Soccer Insider: September 6, 2009 - September 12, 2009

Matchnight #26: United-Sounders

Greetings from RFK. Strangest pregame sight: Participants from the afternoon Tea Party protests on Capitol Hill, presumably returning to their cars/buses in the RFK lots, walking in the direction of the DCU Latin American festival underway in Lot 8. Not passing judgement, just making an observation about two very different...

By Steve Goff  |  September 12, 2009; 5:25 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (88)
Categories:  D.C. United , MLS  
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Saturday Kickaround

*Following up on the Insider's exclusive report that the USA-Honduras qualifier might appear on pay-per-view or closed circuit TV only, the company that owns the U.S. rights to the match is Media World, an American firm partially owned by MediaPro of Spain. A company official said the game was offered...

By Steve Goff  |  September 12, 2009; 9:14 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (35)
Categories:  College Soccer , D.C. United , MLS , TV  
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Toronto, DCU Acquisitions

Toronto FC officially unveiled its first designated player: midfielder Julian de Guzman, who most recently played for Deportivo de Coruna in Spain's La Liga. Meantime, D.C. United added recently waived defender Lawson Vaughn, 25, who made 48 appearances for Chivas USA since 2006. Vaughn replaces Greg Janicki, who was placed...

By Steve Goff  |  September 11, 2009; 3:08 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (30)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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USA-Honduras TV?

If you were frustrated by the process of trying to watch the USA-Mexico qualifier at Azteca last month (remember mun2?), you'll love the TV situation brewing for the USA-Honduras match -- a game that has massive implications for the Americans' World Cup hopes. The Honduran federation sold the U.S. TV...

By Steve Goff  |  September 11, 2009; 12:51 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (86)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , CONCACAF , TV , U.S. men's national team  
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Friday Kickaround

*We still love RFK, but watch your step. Dan Steinberg's SportsBog has the "hole" story. *Germany won its fifth consecutive European Women's Championship with a 6-2 romp over England in Helsinki. Now if only WPS could sign some of those Germans..... *The indomitable Diego Maradona: "We will be in South...

By Steve Goff  |  September 11, 2009; 8:59 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (34)
Categories:  Argentina , College Soccer , D.C. United , Women  
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USSF Opinion on Dallas Red Card

In the latest installment of the USSF's Referee Week in Review, the supervisors do not address whether D.C. United's Santino Quaranta was truly fouled for a game-tying penalty kick in last weekend's 2-2 draw at Dallas. However, they do conclude that the decision to send off Dallas defender Daniel Torres...

By Steve Goff  |  September 11, 2009; 12:16 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (24)
Categories:  D.C. United , MLS , USSF  
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Drivers Wanted: Mike Ammann

Mike Ammann was a starting goalkeeper in MLS for Kansas City, New York and D.C. United before surgery on his elbows went terribly wrong and ended his career after the 2001 season. This weekend, Ammann will unofficially represent United again -- in the driver's seat of a turbo diesel...

By Steve Goff  |  September 10, 2009; 9:55 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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Weekend TV Listings

What are you going to watch? FRIDAY USL-1, Charleston-Miami 8 p.m. ET Fox Soccer Channel NCAA men, UC Santa Barbara-Rutgers 11 p.m. FSC SATURDAY Germany, Wolfsburg-Leverkusen 9:25 a.m. ESPN Deportes Germany, Borussia Dortmund-Bayern Munich 9:30 a.m. GolTV England, Liverpool-Burnley 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 England, Manchester City-Arsenal 9:55 a.m. Setanta England, Stoke...

By Steve Goff  |  September 10, 2009; 4:30 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (30)
Categories:  TV  
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Video: Brazil and Bahrain

Brazil's 4-2 victory over Chile: Middle East Madness: Bahrain was tied 1-1 at Saudi Arabia and just needed to survive added time to advance on away goals and secure passage to another playoff against New Zealand. However, the Saudis scored to move to the brink of victory. Bahrain then answered...

By Steve Goff  |  September 10, 2009; 7:41 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (41)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , Brazil  
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USA/DCU Rewind

Two teams in a tight spot, both carve out badly needed victories. With the 1-0 result at T&T, the Americans are in find standing with two matchdays remaining. Two points from the last two games will clinch a berth. With the right combination of results, they could also go through...

By Steve Goff  |  September 10, 2009; 12:41 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (73)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , CONCACAF , D.C. United , MLS , U.S. men's national team  
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Matchnight #25: United-Wizards

Greetings from RFK. The Wreck on the Banks of the Mighty Anacostia never looked so good. (Okay, not really.) As you know, United will play five straight league matches at the friendly confines, and with heavy congestion in the middle of the league table, all of these RFK matches are...

By Steve Goff  |  September 9, 2009; 5:55 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (67)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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WCQ Matchnight: USA at T&T

A victory tonight in Port of Spain would greatly enhance the USA's World Cup prospects. A tie would leave them hanging in the balance with two matches left. A loss could prove devastating with a trip to Honduras on the horizon. (On a side note, we can all rest easy:...

By Steve Goff  |  September 9, 2009; 5:12 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (102)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , CONCACAF , U.S. men's national team  
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Dallas, Hungary, Bradenton, Movies

*FC Dallas introduced midfielder-defender Daniel Hernandez, 33, a Texas native and former SMU star who returns to MLS for a third stint after playing in Mexico. He played for Los Angeles, New England, New York and Tampa Bay between 1998 and 2003, joined Necaxa from 2003 to '05, came back...

By Steve Goff  |  September 9, 2009; 2:25 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (41)
Categories:  MLS , Mexico , USSF , Youth soccer  
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Poll: USA at T&T

poll by twiigs.com...

By Steve Goff  |  September 9, 2009; 9:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (42)
Categories:  CONCACAF , Poll , U.S. men's national team  
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Wednesday Kickaround

*Read my preview of D.C. United's match at RFK against the Kansas City Wizards (7:30 p.m., Comcast SportsNet/DC, Direct Kick) and the USA World Cup qualifier at Trinidad and Tobago (7 p.m., ESPN Classic, GalavisionTelefutura). *The headline (and story) in the Trinidad Express: "No Surrender" *Tickets for the USA-Costa Rica...

By Steve Goff  |  September 9, 2009; 8:57 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (46)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , CONCACAF , Canada , College Soccer , D.C. United , MLS , U.S. men's national team  
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Destination: South Africa

Eight down, 24 to go for next year's World Cup..... THEY'RE IN South Africa Brazil Ghana Netherlands South Korea North Korea Japan Australia THEY'RE CLOSE Spain England Serbia Denmark Slovakia Chile Paraguay Ivory Coast THEY'RE IN TROUBLE Argentina France Portugal Sweden Turkey Wednesday's Key Matches Saudi Arabia-Bahrain playoff #2, 8...

By Steve Goff  |  September 8, 2009; 8:26 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (27)
Categories:  2010 World Cup  
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DCU News & Notes

*D.C. United defender Marc Burch's ankle surgery will likely sideline him for a few weeks, Coach Tom Soehn said. Burch is on yellow card suspension for Wednesday's match against Kansas City. "He had some scar tissue build-up and he went in and had it cleaned up," Soehn said. "In a...

By Steve Goff  |  September 8, 2009; 12:41 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (125)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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Quaranta Apologizes

D.C. United midfielder-forward Santino Quaranta says he apologized to Coach Tom Soehn for comments he made last week about the team's situation to Post colleague Paul Tenorio. "At the time, I was upset about not [starting] in the Open Cup. I regret doing it that way because, at this time,...

By Steve Goff  |  September 8, 2009; 11:37 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (29)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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Burch Sidelined

Injuries continue to batter D.C. United at an inopportune stage of the MLS season. Marc Burch underwent surgery Monday to remove scar issue in an ankle, leaving the club without two starting defenders. Club officials are expected to announce later today how long he will be sidelined. Over the weekend,...

By Steve Goff  |  September 8, 2009; 9:59 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (33)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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Tuesday Kickaround

*Defender Jay DeMerit has not fully recovered from a groin injury and did not join the USA squad in Trinidad and Tobago for Wednesday night's qualifier (7 p.m. ESPN Classic, Galavision). Forward Conor Casey, who didn't train with the team all last week after a tooth operation, was also scratched,...

By Steve Goff  |  September 8, 2009; 8:58 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (27)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , College Soccer , D.C. United , MLS , Women  
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MLS Playoff Race

EASTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS Columbus 10-4-9, 39 points Chicago 10-6-8, 38 WESTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS Houston 11-7-7, 40 points Los Angeles 9-4-11, 38 AT-LARGE BERTHS Colorado 10-7-6, 36 points Seattle 8-6-10, 34 New England 9-7-6, 33 Chivas USA 10-9-3, 33 ---------- Real Salt Lake 9-9-6, 33 D.C. United 7-5-12, 33...

By Steve Goff  |  September 7, 2009; 12:52 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (55)
Categories:  MLS  
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Video: Is This a Penalty?

From D.C. United's 2-2 tie at Dallas..... Santino Quaranta: "He hit me, man. I should have scored, I was just waiting for him to hit me. You know [Moreno] is going to score the penalty so, I thought it was a penalty. . . . He was behind me, he...

By Steve Goff  |  September 6, 2009; 1:24 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (35)
Categories:  D.C. United  
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Video: Mexico at Saprissa

By Steve Goff  |  September 6, 2009; 10:11 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (10)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , CONCACAF  
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USA Rewind

This CONCACAF thing is going down to the wire. See you at RFK on Oct. 14 for the USA finale. With three matchdays remaining..... Honduras 4-2-1, 13 points (+7 goal differential) United States 4-2-1, 13 points (+4) Mexico 4-3-0, 12 points (+2) ---------- Costa Rica 4-3-0, 12 points (-3) ----------...

By Steve Goff  |  September 6, 2009; 1:09 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (44)
Categories:  2010 World Cup , U.S. men's national team  
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