Avoiding the Drop

To our American readers, happy Labor Day weekend.  You’ve more than likely earned this three days of joy and relaxation.  The United States Men’s National Team gives you a bit of a holiday treat tonight, as they deal with El Salvador at Rio Tinto.

Otherwise, it’s a day of friendlies and World Cup qualifiers.  Clearly, these interruptions in the league competitions are mostly unwanted, but with the spectacle that will be South Africa 2010 just around the corner, they are a necessary evil.  Fuse covered the high-profile matches, so I don’t need to go over those.  Suffice it to say that this weekend and the middle of next week will go a long way in finalising the list of the 32 privileged.

This past week has seen the first blows in two major upcoming newsmaking events.  FIFA took action against Chelsea Football Club, banning them from acquiring players via transfer until the January window in 2011.  Today’s news is that FIFA is warning Chelsea that if they appeal the decision and lose the appeal, they could be hit with a longer ban.  FIFA has also intimated that this ban is the warning shot across the bow.  Other clubs may feel the same fate, and they are hinting around at banning transfers of players under 18 years of age to ward off the poachers.  Of course, when you try to poach 11 year-olds, you might be asking for it.

The other huge event this week was UEFA hitting out at Eduardo of Arsenal for a clear dive against Celtic in the Champions League qualifying match.  Eduardo was given a two match ban for the act, which was not seen as a dive by the match referee.  In fact, the play was awarded as a penalty, which Eduardo took and netted, effectively ending the Scottish club’s chances in the tie.  This post match decision has altered an already murky landscape when it comes to these types of infractions.  If UEFA starts actually enforcing these rules consistently, it will make the game better.  However, they have opened a can of worms by this decision, because the match referees will be under much harsher scrutiny during the matches, and anything resembling a dive that is not called by the match officials, or dealt with by UEFA will be held in the highest contempt.

Let’s get to the television schedule, shall we?

All times EDT.

10:00 AM – Scotland v. Macedonia – WCQ – GolTV/ESPN 360

12:30 PM – England v. Slovenia – Friendly – FSC

2:00 PM – Denmark v. Portugal – WCQ – Setanta

3:00 PM – Bahrain v. Saudi Arabia – WCQ – FSC

4:00 PM – Spain v. Belgium – WCQ – GolTV

4:00 PM – Switzerland v. Greece – WCQ – Setanta

5:00 PM – Georgia v. Italy – WCQ – FSC (delayed broadcast)

5:45 PM – Turkey v. Estonia – WCQ – Setanta (delayed broadcast)

6:00 PM – Palmeiras v. Barueri – Brazil – GolTV

6:30 PM – Paraguay v. Bolivia – WCQ – ESPN Deportes

7:30 PM – Denmark v. Portugal – WCQ – Setanta (delayed broadcast)

7:30 PM – Tigres v. Club America – Mexico – Telefutura

8:00 PM – USA v. El Salvador – WCQ – ESPN Classic/ESPN 360

8:00 PM – Pachuca v. Jaguares – Mexico – Galavision

10:00 PM – Toronto FC v. Colorado Rapids – MLS – FSC

10:00 PM – Costa Rica v. Mexico – WCQ – Telefutura

This young man better well have been worth all this trouble, Roman.  Enjoy your Saturdays, everyone.  Let’s hope the USA will show some verve and talent tonight.