Thursday 6 Saturday 2011

A look back at how "Seattle's cup runeth over" Still Seattle has a few more boxes they want to check off this year.


The website of the CONCACAF Champions League confirmed today that Sounders FC is the first team to qualify for the 2012-13 tournament. Winning the U.S. Open Cup qualifies Seattle into the preliminary round, but coach Sigi Schmid said last night the team is looking to qualify directly into the group stage. That would require winning the Supporters' Shield, the MLS Cup or, I believe, through a tiebreaker if the L.A. Galaxy wins both.


The Seattle Sounders played by the rules and won fair and square, becoming the first MLS club to three-peat as U.S. Open Cup champions with a 2-0 triumph over the Chicago Fire in Tuesday night’s final.

The match drew a crowd of 35,615 to Seattle's CenturyLink Field, a record for the 98-year-old, all-comers national championship tournament. Those fans honestly can claim to have played a role in the Sounders’ victory.


It's an international break for this weekend, which also means Euro qualifiers, World Cup qualifiers, and friendlies will be played. Here is the rundown of games.


Marseille 3 – Manchester City 0 (NextGen Series, October 5, 2011)




Teams usually play formations based on the players they have to execute, the US Soccer team wants to play attacking soccer. The question begs to be asked, do they have the quality skilled players to do that? One player who wants to show he has the skill has a dad who believes in him also!!


River Plate 7 – Atlanta 1 (Primera B Nacional, October 5, 2011)



Manchester United star Wayne Rooney's father and two other members of his family have been arrested in connection with the investigation into betting irregularities that has also seen Motherwell's Steve Jennings taken into custody.


Goal of the Week Nominee



Zen, globetrotting Jurgen Klinsmann gathers players of similar spirit for USA
Klinsmann continues his slow evolution of the U.S. team with a training camp in Florida this week and a friendly against Honduras Saturday.


Universidad Catolica 0 – Velez Sarsfield 2 (Copa Sudamericana last-16 first-leg, October 5, 2011)



Pereda had a long career as an inside forward, including a spell at Real Madrid where he won the La Liga and European Cup double in 1957-58 and eight years and two Copa del Generalisimos at the Camp Nou. He then worked for the RFEF coaching under-age national teams, was briefly in charge of the senior side when Vicente Miera was ill in 1992, and latterly worked as an advisor to clubs including Barcelona.


Aurora 3 – Vasco 1 (Copa Sudamericana last-16 first-leg, October 5, 2011)



The Premier League will now have to wait until the 2013-14 campaign for the possible introduction of goal-line technology.

Hopes that a new system of judging difficult decisions would be in place for the start of next season - as previously indicated by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore - have been dashed


Nagoya Grampus Eight 5 – Albirex Niigata 3 (Nabisco Cup, October 5, 2011)



Here is the history lesson for the week: The forgotten story of … Leicester City: Ice Kings the brutal winter of 1962-63 gave Leicester City a chance of greatness, before it all slipped away!



Top Skill Vol. 28



The New York Red Bulls have sleepwalked through a large part of the 2011 MLS season, but on Tuesday night they were able to remind us just how well they can play, and why they are still a team to worry about as the MLS playoffs approach.


Goals you don't see everyday!