The Puddle Congratulates USMNT Defender Steve Cherundolo On a Great Career

US international defender Steve Cherundolo retired earlier this week. (Zimbio.com)

Most of the buzz surrounding the United States men's national team this week surrounded the announcement that young Bayern Munich player Julian Green has decided to switch federations and play for the USA.  That is certainly newsworthy, but another bit of news crossed the wire that was of interest to seasoned fans as well.  Wednesday evening, USMNT and Hannover 96 defender Steve Cherundolo announced that he was retiring from professional football due to a knee injury.

It's kind of sad news as Cherundolo has been a fixture on the US back line for quite awhile.  He earned his first cap for the USA in 1999 against Jamaica.  He then went on to participate in multiple CONCACAF Gold Cups for the USA, winning the trophy in 2005 and wearing the captain's armband in the 2009 edition.  He also competed in two FIFA World Cups for the USA, in Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010.  He scored two goals for his country as he compiled 87 caps overall.

Cherundolo is also fairly unique because he's one of the few American players to have spent his entire playing career in Europe.  After two years at the University of Portland, "Dolo" went to Germany and signed on with Hannover 96, who were in the German second division at the time.  In 2001-2002 Hannover won the league and was promoted to the Bundesliga.  Cherundolo eventually ascended to captain of the side, making 423 appearances in all competitions and scoring 8 goals.  He also earned the nickname: "The Mayor of Hannover."  At his press conference, Cherundolo confirmed that he will remain Europe as an assistant coach for Hannover's U-23 team.

Personally I would like to congratulate him on a fantastic career for club and country.  He was certainly a great player and person to represent our country and even wear the armband.  It's unfortunate that he ended up missing a couple of big international tournaments due to injury.  Though I never really got to see him in action for Hannover, I always enjoyed watching him play for the national side.  Thank you, "Dolo" for all you have given to US Soccer and to the beautiful game as a whole, and good luck in your future endeavors.

Moving Forward: Female Commentator Calls German Match

Christina Graf called German Second Division action for Sky this weekend.

I really wanted to put this story on the blog to give us all a dose of good news when we've heard so much about racism, violence, and riots lately in world football.  Here's a positive story of a woman and a company making history and headlines.....for the better.

Today a young lady named Christina Graf became the first female to provide commentary on a men's football match in Germany.  She worked the second division match between Hertha Berlin and Jahn Regensburg, which Hertha won 5-1.  Previously Graf won a competition for the broadcasting job by beating out over 1,000 applicants to work for Sky.  Before the match she told the DPA news agency: ''I'm happy that I can start slowly with the second division at first. It's a huge opportunity, but I'm not the very extroverted type and won't go ballistic.''

Women have been calling women's matches in Germany and around the world for a few years, but we've seen precious little of it on the men's side of things.  Certainly football knowledge is not dependent on one's gender, and as long as the person is insightful and entertaining, it could be a man or a woman and be just fine by me.  Certainly there are plenty of young female football fans, and sports fans in general out there, some of whom might have the dream to go into broadcasting.  Maybe in a few years we can look back and see that this was a foundational moment for some of these dreams.

At any rate, congratulations to Ms. Graf, may she have a long and prosperous career!

Congrats to Borussia Dortmund: 2011-2012 Bundesliga Champs!

Dortmund fans celebrate their second straight league title (Photo: dw.de)

The Puddle extends it's congratulations to Borussia Dortmund and their fans on their second straight Bundesliga title.  They beat Mochengladbach 2-0 to go eight points clear of Bayern Munich with just two matches left.  What's more impressive: They ran their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to 26 games.  That's pretty insane.

Fans of BVB, live it up!  Your guys earned it!

Bundesliga Report: Borussia Dortmund vs. Mainz 05

Dortmund's Shinji Kagawa on the ball. (China Post)

I haven't gotten to watch much Bundesliga action this year. Our cable system only carries Goal TV on the Spanish Tier, so the only ones I get to watch are on ESPN3. Last night I decided to take in the Dortmund vs. Mainz 05 match. Dortmund came into the match unbeaten in their last 17, and winners of all their matches since the winter break.

I was very impressed. Honestly, Dortmund might be the most impressive team I've personally watched outside of Barcelona this year. Not being really familiar with the Bundesliga, I'm not sure what kind of competition Mainz puts up, but Dortmund was really in control for about 98% of the match.

Dortmund came out of the chute with a few good chances in the first ten minutes. Sven Bender sent a shot just off target in the 6th minute, and Lukasz Pizczek had another trickle just wide in the 9th. Mainz was lucky to escape the first ten without damage.

However Dortmund pushed into the lead in the 26th minute. Shinji Kagawa had a shot blocked, but the rebound fell right to Jakub Blaszczykowski, who banged the ball into the goal to make it 1-0 to the Yellow Blacks. That was also the score at half time.

Mainz managed to hang around throughout the second half though. Dortmund created many more chances, but just couldn't break through for the second. Mainz took advantage of that in the 71st minute, as a former Dortmund man came back to haunt his old team. Mohamed Zidan took a pass from Adam Szalai and slotted the ball past the Dortmund 'keeper to make it 1-1. Dortmund would have the last laugh though, as Kagawa slipped the Mainz defense and scored the go ahead goal after a nice centering pass from Pizczek in the 77th. Dortmund held on for the 2-1 win to move a step closer to defending their Bundesliga title.

Bundesliga Blurb: Bayern Munich vs, Borussia Monchengladbach

Ok, so I'm still a little new to this Bundesliga thing. I only get what ESPN 3 gives me. I did manage to take in two matches in week 1, and enjoyed them both.

This was my first chance to see Bayern outside of Champions League play. They were a pretty fun bunch to watch, and it looked like the atmosphere in the stadium was great. In the off-season, they signed 'keeper Manuel Neuer away from Schalke. Kind of pissed me off, but I doubted Schalke would be able to hold him.

Monchengladbach has not had the best of luck against Bayern. They had only won at Bayern once in Bundesliga history coming into this match. Last year Bayern edged into the Champions League play-in spot, while Gladbach needed a playoff to avoid relegation.

Munich, as predicted, had most of the possession, particularly in the first half. However, the longer the match wore on without quality chances, the more confident Gladbach got. Plus, lets face it, Gladbach's defense was doing a pretty awesome job.

Unfortunately for Munich, their defense didn't. A defensive blunder coupled with a blunder from their shiny new keeper cost them three points. Gladbach put a rather harmless looking ball into the Munich 18 in the 62nd minute. Boateng, he of ManCity fame, totally missed it and Neuer whiffed on his punch. Igor De Carmago was there to capitalize and gave Gladbach the 0-1 win.

All things being equal, not the best match I've ever seen, but entertaining. I hope to check out more Bundesliga throughout the season.

Bundesliga Blurb: Hertha Berlin vs. FC Nurnberg

Okay, I usually follow EPL, Serie A, and MLS. I really want to try and diversify and watch more Bundesliga and La Liga this season, especially the Bundesliga. However, we don't get Gol TV, so I'm pretty much stuck watching whatever matches I can get on ESPN3. Better than nothing I guess.

Last night I took in Hertha Berlin and FC Nurnberg from the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Hertha was just promoted at the end of last year, while Nurnberg just missed out on Europe. I was really impressed by the atmosphere in Berlin, the supporters packed the stadium to the rafters for their club, along with 7000 Nurnberg fans who made the trip.

Unfortunately, the match didn't quite live up to the atmosphere in this one. Nurnberg was clearly on the front foot for most of the match. However, they really could have taken better advantage of the fact that the Berlin defense was in quite a bit of disarray. Ultimately, most of this rather chippy match (5 yellows) was played in the midfield.

Nurnberg finally got the goal in the 80th minute when Pekhart took a cross from Mendler and slotted it past the Berlin keeper to make it 0-1, which was the final. Berlin never managed an official shot on goal, and Nurnberg certainly deserved all the points.

On a side note, it's AWESOME to have European season getting back underway.

Borussia Dortmund claim Bundesliga title!

Well, one of our big European Leagues was decided on Saturday. With a 2-0 win over Nuremberg, Borussia Dortmund claimed it's 7th Bundesliga title. The win was sealed by Bayer Leverkusen's 2-0 loss at Cologne.

It is BVBs first title since 2002.