Monthly Archives: December 2000

When the MLS season kicked off in March, most rookies were hoping just for some playing time. But Chicago’s Carlos Bocanegra and Kansas City’s Nick Garcia made an immediate impact and didn’t let up. In fact, they were key in helping set up their teams’ MLS Cup meeting. The cream of the rookie class The […]

During the holidays follow headline news and a special Soccer America series that recaps the highlights of Soccer 2000 right here at www.socceramerica.com. The staff of Soccer America wishes all of our readers and online visitors a very happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year. Soccer America Magazine is taking its traditional holiday publishing […]

CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONS Canada was one of five continental champions to be crowned in 2000. Every confederation except South America, which crowned Brazil in 1999, held championships in 2000. Here are the other champions: CAMEROON. The Indomitable Lions were the first champions to be crowned, winning the African Nations Cup. They beat host Nigeria on penalty […]

The story of Corinthians is symbolic of the state of Brazilian soccer. It also sums up the topsy-turvy year that was 2000. Brazil continues to produce more good players than any other country in the world, but it’s plagued by disorganization. The Sao Paulo club was crowned champion of the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship […]

MLS has announced, that at the request of the WUSA and Spartan Stadium, the home for the past five years of the San Jose Earthquakes, it has agreed to waive the exclusivity provision contained in its lease with Spartan. This waiver allows the WUSA to play at the stadium. In return for doing so, MLS […]

Socceramerica.com is pleased to present the debut of Kelly SmithÆs monthly column. Smith, an England international who set the NCAA Division I record for goals and points per game at Seton Hall University, is a member of the WUSAÆs Philadelphia Charge. She checks in shortly after playing in front of record crowd for an England […]

In the past 20 years ù the modern era of college soccer ù only two conferences have sent more than one representative to the NCAA semifinals in the same year. One is the Atlantic Coast Conference, which has thrice seen two of its teams among the final four. The only other league to accomplish that […]

Mexico, the first U.S. opponent in the final round of World Cup 2002 qualifying, fell to Argentina, 2-0, in its final match of the year before 55,000 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Santiago Solari, who spent one year at NCAA Division III school Richard Stockton, had the first goal for Argentina in the 14th […]

Men’s College NCAA Division I New England, Ed Kelly, Boston College New York, Scott Dean, SUNY-Stony Brook South Atlantic, George Gelnovatch, Virginia Mid-Atlantic, Dean Koski, Lehigh South, Elmar Bolowich, North Carolina Great Lakes, John Bluem, Ohio State Midwest, Schellas Hyndman, SMU Far West, Gary St. Clair, San Jose State NCAA Division II New England, John […]

High School Boys Division I New Eng., Francis Bositis, Franklin HS (Mass.) East, John Butterworth, Penfield HS (N.Y.) South, Ron Benson, Chapel Hill HS (N.C.) Central, Tobey Cook, Strongsville HS (Ohio) Midwest, Bryan Yenor, Brookfield East HS (Wis.) Southwest, Darryl Metcalfe, James E. Taylor HS (Texas) Rocky Mtn, Art Drotar, Horizon HS (Colo.) Far West, […]

Tanya Riedhammer Gainesville, Fla. I am looking for the definition of a bicycle kick. Can you help me? Mike Woitalla: Tanya, IÆm going to refer to the glossary of Paul GardnerÆs book, ôThe Simplest Game.ö The bicycle kick entry reads: ôA volley in which the player kicks the ball over his own head. This is […]

Former U.S. national team regular is the first American player taken in the leagueÆs Global Draft Thori Bryan has resurrected what had been a promising career in the early 1990s. Back then, as Thori Staples, she was on the fast track to womenÆs soccer stardom. After an all-American college career at North Carolina State, where […]

Women’s College Cup offensive MVP Meredith Florance won another honor — the 2000-2001 Honda Sports Award. The senior forward, who led North Carolina to its latest NCAA championship, is the second straight Tar Heel to win the award. Lorrie Fair won the 1999 version after leading UNC to that year’s championship. Florance’s win automatically qualifies […]

D.C. United D.C. United will mix in many December holiday activities with its preparations for Champions Cup … The team collected new unwrapped toys and clothing at its headquarters to benefit the Salvation Army’s collection services … For every donation, United gave fans a 2001 autographed played card set … The players assisted in distributing […]

The Tampa Bay Mutiny will host Scottish Premier League leader Celtic in an international friendly match on Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Tampa’s Pepin-Rood Stadium. Tickets for the contest are $20 for adults and $15 for children (19 and under). The game will mark Alfonso Mondelo’s debut as Mutiny coach. The […]

Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium has been chosen to host the United States’ second home World Cup qualifying match of 2001, against the winner of a playoff game between Guatemala and Costa Rica, on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will be shown live on ESPN2. After opening the final round of qualifying […]

Californian Ante Razov scored in his debut with Spanish Second Division club Racing de Ferrol Dec. 20. Razov, who transferred to Spain from the Chicago Fire following its MLS Cup 2000 runner-up finish and U.S. Open Cup triumph, scored in the 17th minute of a 1-1 tie with Sporting Gijon. RazovÆs goal, which equalized a […]

Claudio Reyna won the Honda Award as the top American player of the year for the first time, edging keeper Tony Meola (who had been voted MLS MVP). Reyna received 54 first-place votes, 20 second-place votes and 24 third-place votes for 226 points in balloting by 233 American journalists. Meola had 210 points and Joe-Max […]

PlayersÆ side vows to fight on following the Boston federal court victory in antitrust suit The lawsuit is over, but the acrimony between MLS and its players may continue. Jeffrey Kessler, lead counsel for the players, says the Dec. 11 decision in favor of the league will be appealed. Goalkeeper Mark Dodd, one of the […]

Patrick Boateng Washington, D.C. Why didn’t WUSA teams select any African players, especially the skillful Nigerians? Scott French: Hello, Patrick. There are only a few African players — Mercy Akide, Patience Avre, Florence Omagbemi — for whom the WUSA would have any interest, as there are only 32 foreign-player slots available. Lauren Gregg, who is […]

The Colorado Rapids named former Tampa Bay Mutiny head coach Tim Hankinson as their new head coach. Hankinson, 45, guided the Mutiny to a 39-38-3 mark in two-and-a-half seasons. The victories are the most by a Mutiny head coach. Hankinson (0-4-0 in the playoffs) was not offered a contract extension after the 2000 season when […]

Jacob Wang San Francisco, Calif. Is the Youth Soccer Letter article by Dan Woog in the Dec. 18th issue about Silent Soccer available at www.socceramerica.com? Mike Woitalla: Jacob, the Youth Soccer Letter appears once every two weeks in Soccer America Magazine (print) and is not available on the Web site, but I will include “Silent […]

After the Creighton Bluejays destroyed IndianaÆs dream of three in a row, they ran into Chris Gbandi. The Liberian native inspired Connecticut at both ends of the field to bring the Huskies their first national championship since 1981. The makeup of the 2000 MenÆs College Cup was peculiar but intriguing: No California schools, no Atlantic […]

The U.S. women’s national team will travel to China for its first games of 2001, facing its long-time rival in two matches on Thursday, Jan. 11, in Pangyu, and on Sunday, Jan. 14, in Hangzhou. The Americans will depart for the Far East on or around Saturday, Jan. 6. Both matches are in the southwest […]

In only his second appearance in Spanish League play this season, U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller gave up three goals as his Rayo Vallecano fell, 3-1, to Real Madrid Dec. 19. Keller, who has been playing in Rayo VallecanoÆs UEFA Cup games with more success, suffered a bad outing in his other league start. On Nov. […]