Soccer By Ives

UEFA Champions League Draw is Set

The UEFA Champions League Draw has been completed and, as expected, there are plenty of juicy match-ups. Here are the groups:

• Group A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, CFR 1907 Cluj
• Group B: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathanaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta
• Group C: FC Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, FC Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk
• Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid
• Group E: Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic, Alborg BK
• Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
• Group G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev
• Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, BATE Borisov

Toughest group is pretty clearly Group D, with Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Marseille and PSV Eindhoven. The subplot of Fernando Torres returning to face Atletico Madrid is going be great drama.

Here are some other interesting notes about the groups:

MLS blocks Red Bulls bid for Kandji

The Red Bulls' quest to sign Macoumba Kandji this season has ended, with Major League Soccer pulling the plug on the potential $200,000 transfer bid for the 23-year-old Senegalese striker.

According to sources with knowledge of the transfer discussions, the New York Red Bulls have ceased their quest to sign the Atlanta Silverbacks striker after Major League Soccer officials balked at allowing an MLS team pay a $200,000 transfer fee for a USL player.

Atlanta's insistence on a $200,000 transfer fee, an extremely high figure for a USL player but one Atlanta felt was fair value for such a young and talented forward, was the sticking point that MLS couldn't get beyond. This despite the fact that the Red Bulls were willing to pay Atlanta's asking price.

(Some more of) Your Questions Answered

Good morning everybody. Here is the second of four parts of the most recent Q&A session.

If you asked question last week, be ready to have them answered either today or tomorrow (that's the plan right now. I might leave the final part for Saturday so some folks can make their way to SBI on the weekend).

Now, without further ado, here are some more of your questions answered.

UEFA Champions League: Final 32-team field set as group draw looms

After nearly 200 minutes of scoreless soccer, Liverpool avoided the embarrassment of being eliminated before the group stage of the UEFA Champions League thanks to a Dirk Kuyt game-winning goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 series victory against Belgian champions Standard Liege.

Along with likely signaling Oguchi Onyewu's farewell from Standard Liege (a transfer is a strong possibility), the result helped Liverpool reach the Champions League group stage along with Arsenal, which cruised to a 6-0 aggregate victory against Dutch club FC Twente.

The EPL powers joined 15 other teams that qualified for the group stage with series victories on Wednesday. Those teams will join 16 qualified teams to make up the 32-team field that will be divided into eight groups at a draw set for today.

Here is how the teams are dividing heading into today's draw:

Here is a rundown of the results from this week:

SBI MLS Power Rankings: Week 22

                                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

The SBI MLS Power Rankings are back.

Okay, so maybe you didn't miss the SBI MLS Power Rankings, but at least a few of you noticed their absence in recent weeks. I'll blame the Olympics and my recent trip to Guatemala on their brief absence.

They're back, and they look a bit different than the last time you saw them.

For one, New England isn't on top (for now). Also, San Jose isn't at the bottom. The Earthquakes are moving up with a bullet thanks to their infusion of talent and they just might be ready to push into a playoff spot with time to spare.

The Columbus Crew is the new top dog, with it's recent 3-0 mauling of Real Salt Lake the latest evidence that this is no fluke. Columbus is for real.

Now, without further delay, here are this week's SBI MLS Power Rankings:

Who should Bob Bradley call up against Cuba and T&T?

                                                                                      Photo by ISIphotos.com

With three points in the bag after last week's 1-0 road win against Guatemala, the U.S. men's national team heads into the next set of World Cup qualifiers knowing that two wins could all but lock up advancement into the Hexagonal round.

A trip to Cuba followed by a home date in Chicago against Trinidad & Tobago are up next and U.S. coach Bob Bradley will have some tough decisions to make regarding player selection. Steve Cherundolo is set to serve a suspension while Pablo Mastroeni is dealing with an injury that could keep him out. You also have some players who could be in the midsts of transfers.

So what will the 18-man gameday roster look like that Bob Bradley trots out against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago (18 players will dress but more will be called in to camp) ? Here is one potential group:

(Some of) Your Questions Answered

Good morning all. You'll probably think I'm kidding but I was actually able to knock out the first quarter of the most recent Q&A session. I will be posting the answers to the most recent Q&A in four installments and will look to post them all this week. I'm hoping that breaking them up into sections will make it easier to answer them in a timely fashion.

Let's start with the first batch of questions (As always, feel free to share your thoughts on my answers in the comments section below):

Rough start to CONCACAF Champions League for MLS

So much for SuperLiga's boost to Major League Soccer's standing in CONCACAF.

The New England Revolution and Chivas USA both lost the opening legs of their first round qualifying matches in the new CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday night. The Revs fell, 2-1, to Trinidad & Tobago club Joe Public while Chivas USA fell, 2-0, to Panamanian club Tauro FC.

Both MLS teams will host the second legs of the home-and-home series next week.

There aren't many excuses for either team as both fielded strong squads, with the Revs only missing goalkeeper Matt Reis among its regulars. Chivas USA was missing injured strikers Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo, but still had he likes of Sacha Kljestan, Jonathan Bornstein and Claudio Suarez in the lineup.

With Tuesday night's disaster behind us, here's your chance to tell us what you thought:

poll by twiigs.com

Do you think MLS teams are doomed to fail in the CONCACAF Champions League? Think DC and Houston will do a better job once the group stage gets under way?

Share your thoughts below.

Evening Roundup: Edu poised for Old Firm debut, the premature Jozy call-up and the latest Tottenham signing

                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

Hello all. With the day winding down, here are some tidbits to pass along after another eventful Tuesday in the soccer world:

Edu poised for 'Old Firm' debut

U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu could be in for the mother of all debuts for Glasgow Rangers. He is in line to play in the latest installment of 'The Old Firm' the derby between Rangers and Celtic, at Celtic's Parkhead on Sunday.

"When I first met (Edu) he came across as one of these boys who would not be fazed by a great deal," Rangers manager Walter Smith told the club's website. "He seems a quite confident lad.

"If we can get him over in good time then I have no doubt that he would be involved on Sunday at some stage."

Edu was in Toronto as of Tuesday, securing the final documents to complete his $5 million transfer from Toronto FC to Rangers.

CONCACAF Champions League kicks off tonight

The New England Revolution and Chivas USA will kick off the first round of the first annual CONCACAF Champions League tonight with the Revs facing Trinidad & Tobago champions Joe Public while Chivas USA is in Panama to face Panamanian champions Tauro FC.

This year marks the first playing of the CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament featuring 24 teams rather than the eight teams featured in the tournament's original version, the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Here is a rundown of the games of the opening round, with eight teams vying for four spots in the final 16, which will be broken down into group stages (which I list after the first-round):

Clock is ticking for Americans in the transfer market

                                                                      Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the deadline fast approaching for players to make transfer moves in Europe, several American standouts remain in limbo with just days to go before decision day.

Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Bradley, Frank Simek and Heath Pearce have all been mentioned as potential transfer targets this summer.

One name not on that list is U.S. Olympic standout Marvell Wynne, who has drawn interest from several European teams. Sources tell me Wynne is staying put, at least through the remainder of this season.

As for the aforementioned quartet, let's take a look at what lies ahead in the coming days:

CONCACAF Abroad: Weekend Rewind

It is that time of year again. Time to find out how players from the CONCACAF region are doing in professional leagues across Europe. With more and more CONCACAF players heading to top leagues, the competition in the region is only getting tougher, and it is getting even more important to keep track of how potential U.S. national team opponents are doing.

I will make it a weekly mission to do the work necessary to find out how the region's best fare from week to week. I was able to get this series off the ground last season and will look to keep it going all year long.

This week, we saw Jamaican Ricardo Fuller (above) score for Stoke City in its 3-2 upset of Aston Villa. We saw Hondurans Maynor Figueroa and Wilson Palacios both earn starts in Wigan's 1-0 loss to Chelsea and we also saw Mexicans Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio start and log 90 minutes each in Stuttgart's 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen just three days after helping Mexico beat Honduras in World Cup qualifying.

Here is how the rest of the CONCACAF players did in Europe this past weekend:

Morning Ticker: Madrid to break bank for Villa, Sheva returns to Milan and more transfer news

Good morning all. As the clock ticks down on the European summer transfer window the action is beginning to heat up as both buyers and sellers get desperate to make deals.

I will discuss the prospects of some American transfer targets later this morning. For now, let's focus on the big-money comings and goings in the European market:

Real Madrid to offer $76M for Villa

With Robinho set to make a move to Chelsea, Real Madrid's desperation to find a replacement has led them to push Valencia one more time for Euro 2008 Golden Boot winner David Villa. Real Madrid is reportedly set to make a take-it-or-leave-it offer of $76 million for Villa, a figure undoubtedly financed by the impending Robinho sale.

Will Valencia budge? The club's president is reportedly unwilling to part with either Villa or Silva after promising to keep both as part of his presidential bid. That said, can he really turn down the astronomical figure being tossed around now?

EPL Week Two: A Look Back

If you jumped on that Tottenham bandwagon before the season began, chances are you have already puked at least once.

A summer of spending and laundry list of high-profile acquisitions had the Spurs thinking of the Big Four and their fans thinking of more cup-winning glory under manager Juande Ramos. The only problem is that someobody forgot to tell Tottenham that they still have to win games. Losers of two straight, the folks from White Hart Lane are probably feeling a bit shaky as they try to figure out just what the heck is going on.

Tottenham's stumble out of the gates is just one of the storylines that SBI EPL correspondent James Tyler of The Unprofessional Foul touches on in this week's installment of 'A Look Back', our regular breakdown of the recent week's EPL action. Here is his take on Week Two:

2008 Men's Olympic Soccer: The Best XI

The 2008 Men's Olympic Soccer Tournament will be remembered for some classic matchs, amazing goals, and for most American fans, for a terrible elbow and tournament that was shorter than it could have been.

It should also be remembered for the memorable performances, be they stunning goals or masterful efforts over the course of the entire tournament.

There is little debating that Lionel Messi was the star of the tournament. He wasn't just the player so many casual fans wanted to see, he wound up being the best player in China, showing off his electric speed and beautiful passing.

There were plenty of other great performances, from Moussa Dembele's two-goal effort for Belgium to eliminate Italy, to Chinedu Ogbuke Obassi's display in the semifinal win against Belgium, and lastly Lionel Messi's showing in the Gold Medal match, when he raced around Nigeria's stingy defense before finally setting up the game-winning goal with another deft pass.

With all this in mind, here is a look at the SBI Olympic All-Tournament Team:

Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Call it a light week for Americans Abroad.

With several standouts resting from the mid-week World Cup qualifier against Guatemala, there were only a few Americans who actually started matches in Europe's top leagues this weekend.

Tim Howard and Carlos Bocanegra earn Ironmen awards for starting for their club teams just a few days after playing for the USA on Wednesday.

We also saw Neven Subotic (pictured above) hold his own against Luca Toni as his Borussia Dortmund held Bayern Munich, 1-1 (And no, Subotic still hasn't chosen the U.S. national team, but we can track his progress until he does make a decision).

Freddy Adu did make his debut for AS Monaco this weekend, playing just three minutes in place of Jeremy Menez, who he could be replacing in the lineup soon if reports about an impending Menez transfer are true.

Here is how all the Americans Abroad did this weekend: