Sports Desk: Soccer Scores from Obscure Countries Around the World

Today, we arbitrarily decided to post soccer scores for four leagues which don't get much mention: Azerbaijan, Serbia, Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia. For results from Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia, go to our sister blog http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

But, for the rest of you, stick here as we give you weekend scores from Azerbaijan and Serbia (assuredly few bloggers outside of Baku and Belgrade are doing this!). The images above are of Will John, who is the first American ever to play in Azerbaijan. He plays for Azal PFC. We were not aware of him when we did our American soccer players abroad entry.

 The bottom image is of Ghana international Obeng Regan who got a red card for his Serbian club Napredak Krussevac.

Here are the results:

Azerbaijan

FK Baku 1 Sungayit FC 0

Khazar Lenkoran 0 Inter Baku 1

AZAL PFC 1 Khazar Lenkoran 3

Gabala 3 Ravan 0 (Gabala is also in first place in the league; Neftci Baku is in third place)

Serbia

Sloboda 2 Radnicki 1

Vojvodina 2 Partizan 1 (in spite of the loss, Partizan is still the Serbian league leader)

Napredak 2 Cukaricki 1

OFK Belgrade 1 Rad Belgrade 0

http://www.azembassy.us/

http://www.azal.az/

http://www.serbia.travel/

Soccer Week (7 of 8): American Player Tim Howard Shuts Down Chelsea

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
We now how Dutch international Maikel va der Werff, who plays for the Dutch soccer team Zwolle, felt when he kicked in an own goal which propelled Ajaz Amsterdam to defeat Zwolle 2-1.

As we were typing to score for the Southampton-West Ham game which ended in a 0-0 tie, we punched the wrong button and all of our work (if one can call blogging work) vanished.

But, our header was that American goal-keeper Tim Howard (pictured above) came back from helping Team USA earn a World Cup bid by defeating Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio. And, then he flew back to England to help his team Everton (based in Liverpool) defeat London powerhouse Chelsea 1-0.

The lone goal of the match was scored by Steven Naismith of Scotland during extra time of the first half.

Mesut Ozil, a German national of Turkish heritage, had a solid debut with Arsenal as he contributed an assist in the team's 3-1 win over Sunderland.

Gyfli Sigurdsson of Iceland score two goals for Tottenham Hotspur.

French national Yoan Gouffan scored the game-winner for Newcastle United in the 73rd minute of play.

Finally, the stars came out for Manchester United as both Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney came through for the home team.

Here is a complete list of weekend games in the English Premiere League:

Man U 2 Crystal Palace 0

Southampton 0 West Ham 0 (tie)

Liverpool 2 Swansea 2 (tie)

Aston Villa 1 Newcastle 2

Fulham 1 West Brom 1 (tie)

Tottenham 2 Norwich 0

Everton 1 Chelsea 0

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 3

Stoke City 0 Man City 0 (tie)

Hull City 1 Stoke City 1 (tie)

http://www.premiereleague.com

http://www.evertonfc.com

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com

http://www.nufc.co.uk/

Soccer Week (5 of 8) Games of the Week Scores

Stefan Klessing (pictured) a German national player who scored two goals this week for his team Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga is one of the items we will cover as we look at the results of the Games of the Week, which were mentioned in Friday's blog entry:


Germany:

Bayern Munich 2 Hannover 0

Bayer Leverkusen 3 Wolfsburg 1

Netherlands:

Ajax Amsterdam 2 Zwolle 1

Twente 2 PSV Eindhoven 2 (tie)

England:

Stoke City 0 Manchester City 0

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 3

USA/Major League Soccer:

Real Salt Lake 0 Seattle Sounders 2

Colorado Rapids 2 FC Dallas 1

Mexico:

Santos Laguna 1 Club America 0

Cruz Azul 0 UANL Tigres 1

Soccer Night_ Big Week for Monterrey

Even though they are in ninth place in the Mexican Premiere League, Monterrey was able to fellow Mexican first league team Santos Laguna for the CONACAF championship; the tournament also involved three American teams from the MLS: The Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo.

Veteran Mexican international goalie Oswaldo Sanchez (pictured top) is the captain of Santos Laguna, a team which has four American players, including emerging star Benji Daniel. The middle image is the logo for the UANL Tigers which are in a three-way tie for first with America and Atlas.

The lower image is of Argentinian national Jose Maria Basanta, who is the captain of Monterrey.

Here are LAST week's scores:

1. Puebla 1 Atlas 1, tie

2. Club Leon 1 Atlante 0

3. Queretaro 2 Guadalajara 1

4. Pumas 3 Chiapas 0

5. San Luis Potosi 1 Tijuana 0

6. Morelia 2 Toluca 1

7. Cruz Azul 1 Santos Laguna 0

8. Monterrey 1 UANL 0

9. America 4 Pachua 2

http://www.futbol.univision.com (In Spanish)

Major League Soccer Scoreboard

Yes, perhaps some European soccer fans are unaware of this, but there is professional soccer league in the United States, which also has three Canadian clubs, called Major League Soccer.

This weekend, league play began in the MLS and it was a good weekend for traditionally strong teams, such as the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo (pictured) and the Columbus Crew.

For the L.A. Galaxy, American soccer player Mike Magee had three goals (38th min., 68th min. and 74th min.) to lead this team to a 4-0 dismantling of the Chicago Fire.

The Houston Dynamo were helped by a late goal from American futboler Ricardo Clark in the 89th minute to a 2-0 win over our beloved D.C. United.

But, another of our favorite teams the Portland Timbers, which are featured in the cult tv show "Portlandia" on IFC, got a slightly surprising 3-3 tie with the New York Red Bulls. For the Timbers, there were goals from Liberian national Darlington Nagbe and Argentinian player Diego Valeri, which has been nominated for MLS Goal of the Week. Another Argentinian Fabian Espindola kicked in two goals for the Red Bulls in the nationally televised game.

Another Argentinian Frederico Higuain, a stand-out for the Columbus Crew, helped his team soundly defeat Chivas USA of Los Angeles.

Two Canadian teams the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC also did battle on the field. Gershon Koffie, from Ghana, scored the lone goal for the Whitecaps in the 60th minute of play for their 1-0 triumph.

Here are the scores; the New England Revolution did not play this week:

Sporting Kansas City 3 Philadelphia Union 1

Houston Dynamo 2 D.C. United 0

Vancouver Whitecaps 1 Toronto FC 0

FC Dallas 1 Colorado Rapids 0

Real Salt Lake 2 San Jose Earthquakes 0

L.A. Galaxy 4 Chicago Fire 0

New York Red Bulls 3 Portland Timbers 3

Montreal Impact 1 Seattle Sounders 0

Columbus Crew 3 Chivas USA 0

http://www.mls.com


http://www.houstondynamo.com

http://www.portlandtimbers.com


http://www.lagalaxy.com

http://www.newyorkredbulls.com

Saturday Tweets_ Mary Lou Retton is Still One of America's Girls

Here are some tweets gathered from the 3:00-4:00 p.m. hour, New York time, when it was 7:00 p.m. in Akureyri, Iceland and 10:00 p.m. in Tel Aviv, Israel:

1) @WNYC (WNYC-New York): "Judge Nixes NYC's 5-Borough Taxi Overhaul."

2) @Sports_Greats: "Be cocky. Walk into the Georgia Dome like you own it_ Mary Lou Retton" (The 1984 American Olympic gymnast from West Virginia is pictured top).

3) @ColoradoRapids: "We are too @DenverZoo: #Rapids very excited for 2nd annual Wildlife Education Night and match today versus Chivas USA!" (The soccer team from Denver, Colo., tied Chivas USA of Los Angeles 1-1 tonight; one of their star players Conor Casey is pictured bottom).

4) @TheRealNimoy (Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock on "Star Trek," pictured center): "They're saying many people won't care enough to vote in November. I hope they're wrong. Let's not slide backward to old policies."

5) @UGAGymnastics (University of Georgia Gymnastics): "A BIG thanks to all the fans who came out to picture day today. We couldn't do what we do without you all! It's Great to be a Bulldog!"

http://www.wnyc.,org

http://www.coloradrapids.com

http://www.denverzoo.org

http://www.marylouretton.com

http;//www.georgiadogs.com

Sports Desk- American Comes Through for Fulham

Even though there are seven American players in the English Premiere League and American teams have generally played competitively in World Cup play, the term American soccer star may still seem like a bit of an oxy moron in Europe.

But, today one American soccer star Clint Dempsey (pictured here) scored the lone goal in the late stages of the match to ensure a huge 1-0 upset for Fulham over visting Liverpool; Dempsey's goal came in the 84th minute of play as Liverpool was down a player due to a red card. The match was televised in America in the late afternoon (New York time) on ESPN-2.

On Saturday, ESPN-2 also televised Chelsea's 3-0 drubbing of New Castle. The game was much more competitive than the final score indicates. Didier Drogba, the sensational Ivory Coast national, hit an amazing header to give Chelsea the 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. His countrymen and Chelsea teammate Solomon Kalou scored in the 89th minute followed shortly thereafter by an extra-time goal from Daniel Sturridge.

Chelsea will play Spanish power Valencia in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow.

Tottenham continued their hot streak with their own 3-0 win over Bolton. Goals came from the young Welsh emerging superstar Gareth Bale. English players Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe added one goal each.

Tottenham feautres American goalie icon Brad Friedel, who is still playing at age
40. He has also played for Galatasaray (Turkey), the Columbus Crew (MLS) and Liverpool, among many other teams. The last part of his long career has been in the English Premiere League.

As for Bolton, the team features the EPL's only active Turkish player Tuncay Sanli, formerly of Fenerbahce, Galatasaray's main rival, and American player Stuart Holderly, formerly of the Houston Dynamo (MLS), so we wish them well.

In a low-scoring affair, Phil Jones, a 19-year-old English player, scored the lone goal in Manchester United's vital 1-0 win over Aston Villa.

Arsenal, a team that plays Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow, had no challenge from the struggling Wigan squad as they decimated them
4-0. Arsenal's goals came from Spanish national Mikhel Arteta, German player Thomas Vermoelen, Ivory Coast national Yao Gervinho and the Dutch superstar Robin van Persie, who has been scoring many goals all season in both domestic and UEFA play.

With a 5-1 win over Norwich, Manchester City remained on top of the English Premiere League standings, which currently stand this way:

1. Manchester City 38

2. Manchester United 22

3. Tottenham 31

4. Chelsea 28

5. Arsenal 26

Here is a complete list of the scores from domestic play in England:

Chelsea 3 New Castle 0

Tottenham 3 Bolton 0

Arsenal 4 Wigan 0

Stoke City 1 Everton 0

Wolverton 2 Sunderland 1

Manchester United 1 Aston Villa 0

Queen Park 1 West Brom. 1, tie

Machster City 5 Norwich 1

Blackburn 4 Swansea 2

Fulham 1 Liverpool 0

CLARIFCATION: Though we had the correct title for German filmmaker Werner Herzog's documentary in our entry last Tuesday, which is called "Death Row" in Europe, the title here in America, where the film about American death row inmates is called "Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life." It is now playing at theatres in major American cities.

Quote of the Day- Jurgen Klinsmann

Today, we continue to quote famous Germans as we quote German soccer legend Jurgen Klinsmann, who is now the head coach of the United States national team which beat Slovenia 3-2 in a foggy, messy game in Slovenia with goals from Edson Buddle, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore.

Like Franz Beckenbauer before him, Klinsmann is among the German soccer great who have played for Bayern Munich as he was with the team from 1995-97. While playing for Bayern Munich, Klinsmann and his teammates won the UEFA Cup in 1996.

Klinsmann also helped a new united Germany win a World Cup in 1990. He also played soccer for VB Stuggart (Germany), Inter Milan (Italy), Monaco (France) and Tottenham (England).

Here is his quote:

"If the national coach lets decisions be made from the outside, he's lost the team."

My World Cup Final Four Picks

Before I reveal my picks here, I want to applaud David Zirin of "The Nation" for rightfully putting "Washington Times" sports reporter Thom Loverro in his place.

On a sports talk show in reference to Team America's win over Algeria in the qualifying round last week (before the U.S. team lost to Ghana in the round of 16), Loverro said the following about Algeria: "When I think of Algeria, all I think about are terrorists and Abbott and Costello movies."

Like Zirin, I am sickened by such comments and they certainly don't reflect the views of all Americans. Similarly, Andrew Sullivan of "The Atlantic" reported that some demented person hacked the Wikipedia page for Ghana after they defeated Team America 2-1 in extra time on Saturday and used an epithet against the west African country.

There is absolutely no place for this sort of thing in today's world whatsoever.

As for my picks, like Zirin who said he believes Argentina will win The World Cup, I am also picking Argentina to win it all even though I really like Germany (who they place next) especially the star Turkish-German soccer player Mesut Ozil who is just 21 years old.

My other picks are Holland (over Brazil!), Spain and Uruguay.

The Dutch player Wesley Sneijder is pictured above. He has lead Team Holland in scoring so far, including the first goal in The Netherlands' 2-1 win over Slovakia on Monday.

Quote of the Day- Algerian Writer Mohammed Dib

Initially, we were not certain that we could go through with today's quote from the late Algerian writer Mohammed Dib (1920-2003) since Team America was playing the Algerians today in The World Cup. We were afraid that if Algeria won we might look unpatriotic even though we have quoted Che Guevara (on a lark) here on this blog....many times!

But, Team America scored a late-game goal by Landon Donovan to reach the second round with a 1-0 win.

One might expect that relations between The United States and Algeria, the only pre-dominantly Muslim country in the World Cup to be slightly tense these days, but according to an article by Adam John Waterman in the current issue of the progressive journal "The Utne Reader" (originally published in "Bidoun") there is actually a cultural link between Algeria and Iowa!

Waterman said that the town of Elkader, Iowa, founded in 1846 and named after 19th century Algerian revolutionary fighter Abd al-Qadir, is sister cities with Mascara, Algeria. And, the town has a very unique history which many folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines might be unaware of: "By the same token, the name Elkader, with its vague Arabesque exoticism, distinguished the town in a field crowded with biblical allusions, Indian rebels, and wartime heroes."

So, this brings us to today's quote which comes from Dib, who is still considered to be Algeria's most well-known writer, though some may say that distinction belongs to the late French writer Albert Camus who was born in Algeria and spent much of his life there (alas, Camus died at age 46).

This is a point that Dib makes in his quote about Camus, who also happened to be a good friend and a contemporary of his:

"Albert Camus is an Algerian writer, yet we generally think of him as a Frenchman, and as an existentialist, and regard his North African settings as almost beside the point; just backdrops for investigations of life and fate."

As for the World Cup games, there are many places where one can watch them.

In Chapel Hill, NC, there is the Turkish restaurant/bar Talulla's that is showing many of the soccer games. Talulla's might well serve the best manti (a Turkish pasta dish) this side of Istanbul. Their menu also features chicken pide, falafel and the eggplant dish Imam Bayildi.

And, in another college town, there is Big Al's Sports Bar in Blacksburg, Va., home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. In addition to showing the futbol matches, Al's features chicken tenders, cheezy fries, spuds and corndog nuggets---which I've honestly never had before!

Quote of the Day- Kofe Annan

In our continuing series on 32 quotes from 32 people representing the 32 countries in the World Cup, we quote former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan (b. 1938). Today, in World Cup action, his nation Ghana tied Australia 1-1.

Brett Holman scored first for the Australian side, but Ghana's Asamoah Gyan answered with a successful penalty kick in the 25th minute. The kick resulted from the red carding of Aussie player Henry Kowell which was the latest controversial call from a ref.

Today's "New York Post," featured the headline "Screw-S-A" in regards to yesterday's apparent botched call which cost Team USA a victory over Slovenia.

Here is our quote from Annan:

"Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the promise of progress,in every society, in every family."

Quote of the Day- David Beckham

Today, we continue to quote people who are associated with the 32 countries in The World Cup, but this time we are actually quipping someone who is actually playing in the tournament!

David Beckham and his English team will face Algeria at 2:30 p.m. (US, eastern time) in a crucial game which will follow the game between my country The United States (well, as a Turkish-American, I also support Turkey though they are not in the World Cup) and the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia, a country that Sarah Palin probably thinks borders Ghana?!

Beckham is (well doesn't everyone outside Tajikistan know this) married to a former Spice Girl, and his quote reflects that:

"I always used to go for blondes and quiet girls, but Victoria is just the opposite-----dark and loud."

It should be pointed out that even though Tajikistan is not in The World Cup they must have a decent soccer team as they beat Bangladesh 6-1 in a qualifier. But, yeah we don't think they would have beaten Argentina either!