To say this has not been the year of Celtic’s Gary Caldwell, would be an understatement.  The Celtics were brutally beat by the unstoppable Arsenal leaving their captain, Gary Caldwell to admit they simply are ‘not good enough to beat them’.

Caldwell went on say that Arsenal had set the standard to where they have to get to… and hopefully fast. 

However, Celtic owner, Tony Mowbray is still standing by his main man, Caldwell.  Mowbray wants his team to hold their heads high, even after such a sever defeat.

The Celtics will get a chance to redeem themselves next week with another round with Arsenal … but can they pull it off???

On the 10^th minute of the game, Chicago forward Patrick Nyarko put a header into the net.

It was not until the 43^rd minute, that striker Itmar Batista past two defenders and kicked a shot into the right-hand corner of the Fire’s net.

With the score tied 1-1 at the end of the game, the Tigres won the penalty shootout 4-3.

 With Chicago Fire’s Mike Banner and Justin Mapp missing their shots, Tigre’s Itmar Batistas took advantage by kicking a shot into the left corner for the win and title.

Mexico wins over USA 5-0!

Consider the first half a warm up, with both sides having few goal opportunities.

But on the second half, Mexico took control of the game.  Gerardo Torrado scored a penalty goal on the 55^th minute, which gave the Mexican team the lead and the confidence to press on. Soon after, Giovani Dos Santos scores goal number 2 on the 61^st minute.

At minute 66, Carlos Vela puts his team ahead 3-0. Jose Antonio Castro, who just kicked the ball as keeper Troy Perkins was on the floor: 4-0. Then, as if the US had not had enough, Guillermo Franco scored goal number 5 and the Mexican team earned the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009.

Soccer fans had been anticipating this match between Chelsea and AC Milan for the inaugural World Football Challenge, and they were not disappointed. Ivorian Didier Drogba took the lead with a goal for Chelsea.

However, in the 38th minute, Clarence Seedorf found the equalizer for the Italians, drawing 1-1.

Then on the 69^th minute in the second half, Yuri Zhirkov scored the tie breaking goal, and defeating AC Milan 2-1.

There were a few chances taken during the first half, but on the 45^th minute, Clarence Goodson took the lead with a header.

Then on the 89^th minute, Kenny Cooper sealed the victory.

 With a goal by Didier Drogba and a penalty kick by Frank Lampard on the 50^th minute, Chelsea defeated the Italian Serie A champions 2-0.

The game, which took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, was part of the World Football Challenge, which also includes AC Milan and Mexico City’s Club America.

El Tri opened the scoring in minute 23, after Judelin Aveska touched the ball with his hand inside the area and Israel Castro kicked the penalty but goalkeeper Jean Zephirin stopped it. Miguel Sabah found the rebound and took the lead for Mexico.

Mexico knew they could not speculate and had to chase the victory from the very beginning, something El Tri understood immediately.

With this result, Mexico reached the semifinals of the Gold Cup 2009, facing Costa Rica this week at Soldier Field in Chicago.

It all started with Costa Rica’s goal by Celso Borges Mota. Then Alvaro Saborio scored in the 16^th minute, and Andy Herron scored in the 76^th minute.

Costa Rica was ahead 3-0 by the start of the second half. Then Alvaro Saborio made his presence known once more with a goal in the 76^th minute.

Then Pablo Herrera Barrantes scored the fifth goal on 88^th minute, ending the game and moving Costa Rica to the semifinals at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Panama was in the lead with a goal from Blas Perez in the first half, but Beckerman tied the score in the 49^th minute of the game.

Then on the 105^th minute, Kenny Cooper scored his penalty kick on the 105^th minute giving the US the victory.

Now the Americans remain in position to win their third straight CONCACAF Gold Cup.

 After a penalty goal from Walter Martinez in the 36^th minute of the game, Honduras maintained the 1-0 advantage and advanced to the semifinals of the Gold Cup 2009.

It was Mauro Boselli who gave Estudiantes the 2-1 victory, the Copa Libertadores 2009 and the berth in the Club World Cup 2009, which will be held late this year in Dubai.

Panama scored four goals to beat Nicaragua 4-0. Goals from Blas Perez (minute 34), Gabriel Gomez (minute 55), and two from Luis Tejada (minutes 75, 87) made it impossible for the Nicaraguan team to catch their breath.

Panama’s strategy allowed them to secure the win with just a couple of goal chances. Nicaragua’s long shot by Armando Reyes was the only real attempt at goal keeper Penedo.

Nicaragua fell apart when the third goal by Luis Tejada came in on the 75^th minute of the game; then completely closed the deal with another on the 87^th minute.

Honduras had an easy time with Grenada.in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals. Honduras had a 2-0 lead at halftime, with goals from Martinez on the second minute and Espinoza.

Martinez sent a corner kick to the opposite side of the net in the 56th minute, and Melvin Valladares got his head on the ball and directed it downward on one bounce past goalkeeper Andray Baptiste.

The final goal came in the 67th minute on a penalty kick by Carlos Costly.

The US led with the first goal of the game.

Then, Haiti had taken the lead with goals in the first four minutes of the second half by Sirin Vaniel and Mones Chery.

Until, Stuart Holden shot a 25-footer past goalkeeper Jean Dominique Zephirin into the upper right corner in the first minute of second-half injury time, giving the United States a 2-2 tie.

 The United States had just two minutes left to avoid its first loss ever in CONCACAF Gold Cup group play.

Omar Cummings’ goal has eliminated El Salvador from the final CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A.

Cummings received the pass from Luton Shelton’s and converted on a shot past goalkeeper Miguel Montes in the 69th minute.

El Salvador had three opportunities at tying the match. In the 84th minute, goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts deflected Rodolfo Zelaya’s point-blank header inside the 6-yard box.

And it looks like Canada has obtain their place in the quarter-finals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Canada, who won their opening games against Jamaica and El Salvador, secure a top spot in Group A.

Costa Rica took the lead in the 22nd minute when Andy Herron cut inside from the right wing to fire home, but Canada quickly turned the game on its head as Patrice Bernier equalised almost immediately.

Marcel de Jong’s long-range effort then put Canada ahead before Walter Centeno’s free-kick earned Costa Rica a share of the spoils.

This is Haiti’s first Gold Cup win since 2002.  Fabrice Noel’s goal gave the Haiti team a 1 to 0 score at half time. Then on the 78^th minute, James Marcelin added the second, giving Haiti a 2-0 victory over Grenada in CONCACAF Gold Cup group play.

Noel’s goal came off a free kick by Brunel Fucien into a crowd in the middle of the penalty area. Noel deflected it into the net.

Marcelin took a pass from Raymond Ednerson, beat a defender at the top left-hand corner of the penalty area, and then converted his one-on-one chance against goalkeeper Desmond Noel.

 With goals by Quaranta and Ching in the second half, the USA Team moves on at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

On the 75^th minute, Santino Quaranta broke the scoreless game. Then shortly after, Brian Ching scored with a header.

The two-time defending champion are now on the verge of the Gold Cup quarterfinals as they stand atop of Group B with six points.

Next, the U.S will play against Haiti on Saturday.

 

Celso Borges’ goal in the 64th minute gave Costa Rica a 1-0 win over Jamaica in their CONCACAF Gold Cup match Tuesday night.

Costa Rica is 1-1-0 in Group A and will face Canada on Friday. Jamaica is winless and will have to get past El Salvador on Friday to have any hopes of advancing out of the group stage.

Jamaica played a man down after a midfielder Rudolph Austin was shown a straight red card by referee Jair Marrufo for his tackle against Borges in the 35th minute. Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore said he would wait to see a replay before commenting, but Costa Rica coach Rodrigo Kenton felt the call was justified.

Still, the Reggae Boyz held their own with 10 men, pressing the attack at the start of the second half before surrendering the decisive goal to Borges.

Canada’s defense kept El Salvador’s strikers from any real goal attempts, and by the final quarter of the game, there was virtually no good scoring opportunities.

With Canadian’s Ali Gerba’s goal in the 32^nd minute, Canada strengthened its hold on Group A of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The goal was Gerba’s fifth in his last four games for Canada, but did little to dim the enthusiasm of a crowd largely supportive of El Salvador and determined to enjoy the Cuscatlecos’ first visit to Crew Stadium. El Salvador (1-1-0) will play a decisive game against Jamaica on Friday as it seeks to advance to the quarterfinals. Canada (2-0-0) faces Costa Rica needing only a tie to advance, although Canada coach Stephen Hart said angling for the draw is not in his game plan.

Luis Miguel Noriega scored his first international goal on a penalty kick in the 45th minute of his national team debut, and Mexico defeated Nicaragua 2-0 in the first round of Gold Cup play in Group C.

Pablo Barrera, a second-half substitute, added a goal for El Tri in the 86th minute. He one-touched the ball into the net from 7 yards after a perfect cross from Alberto Medina on the right flank.

Noriega’s goal came after Nicaragua midfielder Armando Reyes was whistled for a foul from behind against Israel Martinez.

With goals from USA players Freddy Adu, Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers and Charlie Davies, the US are trying to become the second team to win three-straight Gold Cups. Mexico was the last team to win three straight in the 1990’s.

The US will challenge Honduras on Wednesday.

The US has won three of the last four events and four times since the tournament began in 1991, and they are currently ranked 12^th.

For the first time in 20yrs, Egypt has hopes of appearing at the World Cup with the 3-0 win over Rwanda.

It was a must-win game for the ‘Pharaohs‘ and midfielders Mohamed Aboutrika (twice) and Hosny Abd Rabou scored in the second half for a team that troubled Brazil and beat world champions Italy last month at the Confederations Cup.

Victory lifted reigning African champions Egypt from last place on the Group C table to second, level on four points with Zambia and three adrift of Algeria at the halfway stage of the final qualifying phase.

Rwanda have only one point in the race to finish first and qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the first time the world football showpiece will be staged in Africa.

Coach Carlos De los Cobos will enter the tournament with El Salvador players ready to perform at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Their main players to face this competition are keeper Miguel Montes, defender Alfredo Pacheco and strikers Cristian Castillo and Rodolfo Zelaya.

For Costa Rica, coach Rodrigo Kenton will give players who missed the Qualifiers a chance at the tournament, along with his key players like defenders Freddy Fernandez and Harold Wallace, midfielders Walter Centeno and Celso Borges, and striker Alvaro Saborio.

The Canadian Team made several changes, including the replacement of coach Dale Mitchelli with Stephen Hart, and a few new generation players.

The Jamaicans, on the other hand, arrive at this championship with Copa Caribe title, after defeating Granada 2-0 in the final. Jamaica also count on new coach since John Barnes moved to the English third division and Theodore Whitmore took his place.

Milan is looking to sign Brazilian forward Luis Fabiano for a contract of €15 million. Luis Fabiano, at 28yrs old was considered the best Brazilian player at the Confederation Cup. However, Milan are also considering other options including Dutch forward Klaas Jan Huntelaar, and Arsenal Emmanuel Adebayor.

But then Brazil came alive in the second half with three comeback goals in a 3-2 win over the upstart United States in the Confederations Cup final.

Altidore scored in the 27th minute and Dempsey added a goal in the 74th as the Americans became the first team to defeat Spain since Romania in November 2006.

Next they will play defending champion Brazil or host South Africa on Sunday in their first-ever men’s final at a FIFA competition. The U.S. has three full days to prepare for the final.