A few things...

As if often the case, this edition will be updated through the day...


#1 - Gooch... Standard... Bravo! If coach Boloni had replaced one of his tiring wingbacks, they may have made it to penalties.

My hats off to you boys. Good luck to Standard with all the offers I'm sure their about to receive for Onyewu, Defour, Felliani, Mbokani, Espinoza, Marcos, Dalmat, Witsel...

#2 - The Champions League group stage has been drawn. I have listed them in the order drawn from the four seeded pots.

Villarreal striker Jozy Altidore is in a tough group with defending champs Man United, while former FC Dallas star Juan Carlos Toja finds himself with one of my two "Group of Death" choices (Group D is also set to be a real dogfight).

Group A

Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj

Group B

Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis

Group C

Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shakhtar Doetsk

Group D

Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atlético Madrid

Group E

Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg BK

Group F

Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina

Group G

Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahçe, Dinamo Kyiv

Group H

Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, BATE


#3 - Danny Califf and FC Midtkylland are 30 minutes of clean sheet defense from doing what he warned they would do: knock off UEFA Cup qualifying foe Manchester City.

It's still 0-0 on the day, 1-0 FCM on the tie. I will update this as needed...

70'

FCM super sub Baba Collins juuuuust misses wide from a corner kick header... with the hosts up 1-0 on an away goal, that would have been a dagger.

79'

Collins, who is having a big impact, will think he could have done better with a clear shooting chance. His speed has been quite troublesome.

82'

Collins goes close again as Citeh look dead in the water.

88'

FCM attacker Olsen whiffs on a great chance in the box. Califf, as you'd expect, is being very physical in defense.

89'

Disaster strikes... a stray Man City cross hits Califf in the face and goes in. It's all tied at ones heading into stoppage time. I'm not sure if they credited an own goal or if they gave it to Evans.

END OF REGULATION 0-1 (1-1)

On to extras, with FCM needing to steady themselves after being 90 seconds from the upset and having it all go wrong. Of course, their attackers had three terrific late chances to seal the deal and failed. Here we go again...

97'

FCM keeper Heinze stuffs Johnson on a breakaway.

103'

City youngster Sturridge hits the bar.

END FIRST EXTRA SESSION

Fifteen minutes from penalties... can FCM hang on?

116'

FCM are taking a bit of late initiative, but no overly dangerous chances yet.

117'

City keeper Hart tips away a cracking Kristensen volley.

FULL TIME 0-1 (1-1)

On to spot kicks...

Evans makes to start it off for City, Reid answers for FCM... 1-1.

Petrov scores easily, Poulsen ties it for the hosts... 2-2.

Heinze saves Johnson's try, but Borring also is stopped.

Hamann scores, Afriyie is stopped... 3-2 Citeh.

Ćorluka scores to win it for Man City, and another American suffers European heartbreak.

#4 - Courtesy of ussoccer.com, Bob Bradley's selections for the upcoming CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago...

Keepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3)

Forwards): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8)

*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals


I am not surprised that Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore were left off again as they need to dig in with their clubs right now. I am also not surprised to see Wynne summoned. I am, however, stunned to see uncapped Michael Orozco called.


#5 - New Aarhus GF midfielder Benny Feilhaber has been granted a Danish work permit, and you can expect him to be in uniform when they face FC Nordsjælland on Sunday.

#6 - While you wait for updates, enjoy an interview with new Cardiff striker Eddie Johnson...




- Greg Seltzer

[Photos: Standard Liège & Columbia Pictures]