Mexico... USA is your daddy!

What else can you say when everyone and their momma is writing an article or blog about the U.S. victory over Mexico?
I'll just let the video do the talking!

MLS confirms Barcelona Miami would start playing in 2010

MLS Commissioner Don Garber confirmed that Miami will begin playing in 2010 according to Greg Lalas of Goal.com.

Garber states: "Barcelona and Miami, in partnership with Marcelo Claure, are focused on 2010," he said Wednesday at a press event in Columbus, Ohio. "If Miami gets a franchise, they’ll be starting in the 2010 season."

Now MLS claims they will make an announcement on the two winning bids next month, around the time the 2009 MLS season kicks off on March 19.

The favorite is clearly Miami with Vancouver and Portland fighting over the remaining slot. St Louis and Ottawa have an outside chance as Garber continued with the following:

"St. Louis is making good progress," he said. "I have some meetings with their ownership group later today and a potential partner they’ve brought in on the corporate side. They continue to be very active, and as I’ve said before, we’d love to have a team in St. Louis."

"We can’t go to Ottawa or any other city unless we have the appropriate venue," Garber said. "The venue Eugene Melnyk is proposing, they’ve got a really good shot for a team. But without a stadium, they’d never have a shot at all.

I don't know about the rest of you Miami fans but I'm getting ready to break my piggy bank for my season tickets! All Miami fans should go to the Miami FCB site and reserve your season tickets!

Judge rules TV is an "essential good" needed to watch Soccer!

As I wrote on the Orlando Sentinel Blog, I hope one day the United States will make Football...ummm, Soccer, an "essential good" like a judge claims in Brazil! (At least I wish... ) From Reuters 'Oddly Enough'!

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A Brazilian judge awarded $2,600 in damages to a man who sued a store for not replacing his faulty television set, ruling that it was an "essential good" needed to watch soccer and a popular reality TV show...

Here is the rest of the article:

Reuters Oddly Enough

Make up your mind MLS! Vancouver, Miami, Ottawa, Portland and St. Louis wait for your answer...

I think I speak for all Soccer fans in MLS expansion cities when I express my anger concerning Major League Soccer's continued delays to finally give us the names of the final 2 cities that will enter the league in 2011.

According to The Weekly Sport League and Franchise Report: 'The announcement for the next two MLS expansion teams might not be made until late March or April!' What are they waiting for...? April Fools day? The report goes on to say that 'Vancouver and Miami appear to be the frontrunner's with Ottawa, Portland and St. Louis having issues with financing or stadium deals.' I wonder where they get their info from?

I'm sure the bigwigs of MLS have already made their decision, they just want the rest of us to suffer and keep reading the Beckham drama, because if you really think about it, even though Beckham is dissing MLS and the Galaxy for A.C.Milan, it still gets them in the news. It's all over, even CNN is reporting it folks!

If you think about it;MLS is strong with or without Beckham, having secured another 3 year deal with Panasonic and having what was once 7 cities fight over 2 expansion slots. It says something when investment groups are willing to pay $40M to get into a League many foreigners call second rate. Yeah, MLS is strong and here to stay!

I say we all write to Commissioner Garber at don.garber@mlsnet.com and ask him to stop all the shenanigans and give us an answer! Who will the teams be? Don't make us wait until April!

Miami Fans: don't forget to join and meet the Miami Ultras on Wednesday Feb 11 at Moriano Restaurant and watch the USA vs. Mexico match! Moriano is located just north of downtown Miami at 3221 NE 2nd Avenue.

Go USA! Go Barcelona Miami!

Maradona video by Manu Chao "La Vida Tombola"

In a tribute to Maradona, Manu Chao (Born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on June 21, 1961 in Paris, France) dedicates a catchy tune to one of his idols.
Manu, of Spanish (Galician-Basque) origin, develops a video grasping the many facets of Maradonas past, showing us a glimpse of highlights that demonstrate the greatness of a player many consider to be the best to ever walk this planet.
Diego Armando Maradona was born on October 30, 1960 in Lanus, Buenos Aires and is the current coach of the Argentine National Side.

To sum it up MANU Y MARADONA...GRANDES!!!!!
See the video:

USA vs. Mexico! Join the Miami Ultras Feb 11 at Moriano

Join and meet the Miami Ultras on Wednesday Feb 11 at Moriano Restaurant and watch the USA vs. Mexico match! Moriano is located just north of downtown Miami at 3221 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL see map!

View Larger Map
The Festivities start at 6 pm and go on till 10pm.
The Miami Ultras are the official fans of the USL Miami FC and for the soon to be formed Barcelona Miami Major League Soccer team (Cross your fingers!)
Come out and be part of the fun! Go USA!

The Other Barcelona... and it's not in the United States or Spain!

Now that it looks like Barcelona FC along with Brightstar's Marcelo Claure will be awarded an MLS team here in Miami, the word "Barcelona" is no longer just a city in Spain.

But before there was talk of Barcelona in MLS there was another team created some 25 years after the original team was established.

On May 1, 1925 Eutimio Pérez, a Catalan immigrant from Barcelona, Spain founded Barcelona Sporting Club in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Contrary to popular belief Eutimio named the team after the city and not the team. It was years later that the crest which is almost a carbon copy of the one used by Barcelona FC, was adopted.

Barcelona SC is arguably the most successful team in Ecuadorean Soccer history having won the national tournament a record 13 times (Hence the stars around the crest), a distinction it shares with Nacional of Quito. Barcelona has also disputed the final of the Copa Libertadores twice but was unsuccessful each time.

Barcelona S.C is by far the most popular team in Ecuador and in 1987 they inaugurated "El Monumental"stadium playing versus Barcelona FC! This game ended with the home team winning 1-0. Barcelona SC invited many South American football celebrities, such as Pele, to the inauguration. Pelé was so astonished, he compared the stadium to the famous Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. The Estadio Monumental has a capacity of 89,930 spectators, making it at that time the second largest stadium in South America in terms of capacity. Today it remains the largest stadium in the South American West Coast.

For more on Barcelona SC go here: http://www.bsc.ec/

Here is a video of the stadium at almost capacity. I hope to see our Miami Ultras as passionate and numerous as the ones cheering on this Barcelona team!