Match Report: Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - DC United 1

• Goals scored: Neagle 61' (penalty)
• What happened: Vancouver dominated the match almost from start to finish-- they hit the crossbar and goalpost multiple times but could not score. DC were awarded a questionable penalty early in the second half and scored. Vancouver were awarded a penalty late in second half stoppage time-- Cristian Techera's kick hit the post.
• Who sang the national anthems: A child
• Players in today's match that I recognized because they used to play for the Seattle Sounders: Fredy Montero and Sebastian Le Toux (Update-- According to my friend Michael, DC United goalscorer Lamar Neagle is a native of Federal Way, WA and former Sounder as well. Additionally, Michael says that his wife of many years has always had a crush on Neagle.)
• Question I had while watching the match: How do the Tyranno-Vision screen and Roof Opening Apparatus (pictured below) not fall down on to the field and crush the players?

• Other question I had while watching the match: How does one get a job on the Stretcher Crew (pictured below-- the four guys in white vests)? 

• Final questions I had while watching the match: Why did they water the pitch at halftime if it is artificial? Or was the truck that drove around spreading sand instead?
• How we got tickets: Free from friends
• Where the teams were in the MLS standings coming into the match: Vancouver-- mid-table in the Western Conference; DC United-- bottom of the the Eastern Conference
• Things the Vancouver fans did not like: The officiating, especially after Neagle converted the penalty kick for DC United (video below)

•  Things that disappointed the Vancouver fans: Techera missing the potentially equalizing penalty kick in stoppage time (video below)

• What this match teaches us: They still play the Vancouver Whitecaps Anthem before games.

Hockey goals as described by soccer announcers

Apparently this one has been all over the place for the past few days, but if you haven't seen it, it's still worth a look.

Euro 2012 update

Italy defeated Germany yesterday 2-1 to advance to the finals against Spain. 

Brazilian soccer match delayed due to swarm of bees

According to a source that I can no longer locate-- "The 2-2 draw in the Campeonato Goiano was held up for 20 minutes in the first half whilst the fire department killed off the swarm of bees with diesel oil and fire extinguishers."

Also, there apparently was a brawl at the end of the match involving players from both sides and then later a shooting which left one unfortunate fan dead.

Another nice goal by Seedorf and one by Gattuso

In case you missed this one--

April 16, 2011: Milan 3 - Sampdoria 0

Or this one--

March 5, 2011: Juventus 0 - Milan 1

World Cup Update #4: north Korea will be missed

For an article about north Korean player Jong Tae-se, click here.

To see video footage of the north Korean national team at the Johannesburg Zoo, click here.

Milan have a new goalkeeper

A.C. MILAN OFFICIAL NOTE

6/23/2010

A.C. Milan communicate the acquisition of MARCO AMELIA from Genoa, with the right to claim the compartecipation, and the definitive sale of MARCO STORARI to FC Juventus.

The two photos above are of Marco Amelia. The photo below is of Marco Storari.

The US' Chances to make it through the group stage...

I am rooting for the US.

So, after yesterday's (unrightful) draw with Slovenia, and England's draw with Algeria, it stands like this:

Slovenia: 4 points

USA: 2 points

England: 2 points

Algeria: 1 point

Ways for the US to Get Through:

1. England beats Slovenia, USA wins
2. Slovenia beats England, USA wins
3. Slovenia beats England, USA ties
4. England and Slovenia tie, USA wins
5. England and Slovenia tie, USA ties (this is only a possibility, there would be a tie between England and the US on points and the tiebreaker would be goal differencial).

There is a total of 9 possible combinations of results of the two next games... Now, we just have to wait and see if the US can pull off the result!

PS. It's weird being patriotic...

Roma 1 - Sampdoria 2 (still)

Over and over again, I keep thinking about this game. If Roma had won, Inter would still be in second place.

A map of Brazil's top division soccer clubs

Just in case you are ever in Brazil...Click on the map for a much closer look.

Picture of the day - Inuit children playing football

This post might have also been entitled, "Inuit children playing soccer" or "Eskimo children playing football" or "Eskimo children playing soccer." To learn more about the terms Inuit and Eskimo, click here or here. To learn more about the terms football and soccer, click here.

Cartoon History of My Job: The Joy of Reading

Click on the picture for a closer view.

The MLS Cup finals are set

Last night Real Salt Lake defeated the Chicago Fire 0-0 (5-4 on penalties) to earn a spot in the MLS Cup. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando (above) stopped three penalty kicks at the end of the match to help his team advance. It is not known whether the King of Utah called Rimando personally to congratulate him on his heroic efforts.

The MLS Cup final will take place next Sunday in Seattle. It will feature Real Salt Lake versus the LA Galaxy.

Below: Chicago Fire fans during the match.

One half of next weekend's MLS Cup final pairing has been set

The LA Galaxy defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-0 in extra-time last night and will be coming to Seattle for next weekend's MLS Cup. Los Angeles will face the winner of tonight's match between the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake.

Last night I rooted for the Dynamo, mostly because of their long-standing association with the Soviet secret police. Unfortunately, due to an inaccurately disallowed second-half goal, Houston lost.

Below: Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts leaves the field during one of the two power outages that halted the game.

MLS playoff update #1

Real Salt Lake defeated the Columbus Crew last night 3-2 (4-2 on aggregate) to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals of the MLS playoffs. It is not clear how a team from Salt Lake City ends up in the Eastern Conference bracket, but that does not matter. What does matter is that the King of Utah will be happy when he receives news of this result.

Below: Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis receives a hug.

What I have been reading lately #38

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

Fever Pitch is Nick Hornby's account of being an Arsenal fan from 1968 to 1992, when the book was written. It is definitely the best book ever written about being a sports fan; it is probably the best book ever written about sports; it may be the best book ever written. I have read it five times-- 1998, 2002, 2005, 2008, and 2009.

Since 1989, I have kept a list of all the books I have read. Here are the books I have read more than twice*:

Books I have read three times:

• The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis by Humberto Constantini
• My Last Sigh by Luis Bunuel
• Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
• Ball Four by Jim Bouton
• Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counter-Culture by Paul Krassner

Books I have read four times:

• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Books I have read five times:

• Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

* The number of books I have read twice is at least sixteen, if not more.

Match report: Napoli 2 - Milan 2

• Goals scored: Inzaghi 2' (See photo above), Pato 6', Cigarini 90', Denis 90+3'
• What happened: Milan scored twice inside of six minutes. They then became casual and careless. Both sides started committing lots of fouls. Napoli scored twice in the last five minutes-- tie game.
• Milan players who left the game after ten minutes due to unspecified injuries: Nesta
• Milan players sent off: Abate
• Napoli strategy for the first ninety minutes: Appeal for penalties every time you get near the penalty area. Shoot the ball straight at Dida even if he is lying down in front of a wide open goal.
• Napoli strategy for the last five minutes: Score goals.
• Number of Milan goals correctly disallowed for offsides: Two-- one by Inzaghi and one by Borriello
• What this match teaches us: It is not possible to kill off eighty-nine minutes of a game.

Above: Cigarini scores.

Below: Dida looks at the ball after Denis has headed it into the net to tie the score.

Below: Leonardo looks sad as he walks off the field after the match.

Highlights:

Another official announcement from AC Milan

Yesterday, Alessandro Nesta scored twice on headers to lead Milan to a 2-1 victory at Chievo. Today, AC Milan made this announcement on their website:

A.C. MILAN OFFICIAL NOTE

10/26/2009

MILAN - A.C. Milan communicate that the footballer Alessandro Nesta was subjected to the reduction of a small fracture in his nasal bones by dr. Paolo Marconi. The Rossoneri player will be regularly available for tomorrow's training, ahead of the match in Naples.

Above-- Nesta scores his second goal.

Match report: Chievo 1 - Milan 2

• Goals scored: Pinzi 7', Nesta 81', Nesta 90+2'
• What happened: For the third game in a row, Milan started out in a disorganized manner and gave up an early goal. They then spent the rest of the match desperately trying to catch up.
• Nesta's first goal: Pirlo crossed the ball in. Borriello headed the ball off the cross bar. Nesta headed the rebound in past a bunch of defenders.
• Dida's save: In the 91st minute, Milan goalkeeper Dida made a fantastic save on a header by Chievo. His body was going one way, and he had to reach out with his hand in the other direction to stop the shot.
• Nesta's second goal: Not even a minute after Dida's save, Nesta scored another goal. This one was also a header (off a corner kick). Chievo had played quite well, but ultimately were unlucky.
• Milan's jerseys: Milan wore jerseys I had never seen before-- all black with three red stripes running down the sleeves. They look just like their standard road jerseys, except in black instead of white.
• Players who looked completely lost: Huntelaar
• Defenders who came forward to attack over and over again: Oddo
• Players who never get in the game anymore: Jankulovski
• Amusing things about Pirlo: Early on in the match, he and a player from Chievo were laughing at the referee for making a bad call. Also, his captain's armband was white.
• Best player for Chievo: Sorrentino (goalkeeper)
• Chievo players who are Albanian: Bogdani
• Chievo players who look like Ben Stiller: Pellissier (picture below in a previous match)

• Where Milan stands in the Serie A table: Milan has 15 points, tying them with 4th place Palermo and 5th place Fiorentina. Since Milan is behind on goal differential, they are currently in 6th place.
• What this match teaches us: When Milan play well, they may be difficult to beat.

Video highlights are below--

Liverpool - Manchester United: Red Card Report

Liverpool defeated Manchester United 2-0 today. During the course of the game, Manchester United fullback Nemanja Vidic (pictured below) was sent off with a red card. According to the announcers, this was the third consecutive Liverpool-Manchester United match in which Vidic has received a red card.

Later on in the match, Liverpool's Javier Mascherano (see photo below) received a red card as well. Apparently this was the first time in the last fifty-four Premier League matches that a Liverpool player has received a red card. Before today, the last Liverpool player to receive a red card was Javier Mascherano in a game against Manchester United.