The European Championships are on the top of the list for today’s soccer viewing among other matches here are a few of the the match-ups:
Israel vs. England 1:30
Ireland vs. Wales
Germany vs Czech Republic
Greece vs. Turkey
Estonia vs Russia
*most of these games are on Setanta

Brazil vs. Chile 11:55 central on FSC
Pachuca vs Atlas 8:00 PM Azteca America
Necaxa vs Club America 10:30 Telefutura

Sunday: US vs Ecuador from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida Espn 11 central
Mexico vs. Paraguay

* Special note: Freddy Adu and Dominic Kinnear guests this Tuesday at 7pm on the Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis on 790AM The Sports Animal

So how is the knee injury coming along?

Arnaud: It’s starting to get back to 100 %. Hopefully when the season comes back I will be at 100% and ready to go.

Many are hoping the new ownership group and ideas in Kansas City with a new staff can bring some life to this franchise off the field. Give us some signs?

Arnaud: Everything that is going on is positive. Everyone is really excited over the announcing of a new training facility near Arrowhead that will open in June and the push for a new stadium.

Tell us about your pre-season trip to Argentina?

Arnaud: It was very good, good games as we played clubs like San Lorenzo, Boca Jrs., River Plate, and Nuevo Chicago (former club of Christian Gomez of DC United). All the games were tough and all good games for us. What I love is that you turn on the tv and all you see is soccer. I love seeing that, that passion people have for the sport.

How has the adjustment been to a new coach Curt Onalfo?

Arnaud: He has been great and let’s everyone know what is expected. The whole staff (former MLS star Chris Henderson, Kris Keldermann former George Mason assistant with former Crew coach Greg Andrulis) is strong and open to talk to?

*Editor Note: Davey Arnaud played his youth soccer locally in the Houston area and is from Nederland. He left college (West Texas AM) early to sign with Major League Soccer. Arnaud was recently in Houston and joined Glenn Davis and other MLS players like the Houston Dynamo’s Craig Waibel and Stuart Holden and FC Dallas’s Chris Gbandi and Arturo Alvarez for a visit with children at the Texas Children’s Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. Thanks to MLS players for their care and concern!

Guten tag from Munich, I’m Salman Mitha, European/German correspondent for The Soccer Hour and commentator for the Bundesliga on Ligaradio. Here’s my blog entry for the week. Thanks to Glenn for allowing me to keep you updated on the German soccer scene.

This week, the Bundesliga is taking a break for Euro 2008 qualifying and the two top teams in Group D face off Saturday in Prague – Germany and the Czech Republic. They both sit at the top of the group with 10 points, Germany with a better goal differential. However the home side will be the slight favorites due to the familiar surroundings and a healthier, more potent squad. The Germans are limping in, with head coach Joachim Loew hoping to put together a squad that can escape with points and hopefully the group lead. His focus will be to stop the dangerous Tomas Rosicky and the giant in the middle, Jan Koller. Both are familiar to the German squad, as they have both played for Borussia Dortmund. Jens Lehmann was the goal keeper and their teammate during the 2001-02 championship season along with defender Christoph Metzelder (who will be out as his eye looked like Rocky’s after 12 rounds with Clubber Lang after knocking heads last Saturday in a match). Loew hopes!
Metzelder can provide insight to whomever is out there to stop Koller.

Two Koller stories for you: Olympic Stadium in Munich, Nov 9, 2002. Defending champions Dortmund came in looking to prove that winning the title on the last day over Bayern back in May that year was no fluke. But they suffered a set back when Lehmann earned a second yellow card in that match for screaming at his own player. Does head coach Matthias Sammer send in another goalie? No. Koller wears a goalie jersey and nearly helps his team to a draw. Bayern can only score once on him but that was enough to win 2-1 and go on to win the title that season. But since that day, I have total respect for his team mentality.

I still remember that cool Portugal summer evening when I witnessed perhaps the best game of Euro 2004 in Aveiro – Netherlands vs. the Czech Republic. The Dutch go up 2-0 within the first 20 minutes and it looks to be a rout. But the Czechs don’t back down and it’s Koller’s goal in the 23rd minute that gets them going (the ball always seems to find his head! And it’s a big head.). For the next 60 minutes, Edwin van der Sar suffers shot after shot from the Czechs, who end up winning. Koller did leave in the 75th minute (he ended up injured and missed the match vs. Germany later in the tournament) but he had made his mark as the center of attack.

Lukas Podolski of Germany will also be a key to the match; he’s the leading scorer in the qualifying matches so far with seven. And his recent form for Bayern Munich may be a preview of more goals on Saturday. He may play without his teammate and buddy Bastian Schweinsteiger who is suffering from a foot injury. Additional injuries to Thorsten Frings and Mario Gomez (who scored in the last international friendly vs. Switzerland, his first cap) and suspensions to Miroslav Klose and Clemens Fritz has Loew scrambling to put together a worthy team and he’s called up several first-timers. It will be quite a challenge to keep his undefeated record after seven matches (6 wins, 1 draw).

The Bundesliga is back on March 31st. You can keep up with all the action from with LigaRadio. Visit the English language site of the Bundesliga at www.bundesliga.de/en starting next Saturday at 8:15am CST. Click on the blinking LigaRadio button and the player will launch automatically.

Please email us with your comments and questions at ligaradio@bundesliga.de – I look forward to hearing from you!

Much like the Dynamo win over Pachuca, Necaxa got a defining win over Brazil squad Sao Paulo.
It was Sao Paulo’s first loss in 29 games making it more impressive. Kleber and Juan Salguiero provided the goals in a game that could be seen on Fox Sports Espanol. Mexican clubs like Necaxa look to Argentine and Brazilian squads as a measuring stick much like MLS squads look to Mexican squads as a measuring stick. This is what makes this result significant.
Meanwhile Club America got smacked at Banfield in Argentina 3-1 and were never really in this one.
Was it a “Superclasico” hangover? Who knows but one thing is clear with Club America. Ever since Pavel Pardo moved on along with Claudio Lopez this team has never been the same.
Pardo was the “heart and soul ” of Club America, the calm in the storm and the type of player that was able to help hold things together for this team out of a holding role in central midfield.
Club America was lucky to beat Chivas this past Sunday night and it all game down to goalkeeping and Guillermo Ochoa who pulled off fantastic saves.
German Villa’s goal off a Salvador Cabanas cross was classic.

*For those of you emailing me saying the officiating was the reason Pahuca lost to the Houston Dynamo consider this.
Where is the accountability from Pahuca ? It’s staff? Players? I would be more concerned with not recognizing the opportunity to put the game away in the first half? Lack of emotional control? Not dealing particularly well with Dynamo pressure in the second half? Why the excuses? How could Pachuca not think that the Houston Dynamo would play better in the second half. This teams greatest strength is to play selflessly for each other. How could Pachuca and Enrique Meza (Mexican coaching legend) not see this coming. Naive to say the least in my opinion.
Glenn

FC Toronto is quickly becoming quite a story in MLS and they have yet to play a game.
The club stop selling season tickets at 14,000 and the squad coached by former Scottish International Mo Johnston will have a true Euro-feel to it.
Welsh midfielder Carl Robinson comes from Norwich, Andy Welsh from Sunderland while they have acquired Irishman Ronnie O’Brien from FC Dallas. That has been followed by the recent signing of Richard Mulrooney also from FC Dallas.
Robinson is in the Welsh squad to face the Republic of Ireland this Saturday and thinks more English players will make the jump across the pond.
“Iv’e had six or seven players asking if I will put in a word,” said Robinson to BBC Sport. “I know there are lots of players keen on going over. It is whether they can sort something out.”
Don’t bank on it. Many agents are thinking that Beckham type money is available and it is just not the case as we all know.
The DP rule really has not panned out to much excitement but could be a useful tool come the summer when the transfer window
opens and teams are looking for a spike heading into the stretch run towards the MLS Cup Final.
Toronto will definetly have a UK feel to their team which should make things interesting in MLS.

Chris Wondolowski came on as a second half sub against Pachuca and scored what may be the most important goal of his life in the 2-0 victory over Copa Sudamerica Champions Pachuca.
Wondolowski will be in studio tonite taking phone calls at 713-212-5790 as he enters “the box” on the Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis at 7pm on 790am The Sports Animal.
The show will also cover Dynamo, MLS, and International soccer tonite plus the Club America win over Chivas at Azteca Stadium in the SuperClasico
BREAKING NEWS: UH Womens Soccer coach Billy Solberg has stepped down
Houston Product Josh Gardner released by LA Galaxy
Soccer TV show to debut in April on Channel 55

*The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis streams live on the internet at 790thesportsanimal.com and is podcast at HoustonChronicle.com and 790thesportsanimal.com

Brian Mullan and Wade Barrett have joined Brian Ching in U.S. National team camp while Ricardo Clark after injury right knee ligaments has had to pull out.
The camp will prepare for matches against Ecuador in Tampa and Guatemala in Frisco, TX.
The squad is an interesting one in that Europe based players with fresh faces like Benny Feilhaber (Hamburg), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jay DeMerit (Watford) and Jonathan Spector (West Ham) and manager Bob Bradley’s son Michael Bradley (Herenveen) have all been called in.
As fans we are watching the beginning of a new four year cycle with the goal South Africa 2010.
Dynamo striker Brian Ching makes his first appearance with the national team since the 2006 World Cup in Germany coming off a great game against Pachuca. Mullan and Barrett also had solid games in the historic win.
The Dynamo depth will be tested with the loss of Ricardo Clark for the second leg in Mexico in early April.
“By the end of this camp we will have had the chance to work with a vast majority of our player pool. It will be extremely beneficial when we have to make decisions about the Gold Cup and the Copa America,” says manager Bob Bradley.

Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis tomorrow night at 7pm on 790thesportsanimal will discuss the Bradley 24 man roster. Call in number 713-212-5790

Not having broadcast duties for the Dynamo /Pachuca game I had the opportunity to enjoy the game from the stands. Here are ten random things that come to mind.
1. Pachuca grossly underestimated the Houston Dynamo, some might call it a lack of respect. As bad as the Dynamo were in the first half they were better in the second. Most who know the character of this team knew they were not going anywhere but up in the second half. Pachuca obviously didn’t get this.

2. Just to put the amount of resources available for players in perspective. Pachuca second half subs were Juan Carlos Cacho, Damian Alvarez, and Gabriel Caballero. Nothing to sneeze at here. All three are top Mexican league players.

3. Pachuca clearly came unwound in the second half, it was interesting to see them lose emotional control, focus on hitting, grabbing, and clutching people (Mosquera, Pinto to name a few). It was almost comical to watch Brian Ching emotionless walk away from Acquivaldo Mosquera who was so ‘wound up’ that he was fouling Ching 50 yards away from goal.
Some clear tendencies are here that are similar to the U.S. and Mexico rivalry internationally.
Lets just call the emotional loss of control “a sign of respect’ from Pachuca.

4. Plays! The Dynamo made them Pachuca didn’t. Zach Wells with a huge first half save on Landin, Ching header off Waibel cross, Waibel heading off the line, missed chances from Andres Chitiva, three man move with DeRosario, Brad Davis and Chris Wondoloski getting the key goal. One of my favorites was when Brian Mullan gave a poor ball away to Pachuca he immediately chanced a laid a beautifully timed tackle in on Christian Gimenez. The tackle was pure timing, skill, and desire. Gimenez was left in a crumpled mess trying to figure out what hit him. Brad Davis gave us great moments in the technical department rivaling anything that Pachuca produced. Ricardo Clark after a miserable first half turned it around. I could go on.

5. Dynamo fans are knowledgable, passionate, and are learning the art of gamesmanship. Bringing a true home field edge.
I loved the fan who had the ball behind the goal in the second half and made Miguel Calero in goal for Pachuca come and get it.
Dynamo fans 1 Pachuca 0. I love seeing young kids commentating on the game, discussing it, demanding more from the Dynamo and celebrating with them. TA/EB led the way over 90 plus minutes of relentless non-stop cheering. They helped the Dynamo through the tough times. You are a part of the growth of the game in this country. Awesome!

6. Now I know what you are talking about. Concessions are pathetically slow, attendants are not knowledgable enough and UH where are you? Pretty sad and this stuff can cost a franchise fans. Why no kiosks selling water and drinks around the stadium.
The wait in line in the second half forced me to miss begining of second half while workers in the concession stand warned fans ‘don’t rush me’. Moral of the story….hydrate before entering Robertson.

7. Spanish language television commentators that I heard led with the loss being because of poor officiating. With the amount of chances Pachuca missed or didn’t take advantage of ….well one might think a little accountability in order here.

8.Kinnear vs Meza…….Kinnear wins the coaching duel between himself and a Mexican coaching legend who in the second half may have been questioning his preparation for this one. His team looked rather ordinary at the end and were not gracious in defeat. Still respect hard to come by.

9. Ricardo Clarke injury- sprained knee ligaments rules the vital cog out of the next game. I will talk more about this but Clarke needs two players to replace him in this role…..see what I’m getting at?

10. 13,000 fans show up on a re-scheduled date at 5pm, this is impressive. All involved are taking this to another level.
Keep the heat on the written press, radio, and tv and don’t be afraid to demand more coverage. Those at the top are slowly learning the value of diverse listeners, viewers and readers. Believe me being on the inside it has been a slow patient process but it makes us all appreciate it more.

Give me your feedback on my top ten, add some of your great moments and tell me who you want interviewed from the Dynamo this Tuesday on the Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis. GlennDavis@thesoccerhour.com

www.glenndavissoccer.com

Chivas off their 1-1 draw with DC United take on Club America in the Mexican First Division.
According to Soccertv.com this will air tonite in Houston on Univision at 10 pm Central.
This one is not to be missed.

Ricardo Clark is expected to be out 3-4 weeks after suffering sprained right knee ligaments in the 2-0 win over Pachuca.
The injury will force Clark to miss the upcoming return leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals in Mexico.
Additionally Clark will miss upcoming friendlies against Ecuador and Guatemala after being called in by U.S. Manager Bob Bradley.
The Clark injury reminds us of the importance of depth this year for the Houston Dynamo involved in 3 tournaments and league play.
Last year it was Adrian Serioux who generally filled in for Clark in his abscence. Serioux’s qualities were tailor made for moving between a central defensive role and a holding midfield role. Serioux has since moved on to FC Dallas and is currently out 6 months with a knee injury. Clark’s ability to cover ground and decision making out of that position will be tough to replace. Other than Serioux few have played in that postion.
How do you cover for Clark in a huge international game on the road? If the Dynamo can get past Pachuca they will be guaranteed of either a FIFA World Club Championship berth or a Copa Sudamerican berth.