Posted inSoccer America Site, Story

MLS: Summaries (June 24)

June 24 in Columbus, Ohio Columbus 1 Chivas USA 1. Goals: Retiz (Gaven) 12; Garcia 54. Columbus — Palmer, Marshall, Kotschau, Gonzalez, Hendrickson, Gaven, Moss, Retiz (Vasquez, 71), Leitch, Garey (Cameron, 56), Kamara (Ngwenya, 81). Chivas USA — Burpo, Regan, Hernandez, Llamosa (Vaughn, 56), Bornstein, Garcia, Kljestan, Marsch, Mendoza (Perez, 81), Palencia, Razov (Taylor, 71). […]

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MAHONEY: El Pato stymies El Tri

By Ridge Mahoney in Leipzig   The incredible dipping shot that Maxi Rodriguez drilled over Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez in extra time decided the tense round-of-16 match for Argentina, yet the match was truly won at the other end of the field. Stuck in glide mode for much of the game, as if they would […]

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WOITALLA: Grinsi and Grumpy

By Mike Woitalla in Munich He sure is a grump. That’s a sentiment about Bruce Arena I heard from U.S. fans here in Germany, ones who watched on TV in the USA, and members of the press. And I saw that grumpiness frequently. The scowls, frowns and curses from the sidelines, and the irritability at […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

The Silver Lining is the Future

USA Today tries to take some positives out of the U.S.’s failure in Germany. For one thing, Americans are watching this tournament in record numbers: about 5 million viewers saw the U.S. tie Italy; that’s more than those households watching baseball on a typical Saturday. While MLS struggles in the ratings, the World Cup’s numbers […]

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MAHONEY: Make plays, not excuses

By Ridge Mahoney in Nuremberg A few more rough pieces of luck befell the U.S. in its Group E match against Ghana, and again the Americans didn’t get the job done. A penalty kick whistled for what seemed to be innocuous contact when Oguchi Onyewu headed a ball clear was slammed into the net by Stephen […]

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

2. WORLD CUP: Bruce’s Post-Mortem

A day the U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup, U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena reflected on the USA’s first-round exit. “Despite all calls, all the circumstances over all three games and what have you,” Arena said in Hamburg, “we weren’t good enough.” Arena said the USA must develop more quality players if it is […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Soccer Haters Unite

The soccer-haters can come out of the closet now. Not only is it okay again for them to loudly and proudly hate the sport loved by the rest of the world, it’s expected. Call it their moment, and perhaps they’ve earned it. This World Cup has been a huge media play, and the U.S. team […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Reyna’s Sad Send-Off

What a way to go out: caught in possession in the last third of the field, tackle leads to painful injury, giveaway leads to goal, goal leads to World Cup exit. It was not a good day for captain Claudio Reyna against Ghana yesterday, a day that would be his last on the international stage. […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Why Did We Fail?

Poor officiating aside, the reasons for team USA’s first round exit from the World Cup are obvious enough, says the New York Times. Poor tactics (a 4-5-1 when the team hadn’t scored a goal yet), poor preparation (secrecy with respect to the line-up leading to a rift between coach and players), and a lack of […]

Posted inSoccer America Site, Story

WORLD CUP: Bruce's Future in Doubt

By Mike Woitalla in Nuremberg When the final whistle blew, many of the U.S. players saluted the American fans who had created a home-field atmosphere for them in Nuremberg's Franken Stadium. But Coach Bruce Arena swatted his hand through the air in three dismissive waves at referee Markus Merk and charged into the locker room. […]

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