Charles Renken is the newest Timbers signing

PTFC acquired the 18 year old, who is returning from his first full professional season with the U-19 squad of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, of the Bundesliga in Germany. He was born as Charles Bimbe in a slum outside the capital of Zambia, and grew up playing barefoot soccer in the streets until adopted at the age of nine. It seems his brother had been kidnapped and enslaved by a minister and forced to perform in church choirs around the country. Brother Richard's new parents Seth and Pamela Renken brought his three younger brothers over four years later.

Renken started playing with the US youth teams when he joined the U-14 team as an 11 year old, and moving up to the U-15 squad the next year. At 14 he joined the U-17 residency program in Bradenton, Florida, only to leave the following year when he was signed by Hoffenheim. With the German club, he split time with the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency and the Hoffenheim Academy until he turned 18, then joined the German squad full-time. I can only imagine this setup was so he could be closer to the US academy setup as well as his family. He was recently called into the U-20/U-23 joint camp held Duisburg, Germany, this past November.

To sweeten the deal, we acquired him for free via the MLS allocation system. However, because no other teams were willing to risk their allocation spot for him, PTFC does not lose their place in line. No money spent in the acquision and no arbitrary MLS ranking order lost.

@soccerbyives summed things up best:

Off-season of the year in MLS goes to Timbers. Flipped Cooper into Boyd, signed Valencia and Mosquera and got Renken for free.#NotBadAtAll

The official release:

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced that the club has acquired midfielder and U.S. youth international standout Charles Renken off MLS waivers. Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson made the announcement.
Renken, 18, has been a member of U.S. youth national teams since 2005 and most recently participated in a camp with the U.S. U-20 National Team in Germany last fall. At the club level, he played for the U-19 team of German Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim during the 2010-11 season.
“While only 18, Charles is a talented player who is already accustomed to the professional environment,” saidAmos Magee, Timbers assistant coach. “We believe he will further flourish with the Timbers.”
A native of Edwardsville, Ill., Renken was called up for a 10-day camp in November with the U.S. U-20 and U-23 National Teams in Duisburg, Germany. His youth international career began with the U.S. U-14 and U-15 Boy’s National Team before joining the U.S. U-17 Residency Program in 2007. Renken made 11 appearances and scored two goals during his time with the U.S. U-17 National Team from 2007-09.
Renken played in 10 games with Hoffenheim’s U-19 team last season, his first as a professional. He also made an appearance in a first-team friendly against German club VfR Aalen. Before joining Hoffenheim, Renken was enrolled in the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency for the 2009-10 season and also trained with English clubs Arsenal and Reading, as well as German side 1860 Munich.
Charles RenkenPosition: Midfielder
Height: 5-7
Weight: 140
Born: Dec. 19, 1993, in Kalingalinga, Zambia
Hometown: Edwardsville, Ill.
Last Club: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (U-19)
College: n/a
Citizenship: United States

Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach shine as US dominates Canada in Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship

For a player who has been marginalized out of the starting eleven lately, to get a rare start and bag two goals and two assists is an amazing story. Alex Morgan started ahead of Lauren Cheney in a slightly controversial roster move by coach Pia Sundage, "But the combination with Abby and Alex Morgan turned out to be pretty good." This would seem to be a pretty monumental understatement given Morgan assisted on both of Abby Wambach's goals and Wambach assisted on the first of Morgan's, all in the first half. Morgan went on to score again in the second half with a crazy breakaway in which she out-maneuvers two defenders and the keeper before knocking it in between two defenders swooping in for the block. The goal completed the 4-0 romp.

Unlike most of the tournament (save a few brief moments against Costa Rica and Mexico), Canada actually threatened the US with creativity, speed, and skill on a number of occasions. Hope Solo was forced into some spectacular saves to keep her clean sheet for the tournament, and did so playing injured.

I'm not going to describe the whole match for you, as Kara McDermott has an excellent match report up on ProstAmerika. I wasn't fortunate enough to watch the game as I was stuck at work and could not leave.

Wambach's brace moves her into second place on the US women's national team all time scoring chart with 131 goals, only 27 behind leader Mia Hamm.

Football Association Cup: Fifth Round Draw

Chelsea v Birmingham City
Crawley Town v Stoke City
Everton v Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday
Liverpool v Brighton
Millwall or Southampton v Bolton Wanderers
Norwich City v Leicester City
Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland or Middlesbrough v Arsenal

All the games will take place on February 18 at 7am PST.

The fifth round of the FA Cup is notable for the lack of Premier League match ups, with only a possible Sunderland/Arsenal tie if Sunderland can with their replay with Middlesbrough on the road. That tie is less exciting than two other interesting matches. Tottenham drew League One club Stevenage, recently taken over by former Colorado Rapids head coach Gary Smith, but will have to travel. Crawley Town was given a much easier draw than last year's game against Manchester United at Old Trafford, this year hosting a much less intimidating Stoke City.

Football Association Cup: Fourth Round

Watford 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Everton 2-1 Fulham
Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Chelsea
Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United
Hull City 0-1 Crawley Town
West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Norwich City
Blackpool 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Stevenage 1-0 Notts County
Derby County 0-2 Stoke City
Leicester 2-0 Swindon Town
Milwall 1-1 Southampton
Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Swansea City
Sheffield United 0-4 Birmingham City
Brighton 1-0 Newcastle United
Sunderland 1-1 Middlesbrough
Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa

Almost all the big names move into the fifth round of the FA Cup, with Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal winners. Manchester United failed to beat out Liverpool, losing on a late goal from Dirk Kuyt. Crawley Town is again the lowest ranked team to make it to the fifth round, this year up a division in League Two after a promotion from Conference, after taking out Championship side Hull City on the road. Newcastle United also suffered a big upset, falling to Championship team Brighton, while Sunderland was unable to beat Middlesbrough at home and now must travel for the replay.

African Cup of Nations: Matchday 2

Group A
Libya 2-2 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal

Group B
Sudan 2-2 Angola
Ivory Coast 2-0 Burkina Faso

Group C
Niger 1-2 Tusisia
Gabon 3-2 Morocco

Group D
Botswana 1-6 Guinea
Ghana 2-0 Mali

Co-hosts Equatorial Guinea's win puts them at the top of the group and guarantees they move into the next round, eliminating Senegal from contention. The first draw of the group stage between Libya and Zambia provides some drama for the final matchday. Libya must beat Senegal, and hope that Equatorial Guinea beats Zambia as well, if they hope to qualify for the quarterfinals. If both games end up 1-0 then we could see two teams level on goal differential as well, and subject to the confusing tiebreaker rules of the ACN. Zambia can progress with a draw as well, but will be playing for the win in order to take top in the group; a better seed in the next round is at stake.

I caught some of the Sudan v Angola game, and saw a horrible defensive give-away by Sudan just outside the box that resulted in the opening goal by Manucho. Great line from the announcer: "The goalkeeper's first touch is to fish the ball out of his own net." Mohamed Youssif Basheer tied the game up just after a half hour of play with a header inside the far post, redirecting Eithab Careca Mudathir's cross from the right flank. Angola took the lead back just after the break on a penalty taken by Manucho. Sudan tied the game back up with a second from Basheer on a terrible defensive clearance to split the points on the day. The draw keeps Sudan alive, needing a win over Burkina Faso and an Angola loss to Ivory Coast to move on. Burkina Faso was eliminated with their loss to Ivory Coast, as Salomon Kalou opened the scoring in the 16', and Babary Kone put it in his own net late to finish off the game.

Issam Jemaa scored at the stroke of full time to give Tunisia the win over Niger in Group C. Gabon defeated Morocco in a crazy game with four goals in the final fifteen minutes, the final two coming in stoppage time. Morocco drew level on a Houssine Kharja penalty resulting from a handball. Kharja had opened the scoring after 24', and Morocco held the lead well into the second half. Pierre Aubameyang and Daniel Cousin scored back to back goals to give Gabon the lead before the penalty, and substitute Zita Mbanangoye ripped a free kick inside the post in the dying moments to scratch out a win for the co-hosts. It was definitely the most exciting game of the tournament so far. The results eliminate Niger and Morocco from the tournament, with Gabon and Tunisia to square off on the final matchday with the top of the group at stake.

Guinea demolished Botswana in the competition's highest scoring game and largest margin of victory at the end of the second matchday. Sadio Diallo opened the scoring for Guinea in the 15' with a nice volley from a cross sent in by Abdoulaye Camara. A penalty was given to Botswana in the 21' after a deserved yellow card against keeper Naby-Moussa Yattara, who subsequently saved Dipsy Selolwane attempt; he was ruled to have come off his line, and this time Selolwane put it away. Diallo put Guinea back ahead though just 4 minutes after Botswana drew level, again finding the net from a great cross from the left wing. Camara then scored his own goal 15 minutes later on a superb strike to the inside right corner. Botswana's chances were dashed when Patrick Motsepe was sent off for a terrible and dangerous challenge, and Ibrahima Traore put his free kick around the wall and off the post on its way into the back of the net. With Botswana down three goals and a man, Guinea did not run up the score in the second half until the last ten minutes, when Mamadou Bah hit a powerful strike from distance and substitute Naby Soumah scored on the counter-attack.

Mali came close to scoring on a free kick in the first half when Cheick Diabate hit both posts. Asamoah Gyan showed him how to do it in the 63', bending it over the wall into the top right corner of the goal. Gyan turned provider with a sublime back-heel to feed Andre Ayew into the box, who worked his defender into a spin then put it low just inside the post. The result leaves Group D as the only group without at least one team guaranteed to move on to the next round, with Ghana leading the group but needing a draw against Guinea to ensure their passage. Guinea and Mali need to best the other's result to move on, with Mali having the easier test against Botswana. Ghana can still miss out if they lose to Guinea and Mali can overcome the four goal difference while beating Botswana.

Portland is more appealing than Houston to Kris Boyd

Portland Timbers have added their goal scorer with the signing of their new DP Kris Boyd. After spending a decade in the Scottish Premier League with Kilmarnock then Rangers, netting 164 times along the way.

@MerrittPaulson coyly baited his obsessive twitter followers, "Timbers fans: if you have lunch plans, wait 15 min #rctid". And then triumphantly, after the announcement of the signing, "You like apples? How do you like them apples? Crazy deal. Credit to GW 4 working thru weekend. Came together fast #rctid".

I think it's crap that we had to send a first round draft pick to Houston to make this signing work. Houston Dynamo did not discover Kris Boyd, and this is a perfect example of why MLS discovery rights are screwed up. He turned down an offer to Houston and did not want to go there. That should void any claim Houston has to him, as their negotiations were completed. Discovery claims are a way to stop MLS teams from competing with each other in a bidding war for players, not to let teams place 5 claims on the rights of any player in the world not playing for MLS, as a way to profit from trolling the rumor circuit. Theoretically Gavin Wilkinson could "discover" Didier Drogba, and then should he sign with Montreal, L'Impact would have to pay the Timbers for his rights. It is total absurdity.

Here are some quotes from the press release:

Kris Boyd:
"I'm delighted to be in Portland and hopefully I'll be over as soon as the visa matches up to be in time to be ready for the season."

Merritt Paulson:
"I've said from the beginning, that we are committed to winning and will make a significant investment on the player front if it is the right fit for the organization. Kris perfectly fits the profile of the team's needs and will make a huge impact."

John Spencer:
"Kris is a proven goal-scorer at the highest levels of the game, and we expect that to continue here in Portland. We've been looking for this type of traditional number nine player and are very please we found him."

Kelly McLain from TimbersInsider and SoccerMadeInPortland, posted some audio of Paulson and Spencer talking about Boyd and about the signing itself. Here are some quotes:

Merritt Paulson:
"If you look up a number nine striker in the dictionary, you are going to see Kris Boyd's face popping up there."
"I'm here to win."
"We acquired his rights from Houston who tried to sign him, so it's really since Wednesday of last week, it's been a mad scramble. Working through the weekend, credit goes to Gavin for getting this deal done, credit goes to John."
"We were either going to get it done before the transfer deadline or possibly lose him to another club so it's been all systems go."
"We had a void with Kenny gone and so we needed a guy... to be a post up forward, a back to the goal kind of guy who can hold the ball up. This is going to benefit guys like Jorge Perlaza, other strikers, and play within the system the way we want to play: goals. There will be goals, that's what I expect. We are not signing this guy not to score. Ok that's why I'm bringing him here."
"... it's a seven figure kind of guy."

John Spencer:
"I think if you look at his resume, one thing it will tell you, he's not slowing down at scoring goals."
"If we create chances, he's going to get on the end of them. He's a natural born finisher."
"Merritt was willing to spend money."
"We can sign players here but they've got to be the right type of player that fits the culture and club. We're bringing a guy who's played for Glasgow Rangers, in Scotland, and played in front of 50, 60, 70 thousand week in, week out, and done it at the highest level. I don't think he'll have trouble playing in front of the fans here."
"I think he'll be a good leader."
"It'll be great fun as long as he's scoring goals."

Timbers Training: week 1 rewind

Portland Timbers started preseason training camp this week. Players reported on Monday for some general fitness tests, and then proceeded to play small sided games interspersed throughout fitness and conditioning drills the rest of the week. All signed players are in town, though David Horst and Sal Zizzo are recovering from injuries and not practicing with the team. Homegrown signing Brent Richards was held out of practice Thursday and Friday due to a quad strain. There are a few trialists in camp, midfielder Franck Songo'o from Cameroon and American goalkeeper Joe Bendik, in addition to the non-roster players picked up in the drafts earlier this month. Andrew Jean-Baptiste is guaranteed a contract through his Generation Adidas deal, while second round pick Brendan King and all four supplemental picks must earn their contracts.

The story of the week has to be Jose Adolfo Valencia not training with the team. He was with the team Tuesday, but has not been seen after he appeared at the team store to sign autographs. Much speculation as to the reasons for his absence abounds, with rumors thrown about from influenza to leukemia, but with no official word from the team concerning specifics we are left in the dark.

We did get a cryptic tweet from Merritt Paulson on Wednesday (the first day of Valencia's absence): "Sports can be a cruel, cruel bitch", which gave the fear mongering over his absence validity. Fans and media were given a generic explanation for his absence Wednesday, "medical testing."

We got a few quotes in the Oregonian Friday morning from Gavin Wilkinson: "... if there's one or two small red flags, you need to do your homework. There may have been a few small red flags that have been raised ... I can't say he's going to be back on the field Monday until we come up with all the final results from the testing that we have been doing."

And of course @merrittpaulson followed things up with a great reaction to the hysteria (I'm looking at you Stumptown Footy): "on-demand generation wants now now now. when club appears not forthcoming, there are usually good reasons...trust me. its players first". Of course this put the yappers into hysterics, but they had been rightfully put in their place.

The second major story coming out of camp this week is the announcement of new assistant coach. Longtime PTFC fans will remember defender Cameron Knowles, who played under Gavin Wilkinson for the final four years of the USL era. Knowles replaces Trevor James, joining Amos Magee and Mike Toshack on the coaching staff. He is a native of New Zealand like Gavin, went to Akron (like Darlington Nagbe) and was a member of the inaugural 2005 Real Salt Lake roster. Cameron spent last season playing for L'Impact de Montreal in the NASL.

Jack Jewsbury missed practice Friday but not because he failed any medical tests. Captain Jack and his wife had their second daughter, so a hearty congratulations to the Jewsbury family is in order. I hope you take the weekend off Jack.

According to @geoffreyCarnold, Mamadou Danso (hereafter to be referred to as "Futty") and Jorge Perlaza received their green cards, and Diego Chara will receive his in days, freeing up three international roster slots I think everyone assumed they would be filling for a while, so this is a very nice surprise. Our wonderful owner's twitter feed also tells us there may be a fourth in the works. It is really great to see players taking these steps to help the team acquire new international talent. The meaningless statistical question of the week is: Will Colombians net more first team minutes than Americans this year? I am going to guess not, but that the margin will be slim.

Women's Olympic Qualifying: Semifinals

Canada 3-1 Mexico
United States 3-0 Costa Rica

The US struggled comparatively tonight as Costa Rica provided the stiffest challenge of the qualifying tournament so far. While Tobin Heath scored an early goal in the 17' for the Americans, heading in a rebound served up by Erika Miranda's deflection of Abby Wambach's header, it wasn't until the 72' that the US women found the net again. Costa Rica began to fade as their high pressure system took it's toll later in the game, and then the chances started to flow. Carli Lloyd doubled the lead as the defense began to crack, knocking in a goal line clearance created from yet another Wambach shot. Alex Morgan provided the third goal at the end of regulation through sheer speed and some luck, beating the defense to the ball, flicking it up off a defender's back, then chipping the keeper for the third goal on the night. The Costa Rica attack was not silent, forcing Hope Solo into some nice saves and rattling the post from distance.

Canada fills the second spot at the Olympics in London this summer, with a victory over Mexico. Christine Sinclair scored the opening goal after a nifty pass from Melissa Tancredi. Sinclair set up Tancredi's goal just moments later, releasing Kelly Parker into the box, and the resulting cross was volleyed into the net. It was some nice passing work reminiscent of the best one-touch football. Mexico drew within one after a messy clearance of a corner fell to Veronica Perez, who buried her shot from outside the box. Tancredi was again the playmaker less than ten minutes later, her cross giving Sinclair a one-on-one with Cecilio Santiago. As Santiago ran out to meet her, Sinclair sublimely chipped the keeper for the final goal. This game was not really as close as the scoreline, as Canada squandered many chances with some very poor finishing.

Canada now faces the United States in the qualifying final Sunday at 5:00pm Cascadia time.

Donovan vs Dempsey

I originally planned to keep this as part of the FA cup roundup, but since I actually watched this game I want to talk about it now. I'll roll it into that post when the whole round is over. 

Landon Donovan showed that he is every bit as good as Clint Dempsey today in the meeting between Everton and Fulham at Goodison Park in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Assisting from the right wing with both feet, the Los Angeles Galaxy captain is proving to his detractors that he has what it takes to succeed in the Premier League.

Fulham took an early lead from a penalty earned after a John Heitinga handball in the box. Heitinga slid across to block (successfully) but the deflection went straight into his raised hand, and Danny Murphy slotted it past Tim Howard in the 14'. Everton drew level as Donovan received the ball down the right flank, then cut back inside onto his left foot and put a pinpoint cross onto Denis Stracqualursi's forehead, which he diverted inside the far post just before the half hour. They took the lead off the American's right foot as his cross found Marouane Fellaini in the 73', which he headed back across goal over a diving David Stockdale.

The game was pretty chippy, with a lot of restarts and fouls. Clint Dempsey's name is conspicuously absent from the above paragraphs, as he had a pretty subdued game today, drifting in and out of the match. Part of this was due to Everton's relative dominance and Fulham's poor attacking form today. Dempsey did get involved later in the match as he dropped deeper and deeper to help win the ball and develop the attack, gaining the usual pound of dirt on his kit and a yellow card for his efforts. Neither team played particularly beautiful football, though Everton was much better in gradually building up play and putting themselves in dangerous positions. Fulham was poor in build up as well as off the break, and likely would have lost by more if not for some great saves from Stockdale.

Copa del Rey Quarterfinals

Mirandes 2-1 (4-4) Espanyol
Mallorca 0-1 (0-3) Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona 2-2 (4-3) Real Madrid
Levante 0-3 (1-7) Valencia

Third division side CD Mirandes has knocked off three Primeria Division sides in a row, first Villarreal, then Racing Santander, and now Espanyol. Rui Fonte scored just after the break for Espanyol, but just ten minutes later Munoz Pablo Infante leveled for the underdogs. Mirandes won this game on the away goals tie breaker, with Fernandez Cesar Caneda scoring at the end of full time to win 2-1 and secure the draw and aggregate victory.

Athletic Bilbao went to Mallorca with a two goal advantage. An Ivan Ramis own goal gave them the win here, and set up a semifinal matchup again Mirandes.

The second leg of the Barcelona/Real Madrid matchup saw a commanding performance from the visitors, and probably their best performace against a Guardiola side to date. Pedro and Dani Alves scored at the very end of the first half. Madrid came back strong in the second half, bucking the trend of recent clasicos where they dominate early only to concede possession then goals as the match wears on. Cristiano Ronaldo and then Karim Benzema scored in quick succession to pull the visitors within one in the second leg. A third goal would have put Madrid ahead on the away goals tiebreaker, but it did not come, and we see Barcelona on to the semifinals to face third place Valencia.

In the most lopsided tie of the quarterfinals, third place Valencia demolished fourth place Levante by six goals over the two-legged matchup. Aritz Aduriz opened the scoring this time, while Pablo Piatti added a brace (Piatti also scored in the reverse fixture). Levante drew five yellow cards, with Oscar Serrano on his second to put the home side down to ten men after only 38 minutes.

Coppa Italia Quarterfinals

Juventus 3-0 AS Roma
Chievo Verona 0-1 Siena
Napoli 2-0 Internazionale
AC Milan 3-1 Lazio

Emanuele Giaccherni scored first for Juventus in the sixth minute and Alessandro del Piero hit a rocket at the half hour mark. Eric Lamela was sent off for Roma, already down 2-0, at 69', and Simon Kjaer made matters worse with his own goal at the death.

Siena squeezed out a victory at Chievo with a goal from substitute Mattia Destro at 54 minutes. Destro came on and almost immediately scored. Siena were down to ten men soon after when Paolo Grossi was sent off at the hour mark.

Napoli beat Inter thanks to two goal from Edison Cavani, the final insurance goal coming deep into stoppage time. Napoli will now face Siena in the semifinals.

Milan came from behind to score three unanswered goals as they eliminated Lazio from the competition. Lazio took the early lead as Djibril Cisse scored in the fifth minute. Robinho and Clarence Seedorf scored in quick succession at 15' and 18' to put the hosts on top, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic coming off the bench to put in the final goal six minutes from full time. AC Milan now face Juventus in the semifinals.

Geoff Cameron sent off, Graham Zusi scores as US men win in Panama

Jurgen Klinsmann wanted his team to play in a hostile environment in CONCACAF, with the young guys in camp needing that experience. He got what he wanted, and the team he described as tired still held on to win 1-0 against a young Panama team that outshot and outhustled them on Wednesday night. Graham Zusi scored in the ninth minute to put the team ahead off the Zach Lloyd cross, Chris Wondolowski flick on, and Teal Bunbury deflection.

Nick Rimando started in goal and was named man of the match for his clutch saves, particularly one against the Philadelphia Union signing Gabriel Gomez in the 25'. Gomez was sprung clear and had a one-on-one with Rimando, who dove left to parry away and scrambled to punch the rebound across the endline for a corner.

Ricardo Clark and Lloyd got the start this time around, while Jermaine Jones again captained the side. Jones had an excellent shot from distance force a stellar save from Panama keeper Luis Mejia, with Wondolowski chasing the rebound for a diving header that was again saved amazingly by Mejia.

Geoff Cameron was sent off for a foolish challenge outside the box in the 51'; the foul itself was innocuous but he was the last defender in a clear goal scoring chance, so the red card was justified. Cameron should have more trust in his keeper from that distance. The foul was drawn by new FC Dallas signing Blas Perez, who played out of his skin all night as he captained his squad (though he should have leveled at the end but shot wide). Dallas defender Carlos Rodriguez also played for Panama.

Starting lineup:
                                     Nick Rimando
A.J. DeLaGarza, Michael Parkhurst, Geoff Cameron, Zach Lloyd
                          Ricardo Clark, Jermaine Jones
Graham Zusi                                                                Brek Shea
                       Chris Wondolowski, Teal Bunbury

Substitutions:
41' Heath Pearce for Zach Lloyd
46' Sean Johnson for Nick Rimando
55' Jeff Parke for Chris Wondolowski
66' Bran Evans for Graham Zusi
67' Jeff Larentowicz for Ricardo Clark
76' C.J. Sapong for Teal Bunbury

Subs not used: Benny Feilhaber

Carling Cup Semifinals

Liverpool 2-2 (3-2) Manchester City
Cardiff City 1-0 (1-1)(3-1) Crystal Palace

Liverpool ends City's Cup dreams, salvaging a draw at home to advance on aggregate to the Carling Cup final. Steven Gerrard put Liverpool level with a penalty after Nigel de Jong put the visitors up. Edin Dzeko again put City ahead but Craig Bellamy leveled the score. Bellamy is an interesting story, purchased by City from Liverpool for a large transfer fee, then released on a free back to his former team. He will now face Cardiff City in the final, the place of his birth.

Anthony Gardner scored goals for both teams on both sides of this home-home tie, putting in the game winner for Crystal Palace in the first leg and an own goal in the return leg. Patrick McCarthy was sent off in the 78', and Cardiff dominated the extra period. They were unable to convert on their chances though, and the game was sent into penalty kicks, where Tom Heaton made two great saves for the home team and send them on to the final.

The Carling Cup final will be at Wembley Stadium on February 26, at 8:00am here on the west coast.

Women's Olympic Qualifying: Matchday 3

Group A
Canada 5-1 Costa Rica
Cuba 0-3 Haiti

Group B
Guatemala 6-0 Dominican Republic
United States 4-0 Mexico

Canada put on a dominant showing against Costa Rica to win Group A. Canada was up 4-0 at the half and took the pedal off the gas in the second half. Costa Rica's keeper Juliet Arias was responsible for the first, second, and fifth goals for Canada, incredibly. She served up rebounds off good shots when she should have kept them for the first two, but the final goal was an own goal resulting from a back pass from her defender Marianne Ugalde. It is not an exaggeration to say that my four year old can trap a ball with his foot better than the keeper did, as it rolled right under her foot and into the goal. They did get a late consolation goal though, with a nice run and finish in the 89' by Fernanda Barrantes, and spoiling Karina LeBlanc's group stage shutout.

Cuba, however, suffered defections from their squad (something that seems pretty regular when a Cuban national team travels into the US or Canada), and was downtrodden in attitude even before they took the field. Haiti were apparently singing before the game, and put on a nice display with their 3-0 win.

Apparently the difference between losing to the Americans 14-0 and 13-0 is so great that when those teams meet, as the Dominican Republic and Guatemala did, the result is a 6-0 trouncing in favor of that slim margin. Wendy Pineda had a hat trick in the first half hour;she took the big losses to US and Mexico personally, and wanted to showcase how good the Guatemalan league has become.

The United States scored twice in the first ten minutes and ran the score up to four to emphatically defeat Mexico and win Group B. Carli Lloyd put in a hat trick with Heather O'Reilly being the hammer of the nail in Mexico's coffin with her goal, the second, at 9 minutes. The Americans will now face Costa Rica in the semifinals, while Mexico will line up against Canada.

African Cup of Nations: Matchday 1

Group A
Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya
Senegal 1-2 Zambia

Group B
Ivory Coast 1-0 Sudan
Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola

Group C
Gabon 2-0 Niger
Morocco 1-2 Tunisia

Group D
Ghana 1-0 Botswana
Mali 1-0 Guinea

Cohosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea both won their opening matches, something I think all neutral spectators were probably happy to see. It is always ugly when a terrible team gets into the tournament only because it is hosting and gets outclassed every game. They get in at the expense of a team that could compete, who also could have hosted. That is clearly not the case here, as Gabon posted the largest margin of victory in the first round; every other game played had a one goal margin. I don't have too much else to say about the Cup at this point, as I haven't been able to watch any games so far. It is notable that there have been no ties, every game has had at least one goal.

Scores and Notes from Europe

Clint Dempsey scored a hat trick for Fulham in a 5-2 win at home against Newcastle. He becomes the first American to score three goals in a Premier League game, having just hit the treble in an FA Cup match against Charlton Athletic on January 7. That makes 15 goals across all competitions for Deuce this season.

Manchester beat London Sunday. Mario Balotelli's penalty kick gave City the victory 3-2 over Tottenham. I tried to watch this match after staying up all night. I was actually headed to bed and happened to notice it was just starting (no way I could resist), but fell asleep about 25 minutes in. I didn't get to see much and it was hard to focus I was so tired. United also beat Arsenal 1-2, putting the Gunners 5 points short of 4th place Chelsea.

Liverpool also lost to 17th place Bolton 3-1, with manager Kenny Dalglish calling out his players after the match. Making this win more impressive for Bolton is the recent sale of captain Gary Cahill to Cheslea.

Barcelona and Real Madrid kept pace atop the Spanish top division, while the season's revelation Levante were held at home to last place Real Zaragoza.

Borussia Monchengladbach won 3-1 at home against Bayern Munich, and the loss puts the table in Germany in a very interesting position. Bayern still lead on goal differential, but Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 won their games this weekend to create a three way tie at 37 points after 18 games. 'Gladbach pulls six points clear in fourth place and only one point off the lead with 36 points after the win.

Internazionale (i.e. Inter Milan) continues their climb back up the table in Italy, leaping Lazio into fourth place with a victory at home to said team. Udinese in third, AC Milan in second, and Juventus in first all kept pace with wins. Lecce climbed out of the cellar with a draw at home to Michael Bradley's Chievo, but is still six points clear of safety from relegation.

In France they played the round of 32 in the Coupe de France. I honestly don't know too much about the French league, but it looks like the only Ligue 1 teams to suffer upsets were Ajaccio losing to fourth division FC Broug-Peronnas and Auxerre's defeat to second division side Chateauroux.

Jozy Altitdore's AZ Alkmaar maintained their lead atop the Eredivisie with a draw at home to Ajax, a team they recently defeated away in front of children in the domestic cup. This must have come as a margin of payback for that loss. PSV Eindoven missed out on their chance to go top, drawing FC Utrecht away. Twente Enschede jumped Ajax into fourth with a 5-0 thrashing of RKC Waalwijk at home.

Celtic increased their lead atop the Scottish Premier League, with a win away to St. Mirren, as Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu's Rangers were held 1-1 by Aberdeen at home. Motherwell drew their game away to Dundee United, leaving the SPL with a three way tie for third as St. Johnstone beat Hibernian on the road to move up the table, Hearts lost to Inverness on the road, and Motherwell drew Dundee United.

Those are six popular European leagues. Anyone want me to cover anything else specific?

Women's Olympic Qualifying: Matchday 2

Group A
Canada 2-0 Cuba
Costa Rica 2-0 Haiti

Group B
United States 13-0 Guatemala
Mexico 7-0 Dominican Republic

Canada and Costa Rica, United States and Mexico qualify for semifinals, so the top two teams in each group face each other on the final matchday; something makes me think this wasn't accidental to be scheduled this way. Haiti and Cuba, Dominican Republic and Guatemala play for third place and for the respect of not being completely shutout for the entire tournament. Canada and USA win their groups with a win or a tie, holding the goal differential tiebreaker by 4 and 15 respectively, with the loser of each game playing the winner of the other in the round of death semifinal.

Watch Canada v Costa Rica tonight and USA v Mexico tomorrow night. Both games start at 7:30pm and can be streamed for free through the federation website.

Unlikeliest of heros lifts US men over Venezuela

Ricardo Clark, villain of the 2010 World Cup loss to Ghana, headed in a corner from Jermaine Jones in the 97th minute to beat Venezuela, in the first international friendly of 2012 for Jurgen Klinsmann's team. The team outshot Venezuela 19-6, but the tale of the game has to be only 4 shots on goal for the US and none for Venezuela.

Jermaine Jones captained the squad with a dominant display spoiled by inconsistent passing and an ugly tackle. Benny Feilhaber and Geoff Cameron had good games, and Bill Hamid kept a clean sheet in what was also his first senior cap. A.J.  DeLaGarza, C.J. Sapong, and Graham Zusi also received their first caps tonight. Alejandro Moreno of Chivas USA started for Venezuela, facing up against his teammate Heath Pearce; Emilio Renteria of Columbus Crew came on as a substitute for Venezuela as well.

I wasn't fortunate enough to watch the game, as I had no way to record it and I'd prefer to work Saturday night (not like this was a Timbers game). I am, however, able to read through the reactions of a lot of people on twitter, ranging from live-blogging from @ussoccer to simple random reactions. The random reaction was pretty much all I did before starting this still unnamed endeavor. I am going to attempt tactical analysis for games I actually get to watch.

Starting lineup:

                                            Bill Hamid
A.J. DeLaGarza, Michael Parkhurst, Geoff Cameron, Heath Pearce
                           Jeff Larentowicz, Jermaine Jones
                   Graham Zusi, Benny Feilhaber, Brek Shea
                                          Teal Bunbury

Substitutions:
(friendlies have different substitution rules, competitive play only allows three per game)
62' Ricardo Clark for Jeff Larentowicz
62' Chris Wondolowski for Benny Feilhaber
72' Zach Loyd for Heath Pearce
74' C.J. Sapong for Graham Zusi
88' Brad Evans for Teal Bunbury

Subs not used: Nick Rimando and Jeff Parke

SOPA/PIPA in 'the tip of the iceberg'

So there was a big web protest on Wednesday about these bills in the US legislature, with the usual acronym-name paradigm: SOPA and PIPA. A full list of the sites participating in the blackout can be found here. I wasn't particularly affected by these blackouts, except for being unable to access wikipedia and having to wait 10 seconds to navigate through to the craigslist jobs listings. I also enjoyed this comic protest by xkcd.

Myself, I streamed the Real Madrid v Barcelona Copa del Rey match through a dubious source. That was my protest, I suppose. To be clear, I did not vote for a single person who currently thinks they can speak/act/represent in an official capacity for me, and as such did not grant them any right to do so. The US legislature does not represent me in any way or form. I do not recognize their authority or jurisdiction. I did not sign any petitions nor have I registered to vote since that fateful 18th birthday. Government is corrupt and illegal, genocidal and malicious. I only support the elimination of existing laws: we need to throw the books of law on the bonfire like the banned-book-burnings of the totalitarian states - only this would be burning the fascism. The only solution is intense global balkanization.

By the way, something much worse than these two pieces of paper is already in place, signed into international law by eight countries (United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea) on 10.1.11 in Tokyo. The Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA) was negotiated in secret (on the nonsense basis of national security) and with an advisory committee made up of large US corporations. The European Union (EU), Mexico, and Switzerland were part of the negotiations but did not sign the treaty, but attended the ceremony as a sign of solidarity and pledge to sign the treaty as soon as it is "practicable", whatever that is supposed to mean. It seems the current wording of the agreement would make it illegal under EU data protection law.

It is really amazing that the internet didn't freak out about ACTA but went batshit over SOPA/PIPA. Lets get our priorities straight people.

African Cup of Nations

The African Cup of Nations (ACN) starts today. There are sixteen teams divided into four groups, with each team playing the other once. The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals on February 4th. The semifinals will be on the 8th, with the final on the 12th. Most games start at 8:00 or 11:00am PST, with all the games in the final matchday of the group stage kicking off at 10:00am PST.

Group A contains co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Zambia, and Libya.
Group B consists of Angola, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Ivory Coast.
Group C has Tunisia, Morocco, co-hosts Gabon, and Niger.
Group D is Guinea, Mali, Botswana, and Ghana.

The biggest surprise is the absence of three time defending champions Egypt, who upon failure to qualify fired their coach and hired former USA men's national team (MNT) and Chicago Fire coach Bob Bradley. Egypt actually finished last in their group.

Another surprising absence is South Africa, who celebrated at the conclusion of their final qualifying match as if they had qualified, only to be ruled out due to goal differential technicalities. South Africa appeared to qualify based on total group play differential, but the ACN qualifying tie breakers has head-to-head comparisons as the tie breaker. This is in contradiction to FIFA standards (head-to-head comparisons only come into the picture when total points, total differential, and total goals are all tied), and caused quite the controversy. Coincidentally, MLS also uses head-to-head comparisons instead of goal differential after total points as their tie breaker. South Africa appealed the decision, only to later withdraw their appeal. It seems that they may appeal the rule itself, but not their placement in this years edition of the continental championship.

The other big names to miss out on the Cup this year are Cameroon and Nigeria, both regular participants in the World Cup as well as the ACN.

There is some considerable controversy about the timing of the ACN, given that it falls during the European Club season and does not limit itself to international fixture dates. This means that players wishing to represent their country must sacrifice time with their club. This means teams like Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Queens Park Rangers will be missing starters throughout the tournament.

Women's Olympic Qualifying

The CONCACAF Women's Olympic qualifying tournament group stage started Thursday night (1.19.12) in Vancouver. The group stages consists of eight teams divided into two groups of four, with each team playing the other only once (this is the same format as the World Cup group stages, only with fewer groups obviously). The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals, with only the winners advancing to this summer's Olympics in London. As opposed to this past Women's World Cup (hereafter referred to as WWC), the third place team will not be given a qualifying playoff with a team from other federation.

The Caribbean Zone qualifying started in June, with the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba advancing, while the Central American Zone qualifying started in September with Costa Rica and Guatamala advancing to the group stage. Mexico, Canada, and the United States advanced directly to the group stage. Group A consists of Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Haiti; Group B has USA, Mexico, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.

Match Day One had Canada besting Haiti 6-0 and Costa Rica over Haiti 2-0 in Group A, with Mexico over Guatemala 5-0, and USA thrashing the Dominican Republic 14-0 (highlights and post-game reaction). The group stage continues through Tuesday (when USA faces Mexico at 7:30 PST), with the semi-finals on Friday (5:00 and 8:00 PST) and the finals on Sunday (5:00 PST). All games can be streamed for free here.

Coach Pia Sundage has taken heat after the game for pushing her players to run up the score, and for continuing to celebrate each goal in an excessive manner. Indeed, Abby Wambach encouraged her teammates to up the ante at halftime, even as she was substitued: "We want to win our group stage, and ... it might come down to goal differential." As the team squeaked into the WWC this summer, and goal differential is a tie breaker, she does not want to take any chances. The women were up 3-0 in under 6 minutes, with the first goal coming in 37 seconds. Substitute Amy Rodriquez tied a Women's National Team (WNT) with 5 goals (all coming in the first 30 minutes of the second half), Heather O'Reilly adding a hat trick, Abby Wambach scored twice in the first half, and Lloyd, Cheney, Heath and Buehler tallied along the way.

The game wasn't all roses though, as right back Ali Krieger suffered a serious knee injury and is unlikely to return. She should undergo a MRI today, so the team will know if she will be available for the tournament in London or will be out for much longer. UPDATE: Krieger tore her ACL and MCL and will be out for nine months. Abby Wambach banged up her left knee a bit but should be fine to continue in the tournament. "We want her to last as long as we can in this tournament, which is one reason we took her out at halftime," Sundage said.

Replica Third Kits

PTFC announced today that Jose Adolfo Valencia (our first Under-20 Designated Player - hereafter referred to as U20-DP) and Andrew Jean-Baptiste (our first round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft at the #8 slot) will be at Jeld-Wen Field (hereafter referred to as Jdub - unless a better nickname comes about) will be signing autographs on January 24th from 1-2pm. Replica kits also go on sale at the same time, with a coupon allowing free customization, i.e. names and numbers.

I will be there, with my two kids in tow, so I hope to see you in line. I am celebrating my 29th birthday this day (actual date of birth 1.21.83, 6:33 CST), so I hope to see lots of people out adding to the festivities. I could not ask for a better beginning to my celebration. (Just in case anyone wants to continue the party with me, we will be going to the show at Valentines later in the evening - check my google profile for photos if you really want to recognize me).

Preseason Schedule

As of today PTFC has announced an expanded preseason schedule. Before today we knew only of the home tournament immediately preceding the opening weekend, a round robin tourney involving San Jose Earthquakes, Chivas USA, and Allmänna Idrottsklubben (hereafter referred to as AIK), a first division Swedish club based in Stockholm. Now we know who the club will face during its training stint in Southern California, with four games scheduled. PTFC will face the Galaxy first on February 7th, L'Impact de Montreal on the 10th, Houston Dynamo on the 12th, and Chicago Fire on the 15th. The first three game start at 10:30 am PST with the Fire game starting at 11. 


Full schedule per official press release:
Timbers 2012 Preseason Match Schedule (subject to change)
Tuesday, Feb. 7 – Timbers vs. LA Galaxy in Carson, Calif.; 10:30 a.m. (Pacific)
Friday, Feb. 10 – Timbers vs. Montreal Impact in  Carson, Calif.; 10:30 a.m. (Pacific)
Sunday, Feb. 12 – Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo in Carson, Calif.; 10:30 a.m. (Pacific)
Wednesday, Feb. 15 – Timbers vs. Chicago Fire in Carson, Calif.; 11 a.m. (Pacific)
Monday, Feb. 27 – Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes at JELD-WEN Field (tournament); 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Thursday, March 1 – Timbers vs. Chivas USA at JELD-WEN Field (tournament); 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Sunday, March 4 – Timbers vs. AIK (Sweden) at JELD-WEN Field (tournament); 5 p.m. (Pacific)

Reboot Declaration

So a number of years ago I tried to start up a site where I linked to and commented on general news articles and opinions I felt were important to share with others. Well about one person actually spent their time reading my stuff (and I have no idea where she is at this point in my life, nor have a desire to figure that out), so I eventually gave it up. Fast forward to today, and you find a similar but altered person. I've found myself in a place where I tend to have a lot of information about many different things, with very few people other than my wife interested in any of it (and she has little to no interest in the future primary purpose of this endeavor). My interests are pretty diverse so I tend to have conversations with people about a ton of different things. I hate my job so I need to have some sort of hope of ever moving on to something I am actually passionate about.

So this leads me to the conclusion that I need to start writing again, whether it be to just communicate how I feel about the latest Portland Timbers Football Club (hereafter referred to as PTFC), Major League Soccer (hereafter referred to as MLS - NOT the MLS) or the latest bullshit legislation in the US legislature, or whatever I happen to be interested in at that moment. I plan to make the primary impetus of this process to be about domestic and international soccer (or football - I may refer to this sport with interchangeable phrases since I don't follow NFL or NCAA football with any regularity - I do like Drew Brees and the NO Saints since I went to university with Brees, and I have a regional interest in the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts as I grew up wedged between their fan bases - but that doesn't supplant the 99% interest in international football, and I find myself unable to stop calling it football in conversation).

I also want to make a qualifying statement in that I believe language and punctuation to be evolutionary and I may intentionally flaunt grammar rules that I disagree with. And, while txt msg sub frml comms, I will not start using "r" for "are", numbers for words, or "u" for "you" - and probably never will.

Thanks for taking the time to read my reboot declaration, I plan to start regular updates starting now.