Getting Back In With One Footcer In The Water

To answer the question that may have circulated around some people's minds, yes I was in Section 8 for the flare incident in last Friday's 0-0 draw against D.C. United (and I saw it all) but no, I wasn't one of the Soldier Field Five.

I'm too old for that stuff. Though I totally cheer on the kids who did light the flares!

Of course, I was having a bad week so I didn't have my camera. Well I did, but my memory card was full.

And I also wasn't passed out drunk for the past three days after Fulham's shocking 2-0 win over Liverpool at the Cottage. Though I will be drunk by 8:00 a.m. to watch them (hopefully) beat Wigan - though if they lose, it's not like anyone's beating Wigan anyway.

The truth of the whole matter is that I've been trying to get my life together before November starts since I participate in National Novel Writing Month. So, in doing some research, watching a lot of movies, and such, footcer hasn't always been the first thing on my mind.

However, rumors of this blog's demise are highly exaggerated.

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Great news on the "shut up you dirty Scots" front. The United States will be playing a friendly against Scotland next month - in Scotland. I'm glad to see that the United States is choosing to play European teams on their own turf for the leadup.

Though the preferred match against the Czech Republic is of course not going to happen as they're fighting for their World Cup life on the same day. I like the matchup but it's not really the kind the United States needs. Sure it's the kind of starless team that we might draw in the group stage which is great. But it's not the kind of superstar matchup, need to shut down a powerhouse up front that we'll need once we get past the group stages (of course that's an if, but I'm being optimistic).

Ukraine was sitting right there but instead we choose to play someone who speaks our own language.

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Speaking of playing for their lives though, I really do feel bad for the San Jose Earthquakes. They play their asses off all season to get the Supporter's Shield and then let a much inferior L.A. smack them around. Unlike New England who should be able to come back from a 1-0 deficit to MetroStars (probably on a last second Taylor Twellman goal to send it into extra time), San Jose looks to be done.

And then maybe we'll finally know if this is their final game in California.

Other than that, I swear I'll write some more stuff this week.

Speaking In Limericks In Manchester

Even though he's expressed disinterest in taking the Ireland job (although once Brian Kerr is fired - as early as tomorrow - we'll have to see), he's definitely practicing talking in limericks and riddles.

Or at least he's confusing the hades out of me.

Sir Alex is claiming that the Champions League is Manchester United's best chance of silverware this season.

Hmm...

Wait a second, didn't a certain Red Devils team come in second in a certain English domestic cup last year? Somehow I think beating Bolton or (yikes) Arsenal will be a lot easier than beating Bayern Munich or Ajax.

Maybe I don't want Alex Ferguson taking over my second favortie national side since he's obviously gone senile.

Then again, he may just have a competition without Chelsea in it to win anything. Maybe falling to the UEFA Cup would be their best chance of getting silverware. :)

Arsenal, on the other hand, may as well just pack it up so Alex has got something on his big rivals. You know things have gone from much bad to much worse when you lose to West Bromwich Albion and when Martin Jol has room to call you average.

Strange things happen when you're a.w.o.l. for almost a fortnight, eh?

West Brom, however, had quite a bit of a bee in their bonnet this weekend. In an interview on BBC last week, FIFA President Sepp Blatter did everything but accuse them of throwing matches by benching their best players when the big boys come to town.

Of course, they wouldn't really need most of their big boys to beat Arsenal as of late.

Oh why, oh why do the schedule makers hate Fulham? Never has one point felt so good. Never.

The International Break Is Over

So I was just watching "American Soccer" on Gol TV and they made an announcement that made my night. Somewhere in the deep, dark reaches of the dungeon of Garber's mind (or, well, technically U.S. Soccer) it was decided that the Supporter's Shield winner was going to be one of the teams representing the United States in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (with the MLS Cup winner being the other).

Is this true? Does this begin next year? I hadn't heard.

In other great news on this side of the pond, the gauntlet has been thrown down for Toronto to get together a stadium and expansion proposal for 2007 - it's Halloween. So by the MLS Cup, hopefully we'll know one of the next rounds of expansion. Hopefully they'll represent a better cross-border rival than Cardiff City, Wrexham, or Swansea in the Coca-Cola Leagues in England.

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Speaking of Welsh minnows, besides Ryan Giggs announcing he's going to try to play for Wales in 2010 qualfying, they had the good news today of beating Azerbaijan 2-0 to salvage not last in their group.

But, of course, that was just a silly transition to the actual qualifying that mattered in Europe. By now, I think everybody has heard that the following teams have qualified from UEFA: Netherlands, Ukraine, Portugal, France, Italy, England, Serbia, Croatia, England, Poland, and Sweden.

So, unfortunately we won't get to see the second place battle that Sven seems to have been hoping for in all of his qualifying antics: England v. Sweden. And, honestly, it would be in question who he was rooting for. No, sadly, both qualified (England not even needing to do it through the back door as they took care of Poland on a late goal by - who else - Frank Lampard (why is Steven Gerrard still starting?) to secure a 2-1 win in Manchester).

But even without the battle in Sven's head, there are six interesting teams in the second place playoffs: Czech Republic, Turkey, Slovakia, Switzerland (on goal differential over Israel), Norway, and Spain.

Of course the favorites there have to be the Czechs, Spanish, and Turks. By nature of the FIFA rankings, the 4th, 8th, and 12th ranked teams respectively get to draw the three lesser nations (though all three definitely have a shot). The draw takes place on Friday and then the real speculation begins.

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How much do the Uzbeks have to be hating life right now?

In a result that was pretty much inevitable as soon as the first leg of Asia's playoffs had be replayed, Uzebekistan finds themselves having to watch Bahrain lose to Guatemala (sure I'm putting the cart a little before the horse but Trinidad is not going to win - that's almost a universal certainty) on television instead of getting to do it themselves.

Yes, the former Soviet republic that had a chance to go to Bahrain with a 1-0 lead, instead were forced to replay their home leg. As soon as that tied 1-1, they had to know the dream was over. Sure enough, Bahrain dug in and came up with a 0-0 draw at home to advance to play CONCACAF's fourth on away goals.

Of course hindsight is 20/20, but what team would say, "yeah, let's replay this really tough match even though we got a win."

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By the way, I was really hoping to report to end this that Serbia v. Bosnia went off without a hitch, but alas that political footcer ball was a little too hot still. Six fans were seriously injured in match related violence.

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But to close on a happy note - this just in...Clint Dempsey's sister is hot! That's some news you'll probably get a few other places too but I just had to say it. :)

Home Field Advantage Just Isn't For MLS

Again I'm still loving how the English can freak out even when their team wins a game they're supposed to. They won in Chelsea of 2004/5 style with Frank Lampard scoring on a penalty in the 24th minute. Sure one call different and England tied the talent challenged Austria (matching them with neighbors Germany in that regard) for the second time in qualifying but they qualified.

But there was something good that came out of all of the commotion - another look at Peter Crouch (the world's favorite "baby giraffe") in action. And, of course, the flood of "he's got great touch for a big man" (though not in this match apparently). The Guardian decided they were sick of hearing that statement and searched the rest of the news for alternate phrasology.

My favorite comes from Michael Owen:

"He's fantastic on the ground but he's obviously really tall."

That man's got a future in sportscasting. Sign him up right now. :)

And while we're at it, perhaps he has an inside track on the seeding formula since apparently no one knows.

There were a lot of other international games this weekend but I did such a good job of ignoring the run-up and not giving my usual pithy predictions that I may as well continue the streak. Especially since I really don't want to mention the United States result.

Pulling all of those players out of MLS for nothing.

Though the good news is that with all of the outs is it sorted out the Eastern Conference playoff picture nearly perfectly. With New England missing key players they could only tie Kansas City but that was just enough to clinch the east. D.C. United, maybe missing players I couldn't tell, however lost to MetroStars meaning that they come in second as the Fire (with an experimental lineup) lost and come in third.

The only question now is 4th place with Kansas City and MetroStars tied.

But here's what I don't understand. So, apparently in contrast to both the rest of the footcer world and sports in the United States in general, the home pitch advantage means you start on the road in a two-legged playoff. Which is great for the Fire and all but I still don't get it.

With the Fire missing the playoffs the last two seasons, I hadn't noticed that. But what is MLS thinking making the reward for a better season record having to stress out about winning at home in the second leg if you lost on the road in the first?

In the end it's just another reason to wonder if MLS has lost their minds. But, hey the Fire are doing better than Fulham so I won't really gripe that much.

The Footcer World Tour Continues

So I've been taking a little international break myself (though without leaving Chicago oddly enough). Of course the footcer world hasn't stopped turning in the meantime but I have been lacking the energy to really pay attention to the news (amazing how an English or Scottish accent blurs together when you're really tired).

As I begin this with the goal to go to sleep at a reasonable hour for once, it appears as the Fire finally got their act together against Kansas City tonight (though it took them injury time in the second half to get the tie) to clinch a playoff spot. While it appears as though Kansas City has the tie break on a +2 head-to-head goal differential (the season series was 1-1-2), I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Fire appear like they'll be the three seed as D.C. United is easily dispatching Real Salt Lake.

I've taken quite an interest in the results of the match since me and my Fire buddy Nicole may be flying east to Boston or Washington D.C. to see the Fire's first road away game (which now looks to be the 22nd or 23rd). Too keep plane fares down, I'm now rooting for one or the other to clinch soon, I don't care who.

And the sad part is that while I'm there, I'll probably get more entries in than I did in the past week. :)

Speaking of travel, my Everton loving buddy Todd just got back from his honeymoon in Panama (at which point he probably felt no sadness about the Toffees since, well, he had other things on his mind) and came back with the report that Central American leagues suck. Hardly news but he did come back with the impression that they really like MLS down in central America. Perhaps MLS should concentrate on overseas revenue much like Manchester United. :)

Though of course the ultimate footcer destination is still Brazil. But, while we can't all make it there, Real Madrid's core decided last weekend to bring it to the world demonstrating some of the strangest goal celebrations the world has ever seen.

Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos swear they're not trying to taunt their opponents writhing on the ground after goals and leapfrogging each other on the pitch. And I believe them. They're just demonstrating Carnivale for Spain. They should be getting paid by the Brazilian Tourism Bureau or something.

It looks like Rio Ferdinand is also very interested in traveling. But he doesn't want to go all the way to Brazil. He just wants his ticket to Germany paid for. Or, well he wants to make it to Germany at all. If he has issues against Austria, his younger brother Anton from West Ham, however, has a better shot of making the England squad.

Someone is going on vacation for certain or a certain group of people. The German national team is planning on vacationing in Italy. Perhaps they can gain some talent from the country as well.

Though if they really wanted that, they should probably travel to Brazil.

From Australia To Mexico, Footcer's Back

So yeah, how about Reading. They kicked some serious butt this weekend, right? Well, it wasn't without controversy on the Sheffield United end but come on you Royals and all that (Bobby Convey needs a new pair of World Cup shoes and all that)!

For the third weekend in a row, talking about the Premiership is just too painful. Though, thankfully, Manchester City sent Everton further into the depths of hades.

And what do you know? David Moyes is finally taking my (and a lot of other people's advice) and resting Tim Cahill. Or well, I should say that he's trying to force Australia to bench Cahill in their upcoming friendly against Jamaica at Craven Cottage.

I just hope he doesn't curse Fulham's home pitch since they're doing bad enough on their own. :(

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The expletives I want to use to describe Wigan right now are innumerable. That little f*c*ing team is doing stuff with nothing that is making much larger teams from much larger cities extremely upset. Though at this point it's like the words Wigan and upset should no longer be used in the same sentence.

Wigan is pissing me off. There's no mincing words on that.

They're like that precocious kid in movies and TV shows that is "wise behind their years" and make the grown-ups look like fools. At first there's a certain novelty to the small character's spunk ("ah look, little Wigan is acting like an Italian village team in Serie A challenging Chelsea in their first game before falling like they're supposed to.") but eventually you just want to scream at the scream for them to get back in their place ("that kid needs to be locked in their room.").

It's so rare for a team from such a small city to make it into the Premiership that I guess it's something that the league wasn't prepared for.

Whatever it is, I wish Wigan would just go back to playing rugby.

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Speaking of which, I'd like to thank the NFL for playing a game in Mexico City. The stadium looks packed and if they can get the Mexicans hooked on football instead of footcer it can be nothing but a good thing (though watching Univision and Telemundo and according to the linked article, Mexico and Mexicans is/are already in love with "futbol Americano").

Except it didn't work with the Europeans so I wouldn't expect this experiment to work either. :)

Though I have to say it's little too late to short circuit at least the next generation of Mexican footcer players as the baby baby Tri won the U-17 World Championships 3-0 over Brazil.

Not that I want the United States to be the top team in the region by anything other than their own successes or anything. ;)