2008 MLS schedule is out

Major League Soccer has released their full 2008-season schedule. Each of the 14 teams will play 30 regular season games. All teams will play each other twice (one home, one away) for 26 matches. The other four matches will be played against different intra-conference teams with a premium placed on rivalries. This represents the closest MLS has ever come to a traditional single table type schedule.

The season will run March 29 - Oct 26 for 31 weeks in total.

You can find a full schedule here.

Just like 2007, there are four national broadcast partners this season, airing 113 regular season games. In total ESPN2 will air 27, Fox Soccer Channel 32, HDNet 30 and TeleFutura 24.

Fox Soccer Channel will kickoff opening weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday March 29th. ESPN2 will have a doubleheader of their own on Thursday April 3. Big shock, both of those doubleheaders will feature the LA Galaxy. In total, LA will have 20 of their matches shown on national TV, including one on ABC when they travel to DC on June 29 (the full breakdown is FSC 5, ESPN2 5, HDNet 5, TeleFutura 4, ABC 1). Right after this game, ABC will air the Euro 2008 finally live (wow!).

Playoffs dates are:
Conference Semifinals Leg 1: Oct 30 - Nov 2
Conference Semifinals Leg 2: Nov 6 - Nov 9
Conference Championship: Nov 13 - Nov 16
MLS Cup: Nov 23

US Men to face Spain in June

For the second time in as many days, it looks like the US Men's national team has booked a friendly. This time the opponent is Spain on 2 June. If this is confirmed, this match would come 12 days before their World Cup Qualifier against either Barbados or Dominica.

Durante la concentración está prevista la disputa de un encuentro amistoso el día 31, contra un rival y en una sede por determinar, y otro el 2 de junio frente a Estados Unidos, todavía también sin sede confirmada.

A very rough translation of this is 'Spain will play a friendly on 31 May against an undetermined team as well as a game on 2 June against the USA in a location yet to be decided.'

My guess is this is a bit of pay back on the part of the Spanish Federation for canceling the match against Catalonia last September.

Well no matter the reason, this is an excellent 'get' on the part of US Soccer. This looks to be Spain's final warm-up match ahead of Euro 2008, so they will have a quality team on the pitch, making it yet another top quality game on foreign soil.

So here are the known games for the men this year:
19 Jan vs. Sweden in Carson, CA
06 Feb vs. Mexico in Houston, Texas
26 March vs. Poland in Krakow, Poland
02 June vs. Spain in Spain
14 June vs. Barbados or Dominica in USA (WCQ)
21 June vs. Barbados or Dominica at Barbados or Dominica (WCQ)

England out of Euro 2008

After a disgusting first half, England looked reborn in the second thanks in large part to the work of Beckham (sub at the half) and Peter Crouch. They were down 2-0 at the half way mark, but they were able to fight back into it thanks to a pk and a fantastic cross from Beckham to Crouch's chest, but in the end a horrible night by Wyde Bridge and Scott Carson, combined with plenty of other poor play are the reason England will not be in Switzerland/Austria next summer.

With Russia winning 1-0 against Andorra, England has now missed their first major tournament since the 1994 World Cup. Lots will be written (the bloodletting is going to be fierce with this one) but in the end it was all about quality. England just did not have the depth and style to make it happen.

So will Steve McClaren do the honorable thing and resign at the post game press conference or will he wait to be fired? Where will England look to find a quality keeper? How must Beckham feel being one game short of 100 matches for his country knowing that this was probably the end?

For the record, as far as Beckham, even at his unfit level, he was one of the few bright spots on the pitch for the squad. That says something about him and the squad.

As I wrap this up, a few more questions pop into my mind. How ecstatic do you think Lalas in the LA organization is right now knowing that they will not lose their cash cow for two months next summer? Also, how soon till someone from US soccer gets on the blower and tries to setup a match between the two countries for June? Finally, how much will this hurt the beer industry in England?