Monthly Archives: December 1999

January 1 — International Discovery Period Commences Early Jan. — 2000 MLS Schedule unveiled January 24 — Preseason training begins (conditioning and non-ball workouts) February 3-6 — Umbro Select College All-Star Weekend at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. February 5 — Umbro Select College All-Star Men’s Doubleheader February 6 — 1999 MLS Draft in Ft. Lauderdale February […]

Brad Leissa Bethesda, Md. What does the South American confederation acronym CONMEBOL stand for? I’ve searched extensively and can’t find it! Thanks in advance Mike Woitalla: The South American Confederation, in Spanish, is called the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol, and is sometimes abbreviated as CSF. But in order to create an acronym, an abbreviation that […]

The NASL dies as indoor rises and falls The NASL had staged several indoor mini-tournaments in the mid-1970s as tune-ups for its outdoor season, but by 1978 a full-fledged rival had emerged. Ed Tepper and Earl Foreman launched the Major Indoor Soccer League with six teams. The MISL played its first match on Dec. 22, […]

New York ruled during the NASL boom years As the 1970s dawned, New York City ruled the worlds of fashion, business and entertainment. In sports, too, the Big Apple swaggered. The decade began with the Mets as the reigning champions of baseball, and in late spring of 1970, the Knicks took the NBA title. All […]

U.S. women’s assistant coaches Lauren Gregg and Jay Hoffman will lead a young women’s national team to the Australia Cup as the veteran players continue to negotiate a contract with U.S. Soccer. Seven players on the 18-player roster will seek their first cap in games against the Czech Republic (Jan. 7), Sweden (Jan. 10) and […]

New commissioner and Crew stadium yield kernels of hope At some point between March and November, after baseball finished spring training and before the NFL staged its Thanksgiving Day doubleheader, the Year of No Excuses transformed into the Season of Angst. No remark was too snide, no criticism too cutting for MLS. A rash of […]

1999 ends with a well-attended MLS Cup and the name change of an MLS team close to home for Clay Berling, who founded Soccer America Magazine in 1971. You must be feeling a bit of déjà vu – there’s a team called the Earthquakes again. … In the NASL days, I attended about 80 percent […]

The U.S. players who won the Women’s World Cup last summer will boycott the Australia Cup next month because contract negotiations with U.S. Soccer have stalled. The Federation, which had anticipated the situation, will send a replacement team Down Under to face the host Matildas, Sweden and the Czech Republic in January. The last long-term […]

U.S. goalkeeper wins hearts of Rayo Vallecano fans and takes on the language barrier During his first game for Rayo Vallecano, Kasey Keller urged his defense to push forward, shouting, “Arriba, arriba!” A lagging striker on the opposing team, Atletico Madrid, turned to Keller and corrected his pronunciation, trilling his tongue on the roof of […]

U.S. goalkeeper wins hearts of Rayo Vallecano fans and takes on the language barrier During his first game for Rayo Vallecano, Kasey Keller urged his defense to push forward, shouting, “Arriba, arriba!” A lagging striker on the opposing team, Atletico Madrid, turned to Keller and corrected his pronunciation, trilling his tongue on the roof of […]

DiCicco backs Lauren Gregg over Hoffman, Charles, Heinrichs, Ellinger and Howe Six weeks after Tony DiCicco resigned, U.S. Soccer is still without a women’s national team coach, and DiCicco’s successor may not named until the New Year. U.S. Soccer will choose from six candidates to replace Tony DiCicco: U.S. women’s assistant coaches Lauren Gregg and […]

Organizers search for answers to low turnout As Chad Kupreanik, the tournament director for the Men’s College Cup, scanned the expanse of mostly empty seats just before kickoff of the Dec. 12 final, he maintained that his goal was to sell out the 33,000 seats in the lower bowl at Ericsson Stadium. “Anywhere between 15 […]

DiCicco backs Lauren Gregg over Hoffman, Charles, Heinrichs, Ellinger and Howe Six weeks after Tony DiCicco resigned, U.S. Soccer is still without a women’s national team coach, and DiCicco’s successor may not named until the New Year. U.S. Soccer will choose from six candidates to replace Tony DiCicco: U.S. women’s assistant coaches Lauren Gregg and […]

Organizers search for answers to low turnout As Chad Kupreanik, the tournament director for the Men’s College Cup, scanned the expanse of mostly empty seats just before kickoff of the Dec. 12 final, he maintained that his goal was to sell out the 33,000 seats in the lower bowl at Ericsson Stadium. “Anywhere between 15 […]

The ’90s, which we will cover in our last installment of our “American Century” in the first issue of the New Year, will go down as the greatest decade in the history of American soccer, and 1999 may go down as the best year of the lot. A case can be made that 1991 was […]

The first pro soccer visionary in America When this decade dawned, America was in an audacious mood. In what would prove to be a turbulent period, ambitious men stepped forth. A brash young U.S. president, John F. Kennedy Jr., told the world his nation would put a man on the moon by decade’s end. An […]

Soccer America announces its Women’s College Team of the 1990s and its Player of the Decade: Women’s Player of the Decade Mia Hamm (North Carolina 1989-90, 92-93) The Soccer America All-Decade Team Goalkeeper Saskia Webber (Rutgers 1989-92) Imposing talent was fearless and peerless. Defenders Sara Whalen (Connecticut 1994-97) Versatile speedster excelled all over the field. […]

Soccer America Magazine announces its Men’s College Team of the Decade and Player of the Decade: Soccer America Men’s Player of the Decade Claudio Reyna (Virginia 1991-93) The Soccer America Men’s All-Decade Team Goalkeeper Brad Friedel (UCLA 1990-92) Flawless keeper was key to Bruins’ 1990 title. Defenders Brian Bates (Virginia 1990-93) Swept behind and in […]

William Malkames Allentown, Pa Frankie Hejduk’s playing time seems to have gone from part-time starter, to late-game sub to, at least lately, left on the bench. Any explanation? Ridge Mahoney: William, he did play in four of the six Champions’ League games. Leverkusen has been winning in the Bundesliga without him, and the club recently […]

Mexico and the United States, whose rise in the last five years has secured them places among the Top 20 teams on the world scene, are the heavy favorites to take two of the three CONCACAF spots at the 2002 finals. For the first time in history, every member of The Football Confederation has entered […]

Omar Salem Morton Grove, Ill. I was just wondering how is the 2000 MLS All-Star game going to be played now that there are three separate divisions. Are they going to go back to the USA vs. World, or are they going to do 2 against 1 or, use the original Eastern and Western divisions? […]

Full spead ahead, despite severe economic blows TOKYO – These aren’t easy times for Japan. The Nikkei, the Tokyo stock market, has recovered all its losses of the last two years. The yen is again strong – down to 102 to the dollar. But the Japanese have paid a price. The latest spending report, issued […]

Two goals in 17 minutes gave U.S. Pro-40 a 2-1 victory on Dec. 14 over Benfica’s reserve team. The win marked the team’s first of its international tour, which started with a 3-0 loss Dec. 1 against the Benfica reserves. On Dec. 7, the P-40s beat the Belenenses reserves, 3-1. After an early sixth-minute goal […]

Nader Nattagh Los Altos, Calif. Despite Tab Ramos’ volatile temper and his outbursts during World Cup 98, he is still an outstanding player. Can you offer an explanation as to why he has been totally left out of Bruce Arena’s national team plans? Mike Woitalla: Nader, there is no doubt that Tab Ramos was one […]

European powers England and Germany found themselves grouped in World Cup 2002 preliminary qualifying. The United States will wait until later to find out whom – and, most important, when – it will play in the semifinal stage of qualifying. Outside Japan, few soccer fans would have heard of Ozeki Konishiki before the World Cup […]