Monthly Archives: July 2002

Never before had the U.S. men won an elimination-round game at the World Cup. Against its North American rivals, Bruce Arena's team used a new lineup and several players with limited finals experience to gain passage. BEST PLAYER. Landon Donovan played in his fourth position in four games and had his best game of the […]

Never before had the U.S. men won an elimination-round game at the World Cup. Against its North American rivals, Bruce Arena's team used a new lineup and several players with limited finals experience to gain passage. BEST PLAYER. Landon Donovan played in his fourth position in four games and had his best game of the […]

Add goalkeeper Jonny Walker to the list of Americans who have one foreign league titles. Walker and his team, Universidad Catolica, captured the Chilean League championship on Sunday by defeating Rangers, 4-0, in the second leg of the finals. The victory comes after a 1-1 tie in the first leg and gives Catolica its eighth […]

Long delayed because of MoreliaÆs involvement in the Libertadores Cup, ChicagoÆs CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal final series finally got underway. The Fire lost, 2-0, and must try to overcome the deficit when it hosts Morelia in the second leg July 10. In the first leg, Chicago keeper Zach Thornton was beaten on a 25-yard blast […]

By Will Kuhns, senior editor BEST GOAL: Bobby Convey exorcised demons for himself and D.C. United by rising above Los Angeles defenders in the 98th minute to head home Ivan McKinley's curling cross from the left wing. Marco Etcheverry fed McKinley an aptly weighted ball into space and his service allowed Convey to score his […]

How did such a modest German squad reach the 2002 World Cup final? Why was the reaction in Germany so much more enthusiastic than during GermanyÆs previous big-tournament successes? To help answer these questions, Soccer America called Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger, the author of ''Tor, The Story of German Soccer.''* Interview by Mike Woitalla SOCCER AMERICA: What […]

Eastern GP W L T PTS GF GA MetroStars 14 6 6 2 20 21 17 D.C. United 13 6 6 1 19 17 18 Columbus 14 5 6 3 18 18 20 Chicago 13 5 6 2 17 20 18 New England 14 4 9 1 13 21 30 Western GP W L T […]

By Scott French, Senior Editor WORST TO …: Carolina has made its worst-to-(almost)-first run complete, picking up six points last week in WUSA wins over bottom-feeders New York and San Diego to pull even with Philadelphia at 27 points. Much has been made of Coach Marcia McDermott's rebuilding effort after last year's failure, and only […]

Big deals are an inexact, often tedious science, according to those who make them. Chicago general manager Peter Wilt says a player once resisted the Fire's efforts to acquire him, citing his dog's comfort. ''They do allow pets in Chicago,'' Wilt remembers saying at one point in negotiations. Ironing out players' concerns is just one […]

June 29 in Foxboro, Mass. New England 0 MetroStars 2. Goals: Diallo (Mathis, Jolley) 5, Lisi (Mathis, Moore) 85 New England– Brown, Heaps, Franchino, Pierce, Llamosa, Ralston, Rooney, Hernandez (Cullen, 68), Kamler (Pineda Chacon, 53), Twellman, Serna (Fuller, 42). MetroStars — Howard, Jolley, Chronopoulos, Ziadie, Petke, Paule (Lisi, 82), Moore, Williams (Addo, 73), Mathis, Diallo, […]

Based on the magnitude of the players involved and the impacts they made afterward, Soccer America picked the 10 biggest trades in MLS history and a winner in each: 1 May 24, 2002: New England trades Mamadou Diallo, Ted Chronopolous and Andy Williams to the MetroStars for Diego Serna, Brian Kamler and Daniel Hernandez. ADVANTAGE: […]

JUNE 4. IÆm on the Red Train from Seoul to Busan for the South Korea-Poland game, opening night in Group D. I was hooked into the trip by a Korean government information agency official who promised a good time on the express train with the Red Devils. ôBe the Reds!ö is their slogan, an odd […]

Never before had the U.S. men won an elimination-round game at the World Cup. Against its North American rivals, Bruce Arena's team used a new lineup and several players with limited finals experience to gain passage. BEST PLAYER. Landon Donovan played in his fourth position in four games and had his best game of the […]

Facing an already-eliminated Poland in its final group game, the United States took it on the chin but bounced back for second-round action, thanks to South Korea's win over Portugal. DEEP HOLE. Emmanuel Olisadebe and Pawel Kryszalowicz slammed close-range shots into the net in the first five minutes as Poland overran the United States right […]

Brad Friedel justified his selection in goal over Kasey Keller with one of the best games of his career. The Americans again took an early lead, but they needed Friedel to help them pull out a 1-1 tie against inspired South Korea. BEST PLAYER. Brad Friedel earned honors by nearly universal acclaim. He stopped Lee […]

No one could have expected the start to the USA-Portugal game. Ahead by three goals after 36 minutes, the Americans held on for a shock win. BEST PLAYER. Of several deserving candidates Brian McBride earns the honor of man of the match for besting tough-guy Fernando Couto, the Portugal captain. McBride was usually the target […]