Arsenal’s problems have part due to the absence of French star Thierry Henry. The Gunners had only managed seven goals in this year’s UEFA Champions League before Wednesday’s game against PSV, and they only managed to score thanks to an own goal by PSV defender Alex in a 1-1 tie that sent the Dutch through […]
Monthly Archives: March 2007
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
3. EUROPE: More disappointment for Arsenal
In less than two weeks, Arsenal went from contending in three cup competitions to being alive in none. On Feb. 25, the Gunners lost to Chelsea, 2-1, in the English League Cup final and then were bounced out of the FA Cup three days later by Blackburn Rovers, 1-0, in a replay. On Wednesday night […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
2. MLS: New places?
By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor Preseason is for experimentation, and what a team looks like and where a player plays in March sometimes has no bearing on what transpires after that. A revolving door of non-roster players and invited trialists — the Galaxy, to name one team, has players on trial this week from China […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
1. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“The risk is vast. One of the problems in the sports industry is when you are relegated to relying on an athlete’s performance, you can be in big trouble. Whenever you align yourself with one athlete, you lack diversification.” — David Carter, the head of the Sports Marketing Group and a professor at USC’s Marshall […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
MLS CONFIDENTIAL: CP impairs use of DP option
Gamblers call it the choking point, that threshold of betting tolerance at which boldness melts and fear sets in. Judgment falters, confidence erodes, and more often than not, losses ensue. At the poker table, once that stack of chips to be pushed into the pot gets high enough and thick enough, the player quavers. At […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Roma Dances Past Lyon
Tuesday will be remembered as the night when Europe’s giants fell, as the Spanish, Italian, and French champions all failed to do enough to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals. Chelsea was the only reigning domestic champion to buck the trend, though Jose Mourinho’s men made hard work of battling underdog FC Porto, the champion […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Will Becks Fly Coach?
It’s a question that’s been asked before, but Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe gives it a closer look: how will David Beckham be traveling with his new L.A. Galaxy teammates? That may sound like an odd question, but when you consider that Beckham is a world-class athlete and A-list celebrity, it would be awkward […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Arsenal Must Bring its ‘Total Football’
David Winner of the Guardian pronounces Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal the sole heir of Dutch great Johann Cruyff’s vision of “total football.” Winner says no other team in world soccer so accurately reflects what he calls “Holland’s finest contribution to human happiness”: a soccer team that prizes “beauty and creativity above all and [is] compulsively devoted […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Carragher Shows He’s England’s Best
Perennially in John Terry’s shadow, Liverpool center back Jaime Carragher at this point has turned so many imperious performances that it’s time the assumed the mantle as England’s leading defender, says the Guardian’s Rob Smyth. Carragher’s resoluteness this season was punctuated by his performances against Manchester United and Barcelona Tuesday night in the Champions League. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
SUM Puts $2 Million into Fan ‘Development’
Soccer United Marketing, the marketing arm of Major League Soccer, is putting $2 million behind its fan development department in an attempt to attract more Hispanic and youth soccer fans to MLS. According to research from Jay Gladden, an associate professor of sport management at UMass, Hispanic and youth soccer players only “lightly consume” MLS. […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
SCOUTING REPORTS: USA's Gold Cup opponents
GUATEMALA. The Chapines remain the only major Central American soccer nation to have never reached the World Cup finals, and their national team coach says that won't change any time soon. They came close in qualifying for the 2006 finals, mounting a strong campaign to finish fifth in the Hexagonal, but they have since slipped. […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
EUROPE: Liverpool knocks out Barcelona
It was too little, too late for Barcelona, which beat Liverpool, 1-0, at Anfield Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League but could not make up for its 2-1 loss to the Reds two weeks earlier in Barcelona. Liverpool knocked out the defending champions on the away goals after their round-of-16 series ended in a […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
EUROPE: Brawl mars Valencia win
The spate of trouble on the field and off at major European games continued Tuesday night when Valencia's Champions League aggregate victory over Inter Milan was marred by a mass brawl at the final whistle in which Inter's Argentine midfielder, Nicolas Burdisso, suffered a broken nose. The brawl had begun on the field when David […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
OFF THE POST: Beckham stays out of Swiss politics
Referee-turned-politician Philippe Leuba of Switzerland used as part of his campaign material a shot of him shaking hands with David Beckham before the England-Argentina friendly he reffed in 2005. In the photo, Beckham's speech bubble had him saying, ''I hope you are just as impartial in the state parliament as you were on the soccer […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
GOLD CUP: USA draws Guatemala, El Salvador, T&T
Once again, the USA looks to have an easy draw in group play at the Gold Cup. It's 7-0-0 against Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and El Salvador, its Group B foes at the 2007 the Gold Cup, and they all three are in turmoil. El Salvador only recently ended a 29-month winless streak. Like El […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
HALL OF FAME: Perez and Murray on Veteran's Ballot
Fourteen former players are on the National Soccer Hall of Fame's Veteran's Final Ballot, All Hall of Famers are eligible to vote on the final Veteran's Ballot. The Veteran receiving the most votes is elected to the Hall of Fame as long as the vote total is at least 50 percent of the ballots cast. […]
Posted inSoccer America Site, Story
ALGARVE CUP: U.S. stars back in the fold
The USA opens play against China on Thursday (kickoff: 11:15 am ET) at the 2007 Algarve Cup in Silves, Portugal, and the tournament will mark the first action of the 2007 season for captain Kristine Lilly, who heads into the Algarve Cup with 117 career goals, second on the all-time goal scoring list for women […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
6. ALGARVE CUP: U.S. stars back in the fold
The USA opens play against China on Thursday (kickoff: 11:15 am ET) at the 2007 Algarve Cup in Silves, Portugal, and the tournament will mark the first action of the 2007 season for captain Kristine Lilly, who heads into the Algarve Cup with 117 career goals, second on the all-time goal scoring list for women […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
7. HALL OF FAME: Perez and Murray on Veteran’s Ballot
Fourteen former players are on the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s Veteran’s Final Ballot, All Hall of Famers are eligible to vote on the final Veteran’s Ballot. The Veteran receiving the most votes is elected to the Hall of Fame as long as the vote total is at least 50 percent of the ballots […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
5. EUROPE: Brawl mars Valencia win
The spate of trouble on the field and off at major European games continued Tuesday night when Valencia’s Champions League aggregate victory over Inter Milan was marred by a mass brawl at the final whistle in which Inter’s Argentine midfielder, Nicolas Burdisso, suffered a broken nose. The brawl had begun on the field when David […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
4. EUROPE: Liverpool knocks out Barcelona
It was too little, too late for Barcelona, which beat Liverpool, 1-0, at Anfield Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League but could not make up for its 2-1 loss to the Reds two weeks earlier in Barcelona. Liverpool knocked out the defending champions on the away goals after their round-of-16 series ended in a […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
3. SCOUTING REPORTS: USA’s Gold Cup opponents
GUATEMALA. The Chapines remain the only major Central American soccer nation to have never reached the World Cup finals, and their national team coach says that won’t change any time soon. They came close in qualifying for the 2006 finals, mounting a strong campaign to finish fifth in the Hexagonal, but they have since slipped. […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
2. GOLD CUP: USA draws Guatemala, El Salvador, T&T
Once again, the USA looks to have an easy draw in group play at the Gold Cup. It’s 7-0-0 against Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and El Salvador, its Group B foes at the 2007 the Gold Cup, and they all three are in turmoil. El Salvador only recently ended a 29-month winless streak. Like El […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
1. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“We live in a violent world today and, unfortunately, this violent world is transferred to within our preferred sport. We have policing organisms for the internet and music, for example, but not for sport, which carries great importance in the world. It is time something was done. We cannot continue like this.” — Newly elected […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
CP impairs use of DP option
Gamblers call it the choking point, that threshold of betting tolerance at which boldness melts and fear sets in. Judgment falters, confidence erodes, and more often than not, losses ensue. At the poker table, once that stack of chips to be pushed into the pot gets high enough and thick enough, the player quavers. At […]