Chivas USA Playoff Update, MLS Names Awards Finalists & More
Chivas USA Coach Preki and players look ahead to Saturday's conference semi-final match against Real Salt Lake in this video preview:
Here's a profile of Chivas USA's apparently ageless defender Claudio Suarez who now sounds like he will not retire at season's end after all.
Not a single Chivas USA player was named as one of the three finalists in the various categories for the MLS 2008 season awards announced today.
Galaxy defender Sean Franklin is up for Rookie of the Year (no surprise there) and Landon Donovan for MVP (or there).
Full disclosure: I didn't vote. I'm not a huge fan of awards or some of these categories (MLS Referee of the year!? Are you kidding me?) And let's dump Rookie of the Year completely (as MLS gets better, rookies just don't make that much of an impact any more). Whatever.
Here's the complete list:
Goalkeeper of the Year
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
William Hesmer - Columbus Crew
Matt Reis - New England Revolution
Fair Play Finalists
Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls
Michael Parkhurst - New England Revolution
Chris Rolfe - Chicago Fire
MLS Comeback Player of the Year
Jon Busch - Chicago Fire
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas
Santino Quaranta - D.C. United
Defender of the Year
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
Chad Marshall - Columbus Crew
Bakary Soumare - Chicago Fire
Referee of the Year
Michael Kennedy
Jair Marrufo
Terry Vaughn
Rookie of the Year
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo
Kheli Dube - New England Revolution
Sean Franklin - Los Angeles Galaxy
MLS Coach of the Year
Dominic Kinnear - Houston Dynamo
Sigi Schmid - Columbus Crew
Frank Yallop - San Jose Earthquakes
MLS Most Valuable Player
Cuauhtémoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
Newcomer of the Year
Darren Huckerby - San Jose Earthquakes
Claudio Lopez - Kansas City Wizards
Andre Rocha - FC Dallas
MLS will gradually release the winners in the days leading up to MLS Cup, beginning with the goalkeeper of the year honor on Tuesday.
Fans are being asked to choose the 10 best goals of the year from 35 semifinalists. Vote here.
Finally, the Cal State Northridge women (7-9-2, 2-4-1 Big West) lost 1-0 today to UC Riverside (7-10-2, 2-5-1 Big West) at Matador Soccer Field.
The loss severely dented the Matadors' playoff hopes.
Here's what has to happen, according to CSUN:
"To make the playoffs, the Matadors must defeat Cal State Fullerton on Sunday and hope UC Irvine either loses both their matches or draws in one and loses the other combined with Pacific dropping their match against UC Davis on Sunday."
Got that?
2 Comments
Leave a comment
About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
You mean Alexi Lalas and Tim Leiweke didn't receive nominations for executive of the year? Horrors! The Galaxy is The Jewel Of MLS! It's a Superclub! It signed the best player on the planet! His jersey sales outstrip the GNP of most small countries! It's a world brand, for Pete's sake!! How can MLS do this? It's a total outrage!!!!
Besides, taking a perfectly good organization and screwing up beyond all recognition takes some special talent....
Joseph - In a strange twist, Lalas and Leiweke had the biggest effect on the league in terms of attendance, viewers, and money. MLS itself is largely responsible for the failures of the Galaxy and the league, yet they're AEG's puppets. What a strange and vicious circle. The MLS is selling men's leagues as professional sports - that's the problem. These people always want to point the finger when there is failure yet they are the architects of it.
Ever see the movie "Brazil?"
As a soccer fan, there's just nothing that makes me want to pay attention to MLS.