*The African Nations Cup continues to live up to it’s billing of unpredictability despite poor fields at certain venues. Tomorrow is a critical game for the “Super Eagles’ of Nigeria when they take on Mali. It is a make or break game for one of the tournaments perennials favorites. Super Eagles coach Berti Vogts who won the World Cup as a player for Germany in 1974 is not panicked.
Scouts from the world’s big clubs descend on this tournament in droves and if you haven’t been following the tournament try to find a way to watch it when it gets to the semi-finals. Interesting stuff.
*Alex Ferguson- Has to be the greatest manager in the history of the EPL. How he keeps the club bigger than all his multi-million dollar player is amazing. Recently he spoke out in defense of Rafa Benitez the Liverpool manager and in opposition to American Owner Tom Hicks and George Gillet who apparently were angling for Juergan Klinsmann to take over for the beloved “Rafa.” I love seeing coaches defend each other from egotistical owners who get into areas they don’t need to be in. How could going after Klinsmann be anything unsettling for a manager or a team. Do the meddling owners have anything to do with Liverpool being out of the title chase? Not to mention behind their rivals Everton. I say yes.
*Word has Hugo Sanchez the coach of Mexico recalling all his Euro players for the U.S. match at Reliant on February 6th. Whether they all come or not is another story but Pavel Pardo , Ricardo Osorio, Carlos Vela, Gio Do Santos, Jose Guardado and Rafael Marquez have all been mentioned. Will US manager Bob Bradley get Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu ,Carlos Bocanegra and Benny Feilhaber back in the fold? I think yes.
*Speaking of US midfielder Michael Bradley he continues to tear it up in Holland for Herenveen. He now has 13 goals in all competitions including his 9th league goal against Venlo this past weekend.
*Iran has dipped into Europe to hire former Spain coach Javier Clemente who replaces Amir Ghalenoei. A little surprising.
*After the Pan Pacific Tournament which the Dynamo plays in the LA Galaxy and David Beckham will head over to the Far East on tour to dip into the Asian market and make a few greenbacks while showing off their brand. The Galaxy sold 700 times the amount of jerseys than the prior season buoyed by Beckham. Lets hope they make some news on the field for the sake of MLS. Meanwhile Beckham is expected to get his 100th cap against Switzerland in the debut of manager Fabio Capello for England on February 6th.
*Argentine creator Marcello Gallardo may be coming to MLS with one destination cited already in DC United. Would love to see this happen. And this is no news Pablo Maestroeni is being shopped by the Colorado Rapids. Maestroeni has come on my radio shows in the past and respectfully was critical of the lack of support from the Rapids organization in Colorado.
*The Austin Aztecs will play in the USL First Division and will be affiliated with Stoke City.
*UH Women will take on the Mexico womens u21 squad at Robertson Stadium in early March.
* Don’t forget to head over to the Richmond Arms on February 4th and join me for a a live broadcast of the Dynamo Power Hours on 790 The Sports Animal. This is the official 790 The Sports Animal US/Mexico pre game celebration Two hours of live soccer talk, great beer and English fare plus live guests. Call the Richmond Arms for more information at 713-784-7722
Daily Dose of Davis is greatness, and Richmond Arms is classic old school Houston drinking. Ok, I understand the controversy in L’pool, but Hicks and Gillette are going to build a new stadium which will up the dollars so the team can compete with the Chelsea/ManU’s of the world. That will be a nice commitment, and not terrible. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=501678&cc=5901
BTW, do you believe Coach Kinnear is on any kind of long term US Soccer coaching radar?
Comment by Alex — January 25, 2008 @ 9:18 am
Alex,
My focus was on the angling for Klinsmann while Benitez is the manager of the squad . That coming from Hicks/Gillett after trying to do damage control and coming out publicly in his support. Unsettling, undermined a manager and the type of thing that unsettles squads.
As for Dominic kinnear, how could he not be? Two titles in a row.
Players that perform for him….I would say yes but it is down the road and things can change. This will be Bradley’s shot at 2010.
Glenn
Comment by glenndavis — January 25, 2008 @ 9:50 am
Glenn,
Not in your list of topics, but I must say that I am relieved that the four U-23 players that were in the
full MNT camp earlier have now moved over to join the U-23s… namely, Altidore, Edu, Klejstan, and Wynne. Qualifying for the Olympics is CRUCIAL (much more so than the Feb 6 game vs. Mexico) and I would like to see as many top players involved as possible.
On that note, do you think there is a chance at least some of the other top U-23 players will be released by their European clubs for qualifying? I think the list includes Adu, Bradley, Feilhaber, Spector, Szetela, and Zizzo. If the US does make it to the Olympics, I assume they would be in the mix then.
Thanks,
Martin
Comment by Martin Burke — January 25, 2008 @ 4:36 pm