Soccer By Ives

What a goal by Cuauhtemoc Blanco

I know this is four days late but figured if I hadn't heard about it then maybe some of you hadn't either.

Check out this stunning goal from Mexican star and Chicago Fire designated player Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the Mexican League finals series against Pachuca. The goal temporarily gave Blanco's club, America, the series lead before Pachuca won on aggregate. That still doesn't take away from the stunning goal Blanco scored in his last match for Club America.

Chicago Fire fans have a reason to feel optimistic about Blanco's arrival. They will be hoping that their team isn't too far out of the race when he finally does show up after a full summer of Mexican national team duty.

And yes, I'm sticking by my opinion that I don't think he's going to be a huge impact for the Fire, even though his recent amazing form for America makes me wonder. Then I think about how bad Chicago is these days and feel better about my statement. Let me be clear, I think the guy is amazingly skilled, but his temper and the league's penchant for rough fouling of players just like him won't make for a good mix. He may wind up with more red cards than goals. I hope I'm wrong because the Fire could be a dangerous team if he dominates the way he's capable of.

Do you think Blanco will be a boom or a bust? Share your thoughts below.

In search of the Dario Sala/Colorado Rapids brawl video

I was speaking with a friend recently regarding the infamous brawl between FC Dallas goalkeeper and Colorado Rapids players after the Rapids did a little too much celebrating following their playoff series victory at Pizza Hut Park. I wanted to see the video again but couldn't find it anywhere.

If anybody has a lead on where I can see it please pass the info along. Red Bulls fans might watch that video with renewed interest considering current Red Bulls defender Hunter Freeman  gets the business end of a Dario Sala haymaker in the fight.

Let's see what the SBI posse can come up with. Help me out.

Red Bulls practice observations

It was a pretty light day of training today at Red Bulls camp, probably because it felt like 100 degrees on the team's new field. Here are some tidbits:

Ronald Waterreus, Hunter Freeman and Todd Dunivant look like they will be out for Saturday's match. Dunivant did some running but won't be ready while Waterreus and Freeman didn't even join team on the practice field.

One player who is healthy is Claudio Reyna. He is fit and ready to go (insert your 'Unless he gets hurt on Friday joke here').

Here's the lineup I think you are most likely see vs. Kansas City on Saturday:

A Youri comeback?

Could Youri be asking his old teammate for a job?

It may not mean anything but one of Youri Djorkaeff's representatives attended Red Bulls training on Thursday and met with Red Bulls technical director Jeff Agoos. Could the Frenchman be itching for one last go-round?

As of late spring, Djorkaeff was still living in New York City and may be tempted to come back to a Red Bulls team that is much better than the team he left. You couldn't really blame Djorkaeff if he wanted to go out in a better fashion than he did last year, missing his last game as a Red Bull due to injury.

The team still has Djorkaeff's rights but I'm not sure how it would work salary-wise. More importantly, I'm not sure what role Djorkaeff would play on the current Red Bulls team.

When asked about the possibility on Thursday, Agoos smiled and said, "You never know." That probably translates to, "No shot."

Is it realistic to expect Djorkaeff, at 39, to come back? Probably not. As I stated above, it was probably nothing, but I thought you folks would find it interesting.

SBI Fantasy Rankings (Week eight)

Sorry for the delay in getting this up but it got lost in the holiday weekend/Q&A mix.

Congrats to Mike Sansone, who is representing the SBI League well by holding first place overall in the entire Fantasy MLS competition. That is seriously impressive. Props to Hudson FC for moving into second place in the league and seventh overall, helping us state our case for having the toughest league in the entire set-up.

Here is the Top 10 after last week's games:

Man United pull a double swoop for Anderson and Nani

Sir Alex Ferguson didn't waste a lot of time getting ready to defend that EPL title Manchester United just won. Man U has landed Brazilian playmaker Anderson and Portuguese star Nani in a pair of deals that have to make the Red Devils favorites to repeat as EPL champions.

If you haven't seen either of these Portuguese League players player, you have missed out. Here are some videos of Anderson and Nani, courtesy of YouTube. Not only are these kids already super-skilled, Nani is just 20 and Anderson is 19. Adding them to Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo gives ManU a nucleus of young attacking players to rival Arsenal's deep stable of young talent.

With a deal for Owen Hargreaves all but completed, Ferguson has not only bolstered an already-dangerous attack, but he has also helped the team prepare for the inevitable departures of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who were both great this season but who are turning 34 and 33 respectively next season.

U.S. Under-20 game at Giants Stadium announced

As first reported here on SBI more than a week ago, The US Under-20 national team will play in a doubleheader at Giants Stadium with the US Women's national team on Saturday, June 23rd (Not on Wednesday, as I first wrote). The US Under-20s will face off against Chile, another team participating in June's U-20 World Championships in Canada. US Soccer officially announced the match today. The U-20 game is slated for a 2pm kickoff.

Since it doesn't appear as if this game will air on TV (yes, I finally figured out that the game isn't on a Wednesday), I may have to break out the SBI Running Commentary that went over so well during the Red Bulls' US Open Cup loss to the Galaxy. Stay tuned for that one.

This game should offer fans in the area a great chance to see just how good the U-20 team is. As we get closer to the Under-20 World Cup in Canada there is a growing belief that this U.S. team could get pretty far in the tournament.

The game could also allow us to see the Jozy Altidore-Gabriel Ferrari forward tandem that seems destined to start for the U-20s in Canada.

Looking forward to this match? Post your thoughts on the match below:

US Lineup vs. China (what starting XI do you want to see?)

Looking at Bob Bradley's roster for the China game and its inclusion of so many young players (and some Bradley favorites like Razov and Marsch) I started wondering what starting 11 I would want to see out of that group on Saturday.

Do you want to see the national team veterans or a lineup with one or two of the youngsters, like Nguyen or Davies?

I have a feeling we could see this lineup:

----------Razov----------Hill----------

Beasley------------------------Dempsey

----------Bradley------Feilhaber-----

Bornstein-----------------------Simek

-----------Onyewu---Bocanegra------

-----------------Howard----------------

I thought about having Dempsey up top and Nguyen on the right flank but I'm not sure how healthy Nguyen is. I also thought of Davies over Hill and wouldn't mind that swap. So why not have both youngsters start? I think you need at least one vet and I think Bradley gives Razov this start. Just a feeling I get.

What starting 11 would you like to see? Post it here.

Davies, Nguyen and Kamani Hill named to US squad vs. China

I told you folks in this morning's Q & A that Bob Bradley would have some nice surprises in store for the China rosters and he did, calling in Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen and Kamani Hill for the friendly on Saturday.

Nguyen is the biggest surprise, having just recovered from shoulder surgery. I didn't think he would be back this soon but if he is close to fit then he is a very strong candidate for the Copa America roster. Davies, currently playing in Sweden, and Hill, fresh off his debut in the German Bundesliga, are also very intriguing prospects and Copa America candidates.

The fact that Chivas USA is off this weekend means Bradley can call in some long-time favorites in veterans Ante Razov and Jesse Marsch. That will probably annoy those US fans who are easily annoyed but it's a nice gesture on his part to two players who he has enjoyed much success with.

Here is the rest of the US roster:

Gold Cup rosters announced

CONCACAF announced the rosters for next month's Gold Cup. After looking them over I have to say that the region has grown stronger than people realize. There are some pretty good teams in the field, including Costa Rica, Honduras and Canada along with traditional powers Mexico and the US.

The most disappointing absence? How about Honduras' David Suazo? I hadn't heard of any injury so to not see him on the team is a serious blow to the appeal of the tournament. Among the interesting names in the field are Canada's Martin Nash, yes, the brother of Steve Nash, and Honduran forward Carlos Costly (gotta love that name for headline purposes).

As for the team with the biggest disparity between players? How about Haiti, which boasts Atletico Madrid defender Frantz Bertin as well as Ricardo Pierre-Louis, who is without a club at this moment.

Here are all the rosters: