Chelsea produced a controlling performance over Liverpool at Anfield hitting for road goals in a 3-1 win.
The Blues slowly took the game over after Fernando Torres gave Liverpool the 1-0 lead six minutes in.
Slowly through control of midfield the “Blues” siphoned the game away from Liverpool.
Break-through came in the 39 minute when defender Branislav Ivanovic scored off a header to draw the match level.
He would hit the game winner again off a header in the 62nd minute to make it 2-1.
Didier Drogba who had consistent chances on the night finally got his goal in the 67th minute to make it 3-1.
A crushing blow to Liverpool which will be hard to reverse at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona destroyed a Bayern Munich squad that was coming off a 5-1 loss against Wolfsburg on the weekend in Bundesliga play.
At the end of the first half it was 4-0 with Lionel Messi (9,38) and Samuel Eto’o (12) and Thierry Henry (43) producing goals.
Effectively Bayern Munich gave up 9 goals in a game and a half of soccer within 5 days. Yes they were injured and no that doesn’t matter it only has to be taken into consideration.
Barcelona is a machine and pretty imposing with a front three of Messi, Eto’o, and Henry.
Scintillating to watch.

DALLAS CUP representatives from Houston include:

u19
Houston Dynamo Academy team who went 2-1 losing out on their last game to advance out of group play to the Dallas Texans. They were the defending champions.

Houston Dynamo South Texas Academy- this squad from down in the valley more or less went 0-2-1 getting a draw on the last day of group play.

Houstonians- Went 1-1-1 and did not advance.

u17
Dallas Texans Red Houston -did not advance

u16
Dallas Texans Red Houston-did not advance

u15
Tigres Houston- did not advance

No Houston area teams advanced in the Dallas club with few even invited into the tournament. It remains a difficult tournament for Houston area teams to get into to.
In the Super Group (highest level in Dallas Cup) AC Milan of Italy, River Plate of Argentina were two notworthy teams that did not advance.
The semi-finals look like this to be played Friday night:

Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

Manchester City of England vs. Sao Paulo of Brazil

On another note of interest here is how the Houston Dynamo Academy team breaks down with club affiliation:
Texas Premier (11 players)
Houstonians (8 players)
Dallas Texans Houston (6 players)
S.W.I.F.E. (2 players)
Tulsa (1 player)
Albion (1 player)

EDU SHINES

Maurice Edu in a starting role for Barry Ferguson scored a powerful header in a 2-1 win over St. Mirren. U.S. National team player DaMarcus Beasley also got a start but went off injured at halftime. More MLS representation in this one as former New England Revolution midfielder Andy Dorman had the lone goal for St. Mirren.
Where does Edu’s future lie with the U.S. National team. The more games he gets the better for him.

Futbol Fanatic Package is only $90 and includes tickets to the Mexico Gold Cup doubleheader plus five Dynamo games.
Get your youth players out to live soccer. Check out HoustonDynamo.com for more information

Are you tired of Liverpool and Chelsea squaring off? They do it again today in the Champions League for the fifth straight season.
I am definetly against an all English Champions League final. It just doesn’t have the buzz for me.
I want league against league, country against country.
Liverpool eliminated Chelsea in the semi-finals in both 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 while Chelsea returned the favor last year at the same stage.
Amazingly, they also met in the group stage in 2005-2006.
Whoever advances gets the winner of Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
By the way Chelsea has yet to win against the so called big clubs in England (Man. U, Liverpool, Arsenal) yet these matches were all played under Felipe Scolari not Guus Hiddink.
Liverpool has yet to lose to any of the big clubs and are the favorites at home today.
To further my point this is the 22nd time, yes 22nd time they have met in all competitions.
I can’t lie, despite all this I will be watching.

Bayern Munich was just crushed by Felix Magath and Wolfsburg this past weekend 5-1. What a wild card they are coming into this match against Barcelona today at Barca.
This game intrigues me even more. These are the two highest scoring teams in Champions league play as both have combined for a total of 48 goals in the competition.
Barcelona got by Lyon in the prior round while Bayern crushed Sporting 12-1 on aggregate.
Barcelona has never beaten Bayern Munich in a European match.
Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and Miroslav Klose of Bayern on the top scorers in the Champions league with 7 goals.
This ought to be a beauty with footballers like Barca’s Lionel Messi and Bayern’s Franck Ribery (A Barcelona transfer target). Not to mention Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o.
Set those vcr’s.
Who gets results today?

So I got home from doing the radio show and caught the end of the Puerto Rican Islanders at Cruz Azul.
Now those Islanders bearing the flag of the USL had a two goal aggregate leading going to the Estadio Azul and crumbled under the pressure.
They were a game side to say the least.
Christian Riveros was sent off for Cruz Azul giving the Islanders a man advantage in the first half.
After 120 minutes a bizarre extra time rule that said away goals during that time didn’t count.
It was off to penalty kicks where Azul won 4-2.
Now this rule is bizarre and makes no sense. Sandi Gbandi hit a scorcher that made the score 3-1 and an aggregate of 3-3.
On that goal scored away, Puerto Rico should have advanced on the away goals rule.
So Puerto Rico and Montreal navigate these waters better than MLS teams. MLS teams will consistently win games over USL teams yet the USL deserves major kudos for the run that their clubs made in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Yes, it is something to hold their hat on and no matter how you look at it , they went farther than the MLS and were one game away from the final.
What are they doing and what can be learned from MLS teams in this competition? That is the question.
I am tired of the Mexican domination in this tournament.
Couple of notes: Sandi Gbandi played youth soccer for the CY FAIR DYNAMOS and is the brother of Chris Gbandi currently playing overseas and formerly of FC Dallas.
Sandi Gbandi had two goals and an assist for the Islanders in this series against Cruz Azul. Another local kid makes good. Gbandi went to UAB and
played in the Conference USA.

Javier Orozco of Cruz Azul was dangerous up front and might be a good fit for MLS……….

EMAIL FROM JOSEPH NGWENYA

Many fans are wondering what in the world happened to Joseph Ngwenya. Here is an email I received from the former Dynamo striker.

Hi Glenn,
I am trying to get my international clearance here in Turkey. I’ve had some problems with the club and I’ve sought legal advice so that I can get my financial remuneration and my international clearance as well. I’m not exactly sure how long the whole process will take but as soon as I get cleared maybe I will be in a better position to say what my next step will be.
Regards,
Joe

*Tough situation for Ngwenya and a reminder that all is not rosy in Europe economically with clubs.

*Do the Dynamo break out this weekend at home against the New York Red Bulls? Both teams are looking for their first win of 2009 and the Dynamo could have Burnley striker Ade Akinbiyi on the bench in uniform. Get out as it is Orange U night at Robertson Stadium and the first 7500 fans get a free t-shirt courtesy of Continental.
New York comes in with Juan Pablo Angel (does he miss Dave Van den Berg) the former Aston Villa striker and Dane Richards.
Richards had the best game of his career against the Dynamo last year in the 3-0 stunner. Still I believe he is still seeking out consistency and maturity in MLS.
Yes, I know and the entire league knows he has incredible speed.
Check out HoustonDynamo.com for the FUTBOL FANATIC package that gets you GOLD CUP tickets, plus tickets to five Dynamo games for only $90. Crazy value, absolutely.

FIESTA PRESENTS THE HOUSTON SOCCER UNSUNG HERO AWARD
*Every week beginning Monday on Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis , Fiesta will present the Houston Soccer unsung hero award.
Now this can go to a youth player, adult player, administrator, coach etc. at any level that has selflessly dedicated to the game.
We want to recognize those in our soccer community that have helped the game grow!!!
Email me with your nominees and a brief bio and why they should be considered at gdavis98@swbell.net