Copa America Schedule

The Copa America starts tomorrow night and runs through the middle of July, providing some invaluable quality soccer relief during the close season. I've just added Goltv, which has the exclusive English language rights, to my cable set-up, so I'm good to go.

Here are the groups and their schedules:

Group A
Venezuela
Uruguay
Bolivia
Peru

Date	Time (ET)	Teams	City
June 26	20:45	Venezuela - Bolivia	San Cristóbal
June 26	16:00	Peru - Uruguay	Mérida
June 30	18:15	Venezuela - Peru	San Cristóbal
June 30	16:00	Bolivia - Uruguay	San Cristóbal
July 3	18:30	Bolivia - Peru	Mérida
July 3	20:45	Uruguay - Venezuela	Mérida

TV information: All games for Group A will air on GolTV in English and Spanish as well as TeleFutura in Spanish.

Group B
Brazil
Mexico
Chile
Ecuador

Date	Time (ET)	Teams	City
June 27	20:45	Brazil- Mexico	Puerto Ordaz
June 27	18:30	Chile - Ecuador	Puerto Ordaz
July 1	16:00	Brazil - Chile	Maturín
July 1	18:15	Mexico - Ecuador	Maturín
July 4	18:30	Mexico - Chile	Puerto la Cruz
July 4	20:45	Ecuador - Brazil	Puerto la Cruz

TV information: All games for Group B will air on GolTV in English and Spanish. All Mexican matches will air in Spanish on Univision as will the Brazil-Chile match on July 1. The Ecuador-Chile (June 27) & Brazil-Ecuador (July 4) will air on TeleFutura in Spanish.

Group C
Argentina
Paraguay
Colombia
USA

Date	Time (ET)	Teams	City
June 28	20:45	Argentina - USA	Maracaibo
June 28	18:30	Colombia - Paraguay	Maracaibo
July 2	20:45	Argentina - Colombia	Maracaibo
July 2	18:30	USA - Paraguay	Barinas
July 5	18:30	USA - Colombia	Barquisimeto
July 5	20:45	Paraguay - Argentina	Barquisimeto

TV information: All games for Group A will air on GolTV in English and Spanish as well as TeleFutura in Spanish.

Knockout rounds
The top two teams of each group and the best two third place teams advance to the playoffs.
TV information: All games will air on GolTV in English and Spanish. Matches will either air on Univision (U) or TeleFutura (T) in Spanish.

July 7 - Quarter final 1 - A1 vs. 2nd best third team - Estadio Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui (U)
July 7 - Quarter final 2 - Best third team vs. B2 - Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal (T)
July 8 - Quarter final 3 - B1 vs. C2 - Estadio Monumental de Maturín, Maturín (U)
July 8 - Quarter final 4 - C1 vs. A2 - Estadio Metropolitano de Fútbol de Lara, Barquisimeto (U)

July 10 - Semi final 1 - Q1 vs. Q2 - Estadio Olímpico de la Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas (?)
July 11 - Semi final 2 - Q3 vs. Q4 - Estadio Polideportivo Cachamay, Puerto Ordaz (?)

July 14 - Third place - S1 loser vs. S2 Loser - Estadio Olímpico de la Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas (T)

July 15 - Final - S1 vs. S2 - Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo (U)

U.S. vs. Mexico Live!

I'm settling in to watch the latest edition of "El Super Classico" - the U.S. vs. Mexico in the final of the Gold Cup. You might argue that the U.S. were lucky to get by Canada in the semis and that Mexico have been firing blanks throughout, but this is the final we all wanted to see, right?

So settle in with me on the LOB and cheer on Sam's Army.

U.S. Squad for Copa America

Venezuela, here they....er come? Yes, the Copa America kicks off next week and Bob Bradley and U.S. Soccer have made the mad decision to dip into the MLS vault for most of the squad. Not only does this deprive the MLS of key players during the season, it also almost certainly means that Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay will have having a goal fiesta at our expense all while MLS's finest are being pelted with batteries and bottles of flaming piss for the sins of the Bush administration.

Here's the squad:

Goalkeepers (2) - Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Defenders (8) - Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards, Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

Midfielders (8) - Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburger SV), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven), Ben Olsen (D.C.United)

Forwards (4) - Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Hercules Gomez (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

Anyone want to try to pick a starting eleven from that lot?

The AFI's Top 100 Films

Another top 100 films list, but this time American films.

Anyone care to post their top 10 or something that the judges egregiously overlooked?

The list is HERE

Big Red Rocks WSD!

If you haven't heard the Alexi Lalas interview on World Soccer Daily yesterday (Thursday - 6/21), download it immediately. It was a really fascinating segment in which Big Red defended his controversial contentions that the Premiership is "an inferior product" and that MLS could compete in the lower reaches of the Premiership. The interview started at about the one hour mark.

Here's the key moment in the conversation:

Steven Cohen - Okay, Houston Dynamo - current MLS champions - where do you think they'd finish in the Premiership?

Lalas - Midtable. I don't think they'd get relegated.

Cohen - Are you serious?!

Lalas - Yeah.

Cohen - Okay, well, we will have to agree to disagree.

Lalas went on to repeat his claim that any five MLS players could be dropped into the starting elevens of Premiership teams without causing any loss of form for the team. In that case, my question for you lads is this: "Which five current North American MLS players could start for a Premiership side?"

England U-21's in Penalty Loss Shock

No, certainly not that England even at the U-21 levels can't win a penalty shoot-out. This one took 32 tries to sort out. Psycho must have been next on the list for this one.

Ecky Thump!

You may have noticed that the new White Stripes album is titled "Icky Thump," which I take to mean that Jack White is either a master of the ancient Lancastrian martial art or a massive Goodies fan. In any case, I thought it was high time to feast on that classic bit of 70s British comedy. Enjoy!

Alexi Hits Back!

Lalas is not going to stand for any more talking smack about the MLS. Read more HERE

I don't think a league that numbers Cristiano, Henry, and Essien, to say nothing of its native talent can be accurately described as an "inferior product," but props to Big Red for fighting back at those sniggering at the back.

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

Here's a Premiership oriented question for those of you who still have a stake in the top division:

"Which was the first club to be relegated from the Premier League twice." (Hint: they've since been relegated a third time.

Good luck, lads!

Mexico vs. Costa Rica Live!

The third quarterfinal of the Gold Cup 2007 is on Univision this afternoon. Ordinarily, you'd expect Mexico to handle Costa Rica fairly easily; however, given El Tri's poor form, they might be in trouble at the gorgeous Reliant Stadium in Houston today. Join me this afternoon to find out.

U.S. vs. Panama Live!

It's quarter final time in the Gold Cup and I'm settling in this afternoon to enjoy the U.S. vs. Panama match. The coverage on FSC is starting in a few minutes.

The Canadians have already posted an impressive 3-0 win over Guatemala earlier today, so now it's Sam's Army's time to shine.

It should be a walk in the park for the U.S. lads, but we'll see if they bring their A-game.

Join me for all the action, eh?

2007/8 Fixtures!

I know it may seem as if the 2006/7 season just ended, but the new season is just around the corner. As if to prove this, the FA have just released the fixture list for 2007/8. The highlights of the first weekend (August 11/12) include:

Arsenal vs. Fulham
Chelsea vs. Birmingham
ManYoo vs. Reading
Villa vs. Liverpool
West Ham vs. Citeh

In the Coke, Blubber will have Ipswich vs. Sheffield Wednesday to look forward to.

And of course, there's the big 'un. The Mighty Leeds United kicking off their first match in the Coca Cola League Division One away to Tranmere Rovers - sigh.

Comments, gents?

Gold Cup Update

The group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup ends tonight with a game of real interest between Mexico and Panama. With Canada and Costa Rica qualifying from Group A, the U.S. and Guatemala from Group B and Honduras from Group C, we're only waiting to see who the other team from Group C will be and who will face the U.S. in the quarter finals on Saturday. A win for Mexico tonight would put them through second, while a draw would set up an early meeting with the U.S. I reckon we'd rather see Panama on Saturday, so I'm all about Mexico winning tonight. Say it with me - "Mexico - ole!" The game starts at 10 p.m. tonight as will shown live on Univision.

Messi's "Hand of God" Moment

If you haven't seen it yet, here's Argie phenom Lionel Messi's "Hand of God" goal from the weekend's Barcelona vs. Espanyol match. It's the sort of thing that makes you tear your hair out watching Argentinian players. They've all got bags of talent but when the chips are down, they are some cheating bastards. (Note: it only takes the commentator about three seconds to reference Maradona - nice one!)

US Vs. El Salvador

Anybody watching this kack?

Know your Ferg!

I saw this on the Guardian site.

Here's the quiz. 5 of these statements are true, 5 are false. Which are which?

1. He is obsessed with the assassination of John F Kennedy. So much so that prime minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown sent him 35 CDs on the subject, he has seven books about it by the side of his bed, a copy of JFK's autopsy report and a copy of the Warren Report signed by Gerald Ford.

2. He suffers from somniphobia, the fear of sleep, and is consequently reluctant to sign Spanish players because of their fondness for siestas.

3. He numbers fellow foul-mouthed Scottish bully Gordon Ramsay among his celebrity chums.

4. He once scored a hole-in-one while playing pro-celebrity golf with Hollywood actor Bill Murray.

5. He owns an iPod which his grandson Jake helped him to program.

6. He loves cooking and has developed a recipe for vegetable soup that is 894 words long and includes the stems of nasturtium flowers as one of the ingredients.

7. He goes to the cinema almost every week, where his wife gives out to him for eating too much pick 'n' mix, hot dogs and ice-cream.

8. His dogs Derringer and Meg are the parents of Roy Keane's celebrity dog Triggs.

9. He enjoys the music and company of eminently punchable ginger-haired lothario and vineyard-owner Mick Hucknall.

10. He never attended school and was only taught to read and write by his soon-to-be wife Cathy at the age of 17.

answers can be found in the body of this article.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2096450,00.html

Will England Still Qualify?

The titular question above has been on the minds of all England fans this week, despite an impressive performance and victory against Estonia away. With five games to play in the group, England lie in fourth place behind Croatia, Israel and Russia. It's been thirteen years since the Three Lions have failed to qualify for a big tournament, so this would be a calamity. However, as this BBC article that United We Stand sent me suggests, England still have every ability to place second in the group. It'll be a close thing, so pay close attention now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6729757.stm#aug

U.S. vs. Guatemala Live!

The U.S. start their Gold Cup campaign tonight as they take on Guatemala at the Home Depot Center in LA. I'll be racing home after my class with a bit of Chinese take-away, hopefully in time to catch the kick-off. I'll look for you on the LOB, as usual.

Come on Sam's Army!

Estonia vs. England Live

It's the epitome of a must-win game today. In fact, anything but a win for the Three Lions today will probably mean curtain for Steve McClaren. I'm in the middle of a conference today, but I'll be surrepticiously checking the score and commenting while listening to a variety of speakers droning on about methods in social studies instruction. If you're around, I'll look forward to your comments.

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

With the Concacaf Gold Cup starting up this week - ESPN2 will start the coverage on Thursday with the U.S.'s opener with Guatemala - I thought I might toss a U.S. national team related question at you lot this week.

"Who are the top three goalscorers in the history of the U.S. soccer team? And who is the most capped player for the U.S. team?"

Go to it, lads!

Democratic Party Presidential Debate #2

Political junkies unite! Tune in to CNN at 7 p.m. tonight to see the latest debate between the eight candidates currently running for the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. Ole Beardie himself Wolf Blitzer is moderating but don't let that put you off. I'll be on the blog for the usual caustic commentary. Join me, eh?

Saturday Scorewatch

It's a busy day of Euro 2008 qualifiers today with just about everyone but England playing, so post your comments about the scores as the goals fly in.

England vs. Brazil Live!

It may not count for much, but there is still little more tantalizing a prospect for footie fans than a match between England and Brazil. And this one gives us a chance to see the new Wembley in all its glory, a new line-up for England and possibly the next generation of samba boys. The "Three Lions" is pumping - bring it on!