A Farewell To Eddie Johnson And Other Aztex News & Notes

NEWS:

Austin Aztex: League’s Leading Goal Scorer Eddie Johnson Transferred to Portland

The Aztexan: Timbers Sign Eddie Johnson to 2011 MLS Team

NewsOK.com: Timbers sign 3 of their own for 1st MLS season

SB Nation: Major League Soccer Expansion: Portland Timbers Sign Four Players

Sports Network: Portland signs first four players

KGW.com: MLS Timbers sign Dike, Cronin, Pore and former Aztex Johnson

World Soccer Reader: Portland Timbers Announce Four MLS Signings

Soccer By Ives: Timbers look to build after adding first four players

OregonLive: Timbers announce first signed players for MLS

KPTV.Com: Portland Timbers Name 4 Players To MLS Squad



NOTES:

One thing that took me by surprised is that the Timbers signed Eddie Johnson during the season and then loaned him back to Austin for the rest of the season. You wondered why the Montreal Impact announcers mentioned Eddie's signing during the Impact-Aztex playoff broadcast and Miguel Gallardo mentioning about Johnson's departure on last week's Futbol En Vivo. To me, its all about both the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps using all of their means (and loopholes) to sign players before entering MLS and their strict rules and regulations of getting players. I would not be surprise if the Montreal Impact will do the same for next season in preparation for 2012.

For those who want to reminisce about Eddie Johnson, you can listen to him along with Djorn Buchholz on Episode 5 of In The Mixer podcast. Also you can listen to last week's Episode 8 of In The Mixer podcast recapping the Austin Aztex's 2010 season and what to look forward towards next season. It's best to listen to Episode 5 while drinking an Aztex Amber Ale (whom his picture is on the bottle) in his honor. We wish him to best of luck (expect playing them in the U.S. Open Cup ;-) ) with the Portland Timbers next season in MLS.



The other news is that Austin Aztex midfielder Yordany Alvarez is on trial with the Houston Dynamo. We now know why Dominic Kinnear was scouting at House Park during the Aztex-Impact 2nd leg game. I know that it's only a trial, but the FC Dallas fan in me doesn't want him to go to Houston as he's along with Lawrence Olum a stable Aztex force pair in central midfield. Plus the fact he's looks better in Aztex red and white instead of Dynamo orange. ;-) So we will see how that one plays out and what Kinnear's judgment is on Alvarez.

Stuart Holden on Good Morning America

My New Year's Soccer Resolution

Normally I don't do any New Year's resolutions because to me they are a waste of time and energy. Stuff like this always happens every year:

• Hangover from New Year's Day Party (I never attend them).
• Bombardment of "Getting Healthy As A Resolution"commercials & news reports from fitness & gym companies just to get you (and your money) to come into their gym.
• Eating black eye peas, cabbage, etc.. on New Year's Day just for good luck. (Yeah right!)
• Firecrackers shooting out from drunk people. Much like last night.
  
• Watching the usual {Insert Some Crappy Corporate Name} college bowl throwball game on TV.
  

So I decided to give out my realistic soccer resolutions for 2010. This is in no particular order:

Insert Caption Here

Because you know you want to.

MLS Week 7 & USL-1 Week 4 Results

MLS Week 7

Saturday, May 2

Toronto FC 1-1 Columbus Crew
Attendance: 19,998

D.C. United 2-1 FC Dallas
Attendance: 14,225

Chicago Fire 1-1 Seattle Sounders FC
Attendance: 10,288

Colorado Rapids 2-0 Real Salt Lake
Attendance: 9,045

San Jose Earthquakes 0-1 Chivas USA
Attendance: 10,049

Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 New York Red Bulls
Attendance: 21,006

Sunday, May 3

New England Revolution 0-2 Houston Dynamo
Attendance: 9,112



USL-1 Week 4

Thu, April 30, 2009

Portland Timbers 0-0 Carolina RailHawks
Attendance: 8,549


Fri, May 1, 2009

Cleveland City Stars 0-3 Rochester Rhinos
Attendance: 2,087

Sat, May 2, 2009

Puerto Rico Islanders 3-2 Montreal Impact
Attendance: 4,022

Miami FC Blues 0-1 Charleston Battery
Attendance: 1,503

Minnesota Thunder 2-3 Vancouver Whitecaps
Attendance: 3,298

Portland Timbers 2-0 Carolina RailHawks
Attendance: 6,742

MLS Week 7 & USL-1 Week 4 Schedule

MLS Week 7

Saturday, May 2

Toronto FC vs Columbus Crew
4:00 p.m. (EST) DK, Match Center

D.C. United vs FC Dallas
7:30 p.m. (EST) 6:30 p.m. (CST) FSC, FSE

Chicago Fire vs Seattle Sounders FC
7:30 p.m. (CST) 5:30 p.m. (PST) DK, Match Center

Colorado Rapids vs Real Salt Lake
7:30 p.m. (MST) DK, Match Center

San Jose Earthquakes vs Chivas USA
7:30 p.m. (PST) DK, Match Center

Los Angeles Galaxy vs New York Red Bulls
7:30 p.m. (PST) 10:30 p.m.(EST) DK, Match Center

Sunday, May 3

New England Revolution vs Houston Dynamo
3:00 p.m (EST) 2:00 p.m (CST) Telefutura



USL-1 Week 4

Thu, April 30, 2009

Portland Timbers vs Carolina RailHawks
7:00 p.m. (PST) 10:00 p.m. (EST) PGE Park USL Live

Fri, May 1, 2009

Cleveland City Stars vs Rochester Rhinos
8:00 p.m. (EST) Middlefield Cheese Stadium (Bedford) FSC

Sat, May 2, 2009

Puerto Rico Islanders vs Montreal Impact
8:00 p.m. (EST) Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium USL Live

Miami FC Blues vs Charleston Battery
8:00 p.m. (EST) Tropical Park Stadium USL Live

Minnesota Thunder vs Vancouver Whitecaps
7:05 p.m. (CST) 5:05 p.m. (PST) National Sports Center USL Live

Portland Timbers vs Carolina RailHawks
7:00 p.m. (PST) 10:00 p.m. (EST) PGE Park USL Live

Monday Morning Midfielder: Aztex Debuts In A Draw & Texas MLS Teams Finally Won

Austin Aztex

Austin Aztex: Aztex FC tie Thunder 1-1 in USL-First Division debut

Chantico's Army: Match Report - Austin Aztex USL1 v. Minnesota Thunder

The Aztexan: Aztex Draw With Minnesota Thunder, 1-1

The Statesman: Aztex play to a draw in first game

News 8 Austin (Video): The Austin Aztex tie the Minnesota Thunder in USL-First Division Debut.


FC Dallas

FC Dallas: Cooper's brace gives FC Dallas first win

FC Dallas Blog: FC Dallas 3 Toronto FC 2

Dallas Morning News: Cooper scores twice in FC Dallas' first win of season


Houston Dynamo

Houston Dynamo: Dynamo top Rapids for first 2009 win

Houston Chronicle: Dynamo hang on to beat Rapids for first victory

Houston, We Have A (Stadium) Problem

After seeing highlights of the awful & crappy field conditions at Robinson Stadium last Saturday between Houston and Columbus, you hope to pray that the Dynamo will get their own stadium soon. Things were looking up when they announced on Tuesday that financing for Dynamo stadium is nearly a done deal and that they would share the stadium with Texas Southern University. Then according to Glenn Davis of the Soccer Hour, the deal just hit a snag thanks in part to the local Houston council members. The biggest fear from this is that Houston could lose their team (St. Louis a most likely destination). It's bad enough when MLS keeps promoting expansion teams like Seattle, Vancouver & Portland and yet totally ignores the stadium problems that their current teams are still facing like San Jose, New England, D.C. United & Houston. I for one personally (as a FC Dallas fan) doesn't not want Houston to move out of Texas especially when we are starting to grow the sport in the Lone Star State and that they already established a core fan based in the area. We can not let politics take away our passion for the game.

Monday Morning Midfielder: Aztex vs Dynamo Post-Game

What can I say.

Good crowd of 4,000+ at Nelson Field.
1st Aztex goal.
1st Aztex red card.
Electric atmosphere.
Smoke bombs & flares (from the Houston supporters that is). Not encouraged at Nelson Field.

And a 2-2 final score. Very good result for the Aztex. Much improved from last week's game against the Revs. But there are things that still need improving on. You can get the game summaries and reports from:

The Stateman: Aztex get 1st pro goal in club history, tie Houston Dynamo

Chantico's Army: Austin Aztex vs Houston Dynamo Match Report

Houston Dynamo: Dynamo tie Aztex 2-2 in friendly

Austin Aztex: Aztex secure 2-2 tie against Dynamo



My thoughts on the game:

* Sullivan Silva's goal was the highlight of the match even though he lasted only 20 minutes of the game. He had to come off with a hamstring injury. Let's hope the injury isn't serious and he can be able to perform this upcoming Saturday's game against the current MLS Champs the Columbus Crew.

* The referee's decision to give Gift's first yellow card was a joke. The second yellow maybe or maybe not. But it was harsh in my honest opinion.

* Is there one thing that the Aztex can not do is to conceded goals early in the half. Sadly that happen in the 2nd half.

* How sweet would it have been if Alvarez's last strike went in the back of the net instead of hitting the left post. That would've been an awesome result.

* Houston could have scored from both occasion: One in the 1st half from Ching's shot from the left edge of the box that went past Gallardo but wide of the right post. Then in the 2nd half Corey Ashe running down the left flank 1-on-1 with the keeper but his shot was way off target.



* Little disappointed that the Texian Army didn't bring a large number of supporters. Note the emphasizes on the word "little".

* Not surprised about El Batallón's number of supporters though.



After this incident the very next day, Capitol Metro Bus called for Ozone Action Day due to the heavy smog left behind from those Houston supporters. ;-)

Well that's all that I could think of. What do you think about the game? Please share your thoughts and post comments about about the game. Until then, I'll see you this Saturday when the Austin Aztex will take on the Village People from Columbus, Ohio. ;-)

Game Day - Aztex vs Dynamo

It's currently cloudy and windy here in Austin which is way better than last week's cold & windy weather. Hopefully tonight's game will be more spring-like weather instead of freezing winter-like weather. Knowing the El Batallón and Texian Army will be there will make the game even more passionate.

Now the question for Houston in this game is that are they going to start their reserve players after crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League by Atlante 3-0 (4-1 on agg.) or are they going to start their usual starters for the 1st half anf reserves in the 2nd half. Either way, they now must concentrate on their prepararion for the upcoming 2009 season and put their CCL exit behind them. But it's not going to be easy after losing Eddie Robinson 4-6 months with a knee injury. So will see if Julius James & Bobby Boswell can get the job done in the central defense. So of the key players that you should look for in the game are Ricardo Clark, Brian Ching, Corey Ashe & Stuart Holden (who sadly lost his father last week - our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family).

Meanwhile the Austin Aztex are looking to inprove from last week's lost to the New England Revolution and hope not to conceded early goals in each half. There was a nice artilce in the Statesmen this week about Gifton Noel-Williams and how he is settling into his new club and hopes to bring in his experiences to the Aztex. Then you have newly signed Aztex player Eddie Johnson (no, not that American striker Eddie Johnson ;-) ). The English midfielder comes over to the Aztex after playing for numerious clubs including Manchester United, Coverntry City & Bradford City. I would imagine that Adrian Heath is looking to solidify his starting 11 in this match. But I also think that he's looking to add new players comimg from the MLS, especially after the waiver draft. This author hopes that former FC Dallas & former Austin Aztex U-23 PDL player Jamie Watson returns to Austin and partners up with Gifton on the attack. The keey players to look for on the Aztex are Zach Pope, Kyle Brown (who was on the Wake Up Call on 1300 The Zone radio with Adrian Heath and is an ex-Houston Dynamo player) & Sullivan Silva. Now Silva is one that you should really want to watch especially with his pace, quick dribbling skills and isn't afraid to go 1-0n-1 against defenders. I hope he gets to start to see if he be able to get past the Dynamo defenders.

So the Aztex-Dynamo game starts at 7:30 pm. Members of Chantico's Army will be at La Palapa at 5:00 pm for pregame bevvie. La Palapa is located right next to Reagan High School and Nelson Field on Cameron Road & 290. Then we will be marching up to Nelson Field around 6:00-6:30pm for the game. ONE MAJOR NOTE: Chantico's Army will now be at Section A in the upper stands of the stadium instead of the lower stands of Section Z. We received positive feedback from fans saying that moving from Section Z to Section A in the 2nd half was much better than the 1st half. So hopefully that energy will continue on through the season.

So I hope to see everyone there. GO AZTEX!!!!!

Adrian Heath on the Morning Wake Up Call; Houston Dynamo out of the CONCACAF Champions League

Adrian Heath and a yet unnamed player will be on 1300AM The Zone tomorrow during the Morning Wake Up Call. The show starts at 6am CST, so keep it tuned in to the station.

Sadly (for Houston fans), the Houston Dynamo will travel to Austin from Cancun after crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League 3-0 against Atlante in the 2nd leg. Atlante wins 4-1 on aggregate and advances to face the Montreal Impact-Santos Laguna winner. The second leg will be on Thursday in Torreon, Mexico and Montreal lead 2-0 on aggregate. This painfully extends MLS clubs to go win less south of the border and does not help MLS and it's clubs to gain any international respect. Lets hope that our USL clubs Montreal & Puerto Rico do well in their 2nd leg matches. Here's a debate question: What does MLS clubs have to do to perform better than the USL clubs in these competitions? One could argue that cutting the roster size and salary cap issues have hurt MLS.

Don't forget that the Aztex will take on the Dynamo this Saturday evening starting at 7:30pm. I know for sure that the stadium will be pack knowing that the traveling Houston Dynamo supporters will be at Nelson Field. So it will be an electric atmosphere......and hopefully warmer weather. ;-)

Aztex Recognized; FCD Scrimmage & Houston Preseason Win

The Austin Aztex were recognized by the city of Austin.

FC Dallas beat University of Memphis 5-1 in a scrimmage.

Houston Dynamo defeated L.A. Galaxy 2-0 in a preseason match.

Texas Soccer News & Notes (Feb. 10, 2009)

Hoops, Dynamo play to a scoreless draw.

Hyndman encouraged by draw with Houston.

Dynamo keep focus on long campaign

Aztex's USL-1 Tryouts an international competition and a big success

Chantico's Army's Recap of Aztex's Weekend Tryouts

Chantico's Army's Notes from the First Organizational Meeting.

RGV Bravos FC Name Home

Garcia puts Career on Hold

Sockers Sign Franchise's First Four Players