C)
Tunisia (Group B)
Cameroon (Group A)

Playoffs between Oceania’s winner and Asia’s fifth place side continue between Bahrain and New Zealand. They drew nil-nil in their first leg and will have their second tie on November 14.

North America’s fourth place side and South America’s fifth place side will begin on November 14 between Costa Rica and Uruguay. The second leg will take place on November 18.

Friendlies:
Games among nations qualified for the World Cup:
November 14:
Japan @ South Africa
USA @ Slovakia
Korea @ Denmark
Argentina @ Spain
Holland @ Italy
England v. Brazil (in Qatar)

November 17:
Chile @ Slovakia

November 18:
Serbia @ Korea
USA @ Denmark
Paraguay @ Holland

Germany’s friendly with Chile has been cancelled due to the death of German goalkeeper Robert Enke yesterday.

Finally, several new World Cup kits will debut over the weekend. Germany was to wear their new threads against Chile, but that debut will have to be postponed. South Africa will wear their newly released kits against Japan on November 14. The Japanese will also be wearing new uniforms for that game. Greece will debut a new look while trying to qualify against Ukraine on November 14. Russia will debut it’s new home kit against Slovenia also on November 14.

Real Madrid Eliminated from Copa del Rey

After their completely stunning loss in the first leg of their Copa del Rey first round match with Alcorcón, Real Madrid failed to advance to the second round, despite winning 1-0 at the Bernabéu today. 80,000 Madrid supporters jeered and whistled at their Neueva Galácticos as they could not overcome the four-goal differential necessary to dispense of the minnows from Alcorcón. Rafael van der Vaart’s goal was the only scoring in the match, unsurprising consider the unlikelihood of Alcorcón scoring at the world-famous stadium.

Traditionally the biggest clubs do not care much for the Copa del Rey and rarely play their first team sides. But a loss of this magnitude has to be bad for Manuel Pellegrini, the Madrid boss. He is without Cristiano Ronaldo due to injury and his supremely expensive side have not been able to do very much in his absence. The strong 1-1 draw against AC Milan last week will surely be forgotten as even more rumors of Pellegrini’s demise will likely emerge.

USL Secession

Five clubs, including the champions and runners-up, will join with a former club and an expansion team to form an as yet unnamed league to compete with the USL First Division in the second tier of American soccer. Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC and Minnesota Thunder have all pulled out of USL and joined forces with Atlanta Silverbacks (formerly of USL) and a start-up in St. Louis. Citing a desire for more control over the league by individual club ownership, the clubs leave USL in a very strange place for the 2010 season.

The splintering of the top division leaves a diaspora across the country as Portland, Puerto Rico, Charleston, Cleveland City, Rochester and Austin are left in the original league. There is supposed to be an FC New York club joining for 2010 as well as a new team called the Tampa Bay Rowdies (former NASL club), though there are rumors that Tampa will join the renegade league instead of honoring their commitment with USL. There also might be a club in Ottawa to join the fray in 2010, though that has not been sanctioned yet. Due to recent events however, that group will probably be ratified without much trouble. Other rumors include a possible club in Detroit to round out the overhauled USL First Division.

The source of the issue for the offended clubs was the control at the top of the league by Nu-Rock Soccer Holdings who bought the league back in August. Because the league is controlled by a commercial entity instead of by the collection of owners (as the clubs are all privately owned), some owners felt that the direction of the league was not to their liking. The threats of rebellion or outright secession have been around for a few months but today the seven clubs announced their new league, despite a lack of a commissioner or name.

What I don’t understand is why Vancouver would join the ranks of this renegade league. The chances of their financial viability are much lower than USL due to the infrastructure already established in the original league. With the Whitecaps set to join MLS as an expansion team in 2011, why would they join a movement that could lead to disaster in the season before their ascent to the top tier of American soccer? Here in Portland, the Timbers are using the 2010 season as a springboard to create excitement and interest in the MLS version of the team that will appear in 2011. Risking financial ruin or a downgraded reputation can do no good with such a move so close at hand.

Clubs do come and go at the second level of American soccer, so having a greatly changed landscape will not be much of a change for those remaining in USL. I actually do hope the other league does well because it can only increase the competition and level of play in the longer-term. But in the short-term, I just can’t see the benefits. Really, only Miami, who were likely to have folded after their own financial and on-field disasters, comes out as a big winner in the new proposal. Though I suppose Atlanta will be happy to be back in the second tier and St. Louis will get their long-awaited opportunity to play at a relatively high level of the American soccer pyramid.

Reds Woes Continue, Even at Home to Birmingham

Liverpool’s continued descent into inexplicable mediocrity was highlighted last night by a 2-2 draw with promoted Birmingham City at Anfield Road. Christian Benítez and Cameron Jerome scored goals in the first half to send Brum to a 2-1 lead at half-time. Only a Steven Gerrard penalty in the 71st minute saved the day for the Reds and earned them a single point on their home pitch. That point keeps Liverpool in seventh place, two points above Sunderland and a point below Manchester City. Birmingham have done very well since their new ownership takeover and have now defeated Sunderland and drawn both City and Liverpool. Still though, Birmingham are in fifteenth place on just twelve points through twelve games.

Premier League Kits Weekly – Round 12

With Remembrance Day this week, almost every club in the Premier League (and other levels of English football) wore poppies on their kits in this weekend’s games. Due to patches, logos and other such things, each club wore their poppies in different places. Here is a full list of poppy photos, followed by a game-by-game breakdown of this week’s kit choices:

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City (no poppies), Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley (no poppies), Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Liverpool (no poppies), Manchester City, Manchester United (no poppies), Portsmouth, Stoke City, Sunderland (no poppies this week, but wore them in their closest home match to Remembrance Day on October 31), Tottenham, West Ham, Wigan, Wolverhampton

Manchester City and Burnley played to a surprising 3-3 draw at Eastlands on Saturday. City wore their usual attire in the disappointing game. The Clarets modified their usual change kit by wearing their home, striped socks. This was done to avoid having both sides wearing white socks.

Blackburn Rovers treated their fans to a home victory against lowly Portsmouth, 3-1. Blackburn were winners in their traditional home kits. Pompey tried out their all-black third kit to no avail. This was not their first time wearing the alternate kit and the results were the same.

After losing mid-week to sorry West Ham, Aston Villa rebounded with a 5-1 thrashing of Bolton Wanderers. Villa went back to their usual home kits while Bolton made a change with their regular kits. Bolton wore their regular kits but wore navy socks instead of their usual whites. But the navy socks were not the same as the usual change kit socks that feature red highlights on the navy socks. These had white accents.

Darren Bent’s reunion with Tottenham was not a kind one as he missed a penalty and his Sunderland side fell at White Hart Lane, 2-0. Both clubs wore their usual kits for the occasion.

Saturday’s late game saw Arsenal move into second place with a 4-1 beating of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The Gunners wore their all-blue change kits while Wolves stuck to their usual home version.

On Sunday, Hull City probably saved their manager’s job, at least in the short term, by winning at home in extra-time, compliments of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. Hull were in their usual home outfits while Stoke again avoided their all-black change kits.

Everton defeated West Ham United at Upton Park by a 2-1 score. The Toffees wore a modified home kit for the game by wearing blue shirts, shorts and socks. The blue shorts and socks are only available for color contrast purposes as their usual change kits are black and pink. West Ham wore their standard home kits.

At the DW Stadium, Clint Dempsey’s penalty equalized for Fulham and earned the Cottagers shared points with Wigan Athletic. Wigan wore their usual home attire while Fulham donned their red and black change kits.

Sunday’s marquee match-up saw Chelsea take a commanding lead atop the Premier League table by defeating Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. Both sides wore their home kits for the big match.

Finally, Monday’s match saw Liverpool draw Birmingham City at Anfield Road, 2-2. Brum eschewed their all-black change kits and wore their usual home attire. Liverpool wore all red for their disappointing display.

Terry Wins it for Chelsea

In the biggest match of the season to date, Chelsea held off Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, 1-0. John Terry scored the only goal on a header in the 76th minute, extending the Blues’ lead atop the Premier League table to five points above both Arsenal and United. The failure to win or draw leaves United in third place, below Arsenal on goal differential. Many predicted that Chelsea would win and win comfortably, a notion that United dispelled, much to their credit. Yet the gap is still clear with Chelsea sitting atop the table as the clear favorite to win the league.

Elsewhere, West Ham United were denied points at home in their third game in seven days as Louis Saha and Dan Gosling gave Everton just enough to survive at Upton Park, 2-1. Tony Hibbert’s own-goal, just moments after Gosling’s goal, gave the Hammers life in the 65th minute. But they simply did not have enough firepower to complete the comeback against a surprisingly solid Everton side. West Ham’s loss, coupled with Hull City’s win, pushes the Hammers back into the final spot in the drop zone, eighteenth place. Everton move up to twelfth place, still a far cry from their fifth place finish the past two seasons.

Emmerson Boyce scored early for Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium but Fulham equalized on Clint Dempsey’s 39th minute penalty. The score held throughout the second half for a 1-1 draw. The Cottagers only keep ahead of Everton for eleventh place on goal differential while Wigan’s strange, up-and-down season continues with Latics in fourteenth place.

Hull Save Phil Brown’s Job (For Now)

Phil Brown avoided the sack today when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s extra-time winner gave Hull City a rare three points, 2-1 over Stoke City at the KC Stadium. The earphone-wearing manager has been under fire all season due to the exceptionally poor performance of a club who were in the top ten at this time last season. The victory was especially sweet for Brown as his new signees, Venegoor of Hesselink and Seyi Olofinjana, signed away from Stoke just this summer, were the scorers for the Tigers. Still, Hull are just in seventeenth place. That does mean they are out of the relegation zone for the moment, but their season is by no means a success yet. Stoke remain in ninth place.

Arsenal Shoot Up to Second Place

Two own-goals in the first half and goals from Cesc Fàbregas and Andrei Arshavin saw Arsenal to a 4-1 drubbing of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. Jody Craddock managed to score for both sides, giving the home side their sole consolation on a dismal day for Wolves. With Portsmouth losing, Wolves could have marched right out of the relegation zone, even with a draw. But Craddock and Ronald Zubar’s deflections into their own net saw the home side down two goals after just thirty-five minutes. Then Arsenal took over with their own offense to put the match well out of reach by the time Arshavin’s shot went in on sixty-six minutes. The Gunners’ position is of course dependent on the result of tomorrow’s big Manchester United-Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge. But for twenty-four hours at least, Arsenal are in second place. Wolves remain in eighteenth, below West Ham on differential.

Drawbacks

After winning five of their first six matches with their mini-Galacticos, Manchester City have now drawn in their fifth consecutive Premier League match. City roared back from a two-goal deficit at Eastlands against Burnley, only to see Kevin McDonald score in the 87th minute to equalize for the Clarets for a 3-3 final. On the whole, City are playing much better than they did last year, especially away from the City of Manchester Stadium. But the draws have stunted City’s plans at competing at the very top of the league. The Citizens are still in sixth place on twenty points, but they are already seven points shy of the top. As for Burnley, this was a solid a result as their home victory over Manchester United earlier this year. The road woes of the Clarets have been well documented, so coming from behind to earn a draw at City is a fantastic result. Burnley now sit tenth.

Aston Villa rebounded from their stinging loss mid-week to West Ham United by laying five goals on Bolton Wanderers at Villa Park. The 5-1 result was an emphatic return to fifth place and featured five different goal scorers (Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew, James Milner and Carlos Cuéllar). Bolton, who continue to struggle near the drop zone, could only be consoled by Johan Elmander’s 44th minute goal.

Robbie Keane and Tom Huddlestone scored goals to secure an important home victory of Tottenham Hotspur, 2-0 over Sunderland. Spurs were able to retain their position among the top clubs in the league by holding off the Black Cats. Sunderland have still not won since their strange defeat of Liverpool three weeks ago, and as a result their progress up the table has been slowed considerably. Now in eighth place, Sunderland could have jumped as high as sixth, in fact passing Spurs, had they gotten a result at White Hart Lane. Instead they will now have to face Arsenal to try to break their hex. Spurs will be happy to be in fourth place and to earn a result against Darren Bent, who was surely out to embarrass his former club.

And in a battle of clubs in the relegation zone, Blackburn Rovers blasted their way out with three second half goals and a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth at Ewood Park. Jamie O’Hara scored early for the visitors, who were hoping for a second consecutive victory after such a poor start to the season. But two Jason Roberts goals sandwiched a Ryan Nelsen header as Rovers battered Pompey in the second half. Blackburn jump all the way up to thirteenth place with the three points, leaving Portsmouth grasping for anything to keep them afloat in twentieth.

Premiership Predictions – Round 12

This week’s Premier League schedule features one high profile match-up and a bunch of less interesting encounters. Obviously the game that everyone will be watching is the clash between Manchester United and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. As the top two sides in the league, it should be quite a match. Elsewhere, Arsenal (@ Wolves), Tottenham (v. Sunderland) and Man City (v. Burnley) will all be vying to make up ground on the loser of the big game.

Saturday:
Bolton @ Aston Villa – Villa
Burnley @ Manchester City – City
Sunderland @ Tottenham – Draw
Portsmouth @ Blackburn – Pompey
Arsenal @ Wolverhampton – Arsenal

Sunday:
Stoke City @ Hull City – Stoke
Everton @ West Ham – Draw
Fulham @ Wigan – Wigan
Manchester United @ Chelsea – Chelsea

Monday:
Birmingham City @ Liverpool – Liverpool

mao’s Challenge Table:
mao – 197
Jereme – 188
Mark – 184
Trey – 183

mao’s Results Thus Far:
Round 1 – 15 points
Round 2 – 9 points
Round 3 – 24 points
Round 4 – 24 points
Round 5 – 21 points
Round 6 – 19 points
Round 7 – 18 points
Round 8 – 14 points
Round 9 – 20 points
Round 10 – 12 points
Round 11 – 21 points

Ajax, Anderlecht, Galatasaray, Shakhtar and Bremen Advance

Match Day Four in the Europa League saw the first five of twenty four qualifications for the knockout rounds. Ajax (Group A), Anderlecht (Group A), Galatasaray (Group F), Shakhtar Donetsk (Group J) and Werder Bremen (Group L) each won today, ensuring that they finish no worse than second in their respective groups.

The British clubs fared miserably today, essentially eliminating Celtic (who drew nil-nil at Hamburg) and paving a much more difficult road for both Fulham (who lost 2-1 at Roma) and Everton (who fell 2-0 at home to Benfica).

Only three clubs have already been eliminated, which testifies to the closeness in most groups. Dinamo Zagreb (defeaters of Hearts), Sturm Graz and Partizan will all be leaving Europe without any success to speak of.

Group A:
Anderlecht 3 – Timişoara 1
Dinamo Zagreb 0 – Ajax 2

Group B:
Slavia Praha 2 – Valencia 2
Genoa 3 – Lille 2

Group C:
Hamburg 0 – Celtic 0
Rapid Wien 0 – Hapoel 3

Group D:
Sporting 1 – Ventspils 1
Heerenveen 2 – Hertha 3

Group E:
Roma 2 – Fulham 1
Basel 3 – CSKA Sofia 1

Group F:
Dynamo Bucureşti 0 – Galatasaray 3
Sturm Graz 0 – Panathinaikos 1

Group G:
Levski Sofia 0 – Red Bull Salzburg 1
Villarreal 4 – Lazio 1

Group H:
Twente 2 – Sheriff Tiraspol 1
Fenerbahçe 3 – Steaua 1

Group I:
AEK Athens 2 – BATE 2
Everton 0 – Benfica 2

Group J:
Toulouse 0 – Shakhtar Donetsk 2
Partizan 2 – Club Brugge 4

Group K:
København 2 – PSV 1
Cluj 2 – Sparta Praha 3

Group L:
Werder Bremen 2 – Austria Wien 0
Nacional 1 – Athletic Bilbao 1

Europa League Match Day Four

As always, the day after two full days of Champions League action, the Europa League takes center stage across the continent with forty-eight clubs in action. Sporting (Group D), Red Bull Salzburg (Group G) and Shakhtar Donetsk (Group J) each have a chance to book their place in the knockout rounds with victories. The three British clubs, Everton (v. Benfica in Group I), Fulham (@ Roma in Group E) and Celtic (@ Hamburg in Group C), all need victories to feel at all comfortable with their chances. And like in the Champions League, Match Day Four is a reversal of the fixtures played on Match Day Three.

Group A:
Timişoara @ Anderlecht
Ajax @ Dinamo Zagreb

Group B:
Valencia @ Slavia Praha
Lille @ Genoa

Group C:
Celtic @ Hamburg
Hapoel @ Rapid Wien

Group D:
Ventspils @ Sporting
Hertha @ Heerenveen

Group E:
Fulham @ Roma
CSKA Sofia @ Basel

Group F:
Galatasaray @ Dynamo Bucureşti
Panathinaikos @ Sturm Graz

Group G:
Red Bull Salzburg @ Levski Sofia
Lazio @ Villarreal

Group H:
Sheriff Tiraspol @ Twente
Steaua @ Fenerbahçe

Group I:
BATE @ AEK Athens
Benfica @ Everton

Group J:
Shakhtar Donetsk @ Toulouse
Club Brugge @ Partizan

Group K:
PSV @ København
Sparta Praha @ Cluj

Group L:
Austria Wien @ Werder Bremen
Athletic Bilbao @ Nacional

Premiership Kits Weekly – Round 11 Extra

West Ham United and Aston Villa played a make-up game today at Upton Park, rescheduled previously due to a European match for Villa. West Ham actually came out on top with Zavon Hines scoring the winning goal in extra-time. The Hammers wore their now familiar home kits while Villa broke out their rare change kits.

Liverpool and Lyon Go Sponsorless

Previously in this space I have broken down the French (and Swiss and Russian) aversion to allowing shirt sponsorships on television when they feature alcohol or gambling-related companies.

In today’s Liverpool-Olympique Lyonnais match at Gerland, both sides were forced to remove their shirt sponsorships. Lyon looked as they did in their home match to Fiorentina while the Reds wore their white European kits without the usual Carlsberg emblem.

Both clubs wore their usual attire in their match in Liverpool two weeks ago.

West Ham Move Out of the Relegation Zone

Zavon Hines’ (pictured) goal in the third minute of extra-time sent West Ham United to their first victory since the opening day of the season, 2-1 over Aston Villa at Upton Park. Mark Noble and Ashley Young had traded goals within a seven-minute span surrounding half-time, leaving the score tied at one going into injury time. But Hines’ goal pushed the Hammers finally out of the bottom three and into sixteenth place. Blackburn Rovers slip down into the drop zone as a result while Villa blow a chance to reach fourth place with a win or draw. They remain in seventh place on eighteen points. This match was a make-up for a game postponed earlier in the season due to European matches for Villa.