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Morning Ticker: Crew top Quakes, Hejduk not ruled out vs. Costa Rica and Libertadores quarters begin

SchelottoHernandez (ISIphotos.com) 

                                                                               Photo by ISIphotos.com

Goals from Eddie Gaven and Guillermo Barros Schelotto helped the Columbus fight back from an early deficit to top the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1, on Wednesday night at Crew Stadium.

The victory helps the Crew edge out of its tie for last place in the East with the Red Bulls and moved past New England into fifth place in the conference.

Here are some other stories from this morning and Wednesday to get your day going:

Hejduk not ruled out vs. Costa Rica

According to a U.S. national team source, defender Frankie Hejduk has NOT been ruled out for next week's World Cup qualifier vs. Costa Rica because of the groin injury that kept him out of the Crew's win vs. San Jose.

A television report during the Crew's victory against the Earthquakes stated that Hejduk would miss the Costa Rica match, but Hejduk is expected to be re-evaluated by U.S. national team doctors before a decision is made on his availability for Wednesday. (UPDATE- Hejduk will remain in Columbus, where his progress will be tracked by the Crew medical staff and where a decision will be made on whether he can actually join the national team, be it in Miami or San Jose. So no, Hejduk hasn't been ruled out yet.)

If Hejduk cannot play, Jonathan Spector or Marvell Wynne would be expected to fill in for him.

Libertadores quarters kick off

Former New York Red Bulls defender Gabriel Cichero (yes, him) scored a second-minute goal to give Caracas a 1-0 lead in its Copa Libertadores quarterfinal first-leg match-up against Gremio, but the lead disappeared in the second half as a Fabio Santos goal helped give the Brazilians a 1-1 draw on the road.

Cruzeiro posted a 2-1 victory in its Libertadores quarterfinal first-leg against Sao Paolo. Leonardo Silva and ze Maria provided the goals for Cruzeiro.

The other quarterfinal series begin tonight, with Defensor Sporting facing Estudiantes La Plata, while Palmeiras plays host to Nacional de Montevideo.

ESPN to broadcast Confederations Cup in HD

If watching top soccer matches in HD is a favorite passtime of yours, then it is going to be a good summer.

ESPN announced on Wednesday that it will air the entire Confederations Cup in HD on the ESPN family of networks.

As for the U.S. national team's schedule, the United States will face Italy on ESPN (June 15, 2:25pm), Brazil on ESPN2 (June 18, 9:55am) and Egypt on ESPN2 (June 21, 2:25pm).

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What do you think of these developments? Do you see the Crew making another championship run? Still holding out hope that Hejduk can play vs. Costa Rica? Are you a Red Bulls fan who is not at all surprised that Cichero is enjoying a career boon since leaving New York? Excited at the thought of seeing the Confederations Cup in HD?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Hedjuk will not play for the USA in the next two games. He will not travel witht he USA team or leave Columbus from what I have heard. If he doesn’t play for the Crew he won’t play with the USA to keep him healthy.

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  2. Hmmmmmm, I kinda think Hejduk deserves the rest, and he just should rest, haha, anyways Costa Rica got some wheels, and Wynne will be able to keep up with them, cuz we ALLLL know, he’s got wheels too, Spector should go on the Left, i havent seen him play, so i dont no if he’s fast or not, PL is too early for me, hehe, so i watch La Liga

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  3. i suggest everybody watch the estudiantes-defensor sporting libertadores quarter final tonight (7 pm, fox sports en espanol). veron has been amazing as of late and estudiantes is a great team to watch. and defensor is the team that knocked boca out of the competition. should be a great game.

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  4. Darn. I thought my “past-time” joke was kind of funny. It got canned! I don’t know what to say, other than…

    My favorite “passtime” is when I have the ball and I see one of my teammates in good scoring position. ZING AGAIN!

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  5. Kind of disappointed that Hedjuk might be available. I would like to see Bradley’s hand forced to use either Spector or Wynne. Otherwise they will never see the field in an important game.

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  6. Katatonia –
    I would be interested to see a link to that if you have one.

    Also, golf clap for ESPN. My DVR will be full this summer.

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  7. A note on the Crew game, Brain Carroll suffered a badly dislocated shoulder on a tackle (grab and throw down) by Simon Elliot late in the match (no foul). He is likely to require surgery (could happen as soon as today) and is out indefinitely.

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  8. Columbus needs to do a lot more than beat the worst team in the league in order to earn some respect.

    I have the feeling that a little known team is going to win the Libertadores.

    THANK YOU ESPN!!!

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  9. Welcome to the 21st century boys. TiVo it… Works like a charm if you can keep the big mouths in the office to NOT talk about it…

    I, on the other hand, am a high school teacher on his first week of summer break, that week, so I’ll be watching it live with Ives and commenting along the way! Ha… “Those who can do…those who can’t teach…” and watch soccer LIVE on ESPN! Suckers!

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  10. Yeah – just looked – it’ll be a 6 hour time difference. 2pm Kickoff, South African Time.

    I should feel guilty that I’m going to sneak out of work and miss 2 hours on 2 days, but I won’t.

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  11. Isn’t the Brazil game at 9:55 AM? Unless ESPN is not planning on airing it live…

    Very good news, I had assumed that ESPN would be televising it, nice to see they will be showing the entire tournament.

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  12. I hope Hejduk doesn’t start if there’s any question about hit health – he’s not good enough to make up for an injury with, I dunno, great marking or positioning. But let’s be honest here – with some of the things Bradley has come up with recently, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Beasley at RB. Seriously.

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  13. That’s great the ESPN will be airing the Conf Cup in HD, but what about ALL games in HD. At least the one’s in the US. Come on, Honduras on ESPN Classic (Non-HD) is unacceptable. Also, having a full time ticker on ESPN during the Champions League Final in the middle of the day was kind of dissappointing. As for Hedjuk, you know there’s always a chance he’ll be fit to play. Other news, Mo Edu picked up a knock last game and may miss the Scottish Cup Final and Torres has two games for Pachuca in four days. So look for Mastro to get the nod alongside Bradley.

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  14. Thank You Espn for broadcasting all the matches and in HD. Just need to know if they will replay the games in the evening.

    Reply

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