A Return.

Not that I ever really "left" but I am back and ready to post some more on this little soccer blog. Sadly, my ability to view La Liga and Bundesliga has been hampered a bit by the sale of GOL TV to BeIN Sports (I think that's who got it). My favorite teams are harded to watch... especially with FC St. Pauli falling to the 2. Bundesliga. Both FC St. Pauli and Sevilla FC are near the middle of the pack, though it seems Sevilla is having the rougher go of it this year. For some, their next match is an important one, though it may or may not mean anything in the grand scheme of the season, the annual Antonio Puerta Trophy match.

I still have trouble believing this was six years ago. Check out the linked article, as his six year old son, who had not even been born when he tragically died during a match, will be kicking off the match against Almeria in this year's match. I certainly hope I get to catch this one just to see his son on the pitch.

Seems as though Sevilla still has a strong fan in one of their former players. Jesús Navas has reportedly backed his former team with some strong words of encouragement. I'll always back Sevilla and Navas, personally ... hope he's right. Besides the annual tribute match, they have two La Liga matches and a Europa match that they should win. Crossing fingers.

Now... let's see how St Pauli does without a full-time manager...

A new dawning...in many ways.

This will be a short one, I feel like i've gotta put something down in here to get the ba...blog rolling.

First, if you don't know already, FC St Pauli did it. They got promoted and will be playing "with the big boys" this season, the 1st Bundesliga. I don't know what their first season back will be like, but i'm hoping to catch a match in person in case they don't fare too well.

In light of this news, here are a couple bits of info for ya that I find interesting or entertaining.

First we have info that Naki WILL remain at St. Pauli. This is definitely good news. Granted, many will say picking up bigger names or new and upcoming talent is needed, i also like the devotion that most St Pauli players and staff show in this promotion.

Next up, rumors were flying that Arsenal defender Sol Campbell was offered a one year contract. But at this point it seems St Pauli could be low on that totem pole.

For now, that's enough about the transfers... I don't usually pay attention to that until the season starts anyway. Something else I don't usually pay attention to are the new jerseys that come out every year. I know it's all about marketing and making money for the team/corporation, but I can't buy into that (partially because I don't have the kinda scratch you'd need to buy one for all the teams (or jerseys) I like every year... BUT, with St Pauli being promoted this year AND it being their centennial anniversary, I will be picking up a trikot at some point (hopefully in the fan shop outside the stadium). Heck, I might even buy a couple of them in celebration, especially if they do play well this year. I'm kinda waiting to see what the "third jersey" will look like before I pick out my "first one." Seems as though a lot of folks will be jumping on this bandwagon, i'm sure their fan base will grow quite a bit this year (which is always a double edged sword).

I could add a few things about Sevilla and their preparation for the new season but all I know so far is Fabiano will be staying even though there were rumors he might be picked up by AC Milan or Tottenham.

An interesting week for me...

It started last Wednesday, with my first double-header match i've participated in since I was in college (no need to discuss time frame, but it was a while ago). As the season ended in the league i'm currently in, we had to win to go on to the finals. Sadly, we did not do this, we actually played a pretty bad match and the opponents played an excellent match (no need to discuss the score, but there was a pretty big goal difference). The "consolation" match was between us and the last place team in the 5 team league. This match was played directly after our horrible loss...and was the last place team's ONLY match of the night. Though we were obviously a bit worn out from putting in the extra effort during the first match, ending proudly without getting shut-out, it seemed to be the warm up we needed...well, I needed. I thought I played pretty piss-poor in the first match but was not unhappy about my play in the second. Unfortunately, in the end, our second match was a draw though I think we had both control of the ball most of the match and several more shots on goal than our opponent. Here's to hoping we are able to find a keeper for the coming season...which starts in September.

Next we head to La Liga, another new season and another death to a prominent Spanish team's player. The captain for Espanyol, Daniel Jarque, died of a heart-attack this weekend. Yet another, high-end player in La Liga goes down to a heart problem. With little in the way of details about this, I'll just say it's sad to see such a thing happen to such a promising talent so early in life. And, like Sevilla's Antonio Puerta, from almost exactly two years ago, who suffered a heart attack during the first match of the season, Jarque had a child on the way. Just too hard to truly comprehend, but I do wish his family and his team well.

Also, in La Liga news, there were a few matches of an international friendly nature on US soil. The first I saw was the DC United vs Real Madrid match. I am NOT a fan of either team, but for some reason I still enjoyed DC getting their butts kicked by the La Liga giants. I'm not sure what outcome would have given me a more satisfying feeling but after watching Sevilla get knocked out of the Peace Cup rather early I've not really found any pre-season La Liga matches to be truly entertaining. Even was a little disappointed in Barcelona with their draw against Chivas de Guadalajara. Disappointing in that Barca held the ball most of the match and even had nine shots on goal to Chivas' two shots, but they were never able to get it in the net. Again, it's all pre-season friendlies i'll take with a grain of salt.

From here we head towards some good news in my book... St. Pauli wins the opening match of their Second Bundesliga 2009-2010 campaign, 2-1 versus Rot Weiss Ahlen. With two of their main attackers out with injuries this is a good start. Here's to a great season for St. Pauli!! To add to this, I just read an interesting article in which the author gives the MLS some advice about how they could learn a thing or two from St. Pauli and the way the team management/owners treat their "ultra" fans.

St Pauli in the pre-season

So things aren't looking too shabby for the boys in brown in the pre-season. First a draw with Scottish giants, Celtic FC, 2-2, and now they've beaten EPL team Stoke City a full 3-1. Granted Stoke City was probably testing out some of the younger players on their squad, but surely this friendly was an opportunity for St Pauli to play some of their bench sitters as well. Regardless of who was on the pitch, seems like a pretty good outcome...for now.

I can only hope this good form carries into the regular season which has not been their strong suit as of late. Seems they can do well in the pre-season AND even in some of the tournaments outside of the regular season, beating teams in the First Bundeliga, but have trouble in their own second division.

Good luck boys, always behind you!

Remember the Maine

Yes...after almost 24 hours to let this all settle in, it's time to say yesterday's match between the US and Spain was one heck of a day for the US Men's Team. I want to use loads of descriptives, but they've all been used, tons of cliches, but I try to avoid those anyway and I generally just want to scream...but i'll hold it to see how they do in the Final against either Brazil (again) or South Africa.
If you haven't seen it already, or if you're like me and you enjoy watching it over and over again, ESPN has some good video of the highlights.

Everything clicked for us on the pitch yesterday and i'd love to see something similar happen in the final. We had minor moments that were similar in the match against Brazil when they demolished us, but nothing worth mentioning. Now the USMNT will be in their first ever major FIFA Tournament Final...I can only hope they are ALL able to bring their "A game" (excuse the cliche) for the match on Sunday.

My big question for this tournament is ... WHY are the refs continually giving us lame red cards. For the third time in four matches, a US player has received a QUESTIONABLE red card! Bradley MIGHT have needed a yellow for going in cleats up, but he did so at a low angle and HE GOT THE BALL, not the player! There was obviously no malicious intent, yet there he stood, dumbfounded like the rest of us who actually saw the play, as the ref held high another stupid red card. He will be missed on Sunday, just hope it doesn't hurt us over all.

Regardless of what goes on in the Confederations Cup from here on out...the win over Egypt and the win over Spain (do we need to mention once again that they are the #1 team in the world?) should show a lot of folks that the US still can be a team of fortitude...when they want to be...and all pistons are firing. I'm ready for consistancy myself, but am enjoying this ride while it lasts. I think a lot of people are more interested in the US and their qualification for the World Cup 2010 and this, I like.

Let's Go, Sligo!

Well, looks like the Red Rovers are movin' on up, even if their season has not been so hot this year. Looks like they've been chosen as one of four League of Ireland teams a UEFA Cup license for the 2009/2010 UEFA Club Competition season. While the Dublin Bohemians were handed a Champions League ticket for their incredible season, Sligo Rovers and three other teams will be able to participate in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup.

Would love to think some League of Ireland matches and/or some Irish club teams will be televised in my little corner of the U.S.

The Boys from Oslo...

Nope, not Turbonegro...this is my soccer journal.

Yup, the Boys in Green went toe to toe with Norway today. And evidently, they came away with a confidence boosting draw at 1-1.

Next up... Georgia!