Chicago defeated the Revolution 2-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Final of the MLS Cup Playoffs where they will have the privilege of hosting RSL (A.K.A. – The team no one wants right now) on Saturday.

Chicago and RSL are walking two completely different paths to get to this point.  Chicago sort of stagnated at the end of the season, unable to clinch a playoff berth until late, and then had an initial loss to New England in the Semifinal stage of the playoffs.  RSL, on the other hand, got hot right at the end of the season, leapt into the playoffs with some inspired late play, and then they took out the best team in the league with a draw and a win.  Columbus never knew what hit them and if Chicago isn’t careful they will be looking for the number on RSL’s truck too.

Robbie Findley has 12 goals and 4 assists while Yura has 8 goals and 2 assists and Clint Mathis is hiding back there with 7 assists.  I think nobody’s watching Clint Mathis because I don’t care how many games you play it’s nearly impossible to have an assist in one match, much less tally seven for a whole season.  Then, Andy Williams has 6 and Javier Morales has 5.  That’s pretty incredible if you asked me.

So, what’s the formula if Chicago wants to have any hope of beating RSL?  Stop their assist leaders.  The ball has to come from somewhere and it appears Robbie Findley has had alot of help scoring this year.

Close the outlet and you close the gate.

If Chicago goes into this hoping not to lose an Eastern Final again then they probably will.  Based on the Psychological stigma of having lost this game twice before and the “hotness” of RSL I would have to pick RSL on Saturday.

Enjoy watching two teams duke it out for a spot in the MLS Cup Final…this one should be good.

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Well we don’t get too many chances to highlight the league’s best defenders here at the STO, but this week it was announced that Chad Marshall of the Columbus Crew was named MLS 2009 Defender of the Year.  It was a great regular season for Marshall and the Crew and like all winners of the award being on a strong team is part of the criteria.  The Crew is already winners of the Supporters Shield and therefore have the best record of any MLS squad entering the playoffs.  Also the Crew had one of their best defensive seasons in their franchise history and the total goals conceded this season was the third best in the league entering this weekend.  In fact Columbus has only given up 31 goals this entire season.

And Marshall is obviously a critical part of that level of success.  Marshall actually only played in 18 matches this season due to a brief injury and also he was promoted to four matches as an international player for the United States.  But ever since Marshall entered the league in 2004 as a second round pick he has made an immediate impact. 

That rookie season he helped anchor the toughest defense in the league (he played next to Robin Fraser the 2004 Defender of the Year) and Marshall was given the respect that he deserves.  At the end of 2004, Marshall was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award.  He was edged out by who other then Clint Dempsey now of the Premier League Fulham Cottagers.

But these days Chad Marshall is quite simply the best MLS Defender (at least this season).  Congats Mr. Marshall.  Now onto the real hardware…

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FA Cup giant-killers Kettering Town, who beat Hartlepool in round one, have been handed a home tie against former FA Cup winners Leeds United in the second round.

Blue Square South outfit Northwich, conquerors of Charlton on Sunday, will entertain League Two side Lincoln. Staines Town will host Millwall or AFC Wimbledon, while Bath City have also been rewarded with a home tie against Forest Green Rovers or Mansfield. York, who ended Crewe’s hopes in the last round, were given a tricky-looking trip to Blue Square Premier rivals Cambridge United.

Second-round ties will be played on the weekend of Saturday, 28 November.

Full second round draw:
Northwich Victoria v Lincoln City
Northampton Town v Southampton
Hereford United v Colchester United
Tranmere Rovers/Leyton Orient v Aldershot Town
Kettering Town v Leeds United
Gillingham v Burton Albion/Oxford City
Wrexham v Swindon Town
Wycombe Wanderers/Brighton & Hove Albion v Rushden & Diamonds
Wealdstone/Rotherham United v Luton Town/Rochdale
Milton Keynes Dons v Exeter City
Gateshead/Brentford v Walsall
Carlisle United/Morecambe v Norwich City
Accrington Stanley v Barnet
Oxford United v Barrow
Bournemouth v Notts County
Stockport County v Torquay United
Cambridge United v York City
Bath City v Forest Green Rovers/Mansfield Town
Port Vale/Stevenage Borough v Huddersfield Town
Staines Town v Millwall/AFC Wimbledon

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Tonight one of the biggest matches in the EPL pitting two of England’s Dominant clubs  Chelsea and Manchester United at the Stamford bridge will definitely be a match to watch. Both these teams are separated by just two points in the Barclays Premiership title race.

Chelsea’s fantastic start to the season will get better if they beat a Manchester United side that seem to be coping well in their post Ronaldo era. Once Again we should expect a good performance from Didier Drogba and company.

Lately, Drogba’s form has really impressed both his supporters and haters. To be honest when Mourinho left i thought he would never return to his best and for sometime, he was actually playing some really bad football. Enter Carlo Ancelotti and things have drastically changed in the mentality of the players.

You don’t have to look far to see what kind of a player Didier Drogba is. Just last week,  he made his Champions league comeback after a four game suspension to score both of Chelsea’s goals in their 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid. Not only are Chelsea wining games, no but their goal average each match is considerably high.

Chelsea lead the EPL table and they won’t want Man U to close in or even beat them to 1st place. Man U on the other hand are doing just fine without Cristiano Ronaldo and Sir Alex Ferguson will be keen to squash all the negative talk about how his side won’t do well this season in the absence of the their top goal scorer for the past two seasons.

Matches of this nature tend to be emotional charged due to the fact that they involve high stakes. If Man U lose then it will also be good news for the Gunners who are currently second and who have played one less game then Chelsea or Man u. My predictions for this game is a 2-0 win for the blues courtesy of Drogba and Kalou.

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They say that girls can be a lot crueler then boys and it’s no lie if you saw the highlights on ESPN of the college women’s soccer match between New Mexico and BYU yesterday.  Defender Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico seemed to be playing the wrong sport as she tackled, punched, kicked, slapped, elbowed, and hair pulled opposing players throughout the match.  It got so bad over the ninety minutes that it eventually became unthinkable of how she had not been thrown out of the game.  Who was the referee of that match?  Was it her uncle Christopher Lambert from the legendary Highlander franchise?

Lambert was awarded a yellow card once when she kicked a ball that was already blown dead squarly into the opposition’s face.  Of course she argued that call like Rasheed Wallace argues a technical foul, but Lambert was lucky to even be in the match still at that point.  It was amazing to see such acts take place on a soccer field where usually one that flops is awarded for diving.  But in this case the referree was so lenient that he must be either a former MMA ref or he was completly blind. 

I am sure Lambert will receive severe punishment for her Bill Romanowski impression and lets be honest.  She deserves to be punished.  Not only for her over-the-top Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestling and pony tail pulling tactics, but also because in this day and age you should know that someone is always watching.  It might not catch up to you for a while, but in the age of technology all momentary lapses of judgment can be documented for eternity.

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Chelsea’s transfer ban has been temporarily suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) pending a final decision on the matter.

Fifa had ruled the club could not sign players until 2011 after inducing Gael Kakuta to break his Lens contract. But Chelsea appealed to Cas, which said on Friday:

“Such sanctions are now stayed until the Cas renders its final decision in this matter.”

The decision means Chelsea will be able to sign players in January and reports are that Chelsea has a 50million budget for the January transfer window. No date has been given for a final decision from Cas.

Fifa had banned the Premier League leaders in September from any activity during the next two transfer windows after they were found guilty of inducing Kakuta, now aged 18, to breach his contract with French club Lens in 2007.

Under the terms of the original Fifa punishment, French teenager Kakuta was ordered to pay compensation of 780,000 euros (£710,000), for which Chelsea were “jointly and severally liable”.

Chelsea were also told to pay Lens “training compensation” of 130,000 euros (£118,000).

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The Beauty: JoJo (who was born Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque) is an American pop star. She rose to fame in the music biz at a very young age, and she parlayed her perfect pipes into a successful acting career. Now, the sky is the limit for the young starlet. She has already achieved so much, it is sometimes easy to forget that she’s only (thankfully) 18. Heck, she hasn’t even voted for president yet. But, she still gets my vote for my last WAG of the World. 

The Beast: JoJo dated Freddy Adu for a little over one year. Like JoJo, Adu has been around for so long, it is sometimes easy to forget that he’s only (allegedly) 20. He came to the States from Ghana at age 8, and we’ll take him! He already has 15 caps and two goals for the US too, not bad stats for someone who is not even old enough to drink. Hopefully, he will eventually hook up with a pro team that lets him play as we will need his skills in 2010 and beyond. 

The Bard: Hey, JoJo probably doesn’t even belong on this list, but I wanted 1 more Yank:

This is my last post for STO about WAGs, and I hope JoJo was worth the wait.

I would have profiled her earlier, but until recently she was still jailbait.

She’s not the typical trophy WAG, she’s a smart lady and a skilled singer.

She thought she’d met someone as talented as her in a young US winger.

But their long distance love started to fade, and soon she bidded Adu “adieu”.

And as I conclude this series on the WAGs of the World, I will bid the same to you.

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took 3 unanswered goals to the Columbus Crew tonight and the Crew (the best team in the league all season) is out.  I only have one thing to say…MAN, did I pick the right team to adopt or what!?

There’s something about this win for RSL that screams inflation and deflation.  On one hand RSL is on top of the world, probably thinking (as is best) that they can run the table and win the MLS Cup.  On the other hand Columbus must be highly deflated concerning most people had them penciled into the MLS Cup Final.

If you’re the Crew you’re sitting in the locker room wondering how you got here.  I’ll tell you how…

You completely overlooked a team that should have been able to beat.  You overlooked them so badly that they shut you out once and then they put 3 unanswered goals on you a few days later and you were left standing with you Title defense in your hands at home.  What’s worse?  The boos from the fans or the fact that this season’s version of the Crew was completely ill-equipped to play big-time pressure games?  If you’re a Crew fan I apologize.  This team laid the egg of all eggs and they need to re-evaluate before they repeat this scene again next year.

If you’re an RSL fan you need to keep your butt in the seat for a minute.  Let me ask you a question?  Do you think your boys can sustain this throughout the playoffs?  Do you think this is a fluke?  Are you happy with your “moral victory”, or do you want more than that?  I hope you want more, but it will come at a huge price.  This may not even be enough.  You could feel like you’re on Cloud 9 and find out tomorrow that you guys were good, but not good enough.  Temper yourselves RSL fans.  Your boys CAN do this, but we first must discover if this is enough.  (For my money, defeating the defending champs is enough, but Soccer doesn’t always work that way.)

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Fernando Torres underwent tests on Thursday at a Liverpool hospital on the serious groin injury which is threatening to ruin his season. Torres played with pain throughout the match, before flying back with the Liverpool party on Thursday morning.

This morning he went to a Liverpool hospital where more tests were carried out on his injury.

A Liverpool spokesman said:

“Fernando attended a Liverpool hospital today for further tests. It is nothing more dramatic than that, it is just further tests as part of his rehabilitation programme.”

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has said that he fears that Torres will eventually need an operation on what he describes as a “poor man’s hernia”. Benitez said after the draw in Lyon:

“Fernando played with pain, and after the game he still had the same problems that have troubled him for a few weeks. He wants to wait, rather than have an operation. He wants to work with the physios to try to solve his problems, but still he has pain. He told me he needed to keep stopping because of the pain. We must see how he can improve, and by how much. Then we will decide about any possible operation.”

One of the undercurrents of this story is the battle between club and country. Liverpool don’t want Torres to have an operation as that will put him out if action for 6-8 weeks. So they want to explore every option before they put Torres under the knife.

Hanging in the background is the spectra of the World Cup next summer. Torres is a valuable member of a Spain team that is favored to win the World Cup. Spain would obviously want Torres to undergo surgery now, so that his fully fit for the new year. Putting the surgery off until the new year, means less time for Torres to get ready for the world cup.

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It took four rounds of play but the Champions League group stages is finally heating up.

If the group stages finished as they are now, then Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Liverpool would all be playing in the Europa League.

Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan were five minutes away from an 9th consecutive Champions League game without a win, when two late goals not only gave Inter the win, but also propelled them to first place in the group. Next up for Inter are games against Barcelona and Rubin Kazan.

Nobody seriously expects Barcelona not to qualify for the knockout stages, but Barca fans have to be a little worried this morning after seeing their side effectively lose to Rubin Kazan over two legs. And Barca were very lucky to avoid defeat yesterday.

Bayern Munch finds itself four points behind Juventus with only two games to go. Bayern have to go to Turin to play Juve on MatchDay 6 and Bayern must be hoping that that game will mean something, but it looks like Bayern’s only hope of European glory this season will be in the Europe League.

Anther European power who has one leg out of the Champions League. Liverpool are in a more desperate situation than Bayern as they are 5 points behind Fiorentina with two games to go. Matchday 6 pits Liverpool v Fiorentina at Anfield in what will be an electric atmosphere if that game means anything.

Another big name that could still struggle to progress to the knockout stages is Real Madrid. Reports suggest that Cristiano Ronaldo could be out for three more months. Real is only one point ahead of 3rd place Marseille who they play on MatchDay 6 in France. Real are a very different team without Ronaldo and imagine spending all that money for a place in the Europa League?

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