The FIESTA KICK CANCER SOCCER CAMP organized by Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Bellaire.
I am truly excited about this as we have had an amazing group of coaches donate their time to do the coaching. Please consider attending for a fun filled, fast paced three day camp with lots of game playing. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE TEXAS CHILDRENS CANCER CENTER so we are in fund-raising mode as well.

Work with new coaches and meet professional players over the course of three days. Parents we also have a Soccetots child development program for 2-7 year old’s run by Marc Castillo that is excellent!!!

For information please go to nicksteam.org, Fiesta.com (Click Community), Soccer 4 All locations and Soccer Time in Pasadena have brochures………email me at gdavis98@swbell.net for any questions….help us make this a success!!!!

Thanks to these coaches who have all committed their time unselfishly:

STEVE JONES- Houston Baptist University Mens Coach
MISTY JONES- Houston Baptist University Womens Coach
DAVE SANTESTEBAN- San Jacinto College mens coach
AARON CHAMPENOY- University of St. Thomas Mens coach
MARK GIBBS- Houston Express coaching director
MARC CASTILLO-Soccertots director
BILL MCDONALD- Strake Jesuit boys soccer coach
OLIVIER FINIDORI- Cy-Fair Dynamos coaching director
MARTY ESPINOZA- Cy-Fair Dynamos
DANNY FOSTER- Space City Futbol Club
CRAIG WAIBEL- Houston Dynamo professional soccer player
DAVEY ARNAUD -Kc Wizards professional soccer player

More additions to come!!!!

Thanks to presenter of this camp FIESTA and Rodrigo Deluna, also to JOMA for providing t-shirts and all those at Texas Childrens Hospital that have helped in the fight against cancer.

Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis on 790 AM this Tuesday at 7pm..U.S. national team assistant Mike Sorber, U17 National team coach Wilmer Cabrera (not confirmed yet), Dominic Kinnear, Chris Canetti, Craig Waibel and more…..I have a wild card guest as well………….call in at 713-212-5790 as we will break down the MFL final between Cruz Azul and Monterrey, collective bargaining agreement fear, Figo crushes U.S. presentation plus more about the CANCER CAMP plus your phone calls………mlsnet.com is where this streams…..

Stocking stuffer of all stocking stuffers……Dynamo opening game in 2010, two tickets plus a chair for only $59…get on this now Dynamo fans!!!!

MONTERREY vs. CRUZ AZUL for the Mexican league title….what a spicy match-up this is!!!

DANNY CALIFF has come to terms with MLS and is headed to the PHILADELPHIA UNION…….the Dynamo had his rights and will receive allocation money as they continue to wait on a decision from Stuart Holden that impacts the forward moving of putting together a squad for the 2010 season under manager Dominic Kinnear. Now a few things could have happened with Califf. The Dynamo didn’t want him, didn’t want him at that high of a salary or Califf didn’t want to come to Houston. Califf had history with the San Jose Earthquakes and had been playing in Denmark. He will form a partnership at the back for Union manager Peter Nowak alongside Shavar Thomas.

I have always thought him to be a very solid defender

Cruz Azul have reached the final of the MFL after a 2-1 win at home against Morelia.
The Blue Machine could be deemed fortunate on this night at the Estadio Azul after Miguel Sabah scored in the 49th minute.
Cruz Azul only had two shots on goal on the night and both went in…….Javier Antonio Orozco Penuelas tied things in the 58th and then a bizarre free kick from Emanuel Villa that went under a poorly constructed Morelia wall proved to be the game winner.
Cruz Azul will face the winner of the Toluca/Monterrey match Sunday on Telemundo at 12:00 pm. Monterrey hold a 2-0 advantage.
Don’t miss this one…….PREDICTION: 2-1 Toluca with Monterrey advancing on aggregate

Local youth player FERNANDO PINA who played with Texas Premier and the Dynamo Academy started and played in goal for the U.S. under 17 national team out in Phoenix, Arizona at the Nike Friendlies event the past two nights. Pina made saves against Portugal in a 2-1 loss and then last night played in goal in a 1-1 draw against Brazil. Pina is gathering amazing experience and it is great to highlight a young player that has come up through the ranks locally. He has praised his time at Texas Premier and the Dynamo Academy and currently resides in Florida at the Bradenton Academy. Another great local story!!

AC Milan put on a clinic Saturday in a 3-0 win over Sampdoria scoring 3 goals in the first 23 minutes to cruise to victory.
Marco Borriello , Clarence Seedorf and Pato all scored in front of 42,824 fans at the San Siro. Milan is keeping pressure on Inter Milan now as manager Leonardo has righted the ship. Inter Milan lost today to Juventus 2-1 in an emotion filled contest.
Now back to AC Milan, it will be interesting to see how David Beckham fits in to this team who have not lost in their last nine games and now sit only 4 pts behind leaders Inter. Circle the date of January 24th on your calendar which is the day AC Milan and Inter Milan will tangle.

Manchester City got a huge 2-1 win over Chelsea with goals from Emmanuel Adebayor(37) and Carlos Tevez(56) while Frank Lampard was saved at the penalty spot by Shay Given of City in the 83rd minute which would have tied things. Chelsea received a gift in the form of an own goal from Adebayor in the 8th minute.

Neither Roma or Lazio are having the best of season’s in the Italian Serie A so the anticipation of their “Rome Derby” tomorrow (1:30 Pm on FSC) does not have the normal intrigue. One would bet it will still have emotion as both teams share the Olympic Stadium as home.
Roma and Francesco Totti are in 9th place in the Serie A while hapless Lazio are 15th and trying to stay out of the drop zone.
PREDICTION: Roma over Lazio who have only scored 9 goals.

Stanford is undefeated heading into tomorrow’s NCAA Women College Cup at Texas AM against UNC. Stanford plays a possession game and will be interesting to see if they can establish it tomorrow against a pressing UNC. Head up to college station and catch this one in person……aggiesoccer.com

FIESTA PRESENTS THE KICK CANCER SOCCER CAMP ORGANIZED BY SOCCER MATTERS WITH GLENN DAVIS December 11,12,13th…all proceeds go back to Texas Childrens Cancer Center ..for information go to Nicksteam.org or Fiesta.com
College and youth coaches donating their time with appearances by professional players like Craig Waibel of the Dynamo and Davey Arnaud of the Kansas City Wizards…….gdavis98@swbell.net for information

Of course I am not privy to what is actually taking place with MLS and it’s negotiation with the players association but one thing I am clearly sure of is that come January 31 when the collective bargaining agreement comes to end this league can not afford any form of a work stoppage or strike.
The hope here is that both sides are looking long term to the growth of the sport and are reminded that it wasn’t a short time ago that the league was in trouble of failing .
Greed and ego can come into these types of negotiations and that is what clearly happened a few years ago with the NHL who ultimately took a hard hit and ended up on a third tier network with the reputation of the league and sport damaged.
MLS players in nearly every case are not spoiled and are playing the sport for competition and the challenge and are fortunate to be involved in an amazing time period.
A labor war at this juncture would be the kiss of death and a hinderance to the growth of the game in this country. Just think of how something like this could be divisive to the World Cup bid in 2018 and 2022 not to mention the preparation for the United States in South Africa.
No labor war please and you can remind yourself of the NHL if you would like.

Mexican league playoffs continue this weekend with 2nd leg matches in the semi-finals.
Tonight we go to the Estadio Azul with Cruz Azul the real favorites to get past Morelia after a 0-0 first leg match that had chances and hit posts from both sides.
For me Cruz Azul advances here to the Mexican League final…….Meanwhile Toluca will have to reverse a 2 goal deficit against Monterrey tomorrow afternoon at Toluca.
It won’t happen unless the ghost of Jose Cardozo shows up…..Jonathan Orozco has been solid in goal for Monterrey who are poised to get to the final with Duilo Davino at the back and South American World Cup qualifying leading goalscorer Humberto Suazo of Chile…….don’t miss these matches.

NCAA Womens College Cup should get a weather break tomorrow as the final will be contested at the Aggie Soccer Complex. Undefeated Stanford got past UCLA on a ‘golden goal’ from yesterday while UNC got by Notre Dame 1-0 …..tickets are available at aggiesoccer.com and 12thmanfoundation.com If you go let me in on your NCAA experience. One hopes that alot of youth players will be at this event. Keep an eye on UNC Casey Nogueira of UNC who seek out a 20th NCAA Championship. Stanford will try to win this national title and become only the second team after UNC to do it undefeated.
Can Stanford truly play a possession game in their 2nd game in three days. Watch Kelly O’Hara of Stanford who is a good player off the dribble going at defenders.

FIESTA presents the KICK CANCER Soccer Camp December 11,12,13th with all proceeds going to cancer. I hope to see you there!!1 go to Soccer 4 All and Soccer Time to get brochures …online at nicksteam.org

*NCAA Womens College Cup today and tomorrow at Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station..tickets at 12thmanfoundation.com

* Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis on Fox Sports Houston presented by MEMORIAL HERMANN SPORTS MEDICINE INSTITUTE today at 3pm…..

* FIESTA presents the KICK CANCER SOCCER CAMP December 11,12,13th features top area coaches and professional players …get your brochure at Soccer 4 All locations, or nicksteam .org, Fiesta.com click on community……questions…..? email me at gdavis98@swbell.net

A stunning World Cup draw:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France………………………….Great opportunity for Mexico in the World Cup opener against the host nation.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece……………………….tough for Argentina who should not underestimate South Korea…unpredictable in from of Nigeria

Group C: England, U.S. Algeria, Slovenia…………………………………..U.S. need a great opener against Capello England ….U.S. and England have to be favorites to advance

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia , Ghana………………………………Germans tournament savvy…Serbs and Ghana will be challenge.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon……………………Can the Dutch produce in a difficult group? This could be the group of death.

Group F Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia……………………………Defending champions Italy the clear favorites

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal……………………….Brazil the clear favorites…is the Ivory Coast and Didier Drogba real contenders?

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile………………………….Spain get a so called ’soft group’?

What are your thoughts and did you get the type draw you wanted for the country of your choice?

*Don’t forget to catch Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis on Fox Sports Houston presented by Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute Friday at 3pm….

…..*NCAA Womens College Cup this Friday and Saturday at Texas AM…Stanford, UCLA, Notre Dame and UNC all vying for the title…get your tickets at 12thmanfoundation.com or aggiesoccer.com…..

*FIESTA presents the KICK CANCER SOCCER CAMP on December 11,12, 13th with all proceeds going to the fight against cancer….go to Soccer 4 All Stores for brochures or get them online at nicksteam.org, Fiesta.com …support this great effort from area soccer coaches who are all donating their time…!!!! gdavis98@swbell.net for more information

The whole world will be watching the World Cup draw from South Africa tomorrow while few will give it attention here in Houston on the local sports radio scene.
So here are the pools and I would love to hear your reaction pre and post draw:

Pool 1: Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain
Pool 2: Australia, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, North Korea, South Korea, United States
Pool 3: Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Pool 4: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Couple of other notes……Edu set to return to Rangers in January, Dynamo will send two youth teams to tournaments during the winter, Marco Pappa a great re-signing by MLS, LDU Quito win the Copa Sudamerica, and FIFA has announced a hike of 60 percent in prize money to participating World Cup teams for a total of 420 million. Just to show up and not advance is worth 9 million, win the World Cup and you will take home 31 million!!!!

Follow on twitter: Soccermattersgd Foxsportshouston.com for more or my thoughts on the world game……..

NCAA WOMENS COLLEGE CUP FRIDAY and SUNDAY at TEXAS AM get tickets at 12thmanfoundation.com

Dominic Kinnear in studio at Fox Sports Houston with Glenn Davis.
Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis today on Fox Sports Houston at 5pm presented by Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
Top ten goals, rumors, rants and raves, Dominic Kinnear speaks on Stuart Holden and Luis Landin plus so much more………..
Show re-airs tomorrow at 3pm……………Check out my blog also over at FoxSportsHouston.com……….

FIESTA presents KICK CANCER SOCCER CAMP Dec. 11,12,13 organized by SOCCER MATTERS WITH GLENN DAVIS……..for information go to nicksteam.org, glenndavissoccer.com, FIESTA.com and look under community. Brochures can be picked up at Soccer 4 All locations in the Houston are.
Join us for this camp where ALL proceeds go back to Texas Childrens Hospital to fight cancer…all coaches have donated their time so my thanks to Aaron Champenoy of St. Thomas, Steve Jones HBU, Misty Jones HBU, Dave Santesteban San Jacinto College, Marc Castillo Soccertots, Bill McDonald Strake Jesuit and more….professional players daily at the camp including Craig Waibel of the Dynamo, Davey Arnaud of KC and others……….

*NCAA WOMENS COLLEGE CUP this Friday features undefeated Stanford against UCLA and Notre Dame against UNC………the final is this Sunday. All at the Aggie Soccer Complex on the campus of Texas AM. They have increased seating to 9000 fans. For ticket information go to aggiesoccer.com or 12thmanfoundation.com

*Podcast of Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis is up at 790thesportsanimal.com and includes interviews with Stuart Holden, Oliver Luck and Dominic Kinnear…..

*SOCCER MATTERS with GLENN DAVIS on FOX SPORTS HOUSTON presented by MEMORIAL HERMANN SPORTS MEDICINE INSTITUTE airs tomorrow at 5pm on the Comcast and ATT UVerse cable systems……….DVR it!!!

*Spoke to Chris Gbandi today who has returned from Europe and is again looking for MLS employment. He has played over 100 MLS games and played in Norway for Haugesund.
Gbandi was a number one MLS draft choice, Hermann Award winner in college and won the national championship as a captain of UConn.
One would think Gbandi is affordable and still has good soccer left in him……..

*One thing to ponder with the potential move of STUART HOLDEN to Rangers in Scotland is the ongoing financial problems that Rangers has. Tough to see them invest in new players without the sale of the club which at the moment does not seem to have any takers, at least publicly that is.
Now I don’t believe players there will be racing each other to the bank to cash their checks like I did back in the day of the American Soccer League at Rangers but this is a consideration which has an effect on the purchase of new players.
Tough to tell where this ultimate decision will go but one thing is sure. A decision needs to be made soon for the benefit of all involved as Holden’s decision holds up movement and negotiation for other players on the squad. If he stays a great thing for the organization who have certainly extended themselves as well as the league and apparently Commissioner Don Garber has even reached out to Holden. If he leaves Dynamo manager Dominic Kinnear will have to move forward trying to solve the problem of the loss of two central midfield players. Kinnear speaks on these subjects this Thursday at 5pm on SOCCER MATTERS with GLENN DAVIS on Fox Sports Houston presented by MEMORIAL HERMANN SPORTS MEDICINE INSTITUTE……

* Join me and other soccer fans at the 2010 World Cup draw party at Wing’s ‘N More 7620 Katy Freeway Friday from 10 am to 1pm for the World Cup draw…..food, Dynamo players, Dynamo girls plus more!!!

* Sepp Blatter and FIFA have truly bungled the Thierry Henry handball situation and it continues to labor on making Fifa look inadequate for the moment. Now FIFA’s disciplinary committee are now going to look in to the incident…….this is comical. So here is the exchange between FIFA and Henry….

Sepp Blatter Fifa: Thierry you have been a bad boy with your hands.
Henry: It was instinct your excellancy Mr. Blatter and I am truly sorry, besides how are you going to discipline Diego with his handball against England.
Sepp Blatter Fifa: Thierry, the investigation is ongoing with Diego and the hand of god, now what am I going to do with you?
Henry: It won’t happen again your excellancy, believe me Fair play is first and foremost on the minds of all players that will participate in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and we will follow your lead of Fair Play…….
Sepp Blatter FIFA: Keep this conversation between us Thierry or I will banish you to Trinidad and Tobago to work as a secretary for Jack Warner, or worse work in his son’s travel agency.

*Roberto Carlos will leave Fenerbache in Turkey to head back to Brazil to sign with Corinthians and be re-united with Ronaldo. Carlos apparently has not signed a contract but has a verbal commitment to return in January. Sources say he will sign on December 20 officially. Carlos was capped 124 times by Brazil.

Nicksteam.org, twitter.com: Soccermattersgd