Daily Sweeper, 08.27: “Special” Playoff Edition; The Hole Where LA Once Was

- ‘Twas a subtle thing, but a couple intriguing switches hit the standings thanks to Week 21. First, Chivas USA swiped FC Dallas’ spot as one of the “Conference Seeds” out West – i.e. Chivas now sits in 2nd place in the West, which means, so long as they stay there, they’re above the [...]

MLS Week 21 Perspecto-Scope: Boys Pegged; What About the Men?

Holy hell, was Week 21 a busy thing.  But for all the running, kicking, and noise, does anyone feel like they’ve got a bead on which team – or even teams – stand as best in Major League Soccer (MLS)?  I know I can’t.  On other end of the table, however, MLS’s whipping boys bared [...]

United States U-17’s Seep Through the Cracks, Face Germany

Round of 16
Spain vs. People’s Republic of Korea (8/29)
Tunisia vs. France (8/29)
Peru vs. Tajikistan (8/29)
Ghana vs. Brazil (8/29) – an intriguing match-up of two dominant youth squads whose senior squads happen to play each other at this point of the 2006 WC in Germany
Argentina vs. Costa Rica (8/30)
Nigeria vs. Colombia (8/30)
England vs. Syria (8/30)
United States [...]

French Ligue One: Monaco, Lyon, Marseille all win, but PSG falls off pace…again

Lyon scraped by Saint Etienne in the battle of the local rivals – young’un Karim Benzema provided the lone strike in the 53rd minute. A win at home but they still don’t look like themselves – if it weren’t for the good play of back-up keeper Remy Vercoutre, Lyon could have been looking at an [...]

La Liga Wrap Up–Jornada 1

The first Jornada of La Liga is behind us, and it was a weekend filled with some great football, but seemingly overshadowed by the current situation with Puerta in Sevilla. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid was not televised anywhere as the cable rights war is still going on between Audiovisual and Mediapro in Spain.
Real [...]

Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta is in a Fight For His Life

With my Sevilla scarf proudly wrapped around my neck on Saturday, I watched one of the scariest things I have seen in my football career.
During the Sevilla-Getafe match, Sevilla fullback Antonio Puerta collapsed on the field after running back to defend a Getafe counter attack. When Puerta hit the ground, [...]

Jason Kreis’ Mind – and a Message to a Merciful God

During the last 15 minutes of Chivas USA’s win over Real Salt Lake (RSL), the camera panned briefly to RSL coach Jason Kreis. At some point during that time, he wore the expression of a man mulling over his life: his past, his predicament, and the moment. And as he thought, a flicker [...]