(10 for 10; 7th Entry): Virtual Postcard from West Virginia

Greetings to our blog readers in Malaysia, Brazil, and Spain.....

Today, we continue our occasional tradition of virtual postcards with an image of the Hawks Nest State Park in West Virginia, located one hour east of the state capital Charleston. The park is a common destination during the autumn months.

For those of you who follow MLS soccer, we have just learned that Sebastian Giovinco scored two goals for Toronto FC in the team's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

http://www.hawksnestsp.com/

http://gotowv.com/

http://www.charlestonwv.com

http://www.torontofc.ca/

Soccer Week (2 of 8): Americans Abroad

We are going to present you with a list of 11 American soccer players, which is the same number of soccer players on a team. All of the players except Orozco Fiscal who plays for Puebla in the Mexican Premiere League play for European teams.

The player pictured is Aron Johannsson who plays for traditional Dutch power AZ Alkmaar.

Here is the list:

1) Jozy Altidore (Sunderland, English Premiere League)*

2) Tim Howard (goalkeeper, Everton, EPL)

3) Geoff Cameron (Stokes City, EPL)

4) Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna, Austria)

5) Michael Bradley (AS Roma, Italy)

6) Steve Clark (goalkeeper, Honefoss, Norway)

7) Orozco Fiscal (Puebla, Mexico)

8) Aron Johansson (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands)

9) Jermaine Jones (Shalke '04, Germany)

10) Sacha Kljesten (Anderlecht, Belgium)

11) Tony Taylor (Omonia Nicosai, Cyprus)

http://www.goal.com

http://www.yanks-abroad.com

http://www.politcscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com (Sister blog)

*-His name is (yikes!) not spelled correctly on our links....

Soccer Night_ MLS Run-Down

Yes, yes, yes.....we aware that a new week of soccer is underway both here in America and around the globe, but we do have scores and standings as of LAST week in Major League Soccer.

The Montreal Impact are standing strong in the Eastern Conference, which includes teams from Houston and Kansas City (?!), but at least the San Jose Earthquakes play in the West. They won a home game over the Chicago Fire by a 2-0 score in the NBC Sports Network Game of the Week. We actually watched a tape of the game, but we can't recall who kicked the goals.

But, the Imapct feautre the likes of Matteo Ferrai (pictured top), and Italian player who also played for the Turkish team Besiktash, Dany Arnaud, an American national who is the captain, and Sanna Nyassi from Gambia.

All the way over in Portland, Ore., the Portland Timbers, a team that is in third place in the West, featured another Gambian player Mamadou Danso and a roster of players from over 15 countries, including Diego Chara (pictured botton) who is one of four Timbers players from Colombia.

Amazingly enough, DC United, one of our favorite teams and the winner of four MLS championships, is in dead last in the east with a mere 4 points, and a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew didn't help matters.

Here are the standings:

East

1. Montreal Impact 16

2. New York Red Bull 14

3. Houston Dynamo 14

4. Sporting Kansas City 14

West

1. FC Dallas 20

2. L.A. Galaxy (pictured) 14

3. Portland Timbers 14

4. Chivas USA (Los Angeles) 11

5. Real Salt Lake 11


Scores:

Montreal 2 Chicago 0

Vancouver 2 Dallas 2, tie

Houston 1 Colorado 1, tie

LA Galaxy 2 Real Salt Lake 0

New England 2 Philadelphia 0

Chivas 2 San Jose 2, tie

Portland 3 Sporting Kansas City 2

Columbus 3 DC United 0

http://www.impactmontreal.com.en

http://www.portlandtimbers.com

http://www.lagalaxy.com

Sports Desk- Zambia is Feeling the Joy of Victory

In what may well be one of the greatest sports stories in recent years, the southern African nation of Zambia won soccer's African Cup of Nations with a 0-0 (8-7) victory over heavily favored Ivory Coast in Libreville, Gabon, yesterday.

The Gabonese capital was the site of a great soccer tragedy for Zambia some 20 years ago in 1993 when a military plane carrying 30 people, including 18 Zambian soccer players for the national team, crashed killing everyone on the plane.

But, yesterday, Stopira Sunzu, 22, killed the game-winning penalty kick to prople Zambia to vicotry. Goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene, 27, (pictured) was the other hero of the game for Zambia as he stopped a penalty kick from Ivory Coast superstar Didier Drogba (who also plays for Chelsea) during the penalty shoot-out phase of the game.

To put into terms of how incredible Zambia's road to victory, which also included a 1-0 victory over Cup favorite Ghana in the semi-finals, it essentially would be something akin to an Ivy League school winning the Final Four here in America.

Ivory Coast has many soccer icons, including English Premiere League players in Droba, Gervinho (Arsenal) and Yaya Toure (Manchester City).

During regulation time, Drogba also missed a penalty kick in the 70th minute of play and a header in extra-time. Toure also missed a key goal-scoring opportunity in the 30th minute of play.

For Zambia, Emmanuel Mayuka, who scored the game-winning goal over Ghana, missed a key chance to win the game in regulation.

The BBC reported this morning, that people were puring onto the streets of Lusaka, Zambia's capital and celebrating well into the night.

Sports Desk- English Soccer Winners

Interesting week for English soccer as many rivals met each other. Yesterday, English soccer star Glen Johnson (pictured here) kicked in the game-winng goal for Liverpool against his former team Chelsea, giving his new team a 2-1 win. Argentinian Maxi Rodriguez scored for Liverpool earlier in the 33rd minute. And, Englishman Daniel Sturridge scored the lone goal for Chelsea in the 55th minute.

I was able to watch that game on American television yesterday, but I overslept Arsenal's 2-1 win over Norwich City, which aired at 7:30 a.m. here in les etats unis SAturday morning. Dutch star Robin ven Persie game through for Arsenal with goals in the 27th and 59th minute. Welsh player Steve Morison scored for Norwich in the 16th minute.

League leader Manchester City also won on Saturday by pummeling Newcastle 3-1. The goals for Manchester City came from Italian Mario Balotelli (41st minute); English player M. Richards (44th minute) and Argentinian Kun Aguero (72nd minute). English player Dan Gosling scored the lone goal late in the game for Newcastle.

And, today, Tottenham climbed to a third place tie with Newcastle after the team's 2-0 win over Aston Villa. Both goals for Tottenham came from Togo national player Emmanuel Adebayor.

Manchester United is second behind Manchester City in the English League thanks to the team's 1-0 win over Swansea on Saturday.

Here are the complete results of weekend play:

Fulham 0 Sunderland 0

Manchester City 3 Newcastle 1

Tottenham 2 Aston Villa 0

Queens Park 3 Stoke City 2

Everton 2 Wolverton 1

Manchester United 1 Swansea 0

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 1

Arsenal 2 Norwich City 1

Blackburn 3 Wigan Athletic 1

W. Bromal 2 Bolton 1

SIDEBAR: I read a funny tweet from Turkish soccer authority Ahmet Bob Turgut, who lives here in America. The tweet was in Turkish, but it simply asked "Is Anyone in Turkey watching the MLS Cup?"

For those who missed it, irregardless if you are in Boston or Istanbul, was:
L.A. Galaxy 1 Houston 0. The lone goal for the Galaxy was scored by American soccer star Landon Donovan in the 72nd minute.

Quote of the Day- Franz Beckenbauer

Today, in our series of quotes from famous Germans, we quip the great German soccer player Franz Beckenbauer, 66, who was credited with inventing the modern sweeper/libero position and who is one of many legendary soccer players who played for Bayern Munich.

Beckenbauer helped then West Germany win the World Cup in 1974, and he helped Bayern Munich win three straight European soccer titles from 1974-76. The German soccer great also played in the first incarnation of pro soccer in America with the New York Cosmos from 1977-80, '83 (Today's MLS team in New York is called the Red Bulls).

Here is his quoteL

"Certainly, it is a different world for players nowadays. But, it depends on the individual."

SIDEBAR: Many of today's top German soccer players are of Turkish origin. These players often get caught up in the politics of whether to play for Germany or Turkey. Interstingly enough, the current roster of Real Madrid, believed to be the best team in Europe, consists of three such players in superstar Mesut Ozil, Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin.

Ozil chose to play for Germany, while Altintop and Sahin chose to play for Turkey. In a 3-0 defeat to Croatia on Friday, Altintop reportedly made an amazing dive which has become popular on Youtube. Hamit Altintop's twin brother Halil Altintop plays for the Turkish team Trabzonspor, which is also competing in the UEFA Cup.

Things We Learned from Wikipedia This Week- How Many Titles DC United Has Won

We continue our examination of soccer clubs around the world by going to our own backyard today and focusing on the Major League Soccer team DC United(well, I do live outside the DC Metro area, but it is the closest MLS team to North Carolina).

I've decided to change the format of this entry series, by presenting information in the form of a trivia question, like one you might see on mentalfloss.com about who was on the cover of the classic Beatles record "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" (Fred Astaire was on the cover?!).

So, here is the question: DC United has won more MLS titles than any other team in the league; how many titles have they won?

Is the answer:

A) 3

B) 4

C) 5

D) 6

DC United hosts the New England Revolution on July 20, which will be college night, so if you go to Georgetown, George Mason University or the University of Maryland, you can take in a soccer game for $15.

Talon the Eagle is the team's mascot; Josh Wolff is new captain for United. And, the team that started with the league in 1995 features a player from Zimbabwe named Joseph Ngwenya, 30.


SIDEBAR: Yes, assuredly 9,000 other bloggers are mentioning that Japan beat the United States team in a penalty shoot-out to win the 2011 Women's World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany.

The official score of the game is 2-2. On the American side, Alex Morgan and Abby Wombach contributed the two goals. For Japan, which trailed much of the game, the goals came from Aya Miyama and Homore Sawa, who also got the tournament's golden boot.

We will miss U.S. goalie Hope Solo, 30, but hopefully she will make it back for the next World Cup.

Incidentally, psychologists say those who win bronze medals tend to be happier than those who win silver since the silver-medal winners are likely to think about the gold they could have gotten. So, perhaps, it bears mentioning that Sweden won the third place game over France by a 2-1 score.

Quote of the Week-Umberto Eco

Today our quote of the week comes from Italian novelist Umberto Eco (b.1932) who is best known here for his debut novel "The Name of the Rose," which was the basis for a Sean Connery film of the same name.

Since, we were unable to quote four Italians for our series within a series this month, we will quote one more Italian next month.

This year, Italy is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the country's unification.

Here is the quote from Eco:

"Better reality than a dream: if something is real, then it's real and you're not to blame."

SIDEBAR: Interestingly enough, Italy and Argentina, two countries which are traditional powerhouses in men's soccer are not among the 16 countries at the 2011 Women's World Cup, which is currently underway in Germany.

Today, Team USA won a 2-0 victory over North Korea, one of George W. Bush's 'Axis of Evil' nations (which amazingly enough did not include Syria!). For Team USA, both goals came in the second half from Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler. Goal-tender Hope Solo, who is known for being outspoken, delivered the shut-out in Dresden.

In other Group C action, Sweden beat Colombia 1-0. Both Sweden and Norway are considered to be stellar teams when it comes to women's soccer.

Special Quote of the Week- Freddy Adu

We continue our special quotes from African-American athletes, past and present, with a quip from soccer star Freddy Adu, 21, who became the youngest person to play a soccer game in Major League Soccer as a member of DC United when he was just 13.

As of Feb. 1, Adu is now playing for the Turkish soccer team Rizespor in the Black Sea city of Rize, Turkey. This comes as an irony to me as my late father came from Turkey. And, though I try to follow Turkish soccer and I follow Adu on Twitter, this was knowledge I just learned today.

Over the weekend, Adu's Rizespor beat OrduSpor 3-0. RizeSpor also features Liberian soccer star Theo Weeks.

Adu, whose family immigrated from Ghana to Rockville, Md., when he was 8, played for DC United until 2006. After playing for Real Salt Lake, he jumped over the pond to play for the Portuguese team Benfica.

Here is the quote from Adu:

"You can't do anything to help your team when you don't play."

One can follow Adu on Twitter at:

http://www.twitter.com/FreddyAdu11

You can keep up with Turkish soccer by following Ahmet Bob Turgut:

http://twitter.com/turkishsoccer

This weekend, traditional Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce defeated rival Besiktas 4-2 with three goals from Brazilian star Alex.

SIDEBAR: I have to salute my good friend Chris Knight, a fellow blogger, who is standing up for us. Yesterday, he tweeted that he disagreed with a "New York Times" article stating that blogs were decreasing in popularity due to Facebook and Twitter. Knight said that one simply can not say everything within Twitter's space limitations. With all due respect to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, we couldn't agree more.

Kudos to Team USA (In Spite of Ghana Loss)

Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and goalie Tim Howard had an impressive World Cup tournament. We are proud of the American team which won their group over three quality teams in England, Slovenia and Algeria. Even though they lost to Ghana 2-1 on Saturday, we are very proud of team.

Donovan, 28, who scored the goal against Ghana on a penalty kick, will be rejoining his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates soon in MLS play as the team looks to improve on last year when they lost in overtime to Real Salt Lake in the league's title game.

Other countries of the world were disappointed by the weekend's results, including Mexico which lost to Argentina 3-1 yesterday.

A Mexican waiter Los Tres Magueyes Restaurant in Cary, NC, (well actually it was another Mexican restaurant in North Carolina, but this place does really exist!) told me on Friday: "Maybe, we beat Argentina. Maybe, we don't."

Much like the American team, Mexico had a good World Cup, but they simply faced a daunting opponent in Argentina which has yet to lose a game in South Africa.

For other World Cup news, check out our blog entry on Paul the Octopus on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

You know while I'm doing this, I could actually be watching the Holland-Slovakia game which is going on right now. I imagine we know who tennis player Daniela Hantuchova is rooting for?!

Quote of the Day- Audrey Hepburn

She is best known for her role in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," yet she won an Oscar for her earlier performance in "Roman Holiday" with Gregory Peck.

We are quoting Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) in our series of 32 quotes from 32 people associated with the 32 countries in the World Cup.

I must profess that with Hepburn we are sort of 'cheating' as she was born in Belgium, but she spent most of her adult life in Switzerland. Since the Swiss, who shocked Spain 1-0, are in the World Cup and Tintinland is not, we are posting Hepburn's quote for Switzerland.

Many Americans are surprised to learn that one of the nicest hotels in Istanbul, Turkey, is actually Swissotel, an international chain which also has hotels in Chicago (but presumably nowhere else in les etats unis, Berlin, Beijing, Lima (Peru) and (of course) Geneva. They also have two other hotels in Turkey in Ankara and Izmir.

The Swissotel in Istanbul overlooks the Bosporus and it also reportedly has a very, very nice spa.

As for the World Cup, in today's action, our American boys came from behind to tie Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic which Sarah Palin probably thinks is in West Africa somewhere near Ghana (they are also in the World Cup).

The Slovenian goals came from Valter Birsa (25th min.) and Zlatan Ljubijankic (and, people think my Turkish last name is hard to spell!). While the American goals came from superstar Landon Donovan (48th min.) and Michael Bradley (82nd min.); there was also an American goal which was called back by referee Koman Coulibay from Mali (who coincidentally turns 40 on the Fourth of July).

Coulibay's Wikipedia page was hacked in response to the highly-controversial call sometime today. This of course makes me wonder if some kid from Skokie, Ill., (a Chicago suburb) or Bethesda, Md. (a DC 'burb), has to much time on his hands!

Oh, before I forget, here is our quote from Hepburn, who was also known for her charity work in places like Africa (perhaps she went to Ghana and Mali!):

"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."

Shakespeare Over Soccer?!

The United State men's national soccer team hosted Turkey yesterday afternoon in a 'friendly' game in Philadelphia, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for the home team.

A few hours prior to learning about the game, I brought tickets to see a matinee performance of William Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Staunton, Va., some four and a half hours south of Philly.

The soccer game was airing on ESPN-2 at 1:30 p.m., just a half hour before the curtain was to rise, so I phoned a friend in North Carolina to see if by chance he would tivo the game for me. As it turned out, Osman Bey (not his real name) was taking the whole extended family, a party of 11 people including his toddler grandchildren, to Philly for the game!

The game was apparently an exciting one as Turkey scored first on a goal from Arda Turdan, who plays for Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray, in the 27th minute. But, the second half completely belonged to the home squad as Team America scored an equalizer in the 58th minute as Robbie Findley, who plays for the current MLS champ Real Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah) lofted a pass to American star Landon Donovan of the L.A. Galaxy who in turned passed the ball to teammate Jozy Altidore who scored the goal.

Then, Clint Dempsey, on another Donovan assist, snuck the ball past Turkish goalie Volkan Demirel, who plays for another Istanbul powerhouse FenerBahce, in the 75th minute to give Team America a 2-1 lead which they held on to until game's end.

The match was played in front of 55,047 people at Lincoln Field. Afterward, Donovan told reporters that: "We're going to be good as we want to be." Team American next faces England in the World Cup in South Africa in June. Vice President Joe Biden will be attending the game in person.

As for the Turkish side, the newspaper "Today's Zaman" speculated that partisan Turkish soccer fans might be hostile towards new team coach Guus Hiddink (a Dutch citizen) if play doesn't improve. Turkey did not qualify for this year's World Cup though their arch rivals Greece did.

The Turkey-USA game put me in a bit of a political quandary as I am a Turkish-American, and though I grew up in Roanoke, Va., I felt compelled to root for my late father's country.

But, apparently, my situation was not as awkward as the one that Guiseppe Rossi, 23, an Italian-American soccer player who grew up in Clifton, NJ, faced as he chose not only to play for Italy, but he scored two goals for his team in a win over the United States earlier this year! Hence, some partisan American soccer fans have taken to calling him 'Judas.'

As for "All's Well That Ends Well," the production was simply delightful though I was glad I didn't have a Blackberry which might have forced me to check the score of the game during the play's intermission.

The ever-gorgeous actress Kelly McKinnon was delightful as The Countess and the barefoot pilgrim Mariana as was African-American actress Brandi Rhome who played the roles of Diana and Steward in the production. She plays Juliet in one of the troupe's other current plays "Romeo and Juliet." Rick Blunt also stood out as Parolles as did Josh Carpenter who played The Duke and (interestingly enough!) the widow.

For more information about tickets and performances, log on to www.ASCstaunton.com or call 1-877-MUCH-ADO.