Saturday Scrimmage: Castillo Recalled, Arsenal Tops Man United & More

Nery Castillo Returns

Sven-Goran Erikkson has recalled Manchester City forward Nery Castillo to the Mexican national team for a friendly against Ecuador in Phoenix, Arizona next week. You might remember Castillo for his darting run and pinpoint cross that led to Mexico's lone goal in their 2-1 loss against the United States in last year's Gold Cup Final as well as for his tantalising performance in the 2007 Copa America, which was the last time the former Olympiacos player dawned the Mexican jersey.

"I am happy to be again in the national squad and I am also anxious to see my team mates again and work for the challenge," said an elated Castillo.

Nasri Double Topples Manchester United

A pair of Samir Nasri goals aided Arsenal in gaining a crucial victory over Manchester United. In the 22nd minute, a Dimitar Berbatov headed clearance fell to Nasri who attempted a left-footed volley toward goal that deflected off of defender Gary Neville and passed goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

The Frenchman struck again as he scored his fifth goal of the season in the 48th minute. A Cesc Fabregas feed found Nasri wide open and the former Marseille midfielder made no mistake as he hit another past a helpless Van der Sar.

Manchester cut the deficit in half as substitute Rafael volleyed a ball into the net one minute from the final whistle. However, even with a prolonged amount of stoppage time, it was not enough for a miracle comeback and Arsenal came out victorious much to the delight of Arsene Wenger.

MLS Playoffs Continue

Two more MLS teams will secure their berths in the next round of the playoffs today as there are a pair of intriguing matchups listed on today's schedule. The Columbus Crew look to pull out a home victory tonight against a stubborn Kansas City Wizards side that surprisingly kept up with the top-seeded Crew last week. After a 1-1 draw, Sigi Schmid's men must win tonight or else they can expect to feel the wrath of their fans in what would be the start of a long offseason. Kickoff is at 7:30 PM ET.

Chivas USA will also be defending their home-turf tonight at 10:30 PM ET. as they look to bounce back from a 1-0 loss in last week's match against Real Salt Lake. A tie in the Home Depot Center tonight would see Real Salt Lake through on aggregate so expect RSL to come out a bit more passive than usual. Could this be Sacha Kljestan's last game in MLS? It's a possibility but expect him and Chivas USA to put it all on the line tonight.


Who do you think will prevail in tonight's MLS matches? Is Manchester United falling from grace? Happy to see Castillo back with Mexico? Feel free to express your thoughts below.

Fire Torch Revolution 3-0

They've finally done it. Denis Hamlett's Fire have knocked out the New England Revolution from the MLS play-offs. After three years of futile play-off performances resulting in elimination at the hands of the Revolution each season, Chicago has advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship by winning last night's match in impressive fashion.

"It's a big relief to win this series because they have knocked us out of the playoff so often," coach Hamlett said. "New England has shown a consistency of being a good team, but tonight, our guys showed the will to move on."

But this one sided affair shouldn't have come as much of a surprise at all. During three regular season contests in 2008, the Fire had won all of the bouts by a total score of 9-1. Last night's 3-0 victory was just another impressive win over New England this year.

The scoring started right before the end of the first half as Chris Rolfe pounced on a rebound and struck the ball home in the second minute of injury time.

"I saw Cuauhtemoc (Blanco) sizing up a shot and thought it may have a chance to be deflected off Matt (Reis)," Rolfe said. "The ball came right to me and I was able to score. That goal meant a lot to us because we knew they wanted to keep the game at 0-0. When we attack and we are getting chances, we are a hard team to beat."

The Fire added two second half tallies with goals coming from defenders Wilman Conde in the 49th, and Gonzalo Segares in the 74th. The Revolution searched all of the second half for an answer to the productive offense they encountered but with key players missing, it was too much of a task for Steve Nicol's men.

"The injuries were huge," Nicol stated. "Losing Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman, it's been a struggle, it's been really tough. Plus, Sharlie (Joseph) was off tonight. But you try to stand up and get it done, but it just didn't work out today."

Chicago now has some time to rest as they await the winner of the battle between the Columbus Crew and Curt Onalfo's Kansas City Wizards, who will play the second leg of their series on Saturday.


What did you think of last night's game? Happy to finally see the Fire topple the Revolution? Think it would've been different had New England's trifecta been healthy and ready? Share your thoughts below.

Chad Marshall wins MLS Defender of the Year

Columbus Crew defender Chad Marshall was crowned the 2008 MLS Defender of the Year. Marshall beat out recent Mali-declared and Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare and Kansas City Wizards captain, Jimmy Conrad.

Marshall made 29 appearance this season for the Crew and he started in each one of them. The former long haired (as seen above) defender also helped the Crew backline concede the third fewest goals this year.

Marshall had himself quite the comeback year after a 2007 season that was riddled with injuries. The 24-year-old scored four goals in 2008 and helped the Crew get to the play-offs in impressive fashion as they won the Supporters' Shield by being the team with the best overall record.

Don't be surprised if you see the 6-foot, 4-inch center back in a U.S. National Team uniform in 2009.


What do you think of Marshall winning the award? Think Soumare or Conrad deserved it more? Think Marshall will put himself on Bob Bradley's radar now for the National team? Share your comments below.

Maradona Appoints Mascherano as Captain

Diego Maradona has officially begun his term as Argentina head coach by making his first move in appointing midfielder Javier Mascherano as the albiceleste's new captain.

Maradona stated on Tuesday, when he was formally announced as Argentina's new manager, that he would convince the Liverpool midfielder to accept his proposal. Reports then leaked out that the football legend would fly out to England today to speak with Mascherano.

And while Maradona has been outspoken about his choice, the 24-year-old has remained relatively quiet about becoming Argentina's skipper.

"I haven't spoken to Maradona about anything yet. Before he arrived we had a captain in (Javier) Zanetti, so I don't want to talk about this out of respect for him," said Mascherano.

However, Mascherano did confirm that a conference between he and Maradona must occur before anything is finalized.

"But I have to have a meeting with Maradona and then we will talk."


What do you think of Mascherano being appointed skipper of the albiceleste? Think he's a good choice? Who would you have chosen? Share your thoughts below.

Barack Obama Elected President of the U.S.

I know this is a soccer blog, but with the key word being blog, I decided to post some off-topic yet enormous news.

After one of the most followed elections in recent memory, Illinois senator Barack Obama has been named the 44th President of the United States of America defeating Arizona senator John McCain. Obama will be taking charge of the Oval Office for his four year term starting on January 20, 2009.

Whether you voted for Obama or not, you can't deny the fact that this evening's election was history in the making. The next four years will be very interesting for this country and you're more than welcome to discuss your views on this historic election in the comment box below.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled soccer programing!

Bakary Soumare Elects Mali

A few months ago, Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare was eagerly preparing to complete the final stages of receiving his citizenship in the United States. Soumare wanted to give back to the country that gave him so much by playing for the U.S. Men's National Team. Yet all those plans changed once he received the heart breaking news that it would take at a minimum, two more years before he'd become an American citizen. That wait was too long for Soumare as he opted to play for Mali's national team.

"Sometimes things don't go the way you want them to go," Soumare told Soccernet.com. "In a perfect world I would be playing for the U.S. national team. Everything I am as a person and as a soccer player has been helped by America so I wanted to give back.

"That said, I'm also excited to be playing for Mali," Soumare added. "My father is very excited, my family back home is very excited. Either way I was going, there were going to be people would be disappointed."

People who are clearly disappointed by this decision are American fans who were delighted weeks ago when Soumare publicly voiced his aspiration of playing for the stars and stripes. It's evident that the Mali native had America as his first choice, but he admitted that the only reason he expressed his feelings publicly was because of incorrect information that he received.

"It seemed like there were ways to get that process expedited so I thought to myself, 'if it takes a year then why not [talk about it],'" Soumare stated. "I know that I've done my best to be a part of the team here in the United States, I did my homework and everything I could on my end, but it just couldn't happen."

It appears that the 2008 MLS defender of the year finalist saw the opportunity to improve his game and ran with it.

“I just had to ask myself, ‘Do I really want to wait two and a half years to start playing national team soccer’,” Soumare told SoccerbyIves.net. “Knowing that Mali has a good shot at (the 2010 World Cup), and knowing all the chances I could have playing for Mali, I decided to go for it.”

Those chances include World Cup qualifiers, and the African Cup of Nations in 2009. That was too much football to pass up on for the 22-year-old.

“Those are a lot of games,” Soumare said. “We are talking about two years worth of soccer games that can help my development as a soccer player, playing in a top international environment and in big competitions.”

It is believed that Mali would be calling up the MLS defender for a friendly on November 19th against Algeria in Paris. Soumare expects to be included in the roster for that game and MLS has no way of vetoing that as the game falls on a FIFA date. However, Soumare expects that something can be worked out between Mali and the Chicago Fire if the Fire make it to the MLS Cup Final on November 23rd.

If Soumare does receive a callup he will join a roster that includes the likes of Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Frederick Kanoute (Sevilla), Seydou Keita (Barcelona) and Mohamed Sissoko (Juventus).

Mali has talent but must finish first in their World Cup qualifying group that includes Ghana, Benin and Sudan in order to qualify for South Africa 2010. Soumare looks to assist Mali in their efforts to accomplishing that goal.


What do you think of Soumare's decision? Disappointed? Think he'll aid Mali in their quest to qualify for the World Cup? Share your thoughts below.

American Altidore Nets First La Liga Goal

Jozy Altidore has done it. He has become the first American to net a goal in La Liga. His 90th minute strike came seconds after he stepped onto the pitch as a late game substitute for Joseba Llorente.

The record-breaking goal against Athletic Bilbao was not only his first official goal with Villarreal but the splendid strike made him the first American to score in Spain's first division and came just five days before his 19th birthday.

Although Altidore's teammate, New Jersey born Guiseppe Rossi has scored for Villarreal, he represents the Italian National Team at the International level thus making Altidore the first American to net in La Liga.


What do you think of Altidore becoming the first American to score in La Liga? Will this get him more looks with Villarreal? Think Josmer will send Santi Cazorla some flowers for that picture-perfect pass? Share your thoughts below.

MLS Play-off Rewind

Well the first legs of the 2008 MLS Play-off series have come to a close. Every team is in a good position to have a realstic shot of advancement heading into this week's second leg matches. The teams to advance are the ones with the higher score on aggregate.

So far the defenses have dominated, with the total amount of goals scored in the four matches at a minimal five. Here's a recap of the four games that took place in the past three days and what to look forward to this week:

Chicago Fire v New England Revolution (0-0)

A scoreless draw at home is never a good thing, especially when you're in a play-off series against a hot Chicago Fire team. Yet the New England Revolution put themselves in that situation with their performance in Thursday night's match. The Fire, who also struggled to get much going offensively in this physical encounter, still have room for optimism. A win at home this Thursday against this bruised and battered Revolution team would see Chicago finally exercise their New England demons after being eliminated by them in each of the past three seasons. The game can be seen live nationwide on ESPN2 at 8:30 PM.

Houston Dynamo v New York Red Bulls (1-1)

The Red Bulls were five minutes away from winning the game on Saturday night which would've really boosted the team's morale given all of the tough circumstances they've encountered in recent weeks. Heading into the second leg with a 1-0 aggregate score against a heavily-favoured Houston side would've been ideal, but Kei Kamara would not allow it. His 85th minute equaliser silenced the home crowd and salvaged a 1-1 draw for the Dynamo.

With everything to play for next Sunday, expect an intense game in Houston, where the two-time defending champs only lost once all season long. New York on the contrary only managed to win one road game this year and that sounds like recipe for disaster if you're a Red Bulls fan. But don't be surprised if New York comes out swinging with full force as they know that they were minutes away from beating Houston last night.

Chivas USA v Real Salt Lake (1-0)

You can thank Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan for ruining what would've been a first round full of draws due to his game winning goal in the 90th minute. In all seriousness, his late game heroics have come in handy once again, as last week's late equalizer gave RSL their first play-off berth in franchise history.

Movsisyan's clever backheel has left fans raving, while Chivas USA needs to find a way to overcome the 1-0 aggregate. If they put forth an offensive performance as feeble as last night's, then you can stick a fork in them. Three shots (one shot on target) is not enough for a team to compete in the play-offs. The positive for Chivas USA is that they'll be at home for next Saturday's encounter.

Columbus Crew v Kansas City Wizards (1-1)

In the 52nd minute, Claudio "El Piojo" Lopez put in a beauty of a cross that found the head of a diving Davy Arnaud to give Kansas City an unlikely lead against the best team in the MLS. It appeared that the Wizards were on the verge of doing the impossible, but the Crew were resilient and equalized against a 10-man Kansas City side with a 92nd minute goal by Steven Lenhart, who had come off the bench nine minutes prior to his salvaging strike.

The Supporters' Shield winners are now going to fly back to Columbus in preparation for next Saturday's match where the Wizards will be without Herculez Gomez, as he was given a straight red card for a two-footed challenge in the 75th minute. The Wizards may be distraught after conceding the late goal but with all to play for this coming weekend, they'll need focus once again if they want to beat the best team in the MLS.


Which games did you see this weekend? Why do you think all the games were so close? Expect them to be as close in the second legs? Share your thoughts below.