THE FINAL THIRD

Fulham 2-2 Manchester United – English Premier League

See the rest of the goals after the break . . .
(continue reading…)

Good to see USA International Stuart Holden in a starting role at Bolton. More touches on the ball over 90 minutes would be better, however, Bolton has a long-ball style of play.

by Guardian Chalkboards

Mark Schwarzer has submitted a transfer request at Fulham, it has been revealed. The Sun says Schwarzer has stunned new Fulham boss Mark Hughes by slapping in a transfer request. The Aussie keeper, 37, wants to force a move to Arsenal, who bid £2million before the World Cup. But Hughes wants Schwarzer to stay and will play hardball.

Source: Tribal football

Despite notching a record 96 points, Barcelona must defeat Valladolid at home on Sunday to retain their La Liga title and leave rivals Real Madrid empty-handed as an epic title race reaches its conclusion.

Going into the final day of the season, Real are just a point behind and praying Barca slip-up against troubled Valladolid.
Madrid are at Malaga, another team fighting for survival, knowing they need to win and hoping Valladolid take points from the champions.

“It is the most demanding league (campaign) I can remember,” said Barcelona captain Carles Puyol. “The table speaks for itself. Finishing with 99 points is an incredible amount.”

“There are two teams that have been above the rest in recent years and Barcelona have certainly played the better football in recent years.”

Barcelona have the comfort of knowing their destiny is in their own hands but anything but a win could see them lose the title on the final day of the season.

Real must win to stand any chance of becoming champions as Barcelona would win the title due to their superior head-to-head record if the sides finished level on points.

It is a nervy moment for coach Pep Guardiola, who comes up against Javier Clemente, once his national coach with Spain and now Valladolid manager.

Valladolid are one of four teams on 36 points that could go down and are only in with a shout of survival after one defeat from seven matches under Clemente.

Guardiola must do without suspended playmaker Xavi and full back Maxwell but can call on Lionel Messi who is set to land the Pichichi crown for the league’s top-scorer with his 32 goals, five better than Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain.

Malaga are third from bottom but level on points with Racing Santander and Valladolid above them.

“It is difficult to win the league but anything can happen in football,” said Real superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We have to win in Malaga and see what happens in Barcelona.”

Guti (33) is poised to play his final game at Malaga, ending his 15-year association with Real before an expected summer move to Galatasary.

Elsewhere there are Champions League and Europa League duels and slip-ups on the final day could cost teams millions of euros.

Sevilla hold fourth place and the final Champions League qualifying spot but can’t afford to drop points against Almeria on Saturday with Real Mallorca just a point behind.

Mallorca are at home to Espanyol, aiming for a 15th home win, knowing a draw would not do even if Sevilla lost.

Getafe are clinging to sixth and the final Europa League spot with Villarreal level on 55 points.

Getafe will travel to city rivals Atletico Madrid, who defeated Fulham on Wednesday to win the Europa League final for their first trophy since 1996.

Villarreal will hope Atletico, who have nothing to play for, put the effort in against Getafe and fulfill their end of the bargain by winning away at Real Zaragoza.

There is everything to play for at the bottom, with no team relegated as five sides battle to stay in the top flight.

Bottom side Xerez are three points from safety and need to win at Osasuna and hope the four other teams in trouble all lose to pull off the great escape.

Racing Santander, Malaga, Valladolid and Tenerife are all on 36 points.

Malaga and Valladolid have the toughest tasks against Real Madrid and Barcelona, giving Racing and Tenerife more hope of staying up as they play against teams with nothing to play for.

Racing are at home to Sporting Gijon, while promoted Tenerife will travel to Valencia, who have already sealed third place, on Sunday.

Fixtures

Saturday
Bilbao v Deportivo La Coruna (5pm GMT)
Atletico Madrid v Getafe (7pm GMT)
Real Zaragoza v Villarreal (17pm GMT)
Real Mallorca v Espanyol (9pm GMT)
Almeria v Sevilla (9pm GMT)

Sunday – all at 6pm GMT
Racing Santander v Sporting Gijon
Barcelona v Valladolid
Valencia v Tenerife
Osasuna v Xerez, Malaga v Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid 2 – 1 Fulham FC – Europa League Final

Making even the 30-man provisional roster for the World Cup is a serious accomplishment. For some countries like Brazil, Argentina and Italy you could almost field two very competitive sides. La Marca has come up with a list of the best that did not make the squad for their respective countries. It is filled with top class players that compete at the highest level in the world on a weekly basis. Check it out.

Porteros: Alves (Almería), Palop (Sevilla), Munúa (Málaga), Renan (Xerez), Robinson (Blackburn).

Defensas: Marcelo (Real Madrid -está incluido en una lista de reservas ante posibles lesiones, pero si no hay novedades no estará en Sudáfrica), Zanetti (Inter de Milán), Wayne Bridge (Manchester City, por sus problemas con Terry), Gaby Milito (Barcelona), Emanuelson (Ajax, Holanda), Tremoulinas (Burdeos, Francia) y Filipe Luis (Deportivo).

Centrocampistas: Cambiasso (Inter de Milán), Gago (Real Madrid), Vieira (Francia), Diego (Juventus), Ronaldinho (Brasil), Reyes (Atlético de Madrid), Guti (Real Madrid), Cassano (Sampdoria), Totti (Roma) Nasri (Arsenal), Hargreaves (Man Utd), Banega (Valencia), Cebolla Rodríguez (Oporto), Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisboa) y Quaresma (Inter).

Delanteros: Benzema (Real Madrid), Pato (Milán), Van Nistelrooy (Hamburgo), Bobby Zamora (Fulham), Luca Toni (Roma), Amauri (Juventus), Fabrizio Miccoli (Palermo), Adriano (Flamengo), Neymar (Santos).

Bob Bradley has named his 30 man provisional roster for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Obviously the big question on the minds of everyone was what he was going to do up front with the loss of Charlie Davies. It seems Ching, Gomez, Findley, Johnson and Buddle are going to fight it out for a spot or two. Are you scared?

Jozy didn’t do much at Hull but you have to figure that he is a shoe in along with Donovan and Dempsey with the later two listed in the midfield. Our chronic issue of not having a truly special striker is continuing to haunt us once again. Let’s hope our superior goalkeeping and some toughness in the back can keep us in matches.

U.S. TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)

DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS (12): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

The squad will start training at Princeton University on May 15th, with games against the Czech Republic in East Hartford, CT on May 25th, and against Turkey in Philadelphia on May 29th. They will leave for South Africa on the 30th and play Australia there on the 5th of June.