Come on you whites!

Well, Fulham are still leaving the dream, having advanced to the Europa League final May 12th courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate win over Hamburg. This means for the first time ever an American player (Clint Dempsey) may feature in a European final. I say may to be safe as he has not been starting the European games since coming back from injury, but has featured in all of them as a substitute including last nights victory in London.

DeMarcus Beasely almost made it a few years back with PSV losing out to AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals and no one has come close until now. Dempsey has been a key figure for Fulham over the last two seasons and is arguably the biggest success of any American to play abroad. He certainly has competition in the likes of Claudio Reyna, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard, and many others. However none of them have made it to as grand a stage as Clint and Fulham will see in two weeks time.

Back to the game for a moment. The first Fulham goal is about as good of a goal as you will see anywhere. A great run, a great pass, and Simon Davies takes two sick touches of the ball before volleying into the net. It's hard to pick between this goal and Dempsey's against Juventus two rounds ago, both were massive in scope and skill. Luckily Fulham fans don't have to choose, they have them both!

You can find full game highlights here including two other excellent goals from Petric and Gera.

Ribery, Ribery!

The official word came down today that Franck Ribery will not be participating in the UEFA Champions League Final for Bayern Munich due to a three-game ban for his red card in the first leg of the semi-final. Appeal forthcoming of course but I doubt they will win.

The amusing part to me is the message board/comment traffic. You could argue that's always the amusing part as people rant back and forth, stray off topic, insult each other, and generally accomplish little more than proving several things. One, they are completely biased. Two, they don't know nearly as much about the topic as they think they do. Finally, schooling systems around the world have severe, severe issues when it comes to teaching grammar, sentence structure, and spelling to the budding sports fans in their care.

Now don't get me wrong. Coherent points and arguments are in there somewhere. You just need to search long and hard to find them.

The Ribery "situation" especially has made me laugh. There are many people that think his ban should be reduced to one game, enabling him to play in the final against the winner of the Inter Milan and Barcelona tie later today. Reading through the various comment sections there are a few themes that develop. I'll address them each, but ultimately I think they are all pretty poor cases.

"The fans want to see the best players play".

This one in particular makes me chuckle. People have seriously posted comments that he should not be banned because they want to see him play in the game. So, because he entertains fans that means he should not receive a punishment for breaking the rules? Does that mean Messi gets to punch guys on the pitch and get away with it because he is the current darling of international soccer?

Heck, even the NBA enforces the rules on star players leaving the bench (Suns vs. Spurs a few years back) in the middle of crucial play-off series. And they are the standard bearer for having one set of rules for stars and one for everyone else.

"The punishment does not fit the crime".

This case at least has a logical approach to it even if I don't think it holds water. Many are arguing that the foul resulting in the red card was not "serious foul play" and thus does not merit a three-game ban. The reasons given for this vary from "it was not intentional" to "Lisandro made a meal of it" to "it wasn't that bad of a foul". In order:

There is no rule that says "serious foul play" requires intent. A broken leg is a broken leg, regardless of intent. And Lisandro could easily have had his leg broken on the play.

There is no rule that if the fouled player rolls around like he's been shot to exaggerate the seriousness of a foul that the foul should be treated differently. So what if Lisandro "made a meal of it"? This does not change the fact that the foul was extremely dangerous.

To those that say "it wasn't that bad". Really? Really? If you, a friend, your child, or your teammate were on the receiving end of that tackle you would be asking for Ribery's head. That is a fact.

"The rules about cards are stupid and should be changed so that players do not miss finals of tournaments".

This is a statement that I agree with to an extent. There definitely needs to be some revamping of how major tournaments handle these situations. Obviously there has to be a line somewhere (fighting, serious foul play), but too many players miss out on games due to what seem like technicalities of the rules. In this case Ribery joins Roy Keane, Michael Ballack, and many others on the list of players to miss out on games that should be the pinnacle of a player's career.

However, it is a completely irrelevant argument in this situation. The rule stinks? Fine, change it for next year's tournament. You don't change the rules in the middle of a tournament, a league, a season, of anything. You just don't.

FIFA and UEFA (arguably) did it in World Cup Qualifying with the seeding fiasco and we all know it was a joke and completely unfair to change the rules at the end of the competition.

"Referees making poor decisions impact these things too much".

Another statement that you can validly argue. Many, many examples. Chelsea v Barcelona last year. South Korea's wins against Spain and Italy in 2002. France v Ireland last fall. The list goes on. Again though, you can't change it for this one instance. It has to be done globally and in advance of the competition.

All of that said though, please, please keep posting. It not only makes me laugh, it makes me feel better about myself!

Discipline Schmisipline

The USA's recent discipline history in major tournaments is pretty poor.

Confederations Cup 09: Three red cards in five games.

World Cup 06: Two red cards in three games.

Now USA fans get to add another name to the list of random card risks they need to worry about in South Africa this summer. Hull City forward and US international Jozy Altidore lost his cool and got ejected for a head butt in the team's 0-1 loss to Sunderland this weekend.

Dumb

Dumb

Dumb

Hopefully this is a "one off" and doesn't become a recurring problem.

Karma returns to the CL semi-finals as Barcelona visits Milan

One year ago (well, 51 weeks ago) Chelsea players and fans were left fuming following their semi-final loss to Barcelona. The referee had missed two fairly obvious penalty calls against the Spanish squad, allowing Andres Iniesta's late strike to win the two-legged tie. Accusations flew, suspensions were handed out, and Barcelona advanced, defeating Manchester United to lift the trophy.

Fast forward to this evening in Milan. Barcelona loses 3-1 to Inter, with the Italians benefiting from a penalty that wasn't called as well as a missed offside call on the final goal. There are a few differences from last year, Barcelona still have the second leg at home to overcome the deficit and Inter could easily have won by more than two goals.

However, it seems fitting that former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was the one to deliver this little bit of payback. I guess Karma really is a, well you know.

Spring arrives in the upper Mid-West

Ahh, spring in Wisconsin. That fickle, teasing friend has finally made a permanent appearance (we hope) and kids and adults are hanging up their indoor shoes and hitting the local fields in numbers. Some of the highlights to track this spring as we head towards the World Cup.

High-school girls

Check out Eric Anderson's site, Wisconsin Soccer Central, for all the latest on the girls' prep game including scores, standings, and updates.

Madison Area Youth Soccer Association

Maysa is the umbrella organization for area youth soccer. Find league schedules, tournament info, and links to area clubs.

Madison Soccer Association

The adult mens league is making a significant change this year, shifting it's play-offs from late June to mid-October. The spring kicks off April 25th and their website has schedules, results, and standings.

Co-ed play

Check Keva Sports and Breakaway Sports for on-going indoor and outdoor co-ed leagues. Keva also runs O-30 and O-40 outdoor mens leagues.

For the love of the game - Get out and play!

One of the great places to get a pick-up game in the spring is U-Bay fields just north of the hospital. Grab your gear and head out late afternoon/early evening most weeknights and you'll find anywhere from 2 v 2 to 15 v 15.

"One Goal"

A series of shorts about the US Men's team, the fan support, and the "Road to South Africa". Check out their You Tube channel here for the perfect way to get pumped up June and the World Cup.

Champions League on Fox Soccer - the unexpected downside

This past fall Fox Soccer (FSC) took over the US broadcasting rights for the UEFA Champions League from ESPN. I was never particularly dissatisfied with ESPN, other than having to watch some of the games in non-high def on Classic, but was still upbeat about the change.

Justifiably so it turned out. A few reasons:

1. The announcers are more knowledgeable, call the game well, and are less completely and totally biased towards English teams.
2. The simultaneous broadcast of two games (one on Fox Sports North in my neighborhood) meant not having to avoid the internet to wait for the delayed broadcast of a game you wanted to watch.
3. FSC added the high-def this winter and it makes for excellent viewing.
4. The beautiful game can feel like the unwanted stepchild on the ESPN network. They claim to love it to, but often fail to show it. I have multiple times watched the first half of a US qualifying game on one station then flipped over to another station to watch the rest of it. Annoying. FSC is, well it's in the name right?

So overall I have been very pleased with the new lay of the land, until last week that is. Spring break and a trip to the beach with family and friends is always a great, relaxing time. In past years I've been able to sneak off to catch quarterfinal CL action at the local watering hole (or just turn it on and force anyone actually in the house to watch with me).

The games then? On ESPN2 and available anywhere that has basic cable including most bars in the country. At 2:00 on a Tuesday afternoon any bartender will stick on the game for a paying customer, as nothing else is competing with it for customers attention.

The games now? On FSC, which unfortunately is a premium channel just about everywhere and not always available in the bar you choose to pull up a stool at. And there you have one downside to the broadcast change.

In the end it was all good, and the world did not end because I missed the second leg of the quarter-finals (surprising, I know). I spent some quality time with the family in the pool and on the bike trails, only remembering later that night to try and catch the scores on the crawl across the bottom of ESPN.

English teams still in Europe

There are four English teams still remaining in Europe fighting for semi-final places in their competitions. Here is where they sit after the first leg of the quarter-final series.

Champions League

Manchester United lost 1-2 away to Bayern. Wayne Rooney notched a valuable away goal, however he limped off with that ankle injury in stoppage time.

Arsenal fought back to draw Barcelona 2-2 at home after trailing 0-2, losing Cesc Fabregas for the season in the process. They travel to Spain needing a win or a two goal draw.

Europa League

Liverpool fell 1-2 in Portugal to Benfica. Ryan Babel took what amounts to a silly red card but he isn't an automatic name on the team sheet for the Reds so it may not be the end of the world for them. They need a 1-0 or better win at home next week to progress.

Fulham won 2-1 at Craven Cottage against Wolfsburg. They were comfortably ahead before giving up the late away goal to the Germans. They hit the road next week needing a goal or a goalless draw.

Prospects

So, who will make it to the semi-final? The outlook for Arsenal seems grim after giving up two away goals and losing their midfield lynchpin. Manchester United and Liverpool both scored away goals and will fancy their chances to score and advance on their home turf. United's task will be a bit tougher though without Rooney, barring an amazing recovery, as they face a tough Bayern side. Fulham will also like their position and need a goal at Wolfsburg. However, the Germans have the away goal and are a huge threat.

The Cottagers do have the advantage in that they are not fighting tooth and nail in the Premiership. The other three are fighting for the title or the Champions League, Fulham sit comfortably in 10th. They are not going down and they are not going to qualify for Europe next year. They can put all their resources into the Europa League at this point, as illustrated by Hodgson fielding a number of second stringers over the weekend in the domestic league, saving his full strength line-up for the game earlier tonight.

Predictions

1. Arsenal to go out at Barcelona.

2. Manchester United to scrape through at home with Michael Owen the hero.

3. A lovely Anfield evening as Liverpool ease past Benfica with ease.

4. Fulham to surprise again at Wolfsburg as Bobby Zamora continues to make his case for a trip to South Africa with England.