American goalkeepers Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan will see their club, Aston villa, take part in today's Carling Cup Final, and if they are to leave Wembley with winner's medals, one of them will have to stop red-hot Wayne Rooney.
Manchester United-Aston Villa in the Carling Cup is just one of several quality match-ups today. DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu will take part in today's Old Firm match-up between Rangers and Celtic (both are in uniform but on the bench), while Tim Howard and Landon Donovan will face Tottenham in one of the day's first matches.
If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today's TV schedule is after the jump):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
8am- Setanta USA- Tottenham vs. Everton
8:30am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- PSV Eindhoven vs. Walwijk
9am- FSE- AC Milan vs. Atalanta
9am- ESPN360.com- Napoli vs. AS Roma
9am- ESPN360.com- Udinese vs. Inter Milan
9:55am- ESPN360.com/Setanta USA- Aston Villa vs. Manchester United
10am- FSC- Liverpool vs. Blackburn
11am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com/DirecTV- Villarreal vs. Deportivo La Coruna
11am- DirecTV- Xerez vs. Espanyol
11am- DirecTV- Racing Santander vs. Almeria
11am- DirecTV- Sporting Gijon vs. Osasuna
11am- DirecTV- Real Valladolid vs. Mallorca
11am- FSE- Liverpool vs. Blackburn
11:30am- GolTV- Bayern Munich vs. Hamburg
Noon- FSC- Sunderland vs. Fulham
1pm- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com/DirecTV- Sevilla vs. Athletic Bilbao
1pm- Telemundo- Toluca vs. Indios
2:45pm- FSC/FSE- Juventus vs. Palermo
3pm- GolTV- Athletico Madrid vs. Valencia
3pm- Setanta USA- Paris St. Germain vs. Marseille
3:15pm- ESPN360.com- Sporting vs. FC Porto
5pm- ESPN Deportes- Puebla vs. Jaguares
5pm- Setanta USA- Chelsea vs. Manchester City (Delayed)
5pm- FSC- AC Milan vs. Atalanta (Delayed)
5pm- GolTV- Santos vs. Corinthians (Delayed)
5pm- FSE- Independiente vs. Racing (Delayed)
——————
Which matches will you be most looking forward to?
Share your thoughts below.
THE YANKS ARE COMING!!!
does anyone have video of Edu’s goal that was disallowed?
Great goalscorers miss and mess up all the time. It’s the way they make up for it and the way they respond that matters. Donovan and USA lost to Brazil after being up 2-0. Donovan responded with great form in MLS and Qualifying. Donovan misses the penalty against Real Salt Lake(badly may I add) and he responds with good form for Everton in the EPL. The way Donovan responds to himself and others has improved substantially. He was placed on the big stage during the World Cup in 2006 and was timid. He was placed on the big stage in the Confederations Cup and was confident. So let me ask you: How do you think he’ll respond to missing a couple chances in a substitute appearance? My opinion? He’ll come back better than before. I have no way of knowing that, but it would be uniform with how he’s done recently. You focus on his whole career, and that’s good, but you have to notice the changes in his game and attitude.
I agree, Donovan has had his fair share of dissappointments, but the fact that every time he shows even an inkling of poor form or a hits a speed bump people act like he’s on the fall is silly. A poor game or run of bad form isn’t expected because he’s Landon Donovan, a poor game is expected because he’s human. There is form, and there is growing. Landon Donovan has done his fair shair of growing in the past year, and good form has come with it.
Donovan is 6th in all time leading goal scorers in the MLS, 5th in game winning goals, 2nd in multi goal games, 7th in hat tricks, 8th in shots on goal, 3rd in penalty kicks, He has had 17-23 goals every single year (consistent) and he has missed a few games to USMNT whether you like it or not. He is first in career play-offs goals, and i think he has been voted mls player of the year quite a few times as well as united states player of the year… The only cold streaks I remember are when he went to Germany, unless by cold streaks he had an unexceptional game, in which case you agree he is an exceptional player and you have high expectations for him.
Ditto. One less arrogant American.
I think you made good points.
Hey! I appreciate your respectful tone as well! Rare, and actually quite nice.
2 small points.
Do you think Howard is a better keeper than England’s?
I agree Donovan has the flu quite a bit… h1n1 of all things…but I do think that hinders his ability to play.
Just looked at Rooney’s goal and I think Friedel was out of position off his line, full credit to Rooney though the world#1 player.
I think this site would be a lot better without you on it.
STFU
I think flu was more of an explanation when he was outpaced on the Mexico winner. I’m just so disappointed that Landon’s not the Jordan or the Kirk Gibson who cans those opportunities when they’re served-up to him, even if he’s under the weather. I’m disappointed because he’s our best guy and I want him to be superman. But he’s so valuable and makes such a difference for Everton, they’re not going to drop him for being a mere human in this one respect.
it’s just one miss. Pienaar and Rodwell missed clear chances too. Donovan missed an open goal against united last week, but it didn’t matter because everton got too other goals. Everyone misses chances, but not eveyone gets in position to miss. Donovan’s hard running put him in position to take the chance, but he hit it wide. Let’s not get carried away. Donovan is still the best player this country has ever produced.
Worst miss of his career was the one on one against Kahn in WC02.
Donovan has a LOT of cold streaks. That is why, with the exception of one year, he has never even come close to leading lowly MLS in scoring. Please don’t tell me it’s because of his many commitments. Other national team players had commitments and still managed to lead the league in scoring. Besides, what do commitments have to do with all of the games where he just disappears?
Look at me! I’m mister in the middle! I won’t commit either way.
Yes, that’s it! It was coming in as a substitute that was the problem. No, wait! I thought it was the flu?
I think it’s you who haven’t taken everything into consideration. So many people respond like you do. Even when it’s made clear in the post that it’s not just about this one instance, but an entire career, people still respond with “it’s the flu” or “I don’t think you’ve taken everything into consideration.”
I think you should rename your handle to ThaDouche.
Thanks for respectfully disagreeing. It makes a nice change! However, this is just the kind of response I was expecting. Donovan has the flu every time he has a lapse? He disappears from games and misses ridiculously easy chances because he has the flu? I don’t think so, but I hope I am wrong about Donovan.
You also lost a little credibility with your Howard comments. Saying Howard is one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the world is pretty silly. He can’t even come out of his goal to catch a cross without being hesitant or some kind of misadventure. You CANNOT call a goalkeeper like that “one of the most consistent keepers in the world….”. He is a great goalkeeper though. But his inconsistency is exactly what puts him on a level lower than our previous great goalkeepers, Keller and Friedel.
for your first point as an example: bobby zamora last year. Never found his goal scoring ways… Coach stood by his side, he kept his head up, this year he is thriving. By the way, I think Donovan is better than Bobby Zamora, I top scorer for a top ten EPL team.
Yea the excuses for Donovan’s miss are really a stretch…”the ball was coming in fast” “he has the flu” etc….if Donovan wasn’t fit why on earth would he play Donovan? Bilyaletdinov was on the bench and he’s a fine player why not bring him in? The excuses just scream a bias and really delegitimize your opinion. Same for folks on the other side of the bias…
Every player runs through cold streaks with their shooting. It is only a problem if it begins to drain confidence from the rest of thier game. Anyone either making excuses for the misses or making too much of them is pressing an agenda.
One thought: coming in as a sub is an unsual expereince for Donovan. Finding the game coming in late is a different matter than being in from the start.
Actually, I do not. I bet you think everyone but you is a casual observer on this site.
Criticizing Donovan’s bad miss and saying he isn’t EPL quality is the same as saying Donovan is Everton’s best player after a hitting a corner that Saha slots home…both are crazy statements and yet I find a lot of them on this site in both directions.
Donovan has proved that he can compete in the EPL and that he can be a nice role player on a team like Everton…that’s it really. He has nice pace and above average technical skill but still lacks a killer instinct (which if he does stick around the EPL would slowly eat away at his initial high fan support in England). Plus take this into consideration…what if Donovan played exactly as he his now but Everton continued their poor form that they had seen early on. Do you still think the Everton fans would be singing his praises? I’m not so sure.
I bet you also think that MLS teams are as good as half the EPL as well.
Wow, I guess there was a foul.
The three players I named currently play in Europe, 2 in the EPL.
We all saw Donovan school the renowned Ashley Cole… SO yes, I do not think it is a far stretch to say that the C-Team England defensive line is not exactly looking forward to matching up with that.
As far as up top, we have a few options: Ching, Donovan, Deuce, Altidore, Davies. Obviously you are a Ching hater, but he produces all the time in assists and penalties.
By the way, Ferdinand is also out.
The last time we played them we lost 2-0 (WHAT!!! NOT BY 6,7,OR 8!!!). It wasn’t all that bad considering Donovan was injured that game and they brought their A Team. Lets look at some of our players that game: Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolfe, Freddy Adu, Nate Jaqua (who the hell is this guy?), and Brad Guzan… Not exactly what our A Team looks like now is it??? Only losing by 2 against Rooney , Lampard and Gerrard no doubt.
I for one am cheering for Davies. Please do not disrespect his work ethic and desire to play in the World Cup.
Look, Deuce is no Rooney, but Deuce still has the ability to make Terry look silly. I do not know why you do not believe in the USMNT, but you have the right to cheer for England if you want to. I believe, and it is reasonable as well.
THE YANKS ARE COMING
It makes Brown look like he’s crying into Lafferty’s shirt…
I think you underestimate some of the fans. These are English fans who have been in love with the game longer than we have and they’re smart enough to know that this sort of thing happens.
Besides, Landon had the flu today, it’s not like he was 100%. Why do you think he came off the bench in the first place? I’m not going to call you a hater, but I don’t think you’ve taken everything into consideration.
Dude, he has the FLU.
….
He missed a couple of easy shots…so what?
Every week a defender in the EPL scores an own goal…sometimes twice in the same game!!!
…we usually see that defender the next week.
Donovan wasn’t as bad as that!
Everyone on that team, the announcers, and Moyes know that Donovan is better than the guy who started in his place, the announcers even said so. If he hadn’t made the run, there would have been no chance…He still is one of their better players, and a star player, who has the flu, and missed some chances……They still respect donovan.
The only reason Moyes would not buy him is because he is too expensive.
I didn’t call you any names, but you are wrong.
The flu dude, the flu.
Also, Tim Howard, one of the most consistent keepers in the world….
His players and coaches trust him completely.
I think you will be eating these words this week and the next when he continues to start….
Respectfully disagreeing,
The photo of the headbutt accompanying this article is just… amazing:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=285469&cc=5901
Some of the best players in the world vs MLS players really? Who is going to play up top? Ching? Casey? Findley? I know those 3 are world class and better than Ferdinand and Terry. Bradley and Edu vs Lampard and Gerrard? obviously we have the upper hand. How did that last meeting with England go? I mean we are sooo much better than them, we beat them by what 6-7?
I’ll be surprised to see Davies starting against England in June. We may have decent players, but they have world class players. Do not disrespect them.
We do have some good players. But I don’t think England is very nervous about facing them.
a sad one.
Is there anyone out there who really knows Donovan that didn’t think today’s embarrassment was coming?
For those who seemed so shocked and called Donovan’s miss the miss of his career, like he’s never done this before, you are either deluding yourselves or you don’t really know Donovan very well. He has missed some unbelievably easy chances. One or two of which were literally astonishing. I remember one that was so bad that if he had been a defender it would have been very hard to keep the ball out of the net, but he managed it as a striker trying to put it in.
This will end the love affair with the fans and Donovan won’t be returning to Everton. Yes, it’s only one chance, but Donovan will inevitably do it again and you can’t do that at this level. This is what I was trying to explain when everyone attacked me for saying Donovan’s lapses would prevent him from being in the Premier League, at least as a starter. Yes, everyone misses easy chances once in a while, but not multiple times like this, at this level of play. This is like the situation with Tim Howard. Man Utd. got rid of him and some Everton fans think he’s a liability not because he isn’t good, but because he has too many lapses and you don’t feel like you can ever really completely trust him to be consistent.
Now everyone can call me a hater again, even though I like Donovan and feel really bad for him.
yea i havent seen clips of donovans misses, can someone post them?
I happen to think we have some good players. Lacking confidence much?
Owen looked like an accountant.
Is there a clip of the Donovan moment?
Who the F is this braden?
That’s me!? I didn’t post this.
Yeah, I am sure they are shaking in their boots.
Arrogant much?
he ended up having a few spectacular saves… nothing he could do on the two goals though. I cannot imagine Guzan doing anything better than Friedel today.
game over, rooney’s header wins it. Owen already showered and in a suit, looks pissed… he is injured and rooney steals the limelight.
Great morning of football today.
Pearce does provide more going forward then Bornstein but will BB give him a shot? And can Pearce replicate his production from the el salvador game? If Pearce and Bornstein are in form and Boca can provide some depth and options then LB seems fairly set. Seems BB gives Bornstein minutes no matter what so I expect him to start although pearce is an interesting option.
Valencia with a long hard run half the field with the ball… Has terrible angle, and an open man in front of goal, selfishly takes the shot…bad decision, but good for Villa.
Rooney just looked like Ronaldo (either one) schooling 3 defenders at once in the corner. Jerk!
No Adu or Johnson today for Aris.
Aris up a man since the 15th minute, had to make two injury subs and where in cruise control the whole game.
Edu’s goal for Rangers for those who missed it
http://www.footytube.com/video/rangers-celtic-feb28-35551
We can only hope.
yes!
however, i bet they don’t want to face dempsey, davies, and donovan in the world cup either.