Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 4/5 July 2009

Okay, we are finally hitting rock bottom with the lack of world football on television. Only the need for continuity inspires me even to post this week’s edition of the weekly football schedule. But OCD I am, so the list must go on.

At least it’s fair to say that what we do have going on is pretty interesting. In Argentina, Huracan and Velez Sarsfield meet to determine the championship of the Argentine Clausrua. A win or draw by Huracan will deliver it the title, while a loss gives the title to Velez Sarsfield. Whether the game will be played is still not 100% certain because of swine flu scares in Argentina, but last I heard, the game is on.

In Uruguay, Apertura winners Nacional will host Clausura winners Defensor Sporting in the second and final leg of their championship matchup. The series is currently set at a goal apiece so Sunday’s match is for all the marbles. Also taking place this weekend is the opening matches of the 2009 Gold Cup, for those of you who enjoy the international game.

Well, that’s it. Not much, but enjoy while you wait for things to heat up in another month. And have a great weekend!!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

8:00 pm – Canada vs. Jamaica (Galavision)
10:00 pm – Costa Rica vs. El Salvador (TeleFutura)

Saturday, July 4, 2009

5:30 pm – Vitoria at Fluminenese (GolTV)
7:00 pm – Honduras vs. Haiti (Galavision)
7:00 pm – DC United at Columbus Crew (ESPN2, ESPND, ESPN 360)
9:00 pm – Grenada vs. United States (FSC)
11:00 pm – New England Revolution at Los Angeles Galaxy (FSC)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

3:00 pm – Defensor Sporting at Nacional (GolTV)
4:00 pm – Huracan at Velez Sarsfield (FSE)
5:00 pm – Sao Paolo at Coritiba (Delayed) (GolTV)
5:00 pm – Panama vs. Guadaloupe (Galavision)
7:00 pm – Mexico at Nicaragua (Univision)

Champions League Update / Europa League Schedule

The first leg of the first qualifying round of the 2009-10 Champions League is now complete. If you weren’t able to find your favorite club on the tele over the past few days, don’t be shocked because (a) your favorite team probably wasn’t playing and (b) you would have been hard pressed to find any of the matches on television unless you happen to live in San Marino. Who won? Montenegro’s FK Mogren lived up to its nation’s (modestly) superior UEFA coefficient by winning in Malta, defeating Hibernians FC 2-0. Meanwhile, the matchup between Tre Fiori and Sant Julia will come down to next Tuesday’s match in Andorra after the two clubs fought to a 1-1 draw in San Marino.

Is there anything else going on in Europe this week? Of course there is. The first ever Europa League gets under way today. Since there isn’t enough time for me to learn about all of the clubs playing today (there are forty-six of them), I will just leave you with the schedule below. The times listed are for New York and London, so choose whatever is most helpful to you. Again, I don’t know where any of these matches are on television, but if you have any information, please feel free to share in the comment section. Enjoy!!

09:30 14:30 B36 Torshavn (Far) at Olimpi Rustavi (Geo)

11:00 16:00 Kalju Nomme (Est) at Dinaburg Daugavplis (Lat)
11:00 16:00 Sinorki Brijeg (Bos) at FC Banants (Arm)
11:00 16:00 Bnei Yehuda (Isl) at Simurg Zagatala (Aze)
11:30 16:30 MTZ RIPO (Bls) at Sutjeska (Mon)
11:30 16:30 Keflavik (Ice) at Valletta FC (Mal)
11:30 16:30 KS Dinamo Tirana (Alb) at Lahti (Fin)
12:00 17:00 NK Rudar Velenje (Svn) at Trans Narva (Est)
12:00 17:00 Ohzhetpes (Kaz) at CSF Zimbru Chisinau (Mol)
12:00 17:00 Renova (Mac) at Dinamo Minsk (Bls)
13:00 18:00 Vetra (Lit) at CS Grevenmacher (Lux)
13:00 18:00 UN Kaerjeng (Lux) at Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyp)
13:00 18:00 Irtysh Omsk (Rus) at Haladas (Hun)
13:00 18:00 Birkirkara (Mal) at Slaven (Cro)
13:00 18:00 Khazar Universiteti (Aze) at Trnava (Svk)
13:00 18:00 Linfield (Nir) at Randers (Den)
14:00 19:00 Rosenborg (Nor) at NSI Runavik (Far)
14:00 19:00 KS Vllaznia (Alb) at Sligo Rovers (Irl)
14:00 19:00 New Saints (Wal) at Fram (Ice)
14:30 19:30 Polonia Warszawa (Pol) at Buducnost (Mon)
14:45 19:45 Mika Ashtarak (Arm) at Helsingborg (Swe)
14:45 19:45 Zestafoni (Geo) at Lisburn (Nir)
15:05 20:05 Llanelli (Wal) at Motherwell (Sco)

2009-10 Champions League - Let the Games Begin

The 2009-10 UEFA Champions League begins today, so I hope you’re ready for a revamped Real Madrid squad to take on Inter Milan!!! Okay, it’s way too early for any matchups like that, but the tournament really does begin today with the first qualifying round, featuring four champions of smaller European leagues. If you’re like me, you don’t know anything about these clubs, so I looked some stuff up. I’ll share it with you so you don’t have to.

Matchup 1: Hibernians FC (Malta) vs. FK Mogren (Montenegro)

Leg 1: Hibernians FC (home) June 30
Leg 2: FK Mogren (home) July 8

Hibernians comes to us from Paola, Malta. Its Maltese championship is its first in seven years. It won the title by finishing two points ahead of Valletta after a championship playoff. The playoff tournament ended on May 24 with Hibernians holding Valletta to a 0-0 draw to hold on to its two point lead and the title. The last time Hibernians was in the Champions League it advanced to the second qualifying round where it fell to Portugal’s Boavista. In the first round of that tournament, Hibernians defeated Ireland’s Shelbourne. Hibernian’s other claim to fame, I suppose, is that it was Manchester United’s first round victim in the 1967-68 Champions Cup, which Manchester United went on to win, giving Hibernians the Breakfast of Champions status.

Mogren hails from Budva, Montenegro. The Montenegrin First Division is only three years old and this is Mogren’s first title. The title was won by finishing the season four points better than defending champions Buducnosi Podgorica. Today’s match will be the first-ever Champions League match for Mogren. Mogren did, however, participate in last season’s UEFA Cup, losing to Israel’s Hapoel Ironi in the first round.

Matchup 2: SP Tre Fiori (San Marino) vs. UE Sant Julia (Andorra)

Leg 1: SP Tre Fiori (home) July 1
Leg 2: UE Sant Julia (home) July 7

With five championships, Tre Fiori has won more Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio than any other club, despite the fact that this is Tre Fiori’s first title since 1995. To win the title, Tre Fiori defeated Juvenes/Dogama on penalty kicks twice to win the double-elimination championship tournament. Not only is this Tre FIori’s first trip to the UEFA Champions League, it is, as far as I can tell, its first trip to any major European competition.

Sant Julia, on the other hand, is an old hat in European competitions. Although this is its first trip to the Champions League, it has played fourteen matches in European competitions over the past decade. The good news is that they have experience. The bad news is that the experience hasn’t been good thus far. In its fourteen matches, Sant Julia has lost thirteen, drawing once, and has been outscored 7-60. Domestically, Sant Julia is coming off its first Campionat de Lliga in four years, winning the title by finishing two points ahead of defending champions Santa Coloma.

That’s it for the first qualifying round preview. Learn these clubs well because it is unlikely that any of them will survive past July. I’d say something cliché like stranger things have happened but frankly, they haven’t.

World Club Rankings - Top 25 Clubs in the World - 1986

Next up on our countdown of World Club Ranking seasons is 1986. The 1985-86 season is known, in part, as the first season of the English Premier League’s banishment from European football, which severely hurt them in the rankings eventually, though English clubs still managed to hold their own in 1986.

For the second year in a row, however, the top ranked club in the world did not come out of England, or anywhere else in Europe. The title of WCR Team of the Year for 1986 belonged to Argentina’s River Plate, It took over a quarter century, but River Plate finally won its first Copa Libertadores title in 1986, defeating America de Cali 2-1 in Colombia and 1-0 in Argentina to take the title.

With the English clubs out of the European tournaments, the Spanish clubs started to rear their heads again, reaching the finals of each of the three major European tournaments, though only one proved successful in the final. In the UEFA Champions Cup, Steaua Bucuresti took advantage of a relatively easy draw to work its way to the final against Barcelona, which was held in Sevilla, Spain. After playing to a scoreless draw, Steaua managed to defeat Barcelona 4-2 on penalty kicks to bring the title to Romania for the first, and thus far only, time. Atletico de Madrid fared no better than their compatriots in the final of the 1986 Cup Winners’ Cup, losing to the Soviet Union’s Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 in the final. A Spanish club did walk away with a cup, however, as the UEFA Cup was taken by Real Madrid after a high-scoring battle with West Germany’s FC Koln, winning 5-3 in aggregate after scoring five goals at home in the opening match.

Elsewhere in the world, Egyptian clubs swept the titles in Africa as Zamalek took its second African Champions Cup in three seasons by defeating Cote d’Ivoire’s Africa Sports 4-2 on penalty kicks after a two-legged final and Al-Ahly defeated Gabon’s AS Sogara 3-2 in aggregate to take the African Cup Winners Cup. LD Alajuelense brought the Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones title to Costa Rica, defeating Suriname’s SV Tranvaal 4-2 in the final. Finally, in the first Asian Club Championship, Japan’s Daewoo Royals defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli 3-1 for the inaugural championship.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – 1986

1. River Plate (Arg) – Copa Libertadores-Champions; Only Number One ranking.
2. Steaua Bucuresti (Rom) – Champiosn Cup-Champions; First Top 25 ranking.
3. Liverpool (Eng) – Tenth consecutive Top Five ranking.
4. Juventus (Ita) – CC-QF.
5. Bayern Munich (FRG) – CC-QF; Eighth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
6. Anderlecht (Bel) – CC-SF; Final Top 25 ranking.
7. Everton (Eng)
8. Argentinos Juniors (Arg) – CL-SF; Final Top 25 ranking.
9. Barcelona (Esp) – CC-RU.
10. Roma (ita)
11. Werder Bremen (FRG) – UEFA Cup-1R.
12. West Ham United (Eng) – Only Top 25 ranking.
13. Sportul Bucuresti (Rom) – Only Top 25 ranking.
14. America de Cali (Col) – CL-RU.
15. Sao Paolo (Bra)
16. Nacional (Uru)
17. Real Madrid (Esp) – UEFA-Champions.
18. Newell’s Old Boys (Arg) – First Top 25 ranking.
19. Manchester United (Eng) – Fifth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
20. Guarani (Bra)
21. Napoli (Ita)
22. Universitatea Craiova (Rom) – CWC-2R; First Top 25 ranking.
23. Tampico-Madero (Mex) – Only Top 25 ranking.
24. Puebla (Mex) – First Top 25 ranking.
25. Penarol (Uru) – CL-1R; Final Top 25 ranking.

Past Final Season Top 25s: 2008 ,2007, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978,1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970,1969, 1968, 1967, 1966,1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961,1960

Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 27/28 June 2009

The world of football gets quieter and quieter as it always does this time of year, but it’s not silent because, well, there’s always SOMETHING going on, isn’t there? This week, there are two major items of note. The first comes out of South Africa. The Confederations Cup third-place match and championship both take place on Sunday. In the consolation match, top-ranked club in the world Spain will take on hosts South Africa. A few hours later, in the final, the United States will have to come down from the hangover of its 2-0 victory over Spain to take on Brazil in a rematch of a group stage match that Brazil won handily. Of course, as the Spain – USA match already has demonstrated, anything can happen.

The other match of note taking place this weekend occurs in Colombia. On Sunday evening, Once Caldas will host Junior Barranquilla in the second leg of the Copa Mustang – I finals. Once Caldas currently holds a 2-1 lead, scoring a victory in its away match a few days ago.

There are other assorted matches this weekend. The entire television schedule is below. I can’t wait for August. Have a great weekend!!!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

3:00 pm – Corinthians at Atletico Paranaense (GolTV)
7:30 pm – New York Red Bulls at Columbus Crew (FSC)
8:00 pm – Tigres at Chicago Fire (TeleFutura)
10:00 pm – San Luis at Chivas USA (TeleFutura)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

9:00 am – Spain at South Africa (ESPN2, ESPN 360, Univision)
2:30 pm – United States vs. Brazil (ESPN2, ESPN 360, Univision)
3:00 pm – Santos at Palmeiras (GolTV)
4:30 pm – Atlas as New England Revolution (TeleFutura)
6:30 pm – Santos Laguna at Kansas City Wizards (TeleFutura)
7:00 pm – Once Caldas at Junior Barranquilla (GolTV)
8:00 pm – Guatemala at Mexico (Telemundo)
10:00 pm – Los Angeles Galaxy at Houston Dynamo (ESPN2, ESPN 360)

WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World - Copa Libertadores Semifinals Edition

It’s time for a new WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World ranking. This is the first one in three weeks and if you follow only European clubs, then there is little reason to pay too much attention to this week’s edition because it is primarily the same for those clubs as the final weekly edition was three weeks ago.

The changes in the current edition of the WCR Top 25 involve the South American clubs and they derive from two primary sources. First, the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores concluded in the past week with the following four clubs advancing to the semifinals: Gremio (Bra), Cruzeiro (Bra), Nacional (Uru) and Estudiantes (Arg). These clubs are all awarded Super Bonus Points for this accomplishment; however, with none of these clubs doing particularly well in their national leagues (though Nacional currently is facing Clausura champion Defensor Sporting for the Uruguayan championship), the super bonus points are having only a minimal effect on the rankings.

The other change comes from Brazil. As explained before, until leagues finish week five of their schedules, the previous season’s results are still accounted for in the calculations. Since our final weekly ranking, the Brasileirao Serie A has moved from week four to week seven, so the 2008 results have been removed from the calculations and the results have jerked those clubs around on the charts. Gone is Sao Paolo and in is Atletico Mineiro, who currently is in first place in Brazil.

The results of the new calculations are found below. We will be back with another WCR Top 25 after the completion of the Copa Libertadores semifinals. Until then, this is what we have.

World Club Rankings – Top 25 Clubs in the World – June 22, 2009

1. Barcelona (Esp) (1)

2. Manchester United (Eng) (2)

3. Chelsea (Eng) (3)

4. Arsenal (Eng) (4)

5. Liverpool (Eng) (5)

6. Inter Milan (Ita) (6)

7. Wolfsburg (Ger) (7)

8. Atletico Mineiro (Bra) (NR) – Atletico has started off the Brasileirao Serie A season very well, going undefeated in its first seven league matches, including a 3-2 away victory against Santos this weekend. Coming Up: Over the next two weeks, Atletico will face Gremio Barueri and Botafogo in Serie A matches.

9. Real Madrid (Esp) (9)

10. AC Milan (Ita) (10)

11. Porto (Por) (11)

12. Bordeaux (Fra) (12)

13. Bayern Munich (Ger) (13)

14. AZ Alkmaar (Ned) (15)

15. Juventus (Ita)) (16)

16. Marseille (Fra) (17)

17. Sevilla (Esp) (18)

18. Rangers (Sco) (19)

19. Atletico de Madrid (Esp) (21)

20. VfB Stuttgart (Ger) (22)

21. Gremio (Bra) (14) – With a 0-0 draw against Caracas FC at midweek, Gremio advanced to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores by virtue of its away goal, where it will face Cruzeiro. Coming Up: In addition to its Copa Libertadores semifinal matchup with Cruzeiro, Gremio will play Atletico Paranaense and SPORT Recfe in Brasileirao Serie A play.

22. Sporting CP (Por) (23)

23. Huracan (Arg) (NR) – With one match remaining, Huracan defeated Arsenal de Sarandi 3-0 to maintain its narrow lead over Velez Sarsfield in the Argentine Clausura. Coming Up: Everything. Huracan takes on Velez Sarsfield in the season finale next week in an away match. With a win or draw, Huracan will take the Clausura title. If Huracan loses, the championship belongs to Velez Sarsfield. High drama, indeed.

24. Everton (Eng) (24)

25. Twente (Ned) (25)

Bubbling Under (alphabetically): Celtic (Sco), Estudiantes (Arg), Genoa (Ita), Lyon (Fra), Olympiakos (Gre).

Next Five: Ajax (Ned), Benfica (Por), Fiorentina (ita), PSV Eindhoven (Ned), Velez Sarsfield (Arg).

WCR Weekend Soccer Television Schedule - 20/21 June 2009

Even now, during the off-season, we still have football on television during the weekend. There’s not nearly as much, and it may not be as important (though that is debatable), but it’s out there if you need it. Frankly, I need it.

The highlight of the weekend, of course, is the final group stage matches of the Copa Libertadores. I think that the universal common knowledge heading in was that the semifinalists would be Spain, South Africa, Brazil and Italy, and that still may be the case, but Egypt’s victory over Italy on Thursday certainly has introduced some unexpected excitement into this final weekend. The second most, let’s say interesting, competition of the weekend is the first matchday for the Superliga, the annual battle among clubs from the United States and Mexico.

Finally, there will be various other western hemisphere matches on various channels on your television. Enjoy them all and have a great weekend!!!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

2:30 pm – Spain vs. South Africa (ESPN2, Univision, ESPN 360)
2:30 pm – Iraq vs. New Zealand (TeleFutura, ESPN 360)
3:00 pm – Palmeiras at Atletico Paranaense (GolTV)
4:30 pm – San Jose Earthquakes at Los Angeles Galaxy (ESPN2, ESPN 360)
8:00 pm – San Luis at Chicago Fire (TeleFutura)
8:30 pm – Columbus Crew at FC Dallas (FSC)
10:00 pm – Tigres at Chivas USA (TeleFutura)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

2:00 pm – Defensor Sporting at Nacional (GolTV)
2:30 pm – United States vs. Egypt (ESPN2, TeleFutura, ESPN 360)
2:30 pm – Brazil vs. Italy (ESPN, Univision, ESPN 360)
4:30 pm – Atlas at Kansas City Wizards (TeleFutura)
4:30 pm – Colombia Copa Mustang Semifinals – TBD (GolTV)
6:30 pm – Santos Laguna at New England Revolution (TeleFutura)
7:00 pm – Colombia Copa Mustang Semifinals – TBD (GolTV)
9:00 pm – Internacional at Flamengo (GolTV)