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MONTREAL —It wasnt easy for the Montreal Impact to sit idle while some of the
teams they are chasing for a playoff spot were picking up points in the Major
League Soccer standings. Chris Clemons Jersey . The Impact, in
seventh-place (12-14-3), will end a two-week break in their schedule when they
visit the second-place Chicago Fire (14-8-5) on Saturday night. With 29 games
under their belt, Montreal has played the most matches so far in the Eastern
Conference. During their break, the teams they need to catch used up some of
their games in hand, and some pulled a little father ahead. The Impact have only
five games left in their inaugural MLS season and sit two points behind
sixth-place D.C. United and three behind Columbus, who hold the fifth and final
playoff spot. Each has two games in hand. Fourth-place Houston is four points
ahead with one game in hand. “The helplessness part is the results going against
you,” coach Jesse Marsch said this week. “But I still feel firmly that this is
in our hands right now. “You could maybe do the math where we could win most of
our games and still not make it, but I believe that if we handle our business,
week in and week out, that we have our fate in our own hands. Thats been the
message. Thats our focus. Now we have a big challenge to go on the road and get
a result on Saturday against a team thats done well.” The Impact mounted a
charge with a five-game winning streak in August in which they outscored their
opponents 12-2. But in their last outing on Sept. 1, they gave up a goal in
stoppage time for a crushing 2-1 loss in Columbus. Since then, they got help
when eighth-place New England beat Columbus, but lost ground to Houston, which
beat Salt Lake. Chicago won twice, including 2-1 on Wednesday in Toronto, to
move eight points clear of Montreal with two games in hand. The MLS schedule was
relatively light the past two weeks because national teams were playing World
Cup qualifiers. “You want to see them at least draw so they dont get too far
ahead of you, but at this point its still up in the air,” said goalkeeper Troy
Perkins. “If we win a couple in a row, that puts pressure on the teams around
us.” Veteran midfielder Patrice Bernier wants no part of scoreboard-watching.
“You cant think about the other teams,” he said. “You wish certain teams could
help you out, but we have our own destiny to take care of and they have theirs.
“We have to make sure we get the points, so we dont have to say if this, if
that. If you dont get the points you need, you can only look at yourself. If you
look at the calendar, all the teams are meeting each other, so some team is
going to be taking points from somebody.” The Impact are a different squad than
the one that played to a 1-1 draw with Chicago before 55,000 fans in their MLS
home debut at Olympic Stadium on March 17. That game saw the expansion side pick
up its first MLS point and captain Davy Arnaud score the teams first goal. They
are a more settled, cohesive club, and the addition of Italian veterans
Alessandro Nesta and Marco Di Vaio in mid-season was a huge boost. The odds are
against them with their rivals holding games in hand and time running out, but
Marsch feels they still have a shot at becoming one of the rare expansion teams
to make the post-season. After Chicago, they return home to face first-place
Kansas City, then play at Houston and Toronto before ending the season Oct. 27
at home against New England. “At the beginning of the season if youd have asked
me if we could be right here, right now, would you take it, Id say yes,” the
coach said. “Its matter of us handling our business down the stretch.” They will
be up against one of the leagues hottest teams. The Fire are 5-1-1 in their last
seven games. The break allowed the Impact to heal some wounds, however, and they
will have their full squad available. That includes midfielder Justin Mapp, who
is to return from a hamstring injury, although he is not likely to start. Marsch
will probably go with a back line of Matteo Ferrari, Nelson Rivas, Nesta and
Hassoun Camara, who returns from a two-game suspension. Bernier, who spent the
break playing two World Cup qualifiers for Canada, is in midfield with Collen
Warner, Arnaud, Felipe Martins and probably Sanna Nyassi, with Di Vaio up front.
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followed by Brenna MacLean of West Vancouver, B.C., at 2:13.88 and Winnipegs
Breanna Siwicki at 2:15. Earl Thomas Womens Jersey . Alex Burrows,
Ryan Kesler and Max Lapierre—dubbed by one pundit as the Three Mouthketeers
because of their previously outspoken ways on the ice—want their actions to
speak louder than words in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarter-final
series. http://www.nflnikeseattleseahawks.com/richard-sherman-jersey
.E.I. Rocket shut out the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-0 in the Quebec Major Junior
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Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain has been sentenced to 180 days in jail for
assault and other charges stemming from a fight in his hometown when he
allegedly threatened to kill a man and fired a gun next to his head. Russell Wilson Jersey . Tipsarevic was the
only top-10 player not to have won a tournament this year. The Serb is No. 8 in
the world. The second-seeded Monaco was seeking his third title of the year.
Tipsarevic surrendered a 4-1 lead in the second set after a brief rain delay and
he also dropped his serve after a longer, 20-minute interruption in the
third.LONDON—England striker Wayne Rooney has been given an extended break to
get fit before the European Championship after playing while injured for
Manchester United in the final games of the Premier League. England coach Roy
Hodgson revealed details of the unspecified injury, which United manager Alex
Ferguson had not disclosed as his side tried—and failed—to stop Manchester
City winning the Premier League last weekend. While United also wouldnt comment
on the detail of the injury, the website of the Daily Telegraph reported that it
was a toe problem. Rooney is suspended for Englands first two Euro 2012 games
next month, and is also not set to feature in the warm-up matches against Norway
and Belgium before the team heads to the tournament in Poland and Ukraine. “I
think hell benefit from the rest and also hes been playing with a slight injury
for the last three or four games and that needed a couple of weeks to really
clear up,” Hodgson said. “Its a minor injury which has been kept relatively
quiet for obvious reasons that Manchester United didnt want to alert opponents.
Its a minor one. “I wont go into it because Alex has kept it quiet so Im going
to.” Rooney is due to join up with the England squad on May 29 in the buildup to
the June 2 match against Belgium at Wembley Stadium. “His enthusiasm for the
task was really fantastic and when I offered him even a couple of more days rest
if he wanted he was adamant he wanted to get in when we met up for the friendly
against Belgium,” Hodgson said. Bobby Wagner Womens Jersey. “He wanted to be
a part of it. I would have given him a few days because weve got time to get
people fit.” Rooney has been pictured in the British media on holiday in Las
Vegas this week clutching what appeared to be a bottle of beer in a casino. “The
good thing these days about football players, although its not necessarily the
perception out there in the wide world, is that they actually look after
themselves quite well,” Hodgson said, speaking generally and before the pictures
of Rooney emerged. “Im not saying they dont have a drink occasionally and get
themselves drunk but they dont need much to get drunk, a lot of them, because
theyre quite fit people.” Rooney will watch from the sidelines when England
starts the Euro 2012 group stage against France and Sweden after receiving a
two-match ban from UEFA for kicking Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic in the
final qualifier. He will be eligible for the Group D finale against Ukraine in
Donetsk. Rooney scored four goals at Euro 2004, when he was only 18. But he did
not score at the 2006 or 2010 World Cups while England didnt qualify for Euro
2008. ’ ’ ’ 

Chicago won twice, including 2-1 Ugg Sale UK on Wednesday in Toronto, to
move eight points clear of Montreal with two boots for sale games in hand.