Who likes goals?

I seem to be backing up a lot of videos at the moment. Oh well, have more...


It was mere consolation against Brazil, but Argentina's Jesús Dátolo will still remember his international debut for a very good reason.




Denmark's Nicolas Bendtner shows both control and finishing against Portugal.




Venezuela's Jose Manual Rey fires our free kick fix.




Samuel Eto'o curls one home for Cameroon.




Scotland's James McFadden gallops half the field to put away Macedonia.




Finally, Gio Dos Santos caps some flavorful Mexico ball movement with the winning lash at Saprissa.





- Greg Seltzer

Eight is not enough

But with Ghana clinching a place at World Cup 2010 last night, we now know 25% of the finals field. The Black Stars sealed the deal with a 2-0 win over Sudan.

GHANA - SUDAN- HILIGHTS
von petebrown60

- Greg Seltzer

World Cup countdown, England on the back foot & kick Warner out of football

World Cup 2010: Could the world's best two players be about to miss out on the world's best tournament? It's too early to say, but Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal sit precariously fourth in UEFA Group One with three games to play...Lionel Messi's Argentina are also fourth in CONMEBOL but there the top four qualify and the fifth-placed team have the less than frightening prospect of a showdown with CONCACAF's fourth finisher, although if that is Mexico it would be a tasty Latin dish.

Colombia revived their chances with a 2-0 win over Ecuador in Medellin to go level on points with their Southern rivals and only two behind Diego Maradona's men.


Ghana return to the finals after winning African Group D, while Didier Drogba's Cote D'Ivoire look a shoe-in from group E. North Africa should have at least one representative in South Africa as Egypt and Algeria head Group C, while the unheralded Gabon are in pole in Group A. Group B provides a trans-Saharan race to the finish as Tunisia lead Nigeria by two points with two games to go...

London's big two were stung by the powers that be this week. Arsenal seemed a little picked on when their diving Croat Eduardo was singled out by UEFA and punished with a two-game ban for the sort of offense one sees almost every week. But the Gunners' anger was eclipsed when Chelsea were banned from buying players for a whole season, a FIFA bolt from the blue.

Hanging over the issues themselves appears to be the continuing power struggle high above European fields, where the governing bodies continue to play a game of brinkmanship with the big clubs, who have long been toying with the idea of a breakaway league. The main reason for the birth of the Champions League, after all, was to sate Europe's top teams with enough big games to stop them going it alone and leaving the blazered army in Zurich with no more expenses to claim.

FIFA and particularly UEFA under Michel Platini have been flexing their muscles recently with criticism of the power of English clubs. Against that background, the week's sanctions seem to be a mix of territory-marking and exploratory offensives from their bases in Switzerland...

I had dinner this week with a Trinidadian doctor, who told me at length of CONCACAF President Jack Warner's entry into his country's domestic affairs, despite FIFA's prohibition of political office for its members. As I listened to the tale of Warner's attempts to curry favor with his people and his party, I could not help think of drug baron Pablo Escobar's election as a member of Colombia's parliament.

Lest we forget, the CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President scalped Trinidad's ticket allocation for the 2006 World Cup, paid T&T's players less than $1000 each for their tournament heroics and asked the Scottish FA to pay their match fee to his personal bank account instead of to the association's (!), amongst other misdemeanors chronicled in Andrew Jennings' explosive book, "Foul!"

While others shrug and move on, Jennings has confronted the Pirate of the Caribbean courageously again and again and again. This week, Jennings unearthed a video of his prey labeling him derogatorily, "a white foreigner", which is interesting language from the vice-president of the organisation which tells to "say no to racism" and implores us to "kick racism out of football."



-Sean O'Conor, London

A bell rings in the distance...

Norwegian second flighters Nybergsund have just kicked off the second half of their match with visiting Skeid leading 2-1 thanks to a 26th minute strike from Joe Lapira. We naturally will link up the video to that goal and any others he may bag later today.

UPDATE: Every single source for Adeccoligaen videos has either switched to a payment system for highlights or enacted a restriction against viewers outside of Norway - all at the same time. Urgh. If you know how to momentarily fake a Norwegian ISP, you can watch the clip here. I don't know how, so I will keep searching.

Yes, of course... by all means, protect your Adeccoligaen videos with your life!



- Greg Seltzer

#7 doesn't need any luck, thank you

Five-time champions Brazil became the seventh team registered for World Cup 2010 with a 3-1 victory at Argentina on Saturday. The Samba Kings joined hosts South Africa, Australia, Japan, North and South Korea, and the Netherlands in gaining an invite for the big dance next summer.

Enjoy the highlights...






- Greg Seltzer

The Ballad of Rio Tinto

What will the song be? Here are your USMNT performers:

Howard; Spector, Marshall, Bocanegra (c), Bornstein; Dempsey, Feilhaber, Bradley, Donovan; Altidore, Davies

All the post-game material arrives here later. Enjoy the game!

UPDATE: My U.S. Player Ratings for a 2-1 win over El Salvador that momentarily put the Americans back in first place will be up by tomorrow morning - but I may just go ahead and sneak them up tonight.

In case you missed out, the highlights and a bit of reaction:








Also on Saturday, Mexico raided Costa Rica...




... while Honduras knocked Trinidad & Tobago out cold to go top on goal differential.




- Greg Seltzer

Grella, Johnson open season accounts

It's nearly USMNT game time, but let's quickly grab a look at both the first Leeds United league goal by Mike Grella (the first goal shown below) and the first strike of the season from MK Dons ace Jemal Johnson.

Leeds 2 v 0 Stockport 05/09/09
von sparkyman2

- Greg Seltzer

On tap: USMNT v El Salvador

I already predicted a 4-0 USMNT win. I won't be doing a LIVE, but will naturally have our usual wrap post. This all seems straightforward to me, so I won't prattle on about various factors today.

I will simply say that 'Nats are carrying a "something to prove" chip and that does not bode well for El Salvador. And I will add that my expectation is for Charlie Davies and Landon Donovan to run wild tonight.

Now, I'm gonna go take a pre-game nap.

It's so glorious outside, let's move the reading room to the terrace...

- USMNT match notes
- CONCACAF Hex table
- FIFA match preview
- USMNT Blog podcast w/ both Bradleys & Donovan (mp3 link)
- Steve Davis takes U.S. defense inventory
- SI's Grant Wahl with a roster check and notes
- USA Today's Beau Dure on the pressure to win
- A look at El Salvador's game roster
- Donovan leading, says the Deseret News
- Michael C. Lewis: Davies on the rise
- Goal profiles an ambitious Holden
- SLTrib's Gordon Moore with a fun column
- Mexico's Sabah set to invade Costa Rica
- T&T star Yorke hangs 'em up
- Beat Honduras or else for T&T

And on to video, where Jozy talks with ESPN.




More of the fellas speak after Friday training.




And finally, a look back at the away meeting, a 2-2 draw in March.




- Greg Seltzer

Top 5 Shrewd Summer Pick-ups

I decided to lower the bar for this edition, picking only players who cost their new clubs less than €7 million. Boy, am I glad I did.

It turns out there was an awful lot of fine bargain shopping this summer - so much that I entirely ignored any and all loan players, including ones with buy options. The list of honorable mentions could have been twice as long, but I made cuts there too.

And now, we are down to the players I feel will provide mighty returns relative to the cost of acquiring them. They may be young guys with plenty of on-the-field and in-the-wallet upside or they may be veteran puzzle pieces had far too easily.

Or they may be somewhere in between. Where ever they land on the spectrum, they are all tidy bits of business.

Honorable mentions: Thomas Augustinussen (Red Bull Salzburg/€1M), Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid/€4M), Alexander Baumjohann (Bayern Munich/free), Rasmus Bengtsson (Hertha Berlin/€1.5M), Gonzalo Bergessio (Saint-Etienne/€5M), Jérémie Bréchet (Sochaux/€1M), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen/€1M), Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux/€6M), Floran Cernat (Hajduk Split/free), Mathieu Coutadeur (Monaco/€4M), Paulo da Silva (Sunderland/free), Luik de Jong (FC Twente/€1M), Lorenzo Di Silvestri (Fiorentina/€5M), Rasmus Elm (AZ Alkmaar/€3M), Alexei Eremenko (Metalist Kharkiv/free), Steven Fletcher (Burnley/€3.5M), Michael Fink (Beşiktaş/free), Fabio Grosso (Juventus/€2.5M), Gabriel Heinze (Olympique Marseille/€1M), Eidur Gudjohnsen (Monaco/€2M), Lewis Holtby (Schalke 04/€3M), Thomas Kahlenberg (Wolfsburg/€3.5M), Andreas Ivanschitz (Mainz 05/€1.5M), Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos/€1.5M), Maniche (Cologne/free), Jérémy Mathieu (Valencia/free), James McCarthy (Wigan/€1.5M), Marcel Meeuwjs (Borussia Moenchengladbach/€1.5M), Olof Mellberg (Olympiakos/€2.5M), Lasse Nilsson (Vitesse/€1M), Ivan Obradović (Real Zaragoza/€3.5M), Ivica Olić (Bayern Munich/free), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan/free), Michael Owen (Manchester United/free), Marko Pantelic (Ajax/free), Bernard Parker (FC Twente/€1M), Leandro Romagnoli (San Lorenzo/free), Bryan Ruiz (FC Twente/€4.5M), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes/free), Ben Sahar (Espanyol/€1M), Javier Saviola (Benfica/€5M), Anas Sharbini (Hajduk Split/€2M), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea/free), Anatoliy Tymoschuk (Bayern Munich/free)


Whew! I need a nap just from proofreading that. And now, for those of you still awake, on to the countdown...

#5 - Charlie Davies (Sochaux/€2M)

Call me a homer, I don't care. The U.S. forward has stepped into Ligue 1 runnin' and gunnin'. And after he nets about a dozen and Sochaux finish top 10, you can congratulate my Midwestern moxie. And then, down the line, the club will do as they predicted and sell Davies for four times the amount they paid to get him. Just watch.

#4 - Enzo Maresca (Olympiacos/€1.5M)

Sevilla are silly. And the Greeks are probably smashing plates. It doesn't seem fair to be able to nab an attack engine that has won five trophies since 2006 and is still in his prime for this little cabbage. Not only will Maresca help Olympiacos claim another title, but he excels in Europe. It didn't take long for the happy hello; he scored on his league debut.

#3 - Lorik Cana (Sunderland/€5.5M)

It can be hard to find shrewd buys in the Prem, where everyone likes to overpay for the natives and/or league experience. Fortunately for Cana, he is neither British nor had he ever played in England before joining the Black Cats - but don't consider it good luck that the 26-year old traffic director extraordinaire has garnered two Man of the Match awards and the captain's armband in his first month on the new job. He'll become a club hero and move on to a glamour side for big bucks.

#2 - Dorin Goain (Palermo/€2M)

Last season, Palermo missed Europe by six points and two table places. The main problem was leaking 50 goals; each club in the Serie A top five conceded in the 30's. What's more, they either allowed a late winner or blew a lead eight times. Now, the Eagles have a commanding veteran presence to help return them to continental cup play and guide the growth of hotshot backline prodigy Simon Kjær. This one will pay for itself several times over.


#1 - Elano (Galatasaray/€6.5M)

One would have thought that Man City had learned after seeing close up what happens when you let a slick Brazilian playmaker get away (thanks to Hull instant talisman Geovani). Tsk tsk, Citizens. Now busy slipping in Gala goal scorers, Elano still found time to crack an early goal of the year candidate in his second game. Surrounded by an array of ball winners and capable finishers, the Brazilian looks posed to lead the Lions on a treble charge.

- Greg Seltzer

A few things...

Just a few, though. I'm toiling away to finish this monstrosity of a Top 5 List, will be ready this afternoon...

#1 - The USMNT Blog (which I removed from the Reading Room on the right, along with the USWNT variety, because the new set-up's code interferes with the most recent post ranking) reports that Jay DeMerit is in doubt for tomorrow's contest with El Salvador. I also learned from DuNord that Conor Casey is questionable after having wisdom teeth removed.

#2 - I had a chance yesterday to talk to U.S. attacker Brek Shea about the upcoming U-20 World Cup. This weekend, I will interview a third of that team's attackers and publish that bit at S365 on Monday.

I opted to focus that article solely on the tournament, but did ask Shea about FC Dallas' season. He gave this assessment of how they've been able to right the ship after a very rocky start.

"We had a lot of (offseason squad) changes. We were playing as individuals, and not as a team. Now that we've had the chance to all play together some, things are turning around, but we still have struggles. We have a lot of young players and I do think that we will keep getting better as a team."

Also, the weekend Top 5 Tilts is up.

#3 - A pair of NSC pals over at Sports Illustrated offer sweet interview pieces: Jonah Freedman questions El Salvador switcher Arturo Alvarez, while Grant Wahl profiles good ol' Cletus.

#4 - Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira is continuing to talk up an MLS move for next summer.

#5 - Adam Spangler has begun the TIAS Diary Project. You know it's gonna be good, so I won't even drop the details. Just go.

#6 - Sweet merde, Zizou is cool. He just is. I need some fake glasses.




- Greg Seltzer

The picks

This first summer transfer Top 5 List is taking a long time to put together (so many shrewd shoppers!) and it won't be ready 'til tomorrow, sooooo I thought I would give a little sustenance thought morsel.

With the transfer window now closed, I will share my yearly exercise of predicting champions for a whole slew of top flight European leagues. Feel free to laugh at my choices or offer your own in the comments section.

Austria - Red Bull Salzburg
Belgium - Club Brugge
Croatia - Dinamo Zagreb
Czech Republic - Slavia Prague
Denmark - Aalborg BK
England - Liverpool
France - Bordeaux
Germany - Werder Bremen
Greece - Olympiakos
Italy - Inter Milan
the Netherlands - AZ Alkmaar
Poland - Wisla Krakow
Portugal - Porto
Romania - Dinamo Bucharest
Scotland - Rangers
Spain - Barcelona
Turkey - Galatasaray
Ukraine - Shakhtar Donetsk


- Greg Seltzer

Who is your Honda POY pick?

While sitting here working through all the scribble notes for my Top 5 Shrewdest Summer Pick-ups, my 2009 Honda Player of the Year ballot arrived.

And not that it will have any bearing on my vote, but I was kinda wondering who NSC readers would tab as their top three USMNT performers for the year.

As with last year, I will disclose my ballot after it's been turned in. But for now, I'd like to see what you all think. So, ummm... bring it.


- Greg Seltzer

Sounders christen trophy case

A mere five months after beginning competition, the Seattle Sounders have bagged their first silver, besting home side D.C. United 2-1 in Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup final. We have post-game reactions, and of course, the reel...




- Greg Seltzer

A few things...

I will start a short string of goodbye-to-summer transfer Top 5's tomorrow with my seasonal Shrewd list. A few of these items may be slightly stale, but I've been distracted with window stuff and finally have time, so this is sort of an AFT, combined with a dash of Video Wednesday and a sprinkle of He Said What? - and it's long...

#1 - I have learned that free agent U.S. Under-20 forward Vincenzo Bernardo now also has Dutch and German clubs showing interest.

#2 - The U.S. Open Cup final is tonight, with D.C. United hosting Seattle for the silver. S365 has match notes, while WV Hooligan offers a preview and a prediction. I hate to be contrary, buddy, but I'm tabbing Seattle to win it.

Also tonight, new American Celtic keeper Dominic Cervi will be handed his debut against Benfica in Toronto.

#3 - The Daily Breeze's Nick Green explains exactly how good things have gotten on TV for stateside soccer fans.

#4 - My new MLS Club Ladder is up. And in case you missed it, my bit on U.S. U-20 attacker Mix Diskerud, complete with the Thomas Rongen Egypt usage plan. You can expect another interview with one of Rongen's key men before the weekend arrives.

We stick with S365 for Clark Whitney's weekly Bundesliga take and Andrew Discenza's Prem wrap.

#5 - A couple of MLS injury updates of note for contenders: Chicago's Brian McBride is ahead of schedule and versatile Galaxy ace Sean Franklin has returned to training.

Also, Goal's Greg Lalas scoops that Fire forward Chris Rolfe is set to move to Aalborg BK in January.

On a less sunny note, three league refs are being benched.

#6 - Up a little late, it's the MLS Goal of the Week nominees:




#7 - As we like to do, let's check out MOTD2's 2 Good 2 Bad:

2 good 2 bad
von footballove

#8 - The Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson attempts to explain why the English transfer window didn't close with much of a bang - and perhaps uncovers a looming shift of power in UEFA?

#9 - I can't let it pass that Standard's Axel Witsel committed one of the worst, most brainless horror tackle offenses I've ever seen this weekend, severely breaking the leg of Anderlecht's Marcin Wasilewski. You can watch it here, but I'd suggest to not if you've just eaten or are squeamish - it ain't good, folks.

The Poland right right back, who seemed on the verge of a move to Hull City before this incident, is expected to be out for at least 12-15 months, if he is able to return to playing at all. He is set for a second surgery any day now. Meanwhile, Witsel has been suspended until November 23rd.

I have a hard time imagining Witsel doing this on purpose, but looking at the tape, I also have a hard time figuring out what he was doing. Thanks to the great Mauves English site Purple Dynamite, we can go through the reactions of players from both Anderlecht and Standard.

With Anderlecht also losing midfielder Jan Polak for six months from a reckless challenge during the game, I suppose Purple Dynamite should get it's say as well - the least I could do for their coverage of the chilling incident and an aftermath which saw ambush supporter riots, death threats and the bizarre apparent fallout for coach Ariel Jacobs.

You can offer a recovery note that will soon be placed on a huge card to be presented to Wasilewski here.

#10 - On another player misconduct note, I agree with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on the Eduardo dive flap. People became way too hostile over what was far from the worst dump or field act, seemingly glossing over the fact that the forward spent most of two seasons recovering from a broken leg.

And after Witsel's foul, I think there can be no doubt that the furor over this incident was beyond overwrought.


- Greg Seltzer

Pearce signs in Turkey

U.S. left back Heath Pearce has inked a three-year deal with Turkish Super Ligi outfit Bursaspor (currently fifth through four games). He has been given the #3 shirt. He said a few words about the move at his presentation (WARNING: Apparently some are being treated to a very loud advert with the clip, so beware of the volume setting).




More to come...


- Greg Seltzer

This is becoming a habit with you, Jon-Paul

Yup, Wycombe Wanderers forward Jon-Paul Pittman has scored for the third straight match, knotting up a Football League Trophy first round contest with visitors Northampton from the spot just past the hour. It's still 1-1 with 20 to play, so he could add on with a winner.

If it's just one goal, I won't bother trying to dig up a PK clip, but we do have an interview with the Wycombe site where JP promises more goals to come.

UPDATE: As noted by a reader in the comment section, Pittman grabbed his brace to re-tie the game again in stoppage time. The Choirboys, however, fell on PK's.


- Greg Seltzer

[Photo: Wycombe Wanderers]

Deadline day deals?

I'm still monitoring several potential deals involving Americans Abroad. I can't spill everything I know and there are also some tidbits I haven't collected yet, so this isn't exactly a blazing start - but hopefully I will be updating this post with goodies over the next eight hours. At the same time, a few items probably won't be settled today, But I know how much you all love waiting!

(ducks)

• With veteran PSG winger Jérôme Rothen seemingly headed to Ibrox, it has become quite apparent that Rangers will try to see off DaMarcus Beasley today. While his La Liga interest is gone with the window closing in Spain, a Scottish report has FC Twente and Olympiakos joining a German suitor with interest.
  
  In the Netherlands, the reports have Twente boss Steve McClaren most interested in free agent attacker Leonardo - another small, shifty guy, though more of a finisher than a set-up winger. However, Dutch clubs are extremely secretive, so unexpected deals can pop up here and the window remains open until noon ET.
  
  In other words: I'm still workin' on it.
  
  UPDATE: The Bundesliga window closed at midnight, so that option is out for now (unless Rangers want to just open the gate, which is unlikely). I had it in my mind that Germany also extended through today, but they did not
  

• A transfer non-story: a recent coaching change at FC Midtjylland squashed talk of defender Danny Califf being on the outs, but a few whispers started back up when he did not dress this weekend.
  
  However, the U.S. international told me he simply missed out for trying his best Greg Seltzer impersonation. "I took a spill on my bike Friday afternoon and had a mean bruised hip bone," relayed Califf. "I should be better for a friendly coming up Thursday."

• It appears as though Charleroi did not try again for Hertha Berlin midfielder Bryan Arguez. Apparently, ze Germans playt a leetle too rahf in talks and the Belgian window closed last night.

• U.S. U-20 forward Vincenzo Bernardo has left Napoli after rejecting a two-year extension in favor of looking for first team opportunities, via a scoop from NSC regular Max Zeger (if you read the comments here, you've surely seen the name).
  
  And like Max, I am aware of League One and Spanish second division interest. The player told me last week that MLS is not an option now... but who knows if that holds? This one may not be settled right away.
  

• There is, however, a young American lesser league attacker who is busy engineering a move to MLS. That's all you get for now. I'll tell you more soon.
  

More when I have it ready...

UPDATE: Actually, there won't be any more. Nothing shook out and we will have no great deadline day buzzer beater. We will still have a few players moving beyond the window, but that is for other days. C'est la vie.


- Greg Seltzer