Monthly Archives: March 2007

On Wednesday, Mexico beat Ecuador in Oakland, Calif., in a game that was sold out two weeks before kickoff while on the same day a crowd nearly a fifth smaller attended the USA’s game against Guatemala in Texas. ”We probably could have sold another 50,000 tickets,” said David Alioto, executive vice president for Earthquakes Soccer, […]

By Ridge Mahoney A deal that has been simmering for about three weeks to send Clint Mathis from Colorado to the New York Red Bulls needs only league approval to become official, says Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo. “Once Clint realized that he was not going to be in my plans for the starting 11, […]

“It was a really ugly moment. I had [Jermain] Defoe’s shirt in my hand to swap for mine. But Terry rammed into me with a really hard shove and snatched it. We were down the tunnel. Terry took the shirt and ordered all the England players into the dressing room.” — Andorra captain Oscar Sonejee, […]

By Ridge Mahoney Hernia surgery for Pat Noonan. A dislocated shoulder suffered while surfing for Michael Parkhurst. Midfield stud Shalrie Joseph demanding a trade after contract talks stalled. Joey Franchino leaving the team during a preseason trip to New Orleans for “personal reasons.” If any good team has struggled through a rough preseason, it’s New […]

USL has terminated its troubled USL-1 club, the Virginia Beach Mariners, releasing all their players and reducing the USL-1 to 12 teams just two weeks before the start of the 2007 season. The fate of the PDL’s Submariners remains to be determined. The Mariners’ demise came after the apparent sale of the team from Norfolk […]

The U.S. women’s national team will welcome 32 players into residency training camp on April 2 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. for a four-month period that will lead into the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China. The USA will break camp at the end […]

Retired women’s soccer icon Mia Hamm gave birth to twin girls late on Tuesday. Her husband, Los Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, was in flight from Florida when the babies were born and was on speaker phone with Hamm during the delivery.

Mexico beat Ecuador, 4-2, in Oakland, Calif., in front of 47,416 fans in game that was sold two weeks ago. Francisco Palencia, who spent last season with Chivas USA and is now with UNAM Pumas, opened the scoring 29 seconds into the game. Ecuador took a 2-1 lead on goals by Carlos Tenorio and Giovanni […]

After getting shut out in its last three Euro 2008 qualifiers, England finally found the net against Andorra, a nation in the middle of Spain whose entire population could fit into Wembley stadium. The 3-0 win on second-half goals by Steven Gerrard, who struck twice, and David Nugent, puts England in a three-way tie for […]

By Ridge Mahoney SOCCER AMERICA REPORT CARD (1=low; 5=average; 10-high) RATING PLAYER (CLUB CAPS/GOALS) STARTERS: 5 Kasey Keller (Borussia M’Gladbach GER 97/0) 6 Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday ENG 1/0) 5 Jay DeMerit (Watford ENG 1/0) 5 Jim Conrad (Kansas City 21/1) 5 Jonathan Spector (West Ham ENG 5/0) 4 Clint Dempsey (Fulham/ENG 26/6) 6 Michael […]

By Ridge Mahoney A younger, less experienced U.S. team than the one that beat Ecuador, 3-1, Sunday battered futilely against a Guatemalan wall and came away with a 0-0 draw at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. Alternately forging up the flanks and hitting long balls into the heart of the Guatemalan defense, the U.S. […]

“I think it was a good learning experience, particularly for our younger players. It’s a different kind of game, one that they need to see, because we all understand that we are going to see these kinds of games in qualifying. At times tonight it seemed like we were afraid to make a mistake.” — […]

By Ridge Mahoney There’s something bizarre happening in Dallas. By replacing a Finn, an Irishman and an American with a Colombian and an Argentine, among other changes, Coach Steve Morrow has already transformed the identity of his team. Effective yet predictable is out, stylish and unorthodox is in. “I want us to play more one-touch […]