The New England Revolution shocked the Houston Dynamo 2-0 in Houston last night. Diego Fagundez put the Revs in front early in the second half before an own-goal from Ricardo Clark in the 84th minute sealed the home team’s fate.
The result gives Houston (6-4-2) back-to-back home losses for the first time since losing three in a row in 2010 and leaves them on 20 points while New England (3-4-4) now have 13 on the season.
There are still three matches remaining in the La Liga season but for all intents and purposes for Jose Mourinho reign in Spain is over and it has ended in failure.
Defeat tonight in the Copa del Rey to city rivals Atlético meant that Real Madrid ended the season with no silverware. That is simply not good enough for Real and the ‘The Special One’ acknowledged that in his post match press conference:
“This is the worst season of my career”, said Mourinho. “With a final, semifinal, a second place and a Super Cup, for me it is the worst”.
Atletico Madrid won their 10th King’s Cup when defender Miranda scored in the first half of extra time to secure a 2-1 victory against city rivals Real Madrid in a game that saw both Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo sent off.
Mourinho’s side had looked on course to maintain their dominance over their neighbours when Ronaldo powered home a 14th minute corner.
However, Diego Lopez restored parity just before half time when he fired home a 20-yard shot following a fine turn and pass from Radamel Falcao.
Paris Saint-Germain have been linked with Real Madrid‘s Cristiano Ronaldo for most of the season and they are preparing a mammoth offer for him with the hope of hijacking his move to back to Manchester United.
According to ‘L’Equipe’, PSG will offer Real Madrid €100m for the striker and that the French Champions will offer a salary that would make him the second best paid footballer in the world, only behind Samuel Et’oo.
Reportedly, PSG are offering Ronaldo 18 million euros after tax per season. That is net. With Frances’s top tex rate at 75%, that means PSG are willing to pay Ronaldo around €68m A YEAR.
Frank Lampard has turned down a move to Major League Soccer and instead signed a new one-year contract with Chelsea.
There has been speculation about Lampards future all season, but his form has caused Chelsea to reconsider their stance, and offer Lampard a new one-year deal. The announcement was made this morning after he captained the Blues in last night’s Europa League final win over Benfica in Amsterdam.
Lampard, who will be 35 next month, said on www.chelseafc.com:
“I’m absolutely delighted. Everybody knows I always maintained the dream was to stay at Chelsea. We’ve been talking for ages and even though it went on for quite a period it was always amicable.
Another week and FC Dallas remains atop the MLS power rankings with the Montreal Impact in second. Interestingly, the club most likely to win the MLS Cup, the LA Galaxy have dropped to seventh.
Here is how MLS Soccer ranks the teams. Do you Agree or disagree with the rankings from mlssoccer.com? Let us know in the comments below.
1: FC Dallas
Got four points from two games in four days with essentially one half from David Ferreira. Also did their work without George John and Andrew Jacobson, and missed Jackson for a bit as well. Finding a way to get results in those circumstances means it’s official: Dallas are really good.
David Beckham has announced that he will retire from football at the end of this season. The former LA Galaxy, Man United and Real Madrid star will call it a day after winning the French league title with Paris St Germain.
He said: “I’m thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level.”
Beckham added:
Chelsea became the first side to hold the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League titles simultaneously as Branislav Ivanovic’s stoppage-time header earned a 2-1 victory over Benfica in Amsterdam.
Fernando Torres’ sixth goal in six Europa League games gave the Blues a lead which was cancelled out by a penalty from Oscar Cardozo, awarded for handball against Cesar Azpilicueta. Frank Lampard hit the bar in the 88th minute before the winner came from the most unlikely source as defender Ivanovic, who missed last May’s Champions League win through suspension, headed in a corner in the first minute of stoppage time.
Huge summer for Jürgen Klinsmann and the US National Team. The Americans have two World Cup qualifiers at home, plus the Gold CUp and two friendlies against Belgium and Germany.
US Friendlies:
May 29: USA v Belgium in Cleveland OH - . Buy USA v Belgium Tickets
June 2: USA v Germany at RFK Stadium - Buy USA v Germany Tickets
Both Belgium and Germany have named their squads for the games, with Belgium bringing over their strongest side. Squads are below:
Belgium
GOALKEEPERS: Koen Casteels (TSG Hoffenheim), Thibaut Courtois (Atlético de Madrid), Jean-François Gillet (FC Torino), Simon Mignolet (Sunderland AFC)
There is a game of chicken going on between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain over the future services of Carlo Ancelotti.
It has been clear for months that Real Madrid want Ancelotti to replace Jose Mourinho. The problem is that Ancelotti has one year left on his PSG contract and the French champions do not seem inclined to let him walk away for free.
Earlier this week Nasser al-Khelaïfi, the owner of PSG, expressed his displeasure at how Madrid was tapping up his manager in an interview with ‘L’Equipe’:
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