Soccer birthdays:
If Pele isn’t the consensus as the best soccer player to ever live, he’s got to be in everyone’s top three or four. The Brazilian goal-scoring great turns 72 today.
Serbian international and current Zenit Saint Petersburg man Aleksandar Luković turns 30.
Welsh international Simon Davies, a former longtime Tottenham man, who turned into a longtime Fulham man, turns 33. And before we “leave” Craven Cottage, Jimmy Bullard turns 34. He passed and trapped around the West London ground for a couple of seasons.
Big Important Stories of the Day:
Champions League will dominate the talk, and our UCL expert around here warns that reigning champion Chelsea find themselves in a tricky spot when they meed Shakhtar Donetsk for Ukraine and the Donbass Arena.
RASNoD (Random American Soccer Name of the Day: Tiffeny Milbrett
*Ahead on the blog today:
Lots of Champions League talk. Actually there is already a lot of UCL talk to explore, with previews from all four groups in action today.
We’ll also have a word about MLS scheduling to go along with the weekly league rankings, which are back after a week off during the World Cup qualifying break.
Twitter dap:
What you should watch on TV today:
Spartak Moscow vs. Benfica begins the day of Champions League greatness on Fox Soccer Channel. That one is up at noon (ET).
Manchester United hosts Braga from Portugal at 2:45 p.m. in the day’s other live viewing on FSC.
Barcelona-Celtic is on delay at 5 p.m. on FSC.
If the MLS playoffs started today (following 31 rounds):
Eastern Conference
(Wildcard round)
- Houston at New York
(Second round)
- Sporting Kansas City vs. Wildcard winner
- Chicago vs. D.C. United
Western Conference:
(Wildcard round)
- Vancouver Whitecaps at L.A. Galaxy
(Second Round)
- San Jose vs. Wildcard winner
- Real Salt Lake vs. Seattle
PST background noise while blogging today: Anything that keeps me from listening to more analysis of Presidential debates and polls. Let’s elect one of these guys already. (But that “anything” will probably be soccer podcasts.)
*Always subject to change; you know how it is