Monthly Archives: September 2006

"We need stadiums in urban areas. We’re a little bit vanilla right now, our sport, and we’re going to get into communities that have a passion for the game. It is our charge to deliver the right environment for the fans and deliver the right product." — New York Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena at […]

AMERICANS ABROAD: Beasley's Shoe Biz

When, last weekend, American DaMarcus Bealsey made his debut for Manchester City, a team nicknamed the Blues, he entered the field as a first-half sub wearing shiny red shoes. "Blue boots, you'd better wear blue boots," chanted the City fans. (They call soccer shoes ''boots'' in Britain.) Beasley came out after halftime wearing white shoes, […]

INTERNATIONAL: Excuses don't fly at Bayern

Felix Magath, coach of German defending champion Bayern Munich, excused his players for a 2-1 league loss to lowly Arminia Bielefeld last weekend, citing the rigors of having to play German Cup and Champions League games the same week, but Magath's boss would have none of that. Said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, ''It is imperative […]

BY THE NUMBERS: Red Bull Stadium

On Tuesday, the New York Red Bulls broke ground on the stadium scheduled to be completed in 2008. So far in MLS, Columbus, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA, FC Dallas and Chicago play their home games in soccer-specific stadiums. The Colorado Rapids and future MLS club Toronto are set to move into new soccer […]

ON THE TUBE: ESPN2 airs Cosmos documentary

WEDNESDAY, ESPN2, 9 pm ET/6 pm PT ''Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos'' The rise and fall of America's greatest soccer club is chronicled in a documentary the New York Times described as, ''Fielding heroes and villains, gentlemen and rogues, booze and women, it plays like the 'Dynasty' of […]

COLLEGE RIVALRIES: UMass ends skid against UConn

UMass is back! The Minutewomen pulled off one of their biggest victories in recent years when they upset No. 12 Connecticut, 2-1, on Tuesday night in Amherst. The victory was their first over UConn in 12 games and improved their 2006 record to 6-1-0. Massachusetts and Connecticut were among the first women's collegiate powerhouses. UMass […]

AWARDS: Birthday boy Griffin cited

UCLA sophomore Maxwell Griffin, who led the Bruins to big victories over a pair of Top 10 teams last weekend, is the Soccer America Men's Player of the Week. In a 2-1 victory over then-No. 9 Santa Clara on Friday, Griffin broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 67th minute, and just 19 […]

1. No. 1 Virginia needs overtime to subdue West Virginia

Junior midfielder Nico Colaluca’s second goal of the evening 152 seconds into overtime gave Virginia, ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25, a 2-1 win over No. 8 and previously unbeaten West Virginia Tuesday night in front of 2,171 fans at Klockner Stadium. Colaluca knocked in Yannick Reyering’s flick header from just […]

2. RIVALRIES: UMass ends skid against UConn

3. AWARDS: Birthday boy Griffin cited

UCLA sophomore Maxwell Griffin, who led the Bruins to big victories over a pair of Top 10 teams last weekend, is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week. In a 2-1 victory over then-No. 9 Santa Clara on Friday, Griffin broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 67th minute, and just 19 […]

4. WOMEN’S AWARDS: BU’s Erwin honored

Boston University senior Lauren Erwin is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week. Erwin, a forward from Orange, Conn., scored her first two goals of the season, both game-winning goals, last week. She scored the only goal in the 1-0 victory over Fairfield on Wednesday, then scored the goal that gave the Terriers a […]

12 Questions for Brad Friedel

U.S. Soccer asks national team legend and Blackburn Rovers keeper Brad Friedel 12 questions, starting with the Americans’ performance in Germany, which he insists isn’t as bad as it was perceived in the press. Friedel says the team’s early exit had everything to do with the bizarrely poor opening performance against the Czech Republic, followed […]

Red Bulls Find a Home to Call Their Own

Major League Soccer’s MetroStars, now Red Bull New York, began talking about building a soccer-specific stadium way back in their first year of operation. Ten years on, after several wholesale changes in management and personnel and many more “talks” about building that all-important soccer-specific stadium, Red Bull New York breaks ground on its new stadium […]

Crisis or Not, Mancini Feeling the Heat at Inter

Oh, yes, it’s crises all around today in the English-speaking press. Next on the list is high-spending Inter Milan, which sits an alarming fourth place in the Serie A table after two games. How in the world can we be talking about a crisis here? The team has played three games in two competitions and […]

Column: Rooney on a Downward Spiral?

Sometimes the British tabloid press is a bit too predictable: after sub-par performances against Celtic in the Champions League last week and Arsenal over the weekend, the Independent’s James Lawton asks the ridiculous question whether England and Manchester United sensation Wayne Rooney, who will be just 21 next month, has lost his appetite for the […]

Program to Air Out British Soccer’s Dirty Laundry

Tonight, on the BBC investigative show “Panorama,” a leading Premier League agent is expected to reveal that he knows of “six to eight” managers in the league willing to receive illegal payments or “bungs.” The agent, Charles Collymore, a member of the Sports Management firm that represents the likes of Salif Diao, Khalilou Fadiga and […]

COLLEGE FOCUS: Gabarra's Navy is perfect

Carin Gabarra, winner of the Golden Ball as the best player at the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1991, is one of the great players in the history of women's soccer. Less well known is her success as a college coach. It isn't easy to attract top players to the Naval Academy, what with its […]

BEACH: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The USA, along with Canada, has qualified from the CONCACAF region for November's 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, where the Americans will face host Brazil, Japan and Poland in the group stage.At the qualifying tournament in Costa Rica, the USA lost, 3-2, to the host Ticos on Sunday after having […]

YOUTH: U-17 boys down Guatemala twice

The U.S. U-17s beat their Guatemalan counterparts twice in three days in Bradenton, Fla. Guatemala, which aims to reach the U-17 World Cup for the first time in history, is coached by American Tim Hankinson, who coached in MLS in 1998-2004. Israel Sesay, a Sierra Leone native who recently obtained U.S. citizenship, scored twice for […]

MLS: Stat leaders

GOALSCORING Jeff Cunningham (Real Salt Lake) 15 Ante Razov (Chivas USA) 14 Brian Ching (Houston) 10 Dwayne De Rosario (Houston) 10 Christian Gomez (D.C. United) 10 Jaime Moreno (D.C. United) 10 Carlos Ruiz (FC Dallas) 10 ASSISTS Terry Cooke (Colorado) 10 Jeff Cunningham (Real Salt Lake) 10 Christian Gomez (D.C. United) 9 FOULS COMMITTED Simo […]

LEADING SCORERS: NCAA D1 Men & Women

MEN G Player, School, Year 12 Tommy Krizanovic, Jacksonville, Sr. 10 Kevin Forrest, Washington, Jr. 10 Riley O'Neill, Kentucky, Sr. 8 Joshua Okoampa, Wis.-Green Bay, Sr. 7 Braden Fleak, Wright State, Fr. 7 Mike Grella, Duke, Soph. 7 Saidi Isaac, Winthrop, Jr. 7 Frederico Moojen, Clemson, Sr. 7 Joseph Lapira, Notre Dame, Jr. 7 Brad […]

INTERNATIONAL: Brazilians abound in European Champions League play

Brazil is the best represented country in the European Champions League, based on the number of field players who saw action when the competition's group stage kicked off. Thirty-two teams are vying for the title of Europe's top club and in last week's 16 games the 65 Brazilians who played accounted for 14.07 percent of […]

SMALL COLLEGES: C'debaca leads No. 1 Trinity

The much-traveled Robbie C'debaca scored the first and last goal in leading Trinity (Texas), ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas NCAA Men's Division III Top 25, to its fifth straight win of the season with a 4-1 win over Southwestern. C'debaca, one of four Albuquerque, N.M., products on the Tigers' roster, spent time in Dutch […]

LeBlanc gets Mountaineers up to speed