2012 FA Cup FinalThe 2011-2012 FA Cup is the 131st season of the world's oldest soccer knock-out competition. 763 teams from England (and some from Wales) originally entered the competition this season, including the top professional teams from the Premier League (20) and Football League (72). The FA Cup Final (now also known as The FA Cup with Budweiser - The Final) used to be the single biggest match of the season in England and was always the last game of the season, played on a Saturday with a 3pm kick off. Times have changed and the importance of the tournament has diminished due to the emergence of the Premier League and its money. However, there is significant prize money for the two Finalists on Saturday - $2,900,000 to the winner and $1,300,000 for the runner up. Liverpool v Chelsea 5.15pm Kick off - Fox Soccer & Fox Deportes Wembley Stadium, London, England The game this season will still kick off on a Saturday, but it’ll be at 5.15pm after all the other games (Premiership & Football League) have finished. And it won’t be the last game of the season either. In fact the two finalists, Liverpool and Chelsea will actually play each other in the Premiership on Tuesday May 8 at Anfield in the penultimate game of the season. Both teams have pretty good FA Cup records but have never played each other in the Final before. Liverpool have played in 13 Finals and won 7 (54%): Leeds (’65), Newcastle (’74), Everton (’86 & ’89), Sunderland (’92) Arsenal (’01) and West Ham Utd (’06). Manager Kenny Dalglish has been to the Final three times and won twice – ’86 as a player/manager with Liverpool and then as manager in '89. His last Final was in '98 when as manager of Newcastle he lost to Arsenal. Chelsea have played in 10 Finals winning 6 (60%): Leeds (’70), Middlesbrough (’97) Aston Villa (’00), Manchester Utd (’07), Everton (’09) and Portsmouth (’10). Chelsea interim manager Roberto Di Matteo won two FA Cup medals with Chelsea as a player – in '97 he scored the fastest goal at the old Wembley stadium, after just 43 seconds in their 2-0 win over Middlesbrough and, in 2000, he netted the last-ever Cup final goal at the old Wembley in their 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Chelsea won the first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley in '07, beating Manchester Utd 1-0 in extra time. Chelsea’s Didier Drogba has scored seven goals in seven Wembley appearances, including three goals in the Finals. Liverpool's Steven Gerrard has scored in a previous final, netting twice in 2006 when Liverpool beat West Ham United on penalty kicks. Ashley Cole has won the FA Cup six times (three with Chelsea, three with Arsenal), more than any other player. Chelsea's Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles are former Liverpool players while Liverpool's Glen Johnson played for Chelsea. Phil Dowd, 49, a former miner, will be the man in the middle with the whistle. [top] |
2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying TournamentThe qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympics kicks off today as eight teams vie for the two spots to go to London / Great Britain in the summer. The teams are divided into two groups of four: Group A – USA, Canada, Cuba, El Salvador. Group B – Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago The two group winners will qualify for the Olympics. Group A games (US) will be played at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. while Group B games (Mexico) will be played at the Home Depot Center, in Carson Ca. The semifinals and finals will be played at Livestrong Sporting Park, Kansas. All twelve group games will be shown live either on Telemundo (5 games, including Mexico’s three games) or Mun2 (7 games, including US games) and Universal Sports Network (US games). In addition, all games will be streamed live on CONCACAF.TV (see www.CONCACAF.com). The 20-man US squad (as per US Soccer March 21) is represented almost entirely by players currently on MLS teams: GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Bill Hamid (D.C. United), 18-Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) DEFENDERS (6): 2-Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquake), 3-Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo Oh), 4-Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), 5-Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact), 13-Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA), 19-Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia Union) MIDFIELDERS (6): 6-Jared Jeffrey (Mainz), 7-Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union), 8-Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), 10-Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), 16-Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), 20-Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy) FORWARDS (6): 9-Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), 11-Brek Shea (FC Dallas), 12-Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), 14-Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim), 15-Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), 17-Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia). Caleb Porter is the US coach. Caleb, appointed in October 2011, was previously the coach at the University of Akron. This is an important tournament for both the US and Mexico with both teams expected to win their way through to the finals, and not play each other in the semifinal, thereby qualifying for the Olympics in London in the summer. [top] |
Scottish Premier League Coming To Fox, But For How Long?Fox Soccer Plus has obtained the television rights to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) for the balance of the 2011-2012 season, as well as the 2012-2013 and the 2013-2014 seasons. Previously, the SPL had only been available in the States on a pay per view basis through bars or on a subscription basis via the internet. Fox Soccer Plus plans to carry up to two SPL games a week throughout the season along with a weekly half-hour highlights show. This week’s two games are on Saturday (Aberdeen v Inverness 3pm FS+) and Sunday. However, the Sunday game, which is the Old Firm Derby between Rangers v Celtic will be on Fox Soccer (8am). Celtic with 75 points, is running away with Scottish Premier League title this year over second and third placed Rangers and Motherwell, who are on 54 points. Rangers have serious financial problems and have recently been placed into administration, which has meant an automatic 10-point deduction for the club. Three US players currently play for Rangers, Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya, and their futures certainly seem clouded in the immediate future, as are all Rangers players. To be realistic the entire future of the SPL is in question as Rangers, along with Celtic, are the cornerstone of the league and Rangers’ demise threatens the very existence of the sport over all of Scotland. Watch for updates on the SPL over the next few months, especially the disposition of the Rangers players. [top] |
Fox Wins World Cup TV Rights For 2018 and 2022FOX secured the rights to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 World Cup, beating out bids from ESPN and NBC submitted this week in Switzerland. A FIFA official told the Associated Press that FOX won the US English-language rights for 2018 (Russia) and 2022 (Qatar) bidding between $450 million and $500 million. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. A spokesman for FOX Sports said the company would not comment. According to the Washington Post, Telemundo outbid Univision for the Spanish-language broadcast rights to the '18 and '22 World Cup. Univision had paid FIFA $325 million for the 2010-14 rights. Telemundo, owned by NBC, may be paying as high as $600 million for the Spanish rights. More shortly as further information on this story becomes available. [top] |
Euro 2012 - Last Day Of Group QualifyingThe 16-team Euro 2012 tournament for Poland and Ukraine is preparing for its last day of qualifying via group play. So far, seven teams are through to the finals: Poland & Ukraine and group winners Germany (A), Italy (C), Netherlands (E), England (E), Spain (I). On Tuesday, five more teams will qualify – winners of groups B, D, F, H and the best second placed team in the nine groups. The top two teams in Group H and D play each other – Portugal v Denmark and France v Bosnia & Herzegovina, with the home teams likely to advance, as long as they don’t lose. Russia, top of group B look set to advance being home to Andorra, while second place Ireland are at home to Armenia. Finally, Greece top group F by two points but are away to Georgia, while second place Croatia are home to Latvia. Second place in each of the nine groups is important as the best second placed team qualifies automatically, while the other eight second best teams will contest two-legged play-offs, with the winner of each play-off tie qualifying for the finals (4 teams). ESPN has wrapped up the final days qualifiers on TV – on ESPND (Live and on delay), ESPN2 (one live game) and ESPN3 (8 live games at various times). No games on Fox. [top] |
Soccer News
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 NYT > Soccer
Updated : Sat, 19 May 2012 17:00:28 GMT
Di Matteo Calls Up Chelsea Teenagers 'Just in Case'
Teenagers Todd Kane, 18 and Nathaniel Chalobah, 17, who have never played for Chelsea's senior side, have been called into the squad for Saturday's Champions League final against Bayern Munich, caretaker coach Roberto Di Matteo said on Friday.
Publ.Date : Fri, 18 May 2012 17:59:30 GMT
Di Matteo Says Villas-Boas Deserves Credit
A selfless Roberto Di Matteo will share the glory with predecessor Andre Villas-Boas if Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, the interim coach said on Friday.
Publ.Date : Fri, 18 May 2012 19:22:58 GMT
Flame Takes Front Seat on Golden Firefly
The cabin announcement was polite but firm: "Unless you happen to be the Olympic Flame, I'm afraid there is no smoking allowed."
Publ.Date : Fri, 18 May 2012 19:44:10 GMT
Kenny Dalglish Dismissed as Liverpool’s Manager
Kenny Dalglish, once a star with Liverpool, could not bring back the team’s glory days, despite $175 million in player investments.
Publ.Date : Thu, 17 May 2012 21:20:08 GMT
Chasing a Soccer Dream All the Way to Brazil
After graduating from Princeton, an American soccer player traveled to South America chasing his dream of becoming a professional player in one of the game’s hotbeds.
Publ.Date : Fri, 18 May 2012 19:05:07 GMT
Bayern Aiming for Rare Home Final Success
Bayern Munich take on Chelsea in the Champions League final later on Saturday, with the Germans hoping to become European kings for the fifth time and the English attempting to reach the pinnacle of the game for the first time ever.
Publ.Date : Sat, 19 May 2012 04:11:06 GMT
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