ESPN does Rally results?

Any new details on this story that surfaced about the L.A. Galaxy making an offer to Ronaldinho???

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=691092&s=gen&type=story

Costa Rica had to come back against Grenada? Yikes -- but if you watch the highlights, Grenada should have had a PK, and the last goal that they gave up was just pathetic. Grenada could've won that.

Any WCQs on TV tonight?

On yesterday's PTI - Arlen Specter is going to turn from Spy-gate to "Publicly Financed Stadium Projects"

I'm pretty sure, with Congress looking into this, and Poplar Point being a Federal Land Transfer, our dreams of a Stadium in the District are done and dusted.

It doesn't matter what the outcome is of this investigation or the fact that the genesis for this being a tool in the business was the brain child of places like Tampa when they didn't even have a team.

If Fenty, et. al, ever needed that little figure on their shoulder to tell them that DC United should become Suburban (wasteland) United - this is it. I officially throw in my towel on my contempt for a Maryland stadium, but not the fact that it will be a bigger loss in time for me to attend matches.

Congress really needs to drop it's anti-trust exemptions for MLB and some other legal loopholes for sports that allow them to have Unions and go back to finding an alternative fuel solution so as to solve the issues in our economy and get America back on course so I can feel good about the extra hour in commuting and the additional carbon footprint I will create to go to PG County.

Dumb Turkey keeper banned for two games for his red-carded push...

France coach Domenech found a new way to avoid questions -- he proposed to his girlfriend minutes after getting eliminated.

2 games for that little push?!?! That's ridiculous.

Is the Bra-Arg match on TV?

Re:

Congress really needs to drop it's anti-trust exemptions for MLB and some other legal loopholes for sports that allow them to have Unions and go back to finding an alternative fuel solution so as to solve the issues in our economy and get America back on course so I can feel good about the extra hour in commuting and the additional carbon footprint I will create to go to PG County.

------------------------

Now THAT is one bizarre paragraph. Up a little late last night?

With the Champions League our schedule in late September-October is insane? United has a game pretty much every 3-4 days not to mention lots of travel.

Soehn might need to add an extra 12-13 players just to get finish the season.

Any new details on this story that surfaced about the L.A. Galaxy making an offer to Ronaldinho???

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=691092&s=gen&type=story

Posted by: dcchilidog | June 18, 2008 8:22 AM
-----------------------------------------
From the article (translation courtesy of Google):
" But according to specialists offer would be rejected by the Brazilian star because he or she wants to regain its level to get back to close-ups, so although the financial offer is attractive, antepondría the sport."

Sounds like he's not ready to leave the bright lights of European soccer just yet. To tell you the truth, though, this whole thing seems a little fishy. Where would LA get the second DP slot? How many over-the-cap players would they have on that team, then, four? Even for Galaxy, even for the MLS, that seems like a bit of a stretch.

Oh wow! Costa Rica vs Grenada highlights!

Now I can watch Arriaga vs Arriaga 2

Greenbelt Maryland -- suburban wasteland??? contempt??? carbon guilt???:
- founded during New Deal as public co-op to provide affordable housing for government workers
- home of ELEANOR ROOSEVELT HS
- inside the Beltway, 9 miles up 295 from RFK (an extra buck's worth of gas in your Prius), about 4 miles from the DC line
- Metro project under development is adjacent to existing stations on both Metro and MARC rail
- census data -- 41% black, 40% white, 12% Asian, 6% Latino; median family income 55k
- short ride or long walk to College Park, where interesting development plans are underway (which include a Birchmere among other things) -- hey it's a college town -- maybe you can even enjoy a carbon-neutral organic local micro-brew at the cafe after the game

Greenbelt -- it will be nice, you'll see!! Remain calm, all is well!!

@Ron,

Eh, between that and the early morning - YES.

I just listened to the replay of it this morning and just can't believe the Specter's of the world are worthwhile representatives for a government position around here. But I digress.

The main issue is that a pending investigation doesn't need to yield any result to be enough fodder in the cannon of the DC Government to say, yeah, we can't do this.

Good luck to Clark Realty for winning this bid for Clark Construction. I really hope you can convince saps to live in ANACOSTIA with nothing but waterviews and retail to persuade people to live there. Given construction costs, you're only going to be going after a certain population anyway with what those condos and apartments will go for.

Either way - Suburban United is becoming a closer reality.

Greenbelt Maryland -- suburban wasteland??? contempt??? carbon guilt???:
- founded during New Deal as public co-op to provide affordable housing for government workers
- home of ELEANOR ROOSEVELT HS
- inside the Beltway, 9 miles up 295 from RFK (an extra buck's worth of gas in your Prius), about 4 miles from the DC line
- Metro project under development is adjacent to existing stations on both Metro and MARC rail
- census data -- 41% black, 40% white, 12% Asian, 6% Latino; median family income 55k
- short ride or long walk to College Park, where interesting development plans are underway (which include a Birchmere among other things) -- hey it's a college town -- maybe you can even enjoy a carbon-neutral organic local micro-brew at the cafe after the game

Greenbelt -- it will be nice, you'll see!! Remain calm, all is well!!

Posted by: OWNTF | June 18, 2008 9:33 AM

-------------------------------------------
OWNTF, way to go a reprezent the 'Belt.
Someo of the people here make it sound like the club is considering moving to all the "suburban wasteland" that I live in, Laurel, MD. Lol.

If they have to leave DC, Greenbelt is the best option since there is not enough interest or ca$h to get the club in NoVa.

Perhaps those who favor building in Anacostia should take more care with the names they use to describe other potential locales.

dulles united.

I use suburban wasteland to refer to anything not in the "Square" of the District.

Look - I poke fun at suburbia because I think it's silly. Anywhere.

A stadium is best for the club no matter where. I'll support the club and I'll still go to games, buy adult beverages at $7 a pop, purchase merchandise, sing with the supporters and applaud the efforts of those wearing the badge.

I don't have to like it. And working in a similar industry with Clark, I can also see the hardships that deal faces without something to be a natural draw.

This is the most interesting round of CONCACAF WCQ that I can remember. I'm not necessarily talking about the aggregates but the individual scores.

First, look at the home leg result between my Beloved Puerto Rico and Honduras:
2-2

We used an Red Bull reserve, 4 USL1 guys (including ex DCU player Petter Villegas, a 19 yr old and a guy who dislocated his elbow 10 days beforehand), a USL2 goalkeeper, 4 NCAA1 players and a kid who plays NCAA3. We put them on the field against a team that includes millionaires who play in Serie A and the Premiership, Amado Guevara and a talented side that should actually qualify for the WC. And we got a draw. We were actually leading them.

Look at how Belize hung in with Mexico.

Look at the Bermuda-Trini result. 2-1, favor of Bermuda. It took place in Trinidad.

Not only did Grenada scare Costa Rica but they beat Jamaica in a friendly 2-1 recently.

Even the Netherlands Antilles 1-0 friendly loss to Venezuela before venezuela went down to Uruguay and got their 1-1 draw in their WCQ.

Cuba just got threw...

Sure, there are the USA-Barbados type results but some of the smaller nations and regional afterthoughts are clearly becoming more competitive and it is making some of the more established clubs sweat a little bit.

Which for me personally makes the games much more interesting...

Perhaps those who favor building in Anacostia should take more care with the names they use to describe other potential locales.

Posted by: OWNTF | June 18, 2008 10:00 AM

The worst parts of DC are actualy in PG County, sort of like how the best years of the 60's were actually in the 70's.

;)

VBB, Congress sticks their noses into everything. That is not necessarily a big deal. They hold some hearings, get their pictures taken, blah, blah, blah then its out of the news and no harm no foul. Besides Specter can't do beans unless the Dems in charge let him. The internal politics of DC gov't and the apparent lack of a champion for the project within the DC government is more of a concern. Its still just Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. DCU @ RFK until further notice.

With the way DCU bends and spreads for Emilio, the club will become Emilio United FC...

Emilio scores goal 8 -> Tom Soehn names his son Luci

Emilio scores goal 9 -> Kevin Payne gets "Kevin -N- Luci" trampstamped on his backside

Emilio scores goal 10 -> the front office renames the stadium Emilio Memorial Stadium and the club becomes Emilio United.

Emilio scores goal 11 -> Victor McFarlane liquidates all corporate assets and issues check for 3.2 billion to Luciano Emilio, S.A., GmBh, LLC

---Seriously though, is anyone the least bit bothere by Emilio (or his agents) seeming absolute arrogance, or worse, how DCU seems like the battered wife than can't conceive how any other man would want her???

He won't score 20 in the Mexican First Division, for sure. He has had four productive games this season, and there is already talk of his third raise in less than a year. Hmmm, looking at his career stats, he had a stint with Queretaro of the Mexican SECOND division and tallied 10 goals. So yeah, so much for 20...

This is stupidity. Let him feel its "unfair" that Gallardo makes much more money. Waaa. Perhaps his agent should talk to a few of the developmental contract gringos making 12,500 this year and ask what is fair. Gallardo has played on storied clubs in South America and Europe. He has 44 caps for the Argentine national team and played at two World Cups.

Emilio starred at second division or low-level clubs in Europe and Latin America. The guy is on crack is he thinks the pedigrees match. Moreover, Emilio's agent is getting all hot and bothered because Emilio scored some goals...uh, isn't that a striker's job? Does a mailman do a celebratory fist pump when he gets the mail into your mailbox??? Of course, Emilio will lead the team in scoring...he is the striker! Common sense.

Whatever goodwill I felt for him is gone. Sinful, shameless opinion of his worth and performance.

Flush Emilio away. Please. I would take Kenny Cooper any day.

Can anyone recommend places in Cleveland Park or Woodley Park to watch tomorrow's Euro's quarters? I will be in the area around noon, and I'm thinking of just staying there for the afternoon.

I love Emilio. Flush Erick away. Please.

The beautiful city of Belo Horizonte will be the end for Dunga.

Erick, you have make a really strong case for DCU telling Emilio and his agent to cool their jets. I agree with most of the points that made (Olimpia is a pretty good team and I wouldn't refer to them as a second division club and I while freaking hilarious, I did think that the scoring celbration thing was a bit much).

I'm glad that he has got his confidence back. I'm glad that he is scoring. But please: Now he wants seems to want it all. In my opionion, the club has already placated him too much and for the life of me, I just can't understand why. KP and crew are letting him dictate so much of the terms. I could care less if he is happy or not...Just do the job or move on.

Erick is right. Emilio shouldn't feel entitled to anything, especially seeing how he didn't even come to camp and the first few games with any kind of touch. Once he's actually consistent, then DC should talk about keeping him on another season and all that.

Unrelated, but even more awesome - Paraguay handled Brazil, and they were a man down?!? I don't know all of the specifics, because I just watched the vid, but that was pretty sweet.

Erick, I absolutely second to your point about Eimilo and Gallardo.

Erick, Are you really begrudging a player from negotiating the best possible deal he can? It may sound arrogant to you, who cares, but it is a sports agent's JOB (as long as we are talking jobs here) to get as much for his player as he can.

If you don't like Emilio, fine. If you like Kenny Cooper better, fine. The question is what kind of deal could realistically be put together to get Kenny Cooper? Whom would we trade? What money would we use? Spell it out and quit whining.

My feelings on Emilio are this, production wise he's been every bit as much worth the DP or near DP salary as anyone in the league over the last 40 or so games (i.e. last season until now).

However I think that since we have two DPs one of them should be a true big name. Gallardo and Emilio are both top 20 talents in the league no doubt and well worth the DP status as being in the upper echelon of pay scale in MLS, but neither of them are going to sell shirts in Asia, Europe or hell even much in their home countries.

From a business standpoint United should look to someone who could (like Beckham or Blanco) be almost a rock star in polularity and sell those shirts and tickets, while still being quality enough to contribute to a winning side.

I know we're not going to go after a Drogba or Ronaldinho, its not the Payne-Kasper MO but I think when the DP rule was established it was exactly those kinds of guys in mind. Not to mention I think a guy like that would recoup the extra money spent to sign him moreso than giving Luci Gallardo-like money.

One thing that would be nice is if MLS grandfathered all MLS players the way they grandfathered in Donovan and Ruiz. Then again I think Luci-gol was signed after the DP rule went into effect so that would moot my point.

As long as Dunga is in charge, Brazil is quite mediocre and beatable.

The qualifiers have been damn exciting, Brasil-Argentina, anyone know where they'll show it downtown. I love that they'll be playing for second place and possibly one of them could end up in fourth place in the standings.

What outcome to root for tonight?

1) New England win
2) New England - NY tie
[with the states of the 2 teams have excluded the possibility of a NY win]

With the supporters shield basically out of DCU's reach - guess I will go with a NE win since that would keep NY at 15pts (one behind us), but can I really root for NE ?

yankiboy,

I don't see the CONCACAF WCQ results as indicative of the smaller nations getting better. I think Mexico just had a bad day (they are in a transition phase) and TNT have some serious in-house issues. Plus when I look at the Pueto Rico result I see a Honduras side that proabably didn't show knowing that they already had it in the bag.

I think CONCACAF messed up on this one here (what else is new?). If you are one of the confederation elite then you should get a bye and not risk losing a top team on a tricky and unnecessary home-and-away series. As much as I love seeing Mexico get humiliated, I do not think that CONCACAF can afford to have it's top teams (US and Mexico, may be Costa Rica) miss out. These little teams may look good in an away leg on a piece of crap field, but it's a whole other set of variables when you make it to the big dance. If our established sides don't make the cut I guarantee you that the feel-good smaller side that takes their place will absolutely get hammered and that is how you lose slots. Do we deserve to have 3 1/2 slots right now? Probably not. That said those questionable slots will definitely be up for grabs by the greedy UEFAs and the vastly improving CAFs of the world if our big guns miss the dance right now.

Will it always be the US and Mexico in CONCACAF? Heck no. Not with MLS around. These smaller nations will get better and will keep pushing the big boys until that day finally comes when either the US and/or Mexico miss the cut. We see it all the time in Europe (some one big misses the dance). That said the reality is - that day is not here yet and we are quite a ways from there. So risking a qualifying slot (on bad referring, a bad field or any other combinations of silly things that happen in CONCACF) because we want everyone to play is stupid to me. Best case you get a humiliation (Eddie Johnson scored again, yippeee), worst case a big guy drops a high-risk home and away, opening the door for a future 8-0 in the WC.

That's just how I see it.

Ron said:

If you don't like Emilio, fine. If you like Kenny Cooper better, fine. The question is what kind of deal could realistically be put together to get Kenny Cooper? Whom would we trade? What money would we use? Spell it out and quit whining.

- - - - - - - - -
Ron,

Aren't you whining about me whining? This is blog, a forum for argument and comment. Sort of like standing in a street and complaining about all the cars getting in your way.

Anyway, I mentioned Kenny Cooper solely becuase the guy is quality, has a good attitude, and seems to produce. I do not claim that he can realistically be brought over in trade. I would love Drogba, but he is impossible. At least Cooper is in MLS (i.e. cheap). In the past, I have mentioned Cooper along with guy like Findley and Buddle that could provide nearly as much value as Emilio at a fraction of the price (since we are all talking about Emilio's value vs Gallardo's).

So what is YOUR plan on how DCU can pay Emilio excess amounts of cash, and proceed to ignore the $$ needed to shore up the goalkeeping core, the rest of the front line (we are a one-man Emilio show since early last season), and the gap at winger?

Does it all come from VW cash? Cause it sure ain't coming from parking or concession revenues in RFK. This is a business. They can't pay everyone what they think they are worth. A player is only worth what someone is willing to pay him (however foolish, in some cases).

Someone mentioned he is one of the top twenty talents in the league? I checked the MLS salaries for 2008 and it looks like Emilio is among the top 10-12 highest paid players, so he can't argue he is being taken advantage of. Some of the higher paid players - Beckham, Blanco, etc. - are also marketing machines. How many people outside DC are buying Emilio's jerseys and driving revenue to the club through merchandising? Very few.

For the comment that Emilio is a pro athlete and should negotiate from a position of power - I agree, but with the rebuttal that DC United is a business and must also negotiate from a position of power (otherwise they go the way of the NASL). What sane business model has you INCREASE salary to an underperforming employee (OK, except for Peter in Office Space and all corporate CEO's in America)??? DC United should negotiate from a similar position of power. With both sides in such a position they either reach equilibrium (a new contract) or not. The sad thing is DC has seemed all to eager to take off the prom dress and let Emilio go wild.

Can anyone recommend places in Cleveland Park or Woodley Park to watch tomorrow's Euro's quarters? I will be in the area around noon, and I'm thinking of just staying there for the afternoon.

Posted by: tri-village | June 18, 2008 10:47 AM
------------------------------------------

In Woodley Park there is an Irish bar (well, at least Irish-themed) bar on the backside of where the metro exit is. It's on a diagonal street (24th? 27th?) between Connecticut Ave and Calvert. I've watched soccer there in the past and it's usual reasonably quiet during the afternoon.

In Cleveland Park there are two unrelated sports bars on Connecticut Ave., one of which should be open. They're both in the strip of shops between Ordway and Macomb on the East side (across from the Uptown Theater). One is at street level just past the Vietnamese restaurant, the other is below ground, right next to Dino's. I've watched soccer at both in the past, although you may need to tell them which channel to put on. If all else fails, there is a Mexican place (Alero's) across the street that might have the games on at the bar.

Erick,

If you had a job and another company offered you your current salary + $X dollars more but you're current company said "sorry, we're not letting you go" then wouldn't you be asking your boss to at least give you the raise to match the salary you were offered.

This isn't rocket science.

@ torn fan
I'd say hope for a draw or root for your fantasy players(god forbid you have red bulls on your team).
United will climb past NY soon enough and though I do think the SS is out of reach keeping New England right where they are would be nice.
I am more interested in tomorrow nights match up and my hopes of Chicago taking another loss or draw.
Suburban Stadiums suck. They will never ever draw more than a stadium more centrally located.
Everyone worried about their carbon foot prints are hilarious. How many bike racks are there @ RFK? How many of ya'll ride bikes to RFK? How many will ride to Greenbelt?
I am glad that these soaring gas prices are finally having an effect on all of us selfish American gasoline addicts. By the time the stadium gets built anywhere will anyone be able to afford the commute?

Emilio has the goods: 20 goals is 20 goals. But for me, he is way to streaky and he has yet to prove himself in the colder months. In MLS the big games (playoffs and Champions Cup/League money rounds) are played when it's cold outside. So we need a striker that can do the business when it counts. Plus I seriously have a personal issue with him showing up late and very out of shape this year. It was mad unprofessional and it hurt us big time.

He is a great striker, but not enough for our needs. Dude cannot hold the ball, has sub-par to adequate touch and is slow (although he has looked a tad bit quicker lately) - which means someone else has to do the work, set the table for him. We have Gallardo who does that perfectly but the thing is this: Gallardo requires a striker who thinks fast, is fast and makes smart runs - that ain't Emilio. Yet somehow Gallardo get's abused on these board for doing his job and Emilio not doing his - but that's a topic for another day.

Like I said in a thread before, is Emilio good for the team? Heck yeah, goals are goals. But if we keep him we will need someone else to supplement his glaring weaknesses. So to me the question becomes - how much will that person cost? If we can get a Palermo quality player (Drogba while perfect, ain't happening neither is Scheva) but Emilio's cap cut gets in the way then I vote buh-bye Emilio hello Palermo. However if we decide to keep Emilio then we absoultely need to get him some help - a quicker, stronger target man. Now we have the Niell money (which I hope becomes available when the window opens). So if we can get that new guy with those qualituies for Niell cash then fine, we can keep Emilio and everyone will be happy (I still will be miffed about his pre-seaon behavior, but I can live with it).

The problem is getting quality for Neill's piece of the pie will be tough, possible but tough. The X factor is McBride. When McBride comes along there will have to some amount of wheeling and dealing throughout the league (perhaps more if someone else picks up a big name player). Will the movement be enough to bring in MLS extablished quality to run up top with Emilio? I seriously hope so.

@Kosh

I somewhat agree that the WCQ might not be the best place for the up and coming nations to get tested vs. the likes of US and Mexico, but you have to start somewhere.

With the Gold Cup finally being all CONCACAF last time and hopefully continuing into the future as a 16 team all CONCACAF championship, the likes of Grenada and Netherland Antillies and Cuba will continue to get games against the stronger nations and will continue to improve.

It won't be long before seeing a smaller Caribbean nation knock off at least an El Salvador or Guatemala. Also we'll start to see more players from those nations in USL-1 or MLS and that will improve the quality.

Of course it would help if CONCACAF actually did something to help those nations improve their facilities and leagues (maybe the Champions League is a start).

@ Matthai

I agree with you. The Gold Cup, CCL and better league play (MLS and USL) will improve the quality of CONCACAF. It's getting better (slowly, but surely).

My problem is that we are not there yet and maybe it's just bad timing, but this full field WCQ idea this cycle is not good idea. So many tricky things are going on - Mexico is a bit of flux and TNT (who did us proud the last run out) are in such a mess. These are good sides and with all due respect to the little nations, I would rather we have a strong hex this cycle that does not include a "whipping boy". It makes sure that the best in the confederation rise to the top and provides the strongest form of competition available before the useless friendlies and tune-up matches start.

You do have a valid point, and I did like to see the open Gold Cup. I just don't think it works quite as well with these home-and-aways.

Yeah I think they may have to restructure qualifying in the future.

Maybe when it gets to 16 teams have 4 groups of 4 to eliminate this home-home round with top 2 in each group advancing to a final group of 8 (or two groups of 4). It wouldn't really add many games in the grand scheme of things.

With an Octagon you'd have top 3 advancing #4 in playoff vs other federation.

With two groups of 4 you'd have winners advancing with the #2 seeds in playoff to see who gets automatic berth and who is in the playoff vs. the other federation.

Of course this 4/4 grouping would increase the chances (even if slightly) that the US or Mexico could be that #2 team in the playoff but thats better than losing one of them in this home-home round.

Kosh, I respect your opinion it is clear that we disagree.

Puerto Rico is definitely getting better.
Just a few years ago the away score would have been easily 7 or 8 nothing instead of 4-0.

Bermuda's playing better. That result was in T&T.

Netherlands Antilles--being able to not get blasted off the field by Venezuela, friendly or not is a step in the right direction.

Same goes for Grenada.

Life isn't fair. So T&T and El Tri are in transition. Situations in competition and life are often "fluid". That's just the way that it goes.

Some of the smaller and less established are improving so if they paly hard and the stars align then they might get a good result.

I have no problems with the big boys getting a bye. They already did. PR had to face the DR before we ever got a look at the Catrachos.

If you are saying that the CFU teams shouldn't compete in WCQ (I'm not sure if you are going that far) then I think that is a big mistake. In the end, the strong will survive. I hardly think an unexpected team somehow making it to the WC will do any damage to a federation that most take to be inferior to every other fed outside of Oceania.

The sky didn't fall when the Reggae Boyz made it to France in 98. The Trinis played hard in Germany 06.

If a CONCACAF team can amanage to get past a CONMEBOL side for the 4th spot then I would argue that we deserve it.

I understand your point about the ca$h. What did Wu-Tang sing in C.R.E.A.M: "Ca$h Rules Everything Around Me -- dolla dolla bill, y'all". I got that. But it is a qualification process. So you have to go out and get a result on the field. It's not a coronation.

With the Gold Cup finally being all CONCACAF last time and hopefully continuing into the future as a 16 team all CONCACAF championship, the likes of Grenada and Netherland Antillies and Cuba will continue to get games against the stronger nations and will continue to improve.

It won't be long before seeing a smaller Caribbean nation knock off at least an El Salvador or Guatemala. Also we'll start to see more players from those nations in USL-1 or MLS and that will improve the quality.

Of course it would help if CONCACAF actually did something to help those nations improve their facilities and leagues (maybe the Champions League is a start).

Posted by: Matthai | June 18, 2008 12:52 PM
-------------------------------------------
Matthai, I couldn't agree more.
Guadalupe, who aren't even FIFA members (CFU/CONCACAF only) comes to mind.

Having followed Bermuda's progress in the last year (Ex-Man City great SHaun Goater now field a USL2 side made up exclusively of Bermudans, the Hogges, with the purpose of developing players for the national team pool) and understanding that Maturana and the Trinis are in transition and struggling, it didn't knock me out of my seat.

I also think that you are right about the player experience. Several Caribbeans are playing in USL and/or being developed in the American college system. In the case of Puerto Rico Islanders, of the non-Puerto Rican players called up for national team duty, one was a Trini and one a Hatian (there was also one Panamanian). Miami FC has had a few Hatians called up.

John Barry Nusum, the guy who scored the goals for Bermuda is a guy with a lot of USL1 experience.

FIFA has been coming up for more money for some of the Caribbean nations. Puerto Rico just got a lot of money for a national training center. The Dominicans have received Project Goal money as well, amongst others. There is a lot of burueacracy you have to go through but it is possible.

So far, except for helping to lobby FIFA for additional financial assistance, I'm not aware of CONCACAF providing any financial support. There is a reason why almost everybody except for Mexico votes repeatedly for Jack (shady) Warner and that is pretty much it for the little nations. For the bigger ones, it is because he brings them more ca$h.

In Cleveland Park there are two unrelated sports bars on Connecticut Ave....

Posted by: edgeonyou | June 18, 2008 11:56 AM
==========================================

Thanks for the info. I also know of two Irish pubs in the area, Nanny O'Brien's and Ireland's Four Provinces.

Portugal-Germany should be very interesting, probably more interesting than Portugal-Croatia would have been. And those of you who are recording this stuff should remember to allow extra time from here on out.

@ yankiboy and Matthai

Well stated points. I agree that there is improvement within CONCACAF, but how does that translate outside of the region? No one knows - heck they never gave TNT a sniffing chance in '06 and they showed well for first timers.

It's just the politics of the game that scares me. CONCACAF are not considered strong and the big boys (EUFA and COMNEBOL) love to lobby to get more spots. Then you have CAF that is getting stronger and stronger, they may want to get another spot too. Plus it does not help that we are reprsented by that worm of a human being called Warner. If we don't continue to show well in the WC we will lose the spots we have gained (and it took years to get to where we are - be it fair or not). That is why I root for our very best to make it to the dance and dread some 4 spot getting destroyed 25 - 0 in the WC group stages. That would detsroy all of the progress we are making (progress that you have well identified and detailed in your posts).

That all said, the region is getting better (perhaps more so than I thought). MLS, USL and more guys playing in Europe are making the field closer. If CONCACAF can get the CCL up and running successfully the level of play in this region will get much better. The future is bright.

@ yankiboy

It is a shame that Guadeloupe is not allowed to be a seperate nation for soccer purposes in FIFA because I don't think that the Gold Cup was just a fluke. Hell if you look at half of the French national team it is populated with Guadeloupe born or decendent athletes, if they played for their own nation they would be a regional power the likes of the US and Mexico.

Look at the list of French NT from Guadeloupe:

Pascal Chimbonda
Philippe Christanval
William Gallas
Thierry Henry
Louis Saha
Mikael Silvestre
Luc Sonor
Lilian Thuram
Marius Trésor
Sylvain Wiltord

Now imagine their team for the GC if the added Henry and Saha up top with Thuram, Wiltord, Silvestre and Gallas anchoring the lineup. They'd be killer in CONCACAF and likely to make a splash in the WC.