Table Update as of 10/26

It was an exciting weekend of soccer as two of the EPL's big four matched up and the MLS closed out the reason season with 6 teams fighting for the last 2 playoff spots.

MLS:
- Past week's results - New York ended is horrible season with a 5-0 victory over Toronto - Real Salt Lake netted 3 goals in a must-win game against Colorado - LA Galaxy defeated San Jose 2-0 to win the MLS Western Conference Title - New England won 1-0 over the regular season champs Columbus to grab the final playoff spot in the final game of the regular season.
- Final MLS Table - In the East, Columbus won its 2nd Supports Shield (best regular season record), while Chicago & New England finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, to give the east 3 playoff teams. In the West the Galaxy won their first conference title since 2002. The bring in 5 playoff teams - Houston (2nd), Seattle (3rd), Chivas USA (4th) & Real Salt Lake (5th). I will have a MLS Playoff Preview later this week.

EPL:
- Past week's results - In the weekend's biggest match-up Liverpool avoided 5 straight losses and climbed back into the title chase with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United - Chelsea rolled over Blackburn 5-0 - Stoke City surprised one of the new top 4 contenders Tottenham with a 1-0 win - ManCity, Arsenal & Aston Villa could only manage draws in their respective games.
- Current EPL Table - Only 4 teams stayed in the same spot as last week, 3 of those being the relegation teams (Hull City, West Ham & Portsmouth) - Chelsea passed ManU at the top of the table with 24 points to 22 points - Arsenal & Tottenham are tied at 3rd, however Arsenal has a game in hand - Liverpool jumped back into 5th place, however ManCity (6th) & Aston Villa (7th) still have an extra game to play.

Serie A:
- Past week's results - The big 3 continued their good form this weekend as Inter, AC Milan and Juventus all won with a collective score of 5-2 - Sampdoria got back on the winning side with a 4-1 victory against Bologna
- Current Serie A Table - The top 3 stayed the same: Inter, Sampdoria and Juventus - Palermo, Fiorentina & AC Milan are all tied with 15 points for the 4th through 6th spots in the table, all which grant bigs into European competitions for next year - Siena dropped to the bottom of the table with only 5 points in 9 matches.

TV Schedule for the Week of 10/24

Full line-up of weekend action across the EPL, Serie A and La Liga, while the MLS concludes the regular season and 5 teams via for the final two playoff spots.

Saturday (24th):
- EPL: Wolverhampton vs. Aston Villa - 7:30am - ESPN2HD
- EPL: Birmingham vs. Sunderland - 10am - FSC
- EPL: Chelsea vs. Blackburn - 12:30pm - FSC
- Serie A: Inter Milan vs. Catania - 2:30pm - FSC
- MLS: Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids - 9pm - FSC

Sunday (25th):
- EPL: Liverpool vs. Manchester United - 10am - FSC
- EPL: West Ham vs. Arsenal - 12pm - FSC
- Serie A: AC Milan vs. Chievo - 3:30pm - FSC
- La Liga: Barcelona vs. Zaragoza - 4pm - ESPN2HD
- MLS: New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew - 6pm - ESPN2HD

Wednesday (28th):
- Serie A: Napoli vs. AC Milan - 3:30pm - FSC

Thursday (29th):
- Serie A: Inter Milan vs. Palermo - 3:30pm - FSC

Champions League Update

Round three of the UEFA Champions League and round six of the CONCACAF Champions League took place this week between the best clubs across Europe and North America. Here is a summary of this past week's action and the current standings:

UEFA CL

Group A:

- Results: Bordeaux 2-1 Bayern Munich & Juventus 1-0 Maccabi Haifa

- Table: Bordeaux lead the group with 7 points, Juventus (5), Bayern Munich (4) and Maccabi Haifa (1)

Group B:

- Results: ManU 1-0 CSKA Moscow & Wolfsburg 0-0 Besiktas

- Table: Manchester United lead the group with 9 points, Wolfsburg (4), CSKA Moscow (3) and Besiktas (1)

Group C:

- Results: AC Milan 3-2 Real Madrid & Marseille 1-0 FC Zurich

- Table: Real Madrid and AC Milan are tied atop the group at 6 points, Marseille (3), and FC Zurich (3)

Group D:

- Results: Chelsea 4-0 Atletico Madrid & FC Porto 2-1 Apoel

- Table: Chelsea sit perfect with 9 points, FC Porto (6), Apoel (1), and Atletico Madrid (1)

Group E:

- Results: Lyon 2-1 Liverpool & Fiorentina 4-3 Debrecen

- Table: Lyon (9), Fiorentina (6), Liverpool (3), & Debrecen (0)

Group F:

- Results: Rubin Kazan 2-1 Barcelona & Inter Milan 2-2 Dynamo Kiev

- Table: Barcelona (4), Rubin Kazan (4), Dynamo Kiev (4), & Inter Milan (3)

Group G:

- Results: Sevilla 3-1 Stuttgart & Unirea Urziceni 4-1 Rangers

- Table: Sevilla (9), Unirea Urziceni (4), Stuttgart (2), Rangers (1)

Group H:

- Results: Arsenal 1-1 Alkmaar & Olympiakos 2-1 Standard Liege

- Table: Arsenal (7), Olympiakos (6), Alkmaar (2), Standard Liege (1)

CONCACAF

- Past week's results - DC United and Columbus both ended their matches with 1-1 draws, while Houston fell 3-2.

- Current Table - Houston is currently third place in their group and look likely to miss the knock out stages - Columbus is 2nd place in their group 8 points out - DC United is just 3 points back of group leaders Toluca - Both DC and Columbus look set to advance past the group stage.

News & Rumors Update

Its been a full week of soccer already between UEFA and CONCACAF Champions League action and the release of FIFA 2010. Here are a few of the latest news headlines and rumors over the past few days that you may have missed:

• Landon Donovan wins a record sixth Honda Player of the Year award. The award is given out each year to the US National Team's best player. Donovan has won this honor the past three years, and six out of the past eight years. Tim Howard and Jozy Altidore finished 2nd and 3rd in this year's voting.
• US Health Update: Charlie Davies is out of the ICU and is expected to need 6 to 12 months for recovery.  Oguchi Onyewu will undergo surgery on Wednesday, his recovery time table should be known by the end of the week. US defender Jay DeMerit had to undergo eye surgery this week, but is not expected to miss significant time.
• The LA Galaxy have announced they will play an exhibition game against German side FC Kaiserslautern on Thanksgiving day.
• Midfielder Jermaine Jones had his application to switch from the German national team to the US national team go through this week. However, it may be a while before you see Jones suit up for America, as he will not be ready for the November friendly against Denmark.
• Yet again the Thiery Henry to New York rumors have surfaced. The Daily Mail now claims that Henry is 'excited' at the possibility of joining the NY Red Bulls after World Cup 2010. 
• Fox Sports has won an additional 3 years of broadcast rights for the English Premiere League. They currently air EPL matches on Fox Soccer Net, as well as UEFA Champions League, Serie A, and MLS matches. Fox Soccer Channel is scheduled to go into full HD in January 2010.
  
• Rumor: EPL game to be played at Fenway Park in Boston - potentially during the 2012 season.

FIFA 2010 Out Today

EA Sports released FIFA 2010 today for the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, etc. This year's game features 30 leagues, 570 teams, and more than 12,500 players from around the world. Here is IGNs review of the game for each major platform:

• Fifa 2010 (Wii) - 7.7
  
• Fifa 2010 (Xbox 360) - 9.0
  
• Fifa 2010 (PS3) - 9.0
  

The official FIFA 2010 website featuring game features, media, forums, and more. A great new feature in this year's game if FIFA Earth, the website tracks online games played around the world by team used, country played in, etc. Real Madrid and ManU top the club teams and England sits as the most played team (currently 16th). FIFA Earth also tracks where the 'best' soccer is played (winning percentage by country) - currently Romania and Turkey are the top two teams.

On a personal note I am glad the 2010 version of the game is out and I can start building my next great coaching dynasty. Its time to start searching the transfer market to find the next great young star, rebuilding a mid-level team, advance to the top tier of a European league, win the UEFA Champions League, and become a world class manager. Maybe just not all this week.

Comments or thoughts? Buying the game? Which system? Favorite team to play as? First player you look to sign?

Table Update as of 10/19

League play resumed this week, lets take a look at the results and current tables for the English Premiere League, the MLS, Italy's Serie A. (Note: I'll have an update on Champions League play later this week once the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday have occurred).


MLS:
- Past week's results - Real Salt Lake kept themselves in the playoff hunt with a 2-0 victory Wednesday night, but then dropped a match 1-0 to Toronto - DC United defeated league leading Columbus 1-0 - LA Galaxy and Houston ended with a 0-0 draw on Sunday - Dallas continued its hot steak with a 2-1 win over playoff contender Colorado
- Current MLS Table - LA, Houston & Chivas sit in a 3-way tie atop the Western Division - Seattle clinched a playoff spot this weekend with a victory - Colorado currently has the 7th place in the playoffs secured at 40 points, while there is a 4-way tie at 39 points for the final spot (DC, Toronto, New England & Dallas). Real Salt Lake would need all four of those teams to lose during the final weekend and get a win over Colorado to sneak into the playoffs.


EPL:
- Past week's results - Aston Villa upset Chelsea Saturday 2-1 after going down early to a Drogba goal - Tottenham and Portsmouth continued their 09-10 season roles with a 2-1 win going to the Spurs - Sunderland received a shocking 'beach ball' goal to defeat Liverpool 1-0 - ManCity came from behind for the second week in a row to get a 1-1 result.
- Current EPL Table - ManU jumped Chelsea, by 1 point, to the top of the table - Arsenal's win and ManCity's draw  moved Arsenal into the top 4 and ManCity sits in the Europa League spot - Liverpool now falls to 8th with 4 losses in 9 matches


Serie A:
- Past week's results - Saturday saw Juventus draw 1-1 with Fiorentina & Inter Milan crush Genoa 5-0 - Pato & Ronaldinho each score to get AC Milan off their skid in a 2-1 win over Roma - Livorno lost again to bring their current record to 0-3-5 (ouch)
- Current Serie A Table - The top four (CL) spots stayed the same: Inter, Sampdoria, Juventus & Fiorentina - AC Milan's win brings them back up to 8th in the table - Bologna & Siena drop into the relegation zone with Livorno.

Ghana - Africa's best team?

Living in the US, soccer isn't usually the easiest sport to find on TV. However, information and coverage around the US national team, as well as the MLS has continued to grow over the past few years. European soccer - gaining ground in America; African soccer - might as well try to Australian horse racing. However, even with the limited coverage or news the fact that Ghana is emerging as the top nation in Africa and one of the continent's best chance at the World Cup 2010 is quite evident. Lets take a look at Ghana's current profile:

World Cup:

• 2006 was the country's first World Cup appearance, which it advanced to the second round before elimination.
• Was the only country from Africa to advance to the second round of the 2006 World Cup
• Was the first African nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup

Youth Teams:

• Finished 4th in the U-17 World Cup in 2007
• Defeated Brazil to win the U-20 World Cup

Players:

• 4 players in the English Premiere League (Chelsea, Sunderland, Fulham, Wigan) - led by Chelsea's Michael Essien. 
• International Experience at Inter Milan, FC Basel, Hearts, Spartak Moscow & 1899 Hoffenheim. 

Does all of this mean that Ghana is the African team to beat next year in South Africa? That Ghana will be the power team in the years to come? Impossible to tell in this ever-changing soccer landscape. So while teams like Egypt have been dominate as of late, and teams like the Ivory Coast and Cameroon have the big stars - Drogba and Eto'o, respectively, Ghana seems to slowly building a strong squad for the future and World Cup 2010. Luckily, for us we don't have to wait that long since the 2010 African Cup of Nations kicks off January 10th. 

World Soccer Magazine - October Issue

The October 2009 issue of World Soccer hit news stands and bookstores this past week. If you are looking for a good soccer read or just want to learn more about the world game this is a great magazine for you. Here is a preview of what this month's issue features:

• An in-depth look at the recent under-age transfers to the big clubs of the world, as well as Chelsea's two year transfer ban.
• An update on UEFA's president Michel Platini's attempt to tame club finances in order to play in European competitions. 
• A breakdown of the top 24 spending clubs over this past summer's transfer market.
• Dispatch Updates from Argentina, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Israel, and more.
• World Cup Update: team previews for Brazil, Ghana, England, Spain, and Paraguay
• Interviews with ManU keeper Edwin Van de Sar, Brazilian right back Dani Alves, and Arsenal winger Theo Walcott
• Travel spotlight city - Madrid, Spain
• Country spotlight (history, top flight, clubs, etc.) - Singapore

TV Schedule for the Week of 10/17

Full league play is back around the world as World Cup qualifying pauses until mid-November. EPL, Serie A, and MLS return to normal action, UEFA and CONCACAF Champions Leagues resume and the USL1 Championship is concluded on Saturday.

Saturday (17th):
- EPL: Chelsea vs. Aston Villa - 7:30am - ESPN2HD
- EPL: Sunderland vs. Liverpool - 10am - FSC
- Serie A: Juventus vs. Fiorentina - 12pm - FSC
- USL1: Championship 2nd-Leg - Montreal Impact vs. Vancouver Whitecaps - 2:30pm - FSC
- MLS: New England vs. Chicago - 6pm - FSC

Sunday (18th):
- EPL: Wigan vs. Manchester City - 11am - FSC
- Serie A: AC Milan vs. Roma - 2:30pm - FSC

Monday (19th):
- EPL: Fulham vs. Hull City - 2:55pm - ESPN2HD

Tuesday (20th):
- UEFA CL: Inter Milan (ITA) vs. Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) - 2:30pm - FSC
- CONCACAF CL: Toluca (MEX) vs. DC United (USA) - 8pm - FSC

Wednesday (21st):
- UEFA CL: CSKA Moscow (RUS) vs. Manchester United (ENG) - 12:30pm - FSC
- UEFA CL: Real Madrid (ESP) vs. AC Milan (ITA) - 2:30pm - FSC

- CONCACAF CL: Metapan (SLV) vs. Houston Dynamo (USA) - 10pm - FSC

Thursday (22nd):
- MLS: Chicago vs. Chivas USA - 8pm - ESPN2HD

USA finished 1st in CONCACAF - World Cup Update

A wild and crazy day of soccer around the globe as the CONCACAF, UEFA, and CONMEBOL qualifying wrapped up the group stages. 23 of the 32 spots have been finalized, however at least 1 team from each of the six world regions still have qualifying matches to played on November 14th and 18th. Here is a look at teams who have qualified, teams who are still fighting, and the ones who now have to look ahead to 2014 (Brazil) for each region.

CONCACAF:
- In the final 30 seconds of the match in DC last night Jonathan Bornstein changed the entire group standings. Heading into stoppage time, Mexico was going to win the group on goal differential, Costa Rica had clinched a World Cup bid and Honduras, even with a victory on the night, would be forced into a play-off against Uruguay. However, Bornstein's last second strike pushed the US to the top of the group table, gave the South African ticket to Honduras and sent Costa Rica into a home-and-away series against Uruguay.
- Here is a look at the final CONCACAF Table
- Costa Rica will host Uruguay on November 14th, then travel for the return leg on November 18th in the Inter-confederation Play-offs

CONMEBOL:
- After all turmoil, resignation calls, and bad losses Argentina was still able to pull out a World Cup bid based on their own victory, instead of other countries failure to capitalize. Make no mistake about it, this team struggled and vastly underperformed during this group stage. But no team, from about region will want to see Argentina sitting in their group next June.
- Final CONMEBOL Table - Uruguay held onto the 5th place, play-off, spot despite losing to Argentina, since Ecuador loss to Chile, who moved into 2nd place overall in the table.
- Uruguay will travel to Costa Rica on November 14th, then play at home for the return leg on November 18th in the Inter-confederation Play-offs

AFC & OFC:
- New Zealand finished a top of the Oceania group and Bahrain finished 5th in the Asian group to qualify for an inter-continental play-off. The two teams met on October 10th in Bahrain and ended with a 0-0 draw. They will meet for the second-leg on November 14th in New Zealand. If Bahrain qualify they will be the smallest nation in the 2010 World Cup - population less than 800,00 (half the size of the metro-Raleigh, NC area).

CAF:
- In Africa three groups have already qualified - Ghana, Ivory Coast, & South Africa (host)
- Three spots remain open between Cameroon, Gabon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and matches being played on November 14th

UEFA:
- The European group stage wrapped up Wednesday night with nine bids secured thus far - Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy & Netherlands.
- The eight best second place teams advance to four home-and-away series to determine UEFA's final four bids - UEFA Second Round matches will take place on November 14th and 18th.