Monthly Archives: December 2001

Yoo Sang-Chul’s goal off a corner in the 23rd minute gave South Korea a 1-0 win over the United States in a battle of future World Cup opponents in the opening game of the Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo. “I thought in the first half the Koreans did a good job of putting us […]

BY SCOTT FRENCH, Senior Editor in Dallas Aly Wagner scored a superb goal near the end of the first half and Santa Clara’s impeccable defense limited North Carolina to two shots on goal as the Broncos claimed their first NCAA women’s soccer title Sunday with a 1-0 triumph in the College Cup final at Southern […]

St. John’s ended No. 1 Southern Methodist’s perfect season and North Carolina halted Fairleigh Dickinson’s Cinderella run, grabbing tight quarterfinal victories Saturday to advance to next weekend’s NCAA Men’s College Cup soccer championships in Columbus, Ohio. Chris Corcoran knocked home a rebound off the post in the 83rd minute as sixth-ranked St. John’s earned a […]

BY SCOTT FRENCH, senior editor in Dallas There’s a touch of deja vu at the NCAA Women’s College Cup soccer championships this weekend at Southern Methodist University, where North Carolina seeks its 18th national title, Florida its second, Santa Clara its first semifinal victory and Portland another shot at the crown. The top-ranked Tar Heels, […]

American defender Steve Cherundolo started and played the whole 90 minutes as Hannover 96 notched a 6-2 rout on the road against MSV Duisburg. Second Division Hannover remains the only the team in German pro soccer without a loss this season (9 wins, 7 ties and 34 points for second place). Cherundolo has played every […]

BY SCOTT FRENCH, Senior Editor in Dallas Santa Clara ended its semifinal jinx and North Carolina remained on track for an 18th national championship Friday night with tight semifinal victories at the NCAA Women’s College Cup soccer championships at Southern Methodist University’s Ford Stadium. Veronica Zepeda scored two goals, including an overtime winner off the […]

BY RIDGE MAHONEY, senior editor The future of MLS — not its existence but rather its shape — is still up in the air. A league press release issued Dec. 6 proclaimed a 5-year commitment to funding the league but also included references to “evaluating several markets” with decisions to be reached by the end […]

Claudio Reyna has signed for English Premier League club Sunderland, which paid Glasgow Rangers a transfer fee of $6.4 million, according to SunderlandÆs official Web site. The 28-year-old U.S. midfielder signed a 5-year contract and has been granted a work permit. He could debut for Sunderland against Chelsea on Sunday. Sunderland is in 13th place […]

BY RIDGE MAHONEY, senior editor The Board of Governors is discussing contraction again this week and the reason is clear: Many teams, especially those run by the league, are losing money faster than several partners are willing to write checks. According to a source, each league-run team — Tampa Bay and Dallas — drains the […]

NSCAA ALL-AMERICA TEAMS DIVISION I Men First team: Goalkeeper — Byron Foss (SMU), sr. Defenders — Chris Gbandi (Connecticut), sr.; Daniel Jackson (North Carolina), sr.; Lee Morrison (Stanford), sr. Midfielders — Luchi Gonzalez (SMU), sr.; Kyle Martino (Virginia), jr.; Diego Walsh (SMU), sr. Forwards — Nicholas McCreath (Rhode Island), sr.; Pat Noonan (Indiana), jr.; John […]

A 50-member Korean SWAT team greeted the U.S. national team when it arrived at the Seogwipo Airport on Tuesday for Sunday’s friendly against South Korea. On Monday, a squad of 20 police officers with bomb-sniffing dogs checked every room in which the players and staff will be staying. Six special agents will guard the team […]

In the wake of reports that MLS is on the verge of contraction, the league released the following statement: ôMLSÆs Board of Governors met on Wednesday (Dec. 5) and committed to funding and operating the league for the next five years, through the 2006 season. ôIncluded in this commitment are plans for extensive media programming, […]

SMU’s Luchi Gonzalez and Penn State’s Christie Welsh claimed their second national player-of-the-year awards Thursday, adding the Missouri Athletic Club honor to the Hermann Trophies each won on Tuesday. The selections were announced during the unveiling of the NSCAA All-America teams at the Women’s College Cup in Dallas. Gonzalez, a senior forward, has scored 21 […]

Kansas City was the only MLS team to be paired with Caribbean opposition in the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the draw . The Wizards face W Connection FC of Trinidad & Tobago in the round of 16. D.C. United (vs Comunicaciones) and Chicago (vs. Municipal) face Guatemalan clubs. San Jose was drawn with Olimpia of […]

U.S. coach Bruce Arena has six months to choose a combination of 23 players who can handle the World Cup challenge. There won’t be much for the United States to build upon from its final CONCACAF qualifier. A team that had already qualified and one long since eliminated generated a dour goalless tie Nov. 11. […]

Luchi Gonzalez became the first SMU player to win the Hermann Trophy, taking college soccer’s most famous player award. Gonzalez was not a Player of the Year candidate when the season began, but he took on a starring role when teammates Mohamed Fahim and Carl Bussey were unavailable because of injuries. The Miami product has […]

The United States returns to the World Cup, where it faces Portugal co-host South Korea and Poland in the first round. Here's your chance to predict how the United States will do at Korea/Japan 2002.

The following are the November poll results in which 1,611 fans picked their 2001 U.S. male Player of the Year. Landon Donovan – 355 – 22.0% Earnie Stewart – 259 – 16.1% Jeff Agoos – 217 – 13.5% Claudio Reyna – 180 – 11.2% Clint Mathis – 174 – 10.8% Joe-Max Moore – 72 – […]

BY WILL KUHNS, associate editor Claudio Reyna confirmed reports that English Premier League club Sunderland is trying to purchase his contract from Glasgow Rangers. Speaking to Soccer America from his home in Scotland on Tuesday, Reyna said, “At the moment it’s just stalled a bit and nothing is for sure. I can’t comment much about […]

Penn State striker Christie Welsh was awarded the Hermann Award as college women’s soccer’s best payer on Tuesday in University Park, Pa. The junior, a two-time first-team All-American and three-time Big Ten Player of the Year, is the 14th recipient of the award after finishing second to Notre Dame’s Anne Makinen in 2000. North Carolina […]

Freddy Adu, at 12 years old the youngest player to enter U.S. Soccer’s residency camp for the U-17 national team in Bradenton, Fla., scored four goals at the U.S. Soccer/Nike Club Tournament Nov. 30-Dec. 2. Coach John Ellinger fielded two teams. One comprised of players from his 2001 U-17 World Cup squad and another of […]

NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS Friday’s game Saint Louis (18-1) at Stanford (18-1-1), 7 p.m. PST Saturday’s games St. John’s (16-2-3) at SMU (21-0), 7:30 p.m. CST Fairleigh Dickinson (17-6) at North Carolina (18-4), 1 p.m. EST Sunday’s game Clemson (19-4) at Indiana (16-3-1), 2 p.m. EST NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP COLLEGE WOMEN’S […]

In Ronald Koeman’s debut as Ajax coach, John O’Brien entered as a second-half substitute during a 4-0 victory over Fortuna Sittard, which sits at the bottom of the Dutch Honor Divsion. O’Brien entered in the 64th minute with his team already leading by two goals. Koeman, the former Dutch national team defender, replaced Co Adriaanse, […]

U.S. coach Bruce Arena trimmed his 27-player training camp roster to 19 players for the Dec. 9 friendly against South Korea in Seogwipo. (Tape delay on ESPN on Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. ET.) All 19 players are MLS players, including seven players from the Chicago Fire and four from champion San Jose Earthquakes. GOALKEEPERS: […]

Ante Razov, Landon Donovan and Carlos Llamosa offer their views on the USA being drawn into Group D with Portugal, South Korea and Poland. ANTE RAZOV, forward On his initial thoughts on the draw: “I think overall, it’s a good draw for us. I think it certainly could have been worse. It’s positive for us. […]