We’ve got news from the USMNT ahead of tomorrow’s friendly, as well as a sneak peak at USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo’s new memoir.  We’ll also take a trip to Europe to scope out the best players in UEFA, and finish up back in MLS with another possible signing for the New York Red Bulls.  It’s all in today’s Daily Kick Around!

USMNT

Tales of intrigue and espionage from inside the US men’s national team?  Not quite, but Jurgen Klinsmann is relying heavily on players who ply their trade in Mexico when the U.S. men take on El Tri at Estadio Azteca Wednesday night.  No doubt they’ll be able to provide some inside information on what to expect from some of their club teammates and opponents.

Speaking of which, how does everyone feel about this FIFA date?  We’ve already heard from the likes of Landon Donovan, who was pretty clear that he wasn’t a fan.  All in all, it seems that everyone agrees that playing international friendlies immediately before the season starts or, in the case of MLS, right in the middle of the season, does not make sense.

USWNT

Hope Solo, Hope Solo!  You may not always agree with how she handles herself, but at least you always know where she is coming from!  Her book, “SOLO: A Memoir of Hope,” went on presale today.  Everyone knows about her infamous 2007 benching and subsequent interview.  Read her side of it in this excerpt from her book.

UEFA

Surprise surprise, guess who is on the short list for the 2011/2012 best player in Europe award!  If you said Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, you are correct.  Also in the top 5 are Andres Iniesta, Andrea Pirlo, and Xavi.  The winner will be decided by a vote during the Champions League draw Aug. 30.

MLS

So you thought the New York Red Bulls were finally done wheeling and dealing?  No way!  Manager Hans Backe confirmed today that his team will try to sign former England U-20 winger Lloyd Sam who has been on trial with them during the past week.

Image courtesy of mlssoccer.com/Getty Images.

Hey everyone! Today is a busy day for footy news and boy do we have a bunch to talk about! We have everything from Brek Shea’s interesting blog post, RVP winning the PFA award & Roberto Mancini’s future with Manchester City. All in this Tuesday’s edition of DKA!

 Major League Soccer

This might be old news, but I came across FC Dallas player Brek Shea’s blog on Goal.com talking about how he could play and succeed in La Liga. Now, as the primary Liga writer for Aerys, I found this interesting. First off, Brek is rooting for Real Madrid AND a Chelsea victory in the CL (major kudos!) but the major issue addressed in Shea’s blog was the ever-so-controversial topic of Messi vs Ronaldo:

A lot of people ask who is better between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. I don’t think they should be compared. Just because they are the best two players in the game, I don’t think it’s that easy to compare the two because they don’t play the same position and they have completely different styles. I think the one edge I’d give to Ronaldo is that he has put up big numbers in both England and Spain. Messi has had the comfort of playing with the same players his entire career. 

I agree 100% and as for playing in Spain, it’ll be difficult but I’d welcome you with open arms!

La Liga

Bad news for Villarreal and Italy fans, Giuseppe Rossi is to be sidelined for another 10 months due to his ligament tear in his knee in training a couple weeks ago. It will require two surgeries to repare damage, the first was on Friday in the US. He then updated his twitter saying ‘Operation went well. Thank God.’

As you know, Real Madrid finally defeated Barcelona Saturday at the Nou Camp, but what you might not know, is that a Barcelona fan punched a Real Madrid fan. And it was all caught on camera. Umm….Hala Madrid?

UEFA Champions League

Barcelona hosted Chelsea FC at home today in their second leg matchup in the CL semi-finals. Before the match, midfielder Xavi believed the Barça fans would be a key role in the Catalan’s comeback and advancement. Barcelona lost 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last week. To advance, Barcelona needed to score two goals and concede none.

Unfortunately for the Catalans, and to the DISBELIEF of most of the footballing world, a 10-man Chelsea tied Barca 2-2 and advanced to the final. It’s crazy! Not only did they win, but Fernando Torres scored the through-goal! The Blues are now waiting to see who they will face, Bayren or Madrid. And they will be doing it without John Terry, Raul Meireles AND  Branislav Ivanovic.

English Premier League

Looks like Roberto Mancini will keep his job as Manchester City manager for another season. Man City owner Sheikh Mansour has stated he is satisfied with the performance of the players & staff while hinting that Mancini would stay as manager, even if City doesn’t lift the trophy this season.

Great Britain football coach, Hope Powell, sees no reason why a female can’t run a premier league club. Powell has coached GB’s female football team for 14 years, being one of the most respected figures in women’s football, thinks a woman crossing into a male dominated world would be a good thing for the sport.

“I don’t see why it couldn’t happen. The job is the same. It is about dealing with personalities and high-profile players, about the coaching and the psychology behind the game. That wouldn’t be an issue. It is about people who own and run clubs feeling strongly and passionately enough, and believing that a female can do it.

I for one agree, where can I sign up to replace Arsene Wenger?

Speaking of Arsenal, Robin van Persie was awarded the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year) award! The dutchman has scored 27 goals for the Gunners this season, the most he’s scored with the club, and he owes it all to his teammates at Emirates:

”Without them I could not have achieved it. For example Theo Walcott, he has given me more than 12 assists and I do really appreciate that.”

Messi with match ball and Barcelona captain, Carles Puyol, via his twitter account.

5-1. The score for the Barcelona-Valencia match, four of which was scored by the petite Argentine, Lionel Messi.

Messi is currently one goal behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who won last season’s Pichichi award, for league goals this season at 27 with only 15 matches left to play in Liga. This match was played in typical Barcelona fashion with the Catalans reigning high with ball possession, leaving only one chance for Valencia to capitalize on.

Pablo Piatti gave Valencia their only goal in the 9′ but after that, the battle was sorely one-sided as Barça ripped their defense to shreds scoring goal after goal after…well…goal. It all began with Messi’s two goals before the half, all within a 5-minute window. Barça called all their forwards up to help Messi find that perfect goal. In the 22′ it was a low cross-pass as Pedro kicked the ball to Messi, bring the match to an even score.

The second goal in the 27′ stemmed from a beautiful defensive shake from Andres Iniesta to passed to Eric Abidal, who later crossed his shot, finding Messi near the far post leaving him one goal away from a hat trick.

Cesc Fabregas almost scored an amazing goal, but it was deflected from the under-side of the crossbar. With the pressure piling on coming into the second half, Messi didn’t score his hat trick until the 75′ despite a few dangerous chances from Barca as well as Valencia’s Feghouli.

In his 200th match with Barcelona, Messi found the will to score his fourth goal after Dani Alves couldn’t hold a shot, taking that disadvantage and turning it into his 146th goal as a blaugrana.

Andres Iniesta was subbed out for Xavi in the 86′ and scored in the 90′ when Messi slipped the ball through to Xavi who lifted it beyond Alves and in leaving Valencia stunned.

Barcelona plays next Sunday against Atletico Madrid in Liga and won’t play their second leg match against Leverkusen in Champions League until March 7th.

——-

By Maria ‘Nenela’ Dorta

Karim Benzema celebrates his goal with Mesut Ozil and Raphael Varane as he gives Real Madrid their 4-0 victory

Things are getting a little bit easier for Real Madrid, who still have a gap of 10 points between rivals Barcelona, giving them some air to breathe if they were to lose a game. There’s still a lot of league to go but no matter what anyone says, 10 points are 10 points and it will be hard for Barcelona or any other team to reach them.

Real Madrid was a little bit nervous for this game because in the first round of La Liga, they tied against Racing and the white ones knew that if Racing’s boys wanted to make their life a living hell, they have everything to do it. Madrid were playing at home and they needed to make the first goal.

The first half is where we saw a much stronger Madrid. In a lot of games, Madrid started loosing in the first minutes of the game but this time the score was still 0 – 0 until minute six, when Cristiano must have told himself “this has to change,” and launched a beautiful header to the left post, making it the first goal for Real Madrid.

Things were changing for Real Madrid and Racing was making things a little bit difficult for them. The galacticos were trying to find one more goal before of the half time but Racing’s defense was making some walls in front of their goal, preventing a a scoring chance. A second yellow for Cisma left Racing with 10 men bringing a beautiful and flawless pass from Xabi Alonso in the 45′ to Benzema’s feet giving Madrid their second goal.

The second half was a little bit different. We saw more drive and strength from the Real Madrid boys as they were making a lot of beautiful passes, however they were still struggling to finish. Some corners, some crazy passes, a lot of stolen balls but the things were just the same: Racing fighting to leave with a tie and Real Madrid looking for more goals.

At the 63′, José Mourinho made his first substitution, Özil out and Di María in. This was the first game for Di María after two month-long injury. The Bernabéu was screaming and clapping when he entered the pitch. And they had the right to. A pass from the middle of the pitch landed on his feet, he found the right spot and the right angle and shot. It was a like a shooting star that made his way across the big area to the end of the net. Madrid was up 3-0.

Racing felt defeated and we could see that in their game. It was like they didn’t want to fight anymore. They made their last substitution and Real Madrid did as well. Santander wanted this game to be over because it was too painful to keep playing without any goals, however Real Madrid thought differently. Another goal came from the amazing and delicate French boy, Karim Benzema. A small pass from Khedira put Benzema in the position to make one of the most beautiful goals so far.

With Madrid’s 4-0 defeat, they head into their first Champions League match in the Round of 16 against CSKA Moskva on Tuesday looking to keep thier undefeated CL streak intact.

Sevilla was in a hard spot this last couple of games, having not won a single game and currently adjusting to a new manager, Michel.

This weekend saw another Sevilla; in the first half they had the ball almost every minute and it was beautiful to watch. They tried and tried because they knew it was the only way they could win this game. Osasuna was there but they were like a ghost, trying to do some damage but nothing aggressive making it  a little bit sad to watch. In the 16′ a bounced ball made his way to Negredo who made a short pass to Medel and this without thinking it made a shot with all his strength and the ball was inside, the scoreboard was now 1-0.

The second half started and we could see that Sevilla’s boys were tired leaving holes in their defense but even that didn’t help Osasuna. Some opportunites for both sides but the scoreboard didn’t move. Jesus Navas and Reyes were the leaders in Sevilla and it was a delight to see them play.

The referee called 4 more minutes for extra time and what a long 4 minutes to Osasuna, when they thought things couldn’t go worse, a goal from Trochowski put the knife in their heart. A beautiful pass from Navas from the right side as he just touched the ball and went inside. After so many weeks without knowing what victory was, Sevilla had just won 2-0.

The came, they played and they prove to Sevilla fans why they never gave up. Hard work and strength can do everything.

Getafe 1 – Espanyol 1

Granada 4-1 Real Sociedad

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Malaga

Gijon 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Mallorca 4-0 Villarreal

Levante 3-5 Rayo Vallecano

Keep checking back to Aerys Soccer for all your Liga scores and recaps!

We have an interesting DKA for all you footy fans out there! Everything from RvP’s son NOT joining Arsenal, Fernando Torres possibly leaving Chelsea, the Top 10 Most Expensive National Teams and a new innovative way to use your teammate when throwing in a ball!

Copa del Rey

With the Copa del Rey quarterfinal between Real Madrid & Barcelona, Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo says he “doesn’t feel any pressure” coming into the highly anticipated match of the tournament. Lately the Portuguese international has only faired one goal in Madrid’s last 4 matches, leaving the gap open for criticism. “The pressure doesn’t get to me. I try to stay positive and always see new challenges.”

Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho defended Cristiano by saying that “if someone criticizes Cristiano, he has a problem with me.” Seriously people, you can’t expect Cristiano to score every match, can you?

Now for some interesting news concerning the CDR, Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola’s birthday is Wednesday, meaning he’ll be spending his birthday at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid while Barcelona midfielder, Xavi, will celebrate his birthday at the Camp Nou next Wednesday for the second leg of the quarterfinals.

English Premier League

Birmingham have rejected an undisclosed bid for West Brom’s Liam Ridgewell, who said in the past that he was looking for an exit from St. Andrews.

Both Chelsea & Manchester United are looking to pick up Swansea keeper Michel Vorm. The Dutch keeper has been outstanding throughout the season, especially during Swansea’s 2-1 win over Arsenal this weekend.

Sorry Gunners but looks like Robin Van Persie isn’t moving his 5-year-old Shaqueel to Arsenal Juniors anytime soon. The Dutchman says that his son “has a lot of talent for football.” His son is happy where he is at the moment but he has caught the eyes of Arsenal, “His coach is really great. Arsenal has invited him a couple of times to come and play there but he likes it at his club. He’s sensitive for a good atmosphere. Just like me.” AWWWW!!!

The cat is out of the bag as we find out that Chelsea is secretly offering their player Fernando Torres to other clubs! Carlo Ancelotti, Paris St-Germain manager, sais that he’s been offered a few high-class players such as Fernando Torres and Man Utd’s Dimitar Berbatov. But it doesn’t stop there folks! Ancelotti reveals, officially or not, other players that were offered to him. Manchester City rebel Carlos Tevez, Hotspurs’ Roman Pavlyuchenko, Napoli’s Edinson Cavani and Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente.

Serie A

AC Milan’s Van Bommel backs-up teammate Pato, who is hoping to become a key player, after rumors of him leaving San Siro this month. “We should stop talking about that now. Pato is staying here with us. If he can stay calm and relaxed then you will all see that he will produce some great things.”

Portuguese Liga

What an interesting way to throw in the ball, yeah? Benfica’s Maxi Pereira bounced his throw in off the back of teammate Axel Witsel, while he was tying up his boot. Benfica later won against Vitoria Setubal, 4-1.

International

Ever curious what nations are considered the Most Expensive National Football Teams in the World? Lucky for you, the list just came out! Round the #1 spot is the 2010 World Cup Champions, Spain. To see who else made the cut, check the list out here!

Okay, so I’m going to come out and say that yes, Real Madrid lost to FC Barcelona 3-1 today in the final El Clasico of the 2011 year.

I’m not going to write a long recap, because frankly, I don’t have the will too. I don’t want to. I’ll save you the boring, dull, depressing recap and instead, give you more of a layout of some of the key plays/commentary of the match.

First Half:

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema scores the first goal, 27 seconds after kickoff. Yes. TWENTY-SEVEN SECONDS.

Real Madrid kept the pressure high against the Catalans making them fight for the possession.

Lionel Messi looked tired and desperate.

Barcelona had a weak defense and midfield, which Real Madrid used to their advantage.

Barcelona’s Alexis took over for teammate Sergio Busquets as the club “diver” and card contestor.

Messi should have been ejected after a bad tackle on Xabi Alonso.

Alexis scores a goal 30′ into the match because keeper Iker Casillas was caught OUT of his box. Match tied at 1-1.

The first half goes to Real Madrid.

Second Half:

Real Madrid run out of the tunnel as Barca walk slooooooowly.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed goal-scoring opportunities in which he usually would take advantage of. Ronnie missed two back-to-back free kicks. Seriously!

Xavi scores in the 53′ putting the Blaugranas up 2-1.

Sergio Ramos gets a yellow on a tackle on Messi. Some people think it should have been a straight red. For the sake of argument, I have to disagree.

Finally Jose Mourinho makes some subs for Real Madrid. However, they were TERRIBLE subs.

Mesut Ozil off, Kaka on. Not a bad choice. Ozil wasn’t in form and played terrible. At least Kaka made some chances.

Lass Diarra off, Sami Khedira on. Once again, bad move.

Angel Di Maria off, Gonzalo Higuain (who turned 24 today) on. I loved seeing Gonzo come on, but in exchange for ADM? The only guy who was actually playing well in the second half? BAD MOVE. Not to mention, the sub was made in the 68′ minute. Not enough time for Pipita to make magic happen!

Oh yeah and Cesc Fabregas scored in the 66′ too. Just kick me while I’m down Cesc.

The second half goes to Barcelona.

Overall:

Barca had a better second half which allowed them to take advantage of our non-existent defense and mediocre keeping (Sorry Iker, but today was your WORST match ever.)

To anyone who says that this match will determine the future of the league, you’re sorely mistaken. Sure, if Real Madrid won, it would have changed how Barca reacts to future matches as well as their strategy, but it still wouldn’t have predicted the winner of the Championship. There is still so much to play in La Liga.

Barcelona deserved the win today. But there are still plenty of matches and competitions that are getting in the way of their glory. Copa Del Rey starts next week (mind you, Real Madrid won last year) Champions League still proves to be challenging and La Liga is still anyone’s game.

Keep that in mind and excuse me while I go cry. Goodbye 15-match winning streak! And Happy 24th birthday Gonzalo Higuain!

Liga Scores

Real Betis 2-1 Valencia

Levante 1-0 Sevilla

Stay tuned to Aerys for all your La Liga updates!

Banner courtesy of FC Barcelona. GIFS courtesy of Tumblr.

It was a hell of a day yesterday in the Champions League, soccer fans. The footie ladies of Aerys are gathering our bearings; and Kayla Knapp and I are picking ourselves off the floor (We’re die-hard United fans). We hope you caught some of the great action yesterday, if not, here are your Thursday headlines!

Champions League

As stated previously, it was a mess yesterday, folks. From both Manchester teams getting knocked out to Lyon rousing an astonishing 7 goals, the CL turned Europe upside down yesterday. I have a recap of the Man. United game here and Tamara Rinehart has your match-day recap here.

Major League Soccer

Vancouver Whitecaps finally unveiled what many saw coming yesterday; the team announced the signing of Young-Pyo Lee. The former South Korea international said he chose MLS because he wanted “lifestyle over money.”

MLS recently invited four UCLA players to the pre-draft player combine to be held in Florida. A number of other players from California schools and UNC were also on the list announced Wednesday. The combine will be Jan. 6-10, with the SuperDraft set for Jan. 12 and the supplemental draft for Jan. 17.

Seattle has a replacement for the legend Kasey Keller; the club announced recently the signing of Austrian Michael Gspurning.

English Premier League

As the L.A. Galaxy wrapped up their Asia Pacific tour last week, David Beckham told media that a return to the EPL isn’t likely in his future. Rumors are milling that if Becks leaves L.A., it will be for Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is in hot water with the FA over a gesture he allegedly made toward Fulham fans during the two clubs last clash. This is the second charge Suarez has received this year after he was accused of making racial slurs toward Manchester United defender Patrica Evra.

La Liga

Can you feel it getting closer? El Clasico is in three days and the hype is building. With all the talk milling about, Barcelona midfielder Xavi would like to point out that IF Real Madrid beat Barca Saturday, it wouldn’t end the Catalans’ chances at the La Liga crown.

Serie A

It seems that Roma’s “Spanish experiment” is going astray. With players fighting and games being lost, Roma fans must be wondering what boss Luis Enrique is actually doing for the club.

Talks of Tevez making a move to Italy are still heated; former Serie A player Roberto Baggio thinks the Argentinian striker should go with AC Milan, who Baggio was a striker for.

Olympic Qualifying

Well the U.S. came away with quite an easy draw Tuesday as it was announced they would face Canada, Cuba and El Salvador in their group for Olympic qualifying. The Olympics are reserved mostly for the U-23 team, and qualifying matches will begin in March in the United States.

International Soccer

The finalists for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or Award were announced today, and they are all very deserving. It won’t be an easy decision. They are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Xavi. For the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, the finalists are Marta, Homara Sawa and Abby Wambach. Other finalists for FIFA world awards can be found here!

The 2011 Nike International Friendlies tournament wrapped up last night, as the USA U-17s defeated Brazil 3-1, winning the tournament. These players are the future of the USMNT; there were lots of talented young players on the pitch last night. Check out some of the action here!

 Major League Soccer

As the LA Galaxy play their final match of the Asia Pacific Tour in about 12 hours, all eyes will once again be focused on David Beckham’s future. But Beckham and Galaxy fans will likely have to wait a bit longer, as Becks says he wants some downtime with his family before he makes a decision. Don’t hold your breath for an announcement until after Christmas.

While Beckham’s future in MLS is undetermined, several teams and players have been very busy in the last couple of days signing new contracts. First, the New England Revolution have re-signed long time midfielder Shalrie Joseph. This will be Joseph 10th season with the Revs, and with his new contract, his first as a Designated Player (DP).

U.S. international Lee Nguyen will return to the states and join the MLS ranks next season. The 25-year old announced on his Twitter account yesterday that he would be “taking his talents to the MLS,” though it is not yet decided which team he will be on. That decision will be made using the weighted lottery process.

Chelsea player Nicolas Anelka could also be coming to MLS next season. The French striker has reportedly been in extensive talks with new MLS team Montreal Impact, and his transfer to the team is a distinct possibility.

FA Cup

The third round draw for the FA Cup took place yesterday. The most notable outcome was Manchester City drawing Manchester United. The teams will face off at City during the weekend of January 7-8.

Lionel Messi celebrates with Xavi after his goal

If you missed my Matchday 5 Part One round-up with the main feature on Real Madrid vs Dinamo Zagreb, you can read it here!

Today’s round-up will feature the clash between AC Milan and FC Barcelona. Let’s get to it, shall we?

AC Milan vs Barcelona. Messi vs Ibrahimovich. A lot of tension rising around the match, especially after the release of Zlatan Imbrahimovic’s book, which revealed his issues with his former Catalan club.

Both clubs already advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League so results only affect the overall points. The match was a battle of the cocky, as both sides flashed around on the pitch, making some beautiful passes. But of course, with beautiful football comes dirty tackles; with a total of 8 yellow cards being thrown around by controversial UEFA referee, Wolfgang Stark.

AC Milan’s Mark van Bommel scored an own goal in the 14′ instantly giving Barca the lead. However, former Barcelona player Zlatan Imbrahimovich answered back with a left-footed goal that saw Victor Valdes’ back net bringing the score 1-1.

In the 31′ Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was given the chance for a penalty kick and recieved a yellow card due to the use of a paradinha (which was made famous by Neymar and is now considered illegal in all international play.)

http://youtu.be/_st_-9OHk54

But in classic Messi fashion, he was given a “re-do” and put the Catalans up 2-1.

Kevin-Prince Boateng scored for Milan which I am dubbing as the sickest, best goal thus far in the Champions League. Don’t believe me? Take a look.

http://youtu.be/2iIzNbe-KyI

Xavi saved his side in the 63rd after a BEAUTIFUL pass from Lionel Messi making the final score 3-2.

Overall the match was pretty even. Barcelona of course, ruled with 60% of the possession.

Valencia vs Genk was a VERY one sided match. First goal comes from Jonas in the 10′ with Saldado scoring three minutes later, giving Valencia an early 2-nil lead.

Saldado perfected a hat trick, scoring his final two goals in the 35th and 39th minute. Pablo Hernandez added to the ranks with a goal in the 68th. Substitute Aritz Aduriz scored in the 70′ while Tino Costa finished Genk off with Valencia’s seventh and final goal of the match in the 81st.

Valencia is currently tied in their group with Chelsea FC at 8 points. Both clubs will face each other on Matchday 6 (Dec. 6) where it’s do or die for the Blues who lost to Bayern Leverkusen 2-1.

 
Arsenal vs Borussia Dortmund ended in a 2-1 victory for the Gunners with both their goals coming from captain Robin van Persie in the 49th and 86th minute.  Arsenal was the only English side that won in today’s rounds. Arsenal needed this win to keep their Champions League hopes alive. They face Olympiacos Dec. 6.

Matchday 5 Results:

Zenit  0-0  APOEL

Bate  0-1  Plzen

Marseille  0-1  Olympiacos

Shakhtar Donetsk  0-2  Porto

Final Champions League Group Stage matches are on Dec. 6 and 7! Then we enter the knockout stage!

Stay with Aerys for all your Champions League coverage! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and now Tumblr!

Photo courtesy of FC Barcelona